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"We're approaching another gateway," Chachamaru reported, as she slowly brought the ship towards the group of other ships waiting to pass through the portal.
“Still no sign of our mysterious assailants?” Shepard asked, trying to look through the windows of the cockpit. She wasn’t having much luck though. Even with her Perception, the distances were simply too large, and space was rather big.
"Negative," Chachamaru said simply, before looking towards Seraphiel sitting at the co-pilot's seat.
“Can’t sense anything either.” She shook her head. “Either they’re not here, or they’re too good at hiding.” It wouldn’t be the first time someone managed to fool her senses, even if it was a rare occurrence. “My [Precognition] isn’t giving any hints either.” Fooling that was even harder, although the required Skills did overlap.
"It's the final gateway before our destination," Shepard muttered. “If I was trying to ambush us, this is where I would do it.”
“Maybe they decided against it?” Wrex asked, almost sarcastically.
“A single attack that leaves a lot to desire for when it comes to seriousness? I somehow doubt it.” Shepard shook her head.
"Disabling stealth systems and taking a position in the queue," Chachamaru reported.
There was no actual line of course. The ships were simply situated near the gateway, holding a rather safe distance away from each other. They each took turns using the gateway, in the order of their arrival. There were some exceptions for special rush cases, but those were usually only relevant for owned gateways. For instance, an owner of a gateway might allow their own military to skip the queue and force civilians to wait. That and medical help. Those were the most commonly known and accepted exceptions.
“Still nothing.” Seraphiel shook her head.
“Everyone, keep your eyes open. I don’t trust this type of calm before the storm. There’s a good chance they’ll strike once we exit the gateway instead. It’s a more difficult strike on their part, but they might be hoping we’re not paying attention and feeling safe.” Shepard was not going to let go of her concern.
"Sniper in position," Tatsumiya reported.
"Shadow as well," Kaede added her own voice to the mix.
The queue proceeded quickly and in an orderly fashion. Every ship needed only a few minutes for gateway realignment, and there weren’t too many ships waiting. Their turn came without an attack, and they were launched across space. As soon as they arrived though, they realized something was wrong.
“The gateway behind us is shutting down!” Chachamaru exclaimed.
“This is not where we’re supposed to be arriving.” Seraphiel also noted.
"Triangulating. Unknown location. Using active scans to try and gather more information. Empty system aside from the gateway. No life signs." Chachamaru scanned the system, as the information slowly trickled in.
“Uh, guys, you better check your scans. There might not be life, but the place isn’t empty.” Tatsumiya reported over the comms. The sniper had a very high Perception, so it wasn’t too odd for her to notice something out of place.
“Agreed. I can sense debris on the other side of the gateway.” Seraphiel confirmed.
Chachamaru refocused the scanners. “Acknowledged. Scans show the remains of some sort of a station. Origin unknown. Signs of violent destruction. The gateway behind us is also damaged. I’m fairly sure it was somehow jury-rigged to accept our arrival, but I have no idea if we can use it to leave. I seriously doubt it, though.”
"No signs of hostile ships though," Wrex commented.
Seraphiel used her [Gift of Knowledge] on the gateway and was not happy about what she found. “The gateway is badly damaged. It was damaged on purpose. Chachamaru was right. It was in good enough condition to accept our arrival, but no departures without extensive repairs.”
“Can you fix it?” Shepard asked.
“I could, but it would take time. Quite a bit of time. And I’d need to create some of the materials from thin air, which takes more time and power.” She mused. The gateways were created by the System and the gods when a new universe was connected to this one, but that didn’t mean they were somehow inviolable. Replicating them was hard, but not entirely impossible. “Certainly enough time that we would miss the event.”
"Someone's gone through a lot of trouble to make sure we don't arrive," Wrex muttered.
“I don’t think they’re the ones to attack this place and disable the gate.” Tatsumiya suddenly interjected. “I’m looking at the damage, and it seems old. Even the damage to the gate. The repairs to get it working long enough to get us here seem much newer, yes, but the damage is not. Someone simply took advantage.”
Wrex grunted. “Still, I would imagine it would take a bit of something to send a ship to the wrong gateway. I’ve never heard of that happening before.”
"It would. It would take either divine intervention or highly specialized knowledge." Chachamaru confirmed. "There are people studying the gates, but it's a rather obscure field all things considered. It's not something a random kid with access to a computer could manage."
