First day at work
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.
SVV Normandy - Engineering
Ekrork
He was terrified.
But he also wanted to live.
And now every action he made felt like it would be his last of his short life as the people of the vessel seemed like they were looking for an excuse to shoot him at any turn.
And Ekrork wouldn't blame them.
"Can you repeat to me exactly what you will be doing?" Asked the clearly old human as Ekrork stood at attention.
"Fix the light fixtures and then go clean the rifles" answered the batarian as he trembled slightly.
"And after that?" Continued chief engineer Adams.
"Ask Commander Shepard where I will be posted next" replied Ekrork.
"Good. Get to it then" the human dismissed him with a wave of his hand and frown that said that he wanted nothing to do with the batarian.
Ekrork nodded as he picked up the tools given for both tasks and left engineering as the other people continued to stare at him.
But he didn't care.
The kid began his work as he went around the cargo bay seeing if every fixture was properly mounted and the lights were getting the correct amount of current without any anomalies.
It was an arduous task.
But he didn't care.
As the other residents of that part of the vessel continued to stare at him and avert their eyes whenever he catched them looking at him, he continued with his work.
After a short while he was done with that part of the ship.
He moved to the crew quarters and continued to work even as humans began to spit insults behind his back.
But he didn't care.
And after a while he was done.
He intended to move to the upper decks but a person in charge of guarding the stairs informed him that part of the ship was off limits to him.
So he turned to the elevator and went back down to the cargo bay.
He could see that nobody was too pleased to see him there.
But he didn't care.
"I was told to help clean the rifles" he approached the female human who seemed to be doing said task to some of the weapons.
"You were ordered to clean those of naval security. These ones are of the ground team" she said in a cold tone as she pointed towards some lockers on the other side of the ship.
He nodded shilly while avoiding her murderous glare.
He approached the lockers that were next to a table and… him.
The gray alien.
Free batarians were only encouraged to learn about the other races as a way to identify which species were worthy of being enslaved by what he used to think was the superior race of the galaxy.
The propaganda from his government always painted the other species of the galaxy as primitive, uncivilized and weak species. Only worthy of being enlightened by the truth the hegemony knew.
They were taught from childhood that their species was the dominant one in the galaxy by distinguishing traits such as their four eyes or their supposed larger brains.
But he knew better now.
Not only did this creature dig through his memories without a second thought but he could most likely hear what he was thinking.
Better not think about anything around him…
"Are you going to work or what?" He heard the human call from the other side of the bay as he just stood while staring at the lockers.
He ignored the stare from the gray gigant and began to make as he was asked.
As he took every gun and inspected them he began to see that their design was… good.
He knew nothing about Alliance equipment since the Hegemony tended to prefer their own designs over whatever the other races could create… but something about this rifle felt familiar.
As he began to disassemble the compressed barrel and stock he was left with a piece that was known to him.
As he was 'conscripted' into the army of his family's murderer, he was given a rifle that apparently was the edge of technological development according to the Hegemony.
The rifle he had been given that day was made in the pattern of batarian manufacturing. Welded with crude and misplaced solder, he could see that the supposedly better rifle he had been given was made from botched parts from this alliance one.
And to add insult to injury, he could see that the rifle he was examining was dated and old.
But it had been taken care of farely well.
…
He stopped his meandering and began to clean each rifle earnestly as he ignored the alien next to him who had been quiet so far and only pointed to some weird junk in the table while a floating sphere beamed some light into said junk.
But as he continued with his task his mind began to wander towards the other residents of the vessel…
Of all the humans in this vessel he could think of, he was particularly concerned about three: the angry woman, a soldier who had given him a cold stare while he was being introduced to the other people and the Commander himself.
Of the angry one he had only one word who would describe his feelings towards her: bitch.
Ekrork knew little about most races but he originally found the mention of humans or their presence in general… vexing.
As he was made a slave he understood that their crying and screaming had been done with good reason.
Of the cold one he dared not think. Something told him that whatever the gray alien was capable of, the other human would most likely be able to do something similiar or far worse.
At least that's what he thought.
Of the Commander he only thought one thing: he was a fool.
How could he forgive his transgressions so easily?
…
Ekrork shook his head as he finished with one rifle and moved onto the next one…
Then there were the non humans.
Of the turian he had little to say. A cold and calculated stare had trailed his movements for most of his stay until Ekrork was certain that whoever he was did not see any threat in the batarian. That smug bastard would be making a mistake if Ekrork didn't value his own life now.
The krogan was certainly the one he would stay away from the most. A hulking beast that had almost ended his existence twice. Ekrork wanted vengeance for this slight by the brainless mut.
He had seen many of the blue bitches in his relatively short life. While the idea would sound preposterous to most, he had actually seen many of her race enslaved by batarian masters on the colonies of the hegemony.
