Adding five days, it took nearly 11 days to reach the Eldora system from Cardissa Prime, the home system of Escostia, having stopped to check in on various distress signals and requests for assistance with planetary issues ranging from civil upheaval, government discourse and conflicts with the Federation. Thankfully, most of the issues Morrigan came across were well into their issues and easily resolved given the mountains of evidence she had been given.
Throughout those days the excitement across the ship was at an all time high, letting the grapevine chatter amongst crewmembers to trickle upwards to Morrigan’s attention. Like her crew, she too was proud of their progress as a single ship near-aimlessly wandering the galaxy in search of wrong doings to right. Their steady victories against injustice made for great morale boosts, even if some of the issues to resolve only involved Morrigan and Emily.
However, two weeks went by floating around the dark space of the Eldora system, the outer space between two systems that withheld any form of civilization or sign of life, and spirits began to wane.
“Anything yet?” Morrigan asked upon her fifth time checking in with Sarilla on the bridge for the day, her gaze boring into the back of the red haired woman as she surveyed the long range communications.
Sarilla huffed, showing the slightest hint of annoyance but responded, “Nothing yet, unless you count an order for field cultivators for an agricultural company…”
She then turned and looked at Morrigan in disappointment, “Isn’t there anything else you can be doing? Not only am I going through every single comm we come across, Sister is scanning every viable signal we possibly can every minute… you need something to distract yourself with otherwise you’re going to drive us crazy, and yourself.” Sarilla made no effort to hide her annoyance as Morrigan groaned in agreement.
Morrigan deflated over her console as everyone but Shepard chuckled as she was absent for the time being. “Like what?” she exasperated as she peered into the abyssal void of space through the viewing glass.
Luisa blushed as a thought popped into her mind before sheepishly commenting, “Well, you do have a girlfriend…”
Morrigan snorted with a roll of her eyes as she leaned upwards, “No, Nora’s been busy with the combat squads brushing up on her classes… I feel like this is cosmic punishment for all those days I was busy.”
Oh sure, cuz the cosmos cares whether or not you go knuckle deep in that girl of yours, ha! Apollyon mused in her head.
Morrigan chuckled in agreement at how obscure it sounded before Avery chimed in, “I’m surprised she’s not hounding both you and the Eskarii princess.”
Apollyon snorted; He does have a point.
“Mo’Emori has been spending her time with the half-Eskarii, as well as helping Emily and the rest of the administrators…” Morrigan sighed as she stood up and focused across the 180-degree view of twinkling starscape in hopes to spot something of interest. The only thing interesting though was watching Sarilla’s curvy form stand from her console and turn towards her, her flaming red hair cut neatly into a bob-cut and bronzed freckled skin greeting her with a contemplative look.
Sarilla stepped up the platform to Morrigan’s level before brushing past as she looked up behind her. “You know, it often serves as inspiration for all of us to be true to ourselves and try our hardest…”
Geez, if you stare any harder the girl’s clothes will disintegrate, Apollyon teased.
Sarilla paused as Morrigan quickly looked away upon seeing the red head’s cheeks flush, telling Morrigan that she was aware that Morrigan had been ogling her defined bell-shaped curves before her eyes landed on the massive power sword bolted above the access elevator, let alone the deity in her head pointing out her behavior.
After finally coming to terms with Sigurd’s death, she made the Berserker’s famous weapon an emblem for all who walked the bridge to see and remember the foul-mouthed man, especially Shepard who had missed the crazed Irishman nearly as much as she did.
Seeing the battle-scarred weapon hanging above stirred a profound pride in Morrigan as she smiled up at the blade.
“It makes me wonder; how would he tell you to occupy yourself?” Sarilla mused.
Morrigan snorted loudly, “Probably, “Find yerself a willin’ lass and give her a good knuckle or two”.” Morrigan’s mimicry of Sigurd’s personality was enough to cause light hearted laughter to spread throughout the bridge as a gentle easiness set into her stress leaden shoulders.
With a sigh, she considered what else the mad man would say. “If that wasn’t an option though, he usually had me beat the shit out of him until we were both tired,” she added as she considered that to be an option.
“That is always an option though I’m not sure who else could go toe to toe with you,” Sarilla commented with a smile.
