The armour clicked in place, my hands trembling with each snap. My eyes scanned the shadows of the room, even though an earlier scan proved they were empty. A sigh slipped free as my hand reached the helmet, folding it up to click onto my belt. The duffle bag waiting for me on the couch felt like a weighted brick. The shimmer of FTL brought me comfort, but within the next few minutes, that wouldn't be the case. Every second counted. Every second… My head shook. How much longer could my body take this punishment? Or my mind for that matter? How much longer until mu will crumbled? She was right… right about everything. Despite my desire to prove her wrong, my organic body wasn't able to take this kind of punishment. My shoulders sagged.
"Captain Shaik," a voice summoned. My back snapped straight, expression emptying. A brilliant brass female turian stared me down, neon teal markings flicking up her mandibles and dashing like leaves over her brow plates. Her yellow eyes slid to the window, to the darkness that waited. "Transfer in 5, the Admiral and the fleet have broken off. Nyryntha on intercept course with Council fleets,"
"Thank you, Captain Pilaxus. What is the status of the Constellation fleet?" I asked, hoisting the duffel bag over my shoulder, the weight quivering the muscles.
"Minor damages to the Eridanus, Carina and Draco. The Musca will need a new drive core but a replacement is en route. The Constellation itself is undamaged thanks to the new shielding. We are introducing new armour plating. Better start it now before the Reapers get here," Kurana said, the turian clicking her mandibles.
"Good… no ship losses," I said, shaking my head. My gaze hung on the darkness outside the window before following the turian out of the tiny cabin.
The month 'anniversary' of Nyryntha's appearance approached. Time ticked by as if taunting me, the slow burn whispering the demise. My heart laboured, a weakened beat before powering itself back together. When Julian learned of Nyryntha pursuing me, he abandoned his work to observe and track down Saboteurs – or whatever he did with his fleet – to force time between Nyryntha and me. An all-out assault failed, Nyryntha didn't hang around to fight and her shields protected her from everything the Constellation fleet threw at her. Then my call to the Council only shunted me deeper into problems. Not only did they blame me for pulling another Reaper out into the Galaxy, but they also banned me from entering Council Space. Although that soon vanished when they realised Nyryntha invaded Council Space without my flight path entering said space, an attempt to attract me to her. The Council pushed a rough fleet together to protect their planets, but they screamed at me for not doing enough to protect them. Oh I apologise that I don't want to get caught by her!
As the airlock of the Hercules loomed, the turian style cruiser sparked with activity as they prepared to leap back into the action. A month at FTL non-stop wasn't possible. The Starquake needed time to complete maintenance and refuel. So for the past 2 weeks, Julian juggled me around his fleet, keeping me on the move while allowing the other ships to recover. With the Council defending their systems and distracting Nyryntha in that way, we pulled a 23 hour and 26 minute lead on the Reaper. Julian set his best tacticians to work, ensuring we never flew to a system that Nyryntha could jump to with a relay and catch up on all that precious time we gained. With me on the run, any Saboteur work had ground to a halt. Much to the Council's despair. Udina even suggested it wasn't worth it anymore, to let me go. My crew responded by threatening to abandon them should Nyryntha threaten one of their planets. The threat of such an attack, and without a way to lure her away, the Council caved. Two weeks on, the Starquake was ready to receive me once more.
My helmet slipped over my head as we left FTL, floating out with a system, away from any known relays. My hands clamped around the duffel bag, securing it to my chest as a krogan followed me into the airlock. The VI called out 'Equalising Pressure', my stomach plunging to my toes as my mag-boots snapped on, holding me to the ground. My throat tightened, eyes quivering as the airlocks slid open, the airlock of the Starquake greeting me over a short distance. My eyes squeezed shut, every muscle tensing as the krogan snapped my mag-boots off and hoisted me off the ground. Nausea churned my stomach. The krogan threw me forward. My body spun, my breaths shallowing with every second. Hands grabbed me, yanking back until my boots snapped to the floor. My eyes popped open, the airlock closing as my panicked gasps wheezed around me. A sigh sounded above me, snapping my attention back to whatever stood above me. My eyes glimpsed dark purple and green armour.
"We have got to get you over this whole zero G fear of yours," Val grumbled. My throated tensed as it swallowed, gravity returning until Val eased my helmet off. When the door behind me opened, my fear ebbed.
"I know, I know," I sighed, striding out the airlock. God, the smell of the Starquake alone put me at ease.
