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[Kel Riever]

...on the Medusa

Babe had made it to a maintenance hold, where she could rummage through parts for the Medusa’s guns to her heart’s content.  There were new sets of mag coils, targeting actuators, thermal dispersion systems...it wasn’t everything she could ask for but whoever had ordered spare parts had certainly done enough.  Babe didn’t want to make an incredible mess, but half the inventory was on the floor so she could sort through it, and half of the inventory on the floor was open so she could figure out what she was going to use.

Something out of the corner of Babe’s eye caused her head to turn.  For a second, she thought she saw a shadow past the racks, towards the entrance to the hold, but there was nothing when she got a good view.  So she went back to work.

Then it happened again.

“Okay, I know you’re over there,” Babe said, perturbed.  “Come out where I can see you.”

When Babe saw the woman who stepped into view at the doorway staring through a head of black hair hanging in front of her face, the lollipop dropped out of Babe’s mouth.

~ ~ ~ ~

Amy had escaped the bird.  It was clearly an evil spirit, meant to chase her away.  It was a guardian of the realm of the cannibal ship Medusa.  Where they would steal people and ship them off to places unknown for sinister people to snack upon.  How could she not have seen this before?

Well, Hayashi might have been delirious.  But when she couldn’t figure out the truth of what she was seeing from a drunken illusion, she decided it was because she was coming down too suddenly from her drinks with Captain Stone.  Fortunately, as she was escaping, by crawling her way through some storage areas she had the benefit of coming by, Amy found a bottle of some liquor, probably left by one of the workers.  Once she had eased her sudden crash into sobriety, she realized that she still must be onto something after all. 

The evil bird had left at some point.  Amy was sure she had lost it.  After all, she was small, and very sneaky when she needed to be.  And she had socks, which were very effective.  The doctor was sure that if people with infiltration cloaks used her socks, they would be impossible to ever find unless they wanted to be. 

Sounds of someone at work had Amy change course from, well from wherever it was that she had been going.  She had to sneak back into a passageway, and across it, before she saw the open hatch where the sounds were coming from.  When Amy peeked and saw the woman working in the room beyond, she was speechless.

The woman was of average height, maybe one point six, one point seven meters tall. She was…stacked! Seriously stacked. Like a comic book had nothing on her! It was…well, Amy couldn’t even pull her eyes away. Then the woman bent over to pick some part up and Hayashi nearly died. Every eye-popping curve below her waist was accentuated by her skin tight black leather pants lined with steel studs, until they met her black leather boots which started just below the knee. The heels on the boots were solid, high and one boot was partially wrapped in a red tartan strap. Above her waist, the woman wore a tight, strapless, saffron colored, leather mini corset.  The corset left her picture perfect abdomen exposed, and failed miserably at hiding what was underneath. To complete the look, she had a spiked tartan choker around her neck and studded black leather bracers. Loosely hugging her hips was a gun belt, also of saffron leather, with even more metal glinting from hooks and studs.

Then, as if the woman didn’t already have the body of a goddess, Amy had never seen a more alluring face. The woman had bright blue eyes, and golden hair that fell like a waved coif to the middle of her shoulders.  She wore no makeup,a nd her unblemished, just barely tanned skin seemed to radiate life itself. Hayashi was drawn to focus on her lush, pouty lips but before she could, the woman heard her and turned.

Amy hid.  But she didn’t leave.

The doctor held her breath until she thought she was going to burst when she heard the woman get back to work.  Amy sneaked another glimpse, though the woman’s face was harder to see.  Hayashi was contemplating getting a closer look when the woman spun and spotter her.

Oh no.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"I love you, Anika," Naleena said, and held onto her. "When we returned to the Citadel from Duellos, where we are now was furthest from my mind. I didn't think I'd be a Spectre let alone in command of a ship like this. I didn't think I'd be making these kinds of decisions. Androkan and I shared a drink before we departed the Citadel last. He told me about this job. I told him that his job is awful. Now I know first hand."

 

Naleena sat up and faced Anika. "And you're right. There really wasn't anything else we could do," Naleena said, and cast her gaze over to Anika's back plate and winced. "It looks like I almost lost you. That armor saved your life. Will you be able to fix it? I hear there's a great deal on Kassa's Colossus Heavy these days. Aria's buying."

[Redbelle]

Anika smiled up at Naleena. "I was thinking.... something beefier. The gene enhancements I was given means I'm less hampered by the weight. I'll look at what's available... but later". She said taking her hands in her own. "Right now.... I want a shower and some t.l.c.... and I think you could use the same. Better we steal away some time now before things get hectic again". She rotated her shoulders and winced. "....But Nally. I know that you know how hard I got hit. Some of the others got hit even harder. I'll be healed by morning. Gene enhancements". She said with a tight smile. "But the crew will be looking to the one leading them later on. They need to see you and here that what they went through was worth it. We all need to remember what it was we were fighting to achieve down there. And your the only one who can give that to the team". She stood then and tugged at Naleena towards the shower. "It's a hard road to walk. You've just begun and this has been a trial by fire and we all got burnt". Again, Anika smiled. "I heal fast. Now you need to learn to do the same without a bottle. Because you just showed the galaxy that Naleena has the courage to make hard calls.... I think you'll be in demand sooner than you know..... Now....Shower. Destress. Then go see the people who fought by your side". Her face took on a mock stern expression. "Unless your going to force me to carry you into the stall".

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena stood, threw her coat on the couch, nearly fell over, "Remind me not to do that again. It's not numbing it anyway. Perhaps we can forget for a while. Help me with this so I don't stumble, please." Naleena asked having had too much alcohol even for her.

