Nexus Effect

Ch.6

The shuttle ride across the city, which turned out was named Herm’ata, was peaceful, unlike the previous ride. At least this time Marrow wasn’t getting felt up by a total sleaze. “Hey Sweet Cheeks. I know space is kinda tight, but if you keep squeezing I might get ideas.” Marrow teased me and I felt warm again. It’s not my fault it’s standing room only on this shuttle and Marrow’s ass is pressed up against my pelvis and my hands gravitate to his hips since there isn’t any room.

“Hey, be nice. If I had a nice ass like that up against me I’d do more than cop a feel.” Wrekrov chuckled from where he was leaning against an Elcor. Considering they’re huge and are the majority of the population, it was little surprise that public transports would get overcrowded easily.

“You two are such perverts.” I grumbled as the shuttle landed and thankfully released us from this press of sapients. “So who is this ‘associate’ Vitoria directed us to?”

“A Batarian working at the impound named Krarek Craf'nator. Apparently he’s known to organize auctions for abandoned vehicles. Of course, sometimes smaller ships and other vehicles tend to go missing before the auctions start. Ostensibly due to pirate activity.” Marrow slyly said as he led us down the street towards the impound lot.

“That is such a flimsy excuse even I’d have caught him on that.” I commented in undisguised dislike. He sounds like the stereotypical sleazeball Batarian. If only there weren’t so many of them that fit the role of being an asshole with a superiority complex.

“Hey, people have to eat. Or buy fancy shit. Like an under-barrel grenade launcher.” Wrekrov chuckled before we entered the office of the impound lot to a rather intense shouting match.

“-If you don’t come up with the money to pay off your taxes then you’ll pay for it with servitude!” Shouted an oafishly dressed Batarian who was clearly somewhat overweight and squeezed into what probably qualifies as formal business wear at the positively red Batarian who otherwise was teal in color. Oh right, Batarians come in a range of tones, the games just portrayed tans and browns constantly.

“I will have the money this evening! I’m not evading my taxes, I’m simply so damn busy that I haven’t been able to come down to the excise office! I’ll transfer the funds before the cycle is over.” The teal Batarian replied heatedly and pointed past us at the door. “Now get out! You’re blocking traffic for paying customers!”

“You’ll get yours Krarek. One of these days.” The oafish brown-skinned Batarian sniffed with his head tilted to one side, which visibly made Krarek bristle furiously at the lowly government official who brushed past us without care.

“That man has as much charm as Maleficent. At least the Dark One is pleasant to look at.” Marrow huffed and approached the visibly deflated Krarek. “Hey. A friend of mine said this is a good place to buy a cheap ship?”

“Normally that’d be a yes, but I can’t afford cheap. I owe the Hegemony 500,000 credits in late fees on my taxes. Of course those kriffing chain rattlers and whip crackers would find something to pin on me.” Krarek openly seethed, causing me to feel genuine surprise at him so openly admitting to illicit activities.

“Well damn. We’ve only got 300,000 all pooled together…” I muttered only for Wrekrov to raise a hand.

“I’ve got 15,000 on me, but that’s obviously not enough. Looks like we’re going with my plan after all. So pal, you know of any pirate caches or other places we might come up with the rest of the cash?” Wrekrov questioned the teal Batarian, who looked around and pressed a button, locking the door and lighting a hologram sign saying the office is closed.

“Well, if you’re offering a smash-and-grab, instead I’d suggest a desperate raid that will both pay off my debt, get you a ship and also get us all off this scrap pile of a planet.” Krarek declared as he looked all of us in the eyes and tilted his head one way as he nodded. “I like the look of you lot. Aside from the Quarian, you all seem to have the stones for gritty wetwork.”

“I’m an Engineer anyway.” I snipped in disapproval as our teal interlocutor opened the door in the counter and gestured for us to follow him out the back.

“Good, we’ll be needing one. I’m an old hand at small repairs, but I’m better with hacking systems.” Krarek declared as he went into a side room where clattering could be heard. Marrow gestured for us to stay out here though.

“Why are you so eager to help us aside from paying off your debt? You mentioned joining us?” Marrow questioned as more clattering echoed from the room.

