The Rosetta Nebula always reminded me of a pink firework. The blue ripples of FTL clung to the sides of the ship, swirling like dancers as the pink dust drifted past. My chin sat on my fingers, watching the data flow past my screen. A FENRIS mech trotted by, securing my gaze. It sat beside Mat'al, a female voice radiating out. Something about an opinion on some STG data. My eyes diverted. Gideon would have a few words regarding allowing the AI mech to wander without him. However, there was bigger concerns. Shayan paced behind me, hands folding as he fretted. The unescorted mech only added to his anxiety. He rambled about AIs running loose, about Saboteurs in his home. This issue could be solved with immediate effect. A control panel appeared by my fingers, Gideon's name tapped. Less than a minute later, the blond boy trotted in, bewildered. Shayan spun to begin his rant.
"Sweetie, could you make sure that Kala has an escort at all times?" I asked. Shayan spun to face me. Gideon's eyes switched between us, a frown developing.
"Uh, sure, no problem. Is... she causing a problem?" he asked.
"No, no, but you'll forgive people for being jumpy around an AI without its handler nearby," I said, eyes on the monitors as we dropped out of FTL. We had arrived in the Phi Clio system.
"And-" Shayan started.
"And we will ensure that Kala has an escort at all times," I stressed, a glare pinning Shayan in place. "Do you understand, you two?"
"Yes, Captain," Kala said. "I did not mean to cause any distress," My gaze returned to Shayan, who shuffled under it. Kala and Gideon concluded their business and made a hasty retreat. Shayan muttered as the pacing continued. My head shook as I stood up.
For this mission, Val refused to let me go without him. Back in his Commander post, there was no excuse to deny him this time. He stood, armoured and ready, in the Control Ring, directing the ground crew to their equipment. Mat'al handled the XO duties, Indira would have a back seat in this case and Shayan, whether he liked it or not, was coming with us. Raisha milled around, studying Mat'al and the procedures he used. Relief was a kind word to use to describe my emotions to see her up. She would take the XO position off Mat'al soon, a few days at most. The krogan had hardened after her experience. Her kind, gentle words dead and abandoned in that canyon. Her blood demanded revenge. I was in no position to argue. She didn't question me, not too much anyway, regarding why I did things. She had learned first-hand the horror of these machines, she would not stop until they were dead. What that would do to her mental health concerned me, but I couldn't stretch my abilities any further than they already were.
Before me on the screen, a massive fleet spread out before me. It was impossible to count the ships as the Starquake rose to join the cruising fleet of mismatched ships. My hand grabbed Shayan before dragging him towards the cockpit. In the cockpit, the radio crackled with the voices of thousands of voices. Through the din, a few words about an unknown ship approaching crept through. Shayan quivered as Lanster glanced up, flicking the radio a hologram up to his height. My head nodded to the hologram, Shayan shuffling his weight. He dragged in a breath as his eyes scanned the sensors, ships closing fast.
"T-This is Shayan'Ernal vas Moreh nar Idenna on board the RSS-2 Starquake, requesting permission to dock with the Moreh," he called.
"Permission granted. Welcome home, Shayan'Ernal," the controller responded.
"We require a quarantine team and security to meet us, our ship is not clean," Shayan added.
"Affirmative. Please proceed to Docking Cradle 42," the controller said. Shayan turned to me as Lanster lined up with the large liveship. My hand patted his shoulder, a small smile on my face as we turned towards the airlock. Val already had everyone lined up.
"We keep the ships in a sterile environment, so you must keep your helmet on at all times," Shayan said. I nodded as we stopped beside Val.
The airlock pressurised and freed itself. They forced us to go through a 10 minute shuffle down the airlock tunnel with disinfectant coating us until even the helmet's air filters stank of the stuff. My nose wrinkled as the quarians decided that the 10 man team with me were clean. The airlock tunnel opened, granting us access to the interior of the Moreh. The ship was well kept, the windows cleaned if only with traces of condensation on the windows. Old text, whether it was quarian or not was up for debate, but the delicate writing made for wonderful art. A band of quarians greeted us, assault rifles drawn but relaxed, the safeties' on. Shayan smiled as he shook one of their hands.
"Dan, good to see you," Shayan breathed. The quarian before him chuckled.