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Here’s an interesting thought. Were we targeted specifically?” Seraphiel suddenly asked.
“How do you mean?” Shepard asked with a frown.
“Well, yes we were targeted, but did they just want to catch any Champion going to the event, or you specifically?” Seraphiel clarified her thought.
“That’s a good question. While I have enemies, that’s why I hired you, I don’t think I’m a large enough threat to be targeted specifically like this. An attack like the first one, yes, a rigged gateway though? I don’t think so. They could have come after us after hearing about you, but…” Shepard speculated.
“While I wouldn’t rule that one out, it seems a little early. My identity really only got out there during the Grail War, and only to a limited extent. Few people would be able to connect me with the Exile.” Seraphiel countered.
"So, there's a good chance we were just targets of opportunity. The question is why? And if so, were there others targeted?" Shepard frowned in thought. "The first attack did seem a little haphazard. Could be explained if they weren't sure who was on board. Just that a Champion was. We're not all that difficult to detect, even across distances. Not if you know what to look for.”
All Champions had a fragment of their god’s presence and blessing after all.
"While it would be fun to speculate on motivations all day, we need to decide what to do next first," Chachamaru interjected.
“So, Seraphiel, can you…?” Shepard made a vague magical gesture.
"I can, but first I need to know where we are, and I need to know exactly where we are going," Seraphiel explained. "Knowing the entry and exit points is the basic 101 of any teleportation. While my ability is a little more flexible, the more I know, the less power it requires.”
"Still figuring out our exact location," Chachamaru said. "Reading the stars is not exactly quick when so many universes are mashed together, many with very similar stars."
"My parents weren't exactly very inventive when it came to the makeup of the Milky Way in the various universes," Seraphiel complained. "Why do extra work, right? Differences appeared later of course, in reaction to how those universes developed, but many got the same seed."
"This isn't the Milky Way. That much I can already tell." Chachamaru stated simply.
"You didn't explain too much about our destination," Wrex commented. "It wasn't really necessary before this, but…"
"Right." Shepard nodded. "Our destination is the Core World of Coruscant. It's a planet covered by an ecumenopolis city thousands of levels deep. The deepest levels haven’t seen sunlight in god knows how long time. Notably, it is the throne world of that universe and the Galactic Republic. Also, the home to the Jedi Temple.”
"Been there," Seraphiel commented. "A rather dreary place if you go away from the glitz and glamor of the administrative sectors.”
“Indeed. Not a place I’d want to live in.” Shepard agreed. “Anyway, the sheer number of people, combined with the world’s status as a Core World makes it the best place for some very…particular resources. Not those you dig out from the ground, but those that sublimate from the air. Soul-based resources to be specific.”
"That actually helps," Chachamaru said. "We were going through a minor gateway, and there's a limited number of destinations it could connect to, and knowing we were close to that galaxy will help the triangulation. Yes, I can already tell we are on the edge of that galaxy. The area known as Unknown Regions. Yes, I see the irony of the name. Seeing as this is an empty system, that's about as accurate as I'm going to get."
“I’ve heard traversing the Unknown Regions is not exactly safe.” Wrex pointed out almost hopefully.
"It's not. At least if we were doing it the way the people of this universe do it." Seraphiel replied. "Their technology places certain limitations on how they travel, although, on the positive side, their ships are quite fast. We're not going to be using that method. Our own location is a bit shaky, but we’re close enough that it shouldn’t matter. It won’t be exactly pinpoint, but I can put us in the system where Coruscant is.”
“Good. At this point, I want to arrive just out of spite.” Shepard growled.
Seraphiel focused hard, bringing her hands together in prayer, reaching for the reality she wanted, instead of what was really there. She willed things to be different, and the reality obeyed. She felt power drain out of her body, as making such a drastic change in reality was quite exhausting, but she succeeded. She lay in her seat, panting as the new reality came to focus.
Suddenly all the consoles in the cockpit started blaring alarms. “Weapons fire, proximity alarms, we’re being targeted!” Chachamaru called out in warning.
“It’s not just us!” Tatsumiya’s voice came over the comms. “There’s a battle out here! And not a small battle either!”
"I'm reading, dozens, hundreds, almost a thousand ships exchanging fire in orbit! Incoming fire! Raising shields!" Suddenly the ship shook as whatever shot at them hit the shields with more force than they were really designed to deal with. "Taking evasive action!"
