Chapter 33

Irreverent Resolution

As the ancient ship rose through the atmosphere, Finn found himself hoping the League's defense systems were as undamaged as the engines. He knew it wouldn't be long before they had company. Sure enough, a few shudders ran through the ship as small arms fire hit the ship's kinetic barriers.

"Multiple ships behind us." Mannon said, working the sensors frantically.

"Asari?" Finn asked.

"Saints?" The Boss asked.

"I … I can't tell! There are hundreds of them."

Finn glanced at the Boss, who shook her head. "Even if Kinsie got everyone at the fortress, we only brought seventy ships with us."

"Can we get any kind of visual?" Finn asked, trying his best to coax more speed out of the engines … not that he was complaining. It was amazing that the engines still functioned at all.

"One second."

The door to the bridge slid open.

"Mannon!" Finn said, not daring to leave the helm.

"I've got it!" The Boss took cover behind one of the bridge consoles and readied her rifle. "Just keep us flying!"

They were free of the atmosphere now. The ship's controls grew easier to manipulate, although they were still noticeably more sluggish than the smaller vessels Finn usually piloted. He could imagine the ships swarming around behind them, just waiting to open fire.

Mannon slammed her hands down on the console in frustration. "I can't get it closed!"

The Boss opened fire, resulting in a loud shout. "Hey! What gives?!"

"Eri?" Finn said, glancing at the doorway. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. The others are right behind me … look, can I come in without getting shot?"

Finn met the Boss's questioning gaze and nodded.

Nodding back, the Boss lowered her rifle. "All right, come on in … join the party."

Eri entered the bridge, looking a little shaken. He looked around the bridge for a moment and said, "It's a ship. Of course it's a ship. Why not?"

"Eri, see, if you can find some kind of weapon controls." Finn said.

"Oy!" The Boss said, "Some of those ships could be Saints!"

"Well, can we contact them?" Finn asked.

"Worth a try." The Boss ran over to Finn and shouted, "OY! KINSIE!"

"Ahh!" Finn automatically clamped a hand over his now-ringing ear. "Let me activate it first! Geez!"

"Boss?" Kinsie's voice said in Finn's ear. "Are you and Johnnie okay? We lost-"

"Yeah, we're fine." The Boss said. "Look, is that you back there or what?"

"Are you in the space turtle?"

"Yeah, that's us. League's treasure was a bit more expansive than we were expecting."

"Well, yeah; we're right behind you, but we've got some company."

"Company?"

"The Blood Pack."

Swearing, Finn said, "And there's the trifecta."

A smirk on her face, the Boss said, "Look, can you slow them down a little?"

"Slow them down? But there's a frigate closing in on us!"

"A frigate?" Finn and the Boss said simultaneously.

The viewscreen abruptly activated, giving them a view behind the ancient salarian vessel. Purple vessels dotted the sky, intermingled with bulky krogan ships. Behind them all was a sight that nearly made Finn cry out with relief: The Ulasomorf.

"Thank God." Finn said, "Kinsie, that's my ship! Let 'em know I'm okay, and that you're helping defend us!"

"And they'll believe me why?"

"Because you'll be using my voice, just like you used Jake's earlier; the only difference is that you're doing it with my knowledge."

"Right. Right. We'll do what we can with the Blood Pack."

Nodding, Finn tried his internal comm again. "Kinsie, are you there? Look, if you can hear us, our sensors can't tell your ships apart from any of the others."

An alarm sounded from the sensor console. Mannon hurried over to it immediately. "Either a ship's heading our way fast, or it's a-"

The ship shook as something impacted the kinetic shields with great force, making Scarlet stumble as she walked onto the bridge. She paused a moment as she saw Mannon. The women, nearly identical in all save species, exchanged long looks at each other.

Scarlet shook her head. "A question for later. Finn, what's going on? Are we moving?"

"Yeah, yeah, League's sanctuary is a ship." The Boss said dismissively. "That's so ten minutes ago."

Scarlet stared back at the Boss for a few moments. "Finn … this is …"

"The Boss, I know." Finn said, "Look, you can argue over who gets the treasure later. Right now we need to get out of here in one piece. Are the others with you?"

"They're searching the ship in case any more asari managed to get aboard. I'm not alone, though." She glanced back and called out, "Jake! I found them!"

