As Hazan linked up with the rest of the squad and moved forward, he caught wind of team 1's distraction. The bulk of the red triangles in his HUD moved away from the designated building the scientists were in and as the stealth team approached the door, Tazen and Serena got to work breaking open the shoddy welding work. His assessment of the situation needed some height, so when Tazen ordered him and Dex to cover their backs while Serena was breaking the door open, he didn't think twice about asking for permission to go up to the roof of the building.

"Sir, permission to head up to the roof to set up a sniper position?"

"Permission granted, Volintis."

And without further ado, Hazan folded and stowed his Viper onto his back as he ducked, narrowly avoiding a rifle burst from the Kett patrol that had spotted them. He broke into a run past the door and turned the corner, quickly assessing his terrain and identifying a low point where he could use the building's struts to his advantage. He took a running leap, planted a foot on a hand rail and used his momentum to jump upwards, grabbing onto one of the horizontal struts that ran over the structure's outside walkways and hauling himself upwards. From there, he circled round back to where his team was and ran towards one of the many raised air vents the building had, setting himself behind the vent to deploy his Viper. As he did so, Serena's three drones flew high in the sky and attracted fire from down below. He heard Serena and Tazen deal with the imminent threat directly beneath him and focused his attention on the Chosen that were slightly further away. The turian lined up his sights on a Chosen leaning out to fire at Serena's position, squeezed the trigger and watched its brains splatter across the desert sands. With his position now fully concealed by his tactical cloak after he'd fired off his first shot, scanning the field for his next target, Hazan laid in wait while the door was busted open and Ryria headed inside to tend to the wounded.

"Overwatch in position. Ready to fire on targets. And FYI Serena, that's one for me."

Firu and Kargad Murder Picnic #1

Firuzeh flashed a look to her side, her breathing quickening as she felt the rush of adrenaline surge through her body, her teammates were beginning to act, Khosin charging into the Kett as though seeking as quick a death as possible. She grinned to herself, relishing the battle soon to come. "Right then." She called to Kargad, biotic energy swirling around her, "Down with the big ugly!"

She charged at the enemy, slamming into a nearby Chosen, driving her armored fist into its chest, biotic energy swirling around her arm. She felt the bony plates covering it crack and splinter under the impact, and she allowed herself a small moment of satisfaction as she saw its broken form hurled from her, lying dead in a crumpled heap against a rock.

Hefting her weapon, she unleashed a torrent of gunfire upon the Fiend, trying to draw the beast away from the main firefight, out of the danger zone for her squadmates, where she and Kargad could take down the thing. She grimaced, watching the bullets slam home into the thing's armored side to minimal effect, and doubled down, aiming to the best of her ability for the exposed sections on its back.

Out of the corner of her eye, however, she caught sight of another Chosen taking aim with its rifle, and she felt two rounds impact her shields in the split second it took her to dodge out of the way, before countering with another charge, her gun hissing as the heat sink overloaded, the hail of gunfire reducing the bony carapace surrounding its head to an unrecognizeable mound. Whirling around, she refocused on her primary target, the Fiend.

Kargad had remained in Firu's dust for a short moment, mouth hanging open as he tried (and failed) to think of some way to respond to Naryxa. He at least wanted to appear to be entertaining the prospect of a totally tactical approach, but he found it difficult to reach for the words when he was meeting her gaze. Something about her energy towards him after that morning's exercise seemed... hostile, almost. It made his hump itch, in that way uncomfortable situations always did. But the awkwardness only lasted a sharp moment - in the instants after Firu had left, Kargad mutely shrugged, jaw still slack, and then hastily pursued her.

He made similar movements across the battlefield, cloaking himself in a familiar field of glowing blue, which moved about him with the rising weightlessness of a neon smoke. He knew himself to be slow - but when he charged, he looked as quick as he did dangerous. He zig-zagged towards Firu's position, jumping between (and subsequently hammering) two Chosen, uppercutting the second with momentum enough to behead it, and send its head sailing over the battlefield. Kargad took half a second to appreciate the spectacle- it's the small things in the universe that make you appreciate the grand design- and then found his footing a jump left of his tag-team Fiend wrestling partner. He stowed his hammer and brought up his Mattock - incendiary rounds on, of course, why spoil the trend?

Although battles often left him hot beneath the plates, this battle was not one of them, not yet. Not until he was wrestling this fiend, his arm around its neck. The closest he might ever come to fighting a beast fit for Tuchanka again. So Kargad found his calm - on the advice of everybody else- and found himself just a little less embarrassed of his high impact, low heat gun... small though it was. He felt the sand shift beneath his feet as he changed his stance, and took his aim - and then began to try and hammer away at the spaces between the Fiend's plates.

Over the rattle of gunfire, Kargad yelled to his left: "What do you suppose the odds are we can charge this bastard from either side and flatten it?"

Firuzeh looked at the Fiend standing between her and Kargad, and weighed the options available to her at that moment, her mind walling out the cacophany of gunfire as she poured ammunition into the beast standing between them. It was visibly weakening, the bullets slamming home and burying themselves within the thing's flesh clearly having some effect on it. As her gun beeped at her once more, venting steam as she ejected the glowing heat sink and slotted another in, she felt a surge in the bloodlust bubbling just beneath the surface, and grinned. "Let's do i-." She growled and then grunted, cutting off midsentence; her voice a markedly different one than that of a few minutes before, low, aggressive, a primal killing instinct creeping in, edging out the reason and logic that normally guided her. She felt her control slipping, and struggled to reign it in.

Shutting her eyes, she turned to the side, two Chosen once more attempting to flank the team, and charged at them, slamming a fist into the head of one, smiling to herself at the satisfactory snap of a neck, and turned to the other one, biotic energy swirling around her fist. The chosen lunged at her, lashing out with a blade of its own that missed her by a hair, and she grinned wider, the energy visible about her entire body as she sprinted forward, driving her fist, omni blade extended, into the thing's chest, pulling it out as blood droplets showered the sand beneath them, and plunging it into the eye before letting the corpse crumple to the ground. She looked back, and with the reflexes of a woman running on pure adrenaline, dodged the mad charge of the fiend as it barreled towards her, jump pack flaring as she cleared its path with less than a half meter between its outstretched claw and her legs.

Landing roughly, she stumbled, taking a moment to right herself and catch her breath.

"Kargad." She called through the radio ,"Let's kill this motherfucker."

Kargad, juxtaposed to the chaos before him, smiled collectedly. It had been a long spell- 600 years, even! - since he'd last had the chance to fight alongside somebody who enjoyed a good scrap quite so much as Firu seemed to. The thought warmed his heart. The thought, and the boiling blood rushing through his breast. War blood, the sort that rushed to a less secure Krogan's head. The sort that bred the blood rage.

Kargad hadn't felt that rage since Tuchanka. He found that it diminished his ability to appreciate the glorious brutality of battle. Tearing the limbs off of some alien behemoth lost its edge when viewed through a red haze. But he could recognise it in others - he could hear it in Firu's voice. There was a smile in his, as it crackled back to her through the comms: ""You've got quads for days, human - I like it."

Kargad's shape- now at the Fiend's hind- was visible for moments at a time as the beast kicked up dust, and sand. Desert dyed dark beneath its growing wounds. He was carefully returning his mattock to his back, and rolling the joint of his wrist about as he tested the weight of his hammer. Thought his next move through.
And then in the next instant he was in the air, engulfed in a voltaic fog and dropping like a stone: "Krogangram!"

Firu grinned, relishing the experience. She could tell, even through their somewhat limited communication, that she and Kargad gained the same enjoyment from the rush of battle and the death of an enemy. It had been too long since she'd shared something like that - over six hundred years - but even beforehand, only for a month or so had she known someone, Krogan or not, who relished the violence of battle but wasn't a mere brute.

"I don't think that's how biology works, but I'll roll with it." She shot back, her breathing steadying as she slipped once more into the calm serenity of pure bloodlust. Biotic energy began to swirl around her once more as she summoned all her might. "Tell you what, though, feel free to tell me all about quads after we've killed this thing. Wonder what it's got, might make a good trophy for that hammer!"

She too shouldered her weapon, the bulky machine gun nevertheless clipping tightly to the magnetized sections of her armor as another omni blade formed around her wrist, customized to match the devastating force her cybernetic arm could deliver. She looked enviously at the hammer Kargad held. Perhaps, if things ever cooled down enough, she could acquire something like that for herself.

And then she was gone, leaping into the air as Kargad did, jump pack flaring as it delivered her into a lofty position above her quarry, and a split second later she plummeted back down, biotic energy crackling around her as she hurtled forwards. She aimed for one of the weak spots on the creature's back, driving herself and by extension, her omni-bladed arm, into the exposed flesh bleeding profusely from the hail of gunfire it had been subject to. Grinning, she braced herself, driving into the Fiend with an unstoppable force behind her.

In an astounding show of biotic talent, Firu managed to land the first of the final hits on the thing - torrents of alien blood rising to meet Kargad as he brought his hammer down on the occipital portion of the rearing Fiend's head, bearing down with the the weight and momentum of a small but determined car. Then he heard it, the satisfying thunk-crack of his hammer breaking carapace, sending small, fine cracks across the beast's chitinous helmet, which broke further when Kargad landed on them, and clung to the struggling monster's shoulders.

For a second, Kargad felt satisfaction. Pride at a job survived. And then, dread. Because the thing was still moving - and now he'd mounted it. He reached forwards in a blind panic, grasping for any edge he could find, and seized the crusts of the Fiend's stony brow, then began to pull, wrenching the thing's head back with all of his might.
"C'... c'mon, you overgrown pyjack! We'll rip your head right off'a your shoulders!"

Firuzeh grimaced, her hand and forearm buried in the mangled flesh of the fiend, blood pouring over her. She wrenched her hand free, the omni-blade having already shattered and dissipated within, greenish blood flowing freely from the wound she had inflicted. And yet, the beast refused to die, and she flashed a look to her side, noticing Kargad struggling to finish it. She too was holding on for dear life as the thing bucked and shook ferociously, trying to fling the two of them from it, and she caught sight of Kargad's discarded hammer on the sandy ground below, making a split second decision.

Launching herself from the beast, she landed on the sand with an awkward and poorly practiced roll, jumping to her feet and dashing forward, seizing up the hammer. Again, the blue, whispy aura of biotic energy floated around her, and she launched herself into the air, jump pack flaring, taking aim at the thing's head. With a shout of pure adrenaline fueled, bloodthirsty glee, she hurtled forward at the thing's head, bringing down the hammer with every ounce of force she could muster.

Kargad was pulling the Fiend's head up with all he had, so when the hammer hit, like a meteor on a handy-dandy stick, it rocked the Fiend's skull forwards again with so much sudden force that it got whiplash. Tendons in its neck audibly snapped, muscles tore, and Kargad- yelling Krogan curses above it all- pulled it back again, twisting and jerking until skin, stretched to marking, finally began to tear about its throat, spewing black-green plasma from between the gaps. If Firu's last blow had broken the things neck, Kargad had just near torn its head off. Then it lurched, and Kargad- biotics at the ready- hurled himself in a blind charge to the desert floor, some few feet away. He struck solid ground just in time to hear their enemy collapse into the sand behind him, kicking up plumes of blood-dyed dust.

It took a few seconds for him to find his centre and rise to his feet again. He felt hot blood on his face. Copper. Why did every alien's blood seem to smell of copper? Was it all part of the same blueprint? He supposed it must have been. He plodded back over, breathing heavy, and then sharply kicked the unmoving beast in the jaw. The head pivoted back on a half-severed neck, but the life and fire in its eyes were gone. This creature had returned to the celestial furnace in which all things are forged.
He exhaled. A battle well fought. Then he scratched at the stony outcroppings of his chin, as he traced the torn flesh of its throat. The thing was half-way decapitated.
"Say, you were talkin' about trophies earlier, right? Think they'd let us hang this in the barracks?", Kargad asked, staring down at their war-crime with a balmy pride spreading between his eyes.

Grinning widely from ear to ear, Firuzeh paused in the midst of the raging firefight around them to admire their work, sheepishly passing back Kargad's hammer before responding. "Hmm... I don't know if it'll fit through the door, truth be told. Maybe if I distract them, though, you can drag it off somewhere and we can build a pyramid of kett skulls." She winked playfully, pulling her rifle from her back once more and scanning the rest of the fighting. "What say you though, work together and show the rest of 'em how it's done? Or should we get a contest going? See who can take down more of these uglies before the fight's over?"

Kargad, totally missing the joke, was already visibly designing a ziggurat of alien bones behind his eyes as he took back his hammer, and bounced it once or twice in his palm.
"Hard to say! On the one hand, you're real fun to work with," he supposed, smile wide and strangely warm, given it was celebrating a brutal combat kill. "But then, you did realign my jaw like a typewriter, so I figure - gotta earn my honour back somehow, right?"
He laughed, puffed out his chest, and struck it with his hammer.
"Bet's on!"

"I win, we get me one of those hammers. You win... Iunno, we'll jury rig a barbecue somewhere and I'll make whatever you want." She grinned, "Bet's on."

Naryxa took the sudden dashing off from under her shield from the tank-ier members of the party as an indication that no, they would not be taking up her offer of a biotic smash into the Fiend. She couldn't have taken a breath before the human had sprayed her with dust without even an acknowledgement, a short second of eye contact with the Krogan and he too was leaving dust swirling around under the shield like a snow globe. If she were their commander, they would be on a shitlist for it. But she wasn't, and this wasn't the Milky Way. In the heat of the battle, she felt as though everything was slowing down - like on the ride over. She felt a sickness in her stomach.

Under her bubble, she stepped in a three-sixty fashion taking in the surroundings. It was all dust spraying and noise - the heat bearing down on her. It made her feel trapped inside the Initiative suit. This alien suit. These clothes weren't hers. They felt too tight and clung to her body in a way that all of a sudden felt sticky, like trying to move through tar, and suddenly her movements felt restricted and she could really feel it against her skin. It was a sensory overload, that no amount of Yoga or Meditation could have stopped from hitting her like a freight train - and at such an unfortunate time too.

A lone Kett approached from behind, he had watched the Asari dance in her frightened circle, taking no action.

Shots fired against the barrier and suddenly the snow globe collapsed and the swirling sands from within came crashing down too, Naryxa acted fast to duck down behind the nearest crate, fumbling in a panic to grab her gun - but like before, the Kett simple tore through the crate like a hot knife through butter and left her with little protection. This wasn't her. It was like she was watching herself from above and screaming to take action - to do something. She was a famed Huntress who had led teams through Batarian slave freighters, fought in terrible conditions, fought after days of not eating or sleeping, defied all odds on every mission...



Something about the eyes of the monster in front of her haunted her. They were just... empty. The eyes were supposed to be windows to the soul and here she was looking dead in a pair of eyes that were void of anything. The Kett moved slower to her - almost as if it could tell that she was weak and afraid and alone, and instead of just doing the right thing and giving her a quick death, it wanted to prolong her fear and torment.

Then it spoke. A voice erupted from it's small mouth and rattled across the air to sound in her ears. Their was so much chaos and noise around her. She couldn't understand the language, but she could tell from the slight inflection at the end that it was either mocking her, or asking a question.

The seconds that followed seemed to drag on like hours as she pulled herself up from the sand. Her breaths slowing down, coming back to a level that she was far more comfortable with. The Naryxa that was crying from above the scene was taking the control back. She knew what she had to do to get back inside her body. Fingers outstretched in the sand, to feel that it was soft and warm, and to also grab a fistful of it. The sensation of the sand in her palms, although gloved, was familiar. And there was a blue sky - also familiar. There was a Turian off to her right, drones overhead, a Krogan going absolutely hog wild in the distance. The only thing that wasn't familiar about the scene was the demon in front of her...

Taking the sand, she whipped it into the Kett's face, landing it over the soulless eyes - it staggered back. I can play dirty too... she thought. The inner monologue of a fucking Huntress about to get shit done.

"I want you..."

she began as the Kett found it's feet again, raising the barrel off it's gun to her, noticing the aura of puple, blue, and pink beginning to move around the Asari;

"To get out..."

She raised her hands and let rip a powerful Shockwave that rumbled towards the Kett

"Of my FACE!"

As the shockwave made contact with the creature it simply tore through it's body. Like a hot knife through butter, like paper being torn. Like bullets through a barrier. Naryxa noticed that the rest of the Kett was as empty as it's eyes. Suddenly they weren't so terrifying anymore. The shockwave continued in a forward trajectory, blowing through another Kett who, unlike the last one, had not been expecting it. It eventually ran out of steam and stopped. By that point, Naryxa was back up, Phalanx in hand, a sudden urge to take down a few more. There was so much familiarity here to the Milky Way, and she was going to hold onto those thoughts as though they were the most precious things she would own. They were the only things she had that would keep her sane in the face of the pandemonium.

She spoke over the comms, strong resolve in her tone, to the rest of her team;

Clyff pulled the exhausted clip from his gun and replaced it. His comms crackled as the turian leader asked for a call to action. “Ah, the ass to mouth maneuver. I can respect the surprise that one has.” He realized, belatedly, that that was very much an Alliance reference. He cleared his throat. “On it.” He stood out of his cover and saw the turian descend like an angel of terror and start to take Kett on with a calculated aggression. Clyff was very impressed.

He moved forward, hoping to assist in the turian’s death march up the back of the kett forces. Unfortunately, he was waylaid by a Chosen. He was able to avoid the creature’s blasts but was unable to pull his shotgun forward given that the creature was on him fast. He dropped the shotgun and quickly palmed his rifle—sending incendiary bullets into the other’s side.

It was then that Sabinus requested help. “On it,” he said, sheathing his rifle and picking his shotgun from the ground. It was then that he brought his omnitool to bear and ignited all his abilities—a flood of chemicals which led to a numbing, but powerful, focus shoot through him. He pushed forward. Four eyes was also helping their “ass to mouth” plan, and Clyff figured they’d be able to handle it. Unfortunately, Sabinus was using an Anointed as a meat shield. He fired his shotgun, and with the help of his abilities, the shots blasted through the midsection of a Chosen. The batarian then took the rest out, freeing Sabinus from his pinned position. The alien took to cover about the same time the last Anointed focused in on them. They were pinned.

Clyff, moving slower than the others, hadn’t been noticed by the Anointed yet. It angled its heavy weapon towards the turian and batarian. “Everyone stay down,” Clyff said through the comms, grabbing his proximity mine and hurling with all his augmented strength at the Anointed. Years of Frisbee golf apparently paid off as it stuck to the creature’s chest. He then brought his shotgun to bear and blasted it square in the chest—igniting the explosive. This knocked Clyff back, blowing through his shields. It was then that he felt an intense pressure in his left shoulder. The Anointed had managed to get a round off before blowing up into rather gruesome chunks of alien. With no shield, the bullets peppered his armor, but it found purchase in the less-armed shoulder joint. A vomit of blood shot out from the wound. Clyff couldn’t feel it, but he knew it was bad.

Fortunately, the explosion had unpinned the turian and the batarian, taking out the Anointed and any Chosen around him. Clyff dropped his shotgun as his wound started to pour blood. “How many points do I get for being the first one to get a rad-ass scar in Andromeda?”

It was then he was aware of the red of his blood weaving around the crevices of the red of his armor. “I can’t feel how bad this is. Stupid adrenaline. But fuck. I think I… fuck, fuck, fuck…” he repeated ad nauseum.

---

Kett attack erupting around them, Fireteam 2 was working to fend them off. Dex picked off who she could see, marks hitting hard and fast going down with a little help from Serena and Tazen. The turian was glad to see her marksmanship had improved but she felt the need to show off a little. She took pride in her skills.

While Fireteam 1 was making a real spectacle of their attack. Firu and Kargad as destructive as heavy weaponry taking on the Fiend, Clyff and Sabinus bravely charging in to mow down several Kett on their own. Naryxa’s biotic shock wave rippling into the air with brilliant blue and violets. Dex conceded to the display restoring some confidence, knowing she would not have been alright thrown up against any one of them on that training exercise. The chatter over the radios was enough to follow.

Dex did a quick look about herself, counting heads. Haze missing, she searched for blood but saw a cloaked leg disappear up the side of the building. “Haze what the fuck don’t waste time, just use your jump jets. You show off-” Dex began into the comms then stopped herself, she only saw him because she was looking for him specifically. Jump jet lights and sound would have had Kett cross hairs on him.

“Carry on, hot shot.”

With the doors open, Ryria inside Dex looked into the complex, a waiting room while the labs were just beyond. Calling Tazen over the radio, “Lieutenant Tazen I’m going to join T’Vessi to get these scientists on the move, injured or not they have to be on their feet.”

