Nora watched as dropships of Inquisitorial soldiers and maintenance workers departed from one of the Archangel’s hangars, having informed Shepard of the need for real repairs aboard the pirate ship she had claimed. She also waited for a particular dropship to arrive with her sister.


    Nora couldn''t help but be inside her head, knowing full well that the women she liberated were not the only ones amongst the crews, yet without them coming forward she had no idea who had been a victim and who had been a perpetrator. It was a sad yet very real aspect of her natural background.


    A set of rapid footfalls managed to pull Nora from her dower thoughts and turn, only to get slapped across the face. “Don''t you dare do that again!” screamed a high-pitched voice before Nora’s vision was blinded by teal hair, Mo’Emori wrapping her arms around her neck tightly as she quietly sobbed into her neck.


    Between her stinging cheek and the baffling display, Nora’s mind couldn''t process what she was a part of. “We were so worried when we couldn''t find you…” Mo’Emori mumbled into her neck, causing her brain to register what was happening.


    Nora couldn’t help but chuckle at the quirky alien girl’s affection towards her. She was used to affection from Morrigan, the kind of affection that was tender yet dominating, something that made her know she was desired and cared for but would also tolerate no amount of true misbehavior. However, the way Mo’Emori held her was different. She tried to compare it to the way Stephanie hugged her, but even when Stephanie held her there was a distinct familial love she could recognize that was deep rooted in her soul from her childhood. Mo’Emori though, was something new and odd, and that realization stopped her wayward thoughts of amusement because she knew that the Eskarii woman wrapped around her was hurting.


    With a soft smile, Nora pulled Mo’Emori’s hair out of her face and wrapped her arms around her in a tight squeeze, feeling woman tighten around her as she did so. “I’m okay my precious little elf, there’s no reason for you to worry,” she said softly, lost yet enjoying the new found affection she was being shown as her pained cheek rested in the crook of Mo’Emori’s long ear and her temple.


    Ahead of her, she could see Morrigan approach with a smile of endearment, her arms held close across her chest as she witnessed both women hold each other. “She’s been a wreck once we learned of your little plan,” Morrigan snarked playfully simply to drive the point she too felt home.


    “To be fair, I was left unsupervised,” Nora joked, a bright grin spreading across her face as the situation seemed to calm.


    Mo’Emori pulled back sharply and grabbed ahold of Nora’s face to force her to look at her, “You can’t just go sneaking onto enemy ships like that, it’s bad enough Mori does that! You don’t have her kind of power.” However, instead of being admonished by the statement, Nora could only focus on how close the Eskarii woman had put herself, only a few inches away from her nearly glowing yellow eyes and soft-pink lips.


    With a widening grin, Nora casually slid her hands down to Mo’Emori’s hips and hooked her fingers round the small of her back, “You know, this is kinda turning me on.”


    It took every ounce of restraint to keep from bursting into laughter as she watched Mo’Emori’s face and ears turn a dark shade of red, realizing just how close to Nora she had become before shuffling back in a panic. “That’s not what this is!”


    Nora failed to contain herself as she stumbled backwards laughing. “If you keep treating me like that, and it will be what this is!” she said in veiled promise as she watched Morrigan silently laugh along with the interaction.


    “I take it your mission went well too?” Nora asked as she stepped closer to her lover and pulled her into a hug as well.


    Feeling a wave of relief spread throughout her body, Morrigan melted into Nora’s arms as she nodded against her shoulder. “Yeah, Hi’tet is taking the warship back to Tik’Taq’To as well as a message from me,” Morrigan commented before taking in the coating her unusually calm girlfriend. “You smell like spent gunpowder…”


    Nora snorted at that, “Yeah, Harlock had this big ass shotgun I took. Honestly, the damned thing probably would''ve broken my wrist if I was holding it any tighter,” Nora mused as she pulled back slightly. “Did you call the Bitch Queen?”


    Morrigan couldn’t help but laugh at Nora’s newest nickname for Dr. Tamina, but before she could respond, Mo’Emori appeared right next to them and said, “Yeah! Mori called right away because we thought you were hurt! But thankfully you’re not…”


    From behind Morrigan, Nora caught a glimpse of the bright white lab coat surrounded by a gaggle of blue and red jumpsuits storming into the hangar as if they were under fire. “Look at that, speak of the devil and the devil will come,” Nora quipped before waving her arm to flag Tamina down. Upon noticing there were no injured within the hangar area, Tamina furrowed her brow and walked closer to the trio’s position.


    “Is there a reason why you rushed me and my staff to the hangar? I’m not seeing anyone needing of medical treatment,” Dr. Tamina stated as she got close enough not to yell.


    As if on cue, the soldiers that filled the hangar began shouting and aiming their weapons at a large, battle-scarred star fighter slowly entering through the barrier, causing widespread panic.


