FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"OW, F-FUCK!" "Keep STILL dammit!" "T-TRYING fuck's sake!" "Yer gonna hafta grit yer teeth or else I'll gag you." "J-just get it over with." "Alright...aaaaand this bit here-" "NNNNNGH!" James sat in front of Jax who began picking pieces of his armour out from his shoulder, as well as any loose bone shards that had snapped off when being crunched. The raptor tried not to shriek, the pain already evident in his bloodied shoulder now a few inches thinner, his arm hanging loosely whilst being clutched by the other. The krogan had a small kit of medical tools at his side, the two now in FG's room with him sitting on the bed, waiting for Jax to wrap up. Eventually, he brought out some medi-gel and smoothed over the cracks, placing the raptor's arm carefully into a sling made out of bandage. "There, that should work fer a bit. You might need an actual doctor to get it all fixed up properly, I can only take out the shards an' cover up the wounds." "It's kinda stiff," said FG, "but at least it doesn't hurt as much...thanks." "Heh, no problem, just keep that in yer sling fer about six weeks at the most, try to keep your fingers an' wrist moving so as not to get stiff. Just glad I kept my morgue tools, just because I cut up bodies in the past doesn't mean I can't patch 'em up again, right?" "Heheh, I guess. Didn't think the ship doctor would be you of all people." "Well anyways I done the best I could, you gonna be alright fer now?" "Yeah I just need to rest a bit." "Alright," said the krogan, "we just gotta get to a doctor when we can an' if you got the credits he'll fix ya right up." "Right." "So this other guy, he really been chasin' you that long?" "Yeah, he's an asshole, whatever." "Got it, say no more." "Huh?" "I ain't gonna ask you more about it since yer tired an' sore an' you sound like yer sick of this guy already, I understand." "Yeah." "You need anythin', I'll be in my room." "Alright thanks Jax." "No prob." With the hulking mass now out of his room, the raptor laid back on his bed and tried to relax more for his sake, his shoulder still stinging of broken bone everytime he moved his arm but he tried to ignore it. Falling asleep was not easy when every movement forced him to check his arm but he managed, more taking a nap than anything as he eventually nodded off. A few days later, they managed to get James to a doctor on Horizon, once again enjoying the warm temperate colony that was perfect for mankind. In truth James felt rather relaxed upon Horizon, the settlements being rather futuristic like large white boxes but the climate was most agreeable. Firm green grass and sprawling hills, almost like how he imagined Europe would look in his time. The doctor, a kindly fascinated old man from Minnesota with shocking blonde hair, gladly fixed up his shoulder with some more appropriate procedures with the right amount of credits. The operation was not as extensive as James had thought, and while Jax had done a relatively good job according to the doctor, it did require more immediate treatment in order to allow him the full-use of his arm back in future.

After the bone had been more properly cleaned and reset within his shoulder, James was given a sturdier sling, a more highly-elastic synthetic bandage that had two locking straps to hold it firm at both the wrist and elbow. With more confidence in his eventual healing, he thanked the doctor greatly and paid him before leaving, expecting it to be healed within at least one month. As they waited for their next orders back on the ship, Lirem decided to teach James about the sizes of planets and stars around the galaxy, the raptor turning fascinated as he tried to ignore his sling. The star chart was incredible, showing different scales on how one sun was the size of a basketball whilst making the Earth look like it was the size of a pinhead, making James feel that much more insignificant before the majesty of the universe. "That's Antares." "Wooooaaaahhh...seriously?" "And that's Betelgeuse, slightly smaller in scale but still quite big." "Holy shit that's incredible...I can't even see Earth in this! I can't even see the fucking SUN in this!" "Hehehaha, yeah...pretty amazing huh?" "I've barely ever been up in space before this...god. I can't believe there are suns and planets out there actually bigger than the ones back home in the solar system." "Sol system." "Right...god damn that's amazing." "How are you holding up?" "Great, Jax did some great work patching me up but I'd still like to go see a doctor. Sleeping's a nightmare like this." "I bet...broken arm's worse than a leg, least your leg doesn't flop all over the place on a hanging joint." "Right. We landing anytime soon?" "Maybe get some supplies on Horizon, it's nearby anyway. That place has got a lotta doctors plus it's a human colony so they'll handle you perfectly. You got a kinda human anatomy right?" "Yeah I guess so, two eyes, a mouth...I haven't got like two hearts or anything." "Heheh..." "What's so different about you turians anyway, I mean for anatomy-wise and all that?" "Well the inner body's not THAT much different," replied Lirem, "just different compositions chemically. Plus the skin we have is pretty tough against low-level radiation, so basically we can't get sunburnt quite so easily like humans do." "Hah really?" "Yep, metallic, got trace amounts of thulium right in here." "Hmhm...normally my species would have to have a heater on at all times or else we freeze up like crazy, but thankfully I wasn't born cold-blooded." "Oh is that a thing with you guys?" "In our original forms yeah but...I dunno, I can't remember how it all went, either we were warm-blooded originally or the...whatever that made us decided not to make us cold-blooded, I dunno. It's all science and shit." "Right, not your best subject?" "Pfft, nothing is my best subject. Except motorcycle racing, but that wasn't covered in school." "Hey, whatever works!" "Guys we got a call!"

