Book 1: Ch 4- The Terror Above Jupiter
MagicMan333
Post-apocalyptic Gonzo Journalist
- Location
- Washington
Chapter 4: The Terror Above Jupiter
It was four days since Longius died and Tali was disturbed by how quiet the ship had become. The silence didn't come from the ship itself, or else Tali's fear would have erupted into full blown panic by now, but the crew. The rush of panic and anger that'd occurted qafter the shutdown of the relay had been replaced by a silent dread that'd only gotten worse since they'd abandoned the relay.
That'd happened because of the results of the autopsy that'd been performed on Longius' corpse. At the emergency meeting that had been held shortly afterwards, The ship's doctors, led by an elderly salarian by the name of Mordin Solus, explained that Longius' body, and his brain in particular, had undergone significant mutation. Upon discovering this they had looked at some of the crew, both those who had visited the Lost Colony and those who hadn't, in a discrete manner in order to make sure that whatever illness was present hadn't spread among the crew. What they saw had left them frozen inside. Each of the tested crew reported positive for some kind of aberrant brain activity along with multiple other strange physical symptoms. None of them to the level of Longius but each potentially deadly given time. After some discussion, a theory was conferred to the crew.
This system was only a skip and a jump away from the "Lost Colony". The fear was that whoever destroyed it had also come here and for some reason left some kind of unseen "pollutant" around the relay that caused physical degradation mixed with psychological damage if left around it for too long. The answer was clear. The Long-Sight must abandon the relay or risk suffering inevitable madness and even more inevitable death.
In any other circumstance, the idea of an undetectable deep-space disease would have been laughable. But the events of the past week and a half had conviced the crew that they were in a frightening and mysterious place where the rational laws of the universe as understood in Citadel Space broke down to be replaced by nothing but chaos and horror. T'Bayla, either believing the findings or simply trying to avoid a mutiny ordered the ship to proceed deeper into the system in the hopes of finding something that could help them in some way shape or form.
The ship had arrived in the orbit of the biggest planet in the system, a gas giant some of the salarians were planning to name after a minor god, a few hours before. The current plan was to stay in orbit, dump the ship's core, and plan on what to do next. It wasn't the greatest plan but it had gained a certain degree of support when the various cases of insomnia and chronic nightmares began to die down after journeying further into the system. Tali, herself finally had a full night's sleep for the first time in a week the night before. It was one of two good things that'd happened to her since they'd come to this hole of a system.
She saw the other good thing staring at her out of the corner of her eye. Tali sighed to herself. He'd shown up shortly after his shift to "keep her company". This was shortly after Wrex had "kept her company" before his shift. And that was shortly after Liara "kept her company" while they both got ready for their shifts. And the day before…
While Garrus and Wrex had gotten off to a bad start, and Tali admitted her own first impression of the turian had been tainted by the glares he kept shooting at Wrex, the two of them, Liara, and Tali had come out of the fight with Longius bound together by the experience. Which was great. Tali had not had many friends since leaving the fleet and those she'd made here made her feel accepted for the first time since forever, since she could remember said a traitorous voice in the back of her head. But the problem was, friends talked to each other. Tey told each other about problems. They told each other about mutual friend's problems. Which was how Garrus and Liara had found out about Crassa.
Crassa'd left Tali alone after she'd met Wrex, a seven foot several-hundred pound Krogan tended to do that for you, but shortly after the ship became stranded beyond the relay she'd started catching Crassa watching her out of the corner of her eye. Sometimes it was innocuous enough like in the mess. But when she saw her watching her in the engine room she'd allowed herself to become panicked enough to go see Wrex. That was the night they'd both started sleeping on Liara's floor.
After Longius, Wrex told Garrus and Liara in the hope that they could convince her to talk to the Captain before something dangerous happened. Tali didn't listen. The wide-eyed girl who left the fleet might have but seven months of dealing with the larger galaxy led her to believe that it'd do no good. So the three of them decided to keep an eye on her when they weren't on shift. On the one hand, it was nice to talk to someone while she worked. On the other… She could see how tired Garrus and Wrex were. While people were starting to sleep again, the security guards had found themselves with more work due to the recent losses they had suffered and she could tell Garrus and Wrex were wearing themselves thin. She needed to convince them she could take care of herself. For their sake. And the sake of the crew.
She was so deep in thought that when her fusion wrench broke in half she almost fell on her ass. She caught her balance by grabbing onto the open hatch and pulling herself towards it. Having pulled herself back onto two feet she looked at the piece of the fusion wrench in her hand and began muttering a string of quarian curse words. She heard Garrus chuckle.
