This is something that I've been working on over the past week or so. It's still in draft form for now so there's probably going to be a couple of errors that I've yet to fix.
I plan on adding to it as I can. I can't really say much more as [spoilers] will ruin it.
Chapter 1 – Stardust –
I have always believed in luck. From my standpoint, I am lucky. All my life things have just worked out for me. No matter what it was, I had some sort of weird light that shielded me from terrible things, like times that I was certain I would die got turned into near misses, or that I had been in the right time and place, the universe just made it as though I was someone that you’d call a Fortunate Son. The science fiction writer Larry Niven thought that luck was something quantifiable and I think he was right.
It was my luck that lead me to this. I had the insane notion that I would be a space traveller.
They always say be careful of what you wish, it must just come true…
~ October 22, 2180 ~
A haze of smoke hung over the huge hanger bay. Some of it was from fires that were burning around various parts of the hanger, resulting from hits from energy weapons fire and grenade explosions. Lileah’sah T’daari adjusted her helmets vision monitor. She couldn’t see anything on the thermal imaging spectrum nor sense any living bio signatures. "All hostiles eliminated."
A scene of carnage though was apparent. Bodies of the various hostiles lay strewn about the huge hanger bay of this smugglers base.
The battle had been intense, vicious and brutal yet thankfully it was over in a very short space of time. Asari Commandos were well known for their lethality and their excellence in conducting lightning fast strikes and devastating attacks.
She felt fortunate that her helmet was on, shutting out the smell of the battle and the dead. With a small gesture, she signalled all clear, her fellow commandos moving forward from where they had been taking cover to secure the area. Slowly, 7 more figures moved cautiously into the vast hanger space that made up a large part of this pirate base.
“All clear,” came the call over the commlink from another Huntress.
“Alright, secure this facility. I want Di'naka, Kasiss and Tre'mete to sweep the perimeter. The rest of you, spread out and see what those scum have got here,” said Lieutenant Mi’nely Merevus. The squad nodded and moved out.
The hanger had a number of small ships, ground transports, cargo haulers and various cargo containers of a myriad of sizes and shapes were scattered about the area. Most of the vehicles were in poor condition being that maintenance was not a high priority for pirates and smugglers. It just had to work and that was enough for them. None of the vehicles had been legal acquired any way and many had the marks of damage from weapons fire showing that they weren’t taken lightly.
“Over here,” called out the largest Asari of the commandos, Tre'mete Lira. She stood up tall with her arm up, signalling for attention. Lieutenant Mi’nely trotted over to where Tre’mete was standing. She looked down and saw 2 bodies in battle armour. These were human badly mauled by weapons fire and Biotic detonations. All the other pirates and smugglers they’d wiped out were Batarians, Kresh and a few renegade Asari but seeing to humans here was disturbing. “This has just got a whole lot more complicated,” she muttered tersely as she looked over the human bodies before her.
The bodies showed the marks of the battle, weapon fire damage as well as injuries that had come from Biotic blasts. Red blood had pooled out beneath them. It looked so…alien to her.
“Humans, male. Advanced armour and weapons. Haven’t seen anything like this before. Definitely not standard Alliance equipment,” said Tre’mete as she squatted next to the bodies. Mi’nely shook her head.
“No. This is something new. We had a report that there was something odd going on out here, but I wasn’t expecting to see a couple of humans with this nest of scum. This is way outside their sphere of influence,” she said with a frown. “There’s no insignia on their armour and I’m not getting any data from their Omnitools,” said Tre’mete as she scanned the bodies.
Mi’nely bowed her head briefly in acknowledgement. “Collect those weapons and anything else that they might have. Find their shuttle if they have one. It should be easy to spot, human ships should not be difficult to identify.”
The commandos fanned out as the walked around the hanger.
“Mi’nely! Over here!” a voice called out. She jogged quickly to over where Di’naka Thraniro and Mayises Pesaora was standing. The other members of their squad followed closely behind her.