Passing the bridge, Raisha shifted her eyes from her place in the Control Ring. She nodded before looking to the datapad in her hand. My eyes returned to the hall before me, my path taking me into the Intel room opposite the med bay. Holograms assaulted me from all angles upon entering the Reaper Recon room, the middle room of the Intel Department. The crew bustled around me, hands on the computer banks on either side of the door and along the bow/stern sides. A massive sphere of data dominated the centre, towers, newspaper clippings, reports, trade deals and Christ knows what lined up together After searching for a link, the team discarded or moved them. A series of hologram 'walls' decorated the back of the room, 'trees' of information forming as they lined everything up. The crew played with different alignments as they assessed the truth and usefulness of the information passing under their fingers. Beside the round orb, a yellow flash of light flicked past before a FENRIS mech trotted around to assess the door. The tail wagged. Seconds later, a blond teenager poked his head up from the opposite side of the round hologram table.
"Mum!" he cried, bolting around the table. His feet crashed into Kala as he skidded around the corner, the mech beeping after him. My legs braced, arms open as he crashed into me. He squeezed me until my ribs ached. "Welcome home," he mumbled.
"Glad to be home," I said, pressing my forehead into his blond mess of hair. "Have you been behaving?"
"Mmm hmm," he sounded, making me grin.
"God, entering the teenage mumble years already?" I said, tutting. Gideon sulked, raising the corners of my lips. "We'll talk later, sweetie. Mama's gotta get to work,"
"You aren't taking a break first?" he asked, eyebrows upturning. My heart wrenched.
"Are you?" I asked. Gideon blinked, glancing back to Kala. He cleared his throat.
"I guess not…" he said.
"We'll catch up at dinner, promise," I said, ruffling his hair. "Now, get back to finding those Saboteurs. We're counting on you both," Gideon eyes found mine, a hardness setting his expression as he squared his shoulders.
"Aye, aye," he said with a firm salute, darting back to the computer. Val chuckled as we left the Intel room.
"He's missed you, Dell," he said. His words snapped my lips down.
"Great, thanks," I muttered. Val clicked his mandibles. "As if I needed anymore guilt tripping,"
"I wasn't… Spirits," Val sighed as we entered the bridge. "Sorry, I… sorry," My eyes squeezed shut, heart strings tugging harder. Goddam it, me and my big mouth! My hands ran through my hair, mighty breaths scouring my throat.
"I'm stressed, fed up and annoyed," I said. "I don't need more added to my list," Val snorted a hard laugh.
"And who can blame you. Dammit, the Council has been on our asses for weeks now. At least we might do something now," he said. A frown crossed my face, eyes narrowing as my hand spun the Captain's chair around.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, with the time we've gained on Nyryntha, we can squeeze a mission in. STG looks funny, so we want to investigate a base they have in the Upsilon Steppe cluster. Nyryntha won't be able to enter to cluster from where she is, so we can get in and out in a few hours," Val said. My tongue clucked, a bubble of hope simmering.
"That is a helluva lot better than what we've been doing the past month," I said. "When?"
"We are heading to the system now, should be just under a week, what with avoiding Nyryntha to worry about," Raisha said.
"Good, it'll be nice to do something useful," I mumbled, shaking my head. "I am resuming command,"
"Are you certain? Would you prefer not to-" Raisha asked with a raised brow.
"Yes, I am sure," I said through grit teeth. "Now give me the rundown, what have I missed?"
Four hours in command. Due to the late afternoon transfer, my will to work rammed against the impossible wall; time up. Mat'al smiled at my side as he escorted me to the kitchen, the smile growing at each grumble. Now, while people may complain about doing over 12 hours work, when you are desperate for something – anything – to do, stopping for dinner didn't count as a fair enough reason to stop. Although, it gave me time to catch up with Gideon, and everyone else. Gods, how the hell can someone run a family when you get split up from them every two weeks? Gideon bounced to my side seconds after spotting me exiting the elevator, bouncing around my feet to grab my attention. Even my scowl didn't scare him off. Although between the banter between him and Kala, my earlier frustration eased. From what I picked up, Kala decided Gideon hadn't been keeping up with his programming for the past few days and sprang a surprise test on him yesterday, with the help of the intel team. Gideon sulked as Indira giggled. It kicked him back into gear, at least. There had been little in the way of action for the crew, judging from the lack of battle reports, although Mat'al assured me we now had plenty to investigate. We only had to deal with Nyryntha first.
"Oh, targets?" I asked, sipping the coffee.
"We may have found Silverio, Alurylna, but we need to run a few more checks with some of our contacts. We also have information about a possible Saboteur on Noveria, but we haven't identified a species," Mat'al said.
"Good, we are falling behind," I said. "Gods, this will be so much worse if we can't lose Nyryntha before the Reapers arrive,"
"Yeah, maybe we should make a ship and hightail it out of the entire galaxy," Indira said, shuffling in her chair. A frown formed.
