The alarm went off at 0500 but Castis Vakarian had already been awake for almost an hour.
His bed was made, his desk was cleared, and his morning exercises had been rigorously completed. Now, he sat at his tiny desk in his equally tiny room and poured over his paperwork from the night before. His eyes flicked back and forth rapidly, tapping occasionally on the datapad to tweak a note and frowning at the various discrepancies. Sometimes it seemed like he was the only one who gave a damn around here.
He glanced out the small slit above his bed, a sad excuse for a window. The sky was just beginning to pink over the flat, lifeless horizon. Of course, not entirely lifeless. Kaeus may have been a small desert planet on the edge of turian space but you wouldn't think it with the amount of activity it collected. It housed the closest refueling station to the Novolion relay and so was abuzz with smugglers and crime syndicates coming in and out of the system. The security outpost he was stationed at was one of the only things keeping them in check, though his real assignment was considered classified. And criminals meant paperwork.
Luckily, doing paperwork was one of his favorite pastimes. He relished seeing everything laid out, neat and organized. He pushed his chair back to stretch and it hit the side of his cot. For an XO's office, it could be considered insultingly small, but Castis hardly cared, as he could sleep anywhere as long as his constantly buzzing mind was kept occupied with lists, numbers, and various ways to catalog and organize information.
He glanced at the clock. He still had a bit of time to kill but he had already done all his tasks for the morning, which took most officers until noon. As usual, he couldn't have been more prepared. He sighed and tapped open his omni-tool into his assorted collection of vids he had downloaded from the base. Fort Audax and its sister bases were torture to be assigned to and over the years it had amassed a large collection of entertainment vids brought and downloaded by the various officers unluckily assigned to it. He swiped through a selection of his personal favorites. A Good War. No. The War To End All Wars. Nah. A War To Remember. Ah, classic. He tapped the file and closed the screen, linking the sound to his earpiece. He had already seen it exactly 87 times, just listening to it for a bit brought a soothing sense of relaxing familiarity. It was like having friends.
As he left his room and walked down the hall, the opening dialogue thrummed in his ear.
"In this galaxy, there are wars to forget...and wars to remember...This is a war...WE remember."
Spirits, it was so good.
No one else was around, and there was almost an eerie silence as he made his way to the communal kitchen, opening the drawers for a bag of vitamin-infused meal powder. The fort was barely manned so it wasn't unusual to not see anyone else, and he preferred the familiar sounds of a movie rather than the suddenness of real people. As he poured the power onto a cup and stirred the dark liquid, his mind buzzed a flurry of numbers and lists and organized chaos. The cameras need to be fixed and checked for blind spots, patrol routes rerouted and checked, comm buoys—
'OOOH AHHH-! YOUR LOVE - YOUR LOVE - TAKES ME HIGH-E-E-E-R-!'
Castis's whole body jerked at the music that blared suddenly from down the adjacent mess hall. He slammed down the cup and rubbed his forehead in frustration.
Damn it, EVERY morning…?
He tapped off the vid and turned to yell down the dimly lit hall.
"Fedorian! Turn that down!"
"Soorrrryyy!" A loud booming voice sang out. The volume lowered, but only minimally.
"It's been 14 days in a row! At least pick a different song, if you're already going to be so inconsiderate!"
"I'm on a Hyperwave kick right now!" The voice was so loud it sounded like it was right next to him, rather than down the hall.
At least don't make it your alarm if you don't plan on waking up! he thought.
He slammed the cup of dark, artificially sweetened liquid and threw it in the sink. Tapping on his tool, he headed down the empty corridors and out through the front entrance to begin his uneventful day.
Barely a foot out the door, and his tool blinked with a message. Almost hesitantly, he opened it. A report from one of the other forts, never a good sign. Castis paused, then looked out over the horizon where the remains of an ancient skyscraper stood, crumbling from the ages, one of many that dotted the otherwise barren landscape. He glanced at the report again.
Reports of suspicious activity. Sector C.
Castis felt his stomach twist at the idea of a confrontation, the part of his job he had the least amount of experience with. Nevertheless, he set his jaw and started toward a sand-colored pillar in the distance.
So much for being uneventful.
It took exactly 148 steps from the sandy base of the ruins to get to its former grand lobby and Castis had counted every one meticulously. Barely anything stood of the ancient skyscraper but its pillars. The roof had long been destroyed, or caved in with time, allowing the light and sweltering heat of the desert sun to cover most of the floor. Castis froze as he saw a dark shape by one of the large openings across the room. He took out his gun from its holster.