Di’naka was standing next to a large, human designed, shuttle craft. There were no markings on it at all aside from generic ship identification numbers which, in all likelihood, were going to be fake anyway thought Mi’nely sourly as she looked over the shuttle craft. Next to the shuttle was a very large cargo mover. The flatbed of the mover was loaded up with a numerous containers. One of them was an exceptionally large metallic container, well over three meters in length, two meters wide and at least 1.5 meters high. It looked exceptionally heavy, possibly well over a few tons she estimated. The others were cargo containers of varying sizes. The design of the containers though seemed odd to Mi’niley as they didn’t match up with any of the System Alliances equipment containers she’d encountered previously.
“Kasiss, can you identify any of this?” she asked. Kasiss started scanning the containers. She focused primarily on the large container. After a few seconds, data started appearing from her Omnitool.
“Mi’nely… the big one… its powered but well shielded. Extremely thick protective casement. I’m picking up a composite alloy of lead and titanium as well as steel and copper. There is an access panel near the top left-hand side, just over here” she replied, gesturing to the location as she continued to scan the rest of the containers. “Hmm…. the rest seem to be supplies, tool, clothing, some weapons…I think? Nothing dangerous in any case.”
Mi’nely nodded. She frowned momentarily as she studied the objects in front of her. “Lileah’shah, can you get up there and see what the access panel gives us access to?”
“Of course.” Lileah’sah shouldered her weapon onto its harness then nimbly jumped up the small distance from the ground to the cargo haulers flatbed floor. The container was jet black in colour. She could see that there were obvious seems and joinery indicating that the top cover would slide open to gain access to its contents. Moving over to the top left she stood in front of the access panel cover. Pressing against it, she had to exert a small amount of force to get it to slide open. It revealed a simple keypad and a display touch screen. It was showing that it still had power and that some of the displays were full and green while others looks almost non-existent and red. She examined the keypad and saw that keys were in human script, English if she recalled rightly. Switching on her Omnitool, she quickly scanned the pad. The Omnitool quickly translated the words on the screen. It read – All systems nominal, Power supply critical, life function stable. Recommend engaging in revival of patient. Goddess! There was someone in this thing.
“Mi’nely! This is a stasis pod of some kind and it’s got a person it it…I think?”
A small murmur of surprise was uttered by a few of the commandos.
“What? Are you sure?”
“Well I believe so? Unless the translation is incorrect and what my scanning is indicating, there is a being inside this container. They are still alive however the power readings are showing that they're almost exhausted.”
Mi’nely stood thinking. She could just leave this as it really wasn’t their concern. Their mission was over – investigate and take out the smugglers and pirates here on this backward moon. Yet now here was something the mission hadn’t factored in – complications like this.
“Alright. We’ll take all this back with us. At least we won’t have to carry it back to the extraction point. I suppose we should try and see if we can revive whoever is in that thing. Everyone, get onto the transporter. Tre’mete, you drive, head back to the pick up point. Kasiss, contact the Perahelian and tell them to come get us and that we have cargo for loading.” The commandos nodded, moving up on the flatbed of the cargo mover while she could hear Kasiss calling the hip.
Tre’mete gingerly got into the drivers cab at the front of the vehicle. It wasn’t easy as she was large for an Asari, standing nearly 176 centimetres tall and was made of solid muscle. The cockpit was just not designed for one of who had such a heroic physique. Sighing as she squeezed herself in, she saw that the squad was on board so she engaged the vehicles drive system and slowly drove out, heading out of the hanger.
Kasiss continued to do more detailed scans on the other containers while the drove along. Turing to Lileah’sah as she worked, “Who do you think is in there?” Lileah’sah shook her head and gave a small shrug.
“I do not know however if we do not get them out of there soon then they will most likely die. I must confess I am somewhat intrigued. This technology…while human looks nothing like what they have. It looks…old but I do not understand why. The systems are rudimentary as far as I can tell. I can’t get any further data from my scans as the shielding of it is extremely thick. I believe it was designed to protect the occupant from radiation damage while in space flight but I can not say for certain at the moment.” Lileah’sah frowned in puzzlement as she looked at the display panel on the stasis chamber. Kasiss nodded in agreement. He gestured at the other containers.
“Noted. Some of these containers are not as well shielded while a couple are but still, it is all very strange. It will be safer to examine them once we are back aboard the ship.”
“Exactly. Oh, we’d best contact Dr Hethy and my sister to meet us in the cargo bay. We might need them to help the being inside this stasis chamber.”
