The middle of a dirty alley was not Taylor's idea of the perfect makeout spot, that honor was reserved to the captain's quarters on the Celebrimbor. Thus, she stopped Lisa before things could get too intense between them. This particular girlfriend of her wasn't interested in the more carnal aspects of a relationship but it hadn't stopped her from jumping into bed when it was time for kisses and cuddles.
"Liz," Taylor said.
"Yeah, we should probably leave," Lisa didn't need many words to understand her. "We can go to my place."
"I was in the middle of a discussion with Legend …" Taylor scratched the back of her head.
"Wait, Legend? What did you … the Wardens caught your arrival? How?"
"I'll explain everything," Taylor put a gloved finger over Lisa's lips. "Don't worry. I also left some of my new friends there while I came to rescue you."
"I'm not exactly welcome at the Wardens right now …"
"They can deal for half an hour," Taylor said. "We can swing by your place before we go and pick up Rachel."
"Pick up Rachel? Where exactly are we going?" Lisa asked.
"I'll explain on the way," Taylor said as she opened a portal next to them.
Lisa looked at the opening in space for a few seconds then regained her composure. "You really haven’t changed, eh." She pulled a domino mask out of her bag and pressed it on her face.
"Maybe, maybe not." Taylor stepped through and into the cafeteria of the Wardens' headquarters.
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"Mordin … I leave for half an hour and you're already using Cuff as a Guinea pig?"
As soon as she had stepped through the portal, Taylor had come face to face with a strange tableau. Mordin was watching Cuff as she did terrible things to a piece of metal and recording the results with his omni-tool. There were several discarded metallic structures nearby of various shapes.
"Metal manipulation ability truly fascinating," the salarian said. "Boundaries of ability fascinating, only requires metallic content of eighty percent. Behavior with alloys fascinating …"
Taylor massaged her brow.
"When you said new friends …" Lisa said from next to her.
"Tattletale, this is Mordin Solus, salarian expert in biological engineering. Behind him, doing god knows what with Vista, is Niusa T'Saro, asari maiden and former mercenary. And finally, in the suit is Lela'Zorah vas Rozal, quarian pilot and engineer."
"Aliens," Lisa just said, "you found … aliens. What the hell happened in the last two years?"
"I woke up from a coma less than two months ago Tats," Taylor whispered.
"Oh, T-Weaver, you're back," Niusa waved at them. "Vista can do some weird things with space."
"I know," she smiled, "I've seen her in action more than once. It was always a pain to be on the other side. Is Legend still here? I need to talk to him."
"He should be with Miss M," Vista said, "her office is on the third floor."
"Thanks. Mordin, Niusa, Lela, can you take Tattletale here and prepare the shuttle for takeoff?"
Mordin gave her a quick nod and Niusa had an enthusiastic smile on her.
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Lisa followed in the middle of the group of aliens her girlfriend had managed to bring with her. At the head was the one she had called Mordin who looked like some kind of amphibian with big black eyes and one and a half horn. He was talking with their guide, Vista, about the intricacies of spatial warping.
Next to her was the blue-skinned alien, Niusa, an asari maiden according to Taylor. Her face was by far the most human-looked out of the three, though she couldn’t see in the quarian's helmet, and also the most attractive. The tentacle-like hair on her head were strangely mesmerizing.
Name maiden likely indicates developmental stage, her power provided. Asari grinned while looking at Taylor and Lisa, it continued, likely attracted to Taylor and Lisa. Knows of existing relationships, does not mind sharing.
And wasn't that a revelation, her girlfriend had managed to seduce a beautiful alien girl in less than a month. Not that it surprised Lisa in the least. Her girlfriend had a knack for this, completely unbeknownst to her of course.
Trailing a bit behind them was the last member of Taylor's crew, Lela. Her power had fairly quickly deduced that the sealed suit wasn't an eclectic fashion choice but a necessity. It wasn't sure if it was because of an incompatible atmosphere or to prevent biological contamination.
She had also noticed something important. The material of the quarian's suit was the same as the one Taylor wore. Lisa was certain there was a connection but she hadn't sussed out what.
It took them a few minutes to reach the helipad and Lisa didn't talk much, she didn't want to say anything incriminating inside the Wardens' headquarters in case the walls had ears. The craft parked on the helipad had all the hallmarks of a tinker-tech vehicle and not one designed by a third rate tinker like Leet or Squealer had been but someone like Dragon.
