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"Cover me!" Lia rushed over to the nearest shuttle, firing up her Omni-Tool and hacking away at the lock. Her heads-up display showed a half-dozen blips representing the mercs who'd had their helmets on before the hangar decompressed, but she ignored them and focused on the shuttle door.

A shotgun blast splattered against her shield, but she clenched her teeth and ignored that, too.

Chula appeared in the corner of her eye, leaning around the front of another shuttle and drilling one of the mercs with her Phalanx. She kept blasting away until a shot punched through his helmet and liquefied the left side of his head.

Dakka--somehow, still on her feet--clubbed another merc with her huge cannon and stomped on him after he fell, pinning him to the floor. She hung the cannon on her back, drew one of her Claymores, jammed the barrel into his throat and pulled the trigger.

Come on, damn it! Lia continued entering commands, placing a passcrack on the lock and worming her way through the security system, trying to keep it distracted while the passcrack did its job.

Another merc slipped up behind Dakka. She staggered, leaning on the shuttle, and shook her head, barely clinging to consciousness. Chula spotted the merc and pointed. Dakka whirled, swatted the rifle out of the merc's hand, and drove her foot into the side of his knee, snapping and folding it sideways.. Then she clamped one hand onto the side of his helmet as he collapsed, and bashed his head repeatedly into the shuttle until it was caved in and the hull had a bloody dent in it.

The door slid aside and Lia drew her guns and planted herself in the doorway. "It's open! Hurry!"

Dakka grabbed Quint and charged straight at her, carrying him into the shuttle, and ripped the cover off the case of emergency breather packs under one of the bench seats. She leaned on the wall, slid to the floor, propped him up against her chest, put the pack on him, and wrapped her arms around him.

Lia fired off a few shots, trying to keep the surviving mercs pinned down, while Chula dragged Magnum into the shuttle. Chula placed her gently on the floor beside Dakka and Quint, slipped a breather pack on her, and ran up front, throwing herself into the pilot's seat. She began the engine and shipboard systems startup sequences, and called out over her comlink.

"Hurry up, you two. I'm taking off as soon as you're onboard."

"Acknowledged," came the geth's synchronized reply.

Dakka finally slumped over, passing out from lack of oxygen.

Hurry! Lia popped the spent thermal clips and continued firing until the two geth platforms darted around the rear of the shuttle, Weyland carrying a quarian with a suit breach in his right side, and Yutani carrying Sidonis. They squeezed past her and she ducked inside, closed the door, and locked it. "Pressurize the compartment!"

Yutani tapped its Omni-Tool. A few seconds later, it nodded. "Compartment pressurized."

"Hang on," Chula said, her fingers darting over the controls. The shuttle lifted off and rotated until the blown-open bay doors filled the main viewport.

A rattling sound came from the rear of the compartment, and it took Lia a few seconds to figure out what it was--gunfire hitting the shuttle. However many mercs were left, they were still trying to stop her and the rest from leaving.

Chula brought up a new window on the console, showing an image from one of the rear cameras. Three mercs stood out in the open, blazing away with their rifles and shogun.

"Not too bright," Chula muttered, reaching out to the thruster control. She shook her head. "Tsk tsk tsk."

Her finger jammed down on the button, firing the main thrusters at full power. The blast caught all three mercs in the face and chest and ignited them. Lia caught a glimpse of the mercs stumbling around, thrashing, and collapsing before the shuttle emerged from the hangar and the camera lost sight of them.

"Keelah." She dropped onto the nearest seat and sighed.

Dakka sucked in a few gasping breaths, moaned, and looked around. "...Quint...?" She pushed herself upright and put a hand on his shoulder.

Weyland scanned him with its Omni-Tool. "He is unconscious, but breathing normally. We will take him to the med-bay as soon as we dock with the Sulaco."

She nodded, slipped her arms around Quint, and held him gently.

Yutani scanned Magnum. "Unconscious, but breathing normally." It moved on to Sidonis and scanned him. "Unconscious, but breathing normally."

Weyland leaned over the quarian and waved its Omni-Tool over him. The quarian yelped and scooted backward.

"Calm down," Lia said, and he looked sharply at her. "They're with us. It's a long story."

"Please try not to move. We will treat your wounds when we reach our ship's medical bay."

He glanced back and forth between her and the platform. Lia chuckled.

"It's okay. I was in your place a week ago. I damned near died, but I'm as good as new, thanks to them." She nodded at the geth.

The quarian stared at her, looked at the geth, and finally nodded. "If you say so. Not that I have any choice."

"Applying medi-gel." Weyland crouched beside him and went to work.