    In a groan of frustration, Nora turned and shouted, “Stand down!” only to be drowned out by the excessively loud engines that whined as they shifted to slowly lower the starcraft. With a hiss through her teeth, rushed one of the several soldiers that instinctually moved closer to Morrigan and ripped their side arm from its holster.


    The shot was just loud enough to gain the attention of nearly everyone in the hangar as she fired a single time into the ceiling. Those who didn''t hear quickly had their attention shifted by the change in focus as everyone saw Nora standing with her arm held straight above her head.


    Nora patiently waited for the star fighter to land before lowering her arm, continuing to wait until the engines died before speaking. At the top of her lungs,  Nora shouted, “If your body is connected to a dick, you need to get the fuck out of here immediately!”


    A majority of the personnel looked at each other in confusion. Morrigan too furrowed her brow in confusion however, she knew Nora had a reason for such a specific demand. Stepping forward next to Nora, Morrigan called out to the room, “You heard her, that’s an order. All male personnel are to evacuate the hangar immediately.” A directive from Nora was met with obvious confusion but an order straight from the Inquisitor’s mouth was met with haste as every single male soldier and worker jogged to the closest exit, including the man whose gun Nora had taken, leaving only a few handfuls of female personnel remaining in the hangar.


    Noticing this, Nora waved the pistol around trying to get the owner’s attention before giving the side arm a once over and shrugging, slipping it into the waist band of her pants behind the small of her back.


    “Okay, what’s going on hun?” Morrigan asked curiously as she eyed the ship sitting on the hangar.


    “This does seem counter productive to send half of my staff away,” Tamina interjected with annoyance, noting that just under half of her medical team had left at the Inquisitor’s order.


    Nora snapped her fingers at Tamina, receiving a look of contempt at the gesture. “I’ll explain in a second,” she said before surveying the hangar once more before reaching as high as she could and flashing a thumbs up towards the ship. With that, she turned back and said, “So… I may have smuggled some women off the ship. I kinda explained how you run your ship and… let’s just say Harlock was an absolute shithead of a person.”


    “What do you mean?” Mo’Emori perked up curiously as a contemplative look cast over Morrigan’s face. Dr. Tamina was the one who spoke up first though.


    “Are you suggesting that these women are…” she started however, Nora cut her off.


    “Yep… I uh… I try not to think about the darker side of piracy but, let’s just say Harlock is 50 shades of dead for a good reason. To make matters worse though is that pirates don’t take well to desertion so I kinda had Stephy smuggle them off the ship. As captain, I’m expected to uphold such laws but I couldn’t just leave them to a life that they didn’t want… maybe if they had a different captain instead of that piece of shit but…” she paused and looked towards the ship to see Ebony hop down, followed by Stephanie. “I can’t blame them,” she added.


    “I have to say, I’m impressed by your foresight. I see why you demanded all male personnel away,” Tamina commented.


    “Yeah, smart-dumb bitch thinks I have good ideas, which in fact I do! I did get us a whole other ship by the way and my plan worked perfectly!” Nora countered in irritation.


    Before they could go back and forth like children, Morrigan interjected herself in between the two of them, “Okay, enough you two. Now is not the time… have your people set up a triage and I’ll escort the girls to your team when you’re ready,” she said pointedly at Tamina before touching her comm bead.


    “Shepard, send out a notice that all male personnel are banned from entering hangar two for the next… three hours, effective immediately,” Morrigan demanded.


    “Understood, as curious as I am, I’m sure there is a good reason. Sister is writing the notice as we speak,” Shepard replied a moment later.


    Instead of explaining the situation, Morrigan looked up just in time to see Stephanie help the first woman off the ship. She could feel her heart seize as a wave of emotions cascaded through her; Fear, nervousness, sadness, hunger, anger. It took a moment for Morrigan to realize they were not her emotions, but those of the women hiding within the ship.


    Knowing Tamina was off setting up a triage, Morrigan called Shepard once more, “Hey, let''s have some of our women grab some food from one of the mess halls and have them bring it to the hangar.”


    As if understanding the situation now, Shepard replied, “Right away, also, the notice has been sent and I had Sister expand the time an additional two hours, so take what ever time you need. Those girls may need more than three hours to get their feet on the ground.”


    Morrigan looked up curiously to see several cameras were fixated on the ship that now watched Stephanie and Ebony unload each woman one by one. Morrigan tilted her head as if conceding that she forgot that Shepard had access to nearly every camera on the ship and slowly began moving towards the pirate vessel.


    Nora kept pace with her, locking her arm around hers while Mo’Emori strode ahead, holding the only cheery demeanor amongst the three of them to help break some of the ice. “I’m sorry I didn’t bring this up sooner, I just needed to do something for them as soon as possible and the confusion from me taking over the ship made for a perfect…”


    Morrigan squeezed her arm with her free hand to stop her, shaking her head at the obscurity of her explanation. “It’s okay, love. You did the right thing. I think I would’ve been upset with you if you hadn’t done this right away,” Morrigan said smoothly as she watched both Ebony and Stephanie stick their heads into the ship while a young woman in shorts and a tank top stood behind them tried to see past them while saying something.