She dashed inside, returning her Viper to her back magplate, folding down to its compact size. She jogged up to the asari medic, “Okay we have to get these guys on the move-” Noticing one had a broken leg and another was nursing a bullet wound.

T’Vessi crouched over the human with the bullet wound, stippling the bleeding with more than a bandaid. Practiced hands working calmly and efficiently. Her patient groaned out complaints against her rough hands. Dex had an appreciation for field medics and their famously strong constitutions.

One body was off to the side with a sheet pulled over it, the silhouette was salarian. “Fuck. Tazen we have two injured, one dead out of the nine.” She eyed the small group up and down. Three asari, a couple of human, a turian and two salarians not including the one dead on the floor. They all looked terrified.

“Alright people, on your feet - get moving. Take your injured colleagues, T’Vessi and I -” They didn’t move. Their terror finally registering to the turian. She snapped, “We do not have time for cold feet here. We have kett just outside right now. Move or die.”

They glared at her now, one of the asari lab assistants spoke up, dark violet crest and dark blue eyes with a splash of blue freckles over her nose - G. Prana was printed on her lapal. She puffed her chest up, “We aren’t moving until the Kett are cleared out. That entrance is unsecured.”

“Right, that’s why I need you to be ready for when it is so we can get the fuck out of here. T’Vessi and I will lead the way out, the injured can be taken care of at Prodromos.” Dex argued checking over shoulder turning back. “What’s the problem?”

Prana looked to the dead body and over to the lab. “Everything we’ve recovered is going to be left behind again. We can’t lose Hozene and what we came here for. There’s soil samples, site evaluations data from both site one and two. Botany samples. Valuable to Prodromos and Initiative survival. Give us some time to gather the bare essentials,” She jutted her jaw out, squaring up to Dex. “We’re not leaving without it.”

Dex stood her ground watching for Prana to back down but she held steady. “I’ll help, I’ve got an algorithm for speedy data extraction. You grab everything else.”

She went straight for a terminal, pointing at the entrance. “Everyone else, move.”

They looked to Prana who nodded, they finally began to move. Injured being pulled up and moved by colleagues, two picked up the dead salarian, Hozene, carrying him with them.

“Tazen,” she spoke over her comms. “Civilians are moving to the exit, we’ll be bringing up the rear with one of them. We’re grabbing as much data as we can to take with us.”

Dex tapped away at the terminal, looking briefly up at T’Vessi. Dex had gotten a decent reading from her dossier but personality wise... on paper she struck as a professional through and through. She felt a joke might break the ice but it could also cause an ice age.

“T’Vessi, can you help Prana with whatever she needs?”

She added, taking the risk, “If the data includes the number of times water was recycled and treated I think I’ll safely call it the biggest waste of time. Eh T’Vessi? Water stats, groundbreaking.” Dex chuckled.

Prana rolled her eyes. “This is not a waste of time.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Ryria’s movements were crisp and with purpose. Her knuckles tightened upon her medical bag while she cut through the front half of the labs, seizing up the situation in her brief glimpse. Decades of training kicked into gear as she approached the first wounded. The interior held evidence of both desperation and haste in their erected barrier. Making this their last stand against the Kett threat lurking outside their door until they arrived. Ryria ignored the loud gunfire outside, her team picking off individuals getting too nosy, before lowering herself down on one knee. Her bag was placed in reach when she brought up her omnitool.

The hard expressed Asari flickered her finger across the monitor seeking the program needed. From it, she pulled two see through objects then placed them on the victim’s chest nearest the heart and the other on the temple. These observed heart rate and brain function, indicating the interior damage by feeding various information back to her omintool.

Ryria frowned at the information poured out to her. She began to gently prod the human woman’s leg, feeling the hard swelling of the muscle and tenderness. It appeared broken causing her to bring up a scanning program. Retrieving scissors from her bag, Ryria began to cut along the pant seam then pulled the fabric away from the damaged area. Then she ran her omnitool across the leg’s surface for an x-ray. The shin bone was broken in three places and all thankfully appeared to be clean. This meant they would heal correctly when properly set back at Prodomos.

Without wasting much more time on a proper examination, Ryria glanced around at the disaster called the labs. Her eyes narrowed on two long, sturdy pipes that would do for splints. She quickly barked out orders, “Bring me those pipes, now.”

Most individuals in shock rarely thought when terror gripped them. Ryria counted on this when she made her orders, ensuring the human woman heard and reacted. On cue, the survivor jerked herself from her trance then moved to collect the pipes. As she passed them back to Ryria, the doctor began to place them on opposite sides of the leg. Finally, she wrapped the makeshift tape over them to pin each in place. This prevented any harmful movement, sparing the bones from farther breaking into smaller pieces. In a sharp, effective movement Ryria finally injected a compatible painkiller and antibiotics into the patient's body to fight off the budding infection.

When satisfied, she moved to the next one.

A turian male held his hand against his shoulder. The rag used to stifle the bleeding had become soaked, staining the white cloth with fresh waves of blue. Without concern for bedside manner, she pulled his resisting hand from his wound to better look at it. On the surface, there appeared to be several pieces of metal embedded in the tissue. They had nicked the subscapular artery and created serious blood loss. Already her patient’s vitals were dropping by the moment causing Ryria to think quickly. Her hand reached for an omi-gel packet in her kit then positioned it into her right palm. With her left hand, she eyed the metal fragment. Her left hand glowed in the familiar blue light associated with her biotics. The Turian’s eyes widened in fear before the shards were ripped back the way they entered.

He screamed in pain startling several scientists, their head snapped into their direction and paled with fear. Ignoring them, Ryria’s left hand busted the omni-gel packet then smeared it across the wound. The material thickened to cot the wound. It would require stitching and repair later.

Letting the numbness settle in her patient, Ryria heard Noratus enter when the asari began to wrap the wound.

007236“Okay we have to get these guys on the move-”[/color]

Ryria didn’t have to say a word for the Turian to realize the condition the scientists were in. Wiping the blood away, she let Dex absorb the situation while she collected her things. It didn’t surprise her when Dex tried to snap the scientist into action and instead found them slightly aggressive toward her. They had just lost one of their own to retrieve data that would give answers to several questions about survival. It was a painful topic that appeared shallowly pushed aside by Noratus’ callous remark, causing more resistance.

There were several points when Ryria considered entering the conversation, but Noratus appeared more than willing to handle it. She didn’t need to waste her breath. By the time the turian looked at her, she was finished pointing out to the individuals how to move the woman with the injured leg.

“T’Vessi, can you help Prana with whatever she needs?”

“Fine,” Ryria said in an even tone as she moved toward Prana, her hands collecting what the scientist gestured at.

Ryria didn’t reply, instead focusing on her task and completing it quickly. There was little time to be sociable when the Kett would be shortly pouring to kill them all. However, the turian’s comment didn’t go unnoticed. Ryria actually wondered if Noratus actually realized what such data and samples might actually provide for the possibility to colonize this planet. Even the most trivial data such as how the planet’s very water system worked could provide colonists the ability to prepare for the future. From collecting to the conservation of water and even how to modify crops to survive in drier or wetter climates was important data, often gained through something trivial like water treatment.

The last of her samples were quickly packed when Ryria turned to the two. Prana was already finishing up second when the medic addressed Noratus.

“Done. Noratus where are you with the data collection?”

Serena chuckled at Haze's reply, eyeing her omni-tool readouts. The three Dels were all spread out back behind the four remaining Chosen, waiting for an opportunity to come back up and fire into them again. Unfortunately, the aliens had learned from the death of their comrades, and were keeping an eye behind them. They seemed to be familiar with the subtle movements Milky Way cloaks used to cover their wearer's movements, firing the second they saw or though they saw a Del getting too close. That's going to be annoying. We'll have to give them something to move about or pay attention too then.

Dex ran into the building with Ryria, to get the scientists ready to move the second they could. Serena concurred. She didn't want to be out here in this base any longer than she had to be, and she certainly didn't want any more Kett to show up and pin them down. "Hurry fast Dex, this commotion is doubtlessly going to bring more Kett sooner or later." She muttered, readying up a machine swarm in her omni-tool. "Come on my pretties, lets see if you can't get those nasty Kett out from behind cover and ready to be shot at." She cooed, moving to stand up.

What she heard next over the main channel made her immediately sit back down behind cover, her blood going cold. Clyff was hit. She dispelled the machine swarm, bringing up her omni-tool and having Sarah zoom in on the breacher. He was hit bad, and right out in the open to make things even worse. Serena's first reaction was to immediately shoot to her feet and take a step towards his position. A teammate was hurt and she was going to be damned if she would just sit by and let him bleed out all over the sands of this godforsaken place. Bullets peppered her shields, the Chosen taking the opportunity given by her stupidity to get some shots off on her, and she crashed back behind her cover, cursing. Too close. At around the same time, Dex's affirmation that the civilians were getting ready to move out came over the comms.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." She couldn't leave, both because she'd get shot to pieces by the Chosen in front of them, and if she did she be dooming even more civilians to death. Serena paused, taking a deep breath and steadying herself. She couldn't go save Clyff, or even put most of her resources to saving him. The civilians hadn't asked for this, or even come looking for it. Clyff had, and was prepared for the risks. It hurt, but if she had to, she'd leave him to his fate to save them.

But she didn't have too. Think think think. She had to do something, anything. Clyff was dying out there. She looked down at her omni-tool as it beeped at her, the Dels awaiting instructions. "Perfect! Overwatch positions, Clyff Ward. Keep Kett suppressed." The drones beeped an affirmative, flying high over the Chosen and heading towards Clyff's position. Forming a triangle above him, they watched for any Kett looking in his direction, opening fire to keep them suppressed. Serena spoke over the whole team's comms. "I got the Dels covering any approach to Clyff, you're good to go get him."

That done, she turned back to her original plan, her omni-tool thrumming with a machine swarm once more. "Go get them." She popped over her cover again, firing the pods of her swarm at the Chosen. They burst on the Kett's armor, thousands of small drones controlled by one VI swarming him with an angry buzz and burrowing through his shields and beginning to work on his armor. The Kett panicked, his shields shattering like glass under the combined assault, and stood arms flailing as he tried to knock the machine swarm off.

Serena's first two-shot burst hit him in the chest, sparking off the armor. She swore quietly, and aimed where her robotic eye indicated. The next two slammed through the Kett's head, and he collapsed on the ground as her swarm moved from his corpse too its next victim. As an additional incentive to get the remaining Chosen to move, Serena focused her biotic power. A small ball of blue swirling energy formed in her hand, and she threw it like a baseball at the Chosen's position. It soared across the battlefield, seeming to move slowly and quickly at the same time, before bursting into a gravity well around the three remaining Chosen. It didn't do anything, of course, but as soon as one of the Chosen lost their shields or the machine swarm got over to them, it would be quite lethal.

"Got a machine swarm and a Singularity on the remaining Kett. They'll either move or be floating targets. And by the by Haze, that's 2-to-1."

Khosin arrived in particularly dramatic fashion, hitting hard and with such final brutality against the Kett forces that Sabinus found himself admiring how a batarian soldier could fight when it wasn’t directed against people who needed protecting. The enforcement gauntlet crushed the breastplate of one of the Chosen, killing the Kett instantly, and Khosin seemed to be in his element. And like a good soldier, he immediately followed up his assault with a request for orders. Given the chaos, it was easy to lose discipline when you had a unit of strangers, so it was a familiarity that Sabinus appreciated.

However, the turian didn’t have time to reply before an Anointed began unleashing heavy fire against the batarian. Sabinus was pinned down; the body of the Anointed he’d killed was the only thing keeping him from taking the brunt of fire like Khosin had. He shifted, putting the shotgun back into the small of his back and pulling out the Hornet submachine-gun from his hip, activating the turbocharge integration between his weapon and his suit, rerouting heat buildup through his armour to allow his weapon to sustain fire. Next he activated Shredder rounds and tossed a barricade in front of Khosin, giving the batarian something to cover behind. The energy shield deployed immediately, and it gave the batarian’s failing shields and armour a reprieve. Sabinus was about to head out of cover and unleash a torrent of automatic fire against the aggressor when Clyff charged in, using an aggressive combination of firepower and explosives to kill the Anointed. It was reckless, almost as much so as Firu and Kargad who had just managed to drop the Fiend, and Sabinus was about to order him to fall back to the barricade when the explosion and reactionary fire from the now dying Anointed hit the man, dropping him hard.

"We're not in Kansas anymore..." Sabinus thought he heard over comms, and while his sensors were trying to refresh against the concussive blast of the mine, the turian found himself wondering what the fuck Kansas was. Coming quickly to his senses, Sabinus quickly took notice of Clyff’s position; no one was dying under his command today.

”Hold tight, help’s coming!” he called, heading up out of cover to sprint to the human, firing loosely aimed shots towards the remaining Kett to suppress them more than anything. The submachine-gun shook violently in his hands, but it kept its cool while the heat gauge on his armour began to slowly, yet steadily, climb with each burst of fire. Serena’s drones were soon overhead, peppering the same Kett with fire from the high angle. It was certainly enough to get the man out of a tight spot. Soon, Sabinus reached Clyff and grabbed him by his armour’s collar with his right hand and he held the Hornet in his left.

”I’m dragging you to cover. Put pressure on your wound and we’ll get you patched up when the enemy can’t add more holes in you. Help kick, if you can.” Sabinus instructed, knowing full well the fight was almost finished. Dexuret and Ryria were extracting the science team while the others continued to engage the Kett forces.

It took some effort and return fire to get Clyff back to the barricade that Khosin was offered by Sabinus, but the turian set the man down and began to look at the wound, preparing a dose of medi-gel. ”Team 2, if you have the package, begin extraction. Call for pick-up. I have to stabilize a casualty.” he instructed, his voice even and unexcited. Turning back to Clyff and began to fill the wound with medi-gel, the mesh stopping the bleeding almost immediately. The man might need a blood pack, Sabinus realized. More than enough of it was splattered in the sand.

Team 1’s leader hit the comms for his team,

”Anjor, Kesir, on my position. We’re going to need cover until extraction; Ward’s taken a bad hit and Sedgoroh’s soaked up way more fire than I’m comfortable with. Khorushi, Bragus, you two hunt down the remainder and keep an eye out for re-enforcements. Watch out for those damned Wraiths; I haven’t seen one since the fight began.”

Sabinus wrapped Clyff’s arm over his shoulder, helping the man stand. ”Can you walk? How bad is it?” he asked. ”I need to get you to the extraction point. You fought well, take it easy.” he assured him.

A few seconds later, Anjor was falling in, keeping the rear safe. Safely collapsed on his back was Clyff’s dropped shotgun.

When the order for his team to join in the fight, Yanagita followed other members of Fireteam One as they rushed towards Site One. As usual, he got distracted with enemies that were easy to kill with his sniper rifle. Without telling anyone about it, he pulled out his rifle and crouched to quickly eliminate some Kett and regroup with the others. Within in a minute, Yanagita killed three Kett before they were able to attack his team. Not good enough, but the smallest actions help, he thought before standing back up to regroup with his group. Unfortunately, he did not expect to be attacked by a wraith. The creature charged towards Yanagita and managed to knock him off balance, landing on the ground with his rifle falling near.

The beast looked at Yanagita and then charged toward him again; however, Yanagita was prepared and kicked the creature away with his metal foot. When he tried to kick the creature again, the wraith managed to bite it good. Yanagita, panicked and shocked, tried to reach for his rifle, but the wraith tried to drag him away from the site. Thankfully, his omni-tool was still working perfectly, and he set it to flamethrower mode. While being dragged away, he aimed the omni-tool toward the creature and flames came out of it. In the matter of moments, the creature was completely flames and let go of Yanagita; however, the wraith managed to take part of the leg with him. Fortunately, it landed near him as the wraith burned to death.

Yanagita looked at the torn-up metal leg in shame. He couldn't believe that he was easily caught off guard like that and wanted to get angry. However, the mission came first, and he needed to regroup. He tried to stand back up, but it became difficult because of the missing part of the leg. Before he tried to stand up again, Yanagita grabbed the part of the leg and held it close to him. He didn't want to lose it now. He finally was able to stand up with one leg and hopped towards his rifle, planning on using it as crutches to support his right foot.

After hopping for fifteen seconds, he finally was able to reach for his sniper rifle and it was long enough to be used as crutches. Now, it was finally time to be reunited with his team. But, luck has never been on Yanagita's side. Three more wraiths quickly surrounded him as their friend was still burning despite. Knowing that he was no match against them, he saw an abandoned loading shuttle and raced towards it. The creatures began their hunt as they began running towards Yanagita. Eventually, he made to the shuttle and dropped the leg as he leant on it while using his sniper rifle. He fired one shot that managed to wound one of the wraiths and realized that the rifle wasn't going to help much. So, he threw the rifle down and reached for his shotgun. Then, he waited until one of the wraiths stupidly decided to charge towards him.

Bang. Bang.

Two shots were good enough to kill a wraith closeup; however, their blood got all over his armor and helmet. Then, Yanagita fired another shot at the wounded wraith and made sure he wasn't going anywhere. And finally, the third wraith suffered three shots for a shotgun just like his pals. Now, for such, the fighting was over. Yanagita collapsed onto the sand for a moment to collect himself. It was just like Torfan all over again. Afterwards, he looked at the main building on site one and knew that everyone was in there. It was too far to walk to without getting shot by more Kett. That was when he realized that the earpiece was still working and tried to establish communication with his fellow teammates.

"Fireteam One, this is Yanagita Shunji. I have dealt with the wraith problem for now. However, one of the fuckers managed to rip part of my prosthetic leg off. Now, I am stuck behind the lone loading shuttle. I cannot make it inside the building because of the Kett. I can still put up a good fight with the rifle, but I am very limited on mobility now. I request aid if we are finally getting out of here, please.”

The team regrouped in an orderly fashion, forming a perimeter around the science team as it was evacuated in the first of the two shuttles that were sent out for evac. A pair of members of Team 2 stayed with the science team as an escort and the rest of Fireteam Echo bordered the next shuttle, the Kett threat neutralized over the course of the skirmish, their bodies left out in the dirt. The science team had enough time to extract the data they had been trying to collect or at least anything that was present in the room they had been sealed in, and there was a sense of relief on the short flight back to Prodromos; none of them had expected to survive once the Kett arrived. In their eyes, APEX has proven to be their angels and a proof that the Initiative would do anything to protect their own. Echo came back to Prodromos as heroes, and the team was given the rest of the day off, with a few of the team having to seek medical treatment or equipment repairs to equipment. For Tazen and Sabinus, most of their night was spent writing after-action reports and evaluating members of the team.

The next two weeks went by fairly normally, patrols and training drills were the order of the day, and while Echo kept close to Prodromos in case they got called out for another mission, it was usually another team that was called out for minor Kett incursions, but nothing quite as dramatic as the hostage rescue. After the two weeks, the duty roster changed up, and Fireteam Echo was lined up for a return trip to the Nexus for a short shore leave and a new assignment for the team. While the situation on Eos was somewhat stable, there were other regions in the Heleus Cluster that were still hotspots for enemy activity. APEX only had so many personnel and shuttles at their disposal, so deployments could see teams sent across the cluster at a moment’s notice based on necessity. And so, after a somewhat exciting formation of the newest Fireteam, Echo was boarding the next Kodiak shuttle out of Prodromos for the long flight home back to the Nexus.

The Nexus as it stood now with the resources opened up by Hyperion’s docking brought new life to the station. Noticeable only by those who had been awake before the arrival of the Human Pathfinder. More noticeably was the Angara ambassadors beginning to pop up on the Nexus as first contact was established. Gossip and word of mouth spread like wildfire, faster than Nexus News could follow up with legitimately sourced news. Any of these hotspots for gossip information were on the docks, the newly formed bar Vortex Lounge and common areas like Cultural Exchange center. Most recently the hottest bit of gossip was the Initiative’s First Murderer case and trial.

Returning back to recycled air and temperature controlled Nexus was a relief to some. Growing used to the arid air of Eos, or growing to resent the harsh conditions.

Being back to the hub it opened up opportunities for APEX teams to go shopping in the marketplace, catch up with family status whether they were awake or in queue for thawing out. The Hydroponic Gardens saw an increase of security, vocally distraught colonists were beginning to organize there. Many more were, understandably, upset the stasis queue hadn’t sped up with the settling of Prodromos.

APEX personnel had temporary residential blocks set aside for their shoreleave, a place to sleep and have a little privacy. Whatever residence they held before has since changed hands with the shuffling of colonists, the footlocker of their belongings being shipped to Prodromos. Armour and weaponry was checked in at the Militia headquarters.