"Such a mouth, Tali," he said, "You could've given my old drill instructor a run for his commission." Tali glared at him in the fervent hope that he'd burst into flames. He threw up his hands and gave the turian equivalent of a sly smile, "Orders, Drill Instructor Zorah?" She brought her hands to her hips and, her eyebrows raised in fond annoyance.
"Go get me a new fusion torch, Vakarian. Before I make you do something that makes five-hundred pushups look like a three-day pass on a planet full of naked Asari," Garrus nodded, turned around, and left for the nearest tool box. Tali began to look over her work when she heard Garrus call back.
"Dream of R&R on a planet of naked asari do you, Tali?" She whipped around and threw a wrench down the hall and smiled when she heard him yelp. After she heard him walk away she caught herself day dreaming of a suit-free day on a planet full of naked asari.
"Damn it, Vakarian," she mumbled to herself. Five minutes later, she heard a pair of footprints behind her. "You better have found the right size, Vakar-" Her instincts told her to duck and she felt an arm go over her head and saw the glint metal. She turned around to see Crassa standing at the entrance of the small maintenance crook she was in with a knife in her hand. Taking stock of her surroundings she knew she was in trouble. Crassa had been smart to ambush her here. There was so little room to maneuver and she could risk no damage to her suit much less an actual wound by the blade. Tali cursed the quarian immune system for what had to be the millionth time since she left the fleet.
"Tell me what you did to the relay, suit rat, and all I'll do is kick the shit out of you." Crassa growled. Out of the corner of her eye, Tali saw something.
"I-" Tali sputtered as Crassa drew closer with the knife her hand laying in the open maintenance hatch for balance, "I-". Her hand found what she was looking for and she smashed the side of Crassa's face with the other half of the fusion wrench, "Didn't do a damn thing you stupid bosh'tet." Crassa grabbed the side of her face in pain and Tali push kicked in the stomach and out into the hall. Thank her ancestors for quarian cultural traditions that required a lot of dancing. She ran out into the hall, hoping to knock out Crassa before she got up. She wasn't so lucky. Crassa kicked her legs out from under her as she herself climbed to her feet. Crassa flew into a jumping thrust aimed down at her helmet but Tali rolled out of the way. The failed thrust knocked Crassa off her balance giving Tali the opportunity to spring to a crouch and tackle her to the ground.
She pinned Crassa's knife arm down onto the floor by the wrist with her right hand as her left hand curled into a fist and slammed into the side of Crassa's face with a sickening crunch. Three punches in Crassa's own fist dug into her stomach and Tali fell onto her back. Crassa got up and moved towards her slowly.
"Not bad, suit-rat. Not bad. But there's-" Tali took Crassa's gloating as an opportunity to take her pistol from its holster and shot her in the shoulder. She dropped like a lead ball. She heard someone coming up the hall. Tali got up and saw Garrus running towards her.
"What-" He started. Tali interrupted.
"She attacked me. I kicked her ass and shot her in the shoulder." She holstered her pistol, "Its all okay. Go get someone. I'll keep an eye on her and-"
That's when Crassa started to scream.
-----
Quiet in medical room. Mordin Solus examined Crassa Volutus' vitals. Handcuffed to bed. Captain's orders. Enraged at attempt to murder Engineer Zorah. Wasn't happy himself. Ancient punishment for attempted murder of crewmate getting executed and spaced in short order. More civilized these days. Held in brig until return to dock. Wouldn't work now. Lost in forgotten corner of galaxy.
Need to examine her first. Longius caused caution. Reports said Crassa began to scream and claw eyes out after being disabled. Examined brain and body. Received strange results. Not like Longius. Something else happening. Something above them and their little ship.
Memories of Tuchanka. Of Genophage. After, sought greater meaning. Studied religions and philosophies across galaxy. Didn't find answer. Expanded knowledge. Sometimes enough. Decided to spend rest of life giving back to galaxy.
Spiritually satisfying but not intellectually stimulating. Hear from old STG contacts about new expedition. Decide to help give galaxy new knowledge. Left clinic in good hands. Was correct about stimulating. Too many mysteries. Colony felt odd. Like corrupted holy place. Same feeling near mass relay. Remember old salarian preacher from before spaceflight. Fire and brimstone type. "Do not be caught in the hands of an angry god," he said. Thought such methodology for cloacas. But still-
Equipment began to screech. Looked at vitals. Rush to Crassa's side. Mouth hung open. Her skin was black and seeping similar-colored oil. Her eyes glowed yellow. Tendrils grew from face. Tendrils remind him of seaweed or kelp moving gently in ocean current. See her look at bindings inquisitively. Like child. Broke them like paper. Looked at him. Tried to move out of way but she moved fast. Too fast. Not possible for turians to move that quickly. Caught him by throat. Began to squeeze. Tried to struggle. Too strong. Vision started to swim. Darkness.
