Chapter 21
As expected the last chapter cost me some followers and while it was a bit rushed and off at places I was at a loss how to fix it and it would have taken another week to fix it. As it was too long already since my last chapter I felt it was better to publish it sooner.
Next chapter will be ice cold as it will be on Noveria
Johnthekind, TheLastFedaykin, edboy4926 thank you for reviews
JeSauce here is the next chapter
Darlok, deacon94 and Zandaino-Nova-Ari thanks for holding in there, hope the story continues to be worth while
Rios I am back and glad for it
Torito05 I will keep considering your ideas as they are good
Vyktor things are changing and will be changing a lot, there's a big one starting at the end of this chapter
And lastly but most important Blaze1992 the improvement was all because of you buddy, thanks again for your help
This chapter has been reworked
Story start
The atmosphere over the next few days was tense as we made our way back to the Citadel, and the whole crew noticed. But I guessed Shepard ordered everything to keep silent on what happened in the comm room. Despite that everyone still noticed something was wrong, how suddenly the whole ground crew seemed reluctant to talk to me. Almost hostile in some cases. Even Gamora seemed...distracted, I only hoped that some downtime would help to resolve some of that tension.
Not that I could blame them, any of them. I had kept a massive secret from everyone, even if I had my reasons. Part of me was glad that I was found out when I was, their reaction was bad enough. What would have happened if they found out during just before Collector base if I was there...or worse during the Reaper invasion? Found out that I had been lying to them for years? I can't imagine finding out that someone you thought was a friend knew that such a horror was coming and never bothered to say anything. In fact it might even be a good thing that they found out when they did.
When we arrived on the Citadel, a pair of non-descriptive van arrived. In fact, they looked like ordinary delivery vehicles, two out of thousands that looked pretty much identical to them. When they landed in the cargo bay the salarians were quick to disembark, the salarians still in the med bay were carefully carried down. With how quickly it happened it was almost as if they were ready to move hours ago. Considering that they were the STG and how quickly salarians can process information I wasn't surprised.
Before we disembarked Shepard addressed the entire crew.
"For any crew not on duty feel free to explore the Citadel while we receive supplies. However, be aware that in eight hours we will be disembarking be sure that you are back on board by then."
By chance when I exited the Normandy there were already some of the ground crew there including Shepard, Liara, Gamora, Kaiden and Wrex. As soon as everyone saw me, a sort of tension filled the air. All except for Wrex who as usual didn't give a fuck or at least it appeared that way.
"I'm off to talk to a turian general that owes me a favour, the rest of you enjoy yourself just make sure you're back on board within eight hours." said Shepard before she entered the lift with Wrex and Kaiden.
I waited for the next lift along with Liara and Gamora, though to call them lifts wasn't exactly accurate. While they certainly acted like the lifts on earth that I was used to they functioned completely differently. Unlike those lifts I remember the lifts on the Citadel had more than one room or 'carriage' per lift, it was more like a train track or gondola than an earth elevator. While it looked like there was only one path up and down in actuality there were multiple passing around or over each other in a sort of circle while allowing the main stops to happen. In a way it made sense, imagine if there was only one compartment going down per lift. Even if each docking bay had its own lift it would take ages for a crew to disembark via the lift.
So instead of having to wait at least ten minutes to half an hour the next lift was only two minutes away or less. When the lift arrived we all climbed aboard.
"What are you two going to do with your time off?" I asked on the way down, and my question seemed to confuse Liara.
"Don't you know?"
"Know what?" I asked confused
"I'm sorry I though you knew." said Liara "Yesterday we both received an email saying our order was ready, I assumed that you got the same message."
Checking my emails I quickly found one from Qorach custom guns and armour saying my order was ready for pick up. I must have been so distracted over the last few days that I didn't notice it.
It took some time and a couple of lifts plus stairs, a lot of walking and even one or two wrong turns but we made our way to Qorach custom guns and armour. On the way it looked like Liara wanted to ask me something before deciding against it, entering the shop we were immediately greeted by Yarrick
"There you are, I was wondering when you were coming in. We have your order right here." said Yarrick pulling out a box
Inside were three objects, two looked like rapier hilts with a guard and a much longer hilt with the pommel and guard from a claymore. On the guard near the hilt were triggers, almost like the trigger of a gun.