 

Anika helped her remove her armor, and then Naleena drank some cold water, and joined Anika in the shower. Anika's back was purplish where she'd been hit, and Naleena was careful not to put too much pressure on it. She was worried that even touching it at this point would hurt. Tomorrow Anika would be fine, but now she might feel it. Naleena had a topical gel that got absorbed at least into Asari skin and numbed pain. It might work on humans since there were similarities in physiology. It would be worth a try. Sirta Foundation made it. She stepped out of the shower and grabbed it, put on a glove and applied it to Anika's back.

 

"I hope this helps," she said while she was gently rubbing it over Anika's back. Then she stepped out and removed the glove. The gel by itself was waterproof until it mixed with a surfactant or was absorbed whichever came first.

[Cknarf]

The medbay doors slid open, and and one of the few available members of the medical staff walked out.

 

"HEY!" Frank shouted, startling her.  He gestured to the window with his thumb. "I can't see."

 

Her eyes widened at the bloody mess that was Frank. Then she saw his hand. And then she noticed the two fingers just chilling on the windowsill.

 

That must be Eli.

 

"Seriously?" 

 

"Oh, no. I can see right through this opaque window before me." Frank scoffed. "Of course I'm serious! You think I got X-ray vision or some s***? Believe me, if I did..." Frank raised his eyebrows. 

 

"No, you idiot." She pointed at the digits. "That doesn't bother you at all?"

 

Septerax said this one wasn't very bright...

 

He looked over at his fingers, then back to her.

 

"You're goddamn right it does."

 

She rolled her eyes. "I'll be right back. I'm going to get something to clean that up."

 

"K."

[Cainhurst Crow]

Essul was in a bed in the medbay, eyes on the helmet on his lap as the skull faced mask stared up at him. A large crack snaked through the whole thing, a corner of the helmet was dented in, and the bullet hole on one oft he eyes had turned into a full blown chasm on his mask, large gorge like crack snaking up to the forehead and traveling along the heavy ceramic. When the missiles had started flying, essul's helmet had been caught in the blasts of one of them, and it turned the helmet from badly damaged to unusable.

 

Still he lay there upright in the bed, as he traced his left arms thumb over the crack, surprised at the coincidence. Where the crack had spread, essul sported stitches on his head, where some debris had cut into the side of his forehead after he took a tumble to avoid getting blown to bits. However, that wasn't the worst of his injuries. His right arm was in a sling, a support rod keeping it in place, as a cast had been placed on his shoulder, the damage severe. The Widow had at first simply caused a fracture on his shoulder, but it had gotten worse and worse with each firing. When his arm had given out, it was due to the entire bone shattering, as his armor had apparently cracked around that area, its kinetic absorbers long since over-taxed with his wielding the gun. If essul had functioning nerves, he would have felt it much sooner, but he'd not felt it until it was too late to keep the damage from getting bad.

 

Still, according to the doctors, they could accelerate his bones healing, and in a few days he'd be able to remove the cast, a few more days of non-stressful movement and he'd be healed. Essul glanced over to where Mira was being operated on, and his hands tensed.

 

Compared to Mira, essul was lucky. And that thought did more damage than any shattered shoulder blade could. He'd get better, recover, and than become stronger. He had to, for this ship, for its crew.

 

 

For the only people in this galaxy he could call friends.

[TheMajonese]

Arian listened to Irina's prayer and let out a sigh. All of a sudden he had the urge to be alone, more than ever he felt like just being in the wrong place. Of course he didn't want the commando to die but he wasn't as concerned as her friends were. He imagined Iole stepping through the door of the med-bay and telling everyone that Mira wasn't going to make it. Arian certainly didn't want to be there as an unconcerned bystander. 

 

"Mira's going to survive", he said trying to cheer them up a bit and turned away.

 

"I'll be at the gym", Arian then muttered before leaving.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Despite being comforted by Anika, and being helped in the matter of destressing, Naleena had a fitful rest, and awakened with her body clammy with persperation. Her dreams were of people running from collapsing buildings, glowing yellow eyes, red beams. She felt she'd been there before, but where was it? Moreover, when was it? She carefully got out of bed so as not to awaken Anika who turned onto her side facing away still sound asleep, put on her underwear, commando leathers but left them unbuttoned. She walked quietly over to her desk where the tumbler had rolled, picked it up off the floor, stuck a cigarette in the corner of her mouth and lit it, and then poured a finger of Ambrosia to rinse out her mouth and swallowed it, Breakfast of Champions.

 

She left the loft and headed to the wardroom to get a cup of coffee. They were serving breakfast. The smell in the place reminded her of how long it had been since she had eaten any real food. A drinker eats when they're loaded. A real drunk eats when they're not. She grabbed a tray, and ordered a plate of bacon and eggs with toast and coffee. Biotics got real thick cut bacon and she liked hers cooked not droopy, but not crispy either. She sat alone at a table in the corner and pulled up her datapad.

 

VERA had revised the casualty numbers overnight. Apparently survivors had crawled out of the rubble. The estimate was now down to 10,000 dead. She felt relieved, although that was a small consolation. Ten thousand was still unacceptable. The other news from Omega was that despite the crowding the mood was upbeat and hopeful, at least for the time being, having heard Aria's promise of improvements to the station. Word had gotten out as to what had happened in the far end, and new food supplies had been ordered. She finished her breakfast and headed to Med-Bay.

