Sunlight burned passed the curtains, heralding a new day. My hand swatted at it, as if that would make it go away. The sun continued to prod me with its warm rays. I heaved myself up, flopping over as my watering eyes opened. As my vision cleared, my eyes scanned the bare room. The plain white walls were a pale yellow from the Citadel sunlight, only a small bed and a set of empty drawers decorating the room. I took a moment to remember where this was. My hair fell over my face, my hand trying to brush it back. It wasn't successful. My legs whined as I crawled out of bed, conceding defeat.
Just over three weeks had passed since the Citadel attack. It gave me the time to get my bearings, to figure out my next plan of action. Indira let me stay in 'her' flat. It belonged to the Hanar but since one of their operatives needed it, it was hers until such time she had to return to Kahje. To make sure Indira wasn't pulling the wool over my eyes, I had a lengthy call to the hanar embassy, just to be sure. This drell had run out of chances. The few weeks of peace was what my battered mind and body needed to plan my next attack. It also gave me time to catch up with what had happened in terms of the Alliance and the STG.
The STG record showed my transition from Noveria to now. They classed me as MIA, then 'Located' after Virmire. Although the status turned 'MIA' again since I didn't meet Mat'al at the arranged location. My messages to Mat'al circled around running into complications that had to be taken care of and would be in touch soon. He told me not to tally too long. He reclassified my situation to 'Emergency Shore Leave' which was my current status on the STG network. So my STG position was safe, thanks to some string tugging. My complication? Well, I'm not sure what Indira said or did. The hanar had requested that I stay within their compound until they were certain no sensitive information had leaked from Indira. Standard procedure, they said. That and Indira wanted to keep me around for as long as possible.
Now the Alliance, that was more interesting. Without Mat'al and the STG blocking my omni-tool, my access to my old Alliance information was available. After my abandonment, they had marked me as 'Missing' since they abandoned while onshore leave. As soon as I logged into my old accounts, the Alliance had picked up my login. My inbox was now a landfill of messages, many of which demanding to attend a court to explain my absence. They threatened me with court martial, even throwing me out or jail time, but with Mat'al and the STG, the Alliance's threats were not all that terrifying. The jail made me nervous enough to make my leaving official though.
My fingers gripped a physical letter, sealed in an envelope sitting on my bedside table. That letter contained my resignation. The Alliance could go fuck itself and they could get off my ass while they were at it. They were not annoying me for the rest of my life. The first week here with Indira, or without since she was gone for days at a time, left me with plenty to think. Mat'al helped me become someone better, someone stronger and didn't coddle. He shoved me into burning coals and laughed while I flailed. It was time to make my departure from the Alliance official, if only to get out of possible jail time.
However, there were bigger problems to deal that required my attention. Keplar had been steaming during my 'disappearance'. He wanted the reports and data I had collected on several key planets. They would make him either a rich man or one of the most famous scientists in the Alliance geological department. After scanning through the Alliance published papers, sine my access hadn't been cut, Keplar's hits had dried up and there was no sign of recovery yet. He had released papers – my papers – thick and fast for the two months while my journey on the Normandy continued. Without me there to provide him with 'his' work, he had no successful hits. Just paper after paper of low quality resources or in such small volumes it wasn't viable at the mineral's current price. When he learned my login details had activated again, he wanted to drag me before a disciplinary hearing. He charged me with 'taking leave without due notification' and 'withholding information from the Alliance'. He thought I went MIA on purpose!
That hearing was today. The Alliance's most formal clothes slipped over me, complete with my 'rank' stripes. AKA, none. Indira had to 'acquire' them since I had never owned a formal Alliance uniform. Sometimes having a thief for a friend was useful. No question were asked on where she got them from. There was no way Keplar would let me live it down if I turned up in anything less than formal Alliance colours. He wouldn't appreciate STG colours either. So the blue and gold uniform was on, not a single stripe on my shoulder. The only thing across my chest was my Alliance crest and the symbol for the AGS, the Alliance Geological Society. A hammer between the three stars under the arch. My hands pulled on the beret with disgust. These things never sat right on my head, and they looked horrific. The letter slipped the letter inside the jacket before leaving the room. A foot out the door, I grunted as additional weight dragged my shoulders towards the floor.
