Chapter 13
...
It was all very anti-climactic, but he supposed he didn't need any more excitement for the time being.
Hoch had been under the impression that the tribunal would be something more dramatic. The tribunal wasn't more than a 6-hour interrogation of the events starting with the crash of her ship to the events that led up to their exploration of the Prothean ship. Hoch conveyed his details as they asked. There was a growing sense in him that they were far less concerned about the Captain and much more interested in understanding the Reich. They had been watching for years, but it was very passive - listening to radio waves and watching using something called 'Satellites' which orbited the Earth and watched the planet. While they could do all of that, they still didn't have direct contact until Hanala got herself caught.
The details about the stay in the Reich, nor the combat they had seen was not something that he wanted to talk about. No, he wanted to talk about just what was buried under the sands of Libya and the clear danger it still posed even after millennia of being buried under the sands. Every time he tried to bring it up, the Admirals would shut him down. It was clear to even him that whatever that Prothean ship was, they weren't about to be dissuaded by the likes of him. The only thing that he got was from the Admiral called Zorah. He seemed to be the most invested in the wreckage. He assured Hoch that all steps would be taken to study the wreck in a safe environment. The presence of the monsters entombed in the vessel did not seem to interest him.
A part of him took comfort when he heard that Reister collapsed the tunnel, but the rest of him knew it was only a matter of time before they dug it back up.
As for Hanala, it was decided that would retain her commission. While she would remain a Captain in the strictest sense, she would not be permitted to lead a new ship. Instead, her new assignment was to act as an assistant to the Admirals who would lead the diplomacy between the quarians and Germany for the foreseeable future. They needed someone with hands-on experience and Hanala was the only real choice they had.
With the tribunal over and judgement determined, Hanala and he left the Admirals to further deliberate what they were told. The two of them were worn out by the past few days and just happy to get out of there. Well, Joachim perhaps, Hanala was much more subdued, even if she got off relatively off the hook for breaking rank and perusing the Prothean ship on her own. Her actions had cost the life of Galas'Yoad, injured Furhmann and left him... well...
Unconsciously Hoch clenched his new quarian built arm. He didn't want to think about it.
"So... I guess I'm no longer in a command position," Hanala finally spoke to the human next to her. "That's probably for the best… I'm not very good at leadership."
Joachim smiled disbelievingly and placed his hands on hers.
"For what it's worth, you did everything right up until the desert expedition," he reassured Hanala, his human hand squeezing hers firmly.
Hanala didn't reply, his words of encouragement didn't make her feel any better for what had happened to them in the desert and during the crash. She pulled her hands back and stared silently at the metal-coated floor. The door to the Admiralty meeting room opened and joining the two of them was Martus'Xen.
The navigator glared briefly at the two people who made his life a living hell for the past month or so. As tempted as he may have been, Joachim decided against any further aggravation against the man. Martus had saved his life, so the least he could do was respect him. Joachim looked to Hanala, who wasn't blind to the sudden respectful stance taken by the human. She was doing her best not to chuckle at his expense.
"Xen..." Joachim spoke up finally. "Thanks for saving me back there... if you ever need anything-"
Martus examined Joachim through narrowed eyes. His stare fell on the new prosthetic arm.
"You can both return the favour by staying as far as you both can stay away from my family and me," Martus cut off, still scowling at the two of them. "I don't want anything to do with either of you again. Ever. Understood?"
Instead of waiting for a reply, Xen simply nodded to them and left, thankfully leaving him and Hanala in the corridor by them once again.
Appearing much bolder now that they were alone, the quarian stepped forward, her hands gripped his sleeve and rolled it up, revealing what he had so carefully tried to conceal. Her hands gripped the metal and rolled it over as though she was inspecting it what forward, her hands gripped his sleeve and rolled it up, not paying mind to wrinkle his jacket.