Areh's alert made them gather round to the meeting room, once again receiving a message from Mr. Arutulelan. The hanar phased on screen with a look of intrigue upon his crew. At least as far as one could look intrigued without an actual face, asking: "Did you kill another assassin Mr. Campbell? Or was it a barfight?" "More like my archenemy," replied the raptor. "I'll be fine." "This one did not ask about your health, this renders you more useless than usual." "Pfft just get me to a doctor and I'll be fine, come on this is a galaxy where you guys have warp ships, a broken shoulder's nothing right?" "Mechanics are one thing. Anatomy is another. Regardless, you have a new mission, this one being far less exciting than the last one. A Prothean ruin has been uncovered on the planet of Tuntau, but the team that were involved in excavating have simply left it for no reason. The original investors are most displeased, and the team insist on having someone much more capable of fighting in order to unearth what truly lies there. Get to the ruins and obtain whatever relics you can find...as well as dispose of any supposed dangers." "Um...boss?" asked Norem. "Yes?" "...aren't you like, against this kind of thing?" "What do you mean?" "Well, this is a prothean ruin right? Wouldn't you not want it disturbed or-" "Mr. Hallaher? Don't make assumptions. They are the birth mother of all mistakes." "What?" "Just because this one is a hanar, does not mean that this one cares about the Enkindlers, or rather, Protheans. This one could not care less about the condition those ruins are in, nor whatever worthless dust now lies crumbling within such a place. Get whatever you can find and return back to the ship where we will transport these things to the expedition crew." "But you-" " What?" The crew all seized up waiting for the inevitable slight of fury, as Norem spoke bravely: "I didn't...mean to make assumptions, sir. I was just...we've never done excavations concerning Protheans or anything so I was just asking if you were okay with this, or-" "This one does not need to explain anymore on the matter. What matters right now is that you go out there, into that worthless ruin and find those useless relics, and nothing more. Is. That. Clear?" "Y-yes sir, I just, wanna ask why you don't-" "I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR WORTHLESS ENKINDLERS. DO NOT ASK ME AGAIN OR YOU SHALL SUFFER WORSE THAN DEATH, UNDERSTAND?"

The voice came roaring through like a howling abyss, making the group cower behind their seats from the sheer fury that came from the monitor. The moment they all peeked out back towards Tulan, the hanar had already left, the monitor now completely black as they sat back on their seats. The raptor was first to speak, asking: "...what...the fuck was all that about?" "I-i dunno!" said Lirem. "He...he's never done that before! Not like he hasn't gotten angry at us before but not THIS angry, he was screaming like someone shot him!" "I never even HEARD a hanar scream," said Leiah, "...and I don't think I ever want to again, that was horrifying!" "He seemed pretty pissed off about those ruins though," said FG, "what's wrong with them?" "The Hanar worship the Protheans, normally they praise them like gods, calling them the Enkindlers since a whole bunch of ruins are laid all over their home planet." "Wait, Protheans, what's that?" "An ancient race, something like fifty-thousand years ago was it?" "Yeah," answered Areh, "and the hanar basically formed a whole religion around them. Normally they would respect them with great reverence to not even dare disturb any sites they found...but I never thought Arutulelan would react like that." "Maybe he's an atheist?" replied Jax. "I mean, he sure hated the hell outta them when we tried to ask him about it so maybe he turned his back on 'em." "Maybe...I never asked him about those so...oh, here's our mission guys." The terminal gave them a standard readout of the mission as always, as well as coordinates given of the Prothean ruins' location sent to their omni-tools. Areh also obtained some relevant files of interest concerning archaeological reports in a file attachment to the message, glossing over them with curiosity.

Mysterious Ruin Abandoned on Tuntau A new Prothean ruin has been uncovered on the planet Tuntau, in the Phoenix system around the Argos Rho cluster. But it was mysteriously abandoned by the archaeologists that had been currently excavating it, claiming that it was haunted by some terrible vision. As requested by the original investor of this dig, you must explore the ruins instead in place of the expedition, and obtain whatever relics you can find inside the place. If you cannot find any, then clear the place of any dangers for them.