"Dellion! Morning! Gosh, that looks great on you. Want breakfast? I made pancakes! Or... well tried, they are a lot harder than they look. Did you hear the news, big jewel robbery last night? They never invited me!" Indira sulked.
Indira's endless banter washed over me. My mind had acclimatised to her ways and had learned how to deal with her. My jaw tightened as my eyes focused on the kitchen, carrying the drell as she kicked her feet in the air behind her, arms secured over my shoulders. The kitchen looked like it had just crawled out of the trenches, pancake mixture stuck to the ceiling and not even cooked. They were also green. My nose wrinkled. Rule 1: never trust Indira's cooking. My attention ignored the girl still clinging like a lost puppy as my hand grabbed food.
"Aww, not going to try some of my pancakes?" Indira whined.
"I'd rather drink the Swa'hila again," I said, dragging a bowl out.
"Oh c'mon! My cooking isn't that bad!" she folded her arms. My gaze turned to her, glancing at her from under my eyebrows. "Ok, I gave you food poisoning that one time, but it was only that once… And that other time," she mused. My head shook. "Oh, a message from the lab came in about your allergies. Turns out you're also allergic to Batarian Ale," Indira sucked a breath in, wrinkling her face. "And the hay fever you asked about? Stay away from fruit bearing plants when they flower," she said. My groan mimicked my shattered hope, slamming my head on the counter. Dammit, Nyryntha, why were my allergies, or at least the hay fever, not removed during my 'creation' as you hinted they should have been?!
"Unknown," Nyryntha hissed. My eyes focused on the cereal before me until the white spots vanished from my sight and the headache eased. She answered… huh, not expected, not expected at all. And she sounded pissed.
"Great... thanks, Indira," I sighed.
"Oh yeah, um. Sorry to throw this at you now but uh... you need to move out today," she said. My gaze slipped to Indira for a moment.
"Are you returning to Kahje?" I asked.
"Yup, got a new assignment. Soooo, yeah," She shuffled, grinning to mask the uncertainty.
"I'll be fine. I can find somewhere to crash for a while. Not sure how long I'll stay on the Citadel for regardless," I shrugged my lips closed over my first bite of my cereal. My face scrunched up. The milk had gone sour.
"Sure, sure! I put some credits in your account for a hotel or whatnot. Don't worry, out of my pay. I know what you're like," she stuck her tongue out. My eyes rolled as the 'food' found itself dumped in the bin. Well, so much for breakfast.
"Thanks, Indira. Appreciate it," I said.
"Awesome! You heading now?" Indira asked.
"Yeah, hearing is in a few hours, no idea how long travelling with take or the procedures," I answered. Indira clamped her arms around me again, this time she made me grunt. Not that the drell cared.
"Aw, I'm gonna be so sad... I'm so sad!" she cried. My hand patted her back as my other hand tried to pry her off me. She had turned into a damn limpet and I was not getting her off today.
"Indira, did you forget to take you crazy pills?" I moaned.
"Yup, more fun without them!" she grinned as she jumped off me. How my face hadn't frozen in a permanent scowl because of this girl was a miracle. My hands grabbed my Locust and Carnifex from the table in the living room, slipping them into holsters inside the trousers, lying against my hip. Guns secure, I straightened the damn beret before steeling myself. This was it.
"Right, thanks for everything, Indira. Try not to cause too much trouble out there for whatever poor sod you get landed with," I said. The drell laughed.
"Oh they'll enjoy it! Try not to drink too much while I'm gone, I'll be upset I missed out! You're a hilarious drunk!" she smirked. My hand pulled the door open, giving me a chance to hide my wince. With luck, I would never be drunk again, or at least be drunk in secure places like a destroyed pub and a small flat. The world didn't need to see my ass drunk.
"Bye, Indira!" I called.