How they decided to spend shore leave, the Nexus was open to them.

---

For the commanders of Fireteam Echo, they weren’t free quite yet and after dismissing the team found themselves down in militia headquarters, sitting in a spartan office across a table from the militia and APEX commander Tiran Kandros. The turian had once been Sloan Kelly’s right-hand man, and since her defection to the Exiles, he had been the one to shore up the lapse in leadership and proven to be an effective and reasonable man for the position. There wasn’t many aboard the Nexus who didn’t approve of his appointment.

The commander’s eyes were dancing across a datapad, his thumb occasionally manipulating one of the controls at the bottom of the device. “I feel a congratulations are in order. First mission with a team you had not had time to train or prepare for combat and comprised of several individuals who had only recently been revived from cryogenics and you end up getting send for an emergency rescue operation without any time for preparation or intel. Aside from a few minor casualties that only required minor medical attention, your team performed admirably. Anything you’d like to add to the report?”

Sabinus shook his head. “Nothing on record. The team’s comprised of individuals who come from different backgrounds and doctrines, nothing standardized for the vast majority of them. This lead to an uneven application of force and I feel a lot of wasted potential. Team One hit the ground hard and engaged the Kett largely as individuals, and I feel communication could be improved. That said, everyone followed orders, and our Angaran Liaison seems pleased with the posting and our methods of eliminating the Kett. I feel that most of our shortcomings can be mitigated through training and familiarity, which should come more naturally now we have all fought together. The Kett were disorganized and seemed like they weren’t expecting resistance or fast response to their provocations, I think we got lucky in that regard. An organized resistance with entrenched hostiles and there definitely would have been more casualties on our end.”

Kandros nodded, looking over to the salarian of the duo. “How about Team Two, Tazen? How would you describe your infiltration team’s performance?”

“Hmmm, how I would describe Team Two’s performance sir?” Asked the Salarian, deliberately echoing Kandros’ question. “From a military standpoint I can say nothing but good things, the team worked well together and we managed to accomplish the mission. That might have been due to the fact that Noratus, Volintis, and Matthews were in the same merc outfit, but I can attest that Noratus seems to adapt quickly enough to working with strangers, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Matthews and Volintis possess the same kind of ability.” Said Tazen, tenting his fingers, before letting out a sigh “However, there are other aspects that worry me.”
He debated for a split second as to whether or not to mention Noratus’ change in attitude when the topic that the Exiles might have supplied the Kett with information about the Initiative. In the end he decided against bringing that topic up. “If her Exile sympathies cause us any problems, well, I’ll bring it up with Sabinius before mentioning it to Kandros. I’m sure this can be solved before the issue reaches that point however-” He thought before the sound of someone clearing their throat brought him out of his reverie.

“Something’s the matter Tazen? You’ve been silent for a while.” Spoke Kandros, the one who had cleared his throat to bring the Salarian infiltrator out of his deep thoughts.

“No, nothing’s the matter sir.” Quickly added Tazen. “It’s just that I was gathering my words on what to say next.” He said, rubbing his forehead slightly as he prepared to breach the next topic. “My worry with team two is that their personalities are too clashing. T’vessi acted insubordinately the moment she was informed that she’d join APEX, though luckily she seems to know to keep her mouth shut when either Sabinius or I are talking. But still, I worry that nonetheless she’s a barrel of gunpowder ready to explode.” Said the Salarian, pausing for a brief second of air before continuing “I say this because I know for a fact that, mid-mission, she got into some sort of altercate with either Matthews or Volintis while me and Noratus scouted ahead.” He said, letting out a sigh. “That’d be all I have to say. Military speaking, they work perfectly. But socially speaking, I’m afraid that there might be multiple fractures that might lead to inconveniences, such as a deteriorating squad morale or even infights among the squad. I am speculating, but I can’t help but shake that feeling.” He said, exhaling out a brief sigh as he stopped his tirade and waited for either Kandros or Sabinius to speak.

It was Kandros who spoke first. “You’re not the first Fireteam to have issues with unit cohesion, you won’t be the last. APEX, by its very nature, is a reactionary outfit that was assembled in haste with whatever individuals had combat experience and no technical skills we could afford to lose. Unfortunately, unlike any of our home militaries back in the Milky Way, we don’t have the luxury of the resources of proper recruitment and training channels that would mitigate the issues you’ve described. A lot of the pressure is on the Fireteam leaders because you have to lead and train these people without much in the way of support, and hopefully as we establish more outposts and bring more specialists out of cryo, we can start to standardize into a more effective fighting force. That being said, fine work, gentlemen. Be sure to tell your team that they do an excellent job.” He concluded, setting down the datapad.

The militia commander stood up from his seat, signalling for Sabinus and Tazen to do the same. “Don’t worry about Eos, Fireteams Bravo and India are being deployed in your absence. Bravo’s one of our more veteran outfits, and India are just as new as your team. For you, however, Echo’s being reassigned to Voeld largely on account of your team being one of the few who have an Angaran in the ranks and there’s some goodwill operations we need to start looking after on that chunk of ice. I’m sorry it’s not a tropical paradise, but we all have to do our part. Delta’s run into some issues there and are down a few men, so the situation is far more pressing than back on Eos at the moment. Take three days, logistics will have your team’s equipment prepared for your mission. Dismissed.”

Both team leaders left the small office and found themselves out in the heart of the operations center once more. Directly across from them was the detention center, communications to the right, and the Pathfinder headquarters where Tann had made his little lair were to the left. Sabinus hoped to never have to go there, he despised the salarian who was the de facto leader of the entire Andromeda Initiative. The uprising and the krogan departing were exclusively Tann and Addison’s fault, as far as he was concerned.

“Did I ever mention how much I hate the cold?” Sabinus asked, not enjoying the prospect of going to a freezing world that was entirely encased in ice. The Kett could have it, for as much as he cared. He knew that it was a major settlement for the Angarans and a huge strategic world, but he allowed himself a moment of selfishness.

“So, shore leave. What are you going to do?”

“You hadn’t, but I’ll keep it in mind next time. Should I ask the guys in charge of resources an extra sweater or two so you don’t freeze in Voeld?” Joked the Salarian, letting out a short chuckle. However, the next question that Sabinius made caught him unprepared. “Uhhh, read?” He offered somewhat half-heartedly, scratching the back of his neck slightly “Truth be told, I hadn’t really thought of something.” He admitted after a few seconds, chuckling somewhat nervously “It’s embarrassing really, this sort of stuff always winds up happening to me. So, like I said before, I’ll probably waste my time on a book or something, maybe exercise a little.” Mused the Salarian before he shook his head, turning to look at Sabinus “So, what will you do during shore leave?” He asked to the Turian, waiting for his response.

“Better make that a suit of armour over my suit of armour, and I’ll have Tanya retrofit 4 heating units in each of them. I want to be the first person to die of heat stroke on Voeld.” Sabinus replied with a toothy grin. “You should get out, socialize a bit. We’re hundreds of thousands of lightyears from home and everything we have left in our lives are the people on the Nexus and the singular outpost we’ve established. Go to the Vortex Lounge, get people to buy you a few drinks in exchange for the harrowing tales of triumph over the Kett. Me? I’ve barely had time off since getting out of cryo, I’d like to take Tanya out… somewhere. Maybe we’ll throw trash at the Scourge, or she can teach me how to paint badly. I’d like to catch the squad outside of official capacity, get to know them as people and not dossiers with guns.”

Tazen laughed out loud at Sabinius’ joke, a grin spreading on his face “Careful there, or you might end up melting through the ice and falling into Voeld’s ocean.” Retorted the Salarian, nodding slightly when Sabinius told him he should get out a bit. “Yeah, you are right. My whole life’s been defined by the military, be it entering or spending most of my free time trying to find out something that’d get me an advantage in getting into STG, it's about time for me to focus on something else. And, hey, wasn’t that the reason why we came to Andromeda? A chance at something new, to change the status quo.” He said with a wistful smile before he shook his head. “Ah, but we should probably get going instead of waxing sentimentals, no?”

The turian slapped his companion in the back. “That’s the spirit. Come on, let’s dump our armour and forget that we’re about to freeze to death by the end of the week. First drink’s on me.”

Kargad fell back when ordered, but allowed himself the luxury of a leaving prayer just before the shuttle doors were fully closed. Ascending slowly away from the carnage, he caught one last fleeting glimpse of the felled Fiend, and as he did so he wrapped both hands around the hilt of his downturned hammer, and muttered quietly, reverently, to himself. Of gratitude for another glorious battle, and of forgiveness. In death, Kargad didn’t hate the Kett – they were just different expressions of the same thought. It was a pity they had misused the gift of their lives in the way that they had, but there was always next time. In an ideal universe, someday, they would all stand shoulder to shoulder. No more hate, no more war.
Well. Maybe war for fun.

The doors slid shut, and dropped into comparable darkness, they departed. The Kett’s bodies were left to rot in the sun, but their souls, he was certain, were now free.

---

Two weeks later…

Freedom was something Kargad desperately craved whenever he was aboard the Nexus. He had never cared much for the Citadel, despite spending a sizable wedge of his life there, working or in transit: it was just too… fake. There was a clinical, sterile nature to it all that screamed out how unnatural the place was, all brushed steel and reinforced glass. The stars twinkled dimly from the spaces you could see them, if you could see them through the glare of the street lights. And the Nexus embodied all of these things, but lacked the Citadel’s wealth of distractions. There were no real bars to start brawls in, no hobby shops to buy tiny space ships in bottles. It was a place of strange, steely stagnation. Kargad spent much of his time pacing the place irritably, making many a passer-by anxious.

To an extent, he supposed it was because he had never felt comfortable in space. He was a Krogan, at least in body: his biology longed for the taste of iron in the air, and the feel of radioactive dirt underfoot. There was something that fundamentally disagreed with him about spending prolonged periods of time away from fresh air and solid ground. It made him sweat beneath the plates. And the only comfort he could think to seek out, for the nth time, was denied him by snivelling bureaucrats. He was of the belief that no form of life was inherently worth less than him, but if he had to pick a candidate, it would have been pencil-pushing pencil-necked cryogenic secretaries. Every few days, Kargad would return and ask them if there was any news on the Asari Ark. If he was anxious about being safe in space, he didn’t dare to fathom how terrified his baby girls would feel, lost in the dark.

”I’m sorry, even if it was here, I can’t seem to find those names on the Leusinia’s docket.”
"What,” Kargad had replied, now on his fourth visit to this dreadful office. It was in his incredibly unimpressed, dadly voice.
”I-It’s just, when I… Faoria and Kalayla Cargad aren’t even on—“
Kargad had leaned in closer, ”What.”
”I—“
"Well they were there four days ago,” he smiled tersely, "Are you trying to tell me you’ve lost my little girls? Because I helped put some parts of this Nexus together, and I’d be damned happy to take them apart aga-“
”A-Ah, wait! Wait!”, the clerk pleaded. He was human, on the young side. Probably only a hundred or so. How long did humans live, again?
”I spelt Kargad wrong. Like a car, get it?”
”no”
”Maybe that error doesn’t translate so well… um… okay! We don’t have any information on them yet! Which makes sense, there’s none on the Leusinia… but no news is good news, right? H-Hehe.”
Kargad heaved in a big breath, and for an instant towered menacingly over this young man. Then he exhaled heavily, and in doing so slid slowly and surely to the floor, until he was sat with his hump against the desk, almost laying down. He stared hopelessly up at the ceiling.
”Damn it.”
”Sir?”
”I… I just want my girls to be safe. Did you know, it’s been six hundred years since I last hugged them?”
”That’s… that’s really sad to hear, Mr., um, Bragus, but you’re… you’re holding up the…”
Kargad sniffled pathetically.
”Ohh… oh, please don’t cry…”
”I am not crying,” Kargad snapped, unconvincingly.

Twenty minutes later, after tearfully showing entirely too many photographs of his family to the cryogenics clerk, Kargad was sat nursing a coffee near hydroponics. Seeing a little nature around here- albeit unnatural in itself- was soothing. It reminded him that there were living things beyond this dreadful space station, things with which he shared a fundamental connection. And in the dark, someplace far, he knew the blood of his blood was still out there. He had the strange sense that, should that ever cease to be true, he would know.
And yet still, his stomach was tight. What good was thinking that? He hadn’t felt it when Revixtia had passed. The opposite, even – he had known her presence every day since. And whilst that knowledge filled him with strength, the idea that the same was true of his daughters sapped him of it again.

Eyeing the false sky of the Nexus in silence, Kargad finished his coffee, and then took his hammer’s charm from around his neck. Off duty, when he needed strength more than his weapons did, he would carry this token with him. A purple locket in the silhouette of an Asari’s head. It housed the only physical picture he and Revixtia ever had printed. In it she- with intense eyes but a smirk that still made Kargad weak in the knees- was in the process of wrenching his arm towards the table, in a wrestling match he wasn’t entirely sure he’d actually thrown. They had been so young, back then. So sure they were going to carve their scars into an unsuspecting universe.

He pressed that picture to his bosom, and then lowered his head.
”Revixtia… you gave our girls every ounce of your strength. But… but I’m not strong enough without them. If you’re out there… keep them safe. Help them make this home. Help me.”

Serena was walking along the Nexus, taking a break from planning on how to rebuild BARAT. It was an even more arduous task than it had been the first time around, even with knowing the exact specifications of what she would need. Not only was there not enough resources to go around so she could just find someone selling her the parts she'd need, she also didn't have anywhere near the access to the funds to do it as she did while she was a merc.

"Say what you will about the pay being unsteady, it was very large when it did come through." She sighed, looking around. It didn't help that there wasn't really anything to do on the Nexus. There was the Lounge, but she wasn't the drinking type. She'd drink with the rest of the team and her friends, sure, but not because she personally enjoyed it. She could go offer her services to the mechanics under Kesh, but this was her shore leave. She wasn't like Ryria, all to willing to give all of her time to working when she should be relaxing and prepping for the next deployment. Even if she did spend the latter part of her days helping the icy asari in the medbay.

She had already been through the painfully tacky and purposely downplaying, if not outright deceitful, Cultural Center. It only made her wonder if the Angara saw through the bullshit immediately, or if they had to interact with any of the new aliens (it was still a bit of a mind warp for Serena to consider herself an alien to the cluster, but its what she was) before that happened. The intent was nice, but the execution was terrible.

It hadn't taken her long to catch up on the local gossip and hot news on the station. Apparently, the Pathfinder was opening the first murder trial of the Initiative again and giving all the evidence another look over. Serena herself was largely indifferent to the whole affair. Murder was going to be apart of the Initiative from the day it put thousands of people together, no matter how sure the Initiative was in their, obviously flawed, mental health evaluations. Arguably, it had already happened when the leadership had the Krogans attack the Exiles and then betrayed the Krogans. Besides, it wouldn't be her problem or of any interest in three days. She'd be shipped off to another planet to deal with more of the Kett, the Exiles, or even the splinter group that was among the Angara. What was their name...Ryak? Roethaga? Roykan? The Roekaar! That's it. Those bastards. Another extremist group that, from what she understood, was taking the name of a noble group of warriors and dragging it through the dust. Another enemy, trying beat down the newly risen Initiative.

Much like the Kett, their hands were going to break on the unforgiving shield of APEX.

Her aimless wandering had ended her up near hydroponics. While the increased security made her uneasy (bringing back all too fresh memories of the Mutiny) what really caught her attention was the krogan bent over a table, obviously upset. "...Kargad?" She said, somewhat incredulously. She had never seen the krogan anything other than joyful and boisterous. Whatever was upsetting him had to be bad then, to get through that joyful exterior. She couldn't just leave him like that. Serena made her way over to him, cautiously touching his shoulder. "Kargad? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Hazan sighed, a drink in his hand as he stared off into the nothingness of the Nexus hangar bay. The last two weeks had been hard but fair, as he’d expected for a military outfit like APEX. Nothing too difficult but it really broke him back into the old rigorum of the military life. He rested on the guard rails and took a sip of the triple-distilled turian brandy that sat in the glass in his talons. He thought back to the times when he was still on Palaven, undergoing the same type of training, working with his platoon in the Navy. It just...didn’t feel the same though. Out here, six centuries away from home, away from the people he knew. His family was still here, as was his former crew, but it just didn’t feel the same.

Serena walked up on Haze, eyebrow raised in mild amusement as she caught him drinking by himself, staring off in the distance. He did always like to be at least a little melancholy from time to time.

She sauntered up, sitting herself down unceremoniously next to him. ”You know, the last time I found you drinking alone and staring off into the distance, I had to convince you that a bed was a better place than a rickety chair to go to sleep in, and that was after a failed mission. This mission went off without a hitch, so why the ‘by my lonesome’ drinking game? I’m sure there are plenty of people in the Vortex Lounge for you to drink with, and we can call Dex anytime. If she hasn’t already shacked up with someone for Shore leave.”

The turian raised an eye ridge at Serena’s sudden appearance, not like it surprised him. Somehow she always knew how to find him, even when he’d gone to extreme lengths to hide himself back on Omega to follow up on his very last job there. He nodded briefly in greeting to her as took another sip of his cold drink.

”I dunno. Feels more...comfortable this way, I guess.”

”Comfortable? Are you getting melancholy on me again Haze? Do I have to go on another exciting adventure like the time I saved you from the thugs about to mug you by tricking them into thinking I’m lost in Omega and getting your attention?” Serena nudged him lightly with her elbow, smirking at him. ”I can you know. Just run off and I’ll do it again.”

”Oh Serena, please no. I don’t think the Chosen would just mug me for credits.”

”You’re right, I may have to improvise this time. Pretend to have a piece of Remtech or something, you know to really get their attention. Then, while I have cleverly and selflessly distracted them and saved your life, you can shoot them in the back! And owe me another chess game.” She grinned at him. ”That’s right, I haven’t forgotten.”

Hazan chuckled and smiled a little. ”Right, like the time you ‘pretended’ to get lost on Omega, eh? I can still remember that look on your face when you stumbled onto me. I had a plan to get the jump on the muggers anyway, I just got surprised. And are we still on that chess thing? It’s been six hundred years, surely I can catch a break, Serena.”

”Yep. One hundred percent an act. I knew exactly where I was and what I was doing, and was in no way confused or lost in the hateful maze that is Omega alleyways.” Serena deadpanned, before snorting. ”Of course we’re still on it. You cheated to get out of it last time, and then bailed on my conversations on the Borealis every time I brought it up!” Her eyes rolled to the heavens. ”And we always had a plan. But the Riggers luck with plans was generally ‘its gone to shit, time to improvise!’”

”Hey, last time I had to drag you screaming from the wreck of a shuttle while two battleraged krogan were destroying an entire mercenary base trying to find us. All while Tanya was screaming in my ear to get the hell to her shuttle while we still could. And the base was on fire. I think I deserved that for pulling your ass out of the flaming debris.” Hazan chuckled a little and took another sip of his brandy.

Serena held up a finger, counting out her points. ”Okay, for one, you were leaving BARAT behind and pulling me by my shoulder with shrapnel in it. My screaming was justified. For two, it is not my fault that the guy we thought was dead wasn’t, that he then warned the krogan brothers that we had infiltrated their base and stolen their data right when we were about to leave peacefully without a hitch, and that I had to fly because in the ensuing chaos we got in literally the only shuttle without either an autopilot or any of our pilots. And! And! I got pretty far before slamming through that wall.” Her protests were filled with mock indignity, interrupted by laughing laughing.

”In all seriousness, how have you been since those days Haze? I mean, aside from sleeping for six hundred years, and then having this general shitshow to deal with. After Omega you needed some space so I didn’t really keep up in contact. What’d you get up to without my wisdom to guide you?” She smiled, eyes twinkling goodnaturedly.

”Well… I became a glorified security guard for a few years. I got back in touch with my family on the Citadel and went back to work for my dad. After that, well...a lot of paperwork and mostly doing desk work until I found the Initiative.”

”Better than me. I ended up being a travelling mechanic, going from either desperate colonists who had no money to pay me or desperately annoying collectors who had too much money to pay me but found reasons to skim off. ‘Oh you scratched it.’ ‘Oh now it makes a noise.’ ‘Oh you fixed my precious antique but now it works like it's supposed to and not how I was told so obviously you broke it.’” She shook her head. ”I was seriously contemplating resigning up with the Alliance when I found the Initiative.”

”I am glad that you got back in touch with your family Haze. They really missed you while you were on the Borealis and you needed to see them again. I do trust you turned your newly found chess skills on them and established yourself as a master turian chess player?”

