Re: "Home I Came at Wintertide" 2.0
anonymous
January 19 2016, 01:45:38 UTC
Charr considers the magnitude of this revelation. He'd known some of the members of Aralakh Company, by reputation if not personally--Urdnot Dagg, Urdnot Gurn, Nakmor Ularr, Jorgal Borh. Strong warriors all, some of the best the united clans had to offer. All krogan can fight, of course, but Charr was attached to the scouting team for his skills in equipment repair and vehicle maintenance, not combat or survival. If Dagg and Gurn didn't survive, then how is it possible that he, Charr, has?
“Figures, though,” Aethyta is saying. “They left out the juiciest part. Probably didn't even know, actually, it's classified as all shit.” She gives him a serious look and holds a finger up at him. “I'm telling you only because it concerns you personally. Don't go about blabbing it everywhere, alright? No intelligence leaks outta you.”
“I won't,” promises Charr.
“Good,” says Aethyta. She shifts to settle back in her seat. “You saw those rachni on Utukku. Notice anything weird about them?”
Charr closes his eyes, lets the memories of screaming insects and sputtering Firestorms wash over him. It's a courtesy, though, a silent respect paid to his dead comrades; he already knows what Aethyta means. “They were altered,” he says. “Part machine. Like those human Reaper things.”
“Like husks, yeah,” says Aethyta.
“So the Rachni were with the Reapers?”
“Well, they were and they weren't,” Aethyta says. “The Reapers captured the last Rachni Queen and took her eggs to make them into those things. That's what you all found down there. Some of the Reaper-rachni units have already been deployed--mostly on Tuchanka, a slim few spotted elsewhere--but, thanks to the work of your scouting team, Aralakh Company, and the Normandy, their supply has been cut off at the source.”
“The Queen is... dead?” asks Charr. He feels a sickly disquiet simmer in his gut. The rachni by themselves are one thing--a worthy enemy, a clean fight, a foe that brings honor in the overcoming. But what Aethyta is describing...
“No,” she says, quiet but charged with something, some emotion Charr is unable to name. “The Queen is ours. The Reapers imprisoned her and took her kids from her, turned them into these mindless shambling night-terrors. From what I hear, she’s pissed as all hell about it, and frankly, I don't blame her.”
Charr looks back down at his own sleeping child, cupping his hands over her tiny form. Reassuring himself. “I never would have thought--” he starts. Tries again. “I can't blame her either.”
“Anyway,” Aethyta says, subsiding from her prior intensity, “She's actually the real reason you got outta there, in the end. Shepard freed the Queen and they all bugged the hell out. Then the evac shuttle is getting ready to lift off, Shepard and Vakarian are trying to hustle a mostly-unconscious sub-adult krogan in there between the two of em--which, Grunt, he may be young, but boy, he ain't small--and the Queen just climbs out of the rubble and drops you at Shepard’s feet, neat as you like.”
Charr boggles.
“I have a copy of the helmet cam footage,” says Aethyta, “she was actually real gentle about it. It's hard to guess how long it was between your unit getting wiped out and the cavalry arriving, but she must have had you for a while, too, so hell if I know how you were still alive. A prolonged Stasis, maybe. Anyway, then she uses your own mouth to say... something like, ‘this one’s still breathing, take care of him.’ I don't remember exactly. Wordier than that though, by a lot.”
“She used my what?” Charr asks, faintly.
“She can do this weird telepathy thing with corpses and unconscious people, apparently,” says Aethyta. “Can't actually talk on her own so she has to do that instead. Creepiest shit I ever saw. I can see if I can dig up the recording again if you wanna see what I mean.”
“No, I,” Charr shakes his head slowly. He's too exhausted to process all this properly. “I think I'm okay without it.”
“Yeah, I don't blame you, I'd say that too. Anyway, we’re here.” Charr only now notices that the taxi is parked, probably has been for some time, at the foot of a tall apartment building. “Let’s get you settled in.”
“Figures, though,” Aethyta is saying. “They left out the juiciest part. Probably didn't even know, actually, it's classified as all shit.” She gives him a serious look and holds a finger up at him. “I'm telling you only because it concerns you personally. Don't go about blabbing it everywhere, alright? No intelligence leaks outta you.”
“I won't,” promises Charr.
“Good,” says Aethyta. She shifts to settle back in her seat. “You saw those rachni on Utukku. Notice anything weird about them?”
Charr closes his eyes, lets the memories of screaming insects and sputtering Firestorms wash over him. It's a courtesy, though, a silent respect paid to his dead comrades; he already knows what Aethyta means. “They were altered,” he says. “Part machine. Like those human Reaper things.”
“Like husks, yeah,” says Aethyta.
“So the Rachni were with the Reapers?”
“Well, they were and they weren't,” Aethyta says. “The Reapers captured the last Rachni Queen and took her eggs to make them into those things. That's what you all found down there. Some of the Reaper-rachni units have already been deployed--mostly on Tuchanka, a slim few spotted elsewhere--but, thanks to the work of your scouting team, Aralakh Company, and the Normandy, their supply has been cut off at the source.”
“The Queen is... dead?” asks Charr. He feels a sickly disquiet simmer in his gut. The rachni by themselves are one thing--a worthy enemy, a clean fight, a foe that brings honor in the overcoming. But what Aethyta is describing...
“No,” she says, quiet but charged with something, some emotion Charr is unable to name. “The Queen is ours. The Reapers imprisoned her and took her kids from her, turned them into these mindless shambling night-terrors. From what I hear, she’s pissed as all hell about it, and frankly, I don't blame her.”
Charr looks back down at his own sleeping child, cupping his hands over her tiny form. Reassuring himself. “I never would have thought--” he starts. Tries again. “I can't blame her either.”
“Anyway,” Aethyta says, subsiding from her prior intensity, “She's actually the real reason you got outta there, in the end. Shepard freed the Queen and they all bugged the hell out. Then the evac shuttle is getting ready to lift off, Shepard and Vakarian are trying to hustle a mostly-unconscious sub-adult krogan in there between the two of em--which, Grunt, he may be young, but boy, he ain't small--and the Queen just climbs out of the rubble and drops you at Shepard’s feet, neat as you like.”
Charr boggles.
“I have a copy of the helmet cam footage,” says Aethyta, “she was actually real gentle about it. It's hard to guess how long it was between your unit getting wiped out and the cavalry arriving, but she must have had you for a while, too, so hell if I know how you were still alive. A prolonged Stasis, maybe. Anyway, then she uses your own mouth to say... something like, ‘this one’s still breathing, take care of him.’ I don't remember exactly. Wordier than that though, by a lot.”
“She used my what?” Charr asks, faintly.
“She can do this weird telepathy thing with corpses and unconscious people, apparently,” says Aethyta. “Can't actually talk on her own so she has to do that instead. Creepiest shit I ever saw. I can see if I can dig up the recording again if you wanna see what I mean.”
“No, I,” Charr shakes his head slowly. He's too exhausted to process all this properly. “I think I'm okay without it.”
“Yeah, I don't blame you, I'd say that too. Anyway, we’re here.” Charr only now notices that the taxi is parked, probably has been for some time, at the foot of a tall apartment building. “Let’s get you settled in.”
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