There in the shadows by the weathered railing was a crouched figure, aiming a rifle into the sandy valley below.
Okay. Here we go.
Castis aimed his pistol. "Freeze!"
The suspect remained still, as they hadn't been moving in the first place.
I told an unmoving person to 'freeze'. Spirits, I am a fool.
He tried again. "Stay where you are!"
That's even worse. I wish I was dead.
This was hardly his first arrest, but it never seemed to get any easier. Everything was so much simpler on paper; doing the actual dirty work was too nerve-wracking.
He tried to keep his hands from shaking as his thoughts continued to scream through his head. "Look, just get up-no stay where you, uh, raise your—" (aaaAAAAUUUGH!)
Finally, the suspect stirred. They were wearing shoddy and ill-fitting armor, their head obscured by a large standard-issue helmet. Without turning, they raised a single finger, indicating whatever Castis was spouting could wait.
Wait...what?
"I —excuse me!", he sputtered, "I am Sector Security!"
There was a brief pause. The suspect slumped their shoulders and a long, exaggerated sigh hissed out from under their helmet. They slowly rose to their feet (making sure to take their time) and threw down the rifle in a way that almost seemed indignant. As if this intrusion was leaving them incredibly put out.
Castis was getting impatient. "I demand you turn around slowly with your hands in the air now."
After what seemed like an eternity, the suspect turned and—
There was a deafening sound and the floor flew up to meet his head. His jaw cracked on the ground and he tasted blood in his mouth. He could feel a bruise forming where the kick had landed on his mandible. Enraged, he scrambled to his feet, head pounding. The culprit stood there, seemingly baffled.
"Did you just ..." Castis felt only anger now. "...assault me?!"
He heard something that sounded like an 'uh oh' noise muffled in the helmet. Castis barred his teeth.
You're damn right 'uh oh'.
He may have been a terrible negotiator but he was pretty damn good at hand-to-hand combat.
Before the offender had a chance to do anything else, Castis had lunged forward and grabbed their wrist, twisting it, forcing their knees to buckle. Before they could react, he headbutted them on the bridge of their helmet, causing the cheap material to crack. As the assailant fell backward, Castis swept their right leg, hearing a distinct crack as they fell backward, helmeted head thudding on the ground. Panting, Castis steadied himself and surveyed the assailant. There was no movement. He walked carefully around the body and pushed their discarded rifle away with his foot.
"Vakarian! Come in Vakarian!"
A voice crackled onto the communicator on his omni-tool. Castis answered the comm, still trying to catch his breath. "This is Vakarian."
"Status report."
"Sir," he panted, "Suspect attacked me, but I have rendered them unconscious. Sustained minor injuries. Suspect is unarmed and incapacitated."
There was a pause. The voice cracked again. "Just shoot them."
Castis felt a cold tingle down his spine. He clenched his jaw. "...I repeat: the suspect is unarmed and incapaci—"
"I heard what you said." There was a shuffling sound as though the person speaking was shifting, agitated. "Do it."
Castis swallowed hard, fingers clenching and unclenching. He chose his next words carefully. "Sir...It would be more...prudent... to bring in the suspect for questioning and proces—"
"Damn you Vakarian!" Castis jerked his head back so violently it smacked the stone wall lightly behind him. "Do we have to go through this every time?! Do we have to spend hours of paperwork for every infraction!? Just shoot the f -"
He disconnected without thinking.
Damn. Gonna pay for that later.
He glanced over at the motionless figure.
'Just shoot them.'
Well, shit.
Marcella was in incredible pain. Hopefully, her leg wasn't broken but it certainly felt like it was. Damn it all. Usually, one kick to the face made rent-a-cops drop like drunk elcor. Should've sized this one up better. You're getting sloppy.
The crackle of the cop's comm echoed over to her. "Just shoot them."
Spirits...If I had known it was my last day alive I would...would've...
She struggled to think of something meaningful one could do in their final hours while the comm screeched. There was abrupt silence and she heard the scraping of boots as the officer turned around.
Shit. Shit! Not like this!
More silence. From inside the helmet, she peeked open her eyes for a second to see what he was doing. He was leaning in close. Inspecting her? There was a knife on her hip. Maybe if he leaned in close enough she could get him in the neck. It was her only shot. She felt her helmet jostle and squeezed her eyes shut again. Hot air rushed her face as her helmet was removed.
Just play dead. Don't move!
She heard a thunk as her helmet was tossed aside. Her hand was laying under her back by her left side. She could feel the shape of the knife pressing against the back of her thigh. He had straightened up again. Her fingers inched toward the knife, touching the hilt.