-----
Garrus was sitting in the Captain's office when he got the news. They were telling her the whole Crassa story. Wrex and Tali were there and Liara would join them when she was off her shift. To say the Captain was upset was an understatement. Fortunately for them, it was the kind of anger that reminded him of his mother when he and Solana would do something dangerous when they were kids. She went on for a bit at Tali about keeping this sort of harassment secret and that it didn't matter that she was a quarian goddess dammit. Her words not his. He never saw someone look so chagrined and happy as Tali in that moment. He and Wrex got it next for not coming forward even without Tali's permission and didn't they want to actually stop this kind of shit? Again, Captain's words. After that they got a set of veiled compliments for loyalty towards a fellow crewmember, with Tali getting some props for kicking the crap out a distinguished member of the Hierarchy Military. Behind them the door opened and Officer Sokir Volon, a smallish salarian with a green coloring to his skin, came through breathing hard.
"Captain, it's Crassa." The blood drained from Tali's face as the Captain rolled her eyes, gritted her teeth, and pulled out her sidearm.
"Continue, Officer." She said loading her pistol. Sokir nodded.
"Crassa woke up and attacked Doctor Solus. He's fine but he's going to be woozy for a couple of hours. But," T'Bayla glared at that, "We don't know where she is." Tali gripped Wrex's arm like a flotation device.
"Really?" T'Bayla said as she stood up and cocked her gun< "We have cameras all over the ship-"
"I know, mam, I know, I mean I don't but-" he took a deep breath, "Look she just disappeared. None of the cameras picked her up. We have a general idea where she's going because people have been spotting her running around the ship." T'Bayla rolled her eyes.
"I am really getting sick of all the weird bullshit in this system." She moved towards the door. "Urdnot stay here with Zorah" She turned towards Tali who looked like she was about to say something, "No buts. She's after you and you're not going through that twice." She beckoned Garrus over to her "Vakarian, you're with me.
They found their lead five minutes later when they saw a thirteen members of the crew standing around someone sitting against the wall of the hallway, which Garrus noted was the same spot that Farla had ended up during Longius' madness.
He felt his stomach drop when he saw it was Liara. She was sitting there clutching her right arm which looked broken with her face twisted in pain. A salarian doctor kneeled next to her performing multiple injections on her arm. Garrus left the Captain's side and kneeled next to Liara. If Crassa-
"Stop looking at me like that, Garrus." She said looking at him out of the corner of her half-lidded eyes, "I'm going to be fine. I just made a bit of a mistake." She groaned as the doctor began another injection.
"Liara-" Garrus began before she cut him off.
"I heard about Crassa escaping so I went looking for her before she could find Tali. I found her in this hallway and tried to put her down with my biotics and-" she shook her head "Something's happened to her Garrus. Like Longius but not the same it doesn't feel as wrong and-" Her eyes drooped and she smiled the soft smile of a tired academic, "I'm sorry I'm not making much sense. The doctor's already given me a lot of painkillers and-" Her eyes closed and she began to snore softly. The doctor stood up.
"I'm sorry. She's going to be fine but she needs to sleep for the compounds to heal her arm." Garrus nodded. He swore that if he got his hands on Crassa he was going to rip her arm out of her socket. He was sure Wrex was going to be proud. The Captain, for her part, looked ready to kill.
"Does anyone know where the hell Crassa is or-" The intercom crackled loudly over them before making a strange noise that Garrus would never be able to place and would never hear again. Suddenly someone spoke.
"Captain Nela T'Bayla of the Asari Republics," it was Crassa's voice that buzzed over the intercom, "I understand you are looking for me. I also wish to speak with you." The next words she spoke confounded Garrus. "I am standing in the airlock. I will see you in a few minutes."
-----
That's where they found her, standing in the airlock ramrod straight. She stared blankly ahead. A peaceful smile crossed her face. Between that and her mutations it was a horrible sight and Garrus felt his rage dissipate. He'd hated Crassa for what she'd put Tali and Liara through but looking at her now- No one deserved this. T'Bayla's face had gone from one of authoritative hatred to stoic caution.
"Security Officer Crassa-" Crassa shook her head interrupting the Captain.
"I am sorry. I am no longer who you say I am." Her voice echoed with a strange reverb that sent a shiver up Garrus' spine. She looked at her hands and spoke to herself, "Same meat. Same bone. But different and becoming more so."
"Who are you then?" T'Bayla said as if to someone preparing to jump off a bridge. Crassa, or whoever it was, cocked her head sideways.
"I do not have a name yet. The Nine have not deemed to give me a name yet."
"The Nine?" T'Bayla asked. Crassa giggled.
