Chapter 20

Divinity

When Finn's awareness returned, he found himself in Tuck's kitchen, his hands once again bound, this time behind his back. He couldn't help but let out a sigh of resignation at waking up bound.

"I didn't miss this part of my adventures." He said, more to break the silence than anything.

"Me either." Glen's voice replied. "You back to normal?"

"Huh?"

"You don't remember attacking me after they hit you with that mini-octopus?"

Finn closed his eyes and tried to think back to his last waking moments.. "Were there dancing monkeys?"

"Nope."

"Then I've got nothing." After a momentary pause, he said, "Sorry."

"Bah, that's all right; I could tell you weren't exactly in control. Still, it was enough for them to get the drop on me. Finn, they have the Blood of the Krogan."

"Of course they do." Finn sighed. "I shoulda seen it coming."

"Seen what?' Glen asked.

"Incoming trouble. Much easier to camp out and wait for someone else to steal the gem than to take it straight from the Primarch. Probably what that sniper and her friends were doing; still no idea who that could be."

A deep voice said, "I can help you there, mate."

Finn watched as the woman who had shot him walked into his view. Her face wasn't familiar, but her voice brought with it the past, always a shaky area for Finn.

"You feelin' better?" The woman asked, her voice deep, accented, and masculine.

"Not so much." Finn muttered, drawing another laugh from the woman.

"Aw, now don't feel too bad there, Cresste; did a hell of a job gettin' your hands on this."

"Dude, what the hell's up with your voice?" Glen asked.

The woman glanced at Glen, a faint hint of annoyance on her face. "Long story. Betrayals, explosions, an old friend with a weird-ass sense of humor, and voila. Mind you, it's given me a hell of an insight into the fairer sex ... and a whole new appreciation for moist towelettes."

That clenched it. Finn stared at the woman and said, "Holy hell."

"Ah, there it is." The woman grinned at him. "I won't get offended that you didn't remember me, mate. Decades ago, it was; still, you know what they say; you can take the Saint out of Stillwater …"

"…but you can't take the Stillwater out of the Saint." Finn finished, feeling dazed. "It really is you, isn't it?"

The woman spread her arms with another laugh. "In the flesh, more or less. To be fair, you're not the fresh-faced little runner you were back then either."

"Uh, time out." Glen said, drawing looks from Finn and the woman. "Just who are you?"

"Me?" The woman asked, crossing her arms. "I've got a bunch of names. The Kid, the Chief … I was always partial to, 'STOP THAT PUNK!' My favorite, and the name Finn probably remembers is …"

"Boss!"

The Boss turned as the door to Tuck's larder opened, revealing a cyborg with a flat top and sunglasses. "Kinsie's picking up a lotta chatter on the krogan channel. Looks like our friend from the Council's causing a ruckus." He paused and nodded at Finn. "Hey, Finn."

"Hey, Johnnie." Finn said, his voice resigned.

"The good Councilor is probably putting up a fight." Glancing at Finn, the Boss added, "Spectres are such assholes, aren't they? You don't suppose Gabriella's down there, do you?"

"Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest." Finn said.

The Boss laughed appreciatively. "Never a dull moment, eh? Well, the fuss they're creating will give us time to finish up here." He glanced at his friend. "Hey, Johnnie, give me a sec with our old friend, eh?"

"Sure thing, boss. Later, Finn."

A moment of silence passed before Finn asked the obvious question. "So what now?"

"Now I leave. Don't worry, though; I ain't leaving you here to the tender mercies of the krogan or your little spectre friend." The Boss picked up one of Tuck's knives. Finn tensed as he drew near, only to lay the knife on Finn's lap. "You're a bright lad. I figure it'll take you a few minutes to cut yourself out of that, plenty of time for me and Johnnie to be well on our way."

With that, The Boss headed for the larder. She paused before closing the door to add, "Oh, by the way, there's still a place for you with the Saints, if you get tired of the whole saving the universe schtick. Something to think about, eh?"

With that, she was gone.

After a few moments of stunned silence, Glen asked, "So, an old friend of yours, huh?"

"Something like that."

"The Saints, huh? That wouldn't be the Third Street Saints, would it?"

"The same."

"And you used to be a Saint?"

Finn let out a sigh. "I used to run an old chaser I fixed up to run packages for them."

"Really?" Glen said, a surprised look on her face. "You didn't strike me as the type."

That struck a nerve. "Look, my Mom was practically catatonic, okay? The money dad left us dried up, and someone had to pay the bills! All the Saints asked me to do was drop off the occasional package."

"Hey!" Glen said, raising her hands. "I'm not passing judgement! Just trying to get all the facts here."

"I didn't regret it then, and I don't regret it now." Finn paused and looked at Glen with bewilderment. "Your hands were free the whole time?"

A grin slid across Glen's face as she picked up the knife and deftly cut Finn's bonds. "Just as trick I taught myself after running into this situation over and over again. If you like that, wait till you see this."