"What good will that do? They'll just follow-" I said.
"Could we not talk about this?" Gideon asked. "Not right now?" My eyes flicked over his face, catching upturned eyebrows staring at a half-eaten plate. The gaze dropped as my heart twisted. Fuck. Silence spread like a plague, eyes dancing around, fighting to find something to focus on. The hum of those around us drowned us.
"Why did everyone stop talking? Did Gideon 'make a booboo' again?" Kala asked. Gideon choked on his drink, glaring at the mech at his heel.
"I did nothing!" Gideon squeaked. "It's called an awkward silence, Kala," he grumbled.
"Oh, that was an awkward silence?" Kala said, the main light blinking. "What makes it awkward?" A soft chuckled escaped me, watching Gideon bang his head on the table. He shoved the mech away with a scowl while Kala bounced away. A limp smile lifted my lips. The AI had a way of breaking tension, somehow. Val smiled while Gideon chewed down another bit of chicken. Kala beeped, saying 'organics make no sense'. Gideon jumped up and chased the mech, complaining that he had explained this all to her a thousand times already. Val chuckled beside me.
"Never thought I would say this, but she's good for him. We have no other kids on board, a physical friend is refreshing," Val said.
"Yeah… I don't know what to do about that," I sighed. "I mean, the digital classroom and school with the Citadel help, but you don't get the same interaction with the students as you do in person. Well, maybe that's my old-fashion-ness kicking in," I grumbled.
The VR classrooms were a lifesaver. Due to the number of kids roaming space as 'Spacers', getting an education, let alone a standard education, for the kids wasn't the easiest. Systems Alliance set up VR school with the embassy on the Citadel to educate all human kids. So with Kala now working in the intel room, Indira set up a spare computer in the quieter corner of the Intel room so he was close to Kala, but he was still getting his 9am to 3:30pm education. Parent evenings were fun, the VR helmet screwed with my senses. He was doing well, he had to put more time into language – or useless stuff about 'why the author used that description' – and more effort into chemistry but he had no enthusiasm for it. Although to meet the conditions for the Council, he had to hit a B whether he liked it or not. I think Anthon helped him with that, although if he was teaching him how to make explosives… My head shook, I had to check that.
"Does Gid have any friends outside the ship?" Val asked, mandibles waving. A sigh rushed out.
"I don't know. He never talks about it, or at least he doesn't with me. Kala is the closest thing he has to a close friend," I said. My head hung, shoulders tensing. "Dammit, I thought I got myself sorted out with this whole parenting thing,"
"Dell, you are doing fine. Everyone makes mistakes. Gid adores you, regardless of it. You let him keep his AI, I think he appreciates it," Val said. He tipped his head at my snort.
"He didn't get long enough to recover. I used police shock tactics on him to stop him asking too many questions I was in no mood to answer. It took an hour before he realised what I let him have," I grumbled.
"You planning on joining the police force with these shock tactics?" Val smirked. A smile grew.
"Can you imagine me trying to arrest a krogan?" I asked. Val burst out laughing, lifting my lips more.
"I don't know who I feel sorry for; you trying to put a krogan in cuffs or the krogan getting his ass kicked but the midget," he smirked.
I beg your pardon?" I squeaked. Val's smirk widened as my face flushed. "Fuck you, Autillin! Drop and give me 50!"
"50?!" Val balked.
"70!" I snapped, face glowing.
"Spirits, I know you like me sweaty but-" he drawled as he stood up.
"100!" I thundered, hands covering my face.
Laughter erupted around me as Val yanked the top part of his casuals off, exposing the array of plates covering his chest, before dropping and counting out the push-ups with a grin. Next thing I knew, a push-up competition started. Turians bragging against the salarians, krogan kicking the turians out the way, Searte, Zeedra and Rosmeni represented the military might of the asari. And then the humans piled in… dragging me with them. At 50, only Val lying on his side, head propped up by his hand with a wide grin on his face stopped me from caving. Then Gideon tried to show his upper body strength. He pulled an impressive 20, but not quite 100. We didn't let Kala compete, didn't seem fair to let a mech who didn't understand exhaustion compete. Now, while we had an expansive training room, no one complained about some aliens getting sweaty in the kitchen. The turian Spectres stood off away from the growing crowd, Drutus chuckling at the scene. Only the flight crew remained absent. They continued to keep the distance between Nyryntha and me. The fears, the frustrations, eased away thanks to the antics. A sense of normality, something missing from my life in recent weeks.