"Wait HAUNTED?!" said FG. "The fuck's this, are there ghosts in this galaxy?!" "Why wouldn't there?" replied Jax. "I mean, people die don't they?" "You actually believe in ghosts?" "Sure, don't you?" "Oh I believe in them alright...I believe in 'em plenty so no way am I going down there." "Well I don't," said Lirem, "so this shit ain't gonna fool me." "Me either," said Norem. "So that's us two heading down the planet." "I'll go with you this time," replied Leiah. "I'm kinda curious about this place now." "And I got two reasons not to," said FG. "One, the sling, two, fuck ghosts." "Alright then," said Norem, "so that's me, Lirem and Leiah. Areh, you wanna come down and explore yourself?" "Not today thanks," said Areh. "You can drive the mako this time, just...promise Lirem doesn't get to." "It's alright I never let him." "HEY!" said Lirem. "A mako is way easier to drive than a ship come on!" "Sorry it's Areh's rules, he don't want you to drive, you don't get to drive. Do YOU wanna tell him?" Lirem looked towards Areh who simply stared dead into his eyes. At first it was just a mock cold stare before his head began to shake, muscles tightening in the jaw beneath the mask like a nitrogylcerin bomb about to explode. Eventually the turian could take it no longer and went: "FINE okay I won't touch it!" The quarian stopped shaking and smiled with a childish giggle, turning back towards the ship's consoles as he set their course for Tuntau. The coordinates were set, as Lirem, Leiah and Norem set out into the Mako tank before the ship dropped them off. Tuntau was not a particularly nice-looking planet to say the least. In fact, one would call it downright dreary what with grey mountains and white plans formed of sodium and silicon dioxide. A light wind brushed across the planet's surface, aimless and meandering with no purpose of its own.

It was hard to say on whether the planet felt either dead or listless, the lack of activity or even alien life on it giving more credence to the former. The Varan mako rolled up towards an uncovered ruin, a strange sight that to James was fascinating to see on the monitors. A metallic-looking pyramid, rising high above the earth at an impressive height when unearthed, the entrance of which was now revealed before them. The telltale signs of archaeology had been left here, tools and lighting equipment now abandoned to the pale breaths of the landscape. The pyramid itself towered above them, high into the sky to almost touch upon the radiant large sun of the Phoenix system, a glaring white eye peering down on those arriving. It almost felt like a guardian to them, the way it shone down the pyramid's side to be almost blinding as they slowly drove their way in. "The place is wide enough," said Norem, "somehow we can fit our mako in it." "You sure about that?" asked FG over comms. "I mean this is an ancient site, you really wanna bring a tank in there?" "No worries I got it. Just try not to blast anything but yeah the place is wide enough that we can get going deeper in." "Maybe this is the garage," said Leiah, "you know, Prothean repairs for anything, we can fix it for ya! Service in fifty-thousand years or your money back!" "Pfft you're silly," said Areh smiling, "alright I'm getting a good readout from you guys so just keep on going. Any more signs of the previous guys who were here?" "There's some stuff still lying around," said Lirem, "abandoned lights and whatnot, might as well follow them and see where it takes us!" "Once you stop following them that should be where you can find the relics. So be careful alright?" "Alright." The monitor viewer showed the mako's view of the inside ruins, heading further and further into darkness that was only barely illuminated by both the mako's own lights and the previous excavation's. Jax was turning nervous, watching the screen with an ever-impending claustrophobic atmosphere among them, the cragged interior only broken by the original ruins' construction. Solid metallic walls at perfect 45-degree angles, glinting softly off the lights themselves. They passed through various rooms, with ancient smooth consoles of some unknown purpose and having rather odd layouts that to James looked more like a drawing of a salad than anything else. But the large passageway continued, the lights still showing them the path as they drove further into the underground. The natural rock of the planet was soon replaced more and more by the geometry of the ruins, spanning out into wider rooms the further down they went, almost like grand halls for some auspicious purpose. One such hall was a giant circular jade room with deepening spiralled seats, reaching all the way down to the bottom where a podium once stood, now half-ruined by time and memory.