“What about Xol?” Gunnar threw out to which everyone nodded in agreement. Morrigan shook her head though. Even though it was an option, Morrigan had no desire to train at the moment but instead, decided on another option.
Leaving the bridge crew to their devices, Morrigan took the elevator down to find Skoll obediently waiting for her and from there, the two of them made their way to the R&D deck below that ran through the entire center of the ship.
The trip down to R&D was peaceful until the haunting sound of grinding metal and the smell of molten metal fusing together filled the air. Skoll immediately sneezed upon letting the new atmosphere fill his nose.
Morrigan couldn''t help but smirk before reminding him, “Be mindful of where you are, we don''t want anything getting caught in the machines.” Skoll’s response was an indignant huff which made it seem as if she were needlessly reminding him the dangers of open machinery.
The two of them stalked towards Danson’s office all the while Morrigan kept a lookout for Yekku, scanning the area as they walked yet she was unable to spot the energetic S’randin. Despite not being able to find Yekku, they both stepped into the office.
Danson nearly dropped a canister he was holding as the door opened, fumbling the device between his hands and a set of small tools clattering on the ground as he struggled to catch it. Wrapping his fingers around it and pulling it close to his chest, he sighed as he pushed his glasses up his nose before glancing to see who entered his office.
“Oh, Mori, what''s up?” he asked in surprise before setting the device down.
Morrigan shrugged as Skoll posted around her and immediately tucked himself underneath the room length counter. “Nothing sadly. Bored out of my skull and was hoping Yekku was around,” she commented as she glanced across the wall of monitors.
Danson nodded as he reached down and picked up the tools around his feet, “Yeah, he’s up front in sector A-6 helping with routine maintenance for one of our cryogenic thermolators. He may have larger hands than us but his fingers are far longer and more dexterous which helps a lot when working on those.”
Morrigan hummed in disappointment as she pretended to know what he was talking about. As Danson sat back up, he looked at her as she leaned against the counter and asked, “No luck finding a pirate ship?”
Morrigan crossed her arms across her chest and shook her head. “No, just a lot of useless stuff… I didn''t think it would be this hard…”
“Well, if they really are here, it''s not surprising given they''ve been managing to hide for who knows how long,” he commented before a look of an occurring thought crossed his mind. “Oh, hey, I''ve been meaning to ask. What exactly is your plan when you find the pirate base?”
Morrigan tilted her head in confusion before realizing that she had not shared her plan with anyone aside from Shepard, the bridge crew and her retinue to any notable extent.
“Shit, sorry. I kind of got caught up in all the excitement lately… My goal was to find the pirate base sooner rather than later, which isn’t really going as planned…” she sighed, stopping to scratch her forehead in thought and slowly began to realize she hadn’t formed a detailed plan at all.
She cast Danson a weary look, “Frankly I don’t know. Nora says women can''t become the head of the pirate clans, so, I really don''t know how I''m going to do it yet but my plan is to take control of the pirates and use them to hopefully find the remaining Inquisitors… from there, find what’s left of the CoU and then take the fight to the Federation.” Saying it out loud, she knew her words didn’t carry much confidence in her plan especially since it required so many pieces she didn''t have. Her plan hedged on the idea of succeeding on each aspect and gaining not only the numbers, but the momentum of a well armed yet quick striking army to catch the Federation by surprise to maximize the damage they can cause before retaliation.
There’s merit in this plan of yours however, Apollyon paused causing Morrigan to grunt in annoyance as Danson gave her a simple nod of his head.
You leave many variables for things to go wrong. What you need, girl, is an equalizer.
“But, what about the Void Star?” Danson interrupted her private conversation.
Morrigan let out a defeated breath as she shrugged, “I don''t know… Solomon made it seem like he had a plan but my guess is he''s waiting for something- waiting for me, knowing him…” She considered the deity’s words in her head and began back tracking as many conversations she had had with Apollyon regarding the Federation as well as theorizing the armada she was hoping to build.
“Mo’Emori said the Federation had over 30 ships guarding the Void Star. Though, if we do this right, our collective fleet could wipe out 30 ships… I''ve seen what they''re willing to do and can do. Plus, that would give the opportunity for the Federation to bolster their defenses in the Sol system… I mean… numbers win wars and removing that many ships would be helpful but I have no idea what we''re working with right now.”
