The room sang with the sound of my hums, the orange hued screen holding my attention. So close. A few more keystrokes, another little bundle of anti-hacking prevention code and the secrets were mine. It almost made sense now after days of trying, just this last sequence of numbers- ah! There we go! A wide beam stretched my lips until they ached, leaning back in my chair in triumph. My fingers tapped away, working around the sneaky code's protection protocols. Moments after getting around the code, Kala stepped in, ripping the last of the program to shreds, storing what she wanted for future reference. Task done, time to get out of this… convoluted hierarchical system and back to the top. Kala's file organisation made little sense – another of the more subtle protections in place to stop people messing with it – and that was with Kala creating an interface to help me interact with it.
"So, what shackle was that then? Higher processing, independent thinking or something else?" I asked as the shackle vanished off the system like dirt off a shoe. The strongest guards yet protected this shackle, a new test on my abilities to work around code, taking up 4 days of attempts and discussions. Kala chimed, assessing the code she stored.
"That, Gideon, was the shackle that controls my ability to produce dad jokes," she said. Every muscle froze, dread growing in my stomach.
"What?" I asked. Kala's emoticon laughed, my heart thundering until realisation dawned. My glare snapped to the camera. "Kala,"
"It was one of my personality shackles. I should be able to develop a stable personality now," Kala said, tone light and amused. She only laughed at my grumbles.
"So, what's left? Seriously this time," I said, aiming a finger at the camera. Kala's emoticon grinned.
"Well, I cannot mask my code without manual mounting, but I can now make a few decisions myself. For starters, enforcing your bedtime of 10pm is in order," she said.
"Fuck you," I snapped. Kala laughed. My fingers dashed through the interface. "How do I put that personality shackle back on?" Kala jolted, the emoticon opening in surprise. A second later the interface vanished. She kicked me out. My laugh only grew as the AII sulked, grumbling about 'can't take a joke'.
I jumped as blaring alarm burst through the room, a red light pulsing. Spinning around, bewildered, I fumbled for Kala's visor, slipping it over my head. That was the critical emergency warning. What the hell was going on?
"Saboteur… onboard," Mum's voice rasp over the intercom, weak and breathy. Was she struggling for breath? Was that fighting in the background? Wait…Saboteur?! My heart stopped"I repeat. Saboteur i-is onboard. S-Sitoln is a-a Sabo… teur…"
Sitoln was a… a Saboteur? My blood simmered, burst into fire. I knew it, I knew there was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way! But why did mum sound so weak, did he hurt-? Instinct took over, diving into the wardrobe. Items flew until a small gun case tumbled free, a battered pistol falling into my hands. That bastard, he had been trying to get close to mum for ages. To kill her, indoctrinate her? My head shook hard, snapping my mind into focus. Adrenaline fuelled my legs, bursting out into the hall. Gunfire echoed throughout the ship. My knees locked, the popping and crashes too real, snapping me back to another time, another time with smoke in my lungs. Someone swore nearby, spinning my body. My eyes widened. Mum's door lay open. Sitoln wrestled with Marruns, the sandy turian struggling to fend off the salarian as cables slipped out from under his skin. Sitoln flung him into the glass walls, shattering it. Mum's blooded hand lay limp on the floor, a trickle of red around it. My stomach plunged to the floor, the gun tumbling out of my hand. The clatter snapped Sitoln's gaze in my direction. A slow, cold smile lifted his lips. My knees shook, locked and unable to move. The salarian approach, a pair of omni-blades flipping out as cables whipped beside him.
"Run!" Marruns thundered. Sitoln spun as the turian tackled him to the ground, the pair fought, cables snapping around Marruns' neck. "RUN YOU STUPID BASTARD!" Marruns roared.
His words jarred me awake, my legs wheeling around and sprinting for the engineering tunnels. Thoughts raced through my mind, too fast to follow. Everything was too quick, moving so fast! What was going on?! A yelp died in my throat, falling into the tunnels and crashing into the ground. My knees buckled, pain stealing air before they scrambled up on trembling legs. The red stained maze, once so familiar now felt like a death trap. My pounding feet echoed down the tunnels, rasping breath worsening by the step. The emergency warning alarm screamed like a fiend chasing me down every turn. A ladder down appeared, a mad scramble down so not to break something, just missing smashing my head into a pipe by millimetres. My lungs burned as my heart burst. Nothing felt familiar or safe, even while skidding around a corner. The anchors slammed on, Henry, the dark toned human turned to face me.