”What? No, I mean- most of my family were too busy trying to keep the business afloat rather than play chess with me. We, uh… The market for private security in those times was pretty bad. Eden Prime had gotten attacked earlier that year and...it just didn’t sit well in my gut to stay there. The Initiative was my idea for our family to maybe find somewhere else safer to live, that needed the expertise of a bunch of security specialists like me and my mother and father and sister.” Hazan sighed and swirled the brandy in his glass before taking another sip. ”They’re...still in cryo. My dad and I were woken first for the riots and unrest, but after that he volunteered to go back into cryo to soften the supply crunch the Nexus had before the human ark got here. I’ve been alone ever since, not until now with APEX and you guys around.”

”I see I’m still the only one who sees the virtues of playing chess as much as possible.” Serena sighed dramatically, before focusing on Haze again. ”Hey.” She said putting an arm around his shoulders, or as much as she could given the height difference. ”We’re gonna keep them safe. We’re gonna make the planets Ryder fixes safe. And then we’re gonna wake your family up and you’re gonna introduce me to them and then I can establish myself as a master turian chess player.” She grinned at him, squeezing his shoulder.

”We’re the shield of the Initiative, Haze. And we’re not gonna break.”

At the squeeze to his shoulder, Serena could feel Hazan shudder, almost like she was putting cracks into his emotional dam. He suppressed a rather long sigh of sadness and tightened the grip on his glass, collecting his thoughts before he gave her a reply. ”Thanks, Serena. I just wish it felt that way in the minute, y’know?”

”That’s because you’re focusing on all that needs to be done, rather than what has been done. We’ve got a Pathfinder. Eos is viable. We have allies in this cluster who are willing to help us. We’ve struck back against the Kett and won. Everything is on the up. We’ll tackle the other problems one at a time, and get them done, because we’re not gonna accept anything less.” She smiled encouragingly, before it dropped a bit. She was worried about that shudder. ”I know you can probably recite this by heart, since I said it all the damn time to everyone on the Borealis, but you know you can talk to me about anything right? I’m always gonna be here for you. You’re family.”

”I- we’re-...family…”

The turian winced a little at the words, but they did make sense; the Borealis crew had been his friends...his family for several years. He hadn’t connected with them the same way he’d been with his former friends in the Navy or his actual family, but the team had heart. Hazan suppressed the urge to bawl his eyes out and instead wrapped an arm around Serena’s slender shoulders and returned the squeeze.

”Thanks...thanks for everything then, Serena. Suddenly it feels like life on the Nexus is going to be worth it after all.”

Serena walked through the barracks, heading towards Sabinus’ office. She was out of her armor, but kept her Carnifex on her hip. They were still under imminent threat of a Kett counter raid, and she didn’t want to be caught with only her biotics and drones to help her. Sarah floated quietly over her shoulder, Del still downloading the evasion updates back at her bunk.

As she approached the door she quietly debated even going through with it herself. ”He already thinks you’re an undisciplined idiot, do you really want to bring up the question that made him think that? Besides, he doesn’t look like someone dealing with grief so she’s probably fine.” She shook her head, continuing to walk towards the door. ”You don’t know him, and you haven’t heard from Tanya since before the Scourge. You need to know and he’s the one who would know. Besides, Khosin’s worrying. That definitely needs to be addressed.” With that settled and the door before her, Serena took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and opened the door. Lets see if I can avoid making him annoyed this time.

She took a step into the office saying, ”Hey Sabinus can I talk-” She paused awkwardly, remembering her new situation and then took a step back through the door. Blushing lightly in embarrassment she knocked on the door frame and saluted. ”Permission to enter and talk to you about things….Sir?” She mentally groaned in despair. Good start. Way to show him you’re a disciplined fighting machine.

The turian was seated behind a desk with a terminal, a thermos of coffee, and one of the freeze-dried ration bars with the dehydrated fruit chunks that everyone had grown to hate. However, given how limited resources were and how each one contained several thousand calories that covered almost all of the nutritional needs of the individual unfortunate enough to eat it, it was going to be a life staple until crops started growing. For Sabinus, he found his coping mechanism with it by dunkin it into coffee and eating the soggy, slightly more flavoured mess of a bar like it was a luxury item after abusing the beverage to make it more tolerable. He looked up from the terminal.

“Absolutely, come on in out of the heat, take a seat. Good performance today, you showed excellent initiative and use of resources. The science team owes you a debt of gratitude. What can I do for you?” Sabinus asked, minimizing the screen of the report he’d been compiling, leaving the transparent glass blank.

Serena stared at Sabinus for a moment, nonplussed. Whatever she was expecting, it certainly wasn’t this. This friendliness, harshly contrasting their first interaction. In all honesty she had expected to be reprimanded for having her drones abandon the science team and fire team two. “Thank you...Sir.” She said uncertainly, walking into the office and sitting down. She still wasn’t sure if this was some sort of test she was failing, like from all the horror stories she had heard during boot camp and her time active duty with the Alliance. For a moment she was silent, trying to figure out how to best go about asking her question. Ah fuck it. Straightforward and blunt it is.

“Sir, I would still like to know Tanya Carson’s condition. I haven’t had contact with her since before the Scourge and the Kett and I’m worried.”

Sabinus smiled, studying the human’s face as he linked fingers on the table. Time with Tanya certainly made him far more proficient at understanding the much more explosive range of tiny muscles that made up the human face, and as such, gave them far more emotional tells than most other species. It was interesting, to say the least.

”I’m surprised you didn’t make a trip down to the shuttle-bay in your downtime, she was one of the first ones they thawed out after the Scourge hit and they needed to send scouts off to survey the garden worlds. She’s got quite the aptitude for that sort of thing, as you’re well aware, and the trade-off of having someone who’s that talented with mechanics and a rather non-conforming personality meant that her colleagues have never wanted for music, although you can imagine they might not have liked the section, or the volume. Last I heard, the compromise for keeping ‘Shit-Head’ active and blaring music while they work was the volume has to be at a reasonable level and she has to program in anything anyone gives her. Knowing her, she’s finding a number of creative ways to subvert that compromise.” Sabinus replied, dipping the bar in his coffee again to saturate the next length.

”Truth is, I’ve barely spent much time with her since getting out of cryo, even though we were both out fairly early in the time frame since the Nexus arrived in Helius. Different shifts, constantly being required to do different jobs, and now I’m off station more often than not fighting against an extremely hostile and dastardly alien race that feels like the Spirits were watching too many horror vids when they willed them into existence. I know you two were close and you idolized her, and that’s the primary reason I’m being so candid about the state of affairs between my girlfriend and I. The situation isn’t ideal, but we both know hard work and duty so it’s not as much of a strain as I imagine it is for more…” he drummed a pair of fingers against the back of his hand, searching for the words.

”Emotionally compromised couple would handle being apart. I can understand needing comfort and familiarity when you jump galaxies and wake up to find that a number of people have died from an unknown entity and the situation grew so dire that a significant number of friends and colleagues did something unfathomably stupid and rebelled against the establishment. But personal needs are secondary to the Initiative, so I sit on this radioactive dust bowl eating some forsaken rations that some scientist determined met all of my nutritional needs without account for the fact people actually have to eat them and lead a bunch of strangers who have no unit training or comparable doctrines and hope that they can figure it out immediately because the enemy isn’t waiting. The fact we didn’t lose anyone today is largely due to luck and individual talent, understand? Had the Kett been prepared we would have had far worse casualties. I trust you understand why I immediately had to single you out for non-conforming and familiar behaviour, correct?” he asked, regarding Serena evenly.

Serena breathed a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing at the mention Tanya was alive and well in the shuttle bay, if being annoying and abrasive as ever. She smiled at the thought of Shithead having to play new music. That’s one worry down the drain. She opened her mouth to thank him when he continued, delving into their relationship. Mild surprise showed on her face, but she didn’t stop him. If he wanted, or needed, to talk about it he was more than welcome too.

Her eyebrows rose slightly at the mention of her ‘idolizing’ Tanya. What has she been telling him about our friendship? she wondered briefly, before deciding it was better not to ask.

Specialist organizations often have wilful individuals with varying doctrines and almost no conformity. Hierarchy Cabal, Republic Commandos, Alliance N7 troopers, the list goes on. APEX is just another one in a long line. She didn’t comment, however. What Sabinus thought was his own business, and he was a competent commander who knew what he was doing.

”Of course I understand, sir.” She answered immediately, meeting his gaze. It was the unnecessary speech afterwards I took issue with.

”Thank you for telling me she’s okay.” And just about everything else in your relationship. With the easiest of the two questions out of the way, Serena shifted slightly. Now for the touchy subject. She really hoped this went well, and that she was doing the right thing. If it didn’t , or she wasn’t, Khosin would just end up farther down his darker path.

”The other thing I came to talk about is Khosin, sir.” She paused for a moment, struggling with how to word exactly all the little things and changes she had noticed about her friend. There were so many, and they all added up to one dark outlook on Khosin’s mental state, and what it meant for him in APEX.

”I’m sure you know that he and I ran with the Jury Riggers, a few centuries ago.” She smiled briefly at that, still finding it amusing. ”I’m not sure if you know that, during that time he went back into Hegemony space. I figured there was a chance, since the Initiative is really good at digging up information people try to keep hidden, but I can’t be sure. He went to the Hegemony for a reason he wouldn’t tell us, and still won’t. When I tried to track him, to at least help him remotely, he told me to not follow or track him again, fried the connection, and went off the grid.”

After a while he came back, but he was changed. Something went wrong in the Hegemony, and I don’t know what. Whatever it was seriously hurt Khosin, because he’s no the same. Khosin was, and still is to a degree, the most professional soldier I’ve ever had the honor to serve with. He was calm, methodical, and purposeful in combat, and generally all he did. He was not the reckless type to rush into the center of the enemy without warning anyone. That’s Firu’s style, not his. And it’s not like her recklessness. She’s reckless because she has latent bloodlust issues. Because she enjoys the fight and the thrill too much, but she doesn’t take unnecessary risks. Khosin’s recklessness is far more careless. Unless it affects someone else, he’s not going to be careful about it. ”

”He’s always been quiet, but there wasn’t this….depression in his eyes. He tries to hide it, but I know him too well. He drinks much, much more than he did and is always by himself. The only things that seem to get to him anymore are things relating to the Initiative, and then it’s not just passion for the project. It’s a blinding manic obsession. It isn’t just loyalty to the ideal or the hope for a new life. It’s all he has right now. I’m scared for him, sir. I don’t think he values his life anymore, and I can’t do anything about it because I just hit a wall whenever I tried to talk to him about it.”

Serena shrugged helplessly. ”I don’t know what to do, and I don’t want him to throw his life away.”

Sabinus listened to Serena’s concerns, drumming his fingers in a slow rhythm. Mathews was an emotionally driven individual with a bit of a mother hen instinct, and this more or less affirmed that. ”You think I haven’t properly checked him before clearing him for duty, or the Initiative made a mistake putting him into the militia with concerns about his mental health. Let me ask you this; do you have any idea what it must be like for him being one of the very few batarians in Andromeda? He’s left behind far more than most everyone else, and the fact that he felt that the Initiative was the only place he could have gone after things crumbled behind him tells me that if he was suicidal or had a death wish, he could have easily have found it back in the Milky Way. He could have signed up with any number of tin pot militias out of Omega, or drank himself to death in a bar, or gone on to become a political extremist who ends up getting shot in a standoff with law enforcement.” he said, leaning forward with his fingers bridged.

”And yet, he managed to pass all of the important mental health screenings to get into the Initiative and managed to qualify for armed service with the militia. I’ve read his dossier, even probably bits that you don’t know about him. Is he lost and despondent? Of course. Does he not see a future for himself? Possibly. But the actions that Sedgoroh performed today were those of a purposeful and mindful soldier who wasn’t in a hurry to die. He put himself at risk for others, yes, but he also did exactly what I’d expect anyone under my command to do to protect his or her comrades. It will take him time to adjust to his new surroundings and the people he serves with, but you strike me as someone who doesn’t think that he isn’t looking for his place in all of this. Maybe he doesn’t know it yet, or know what he wants, but it doesn’t mean he’s given up finding it. If he starts losing his cool or otherwise begins to show signs of cracking, I will be on top of it.” he regarded the bar and coffee for a moment before turning his attention back to Serena.

”You pathologically worry about people, you’re empathetic to a fault and you make it your personal duty to try and fix everyone who’s hurting. You may not realize it, but some people don’t want other people to try and fix them. Tanya left abruptly and cut off communication with most of the Riggers to start over in Elysium because she didn’t want others fretting over her or trying to figure out how to make things better for her. She wanted a fresh start and to be around people who didn’t know what she’d been through, and maybe that’s what Sedgoroh needs, is someone to look at him like a peer and comrade and not like someone who needs pity and concern. Maybe he’ll need to talk one day, maybe he won’t. It isn’t your business to try and figure out what he needs. Much like you can’t walk up to me like we’re best friends in front of the Fireteam and undermine my authority in the eyes of people who are about to fight in a war with an unknown enemy, you can’t treat him like he’s a special case who needs to be cared for differently than everyone else. There’s services he can use to get help if he needs it, but what he needs from us is a solid outfit that treats his service with respect and dignity.”

Serena listened to Sabinus’ response, shaking her head in quiet frustration. He wasn’t understanding, and that may be because she explained it wrong. She had to chuckle at the pointing out of Khosin passing mental screenings. ”Respectfully, sir, my faith in the Initiative’s mental health screenings have been, shall we say, severely lessened given that I know they let someone through they wouldn’t have if they had known anything about him, not anyone on this team I should add, and the fact that they let entire non-krogan population of Elaaden on board. But regardless, I think you’ve misconstrued my concerns or my reason for voicing them to you.”

“I don’t want you to immediately pull him or put him on watch or anything like that. I just wanted you to know, that for Khosin after the Hegemony, there is nothing else besides the Initiative. You have something other than the Initiative. I have something besides the Initiative. Firu, Clyff, Kargad, we all have something besides the initiative. Khosin doesn’t. I’m not worried about him breaking under fire, not now at any rate. I’m worried about this consuming him till there’s nothing left. I’d die for the Initiative and any member of this team without question, sir, but that’s not my end goal. I’m worried that for Khosin, it is or will become his end goal. Someone who cares if they live or die doesn’t charge into the middle of a group of enemies with no warning, sir. Afterwards, he acted like the professional he is and was, but that was only when other members of the team were in danger.”

I hope I’m wrong. I hope I’m just,” She lifted her hands up for air quotes, “‘Pathologically worrying’ about him. But someone with more power, experience, and better judgement than me needs to know. And now you do. If you do decide that I’m not just worrying for no reason, I think he told Dex about his trip to the Hegemony, but I’m not sure.”

She stood up, stretching. ”For the record sir, pity isn’t something I give people. In our line of work it only pisses them off. I respect everyone enough to trust them when they say they don’t want my help, and to treat them as the soldiers they are. Anything less only makes things worse with them. So you misunderstand me if you think I don’t know when to back off, or stop pushing. I let Tanya close herself off mostly because I knew my pushing wasn’t helping, and if she wanted to she would reach out to me. Just like I suspect she knew that, for me at least, her tactic did nothing to lessen my worry. I’m not going to going to worry or mother hen Khosin anymore than I would the rest of the team, even you or Tazen. Whether you like it or not.” She smiled lightly. “So, as a forewarning, just be prepared to tell me to shut my empathetic yap. Sir.”

Sabinus snorted at the thought of Elaaden, a desert-covered world with unbearable temperatures that the krogan had almost to a man fled to and started a new colony. The other inhabitants, however…

”A peculiar example about Elaaden, but that’s a peculiar instance that defies our current understanding. You don’t have a number of people who were fine while aboard the Nexus and clear medical profiles from before the Initiative suddenly go mad around the same time on one planet. There’s much about these worlds we don’t understand, and for all we know some kind of vegetation or water contaminant that hasn’t been documented is causing the mental deterioration, or some other environmental factor. Remember, this planet as of three weeks ago was so radioactive that it could lead to death in minutes if you weren’t wearing a protective suit. Now because of the vault, we’ve got ourselves a garden world in the most improbable event I’ve ever witnessed. Regardless, I take your meaning and things do slip through the cracks, as it were, but the people who’ve screened the candidates have a lot more expertise in that field than you or I, so don’t assume that they’re failing at their jobs.

“To reiterate, I know about Shegoroh’s… unique circumstances. He’s not an immediate threat to himself or anyone else, and if I’m understanding your concern, you’re reiterating exactly what I’ve explained to you. He’s come to Andromeda with nothing outside of his duty, and you’re worried he isn’t going to find it and let it become the only thing in his life. Like anyone, he’s being monitored and I will speak with him if need be, but you need to give him time to adapt to his new circumstances. Think of it like a larger-scale version of relocating for a new job and leaving your old life behind. It’s not ideal, but it happens for a reason. I have faith he’ll find his purpose and a reason for being here outside of APEX. You should, too.”

Serena nodded. That’s what she hoped and prayed would be the case, but experience taught her it was best to prepare for the worst. That way, if everything worked out like they hoped it would, this conversation wouldn’t be remembered, and even if it did it’d be another story of Serena overworrying and mother henning the people around her. ”I’ve done what I can for him. I leave it in your capable hands, sir.” She gave another salute. ”Anything else you’d like to add, or shall I take my leave?”


The turian rose from his seat in turn, returning the salute. ”I’ve got nothing more for you for now, but know that my door is always open if you need it. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention and looking out for your friend, and I promise I will keep an eye on him. You’re a fine soldier and you have a good heart, never lose sight of that. Dismissed.” he replied affliably.

Serena smiled in genuine relief, reassured Khosin would be alright, nodding and turning for the door. ”Thank you sir. If you ever want to lose a game of chess, I’m your girl.” She paused at the door, looking at him over her shoulder. ”And I’m really glad you found her, Sabinus.” With another nod and smile, she left.

---

Time: Morning
Location: Hydroponic Gardens, Nexus

The quiet rumblings of a small group of protestors were met with a couple militia personal telling them to break it up. They argued back and forth, the same old peaceful protesting versus disturbance and disruption. Concerned citizens puffing up their chests, raising their voices over the calm albeit frustrated personnel. The artificial light of the Nexus was softly bright.

Dex sat astride one of the benches, dressed in her civvies. A dark blue sweater, with dark black pants. A scarf draped along her neck sitting outside her cowl. The hood was pulled up, as turian style forgoes covering the back of the head it snuggly sat behind her mandibles. Sleeves rolled up to the elbow. She watched with mild interest while the small discreet camera perched on her shoulder pad recorded. She didn’t know why she was recording, it was really none of her business. Later she’d reason it’d be for understanding the breakdown between the Nexus and the Exiles, keeping a stiff eye on security.

She saw, quite possibly the lone batarian wandering through, off kilter. She squinted watching him. Seeing the red limb she knew it was Khosin. “Hey! Khosin! C’mere.” She called to him, waving him over.

Being one of the few Batarians on the station, and even more rarely one of the fewer that had been thawed off before the arrival of Ark Hyperion, Khosin had grown accustomed to the feeling of being watched by everyone, and would have most likely kept going towards his quarters were it not by the voice that beckoned him over.

“Dex.” He thought, immediately recognising the voice. He turned his head around towards the source of her voice and easily found her, the cybernetic prosthesis with which she was waving him over was an easy enough tell for him to recognise her amongst the crowd of protesters and militia personnel that had gathered in the hydroponic gardens.

“Hey Dex, making a documentary?” He asked jokingly once he arrived to the spot where she was sitting, somewhat discreetly motioning to the camera that was perched on her shoulder. Without waiting for her reply, he took a seat next to her and took a drink from the hip flask that he was nowadays carrying near-constantly when he was outside of his quarters and not at the Vortex Lounge. “It’s been a while since we talked, huh?” He started, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, unsure of how to start the conversation.

“You look like shit.” She leaned forward taking a strong whiff of what she knew was alcohol. “For fuckssakes Khosin. You can drink the water here. Might be lacking in a few sand grains but you don’t have to be drunk before Noon.”

She elbowed him, “Try to be a bit more subtle about the camera huh? Still can’t keep a secret worth a damn.”

Dex rumbled through her sub harmonics, looking to the protestors. “I leave and suddenly everyone thinks cybernetics and losing limbs is the cool new thing.” She shook her head, eyeing him. “Even if you’re not in one piece... Good to see you.”

“Hmmm, what’s new under the sun?” Khosin asked, chuckling, in response to Dex’s astute observation about how he looked. He shook his head a bit about her comment about him drinking water and not needing to be drunk before noon “Hmm, I’m afraid that water doesn’t helps much with what’s here.” He said, tapping his head briefly in manner of explanation before he took another sip.