"We had a lot of difficulty making these. First I was wondering how we could flash forge a blade large enough to be used as a sword and then how to deconstruct it later. Thank the spirits I thought to do some research on swords beforehand." said Yarrick
"What do you mean?" asked Liara
"The qualities to make a good knife or dagger are completely different to what a good sword needs. For example, a knife needs to be hard and sharp, and a sword on the other hand needs some flexibility in its core. Without that flexibility, it can shatter if it doesn't cut through something, something I imagine you wouldn't like to happen in the middle of a fight. It still would have been useful as a blade but the risk that one day you'll hit something and instead of going through it like expected it will shatter. Once I understood the difference I came up with this." said Yarrick
Picking up one of the hilts, the one with the claymore guard Yarrick presses the trigger. From the hilt springs a telescopic blade, each layer holding another inside of it until it was fully extended.
"The core is a titanium and alloy mix. Strong yet flexible, from this core will spring the actual omni-blade...just let me turn off the safety."
Twisting the pummel an orange-red blade springs out of the telescopic core surrounding forming a double-edged sword, the blade was roughly an inch long on each side, the centre or core was about the same. The telescopic core was the spine of the sword, the omni-blade was the edge.
"I thought you said what makes a good omni-blade would not make a good sword?" asked Gamora curiously
"That's only on large scale, on a small scale it's different. Instead of one single solid piece of omni-blade it's two much smaller layers around a core, in a way they counteract each other. The core is flexible, soft yet resistant to damage, and the outside is completely rigid and solid yet susceptible to breakage but unlike if the whole blade was flash forged only a large chip would form if it was unable to cut through a target.
Maybe larger a larger chip than what would appear on a traditional sword but significantly less than if the whole sword snapped into two pieces, one supporting the other. It is essentially a traditional omni-blade formed around a rod, the rod reinforces and supports the edge and the flash-forged edge is far sharper and harder than any traditional blade would normally be. Without the flexible core, it would be too hard but with the core it's perfect, without the edge it is merely a blunt core. As I said before a large omni-blade is too fragile.
The material used to make the blade is also stronger and sturdier than what makes up the usual omni-blade. To keep it in its proper form we have a mass effect field around it, you can adjust the field later if want to change the blade shape and size from thick and short to wide and narrow. You can even make it blunt but I wouldn't use it for sparring though, the blade would still be bloody hot.
When you're finished just pull the trigger again and the blade will be pulled back into the core before the whole thing folds back up." finished Yarrick as he demonstrated it before handing it over to me
Making sure it was pointed away from anything important a pulled the trigger. The sword only took a few seconds to fully form, around the speed it would take to form a normal omni-blade. Something I was grateful for, if I was ever surprised I could pull it out, press the trigger and it would be ready mid swing. Another thing that occurred to me was
'Holy shit this is like a cheap lightsaber.' I thought to myself 'I can't wait to try it out.'
That however made me think of something else
"...How much does this all cost?" I asked with some worry getting a sign from Yarrick. While close I haven't yet completed my next movie script, I only have the left over from my first script plus what I'd saved over...around five weeks? That we'd been hunting Saren that I'd been with Shepard I had just over 4,650 credits.
"Let me guess low funds?" asked Yarrick, getting another sign when I nodded
"The good news is that these have a lot fewer electronics and tech in them than standard omni-tools carry, the only real tech going into them are high-quality fabrication units, a small cleaning program and a VI to warn you when they need a full cleanout. But there's also a lot of work and material gone into them, for your one it will be 4500 credits, for the others it will be 2800." answered Yarrick
"Why the differences in prices?" asked Gamora
"Callum's blade uses significantly more material to form the blade due to it being double-sided, we encountered some problems making sure it could form the blade quickly enough and be able to store that material. The rapiers however use a lot less and are a bit more simple they also only have one fabricator while Callum's has to have two, one for each side." answered Yarrick handing Gamora and Liara a handle each.
"I can pay for that...just. I'll also get 150 credits worth of arrows." I said relieved, it may use up all my funds but at this point, it didn't really matter "What about you two?"
"While we were not on the best of terms even before this all started my mother is still a matriarch." answered Liara "Some of the digs I have been on were at least partially financed by me, I should have no problem paying for this."