 

There was also a message from Dr. Tolus about Mira. She needed to be taken to the Citadel for treatment as soon as possible.

 

When she entered, she was greeted by medical staff. "You have about 15 minutes. We don't want to stress her too much."

 

Naleena nodded. "I understand."

 

Mira was laying in her bed with her left shoulder bandaged over. She tried to salute with her right hand.

 

"At ease, commando," Naleena said, and sat in a chair next to her. "I don't need to ask how you're doing."

 

"They're going to grow a new arm for me. You... you took away the pain?" Mira asked.

 

"Yes, I can do it again if you'd like."

 

Mira smiled looking at the tubes. "That's not really necessary now, and thank you. I'm pretty useless around here with only one arm."

 

"But think. You'll have all this time while you wait for your new arm. Then, once it's fully grown and you're trained for full use with it you can do whatever you want. They'll even let you have an early retirement and collect a pension so you can get a cushy desk job somewhere. Or you can go exploring. Or you could, if you're so inclined, return. I'd be glad to have you back."

 

"I don't know what I'll be able to do. They say these regrown limbs are no different than the original, but I don't know."

 

Naleena reached into her coat pocket. "I brought you something. It's very old. I've had it since I was a child. It's my book of Siarist Mediations and Poetry. You may find that wordings have changed over the past 300 years."

 

Mira's eyes welled as she held the leather bound book in her right hand. "I can't accept this. I'll return it as soon as I am well."

 

"No. One does not loan a book. A book is a gift. Keep it safe. Besides, I have all of them memorized. All is one, Mira."

 

"All is one, Naleena."

 

Naleena left Mira and turned her attention to Essul. "And how is my favorite Batarian this morning?"

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Better than I should be, apparently." Essul said simply as he looked towards Naleena and gave a nod of his head, his damaged helmet sitting on a small stand next to his table. "I had heard rumors that an M-98 Widow was powerful enough to shatter bone. Evidently, those rumors were true..." He said as he pointed to the cast taking up half of his upper chest and keeping his arm in shape, sitting up a bit straighter as his face twitched, a flash of pain from the simple movement.

 

"I should be in massive pain, according to the good doctor. Instead, I'm simply in constant mild pain, which is making it hard to gauge when my next dosage of neural suppressors is needed." he said with a sigh as he looked towards his helmet, turning his head away from naleena and giving her a good view of his neck and back. A large scar ran down from his neck to his tailbone, it's pattern following the spinal cord, branching scars right where his spinal columns would connect, running down the whole thing. Part of it was covered by the cast, but since it continued at the end of it, it was clear the scar was one, long, continuous one.

 

"I suppose it's a blessing of my neural condition that I'm not crippled completely. Though if I had been able to properly feel the pain, I might not have fired so many shots..." He commented, the medications in his blood making him a bit more open and chatty than his usual tight lipped self.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"You know they make a modified version of that weapon called the Black Widow. Two shots between reloads, but the two shots do much more damage than the single round from the M-98, and it has less kick. You can fire the two in rapid succession." Naleena said while looking at Essul's scar. "I have one of those. If you'd like we could get you fitted for one.

 

"Also your armor doesn't look like it's in the best of condition."

[Cainhurst Crow]

Essul looked to naleena, blinking before he grinned, chuckling at her suggestion. "Thank you, Commander. But no thanks. I've had enough of Widows for one lifetime..." He said with a laugh as he reached over to his helmet, giving it a nice adjustment to the right, so it was facing him a bit more.

 

"I'll stick with a Kishock. It's familiar, and it only put me in medical once, and not from firing it." He said with a laugh as he leaned back onto the raised bed, flexing his left hand with anticipation as the right hand lay motionless in its sling, "The Kinetic dampeners failed, after they got shorted from some kind of electrical based weaponry. The armors power supply was living on borrowed time after that, and trying to deal with the widows blowback did it in. Outside of the shoulders, the exteriors fine. Inside however...that's a different story." He said, knowing his armor inside and out.

 

The dampeners failing was the first sign of his armor failing, next would by the shield generators, than the hydraulics, than basic life support functions. He'd seen it happen, and he was just lucky the fighting stopped when his suits shields and dampeners did. The internal circuitry and electrics were done, it wasn't a question of if now, but when.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Well, you heard her. You helped save the station. Aria said you'd be rewarded, so you have new armor waiting for you if you want it." Naleena replied, "Septerax has your measurements, unless you put on weight, and I can send them to Bray and have a suit delivered."

[Kel Riever]

...on the Medusa

Babe locked gazes with the wild haired woman. Babe swore she was looking at a ghost until she noticed the woman was breathing light, rapid breaths. Some seconds passed before Babe got impatient and broke the silence.
“Hi.”

The wild haired woman raised a hand timidly and waved it slightly once. “Hi.”

“Are you lost?”

The wild haired woman’s gaze wandered Babe’s body head to toe.

“Okay, I’m trying to find some parts her, and I’m not standing around to…”

The wild haired woman’s gaze came to rest on the tool Babe had just picked up. It was a toothed, alloy power clamp, meant for holding large parts in place. The clamp itself was big enough to need to be held with two hands, and its gripping claw extended outward like a metal alligator head from its long handle.

Mistaking the wild haired woman’s expression for taking an interest in the tool, Babe smiled and looked lovingly down at it. “It’s a beauty, right? You lock this on anything and I promise you it isn’t ever getting away. Then you can work away without a worry in the galaxy.”

The wild haired woman’s eyes went wide, and she bolted away down the passageway.