"This world is their world," She spread her arms out, "These moons are their moons." She pointed at T'Bayla, "And you came here without permission and polluted our world with the remains of the Great Trap." Garrus wondered what they meant by Great Trap. He assumed they meant the mass relay. It was possible that they weren't the first to be trapped in this system by it and that that might create some hostility with the locals.
T'Bayla shook her head in horror, "That's why they've done this to you? Because we trespassed? We didn't even know anyone was in this damn system." Crassa nodded like a child trying to explain some bit of childhood logic to a parent.
"They know. That's why they decided to be merciful. They only chose the one called Crassa. She was hate-filled and ignorant. You should be pleased to see her gone. I will be altered further to serve them as their Agent. I am already quite valuable to them. I know so much about the galaxy that they did not." She brought her hands together and look pleased, "The Citadel. The Council and its peoples. The Terminus Systems. Many others. They like this. Now," she reached towards the emergency release that would jettison her into the vacuum of space. In a sane universe, she'd never be able to overcome the thousands of pounds of pressure that ran through it but Garrus understood that they left a sane, rational universe a long time ago.
"Wait." T'Bayla shouted. What was left of Crassa stopped and looked at her. "You said giving you an-" she swallowed before continuing, "an agent was the price of trespassing but it's not a fair payment." Crassa cocked her head in confusion. "You got information from us. About the galaxy. But I demand information in return."
"You demand information of the Nine." Crassa said bewildered. She stared at T'Bayla for a minute before giggling again. "You are brave. My masters are impressed with you, it has been so long since someone was brave in the face of the Nine. We will give you the information you want. But," her smile turned to a snarl and the room felt like it dropped several degrees in temperature, "do not demand anything of the Nine again." The smile returned, "Now, what do you ask of the rulers of Jupiter?" T'Bayla took a deep breath.
"Can you tell us if there's a safe place for me and my crew to go in this goddess-forsaken star system?" She said. Crassa closed her eyes. It felt like forever before she opened her eyes and spoke.
"You have come upon dangerous shores, explorers of the Citadel peoples. You have walked into the middle of the single greatest war in existence and there are few safe places to be found."
"What war?" Garrus asked, the situation getting the best of him. T'Bayla glared at him from the corners of her eyes.
"The eternal war. Between Light and Dark. It had been fought on a million worlds across the whole of the universe before it came here. It will be fought in a million more before the end comes." Crassa looked out of the small viewpoint in the airlock's door to the depths of space. "On the motherworld, blue and green. Third world from the sun. There is a city. A gentle place ringed by spears. It is the only place safe from the ravages of the Dark by the Light of its protector." Garrus opened his mouth to ask about this city but T'Bayla signaled him to be quiet. They needed this information and Garrus understood that they needed to ask as little else as possible in order to get it. "The people there hide behind the safety of great walls. They might take you in. But," Crassa raised her index finger, "you were not the first outsiders to come to this system. Conquerors, pirates, and monsters have sought to snuff out the last Light in this system by laying the City low. They may not trust you. But if you wish to survive you must find sanctuary behind their walls."
T'Bayla sighed before speaking, "Are there places to avoid on the way there so we don't risk trespassing on another's territory while we're here?" she asked. Crassa nodded.
"Should you see a great ring of asteroids and ships you must avoid it. A people live there that bear two souls. They are allies of ours but we do not trust them. They care only for their own and will kill any who are not them who dare come into their territory. Keep far away from the asteroids and stations or you will die. Do not go near the red world, fourth from the Sun, plagued by a great army, or you will die. Do not go near the green-grey world, second from the Sun, plagued by the time walkers, or you will die. Do not go to the machine-world, first from the Sun, taken by the time-walkers, or you will die." Crassa reached for the release and glared at them, "Do not return to Jupiter, fifth from the Sun, home of the Nine, or you will die." A movement of her arm and she was gone. Sucked out into the orbit of the world known as Jupiter.
****
Oh my god, it's finally done. Sorry this is up so late. I spent the first three days of this week halfway across the state away from my computer and stable internet. Fortunately, I had the foresight to pack a notebook and a pencil so I was able to write most of this in the three days I was camping. Got home in the afternoon and spent awhile transcribing it, cleaning it up as I did so. Now I can go ahead and go play Overwatch and X-Pirates for the rest of the night.
Anyway, the scene with Agent!Crassa was one of the first scenes I thought of when I originally thought of this fic and I've been wanting to get to it for weeks. Again, I'm looking for any constructive criticism on my action scenes, although I like how this one came out a lot better than Longius'.
Anyway, NEXT TIME ON "EACH STAR IS A POINT OF LIGHT": The crew make their way to the orbit of the blue world looking for their promised safe place but find themselves in a fight for their lives on the surface of the planet before a stranger appears.
