On the bridge of the MFV Endaara , Captain Rael’Zorah vas Neema took a deep breath as he sat in his command throne, trying to calm his nerves. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t look away from the image on the forward viewscreen, from the view of the world around which the ship was orbiting.
It looked just like Old Rannoch, like all of those ancient holo-picts his father had shown him growing up.
“This is the homeworld, boy, what the geth stole from us four centuries ago. Take a long look at it and never forget why we cling to survival…”
Indeed, according to the science team aboard, the world had the highest habitability index ever recorded, since the fall of the Veil Republic, since the end of the Great Betrayal. Effectively, It was Rannoch’s twin – the quarian’s people’s salvation from the ongoing food crisis.
If its water and biosphere were compatible with quarian biology.
He sighed. For the past hour or so, the science team had been hard at work, testing the samples they had collected below to see if that was true, if soon the quarian people would have a new home, far outside the reach of any Krogan Star Khanate, or the jurisdiction of the Council. Keelah, if not, then…well…
May the Ancestors have mercy on us.
Around him, his bridge crew continued to work amidst the tense silence, with stiff postures. He could feel every bit of their apprehension. But how could he blame them? They were on the cusp of perhaps a historic moment.
Eventually, his chief communications officer, Valun’Krael, gasped and recoiled a little, as if he’d just faced a Khelek’miin , a mythical devourer of souls.
“What is it?” he asked, leaning forward. “Has the science team finished? Do they have the results?”
“Captain…” Valun said, covering his vocalizer. Valun exhaled, “the science team…they’ve finished their tests. And this world…”
“It’s what?” he asked, his heart hammering. Would he and his lifemate finally have a proper home for their unborn daughter? Keelah, he could hardly bare the wait any longer. “Speak clearly.”
“This world is habitable, Captain,” Valun said, his voice trembling. “We have a new home.”
A great silence ensued.
A new home? Somewhere his beloved Maeru and his unborn daughter could live with soil beneath their feet, and not the deck of a starship?
A warm, blissful sensation bloomed in his chest. Momentarily, his eyes watered. You won’t starve. Oh, praise the Ancestors, you won’t starve.
He shook his head. No, what was he doing? Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, regaining his composure, regaining his air of command. Indeed, nobody under his leadership could ever see him lose control of his emotions.
Even if his emotions were positive, blinding him to facts he could overlook.
His entire bridge crew erupted into a loud cheer. And he couldn’t help but smile. Indeed, this could be a historic moment. Soon, the quarian people might finally begin to heal from the horrors the geth had wrought upon them.
Amidst the cheering, his chief sensor officer, Yula’Vael, gasped. Her eyes went wide. “Captain? Captain, you have to see this! You have to see this!”
He stood up from his command throne, then raised one arm. “Calm yourselves.” As soon as he said that, his bridge crew stopped cheering, then looked right at him. “I know this could be historic news, perhaps the greatest in the fleet’s history. But let us not succumb to the mistake of celebrating before we have gathered all of the facts.” He clasped his hands behind his back, then looked at Yula. “What have you found?”
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“I’m getting some very strange readings from the survey drones,” Yula said. “I’m getting, no…this must be a mistake. The drones are detecting what appears to be radio waves and artificial lights at these coordinates.”
The coordinates appeared on the forward viewscreen. And his eyes went wide. Radio waves? Artificial lights? He gritted his teeth, then clenched his fists. Was this world already occupied? If so, then by whom? “Send a swarm of recon drones to those coordinates immediately. Have them scour the area.”
“Yes, Captain,” Yula said, her hands typing away at the haptic display at her station, “sending recon drones to the coordinates immediately.”
Again, he sat in his command throne. And on his haptic display, he tapped into each drone’s live video or satellite feed. Ancestors, what species was already occupying this world? Undoubtedly, it couldn’t be any Council race, or even the Silent Ones. Yes, this world was nearly a thousand lightyears away from the nearest known relay, and they would never establish a colony here. It was complete madness.
So who?
On his haptic display, he zoomed in on the source of the signals. And in one of the feeds, he zoomed in further on a pair of bipedal figures, discerning more and more details about their appearance.
Until he gasped.
His eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open.
The aliens occupying this world looked almost exactly like asari, though with furry heads, darker eyes, earlobes, and much smoother, reddish-pink skin. Like asari, they seemed to have two sexes. However, the males looked much larger and stronger than the females.
No, this shouldn’t be possible. The odds of two intelligent species looking so similar were astronomically slim. So undoubtedly, something had to be at work here.
But what?
He displayed the live feeds on the forward view screen, and his bridge crew could hardly look away from them.
“By the ancestors…” said his executive officer, Kharo’Gerrel, “they look so much like asari.”
“And those suits they’re wearing…” Valu said, “they’re so primitive. Keelah, they must be a very young race.”
Indeed, the aliens were wearing crude suits with visible tubing, with buky helmets that couldn’t sink into the neckline with a few thoughts. Yes, from those facts alone, the aliens had to be centuries away from the necessary advances in nano-technology and programmable matter.
Briefly, he scanned the rest of the video feeds, studying the structures the aliens had built around their fledgling colony situated within a river valley. He couldn’t discern their functions. But like the alien suits, they also looked so crude and primitive, like many of the ancient artifacts of glass and metal preserved on the MFV Miin’Saaro. Yes, in a way, the aliens couldn’t help but remind him of the earliest interstellar colonists, of the first pioneers to carve a place for the quarian people beyond the Tikkun system around two thousand years ago.
Briefly, he gripped his chin. Well, if they were anything like quarians, hopefully, the aliens had spoken languages – ones any science team could translate within a few weeks.
“Tap into their communications,” he told his chief communications officer, Oran’Jhal. “Let us hear what they sound like.”
And Oran nodded, then began typing away at his station. “Tapping into their communications now, Captain.”
A live audio feed played on the forward viewscreen, and the aliens speaking had such harsh, guttural voices. Keelah, are they having an argument? Other audio feeds played on the forward viewscreen, and in all of them, the aliens speaking sounded so angry, barking and snarling their words.
“They don’t sound very friendly, Captain,” Kharo said.
He nodded and couldn’t help but agree. Perhaps his senses were coloring how he perceived their speech. But if not, if the aliens below were uncivilized savages little better than Krogan, then diplomacy would not be easy. He sighed. With the ongoing food crisis, the Admiralty Board would enact the most extreme measures, if necessary, to secure the quarian people’s new home.
No matter how cruel those measures might be.
“What should we do, Captain?” Kharo asked.
He took a deep breath. Hopefully, they’ll see reason . Hopefully, the quarian people would not sacrifice their souls and their honor to survive. Just the thought of that sent a terrible chill through his insides. “For now, let us leave behind a nav-beacon and a few recon satellites in this world’s orbit. Whilst the satellites gather data about the aliens, we will then return to the fleet and bring news of our discovery to the Conclave and the Admiralty Board.” He looked at his chief navigator, Atasi’Korris, then nodded.
She nodded back, then began typing away at her station. “Setting a course for the fleet.”
After leaving behind the nav-beacon and the recon satellites, the Endaara left the world’s orbit. And just before it reached the system’s jump point, he sighed. Indeed, soon, the destiny of his people would collide with that of the species he had just discovered. Time would only tell what would happen when that occurred. But if somehow, the aliens were connected to the Asari, and if somehow, the Asari found out about them, then he knew one thing for certain.
The quarian people were doomed.