She pulled a large red jewel out of her pocket and tossed it to Finn, a satisfied smirk on her face. "Switched it out while your friend was talking to you."

"Nice! You had another fake gem?" Finn asked, catching the gem in mid-air.

Glen's grin faded. "Er, no, just the one. Finn, I think I might have made a little boo-boo back there with Primarch Jorgal."

"A boo-boo?"

"Look, you were asleep, the krogan were starting to stir, and I didn't have much time, okay? I made the jewel, but in all the hustle, I think I accidentally replaced it with something else, something that's probably not quite an identical match."

"Such as?" Finn asked.

"Probably nothing to worry about." Glen said quickly, patting Finn on the arm. "C'mon! We should get moving."

She took a few steps toward the door before spinning right back around and walking back to Finn. "Uh, where are we going?"

"I don't know." Finn admitted. "We can't contact the Hikari or Jake without tipping off whoever's been listening in, and we still don't know where the Meridia is."

"Could they be in orbit?" Glen asked.

"I dunno." Finn said, "We took a lot of damage in the crash. I was honestly surprised when fake-Jake mentioned they had the energy to take off."

Finn stopped, his mouth going slack. "My god. Is it that simple?"

"Is what that simple?" Asked Glen.

His eyes alight, Finn said, "I think I know where the Merida is. Come on!"

Progress through the ruins was slow, what with the lack of light and the possibility of running into searching krogan. Still, Finn was able to use his omni-tool to eventually find the place where he had landed after falling through the ruins. Finding their way back to the top took a while, but from there, it didn't take long to follow the path he Violet and Azure had taken through the tunnels. They continued to move cautiously, freezing at the sound of distant footprints. They never saw any krogan, but neither was about to take any chances.

About two hours after their encounter with the Boss, Finn and Glen emerged from the labyrinthine passages into the large chamber where the Meridia had crashed. As Finn suspected, the Merida was right where it had been upon his departure.

As they drew near, however, Finn realized there was no one waiting to greet them. He scanned the inside of the bay as best he could through the open ramp, but there was no sign of anyone. "Glen; you got scanners on those arm things?"

"Headache? Yeah, limited scanners."

"Mind doing a quick life scan of the Meridia?"

She slowed to a fast walk and put a finger to her temple. Holographic lines zoomed around her head, creating a glowing circlet that covered her eyes. After staring at the Merida for a moment, she said, "Three life-signs on board, but they're not human."

"Where are they?"

"Two are just up the ramp. Looks like they're standing guard. The third is at the front, the bridge I'm guessing. No humans, though."

"None?" Finn asked, his heart falling.

"Nope. From what I can tell, it's more of those turtle-buggers."

"Damn." Said Finn. "I was hoping Tuck was lying about that."

"So what now?" Glen asked.

Shrugging, Finn said, "We go back to the Meridia, and try to figure out what happened. You said you can see where they are?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Tapping the side of her head, she said, "Stream flux sensor. One's behind that battered wardrobe, the other's hiding behind that stack of crates. You thinking about trying to get the drop on them?"

"You read my mind."

"There's no fur on my ears, Finn."

Finn glanced at Glen, who let out a chuckle. "Long story, man. Don't mind telling it either, but now's probably not the good time. I call shotgun on the one cowering behind the wardrobe."

"I've never seen a krogan cower." Finn said.

"Good. Life should be full of new experiences."

The two krogan stuck with guard duty were well-seasoned warriors. While there hadn't been a real war in centuries, their old drill sergeant had told them on many occasions that life on Tuchanka was a constant battle, and these two had seen quite a bit of the battlefield. Jorgal was just the latest in attempts to overthrow the Primarch Urdnot, some were traditionalists who wanted to go back to the days when krogan were feared across the galaxy, while others were just nutjobs out to pick a fight with one or more of the Council races.

Still, it had been awhile since anything had happened requiring grizzled veterans like either of them, which is how they ended up working with Battlemaster Schin T'luuc, a pompous krogan barely out of adolescence who had studied all the great battlemasters and quoted them like some pompous salarian scientist. It made both of their plates itch to have to follow his orders, but the upstart was actually pretty cunning.

After they accidentally came across the Meridia, T'luuc's assault on the strange asari vessel filled with quarians had been swift, decisive, and bloodless … well, mostly bloodless. While he had earned some grudging respect for his planning, both of the grunts couldn't help but laugh at the look of shock on their commander's bloody face after he grabbed the little quarian in the orange suit and incurred the wrath of the quarian in the blue suit. It took both of them to pull her away and secure her with the others.

Now they stood in the cargo bay, waiting for the arrival of possible stragglers. Neither guard particularly expected to find anyone, which is why the arrival of a lone human male surprised them both. Their surprise didn't last long; the krogan by the wardrobe motioned his partner to get into position. With a nod, his partner hunkered down and crept around the stack of crates, careful to keep the crates between himself and the human.

The human walked into the hold, completely oblivious to the krogan guards. "Noir? Jake? Anyone?"