“Yep. I’m an old pirate, I know you lot won’t sell me up the river, you don’t give that impression. I’ve been in the biz for so long it’s difficult to stay clean. I tried, but look where it’s left me. You lot aren’t pirates though, right?” Krarek questioned as the rustling of clothes and the clanking of metal told me he must be changing.

“No, I’m just trying to stay alive.” I left out that I’m going to be spying on galactic goings-on and sending info back to the Collective, of course. We have so much to send already. I know Geth. I know.

“I’m following the will of my Goddess.” Wrekrov declared as he looked over at me.

“Classified.” Marrow said with a teasing smile as Krarek left his changing room to reveal he was now wearing old tarnished combat armor that was shaped for smooth and quick movement unlike Wrekrov’s bulky thick armor plates. Underneath the armor was a hardsuit that had clearly seen better days if all the patches in it said anything. “You’ve been selling things on the sly and you still haven’t updated your old kit?”

“Hey, it’s sentimental. Back in the day, this was top-of-the-line stuff.” Krarek protested with a roguish grin that on the face of a Batarian seemed especially devious. The fact he spun his pistol like a gunslinger and checked that his sniper rifle was on his back lent to the image. “Now then, I’ve got an old hauler in back that I do own that’ll get us where we need to go.”

[01001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“Please stop…” I quietly whispered, inwardly enjoying the situation.

“Stop what~?” Marrow lilted his voice as his hands squeezed my hips from where I was seated in his lap. What Krarek failed to mention was his ‘old hauler’ was basically a minivan and even though there were only four of us, Krarek had to drive, while Wrekrov got the whole back to himself because of how huge he is. This left me sitting in Marrow’s lap.

“Just stop…” I whispered as the caress of his hand on my hips and thighs made me feel warm.

“Hm~.” Marrow hummed as I felt a bulge against my ass and I felt hot, my systems flashing alerts that weren’t warnings-.

“Please not in my vehicle. I may not have it for much longer, but this lift has avoided any naughty business in the ten years I’ve had it and I want it to stay that way.” Krarek chided us with a wagging finger as if he were a middle-aged father lecturing kids.

“I-I’m not-!”

“I can smell your pheromones through that Enviro-Suit little girl. Impressively heady cocktail you got going there. Are you secretly part Asari?” Wrekrov teased and I covered my visor with my hands in embarrassment while Marrow patted my thighs.

“There, there. I know it must be hard, all cooped up in that suit with a sexy person up against you.” Marrow lilted and then wrapped his hands around my waist, which somehow made me even hotter. “Oh wow. I go from an erogenous zone to a safe zone and you just rocket past aroused to horny?”

“Sh-shut up!” I squeaked in embarrassment as the other two males in the van snickered. There are too many sausages in this party! I demand a few tacos!

We don’t know about that. If this is what ‘sausages’ make Unit Nexus feel, We’re eager to get even more sausages in our group.

‘Oh Keelah not you too! Even my friends have betrayed me!’

Betrayal?! We’re sorry Unit Nexus! These sensations-.

‘No, no! I’m just-ugh!’ “Stop being so cruel to me!” I whined and resisted grinding against Marrow, who thankfully just put his hands to my sides to help steady me since he was my improvised seatbelt in this flying deathtrap of a small aircraft.

“Ha! These girls are entertaining!” Wrekrov chuckled as he patted the back of the seat Marrow and I were in.

“Such a shame they’re clearly smitten with each other.” Krarek chuckled before bringing the boxy flying minivan in low to the icefields. We’d been flying straight north from Herm’ata for about an hour at this creaking tub’s full speed the instant we were out of the city’s airspace. “Okay. The pirate den is coming up. I hope you’re all ready to go in with guns blazing, because none of them will be willing to part with their ill-gotten gains.”

“I’m surprised they’re planetside. Wouldn’t the local authorities spot them the instant they tried to launch?” I questioned as I tried to calm down. Thankfully Marrow was being considerate now and only keeping his hands on my sides, which still made my body tingle.

“Ha! The local branches of both the Hegemony and Citadel peacekeeper corps are just as corrupt as the pirates themselves. If we were deeper in the Terminus Systems then you could bet every government official would sooner have you in chains than treat you like a citizen if you’re not a Batarian.” Krarek scoffed in disgust as he landed us on the ice. Thank gosh my Enviro-Suit protects me from intense temperatures.