"Finn!" Jake said, running through the door moments later. He raced through the bridge, running between the Boss's legs and quickly rejoining his brother. "I'm here! I'm here, man!"

Smiling, Finn said, "Good to see you, bro. Can you read ancient salarian?"

"Can I … come on, Finn, you know I am fluent in over six-million-"

The ship shook as they were hit again.

"Jake?" Finn said, a note of warning in his tone.

"Yeah." Jake said hurriedly, "Sure thing."

"Good. Help Mannon with the sensors; we need to know who's firing on us."

"There!" Mannon said, "Channel open!"

Finn looked up at the viewscreen to see a face he had hoped he wouldn't ever see again.

"Councilor Ghales." Finn said, "Nice to see you up and around."

"You will not get away this time, Cresste. I'll have you soon … and your robot dog too!"

"Maybe another day. Mannon! Be well him for me."

"You dare to cut-"

The screen went back to the rear view of the ship, cutting off the angry Councilor. Now that the armada was closer, there were clear signs of conflict between the krogan vessels and the Saints. The Ulasomorf was gaining on them, but it was restricted by the debris in the atmosphere, which the smaller vessels could avoid easily. Still, that meant that Billy was out there too, no doubt reducing the krogan side of the equation.

Still, it wouldn't be long until the League ship was free of most of the debris, at which point Finn could activate the eezo drive, and possibly stream, if it came to that.

A knot formed in his stomach when it occurred to him that he couldn't stream, not with the Meridia on top of the ship. It'd get torn away in an instant … unless …

"Jake!" Finn said. "I need to talk with the Meridia."

"Got it!" Jake ran across the ship, skidded to a halt beside the communications station, where Mannon was still standing. As she moved back to sensors, he put his metal paws on the console.

"Aaaaand there we go!" Jake said, a note of triumph in his voice.

Amber's face filled the viewscreen. Her eyes widened as she saw their bridge. "Scarlet! Where … are you on that ship?"

"I am. Finn?"

Nodding, Finn said, "Look, I know this isn't easy, but I need you to remote patch me into your engine controls.

"Our engine controls? Why?"

Jake turned his monitor to Finn. "Mel's Gambit? Finn, that nearly killed Katt and Rico! You can't even read the controls!"

"Only because he was distracted, and you'll notice I'm flying us just fine." Finn said. "This time, I'll take control of both fields, merging them together so we can stream out of here together."

"And if you're wrong?" Scarlet asked.

Finn paused. "Katt and Rico survived. Look, it's either that, or let the Meridia go and fend for itself from the rest of that mess."

"Finn, Noir is on that ship." She said. "I don't … I can't lose him, not after all this."

"I understand, believe me; Kyra's there too." Finn looked at her. "So give me another option; please."

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she looked at Eri. "Weapons?"

"I … I'm not sure." Eri said, "Hell, I don't even know if this is the weapon's console. This could be life support for all I know!"

"Then maybe Jake should-"

She was interrupted as the ship shook again, this time much harder.

Staring down at his console, Eri muttered, "Okay, so this is the right console. Look, we can't take many more like that."

Scarlet was silent. Finn could tell she was weighing the consequences.

The Boss let out a laugh. "Hell, why not? Let's do it! I already spat in the Devil's face once."

Seeing Scarlet's small nod, Finn asked, "Amber?"

"They're working on it."

A crackle of static came from overhead as the ancient intercom came to life. Jake's voice, audible both from the comm station and amplified overhead said, "Attention passengers; our pilot is about to perform an incredible feat of daring, skill, and no small amount of insanity. Please place your tray tables in the upright position, fasten your seat belts, put your heads between your knees so that you are ready to kiss your asses goodbye in the event our capable pilot screws up."

"Thank you, Jake." Finn said, shooting a glare at Jake. "Your faith in me is overwhelming."

"Hey, I know you won't screw it up." Jake called back, his voice still on the intercom. "And if I'm wrong; hey; at least I won't be able to say 'I told you so'."

"Thanks for that." Finn muttered.

After a few moments, Amber said, "There; you should have control now."

A different part of the console lit up, indicating the remote connection was active, even if it was still written in old salarian. Nodding, Finn said, "Okay; here we go."