"Shayan, welcome home. I presume this is the crew you have been travelling with. Any weapons or paraphernalia?" he asked. Shayan shuffled.
"Weapons, yes, a few grenades. We need to keep them, though. We suspect someone is trying to hurt the fleet from the inside," he mumbled. The security team straightened.
"What? Why would anyone-" Dan said.
"It's a long story," I cut in. The quarians swivelled. "I apologise, Captain Shaik, Shayan has been working under me for many years now. We require to speak to your captain. I cannot stress how important this for the safety of the fleet," The quarian studied us, looking us over as he assessed the armed situation.
"Well, Shayan wouldn't bring anyone here if they meant harm. All right, Captain is in the rear plaza. We'll just do a quick search of the crew before we let you go," Dan said. I nodded, holding my arms out as a female quarian approached. After 5 minutes of pat downs and gun inspections, they let us pass. They allowed us to continue down the tight corridors until the ship opened into the main atrium.
My eyes gawked up as the huge multi-story agriculture system towered above me. A group of quarians trudged through the greenery, although our presence attracted a crowd. Pipes weaved like brush strokes through each of the chambers, the humidity near 100%, condensation clinging to the glass. Shayan shuffled on, leading us away from the main agriculture system and the curious quarians. Looks alone couldn't give me the information necessary for how important it was, but Shayan assured me that this was one of the larger agricultural ships. Fuck up this ship and you took out a major source of food for the quarians. The drop in their numbers would be catastrophic for the species.
Away from the stuffy atrium, the tight corridors returned, swelled with quarians in all colours. They studied us, giving passing greetings to Shayan as they recognised him. A trail of quarians followed us as we reached an open plaza. Well, we were a ragtag group of quarians, turians, krogan, asari, humans and salarians, that was more than enough reason for a curious species like the quarians follow. The plaza's vegetation decorated the plaza, although some balconies looked unkempt with vines trailing down the sides. My eyes diverted as a quarian approached, a female decked in blue and yellow.
"Hello, Shayan, welcome home," the female greeted. "Has your mission completed, are you returning home?" Shayan shuffled.
"Sorry, Captain Easila, I'm not returning home for long," he said. "Ah, t-this is my Captain, Captain Easila'Beras vas Moreh, she's a friend of my fathers. T-This is Captain Endellion Shaik, she's been looking after me," Easila smiled as she turned.
"Captain Shaik, welcome to the Moreh. Shayan has sung nothing but praise about you," Easila greeted.
"Thank you," I coughed. "I only wish out visit was under better circumstances," I said. Easila frowned, glancing to Shayan.
"Is something the matter?" she asked.
"Yes, is there somewhere... more private we can discuss this," I asked, eyes scanning the swarm of quarians around us. Easila took a step back, showing to follow.
She took us down a maze of corridors towards the stern of the ship. The quarians followed, but I hoped that where she was taking me would be quieter. Within a few minutes, she led us into a small room, the door securing behind us away from the prying quarians. The room was a small meeting room, tables and chairs surrounding the rim of the room, a scattering of tables between. Easila shut down several holograms hovering on the walls before turning back to us. My back straightened, securing my hands behind me.
"I apologise for this, however we have noticed some strange patterns within the messages between the fleet and my crew," I started. Easila stroked the front of her mask, listening. "We are an organisation funded by the Council, we search for those who would otherwise cause death and destruction around the galaxy. Although, please do not mistake us for Spectres. I am led to believe you have had some severe problems with your agricultural systems,"
"Oh these things happen all the time," she waved a hand. "While true they have been more significant the last few times, it is nothing unusual,"
"See, this is where my expertise kicks in, Captain," I sighed. "We believe you have someone on your ship that is destroying your systems,"
"Why would someone wish to do that? We are a social people, Captain Shaik, no one would-" Easila cried.
"Please, Captain," Shayan burst. Easila paused. "I have seen these monsters first hand. They're machines in flesh. I've seen the horrible things they do; wiping out whole colonies, destroying planetary defence systems. These things want to hurt us, Captain. Please, let us investigate," Easila studied Shayan, his shoulders hutched and eyes wide. She clucked her tongue. Her eyes scanned us, analysing our words.
"Fine, however you will report to me before conducting any action," she said.