Taylor had called it a shuttle.
Mordin tapped on some sort of holographic interface on his wrist and the door opened. The interior was as well designed as the exterior. It was obvious that the designers had put more emphasis on the function over the form, the seats looked just comfortable enough to sit in for long periods of time without being too luxurious, and there was ample space to store cargo at the back. Out of curiosity, and who could blame her, she was in a spaceship, she took a peek at the cockpit and found two side-by-side chairs surrounded by an array of monitors.
"Woah, this really looks like something out of a science-fiction movie," Vista said. She had climbed into the shuttle as well. "I've seen it fly but can it really go into space?"
Stolen novel; please report.
"Yes," Lela said as she tapped the screens, "but this one is primarily for transit between ships or planets in the same system. It is equipped with a basic FTL drive but it cannot travel through mass relays."
"Mass relays," Vista asked.
"Devices built by the Protheans which allow travel between star systems," Niusa chimed in, "The speed of conventional FTL systems is limited and it would take years to travel otherwise. Though Weaver modified the Celebrimbor and built a drive core that can do the same thing in only seconds as well as one that allows jumping between dimensions to reach here."
"Hold on, Weaver built what?" Vista asked with a frown.
"My power thinks she had a third trigger," Lisa answered, "but she said it was wrong. Something obviously happened to her power after Gold Morning and it has changed. I've seen her control big robot spiders."
"And open portals," Vista added. "Maybe she kept some of the powers from then? Like that Doormaker guy?"
"Possible … Valkyrie called her power the Queen Administrator, Scion's counterpart of Eidolon's power. Maybe something unlocked its full potential after Gold Morning and now she's Eidolon but without the crippling inferiority complex."
"I'm pretty sure she … you know," Vista hovered her hands above her chest.
"Tell me you wouldn't," Lisa simply chuckled.
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Taylor returned to the shuttle after a quick discussion with the Wardens. From their point of view, she was covered by the blanket amnesty that all capes received after Gold Morning. Legend hazarded that most people wouldn't recognize her anyway. It was probably a blessing, Taylor thought, as her reputation hadn't become better over time.
Dragon had also replied and verified her access codes. It was one more confirmation at least. She had also provided coordinates where Taylor could meet with them. It was at the Guild base in Europe on yet another earth.
"Alright, tour's over," she said to Vista, "we have some places to be, people to visit."
The girl looked like she didn't want to leave. Taylor understood well the appeal of a little adventure in space but she was certain that Legend and Miss Militia would not appreciate her kidnapping one of their wards.
"Good luck, Weaver," Vista waved to her as she jumped out of the shuttle.
"Good luck, Vista", Taylor waved back.
Mordin closed the shuttle door from his console and Lela started the engines. This time, she had the proper authorizations to fly. There weren't any commercial aircraft flying but some organizations, like the Wardens, still kept an eye on the skies above their strongholds.
"I assume you know where Rachel is," Taylor said as she hugged Lisa.
"She protects a village a few dozen miles north-west of New Brockton," Lisa answered. "I can guide you there."
"Let's go then."
Lela pushed the throttle up and their shuttle left the helipad. Mordin kept an eye on the radar as they left the city, buildings became sparse and made way for lush plains and forests. Lisa provided a few course corrections when they found some landmarks. After half an hour of slow flying, they reached a small village surrounded by a wooden palisade.
Taylor spotted a few kids playing around the houses and in the large square. Adults were busy with various tasks from washing their clothes in buckets of water to tending the gardens and fields around the village. There didn't look to be many modern amenities in the village but the several wind turbines in the fields did hint that there were a few.
"Land there," Lisa indicated an empty area of grass between the village and the forest. "Looks like they've seen us." Several adults were shepherding the kids back inside while another group grabbed what looked to be hunting rifles.
"I think it's best if only Lisa and I go," Taylor said. "At least at first. We don't want things to get out of hand."
"Understandable," Mordin said. "Will stay ready to support if necessary."
"That should be fine," Lisa said.
With an effort of will, Taylor changed her suit into something less threatening. She opted for a black sundress with gold butterflies. The look on Lisa's face was priceless. Niusa had a massive grin plastered on her face as well.
"Finally," the asari said, "something other than a combat suit."
"Your powers are bullshit," Lisa mumbled, "but I like the dress."