It was four days since Longius died and Tali was disturbed by how quiet the ship had become. The silence didn't come from the ship itself, or else Tali's fear would have erupted into full blown panic by now, but the crew. The rush of panic and anger that'd occurted qafter the shutdown of the relay had been replaced by a silent dread that'd only gotten worse since they'd abandoned the relay.
That'd happened because of the results of the autopsy that'd been performed on Longius' corpse. At the emergency meeting that had been held shortly afterwards, The ship's doctors, led by an elderly salarian by the name of Mordin Solus, explained that Longius' body, and his brain in particular, had undergone significant mutation. Upon discovering this they had looked at some of the crew, both those who had visited the Lost Colony and those who hadn't, in a discrete manner in order to make sure that whatever illness was present hadn't spread among the crew. What they saw had left them frozen inside. Each of the tested crew reported positive for some kind of aberrant brain activity along with multiple other strange physical symptoms. None of them to the level of Longius but each potentially deadly given time. After some discussion, a theory was conferred to the crew.
This system was only a skip and a jump away from the "Lost Colony". The fear was that whoever destroyed it had also come here and for some reason left some kind of unseen "pollutant" around the relay that caused physical degradation mixed with psychological damage if left around it for too long. The answer was clear. The Long-Sight must abandon the relay or risk suffering inevitable madness and even more inevitable death.
In any other circumstance, the idea of an undetectable deep-space disease would have been laughable. But the events of the past week and a half had conviced the crew that they were in a frightening and mysterious place where the rational laws of the universe as understood in Citadel Space broke down to be replaced by nothing but chaos and horror. T'Bayla, either believing the findings or simply trying to avoid a mutiny ordered the ship to proceed deeper into the system in the hopes of finding something that could help them in some way shape or form.
The ship had arrived in the orbit of the biggest planet in the system, a gas giant some of the salarians were planning to name after a minor god, a few hours before. The current plan was to stay in orbit, dump the ship's core, and plan on what to do next. It wasn't the greatest plan but it had gained a certain degree of support when the various cases of insomnia and chronic nightmares began to die down after journeying further into the system. Tali, herself finally had a full night's sleep for the first time in a week the night before. It was one of two good things that'd happened to her since they'd come to this hole of a system.
She saw the other good thing staring at her out of the corner of her eye. Tali sighed to herself. He'd shown up shortly after his shift to "keep her company". This was shortly after Wrex had "kept her company" before his shift. And that was shortly after Liara "kept her company" while they both got ready for their shifts. And the day before…
While Garrus and Wrex had gotten off to a bad start, and Tali admitted her own first impression of the turian had been tainted by the glares he kept shooting at Wrex, the two of them, Liara, and Tali had come out of the fight with Longius bound together by the experience. Which was great. Tali had not had many friends since leaving the fleet and those she'd made here made her feel accepted for the first time since forever, since she could remember said a traitorous voice in the back of her head. But the problem was, friends talked to each other. Tey told each other about problems. They told each other about mutual friend's problems. Which was how Garrus and Liara had found out about Crassa.
Crassa'd left Tali alone after she'd met Wrex, a seven foot several-hundred pound Krogan tended to do that for you, but shortly after the ship became stranded beyond the relay she'd started catching Crassa watching her out of the corner of her eye. Sometimes it was innocuous enough like in the mess. But when she saw her watching her in the engine room she'd allowed herself to become panicked enough to go see Wrex. That was the night they'd both started sleeping on Liara's floor.
After Longius, Wrex told Garrus and Liara in the hope that they could convince her to talk to the Captain before something dangerous happened. Tali didn't listen. The wide-eyed girl who left the fleet might have but seven months of dealing with the larger galaxy led her to believe that it'd do no good. So the three of them decided to keep an eye on her when they weren't on shift. On the one hand, it was nice to talk to someone while she worked. On the other… She could see how tired Garrus and Wrex were. While people were starting to sleep again, the security guards had found themselves with more work due to the recent losses they had suffered and she could tell Garrus and Wrex were wearing themselves thin. She needed to convince them she could take care of herself. For their sake. And the sake of the crew.
She was so deep in thought that when her fusion wrench broke in half she almost fell on her ass. She caught her balance by grabbing onto the open hatch and pulling herself towards it. Having pulled herself back onto two feet she looked at the piece of the fusion wrench in her hand and began muttering a string of quarian curse words. She heard Garrus chuckle.
"Such a mouth, Tali," he said, "You could've given my old drill instructor a run for his commission." Tali glared at him in the fervent hope that he'd burst into flames. He threw up his hands and gave the turian equivalent of a sly smile, "Orders, Drill Instructor Zorah?" She brought her hands to her hips and, her eyebrows raised in fond annoyance.