“Sorry about that, but I have gotten a bit better. If I was that bad I wouldn’t be here, would I? It’s not like I have the cleanest record.” He said with a low whisper, massaging the spot where she had elbowed him with his natural hand.

“Ah, yeah, you never knew how I lost my forearm.” He said, falling silent for a few seconds “My mind wasn’t in the game and I fucked up, let's put it that way.” Spoke the Batarian, it wasn’t exactly a full explanation but Dex was smart and she’d be able to figure out what he meant. “It’s good to see you too here Dex, I know I’ve...well, I haven’t been exactly the most warm guy ever, it's not like I went to talk with you or any of the other ex-Riggers after that stint on Site 1, but I’m glad that you are here.”

She stared him down, rumbling continued out of her subharmonics. Her mandibles were pulled tight against her face, the epitome of stern for a turian. Taking a deep breath in through her nose, she huffed. She wasn’t done wringing him out yet. “Almost as cold as our team medic.”

“Slow down on drinking will you though? You’re poisoning your insides out with that shit, at the rate you’re going Andromeda will be the short stint before you’re dead or know the rest of us survive.” She paused thinking she was done, “And! I heard about your reckless bullshit stunt on Eos, if Lieutenant Tannyx hasn’t already told you as much.”

“Fuckssakes.” She said with a note of bitterness. You’re better than this.”

Khosin fell silent as Dex continued on with her tirade, letting her get it all out of her system before he spoke again. “I’m not.” He said quietly in response to her claim that he was better than this “What’s the better me Dex? Tell me.” He asked, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice, “The attack dog of the Hegemony? The pirate attacking Alliance ships on behalf of the Hegemony? Or the slaver that went AWOL and participated in the Mindoir raid? Or maybe it’s the merc that I became when I had my little crisis of conscience a little too late?” He whispered quietly, the bitterness replaced with weariness by the end.

“Let’s be honest Dex, I’ve never been better than this.” Khosin said, shoulders sagging slightly “I’m just a waste of space, going through life like some drone. About the only unambiguously good thing I’ve done in my life is my work with APEX right now.” He said with a sigh, shaking his head.

“So, what does it matters if I’m reckless? If I get hurt? Or if I’m drunk?” He said, shaking his hip-flask at the last bit of what he had said. “Please, do tell me because I don’t know.” Finished the Batarian, taking another swig of the alcohol on the hip-flask.

Dex stared, slowly turning into a glare. The rumbling in her sub vocals increased. Words weren’t going to get blood flowing to his brain.

“I’m sorry for what is about to happen to your face.”

She grabbed the flask ripping it from his hand and crunching it in her prosthetic hand. She tossed it away then grabbed him by his scruff. She stood over him, Khosin looked up at her with eyes that were blank and fogged over. Swinging back her left fist she cracked it against his jaw, fast and hard. She let go of his scruff then sat down beside him once again.

“Listen here, asshole.” She snapped. “Don’t keep being an ass when you’re already in shit.”

“That’s a really shitty way to talk about my friend, comrade and fucking teammate. If you don’t value yourself - others do, like me.” She said. “Survive to see the Arks arriving, survive to see another settlement. Fucking survive in spite of all your bullshit.”

“Listen here Dex, I don’t mind the punch. I’ve gotten worse during my training in the Hegemony.” Khosin said, his demeanor suddenly growing serious as he sat upright, each of his four eyes bearing into Dex’s “Do you have any idea of what this ‘bullshit’, as you’ve put it, entails?” He said, his hands balling into fists, “Because, let me tell you, you have no idea.” He spoke, bitterness palpable in his voice.

She averted her gaze but stayed quiet, because she really hadn’t.

“Have you seen packs of savage varren being released inside of hospitals? Have you seen hundreds of people’s corpses being used to feed varrens?” He whispered to her, “Have you seen whole schools slaughtered, just because someone didn’t feel like bothering rounding them up?” He hissed to her. “I have, and that shit follows me through all days and nights, so if I were you I’d be careful and not call that bullshit, because you’ve no idea the kind of guilt I’m carrying with me.”

“And don’t worry about me dying anytime soon, I don’t plan to kick the bucket until I am sure that the Initiative is safe and sound in Heleus. You might not like it, but this is the sole good thing I’ve ever done and it’s why I get up every morning; to give people like you, people that still have the chance, the opportunity to have a new home.”

She was silent for a few moments, still madder than hell. “Then how about this, pull your head out of your ass. The Khosin I knew back with the Riggers cared enough to not end everything prematurely by diving into a fight blindly. He cared enough to realize that being alive was more effective and he still believed he had a fucking chance. Go looking for him at the bottom of a glass. I’m done.”

She stood kicking the ruined flask away. Not sparing a glance behind her.

“You know, before we left the Milky Way, my family hated me.” Khosin said quietly, uncaring if Dex heard him or not, “Disowned me, actually, they didn’t contact me ever after I got them out of Hegemony Space, not even when I told them that I was gonna join the Initiative.” He said quietly, his mood growing somber, “You know why? Because they found out.” He finished, looking down at the spot where his ruined flask had fallen before Dex kicked it away.

She stopped dead in her tracks, turning on her heel. She marched back up to him, losing what little cool she was able to dignify walking away with. She screeched in his face at full volume. The sound she made was a mix of a gutteral hiss and bird-like growl. She stood back up to full height then finally walked away.

Protesters and militia alike were staring at her display, considering what was more important with a possible random fight breaking out. Dex’s swift exit helped them relax. What became of Khosin after she left was outside her current concerns.

Serena walked up to the medbay doors, whistling cheerfully to herself. They had some free few hours to spend, late a night of course, and Ryria was back in the medbay. The asari had been seemingly doing her best to pretend that the Apex team was only a temporary distraction from the Medbay and hadn’t really interacted with the rest of the team much. Least of all Serena and the rest of those who had been on Fireteam 2. Serena herself didn’t know what happened in the lab with the research assistants, but from Dex’s short replies and general look, she guessed Ryria’s icy professionalism had come to forefront again. Ryria seemed to naturally be cold and icy, even when they were supposed to be taking a few short minutes to relax in the barracks.

Well, only way to change that is by starting to slowly melt the ice. In literally the only place she is when she’s not with us.

She walked through the doors and quickly found Ryria, walking up to the asari with a friendly smile. ”Hey Ryria! I’ve come to help with your duties on the medbay. You’re here an awful lot, and I figured two pairs of hands have got to better than one, right? So, where do you want me to start?”

Ryria’s eyes flickered across the dim screen. She was filing the office documents of those recently revived into the proper folders, double checking each placement. She heard the door open, but she paid it little mind until she heard Mathews’ voice speak to her. Wordless, her figure pushed away from her computer to fully stand.

Her figure turned to face the human machinist with a icy glance, sizing her up, before finally correcting Mathews, “T’Vessi, we’re only associates and on the same team during missions.”

Not giving much pause between her prior and next words, she continued.

“Do you have any medical background that quality you for assisting in the medbay? As far as I’ve seen, your specialization lies in machines and drones. Not individuals’ anatomy.”

She ignored Ryria’s correction. Yeah, like I’m going to pay any attention to that detail. “I’ve got basic medical training from the Alliance, plus what I picked up on ten or so years of merc work, the ability to follow orders you give without question and steady hands, general machine knowledge to fix, repair, and tune up any of this,” she gestured towards all of the machinery around them, “that might break, experience with VI's and Drones and whatever programs you might be using to see inside someone and get a general idea of damage, and if literally all else fails I can hand you tools and do the menial work you won't want to waste time on.” She gave a small shrug. “I want to get to know you better and this seems like the best place to do it.”

“Not many would find a medbay as the best place to get to know others. Beyond APEX, there’s little reason for us to get to know each other. We already function fine in the field, outside of it doesn’t increase or decrease that performance.” Ryria stated firm and indifferently, using logic to chase Serena off.

”And yet you spend most of your time here, so unless you have another suggestion I’m just going to have to make do aren’t I?” She snorted lightly at Ryria’s attempt to get rid of her. It was funny in a cold way. “Unfortunately for you, my motivation isn’t functioning fine in the field or our performance, so that’s not gonna get rid of me. Nice try though, I appreciate the effort.”

“Fine, you can stay on two conditions,” Ryria began as she raised her forefinger, “First, you don’t bring your drones in here. It’s hard to tell when a patient will arrive with an emergency and no one needs to waste precious time walking around your drones.”

She held up a second finger and final finger, “You keep your lips shut. I’ve work to do and unlike you, I have no luxury for chit-chat. When I’m not in APEX, I need to assist the other medical staff here. Do we have an understanding?”

Serena raised an eyebrow at Ryria. “Fair enough on the first point, though it should be noted that the drones float. So they could super easily be near the ceiling and out of the way, but hey, your medbay your rules.” She grinned at the Asari, shaking her head. “No can do on the second part. I came here to get to know you, so either you set aside time after you get off of here to have a friendly chat with me, or you put up with my questions and chatter when you’re not in another conversation or busy with a patient.” She glanced at the computer screen Ryria had been working on. “Which, no offense, seems most of the time around here. Don’t worry, we’ll have a grand old time together.”

Ryria appeared about to open her mouth, but stopped herself. Her head lowered to pinch her nose bridge between her fingers. The pain helping to distract her from trying to waste more time or energy, finding the conversation leading nowhere.

“If I muster up an hour after work, will that be enough? Only an hour. Push for more, I’ll have your lips stitched up before you realize it.”

”An hour every day and we have a deal. I’ll be silent as the lambs during medbay work time and you’ll answer my questions and put a good effort into making a conversation for that hour.” Serena smiled, somewhat smugly, and stuck out a hand. ”Deal?

“Fine,” Ryria replied then pointed to the stacks of boxes, “Move those over there, remove the contents, and compare the label of each one. Finally sort them into the proper cabinets. Let’s see how you handle manual labor before allowing you to help with the patients.”

With those orders, Ryria moved back to her computer to categorize the data properly.

Serena chuckled lightly as the asari abruptly walked off, leaving her outstretched hand in the air. She looked over at the turian nurse snickering over in the corner, trying and failing to look like she was studying something on her omni-tool. Serena shrugged goodnaturedly. “I’m sure we’ll get to the major milestones of ‘simple touching like handshakes and accidental bumps are okay’ in short ordered. I’ve got nothing but time anyway, eh?”

The Turian laughed harder, trying to stifle her amusement at Serena's assumptions. After a few moments, her laughter died and she straightened herself.

"No, you won't. I suggest you just forget it for the time being and just focus on breaking past her icy defenses," The Turian commented.

”Ah, but the best way to get past such a defense is to keep on pushing. I can be pretty persistent you know. Besides, having shot at and been shot at by enemies helps melt things, I find. We’ll see though, hmm?”

“Ryria’s always been against anyone touching her unless she does it first. Not really sure why, but I never considered prying. So good luck with that. Name’s Surerax Leneiros by the way, welcome to the medbay,” Surerax said as she extended her hand, shaking Serena’s then passed her the first box.

“Best we get to work quickly before Ryria gets upset and tries to do it herself. She likes to pile things on her to do list when she feels nothing’s getting done or needs to be done faster…”

”I’ll keep my hugs of greeting and joy for someone else then.” Serena said dryly, before smiling and, stretching as she headed over to the indicated boxes, whistling a cheerful tune.

Two days later

Serena sat down on the steps of the medbay looking expectantly up at the asari. “Alright Ryria, lets keep the theme of simple things for questions going; Favorite color and planet from the Milky Way? I know from your dossier that you went to quite a few in your time.”

Ryria exited out of the medbay, right at her usual time, then noticed Serena. She sighed mentally before she took a seat near enough that she could socialize, “Ice blue and any cold planet, my homeworld being the top one.”

“Hmm. I was certain you’d have chosen a color other than the one most people assume asari like.” Serena said, her eye changing to an icy blue as she spoke. “And that means you should just love Voeld, if we ever get shipped to it.”

“You asked a question, I gave an honest answer. Assuming tends to lead people to make an ass of themselves when the real answer is revealed,” Ryria pointed out, noticing the shift in eye color but not drawing attention to it. It was likely her biotics at play in some fashion.

She continued, targeting the woman’s mention of Voeld, “I doubt it’s too much colder than Trategos. The planet was a frozen wasteland that would devour you with its frostbitten teeth if you were stupid. So we will see.”

It was just an observation. You seem to go against most asari stereotypes, so I figured that one was something you’d go against too” She chuckled lightly, eye changing to a warm red. ”We’ll see about that Ryria. From the Pathfinder’s and Angaran’s reports, Voeld’s frozen wasteland isn’t natural and is all out of whack and extreme. Even your natural coolness might find it a bit too much. We may even have to pack extra heating.” Serena shrugged lightly. But hey, snowball fights! Everyone likes snowball fights.” She glanced curiously at Ryria. ”Do asari have snowball fights?”

“If you want to freeze to death, yes. Most of my time was in doors and keeping to myself,” Ryria’s tone became slightly different. More distant and hollow at recalling her home life, her eyes turned away from Serena to look at bodies moving to their daily tasks.

Serena, noticing Ryria with the all too familiar look of someone remembering a past they’d rather not, attempted to steer the conversation away. ”Well, since I don’t want to freeze to death I think we’ll just have to find something else to occupy ourselves then, won’t we? What do you do aside from hit Kett with remarkably lethal accuracy and help people in the medbay? Like hobbies or little entertaining things you do. I personally love and know how to dance, like to garden though I kill most plants I try to make live and…” She leaned in conspiratorially, though not close enough to make Ryria uncomfortable, “I’m sure I’ve hid it well, but I’m a massive nerd. Play video games and what not whenever I get the chance. I brought a few thousand downloaded over on my omni-tool.” She winked at Ryria. “Our secret.”

Leaning back, she continued. “So, what do you like to do for hobbies or simple enjoyment?”

“It’s hard to have hobbies when you don’t have much free time. On duty I sketched out animals and plants, collecting information and pieces of them. Especially when it’s somewhere new,” Pausing, Ryria recalled something then brought up her omnitool quickly. She typed in a reminder for a new book designed for wildlife expedition and scrapbooking before pulling her arm down.

“I also read exploration and fiction novels because it’s healthier to read about someone else running into danger, rather than yourself.”

”Makes sense.” Serena nodded, before pointing something out. ”You don’t appear to have followed that philosophy very keenly. I mean, there’s few things that are more dangerous than running headfirst into the unknown on the hope that one new galaxy no one has ever set foot in is better than the old.”

”Why did you come to Andromeda?”

“A mixture of fresh start and promise of new ventures. It’s just who I am now and I enjoy it, even when it’s an unhealthy lifestyle. The thrill of seeing thing for the first time,” Ryria let a small flicker of a smile cross over the corner of her mouth as she spoke, “It’s hard to describe unless you’ve actually done it. That adrenaline rush never really leaves you. I just didn’t think I would be doing it while trying to fight a war…”

Her enthusiasm died at reference to the Kett.

”Hey, don’t let that get you down. We all knew violence was a heavy chance and price to pay for coming here. It’s been rough, but don’t let that drown out the good things that are happening. We’ve made Eos inhabitable, we get to wake up to gorgeous desert sunrises and go to sleep to sparkling alien stars.”

“As I said, my primary task was patching up individuals on the Nexus or helping to establish a new homestead. Not playing medic to soldiers. If I had managed to save the original medic, I wouldn’t be apart of APEX,” Ryria pointed out.

”None of us wanted to be apart of APEX, Ryria. I dreamed of starting a mech shop and helping colonists with labor through that. Dex wanted to set up a theatre group, maybe deal some light Private Investigating. Haze wanted to explore the new stars for the Initiative, maybe as a Pathfinder scout. Sabinius and Tanya, his wife and my friend, wanted to live quietly together. Clyff just wanted to raise his daughter. You’re not the only one who regrets being here. I am sorry that you were drafted into this out of necessity, but I’m not sorry that you’re here.”

“Still, in the end it’s my own fault I’m here. So I’ll pay my time and tolerate it until things change,” Ryria said before Serena interjected herself.

”Before we go to far down that rabbit hole, Ryria, I’ve read your dossier. I’ve known you for only three days, but I can assure you, if you couldn’t save the original medic, no one can. You were selected because you’re the best. You were a second choice only because, as you’ve repeatedly pointed out, you didn’t want this. You did everything anyone could have done Ryria, and no one could have done better. Don’t dwell on the past, yeah? It never helps, believe me. I’ve tried that too.”

“I’ve been living with the past for a long time. It’s written on my face and crest in the form of permanent disfigurement. Every time I look in the mirror, it’s there. Not dwelling is very hard when you see it every day,” Ryria’s tone became ice cold and resistant to Serena’s words, her eyes locked on the human.

“As for the medic, until the medical records state otherwise… I was the acting physician and the one responsible for her life. No amount of empathy can erase that fact.”

”Mm. Have you read any of our dossiers? No, I don’t think you would have had time for that.” Serena spoke calmly, unfazed by the sudden change to ice. “ In my time with the Alliance, I worked in their Spec Ops division. Unbeknownst to me, my commander had sold out to various organizations, including the Batarian Hegemony, and was using me and my partners as mules for his information deals. Expendable mules. I lost eight partners over those years. Eight men and women who I was responsible for keeping alive.

Spencer, Omar, Hannah, An, Soban, Silus, Barat. They all died, and I lived. Spencer got hit with a sniper to the head while I was hacking. Hannah got dragged back by a Batarian harpoon when I went to save a civilian. Omar threw me out of the way and caught the rocket meant for me. An died in my arms, blood filling his lungs after his armor got punctured by shrapnel from an exploding tank. Soban died holding a door so I could grab the intel we were supposedly after. Silus got stabbed through the chest while saving me from a Talon merc. Barat shielded me with his body as a dozen grenades went off in the room around us.” She looked over and matched Ryria’s gaze unflinchingly.

”Not a day goes by that I don’t look in the mirror and remember each and every one of their deaths. Not a day goes by where I’m not reminded that if had just been a little faster, a little tougher, a little stronger, they would still be alive. Believe me Ryria, I am well aware of what it's like to be reminded of your past and your failures day after day. And I know what it's like to analyze the situation over and over again, thinking about what you could have done and what you should have done. I’m not telling you ‘don’t dwell on the past’ as if you hadn’t tried, or that you simply could just do that. I’m telling you because fighting to do that is the only thing that gets you to the end of the road. Because the other option is much, much worse.”

Serena sighed, leaning back. ”You may think I’m just an idiot human talking out of my ass, that in your centuries of experience I’ll just be another annoying blip along the way. And you may be right. But while I’m here as that annoying blip, I do genuinely care for you and want to be your friend. So at least trust that my advice, if wrong in your eyes, is well intentioned.”

“Personally, I think you’re wasting your time. You and I are strangers, it makes little sense for you to actually put this much effort into getting to know me,” Ryria commented, correcting her.

Serena snorted. ”Would it shock you to find out you’re not the first person to tell me that?”

“No, it does not.”

She was quiet for a moment, before shaking herself lightly. ”Well, now that we’ve gone that depressing rabbit hole anyways, lets try something more light hearted. Any conversation suggestions?”

“You’re the one that wanted to do these conversational sessions. I believe it’s your responsibility to have the topics on hand for the occasion.”

”And I believe you agreed to help put effort into making an actual conversation. You should have back up conversational starters in case mine run dry.” Serena smiled at Ryria, before remembering something. ”Ryria, you’ve spent over 18 hours at this place haven’t you?”

“If I didn’t make an effort, my sentences would be shorter,” Ryria said with light sarcasm in her tone, her expression tightening at the new subject, “Yes. I was woken up when we encountered the Kett, my pod was damaged during the collision and I was quickly revived to treat the wounded.”

”Nonono, I meant during our shore leave. Right now. In these three days we have. You’ve spent most of it here, correct?”

“Between here and my temporary quarters, yes.”

”That’s what I thought.” Ryria was certainly a workaholic, even if she wasn’t obsessed with it as others were. Serena stood up and stretched. ”Come on then. Lets walk around the Nexus, see if we can’t find a quiet spot to do something other than work. Maybe play a board or word game, eh?” She looked at Ryria expectantly, eye changing back to its normal pink color.

“Very well, through honestly the Nexus is no different than any other ship I’ve been on,” Ryria commented then rose up onto her feet. She eyed Serena up suspiciously before gesturing the human to lead the way.

”Where’s the trust Ryri? I’m not gonna take you to a strip club. The strip club, I suppose.” Serena laughed, hiding her inner victory at actually getting the closed off Asari to agree.
Ryria frowned hard at the crude butchering of her name.