"What about you Gamora?" I asked
"Shepard has been giving a small stipend for anything I need. However, I do not believe it will be enough for this." answered Gamora
"Would it be okay if it was put on my tab?" I asked getting a sign from Yarrick "I promise that I'll pay it off soon."
If I buckled down I could have the rest of the Starwars Script done and of to a producer by the end of today. Plus a few days to a week for them to get back to me.
"Normally I'd say no, no weapons or gear that hasn't been paid for. But as you share the patent with us it's not like you can run off without paying, we'd just take it out of your share from the next order. Though we were intending on using our share to invest in the company so it can grow. Pity that I don't think many people will be interested in melee weapons like yours though." said Yarrick idly "I know a few CQC turians that might be interested but that's it, and while some asari like their swords they tend to buy from their own companies that have been making swords for huntresses for centuries if not more."
"What about an armour version of it?" I asked thinking of tech armour, the only response I got was Yarrick slowly blinking at me
"...you know at times I'm not sure whether I should be grateful for meeting you and hearing all these ideas of yours or annoyed and all the time it takes to make them happen. But still, if we can make it work its value would be limitless. It can be used as a last resort, to recover or temporarily repair armour in the field until a replacement is possible. Have it just over or under the kinetic barriers to block shots, adding important protection where needed the most." said Yarrick finally
"Though we don't have enough people working here at the moment though, Sheita has a niece that will begin her pilgrimage soon. Maybe we can have her do some work here, Spirits knows there's not many places where she'll get fair pay elsewhere."
"Maybe delay have her delay the Pilgrimage, at least for a bit. With Saren and the Geth out there the mobile nature of the fleet just might make it the safest place to be at the moment." I said, the last thing I wanted was that niece to be caught up in a battle as soon as she arrived on the Citadel.
Yarrick and Shieta's shop was reasonably fortified due to it being in the Wards and an armour and gun shop. They were also well armed because of that fact and from memory it was mainly the Presidium that was hit the hardest. Down here they should be far away from the worst parts...hopefully. Especially if we could raise the readiness of C-Sec before the geth came through the miniature relay.
"Maybe, but quarians tend to dislike delaying it for too long. Can send the wrong message about their working habits you understand." responded Yarrick. Implying that any quarians that unnecessarily delayed their pilgrimage could be seen as either lazy, self-centred or just lacked discipline.
When we left the store, our purchase in hand or in this case on our persons I wondered what to do even if we arrived back at the Normandy well before our eight-hour deadline we had a least five hours to fill.
"Does anyone have anything they'd like to do or any ideas on what to do?" I asked "Seems a bit of a waste heading back to the Normandy so early."
"Perhaps we could go get a meal?" queried Gamour surprising me "It would be...my shout I believe the term is?"
Seeing my surprise Liara answered Gamora
"It is. During or 'girl time' Shepard took us to a little bar/restaurant, as Gamora didn't have any credits so Shepard said she would pay for her or 'shout' her."
"I will admit I did not expect to enjoy myself as much as I did. I had only gone along because I thought it was expected of me. Instead, I learned that food can not only be eaten for its nutritious value but for actual enjoyment." said Gamora
"She had the cheesecake, it was...interesting to watch. I think we almost got thrown out, especially after Tali had the drone attack on that news reporter." said Liara
"Sounds good to me, lead the way." I responded. I would be good to have a decent meal after eating only basic rations for the last few weeks.
With Liara and Gamora leading the way we made our way back to the Presidium. Getting lost and turned around a few times we had to ask a nearby Avina to get back on track. Man I hated that VI, also...why was she naked? I know there was nothing to see but the casual and implied nudity for something that was supposed to be family-friendly threw me for a loop.
In the end we only had to ask for directions two more times before we made it to the small restaurant called Galaxies Edge. Despite it's fancy name the inside looked to be modelled after a typical earth pub. At the entrance, we were immediately greeted by a human host.
"Let me guess after more cheesecake? asked the man upon seeing Gamora before turning to me "Welcome to Galaxies Edge where we bring food from all corners of the galaxy to your table, here are your tablets. When you are ready please make your order, if there are any questions please come and see me."
