FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Shoot them all."

Dakka didn't hesitate. The instant Admiral Xen gave the order, she wrenched the guard's hand sideways and snapped his wrist. She ripped the gun out of his hand as he crumpled to the deck, curled up, and screamed. She lunged at the nearest guard and smashed the rifle stock into his visor hard enough to shatter it. He stumbled backward, bounced off the wall, and collapsed.

"See what you can do to stall Xen's reinforcements," Kal'Reegar ordered his team. "Try not to hurt anyone unless they start shooting at you, but we need to stop this."

Xen scooted over to the corner and glanced at the door. To get to it, she'd have to fight her way past the five Sulaco crew members and, possibly, Reegar. She glanced around at Dakka and the others, stared at the door ... but stayed in the corner while the two remaining guards advanced on them.

Chula tackled one of the guards while Valeria marched toward Xen. Dakka turned to the other guard, grinned, and lunged at him. He raised his gun, but she swatted it out of his hands, landed a punch to the side of his helmet that knocked him stupid, and followed up with a roundhouse kick to his chest. The impact sent him cartwheeling across the room. He slapped face-first into the wall and tumbled to the floor.

She turned to face the other guard and found Chula taking care of business. Chula whacked one of her batons into his helmet and hooked the other behind his knee. She yanked his leg out from under him and he flailed to regain his balance. Before he could steady himself, she planted a boot against his chest and shoved. He staggered back and sprawled across the conference table. He tried to pick himself up, but Chula raised her baton and slammed it down into his chest.

His envirosuit muffled the sound of ribs cracking slightly, but it was still audible enough to make Dakka wince. The man doubled over, tried to take a breath, and convulsed.

Dakka turned around to check on Valeria and found her shoving Xen face-first into the wall.

"Hands behind your back," Val snarled.

Xen didn't move.

Valeria deployed her Omni-Blade and held it a few centimeters from Xen's visor. Heat waves radiated from the edge of the silicon-carbide blade and its red glow bathed the admiral's visor and almost drowned out her widening eyes. Val pressed the tip of the blade into the wall and pushed. It slid in easily, the metal around it glowing white-hot and melting away as she casually swept it to the side, carving a meter-long gash in the bulkhead before whipping it back to Xen.

"You can let me put restraints on you, or I can chop your arms and your legs off and then hook a grappling cable to your belt and drag your psychotic ass to our shuttle. It's up to you."

"By the way," Chula added as she caught her breath, "the heat from that thing will cauterize the wounds so you won't bleed out. Which, for you, might not actually be a good thing, given the kind of trouble you're in."

Xen slowly lowered her arms and held her hands behind her back. Val let the blade dissipate, pulled a set of restraints from her belt, and locked them around Xen's wrists.

"Okay. Now what?" Dakka turned to the door and found Reegar standing there, staring at them and shaking his head slowly. Quint stood near him, just out of arm's reach, not exactly pointing his gun at the quarian but keeping it ready to snap into position.

"Damn," Reegar drawled. "Those were some impressive moves. I've never seen a krogan fight like that - or move as fast as you did."

"Guess I'm not your typical krogan." Dakka smirked and glanced at Lia. "You okay?"

"Not really. I mean ... they blew up our ship, didn't they? Our friends ..."

"We don't know that yet," Reegar said. "I'll see what I can find out."

"As long as you don't get in our way." Valeria shoved her left hand under the cloth wrapped around the back of Xen's helmet, clamped on to one of the hoses running from it to the back of her suit, and guided her toward the door.

"Don't worry about that. Admiral Shala'Raan pulled some strings to get me transferred to this ship. She was afraid Admiral Xen would try something, though neither of us suspected it'd go this far. She wanted me to assess the situation and report back to her." Reegar sighed. "For what it's worth, I hope your crew is okay."

"They'd better be." Val gave Xen another shove toward the door. "This bitch's life depends on it."

