The Firefly (Mass Effect Andromeda)

Chapter 26

It felt like someone had taken a hammer to her skull. She ached, vision hazy as her eyes opened. There was a dim hum of machinery, low and tuneless. She rolled over, cold metal beneath her and struggled to her feet. The ground shifted beneath her and she lurched to one side, grabbing the wall. Lyora rolled over, groaning. "Goddess, what...?" Liv couldn't see her in the darkness, tripping over another unconscious figure who woke gradually.

"Who's there?" Nunok called out, frightened.

"It's Olivia and me, though where we are, I have no idea." Lyora's voice shook, "I don't remember much."

"We were on Kadara. Olivia went off with the Pathfinder. We heard shooting. The pathfinder's companions charged in with Vee and Nina and..." He trailed off, "Someone grabbed me from behind, drugged me I think."

"Same." Lyora said curtly, "Liv..."

"It was a set up. That guy Jeff," She explained the backstory, "He hates me and Scott so lured us in to kill us."

"That was..."

"Idiotic." Liv rolled her eyes. "But he had a mech and it all seemed like the plot of a terrible movie." She sighed, "Scott was hurt, the place was on fire. Nina got hit." Her eyes widened, "I lost sight of them all in the flames. I don't remember..." Her voice faded. "I don't remember what happened."

"Why just us?" Nunok asked, "Out of everyone. What if they're all..."

"They're not." Lyora said firmly.

Using the light of her omni-tool, Liv gazed at the dull, curved walls, vibrating and rattling. There was a single, small window. Outside was the dark vacuum of space. "This is an escape pod. We've been jettisoned into space."

There were no controls, a crackly comm and limited life support. They fiddled but eventually ended up sitting despairingly on the floor, conserving oxygen. They couldn't understand why anyone would go to such lengths to kill them.

Olivia felt odd. There was no wound to her head, but she felt ill. She felt as though she'd forgotten something important. She also felt strangely ill at ease with her two friends, angry and confused. Tears flickered in her eyes, though she didn't understand why.

Finally, the radio came to life. "Who is this?" A deep rumbling voice said.

"Hello?" Lyora leapt on it, "This Dr Lyora Gaari from the Nexus. We have been launched into space by unknown forces."

"We'll pick you up. Sit tight." They sounded like Krogan, she thought. A small ship pulled up next to them, firing out a clamp and tow ropes that punctured their own vessel, dragging them clumsily in.

Their door opened to reveal a group of six Krogan glaring at them. "An Asari, a Salarian and a squishy little human drifting through space..." One of them said with humour, "It's like the start of a bad joke."

"My name is Dr Lyora Gaari, this is my colleague Dr Nunok Calon and our friend Olivia Taylor. We're from the Nexus." She tried and failed to sound unruffled.

"Crinak." One Krogan gestured to himself, "This is my ship." He pointed at the krogan who had first spoke. "That's Nurg. What are the Nexus doing out here?"

"We were on Kadara." Lyora said. Nunok had edged away from the krogan. "And we were attacked and woke up here."

"Someone has a huge grudge against you." Nurg laughed, "You're nowhere near Kadara. This is Kett space."

"What?" Olivia's jaw dropped. "And what are Krogan doing in Kett space?"

"That's none of your business, human." Crinak replied.

"I've known a few krogan." Liv said awkwardly, "Was helped in a bar fight by one recently, and then in a big shootout."

"Who was that?" One of them deigned to answer in a bored voice. "I'm Virk."

"Nakmor Drack." She said uncertainly, "He travels with the Pathfinder."

"You know Drack?" Virk asked. They looked at Olivia expectantly.

"Like I said, he had my back in a bar fight. He was there in the shootout too, right before the three of us woke up here."

"We're also Clan Nakmor." Virk replied. "We're working for Drack. Scouting this area for him."

"We'll take you back with us when we leave." Crinak said, right as an alarm went off on the ship.

The Krogan scattered, leaving the other three standing awkwardly, unarmed and unsure. "Multiple Kett ships inbound." Nurg was shouting, "They're firing on us."

"Well fire back at them!" Crinak snarled.

The ship rocked as blast after blast struck them. "We've got a breach." Someone yelled, "Sealing that compartment."

"They're going to board." Nunok whispered. Olivia felt herself shuddering. The last time she'd come against Kett, they had killed her.

There was a horrible grinding sound, metal against metal. The Krogan barrelled past, armed to the teeth. Lyora's hands glowed as she waited behind.

The Kett burst in in numbers, the Krogan opening fire on them. Lyora started blasting with her biotics but they were simply outnumbered. Nunok had dragged Olivia back to hide in a small compartment. She couldn't seem to stop shaking. There were cries on both sides, bangs that were separate to the gunfire. They had climbed into lockers, closing the doors on themselves.

It felt like a horror movie, waiting, the sound of her own breath loud in her ears, harsh with fear. Sweat that had nothing to do with heat trickled down her back, her heart thumping. Her limbs felt cramped, the muscles protesting, contorted oddly to hide herself.

She could hear thumping footsteps.

The gunfire had stopped.

They were searching the ship.

She heard Nunok cry out, thrashing, knocking things over as he was dragged from his hiding place. She struggled to contain her own cry.

Then they came for her.

The locker door was wrenched open and she was hauled out by the waiting Kett. She didn't fight them, and was allowed to walk rather than being dragged down the ship and into the waiting vessel.

They had been taken, and whether they would survive was anyone's guess.