"Yes, Captain, thank you," I said, bowing my head. Easila left us then to speak to the crew. While it would have been preferable to keep it quiet, word would spread soon enough. My eyes scanned the crew behind me. "Shayan, you know the crew, they'll be more open to you. Ask the usual questions, find out if the Saboteur is migrating around the fleet or not. Everyone else, examine what you can. Anything suspicious, report back," I ordered. The team saluted before leaving, excusing themselves past the small horde outside the door.
My goal including delving into the midst of the crowd, Val attentive at my side. Our clues as to the purpose of our visit were strange malfunctions within some ships within the fleet. Sprinkler failures, water pollution, chemical contamination, environmental malfunctions. With two Saboteurs running around, it was only a matter of time before something threw the whole fleet into the abyss. We navigated to a populated plaza, my team studying some of the computer systems for the agriculture, asking questions to the workers of the system. A slow breath calmed me enough to close my eyes, to focus on the beat within my chest. The irregular rhythm soured, a name whispered on the wind. Oil slipped over my skin, sending shivers down my spine, a headache blooming like a thistle. My mind recoiled away, Nyryntha hissed, her robotic cry rattling every sense. A fist of pain rocked me like a punch. An electronic crackle that wasn't Nyryntha snarled. My lungs wheezed, my eyes finding the ceiling dead ahead, pain shuddering each nerve. My hands shook, tense and contorted, my back felt numb.
"...ear me? Dell, what happened?" Val's voice reached, the ringing in my ears dying away. My throat felt arid.
"There's a Saboteur nearby," I wheezed. "And it knows we're here," My body trembled as Val eased me onto my knees, members of my crew rushing to my aid. "What happened?"
"It was like something punched you, you just flew backwards and lay there as if taking a fit," Val grumbled. "Is this part of the new sensitivity problems?"
"M-Maybe," I breathed, getting a foot under me. My knuckles turned white gripping Val's carapace. My eyes scanned the area, head reeling as the floor swayed. The Saboteur knew we hunted it, we knew it was on the ship. "Shayan, tell the captain to put the ship on lockdown. No one enters or leaves the Moreh,"
"A-Aye aye, Captain," Shayan said, shuffling away. My sense of balance returned, although my head felt fuzzy. My gaze found Val, his mandibles clicking.
"The hunt is on," I said. He nodded. "Everyone stays on their toes, expect anything-"
My words died as the power fluttered, my feet lifting off the ground. Panic blinded me, muscles frozen as zero gravity afflicted the ship. Darkness flashed before me, decorated with little white pins of light. My breaths rasped, short and shallow, a trembling overcoming me. Val's hands found me, activating my mag-boots. My feet landed on the floor with a thud, jolting me awake. Only the sound of my ragged breathing overcoming my thundering heart filled my ears, swallowing to wet my dried throat. The trembling did not stop. Val's hands held my shoulders, a frown developing on his face as our suits pressurised. His eyes glued to my expression through the glass. My arms clutched my elbows, suppressing the shuddering. Every part of me felt cold with my blood in my toes.
The quarians broke into panic mode, their voices rankling my brain as they tried to find the source of the power failure. The situation deteriorated. A light purple tinted smoke poured from the joints between pipes of the agriculture system above our heads, dropping like a pyroclastic flow. My mag-boots clanked, taking a step back. The quarians screamed to evacuate the room, to push deeper into the living quarters. Val dragged me by the shoulders as the group piled out. Quarians within the agriculture dome above our heads clawed at the doors, their bodies masked by the thick smoke. Some had already dropped. Purple smoke clung to the bottom like a misty lake, swelling around our feet as we clanged through the doors. The armour hissed, the skin tingled. The quarians sealed the doors behind us, venting any excess smoke away. Fear forced me to do a headcount, summoning my crew to my side as my hand patted each on the shoulder to ensure they were solid. My crew were safe. A sigh released as the agriculture dome sealed off the rest of the station. We followed to the crowd to the smaller plaza. The armour coating the boots warped and wrinkled, some quarians limped without combat armour.
"Ok, what the fuck was that?" I demanded. The quarians shuffled, glancing between themselves. My teeth ground at their silence. "Well?"