Evening fell, the call of the beds dragging many away. Gideon whined while Kala shoved him towards the elevator – by my orders – to put him to bed. The day crew saluted on their way to the crew deck, the night crew departing to get to work. Val excused the pair of us, much to Mat'al's smirking delight, before stealing me away for a more private talk away from the rest of the crew. Inside my quarters, the familiarity drained the last of my anxiety away. My arms stretched above me, a content sigh escaping. Normality, a rarity these days. Val chuckled as he watched me flop on the sofa, my red hair sprawling around me. Val swept my hair away, dropping himself beside me. A smirk grew on his face as he lifted my head to rest in the crevasse of his crossed legs. My eyes drifted closed as his fingers brushed along my jawline and cheeks.
"I've missed this," I said.
"I know, why do you think I've got a spoiling plan in place?" Val asked. He chuckled at my sounding grumble. "Whether you like it or not, the past month has taken its toll on you," My eyes fluttered open, staring at the ceiling.
"Yeah… she's right," I said. Val clicked his mandibles, a frown drawing his plates together. "Nyryntha. She said… when we fled from the Collector Base that I can't run forever. She's right. I can't live like this," My hands covered my face. Val doubled over, pressing the side of his face beside mine. A swell of emotion choked me, eyes squeezing shut. "It's killing me, Val,"
"I know, I know," Val sighed. "We'll figure something out. The Collectors picked you for your problem solving abilities,"
"I don't feel like I have that though," I said. "Problems go away through instinct or luck, I don't… think,"
"It's just a matter of time. Julian's plan for delaying her seems to work well, although the Council fleets are also a great help in that regard," Val said.
"Only because they have to," I said. "If they had their way, they would protect their systems and nothing else. Do you ever feel used, like you are only kept around because you are useful? That's how I feel. Ever since this damn Nyryntha chase began, the Council have been more of a pain in the ass than normal. What if they decide 'fuck it, she's not useful anymore' and they just leave us for dead?" I asked.
"We're not useless, despite the Council's opinions. Think about it; you are one of the few people who can wind a Saboteur up enough to reveal themselves. Even if they try not to, you have that 'Reaper Identification' method to verify your claims. You are too valuable to lose but Nyryntha has the Council scared. They don't know what to do because their Reaper killer is behind bars in Vancouver and their Saboteur killer is on the hit list of said Reaper. They need you, they have no connection to Julian without you either. The last thing they want is a fleet with the largest ship in the known galaxy surfing around without something tying him to them. What the hell do you think Julian would do if they abandoned you?" Val asked.
"He'd turn his goddam cannons on them. Julian's not afraid of them, he's rather die showing his teeth than surrender to them. If they arrested him, he'd never cave," I sighed. "Everything's going to shit,"
"And this is why you have me; to listen to your woes, part with my wisdom and then make your realise how silly you were about worrying about nothing," he said with a grin. My eyebrow rose.
"Wisdom?" I echoed. Val scowled. A smile lifted my lips. My smile vanished with a scream as Val grabbed my hips and pulled me up, flipping me until my face bounced on the cushions and Val pinned my wrists beside me head, straddling my waist.
"You dare mock the turian who can hand your ass to you?" he asked with feigned insult. A growl rumbled in my chest.
"You are one wise-arse crack away from sleeping on the couch for the next week," I warned. Val's grin spread, burying his face into my neck, arms slipping under my chest. He held me to him.
"It's good to have you back," he murmured.
"Yeah, yeah, keep digging yourself out that hole," I said with a growing grin. Val chuckled.
"Keep on digging, huh? Just as well you like me sweaty," he purred.
"…fuck that is tempting," I said. Val chuckled in my ear.
"Changed your tune without the eyes of the crew on you," Val said. My expression flattened as my eyes caught him out the corner of my vision.
"Rule 3, don't-" I started.
"Rule 1, don't fuck with Gideon, Rule 2, What you say, goes, apart from in a few exceptions," he said with a wink, making me flush. "And rule 3; don't embarrass you in front of the crew. I remember,"
"Yet you keep doing it," I scowled.
"Because you, little lady, needed something to take your mind off things," he said. "Besides, I love seeing you flustered, it's adorable,"
"I love you too, asshole," I said with a roll of my eyes. Val laughed as he kissed my neck.
The Fact Sheet, Timeline, Saboteur Sheet and Galaxy Map have been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.
A/N: Welcome to Renaissance! Since I've been gone, I've overhauled the Starquake. It's now actually drawn to scale XD I think I also shortened it, but the exact size escapes me just now. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. Now, I have a lot to update on DevinatART and get another 'special' sheet started for this. I'll let you know how it goes!