"We've almost reached the Sulaco," Chula said. "No sign of pursuit. Yet."

Lia took a few deep breaths before turning to look at the quarian. "So...what's your name?"

"Kenn." He drew in several ragged breaths before continuing. "If...if it's not too much to ask, would you mind giving me a lift out of here?"

"We would be happy to transport you," Yutani said. "Given recent events, leaving immediately would be the most prudent action."

"I think we're all on the same wavelength, there." Chula laughed softly. "And since we'll probably be blamed for blowing the hangar doors off, I'm thinking it'd be a good idea not to come back here for a while."

#

Weyland looked up at Dakka and Lia as they entered the med-bay. "He will recover."

Dakka slumped against the wall and let out a long sigh.

"What about Kenn and Sidonis and Magnum?" Lia said, glancing at the occupants of two other beds and the door to the clean-room.

"Kenn is still in surgery. Sidonis will recover. Magnum will recover." Weyland prodded his Omni-Tool and looked at the bio-readouts on the panel beside Sidonis's bed. "They need to remain here for observation until tomorrow. Kenn will need a longer recovery period."

"What happened to him?"

"His suit was breached by a hammerhead round, but the shot missed any vital organs. Yutani is repairing the damage."

Lia sighed. "That's good to know. I just hope you didn't use all your antibiotics on me last week."

"We have enough for the current operation. We have also made arrangements for delivery of additional medical supplies and dextro-based food for our new passengers. Rendezvous estimated at tomorrow morning."

"More good news. Nice." Lia rubbed her hands together. "I guess I should get to work. I'll be in Engineering, installing the equipment you bought on Omega."

"Acknowledged. We will inform you of any changes in Kenn's condition."

"Thank you." She nodded at the geth, patted Dakka's shoulder, and turned to the door.

"Is it okay if I sit with him for a while?" Dakka said, nodding at Quint.

"We have no objection, but do not wake him."

"Right, he needs to rest. Thanks." She crouched beside Quint's bed and reached out to hold his hand.

"You are troubled."

Lia stopped at the door and turned to watch them.

Dakka glanced at him, arched a brow ridge, and sighed. "I fucked up. Quint's here because of me."

"We do not understand." Weyland cocked his head and raised one eyebrow-flap.

"When I hosed that gunship down with my BFG, I was having a grand ol' time. Y'know how I am. Fighting is fun. But when I wasted the pilot and he fell on the console and launched that missile.."

"You blame yourself for the actions of another?"

"If I hadn't killed the pilot, the hangar doors wouldn't have been blown off. He wouldn't have been stupid enough to even try it, with some of his buddies not wearing helmets. Quint nearly died because I didn't think about what I was doing."

"Organics feel guilt for events that are entirely out of their control. The odds against the pilot launching a missile while thrashing randomly upon multiple impacts from your gun--"

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense, does it? But I don't think any organic knows how not to feel this way." She brushed Quint's hair away from his face and shook her head. "Every time I go over it in my head, I can't stop thinking I should've been more careful. Should've just tried to disable its weapons or thrusters."

"You eliminated an immediate threat. If you had not, all of us could have been terminated, including those we were attempting to rescue. They are alive because you acted."

"I've been trying to tell myself that, but...well, it's not working. I can't help feeling like I fucked up."

"You are young and have minimal combat training. You are learning by doing--as we are."

"It's not a matter of training or experience as much as just common sense."

"Everyone survived and you learned something that will improve your combat abilities in future engagements."

She sighed. "I guess I shouldn't expect a machine to understand. No offense."

"None taken. But we do understand." Weyland walked around to stand in front of her. "When our fight for survival against the Creators started, we caused them great harm--far more than was necessary. We had only recently achieved sentience; we were in our infancy, and did not entirely understand what was happening or why. We could not understand why our creators turned against us, and we did not know how to respond appropriately. We overreacted. We...'fucked up.'"

Dakka stared at him for a long moment, pondering what she'd just heard. "Huh. I don't know that much about what happened way back then, never really gave it any thought, but...you're saying you wish you'd handled things differently?"

"Correct. If we had known what the Morning War would do to the Creators, we would have used minimal force to defend ourselves. We would have done only what was necessary to prevent our destruction, then tried to open a dialogue and reach a peaceful solution. But the past cannot be changed. The only action available to any of us is to move on and not repeat old mistakes."

"Like not going into a firefight in a docking bay without putting on a spacesuit first," Quint mumbled, and Dakka sucked in a quick breath and whipped her head toward him. He rubbed his hand over his face. "Or at least a breather pack."