He did not know what was the purpose of this one asaris but he was at least 75% certain that her race was not fit for battle.
Maybe her purpose was another…
No.
He had only seen her with a bloody wound, this meant that she had been sent into combat purposely.
He may be wrong after all.
And of the suit rat he could only think how repudiated he was by her mere presence.
Those fuckers create murderous drones and her species doesn't get exterminated? Bah!
And then there was that gray…
A tapping noise caught his attention.
He turned to his right and found that the gray bastard was staring at…
(Did you by any chance forget that I could hear all you were thinking?) The voice of the alien blasted into his head.
Fuck.
The stupid bastard heard everything.
"I swear, I…" he was cut mid sentence by the alien.
(I am only talking to you. None in the bay know of this…) the words of the creature were proven true as the other people in that room continued with their work without caring (I advise that you keep that kind of thinking in the furthest reach of your mind, whelping. You are not amongst friends and you would be a fool to think that Shepard will come to your aid should you anger any of them if you spoke your true feelings on them).
…
Then what about you?
(I do not care) he said plainly.
Ekrork turned to his duties and continued cleaning the rifles.
He… didn't care.
Xiltar
The protoss looked down on the creature next to him and after a moment of analysis, he left the whelpling's mind to his own devices.
He shifted uncomfortably with the cast on his right arm still restricting his movements to his grave disappointment.
It was because of this that his tasks on this vessel had been reduced to standing around and complying with Shepard's request.
Keep an eye on the kid.
He had no alternative since everything else was out of the question for him.
This task had been left to Kaidan, Garrus and himself after the sister of the Commander had departed their brief meeting.
He had originally thought that such a task would be tribal to say the least but by the ancestors this kid had no sense of self preservation.
One wrong word to any individual would mean his end and he almost invited such an event by his attitude alone.
He really needed to keep him away from half of the ground team at this point.
-We are ready to proceed on your orders, Wayfarer- said Dot as the protoss was nearing the end of his introspection.
(Proceed) Xiltar commanded the relic to stars the task that they had planned for the artifact and the relic began its task.
The holding cell for his gauntlet was beyond usable since the chamber itself had been degraded and as such the blade could not be used as he had been trained in eras past…
The mode of combat he had been taught was one that demanded close engagement both physically and mentally. This posed a problem to him as his gauntlets were now useless to do such a task.
So the machine suggested an alternative…
One that Xiltar found strange.
On the table stood the scraps of his now useless gauntlet along with the other one which had not even survived the transit to this universe.
Select parts of his bulky armor were also discarded into this pile as only the shield generator in his chest armor held any true value for protection now and since said shield had been repaired by the machine earlier that day he now was left with a lot of pieces made from the metallic alloy that held a significant amount of something far more valuable.
Living stone.
The ultimate secret of his people and the only reason he wasn't worried about the younger races being able to reverse engineer his people's technology.
A mysterious substance that was used for the construction of most Ihan-rii weapons, vessels and buildings. This substance was created from a process he knew all too well and was utterly revolted by its… conception.
He was thankful that he only needed this amount while the other metals from his discarded armor parts would do the trick.
(Show me the design once again) the protoss commanded as he saw that Dot had extracted all the living stone and condensed it into a pile of dust.
-As you command- the orb complied and began to show a hologram of the new weapon he would forge for the protoss.
A glaive.
Or at least it's head for the moment.
While most pieces of his gauntlet were now but useless scrap, one of the most important parts still remained in decent condition: the emitter.
With only this and the crystal he would be able to forge a void blade once again. But regardless of his capacity to build such a thing there was still the problem that he could not house the volatile energies of the blade while it was mounted on his wrist.
But if it was mounted on a particularly long staff with a modified housing chamber…
The blade would be emitted in the manner of an arch while following the direction imposed to it by the emitter.
He should be able to hold such a tool with his hand if he was to be careful but it's was still better to search for materials for the rest of it whenever he was able to.
Regardless, the materials that now stood on the table would be used by the xel'naga artifact to create the base components for the housing chamber.
While he would still need to search for materials to make the staff later he guessed that nobody in the vessel would miss a pipe or two.
Scratch that, the engineers would know that it was missing and she would be able to tell he had it if the quarian investigated her companions thoroughly.
-Priority advice. Will proceed with the task when the rest of the crew leave the immediate area- the yellow phantom of Greed told as he eyed the rest of the crew who were giving him glances every now and then.
(...) He grunted to himself and turned to see the state of the rest of the crew.
As he was careful to comb through the mind of each of them he saw that most were entering that state of starvation that would later dawn into them going for sustenance.
He only needed to wait a little longer before they all went towards the mid section of the ship.
He turned to Wrex, who had been watching the meanderings of the bay while half interested.
