"I will not lie to you, Endellion. This will be a very difficult situation to wriggle free from," Raisha's voice rang. Her words half-registered through my half-hearted ears, mind otherwise distracted by the day's surprise spine. My eyes glanced up from the table before me. Dell sat in the middle of the longer length of the table in the war room, her back to the computer massacre consuming the labs. The CIC behind me lay quiet as people understood how close to disaster we had come. Our dear captain had thwarted a Saboteur threat no one comprehended, not even me who had known Rolidin for years. She stared at a datapad lying on the amber wood table, eyes staring beyond what lay before her. Violent shakes consumed her body, but otherwise appeared fine. Saere had assured us it would wear off once she slept and her body started the healing process. With Dell, chance ruled. We didn't know how much damage the Reaper could dish out or how much her body could handle at any one time.
Valérien perched upon a crate in the corner, eyes on the bustle of the lab as they hauled the servers into the elevator. Their destination lay outside the ship once Lanster brought us as close to a star as he was willing. The selected sun burned as it approached, the blue sun scorching the ship until even the air conditioning struggled to deal with it. Sun-reflective glass dulled the brilliant rays, protecting our eyes from the light. But to think Val was not paying attention would be foolhardy. The turian clicked his mandibles to each topic raised by the XO, eyes narrowing as the problems mounted. On top of which, his positioning squared him to spring into action with immediate effect should any threat appear before Dell had recovered. Shayan sat in a corner, hands folding together as his eyes glimpsed up at Dell, leaning against the part-glass walls of the war room. The news and analysis from Raisha disquieted quarian, dampening any pride through averting whatever disaster lurked within the engines. Indira frowned next to Dell, quiet for once, sitting on the table itself as she listened to the news. Already, the gears in her head spun.
My pride stung through my blind trust. The great Mat'al Delern, fooled by a man he befriended over 10 years ago. How long have the Saboteurs been in place? My eyes rose to Dell as hers shifted to return the stare. In terms of Saboteur years, Dell didn't even cover the 1 year mark, although four months would mark the anniversaries of her awakening. Why had she only awoken now? If Saboteurs had been around for as long as Rolidin had – at least 10 years – then why did they hold some Saboteurs back, or was Dell special?
"I don't know, Mat'al," Dell said. My shoulders froze, mind alert as my gaze flicked over Dell's face. The questions haunting my mind had escaped my lips without knowing. A hand ran down my face, fingers pinching the wide bridge of my nose. Distraction would mimic insanity at this rate. "I wish I knew though," she paused as another shaking spell ran through her. "It wasn't your fault, Mat'al. What could you have done? How would you have known?" My back pressed against the wall, eyes finding hers once more.
"You had warned me that the Saboteurs had penetrated every organisation in the galaxy. I should have been suspicious with the STG, It was such an obvious target-" I said.
"No, Mat'al. I said I think there is a good chance that they have penetrated every organisation in the galaxy," she sighed. "I can't answer your questions on them; where we came from, where they are, how many of us there are, the Saboteurs' faces. If they answers lie inside my head, they aren't coming forward. Hell," she tore her gaze away, finding a label on her crate fascinating. "I'm thinking there are other Saboteurs out there without the markings on the eyes,"
"Then how would we know?" Val asked. Dell blinked once, silent as she thought.
"Maybe the Reapers can pick up each other's signals, like a radio," she sighed, sounding frustrated. "Maybe that was how they knew I was a Saboteur. I never met Rolidin in person,"
"It is plausible," I said. "We just need to find answers," Dell laughed, although my annoyance at it faded when her eyes glistened. Tears threatened to fall from those lavender eyes.
"How? How can we do that? We don't have powerful computers to crunch our numbers, we don't even have any numbers to crunch to begin with and we have nowhere to start since the Citadel is a no go. Dammit, Mat'al, there will not be any food on the table within the next three weeks unless we do something! We cannot afford to do anything. Hell, we've shut down half the engines and the other half are on idle just to keep the generators powered to conserve fuel!" She slumped against the glass at her back. "What do we do?" she mumbled.
"Well, they won't give us money, so let's make money!" Indira grinned with a bounce. Dell shared the same look of exhausted frustration as me as she flopped her head forward to stare the drell.
"Care to explain how, Indira?" Dell groaned, too defeated to snap at her bouncy commander. Indira's arms folded, a grin spreading wide across her face.
"We could rob a bank! That would get us money," Indira said. Dell sighed in answer, head rolling back against the wall. "Or, or could hire ourselves out as mercenaries! Like the Bloodpack or Blue Su-" she froze as Dell hissed at the mere mention of the mercenary band. "Well, you get it! We could be bodyguards or cargo haulers or something. We've got everything in the crew already!"