Grabbing a tablet each we go to find a table, there looked to be about eighteen tables in total in different sizes and shapes. As we passed a few of the other patrons of the restaurant we seemed to gather a bit of attention, courtesy of being with the only known green asari in existence. One young asari girl who looked to be around 12 years old if she was human but was likely at least double that, point at her only for her mother to slap her hand down and shush her.
Taking a seat at one of the smaller tables we sit down and I immediately encountered a problem.
"How do I order?" I asked holding up the tablet confused
"Oh, of course you wou-." started Liara only to stop "You simply ask to order in your own language, the tablet then uses that language to know what language to display the menu in."
"I'd like to order?" I asked tentatively
Sure enough, the tablet displayed the menu in English. The menu was divided into multiple sections and I could order it either by menu type or by species of origin.
Usually, at times like this, I would go over the menu over and over again, however this time I decided to skip all of that and order a chicken burger with chips.
"I'll have the cheesecake." said Gamora
"Is that it?" I asked getting a look from Gamora
"What else would I need? The cheesecake is a delightful treat." said Gamora
"Maybe something to fill up on first?" I suggested "So you can enjoy the cheesecake for longer without feeling hungry."
"That is a good idea, I admit last time I may have been too...overzealous in my consumption of cheesecake." answered Gamora "What would you suggest?"
"I too admit that I would like to try an earthen dish." said Liara "As the Normandy is primarily human crew I think it would be a good idea and help increase my perspective of your race."
"Let me look through the menu." I said having a quick look
There was only one thing I could think of without spending too much time on it.
"How about the parma?" I suggested "It tends to be a great dish for most people."
"Then a 'parma' for each of us then." said Liara
"Actually in most cases, the parma is larger than an average single meal. I suggest that you could try splitting the meal, I can ask if you want. Even if you are still hungry you can still order something else afterwards."
"That would be agreeable, despite your suggestion I would like to leave plenty of room for cheesecake." said Gamora
Standing up I head back to the host.
"Can I help you?" he asked
"Yes, I was wondering how big the parma was?" I asked
"The parma?" asked the man confused "Oh you mean the chicken parmigiana, that's one of our favourite human dishes for most species. Aside from an occasional turian that is, as for its size it almost fills one of our larger plates."
"Would we be able to split it?" I asked
"That should be no problem, though it will carry a three credit surcharge for extra plates and time as well as five more credits for extra chips to round it out." answered the host
"Good, in that we'll have that along with my order." I requested "Plus whatever else they want to order."
"No problem, give us fifteen minutes and your order should be ready." said our host typing in a few things
Turning away I retook my seat at our table.
"The meal should only be only fifteen or so minutes away."
"What should we do in the meantime?" asked Liara
"We could make small talk?" suggested Gamora "I understand it's expected in this sort of interaction."
"What would you want to talk about?" I asked "That we couldn't talk about on the Normandy?" Hopefully, they got the hint
"I understand you are writing your own vids?" asked Liara
"I am." I answered
"May I ask what they are about?" asked Liara curiously
"The first was about a crew so close that they were all but family and were all into fast cars both to race and for heists. It's hard to describe why it's so interesting but it has a lot of drama and fast-paced skycar scenes. The other one is a lot easier to explain, it's about a galaxy far far away. One day a drone army starts to invade a planet. Two jedi, a sort of galactic peacekeepers were sent to the invading army in order to try and talk them down unfortunately that didn't happen."
As I continued to explain Star Wars, the Jedi...everything. I got to the point where they had just arrived on Tatooine when our food arrived. Taking a bit of the burger I almost cried as some garlic sauce dribbled down my chin. The chicken breast was grilled to perfection, the garlic mayo was heavenly and to top it off the tomato was nice and juicy and the lettuce was fresh and crunchy. How the restaurant could hold all the ingredients needed to make this dish as well as dozens of others, probably some off-sight storage if I had to guess. The burger came with the typical pub-styled chips which were a lovely golden colour, crisp and crunchy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside.
Stopping for a moment I looked at Liara and Gamora. While Gamora was already digging in Liara looked a bit more hesitant. I guess to her it looked a bit...messy, with its chicken base, tomato sauce with some basil or spinach leaves thrown it and covered with cheese with a side of chips.