"Bye, sweetie! I'll see you soon!" she said before the door shut, glad she wasn't going to causing any more disasters in my life for a while. The elevator dinged, my mission to leave before she could emerge with some strange story that allowed her to tag along with me critical. The address of the court had evaded her, kept in my private protection. Although knowing her, she would have hacked my omni-tool anyway. I also discovered her sneaky tracker on my jacket. Treating Indira like Mat'al proved useful.
Back on my own, my lungs enjoyed the fresh air and the quiet. Or as fresh and as quiet as you could in the middle of the Wards with recycled air. A groan emerged as my fingers dialled for a cab. I missed the freshness of a planet and my body longed for it. Or the dynamism of a ship, somewhere that wasn't so static. My hands rubbed my neck while the cab flew over, turning my attention to the matter at hand. Keplar terrified me more than Saren ever could, but my confidence remained high. Mat'al had talked me through the whole procedure of leaving the Alliance and if something went pear-shaped, the STG would bail my ass. Everything was ready, I just had to hand in my dog tags with a formal letter. Between Mat'al's 'gentle' reinforcements, Raisha's guiding words and Indira's... eccentricity, in mind, everything needed to survive today was in place. I stepped into the cab and slapped the address in the input box into the computer. As the fare counted up, my sour attitude forwarded the bill to the Alliance. Waste my bloody time, will you?
Nyryntha footed the blame for the new burst of rage that had risen since Feros. Nyryntha was annoyed by me and since we linked somehow, I may have inherited some of it. And the reason Nyryntha was so pissed was easy. Both Nyryntha and Sovereign had mentioned that I was 'going against my code'. That said they had to program me to allow Nyryntha to take over or something. However, since meeting Val, and Mat'al, Nyryntha struggled to influence me. Now all she could do was give me migraines, even indoctrinate people and hurt me. Well, that was my theory anyway.
My attention returned to the landscape around me, body jolting as the scenes processed. This was not the gleaming Presidium or the upper levels of the Wards, but an area dominated by warehouses. A frown formed. Where the hell... the cab hovered over a landing pad, lowering itself to the ground. The doors popped open, feet shuffling out once the fare forwarded. My omni-tool opened to check the message about the location. The Alliance had offices… in a warehouse? My eyes scanned the area as my hand slipped to the pistol's sheath.
I walked towards the 'hearing location', a warehouse in the middle of nowhere. After walking past 2 large warehouses, the hairs of the back of my neck convinced me to pull out my Carnifex out. The deserted area settled no confidence on my shoulders as the warehouse K-97 approached me. Aside from the worn code painted on the side, it was the only one with a light on. By the ajar door, I crouched. A slow breath eased out as my eye glanced through the tiny gap. The centre of the room was lit while the edges remained in shadow, a single light burning down on the concrete before.
A group of quarians crouched on the floor, a limp body between them. There was four- no, five of them. Surrounding them, on the floor and the balcony in troves were mercs. Blue Suns. My vision narrowed, the red curtain closing down on me. It had been months since that kidnap attempt. But the memories. My jaw tensed as my memories of the splitting head pains, the blood coating me, the face full of brain. The solidity of the Carnifex kept me grounded, gave me the space to breathe through the memories. The Locust slipped free, holding it in my left hand, my weaker arm. My breath steadied before I pushed myself up to my feet, striding through the door, both guns pointed skywards at my shoulders. The voices stopped as the clicks of my shoes echoed in the sparse warehouse. The quarians turned, expressions unreadable through the masks. My hair flicked back as Blue Sun guns pointed at me, pushing the tension off my shoulders and down my back.
"Were you waiting for me, ladies and gents?" I asked. A glance behind me confirmed mercs shuffled from the darkness, circling behind me to cutting off my escape. No leaving now. The anger shoved my terror to the back of my mind, focusing on the anger and compassion to pull me through this.
"Alright, Shaik. Give us the data drive," a male human in tech armour said on the walkway above me. My eyebrow rose.
"Drive? I apologise, the message said nothing about bringing anything other than myself." I answered, there was only the barest of quivers.
"And your guns," he growled. A grin spread over my face, copied from Indira.
"What girl leaves home without her guns? God," I rolled my eyes, exaggerating the movement. Guns reload around me. The nerves rattled.