The longer she talked about her grand scheme of all out war with the Federation, the more she realized that despite having possible numbers, for all she knew, the pirates had very little in war capable ships which meant Apollyon was slowly beginning to appear correct.
She glanced at the furrowed expression on Danson’s face and considered who she spoke to. With a heavy, defeated sigh, she finally said, “We need some kind of equalizer… something to hold over their heads that would force the Federation to lay down their arms…”
She watched his head twitch as he processed her words, his look diving deeper into confusion as he mulled through several ideas at once. “I mean… one of the best ways to topple a government is to cripple their infrastructure and supply chain, same goes for armies too.”
He noticed the look of bewilderment she gave him and shrugged, “I get a lot of inspiration from history. Anyway, even with so many ships we still wouldn''t have enough to do those things anyways… the Terran flag stands on nearly 90 planets and that''s not including space stations… to seize control over enough to put a stranglehold on the Federation is impossible. Not to mention the toll it would take on the populace.”
Morrigan shook her head, “No, we can''t take it out on the population. Despite submitting to the Federation’s will, they haven''t done anything wrong. No, what we need is something… singular? Something precious enough to the Federation that they’d stop fighting…”
“Which is?” Danson asked with no effort to hide his incredulousness.
Pursing her lips, Morrigan cast her gaze to the floor as Apollyon chuckled in her head.
Oh, you know exactly what you need to do.
Morrigan shook the thought from her head as Danson unintentionally added, “Is there even anything of that nature? The Federation is notorious for taking what they want through sheer firepower and political influence, and given how the political influence is down to a singular person… they kind of proved that’s not a viable option. If anything, we would need some kind of superweapon they could be afraid of, yourself excluded. Kind of like World War II with the atomic bomb.”
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“Two…” Hearing the words aloud stung, her eyes squeezing shut in shame as she nodded in reluctant agreement, “I’m really hoping killing Amaranthe will be enough… cut the head off the snake and let the Federation fall apart but… we need a plan B…”
Danson realized by the harrowing look on her face that her plan B was truly in agreement with his idea. “Mori…” he didn''t know what else to say. His comment was more towards the end of gallows humor yet his idea had suddenly become a very realistic and daunting possibility.
“Can we even? That''s like…the one thing all Terrans have faithfully agreed upon. What you’re suggesting is a war crime on a galactic level, Mori,” He blurted in disbelief.
Skoll shimmied his way out from underneath the counter and yelped sharply at her growing distress before she leaned closer to him and dug her fingers into his fur. “How is that any different than what they do?” She asked rhetorically with a sigh, “I''ve watched them murder innocent civilians for being on the street, execute others for simply being different…I watched as they bombarded the surface of a planet for no reason at all and I’ve witnessed wide scale slave labor, and was even part of it, and it was all on a whim by those in power…”
Her voice carried a certain tone, not of anger, but the hollow pain that one would have knowing full well the regret in their own decision. “We… we have to end this, and we''re the only ones that can do it.”
“That''s not true,” Danson started, drawing her attention back to him, “We have potentially four fleets and a handful of Inquisition ships. There''s no reason we can''t come out the other side as the victors, we just have to come up with a better battle plan.”
Gag me with a knife. Talk about overly optimistic, Apollyon commented, audibly displeased by the hopeful words of the scientist.
Morrigan nodded sullenly in agreement as a wave of gravity settled upon her shoulders, aware that she made it look like she was agreeing with him despite agreeing with the deity instead. Wishing to never have to resort to extreme lengths, Morrigan understood that things rarely go as planned and when it came to humanity, there was rarely a moment in history where they backed down; leaving her with the need to prepare for every contingent possible that could allow them to win their war and bring peace to the galaxy.
“Its just something to think about… we still need to see what we can do now before taking drastic steps. Anyways, I’m going to go find something to do. If you see Yekku, tell him he’s doing a good job,” she stated before stepping towards the door as Skoll got up from the floor.