"What sort of stuff went on here back then?" asked Leiah softly. "Maybe it was for grand debates," said Norem. "The great orators of their time speaking out against the ways of their society." "Or maybe a concert hall," said Lirem, "for like big rock concerts or whatever music they had." "I bet it's ska bands," said Jax, "ancient people love their ska music." "What, why the hell would you say that, that's stupid." "It's brass right?! They musta had brass instruments back then, trumpets an' shit." "Prothean jazz," said Areh deadpan, "comin' atcha live from the Tuntau Ruins." "Performed by Scallop Nipples." "One of the finest jazz performers of the Prothean era." "Wh-what the fuck are you talking about?!" said FG before cackling. "What?!" said Jax. "You didn't know Protheans were all about jazz?" "N-NO?!" "Oh yeah totally, I mean they were like the high society of their day, right next to uh...those other guys." "...are you serious right now? Are you?" "He's not serious," said Norem. "Jax, Areh, don't tease the raptor, he's not from here." "Awww you ruined it," said Jax teasingly, "he almost believed me." "Ugh you guys are assholes," said James. "I know, that's why they love us!" "Are you guys any closer to these relics yet?" "Not yet," said Lirem, "how are you guys holding up?" "I'm stuck here with fucking Larry and Lemmy here so not that well." "Who the hell are Larry and Lemmy?" asked Jax. "Two comedians back where I came from, double act. Except they were funnier than you two." "Well SOMEONE doesn't appreciate jazz humour." "Not like the Pr-otheans di-i-id," said Areh giggling, "they were real experts on con-temporary ja-hazz...hhhha hahahahaha!" Both krogan and quarian laughed away, with FG in the middle looking rather confused but inevitably laughing along with them, finding them to be quite infectious once they got going. The team in the mako however simply rolled their eyes, despite Leiah starting to get the giggles herself as they rolled further in. Soon they were in the underpassage, reaching a hallway that spanned much more in height than in width causing a tight squeeze for the mako. It was almost triangular in shape, spanning out with giant jade and bronze-like walls that served only to create a bewildering sense of vertigo, even for those watching through the monitor. Somehow it appeared to be far larger than what should be possible from the outside, the crew uncertain on whether it was a trick of architecture or just their own imagination failing them. The ceiling was black as night, the floor swirled with what appeared to be correlations of an impossible geometry, non-Euclidean as shapes appeared in the mosaic that none of them understood.

All of them could only gasp at such wonder, with James' only observation being: "Holy shit...is this...like some alien chapel?" "Maybe," said Norem quietly, "but...I can't believe a place like this exists underground." "It's so huge," said Leiah, "like, I...I-i...you...you could fit like three ships in here." "Not THAT many," said Jax, "but it sure looks huge, and those patterns on the floor what the hell are those?! I don't recognise any of those shapes." "Is this a math thing?" replied Areh. "I don't want it to be a math thing, not today." "I dunno Areh, you recognise any of 'em?" "No?" "Hmmmm...anyone?" "No," replied everyone. "Is there like some kinda light switch or something here? Maybe like an activation thing? I dunno, I'm just saying." "We're not here to understand," replied Lirem, "we're just here to get those relics, and head on out of here. The guys that dug this place up can figure out the rest for us." "OH YEAH, whut about the ghosts?!" "What ghosts?!" "Th-the ghosts in that damn place, you ain't finding any?!" "No, calm down Jax, seriously." "O-o-okay..." Jax's sudden shaking of nerves made FG wonder, asking: "Why are you so afraid of ghosts?" "I-i-i...I dunno, I just...I don' like them, they sound scary." "Probably cuz you can't shoot them," quipped Areh, "not unless you had some kinda proton pack." "Can we get one?!" "Um...I just...made that up." "Dammit Areh come ooooon!" The quarian simply rolled his eyes and shook his head while smirking, keeping watch of the monitor as the hallway began to turn narrower, reaching towards a trapezoidal alcove with an uneven edge to the floor. Almost as if it had been tilted like a house during an earthquake. "We can't get the mako through here," said Norem, "looks like we'll have to walk." "Alright," said Areh, "but park it the other way so you can drive out without turning." "Why you say that?" asked FG. "Because this place might collapse or something. Trust me, I've been underground before in that tank and you don't wanna waste precious seconds trying to do a three-point turn while the roof's coming down." "Good thinking!" said Lirem. "Alright let's do this." "Why do you guys even call it the mako?" asked FG softly. "I mean, what is that even?" "I dunno," said Areh. "...you alright?" "Yeah just...slight headache." "Again?" "I have my arm in a sling, gimme a break alright?" "Oh, right sorry." "S'alright." I just wish you guys stopped saying "mako", thought FG, seriously everytime I hear that my head starts twitching and makes me wanna go somewhere. After turning the tank round before parking, the turian brothers along with Leiah passed through the tighter hallway into the darkness beyond. The turians put up their face cameras that were on the side of their heads, part of the visor that would feed data back to the ship to not keep the remaining crew in the dark. Even if they themselves were as they felt the room before them was much much larger than they anticipated, despite not being able to see a single trace of it.