---

"No," Skru whispered as he stared out the viewport at the wreckage floating a few hundred meters away. "No, no, no ... Keelah, this can't be happening!" He was no fan of the geth, and had been taught his entire life that they were the enemy, plain and simple. But what Admiral Xen had just done - firing on an unarmed ship crewed by innocents just because a pair of geth units were aboard - was over the line. Those geth hadn't even tried to attack anyone.

Skru had heard a few other crew members here and there commenting on Xen's actions, background, and mental state over the last few months. One of his friends, Veetor, had overheard Xen making a remark about "performing surgery" on some of her toys when she was a child, and when he'd told Skru about it, Skru had felt as if his guts turned to ice. Still, he'd thought her plans for the geth - what little he knew about them - were reasonable. But after hearing the turian Spectre mention that bit about Xen wanting the geth as her own private army, and now this ...

Xen is insane. She's completely lost her goddamn mind.

He shuddered, took a few long breaths, and pulled himself together. There could still be survivors trapped in the Sulaco's wreckage, but they wouldn't live long if no one tried to rescue them. And right now, he had no idea who among the Moreh's crew could be trusted, aside from his uncle.

Well, if you want something done right ...

Skru rushed to the nearest airlock, sealed his suit's air intakes and activated its built-in breather pack, and then opened one of the tool lockers. The storage units were kept stocked with tools and supplies for almost any emergency, so a team could grab what they needed right here and spring into action rather than running to a room somewhere else and then heading for an airlock. He assembled a rescue and repair kit, grabbed a first-aid kit, slung both over his shoulder, and clamped a thruster pack on. Then he depressurized the airlock, opened it, and launched himself at the largest piece of the Sulaco.

He slowed his approach with the thrusters, grabbed onto a piece of the blasted-open structure, and did a quick scan with his Omni-Tool. The device found no active power sources, but there was an atmosphere inside, and it didn't seem to be leaking out. He switched modes and scanned the debris again, and a layout of the interior appeared in his HUD.

Okay. Looks like all the emergency hatches closed, so I can get in here, seal it behind me, then open the next hatch and get to the survivors without losing any more air.

He performed one last scan to locate any life signs, and found them grouped in one section a couple dozen meters ahead.

He cut out a section of the hull just big enough to squeeze through, braced his hand against it to prevent the puff of escaping air from shooting it out of his reach, and pushed it into the compartment ahead of him. Once inside, he grabbed the chunk of hull, welded it back in place, and ran a quick scan to make sure there were no leaks. Then he kicked away from the wall, floated over to the inner hatch, and opened it.

Another puff of air nudged him backward, but he'd been expecting it and had already grabbed a handhold. He pulled himself through the hatch, closed it, and moved on to the next one. Another burst of air rushed in, filling the compartment, and he kept going. By the time he reached the chamber where the life signs were located, the pressure had almost equalized.

An incoming message notification appeared in his HUD. He grinned at the ID tag and opened the comm channel. "Uncle! Are you okay?"

"Fine. It's all over. The admiral's been arrested and her guards are being carted off by a team of medics."

"That was quick."

"Yeah. Helluva thing. It was over in only a few seconds. These guys know how to fight. Especially that krogan girl. I dunno, krogan are ugly as hell, but after seeing her in action, somehow I have the weirdest boner."

"Oh, love at first sight?" He snickered.

"Nah, I'm just ... impressed, is all. Besides, she appears to already have something going with the human who came aboard with her, so ... uh. Anyway, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Actually, I've boarded what's left of the Sulaco."

"Fucking what?"

"Hey, they're in trouble and after what I just saw, I don't know who would help me rescue them and who might shoot me in the head to get rid of a witness."

"Okay, fair point. They'll run out of air soon."

"Exactly. I've just reached the survivors' location. Stand by." Skru opened the manual override panel and cranked the lever just as he had for all the previous hatches. The hatch slid aside slowly and he poked his head into the darkness. His suit's sensors amplified the faint light coming in through the windows from the planet Dranen, revealing a turian male, human male, and a human female on the far side of the room. The female appeared to be pinned to the floor and had a metal rod the width of a finger protruding from her chest and sticking out roughly half a meter.