I could just go for it... maybe he'll be so surprised he won't react? Or I'll just get shot in the face. Well, I'm dead either way.
There was another loud crackle as his comm buzzed and almost made her jerk. "Female. No facial markings." She heard the cop say. "Taking into custody. Will report at 0500."
What..?
She relaxed her fingers, retreating them from the hilt.
Interesting.
Faldos can flay me for all I care.
Castis holstered his gun and submitted his report verbally in his comm. "Female. No facial markings."
Do things right or not at all.
He walked over to his bag, laying where he had set it by an old pillar. He shuffled through it for a bit, retrieved his handcuffs and turned around. The suspect already had one leg up on the ledge and was in the process of climbing over.
"Hey-! You- F-FREEZE!" He dropped the cuffs, awkwardly grabbed for his pistol, and pointed it at her back.
She froze accordingly. "Oh, come on!"
"Turn around. Hands up."
Slowly, she turned, hands begrudgingly in the air.
The first thing Castis noticed was her eyes. They were a piercing blue. He felt a strange pulling in his chest. She had no clan markings but had slight scarring on her left cheekplate. The way it traced up the side of her face was almost memorizing. She was tall, even for a turian, and her waist was —
"Well?" she said suddenly, shaking him out of his thoughts. Her eyes lingered on his face before going down to his shoulders and waist, then flicking back up again. A tone of slight amusement rumbled out of her.
Castis blinked and shook his head.
What are you doing? Focus!
"S...state your name!" He could feel his face grow hot in embarrassment.
She smirked and said nothing.
Castis blinked nervously but didn't relent. "You are trespassing. You are not authorized to be here. Show me identification now or I will take you into custody."
She shrugged her shoulders, the universal sign of indifference.
"Are you aware you attacked an officer of Fort Audax?" Castis said.
"Well yeah," She shrugged again. "I figured the uniform wasn't for show."
Castis felt himself burn. "Excuse me?"
She smirked again, seemingly excited she was able to get under his skin.
He exploded. "Get on the ground now!"
Her smile faded. 'Well, I'll try." She visibly struggled to kneel on her left leg, glaring at him all the while.
Castis felt a brief bout of shame wash over him. "Hey, uh...I'm sorry if I was too rough. it's okay, I have medi-gel if you need it."
She continued to glare "I'm fine." She tried to lean on one leg and winced.
"No, you're not. You're hurt." Castis stepped forward.
'Really? You kick my ass then offer to clean me up?" The suspect's eyes flashed. "Go ahead and give me two pops in the back of my head when I kneel, make it quick okay?"
Castis slowly lowered his gun to the ground. He took a few more steps forward and raised his hands. "I promise I'm not gonna hurt you."
The perp raised her eyebrow plates but said nothing.
"Do you...would you mind if I...?" Castis took a few more cautious steps forward.
She paused for a second then extended her leg almost dramatically. 'By all means, admire your handiwork." He shuffled close to her and knelt by her outstretched leg. Dispensing some medi-gel, he began to apply a numbing agent to her upper thigh. He was uncomfortably close.
Look forward, look forward, look forward, don't be weird, don't be weird —
"Enjoying yourself?"
His head snapped up to meet her gaze. "NO!"
She was smirking again. His face burned as he hastily rubbed the rest of the medi-gel on her thigh as quickly as possible. He staggered to his feet rubbing the excess off his hands. "Alright, how does it feel now?"
The suspect leaned on her leg gently, then gave a few light stomps. "Hrm, not bad."
She took a few light steps toward him. "Do you make a habit of sensually patching up every girl you subjugate?"
Castis felt his face burn even hotter. "Y-you attacked me first!"
She shrugged, "Eh, details...'
Details?!
"Either way, since you refuse to provide any form of identification — and you attacked me —" Castis glared, "I'm going to have to take you in."
There was a long pause. She sighed then extended her wrists.
Castis blinked. "...Really?"
"It's only fair, you patched me up." She looked off in the distance as though not wishing to engage in the situation.
"Well...good!" Castis huffed a small sigh of relief. Finally, things are gonna stop being needlessly difficult. He approached her warily. "Now please extend your—"
She's already doing that you WORTHLESS—
"—Yep just like that, uh, let me just—" He lifted his noticeably empty hands.
Cuffs. YOU NEED CUFFS.
"Just...one second," He mumbled. The suspect blinked lazily at him, seemingly bored. Castis ran awkwardly back to the pillar where the cuffs lay. He grabbed them and whirled around.
"Okay! Now let me just—"
She was gone.
"Hey!"