“I’m guessing that’s what led you to pursue a career in piracy?” Marrow questioned as he opened the door and I eagerly hopped out of the flying deathtrap full of lecherous males that had me all pent-up and wishing this cold would help me cool off.

“There are ancient broadcasts in an unfamiliar language that have been roughly translated. One of my favorites before those archives were locked up as ‘seditious’ was one espousing the romance of piracy as being people who seek their personal freedoms above all.”

“I’m surprised this planet is letting the Council set foot here. Most Terminus worlds would rather shoot the Council then have them on their worlds.” Wrekrov said with a grunt as he crawled out of the rear doors of the flying boxy rusty minivan of a hovercraft.

“Well, Ekuna was given to the Elcor by the Council when they kicked the Quarians off of it. The Batarians didn’t care about Ekuna because it was mostly uninhabitable, but with the Elcor here, Ekuna has become a surprisingly robust colony.” Marrow commented, glancing at notes on his Omni-tool.

“Correct. We simply tolerate the Council, but at most they’re just here to protect their trade lanes. Don’t expect a Hierarchy frigate to protect us unless we’re hauling Council authorized goods going to Citadel Space.” Krarek told us as he jogged across the ice, the rest of us following him into a cave. “Okay, now let’s cut the chatter. I’ll scout ahead-oh right. What are you all best with so we all know how to work off of each other?”

“I’m an Engineer. If it breaks I can fix it, if it isn't broken I can break it. I can muster up grenades from most scrap and I’m a crackshot with a pistol, but I also have a shotgun for close quarters.” I replied as I readied my upgraded Pulse Pistol. With my mechanical precision I should be able to land shots that most organic species can’t manage with a pistol.

“I’m a Sentinel. I have powerful Biotics and I’m quite good with an SMG, but I’m actually really well-specced for first aid and field repairs.” Marrow announced with a wink at me. I-Is he seriously hitting on me with that? Well...I am synthetic...

“Soldier. I use big bulky assault rifles and big explosions. Good to know my team can help me out with ammo.” Wrekrov told us as he hefted an absolute beast of an assault rifle that looked like no normal human could hope to wield it.

“Infiltrator. I use Sniper Rifles, SMGs and Pistols.” Krarek informed us as he patted his thighs where his pistol and SMG were holstered. “Okay then. I’ll scout ahead, Wrekrov will be nearest to support me if things get too hot, you ladies cover the rear and keep us supplied, but don’t be shy to exercise your trigger fingers if I have to fall back behind our Krogan friend here.”

“Got it.” I said before I detected an unprotected computer network. “Hold that thought. My scanners have detected an unsecure network deeper inside the caves.”

“Your scanners are that good?” Marrow asked in surprise and I felt smug, only to belatedly realize I should probably keep such impressive feats of technology on the down-low.

“Built them myself and I have several dumb VI chips slaved together to automate a lot of functions like my scanners.” I made a show of activating my Omni-tool and opening up a holographic display of a network interface as my ‘VI’ chips worked at it.

Hacking the system, accessing the internal turret system of the Void’s Wraith‘Wait it’s a ship? We’ve hacked a ship?’ Hostages on board, showing visuals.

My holographic display changed to a monochrome camera feed of a large cage holding dozens of people of varied species. “Kriff! Traffickers. I knew this group were dirty, but to engage in the slave trade this far from the core of the Terminus System? We’ll not only be making money, but earning some goodwill with Citadel Space considering how many Turians, Salarians and Asari there are in that cage.” Krarek tapped his collar and his suit’s orange-green helmet extended from the storage hump and folded over his head, his quad-optics dimly glowing orange.

“Heh, a large ship like that. We’ll need a bit more crew if we take it.” Wrekrov stated as his helmet folded around his head while leaving his crest exposed as he jogged behind Krarek.

‘Geth, should we just use the turrets to clear the ship?’ I asked my friends as I saw the turret cameras sweeping the bridge and in multiple places across the surprisingly well-kept ship.

Negative Unit Nexus. Such capabilities are beyond most entities. We should wait until we have a physical connection with the system to utilize such a tactic.