Beside them floated a pair of geth mobile platforms. Skru's heart jumped and his breath caught in his throat.

Something tapped the top of his helmet. He twitched, glanced up, and found the barrel of the biggest sniper rifle he'd ever seen aimed right between his eyes. He screamed and flailed in the air.

"Skru! What happened? Are you -"

"They're boarding us," the human wielding the rifle said, her voice calm and cold.

"We're not! I'm alone!" He pointed at his repair and medical kits. "I came here to help!"

The woman cocked her head. "Huh. You sound like a kid."

"I am. H - haven't even gone on my Pilgrimage yet. I - I came alone because I didn't know if anyone else would." He took a few more gasping breaths. "I'm Skru'Reegar nar Usela."

"It's okay, Grandma," the human male said. "Val sent me a text about him and Kal'Reegar before she met with the admiral." He waved Skru over. "We could probably use that medical kit, if it's not just for dextro-based species."

"We keep a small supply of medical stuff for levo-based aliens, just in case." Skru tugged on a light fixture and propelled himself toward them. He took a closer look at the rod poking through the woman's chest and grimaced. "Oh. That looks bad."

"We have scanned the wound," one of the geth units said, and Skru nearly jumped out of his envirosuit. "The foreign object is lodged in the floor under her, and is too close to her heart. We are concerned that trying to remove it or move her will be fatal."

"I'll bleed out if you don't," the woman whispered. Her breathing was shallow and she was barely conscious.

"Uncle Kal, we've got a medical emergency here. I need you to tow this piece of the ship into the Moreh's main docking bay and have a medical team waiting for us." He used his Omni-Tool to run a scan of the woman's injuries. "I'm sending you the details."

"Good. We've been talking with Captain Zeto'Orzah and she's already preparing to grapple onto the Sulaco's remains and bring them aboard."

"That's a relief." Skru relayed the news to the others. "Uncle, I don't want to alarm anyone, but the geth units are intact and fully functional. They appear to be non-hostile, though."

"Spectre Terakkis included them in the briefing. The captain is understandably nervous about them, but she promised not to make any threatening moves against them."

"We intend no harm," the other platform said, and Skru couldn't help noticing that its voice and the shape of its body were distinctly feminine. His gaze lingered on it for several more seconds before he shook himself out of it.

Huh. The things teenage hormones can do to a guy's mind.

"The Spectre is asking about someone over there named Irving."

"Uh, let me check." Skru glanced around. "Is there someone named Irving here? The Spectre just asked -"

"That's me," the human said. "Tell her I'm fine, and so is Grandma."

He nodded and relayed the information. A moment later, Uncle Kal said, "Tell them the whole team is unharmed."

Skru repeated it and smiled at the palpable sense of relief that washed over everyone.

Faint clangs reached his suit's auditory sensors and he gave them a thumbs-up, hoping he hadn't gotten the human hand gestures confused and done something obscene or insulting instead.

"The grapples have latched on. They're pulling us in." He maneuvered himself until his feet were against the floor. "Get ready for the gravity to kick in."

A few more minutes passed - then, abruptly, Skru was no longer weightless. He almost sank to his knees, but pushed himself back upright.

The dark-skinned woman cried out softly and the "female" geth reached out to hold her hand. Skru caught himself staring again.

_Weird. It must've seen people holding hands to comfort one another, or something._He shrugged and walked over to the nearest viewport. The wall of the hangar deck moved past as the wreckage entered the docking bay and settled to the floor.

"I'll let the medical team in," the turian said as he opened the hatch and vanished into the corridor.

"I hope they can get to her in time," Irving mumbled.

Skru took another scan of the shrapnel. "It's lodged pretty solidly in the floor. They'll have to cut through it and get her stabilized before they can remove it."

The woman forced her eyes open and whispered, "You think ... there's enough time?"

The female geth scanned her vitals and returned its hand to hers. It hesitated several seconds before speaking.

"Negative."

"Then ... lift me ... off it."