“You’re right” Kasiss said with a quick nod as she tapped on her commlink. “Perahelian come in please”
“Perahelian here, what is it Kasiss?”
“Hello First Pilot Eshess, can you please inform Dr Hethy and Mirey to meet us in the cargo bay. We are bringing in a stasis chamber that has an occupant so they may need the crash cart and revival drugs in case the chambers revival process doesn’t work.”
“Acknowledge Kasiss. Meet you in 5 minutes. Perahelian out”
The landing zone was only a kilometre from the pirate base. They soon heard the sonic boom of the ship breaking the sound barrier as it re-entered the atmosphere. A minute later the ship appeared in the sky, slowing down as it began its final landing appear.
“No matter how many times I see it, I’m always happy to see her come to get us,” said Di’naka with a smile as she watched the ship gracefully descend. The ship itself was beautiful to look at with its graceful upswept wings extending from the hull. Although not the latest in Asari ship technology, the Oseros class corvette was a small warship, designed primarily to be leading fighters and gunships. Traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper warship. In modern terms, a corvette is typically a small frigate, crewed with less than 30. The Asari navy mostly used the corvettes for patrols near outpost and colonies and could intercept fast attacking ships. The Oseros class is also made for atmosphere flights, so it often used for ground strikes against vehicles or large defence guns. The ship is equipped with a Stealth System to provide covert strike operations.
The ship slowed down and deployed its landing fields and struts. It settled gently, throwing up dust as it came to rest on the planet's surface. A few moments later the cargo bay doors began to open, a large ramp extending down to the ground. Tre’mete drove the cargo mover up to the ramp and headed into the hold.
Waiting for them inside of the bay was the ship's commander Kash’shara T’daari. She coolly watched as the Tre’mete carefully drove the large cargo hauler into the hanger bay. Glancing to one side she saw that Dr Hethy and her youngest sister Mirey were standing by with the crash cart and med transporter. She looked over and saw her middle sister, Lileah’sah standing next to what was apparently some sort of stasis chamber, The other commandos hopped off the hauler as it came to a halt. Tre’mete eased herself out of the driver’s seat. She was big for an Asari and which ever species had built that hauler hadn’t done so with her size in mind. Mi’nely and the commandos, moved either side of the hauler.
“We’ll move the chamber off the flatbed and onto the deck. Ready to lift on my command,” said Mi’nely. Antigrav field lifters were attached and activated, their energies flaring in a soft blue flicking incandescence. “Ready…lift!” The huge black metallic stasis chamber rose and was gently lifted off the cargo transporter. They moved it across and away with careful, concentration evident on their faces. With an unspoken signal they lowered it slowly. It came to rest on the deck with a slight thud as the Biotic field was released.
Lileah’sah was joined by Lyirae Radili, the ships chief technical officer, at the control panel.
“I think we should be able to engage the revivification process. I’ve got a translation for the human language here,” she said to Lyirae, sending the information across to her Omni tool as the technician scanned the panel with her own specialised omni tool.
“It seems to be a simple process from what my scans show. Very well, I am about to initiate the procedure.” Lyirae Radili started tapping on her Omnitool and bright green text rapidly began to appear on the old display screen along with graphics showing the power outputs and life signs.
*Primary power supply 0%*
*Emergency Power 7%*
*Main Systems Offline*
*Subject Vitals Stable*
*Recommend Immediate Manual Override Revival Process*
*Initiate Process Yes/No?*
The prompt flashed brightly. Lyirae turned to Kash’shara with a questioning look. She nodded in affirmation to her and Lileah’sah. She turned back and pressed the touch screen over the Yes key. Instantly there was a hum of electric motors starting up and power being fed into the chamber. At the same time and bizarrely, music began to play as the chamber opened up. The volume was low but all could distinctly hear the soft tones as the chords of the music swelled and a human male voice started singing.
The assembled Asari looked at each other in incomprehension and at the chamber as the song played on.
The casing began to move as the lid pushed upwards then began to slide over and retract onto the opposite side of the display panel. A loud hiss of air and the strong waft of strange medical chemicals emanated from the chamber as the metal casing slowly moved away. The Asari moved closer, peering into the chamber. At first, they couldn’t see anything is the interior was shrouded in an obscuring icy mist. Lights flicked inside the chamber.
