FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“We're almost there." Valeria stopped at the edge of the Normandy's shuttle bay, where Lia stood watching Chula and Dakka. The latter two occupied an empty spot on the floor, a safe distance apart, going through a series of slow exercises, Chula holding one of her swords and Dakka wielding the other.

Beyond them, the Normandy's quarian guests and the late Sulaco's crew were busy setting up their cubicles and shelters.

“Chula's giving her some pointers," Lia said, glancing over her shoulder at Val and Irving. “I guess Dakka decided to pick up some new moves after Kai Leng stabbed her."

“I would, too." Valeria held in a laugh. The weapon looked like a toy in the huge krogan's hand.

Irving stepped up beside Val and slipped his hand into hers. They'd just finished taking advantage of the ship's transit time for a passionate hour or so. She had just enough time now to shift herself into the headspace she needed for the assault on the quarian stealth shop.

If the crew actually listens to Admiral Han'Gerrel's order to stand down, we can skip straight to escorting them to the Citadel. Valeria didn't expect them to cooperate.

In the corner of her eye, Lia glanced to the right and waved. Valeria turned a little farther and found Quint walking over. He nodded at her and Lia, leaned against the Kodiak drop shuttle, and watched Chula and Dakka. A serene smile spread across his face.

“Things appear to be getting serious between you two." Lia motioned toward Dakka.

“Yeah. I'm still kind of bewildered by it. Never would've expected to end up with a krogan girlfriend in a million years, but here we are."

“She's surprisingly graceful," another voice said, and Val turned to find Kal'Reegar walking across the shuttle bay from the other quarians, his glowing eyes pointed at Dakka. "And fast. I've never seen another krogan move the way she did when she was taking down Xen's guards."

"Same here. I've seen plenty of krogan in combat, and they were all just lumbering brutes. Aside from using guns, their only tactic seems to be 'roar and charge.' My girl really pushes herself to be faster and more precise with her attacks. Could be why she eats so much. Probably burns up a lot of calories, forcing herself to strike so quickly." Quint kept watching for a few seconds. "Or sometimes I wonder if she's had some cybernetics implanted. She was badly wounded a couple decades ago when a rival clan attacked hers. Krogan usually regenerate tissue quickly, but her wounds were severe enough to leave her infertile. She had no reason to stay on Tuchanka after that, so she left and never looked back."

Valeria nodded and glanced at Reegar. "I guess she got sick of her people constantly fighting each other instead of coming together and trying to develop a cure for the genophage. It's like they just gave up and now most of them have no interest in anything except fighting. Doesn't matter who, as long as they get paid to kill someone."

"Yeah. It's pretty sad." Quint waved a hand at his girlfriend. "As soon as she was back on her feet, she packed what she needed for the immediate future, boarded a shuttle, and hauled ass out of there. Ever since then, she's been learning martial arts and whatever other fighting techniques she comes across -- anything but krogan fighting styles."

"Huh. Sounds like she hates her own people." Reegar cocked his head at her.

"Eh, I dunno if 'hate' is the right word. She's certainly frustrated with them, and if I'd been in her position all those years ago, I'd be pissed off, too." He shrugged. "Her being so atypical is one of the things I found attractive about her, once I let the idea of … well, us get into my head."

A soft chime came from Valeria's Omni-Tool. She lifted her arm and the device's interface appeared around it. She poked an icon and EDI's voice came from her comlink.

"We have engaged the stealth ship. I worked my way into their primary systems while Admiral Han'Gerrel ordered the crew to stand down. They attempted to fire on us, so I disabled their weapons and took control of their navigation and propulsion. I'm bringing the ship alongside us. Commander Shepard is waiting at the airlock."

"I'm taking point." Chula stormed across the bay toward the elevator.

Here we go. Valeria caught up with her. "I hope we can avoid killing any of them. There are so few of your people left as it is."

"I know." The doors parted and Chula stepped inside. "There may not be another option."

Hmm. Maybe there could be. "Let's not be hasty." Valeria joined her in the lift and put a hand on her shoulder. "I have an idea."