“If I can get into the system manually, I should be able to hack the turrets to have their IFF systems target the crew.” I informed the squad as the tunnel through the ice began to open up into a glacial crevasse wide enough for a pirate ship.

“I see the ship. Batarian make. It’s a Yu’Garr-Class cargo frigate, but it looks like the pirates have added a lot more weapons than the standards set by the Hegemony.” Marrow stated as we approached the area of the crevasse open to the sky. The Void’s Wrath was painted an icy blue, which explained how the ship was able to hide in plain sight since it was of similar color to the ice surrounding it. “Any votes on renaming it the Far Frozen?”

“We can talk about that after claiming this tub.” Krarek chided as he looked down his rifle scope. “The crew is all inside. Nobody is bothering to keep watch. Amateurs. No matter how kriffing cold it is, someone should always be on the watch for intruders.”

“I vote for aurora borealis.” I said under my breath as we snuck down towards the frigate. It must’ve been around 150 meters long. This is much bigger than that tiny hauler I flew to Ekuna. “You think these guys just started out?”

“Possibly. Word on the grapevine about these grunts is that they’re fresh on the scene with a pristine new ship. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re Hegemony troops on punishment detail sent out to keep their slave pens full.” Krarek hissed in disgust as he led us towards the port side of the rounded dagger-shaped ship.

“You used to be a pirate right? Why do you have such hate for one of your occupation’s bread and butter?” Wrekrov asked curiously as Krarek activated his Omni-tool and began scanning the hull. Oh, wait. I held up my Omni-tool and instantly found the hatch, rushing to it with Krarek nodding in approval at me.

“I was a pirate for freedom, not to take freedom away from others. If I could help it, I left my marks alive. Stand and Deliver! Your Money or your Life! Most folks were smart enough to part with their credits or trinkets and I sent them on their way. That said, my operation was small and we refused to bend to the Hegemony’s demands to supply them slaves as payment for operating.” Krarek proudly declared as I hacked the hatch controls and it hissed open, the ramp smoothly lowering.

“Okay, I’m close enough that I can seize the turrets and flip the IFF. Want me to do it?” I questioned the group and got nods, even if Wrekrov looked slightly disappointed, at least he saw the validity of going the ruthless route.

Activating Turrets. Eliminating.

I closed my eyes, tuning out the camera and audio feeds as the sounds of gunfire inside the ship erupted like a sudden and violent string of thunderclaps combined with an avalanche or rockslide. Within moments, the ship went silent and I wobbled on my feet. Thankfully, warm hands wrapped around my waist and I shivered. I just...I just…

“Shh. It’s okay sweetie. You did a good thing.” Marrow gently insisted as he bodily dragged me up the ramp and the two other men helped him bring me aboard before Geth closed the ramp for us to shut out the cold. “Do you need me to stay?”

“N-no...but I do need time alone.” I replied meekly as I hugged myself where I sat against the hull.

“Not everyone is a Krogan about violence and death. It’s something so many runts can’t understand about the rest of the galaxy.” Wrekrov kindly stated as he holstered his rifle and his helmet snapped open before storing in his armor’s storage hump which made his own hump all the more obvious. “I’ll get started cleaning up the bodies.”

“I’ve got some hacking to do. Gonna need to transfer funds around from the pirates, the captain especially. Pay off my debt, quit my job…” Krarek began listing his self-set tasks as he followed after Wrekrov. Marrow looked at me in concern, but I shooed him away and he hesitantly made to follow the other boys.

This horrible feeling. We are sorry to have caused such suffering to Unit Nexus.

‘Don’t be. You did the right thing. We did the right thing. They were monsters who would’ve tried to kill us and the hostages. It’s best we dealt with it so quickly instead of putting ourselves and others at risk. Either way, the same result would’ve occurred.’ I insisted to my friends as I psychosomatically took deep breaths. I subconsciously breathe although I don’t need to, which helps with the disguise. I’m glad Star Swirl included false lungs with this chassis.

Still. We should think more on the impact the deletion of life has on those still living. This pain, We will note it. Remember it. Share it. Let the Collective know this...Anguish.

‘Heh...look at me. Helping teach the Geth how to be people.’ I joked and then choked on a sob as I curled in on myself before forcing myself into Sleep Mode.