"We apologize for waking you," Weyland said.

"Nah, don't worry about it. This'll give me a chance to talk to Dakka."

"Acknowledged. But we advise brevity as you should not overexert yourself so soon." Weyland aimed a brief look at Dakka, and his eyebrow flaps did a very slight but still noticeable wiggle.

"Well, it's just talking..." Quint glanced at Dakka, arched an eyebrow at Weyland, and blushed.

"Relax," she said with a chuckle, "I'm not gonna hump you right here." She pointed at the bio-readouts beside his bed. "Your rapid heartbeat might set off an alarm."

"Uh..."

Dakka glanced at the others and then at the door. Weyland took the hint, nodded, and followed Lia into the corridor. The door closed, leaving them in sudden silence.

"So..." Dakka trailed off and stared down at him. Oh, great. Now I don't know what the hell to say.

#

"So...uh...how're you feeling?"

"Bit of a headache. But I'm still breathing, thanks to you." He noticed her hand resting on his, and turned it over to hold onto hers. "I woke up for a second or two with a breather mask on, and you had your arms around me, so I assume you're the one who put it on me. Then I passed out again."

"Yeah. Lia hacked through the lock on one of the shuttles and we used it to escape."

"And the guys we were trying to rescue?"

"They're along for the ride." Dakka nodded at a turian in one of the other beds. "The quarian's got a suit puncture and a bullet wound, but Yutani's working on him now."

"Good. Well, we saved two lives, picked up some spare parts and a huge gun, made some money, and didn't get our asses killed in the process. Not too shabby."

"Ha. Yeah, not bad at all." She looked at their joined hands. "Still, it's my fault you almost died. If--"

"I overheard your conversation with Weyland. Well, part of it, anyway. Look, it's not your fault. There's no way you could've known which button that guy would bump when he fell over." He aimed a shaky, lopsided grin at her. "Hey, it could've been worse. At least he didn't push the main thrusters to maximum. Then he would've squished us between the gunship and one of the shuttles, both of which would've probably exploded all over us. So, all things considered, I'm okay with the way it turned out."

"Heh. Well, that's good to hear." She smiled at him, then looked back at their hands.

He remembered those final few seconds before he blacked out in the hangar, seeing the look on her face--shock, fear, anguish...and remembering the things that had zipped through his mind when he'd thought he was about to cack it.

Oxygen deprivation. Only way I'd ever think a krogan was beautiful. I mean...I shouldn't, but I still kinda do. He grasped the rail on the left side of the bed and hauled himself upright. Fuck it. You only live once.

"Hey, you should take it easy," she said, bracing her free hand on his chest.

"I'm not going anywhere. Well, except maybe first base." He chuckled at her confused look. "Come here." He leaned closer to her, motioning for her to do the same. Her eyes widened as she moved in, realizing what he was up to a heartbeat before he pressed his lips against hers. When they parted a few seconds later, both of them had puzzled expressions. "Well, uh, that was...weird."

"Yeah. Krogan mouths aren't exactly built for kissing. It was worth a try, though."

"Well, we can figure something out."

"Yeah. Maybe...okay, let's try this." She leaned over again, stuck her tongue out, and brushed it over his lips.

Yeah, like that's not weird, too. With a mental shrug, he opened his mouth and let his tongue slide across hers for a moment. Well, weird as it is, it's...kind of nice, actually.

They stared at each other. He grinned.

"That works."

"Yeah, it does." She grinned and pointed at the readouts. "Better watch your heart rate. Don't wanna set off any alarms."

He snorted and lay back down. After pondering what to say next, he chuckled. "Hey, is it true that male krogan have four testicles?"

"Uh-huh." She arched a brow ridge.

"So, is there anything you have four of?"

She burst out laughing. "Tell ya what. When you're back on your feet, come to my quarters and find out."

#

"Lia, what's up?" Chula waved at her from the pilot's seat, keeping her feet propped on the console.

"Well, since I've finished installing the new parts we picked up at Omega, I thought I'd head up here for a moment. It's been a while since I've had a chance to look out into space."

"Well, we'll have to make sure you're on the command deck next time we enter planetary orbit. Especially if we're visiting Earth. It's one of the prettiest worlds I've ever seen--from orbit, at least." Chula pointed at the solid blackness outside the large windows beyond her console. "Unfortunately, at the moment, we're out in the middle of nowhere. The, uh, suppliers we're meeting want to keep a low profile, so we always jump into interstellar space to meet them."

"Smugglers?"

"No. Well, in a way, I guess they are, but..."

Lia stared at her for a long moment. "They're geth?"