---

Here we go. Chula took a slow breath and waited for the outer airlock doors to open. Shepard stood beside and slightly behind her, probably itching to lead the boarding team, but she'd insisted on being the first one to set foot on the stealth ship. If they ran into her parents on their way to the bridge, she wanted to be the first one they laid eyes on.

To her left stood Lia, and behind them were Tali, Garrus, Grunt, Jack, Kal'Reegar, and Quint, with Dakka bringing up the rear. She towered over everyone except Grunt, allowing her to fire over their heads if she needed to.

Valeria was also nearby, but out of sight, per the plan she'd come up with to attempt to avoid any quarian casualties.

Everyone had their weapons holstered in the faint hope of settling this without a fight. Part of Chula hoped for the same, but another part was very much eager to kick some ass.

"Opening airlock," EDI said over the speakers. The boarding party stepped to the sides before the doors parted, getting out of the line of fire and opening a path for Valeria to pass by. In the quarian ship's docking bay, a half-dozen crew members waited with their rifles aimed straight into the Normandy's airlock.

The Neuro-Stim system in Chula's envirosuit detected a slight breeze on her right shoulder as Valeria passed by, hidden by her armor's stealth system.

"Stop right there," the male at the front of the opposing team snapped. "Just because you turned the admirals against us and locked us out of our own controls, don't assume you can storm onto our ship unopposed. Turn back now or we'll send you home in boxes."

"My parents are on this ship," Chula said, her voice strained with the effort of keeping her anger in check. "I'd like a word with them."

"You haven't even completed your Pilgrimage, child. You don't get to make demands. Leave now, or--"

Chula sighed. "Valeria."

The quarians glanced at each other. Their leader turned back to her.

"What?"

"I wasn't talking to you."

The air rippled behind the two quarians at the rear of the group and Valeria appeared in her black and red armor. The man on the left turned to shoot another glance at the woman beside him, caught a glimpse of Val in the corner of his eye, and spun toward her. She whirled and landed a roundhouse kick to his gut that launched him out of sight, doubling over with a scream and letting his rifle slip from his grasp.

The other quarian took aim with her own weapon, but Val turned back and kicked the man's dropped rifle, spinning it across the floor into her feet as she advanced. The quarian tripped over the gun and stumbled forward. Valeria charged, tackled her, and hooked her left ankle behind her opponent's right. One shove toppled her over and Val landed on her, braced a hand against her visor, and slammed her head into the floor. The quarian cried out and tried to push Val away. Val lifted her and slammed her back into the floor three more times before the woman turned limp and moaned softly.

Valeria sprang back to her feet as the remaining four men rushed her. She drove a foot into the nearest man's knee, snapping it sideways, and then shoved him out of her way. He collapsed, gripped his knee with both hands, and groaned through clenched teeth.

The other three finally got her in their sights and opened fire. Her shields flared and crackled as she turned to her next target.

Dakka pushed past Chula and crept up to the team's leader. His full attention was on Valeria. Dakka kicked his legs out from under him, grasped one of the hoses attached to the back of his helmet, and yanked him straight down. His helmet struck the deck plating with a crack that echoed across the docking bay. His scream became a moan and then a sigh as he passed out.

One of the remaining pair spun to face the new threat while the other continued firing at Valeria. Val lunged at him, ignoring the bullets vaporizing against her shield, and plowed straight into him.

Dakka swatted her opponent's rifle aside, clamped her hand around it, and twisted it until his trigger finger nearly snapped. She followed up by driving the heel of her hand into the air intake on the front of his helmet, forcing his head back. She then rammed her other palm into his chin before he could regain his balance, and finished him off with a roundhouse kick to the side of his head. He pirouetted and toppled over, letting out one last grunt before crashing to the floor.

Valeria slammed her opponent into the wall. He snarled, drove the stock of his rifle into her back again and again in an effort to dislodge her, but she didn't loosen her grip. She growled, shifted her position slightly, and lifted him. He let out a startled shout as she flipped him over her shoulder and dropped him on the floor. The impact jolted the gun from his hand and it clattered across the deck. Val turned and pistoned her foot into his visor, smashing the back of his head into the floor so hard one of his helmet's hoses popped off.