Danson let out an exhausted breath before setting is glasses down audibly on his counter, “Mori, you’re not a bad person for thinking it. Honestly you might be right but it’s just that… that’s a last resort sort of thing, ya know?”
Morrigan looked back with a devoid look in her eyes, “I know,” but what she didn’t say was how much their success rode on perfection, and perfection was quite rare in their universe.
◇◇◇
Emotionally drained by the war inside herself, Morrigan decided the best thing for her would be to take a nap. However, two hours balancing on the edge of sleep was rudely interrupted by a klaxon warning that blared across the ship.
“Sister, what did we find?” Morrigan asked over the call to battle stations as she sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed directly into Skoll’s haunch. Skoll bolted upright as Morrigan tried to steady his more rude awakening.
“Navigator Sarilla has deemed the infiltrated transmission stream to belong to a small number of pirate vessels although their numbers and nature cannot be verified at this time. We will be exiting FTL transition in T-minus two minutes for visual confirmation and scanning,” Sister stated factually as Morrigan rubbed the lingering tiredness from her face before standing.
With a quick thanks to the onboard A.I., Morrigan stormed out of her room and rushed to the bridge within the short time frame Sister counted down from.
“What are you doing you bloody moron! Attack the left side, we need those cannons down!” Came the rough voice of a middle-aged man over the speaker system on the bridge the moment Morrigan stepped out of the elevator.
Looking out the view port Morrigan could see three small ships, none larger than a Frigate, surrounding and firing a constant barrage at a massive Marmuro’k ship with little effect. Morrigan watched a smaller Raider class starship move into position along the portside of the spearhead-shaped Marmuro’k ship and fire at one of the plasma cannons that lined the ship.
As the ship came into view of the massive, short barreled armament, a bright orb of molten hydrogen instantly ate through the shield of the Raider before splashing across the ship. The resulting heat that visibly faded against the endless dark of space had caused a series of explosions across the starboard side of the Raider until the slagged hull of the ship cracked open like an egg.
Within a moment, the reactor in the ship melted down resulting in a brief yet bright explosion as the entire ship erupted in a miniature nova.
Morrigan was aware of how dangerous Marmuro’k technology was however, it was the first time she saw it with her own eyes in detail as the deep chill of space extinguished the remnants of the resulting devastation leaving her impressed and in awe.
“Mori, we have an incoming communication,” Shepard stated, drawing Morrigan''s attention away from the battle.
“Do we know who from?” Morrigan asked curiously, attempting to split her attention between the battle and her admiral.
“By the coding of the transmission, it appears to be coming from the Marmuro’k ship, Mori,” Sister stated.
Morrigan nodded and moved to her console, accepting the transmission, “This is Chieftain Clarke of Clan Clarke. Which Clan banner is in charge of your ship?”
As the connection fully connected, she and her crew could hear a multitude of vicious hissing through the other end as the elevator opened up once again to reveal Nora excitedly darting onto the bridge with full expectation of a pirate fight.
“Spineless, honor less cowards! To sink so low as to make a human a chieftain!” Came a very familiar raspy voice over the channel.
“False alarm I take it?” Nora asked curiously as she looked outside the viewport window.
A sly, devilish smirk grew across Morrigan’s face as she eyed her lover over her shoulder, “Not exactly,” she commented. “Azuhcu’ach the Clanless, how fortuitous it is to find you hiding in the shadows of dark space.”
Azuhcu’ach hissed angrily over the line, “Clan Tau is strong! Yes, you are no match for the might of the ??r Ag?r! You shall meet the same fate as your pathetic humans and I shall bring glory to Clan Tau by delivering your head to the chieftains!”
Another voice broke over the ravings of Azuhcu’ach, one that Morrigan was unfamiliar with yet knew exactly who it was. “What has happened to the remainder of Clan Tau?”
Morrigan cracked a tight lipped smile at the irony behind her newest enemy’s concern over the Marmuro’k who had the bravery to face punishment for their chieftain’s dishonor. “Clan Tau that remained have been dispersed amongst the remaining Fire Clans, Clan Tau is no more.”
Azuhcu’ach barked something unintelligible before the massive Timse’h interjected, “Spare Clan Dji’fahd. We shall not fight and I will accept punishment fit for my dishonor.”
