Interlude III - Sailors of the void

Disclaimer

Starcraft is the property of Blizzard entertainment.

Mass effect is the property of Bioware.

Any elements used in this story are used only in order to create a story for no monetary gain nor do I claim any ownership over them, beyond the names and characters unique to this story.

Quarian frigate - Kai'Tonkar

Exandra.

She was being escorted along the crammed corridors of this alien vessel.

The reduced size coupled with all the things they had cramped in meshes on the roof made it so she had to crouch for most of the short trek.

The protoss also saw that the places where she was made to travel were devoid of any other aliens which perplexed her.

They stopped in front of a door, Exandra turned to ask her escort what they were doing there but the leader of the group made her intentions clear.

"Get in there" the alien ordered as she motioned for the door with her weapon.

All protoss were psychic by nature, this allowed them to interact with most species while not being able to communicate orally and as such they were proficient in reading the thoughts of other races. And as such, Exandra was disappointed to find that her rescuers were not so fond of her presence, as most of them began to think things like *What a waste of resources* or *Will we lose a clean room for this?*.

One of those thoughts was made true, because as she entered the short corridor that led to another room a sort of primitive decontamination process began.

As it finished she entered the relatively small space and found that only two chairs and a table were made available to her.

She could see that the chair would buckle at the weight of her armor and that of her tall figure for it was not made for a being as big as her.

Exandra kneeled next to one of the chairs and used her gauntlets to microfuse some of the joints of said chair so it would hold her weight.

It was done in mere seconds. The chair would hold her weight while it would still remain uncomfortable to her.

Surrendering to fate, she sat and waited for the aliens to send their leader so she could speak with whoever came.

She looked around the room as time was something she now had.

It was a repurposed surgical room as she could tell by the few things that were left behind and the massive glass that must have led to some sort of observation room where her interrogator would most likely be.

Though most of what had been here before was hastily moved to another part of the ship in order to safeguard themselves from whatever she may have been carrying. She guessed this as they would most likely wish for any part of the ship where she had been to be sterilized and purged of any pathogen she may have carried.

This was made clear to her as most of the marines that escorted her here were filled with thoughts of dread as to what she may be carrying and were grateful to know that they would be sterilized as well.

Unknown to them she was carrying no pathogen whatsoever as she spent most of her time making diagnostics of the abandoned vessel and found that with its environmental generators dead, all cellular life had died on that vessel

And she knew that the environment of the Ihan-rii ships were somewhat like the designs of her own people since they also shared with them a sterile environment due in great part thanks to the long journey through space that her people indulged themselves in.

In the case of the Ihan-rii she knew this was made by design as they would not tolerate an outbreak after their release from stasis and of the latter she was taught by her father that with such a vicious enemy like the zerg they could not allow any sort of virus from their species to remain in their vessels as they would alert the rest of the hive mind to their location.

And regardless, her system had a great amount of months to purge any trace of any bacteria or virus that may have lingered in the abandoned vessel all the same.

Exandra reached for any mind that could be within the short range present to her untrained psychic powers but found that most adjacent rooms were empty of any life form and most were keeping their distance from where she was.

But some began to approach her position in a cautious manner as she sensed their presence in the distance.

She could not make clear how many of them were but she could sense that they weren't that many.

Exandra waited for them impatiently.

These aliens would be her passage to getting out of her predicament and returning to her people.

She did not have that much astronomical expertise but with a select series of stars she knew by coordinates alone she could in theory trace the location of the Ihan-rii fleet where the Khalani and Nerazim took refuge.

The figures were now approaching the next room.

Her interrogation would begin shortly.

She began to calm herself.

What she said and what these aliens wanted would dictate her fate.

Gael'Jonar vas Kai'Tonkar.

"Is your report accurate?" asked captain Gael to his subordinate Xila'Gerrel.

"Yes sir. This creature will most likely speak directly into your mind. I advise that she remains in quarantine until we know what-" Xila's words were interrupted as her captain turned to face her.

"I am aware of your concerns, Xila'Gerrel. But as your captain I have deemed it appropriate to humor this alien and learn if there are any more of them out there" Gael left it completely clear that even though she was directly related to one of the fleet admirals, he would not tolerate insubordination on this matter "Nevertheless. Your presence in this talk is to be expected".