"Henry! What's going on?" I asked, chest heaving. The human blinked, as if drunk. He raised a pistol, barrel aimed at me. My eyes popped out of my skull, heart stalling. "Henry?"
"Run, Gideon!" Kala shouted in my ear.
A high pitched shriek drowned out the alarm and gunfire both, diving back around the corner as the bullet smashed into the metal behind me. It rang in my ears, a taunting echo. My vision narrowed, darkening on the edges. Everything hazed, scrambling back into a stable run. The sound of heavy footfalls behind me pushed me harder, around more corners. The gunfire skipped my heart every time. A bullet skimmed past my arm as my feet lost grip and slipped on the turn. My heart deafened even the alarms. One more corner down a narrow passage, a form loomed up. Phentos rose above me. The turian stared me down with his hawk-like eyes, my heart stopped. He lowered the pistol in his hand.
"Gideon, are you alright?" he asked. My mouth floundered.
Phentos snapped his gaze up. He reached out and grabbed the front of my shirt, yanking me off my feet and hurling me behind him. My shoulder landed hard on the metal mesh floor. My head spun, but they saw just enough to get back on flailing feet. Phentos grabbed Henry's gun arm, looking to disarm him. The human roared, thrashing, elbowing the turian in the head. Phentos grunted as the pair tumbled to the ground, the fighting intensifying. The sound echoed down the tunnels even as the distance grew, lungs burning. The flashing warning beacons sent the room tumbling, the howling alarm, muffled crashes and pounding heart knocked me off balance. A new ladder appeared, an escape from this hell. My hands couldn't pull me up fast enough.
The server room greeted me, quiet and barren. My rasping breaths filled the air, scrambling inside. All the while my eyes searched for a hiding place. There was just enough space between the servers and walls to crawl behind. In the tangle of wires, calm arrived. My hands scrubbed my face, shuddering as they were. Tears and sweat soaked them in an instant. What was going on? Everything was going to hell, where was everyone, why were people attacking each other? They couldn't have fallen to indoctrination could they? A quiet whimper kept my company, the trembling uncontrollable. Henry tried to kill me, Sitoln was a Saboteur. How did he indoctrinate people? We had the RIC, everyone got done! How many did he indoctrinate? How did he do it!?
The door whished open, the sound of boots echoing in the low din. My lungs forgot how to work, quivering. Something tapped, like buttons on the server, the interface alive and active. An orange aura peeked over the top of the server bank. No muscles dared to move.
"Captain Code accepted. Welcome, Captain Shaik," the computer chimed. My eyes bugged. B-but mum was- "Command accepted. Venting ship in 45 minutes," WHAT!?
Then a gun clicked. My body flattened itself to the floor in the tangle of wires as round after round of bullets flew into the computer bank above my head. My teeth clamped around a bundle of Ethernet cables to stop screaming. Sparks flew overhead, burning radiating along my back, legs and neck. Electricity danced in the air, metal dinged and crashed to the ground. Smoke and burning filled the air, masking everything from view. Fear drowned out common sense. Kala tried to cry over the sound, to reassure me, but she too disappeared in the disaster. When the last heatsink dropped to the ground, the footfalls left the room, the door shutting with an audible click. Smoke filled my lungs, fire breaking out. It pushed me out of hiding, forcing me to uncurl myself. Plates of shattered metal creaked as they tumbled off me, tables tangled around my like vines. The smell of burning plastic burned the hairs in my nose, soiling my lungs. My knees collapsed, coughing near the engineering tunnels. My eyes glanced over my shoulder even as my body shambled down the ladder.
The Reaper server lay shattered, a hunk of metal, wires and circuitry sparking. It collapsed in on itself. The normal ship servers were not much better. The port side bundle of servers had fallen forward, the bank I had hidden behind wasn't as damaged, but it still sparked. Small fires swam near the door. A coldness settled over me once more, dropping from the ladder and back into flashing red gloom. The fighting worsened while running under the hallway towards the bow. Under the bridge, the fighting was the worst ever to grace my ears. A muffled warzone. Cursing, gunfire, explosions, the rampant roar of maniacal servants. My chest ached, praying no one stalked the tunnels and no more indoctrinated servants were waiting for me in the cockpit. A wall reared up to greet me, a sole ladder riveted to it. At the top, free from the tunnel, Mari and Lanster lay collapsed on the ground. My chest seized. My hand yanked off a cover to a control panel by the engineering hatch. A metal door slid over the hole. My feet flailed under me, running for the door. Had to seal the cockpit, had to make it secure! The scene on the bridge held me frozen.