"It's a... specialised fertiliser for our foods," Shayan mumbled. "Although, it isn't purple. The only way it becomes purple is if certain strains of bacteria got to it. Our fertiliser is sterile, bacteria breaks it down and it becomes toxic. W-We deliver it through the hydroponic systems to keep it sterile but the pipes may have failed,"
"That and the fertiliser broken down before it was in the pipes. Those pipes were corroding from the inside! We must have a leak somewhere, it's never been as vivid as that," a male said.
"Aren't our air filters good enough to deal with it?" Val asked.
"No, the particles are too fine. I mean, y-you all might be all right because you are in airtight suits. You just need to carry oxygen recyclers," Shayan said. "The problem comes it is… uh… corrosive," Shayan said. He sweated under my stare. "W-When it breaks down, it starts a chemical reaction, t-the fertiliser becomes toxic and corrosive, which is why your boots are…"
"Fantastic," I grumbled. "Is there anything beyond that agriculture room?" I asked.
"No, nothing," Shayan said.
"So either the Saboteur is in there or is in here with us," I said.
"I doubt it's in there, Captain," Shayan mumbled. "That stuff is as corrosive as sulphuric acid. Unless the Saboteur is in an airtight Reaper armour suit, they won't survive long in there," My head bobbed, eyes scanning the quarians here.
The team split up, studying the quarians as we went for the gullet in terms of interrogation. The time for subtly had passed. Every now and then, my eyes closed to listen to the pulse, to pin point any kind of direction. Val ensured it never lasted long, a few seconds in random bursts. We didn't need the Saboteur to assault me again. Throughout the time trying to pinpoint the Saboteur, my senses wished to direct me upwards. Val and Shual flanked me as my senses directed me up a set of stairs, away from the massive crowd of hundreds of quarians.
The crowds thinned while approaching the command centre. Was that where the Saboteur was? Pulling the strings from here? My frown deepened as eyes swivelled, hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention. My hand dropped to my Paladin, the handle giving me some form of confidence. We reached the CIC, a room with 3 tiers, the highest tier at the back of the room towards the windows. The room had about 10 quarians within it. All froze, staring at us. My eyes landed on a female quarian with her back to us, hands clamped behind her. Dull yellow cloth draped her suit, the metal on her neck starting dark by the chin before bleeding to white at her chest. My hand pulled out the Paladin, Val and Shual mimicking me. Val tripped the crew 'SOS' button. The rest of the crew would be here soon. The female turned to face me, her dark, desaturated yellow mask glinting under the orange holograms.
My chest burst as the pulse spoke the truth, even for the 3 seconds my mind focused on it. A name whispered on the wind, a dark, sickly stinging radiating throughout my body. Janire. My eyes scanned the quarians around her, but they stood as statues. My eyes narrowed at the female quarian before me. She raised her chin. Pain flooded me, winding me. My body collapsed onto the desk, Val and Shual close behind. My scream strangled in my throat, every nerve burning until my sight failed me. A ringing in my ears deafened me to the foes around me, to what was happening. I drowned in agony, darkness piercing the white pain. It threatened to drop me into unconsciousness. My world faded from me, driven away through piercing pain.
When my senses returned, the roar of gunfire pierced the ringing. My voice croaked, body twisting onto my side as my muscles spasmed. A foot slammed into the ground beside me, a salarian foot. Seconds later, a bloodied quarian collapsed, mask shattered and eyes rolled into the back of the skull. My eyes blinked, lifting my head as Shaul and Savanor slammed the Saboteur into the ground, Utren struggling to his feet. My teeth grit as my memories restarted, reminding me why we were here as my body rolled onto my stomach. My knees trembled as they took my weight, my sense of balance not recovered. By the time the two krogan pinned her down. Utren stormed up to her to join them. The Saboteur hissed as she raised her head.
"The end is nigh, Advocacy!" she spat. My eyes watered as they narrowed. "The Architect has had enough. He will come for you with a force even the Enforcer cannot protect you from!"
"Then tell the Architect," I wheezed, doubling over. "To go fuck himself," The Saboteur snarled. "Kill her! Quick!" I commanded.