Babe watched in surprise, then squinted as she began to wonder about the woman. “Bah! Got to get moving. Can’t stay down here forever,” she said to herself, then she felt a bit guilty. Something about the woman made Babe worried about letting her out of her sight. Guilt finally won over. Babe put down the tool and got to the nearest com, to call up to the bridge.

“Bridge, this is Babe in maintenance stores. There’s a kind of strange person, even for this ship, running around down here.. I don’t recognize her from anyone who came aboard…a little crazy looking. I’m…going to go try to find her. If anyone needs me just call around. Or if someone finds her first, they…may just want to try and make sure she stays put.”

The parts and tools would have to wait. Babe had everything she wanted mostly put away in a box on a lift pallet as it was. She tossed the large clamp in and headed out to find the woman who had run away.

“Don’t run,” Babe called out ahead, hoping even though she couldn’t see the wild haired woman, that she could be heard. “You look like you need someone to take care of you. There isn’t anywhere to go besides the ship, anyway.”

Babe listened. She heard the faint sound of shoeless feet on the metal deck, getting faster and farther away. Babe headed that direction. “Really, it isn’t going to help you to run!”

[TheMajonese]

Arian was on the way to the gym when he suddenly decided to instead leave the ship and wander around the station. Ignoring everyone on his way he made his way down to the hangar.

 

Now that the fight was over the area in front of the Afterlife was overcrowded again. The bodies had already been removed but the signs of the battle were everywhere, countless bullet holes, small pieces of debris and even bloodstains on the ground.

 

Deeply sunken in his somber thoughts again he trotted through the crowd but despite being surrounded by countless men and women he still didn’t feel like being one of them. It was like there was an invisible sphere around him that sealed him off from everyone around him...

 

"Ha! I knew you’d come back!"

 

When he heard the voice Arian turned around just to see the fast moving, unusally coloured head of a krogan. Then the headbutt hit him with such force that Arian stumbled backwards and almost lost his balance.

 

"By the spirits, what is wrong with you?", he yelled while covering his forehead with one hand.

 

The answer was roaring laughter. "I just wanted to be sure that I’m not dreaming and needed something to slam my head against. But now I’m sure, it’s you! I don’t know any other turian who can get hit like that and not loose consciousness."

 

"It’s good to see you too... ", Arian snarled and although he was still angry about the krogan’s way of greeting a good friend, his words were honest. He had not really expected a friendly face on Omega again.

 

It was impossible to not recognise Ruyak, the bright red tips of his otherwise darkred headplate seemed to glow and gave him a distinctive appearance as well as his absurd height and his unusual armor, he was always wearing. It had green flame paintings all over its shiny surface and despite being centuries old, Ruyak kept maintaining it as well as possible.

 

The krogan’s size was incredible. Ruyak was a bit shorter than Arian but still towered most other species and at the sime time he was extremely chunky, literally a mountain of muscles. While Arian was just a bit taller than average Ruyak had serious health issues. Even his krogan body was not able to deal with the immense weight of his muscles and bones. Ruyak always tried to dissemble the problems that came with his abnormal size but Arian knew that the krogan suffered from a lot of pain.

 

Aside from that Ruyak had many other problems. It wasn’t unusual for him to accidentally break any furniture, especially chairs and tables or knock back people he ran into. There was no doubt that Ruyak could easily break someone’s bones by just punching him with his fist...or slamming his head against someone‘s face.

 

"To be honest", the krogan said padding Arian on the shoulder, "you really deserved this. From one day to the next you were gone, no message, no sign of anything. And it took you eight months to remember where to find me? You made me worried, I even thought they finally managed to kill you. And the same goes for Sivia...by the way where is she?" He looked around as if the turian was around and he just hadn’t seen her yet.

 

Arian looked down to the ground, his fists clenched. It felt like speaking it out loud would make things irreversible even though they already were. "She’s dead", was all he was able to say.

 

Ruyak seemed to be frozen for a few seconds, then he shook his head. "Are you serious...she is really...?"

 

"Yes, she is!", Arian shouted suddenly enraged, glaring at the krogan.

 

"But how...?"

 

"Not here!"

 

After a few moments Ruyak nodded slowly. "We can talk down in my club."

 

Arian was surprised. "Your club? You mean the Flaming Fury, don’t you?"

 

Ruyak snorted amused. "Of course. I‘m running it now. Don’t tell me that you even forgot about the bar where you had spent half of your time here on Omega!"

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Sounds like a plan commander. But I wouldn't want to be a bother with that. If there's someone else who'd need new armor...let them use it instead." Essul said to naleena simply with a sigh, "I don't matter as much as they would..." He commented plainly, no real emotion behind the statement.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"You matter to me, friend," Naleena said looking into each of the Batarian's eyes. "What is it? You think it's because you're Batarian? Everyone matters on my team. It's not like there is one suit of armor to go around. Aria said that everyone who defended her club would be rewarded."

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Don't get the wrong idea, Commander. You, this team, are great. I'm a bit envious that such a squads never come under my command before. Or that I've never been under a command as good...." Essul explain, hand moving to wave away her concerns, "Probably because to most batarians in high command, I'm still nothing but a slave. But even beyond that, you got good folks here. They matter more than me, even to me..." he said, trying to explain.

 

"Growing up, all I ever heard from people outside of my father was about how much I was nothing. How my mother was a dead nothing, my dad worse than nothing, and how I'd never be anything but nothing..." He said as he looked up towards the ceiling, remembering his life in the arena, and beyond that, into his military career. "It hurt, but it let me see something else. It let me see value, where people usually saw none. And it made me tough, so I could take a punch for someone who couldn't...I look at people who have families, or lives, or loved ones, And I see a way I can help them, by doing what I can with the few things I have to help them out..." He said as he looked over towards where mira was, a frown on his face as he did so.