Free of the larger debris, Finn activated the FTL drives of the League ship and the Meridia. That was the easy part, however; it was simple to make sure the combined fields covered the entire ship.

"Looks like we left them behind." Mannon said, Jake's paws now on the sensor console as he helped her with the translation.

"That'd be nice." Finn said, not believing it for a second.

Sure enough, a series of beeps from the sensors indicated that some of their following was still doing just that.

"Maybe we can out run them in FTL?"

"And maybe butterflies will fly out of my ears." The Boss said. "They start shooting us now, we're gonna be in trouble. Finn, you gonna move this bucket or what?"

Finn didn't respond. He felt confident using the controls despite the fact he could read none of it, the field indicators indicated he was manipulating them both in the way he intended, but there was a problem; the stream wasn't coming. He stared until his eyes began to tear up, but still it refused to respond to him.

A few small shudders ran through the ship as their pursuers opened fire.

"Finn?" Eri said, worry in his tone. "Anytime now would be just fantastic."

"I'm trying!" Finn said, not daring to take his eyes off his controls. What was wrong? What was missing?

The stars, Finn realized; the Ulasomorf's front windows were visible from his pilot seat.

"Forward view!" Finn said, trying to ignore the shaking slowly grow more violent. "I need to see the stars!"

"What?" The Boss said.

"Just do it!" Scarlet said, panic in her voice as she looked at Mannon.

The viewscreen changed to the starfield. Finn stared directly at the center, his hands moving automatically as the stars sped toward them. In moments, he felt it the familiar burning sensation behind his eyes … and there it was; the edges of the mass effect fields generated by both ships. It was simple to merge them; almost like it was his mind moving them and not the controls.

He was ready, but even as he began to collapse the field, he realized he could see something else, something beyond the mass effect fields. Finn peered through the swirling colors now filling his vision, trying to make out what it was that lay beyond. It almost looked like a small thread, simply hanging in space. He had never seen anything like that while streaming previously. Part of him wanted to reach out and grab it, to pull at it and see what happened.

"Finn?" Mannon shouted, "They just launched another missile! We need to go now!"

"Right." Finn said, his voice a whisper. Gathering his thoughts, he checked the field, hazarding the quickest of glances at the console. As his gaze returned to the sight on screen that only he was truly seeing, he collapsed the field.

The Universe jumped into his vision. His fingers danced across the console, manipulating the field almost automatically as his gaze remained on the stars. The thread … it was still there, spinning slightly as they rocketed forward away from Tuchanka, away from the Saints and the Blood Pack.

Someone was shouting, but it seemed distant. The thread was so close that he was certain it couldn't be part of the viewscreen. If he waited just a few moments, if he hung on for just a few more seconds …

"Mister Cresste." Geral's voice whispered in his ear.

"Almost there …" Finn murmured.

"It's time to come back." Geral said, his kind voice piercing the single-minded determinedness that had overwhelmed Finn.

With no small amount of effort, Finn wrested his thoughts back to the console and quickly reversed their engines.

The universe seemed to grow almost impossibly heavy as the ship came out of streaming. After a few final moments of FTL slowing their velocity, the ancient salarian vessel slowed to a near halt.

Finn fell back in his seat and stared at the screen with bloodshot eyes. There were only stars now … but somehow, that was a relief.

He jerked slightly as a hand touched his shoulder. He turned to see the Boss staring at him, a strangely somber expression on her face.

"Back with us, are you?" She said, her gruff voice showing hints of concern.

Finn managed to nod. "Y-yeah, I'm good. Sherle?"

"Yeah, they're long gone." She said, concern on her face as well. "We're not even in krogan space anymore. I think it's safe to say we lost them."

"And the Meridia?"

"He's awake." Jake said into the comm console.

"Good. Sherle?" Kyra's voice was sweet music to his ears.

"Right." Mannon approached Finn and gave him a serviceable imitation of one of Kyra's bops right on his head.

Chuckling softly, Finn said, "I deserved that."

"Damn right you do. Now let go of the Meridia so we can dock." Her voice softened as she said, "And meet me at wherever that ship's docking port is, so I can give you the bop-free greeting you really deserve."

"As you wish, milady." Finn said, a light blush in his cheeks.