Though it delighted him that he would have a second arm, an opportunity that no man had had, it did bother him. It still felt unnatural. Perhaps he would feel better when Hanala fulfilled the promise that the quarians would build him an arm that matched. Having three fingers was... well... Joachim could pity them for having such clumsy hands.
"I know this must be odd, but I've been informed this is temporary," Hanala assured him. "They took a 3D model of your remaining arm and will have the first human variation prosthetic completed in a couple of months."
Joachim nodded, whether he was paying attention she could not tell.
"So… how does it work?" he finally spoke as he laid his eyes on the machinery. "Can I remove it at will?
The former captain shook her head.
"Not without surgery," she explained, dashing the question from him. "It's fused into your tissue, nerves and bones. It tricks your brain into thinking that you hadn't lost the arm in the first place. This sort of technology was one of our people's specialities before the exile. We have been playing with cybernetic for quite some time."
"Have you-"
"Do I have any implants? I do, but none as obvious as yours," Hanala admitted, smiling for Joachim as she took his hand and placed it just under her breast. "I can't very well strip down and show you here, now can I?"
She pushed his hand into her thinly clad flesh and sure enough, buried just under flesh was a hard sensation he could feel but not see.
"I had a heart condition as a child that gene therapy didn't catch," Hanala whispered into his ear as the fingers touched against the cylindrical device buried inside of her. "Without it, I would have been dead by my tenth year."
Vaguely appreciating what cybernetic technology did for the two of them, Joachim nodded his head blankly. Hanala dropped the hand, taking a step closer to him. Gone was her sweet smile and replacing it was an expression of regret, of personal blame.
"So..." she whispered to him. "Are you mad at me for this?"
Joachim thought about it for a good long moment. He wanted to be mad at her. She had made a serious judgment error and it nearly got the two of them killed for it. Yet, he could not find a real reason to express. Perhaps it was her fault he felt foggy-minded, perhaps quarian women gave off a pheromone that impeached rational thought.
"I don't know… happy to be alive… I really shouldn't have let you handle explosives you weren't trained for... so I guess that was my mistake..." he finally got out, his eyes still down on his new arm.
Hanala nodded solemnly, her head bowed in shame.
"I will figure out a way to make this up," she promised, still refusing to look up at his sharp blue eyes.
Joachim gave the musing a few seconds of thought.
"You can start by never throwing live grenades around me ever again."
Hanala finally allowed herself to laugh slightly at his demand. She looked back up at him with parched lips. Her hands touched against his cheek, caressing it carefully until her hand slid upwards and stole his cap from off his head. Again she laughed as he gave a protesting grunt; her hand pushed the headdress off and replaced it with the officer hat. It was much too big for her head, yet still, she wore it. Her wide grin reformed into a soft smile as she stepped closer. Her lips perched again as they closed into his.
A throat cleared, making Hanala jump wide-eyed and turn to the source, her hand yanking the hat from off her head. Admiral Alaan'Jarva. His eyes were narrowed on the two of them. He appeared rather relieved that he did not have to witness what was about to happen.
"Father!" Hanala got out, her voice, as Joachim presumed, was frantic that she had been caught nearly kissing a primitive on board the ship.
Taking a deep breath as Hanala's father turned his sheepish expression into one of professionalism; Admiral Jarva took a step back from the man and woman, his hands falling to his sides.
"Congratulations are to the two of you," the Admiral spoke to his daughter and the close human. "You both have made quite the impression upon the board. If you both have the time, I should think a family gathering is in order. Yes?"
A family gathering? This would be yet another first for him. He never had such a thing even for his own family. Before he could reply, Hanala nodded her head and turned back to face him properly as they had been only moments ago.
"Joachim, you do not have to come if you do not wish to join us," Hanala reassured him, her voice light as her eyes searched his. "I would find no insult if you said no to it."
Joachim tilted his head to the woman respectfully.
"I would be honoured."