What little they could see, or feel rather was a bridge, a platform of some sort faintly lit within the middle of the room. The fact their steps echoed within the place gave a sense of scope and grandeur far beyond their understanding, at least for the time being. The source of light from the central platform was unknown, as a central dais was now raised before them, an impossibly thin stand with a flowering top where something shimmered. Leiah was first to walk forwards, until Norem stopped her. "Wait!" "Wh-what?" "It's not safe, just don't go charging off ahead." "It's just a console...an ancient Prothean console yes but still I can handle it better than you two." "That's not the point, something might happen and we don't know what it does." "Alright alright, just stick close okay?" "Aren't WE the ones heading up this?" asked Lirem. "Leiah, you stay back." "No no I can handle technology better than you two come on." "You sure about that?" "I managed to hack into my ship's security console when I was fifteen years old, I think I can handle a Prothean console." "Can she really?" asked FG quietly. "Course not," said Areh, "but at least she might know the tech better and not push all the wrong buttons. Better than Lirem." "I heard that," said Lirem. "Alright then, go try it." Leiah nodded and softly walked up to the platform, gently examining the console and seeing much to her surprise a holographic keyboard upon it. She gently tapped at a few standard buttons testing the potential operating system, but nothing seemed to come up. Only after a few minutes did she stop trying, seeing nothing appear before her as she turned saying: "Welp, I can't figure it out." "Surprise surprise," said Areh. "I mean come on, why would any of us know how to hack a console, a Prothean one no less?" "Was worth a try! You can't know what you can and can't do until you at least try it, right?" "...I guess...but still, where are the relics anyway, is this the farthest you guys can go?" "Seems so," said Lirem, "I can't imagine anything around here that would be useful, I mean it's just this console here and-...wait a minute. Areh, send me down the archaeology report on this place." "Got it." Lirem looked on his omni-tool for the data that was on this place, his face lighting up in the darkness with an amber glow on his features, the red vertical lines on each cheek now more pronounced than before. "Alright, apparently from what they found this was some sorta library...like a storage place for information. That means...maybe that thing over there is like a register for finding out data. Now if we just knew what to put in." "WAIT, guys!" Leiah noticed that the console had a small warped edge, almost peeled back slightly like a sardine tin. She pressed at it curiously, pulling and tugging before the console began to rip further. The metallic material was surprisingly flexible, as she pulled it back further much to everyone's shock and horror. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" "S-STOP IT!" "YOU'RE BREAKING IT YOU BOSH'TET!" "NO NO WAIT LOOK! Look I found it!"

Unveiling the console interior would reveal much more than they expected, as well as far less. A small treasure trove of items, including two data discs of an ancient civilisation, as well as some odd items here and there that were either worthless rubble or priceless relics. There was also no wiring, or any sort of engineering evident in the console. The buttons themselves weren't even attached to anything. "It...it's a fake." "What?!" "Look see, there's nothing in here, the wiring's all gone, someone took this all out and put all these data discs in!" "...well how about that," said Lirem, "looks like we got tricked by a fifty-thousand-year-old prank." "The old data-disc in the console," said Norem, "that happened on Fleet and Flotilla once didn't it?" "It did!" cried Leiah. "When Shoh'Nah hid her lover's discs from her parents, this is exactly the same thing! ...I wonder if they were fans." "I'm sure the Protheans loved watching our interspecies romance dramas through their crystal spheres Leiah. Now come on, we got what we need so let's get out of here." Making their way back towards the mako, they put the fragile relics into a safe containment pack before exiting. The moment they stepped out from the darkness, the large jade hallway suddenly lit up with the light of the sun, blinding them in pure white as they shrieked with surprise and almost fell back as the sound of ancient machinery started up. Grinding all around them, the floor had been bathed with white lines running all over it, the cracks and indentations soon revealed to be something far more than just ancient ruin. Lirem stumbled forwards towards the mako, trying to make sense of what was going on around him. The monitor from the ship was no better, trying to make sense of the scene unfolding before them as whirring sounds screamed inside their ears whilst light blinded them from all around, columbs of it shooting up towards the ceiling. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" cried James. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" "I DUNNO!" said Areh. "GUYS YOU OKAY!?" "IT'S THE GHOSTS," roared Jax, "I KNEW IT, I FUCKIN' KNEW IT WUZ GHOSTS!" "NOBODY SAW ANY GHOSTS YOU SHUT UP!" "NO YOU SHUT UP!" "SHUT UP FUCK'S SAKE!" roared Lirem stumbling. "I CAN'T SEE AND I'M DEAF ENOUGH AS IT IS!" "WHERE'S LEIAH?!" cried FG. "I DUNNO, I CAN'T SEE DAMMIT! NOREM! NOREM WHERE ARE YA?!" "I'M HERE!" shouted Norem. "LEIAH'S BEHIND ME NOW, SHE'S FINE!" "WAIT GUYS WAIT!" said Leiah. "THE CONSOLE, IT'S-SOMETHING'S HAPPENING WITH IT!" "WHAT?!" "LOOK!"