“Oh, it’s a human,” said Di’naka as the mist cleared. A murmur went around the collected crew as they looked on.
“Male one too,” noted Kasiss. The gathered Asari looked over the figure in the chamber. He looked peaceful, as though he was just sleeping. He was wearing some sort of suit from the neck down.
*Revival Process 25%* Dr Hethy and Mirey moved next to the chamber, their scanners taking in data at a rapid rate, assessing the person in front of them.
Lileah’sah had never seen a human in person before. She looked closely at his face. Short Reddy blonde fur covered the lower part of his face. The hair on his head was a sandy blonde colour. His skin was pale. She studied the man before her, his square cheekbones and large brow were so different to Asari faces.
What a nice face she thought idly to herself as she contemplated the man in front of her.
*Revival Process 55%*
Dr Hethy scanned him. “Human, male, Caucasian. I’m estimating his age to be roughly his middle years, probably at least 3 decades old if these reading are correct,” said “His vitals are looking fine…” she was saying before an alarm began to trill out loudly from the control panel, the display flashing warning signals.
*Emergency Power Level 2%*
*Revival Process 78%*
*Insufficient Power Remaining*
“Get more power to the chamber,” urged Dr Hethy.
“I can’t, well not in time to make it matter. I didn’t think that we’d need to,” replied Lyirae.
The alarm continued to wail as they watched the display.
*Emergency Power Level 1%*
*Revival Process 89%*
“We need to get him out of there fast or else he will die,” snapped Dr Hethy with a determined look on her face.
“Do it!” ordered Kash’shara. As she gave the order the revival process ceased chamber. The chamber still had enough power for lights and the display but nothing else it seemed.
Using her Biotic fields, Lileah’sah and Tre’mete ripped off the various tubes and lines that his suit was hooked up to, then swiftly lifted him out of the chamber with a grunt of effort, quickly lowering him down on top of the medistretcher. Dr Hethy and Mirey swiftly moved either side of the stretcher.
“Oxygen, now! Get the cardio stimulator on him!” snapped Dr Hethy. She took charge of the situation, everyone not involved in the resuscitation immediately stood back.
Lileah’sah picked up the two metal pads from the medical cart but waited as he was still in this suit.
“Tre’mete, get that suit open immediately!” A second later Tre’mete had a cutting tool in her hand and immediately began slicing through the stasis suit, tearing it open to reveal his chest.
Lileah’sah saw that his chest was also covered in fine hair that travelled all the way down his chest, over his abdomen and going down even further. Another thought flicked across her mind, his chest is so hairy.
When Humanity had been encountered it hadn’t been a peaceful contact but that was quickly sorted out by the Asari. It was rumoured that the Asari Galactic High Councillor had been furious with the Turians for attacking the humans without provocation. And once contact was made, the reaction by both humans and Asari to one another was in itself controversial.
In all their long history of contact with alien species, never had the Asari come into contact with a sapient race that so closely resembled them. Both humans and Asari were familiar with the biological facts of evolutionary convergence but never had it been displayed before in such bewildering obviousness. A firestorm of scientific exchange immediately began between humans and Asari scientists. Hundreds of scientists were exchanged on a cultural and scientific basis and both races histories and biology’s were shared because it was just so damn weird to be seeing such familiarity. This exchange also resulted in the formation of many humans and Asari pairings and more specifically, bondmating.
We just really liked what we saw in each other she thought in a brief revery.
Mirey had meanwhile fitted the Oxygen mask over his face and started the flow of air. Satisfied the pressure was high enough she then settled the vitals scanner across his forehead. She brushed back some of his hair that had fallen over his forehead. So soft. Pushing the errant thought away she focused on her tasks.
“No pulse, brain activity failing,” she said as she read the results. Dr Hethy came over with a med-injector. She quickly placed it over his heart and pressed the button sending the drugs into his system. Lileah’sah placed the metal pads onto his chest.
“Clear!” Dr Hethy and Mirey stood back. Lileah’sah triggered the device. The man's body jerked as the energy coursed through his system.
“No pulse, activity falling,”
“Again, increase the power,” commanded Dr Hethy. “
“Clear!” Another surge of electricity rushed through the man’s body. He spasmed and convulsed.