"Look, we have orders to take the drive with some reports on them off you. Any means necessary," he stressed. A laugh burst free from me, making him pause.
"My reports? Keplar sent you?" I asked. He rolled his shoulders. Why would Keplar not meet me face to face and demand them? Was… was he… "What? Is he that terrified of little ol' me he can't come and face me himself? Sorry, but he's that desperate then he can come and see me in person," I shrugged. Was Keplar afraid of me?
"We tried to give you the nice, easy way. Looks like things will get messy," He cocked his shotgun. My nose rose a touch.
"Oh good! I was getting sick of fighting geth and Saren all the time," I smirked, lowering the Carnifex enough to fire a bullet, catching a merc in the neck. My legs pushed me to the side, towards a massive pile of crates, holstering my Locust. However, there was the small issue of a wall of mercs in the way.
It felt like a game of British Bulldogs. My teeth grit as my arms flung around one's neck, wincing as my shields shattered. My weight hauled him to the ground, letting go long enough to land on my feet. A bullet skimmed past me, A yelp erupted as I spun and leapt up the crates. Dammit, bullets hurt! At least 3 bullet wounds had formed on me already. From there, it was just keeping the columns of the warehouse between me and the bullets. Easier said than done. More than once my jump missed because of a bullet slammed through the shields on take-off. The concrete floor hurt... a lot. After a good 2 minutes of trying to avoid the mercs, my eyes landed on the back door. My shoulder slammed into it, busting it open. The muscles in my legs whined while skidding around the side of the warehouse, leaping up boxes and swinging on chains dangling from small cranes to reach the inclined roof. My breath rasped, praying like hell they didn't find me. The footfalls on the ground below forced me hold my breath. They were yelling, demanding to know if anyone saw me. But like most idiots, they never looked up. A sigh of relief heaved as they ran off in different directions, trying to find me.
For a good 15 minutes I lay on the roof. After feeling the burning pains on my body, 7 new wounds to top off my geth attack wounds. They stung against the cold metal as air flowed into my lungs. Still had a long way to go to build up my stamina. Once the yelling voices died down into the distance, Removing myself from the roof was easier said than done, but once off the roof and on the street, no one remained as I crept back inside the warehouse. The quarians inside were still alive, cowering whereon the floor. My gun lowered and holstered approached them. One quarian, a male, spotted me emerging from the gloom and drew an assault rifle out. I stopped short. The red masked quarian, with his red, white and gold suit, quivered before me.
"S-Stay back, human!" he snapped. My teeth chewed my lip. How best to handle this? My rage quietened, dragging my compassion up to take over the diplomacy. Another male quarian lay between the remaining four, still and bloodied. He was dead. The sight sent shivers down my spine, but that couldn't be my concern. Not with a scared-ass quarian before me with a gun pointed at me.
"Please, calm down. I'm Endellion Shaik, STG," I said, hoping they didn't question that. "Why are you here?" I asked. The quarian seemed to glare at me.
"N-No reason you need to be concerned with!" he warned, his voice quaking. "A-And you're human! Y-You can't be STG!"
"Say to my mentor," I smiled. "Please, I want to help," What did I know about quarians? "Why have you left the flotilla? Are you from the Rayya?" the quarian's gun twitched, surprised.
"Uh... n-no. The Moreh," he answered, the gun shuddering in his hands. Ok, progress.
"I have a friend who is on pilgrimage. That's why I asked. Are you alright?" I approached, keeping an eye on that trigger finger. "Please, let me help. What's your name?" the red-masked quarian stared for a moment.
"...Shayan'Ernal vas Moreh nar Idenna," he answered. It took me some time to tease the name apart. So his name was Shayan, 'vas Moreh' was his... ship name, 'nar Idenna' was the ship he was born on? I remember Tali telling me that at one point. Shayan stared at me for a long time. My hand reached out and pushed his gun away.
"Why are you here? This trap was for me," I asked. Shayan looked away as a green-masked female found her feet.