"And how does said merc band become one?" Dell asked as an eyebrow rose. "This sounds like you need to pump money in to get anything out. And how would we get any business? We have no reputation. How do we make ourselves appear official and professional without proper uniforms? Indira, we don't have the money to kit everyone out. Even if we did, we would need to worry about spending all the money and not getting any work,"
"We have several independent mercs here already," Val said. "The krogan have extensive mercenary histories and have plenty of clients and contacts," Dell's gaze swept over him. "Maybe your friend could help us out too, the asari, you said she's good with information and such,"
"Liara," Dell said, mind lost in thought. She scrubbed a hand down her face, rocking until her back hit the wall. "I don't know... I hear the word 'mercenary' and I just imagine kidnapping and murder,"
"The 'murder' is usual despite what field you are in," I said with a shrug. "You've killed people, Dell,"
"While I was in the military," she defended.
"And otherwise," Raisha added. Dell's mouth opened to thunder at her XO, but no words escaped her. Her glittering eyes rose to the krogan. Her expression fell, eyebrows upturning as her gaze diverted. "I apologise for the 'low blow' as you call it, Endellion, but we cannot afford to have you falter here,"
"I-If it makes you feel better, w-we got the hot water system working on three engines," he said. Dell coughed, a weak laugh emerging as the quiet words side swiped her.
"Much appreciated, Shayan. Thank you," Dell smiled, although she didn't have the strength to hold it. Her arms trembled as she pushed herself back onto her feet, swaying as she fought for balance. Indira bounded to her feet, her hands hovering above Dell's shoulders. Val straightened, eyes glued the human. "Alright, everyone is dismissed. I need to sleep on this," She said as her hand rubbed her eyes. "Val, wake me up early tomorrow, if I'm not up already,"
"Define early," he asked, furrowing his plates.
"6am," Dell said. Val burst out laughing, Dell glaring miniature suns down on him, hands twitching above where her pistol would have been. Val coughed upon seeing her expression, his expression sobering.
"Y-Yes, Captain," he said, clearing his throat and squaring his shoulders.
Dell nodded as she turned to exit the war room, shuffling past the mass of people carting computers and servers into the elevator. We watched as another shaking fit held her, Indira grasping her shoulders before her knees caved and send her sprawling on the floor. Indira looped her quivering arm over her shoulders as she hobbled the human towards the elevator. Shayan excused himself, spotting an opportunity to escape the tense room. He slipped out of the room, fleeing into the engineer pits. Raisha and Valérien remained in the room with me, the only competent officers Dell chose that day on Sur'Kesh. Shayan, while a proficient engineer and damn good at handling the technical aspects of ships, equipment upgrades and maintenance, lacked the leadership material required to earn the Commander rank. Indira? Too immature for the position, she didn't appreciate the responsibility landing on her shoulders. Alas, Dell was the captain. It was her choice. She must have had valid reasons for leaving these two to the end to position.
"I hoped the new scientists would help calm Endellion," she began. My gaze studied her from the corner of my eyes. "Saere informed me Endellion's biological telemetry data is showing signs severe stress. Can she handle the strain?" she asked. Her question plunged us into silence.
While strong, Dell had much to deal with and few resources and a lack of experience playing against her. The Saboteur issue aside along with her constant battle with the Reaper inside her, Raisha and I had agreed to thrust the Captain position upon her. We feared becoming a meagre member of the crew would not provide her with the encouragement to keep fighting. Knowing people relied on her would keep her grounded. Whether that was a wise idea remained to be seen. In these early days, it appeared we miscalculated. The Starquake's multiple breakdowns were not part of the plan. On top of this, the Reaper appeared to be biting back and refused to hold any punches. On top of her mental wellbeing, her physical well-being was now under threat. Then she had to ensure the safety, well-being, happiness and loyalty of a 45 man crew. Wheel weave the STG betrayal had cemented the crew's thoughts about Dell, that she knew what she was doing and she could protect them where more experienced members failed. Another problem Dell had to fret about was herself. She mentioned that she may be able indoctrinate those around her without her knowing. Dell had Reaper technology inside her, to ignore that would be foolish. She wanted to put an end to that threat of possible, to keep her crew and friends of their own minds. That was our current goal.
"I think she can handle it," Val said. My eyes flicked to face the turian. "If we help her out,"
"What do you have in mind?" I asked with a frown. "I cannot see how we can help her as much as we already have,"
"Easy," Val grinned. "Setting up this merc idea will be a logistical nightmare. I recommend that we just let Dell handle communications between this asari friend of hers. Dell can handle the main decisions but we'll do the leg work. Let me dig around my old contacts, I'm sure I can get weapons and ammo to stock us up somehow. Get Indira digging, maybe keep her busy with the uniforms or something. Maybe she can find a few jobs, she's head of the Intel team for a reason. Raisha, you have a word with the krogan about setting up jobs for us. The sooner we start, the easier it'll be on Dell. Mat'al, you have an infamous silver tongue, feel like haggling deals for us? Can't be too careful with our 'clients'. Shayan has his hands full with the ship so we'll let him slide on this one, although maybe he could look into upgrades,"
"My, you have many of the bases covered, Valérien," Raisha said. "I will speak with the males. Shual will be more than happy to part with some information for us," I nodded, my frown lifting.