Hanala's bounced slightly, her reaction to his acceptance. He smirked, unable to contain his amusement with her seemingly ingrained little tick of hers. Alaan too appeared amused but sobered quickly as he realized that the looks and little bounces didn't belong to those who were just friends.
"May I make a request from the two of you?"
Hanala glanced at him nervously for a brief moment before turning back to her father. Admiral Jarva's expression was neutral as he seemed to debate what he wanted to say.
"We've organized a flight back to Vienna when night falls. Whatever the two of you do in your spare time, keep it on Earth and as far as possible away from your mother," Alaan spoke carefully to his daughter. "I'm a bit more pragmatic to this, but she doesn't have to be. To say that she's not very happy about this is significantly understating it."
Alaan shook his head and stepped away, leaving Joachim confused and suddenly apprehensive about agreeing to meet Hanala's family. Hanala on the other hand, looked just as awkward, she rubbed her neck, her other hand placing Joachim's cap back onto her head as her father left them.
"I may have inadvertently spilt more than I intended to my Mother and Grandmother," she finally admitted, smiling sheepishly as she took in the shocked expression of the human.
Joachim sighed to himself as he felt Hanala wrapped her arms around him. How could this possibly get worse?
In hindsight, Joachim realized it could and it did.
...
...
The small child screamed at the sight of him. She screamed, frightened of him as though he was a giant monster. It was loud, so loud that her mother had to lift her and pull her out of Joachim's presence until she was stopped by Hanala grabbing the mother's arm.
"Veyare, please don't hide her just yet," she asked, her voice sounding strangely childish for the sake of the little child in the woman's arms. "Saleb, this is Joachim Hoch, my friend."
The child named Saleb looked away from her mother and aunt and back to the human staring at her with a soft expression of curiosity at the sight of such a small quarian.
"He has dead eyes," the girl complained, staring briefly at him before turning away back into her mother's shoulder. "No shine, just dead. Are you blind?"
The one known as Veyare shushed her daughter, her eyes widened as she believed the human standing before her was offended. Well Joachim wasn't offended, more amused than anything. He rubbed his neck, glancing at the bemused mother and struggling not to laugh at Hanala.
"No..." the man assured the child. "I can see quite fine, thank you."
The doorway of the small gathering room opened and in entered several more to the gathering. Two Admirals, Alaan'Jarva and the old woman, whose name was Calis – who was Hanala's grandmother if he recalled correctly. Behind her were two other quarians, a male and a female, whose eyes were already glaring into his as though he had made some grievous error.
"My mother," Hanala whispered into his ear.
Joachim refused to show any emotion whatsoever. No matter how much he wanted to flee. He could place the look now. It was the same one that Hanala had when she was chasing commandos across the desert. Silently he inwardly decided to be nothing short but respectful to the mother whose daughter he was... well, whatever he was to her.
Doing his utmost to respectfully break the deadly glare, he turned and saw that the second male had joined the young mother and the even younger daughter. The room was silent and the quarians took a careful inspection of the primitive fascist alien now standing before them. Of the group, only two of them were smiling, Hanala and the kindly grandmother, who looked upon him like his grandmother did before she died all those years ago. Hanala glanced at him and stepped forward, confidence overflowing as she smiled at her less-than-impressed family.
"Since we've gathered unofficially, Joachim, this is my family. My mother Galina, my father Alaan, my grandmother Jalina, my brother Rael and his wife Veyare, and of course this little mouthpiece is Saleb," Hanala introduced everyone, a notable pride creeping into his voice.
Joachim nodded his head respectfully, feeling as though he was on trial. He was very much out of place here. He really should have listened to his instincts and not accepted the invite. He was interfering in Hanala's time with her family and his presence had made things very awkward. Hanala had over a month on Earth to get used to a human as he had for quarians, but all of her family weren't afforded this luxury. Looking from Hanala's encouraging look to Alaan'Jarva's clamped mouth to the look of utter contempt on Galina'Jarva's face, Joachim cleared his throat.