"But why?" she asked in surprise and Gael just raised an eyebrow at the sudden outburst "Pardon my insubordination captain. But what would I add to this interrogation".

Gael sighed "This isn't an interrogation. It's first contact" the captain motioned for her to follow as they approached the door that would lead them to the observation room "Even though this is a military vessel I do not wish to endanger the rest of my crew if this alien turns hostile due to mistreatment".

"Then why would you allow her aboard?" Xila remarked with a fair point.

"In contrast to leave it adrift so the batarians or the turians can find her?" Gael asked in a rhetorical manner "Would you subject any of our people to a fate at the hand of those slavers and murderers?".

Gael hoped that the girl would understand that a matter of leaving anybody behind was a taboo the quarians solemnly broke and one that Gael would never dare to make.

"See it with some pragmatism…" Gael began "If this alien's race has anything of value to offer to the fleet then it would most likely be in our interest to return one of their own to them".

Xila sighed at this last comment "Understood, captain" she continued to follow.

The pair entered the observation room after the decontamination process had concluded and laid eyes upon the alien.

Gael turned to Xila and nodded for her to proceed.

The marine approached the microphone that would allow them to speak with the alien.

Gael saw that the alien wasn't looking at them but as Xila began to approach the microphone, it turned its head to look directly at him.

"Testing… can you hear us?" Xila asked.

(Yes… I can) a voice answered inside of his head. It would seem as if Xila was right.

"Good" Xila moved aside and gestured for him to approach the microphone "Don't worry. She doesn't bite".

"Kheela" he sighed for his only aid in this endeavor was a child "I am captain Gael of the Kai'Tonkar. Who are you?".

He waited for the aliens to answer (...) He heard a as she pondered something (I am Phase-smith Exandra of the Khalai cast).

None of these words meant anything to him except for two…

Phase-smith, she must be some type of engineer.

And cast, he was probably the only quarian aboard this vessel who knew the meaning of this word…

Before he was made captain of this vessel he had served aboard the light cruiser Tonbay. There he had served under the captain of said vessel and current members of the admiralty board: Shala'Raan vas Tonbay.

She was strange for quarian standards, of all the admirals in the board she was the one who always negotiated with other races for passage and she deemed it her mission to teach the younger quarians how to barter for things.

Raan had told Gael once that the reason as to why she was well versed in how other races thought was mainly so she could know their reactions and how they would think while interacting with the migrant fleet.

She acted as a moderator between the different interests of the migrant fleet while also being an intermediary with any officials that were sent by the council or whatever star system they so happened to be in.

She had mentioned this concept to him while telling him of a certain culture found amongst the newest players in the galactic stage: the humans.

The word apparently described a system by which people were immediately linked to a distinct fate after being born with no chance to ever change his or her standing nor any power being given to any but those born on the higher casts.

To him this word was slavery all but in name.

(I don't see it as slavery) the voice answered to his surprise (It might be seen as such by those that do not share our unique… perspective) the alien said while looking at him directly.

Gael turned to his subordinate and saw that she was nodding "It seems that I was right. She can read our minds" Gael cursed his luck as any secret he might hold could compromise the fleet.

"Keep her in quarantine, I will contact the fleet and ask them to…" Gael was interrupted by the alien.

(Wait!) Exandra the alien called (I-I…) she clenched her fist (I need your help).

Gael turned to Xila as he wanted some input into what to do.

Xila just shrugged.

Damn it.

"Help with what?" Gael asked.

(I… I want to go back home) Exandra said in a sad tone (I don't know where my people are and I… I don't know how to get back to them).

Gael knew she was most likely trying to get some pity out of him, but knew that any sort of action without the approval of the fleet would be seen as treason and could get him exiled.

"Hmm…" he pondered what to do "I cannot promise any help at the moment but I won't leave you marooned if that is what you fear".

He turned to Xila and motioned for her to leave since the alien had been proved to be cooperative so far.

The marine nodded and left the room.

"... Now that we are alone I need to ask some questions…" Gael said to her after he made sure that Xila was out of decontamination "What are you?".

(I'm Exandra of the…) the alien was interrupted.