Chula swept her eyes across the unconscious bodies scattered over the floor and whistled softly. I almost wish they'd left one or two for me, but this brightened my mood quite a bit, anyway.

"Not bad." Shepard smirked.

Valeria shrugged and glanced at the floor, as if uncomfortable with the compliment. Dakka, on the other hand, grinned and bowed theatrically.

"That's my girl." Quint beamed and applauded politely.

"I've alerted Dr. Chakwas," EDI said. "She's sending out a small team treat the injured quarians and escort them to the medical bay."

"Thank you, EDI." Shepard brought up a set of schematics on his Omni-Tool. "This ship may be based on the Normandy's schematics, but the layout is quite different." He pointed off to the right. "The bridge is that way."

Reegar took a step and then paused to glance around at the enemy crew members and shook his head. "I know we quarians get our asses kicked a lot, but this was just embarrassing." With a sigh, he followed Shepard and the rest.

Chula rushed to the front of the group and strode across the docking bay. "Let's get on with it."

---

"I'm reluctant to use such a cliche," Valeria said softly as the team made their way through another empty corridor, "but it's too quiet."

"I've managed to lock roughly half of the crew in their quarters or behind hatches and bulkhead doors to keep them out of your path," EDI said over Val's helmet speakers. "You will encounter resistance after you pass through the third hatch up ahead. Other crew members are attempting to counteract my intrusion into their systems, but I'm keeping them out with a simple overwhelming flood of data."

"Good work," Tali said.

"What kinds of data?" Quint asked.

"Nothing classified. I sent them a fraction of Jeff's pornography collection."

"What?" Joker blurted.

Dakka burst into laughter.

"There is no need for concern, Jeff. I used only the tamest images and video."

"Jesus fucking Christ, EDI!" Joker groaned.

"The thing that shocks me," Kal'Reegar muttered, "is that you described a fraction of his porn stash as an 'overwhelming flood.'"

Huh. I wonder if any of those are vids Irving and I made. The team filed through the next hatch and Valeria reactivated her armor's stealth system. I was so much happier, back then. We were being paid to do what we would've done anyway, we were entertaining people, and I wasn't in a position where I'd have to hurt or kill anyone. And I didn't know anything about the Reapers and the possible extinction event the whole galaxy could face within our lifetimes.

Shepard opened the next hatch. "One more to go. Keep your weapons holstered, but be ready to draw."

I really hope it doesn't come to that, especially if we run into Chula's parents. Valeria took a slow breath and prepared to slip through the final hatch as soon as it opened. If she had to break a few more bones to prevent even more deaths, so be it. At least she'd be able to live with herself afterward, more than she could if she had to take any lives.

"The next corridor has six rooms and branching corridors on either side," EDI said. "One quarian is in each doorway, using them as cover."

An overlay appeared in Valeria's HUD, showing her a wireframe view of the corridor and outlines of bodies marking the position of each quarian.

"Thanks, EDI. Ready, Valeria?"

"Yes. Let's get this over with."

Shepard tapped the hard-light rectangle in the center of the door. The rectangle vanished and the door slid aside. Val darted through and crept along the center of the corridor. One quarian crouched in each doorway along the walls, leaning out just far enough to aim their weapons. None of them appeared to detect her. She glanced over her shoulder and found the team emerging from the hatch, keeping their hands in sight, and noticed the stealth ship's crew focusing their attention entirely on Shepard.

"Oh, no," one of them whispered. "It's Shepard. We don't have a chance."

"Everyone relax," Shepard said. "We're hoping to settle this without anyone getting hurt."

Valeria reached the two at the far end of the corridor.

"Our comms were open," the woman nearest the team snapped. "We heard what you did to the squad sent to intercept you."