"I did not realize that you had such a large family," he managed to speak to the family at large. "Hanala has spoken nothing but praise about all of you."
Though he did not know any family had existed outside of Hanala's parents, at least it lightened the mood between him and them, as well as made Hanala smile as Joachim spoke on her behalf. He settled in next to Hanala and did his best not to be reminded of being an awkward child courting his first girlfriend.
...
...
It was hard to believe how slow time could move when he had nothing to say. Nor was he subjected to any questions. It appeared to him that were shy, or they were all very well aware that something was going on between the human and the baby of the family and they did not like that for even a moment.
Well... perhaps he was being a bit defensive. One of them seemed to be somewhat accepting, if quiet about her acceptance. Hanala's grandmother, Jalina'Calis. Strange that she would be so accepting of an alien interested in her granddaughter.
Speaking of the young Captain's that he wanted to have his way with. Without so much as a warning to him, Hanala's hand slid from off her lap and gripped his thigh as though she controlled it. Joachim's eyes nearly widened as the hand moved in wide circles. He fought the urge to groan thereby sealing his fate.
As Hanala chirped casually with her family about Earth and her past month and subtly moved her hand all along his body, the door opened, catching everyone's attention. Standing at the door was Admiral Zorah, his hands at his side as he first glanced on Joachim, and then to the rest of the family. Admiral Jarva too looked up.
"Admiral Jarva, Admiral Calis," Zorah spoke to the Admiral before Alaan could ask anything. "I was hoping to speak to Hanala'Jarva for a few moments."
Father and daughter shared a brief look at one another. Joachim felt a hand squeeze against his thigh before she let go of him.
"By all means, Admiral," the Admiral allowed, gesturing to his daughter who nodded.
As Hanala stood up out of her seat, so did Joachim, who leaned over to pull Hanala's seat out for her. Hanala and her family looked confused at his actions, but regardless Hanala raised her thin eyebrows, her lip quirking at the strange chivalry.
"We should be leaving as well, back to the civilian fleet," Rael spoke as he hugged his sister. "We will be in touch with you, sister."
Rael let go of his sister and turned back to Joachim briefly. He had no words to say to the human. Joachim could not blame him. Brothers were supposed to be defensive. It seemed to be the case on Earth as well. Hanala too looked to Joachim but she at least smiled before following Admiral out in the hallway, leaving Joachim alone with two Admirals and a mother who was glaring a hole into his head.
Admiral Jarva glanced at his wife, who nodded.
"Lieutenant Xen briefed us about what he had learned about your people's policies," Alaan spoke finally.
Halfway to lighting a cigarette, Joachim instead placed the unlit cigarette on the table, his face ashen face as he stared back into the bright eyes of Hanala's father
"What did he say specifically?"
The Admiral glanced at his curious wife and the frowning elder. He took a drink from his glass and sighed.
"That your government has set up blood purity laws banned marriage and conception between certain ethnic groups…" Alaan pressed on, his neutral as he stared at the human. "That your government has been forcefully deporting your citizens from their homes. How do you feel about it?"
Joachim arched his brow. It wasn't lost on him where this conversation was going. Now that Hanala wasn't around it was open season to reveal their intentions - asking him about policies as though he put into law personally.
"Feel?" Joachim repeated as he stared at the Admirals. "I feel nothing for them. Why would I?"
Admiral Jarva tilted his head.
"They do not fit in?" he asked Hoch, clearly trying to come across as neutral but failing to do so. "We have been listening to the transmissions coming from-"
"Then you've only been listening to our reaction with none of the context provided by our historical relationship with them," Hoch slashed across the Admiral's query. "With all due respect, this isn't the place for this conversation. I'm not going to justify a multiple centuries-old problem to someone who has no idea about the vermin it's directed towards. There are more qualified people than I am. You will have plenty of opportunity to take this up."