 

"I may not matter to myself. But them...those people, they matter to me. And if I can do something for them, even if it costs something for me...that's all the reward I need. Makes me happy when I help others out. Keep them from needing to go through pain like I did..." He said, sounding regretful as he said it, still looking towards mire. He liked to live his life by a more stoic principle, and if it called for self-sacrifice now and again, he was more than willing to give, more than he was to take.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"You have done everything you could do. You did that on the Medusa, Caleston, and you did that here on Omega," Naleena said, "Sometimes one needs to do things for themselves so that one can keep helping others. If the inside of your armor is on borrowed time, it could fail you when others are depending on you. And with Mira out, I need everyone at their best. Besides, I think it's time that you received something as a thank you."

 

(end scene)

[Cknarf]

After Frank’s hand had been treated, and his fingers were taken away from him, he quickly grew bored.

 

“Pffft. Medical waste.” Frank grumbled, as he entered showers. “I’ll show her some medical waste!” He made a fart sound with his mouth.

 

Oh, they were too mangled to save.

 

I still want them.

 

Frank turned on the water, and let it run over his filthy armor.

 

Sorry, that’s not possible.

 

What do you mean? They’re MY fingers!

 

“Goddamn… F***in’...” He struggled with the armor on his left arm, his wrapped hand made it difficult. “Whatever.” He gave up, and just took off the right side.

 

They’re considered medical waste now.

 

Medical waste!?

 

The lower parts weren’t as much of a challenge.  He kicked them away with relative ease.

 

I’ve forwarded the doctor a report on your injuries. I will inform you when he is available to discuss your replacement options.

 

Hey! Where are you going? I have questions!

 

“Sonofa…” He grunted, as his upper body armor managed to get hung up on his remaining  forearm piece. “F***.” His voice echoed, as the armor partially covered his face.

 

After a minute of cursing, and some contorting, he squeezed out of it.  He angrily launched it out of the stall and across the room.

 

Now for the underlayer…

 

Frank began his next challenge.

[Kel Riever]

Previously...( http://forum.bioware...res/?p=18557709 )

Somewhere in the Terminus Systems

One hundred seventy eight colonists were assembled on the pale yellow lawn between the box-like structures that they had lived in for the past several years in service to the Pyrena Corporation.  All were aware of the risks when they signed on to explore a Terminus Systems planet with a suspected Prothean ruin somewhere on its surface.  They had come, aware, armed, courageous and competent.

But they had not come prepared.

Now, captured by what they presumed was a bandit lord, or slaver, they feared for their future.  But these colonists were typical of their kind; optimistic to a fault, always believing there was a chance to survive, to make it in the unknown, to find a way through when there was none to be seen.  Though they were surrounded by heavily armed and well trained guard, under the threat of a vessel that they could do nothing about, and cut off from communication on a wilderness planet with its own host of dangers, they waited, biding their time for that chance to live another day, no matter how small it could be.  That is why they listened and obeyed.

The colonists’ president, one of their number and elected by them, stood at their head, facing them in proud silence.  They knew she must be as concerned as they were, though they sought her example and tried to judge the things to come by her expressions.  They were convinced that she, too, must have believed there was a way out of this catastrophe for them, for she still wore the sapphire crystal pendent on a delicate chain around her neck that was a sign of her office.  Her dress had changed, though.  It was a newly fabricated, form fitting piece, violet in color that covered her from neck down to her wrists and ended at her booted ankles.  There was no mistaking that though simple in appearance, the material of her outfit was quite expensive, perhaps silk, or Patavig Weave, mostly produced illegally by the volus dwelling on that disputed world.  Gone was the typical colonial attire she wore as a subliminal statement that she was one of them.

Gone too were three of their number, evident to most of the colonists as the three asari maidens who were part of their community.  All at least had knowledge of the terrible things criminals could do and none wanted to dwell upon those thoughts.  It was a terrible speculation and they wished the asari well, for their treatment would be a signal for their own future.  And yet they could also not deny the idea in the backs of their minds that it was better the asari than themselves, if it had to come to a sacrifice.

Long was the wait for what they knew was the bandit leader’s address, and the few children who were with the group were hard to keep quiet.  It was difficult, too, not knowing what their fate would be, and though they were aware it could be unfortunate, the meandering minds would conjure the worst images.  As such, each colonist craved for certainty over the fear of the unexpected.  So it was with a grim relief when they saw their conqueror appear over the rise that led to her new underground domain.

Iyana (and they all knew her name because it had been driven into them by the guards who corralled them like herd animals) arrived in the outfit they were coming to expect she always wore; the revealing armor that shifted in violet hues with the extravagant helm shaped like a dragon’s head.  It was outlandish, shameless, and in a way, barbaric.  Not entirely unexpected given the stories heard of some of the eccentric warlords of the terminus systems, but still startling to experience as a sight before their eyes.  She came, accompanied by the asari with the strange facial markings, clad in a brass and black commando uniform.  They strode as if they owned the land they walked upon and it wasn’t a point that any colonist found they could refute.

“Bow!” the asari in brass and black commanded as she came to stand next to the president with Iyana.  The guards had also driven into the colonists what was called ‘proper decorum’ when in the presence of the leader of the conquerors.  Each of the colonists obeyed, going to their knees and lowering their heads.  That included the president.  After a moment, the asari said to the president, “You may stand.”  Then to the colonists, she said, “The rest of you shall look to Iyana and stay on your knees.”

