The Firefly (Mass Effect Andromeda)

Chapter 49

Dr Kendra Croasdale woke, disoriented within a pod. It reminded her of those years in cryo, the moment she had woke that first time with the Nexus team. She couldn't understand where she was, or how she'd gotten there. Pain pierced her head. There was dried blood beneath her nose, she noticed dispassionately.

Without panic, she felt for the safety catch. There would be one, she was sure.

Sure enough, the pod opened, and she climbed out.

The room was clean, sterile, with numerous other similar pods to the one she had been confined in. Her legs buckled and she sank to the floor, rummaging through her pockets.

They'd been stripped bare. Her weaponry was gone. Her bag of supplies too.

Why had she needed supplies again? Her mind was confused, fragmented. Thinking caused pain to rip through her.

She had been running, a fugitive from the Nexus and a wrathful Pathfinder.

It had been a long road, from seducing Dr Taylor back in the Milky Way and stealing the prototype they'd come up with together, ensuring that his daughter was sent to Andromeda, to now. The implant had almost worked. She'd finally managed to abduct Olivia Taylor, had changed the settings of her implant, imprinted her suggestions.

And it had worked. The idiot girl had been captured and tortured yet remained true to her mission. She had stolen the Meridian coordinates and escaped and sent them across to Kendra. It had worked perfectly. Except the stupid girl had botched it. Her orders were to escape the Nexus and return to Kendra, who would have had an obedient slave to help her gain the power of Meridian.

Instead, Olivia had been caught.

She'd somehow broken through the mental conditioning from the implant and her friends had managed to reverse it.

Kendra had realized when the girl hadn't made contact again. She'd had to flee, knowing the girl had given her away.

Still she had her research, and the prototypes. She could make more 'fireflies'. But the girl had been the perfect candidate.

The Pathfinder was hot on her heels. How many times had that imbecilic boy escaped death? She couldn't understand it.

Meridian was out of reach for now, but her work would still go on. She'd heard tales of an ancient power source on Eos and tracked it down.

And before then, she had implanted herself with Firefly technology.

Martin would have berated her over the dangers of it. It wasn't designed for her after all. It could have rendered her brain damaged. But she'd been in a rush and she was in too deep to do otherwise.

At least she had lived.

In the dark of the ruin, she had attempted to activate the Remnant console. That was the last thing she remembered.

"Who are you?" A voice croaked. "Gafro?" Kendra looked up in surprise at the Angaran standing in the entrance to the room. She had a sword, and a pistol of sorts. She was old! Kendra marveled.

"No." Kendra said simply, dragging herself back up onto her feet, putting the bench between herself and the other woman. She had a strange manic gleam to her eyes that Kendra distrusted. "Where am I?"

The Angaran let out a hiss, drawing her sword, but Kendra was quicker, even when injured and confused. She vaulted over the bench, launching a kick at the Angaran's chest, pivoting on her hip. The old woman toppled backwards, giving Kendra a chance to dodge past her and run out into the corridor.