"Not who you are. I meant WHAT you are" Gael crossed his arms.

(...) A sigh was heard. Why? He did not know this (Protoss…).

This was the name of a race he had never heard about…

"I have never heard of such a race… do your people have a home?" He said while not expecting what her reaction was.

(No… we lost it) he could hear sadness in her words once again (The only thing my people had left is each other… like yours).

…

Gael had not mentioned the state of his own people.

Was she prying into his mind?

(I-I'm sorry. I did not know what… who you were) she paused for a moment (I was scared of what you were going to do to me) the alien shrinked in her seat as she confessed this to the captain.

…

Grow a heart but lose your spine…

"..." Gael sighed "I will contact the only person amongst my people that can help you, but until then you will remain in this room" he said as he wanted to turn and leave.

But Exandra had one final thing to say (S-since you are aiding me…) she shook her head at her own words (Nevermind).

"What did you wish to say?" Gael asked.

(...) another pause (Would you allow me to aid your efforts?) Exandra asked.

"Help what efforts?" Gael asked her inquisitively.

(I-I am proficient in fixing machines. My work can be seen in the transponder I repaired… the one on the ship) she said.

This was true. Before coming to the meeting he heard the report on the investigation of the derelict vessel and found strange and odd information.

For one, the thing about her proficiency in repairing machines was true, as most of the vessel had been patched to a semi functional state but due to the lack of a power source the vessel remained inactive at the moment.

Another detail about the report that scared the captain a little were the corpses that were found in that vessel and the presence of a quarian amongst the two made him a little apprehensive to the intent of the al… protoss.

Regardless of that, the vessel could be salvaged by the fleet with most instruments working, after it had only been refueled of course.

"Hmm…" Gael began as he wished to ask one more thing "Do you know who the people in that vessel were?".

(No…) Exandra answered (Who… what was the blue alien?)

This surprised the captain, most people in the galaxy knew that species "She was an Asari, we don't know who she was".

Exandra began to nod (So she wasn't a terran… Thank you, captain).

"We will send something later to see if you can aid us. Until then you shall remain here" Gael nodded to the alien and departed the observation room.

He found Xila waiting for him outside of the room "Does she intend to sell us to the batarians?" she joked.

"Be serious Xila. We don't know what she intends to do" Gael said while angry at her subordinate "I would have you clean the floor of the ship but something tells me you would somehow find that more enjoyable than doing your actual work".

"Words hurt, my captain" Xila said while faking hurt.

"Can it, marine" Gael said as he instructed her to follow.

But one thing from the conversation remained with him…

Terran?

Some time later

Adir'Jonar nar Kai'Tonkar

"Move, Rema!" Little Adir pushed his twin sister as she moved clumsily through the vent.

"Leave me alone, Adir. You had your suit first. It's not fair!" Said little Rema as she finally managed to turn that evil corner.

"It's not that. You are just fa-" he could not finish his insult as Rema kicked the side of his helmet "AUCH!" he screamed in pain as his head recoiled from the strike "YOU ARE SO MEAN!".

"Bleh" the atmosphere of her suit was not so tinted so Adir could see as she stuck out her tongue "Come on. I want to see why the adults are so afraid" the little quarians continued to crawl through the vents as they approached what Rema had called 'the forbidden zone'.

(Eerie…) he did not know why but his brain had agreed.

"We would be there already if you weren't so-" Adir was interrupted again as he crashed into h¡s sister's back side "Hey, what's the big idea?!".

"Shhh… I'm looking" Rema said as she tried to see if somebody was in the room they wanted to enter "There's no one. You are up, nerd" Adir hated it when she called him that.

(That's mean) his own brain agreed.

"Move then, peabrain!" he replied in turn and pushed his sister out of the way.

(That's also mean) he knew this, brain. But she was also mean.

Rema moved further into the vent and clumsily turned to see her brother work.

In their way stood a small shield that prevented small particles from entering the room they wanted to investigate.

He had been clutching a screwdriver he had stolen from his father's workshop and began to remove the screws from a small panel and after he had removed said panel while still clutching the screws that he would return later.

In front of him were three cables, one red, one green and one black. He needed to disconnect them in the right order so the shield would deactivate and their dad wouldn't catch them.