Valeria readied her Omni-Tool to fire an overload charge at the man to her left, prepared for a leap to the one directly across the corridor, and disengaged her stealth system. "We didn't kill any of them."

All of them spun toward her and whipped their guns up. Val clenched her left fist, triggering the overload charge, and the energy burst arced from the hard-light interface around her arm and into the man. He convulsed, let out a strangled groan, collapsed, and lay twitching on the floor. His rifle's systems shorted out before the gun slipped from his hands. Val sprang across the corridor before her other target could fire more than a single quick burst. She cloaked again and hopped to the right. He continued firing and punched several dozen holes in the wall, causing the quarian in the next doorway to scream and dive out of sight.

Valeria sprang back toward the man and jabbed the button on the side of his rifle, popping the thermal clip out. Its sudden ejection startled him and he yelped and backpedaled. Val struck before a fresh heat sink slotted into place, bracing her right hand on the side of his helmet and smashing his head into the wall. He fell to his knees and slumped forward, clutching at the sides of his head and moaning.

She decloaked again and took a few slow breaths. "This doesn't have to go any farther."

Dakka snorted. "The rest of us don't even need to be here. Looks like Valeria can handle everything."

The woman at the front of the group sucked in a quick breath. "Valeria Terakkis?"

"Yes." She's heard of me. This could work in our favor, or it could be disastrous.

The woman tossed her gun to the floor and began to hyperventilate. The man to her right turned to stare at her.

"What's wrong with you?"

"You don't know who she is?" The woman sank to her knees and kept her hands raised. "She's a Spectre. The Eclipse mercs call her 'The Army.' Facing her would be hopeless enough, but her and Shepard? No, surrender now or they'll kills us all!"

"That's not …" Val sighed. "We didn't come here to slaughter the whole crew. We just want to stop your attacks on the geth."

"Why?" The man faced her and his glowing eyes narrowed. "They're a threat to our existence! They're occupying our homeworld! They --" His voice cracked and he paused for a few seconds to pull himself together. Finally, he snarled, "They murdered my wife!"

"I'm sorry," Val said, keeping her voice soft. "Was she on the Citadel when Sovereign and its fleet attacked?"

"No. This happened on one of our ships. The geth overran the ship and killed the entire crew. What we're doing here, we're doing to prevent that from ever happening again." He glared over at Tali. "I thought you of all people would understand."

"Hold on." Tali strode forward. "You're talking about the Alarei."

"Yes. The geth killed your father. Now you're trying to stop what we're doing? Have you gone insane?"

"No. I've come to my senses over the past year. My father and the Alarei's crew were performing horrific experiments on the geth. I wish he and the others were still alive, but I can't fault the geth for defending themselves."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this."

The other quarian woman leaned toward him and reached out to touch his arm. "Dorn, please. Put your weapon down before they shoot you!"

"Take it easy." Shepard held his hands up for a moment. "We're not going to shoot anyone. Well, not unless you shoot first. Let's all try to avoid that."

"We're taking our homeworld back," another man said. "We're not going to let anyone stop us."

"You're going to get our entire civilization wiped out!" Tali took another step forward and jabbed a finger at him. "I'm tired of having to go over this with every other quarian I meet, but if you keep provoking the geth, they'll retaliate. They outnumber us. If they stop holding back, we'll all pay for your mistake." She put her hands on her hips. "If you have any family left, you're endangering their lives."

"We need to strike when we have an advantage or they'll--"

"Oh, come on." Shepard sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. His Omni-Tool interface appeared around his arm and he tapped one of its icons. "EDI, I have an idea. Can you transmit a copy of the meeting with the Admiralty Board to every screen on this ship? I want to be sure everyone sees it for themselves."

"Certainly. Beginning transmission."

"You'll want to access the feed on your Omni-Tools," Shepard said to the quarians. "I think you'll find it quite enlightening."

"We're not interested in your propaganda," the man snapped.

Dakka stomped over to him, leaned over, and snarled into his visor. "Well, do it anyway. Watching a video for a few minutes won't kill you."

He shoved the gun into her face. "Step back!"