"I can give our 'clients' a run for their money. However, I require a good reputation before I can haggle anything half-decent out of anyone," I said. We would need a powerful reputation to pull us into the black. The Starquake alone would cost us 'an arm and a leg' as the humans say, to bring it back up to standard. Val pushed himself on his feet, eyes on two salarians carrying a bundle of computer parts.
"I'll check on Dell. Spirits, she won't even be in bed yet," the turian grumbled as he stalked out the room. And here I thought her drone delivered on her hand and foot.
My reflection stared back at me, a mirror of unkempt flame hair twisting like slinkies. We should have seen this coming weeks ago. Red flags flew up in every direction; faulty engines, poor ship design and defence, the insistence on getting the computing systems up and running. Secure my cabin, the fifth load of computer banks soared through the emptiness of space towards the burning sun. We had to do this, we couldn't risk the Saboteurs getting a hold of our systems. I knew this was right but... no. We couldn't trust anything to do with Reaper tech. Nothing. Incineration in the nearest, burning pile of plasma we could find, that was the cure to this. My gaze slimmed past the clock. Sleep had demanded more attention than food, now over 9 hours later in the small hours of the morning, my stomach churned as each computer bank burned in the halo of the star.
"Dell, for spirit's sake!" A flanged voice sounded by the door. My eyes remained forward as Val thundered up the stairs. "How long have you been up?"
"Long enough to see several blocks of computer burn in this sun's corona, at the least," I said. Val sighed as he stopped by my side, gazing at the glowing sun.
"That was two hours ago, Dell," Val scolded. A sound croaked in my throat. Val glanced down at me, my eyes still fixated on the floating objects. "You need to take it easy, Dell, we're all getting worried about you," His words released a sigh from my chest.
"I'll be fine, Val," I said, a poor attempt to sooth him, but my usual morning temper had become just that, usual. Calm in the morning betrayed my exhaustion, my mental sluggishness. The turian scowled. "I just need to get some reasonable income to help feed these poor bastards of a crew,"
"Dell, we can handle ourselves," Val said. "Listen, we're working on this whole mercenary idea, but we need you to do us a favour," my gaze shifted up, focusing on his waving mandibles. "We need you to talk to Liara, see if she can't find us some work or even help us with a reputation or something. Anything would be helpful. Also, a name would be good too," My gaze narrowed, frowning.
"What are you up to, Commander Autillin?" I asked. Val flushed at the formal address.
"Trying to keep you happy, Captain Shaik," he answered through clenched teeth. A small smile lifted my lips. He snorted. "Everything else is being arranged as we speak. I'll be sending out small teams lead by independent mercs later on. A few of them have got easy work, others are still debating contracts,"
"So you would have me sit on my ass while my crew risks themselves doing jobs for me-" I said, voice thundering.
"You will organise, mingling and overall doing the finer parts of the job," Val interrupted. Angry breaths rushed from my lungs, but my tongue remained still. "Dell, please. For us," His brow plates upturned as much as possible, eyes sad as pleaded with me. Where the exhaustion lines marring my skin already?
My gaze tore away from those emerald eyes, back to another bank of computers floating across the abyss. My forehead rested against the glass. It was taking its toll on me. So little money, no income, so many people to care for, each with their own needs... My reflection captured the faint lines of circuitry in my irises. They made me wince each time they appeared. It was impossible to ignore them every time I gazed into a mirror or reflection, my instincts hunted for them. They burned themselves into my memories. A merc company, huh? Lead by a dangerous Saboteur with an uncontrolled Reaper waiting for a chance to take over my body and band of aliens all of whom are very susceptible to indoctrination. Nothing to worry about, huh?
"What do I need to do?" I sighed. Val's shoulders sagged at my answer, although he held the sigh back.
"We've put Indira in charge of naming and coming up with an overall design for the group. She'll be coming to you see you soon enough to 'discuss' them. Good luck," he grinned. A scowl formed in seconds.
"Are you doing this on purpose?" I asked. Val laughed.
"She's your commander, you should be able to control her otherwise you wouldn't have put her in such a position," he winked. My scowl evolved into a glare. "Try to get some rest, Dell, spirits knows you need it" Val made a hasty escape out of the room, either to escape my glare or to flee before the impending arrival of Indira. He was a character if nothing else… a pain in the ass character. A grumble churned in my chest as my arms pushed me away from the window, turning to the dimmed room.