Joachim leaned back into his seat as he lit a cigarette and took a drag. He had no patience to answer questions about the undesirables and just wanted to go back to Austria, drink and sleep. He hated being here. He hated being in space, hated being on this claustrophobic ship. His eyes focused on Galina, who stared right back. She looked disgusted by him. For what reason other than his strange connection to Hanala, he could not see.
"I can see what my daughter sees in you," she finally found her voice, thick with dangerous sarcasm.
Before Joachim could react, a voice called out.
"I can't see why we have any right to judge."
Hanala's mother turned away from her glare at the human and to the source of the voice. Admiral Calis, the elderly woman. She leaned into her seat, her hands resting on her lap.
"We did the same thing to non-quarians during the exile," Calis reminded her daughter and son-in-law. "Interspecies marriages were dissolved in quarian law, The Mandate set out that any quarian who refused to return to the fleet was summarily exiled. There were no exceptions to the rules. They were laid out to both defend our species' survival and as defiant racism against any race that did not help us with the geth. We are by no means any more enlightened than humanity is."
Alaan looked uneasy with the words spoken by the elder quarian. Hanala's mother on the other hand remained unfazed.
The room went silent as the door slid open. Hanala was back again, she smiled slightly at her family and then at him. Any trace of the conversation vanished, leaving the quarians looking between their child and human who had spoken so plainly about the way things were on Earth. In her hands was a simple jacket, wrapped in some sort of coloured plastic.
"We'll be joining Admiral's next meeting with Langer, Joachim," she spoke to him in nearly a chirp. She turned to her family and added. "I'm afraid we must go now. Mother, Father, Grandmother, I'll see you all soon enough."
None of them seemed too happy with it, but regardless, one by one, her parents and grandmother stood from their seats and pulled their child in a protective hug and a tender kiss on her cheek. All of them were concerned with how deep she was into this operation but none of them was willing to admit they felt that way. Joachim nodded respectfully to the family and followed Hanala out of the room.
They walked in silence for a bit of the way; Hanala smiled slightly and glanced at Joachim as they pressed on. It was obvious she wanted a report from him.
"That wasn't so bad," He lied to her.
...
...
It was a midnight landing as Zorah said it would be. The late-night landing was understandable considering they needed to do everything under the radar, so to speak. Somehow returning to Earth was worse than being in space. The ship's exterior lit up on fire as they returned into the atmosphere and the shaking was awful. Hoch had to close his eyes and wait it out as he came to terms that this was going to become the new normal for him for the foreseeable future.
It wasn't long before the ship came to a stop, having landed gracefully in what appeared to be an improvised landing space on the grounds of the museum. The side of the exotic ship opened and out stepped the quarians before Joachim and Hanala could, half a dozen armed, men and women clad in environmental suits that Hanala had to wear when she landed. All of them packed what looked like supplies for a prolonged stay on Earth. Admiral Zorah glanced at the two of them briefly before standing up from his seat as he climbed out of the ship.
The ship was empty, all except for Joachim and Hanala who remained sitting in their seats. They shared a brief smile and a careful kiss as they stood up together, helping one another up, especially helping Joachim, who could feel the painkillers wearing off.
"Welcome back Admiral Zorah," Joachim could hear Langer greet the Admiral, his voice holding that familiar charming greeting "I see you have brought more things to make our stay comfortable."
"Yes, that is if you do not mind."
"Not in the slightest, Herr Admiral," he assured the quarian leader. "Though I do have questions about my executive officer."
"Ask him yourself," Joachim called out, offering his old friend a half smile as he staggered out of the ship, quickly followed by Hanala, who gripped the back of his jacket.
Langer took one look at the two of them and stared wide-eyed at the both of them.
"Hoch, Jarva... what the hell happened to you two," Langer hissed, his eyes wide with alarm as he took in their equally abused appearance. Joachim held up his hand to silence the old man.