He stopped beside the wardrobe and put his hands on his hips. "Where the hell is everyone?"

The krogan behind the crates waited for his partner to crash through the flimsy wood of the wardrobe and apprehend the human. He clenched his rifle in anticipation, hoping that this human would put up more of a fight than the quarians.

Someone tapped the krogan's shoulder. He turned to see a human woman with a lopsided grin and metal arms.

"Heya, Handsome!" She said before planting one metal fist into his face. The force of the punch sent the krogan flying across the docking bay. As the krogan beside the wardrobe moved to intercept Glen, Finn shoved the wardrobe onto the surprised krogan, knocking him to the ground.

Finn kept his distance from the fallen wardrobe, and a good thing too; with a roar, the krogan broke through the balsa-wood. Finn hurried toward it, scooping up an article of clothing before jumping on the krogan's back and looping the clothing under the krogan's jaw. The krogan staggered back as Finn pulled the straps with all his strength, hoping that it would hold long enough for the krogan to pass out. The krogan thrashed around, trying to dislodge Finn, but Finn held on with the determination of a man holding a tiger by the tail.

As Finn and the krogan staggered around the back of the hold, Glen approached the other, the krogan's rifle in her hands. The krogan stared at the rifle wordlessly, no doubt thinking he was finished. To his surprise, Glen bent the rifle until the casing shattered and tossed it behind her back. The krogan was further surprised when she pulled off her gauntlets and tossed them aside.

She raised her now-bare fists and said, "There. Even ground, perfectly fair. Can't ask for more than that."

A pleased smile crossed the krogan's face as he raised his own fists. "Fair enough."

Some might think krogans might be deficient in martial disciplines; their large and somewhat cumbersome frames seem ill-suited to many hand-to-hand fighting styles. For the most part, that's a pretty fair assessment; nevertheless, speed isn't everything, especially when a person has natural body armor and muscles that would put an eighties action movie star to shame.

That's not to say Glen wasn't strong, however; the thick muscles on her arms glistened with sweat as she rained blows on the krogan, occasionally taking a few hits herself with little or no reaction. While the smile on her face struck the krogan as mildly annoying, he had to admit that he too was enjoying the challenge.

As the brawlers continued to duke it out, Finn was still holding on for dear life. The krogan's thrashing was growing weaker, but it still took everything Finn had to maintain his hold. The krogan stomped across the hold, upsetting most of the stacks of crates and several more of Auren's wardrobes in the process. Finally, just as the ache in Finn's arms became more than he could manage, the krogan fell to the ground with a bone-jarring thud and was still.

Finn released his chokehold and pulled back the clothing he had used to choke the krogan. With a tired laugh, he realized it was a bra.

"And they say craftsmanship is a thing of the past." Finn said, tossing the surprisingly sturdy undergarment aside as the unconscious krogan snored at his feet.

By the time Finn found some heavy-duty cord and tied up the recumbent krogan, Glen and the other krogan managed to break through the last of Auren's wardrobes. As the clothes spilled out onto the floor, Finn's eyes widened at the sight of something that wasn't clothing. He barely had time to pick up the object before a crash brought his attention to Glen's fight.

The fight had been an even match, but in the end, the krogan couldn't match Glen's speed. After blocking a few clumsy punches, Glen pulled her arm back and delivered a punch that made even Finn's chin hurt. The krogan spun around once from the force of the blow before collapsing to the floor.

"Woo-hoo!" Glen said, pumping her now very red fists. "All hail the Intergalactic heavyweight champion!"

Grinning at Glen's excitement, Finn opened his mouth to reply when the sound of rough clapping froze the words in his throat. They both turned toward the noise and saw Battlemaster T'luuc standing just outside the lift.

Glen ran at him without a moment's hesitation and leapt only to be flung back by a wave of the krogan's hand. As the biotic field faded, T'luuc said, "I'd recommend not trying that again. I gotta say, though, I never thought I'd see a couple of humans take out those two. Now just sit back and relax, and I'll reuinte you with the rest of your little friends."

Finn flinched as the glow of biotics flared around the krogan's arm. A sharp crackle of electricity made his eyes open wide. Battlemaster T'luuc was on the ground, a KEI-9 Unit with an all too familiar cartoon dog face standing victoriously over the body.

"Jake!" Finn said, beaming at his friend. He caught the KEI-9 Unit in mid-leap and gave him a hug despite his weight.

"Finn!" Jake said, tail end wagging happily. "Ha! I told them you'd make it! What the heck happened to you anyway?"

"Long story." Finn turned his head as Glen struggled to rise in the debris of the battle. "Uh, Jake? This is Glen. She helped me steal the Blood of the Krogan."

Jake's cartoon eyes went wide. "Holey Moley Beefaroni! You mean you actually got it?"

Finn pulled out the jewel and held it out for Jake to see. "I'll tell you the whole story later. What happened here? Where are Mannon and Darsan?"

With a sigh, Jake said, "Let's get these guys tied up first; this might take a while."