"Go get me a new fusion torch, Vakarian. Before I make you do something that makes five-hundred pushups look like a three-day pass on a planet full of naked Asari," Garrus nodded, turned around, and left for the nearest tool box. Tali began to look over her work when she heard Garrus call back.
"Dream of R&R on a planet of naked asari do you, Tali?" She whipped around and threw a wrench down the hall and smiled when she heard him yelp. After she heard him walk away she caught herself day dreaming of a suit-free day on a planet full of naked asari.
"Damn it, Vakarian," she mumbled to herself. Five minutes later, she heard a pair of footprints behind her. "You better have found the right size, Vakar-" Her instincts told her to duck and she felt an arm go over her head and saw the glint metal. She turned around to see Crassa standing at the entrance of the small maintenance crook she was in with a knife in her hand. Taking stock of her surroundings she knew she was in trouble. Crassa had been smart to ambush her here. There was so little room to maneuver and she could risk no damage to her suit much less an actual wound by the blade. Tali cursed the quarian immune system for what had to be the millionth time since she left the fleet.
"Tell me what you did to the relay, suit rat, and all I'll do is kick the shit out of you." Crassa growled. Out of the corner of her eye, Tali saw something.
"I-" Tali sputtered as Crassa drew closer with the knife her hand laying in the open maintenance hatch for balance, "I-". Her hand found what she was looking for and she smashed the side of Crassa's face with the other half of the fusion wrench, "Didn't do a damn thing you stupid bosh'tet." Crassa grabbed the side of her face in pain and Tali push kicked in the stomach and out into the hall. Thank her ancestors for quarian cultural traditions that required a lot of dancing. She ran out into the hall, hoping to knock out Crassa before she got up. She wasn't so lucky. Crassa kicked her legs out from under her as she herself climbed to her feet. Crassa flew into a jumping thrust aimed down at her helmet but Tali rolled out of the way. The failed thrust knocked Crassa off her balance giving Tali the opportunity to spring to a crouch and tackle her to the ground.
She pinned Crassa's knife arm down onto the floor by the wrist with her right hand as her left hand curled into a fist and slammed into the side of Crassa's face with a sickening crunch. Three punches in Crassa's own fist dug into her stomach and Tali fell onto her back. Crassa got up and moved towards her slowly.
"Not bad, suit-rat. Not bad. But there's-" Tali took Crassa's gloating as an opportunity to take her pistol from its holster and shot her in the shoulder. She dropped like a lead ball. She heard someone coming up the hall. Tali got up and saw Garrus running towards her.
"What-" He started. Tali interrupted.
"She attacked me. I kicked her ass and shot her in the shoulder." She holstered her pistol, "Its all okay. Go get someone. I'll keep an eye on her and-"
That's when Crassa started to scream.
-----
Quiet in medical room. Mordin Solus examined Crassa Volutus' vitals. Handcuffed to bed. Captain's orders. Enraged at attempt to murder Engineer Zorah. Wasn't happy himself. Ancient punishment for attempted murder of crewmate getting executed and spaced in short order. More civilized these days. Held in brig until return to dock. Wouldn't work now. Lost in forgotten corner of galaxy.
Need to examine her first. Longius caused caution. Reports said Crassa began to scream and claw eyes out after being disabled. Examined brain and body. Received strange results. Not like Longius. Something else happening. Something above them and their little ship.
Memories of Tuchanka. Of Genophage. After, sought greater meaning. Studied religions and philosophies across galaxy. Didn't find answer. Expanded knowledge. Sometimes enough. Decided to spend rest of life giving back to galaxy.
Spiritually satisfying but not intellectually stimulating. Hear from old STG contacts about new expedition. Decide to help give galaxy new knowledge. Left clinic in good hands. Was correct about stimulating. Too many mysteries. Colony felt odd. Like corrupted holy place. Same feeling near mass relay. Remember old salarian preacher from before spaceflight. Fire and brimstone type. "Do not be caught in the hands of an angry god," he said. Thought such methodology for cloacas. But still-
Equipment began to screech. Looked at vitals. Rush to Crassa's side. Mouth hung open. Her skin was black and seeping similar-colored oil. Her eyes glowed yellow. Tendrils grew from face. Tendrils remind him of seaweed or kelp moving gently in ocean current. See her look at bindings inquisitively. Like child. Broke them like paper. Looked at him. Tried to move out of way but she moved fast. Too fast. Not possible for turians to move that quickly. Caught him by throat. Began to squeeze. Tried to struggle. Too strong. Vision started to swim. Darkness.
