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resoan · 7 years ago

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Burdens of Command, Ch. 4

Chapter 4 of my Big Bang. As always you can check it out on AO3 or read the rest of it on my masterpost! Reblogs and feedback are appreciated and encouraged!

“Ugh, I can't believe it can smell even worse down here.” Peebee held her nose as she spoke. “Please tell me it won't be this bad in the Nomad, Ryder.” Her gaze was firmly on Moira now, her tone pleading.

“I guess we'll find out.” Moira didn't like the smell any more than Peebee did, but unless they found the monoliths and the vault, Kadara was going to smell like rotten eggs. “For now, we need to find that transponder. We'll have to come back and fix everything else later.” Peebee frowned but nodded with a quiet sigh. Cora had been thoughtfully silent for the most part, most likely enduring Kadara without complaint as she tended to with everything else.

“You sure you don't want me to drive, Ryder?” Cora offered, though Moira knew her offer had been made for more than simply...altruistic purposes. Cora had already mentioned her thoughts on Moira's driving before, and it was sincerely doubtful her opinion had changed since Eos.

“Nope,” Moira replied, emphasizing the pop her lips made in so doing. Peebee giggled under her breath when Cora sat back in her seat with an exasperated sound, though made no other protest. “Hey, at least there aren't cliffs to fall off of here,” Moira tried to reassure as the Nomad began its long trek towards Vehn's nav point.

“Right. Only pools of sulfurous water that'll boil us alive.” Moira decidedly refused to acknowledge the rather sullen answer Cora gave, and aside from Peebee's oohing and ahhing at the admittedly picturesque sites they passed, the conversation dissipated.

“Pathfinder, the settlement ahead has named itself 'Charybdis Point'. Vehn Terev claimed to have buried the kett transponder here; Reyes Vidal also mentioned that another murder occurred near here, if you are inclined to investigate,” SAM informed the party helpfully, though Peebee groaned at the thought of having to hold her nose again once the doors to the Nomad opened.

“If Reyes thinks Roekaar are involved, we should probably check it out,” Cora commented, climbing down from the Nomad and landing easily on her feet.

“Agreed. It might give us some clue as to why they're on Kadara, and if it has anything to do with Voeld.”

“We know why they're on Kadara,” Peebee added. “It used to be angaran-run, and now the exiles have taken over. Aliens ruling an angaran port has gotta crawl under their skin. Maybe their presence here doesn't have anything to do with us, or you, Ryder.”

“You think it's a coincidence?” Cora's disbelief was easy to hear, one of her hands settling on the curve of her waist and an eyebrow arching upwards.

“It doesn't matter,” Moira answered for Peebee, catching Cora's gaze. “We need to stop them from murdering innocent people if they really are the ones behind the murders.”

As important as the transponder was, it would keep for a few more minutes – it wasn't as though Vehn had given its location away to everyone who'd come to his cell. “Let's go.” Peebee inclined her head sharply in affirmation, and Moira smiled as she led them to Reyes' nav point. The door of the building was still open, and Moira could smell the sharp, metallic scent of blood even before she saw it smeared across the floor – an accomplishment on Kadara, to be certain.

“Holy shit,” Peebee exclaimed with a blanch, her eyes averting from the face-down corpse as Cora's features fell.

“Poor guy. This wasn't a quick death; they wanted him to suffer,” Cora offered quietly, almost reverently.

“Correct,” SAM agreed. “The krogan's head plate has been peeled away, and evidence indicates this occurred before his death. It would also explain the copious amounts of blood on the floor.”

“His valuables are still here, not even his guns or rations taken,” Moira murmured, examining the footlockers and cabinets in the krogan's home. “Any of the other exiles would've been satisfied killing him and stealing what they could scrounge.”

“There are also traces of angaran DNA on the victim's body, Pathfinder.”

I wonder... Moira's thoughts trailed off as she narrowed her eyes, searching for the murder weapon on the off-chance it had been left behind. Bingo! Just outside the front door was an angaran firaan, covered in the krogan's blood and angaran DNA samples. “It looks like Reyes' hunch about the Roekaar was right.”

“Not necessarily, Pathfinder. It is not inconceivable that an exile could have stolen the firaan from an angara to implicate them.” Moira bit her lip as Peebee and Cora reappeared from inside, Peebee inhaling deeply and thanking Kadara for not smelling like blood instead of rotten eggs.

“Ryder?” Cora tried to get her attention, though Moira held up a hand before taking a step back and activating her scanner.

“I detect footprints, Pathfinder. Several angara came through here recently.”

“Still think some exile stole the firaan, SAM?” Moira asked perhaps a touch smugly, though the AI agreed with her assessment.

“Negative, Pathfinder. There has been no activity in this area since the angara left.”

Turning off the scanner, Moira heaved a quiet sigh. “Well, I think that's all we're going to find here. Time to find that transponder!”

“You should contact Mr. Vidal about your findings as well, Pathfinder,” SAM reminded her.

“I will, SAM. Just as soon as we get back to Kadara Port.”