Turning their heads towards the darkened room, they felt their eyes become less blinded by the more solid amber aura resonating from it, a strange ball-shaped object flickering in and out of existence. On closer inspection, it appeared to be some sort of hologram, corrupted after years of disuse with lines of data running across its circumference, eons passing only to somehow power up again. It called out to them with a garbled message, one that none of them could understand. "Is it broken?" asked Lirem. "Probably," said Norem, "the fact it's...it's...talking in an old language probably long dead doesn't help either." "Ohhh Keelah," whispered Leiah, "I...I-i-i've...I've never seen a Prothean message before. Wh-what's it saying?! I wish I knew what it saying, what if it's saying something important, something AMAZING?!" "Well go and record it then or something!" "OH, you're right!" She hastily thumbed her omni-tool on to record and swung her arm towards it like she was about to fire from the wrist, aiming the omni-tool's "lens" as it caught the message loud and clear. Not that any of them knew what it was, but at the very least it would make a good record for later, the three watching with awe at the ancient program. The lights behind them had now settled, showing something more incredible once Lirem turned around. The lights had now been permanently burned into the ceiling above, revealing what appeared to be a magnificent array of stars in the sky. "Bro look!" He grabbed Norem's shoulder and pointed up towards them, the two gasping in awe whilst Leiah kept recording on the message talking away in some strange script. She gasped in turn at the sight of the starry night sky, the roof transformed into a galaxy above as Lirem took his opportunity to record the sight of it. He was awestruck, as were the three crew members back on the ship watching in mid-gasp at the monitor feed. "What the hell is all this?" asked FG. "I told you it wuz ghosts," said Jax softly, "...I told you." Areh said nothing, simply wide-eyed at the light display, trajectories charting out in every single direction of the cosmos, unable to comprehend at the speed they went. It was as if a computer algorithm were being written out before them, calculating various astronomical things that almost none of them understood. The message continued from behind, the amber transmission echoing its unknown words from the far reaches of this galaxy's history.

"Is it trying to point us somewhere?" asked Leiah. "I dunno," said Norem, "but keep rolling, this stuff is important and those archaeologists'll want this...spirits...how can this still work even after so many eons?" "Prothean engineering I guess...I bet Shepard could figure all this out." "Totally." "Wait why Shepard again?" asked FG. "Do you REALLY not know anything about Shepard?" asked Areh. "Um...n-no." "Shepard was the one that tried to warn the galaxy about the Reapers, because of a Prothean beacon that got activated by accident. Then it all boiled down to chasing this guy called Saren who also got the same knowledge of the Protheans, and Shepard even found out how to understand this language because of the beacon!" "Wait seriously?! This was a human right?" "Yep!" "Woah...how the fuck did that happen?" "I dunno, but if Shepard were here, we'd figure this out all easily. For now I guess it's up to the researchers when we get this back to-" "W-WOAH!" Suddenly the monitor view fell down to the floor, as the sounds of a great shaking started to emerge from underneath. The lights began to flicker from above them, rocks started to crack and distend from all around them, falling as the tremors began to turn greater. The message from the console stopped as soon as the quaking started, leaving Leiah, Lirem and Norem to start stumbling towards the tank. "What's happening?!" cried Leiah. "I-it's some kinda earthquake!" said Norem. "Get inside we're getting out of here!" "What's going on?!" shouted Jax. "Why's there an earthquake now?!" "I don't know but we're getting out NOW, come on!" The three piled in as Norem took the controls, revving the engine up and storming through the light-slanted corridor. Jade rocks and ancient strata began falling in larger volume, boulders beginning to dislocate from the walls and crunch onto the floor itself, turning the hall into one giant obstacle course. Norem swerved between the rocks, trying desperately to keep his eye on both above and in front of him. Leiah was panicking, whilst Lirem tried to calm her down. "OH KEELAH NO!" "CALM DOWN, WE'LL GET OUT OF THIS, NOREM LOOK OUT!"