-----
Garrus was sitting in the Captain's office when he got the news. They were telling her the whole Crassa story. Wrex and Tali were there and Liara would join them when she was off her shift. To say the Captain was upset was an understatement. Fortunately for them, it was the kind of anger that reminded him of his mother when he and Solana would do something dangerous when they were kids. She went on for a bit at Tali about keeping this sort of harassment secret and that it didn't matter that she was a quarian goddess dammit. Her words not his. He never saw someone look so chagrined and happy as Tali in that moment. He and Wrex got it next for not coming forward even without Tali's permission and didn't they want to actually stop this kind of shit? Again, Captain's words. After that they got a set of veiled compliments for loyalty towards a fellow crewmember, with Tali getting some props for kicking the crap out a distinguished member of the Hierarchy Military. Behind them the door opened and Officer Sokir Volon, a smallish salarian with a green coloring to his skin, came through breathing hard.
"Captain, it's Crassa." The blood drained from Tali's face as the Captain rolled her eyes, gritted her teeth, and pulled out her sidearm.
"Continue, Officer." She said loading her pistol. Sokir nodded.
"Crassa woke up and attacked Doctor Solus. He's fine but he's going to be woozy for a couple of hours. But," T'Bayla glared at that, "We don't know where she is." Tali gripped Wrex's arm like a flotation device.
"Really?" T'Bayla said as she stood up and cocked her gun< "We have cameras all over the ship-"
"I know, mam, I know, I mean I don't but-" he took a deep breath, "Look she just disappeared. None of the cameras picked her up. We have a general idea where she's going because people have been spotting her running around the ship." T'Bayla rolled her eyes.
"I am really getting sick of all the weird bullshit in this system." She moved towards the door. "Urdnot stay here with Zorah" She turned towards Tali who looked like she was about to say something, "No buts. She's after you and you're not going through that twice." She beckoned Garrus over to her "Vakarian, you're with me.
They found their lead five minutes later when they saw a thirteen members of the crew standing around someone sitting against the wall of the hallway, which Garrus noted was the same spot that Farla had ended up during Longius' madness.
He felt his stomach drop when he saw it was Liara. She was sitting there clutching her right arm which looked broken with her face twisted in pain. A salarian doctor kneeled next to her performing multiple injections on her arm. Garrus left the Captain's side and kneeled next to Liara. If Crassa-
"Stop looking at me like that, Garrus." She said looking at him out of the corner of her half-lidded eyes, "I'm going to be fine. I just made a bit of a mistake." She groaned as the doctor began another injection.
"Liara-" Garrus began before she cut him off.
"I heard about Crassa escaping so I went looking for her before she could find Tali. I found her in this hallway and tried to put her down with my biotics and-" she shook her head "Something's happened to her Garrus. Like Longius but not the same it doesn't feel as wrong and-" Her eyes drooped and she smiled the soft smile of a tired academic, "I'm sorry I'm not making much sense. The doctor's already given me a lot of painkillers and-" Her eyes closed and she began to snore softly. The doctor stood up.
"I'm sorry. She's going to be fine but she needs to sleep for the compounds to heal her arm." Garrus nodded. He swore that if he got his hands on Crassa he was going to rip her arm out of her socket. He was sure Wrex was going to be proud. The Captain, for her part, looked ready to kill.
"Does anyone know where the hell Crassa is or-" The intercom crackled loudly over them before making a strange noise that Garrus would never be able to place and would never hear again. Suddenly someone spoke.
"Captain Nela T'Bayla of the Asari Republics," it was Crassa's voice that buzzed over the intercom, "I understand you are looking for me. I also wish to speak with you." The next words she spoke confounded Garrus. "I am standing in the airlock. I will see you in a few minutes."
-----
That's where they found her, standing in the airlock ramrod straight. She stared blankly ahead. A peaceful smile crossed her face. Between that and her mutations it was a horrible sight and Garrus felt his rage dissipate. He'd hated Crassa for what she'd put Tali and Liara through but looking at her now- No one deserved this. T'Bayla's face had gone from one of authoritative hatred to stoic caution.
"Security Officer Crassa-" Crassa shook her head interrupting the Captain.
"I am sorry. I am no longer who you say I am." Her voice echoed with a strange reverb that sent a shiver up Garrus' spine. She looked at her hands and spoke to herself, "Same meat. Same bone. But different and becoming more so."
"Who are you then?" T'Bayla said as if to someone preparing to jump off a bridge. Crassa, or whoever it was, cocked her head sideways.
"I do not have a name yet. The Nine have not deemed to give me a name yet."
"The Nine?" T'Bayla asked. Crassa giggled.