“Thank you, Xhuan,” Iyana said.  She removed her helm and placed it in the hands of her second in command.  Briefly, she ran her fingers through her white hair, and her doll like visage was both cold and beautiful to behold.  Iyana then surprised the president, addressing her by name.  “Gille Demos, your daughter is in my care.”

The asari president, surprised, but forcing herself to maintain the image of her power that remained, nodded with eyes that became wet.

“That goes for all of the young maidens who are no longer with you,” Iyana spoke to the crowd.  “They are alive and in my care.  The rest of you who are not here have taken it upon themselves to attempt an escape and have suffered the consequences.  That is to say they’ve become meals for those large eight legged predators you have around here.”

Uncontrolled murmurs broke from the colonists.

“Silence!” Xhuan commanded.

The guards raised their weaponry towards the colonists, and though there were a couple of screams of panic, the crowd became still.

With a glance at the president, Iyana asked, “By the way, what do you call those things?”

Gille, maintaining most of her composure but unable to stop a pair of tears that broke forth, said, “We call them Maltruvian Stalkers.”

“I like that.”  Iyana made a practiced tilt of her head as if in contemplation, then her voice rose and she addressed the colonists.

“There is but one law here.  My law.  There is but one rule.  My rule.  Come to understand this and you will prosper.  You will be rewarded.  You will flourish and you will rise.  Come to refuse this, to deny this, and you will create for yourself the unfortunate end of our enemies.

“I say ours, for you are mine, now.  Mine to grow, mine to appreciate, mine to be with and cherish.  Mine to enjoy.  Mine to rely upon.  There was a different future you had before me, but know that is gone now, like the dream of an infant in the night.  Mourn it not for what will come is a glory that cannot be understood by lesser minds.  You have come across magnificent fortune, though you have not realized it yet.  Your deepest satisfactions will be accomplished here, with me, if you but accept that which you must. 

“Those who think are some of the strangest creatures in the galaxy.  You are individuals, unique, designers of our own destiny or so you have been taught.  This despite your awareness that nothing you do that matters can be achieved on its own.  You consider yourselves prominent, yet you look to others to lead you.  You have interests, yet surrender them when your eyes become open to something more.

“To think is to argue with nature, to debate the order of things, to fight against the self-evident.  This falsehood provides the comfort of your narcissism, the illusion of self-importance even when you are conscious of your very limits.  You are not at fault, for your society has lied to you for its own purposes.  The very company that hired you has abandoned others in its history, yet your erroneous beliefs have led you to lash yourselves to phantom hopes and nonsensical flights of fancy.

“No one before me has provided you with an avenue to your desires.  You’ve lived on a treadmill of empty promises that has given you only the guarantee that your children continue on in the same meaningless way.  Do you think you have wealth?  Do you think you have contentment?  You fear my arrival yet what existence of yours have I interrupted?  Take a look at this planet and tell me what will you will have achieved by the time you die here.

“I am the end of that pathetic course for you.  I am the one who has come to give you what the lies have kept you from.  The life I offer is harsh but the life I offer is truth itself.  Fear that which is not me!  Fear that which has used you and made you irrelevant!

“I do not promise your transition will be easy.  If you wish to have that which you want, you will do what you must.  But those of us who lead know our role!  And if you search yourself, you will hear my words and recognize their purity.  Death is for the foolish and the stubborn.  A waste, yet I will deliver it to those who cannot withstand a better way forward, who argue with nature, who fight against the self-evident.  Do not follow in the footsteps of those who disobeyed me.  Work with me to build that which is inevitable.  You will grind your hands to the bone if you must, for you will be forged under my hot fire and with my heavy hammer.  Your payment is to be made of sharp steel and greatness.  I am the dark and I am salvation.  I am your ruler now and forevermore.”

The last words were not shouted, but spoken with such assuredness that for minutes, no one moved and only the wind blew to make noise.  Iyana’s blue eyes scrutinized her subjects.  When she was done she stepped to face President Gille Demos.  Iyana reached up to fondle the president's sapphire pendant in her fingers.

Then Iyana snapped the pendant and chain off Gille’s neck and place it around her own.
 

[Cknarf]

Janiri Medbay

 

“The choice is yours.”

 

Frank thought for a moment about the options he had been given.

 

A cybernetic replacement would be pretty cool…  But then  there’s whole ‘lessened or lost sense of touch’ thing...

 

Doc says they could grow me a new one but… Hell. I don’t know… I’ve been through too much with this hand to just have it lopped off…

 

“I reject both of these choices!” Frank shouted.

 

“So be it.” Tolus shrugged, and turned to leave. “Not my hand. Don’t care. Happy with three fingers? Excellent. Works for me.”

 

“Wait, doc!” Frank slid off the table. “There’s got to be another way!” He stepped in front of the doctor “What if… what if I just got a couple cybernetic fingers? You know, instead of a whole hand?”

 

“Hmm.” The doctor stopped, and rubbed at his chin. “Perhaps… No. Never mind. Human hand far too complicated.” He stepped around Frank.

 

“Bullsh*t!” Frank followed him. “You just brought someone back from the dead, and you’re telling me that stickin’ a couple of fingers to a hand is impossible?”

 

The doctor took a seat behind his desk.

 

“Nothing more I can do now. Please leave. I have more important matters to attend to.”

 

“Alright, doc.” Frank sighed. “Guess I’ll get outta your way, then.”