A hard turn saved the front from being completely crushed, a giant column having being pushed out of place before landing straight in front of them. Norem activated the jet thrusters and boosted over it, struggling to keep up his speed and not stop for a second as the halls fell from behind them. Yard by yard the rockslide grew, the entire corridor self-destructing within minutes of itself, as the tremors came closer. Close enough to the point of making the entire tank vibrate furiously fast, the suspension struggling to maintain itself as the wheels crunched and bumped against every sizeable rock underneath. "BE CAREFUL!" shouted Areh. "KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR ANY ROCKS UNDERNEATH!" "I KNOW!" said Norem. "DON'T WORRY I'LL BRING YOUR VARAN BACK IN ONE PIECE!" "I-I WASN'T WORRIED ABOUT THAT!" "SURE YOU WEREN'T! HANG ON TO SOMETHING, I'M GONNA TWO-WHEEL THIS SUCKER!" He saw a tighter gap up ahead and readied himself for a daring trick, a passageway turning tighter by the cave walls on either side of it, too tight for the mako's width. But Norem had an idea, readily aligning the jet thrusters on only one side of the tank before boosting onto its side. Leiah cried out and almost slammed against the side, until Lirem grabbed her close to his chest before they two-wheeled through the gap, only a minute before it closed up even tighter than ever. The exit was almost ahead, as lighting equipment sparked and shattered from all around them at the quaking of the earth around them. The tremors were now less than before, but their reach was far enough as they saw the entrance start to tremble with anticipation. The roof looked as if it was about to come down, as Norem drove dead ahead towards the exit. He didn't even stop until he was able to outrace the cloud of dust that came from the ruined caverns, bluntly turning hard once he was certain that they were safe. The ruins of Tuntau began to crumble once more, as the cave entrance slowly began to cover itself with rocks and silicate. Norem sighed in relief as his head hit the back of his seat, with Leiah trying to calm herself in Lirem's arms. The turian chuckled at her saying: "You alright?" "Y-y-yeah...thanks, sorry I-" "S'alright, nobody expected it. Well, maybe except Areh." "Just precautions," said Areh," nothing else. You guys still got the relics?" "Yep, and the recordings to go with it. Hope the archaeologists won't get TOO mad about it." "So what the hell was this ghost then?" asked FG. "That light show in there?" "It's not exactly something that happens everyday, I guess they just panicked and left. Boy is their boss gonna tear 'em a new one for getting all jumpy." "Heh, I bet. Wonder if we'll find out what's on those things?" "Who knows. Right now, I wanna get me some more cash." "And then we can buy a proton pack," said Jax. "You know, just in case." The last thing the Mako team heard before returning to the ship was Areh groaning in annoyance, with Jax laughing his head off as they drove back. The archaeologists were notified immediately, as they soon met on Horizon with the exchange of information. They admittedly looked sheepish for being rather scared of what was just an ancient light show, but the Calibrators got their pay regardless while also getting extra for the astounding work of their recordings. In truth, their recordings managed to obtain an incredible amount of information that they themselves had been too skittish to obtain.

With that satisfactory job well done, they awaited their next mission as well as the glowing praise that they received from Arutulelan. If anything he always loved when clients were immensely grateful, and in truth they had been doing rather well getting bonuses for extra caution. No missions however came up for them in the next two weeks, leaving them rather absent in their own personal routines once again. James kept to his bed resting and looking up potential researchers on dimensional travel; Leiah and Areh familiarised with each other over the tank's mechanics; and Lirem corresponded with various job opportunities for band hiring whilst Jax and Norem went to do songwriting. So far, they had picked up and performed two gigs on Illium, the place having stirred up plenty news about them owing to the infamy of the T'Kina estate assassin. But even worse news soon came from the most unexpected source. Docking on Illium after their gigs, the band sat in their ship counting their money off while seated around the main room, passively talking away. "I been thinking up a few songs," said Areh, "I got an idea for a really nice synthesised one, something with an easy drumbeat I think." "Got any lyrics yet?" asked Lirem. "Not yet...just need a good idea for the voice, not sure what to go with." "Whaddaya mean?" "Well, it's kinda sombre-sounding, like a sort of dirge but with high-pitched synth, sort of has a whole 'we may be beaten we may be bloodied but we'll hold our heads high' sorta thing...you know?" "Ahhh...huh...yanno that might fit the whole atmosphere for the Horizon concert coming up next year." "You think so?" "Yeah, I mean come on, Eden Prime survivors, they might like that." "I dunno...I don't wanna offend anyone by accident." "We'll just work the lyrics...I mean, if the boss lets us do it." "He won't," said Norem. "You know what he's like, if it's not money we're getting he's not interested." "That's not true!" replied Areh. "I mean...if it's a concert that is, sure but it's not ALWAYS about money." "Ninety-eight percent of the time it is. Anyways, I just-" "AAAAAAH!" Leiah ran screaming from her room down towards the main living room, panting heavily against the door with panic in her chest and tears in her throat as the group ran over to help. James was coming up behind her, his arm now free from the sling with his shoulder back to full recovery. "Whut's wrong?!" asked Jax. "THE...th-the...s-s-S-STATION!" "Whut?!" "THE STATION, IT'S UNDER ATTACK!" "Woah woah calm down," said Norem calmly, "what's this about a station?" "S-S-SUSSKIND! JUST...OUT OF NOWHERE, IT-....KEELAH HELP ME!" "I can't get a word out of her!" said FG, "she just ran screaming from her room like crazy for some reason!" "THE STATION, YOU HAVE TO HELP THEM, JUST, HELP THEM, MY DADDY'S IN-" "CALM DOWN!"