"Let's go introduce ourselves," Taylor opened the door and jumped out of the shuttle. "Liz, stay close to me in case …" Her girlfriend nodded.
Most of the armed villagers had climbed on the walls and were in position to shoot them. A few of them had stopped around a hundred feet from the shuttle. Close enough to the village to run while their compatriots covered them.
"Do you know which names she goes by?" She whispered.
"Here it's Rachel," Lisa said. "I think they managed to convince her that Bitch wasn't really appropriate for kids."
"And she listened?"
"Miracles do happen sometimes."
"We are here to see Rachel," Taylor said with her best diplomatic voice.
"What do you want with her?" The man at the front asked.
"We're an old friends of hers, Zach," Lisa interjected. "I'm Lisa and this is Taylor. I've already been here several times."
"Yeh, I recognized you. Didn't expect you to show up like that. Rachel's away at the moment, she went into the forest to have some time for herself."
"Oh," Taylor frowned slightly, "do you know when she'll be back?"
"Probably a few days," Zach shrugged.
Taylor didn't really feel like waiting, she missed Rachel and her heart ached knowing she was so close. She could fairly easily track down Rachel in the forest, it would take a few hours at most. Mordin and the rest of the crew could swing by the Celebrimbor to bring some supplies since she would probably stay a few days on Earth Bet. Preparing Lisa's and Rachel's shards for departure would take time, provided they accepted her offer.
"Lisa and I will go find her," Taylor said. "I haven't seen her in too long."
"Your funeral girl," Zach chuckled, "she don't like it when people bother her."
"Oh, don't worry, I know," Taylor said with a grin. "We'll be back by nightfall." Then she called Mordin with her radio. "Mordin, I'm going to bring the Celebrimbor in this dimension since we'll probably stay for a few days. You can move it in geo-synch orbit above here and bring back some supplies. I'm going to search for Rachel in the forest and I'll contact you when we're done. Feel free to bring back some casual wear too, I don't expect much fighting to happen."
"Understood," the salarian replied. "Good luck with search."
The door in the shuttle closed and it took off towards the sky.
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Taylor and Lisa parted ways with the villagers and followed the path into the forest for a few minutes. Once the beaten dirt faded into the surrounding wilderness, they stopped.
"How, exactly, did you plan to find one girl in the middle of this giant forest?" Lisa asked.
"I could ask her power, that's how I found you," Taylor explained, "but it's boring. I have a much better idea in mind, more fun too."
"More power bullshittery?" Lisa raised an eyebrow.
"Of course," she answered.
The small walk had allowed her forks to prepare something. Changer-type powers synergized very well with Plasmoid Empress as the latter gave her much more control over the transformation than the power would usually allow. In a few seconds, she had turned from an average-looking girl into a massive white wolf as tall as Lisa.
"What the …" her girlfriend took a step back. "You turn into a giant fucking wolf?"
"Climb on," she lowered her front to allow Lisa to get on her back.
"A giant talking wolf!" Lisa laughed. "How the hell do you manage that? Canine anatomy isn't exactly made for that."
"Trade secret," she grinned. "And climb on before I have to carry you like an unruly puppy."
"Alright, alright," Lisa said, her hands raised in surrender.
The blonde stepped closer and swung her leg over her massive wolf body. Taylor guided her to the right position and stood up.
"Woah," Lisa grabbed her fur to avoid falling. "And now you plan to sniff your way to Rachel? You know dogs needs a scent first, right?"
"I know," Taylor took off at a trot, "but I am cheating. This nose is a lot better at smelling than your average dog. I already have her scent."
As they ventured deeper into the forest, Taylor became more and more confident that she was in the right track and started to move faster. Contrary to popular belief, rivers and bodies of water did not erase scent trails. She crossed several small streams and followed the group of five dogs accompanied by a human female.
At several clearings, the trails split up and rejoined a few hours later. She always followed the most recent and, after a few hours, she finally found her prize. Surrounded by five dogs of various breed was a stocky brown haired girl in a tank top and cargo shorts. Her protectors had already spotted Taylor and Lisa and had moved in-between their mistress and the unknown danger. Rachel used her power and two of them started growing as well.
Taylor slowly patted into the clearing with Lisa on her back.
"Liz?" Rachel said, confused. "What the fuck? What's this huge wolf?"
"Hey, Rach, long time no see," Taylor said.
"Why does the wolf sound like Taylor?" Rachel said, even more confused.