The kett transponder turned out to be not all that far away, and finding it was a simple matter once Moira's scanner began to hone in on it. Hidden behind a few crates and with a liberal dusting of soil on top, Moira wiped it off and felt a burden lift from her shoulders. “One step closer to finding the Archon. Now to take it to Gil, see if he can pull a nav point from it.”

“What about the Roekaar?” It was Cora who asked, her concerned, almost mothering tone not lost on Moira.

“What about them?”

“Didn't you say Jaal knows their leader? Isn't there some way to get in contact, to stop him somehow? We can't just let them run amok – they've stolen supplies from the Resistance on Voeld, they've murdered people here on Kadara, they're all over Havarl... They're not just going to stop, and I don't think asking nicely is going to do the trick.” Cora had a point, and Moira grimaced; pulling answers from Jaal about the Roekaar before had not been fun, but asking him to help in their demise? She knew he wasn't sympathetic to their cause in the slightest, but going against them was bold and perhaps even a little foolhardy.

“I guess it can't hurt to ask,” Moira finally conceded, though her belly felt leaden at the thought of having such a conversation with Jaal.

“Are we...leaving now? I mean, don't get me wrong. I'd prefer to be out here in the badlands over Kadara port proper any day, but I'm not about to miss the smell.” Peebee did nothing to hide her eagerness to leave, and Moira herself was antsy to get back to the Tempest, if only to find the Archon's ship.

“Yeah, I think we're done for now. Let's go.”

The first order of business once back on board the Tempest was to speak to Gil about getting the transponder back online – hopefully without broadcasting their signal to the kett or the Archon. He promised results given a little more time, and from the sounds of it as Moira stepped out of engineering, he and SAM were already putting their heads together. Once that was done, Moira headed towards her cabin to send Reyes a message confirming the Roekaar's involvement on Kadara. Jaal was standing nearby, however, leaning against the railing and presumably watching Cora work down below.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Moira's trajectory changed abruptly and she trotted over to their resident angara, Jaal noticing her approach and watching with a curious gaze. “Ryder,” he greeted with a friendly smile. “Do you need me for something? I can stop what I'm doing...”

“I do, actually,”Moira admitted, a hand lifting to rub idly at the side of her neck. “I don't know if you've heard, but while we were down in the badlands, we found out the Roekaar are responsible for the serial murders – killing aliens in defiance, and even some angara who are sympathetic.” Moira's expression fell as Jaal's smile faded, though it wasn't a surprise in the slightest. “I hate to ask, but is there any way to contact this Akksul? I know talking to him probably won't help all that much, but we have to start somewhere and I'd rather not go with guns blazing if we can avoid it.”

Jaal was silent for several moments, his gaze roving about the interior of the ship before settling on a single spot just beyond Ryder's head. “There was...another whom Akksul helped to escape the kett,” he began slowly, deliberately, the very tip of his tongue glossing over his lips swiftly. “Thaldyr. To my knowledge, she is still on Havarl, and remains in contact with Akksul. For obvious reasons, she has aligned herself with him and with the Roekaar. She will know how to contact him, probably even does so directly.”

“And you think she'd help us?” Moira asked, an eyebrow lifted as her arms curled across her chest, her weight shifting onto her back foot.

“It will take convincing,” Jaal admitted. “But the only other who might know how to contact him is the Moshae, and I...do not wish to impose upon her, not so soon after we rescued her from the kett.”

“All right. I guess we're off to Havarl next, then.” Jaal inclined his head in understanding, though as Moira turned to leave she paused, lips tugging into a deep frown. “Jaal.” His name was an obvious precursor to whatever it was she had left to say, and Jaal's gaze fixed upon hers, unwavering, the seriousness of the moment not lost on him.

“Yes, Ryder?”

“The Resistance knows about the Roekaar, right?” Her question was pointed and heavy with implication, but he eventually nodded.

“Evfra is well aware of their existence, though has done nothing to hinder their movements,” Jaal informed her. “Before the arrival of your species, some in the Resistance even considered them allies against the kett.”

“It seems odd, considering. If they really hated the kett, they could've just joined the Resistance.” Moira wasn't buying it, and Jaal's smile pulled taut, conflicted and strained before he let out a low breath.

“They are foolhardy, radical, and lacking in discipline, but Evfra is...unwilling to discard tools that may aid the Resistance.”

“But they've killed your people!” Moira exclaimed perhaps a touch too heatedly, her cheeks decidedly flushed and her nostrils flaring.

“It was not my decision to make, Ryder,” Jaal responded gently, one of his hands landing on her shoulder and squeezing gently. “I am uncertain if Evfra would listen, but perhaps you should tell him of the murders. It might be enough to change his opinion.” Jaal's tone alone told Moira that was a long shot, but Moira was too irritated to take any warning from him.

“Thanks, Jaal. I'll do just that.”

The angara shook his head as Moira stomped away, his eyes trailing after her for only a few moments more before he promptly shook his head and returned to what he'd been doing before Moira had appeared.