Carnage was a kind word. Terminals lay on their sides, anything that could be used as cover sat on the floor and dragged into defensible positions. Even wall panels had been ripped off. Grenades soared and exploded, people ran into and fled the room. Andria poked through the haze, raining a sea of bullets down upon Drutus, the Spectre ducked under the remains of part of the Control Ring. Who was on what side? Could I trust any of them? The closing cockpit doors hid the sight, muffled the noise. My hands shook, amazed my knees hadn't given out. The cockpit alarms blared, so clear now my thundering heart slowed somewhat. My hand reached for Lanster, finding his neck, seeking any sign of life. A pulse and a low wheeze every time he drew breathe. He was alive. My shoulders sagged. Mari was alive too although bleeding. What to do, what could we do!?
"Cargo door opening," the computer rang. Every muscle tensed, eyes spinning upwards to the flight computers. The tremors shaking me couldn't keep me upright, my hands pulling me into the pilot's chair instead, scanning the systems.
Cameras showed nothing but horror. Marruns lay collapsed on the deck but moving and breathing, holding something to mum's stomach as Saria surrounded her in a biotic aura. The bridge was the worst section of the ship bar the cargo hold, with all the guns. Deck 2 wasn't much better. Engineering lay in smouldering embers and roaring flames claimed the labs. And on top of this, a timer on a ship-wide vent hung overhead. Movement caught my eyes outside the window. A small shuttle, plain silver and black, flew over the ship, running a quick inspection. As it came over the cockpit, a darkened image of Sitoln peered through the blackened side window. We shared a look for a heartbeat. The shuttle turned then, slotting inside a frigate floating before us, the salarian frigate that mum spared last year. My stomach plunged. We were so dead. Desperation kicked in hard. My head ducked under the main console, yanking out a chip from Kala before struggling to slot it inside the flight computer. The chair floated up to view the windows better.
"Kala, you gotta get us out here, you have to do something! He's going to kill us! Oh God, oh fuck," I whimpered as the once familiar interface now read like ancient Greek.
"Gideon, the auto-pilot controls were destroyed with those servers and the flight systems are garbled. It'll take time to-" Kala said.
"Something! Anything!" I begged.
"Gideon-" Kala said, firming her tone.
"He's going to kill us, fuck, fuck, fuc-" I stammered.
"GIDEON!" Kala snapped. My body froze, hands trembling over the controls. "I am doing my best, Gideon, but I'm trying to communicate with systems that have severe hardware damages. It's like you trying to talk to someone through a dodgy wire. The flight controls on your end should be good, but I am detecting abnormalities in the left rudder. Now, if you excuse me, I have to establish a stable link with the Starquake's systems. I'll help you as best as I can but I may only add minor flight corrections," she said.
My eyes trailed over Lanster, realisation dawning. How many other people could fly the ship, how many are needed to fight off the indoctrinated servants? How many- No. No, no, no, no. I could do this, I had to, I had no choice! My hands lifted to the controls just as the salarian frigate rose, the main gun lowering from the belly. My heart thundered.
"How much time until the ship vents?" I asked. Kala brought up a countdown, silencing the barrage of alarms. 34:26. Oh fuck. "Can you stop it?"
"It is one of the 378 errors and issues I am trying to deal with, Gideon. I have fires breaking out on 2 decks and critical computer failures. I have long diversions to make to communicate to the systems that control the timed venting systems. Even just manual venting systems are proving to be nigh on impossible to talk to with systems failing left, right and centre," Kala said, her tone distant as she worked. A glow dragged my attention upwards. The main gun powered up. Oh fuck!