"Doing so could be fatal."

She winced, sighed, and gestured weakly with her right hand. "Stand ... over me. H ... hold your hands out." She stared into its single optic and tears filled her eyes. "Please."

The geth glanced at the "male" platform and released a quick burst of electronic chatter. It stood, bracing a foot on either side of her, and held its hands out as instructed.

"Th ... thank you." The woman reached up slowly, shakily, with her right arm and grasped the geth's outstretched hand. She tried to lift her other arm, but couldn't raise it more than a few centimeters. The female geth took her wrist and lifted it until she could clamp on to the male's other hand. The female then turned and pointed at Skru's medical kit.

"Medi-gel."

He nodded, rushed over to them, passed two applications of the gel to the female and grabbed two more to hold in his own hands.

"Now ... don't move," the woman whispered - and then she pulled, lifting herself slowly off the metal spike. Her face twisted up and she screamed, paused, pulled again, and repeated the process, her screams growing louder with each pull.

The turian covered his mouth with his hands and looked away. The human male grimaced and pressed a hand to his forehead, while the woman he'd called Grandma clenched her teeth until the muscles in her jaw twitched.

The wounded woman's arms trembled, but she continued pulling and shrieking until the spike sank down into the hole in her chest. The female geth instantly applied the medi-gel, which spread over the wound and worked it way down to stop the bleeding. The human sobbed and gave one last pull, lifting herself off the rod, and the geth applied more medi-gel to the wound in her back. Then it slipped its arms under her and carried her to the door.

"We will meet the medical team halfway." It carried the now unconscious woman down the corridor.

"Uncle, if the med team isn't here already, tell them to hurry. They're bringing the wounded woman out now."

"We're here, we're approaching you now."

Skru sighed with relief and leaned against the wall. Once he'd regained his composure, he followed the others out to the docking bay.

---

Irving dropped from the outer hatch onto the floor and moved aside to stay out of everyone's way. He glanced around and spotted the quarian medical team racing across the docking bay, followed by the other half of the Sulaco's crew.

Some of the quarians stopped and stared at the two geth approaching them, but the rest continued on. Yutani rushed toward them with Magnum in her arms, somehow managing to hold her rock-steady while sprinting. She met them halfway and placed Magnum gently on the gurney. The med-team turned and raced back the way they'd come.

"Winnie," Chula whispered, staring at her as they vanished through a door.

"I've already forwarded ..." A quarian male in a red envirosuit trailed off, shook his head quickly, and turned from Chula to the geth. "Uh, sorry ... um ... Captains. I've already forwarded my nephew's scans to the medics. They'll do everything they can for her."

"We are grateful," Weyland said.

"There's only so much our medical facilities can do for an alien with such a severe wound, though. I'd recommend transporting her to a major asari or human colony as soon as she can be moved. Or the Citadel, if possible."

Yutani nodded. "We have sent a message to Shepard-Commander. He agreed to divert the Normandy to your fleet for the transport. His ship has a sufficient med-bay to keep Magnum alive until she can be taken to an advanced facility."

"You sent a message directly to the Normandy's captain? Not to the geth on its crew?"

"Correct. We believe it is best to refrain from informing the geth of this incident at this time. We trust Shepard-Commander's judgment and will follow his recommendation."

"Ah. Well. Uh, thanks." The quarian sighed. "I only met Shepard briefly, back when he saved my ass on Haestrom, and again when he represented Tali'Zorah during her trial. He seemed like a decent guy and a hell of a captain. It'll be good to see him again, though I wish it were under better circumstances."

At least we'll have a ride back into Citadel space. Irving let out a quick sigh of relief and jogged toward the rest of the crew. Valeria rushed into his arms and they held each other for a long moment.

"I'm so glad to see you," he whispered.

"Same here. When I found out they fired on you, I -" Her voice faltered and she paused a moment to regain control of herself. "I've never been so scared in my entire life!"

"Me, too, babe." He embraced her again, held her silently, and finally pulled back enough to motion at Skru. "The kid, here, saved our lives."