SAM, connect me to the Resistance. Evfra and I need to talk, Moira spoke through her private channel to SAM, her omni-tool glowing as the doors to her quarters opened and she stepped inside. Her email console was likely overflowing yet again after her arrival on Kadara, but they could wait until she was done.

Contact initiated, Pathfinder. I am being informed that Evfra is unavailable; he is currently in a meeting, and will be occupied for at least the better part of the next hour. Moira groaned aloud, irritated beyond words; it was tempting to patch herself through, to demand to speak to him, but Moira also recognized the importance of the Resistance's leader.

Fine. But tell them to have Evfra contact me the second he's free.

Understood, Pathfinder.

Letting her hand drop back to her side, Moira forced herself to take a long, slow inhale and subsequent exhale, the tension dissipating from her hunched shoulders as she slid into her chair. She couldn't even imagine what would've happened if she'd gotten through to Evfra, screaming like a banshee or a lunatic, and was suddenly very relieved to have a few moments to compose herself beforehand.

And in the meantime, Moira still had to let Reyes know about her findings. Her message was short and to the point, and once it was sent, she set into the mountain of messages waiting for her – most notable from Director Tann who was still unclear as to why she'd touched down on Kadara in the first place. No doubt he was concerned for the implications of a Pathfinder landing where the exiles ended up, as though it were some show of solidarity or an attempt to undermine the Initiative's authority.

It took lengthy explanations and reassurances to Tann to get him to stop sending her messages questioning her authority and her intentions, but pointing out the two completely viable and still-functioning outposts had promptly shut him up. Moira even giggled when it took him longer to respond, her tactic having clearly caught him off guard.

She was almost completely finished sifting through them all by the time SAM spoke again. “We are being pinged by Aya, Pathfinder. It seems the Commander is finished with his meeting.” Moira could have sworn she heard sarcasm in SAM's voice, though instead reminded herself why she'd called Evfra in the first place.

“Thanks, SAM. Forward it to the comm room.”

“Right away, Ryder.” The change from Pathfinder to Ryder was a stark one: one that left Moira floundering for a moment as she'd planted her feet on the floor and headed for the door. Was being more casual SAM's way of setting her more at ease? Or maybe of showing his support? She shook the thought away as she headed up the ladder and then down the corridor, and as she passed both Vetra and Liam at the research console, she wondered just how many people would be listening in by the time she was finished.

If she weren't so impatient, she might have gone directly to Aya personally, but they needed to go to Havarl to find Jaal's contact, and Aya would waylay them longer than Moira was comfortable. Still, their conversation needed to happen this way; she couldn't stomach a simple message or even a disembodied voice yelling at her from her omni-tool.

“Comm channel is open and waiting,” SAM spoke as she walked up the ramp, her anger from earlier dampening her trepidation. It was unlikely Evfra would be pleased, but at least she'd waited until his meeting was done – could only imagine his ire otherwise.

“We seem to be speaking a lot these days, Pathfinder. I'm sure I don't need to remind you that I have a Resistance to run, and you an Initiative to house.” His ever-present frown was back, as was his brusque tone, but Moira would not be cowed by either today.

“Just be glad I didn't interrupt your meeting to get a hold of you because, believe me, I was tempted,” Moira began, hands leaning onto the console as she stared across it at his holo. “So, do you want to explain to me why the Resistance has let the Roekaar run roughshod across Heleus? Oh, no! Wait! Let me rephrase that – WHY have you let the Roekaar do whatever the hell they please?!”

“The Roekaar are not my primary concern,” came Evfra's response, tone low and dangerous. He didn't need to voice what it implied – that she had the audacity to question him, that she believed him utterly oblivious to their actions.

“That much is apparent.” It was a snipe, plain and simple, but quite suddenly Moira was very tired of worrying about stepping on toes. “They steal supplies from your own Resistance, they've murdered at least a dozen on Kadara, and they're not even all of mine. Akksul is out of control, and you won't lift a finger to stop the chaos.”

“You're right. I won't. Not while the kett abduct our people on Voeld, exalt them, hold them in labor camps! The Roekaar are a pest to be swatted when – if – I've the time and patience, but their primary targets are not angara.” Moira let out low, irritated groan, her jaw tight and her molars grinding.

“So, what? You only look out for angara?”

“I have never hidden that truth from you, Pathfinder,” Evfra informed her tersely, the angara lifting a hand to his forehead. “Your people have your Initiative – they have you. They don't require my aid too.”

The anger abruptly drained from her face, surprise replacing it as well as a traitorous flutter in her chest. Was that...a compliment? From Evfra? “Are we finished here, Pathfinder? It's been a trying day, and other matters still require my full attention.”

She swallowed before nodding, lips parted as she let in a silent yet shuddering breath. “We'll speak again later,” Evfra stated flatly before disconnecting, though it was several moments before it dawned on her – we'll speak again later.

Her cheeks were burning again as she stepped away from the communications console and instead leaned her hips back against the railing, her hand cupped around her chin and mouth.

Fuck.

#mass effect #evfra x ryder #my writing #mass effect andromeda #mass effect big bang

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