"Because those Blue Suns stole intel from us. Intel that could endanger the entire fleet! We need to get that data back but..." she glanced to the fallen quarian. "With our leader dead..." she shook her head. "We'll never get it back!"
After studying the group, the three males and two females had all but collapsed around the fallen body, lost as to what to do next. My hand rubbed my arm, they needed help but none of them were ready to take up the mantle of leadership. And to be fair, I didn't want to either. Leap into gunfire, sure, but the thought of having the responsibility of other people under me? Not a comforting weight to have on you.
"I'll help you, if I can," I answered. "The Blue Suns want me, so we can figure something out," they perked. "Do you need any medical attention?"
"N-No, our suit raptures have been sealed. W-We'll be alright," a second male said, navy and green in colour. Well, at least they wouldn't fall over and die at any second. I never understood why quarians never found a new world to settle down on after the geth threw them off. Maybe that answer would appear in the future, if there was one. But there were five quarians who needed help.
"Alright, stay here. Let me track down that Blue Suns guy. I have something he wants. Maybe we could do a trade," I said. My nerves were not ready, not with a mountain of Blue Suns running around. To keep Raisha from doing any more psychological warfare on me, however, I had to. The krogan would ask, she'd pry the answer out.
The quarians didn't have time to respond. I spun around and ran out the main door. There wasn't a soul around when my eyes scanned the landscape, a frown forming. What was the easiest way to get their attention? My eyes scanned my hip, at the Carnifex. It was louder than my Locust, if I could fire a bullet off... ach that sounded dangerous though. No blanks to fire but I didn't want to hurt someone. The Carnifex pointed at the ground, hoping the bullet wouldn't ricochet into my leg. Taking a deep, calming breath, my finger squeezed.
It wasn't as loud as I hoped for, but the vast emptiness carried it. The gun holstered and waited while the nerves danced, waiting. As the minutes passed, no one appeared. Had they left the area? It hadn't been that long between fleeing and talking to the quarians that long. My fingers drummed on my arm, narrowing my eyes as my eyes scanned around the area. Nothing. I was out in the open, weren't the Blue Suns desperate to get their hands on me? They weren't running towards me when they heard gunfire? Something wasn't rig-
My cry echoed when a sniper bullet shattered my knee cap.
"FUCK!" I yelled as I hit the deck, hoping that swearing would prevent the tears from falling. My fist smacked the ground, pleading with my body to stop cringing. My knee fired lightning through my entire nervous system, radiating around my entire body. Footfalls surrounded me, although my blood pounding my ears drowned them out. Peering through the haze of agony that had clouded my vision, guns surrounding me at only a few feet. Blue and white armour blinding me. Well shit...
"You are more trouble than we're getting paid for," Someone grumble. My glare wavered when a gun cocked next to my ear. "Just... haul this girl in so we can get paid,"
"W-Wait, I-I thought you wanted to data disc..." I stammered.
"Just shut up, human," a turian snapped, kicking my side. My teeth grit to stop the yelp escaping. The men hauled me up, dragging me between them.
"Drag this girl back to the base. We can get paid then," the leader ordered with a grumble.
"Forget it!" I snapped, struggling. "You let me go this inst-"
My words died as bullets flew out from the warehouse, the guards holding me dropped dead, and I hit the ground hard. After wincing, my head ducked while waiting for the hail of bullets to end. The call to retreat sounded, footfalls and more gunfire overhead at the retreating mercs. Someone grabbed me, making me snap my head up to face them. A female quarian, white and gold with a green mask, dragged me back behind the cover of the warehouse. The mercs retreated, disappearing into the distance. My good foot under me and kick myself backwards, taking the quarian to the ground. A sniper bullet soared just over us... only it fired from behind us. After landing, the mercs were far enough away to allow us to recover.
"T-Thanks," I told the quarian. She nodded, although she turned to glare at Shayan. The quarian quivered, a sniper in his hand. It wasn't the same model as Mat'al's, it looked lighter as if the forces on it were nowhere near as powerful.
"Are you trying to kill us, Shayan?" the female snapped. "Your aim is terrible!" I coughed. Ah... this... could get complicated.
The Galaxy Map has been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.