 

I can make three work...

 

Frank thought, while heading for the exit.

 

“Never said impossible. Will look into it.”

 

Without looking back, Frank just raised a hand in acknowledgement, as he stepped into the corridor.

[TheMajonese]

Even for Omega a bar where visitors could watch duels between people of all different races was rather unusual. There were normal one-versus-one matches but also tournaments, people could bet on their favorite or even challenge anyone in the club. After visiting the Flaming Fury a few times Arian had quickly become bored of just watching the fights and soon had begun to participate in them by himself. After a few months he had built up a good reputation and was finally able to challenge the elite of the club.

 

Naturally almost all of them were krogan, one of them of course Ruyak. That had been the time when Arian had first met the krogan giant before realising that it was nearly impossible to fight with someone of Ruyak’s size. He was by far the toughest person Arian had ever encountered.

 

The fights seemed rather brutal, especially between two skilled opponents. Any martial art and any move was allowed to use. Combined with having fighters of all kinds of species every fight was different from another. Arian had faced many opponents; humans, turians and krogans but also a few batarians, drell and even salarians. But there were strict rules to prevent unnecessary injuries. Aside from the official rules there was also some sort of codex that had established during the last years and everyone, even the ones who had never been in a fight before, was expected to follow it.

 

The Flaming Fury, in a district that wasn't too far from the Afterlife, had been spared completely from any signs of the recent attack on Omega. It was mainly just one large room, filled with numerous tables and chairs. The old furniture was in good condition but far from being luxurious. Everything, from the chairs to the white lamps on the ceiling, was not meant to look pretty but to be functional.

 

The centre was a slightly elevated platform of a few metres in length and width that was especially well-lit. Between the plattform and the tables were a few meters of open space. During the fights the spectators would cluster around the platform creating some sort of boundary for the fighting area.

 

The mood in the club was astonishingly calm, almost peaceful. People at the tables were talking, laughing and- of course- drinking, they all knew each other and spent most of their free time watching the fights together. Arian had been here very often but had never seen brawls or any other form of violence.There sometimes were arguments about trivialities but everyone knew how to solve their issues without starting a fight, even after a few drinks. As weird as it sounded, the people here had formed a small community in the middle of Omega.

 

Overall it was nothing compared to the Afterlife. No dancers, no unnatural red light, not even guards, only a grumpy krogan doorman. And despite being a fight club, the Flaming Fury was the last place to find any shady business or criminals.

 

Most guests were turians and humans but as usual there were also a few krogans and some batarians. Now that Ruyak was running this place Arian knew that Vorchas weren’t allowed to be here. The old krogan hated them.

 

At the moment most of the conversations at the tables were about the assault on the Afterlife. Noone really knew all the details what had happened and everyone was coming up with new theories on the recent events. While passing Arian heard many different of them and depending on the alcohol level some were more absurd than others. 

 

"No wai! Guys...our schampion is back!" The loud voice near Arian made him look at the table to his left, then he rolled his eyes.

 

An old human with a cheerful face and dark grey hairs that fell on his shoulders looked over to him and then raised his glass that was filled to the rim with beer. His companions, eight men at the age of fifty to sixty sitting around a large table, looked to Arian and began to bawl.

 

The human who had spoken waved Arian to his table. With a sigh the turian went over to them and their caterwauling became louder.

 

"Nice to see you still in one piece, Frank...", Arian said and despite the slight wisp of irony in his voice he wasn’t lying. He knew two Franks now and it was hard to tell who was weirder. While being sober it wasn’t much fun to be in Frank’s company but with enough alcohol it was really endurable. Maybe the same applied to Eli, Arian didn’t know.

 

A few months ago Frank had been running the Flaming Fury but even back then Ruyak had done most of the actual work while the human had enjoyed the fights. Arian wasn’t able to recall meeting Frank without the human being completely drunk. It had been only a matter of time until Frank decided to lay down the responsibility of running a bar and joined his drinking buddies. They all knew each other from the First Contact War in which they had fought before somehow ending up on Omega with alcohol problems.

 

"I hafe no idea were youf been the lasd months", Frank laughed. "But now that se schampion is back the fighds are finally going to be interesding again!"

 

"Did you forget who the real champion was? Arian was good but he had never beat me, not once!", Ruyak complained but even without seeing him Arian knew that the krogan had a wide smirk on his face.

 

Emptying his glass and looking to Ruyak Frank replied: "Baah, you‘r krogan...dese fighds were never fair for your opponens!"

 

"Sure, a two point thirty turian against a human that is about half his size...these matches were really fair either!"

 

Frank just shrugged his shoulders. "I dond expecd you to understand dis, Ruyagg..." He let out a resounding belch and earned some laughter of his friends. "Arian is de schampion, deal with id!"

 

Arian somehow felt the urge to just sit down and start drinking with the others. He had almost forgotten how much alcohol helped to forget about all his worries. With Frank and his drinking comrades, always taunting Ruyak who never lost his good mood, and that unique atmosphere in this club it was like nothing had changed at all over the past months.

 

But then Arian remembered that he had almost never been here without Sivia. His mood abruptly darkened and he got a hollow feeling in his stomach. "Sorry Frank, I’m not going to stay long..."

 

The reaction was a disappointed "oooooooohh" by Frank and his friends.