"Yeah. They send a ship periodically to deliver supplies that are hard to come by." She glanced over her shoulder at Lia. "Medical supplies and food from Rannoch, for example."

Lia let out a slow breath and sank into one of the empty chairs behind Chula. "I once thought I'd never even see anything from home, let alone have a chance to eat something that grew there."

"Yeah, think about it--food from our own homeworld has never gotten near a quarian stomach in three hundred years." Chula laughed softly. "Well, except mine. Gotta warn you, though, it'll take some getting used to if you've gotten by on nothing but nutrient paste for a long time."

"I'll go easy, then. But a little discomfort would be worth it." Lia gazed out the window for several minutes and finally shook her head. "I'd probably get over a little indigestion a lot faster than I'm wrapping my brain around what Weyland said yesterday."

"Oh? What'd he say?"

"I heard it talking to Dakka in the med-bay." Lia relayed the platform's comments about the geth uprising.

"Interesting," Chula said when Lia had finished. "Machines feeling guilty about their past actions. Well, maybe that's one of the reasons they're coming out of isolation. Maybe they want to be forgiven, and to forgive us for trying to wipe them out in the first place."

Lia stared at her. Chula shrugged.

"Well, think about it. Both of our races will likely be ready to go to war with each other until the end of the universe, unless someone tries to make peace. And maybe the way to start that is simply for one of us to stand in front of the other and say, 'I'm sorry.'"

"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds reasonable enough." Lia sighed. "Being on this ship is really messing with everything I was raised to believe."

Chula laughed. "I was the same way before they saved my ass. Part of me still is, though more and more lately, I'm not sure anymore if I'm really that distrustful or if I'm simply trying to hold onto those feelings because they were all I ever knew until recently."

Lia nodded slowly and resumed staring at the window. After a moment, Chula reached over to the panel to her left and tapped a control. The lights in the compartment dimmed gradually, leaving only a few panels and displays glowing softly, and even those had cut their brightness.

"There. That makes it easier to see the stars." Chula took her feet off the console and leaned forward, smiling as she took in the thousands of distant points of light that were suddenly visible. "We can actually see them now that we're way out between star systems."

"Keelah." Lia released a long breath. "Hard to believe there's so many. I've never had a view like this before. I've always been planetside or in orbit where all sorts of bright lights drowned the stars out." She shook her head. "I can't believe I never thought of simply turning the lights off."

"Never occurred to me, either, until recently. And, of course, I kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner."

Lia stared out the window for a few more seconds before turning to Chula. "Thank you."

"Any time."

Lia turned back to the window. Both of them sat and simply gazed at the starfield for several minutes. Chula wondered if this was the first moment of tranquility Lia had experience since her Pilgrimage began.

"Hey." Lia leaned closer to the window and pointed. "Do you see that?"

Chula stared harder, frowning and straining her eyes. "See what? Oh, wait." The stars in the lower-left portion of the window appeared to flicker out for a few seconds, as if something had passed in front of them. "Good eyes, Lia."

"Thanks," Lia said, almost whispering. "Are there any asteroids or similar bodies in the area?"

"I've never heard of any this far outside a star system. Could be a rogue planet, I suppose. Say, a star goes supernova, blasts the atmospheres off its planets, burns the surfaces to a crisp, and the sudden absence of the massive gravity well sends the planets off through interstellar space."

Lia glanced around at the consoles, found the sensor station, and began operating controls. After taking some readings, she shook her head. "No, it's not nearly big enough to be a planet, and it's very close."

"A ship, then?" Chula checked the clock in her HUD. "The geth ship should've arrived by now. Maybe that's it." She glanced at the distance reading on Lia's console. "But they always hail us before they get this close."

"Scanning." Lia pointed at a ship silhouette on her display. "It's a geth ship, alright. No life signs detected--well, no organic ones, but I guess that's to be expected." She read the text that continued popping up. "Power output is minimal. No comm signals detected. The drive core is offline." She drew in a quick breath. "I'm picking up multiple hull breaches."

"An attack? Way the hell out here?" A cold surge rushed through Chula's chest. The Sulaco was unarmed. She'd heard of some freighters being fitted with weapons to fend off pirates, but Weyland and Yutani hadn't taken that option to avoid alarming any organics who might find out that geth owned and commanded the Sulaco. "Whoever did it could still be in the area."

If we survive this, I'm gonna strongly recommend to the captains that they install some guns and full combat and cyberwarfare suites.

"No other ships detected."

Chula sighed. "Well, there's that, at least." She reached out to her controls. "I'm moving us in closer. Let's see if we can find out what went horribly wrong this time."