Norem grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to contain her, watching the quarian shake with sobbing voice before calmly replying: "Just...calm down, and tell us what's happening." "O-okay...hh-hhh...I...I'm sorry...I just...I-i-i was calling my dad, he's at, Susskind Station over in the...V-valhalla Threshold." "Alright." "He...h-h-he was just talking to me about s-snap-on modular engineering, we were just talking about stuff cuz I haven't seen him in a few weeks, the first time he's been out of the migrant fleet in years I-...I-i-i-i...s-something happened!" "What happened?" "Someone attacked the station! Some ships came flying in and went, e-everyone was screaming and my dad he-...h-he cut off the link I-...oh Keelah no!" She broke down in tears as James hugged her closely, trying to comfort her with both arms around her waist. The raptor looked towards the group as they suddenly made up their minds, not blinking for a second before Lirem said: "Alright let's roll, we're going to Susskind Station." "Right," said Areh, Norem and Krungut. "Wait what?" said FG. "You seriously going?" "Someone's in danger, we're not gonna let that happen." "But, what about your boss, won't he-" "He'll understand, trust me. Now come on, let her sit down and just rest until we get there, we have to try at least." The raptor led Leiah over to a seat and let her calm down, holding her tightly before her sobbing would cease. The crew did not even hesitate as they found their coordinates, seeing Susskind Station within the Raheel-Leyya system somewhere far out in the Valhalla Threshold, not more than two days' warp from Illium. The suddent turn of events left James rather confused, as he soon had Leiah lying on the couch in the living room of the ship before James heading up towards the front bow where Lirem stood at the star charts. He had to ask the turian: "Won't your boss be mad about this?" "Not if it involves saving people." "Really? Why?" "He might act like some creepy gangster, but he always got people in mind when he wants to help somebody. Ever noticed how all our missions are about helping people, not oppressing?" "Huh?" "Think about it, we're mercs, we have just as much use killing whole tribes or stomping out resistance. But no, he never does those missions. Always it's been some guys that got drifted or some hostages that got taken, always someone to help. He might not like what we're doing here without his saying, but he'll understand. He always does." "I never realised...so, is he a good guy?" "Possibly. He certainly doesn't look it huh?" "Not really." "We don't know why either, but hey, long as he wants to help people it's alright. Guess he thinks that the galaxy has enough jerkwads running around." "Hehe, right." "How's Leiah?" "She's calmed down, resting a bit. Does anyone know anything about this station?" "I do," said Areh. "It's a marvel of modern engineering, snap-on modular engineering. The place has been a real haven for all kinds of scientists, but mostly quarians." "How big is this place?" "About two-thousand worth, possibly holds about fifty spaceships max, it's pretty close to quarian space." "Hold up, if this place is getting attacked, won't the quarians come in and help?" "Who knows how far away the fleet is," said Norem, "we have to help somehow before they can come around, plus we don't know if the station managed to send out a distress signal or not, Leiah said it all happened rather swiftly." "...you guys are really trying to be heroes, aren't you?" They all turned towards FG with a look of pensiveness, not sure on what to say to him, the sounds of the ship's engine humming beneath them like always as a silence came awkwardly. Jax broke the awkward silence first however with: "People are in trouble. Why would we not help 'em? You don't need a reason to help people, right?" "...heh, guess not. I gotcha, I'm ready to help too." "You sure? Your arm just got better." "I can still shoot, and I can still fight. If I have to help someone then I'm going." "But there's like four of us, you don't have to-" "No. I have to." The look of determination forced upon James' face made them realise just the same, not saying another word as they nodded before turning back to their controls. They hoped that the station would survive long enough before the reinforcements would arrive.