"Marshal," I called. The drone bounded into view. "Make a schedule, call Liara T'Soni at 10:30am Nos Astra, Illium time. When is that?" I added, remembering time differences. Mar beeped before showing a digital clock. "5pm, thanks. Ok, put Indira in for 9am. Make it a few hours long. I know her," My fingers rubbed my eyes. "Also, put a crew meeting for members with mercenary experience for 2pm onwards," The drone was silent as it computed the commands. "Alright. What else needs done?"
"Crew update meeting," a voice sounded behind me. My body swirled on the balls of my feet to face the door. Raisha smiled as she crossed the threshold. She must have heard Val speaking with me. "The majority of them do not understand what has occurred and are whispering for answers," The krogan climbed to stairs to reach me. "You are well?" she asked.
"The shaking has passed, if that's what you mean. Otherwise, once everything gets sorted, sure. Until then, I have a 45 people to feed," I sighed, flopping on the sofa. "Any engineering reports?"
"Still concerned about the Starquake's integrity?" Raisha asked, wandering over to the window to stare at the burning computers.
"Of course I am! We had possible Reaper agents crawling all over her! Who knows what else they have done," I exclaimed. Why had that thought not crossed Raisha's mind before?
"Engineering have scoured the ship top to bottom since we foiled the STG's plan. They say everything else seems normal and have detected nothing unusual. Your caution is understandbale, however," Raisha frowned. "I dread to think what those computers were for,"
"I don't know. Dammit, I just don't know!" I moaned, hurling myself to my feet. Raisha glanced over her shoulder as my feet tore up the floor. "Why does everything I felt like I'm blundering in the dark? We can't study Sovereign because C-Sec would arrest me on sight if they ever see me on the Citadel again. Even if I could, what do we look for?" Both hands ran through my hair, tousling it. "I don't know what I'm doing, Raisha..."
"These are still early days. These will be more trying times ahead for the foreseeable future," Raisha responded. My grumble only grew
"You are assuming it doesn't all crash and burn here," I said.
"Oh come now. It appears our captain is feeling a little gloom," Raisha smiled. My gaze snapped to study her face, eyes narrowing. My eyes scanned the room. They glued onto a quivering Indira, cemented in the door frame. We stared at each other. The drell exploded.
"Delly! I have the best idea ever!" she cried as she hurled herself into the room. My 'Indira' scowl pinned to my face.
"First, don't call me Delly. Second, keep your voice down, Indira, people are still sleeping-" I said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, everyone's already up. Anyway!" she waved my words away. "I was going through the extranet, trying to think of names for our new band. So," her eyes sparkled like an active biotic aura. "I looked through what was famous on Earth when you were there!"
"Oh dear God no..." I said, dread plunging my stomach to the ground.
"Yeah, yeah! So I was thinking something like Spice Band after that famous – if so last century – band everyone knows about-" she babbled.
"No," I interrupted. "We are not touching the bloody Spice Girls with a barge pole, do I make myself clear?"
"Aww, but my costume ideas were so good and everythin-" she paused upon my expression. She sulked. "Fine! How about something a little newer; this TV show exploded at the time you disappeared and gained such popularity someone bought and island and recreated the entire town! It was something to do with ponies and friendship and magic-"
"GET OUT!" I thundered, finger thrusted to the door. "Fucking hell, Indira, I am not letting that tripe taint this ship or its crew!" My hands grabbed her shoulders, shoving her to the door. "Goddam it, that should never have existed!"
"Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok! H-How about something more serious! L-Like... H-Hubble! Y-Y'know, that telescope that is now in a museum on Earth!" Indira exclaimed, arms clinging to the door frame to stop me from throwing her out. My glare remained frozen, but my pushing stopped.
"Better, but it still doesn't ring well," I said.
"Ok! So what about Avatar? Caribbean after those pirate movies or-" Indira cried as she entered listing mode.
"Indira," I snapped. "Tell you what, make me a list and I'll tell you what ones are good, what are terrible and what you are to avoid at all times. Clear?" Indira nodded, opened her mouth to speak. "Good! Then I'll see you later once I read through that list! E-mail it, darling," I groaned, shoving her out the door. My hand slammed on the lock button. It wouldn't hold for long. "Why does this happen?"
"Because, Endellion," Raisha chuckled. "You are the only one who can handle her for any length of time," My gaze shifted, frowning at the krogan. Her remark was a little- My skin leapt a mile as Indira hacked the door and bounded back into the room, face alight like fireworks.
"Oh, oh, oh! I got like ten new names-" she began.
"Write them down, Indira," I scolded. The drell bounced, making an unhappy whining noise as she yanked her datapad out. Raisha evacuated the room, chuckling, as my concerned scowl burned into her back. She vanished from sight, but my wariness did not.