There was just one tiny problem.

"How did the song go?" Adir asked as their mother had taught them a secret code through a nursery song that told them how to deactivate most barriers on the ship, but impatient Adir could never memorize how the rhyme went.

"Hmm…" Rema tried to remember but Adir wasn't sure she would get the right one "Was it the one about pink sand and purple skies of the homeworld?" he would have facepalmed himself if he didn't need the suit.

"No! The one about the worms!" Adir said this as he failed to recall the memory "Mom taught us the secret when she was talking about worms…".

(Hmm…) What were you thinking, brain?

Images of small worms began to flood in his mind

The worms began to change colors until black, red and green ones remained. The black ones unborrowed and left while the green and red ones unborrowed as well and began to push each other. Two times this happened and the first time the red ones had won and they began burrowing where the black ones had been. The second time the green ones had won and borrowed back where they were.

"..." Adir knew what to do "Remove black, wait and then remove red and green, put red where black was and return green to where it was" the shield deactivated and the two children celebrated.

"You did it!" Rema began to hug the head of her brother with one arm for a moment before she inched forward "Let's see what they hid in here" she said as she began to struggle with the vent grid while Adir replaced the small cover he had removed.

They managed to lower themselves onto a table that was slightly below the vent from where they came and as they examined the darkly lit room they saw a big window to the right of them in a manner from which they could not see what was beyond it.

"Come on" Adir said as he jumped from the table and helped his sister lower herself as she was struggling a little with this. And after they were on the floor he turned towards a corner of the room "Help me push that box!" Adir asked his sister to help him with the box and together they began to push it until it was next to the window.

With help from Rema, Adir got up first and began to help his sister until he made the mistake of turning his head and saw what was at the other side of the window "AHHH!" he screamed as he let go of his sister and she fell to the ground.

"OUCH!" she said as she fell flat on her butt "ADIR, YOU JERK!" she tried to reach for him but she couldn't reach him on account of how short her little arms were.

"Sorry" he reached for her and helped her up as the initial surprise was now gone. She punched him on the shoulder after they were both atop the box "I said I'm sorry" he rubbed his suit where she had struck.

"I wouldn't need to punch you if you hadn't dropped me" Rema glared at him "I mean what did you even… see…" she paused as she turned to the window and finally saw the weird creature.

A tall figure with glowing eyes stood next to a table in the center of the room. It was like nothing the kids had ever seen before.

"It's so tall!" began Rema (No, You are just tiny).

"It doesn't have a mouth. How weird!" said Adir (It's not that weird).

"Look. Gold. The alien must be rich!" screamed Rema as she pointed a finger (Rich?).

Adir began to murmur "Silence brain. I'm looking at the alien" the alien raised an eyebrow.

Wait.

"I mean how can it even speak?" his sister asked (Like this) "Like what Adir?".

"Em… I didn't say anything" Adir said as he began to realize what was happening.

"Yes you did!" Rema accused him.

"No I didn't!" he defended himself.

"All right, genius. If you didn't speak then who was it? The thing with no mouth?" she asked without expecting an answer from said alien.

(Yes) Adir heard his brain talk again in a more clear manner (It's not your brain or your brother. It's me).

Adir turned to see that the weird looking alien had somehow managed to sneak right next to them and was watching them from the other side of the window as she towered over them.

"AHHHHH!" the children screamed as they hugged each other since they were frightened by the sneaky alien.

But their fears were for not as the alien did nothing but stare at them…

"Adir?" his sister called to him "I'm scared".

"I won't leave you" Adir reassured his sister.

(Oh. I'm sorry) the alien moved back as she saw that she had frightened the children (I didn't mean to scare you) its two glowing eyes looked at the floor in what was most probably shame.

The two little quarians looked at each other before releasing each other. They looked at the weird alien until Adir stood up and approached the window

"Adir don't…" his sister tried to warn him not to approach but her warning was ignored.

"What are you?" Adir's question made the alien turn to see them once again.

(My name is Exandra, I am a Protoss) Exandra explained to the children who she was as she remained in place (Who are you little ones?).

Adir turned to his sister who was also glued to the window and pondered if they should just go back to their room or should they continue to talk with the weird looking alien.