“Who’s shooting at us? And who’s fighting?” Shepard asked heatedly.
“We were shot at by the nearest ship, which I think belongs to the Republic.” Tatsumiya, who was outside the hull of the ship with Kaede reported. “The other ships I don’t recognize. They’re some grey wedge-shaped things. They seem to be holding an advantage.”
“I’ve successfully brought us away from the ship that was shooting at us. They weren’t really focused on us anyway. We were just a target of opportunity it seems. We do have some fighters pursuing us.” Chachamaru stated coolly.
"I'll take care of those," Tatsumiya promised, her gun singing as she sniped at the fighters. She'd been outside for this purpose, although for a different target. She was supposed to snipe at any ship attacking them. While her personal gun wasn't exactly an anti-ship weapon, she could turn it into one with enough power.
“Can you take us towards the surface? That’s where the event was supposed to take place, and I think they’d avoid shooting at us if they recognize us as participants.” Shepard asked.
"I can try, but I seriously doubt they're very interested in the event considering the situation," Chachamaru replied doubtfully.
“Even if the event is canceled, I still need to arrive. There's a world of difference for a Champion between 'I couldn't participate as promised because the event was canceled.' And 'I couldn't participate because I couldn't arrive.' At least we can get support from other Champions there, and whoever is responsible for this thing is not likely to pick a fight with enough Champions, each with the power to take down armies.” Shepard explained her plan.
“Unless they’re aiming for the Champions.” Wrex pointed out happily.
Shepard shook her head. “Unlikely. I think it’s more likely they’re taking advantage of the distraction provided by the event. That or the publicity.”
Their vessel dodged and weaved its way through the battle towards the planet below. Any fighters wanting to pick a fight with them got dealt with by Tatsumiya. They soon ran into a problem though. "The planetary shield is stopping us from entering," Chachamaru reported.
"Just go straight at it," Seraphiel ordered. "I'll deal with it."
"Are you up to it after the earlier teleport?" Shepard asked a little worried.
“I am.” She promised and reached forward towards the shield.
Chachamaru piloted directly towards the shield. “Uh, Sephy, the shield is still there.”
“Trust me. Have a little faith.” She whispered, and reached forward to alter reality once again. Just as she sensed the ship was about to ram the shield, she altered reality again, and the vessel was now forward from its previous position, leaving the shield behind.
She collapsed against the co-pilot’s chair, completely out of breath. “I really need to train that ability more.” She muttered mostly to herself.
“Great job!” Shepard exclaimed, patting her on the shoulder.
“Yes, well, now we have another problem. We’re coming in too fast.” Chachamaru reported.
“Just fly doughnuts above until you bleed the speed off!” Shepard ordered.
“I would, but we’re being lit up by every AA-gun in the area. Might have something to do with us approaching the senate building.” Chachamaru countered.
“You did report there’s two Champions on board, right?” Shepard looked towards Yoruichi, who was operating the communications station.
"I did, and they don't necessarily disbelieve me, but they're a little jumpy at the moment. Steer away from the senate, and they might not put holes in our ship Chachamaru." The Shinigami instructed.
"This is such a mess," Shepard grumbled and reached out with her own biotics, using the mass effect field to slow them down further.
“Don’t worry. I’ve heard crash landings are a time-honored tradition on this world.” Wrex laughed, enjoying the whole thing.
“Don’t damage my ship!” Seraphiel protested. “We just got it!”
The whole vessel was now shaking under the effects of the sudden deceleration and Shepard's powers. "Found us a spot to land, at least by a certain definition of the word," Chachamaru called out, before the ship leveled. Then it hit something, throwing all of them around as it slid across the ground sideways, hitting more things, before finally coming to a stop.
“We’re alive?” Shepard asked gingerly.
"That was a shit landing," Wrex grumbled. "Not even a proper crash."
“We managed to jump off.” Tatsumiya’s voice came over the comms again. “I hope those statues you bowled over weren’t important. Incidentally, you almost crashed into the Jedi Temple, so you’re about to be surrounded by glowstick-waving people less than pleased you trashed the plaza in front of their home.
“Oh joy.” Seraphiel, who’d been tossed off her chair and was finding the experience of laying on top of the console rather displeasing, sarcastically expressed what they were all feeling.