Cables erupted from the Saboteur, throwing the krogan away from her. She swung, eyes locking to mine as a pistol raised. Val grabbed my arm and shoved me out the room, his shields shattering. The krogan roar deafened me as I landed on my arse outside the room, eyes spinning. Bullets soared, skimming past my shields as the sound of thundering feet echoed down the hall. My fingers twitched, reaching for the pistol but they couldn't feel the gun, the Paladin tumbled out of my hand. The remaining crew skidded around a corner, guns primed and ready as they saw me sprawled on the floor. There was no questions asked.
The tore over me, diving into the room. The intensity ramped up, the bullets slamming into walls and flesh alike. My knees couldn't take my weight, forcing me to crawl to the door to watch the scene. The Saboteur tossed Savanor across the room while Utren and Shual tried to crush her between them. Val's voice rang overhead, although he never appeared. My heart leapt. Was he down? It gave strength to my knees, pushing me up to lean on the door frame. Val sat bunkered down behind some overturned tables, the dark blood running down his mandibles, blood pooling out from some of his armour plates.
The krogan pushed for one final offensive. Despite the cables encircling their necks, limbs and anything else the cables could get their hands on, the pure muscle of the krogan aided with the omni-blades cut through everything. The 10 indoctrinated quarians collapsed under the pure force of the team, only one crawled along the floor like a maimed animal. None of the quarians were biotic, against the members of the team that were, they became bloodstains on the walls. My eyes glued to the Saboteur as the krogan got close enough to pin her down. After the seconds ticked by, the spine pulled free with a stomach dropping squelch. My head shook as my legs hobbled. My back leaned against the wall behind me.
"Dell?" Val asked. He limped over, a hand pressed to his side. My head shook, muscles aching. His hands supported me as the team cleaned up the final servants. Aided down the halls, my eyes studied the quarians around me. But a new sound sent my spine jittering. Sounds drifted down the hall, screams. My teeth grit.
"Go, there's more servants down there," I ordered. The combat team, led by Phentos, raced down the hall towards the screams. My lungs wheezed. "Fuck this hurts,"
"Shual tried to get on his feet as quick as he could," Val grunted. "She floored all of us. Shual pushed through the gunfire to tackle the Saboteur, getting me on my feet. You lost consciousness a few times," My moan burned my lungs.
"So, this is the sensitivity problem," I muttered. Val clicked his mandibles. I sighed. "All right, get everyone rounded up once the indoctrinated servants are dead. Also get Shayan to send a warning to the other ships in case this girl travelled. Are you hurt?"
"I'll be fine, Dell. I've done this longer than you," Val said, finger raised to his helmet. A scowl formed, but my eyes returned to the corridors ahead.
The small plaza was carnage. At least 50 corpses littered the place, many quarians fleeing the area. Shayan spoke to the Easila, his frame trembling. His eyes lifted as we approached, my broken body settling enough to walk with only a comforting hand. My crew scattered around the plaza, helping the wounded, carrying the dead, cleaning the blood off the floor. Little things like that. We stopped before the shaken captain, unable to make sense of the last few minutes.
"Captain, how is everything?" I asked.
"I-I don't know," Easila stuttered. "They... They just shot people, clawing at them, strangling them. What happened?"
"Did Shayan explain?" I asked. The captain nodded. "We killed the Saboteur, once the Saboteur died, all its thralls go wild. Was the Saboteur a member of your crew? Female, dull yellow cloth and a dark yellow mask? I saw her in the CIC," Easila shuddered.
"That sounds like... Akagane'Iro vas Nenil. S-She was born on this ship, she came to visit and help us with our agricultural system after transferring to the Nenil, a-another agricultural ship," she said.
"She... was in another agricultural ship?" I asked. "Can your engineers scan your ship systems to make sure everything is functional?"
"Ah, well that's the problem," Shayan shuffled, My eyes narrowed. "W-We can't access the consoles,"
"Excuse me?" I said.
"W-We've tried everything but w-we can't access anything. All the controls are locked a-and we are getting readings that suggest the air tight lockdown on the agricultural dome is failing. T-The doors are melting away, we can't release the neutralising chemicals," Shayan said. My jaw popped.
"So the Saboteur did more than just fuck with the fertiliser... no one can get access to the controls?" I asked. Shayan shook his head. My tongue clucked. Without intervention, that corrosive 'fertiliser' would consume the whole ship. Not only would the quarians lose tons of food, but also a huge ship with all the agriculture already set up for growth. That and 700 quarians would lose their home. How could one break through computer… Well, this was a good opportunity for a test. My finger raised to my helmet.