”And you’re right, the nexus is basically every other space station but without the pretty amenities. But as there’s no neat animals to sketch and record, unless you want to draw the nexus inhabitants, we’ll have to make do with a walk and a quiet place.”

She lead the way through the nexus, stepping lightly and cheerfully, idly commenting on the things they saw. Eventually they found a relatively empty spot, overlooking the stars and scourge. ”Here will do.” Serena sat down, then looked at Ryria all-too-casually.

”So. Ryri. Would you happen to know how to play Chess?”

“Too busy surviving and there was little down time, so I never learned,” Ryria said honestly, her figure leaned against the railing.

Her eyes looked up into the pitch blackness they grinded through bring a slight awe to her heart. It never reached her expression. She twisted about, resting her side on it, then asked.

“Why did you ask?”

”I could teach you, if you’d like. It seems like it’d be a game you’d like. And I’ve been looking for a good opponent. ” Serena offered, trying and failing to not appear too eager. ”Though I gotta confess that I’m surprised you even know what it is, most non-earth natives don’t.”

Ryria pulled back slightly, wary of the offer. Her eyes narrowed as she studied Serena for a moment to determine something. She gradually relaxed then slipped her arms under her chest, once more leaning against the railing.

“I’ve had to treat a few humans. One in particular was dying from a parasite that we caught late. The damage had already been done. Most her life was spent in and of the clinic, often being observed until the end of her life,” Ryria tilted her head up slightly, staring into the starry skies.

“During my visits between Texon’s assignments, she taught me a bit about Earth’s culture whenever she had the energy. She often used a metaphor she called ‘managing spoons’, Ryria’s tone became softer as she spoke, “Each day, she had a starting amount of ‘spoons’ to spend. Every task required a spoon and she had to decide, each day, where each spoon should go.”

She let the quiet settle in her moment of weakness before she finished up, “I was grateful she gave me one during every visit. Even when she could’ve used it for something more essential.”

”That’s really sweet Ryri.” Serena said earnestly. She knew the asari had a softer side, hiding behind all the glacier. Del rounded the corner, carrying one of Serena’s chess boards in his omni-lashes. Serena exclaimed in mock surprise at the sight, ”Oh, how convenient! This drone that is completely unrelated to me is bringing a chessboard for us! Would you like to play with this surprise gift Ryri? This is why we came to this place after all.”

“Convenience my ass, you planned this. Ryria said with a slight low key accusation in her voice.

Serena swooned in mock surprise, hand going to her heart as she leaned back. ”Me? Plan something as well executed and impeccably charming as this? Preposterous! Truly madame, you wound me. I would never try something so smoothly irresistible as this on someone as stoic as yourself. But, since the board is already here…” She held her hands up in a helpless manner as Del put the board in front of them. She turned it on by flicking a switch on the side, holographic pieces rising in their places. ”Where’s the harm in a game?”

“This wasn’t part of our agreement and you know it,” Ryria pointed out, through the ice in her tone had faded slightly.

Her body leaned away from Mathews as she crossed her arms over her chest, a defensive posture to the offer of a game. Despite the charade, Ryria didn’t believe it. Especially since it was poorly done to the point it was obviously a lie.

Serena held up a finger at Ryria’s protest, chuckling. She had a trick up her sleeve, just for this occasion. ”What about a new agreement, hmm?” She pulled out a small chocolate candy bar, waving it enticingly at Ryria. ”You play a game of chess with me, and I’ll give you this synthetic chocolate sweet bar. Everyone wins.” She silently thanked Surerax for tipping her off to Ryria’s weakness for sweets. ”Come onnn,” Serena coaxed, holding the candy bar just out of the asari’s reach, ”you finish the game and I give you the sweetness of the candy.”

Ryria glared then closed her eyes. A long, drawn out sigh escaped her lips before she replied, “Fine, but only one game. No more, do you understand?”

”Aha! I knew you had a sweet tooth.” Serena exclaimed smugly, setting up the pieces. ”I’ll give you a brief rundown of the rules and you can ask questions as we go. Don’t worry, I’m sure you pick it up quick. ”

A collab by @Stormflyx & @Dervish

Naryxa gazed out of the window. What a contrast to the Milky Way it was. The Milky Way was alive and bright with a bejeweled backdrop of glistening stars burning bright in the distance, trails of cosmic dust littering a path to follow and adventure on, to find yourself along, to meet friends and lovers and create a life...

Here, the view was cold, dead, and dark. Looking out at the bare bones of the scourge caused a shiver to run down the Asari’s spine. There was not a single glimmer of life in the twisted and gnarled curls of wasteland - ever growing and burning up in the emptiness of Heleus. Are these rose-tinted glasses? Did I ever find the Milky Way so beautiful? she thought to herself, both fascinated and repulsed by the branches of the scourge. It’s ugliness reminded her of the Kett. They were one and the same to her - a curse.

She hadn’t known this was the view when she’d requested to meet Sabinus.

The curtain of the scene would only add more to the morose weight sitting on her chest, that she had hoped a conversation with her Fireteam Leader would relieve, and would help her to shake loose. She liked Sabinus. He seemed to carry a level-head on his shoulders. He was outwardly friendly and personable, but Naryxa had sensed a level of depth to him not overly apparent from the surface. She wanted to talk to him about Eos.

”Beautiful, isn’t it?” a voice called from behind Naryxa. Sabinus stepped around the seats and set himself down next to the Asari, wearing a leather jacket and a blue scarf that he somehow looked socially acceptable in. In his hands were two plant fiber cups, one green, the other blue, which he offered to Naryxa. ”Sorry for being behind the time your requested, a friend or mine down in hydroponics messaged and said there were a few plants that were bearing fruit that were unsuitable for harvesting or using for sustainable food, but the team thought it might be a nice pick me up for people if they made some who-knows-what juice instead of the freeze dried rations that have been in storage for centuries. Green’s dextro, blue’s levo. Cheers.” he said, taking a tentative sip or the cup and the hum that he subvocalized definitely sounded satisfied. It was one of the few fresh foods he’d tasted since being taken out of stasis.

”Most people see the Scourge and see something awful, just irredeemable. To me, it’s just a part of our new home you get used to. We all know volcanoes and typhoons are destructive and deadly, but we can admit there’s some part to them that captures the imagination and has a dangerous beauty to it. It’s like someone dropped black ink into a glass of water and it created a web of dark chords with these curious orange lights. It reminds me of deep sea predators.” Sabinus observed; he sounded respectful and somewhat enthralled.

“I wouldn’t have guessed you to have a green thumb Sabinus... ” she chuckled, taking the cup from Sabinus’ hands, inhaling the scent of the fruit juice. “It’s always refreshing to meet someone with plant passion in their blood.” What she couldn’t agree with him on was his description of the scourge. It was, however, strange that he found it so beautiful. Perhaps he had a point. “I don’t know… I just get entirely bad vibes from it. There’s something I agree with you on though, that word… predator”.

She took a sip from the cup and stayed quiet for a few seconds - pensive in her thoughts for a moment, working out how to string together what she wanted to say. She didn’t want to make it about her from the get go, she asked her leader the following question; “How do you feel about Heleus so far?” She was aware that he had been out of Cryo longer than her, she wondered if over the time he’d been out his feelings had changed.

A pleasant smile crossed his face, his mandibles shifting ever so slightly. He gestured to the cup Naryxa was holding. ”Well, you’re holding real progress in your hands. Things now are how I expected them to be when we arrived, and I won’t lie; there were a lot of times when I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it. By the time I came out, life support was on the verge of failing and they had to seal off most of the station and account for each breath taken.

“The idea to revive most of the labour force was a gamble, because there weren’t enough rations and air to really support more than a handful of people indefinitely. But you would have been amazed at how everyone pulled together, the best minds of the Initiative pulling something truly inspiring out of what nearly was the death of everyone on the ship. It told me that we were going to make it. And now, we have a viable colony that can one day support everyone if need be, and engineering did an incredible amount of work making all of the systems sustainable. So, I’m optimistic. This is home.”

“I’m glad you think so. I trust you” she replied with a slight sigh, she had to speak to Sabinus about what happened, and feeling that the conversation was considerably warm enough now, she began, turning quickly to Sabinus; “Prodromos shook me a little. I nearly lost it… One of those [is]things[/i]-” she said with a shudder “almost killed me. Worst of all, it was me that was going to let it.” He head tilted to the side, the cup close to her lips as she drank more of the fruit juice, turning back to look out at the scourge again. “I appreciate that you believe this to be home, Sabinus, I do. I’m 287 years old - 600 years away from what was my home.”

She thought then of the Citadel, about the attack on it. About her friends and colleagues who had perished in the attack. Looking at the scourge filled her with the same sense of strangeness that she had felt when she had witnessed the destruction. It dawned on her that she had a lot of unresolved feelings over it somewhere, deep down. She had to.

“I was on the Citadel, I was there when it happened you know.” The Asari knew that Sabinus would know what she referred to. “I had a horrible feeling of dread then, and when I look out at the Scourge, and when I looked at the Kett soldier on Eos. I felt the same thing again.”

The Turian listened, his expression remaining one of acceptance. He definitely understood the need for validation and understanding, for he had been lost himself before finding Tanya. ”You have my complete sympathy for what you experienced, I wasn’t there when the attack happened, but I know people who were. The Citadel was supposed to be the safest and most secure place in the galaxy, the place where we could all stand as one knowing that we were there for the same purpose. The Geth changed all of that, and I understand that coping with loss isn’t something that most species are conditioned to expect. We Turians have a history of having entire cities destroyed, hell, even planets, and it doesn’t shake us. We do our duty because it’s expected, and what’s inflicted upon us, we deal back tenfold. It’s why your people and the Salarians asked us to put down the Krogan rebellions, and to be honest, I’ve always expected that I’d find myself in a war where myself and most of my comrades would die. It would be a great victory, something that’s added to our Legion’s banner.” he said quietly, looking over to meet Naryxa’s eyes with a compassionate gaze.

”But I never believed that’s the way go forward as a people. I asked myself even before my term of service came on my 15th birthday if there was another way. Victory at any cost?” he snorted. ”Utterly wasteful and stupid. You don’t throw away lives on gambles or quick victories. I wasn’t hugely popular in the academy, some people called me cowardly because I tried different strategies. I’d retreat, use hit and run tactics, set ambushes… what would take other Fireteam leaders hours to accomplish sometimes took me days. The difference was that those under my command survived, I had by far the lowest casualty figures, and I didn’t needlessly risk equipment. If people wanted a stand up fight or to have glory, I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Instead of going for a killing blow, it was a dozen slashes with a knife. Bleed them dry, make them frustrated… sloppy. My instructors were impatient and those who weren’t in my squad thought I was a hack and un-Turian, but those who were under me grew loyal because we’d win without needlessly throwing their lives away. It’s why, ultimately, I fell into law enforcement instead of military operations.” he said, setting the cup down and looking back out the window, towards the Scourge dancing dangerously outside.

”I tell you this because this is the lessons I’ve brought to APEX, why they picked me to lead a Fireteam. I have the resolve of my people with the flexibility of a human, the compassion of Asari, and the ability to process information like a Salarian.” Sabinus chuckled, grinning in spite of himself. ”At least, that’s what I tell myself in the mirror in the mornings. Tanya tells me to shut up, but we all have our stupid rituals and it’s a goal to aspire towards. It’s okay that you’re scared, that you had a moment of loss and trauma coming back to haunt you… trust me, my partner has her own ghosts that we’ve been working through. She still flinches when she gets too close to Batarians, and she wakes up from fitful nightmares more nights than most people would be comfortable with dealing with. I don’t get a lot of sleep, but you don’t abandon someone because things are hard.” he reached over, placing a hand on Naryxa’s back. He leaned in, bringing himself a few inches closer. ”A lot of people left the Milky Way because it was too painful to stay. Loss seems to be a reoccurring theme amongst most of the colonists, and coming here and finding that our new home is full of horrible monsters that don’t even want to talk before trying to kill us is daunting, you aren’t wrong to fear the Kett. But they are not going to win, and it will be a miserable day of me losing my faith in any of the people under my command before I let them do anything to any of you. Did you know that Tazen and I handpicked everyone in Echo? You were one of the ones I wanted on the roster. There’s a reason for that.”

Naryxa smiled. Sabinus was right. She was glad he had Tanya - even if it was a reminder that she didn’t bring along anyone, and that she was alone. “I’m glad that you have Tanya. It sounds like you both have a beautiful companionship… I think I could have had that once. I ran from it though. Something about us Asari and our very long lives I suppose…” She wanted to open up a little more, there was something about the Turian and the way that he listened and gave himself to conversation that made her feel safe to admit feelings; “I had someone, a human. It was just fooling around for fun at first. But I did have feelings for him so I ended things when he wanted to move to the next level. I would never change anything about my life, Sabinus, but watching my dear father die of old age when I was so young is a fate I wouldn’t want to push on children of my own when the time comes. We live for so long that relationships that last as long as we do are rare and hard to come by…”

Noticing that they had gone entirely off-topic suddenly took her by surprise and she let out a quiet laugh. With that in mind, she didn’t feel quite so alone in Heleus now. She had a friend in Sabinus, and several more potential friends in her teammates. Even the reckless ones - especially the reckless ones. There was something to be learned from beings who lived with such a different philosophy than her own.

“Thank you Sabinus. I feel a lot better all of a sudden…” as she trailed off her sentence, she turned to look at the many people who were going about their day on the Nexus. There was a wealth of opportunity to be found. New beginnings were boundless across the sea of people that had also chased destiny 600 years to find their new home.

He nodded. ”I think everyone looks at a thousand year lifespan as a blessing, but I always thought it would be hard for exactly that reason. Although, you could make some pretty sound investments that would pay off in a few hundred years.” he grinned. ”But I’m sorry to hear about your paramour, I can understand your reasoning, but personally, I think even a few years of being happy is worth it. Even a hundred years is a long time, it’s just something Asari have to come to terms with I suppose. I’ve seen Asari with Salarians before, talk about a short-term commitment. Just don’t be afraid to enjoy yourself, nothing’s eternal, and life’s too short to second guess what feels right.” Sabinus said, offering a knowing nod.

“I suppose the thing of it is, is that while we have these lifespans - they aren’t promised to us. It’s every day that becomes our lifespan, our story. The choices we make and the things that we do.”

“I even guess it’s the things that we don’t do that can come to define us, and become chapters in the story of our lives. We’re all starting a new chapter now, aren’t we? We’re here and it’s time to come together and make something of Heleus.” She felt a strong sense of hope growing within herself, like a plant almost. A tiny plant that had seeded itself within and was waiting for energy so that it could bloom. She turned again and looked into Sabinus’s eyes with a warm smile; “I really appreciate this. I think… I think I’m ready to continue writing my story. I’m looking forward to how it pans out…” Now she could look at the Scourge without the instinctual fear, when she stared into the knots and make-up of it all, it looked like golden threads shimmering against the charcoal veil of endless, infinite space.

Serena walked up to where Khosin had made his temporary quarters, knocking on the door. It hadn’t been easy to find the batarian, Khosin both liking his privacy and being very quick whenever he left his hidey-hole. But now she had him cornered, and she wasn’t about to let him wiggle out of getting out of this hole, or at the very least doing something other than drinking. She banged on the door, calling out as she did so. ”Khosin, I know you’re in there. Open up, I wanna talk!”

”I’m gonna give you two minutes, then I’m hacking the door open!”

Khosin was dimly aware of the sound of knocking on his door, groaning as he shifted on the bed “Who the fuck is bothering me now.” His sleep-addled mind wondered, thankfully the second statement made by his mysterious visitor made it clear who she was: Serena. “Shit. Fuck.” He immediately thought as he noticed the bottle-littered floor of his apartment.

It wasn’t like he had drunk them all just now, but he doubted that particular distinction would ease any of Serena’s concerns. “I’m going, I’m going, there’s no need to hack my door.” Khosin said, voice hoarse from drinking up until a few hours ago. The Batarian stumbled his way to the door, discarded empty bottles falling into the ground and making a clink sound that’d be audible if Serena was paying attention. “Well, here I am, something’s the matter Serena?” Khosin asked once he finally managed to open the door.

He was still wearing his usual set of clothings, which were mercifully unstained by vomit or alcohol stains, but he wasn’t wearing his prosthesis, which rested on the table near his bed. If the hoarse voice didn’t give it away, the stench of alcohol that emanated from Khosin and his blood-shot eyes. Albeit one would only known that if they had lived with a Batarian for a long period of time, made it abundantly clear that the Batarian soldier had been drinking, not to mention drunk, up until a few hours ago.

Serena frowned as she heard bottles being tossed to the ground and Khosin stumbling around. He likely had been drinking nonstop since they got on shore leave, which was why she was here in the first place. Her nose wrinkled reflexively as the strong smell of alcohol wafted through the door and hit her full force. He had been drinking a lot since they got on the Nexus. Briefly, she wondered how he had gotten so much alcohol to his room before deciding it didn’t matter. It wasn’t why she was here anyway. She looked him up and down, frown giving way to weary concern. She couldn’t nag him to stop, that’d only result in him closing both himself off and the door in her face. ”I wanted to work on your arm and see how you were doing. Now that I have the answer to the latter, get dressed and take a cold shower. We’re gonna go somewhere quiet in the Nexus. I haven’t talked to you in several centuries,” She chuckled, pleased with her humor, “and I want to catch up with you. So come on.” She walked into his room idly kicking bottles out of her way as she made her way to his arm. “Lets go, chop chop. It’s better to work in places that are filled with stars and space.”

“Fine.” Khosin said with a sigh. He knew that there was no sense discussing with Serena when she got like this “But on one condition, whatever we talk about stays between the two of us. It doesn’t go Sabinius or Tazen, nor to any of the Riggers that made the trip to Andromeda, is that clear?” He asked her, crossing his arms as he did so, his four eyes looking directly at hers.

”You don’t have to worry about me.” Serena proclaimed, saluting him with his prosthetic arm. Depending on how the conversation went, she was definitely going to tell someone about it. But she hadn’t lied. Khosin didn’t need to worry about her at all. She was going to worry about him.

With her confirmation, he started making his way to his bathroom “There’s some dried food or some shit in here, feel free to eat. There’s also some water if you want to drink something.” He said before closing the door to his bathroom.

I’m surprised you know what water is anymore. Serena thought, staring at all the empty bottles of alcohol with another concerned frown.

It didn’t took him too long to get ready, 10 minutes at the most, and soon Khosin was presentable enough to go outside and take a walk through the Nexus. “I’d put the arm but, since you want to check it, I’ll forego doing that.” He said, chuckling a little bit “You haven’t forgotten I know a bit about engineering, right? I keep it in good condition, I promise.” He told Serena softly, making his way towards the door.

”Mhmm, I’m sure you think you do. I remember that those engineering skills were focused in engines, not robotics. Allow me to fuss over it. It’s what I do.” Serena said idly, scanning the arm and tucking it beneath her own arm. She looked Khosin up and down, pleased he had actually put effort into going out into the Nexus. She had half expected him to dunk his face in water and maybe spray something over his clothes.
“Come, if you insist dragging me out into the Nexus, lets get it over with quickly. Not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but I kind of get a lot of stares. Both from the Angara and our own, they are entirely different kind of stares but they are still annoying.” He said with nonchalance as he opened the door that led out of his temporary quarters, waiting for Serena to take the lead and get out.

Serena waved a nonchalant hand. ”If people stare too long, just cross all four of your eyes at them. Really freak them out. Then we can go about our business. Follow me!” She marched out of the room with a certain enthusiasm, heading towards one of the more secluded places of the Nexus. She kept up a small stream of chatter as she guided him to her chosen spot, occasionally glaring at people who got too rude when staring, talking about nothing in particular except whatever basic nicety passed her mind. She finally sat down against one of the large windows of the Nexus, patting the ground next to her for Khosin to sit at. It was away from any major hubs, and stared almost directly into the Scourge, so people tended to avoid it.

Khosin frowned slightly at Serena’s words but he followed her nonetheless, grateful for the chatter that she provided to keep him distracted from the stares that he got from some of the people walking around the station. He let out a sigh when they finally arrived at the spot that Serena seemed to have chosen, complying with her order and sitting next to her.

”Here’s perfect. It even solves your staring problem.” She sat with her legs crossed, Khosin’s prosthetic in her lap, omni-tools turning into a screwdriver as she began opening the arm up and looking it over.

”So, who gave you the shiner?” She gestured to the bruise along his jaw, relatively fresh, like it had happened only a day ago.