Glen walked onto the bridge wearing her usual cheery grin.

"Hey, ya'll." She said, her Headache-covered hands behind her head. "Everything all right here?"

"Yeah, we're good." Finn said. The Boss was making exaggerated kissing faces at him, making him blush all the more.

"Wait!" Mannon said, alarm in her voice. "Councilor Raine! She's still on board!"

"Eh, not so much." Glen plopped down in an empty seat and propped her feet up on the next seat over. "I took care of it. With the other commandos tied up, it's safe to say we're in the clear."

After the few moments of silence that followed this announcement, Jake asked, "What did you do with her?"

"Councilor Raine?" Glen asked, sounding surprised at the question. "What do you think I did with her?"

"Killed her and stuffed her corpse in the airlock?" The Boss suggested with the casual air of one who had done far worse.

Glen considered this a moment before giving a carefree shrug. "Sure, let's go with that."

Many hundreds of thousands of light-years away, in the middle of a large city hidden in a massive forest on a small planet in a distant galaxy, Jek Korins and Lukan the Third, Purveyors, Owners, and accidental Destroyers of the Magnificent Magery, sat in a dank cell beneath Beedergrast Castle.

With a tired sigh, Lukan told his gnomish companion, "I told you it was too much sulpher."

"They wanted a big bang, they got a big bang." Jek said defensively. "Besides, you could've stopped me with those freakishly-long arms you've got."

A faint look of annoyance graced the refined features of the elvish sorcerer's face. It soon passed, however, and in a matter of moments, he let out another sigh.

"I guess that's it, then." He said in a glum tone. "We're stuck here."

Jek let out a snort. "Not likely. I've got a few reagents they didn't notice; I'm sure I can whip up something with these."

Lukan glanced over the gnome's shoulder and let out a snort of his own. "Beeswax, flax seed, a piece of ebony, and a piece of cubic zirconium. Let's see; we could change our skin color, give ourselves funny voices, permeate the air with the taste of peppermint, or create a brief enchantment to allow us to communicate with the cockroaches."

"Well … maybe they know something."

"They're cockroaches." Lukan said in the tired voice he used when Jek had a stupid idea. "I can hear them now; 'bright light is bad! I'm hungry! Let's have steamy cockroach sex!'"

Jek made a goofy face at Lukan, but didn't reply. With a sigh, he said, "Well, at least we have each other."

Lukan was considering whether he should use the ebony to puncture his ear drums or simply choke the gnome into unconsciousness when a smooth voice said, "Or you could help me overthrow King Theragul and free this kingdom from his oppressive regime before he turns this world into an ashen wasteland."

They both looked up as a woman emerged from the shadows. Their jaws dropped. In their travels, both Lukan and Jek had seen many different species: ogres, trolls, drow, warforged, and many more, especially in Jek, who regularly jumped dimensions. The woman who stood before them was completely new: the deep blue skin, the strange yet sensual fringe on her head where other species had hair, the oddly uniform markings on her face. The leather armor she wore seemed strangely clandestine on one whose appearance was so exotic. She looked young; in human terms, no more than twenty or twenty-five, yet her eyes belied an older mind, one that had seen no small amount of sorrow.

"Will you help me?" She asked, hands on her hips.

Lukan and Jek exchanged looks before nodding in agreement.

She smiled, her beauty again dazzling them both. Without another word, she held a hand on front of the lock of the cell door, and seemed to pulse with blue energy. Lukan barely had time to yank Jek out of the way before the cell door was knocked off of its hinges. With a swift gesture, the door stopped in midair and slowly rested on the floor.

"My apologies." She said, a slight blush in her cheeks. "I didn't expect it to break so easily."

"Wow!" Jek said, grinning at her. "That was natural magic!"

"Magic?" She said, her hairless eye ridges raising slightly in askance. "I suppose you could call it that."

"Our equipment …" Jek began, only for her to cut him off.

"I've secured it. Follow me."

"Wait a moment." Lukan said, holding out a hand to stay their mysterious benefactor. "Who are you? Why are you helping us?"

"I help you because sometimes, you need help if you want to change the universe." She said, a strange smile on her face.

"And your name?" Jek asked, a quizzical look on his impish face.

She paused a moment, her smile widening ever so slightly. "Thea. Thea Raine."