"Shaik to Delern, do you read?" I called. "I need you to bring Gideon on board the Moreh," Shayan's eyes widened, understanding.
"Captain, you can't let a-" he cried.
"Who is the captain here, Shayan?" I snapped. Shayan froze, quivering.
"Roger, will be a few minutes," Mat'al responded.
My arms folded, staring down Shayan as he paced, hands fidgeting. Val waved a hand as he abandoned my side, saying he would go to the airlock to lead them over here. Alarms bleated through the air, but the engineers here continued to battle for control of the systems. As the threat of corrosive smoke increased, a group of 3 armed quarians arrived with Veracia and Gideon. Val did not appear. My heart fluttered. The blond boy turned his gaze to mine, eyes wide as Kala strutted by his side. My back straightened as the group stopped before me. Couldn't worry about Val, there were more important things to worry about.
"We've got a situation here. The ship's systems are out with the engineers' control. We have a corrosive substance that is breaking containment and we need it sorted. Your mission is to recover the computer systems, release the chemicals to counteract the corrosive chemical and assess how far the corruption has spread in the fleet. You get bonus points for removing the chemicals from the ship," I said. Gideon shuffled.
"A-All ri- I-I mean, Yes ma'am. Where are the consoles?" he asked. I nodded my head, leading the boy with Shayan hovering like a hawk towards the narrow corridors near the CIC. Inside one room, 30 quarians fought with the systems to gain controls, any control. Gideon approached one console, examining the errors that cropped up. Kala sat by his heel. Gideon murmured under his breath, I knew Kala's voice rung in his ear as he examined the code and behaviour. His hands danced over the keys. Whatever the console threw up drew his eyebrows down.
"Flashing the VI core will clear this. There is a worm creating junk data that is corrupting the systems," he said. "If we flash the VI core, it'll give me enough time to get a foot inside the firewall before the junk data overwhelms the server again. From there, I can protect several cores to allow basic processing to counteract it," he said.
Shayan shuffled, eyes turning down to a console beside him. He sighed, reaching over to it. A minute later, the computer screens flashed, contorting as the server reset. Once back online, Gideon's hands tapped on his console, eyes on the screen. A small smirk lifted his lips as the data scrolled past the screen. The minutes ticked by, the threat of breached containment growing. His console vanished. An alarm sounded, screens showing that some kind of spray soaked the agricultural dome, the corrosive smoke fizzling. A new command line appeared before Gideon, eyebrows drawn down as he focused. Kala, attentive at his side, assessed the conditions without connecting to the fleet. Perhaps this was training for him. Engineers celebrated as basic controls returned. Then the venting system kicked in, releasing the substance out of the ship. Gideon swiped the console away, moving onto the next task. Looks like he got his bonus points. He frowned.
"Looks like this virus installed itself on at least 3 other ships," he said. "I can create an anti-virus to uproot it, but let me just make sure there is nothing connected to it," he said, mumbling near the end. My arms folded, raising a brow to Shayan as the quarian refused to meet my gaze. After a few minutes, he nodded. "All right, I think I got it. It had a few subroutines that would've tripped some huge venting processes – which they wrote in such a terrible manner I'm amazed it works – but I've got that sorted. I'll run this through the system here to make sure it does nothing weird as a beta. Here I still have control to flash the core if something happens and interrupt the commands," he explained. He leaned back, studying the console commands as it zoomed past. A minute later he grinned. "And one targeted anti-virus done. Though I need permission from the administrator to spread it,"
"I will speak with the Admirals. Give us a copy," Easila said, opening her omni-tool. Gideon opened his own, transferring the code. Easila blinked at it. "My this is... not like any code I've seen before,"
"It's one of the most basic forms of programming out there, not organic friendly but it is much more powerful and easier to target if you can understand how," Gideon shrugged.
"I see. I shall see about getting this distributed. Thank you, Captain. You... may have just saved hundreds or thousands of lives," Easila said.
"All part of the job," I said. "Gideon, finish up here and get back on the ship. We need to clean up,"
"A-Aye, aye," Gideon said, returning to the console.