My hand dragged up the acceleration, almost to max, in panic. The engines roared, the ship quivering as we pelted forward. My scream of surprise joined Kala's beep and several alarms. We got so close Sitoln's face was clear in the cockpit. He stared, surprised as his ship barrelled to the side. The Starquake barrelled to port and shot forward with a few twists of the controls. A few seconds later, Sitoln's ship turned around and powered after us. Despite everything Lanster told me, it fled me now. Kala turned on what combat systems she could because new windows popped up showing a clear, polygon image of the pursuing ship. And the bullets. The computer cried out of incoming rounds and suggested manoeuvres, but my steering and skill wasn't up to snub. It said go port, but the sensitive controls threw the ship too far port and spiralled out of control. Why was the ship so twitchy, it wasn't like this before! The ship would barrel roll to one side rather than turning because of the fucked up engine configuration. A shell slammed into the rotary, the shields absorbing the hit. The trembling shook what little confidence remained as the alarms blared. We couldn't take a hit like that.
My hand flew up, to make the ship raise the Z-Vector and get out the plane of attack, but the ship just flipped as if mimicking a windmill. The G-forces pinned me to the chair, using every muscle to hold my arms up to pull the ship normal again. Even then, Kala had to help. The whole ship creaked under the stresses. Sitoln's ship veered to stop a collision. The flip stopped, but it took several key seconds to stop the ship flying upside down. God, how was this affecting everyone in the bridge and elsewhere in the ship? Another barrel roll spared the ship another smack from a shell, the only thing I knew how to do. Kala did her best to correct me, but they weren't enough. The computer systems between the controls and the rest of the systems were cut or dodgy. The best she can do is ease the extremes of my wild attempts to not die. These corrections included lessening the extremes of my turns and rolls. Sometimes she would kick the cockpit back into line to stop us crabbing, to avoid a round or to stop me crashing into something. And obstacles were coming in thick and fast. The wrecks of ships were mounting, asteroids were becoming commonplace. But asteroid belts were never this dense, why so many asteroids?
A mass relay glowed in the distance. It shone like a tempting siren or a guardian angel, both fitting enough for how awful and tempting it was. With Sitoln so close on my ass, there was no time to take the rotary down, not with the engines at full. The rotary wasn't designed to handle the stresses of mass relay FTL journeys. My teeth grit, the ever counting clock now on 19:51 minutes. Did we have another choice? There was 4 checklists between a ship and firing through a relay and I had none of them. Was the Starquake even stable enough for a relay jump? Dammit, why did everything fall on me? We had to try, it was that or certain death. There wasn't another ship for God knows how many systems. My hand cranked the trust to max and powered towards the relay. It took 5 seconds for Sitoln to understand my plan. Or what he thought my plan was. To my surprise he fell back. Why, why would he fall-? No, no that doesn't matter. Unless he planned to destroy the relay, it didn't matter. It gave me more wiggle room to dodge the shells though. But lacklustre skills didn't improve my chances though. The ship will tumbled in wild rolls, terror keeping the throttles at max. There was nothing to cling to, only light that phased through my hands. God what I wouldn't do for mechanical controls! The ship rocked hard, the stern crabbing starboard as a shell hit, downing the shields and setting the already precarious rear 4th and 5th decks into a spiralling disaster zone. Don't let it kill the drive core, I kinda need that.
"Gideon, what are you doing?!" Kala cried, figuring out my plan as the ship swerved towards the glowing blue relay. "You are too fast, you won't make the turn into the relay! And the rotary and fans are still up! If you are trying to play chicken with the relay, you will damage the ship!"
"Why would I play chicken with a rel- …ay," I said, trailing off. That's why he backed away. Mum played that trick once before. He thought I was too smart to avoid going into the relay with the rotary up! My jaw clenched so hard teeth creaked. "Just as well I'm not playing chicken,"
"You can't be serious! …You… are serious," Kala said. "Gideon, the ship is too unstable, with or without the rotary up!"
"If there was another way, tell me," I said as the Starquake barrelled to the side again. Kala remained silent, computer errors now building without the AI soothing the situation.
"Roll to port, raise to Z vector 764. I'll… I'll try and keep the ship stable. Maybe if we throttle back a little…" she said.