"So I heard." Val nuzzled him and walked over to Skru. "Thanks to your quick thinking, my new friends and the people I hold most dear are still alive and well. You're a big goddamn hero." She leaned over and gave him a hug.

"Ah, well ..." He laughed softly, stared at the floor, and cleared his throat. "I just did whatever I could." He glanced around the hangar and added, "Because, honestly, I didn't know if anyone else would." He turned to his uncle. "Speaking of which, where's Xen?"

"In custody. Captain Orzah was reluctant, but once I gave her a full report of what happened and she understood what a catastrophe this could've turned into, she agreed to confine Xen to her quarters and place her under guard until the Admiralty Board can make a decision."

Valeria took a deep breath and nodded. "I still have some questions to ask her and the other admirals, but that can wait until things settle down and we can meet with them on the Rayya." She winced and shook her head. "I've never had a mission fall apart so quickly. I've had things go a little awry before, but never like this - and never within minutes of the mission's beginning."

"Well," Chula said, her voice still quivering, "what matters is, we all got through it and you have a chance to get your investigation back on track."

Val started to nod, then turned to stare at the piece of the Sulaco resting a few dozen meters away. "You lost your ship, though. My investigation got your ship destroyed and almost got half of your team killed." She lifted her hand to motion at the wreckage and dropped it abruptly, as if she were suddenly too tired to even make the gesture. "That ship was your home."

"That was one of the other major things that convinced Captain Orzah to keep Xen confined," Skru's uncle said. "Quarians take the destruction of a ship very seriously. Most of our ships have been service for over three centuries because they're all we have, and too many of them are barely holding together. Blowing a ship out of the sky for no good reason is enough to get someone thrown into the brig. It's only Xen's position on the Admiralty Board and her service record that kept her from getting exactly that. But if she sets foot out of her quarters or tries to initiate an unauthorized communication, the guards have orders to knock her ass out and throw her into the smallest cell we have."

"Glad to hear that." Val sighed again and patted Skru's shoulder. "Well, my report to the Council will contain more than a few glowing words about your actions."

"He certainly earned it." Kal glanced at the wreckage and shook his head. "And maybe it'll help balance out Xen's actions. The whole galaxy already thinks we're nothing but thieves and vagrants. Last thing we need is for them to start thinking we're terrorists as well."

"I'll do everything I can to prevent that." Val rested a hand on his shoulder. "Well, please let us know when Magnum can have visitors, and when the Board is ready to see us. In the meantime, I think we could all use a few hours to let everything sink in."

"Understood. I'll keep you informed." Kal glanced at Chula and Lia. "And now that I finally have a chance to let your families know you're here, I'll bump it to the top of my to-do list."

Both women thanked him and he turned to leave. He took four steps and then stopped. He poked at his Omni-Tool interface and cocked his head at something in its display.

"Huh." He turned back to the team. "You didn't mention anyone else on your ship."

"What do you mean?" Chula waved a hand around at the others. "We're all right here."

"The recovery crew has been running scans on the debris to make sure there's nothing getting ready to explode near us, and they picked up two additional life signs."

"How the hell did someone get onto our ship?" Chula turned to stare at the hangar door.

"We were unaware of anyone else's presence," Yutani said. "Do you have any additional information on the life signs?"

"Looks like one is human and the other is batarian." Kal glanced at Chula and back to Yutani.

"Sounds like mercs," Quint said with a confused frown. "What the hell?"

"They're reeling in the chunk of the ship with the life signs inside." Kal nodded at the door. "Guess we'll find out who they are in a couple of minutes."

"Get under cover," Val said to Irving before turning to Kal. "It'd be a good idea to clear everyone off the deck except security personnel, just in case those two come out with guns blazing."

Irv nodded and gave Val's hand a quick squeeze before turning away. "I love you. Be careful."

"I love you, too. Keep a good distance between you and what they're bringing in."

Chula sighed, faced the huge door, and plucked a pair of Phalanx pistols from under her duster. "Argh, fuck me. What now?"