"Trust me it's good, then again I don't know much about asari taste buds." I said trying to reassure her
Taking a bite Liara's eyes widened and she was quick to have a second.
"Despite its outside appearance, it's quite delicious. I've never tasted anything like it." said Liara
"It is even better than the lasagna that I tried on Pinnacle station." agreed Gamora
"You think that lasagna was good just wait till you try some of mine." I responded taking another bite
"You would cook for me?" asked Gamora surprised "I understood that it was typically the female's job to cook and clean?"
"It varies, I feel that most cases the duties should be split. If someone could cook better than someone else then they cook while someone else does another duty." I said
"Like how Garrus provides sniper fire while Ash covers with assault fire?" asked Gamora
"Pretty much." I agreed
As we continued to eat it wasn't long until someone else thought up another or in this case brought up a previous topic of conversation
"I'm interested in hearing more about this 'Star Wars' of your's how well is it going?" asked Liara "I would love to see such a unique story in person."
"Not as well as I would have liked." I responded "A big part of Star Wars is the unique species in it and how many there are. Unfortunately, my drawing is shit so I can't draw them correctly."
"If you like we can meld and you can show me what they should look like? N-not that kind of meld." offered Liara stuttering "As an archeologist, I've had to occasionally draw my findings when even scanning wasn't an option or allowed. So my drawing is somewhat decent."
"I can do it." interrupted Gamora quickly
Sharing a look with Liara I asked
"You sure?"
"Of course, all I would be doing is recording what I see onto another surface, it would also allow me to repay you for all you've done for me. If you like we could do the meld now?" offered Gamora
"Thank you but no. Let's wait till later." I suggested
A suggestion that seemed to please Gamora greatly
"Thank you." said Gamora sounding pleased with herself
After we finished our meal we ordered dessert, Gamora of cause went with her cheesecake, and Liara went with an asari dessert that looked a lot similar to a sundae but with a green syrup topping. As for myself, I went with a blueberry crumble with ice cream. All in all it was quite an enjoyable evening and I felt reassured in the knowledge that even if the rest of the ground crew was frosty towards me at least my friendship with Liara and Gamora was still there."
As Gamora ate her cheesecake she seemed to nearly shudder in delight. An action that seemed most unlike her.
After we finished we headed back to the Normandy we took our time getting there and took the scenic route. Despite how much extra time we took we still arrived nearly two hours before the deadline for take off.
"When would you like to meld?" asked Gamora as soon as we were aboard the ship getting a look from Liara.
"Can we, can we it someplace a bit more private?" I asked hopefully. While I knew asari had more than one type of meld and the one we would have was not intimate I still didn't want to do it in front of everyone.
"Of course." replied Gamora "Where would you like do it? The showers, elevator or cargo bay all should have adequate privacy."
"...the elevator should be okay." I said hesitantly after some thought. Doing it in the showers would just create gossip, the cargo bay was barely more private than the mess hall. That only left the elevator, with how slow it went it should give us enough time to do the meld without being seen...hopefully.
"I-I think I should head off to my quarters, I believe I am close to finding the identity of my father." excused Liara
"Already?" I asked surprised
"As I said before, there aren't many matriarchs on Ilium. In fact I think I might have found her but I've received no response so far." said Liara sounding conflicted
"If it helps, what I know of your father made me think she was good with actions, less so with words, feelings and emotions. If it is her she's probably scared." I offered
"Scared, why would she be scared?" asked Liara confused, Gamora as well.
"Her hundred-year-old daughter suddenly initiated contact with her. A daughter that as far as she knows doesn't know anything about her and a daughter she's barely had any contact with. She's probably worried that you might hate her, what you might have heard about her and worried that she might say the wrong thing." I offered
"What would you suggest?" asked Liara
"That you need help beating your little wings." I suggested "I partly remember having a conversation with you on the Citadel, how your mother was coddling your father just knew you would make a storm with your little wings." I suggested
"Thank you, I have to admit the thought of talking to my father for the first time has me a bit nervous." said Liara
"That's probably just how your father feels." I said
"I see, then what you said before makes sense. Thank you, I know if the situation was reversed I would be nervous." said Liara as she left for her quarters near the med bay
Speaking of nervous I was becoming quite nervous myself as Gamora and I entered the elevator by ourselves. In hindsight it might have been a good idea to have Liara chaperone what was about to happen next.