“I suppose that’s true, I hate getting stared at like a freak.” Muttered the Batarian with displeasure “You’d have thought that after so many months I’d have gotten used to it, but not really.” He said with a sigh, turning his head towards Serena to see her working on his arm. He was about to speak his mind to tell her that he’d already given the prosthesis regular maintenance the day they had gotten back to the Nexus but Serena’s question caused him to shut his mouth, his body tensing.

The question brought his mind back to the argument that he had had with Dex the other day, the punch from the Turian woman and the way that she had left but not after screeching at him in her fury. Now he felt bad about the whole argument, but also frustrated. “Why can’t she try and understand where I’m coming from.” He thought with a sigh, making a quick mental note to try and patch things up with Dex at a later date...for now they both needed some space.

“Dex.” He answered finally after a few more seconds of silent pondering whether to tell the truth to Serena or not “We were talking and, well, things got kinda heated.” Spoke Khosin, guilt palpable in his voice “Please, don’t pester her about this ok? For now I think we both need to mull over what happened and then patch things up, alright?”

Serena pursed her lips, as she cleaned an already spotless gear in Khosin’s arm. She didn’t like what Dex had done, only because it was largely useless due to Khosin’s mental state. ”Hmm. I’m gonna guess that it was over whatever event that happened in your past and whatever happened in the Hegemony, both of which you’ll only tell her, and this self-loathing bullshit spiral you’re on right now. Because Dex and I, if you recall, got into heated screaming matches a lot while on the Borealis and she never once struck me. So I’m gonna say that you deserved it. Not for the reasons you think, however, so that makes it a largely ineffective tactic in trying to get your head out of the muck.”

Serena held up a hand to forestall any protests from her friend. ”And before you say anything, I’m not gonna nag or plead with you to stop drinking, that you’re a good person despite what you think, that this isn’t you, because I’ve already told you all those things Khosin, and that was when your drinking wasn’t this bad. You already know everything I have to tell you. You just don’t care. And that’s the problem. We can’t make you see what’s good about you if you refuse to see it yourself, or even care for what we say. So. I’m not gonna yell at you or nag you or any of that, because it won’t work. I am, however, going to be here for you. You’re family Khosin. And I don’t give up on family. She paused in her work for a moment to smile at him. She couldn’t make the batarian stop, but she could be there for him through it all.

Khosin tensed up at Serena’s mention of his so-called ‘self-loathing bullshit spiral’, his nails painfully digging into the palm of his hands and his teeth gritting together. “Of course she’d call it that, explaining anything wouldn’t change anything. It didn’t for Dex and I doubt it would do anything for Serena.” The Batarian thought bitterly, frustration quietly but steadily rising up inside of him the more that Serena spoke. “If you truly care for me, if we are truly family…” Khosin began, fighting to keep his composure, “Don’t call what I’m going through bullshit.” He finished, practically seething with frustration, his nails still digging into his palm.

“You don’t know what I’ve been through, what I’ve done, so if you do care about me, don’t try to downplay what I’m going through. Not ever again.” He spoke, blood slowly but steadily dripping from his palms as he continued to dig his nails into the flesh of his hand, “I’m not so weak as to reach this point over trivial nothingness, what I carry is a heavy burden...forgive me if I’m being melodramatic but, please, if you truly consider me family don’t try and downplay what I’m going through.” He finished with a sigh. He knew that he was repeating himself, and that he truly had not addressed what Serena had said to him, but the way that Serena, and Dex, treated what he was going through infuriated him. What did they know of the blood that he carried on his hands? Of the guilt in his mind? Nothing, but the least they could do is try and recognise that what he was going through wasn’t some petty bullshit as both women had called it.

Serena’s eyes flicked briefly to his hand before meeting a pair of his eyes again. At least he was showing something other than depressed self-loathing. The fact that he reacted so harshly only confirmed hers suspicions of what he’s done. Oh Khosin. The past is the past, but you’re still letting it eat you alive. ”You’re right. I don’t. Because you won’t tell me. And I don’t think you ever will.” She paused, giving him an opportunity to prove her wrong. When he didn’t, she continued.

You know what I do know? I know that on the Borealis you were willing to die for people that hated you. I know that you ran across an open area through gunfire to save Iosef when a bullet took him through the leg. I know that you shielded Tanya from a rocket blast with your own body, when she was at her worst to you. I know that you have saved my life on too many occasions to count, purely because you’re a good man. Evil people don’t do those things Khosin. You made mistakes, so have we all. Maybe your mistakes are soul crushingly serious. That doesn’t change who you are now. Monsters don’t do this to themselves because of what they’ve done, Khosin.” Serena sighed, closing up his arm and leaning back.

”I’ll make you a deal Khosin. I won’t downplay whatever it is in your past that’s eating you up. You won’t downplay whenever Dex and I and whoever else say that the past is the past and all that matters is what you do now, and that everything you’ve done now has been the acts of a man who deserves better than what he’s doing to himself now.” Serena held out Khosin’s prosthetic arm to him. ”Deal?”

Khosin let out Serena speak in silence, shoulders sagged as he listened to his friend as she tried to convince him that he was a good person. “You don’t understand,” He said with a sigh, shaking his head slightly, “How can I leave all that I’ve done behind like it didn’t happen? All the blood that is in my hands, all the lives cut short because of my actions…” The Batarian spoke, his voice haunted with regret and guilt. “If I don’t tell you it’s not because I don’t trust you, it’s merely because it wouldn’t make a difference.” He tried to explain to Serena. He had told Dex, and even when she knew some of the things he had done at Mindoir she still didn’t understand why he still carried the guilt.

“There’s something I once heard ‘Life is but a grace period before death’” Said Khosin with a sigh “I’ve spent most of my grace period making the universe worse. That’s why I’m here in the Initiative, because I want to do some good before I’m gone, it’s why I still get up every day, even if most of the people here hate me even more than Tanya did at her worst.” He continued, shaking his head a bit, “As for why I did all that...well, it should be obvious, you guys were...well, family. I couldn’t let any of you die. Sure, I wasn’t as close to Tanya or Iosef as you were but I still cared about ‘em, well I still care about Tanya since she came with us Iosef’s probably long dead since he didn’t came to Andromeda.”

“But, back to the point,” He said as he shook his head “I also knew that other people in the Borealis cared about them, like you, which is why I couldn’t let them die. It’s not like I did it for some higher, altruistic, purpose.” The Batarian finished with a sigh, shaking his head at the ‘deal’ that Serena offered him “But I can’t do that Serena, the ghosts of what I did, the guilt I carry, won’t go away because of a pep talk, I doubt that they’ll go even with therapy.” He tried to explain himself, even though he knew it was most likely in vain. How could he deserve better than what he was doing to himself? He had been complicit in one of the worst atrocities seen in the Milky Way, and even before then he had been doing the Hegemony’s dirty work for years before he finally lost any and all shred of morality or decency by joining the Mindoir Raid.

“I know this isn’t easy to hear, and I know you’ll try and convince me otherwise, but it’s the truth Serena, as unpleasant and hurtful as it is.”

”And here I was, thinking my pep talks were things of healing and beauty.” Serena cracked a smile, but it never reached her eyes. It hurt to hear all of this, his refusal to even try to see things their way. But it was all she could do now. She would keep working on him later, but right now she wasn’t getting anywhere. Handing him back his arm, Serena paused in thought. They needed something to change the conversation too that wouldn’t circle back to Khosin’s depression. ”You know, I’m rebuilding BARAT in the Heleus Cluster. I could use an experienced engineer to help me with the whole process. We’ve got a lot of new materials and objects to figure out, and I need someone to help with that. What do you say?”

Khosin let out yet another sigh at Serena’s reaction. Humans might as well be an open book for how easily readable their emotions where, “Serena, I ain’t saying this to hurt you needlessly. I’m telling you this now so that you at least understand, and to spare you any future pain.” He tried to explain himself even though he knew that it was, most likely, useless. “As for your comment on BARAT, sure, I can lend a hand but, please, no A.I. attached to the robot this time, ok?” He said softly, “The Initiative might be looser than the Milky Way society when it comes to A.I’s but there are still more than a few skeptics, not to mention rules to follow like those against unshackled A.I.” He cautioned his friend, “Please promise me you’ll steer clear of anything related to artificial intelligence?”

”In my defense, BARAT AI wasn’t planned. That just happened accidentally.” She squirmed in minor embarrassment, completely ignoring his first statement. He wasn’t doing any of that, and he should know better than to try to say he was. ”So it’s settled. You’ll help me one day out of our shore leave to work on BARAT. You’ll have to be sober for that, you know. Can’t muck about with alien technology while drunk as a skunk.”

She nudged him lightly with her arm. ”Can’t have you becoming the first Initiative member to have Remnant tech grafted to them or something like that.”

“I should probably be a bit tipsy you know, we don’t want another incident of ‘sudden A.I.’ here in Androemda, do we?” Khosin said with a light chuckle, shaking his head slightly “Seriously, be careful about with how much tinker for the drone’s V.I. ok? I think more than one person would flip if an A.I. suddenly formed.”

He groaned slightly at her joke about RemTech “Please don’t joke about that, you do know that there are strict laws about tinkering with the stuff right?” He said to her, “In fact, if my memory isn’t failing me, the protocol is that the Pathfinders, and only them, are the ones that are allowed to mess around with that stuff and that’s on account of their S.A.M’s so, best to steer clear of that, promise?”

”Whaaat? Me? Tinker with extremely-fascinating-self-healing-advanced alien technology? Why would I ever do that?” Serena sputtered in mock disbelieve. ”I’m offended Khosin. I really am. You think I would positively leap at the opportunity to tinker with and study Remtech? Perish the thought.

”Just out of curiosity, how strict are these strict laws?” Serena pretended to study her nails nonchalantly, as if she wasn’t balancing the risk against the possible rewards of breaking those laws.

Khosin groaned in quiet frustration at Serena’s words, massaging his temple with his fingertips. “You do know you are talking with someone who was part of the security detail right? I should probably drag you to jail now before you activate a factory full of murderbots under Prodromos or something.” The Batarian said, shaking his head slightly.

“I’m serious Serena, these laws are in place for a reason. We don’t know enough about RemTech to use it safely, this isn’t like Prothean tech that was pretty much ‘plug and go’, this shit is dangerous and I don’t want to see you fry your brain or set loose a murderous A.I. on us ‘cause you were tinkering with shit that you don’t understand.” He said to her, frowning at her nonchalance “I’m serious Serena, I swear to the Pillars if you break these laws I’ll report you myself and for your own good, is that clear?”

”Pfffft.” Serena sputtered at Khosin’s words, raising an eyebrow at him. ”You couldn’t drag me to jail Khosin. Check my bags before and after Remnant missions? Sure. Remove any RemTech that might accidentally fall into my pockets in the process of the mission? Absolutely. But actually drag me to jail or have me dragged to jail? You couldn’t. You know why?” She leaned forward and poked his nose, giggling.

”It’s cause you’re a big softie. And we both know it.”

Khosin groaned again, shaking his head. “I think you are underestimating what I am capable of doing for those I care about.” He said, frowning at the human girl “And, unfortunately for you, I do care for you. So, if the only way to stop you getting your hands into RemTech, and out of trouble consequently, is to drag you to jail, I’ll do it, even if you wind up disabling my prosthesis.” The Batarian said, his frown stil set on his face “I’m deadly serious about this stuff Serena, no RemTech at all, am I clear?” Asked Khosin, already mentally preparing himself from yet another nonchalant response from the part of the pink-haired engineer.

Serena sighed. ”I miss when you would just quietly chuckle and let me do my inane experiments and research. But fine, no messing with RemTech. At all.” She extended a pinky towards Khosin. ”Pinky Promise.”

“That’s because back in the Milky Way you wouldn’t go mucking around with Prothean Tech or any other insane shit like that. And, even then, you still wound up making an A.I. by accident. So I’d say my concerns are warranted.” He said, extending his pinky and wrapping it around Serena’s “Alright, pinky promise. Even though I still got no idea what this entails.” He said, letting out a chuckle. “Though, I think we are done here, unless you wanna tinker with my arm some more. C’mon, if you insist on nagging me so much the least you can do is come back with me to my quarters.”

---

There were many things that Naryxa had wanted to do on her shore leave. It wasn’t like a real shore leave, seeing as they weren’t on a shore per se, and were instead, suspended in space on a station. Still, it was refreshing to not have to think about the Kett, and to at least have the downtime she had wished she’d had prior to being removed from Cryo and blasted into a mission. She felt at home on a station. The Citadel had been her home during her time in the Milky Way, and in many ways, the Nexus was akin to the Citadel in that it was a hub for the many races. Only now, there was a new race to learn about - the Angara.

The Asari hadn’t done much reading into them yet, she was simply too excited about one area of the Nexus… The Hydroponics Garden. She rushed out of bed that morning, stretched in much too blasé of a fashion that she almost twisted a ligament in her knee as she left her quarters. Nothing was going to bring her down on this day as she bounced with a spring in her step over to the garden, a clipboard and pad in hand.

She observed first the varieties of trees that had thrived in the conditions created. Whomever had designed the garden had done their research well in finding the most appealing flora that added a tranquil ambience to the Nexus. It was like a little slice of heaven in among the chaos. She had heard that it was a Dr Camden who was head of the Hydroponic Sciences. She made a mental note to seek him out at some point for a chat, she would love to know about what they were doing, and perhaps even offer some assistance.

She looked around the trees, practically climbing into their beds to inspect them closely from the roots to the leaves. She was in her element, oblivious to her surroundings, and it cleared her mind entirely to be sat in a fresh bush.

One such fellow patron was returning for a visit. Dex returned to the Gardens in a vain hope to see Khosin. After cooling down significantly she was filled with guilt over how she treated him. She had nothing prepared, just a sincere sorry. The protesters didn’t interest her as they did before, clearly seeing her own problems weren’t so easily sworn off. Bad habits as they are.

Dex circled around one of the flowerbeds, looking over them with mild interest seeing vibrant colours native from all over the milky way galaxy. Unable to recognize any of them. She continued walking to the copse of trees and saw the unfamiliar sight of a blue asari head among the bushes. She squinted recognizing her strange teammate Naryxa Kesir. Literally becoming one with nature. Dex figured she was now practicing being a tree with actual trees.

“You’ll learn from no better mentors how to be a tree from a tree.” She called out. “Thought you did pretty alright on your own though.”

She’d have been lying to say that she knew her teammate was behind her while she ran her thumb over the topsoil, checking for water level. It only slightly took her by surprise. She chuckled softly at the Turian’s words, noticing for the second time that she was a very quick-witted individual. She had liked Dex from the off, she gave off a rebellious aura that settled and simmered down into something soft, warm, and inviting - and funny. The Turian was a package alright.

“Dexuret Noratus, it’s good to hear your voice again.” She wiped her hands down on the leggings she was wearing as she came up for air, smiling brightly at Dex. “I’m beginning to think you’re itching to get your tree on too - I think you do protest too much about them…”

“Besides, I wasn’t pretending to be a tree - I’m checking moisture levels… It’s all rather fascinating what Dr Camden has done out here. I still think he needs to add some more colour though. Not a single flower planted along here - just bush… Oh well, I guess I wasn’t brought here to be a gardener…” her voice trailed off after she heard the voices of the protesters. That noise had always been there, she just hadn’t paid it much attention. It was an awkward kind of din playing out in the distance.

“What brings you out this way anyway? You look like you have a bit of purpose behind that smile…”

Dex laughed, “Call me Dex, please.”

Stepping up to join her, the protester’s noise was distracting. “Gardening looks relaxing, never really had an appreciation for it growing up. My home planet was in it’s megafauna stage so the garden came to you.” She looked around reconfirming what she already knew, “I was hoping to run into Khosin again over here but it looks like he’s not around.” She hummed relief, “Glad I ran into you, instead.”

Up close without her helmet Dex could see the Asari’s facial tattoos, bold reds lining her brows and the same colour on her lips. Dex appreciated facial tattoos on other species, as she’s been told, it’s far more painful procedure on soft tissues than facial plating. For Naryax it accentuated the frame of her face and complimented the colours of her skin. Good choices. From what she remembered reading about her career, she was accomplished with the Asari Commandos - a huntress to boot and mercenary work. Work experience hardly reflected what any one person was truly interested in, in Naryax’s case - she liked gardening.

“Learn more about your teammates out of armour than on the field.” Dex said, an eye on the protesters. “You like gardening and I like live theatre, I heard there’s an improv group that meets once a week. Might check it out while we’re here.” She stretched her arms above her head, loosening her shoulders. “There’s so much to do and squeeze in to just a few days off, I have an itch to scratch - there wasn’t much of a chance even on Prodromos, no privacy.” Relaxing back down she leaned against the tree.

She considered Naryax, Dex hadn’t anything really prepared for talking to Khosin, whether that’d be during shore leave or not. It probably wouldn’t hurt to ask for some wisdom.

“Actually, I was hoping to get some advice. A bit of perspective, if you want to call it that. You’re free to tell me to fuck off, but I think it’s safe of me to think you’re not the type?” Dex ventured.

Naryxa just let her talk, she listened intently to her words, giving a nod every now and then, noting how Dex changed her body language when she mentioned Khosin. She had to think about it for a moment before realising that Khosin was the Batarian. She hadn’t really had a chance to interact with him on Prodromos. She hadn’t really interacted with anyone. Just the Krogan and a human woman. The whole thing felt like it was hazed over to her, she could only just put some of the more prominent details together to form a coherent string of a memory. The mission had been a success, but it hadn’t made Naryxa feel good to think back on it.

“Khosin is the Batarian. I… I only kind of remember him, I’m sorry. Everything is a bit of a blur to me from that mission.”

“You’re always free to ask me some advice… I can’t promise it will be what you want to hear, but you can trust I will be honest. From your tone, I’m thinking that your last run in with Khosin was less than stellar?”

Dex nodded, “Yeah, that’s Khosin. He and I got into it and I lost my temper.” She paused, that was a huge understatement. “... I lost my shit actually. Punched him then screeched in his face.”

She scratched at her facial scar, “Before you ask, I can’t say why I was mad. Not my secret to share.” She folded her arms, “He threw up this wall, his eyes were fogged over. Just couldn’t break through, no matter what I said.”

“How do you deal with someone like that? I’m not well equipped for dealing with trauma or bottomless guilt.” She admitted quietly, searching for the right word, “I react. It never ends well.”

“It’s not your job to deal with him” began the Asari, looking Dex in the eyes as she spoke “it’s not your job. Plain and simple. It sounds like you’re tethered to him for some reason and sometimes the best thing you can do for the both of you is to sever it.” What she knew already of Dex suggested to her that the advice would be unorthodox to her, that it might even anger her for Naryxa to suggest it.

Dex sharply narrowed her eyes at Naryxa, remaining quiet. Her mandibles flattened, arms crossed. She listened regardless.

“I don’t mean to forget him, or stop loving him, but you need to sever this feeling of you being responsible for him. It would do you both good. It’s hard, but... “ she stopped to let out a breath and began to stare off slightly in the distance. Thinking of a time when she had done it herself before she finished what she was saying; “you are letting him leech your spirit and it brings out the worst in you.”

Dex relaxed a little, but the notion of severing herself from Khosin’s problems wasn’t completely ridiculous. Who else would he turn to, what would keep him in check? APEX and the Initiative was the safety net. They weren’t on the Borealis and it really wasn’t her job to keep the crazy contained or pacify them. They were all apart of the militia.

A handful of minutes passed, both Naryxa and Dex were wrapped in their own thoughts. Dex reasoned, “I have some history with Khosin and some of the other members of our team. Back then I fell into this role of reigning in certain people to keep a semblance balance. We’re not a mercenary crew anymore, we’re apart of APEX. So, you’re right… It’s really not my responsibility to deal with Khosin.”

“Thanks Naryxa. There’s not much I can do when he’s not even willing to help himself let alone have anyone else help. I think I know what to do.” She said, smiling then sinking slowly to her butt with a long winded sigh. “I didn’t realize what a relief that’d be to admit something like that.”

“Seems obvious in the big picture.”

“Sometimes you need to hear it from someone else - and want to hear it in the first place. Only then is it obvious.” She had to laugh at her own words, and how truly sage it had sounded. Like a character from one of those Earthly movies. Cheesy, she believed was the word to describe it.

She watched as Dex gave her a nod and continued on her way, and Naryxa held onto the scene for a few more moments, watching once again, people come and go. A feeling of anticipation stirred within her. She had enjoyed her chat with the Turian, and had enjoyed her company for that short while even more so. Andromeda wasn’t just about physically building a home, but it was about creating home in the people that you met and worked with. She realised that the small interaction with Dex was the start of another beautiful friendship in Heleus, and at the thought, she smiled.