“Excel-Gaui, spineless coward! You dare bow to the whims of such a weak creature!” Azuhcu’ach countered over the line, apparently having moved towards the Timse’h upon the bridge given the rising shouts of the background crew.
“This is madness! I was foolish to follow you, Azuhcu’ach the Dishonorable!” Excel-Gaui-Dji’Fahd roared over the cacophony of Marmuro’k voices.
Morrigan''s attention was pulled away as Nora snickered, having snuck up to Morrigan’s side when she wasn''t looking, “This guy doesn''t get it does he?”
“No, no he does not,” she huffed in annoyance by Azuhcu’ach’s apparent dwindling sanity and growing delusions, all the while Sarilla grabbed her attention.
“Mori, we’re being hailed by one of the other ships,” she stated over the noise of arguing Marmuro’k. Morrigan couldn’t help but groan over the growing annoyance.
Turning her attention back to the raucous channel Morrigan shouted, “Hey, asshole!” To her pleasant surprise the Marmuro’k ceased their arguing so she could continue, “If I’m so weak then face me you coward. I challenge you for the right of chieftain over the remainder of Clan Tau.”
Morrigan imagined the confusion on Azuhcu’ach’s face as the Marmuro’k of his bridge answered the challenge with a resounding cheer, something that likely grated his nerves.
To prove her right, the angry hiss that resonated over the comm channel was long and filled with venom. “So eager to die, filthy human. Your challenge is accepted. You shall die the most excruciating of deaths and your ship will be reduced to nothing!”
Morrigan grinned viciously before cutting the comm, glancing at her crew who all wore amused expressions knowing just what Morrigan was capable of. It was relieving that her crew no longer worry for her safety when it involved bold personal risks such as stepping onto a massive ship filled with potential enemies however, despite following Azuhcu’ach, the Marmuro’k were still prideful of their traditions and the challenge of chief-hood was an ancient rite that allowed the transfer of power amongst the Marmuro’k. Morrigan knew without a doubt that Excel-Gaui and Clan Dji’fahd would uphold the tradition.
In the meantime Morrigan connected the waiting transmission, the video feed popping up high above her console to reveal a disheveled portly man with a harshly untrimmed beard.
“This is Lord Inquisitor Clarke of the Inquisition Light Cruiser Archangel. To whom do I address?” she announced.
“Oh shit, an Inquisitor? Uh… is there…by any chance.. would you be willing to lend a hand with this big bastard assaulting us?” the man asked nervously before taking a good look at the screen on his end. “Well I''ll be damned, if it isn''t little Nora. Damn, haven’t you turned out nicely since the last time I saw you!”
Morrigan cocked an eyebrow in curiosity as she eyed her lover, watching Nora’s lip twitch in restrained disgust.
“Well if it isn''t Bolton’s lapdog, Harlock,” Nora sneered, crossing her arms.
Instead of being insulted, the man laughed, “Bolton!? Right, right, you''ve been gone awhile. Bolton’s long gone.”
Morrigan watched Nora cock her eyebrow incredulously. Upon seeing her look, the portly man Harlock scratched his stomach and mused, “Yeah, you remember that scrawny little shit Jeremiah? Kid is some kinda genius or something, made this big robot that follows him everywhere. It''s what he used to kill Bolton and become king…”
Harlock was interrupted by a violent tremor that rattled his ship, causing crew in the background to stumble and circuitry to pop in showers of sparks. The man swore profusely as Morrigan considered an idea.
She needed to get her challenge against Azuhcu’ach started while at the same time obtain the correct method of tracing the Cradle of Eden’s low-tech signal. “Have your ships fall back to the Archangel. I’ll take care of the Marmuro’k ship,” she demanded, making an executive decision.
“What?! Are you mad?” Harlock managed to squeeze in before Morrigan cut the line and looking to Nora’s curious expression.
“Sorry, but Azuhcu’ach won''t wait long. Do what you need to do to get what we need, we have to get this moving before those cannons turn on us,” she stated, glancing at the standby status on the live scans of the Marmuro’k ship.