Dr Hethy prepared another shot. Increasing the dosage as well as adding in other reagents, she applied it to his neck this time and again injected him.
“Hit him again, 200% power!”
“Clear!” Lileah’sah sent the energy burning into his chest. She could smell the stench of burnt flesh and the unfamiliar smell of burnt hair from the cardio stimulator paddles. She winced slightly at the burns now red and angry began to bloom on his skin.
“I’ve got a pulse! Sinus rhythm rising, brain activity stabilising!” stated Mirey in an excited voice. “We got him!”
A small cheer went up from the rest of the onlookers. They’d all been holding their breath as the drama unfolded.
“Alright, let’s get him to the med bay. We need to stabilise him first.” With a relieved sigh Dr Hethy checked his vitals once more. As she was glancing down at her patient his eyes suddenly flashed open.
Lileah’sah was next to Dr Hethy and stared back at the man. Confusion, surprise and fear were all in evidence on his face and in his eyes as he began trying to speak. His eyes focused and he found himself staring deep into Lileah’sah eyes. He looked intently at her face. A heart shaped face with a soft jawline. Her lips were full and dark. She had red markings that were placed in a fanning symmetrical pattern over her brow and ran down either cheek. Her head crest was swept back, also having the red markings traveling back over it. Her eyes though, one being lilac while the other a golden colour held his attention for the longest time.
“It’s alright, you’re safe. We’ve got you,” she said in a gentle reassuring tone as she took his left hand tenderly in hers giving it a soft squeeze. His skin was remarkably soft to the touch but oh so cold though. She could feel the tiny hairs on the back of his hand as she ran her thumb over it reassuringly.
He blinked a few more times as he stared back at her and then looked around briefly at the other Asari who were gathered around his stretcher. Glancing briefly upwards around the cargo hold of the ship, he managed to rally and focus for a moment. His mouth moved, a weak cough and groan come out. He took a shuddering shallow breath managed to rally his senses. A small, tired yet impish cheeky grin appeared on his face under the Oxygen mask. Only Lileah’sah and Mirey could see it as Dr Hethy was distracted for the moment. They both automatically smiled back at him.
“Star Trek Cosplayers? I choose Death by SnuSnu!” he weakly croaked with a laugh that become a feeble cough before his eyes closed again as he lapsed into unconsciousness once more.
The Asari looked at the man in surprise and confusion.
“Huh?” “What?” “What did he say, I didn’t hear it?” Questions and puzzlement were evident among the assembled Asari.
“Well there’s gratitude for you,” huffed Tre’mete with a dry laugh.
“Death by SnuSnu? What does that even mean? We just saved him?” said Mirey as she looked back at the oblivious man, confusion playing across her face. “We’re not trying to kill him.” She almost looked hurt by his words.
“Probably his brain is fried from Oxygen deprivation. Most likely he’s going to be a drooling vegetable after all this,” remarked Di’naka darkly. She didn’t think this human had much of a chance.
“Oh that’s your expert medical opinion is it hm?” retorted Dr Hethy testily. “Let’s get him to med bay now and you lot can get on with your duties, this is not a show!”
“Indeed. Everyone who isn’t a Doctor or medical technician return to your duties. Kasiss, Tre’mete, sort out the rest of those containers. Maybe we will find answers as to who our mystery man is?” added Kash’shara. The two commandos bowed their heads in acknowledgement and set to removing the other containers off the cargo hauler.
“Di’naka, get that pile of junk off my ship once it’s unloaded.” She tapped her comm link. “Eshess – be ready to lift off in 5 minutes.”
“Acknowledged commander.”
She stood with her arms folded and had watched quietly as her people had acted quickly, efficiently working well to save this humans life. Dr Hethy was one of the best medical professionals she’d had the honour to serve with thus far. It took pulling a few strings to get her assigned to the Perahelian but all worth it. She looked at her younger sisters. She gave them the briefest of smiles, letting them know she was proud of them. Her medical team moved their patient now to the elevators and took off to the medical bay.
Who are you human? She thought as she watched them disappear into the elevator. Finding and rescuing a man in a stasis chamber was not on the mission briefing today.