"This world is their world," She spread her arms out, "These moons are their moons." She pointed at T'Bayla, "And you came here without permission and polluted our world with the remains of the Great Trap." Garrus wondered what they meant by Great Trap. He assumed they meant the mass relay. It was possible that they weren't the first to be trapped in this system by it and that that might create some hostility with the locals.
T'Bayla shook her head in horror, "That's why they've done this to you? Because we trespassed? We didn't even know anyone was in this damn system." Crassa nodded like a child trying to explain some bit of childhood logic to a parent.
"They know. That's why they decided to be merciful. They only chose the one called Crassa. She was hate-filled and ignorant. You should be pleased to see her gone. I will be altered further to serve them as their Agent. I am already quite valuable to them. I know so much about the galaxy that they did not." She brought her hands together and look pleased, "The Citadel. The Council and its peoples. The Terminus Systems. Many others. They like this. Now," she reached towards the emergency release that would jettison her into the vacuum of space. In a sane universe, she'd never be able to overcome the thousands of pounds of pressure that ran through it but Garrus understood that they left a sane, rational universe a long time ago.
"Wait." T'Bayla shouted. What was left of Crassa stopped and looked at her. "You said giving you an-" she swallowed before continuing, "an agent was the price of trespassing but it's not a fair payment." Crassa cocked her head in confusion. "You got information from us. About the galaxy. But I demand information in return."
"You demand information of the Nine." Crassa said bewildered. She stared at T'Bayla for a minute before giggling again. "You are brave. My masters are impressed with you, it has been so long since someone was brave in the face of the Nine. We will give you the information you want. But," her smile turned to a snarl and the room felt like it dropped several degrees in temperature, "do not demand anything of the Nine again." The smile returned, "Now, what do you ask of the rulers of Jupiter?" T'Bayla took a deep breath.
"Can you tell us if there's a safe place for me and my crew to go in this goddess-forsaken star system?" She said. Crassa closed her eyes. It felt like forever before she opened her eyes and spoke.
"You have come upon dangerous shores, explorers of the Citadel peoples. You have walked into the middle of the single greatest war in existence and there are few safe places to be found."
"What war?" Garrus asked, the situation getting the best of him. T'Bayla glared at him from the corners of her eyes.
"The eternal war. Between Light and Dark. It had been fought on a million worlds across the whole of the universe before it came here. It will be fought in a million more before the end comes." Crassa looked out of the small viewpoint in the airlock's door to the depths of space. "On the motherworld, blue and green. Third world from the sun. There is a city. A gentle place ringed by spears. It is the only place safe from the ravages of the Dark by the Light of its protector." Garrus opened his mouth to ask about this city but T'Bayla signaled him to be quiet. They needed this information and Garrus understood that they needed to ask as little else as possible in order to get it. "The people there hide behind the safety of great walls. They might take you in. But," Crassa raised her index finger, "you were not the first outsiders to come to this system. Conquerors, pirates, and monsters have sought to snuff out the last Light in this system by laying the City low. They may not trust you. But if you wish to survive you must find sanctuary behind their walls."
T'Bayla sighed before speaking, "Are there places to avoid on the way there so we don't risk trespassing on another's territory while we're here?" she asked. Crassa nodded.
"Should you see a great ring of asteroids and ships you must avoid it. A people live there that bear two souls. They are allies of ours but we do not trust them. They care only for their own and will kill any who are not them who dare come into their territory. Keep far away from the asteroids and stations or you will die. Do not go near the red world, fourth from the Sun, plagued by a great army, or you will die. Do not go near the green-grey world, second from the Sun, plagued by the time walkers, or you will die. Do not go to the machine-world, first from the Sun, taken by the time-walkers, or you will die." Crassa reached for the release and glared at them, "Do not return to Jupiter, fifth from the Sun, home of the Nine, or you will die." A movement of her arm and she was gone. Sucked out into the orbit of the world known as Jupiter.
****
Oh my god, it's finally done. Sorry this is up so late. I spent the first three days of this week halfway across the state away from my computer and stable internet. Fortunately, I had the foresight to pack a notebook and a pencil so I was able to write most of this in the three days I was camping. Got home in the afternoon and spent awhile transcribing it, cleaning it up as I did so. Now I can go ahead and go play Overwatch and X-Pirates for the rest of the night.
Anyway, the scene with Agent!Crassa was one of the first scenes I thought of when I originally thought of this fic and I've been wanting to get to it for weeks. Again, I'm looking for any constructive criticism on my action scenes, although I like how this one came out a lot better than Longius'.
Anyway, NEXT TIME ON "EACH STAR IS A POINT OF LIGHT": The crew make their way to the orbit of the blue world looking for their promised safe place but find themselves in a fight for their lives on the surface of the planet before a stranger appears.
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