 

Arian and Ruyak moved further through the club until they reached a small lounge next to the bar. It always had been Ruyak’s, Arian’s and Sivia’s usual spot where they could meet, exchange some news and talk about every imaginable topic while emptying bottles of alcohol, one after another. They often had been joined by others like Frank or a few of his drinking comrades but this corner next to the bar somehow had been accepted as their spot and noone ever dared to take it. But the main reason for this wasn’t Ruyak’s or Arian‘s authority but simply the fact that this specific lounge had a large sofa where Ruyak could sit on without having to worry about breaking it.

 

"Bring us some Horosk!", Ruyak shouted towards the bar.

 

"You’re not going to pay, aren’t you?", the voice of a woman returned.

 

The krogan laughed. "Are you serious? I own this place. But I got something better than credits for you. Maybe you should turn around to see."

 

While heading for the lounge Arian wasn’t paying much attention to Ruyak and the woman at the bar as he suddenly heard a surprised scream and turned around. A rather small woman jumped towards Arian, put her arms around him and pressed her head against his chest.

 

After a few moments she stepped back and looked up at the turian who couldn’t help but staring at her with open mouth.  "Jona?", he asked in disbelief when he thought to know who she was, causing the woman to show a happy smile.

[Redbelle]

The Medusa's Bridge.

 

As Duncan thumbed his way through a helpful tech manual on the equipment he was using that made up the Medusa's comm station, a green light started blinking, emitting a low buzz as it did.

 

Duncan stared at that light. Wondering what it meant. Many lights had been blinking at him since he'd been assigned to sit at this position. Some of them had helpful prompts written in marker on the metal sheeting that housed the comm stations components. This lights marker however had been worn down and faded by time. Looking over his array of controls he wondered what he could press to make the little buzzing light go away.

 

This pre FCW tech was hard, he'd decided. It was nothing like the modern day holo displays. Those same displays he'd had minor surgery for to implant holo manipulators in the tips of his fingers. This ship seemed to buck the notion that technology had progressed to the point that people simply didn't need to touch controls to make them work their functions.... This comm station actively seemed to be demanding his touch however. Except he didn't know what buttons to push to make anything work how he wanted!

 

It was like dating and fumbling the third base all over again!

 

Unable to figure out what to do by simply looking, he turned his head back to the manual and flipped through the pages until he came across an exploded diagram of the part of the station the light was blinking on. The drawing helpfully marked the light 'LRCR display light'. No closer to understanding, but with a little bit of knowledge tucked away he flipped back to the front index and scanned for anything relating to LRCR. Then when that failed he thumbed to the back and looked up the glossery of terms.

 

He found what he was looking for quickly. Long Ranged Communication Reciever. Flipping to the right page no he knew where to look he found the part explaining that the software automatically identified incoming communications as being ship based, local in system traffic, or relayed messages from other systems......

 

Someone had just sent the Medusa a message from another system.

 

Okaaaaay? Where was the message now? In the Medusa's comm system waiting to be read?

 

Duncan bowed his head and sighed. It seemed he'd have to relearn how to use comm equipment as he flipped through more pages of the thick manual looking for how to accept incoming messages.

[Redbelle]

An hour later, Duncan had successfully managed to pull the message out of the comm arrays system and after reading through the message, pinged Jess on her Omni-tool.

 

"Eh....Captain? We just got a message.... A ship? And a Spectre"? Duncan became aware that he was hearing background noise on the channel and strained to hear. "...Are you eh.... busy? Captain"?

 

"<Wap!> I was". Came the heated response amid the sound of something striking something else. "What's the message? I swear if this isn't important he's going to wish......".

 

"Ah..... The Jeniri? It's saying it's leaving Omega and heading for the Citadel..... It wants to meet up with us there".

 

"<Wap!> This is why you use ear mufflers Morgan. You never know when someone's going to call you up and break the mood. <Wap!>. Signal back we'll be there. Dogger should be done separating out the dock workers. Tell Marshall to swing by and offload them via shuttle. <Wap!>. No No No.... More wrist, like this! <Wap!>. See? The skin flush means.....".

 

"Cap'n"? Duncan asked, perplexed as to what was going on above where the Captains quarter's were located.

 

"Sorry luv.... Crew training. How's the water transfer"?

 

"We finished a while ago. We've finished stripping the other ship. Engineer Sophie? She says she pulled all the important parts of the array off the ship? We're pulling the salvage teams off now".

 

"Okay. Looks like..... <Wap!>..... We'd better.... <Wap!>..... Finish off..... <Wap! Wap! Wap!>...... Here and get moving...... Whew.... Yeah, you can take those off now..... I'm going to need another..... ten"?

 

"Noooo! More time! Pleeeease"!

 

"Tweeeeenty? Maybe twenty five minutes..... Duncan call me in Twenty-five minutes and make sure I'm not late.... This crew training.....".

 

"If this is.... training sign me up for.... huh.... for the extra intensive sessions"!

 

"Traaaaining....". Jess drawled in a way that sounded like an admonishment. ".... Look just tell Dahlia to drop off the ones who don't want to be here and set course for the Citadel. I'll be down later to see that message. Just save it on a tablet and I'll..... Oh now pet you just can't help but provoke me can you..... Morgan? The restraints if you'd be so kind. Duncan? Twenty five minutes and not a second more. Clear"?

 

"Clear Captain".

 

Jess abruptly cut the connection with what sounded like giggle emanating from the background as Duncan's brow furrowed before he called to Dahlia. "Excuse me! Ah..... Dahlia? Message from the Captain".

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Dahlia sat comfortably in the captain's chair with her feet propped up on the swing away panel in front of her. She sighed at Duncan's disturbance. "What was the message, Duncan? What was that hesitation all about? And will you be a darling and get me another cup of tea, please?"