"Relax and let our minds become one." said Gamora as she closed the distance between us.
Placing her hands over my arms she pulls me close as her eyes turned pitch black and her forehead came to rest on mine.
What happened next was indescribable, I knew the theory behind an asari mind meld but nothing could have prepared me for the real thing...the pure serenity it created.
Two minds, two existences perfectly intertwined to the point it was hard to tell where one ended and the other one began.
For a moment, a mere moment I knew everything about her, how she started out as a blank slate, an empty book and how much she grew since then and how she has been slowly filling that book up. How a part of her was afraid that she'll be seen as nothing more than a drone. How a larger part was afraid they were right.
We weren't the only ones there though, there was another presence, much older, ancient in fact and was much more powerful...the Thorian. How I knew that I wasn't sure, my only guess was that Gamora was somehow...translating for lack of a better world, that information. The Thorian didn't seem to do anything, it just seemed to loom in the background like it was observing or studying me.
Remembering that we were doing this for a reason I tried focussing on Star Wars. Picturing the different characters and species as well as a few key scenes. I mostly tried to focus on the first Star Wars, the Phantom Menis but I was pretty sure bits of the other movies slipped in, Chewbacca, Han and the Millennium Falcon definitely did.
I was just going through everything and working out if there was anything else I should focus on when
"What are you two doing?" interrupted a voice causing the meld to break
Looking in the direction of the voice I could only think of one thing 'shit'
Right in front of the very open elevator doors were Ash and Solana. To make it worse we had also gained the attention of everyone in the cargo bay. Which, while wasn't a lot it was certainly enough to insure everyone on board will hear what's happening before the day ends.
I wasn't sure which one had asked the question but they both looked like they had the same expressions. Trying to work out if they should be getting angry and having a go at me or not. Something had happened and they wanted to know what it was, why it happens and more importantly was it something I should have been doing.
"Just a meld." I answered
"And why were you doing a meld and why were you doing it in the elevator?" asked Ash
"Callum wanted to do it somewhere more private than the loading dock of the Normandy." answered Gamora making me wince
'Damn it Gamora context!' I thought to myself before I hurried to say something before Ash and Solana decided to go with the angry option. Things were bad enough between everyone and me as it was.
"I mentioned that I've been having trouble drawing characters for my movies. Liara suggest doing a asari meld and then getting them to draw it, Gamora offered to help. I just didn't want to do it where everyone would see and start talking about it." I explained making Ash and Solana share a look
"You should have just done it in the mess hall, that way it wouldn't look like you were hiding anything. Not like that's anything new to you." shot Ash making me wince again
"Couldn't you just draw the characters yourself?" asked Solana wanting to change the topic
"I can't draw." I answered simply
"You can't be that bad." pressed Solana
"When I was in high school I tried drawing a guy surfing a wave. I ended up with a bird head and a flying man, and that's as good as it got." I responded "Which is weird as my grandparents on my mother's side were painters and sketchers."
"Okay then." said Solana as she and Ash entered the elevator
However, before the door fully closed Solana couldn't seem to resist making one more comment "Also, don't look so worried. From the girl time we had on the Citadel the last time we both know that if anything inappropriate happens between you two it was probably started by Gamora."
"Women, I don't think I'll ever be able to understand them." I thought out loud, even the almost total familiarity I had with Gamora mere moments ago was beginning to fade. "Also, what were they talking about?"
"During the 'girls time out' I made it clear to the other females my intentions towards you in order to find out any rivals I might have. Much to my surprise instead of becoming hostile they seemed eager to talk about it in great detail, some of them even going so far to give me advice about how I may capture your attention. Now if you don't mind I think it would be a good idea to start work on your drawings immediately." said Gamora
"Sure." I agreed, I really wished I knew what happened during that girl's time out, but then again maybe it was for the best I didn't.
While she went off to grab a tablet I continued to try and finish the Star Wars giving myself half an hour to try out my new sword when I felt like I needed a break. Unlike the rapiers used by Gamora and Liara which mainly used light, fast and sharp attacks my claymore was primarily about heavy attacks. While my new sword was lighter than my old one it was also significantly sharper, shape enough I hoped to make up the difference.