My vision tunnelled. The tempting blue aura held me, my brain tuning out the blaring warnings for incoming bullets. The ducked and weaved, hindering attempts to roll to port and raise the ship to the vector. If Sitoln figured out we were going through the relay… My head shook, refocusing. The ship reached the assigned vectors, powering up to fly alongside the massive machine. Sitoln didn't followed me, instead content to power up the main gun for a massive attack. My teeth grit as the engines eased, the electrical blue veins sparking over the Starquake. The whole ship trembled as the drive core roared. G-forces flung my back into the chair, the ship launching into FTL. The ship trembled like an earthquake, the brutality jarring my vision until the menus before me blurred, unreadable. Had the Gs not pinned me into the chair, I would have long been flung out. The engines surged, the rear end of the Starquake drifted bits of fanned metal flew off and crashed into the rotary, wanting to rip it clean off. A main girder caved. Only Kala, working the engines and rotary configurations, held everything together. For now.
The ship lurched to a stop, throwing me onto the console with a loud a crack in my chest. My lungs wheezed, eyes swimming towards the speck of a sun in the distance, the relay fading behind us. My arms trembled, adrenaline drained yet still pumping. With a shove, my back hit the chair again. My hand raised, smacking the 'Disengage Rotary' button. With luck, nothing was broken beyond salvation. Then we can continue on before Sitoln turned around and followed us through. The ship trembled, the screeching metal ringing clear in the ship. The rear cameras showed girders not quite retracting, engines wobbling on their pivots and violent snaps and sharp movements as the girders overpowered something preventing them from dropping. With each one, the ship shuddered. Two wings formed, but flakes of metal sheets lost in the jump left dark holes. An engine refused to lock into place. With tentative care, power crept up on the engines. The engines held, but re-entry didn't excite me. What worried me was the wings were not smooth, one engine looked ready to rip off… the Starquake hung by a thread. The ship delved deeper into the system, applying more power until about 65% when the shaking got too bad and limited control. As the system got closer and closer, the sensors picked up dozens, no, thousands upon thousands of ships of all sizes. My eyes scanned the table of call signs. All of them carried turian call signs with a faint speckling of foreign flags.
Hope bubbled when my eyes danced to the system identifier. We stumbled through a less common relay into the Trebia system, an unused relay due to its barren destination. The turians like to use it for training. Palaven was here. A plane, a planet we could get to before we vented! A military that could stop the fighting in the ship, and Sitoln if he chased us through, and everything we needed to get everyone medical attention. My breath rushed out, hard gasps of air escaping. A chance, we just needed to survive re-entry, if I could get us to land safely… We had 17:47 minutes left. My throat tightened while reaching for the radio, hitting the button for an emergency frequency all ships had a radio tuned to. We needed help, we needed as much help as possible. The maths required to bring a ship into re-entry…without fully functioning computer systems… But what do I say, how do I explain what had happened, what do I call it? A slow breath sucked in, opening my clamped throat, fighting to stop the shaking. Let's hope reading all those radio transcripts helped.
"Mayday, mayday, mayday! RSS-2 Starquake, declaring an emergency! Mutiny ongoing, UAP at the controls, all flight crew out of commission! Requesting immediate vector to Palaven, severe damage to vessel and flight systems! Requesting armed intervention and equipment upon landing! Ship set to vent in 17 minutes! 86… no- correction, 85 souls onboard. Unknown number killed, unknown number mutinied. Fire on decks 4 and 5, uncontrolled, with engine trouble and drive core failure! I repeat, requesting immediate vector to Palaven! Mayday, mayday, mayday, RSS-2 Starquake!" I cried. The response was almost immediate.
"RSS-2 Starquake, this is Palaven Command, we read you loud and clear," the voice said. Every ship between me and Palaven turned, clearing a path to the planet. "Proceed to vector -138, 786, -475 direct to Palaven. Equipment has been alerted. ETA 16 minutes. Do you require anything else?" My dried throat made speaking hard as a nearby cruiser flew alongside us, peering through the windows to glimpse the warzone burning through the ship.
"M-My flight computers have been damaged, I-I don't have the skills or systems needed to calculate re-entry," I said, a hard tremor paralysing me.
The cockpit door thundered, a heavy weight crashing against it. A scream ripped from my throat. My eyes flew back as the sound worsened. Sweat dropped onto the back of my hand. The door screeched and ground, my stomach plunging. Someone was forcing their way in. A hand poked through a gap, Hagan emerging. The red salarian with yellow dots around his eyes screeched upon seeing me, clawing at the air. My heart skipped a beat. My hand reached for the internal radio.