"Kargad? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

A bolt of panic shot from heart to hump as Kargad sat up straight, again, and tried hastily to regain his composure. He dreaded to think what the people of APEX would think of him if they saw him so low, given how poor an impression he was already making. He stowed his locket away beneath the breastplate of his armour, and tried his best to force a smile - although they looked unconvincing on a Krogan in the best of moods, nevermind one who felt so lost. He was fortunate enough to have not been crying… at least, not in this instant... but his fine green eyes were still glazed by the film of tears shed earlier, and the streaks they had left down his cheeks still caught the unnatural light of the hydroponic heat lamps. On the face of a man sired by a hardy warrior race, the remnants of a tearful sadness made his likeness even more alien.

He spoke with a measured tone, drawn from the stomach. Artificially deep, and gruff, to hide the quiver in his voice.

”Oh, Serena!”

He recognised this human. She was the fidget. She’d been on his team during the training exercise, also. He answered her warily, for fear she would look at him the way the Asari had.

”Ah, y’know, I’m… it’s… I was just, praying, you know?”, he laughed, terse and unconvincing, ”There isn’t much else to do around these part, seems like.”

Serena stared at Kargad in surprise for a brief moment. She had never actually seen a krogan cry, or even look like they had just gotten done crying. Honestly, she had always unconsciously thought they were incapable of it, and the sight of Kargad, obviously trying to pretend like he hadn’t been, was something that jarred her experiences with and general knowledge of the krogan race. Her surprise only lasted a second, however, before being replaced with empathy. Whatever Kargad was feeling, it must be serious.

“Oh, Kargad, we both know that’s not true.” Serena said gently, hand still on his shoulder. “I’ve seen you praying before, and this isn’t how it leaves you. Stoic, yeah. Joyful, a lot of the time. But not this sadness. What’s wrong? I’ve never seen you like this. I promise I won’t think of you any less for it. You’ll still be the tough, capable krogan that took down a fiend within twenty-four hours of meeting me.” She smiled encouragingly, winking her robotic eye at him, the eye changing color to match his in the process. ”Besides, we’re teammates. It’s our job to be there for each other, no matter what.”

He faltered for a moment. A kind smile, and suddenly, an eye of soft and placid green. His eye. For an instant, he saw his eldest in her: Kalayla, gentle and sincere. There was little compromise as to which parent Kalayla looked most like, but Kargad, in his heart of hearts, knew the calm green of her eyes to be his.

But just as suddenly, Kalayla was gone again. Or, she had never arrived. Kargad smiled, a little more sincerely but also undoubtedly sadly, and slumped down into his chair. He exhaled, and tried not to choke on his words. He spoke slowly.
“I… mm. When the… the uprising, I suppose they’re calling it… when that happened, I fought for the Nexus. For Tann, and for people like Tann. Pencil pushers, head-nodders. People I can’t stand. ‘cause I figured they had the best shot of making this shitshow work.”
He looked down at his hands. Clenched his fingers and thumb into a three-part fist.
“I didn’t care about the council seat. I cared that they lied to us, sure, but I didn’t do it for that, anyway. Asari, Salarians, Turians… they’re never gonna see us as equals, I knew that from the start. Everything I did, I did ‘cause I wanted to make this place sustainable. For my girls. I’d do anything for my daughters... and I guess that included hurtin’ other people, scared and hopelessly stranded on a strange new frontier.”
He was quiet for a moment, then lifted his head and gestured with it towards the Nexus at large.
“And after the other krogan left, I stuck around to help build. Rebuild. And it was all for them. But they’re still not here. And if what happened to the human ark…”

Kargad stopped, and choked up. Struggled to breathe around his words for a few seconds, and then brought his fist down on the table before him suddenly. The thought filled him with dread, and the helplessness complimented that dread with impotent rage.
He spoke with purpose, but the purpose was directionless. His anger seemed reserved not to the circumstances, but to himself for not somehow overextending to prevent them.
“What if they never come? What if they’re out there, right now, yelling for me to help them? What if me and Revixtia dragged ‘em along for another one of our self-indulgent adventures, and we…”
Choke. The krogan seized on his own words for a half-second. Then breathed deep, and composed himself. A father sometimes needs to put on a brave face.
“What if we killed them? If I’m real honest, I just... don’t know what I’d have left. I... just… I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to them, and every day the chances of ‘em havin’ survived the journey seems to get slimmer...”

Serena didn’t think, just reacted, hugging the big krogan. She wanted to make him feel better, but wasn’t the right person and didn’t have the right knowledge to fix his heartache. She could, however, do her best to reassure him. After a second she remembered that they were basically strangers, and hugging someone she had all of five minutes of conversation with was weird and personal space invasive.

She took a step back, blushing in embarrassment. ”Sorry. A hug from a stranger is probably the last thing you want right now.” Now that she had made a magnificent fool of herself already , Great way to get to know him outside of combat! she could get on with attempting to make him feel better. She sat down across from him, smiling earnestly. ”Kargad, they’re not dead I’m absolutely sure of that. The Asari pathfinder is the best in the galaxy at making peace between two wildly different cultures, and her second is a hugely successful and widely respected Asari commando general. They’re going to get the Ark here safe. They’re going to get your girls here safe. I’m absolutely sure of that. You’re going to see them again, and then you’re going to get a hug you actually want. Two of them in fact. Leusinia will be in any day now, and we’ll have secured a spot for your daughters. Just remember that Kargad. Everything you do is preparing a spot for them.” She spoke encouragingly, hoping to lift his spirits.

” And I’m sure Ryder will fix what Tann and the rest did wrong. Pathfinder’s are supposed to bring us together. Things are already getting better. We’ve just got to keep doing our parts.”

Kargad bucked up a little bit, at least. Not necessarily because he believed her, but because he appreciated the effort. And the hug.
That last part seemed troubling, though. A human trait, maybe - unrealistic optimism. He admired it, envied it even.
”Thanks, Serena…” he looked down at the table again, although this time in thought.
”Do you really think the Human Pathfinder is gonna shake things up, though? Somehow fix this whole krogan debacle? Sometimes I wonder if it isn’t just hardcoded into people’s DNA.”

Serena smiled in relief to see him perking up, at least a little bit. ”Of course. Just as much debacles and messes like this are hardcoded into people’s DNA, so is the potential to fix and heal. Take the krogan themselves for example. They lashed out against the galaxy in the Rebellions, which made a mess right? But they also saved the galaxy from the Rachni, which fixed a mess. We all have the potential for bad things, Kargad. But we also all have the potential to do good things. Sometimes it seems like people give into that former potential way more than the latter, but I assure you, there will always be more people willing to help and fix than there is willing to hurt and destroy. Just look at the initiative now. We met an entire race who seems hell bent on destroying us. But we also just met an race who is willing to trust us and help us. There’s always good in the universe Kargad. Always.”

He nodded along: “I’ve never doubted that. I believe it - in a way I guess I have to. But it’s always seemed to me that the council races have never wanted to entertain the idea there might be good in krogans.”
He reclined again, and glanced at the plants around them. Flora from familiar worlds. Some of them likely from places the krogan had coveted in The Rebellions.
”The Krogans’ crime was wanting what the Asari, Turians and Salarians took for granted. We were babes blinkin’ into a whole new, expanded horizon, and we overreacted, sure - but do you think a galactic community willin’ to forgive and forget could dream something like the Genophage up?”
Each and every plant here would have their genetic offspring cultivated on new worlds, in a new galaxy. Krogans dreamed of that sort of freedom.
”We needed reprimanding, I’m not denyin’ it. I’ve never thought the Rebellions were the right way to go… but I can appreciate what my ancestors were thinkin’. We’re just like anybody else. Just like humans. We had dreams, and goals. We wanted more than our burnt up husk of a planet, and we tried to take it. Like your Shanxi, maybe. But humans got given the benefit of the doubt - so did Batarians. It was only Krogan who got the brutal put-down. And I think it’s because, from the very start, other races have thought of us as lesser.”

He watched a Salarian wander past, eyes glued to his datapad. There was no malice in Kargad’s face, just a pondering. Another sort of sadness, an ancient one.
”Do you know what the Salarians said to us, when they came to arm themselves against the Rachni? Krogans do. It’s like an ancestral memory, almost. They told us they were uplifting us. Like we were dirt. Like we were dirt and they were Gods, trying to pull us up from the filth. And then, again like Gods, when we misbehaved they cursed us. I don’t think people ever had the Krogan in mind as peers. We were always weapons to them, our lives worthless- expendable at birth- unless we were laying them down against the Rachni. The Salarians thought so. The Turians thought so. Tann thought so. People wonder why Krogans are so brutal, so war-focused. Sometimes I do too. I think it’s because we know that it’s all people think we’re good for. We fight risky and up close, even amongst ourselves, because fighting to survive is the only time we feel as though our lives are worth fighting for…”

Kargad caught himself rambling, staring hollowly at the space the Salarian had been, moments before. He shook his head, and forced a short laugh.
“Sorry, nevermind me. I’ve heard Salarians say Krogans have a victim complex. Maybe they’re right, huh? Maybe they’re right.”

”I think you’re misunderstanding why the other Council races look down on krogan so much. They’re afraid of you, Kargad. Each and everyone one of you is a soldier. You have redundant organs, tough skin, can heal from bullet wounds, and your battle rage. Before the Genophage, you bred faster than any sentient race in existence. You were the perfect race for conquering worlds and after the Rachni you did just that, only being fought to a stand still by the turians. It was a war of attrition after that, which you would have won in the end. After the Genophage you were finally stopped, and the rest of the races allowed their fear to turn into distaste and hatred, because that made them feel better. They claim they can’t allow you to be cured because you’re ‘lesser barbarians’, but really they’re scared of what would happen if the Genophage was removed. And so, they treat you like second class citizens. Which, in turn, makes the krogan act like the other races expect them too, which in turn makes them keep treating you like second class citizens, and it's a vicious cycle. But you and I both know that krogans have the potential to be so much more. Honorable protectors, hard workers, loyal friends. I’ve seen all those things in the krogan I’ve worked with.

She gestured all around her, with both hands. Passion filled her voice, her eyes shining. She really, truly, believe in the original image of the Initiative that Jien Garson had proposed, the original idea that had gone away within hours of getting here. She still believed it was a possibility, something that could be forced into shape with grit and determination. ”Andromeda was supposed to be a fresh start at that. We screwed that up when everything went to hell in a handbasket, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fix it. The Pathfinder will bring us together, because that’s what Pathfinders do. As for APEX? We just have to keep showing them how to act. That science team thought we were heroes. Thought you were a hero. That changed their views. We can show them how things are, mission by mission. I know we can. And eventually, we’ll do what we set out to do. Unity and peace. The dream is still there. We just have to seize it.”

”With APEX, Kargad, we’re gonna change the entirety of the Heleus Cluster.”

”A hero…”, Kargad repeated, a little lower, a little softer. With the sort of meaningful, hopeful fascination a child would afford the same concept. The word excited him.

Kargad felt a fondness growing with every dream Serena described, a paternal warmth in his bosom. She spoke with the sort of emphatic optimism, the sort he’d known from Kalayla, six hundred years ago. Was it a consequence of youth, he wondered - and did that even matter?
He didn’t believe her, he couldn’t: humans were the new kids on the court, they couldn’t possibly know the hurt of having watched generations lose their breaths in the cradle. If the genophage was an option for the krogan, why not the Rachni? Why drag the krogan, kicking and screaming, into the lives of second-class galactic citizens at all?

And yet. The notion was so winsome, and Serena’s tone so convicted, that it overwrote his disbelief with endearment. He supposed, right in this moment, the continuation of the cycle was theory. This was not the Milky Way, and this time humankind was also in play. The Initiative was a shitshow, it was undeniable: but with brilliant young hearts like Serena’s, like Kalayla’s, to build its foundations on, there was a chance. For Kargad. For his children. For everybody who signed on dreaming of something better.

He sat back again, and interwound his fingers into each other. Held his hands together in thought. Then he smiled, a little more sincerely this time. This was a notion he would like to share.
”Y’know, kid - speeches like that are the reason I signed on to begin with.”

At the sight of the krogan’s smile Serena smiled back, happy that she was finally getting him up in spirits again. It wasn’t her original goal when walking through Hydronics on shore leave, but she was glad she had started achieving it. At his words, Serena blushed in pleased embarrassment, ducking her head. She was glad he thought so highly of her wordcraft, but knew she didn’t deserve it. ”Oh please, that was nothing more than just an impassioned ramble. Jien Garson could give speeches. I just babble excitedly.” Eager to change the subject before she got even more embarrassed, she latched on to the main thing she had wondered about the krogan.

”Kargad, you mentioned praying. I’ve seen you praying before, most notably before and after that hostage rescue mission, but never quite heard to what. I apologize if this is offensive, but what is your religion? I’ve never known a krogan to pray before, nor have I ever heard of a krogan religion in all my time in the galaxy.” She leaned forward, curiosity taking over any embarrassment or notions of personal space.

Kargad, caught off guard for just half a moment, cocked his head ever so slightly to the side, and stared back at Serena with a sort of bafflement. Then, once the tonal whiplash had passed, he smiled, wide and crooked, favouring the left of his face to the right. The krogan laughed- that same deep, mountainous chuckle he’d given during training, all stomach and joy- and scratched at the side of his face, confusion overwritten by his own awkwardness.
“Hah! Yeah, I could’a have figured somebody’d ask eventually… I guess I sorta stand out, huh?”

He moved the hand scratching at his face down to stroke the stony outcroppings of his chin, instead.
“It’s sort of tricky, in a way. Krogan are religious, believe it or not - I was actually training to be a shaman before my wife punched me onto a different path. We just don’t worship Gods, generally. Krogan are drawn to more nebulous beliefs, maybe. We worship traditions, and the survival those traditions secure, the only two things worth worrying about on a hole like Tuchanka. I don’t think we have the stomach for deities, like some other species, though. Krogan don’t believe in anything they can’t eventually beat. Some of us even think we’re gonna beat the genophage through pure stubbornness.”

”Why do I get the feeling you mean punched in a literal sense?” Serena shook her head in wry amusement, before continuing. ”So krogan’s worship traditions that encourage survival, so to speak. Makes sense. Though, from what I’ve heard you guys are going to eventually beat the Genophage. Before you all went under, you were all given a serum to encourage specific mutations that work against the Genophage. I heard it was something like eight percent bigger chance at a successful birth? Not sure, I’ll look into it.”

”So if you aren’t on the same path as most religious krogan, what do you worship? I don’t think you were thanking centuries of tradition when we got on the ship after saving the scientists.”

Kargad tapped the crack in his crest conspiratorially, and then chuckled into the back of his hand before pressing on: ”I suppose I worship the universe, if I had to put it into one word. The sort of systematic chaos that births and destroys us, this... endless cycle of energy,” he told her, making a cyclical motion with his hands to punctuate the point.
“It’s the Asari faith. The largest, anyway - hylozoism, I think you might call it. The basic idea is that we’re all expressions of the same primary energy, y’know?. Every Human, Salarian, Asari… all equal representations of the one fundamental life, that of the universe at large. Our hearts all beat, right? In my philosophy, all life- even Krogan life- is equal. Even if some Asari don’t really act like it, it’s a universal truth.”
He paused for a moment after this, and his expression muddled for a second before settling on a small, doughy smile.
”I remember, when times were tough, my Revixtia always told me as much. She was the first alien to tell me I wasn’t dirt, or somethin’, that needed savin’ or suppression. That I was her kindred spirit in the cosmos. It was the first time I ever really felt special, y’know? She really knocked some sense into me, that woman...”
Kargad gestured across the table, with a patriarch’s warmth, ”In that cosmic sense, you’re as much my sibling as anybody in my brood. But, similarly, I’m sorta attached to the enemies I fight, too. We’re all just different manifestations of the same thought. I never hesitate, mind you - but when you see me pray, I’m telling them that in death we’re equals. And that I’m grateful they gave me the best fight they could.”

Serena smiled at Kargad tapping the crack in his crest, listening intently as he explained his take on hylozoism. It was a beautiful view, she had to admit, and uniquely krogan. Only a krogan would in one moment bless their enemies as equal and in the other bloodily thank them for giving them a good fight. The way Kargad talked about his wife made her smile even more. It was sweet, and wistful. A memory of happier times, times they all hoped to return to.

”That’s beautiful Kargad, truly.” Serena said earnestly, entwining her hands. ”I’m honored to be considered that by you.” She suddenly noticed that Kargad was missing a tooth, and grinned. ”I’m sure that Firuzeh would be honored too, after she takes your tooth out of her arm. What was it you told me after I warned you about her? Oh right, ‘This is gonna be childsplay’. I guess your children play rougher than most I’ve seen.” Serena winked at him, her eye changing back to hot pink as she teased him.

Kargad, suddenly bashful, lowered his head and smiled awkwardly (although all Krogan smiles were somewhat awkward) at the table, shoulders raising to curtain his face. Krogan didn’t blush, but he certainly gave off the same energy.
”You’ve got no idea, honestly,” he laughed quietly, from the chest this time, ”My girls hit like freight trains. Firuzeh reminds me a lot of one of them, actually. My youngest, Faoria… that girl has a temper on her. She was born with her blood at full boil, I think. You’ve never seen a hundred year old girl throw a tantrum like she could.”
He missed a beat, ”... that’s all their mother, though, you understand.”
”Of course. All their mother. Nothing like that all comes from the krogan who charges gleefully into a Fiend and then rips the top half of its head off. Nope. None at all.” Seren deadpanned for a few moments, before a smirk worked its way onto her face. ”I’m sure Firu has good things to say about you as well, since you knocked her out too. And after killing a Fiend together, you’re practically best friends!” Serena paused a moment, humming to herself. She like Kargad. He had an earnest heart, and an honest sort of endearing awkwardness about him.

”You know Kargad, once the asari ark gets here, I’d love to meet your daughters. If that isn’t too forward of a request for someone you’ve known…” Serena looked down at her omni-tool, bringing up a clock and date. “”A little over three weeks.”

Kargad glowed at the suggestion, grin wide and only slightly less toothy than usual. She spoke like it was a certainty.
”Hell, I think that’s a great idea! I think they’d be glad to see their old man makin’ friends. ‘Sides, the more people they meet, the easier it’ll be to adjust here, right?”

Serena grinned back. ”Of course. Though I’m sure they’ll have plenty of people to meet and work with besides your friends on APEX. Especially the weird one who just hugs you randomly. ” She glowed slightly on the inside at the idea that Kargad thought they were friends already. She hadn’t had any friends beyond work friends since Borealis, and hadn’t been able to do anything with a friend in over six centuries.

An idea suddenly struck her for something she and Kargad could do, beyond sit here and talk about how great his daughters were. ”Kargad, tell me, do you like movies with excessive action scenes and cheesy one liners?”

”I’d take a random hug over a random headbutt any day of the year,” Kargad supposed, grin unwavering. He quirked the closest approximation to his brow when Serena pressed on, though: ”Movies with excessive action and cheesy one liners? Sure I do! That’s half the reason I’m in this job,”, he replied, sportively.
”Why? You got a recommendation?”

”Great!” Serena clapped her hands together once in excitement. This is going to be fun! ”I do indeed! Have you ever heard of the Blasto series? The first Hanar Spectre? He’s got a gun in every tentacle and a lover in every port? I have the entire series, before we went off to Andromeda, ready to be watched. If you’d like to watch the first one with me?” An almost childish excitement radiated off of Serena. She loved the Blasto films. They were stupid and cheesy and that was what made them amazing.

Kargad blinked, dazedly: ”Hold up - there’s a Hanar Spectre? And he’s making movies?”
”Not a real Hanar spectre. Just an actor. Its all fake and ‘what if’, you know? So what do you say? Wanna go watch the first one with me? If you don’t like it I illegally downloaded a few thousand other films before going in the pod. I’m sure we can find something else that you’d like.” Serena looked up at the krogan, unashamedly using her best puppy dog eyes to push him towards saying yes. He sounded like the type who caved when his daughters did it, so it should work for her right?

Although that definitely worked almost 100% of the time, in this instant it was unnecessary: Kargad was already climbing out of his seat.
”You kiddin’?! I wanna see a Hanar shoot a place up! What’re we still doin’ over in plant country?”

”Sweet!” Serena shot up out of her seat, gesturing for Kargad to follow her as she lead the way back to her temporary quarters. It wouldn’t be too hard to set up a movie player. Sarah or Del could be used to project it perfectly. She practically skipped on the way over there, grinning from ear to ear. This was going to be great!