“Babe, you have control over how we handle the pirates,” Morrigan stated firmly as she watched the signatures regarding the plasma cannons indicate that despite unmoving, they were very much prepared to fire again. As sure as she was that the Archangel could dodge such slow projectiles, she was uncertain how well the ship could handle being hit by one.
“What? Really?” Nora asked in a mix of excitement and bewilderment as her face lit up with a bright smile.
Shepard cleared her throat loud enough to pull everyone’s attention as looks of concern spread across the bridge, Shepard’s own face maintaining a stern and hard expression as she stared at both women, “You may want to elaborate on that, Mori.”
Morrigan glanced at each face across her bridge crew before snickering, “Listen, pirates are Nora’s expertise. We can’t necessarily ask Stephanie to field the responsibility and I have a chieftain’s ass to kick.”
“So, until I get back,” she paused and glanced at the curious expression on Nora’s face as she bounced on her heels childishly, “Nora has command. All other protocols are to remain in place, is that understood?” She finished looking back to her crew.
She could see that every single member of the bridge crew wanted to argue her decision yet wouldn’t bring themselves to voice their concern. Even Shepard glanced between Morrigan and Nora deep in thought as if contemplating on rejecting the idea until she gave a sharp nod to Morrigan. “Very well. We will follow her command however, please do not make this a habit,” Shepard noted as Nora squealed in joyous excitement.
“This is going to be so much fun!” Nora exclaimed only for Morrigan to grab her face with both hands and settle her spastic outburst.
“Take only necessary steps to acquire what we need, love. Also, don’t break my ship,” Morrigan demanded in lighthearted humor.
With a quick kiss, Morrigan turned on her heels and stepped into the elevator before turning back to the crew, “This is what we’ve been waiting for so let’s not screw this up, yeah?” she laughed before closing the elevator door letting the soft churn of the elevator motor notate her descent.
Shepard couldn’t help but crack a smile at the level of comfort Morrigan now possessed in her role as Inquisitor, watching the girl who had been a meek, uncertain and inexperienced leader turn into someone who had foresight, experience and confidence in not only herself, but in those she leads.
A loud groan broke Shepard’s attention, she looked to see Nora shudder in delight as she muttered to herself, “That woman! She’s so in for it later…”
Once again, Shepard cleared her throat, “So, what are your orders?” she asked in a tentative yet professional tone.
Nora looked up and paled realizing all eyes were on her now before her aloof demeanor returned in full force, “Right!” she exclaimed scratching her head as she stepped around to face Morrigan’s command console, daunted by the multiple screens displaying information and multitude of unmarked buttons. “Well, shit… I really should pay more attention when I’m up here… shit,” she commented to herself before glancing back at the elevator, “Oh! We should probably prep a ship for Mori!”
Shepard chuckled in amusement to find Nora as nervous as she was, “Already done.”
“Right on, ol’ pirate lady! Alright, alright…” Nora said with nervous energy before groaning as she tried to get her mind to focus, rubbing her face and balancing on her heels. There were three problems she could see as she stared out of the viewing windows; one being the massive plasma cannons on the Marmuro’k ship, another being two pirate ships that were slowly retreating to the safety of the Archangel’s bulk, and finally, obtaining either the frequency and technology to follow that frequency from one of those two pirate ships while Morrigan went off to stake claim to another clan of Marmuro’k.
“At the rate she’s going, that sweet ass is going to be in charge of all of the Marmars… but while she does that, how should I… oh! Duh!” she thought to herself before turning, “Hey, can we get the Javelin loaded?”
Shepard gave her a solemn nod. Nora turned to Gunnar before pausing, “Uh, Glasses! Load the Javelin and keep it ready!” she ordered, having forgotten Gunnar’s name.
Avery, Gunnar and Luisa all stifled a chuckle before all three burst into laughter before Gunnar called out over his shoulder, “You got it, Captain Nora.”
“Oooh, I like that, keep calling me that!” Nora mused before Shepard let out a weary sigh.
However, before Shepard could say anything, Nora rushed to the starboard viewing window and watched as the larger of the two pirate ships finally came within a safe distance of the Archangel.
“Okay, I’m going to need some fighters, medics, about ten engineers and six of our best boarders,” Nora said aloud as she turned back to the bridge with an excited, devilish grin spread across her face. “This is going to be so much fun!”