Shayan stayed with Gideon throughout his time on the ship, but his complaints remained to himself. Despite my near miss, I still helped to carry the dead Saboteur's remains back to the ship. The quarians wished to bury it through their ways, but we convinced them that for the sake of the fleet, we had to take it. With the body aboard the Starquake, Shayan said his goodbyes to the crew. The Migrant Fleet vanished behind us. My hands yanked the claustrophobia away as the helmet dropped to the ground of my room, my hair tangled and soaked from sweat. Before my body could relax, to recover from the Saboteur attack, a message from the med bay arrived, the words turning my blood cold. The ship blurred past me as my feet stepped over the threshold to the med bay, eyes finding Val lying on a bed. His head lifted as he heard the door, but upon seeing my frown, it dropped back down, a groan escaping. I turned to Saere.
"The commander will be fine, Captain," Saere said. "He's had a blood transfusion, I've treated all of his wounds and he just has to take it easy for the next few days," her words didn't settle my fluttering heart.
"Thank you," I said. My gaze swung to Val. I approached him, arms folded over my chest. "Did I read that right, Commander Autillin?" I said. He closed his eyes at the formal title. "You covered me with yourself when the Saboteur downed us and fired at us?" Val glowered.
"You couldn't move, your shields failed and they would have killed you. I have tech armour and biotics for a reason," he grumbled.
"Yes and now you have 32 bullet wounds, needed a blood transfusion to deal with the blood loss and your implants are on the brink of overloading," I said. Val rolled his eyes.
"The things we do for love," he said. My scowl deepened, leaning on the edge of the bed. "You're alive, that's all I care about,"
"Oi, I'm meant to be the one protecting you lot," I sighed. Val raised a brow plate.
"And someone needs to protect you," he smirked. "I volunteer as tribute," My head flopped to the mattress, Val chuckling beside me. It was impossible to deal with this creature, he was more stubborn than me! Val's hand rubbed my shoulders. "I'll be fine. You worry about everything else for now,"
"Easy for you to say, you just have to lie on your fat arse for a few days," I grumbled. He smirked. "Saere, make sure he remembers what happens when he does stupid shit like this," Saere chuckled.
"Aye, aye," she said. Val scowled as my will forced me to my feet. It was time to return to my duties despite my desire otherwise.
The effects of the specialisation still stuck like a grease. Random twinges of pain, nerves spasm for no reason. My hand flexed at the thought of it. One quarian remained, so it was best to get the hell away from the fleet until I recovered. My time on the battlefield may have come to an abrupt stop. A sigh trickled out. Not how I wanted to 'retire' from this war with the Saboteurs, but the crew needed their captain, that was blatant. As I approached my room to clean up the armour scattered on the floor, Raisha stepped free from her room. My back straightened. Raisha bowed her head.
"Endellion, a moment if I may," she asked.
"What do you need?" I replied. Raisha's eyes diverted for a time, staring down the hall. They returned after a moment.
"If Mat'al is ready, I will be ready to resume my position in the next day," she said. "I was afraid everything would be the same; the same mistakes, the same backwards procedures. Mat'al has shown me much over the past few days. I would like to put it into practice," she said.
"Already?" I said, jaw slackening. "Well, of course, if you wish. It will be good to be a full complement again,"
"My thoughts exactly. I overheard the ground crew, it appears you are more sensitive than anticipated to the Saboteurs," she said. My mouth twisted down. "Fret not, we will deal with it. Perhaps we can block or minimise the effects. In the meantime, I will speak with Mat'al to arrange a hand over. And before I forget, I believe Shepard is trying to contact you,"
"Shepard?" I echoed. "What the hell could Shepard want?"
"I do not know, Endellion. He refused to speak to anyone but you. I suggest you call him otherwise Marshal shall bother us all until the end of time," she hinted as she turned down the hall, vanishing into the elevator. My frown deepened as my legs carried me onwards towards my room and towards the awaiting call with Shepard.
The computer rang as a call came in, destroying the still of the room. Mar bounced to get my attention, but it was not required. My hand batted the drone away as I sat on the chair, fingers already connecting the call. Once accepted, it connected. My fingers interlaced to take the weight of my chin, staring at the screen before me. A flash later, Shepard's face appeared, lips turned down, eyes bagged. My eyebrows dropped a notch. Shepard offered a tired smile.