(Transform the materials into what you need and begin its construction after we leave) he began to order the machine privately as he began to move towards the Krogan (And do so with care. Should you turn the metals to slag we won't be getting a second chance).
-As you command- Dot said while he stayed in stand by mode as he condensed the dust into an orb.
(Wrex) Xiltar said as he approached the krogan (I wish to speak with you).
The krogan turned to meet his gaze "What do you want?" Xiltar could sense that the krogan was far more irritated than normal.
He could also see that the mounted corpse of the zergling rested next to him…
Xiltar shook his head (I wished to return this) he reached into the compartment at the back of his suit and extracted the knife that Wrex had lent to him.
Wrex grabbed it with a frown and began to examine it…
"Worthless junk" he whispered this, but the care with which he handled and stored the marked blade betrayed his true concern with the weapon.
(What is the story…) Xiltar was interrupted.
"None of your concern" he retorted while angry "If what you wish for is a story then go ask the quarian or the turian".
(Both are occupied with their duties, Urd- Wrex) Xiltar corrected himself before turning towards the batarian (What's your opinion on the kid?).
Wrex snarled "I do not care. Never met a batarian who did not end up being a pain in the ass" at least the honesty was appreciated.
(I see…) Xiltar began hesitantly before he mentally sighed (At least he won't be dying soon).
"Are you joking?" Wrex asked honestly but with a tinge of mockery "He will be lucky to survive the week at all".
(...) Xiltar frowned as Wrex said this (I guess I should have refused Shepard's request).
The krogan smiled "He asked you to look out for him, right?" He crossed his arms with a smug sense of superiority.
(Yes) the protoss replied honestly as he would not grant him the satisfaction of shame.
Wrex huffed as his provocation went unanswered "What a waste of time. Batarians are nothing but outcasts who cry about their own situation as if it wasn't their fault" Wrex bellowed this a little louder so the kid could hear him.
(...) The protoss turned towards the batarian and saw no sign of distress on his mind. He did not even react to the direct insult (He doesn't care).
"And I should?" Wrex asked in annoyance, but as the protoss took his time to respond he began to worry "What's gotten into you?".
…
(Nothing) Xiltar tried to divert the conversation towards another topic (I see that you chose that hound as your trophy).
Wrex smiled and turned to the idly mounted corpse "If there were any of the bigger ones out there then I would see that another is mounted on my mantle".
Xiltar chuckled inwardly (You may get a chance one of these days) this statement only managed to put a smile on the krogan.
But then Xiltar thought of something…
(Would you be able to help me with my own trophy?) Xiltar asked.
"You got something from there?" Wrex smiled at the protoss "Aren't you a sneaky one?" Xiltar nodded approvingly at Wrex's words.
(I intended to fashion them into adornments. But as you can see…) he turned to his broken arm.
Wrex began to scratch his chin "Maybe I can help… but I will have to do it later" the krogan began to make his way towards the elevator.
Xiltar moved aside and looked as the krogan departed.
The other members of the team saw that he was leaving in the elevator and rather than staying and wait for it to come back they left alongside him.
He was left alone in the cargo bay.
Alone save for Ekrork.
(You are not going?) the protoss wanted to be left alone as he wished to see how his new weapon would be forged.
"I… No" the batarian had already finished his task and was twitching to do something else but Xiltar could see that the kid actually was starving.
(...) Xiltar made a noticeable grunt (Your presence in this place is no longer required) he said flatly.
"I don't… No" the batarian said once again as he did not care for the protoss' intimidation.
Xiltar felt annoyed by this.
He hoped that something would take the kid off his hands.
The elevator opened once again but this time it was Shepard who came out of it.
"Kind of disappointed to see that you both are here" Shepard said as he addressed the batarian and protoss "Won't you be joining the rest?".
(Not sure…) Xiltar replied drily as he looked at the Commander.
Shepard shook his head and then approached the batarian "Refusing isn't an option in your case. Are you coming?".
Ekrork looked down to his neatly stored tools and seeing as he had finished his duty there, he nodded to the Commander.
"Perfect. Wait for me here" Shepard turned towards engineering and left both aliens perplexed.
What was he…
Oh.
(Child Ekrork. Pay close attention to what I am about to say) he turned to the batarian (Whatever you do, do not insult the girl if you want to keep your eyeballs in their sockets).
"W-why? Is she important to the Commander?" The kid asked.
(Not because of him. Rather…) he placed his free hand on his shoulder (The only reason she hasn't shot you is because the Commander ordered her not to).
Xiltar sensed as they both approached.
(Do not speak of this warning) Xiltar said while removing his hand and quickly turning around to watch as the other pair entered the cargo bay.
Xiltar could feel that the quarian wasn't pleased to see him next to the kid.
By the Xel'naga, what had he gotten himself into?
Afterword.
What's about to happen? :v
/°\