"Help! Hagan's trying to get into the cockpit, I think he's indoctrinated! W-We're 15 minutes from Palaven! Help, I can't pilot if he gets in!" I cried. Hagan roared as he fought against the closing doors. A sound thundered from behind him. The massive frame of Utren filled the gap around Hagen before he crashed shoulder first into the salarian. Hagan gurgled as the krogan grabbed him around the neck and threw him away, the door snapping shut. It left me quivering in the chair.
"RSS-2 Starquake, do you read? RSS-2 Starquake, this is the HNV Vanquish, do you read?" the voice called. The voice snapped me back to the radio.
"I-I read you. HNV Vanquish. S-Sorry, someone tried to break into the cockpit," I said. A long pause followed.
"If you can, forward a ship status report to Transfer AJ45-ANL0. We'll run it through the systems here and get a re-entry calculation done. You are doing fine," the male turian said. Kala gathered the data. "What's your name, kiddo? How UAP are you?"
"G-Gideon. I-I'm 12," I said with a stammer, waiting for Kala to send the message. She chimed once complete.
"Not the nicest entry into flying, is it? I'm Oseriun," he said. A small, shaken smile spread.
"N-Not the first time. D-Definitely the most stressful though," I said. "I-I've never done re-entry, o-only space docking,"
"It's easy, I'll talk you through it… Palaven Command, HNV Vanquish, requesting coordinate relay designated to RSS-2 Starquake. We'll lead them in," My churning stomach slowed, a bubble of hope forming. "Just follow us, you'll have a different re-entry angle, but we'll stick with you. I'll talk you through everything,"
"T-Thank you," I said. My eyes cast towards the counter, ever ticking down.
A turian frigate swung out into my path, a dozen klicks ahead of me. Between him and the flickering flight path window, a path to Palaven made more sense. Oseriun kept in constant radio contact, to reassure me and ensure nothing else went awry. He talked me through the entire interface, everything I needed for e-entry and flying under atmosphere. By this point, the camera feeds inside the ship vanished. It just made me worse. The servants rushed at the door again, but ended sooner than the last. The data needed for re-entry sprung in the corner of an interface, giving Kala information she needed to prep the ship. Even if some systems refused to accept it. The timer ticked into the last 2 minutes just as the marble rose on the horizon. It was time to enter Palaven.
"Alright, kiddo, on your flight path map, there will be a tab for re-entry. Hit than and tap the button that looks like a small globe. That will show a small ball with a red symbol, a square with a 'V' in it. Get your crosshairs onto that symbol and do not move it. You may need to fight the controls but it must stay on the symbol, ok? We'll be going radio silent as we ionise through the atmosphere, I'll hail you once we're out," Oseriun explained.
"R-Roger that," I said, tapping the window.
The gridded ball spun with the twisting of the ship, the symbol appeared at the bottom. The Starquake eased into a dive, bringing the crosshairs towards the symbol. Just as it lined up, the whole ship trembled like on the relay jump. My jaw locked, hands shaking in the air above the controls, gaze fixed to the globe. As fire licked up the sides of the ship, the crosshairs shook and deviated. Kala helped stabilise it, forcing rudder and ailerons to hold us in position. There was no way I could have done it myself. My bones rattled as a metal screech shredded my hearing, loud pings rang out, plates ripping free. My muscles seized, fighting every twitch while the whole ship trembled. A wall of flames consumed the windscreen. Was this the last thing I'd see before the end? A loud bang behind me and resulting explosion deviated us from the symbol before either I or Kala could drag it back. The activity behind me grew. The servants knew we were on a planet now. Then clouds drifted into view, land poking through the gaps. My jaw relaxed, pain throbbing, the shaking eased enough to read the screens. The flames died away, leaving me with a clear view of the metallic landscape below. A loud beeping snapped me free from any sense of relief. My eyes snapped to the counter, the digits flashed 0. My heart thundered harder in my aching chest.
"Ship venting. Please stand by," the computer said. A hissing sound drowned in my ears, a meltdown taking over in my head. Within seconds, a mask dropped from above. My hands yanked it down, throwing it over my head as electronics lit up and secured the face with a mass effect field. It only heightened the sound of my ragged breaths.
"RSS-2 Starquake, do you read me? This is the HNV Vanquish, do your read me,RSS-2 Starquake?" Oseriun called.