Childish curiosity won out over caution.

"I am Adir'Jonar nar Kai'Tonkar" he waved at the alien called Exandra.

"And I am Rema'Jonar nar Kai'Tonkar" she also waved at her.

Exandra on her part just looked at her own hand and slowly moved it to wave back at the children.

(...) they heard a noise that imitated a hum (You must be siblings then) Exandra then took a step forward and looked at the small creatures in front of her (I am surprised your parents have not taught you to not talk to strangers) she said.

"What's a stranger?" Rema asked but in all honesty Adir did not know either.

Exandra looked surprised (A person who you have not met before or rather a person who is not of your family… a stranger).

"Like the crew of the ship?" Adir asked "But they always say that they knew of us since we were small".

(Smaller?) Exandra asked with a playful voice.

"We aren't that small!" Rema tried to defend herself and her brother "He means like when we were itty little babies. We are already nine!" she stood proudly while saying this.

Adir shuck his head at his sister's pride in being one of the youngest quarians to get their suit before adolescence as their case was an exception.

It was only because of their mother's request that the two little quarians had been given suits even if they were a baggy set.

(...) They heard a chuckle from the alien as she began to approach the window (I may be young compared to others of my kind but I can tell you that is not always a good idea to speak to strangers).

"Compared to your kind?" Adir asked in curiosity "How old are you?".

Exandra extended her hand and as the children were about to ask what she was doing their answer came in the form of a blue hologram that took the form of a tall triangle from which weird symbols and lines appeared (It would seem that yesterday I became one hundred and fifty years old. How strange).

One hundred and fifty?

"But you sound so young" Rema said incredulously.

(I told you I was young, but it is hard to believe that only twenty years ago I was just an adolescent looking forward to helping my father align the dissemination crystals of his gauntlets…) Exandra looked sad as she said this last part (What fond memories).

The twins looked at each other as they saw that their new friend was looking sad.

"Why are you sad? Adir asked.

"Is she sad?" Rema asked "But she isn't crying" the kids had been taught that crying meant somebody was sad.

(You could say I was, little ones) Exandra said while speaking kindly (You should return to your parents or they will be angry at you).

"Awww…" the twins said in unison, but they knew that mother would check on them soon and they needed to go back.

"Will we see you again?" Little Rema asked.

(If your parents don't catch you, then maybe) Exandra said while looking at the quarian children (Be careful when you get back and behave, little ones).

"Okay!" Ador agreed for the both of them and then went to help her sister reach the low hanging vent from where they came.

But just as they were about to crawl back to their room they were stopped by some final words from Exandra (Do not forget to reactivate the shield).

Rema looked at Adir as she expected for him to do so. He began to mumble "How do I…?" (Put the cables back in their place, I'm telling this only to you) Adir did as she had told him and indeed the shield reactivated without reactivating the alarm.

"Come on, Adir!" Rema began to guide him back to their room as she was the one who memorized the path back.

"Okay!" Adir answered.

To their luck, nobody heard as two small figures moved through the vents until they reached the captain's quarter and found that their mother had not returned from her visit to their father.

The next day they intended to meet Exandra again.

Gael'Jonar vas Kai'Tonkar.

He finally arrived at the bridge and went to a terminal in the back to the room reserved for the captain so he could communicate with other members of the fleet.

"Hope she is available" Gael murmured as the terminal began to dial his old friend.

—/ Connection established /—

"Hello, Gael?" The voice of Admiral Shala'Raan came from the terminal.

"Hello admiral Raan. Good to see you had some time" Gael answered with honest happiness to be able to talk to his friend "I will try to be brief, old friend…" poor choice of words.

"If Rael were near you he would remind you how I feel about being called old" Shala crossed her arms in childish anger as Gael had unknowingly insulted her.

"Sorry. I'd forgotten about… that" Gael coughed to continue "I didn't call you for pleasantries, Of that I would also like to apologize".

Shala raised an eyebrow "Oh? To what do I owe the pleasure then?" She asked the question.

Gael closed his eyes "I need your input as an admiral and of your knowledge of other races…" he scratched his visor in a nervous manner "Do you know of a race called the protoss?"

To be continued…