"It's a long story, Langer," Joachim sighed, rubbing his neck as he briefly turned to Hanala for a subtlety encouraging smile. "I will debrief you once I get some sleep."
Before Langer could reply, footsteps in the snow marched towards the group, catching everyone's attention. Marching towards them was another grey-suited SS man, a bear of a man with a long hideous scar slashed down the side of his face. The man stood by Langer and offered the colonel a salute.
"Standartenführer, might I have a word in private?" the man rumbled lowly. Langer turned properly to face the giant.
"Ah... Admiral, Hoch, might I introduce you to our new chief of security, Otto Skorzeny," The Standartenführer introduced the scarred Waffen-SS soldier to the Admiral and the Obersturmbannführer. He turned back to Skorzeny and said. "Please, whatever you need to say, you can say in front of our new friends. They will need to know what is happening."
Skorzeny raised his eyebrow, almost amused by the lack of secrecy between the two potential allies. Hanala and Joachim shared a brief look.
"Very well then," Skorzeny obliged the still smiling superior ranked Langer. "I think that you have given me a hundred glorified police officers to defend our new friends from upwards to thirty highly trained, well-armed and far too experienced commandos. If you grant me an additional twenty to thirty men handpicked by me and brought in quietly, they'll never survive what's about to unfold."
"Perhaps one or two of my men could help," the Admiral offered. His voice was polite which caught the large human off guard.
Skorzeny turned away from the Colonel and to the quarians. He eyed them one by one, his expression growing quickly unenthusiastic by the marine's presence.
"If they can prove to me that they don't have to hide behind their technology and can be an actual soldier, then I may consider it," he finally spoke aloud to the admiral, dismissing the offer quickly. He turned away and met Langer's eyes once again. He had more to say.
"They'll have an escape plan. Most likely it'll involve a long-distance truck drive to the west. To Switzerland if they're feeling bold." Skorzeny pressed on. "I would like a ground attack squadron on standby, just in case a few manage to escape the trap. I should think that letting this secret get out so quickly is not in our best interest."
Langer nodded.
"Agreed, I'll make a call to Heydrich. I'll see if he can provide us some additional support," Langer agreed with the Security Chief.
Skorzeny gave Langer and Hoch each a look and turned away, leaving the group of humans and quarians to their own devices. He seemed unmoved that there were aliens no more than meters away from him. Glancing at Zorah, Joachim could see that he was confused by the professional soldier's attitude.
"He seems... odd," Zorah remarked, his arms crossed and his helmet tilted slightly.
Sighing, Langer turned back to the Admiral.
"He's still recovering from his actions in the east," Langer excused the giant Commando. "I imagine taking rocket shrapnel to the head would make him prone to an attitude... I heard all he needed was a bandage, a few aspirins and a strong drink."
A few of the quarians shuffled, impressed with what they had heard.
"Is that where he got that facial scar?" One of the lower-ranked marines questioned the Standartenführer out of turn. Langer shook his head.
"No, of course not; that's a duelling scar, a badge of honour apparently amongst his circle," he explained, unfazed by the lack of respect in the tone. Langer paused and smirked slightly, adding, "Listen to me gossip, I sound like my wife."
A few of the quarians chuckled nervously. It was enough to incite the old man even further.
"It's good to see that the obsessively loud-mouth wife syndrome transcends species," Langer spoke to the group as they headed back to the museum entrance. "Some days it gets so bad that I just want to choke her until talking hurts too much."
Amused by Langer, Joachim shook his head and turned to glance at Hanala, who looked disgusted by what Langer had so casually. She wasn't the only one. The other quarian marines mostly looked rather scandalized. Admiral Zorah, however, appeared nearly amused. Without anyone looking, Joachim squeezed the former Captain's hand, catching her attention.
"He's kidding," he reassured Hanala releasing his hand. "Come on, let's go get settled in."
...