Dakka flicked her hands out, striking his wrist with one and swiping the gun with the other, then she flung the gun at the far end of the corridor, all in one smooth motion. The guy jumped back, rubbed his wrist, and stared at the gun as it slid to a stop at the next hatch. He turned slowly back and stared at Dakka.

Shepard smirked at him and glanced around at the others. "I suggest you do as the young lady asked."

"In the meantime," Chula muttered, poking at her Omni-Tool, "EDI, can you patch me through the ship's comms? I want to address the entire crew."

"Done."

"Thank you." She touched one more icon. "This is Chula'Raalga vas Sulaco nar Idenna. I know my parents are on this ship. I want to speak to them. Now."

---

"Your parents are approaching," EDI reported.

"Thanks." Chula stood in front of the door and kept her hands near her batons, just in case. "Is anyone with them?"

"They are alone and unarmed."

"Glad to hear that." Chula let herself relax slightly, but she still dreaded the coming confrontation.

"I'm opening the door for them."

"Thank you, EDI."

Dakka walked over and rested a hand on Chula's shoulder as the door slid aside, revealing Seeva and Eriya. "I'm here if you need to talk to someone later."

"So am I," Lia said.

"Thanks, guys. I might just need to take you up on that." Chula faced her parents. "Mother. Father."

Her father twitched his head as if wincing. He'd always known she was truly furious when she spoke so formally to them.

"It's good to see you again," her mother said. "I just wish the --"

"So do I." Chula turned and pointed down the corridor. "We'll talk on the Normandy."

"You want us to board an enemy ship unarmed?" Her father crossed his arms over his chest.

"We've just put our lives on the line to avoid using lethal force." Chula glared back at him. "You know what? Your actions on this ship have put our entire species in danger, so you don't get to object to anything." She spun around and strode back to the docking bay. "Just shut the fuck up and follow me."

For a moment, they stayed put, but then she heard their footsteps coming up behind her. They stopped again when she passed the injured quarians being carried through the airlock. Chula glanced over her shoulder and sighed.

"They've only got some minor injuries. They'll be fine." She waited for Dr. Chakwas and the others to clear the area, then she led her parents through the airlock and past the cockpit. Joker glanced over his shoulder and waved.

"Welcome aboard!" He fired a cheesy grin at them. They barely glanced at him as they passed by, and he rolled his eyes. "Fine, be that way."

"Just continue using your natural charm on them, Jeff," EDI said, and both of Chula's parents flinched at the sound of her obviously synthetic voice. "They'll come around."

Chula smirked and walked along the corridor leading to the CIC. As they passed a crewman seated at one of the consoles lining each side of the corridor, he glanced up at them, grinned, and pointed at Joker.

"That was his porn flooding your computers, in case you were wondering."

"Goddamn it, Matthews!"

Matthews burst out laughing. Seeva snickered and cut it off quickly. He took a slow breath and narrowed his eyes at Chula. She shook her head and motioned at the lift at the rear of the CIC.

"We'll talk in the mess hall. It's a nice, relaxed place for a family reunion."

A sudden beeping sound came from Matthews's console. He glanced over several windows on his screen and turned his head to the cockpit.

"Joker, we've got another ship approaching. Scans are inconclusive, so far."

Oh, not now. Chula growled softly and clenched her fists.

"Uh, Boss, how're things going over there?" Joker stared at his own displays. "I'm asking because we've just detected another ship on an intercept course."

"We've just rounded up the captain and his command staff," Shepard replied.

"The captain was sneaking through the air ducts and maintenance tubes," Kal'Reegar added with a quick laugh. "I think he was trying to get to the drive core and reactors so he could blow up the ship and take the Normandy with it. We're definitely putting the cuffs on that one."

"Have you identified the ship?" Shepard asked.

"Not yet. Working on it."

"I'm on my way back now."

Chula ushered her parents toward the lift. "If we're going into combat, I need to get you out of the CIC." She tapped the hard-light button in the center of the door, glanced back at the cockpit, and let out a sharp sigh. "Shit."