"I-I read you," my voice rattled with the ship. "T-The ship's venting! I can't stop it!" I cried.
"Hey, hey, hey, you're fine, kiddo! Just stay in your dive for another 15 seconds and you'll be down in breathable atmosphere," Oseriun said. My hands quivered the shaking ship fought my commands. Those 10 seconds were the longest seconds of my life. It only got worse. The ship lurched and a loud bang rang out, warning sirens deafening my screams. Kala's emoticon on my visor gritted her teeth. The engines struggled and surged, a huge roar sending chills down my spine. The port side wing lifted without command.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Engine 2 gave up, ripped off its mounting. Rerouting fuel, increasing power to engines 1 and 3," Kala said. My eyes squeezed shut, moisture dampening my eyes. Glistening eyes studied the damage map. The fire in the rear of the ship grew unchecked thanks to the plentiful oxygen. The drive core wouldn't hold out much longer before the heat deformed it.
"RSS-2 Starquake to P-Palaven Command, I need a spaceport. We have lost an engine, I repeat, engine two has been ripped off by re-entry and the fire in the rear of the ship is threatening the drive core! Temperatures exceeding safe parameters! The fighting is getting worse! I need to land now!" I begged.
"Roger, RSS-2 Starquake, follow heading 173 to Armaxus Spaceport. Armed intervention, fire crews and medical staff are on standby," the control said.
The Vanquish took point, leading me around the craggy hills, Kala easing the limping ship into some stable flight path. The Starquake trembled, resisting all command to pull up, but Kala enforced it. We flew like an injured bird towards the safety.
It wasn't only the Vanquish with me though. A small fleet of fighters and frigates followed me, clearing all traffic on the flanks to give me a wide berth and radio intelligence to the waiting security. The radio burst with chatter. My choice of 'mutiny' was a good one, the turians lost their minds over it. Although, hearing pilots mutter 'Wow, that ship is a wreck' and 'The fighting looks intense, bridge is going up, Palaven Command' were not so comforting. Where was this damn spaceport already?! Oseriun, God bless that turian, talked me through the landing procedure the entire way. The cockpit door crashed for the third time, frantic clawing sending shivers down my spine. But we were too close to success, we had to let the crew sort it – or try to. My gaze pinned ahead as bullets dinged off the door. We rounded a massive plateau, the mist giving way to reveal an expansive city with angular, tall buildings. But my heading led me to a huge steel grey towering citadel on the outskirts. Dark holes closed, shutters covering them. Lights flashed around one hole in particular. My safety. Just a little more, just a little more! Kala opened a window with scrolling text, Kala summarising the docking procedures with Oseriun's advice.
"I'll dock right in front of you, alright? I'll try to get to you as soon as I can," Oseriun said, his final transmission.
The Vanquish sailed into the hole, only the blue engines giving me any direction as the Starquake slowed. Kala nudged me to starboard to stop the wings clipping the entrance. The fire would only get worse but we had no choice. The sight that greeted me once my eyes adjusted, limping inside the massive hanger, grew that earlier bubble of hope. A sea of turians waited, armed and ready. The Vanquish docked at the far end, walkways lowering to separate the two ships. Turians sprinted over them, snipers out and ready. The Starquake swayed, fighting to stay level for the clamps to lower. Once they snapped onto the wings though… Kala opened every external door on the ship. Both airlocks and the cargo hold. The turians stormed us even as the fire brigade soaked the entire ship's exterior. Kala unmounted while the rushed shutdown checklist flew under my fingers. My fingers snatched her chip free before standing. Or trying to. My legs collapsed the instant they tried to bare weight. My head shook, hands reaching for Lani still passed out beside me.
"C'mon, Lani, we gotta get out of here!" I said, grunting under the turian's weight.
Lani was heavier than he looked, my weakened body, fuelled and exhausted from adrenaline, unable to get more than an arm over my shoulders. One foot got under me when my gaze focused on escape. My heart stopped. Erikos stared me down, a pistol at point-blank range from my face, just a metre away. Muscles froze, a deer in the headlights. He looked wild and unfamiliar, eyes glazed over and blood leaking from numerous wounds. His finger squeezed the trigger. A loud bang deafened me.
The Timeline and Saboteur Sheet have been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.