"Dell," he greeted.
"Shepard, you seem eager to get in contact with me," I said. Shepard snorted.
"You can say that. I'm tying up loose ends," Shepard said with a shrug.
"For what?" I frowned.
"We're ready to hit the Collector base," he said. My heart thumped. "But it's a suicide mission, so I'm making sure nothing is outstanding before I go,"
"Suicide mission?" I said with a raised eyebrow. "Shepard, you're coming back. Even death couldn't hold you,"
"As everyone else has said," he chuckled. "I'm not willing to risk it though. So I'd thought I'd call you. I have to make sure my favourite red head survived that weird Reaper shit," A snort burst out.
"I won't survive it, Shepard. It'll just catch up with me sooner or later. But I'm more curious about this hit on the Collectors you are doing," I said. Shepard shrugged.
"We got a Reaper IFF from that dead… sorry, insane Reaper," he waved a hand. "So we can traverse the Omega 4 Relay near Omega without fear of breaking apart by whatever is on the other side. Unfortunately, the Collectors made a strike against us and kidnapped the entire crew apart from Joker. We are going after them and destroying the damn place," Shepard said.
They were going for the Collector homeworld, where the Architect lives, where they created the Saboteurs. The only place for answers; how they made us, how the wiring inside us worked, how to detect us from a distance. Everything lay in that damn base. And Shepard planned to blow the damn thing up? It was a suicide mission, as he described it, but if there was even a chance… we needed that data. We needed it without question. The answer to everything lay in that base. The key to the future survival for everyone was on that base! Would Shepard be able to…? No, he would just blow the damn thing up. He wouldn't care about the data on it.
"I want to come," I said. Shepard's expression dropped.
"Forget it," he said. "You have a family, a future, Saboteurs to kill-"
"Shepard, that base was where every Saboteur was created, where my current body was created," I said. "The information stored there is invaluable. If you plan to blow it up, I plan to salvage what data I can. We need to know how we work, how to spot a Saboteur from a distance. We need that information, Shepard,"
"Then I'll get it for you," he growled.
"Shepard, you've got your crew to save and a base to explode. Besides, I have a few questions for the Architect. I know he's there," I pressed. Shepard grit his teeth.
"It's a suicide mission-" he tried.
"And you've not died in a single one yet. Not Elysium, not Ilos, you even rose from the dead," I said, folding my arms. "I am coming. I have to," Shepard popped his jaw. "Shepard, without that information, there is no future for my family. Even if I die, the data could save Gideon, could help win the war and give him a chance at a normal life without the fear of Reapers raining terror over our heads," Shepard's hands clenched into fists, jaw tight. His tongue clucked.
"And your crew?" he asked.
"Will remain here. My crew is back to a full compliment. There is nothing to fear," I said. Shepard ran a hand through his hair, hands clamped behind his head.
"You're sure about this?" he asked. I nodded. A sigh escaped him. "Fine. Meet us on Omega in 3 days' time. You're not here, we leave without you,"
"Done. I'll see you then," I said.
The Fact Sheet, Timeline, Saboteur Sheet and Galaxy Map have been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.
A/N: First, I have a poll on my profile relating to what design to go for for the Book 6: Inclusion cover. As FanFiction doesn't like links, I've had to replace the . with a *, but the poll explains that. The link takes you to the image on my deviantART account. If you have a dA account, there is the same poll there you can use if you'd rather use that.
Alrighty, while I feel the end of is a bit rushed, I'll fix that when I do the editing. Why? Well, I think I only have 2 chapters left! ...which means I need to kick my ass and write them before they need to be released XD The next chapter is a third done (well, sort of) but I'm hoping to hammer that out today/tomorrow. Then I can finally reveal the name, poster and blurb for the next book! Huge thanks to everyone who supports me, even those who just read. Watching those traffic stats gives me a huge confidence boost.
Editing has stalled for the second book, mostly because I'm getting lazy and because I need to finish Revenant. I will get it done! The first set of edits is complete, I just need to go through it with a fine tooth comb now. We will get there, one day. I'll probably get it done during the break period between Revenant and Book 4 since I'm planning on taking a 2 month break or something along those lines. We'll see!