    Nora took notice as well as called out, “Hey Steph! What’s going on?”


    Stephanie pulled herself out of the ship with an exasperated look and signed, “She’s not coming out.”


    Though she was farther behind on Stephanie’s brand of sign language, Morrigan was able to piece together what she said as Nora sighed expectantly.


    “I was afraid this would happen,” she commented while Morrigan nodded along with her considering her options.


    “I could speak to her, but given my authority may be off-putting, it may not be the best of ideas… Nora should be the one to talk to the woman since she’s the first person to make a positive impact on the situation,” she thought to herself.


    Or, you can send the squeaky toy over there and let her overly joyous nature do its thing. If you haven''t noticed, what''s hiding inside smells like my sisters, Apollyon countered knowingly.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    “Its an Eskarii woman? Yeah that would make sense for her to be the one to speak to her. Her trust in humans is probably just as less as her trust in males, which would explain why she would be too afraid to leave the safety of the fighter despite being rescued by the three of them and step onto not only a new ship, but one run by more humans…”


    After a moment to consider, Morrigan looked at her Eskarii companion, “Mo’Emori, you should go speak with her. I''m fairly certain who is on the ship is an Eskarii like yourself.”


    “Really? I guess I wasn’t really paying that much attention, so it’s possible,” Nora murmured as Mo’Emori turned on her heels.


    “Of course! Poor thing is probably super scared,” she commented before darting off towards the ship.


    “How do you know she’s an Eskarii?” Nora shifted closer to ask.


    Morrigan''s eyes widened for a moment as her mind raced for a reason explanation. “Well, since she''s afraid of your sister and Ebony, it leads me to believe that they''re also afraid of humans which would leave the option of her being either Eskarii or half-Eskarii…”


    Meanwhile, Mo’Emori jogged towards the compartment the women had been stowed away in, quietly shooing away Stephanie and Ebony and stuck her head in.


    The space was relatively cramped despite being emptied for the women. Letting her eyes adjust to the darkness within to see a cowering figure in the far back corner, a pair of long pointed ears sticking out from underneath dark hair. “Hello… don''t you want to come out of there? It has to be scary to be sitting in the dark like that,” she said in her own tongue after confirming Morrigan’s suspicions.


    The woman shook her head enough to reveal her face, her features telling Mo’Emori that the girl was slightly older than her younger sisters, but still younger than she was. “What''s your name sweetheart?” she asked softly, making sure her tone was sweet and friendly.


    “Vii’ona…” the girl responded meekly, the tremble in her voice very apparent.


    Mo’Emori smiled brightly, “That’s such a pretty name. I’m Mo’Emori of House Cirgala. I have two sisters about your age named Tali and Jae’ron, they''re super fun and sweet but I know they would be terrified of being alone right now if they were here, especially in a cold dark place like this.”


    “Cirgala… that''s the royal house…” the Eskarii girl noted, her tone uplifting slightly with a hint of confusion as she looked more directly at Mo’Emori. She could see the older Eskarii’s bright teal hair and long pointed ears highlighted by the light of the hangar, but the shadow of her features hid the color of Mo’Emori’s eyes.


    Mo’Emori nodded enthusiastically, “It is! The queen is my mother. I know she would be super worried if she knew you were here like this too. She wouldn''t want you to be afraid or worried.“


    “You’re the princess?” the girl asked curiously.


    Mo’Emori couldn''t help but giggle at the question, “Yes, but I’m one of many princesses. I have a lot of sisters. Don''t you want to come out? I can tell you all sorts of stories about my family.”


    The girl shivered violently at the idea of leaving the safety of the cargo hold as she shook her head. “They…hurt me…” her words barely a whisper as the tremble in her voice nearly caused the words to fail.


    Mo’Emori’s ears drooped as she understood just what it was the girl was saying. She took a glance to her right to find Morrigan and Nora patiently waiting while the rest of the refugee women sat or stood huddled near each other “Nora, the lady with the sort of yellow hair told me what happened. She made sure the bad man can never hurt you again,” she did before looking back at the frightened girl. “The people here are super nice though, not like those mean old pirates. Plus, there are a lot of half-Eskarii on this ship too! Not just humans. We also have a super fluffy Long Fang here too named Skoll, he''s super soft and silly, and Marmuro’k, I bet you’d have a lot of fun with Yekku-he’s such a sweet boy,” Mo''Emori commented, attempting to entice the girl out before adding, “The Inquisitor wouldn''t let anything to happen to you either. She really hates people like the man who hurt you and really loves Eskarii people too! She’s out here waiting to meet you and the other girls you came with, if you would like, I can stay with you the entire time you see her? Some people find her scary but she is the most wonderful woman ever.” Mo’Emori held out her arm awkwardly with the entrance of the cargo hold being just above shoulder height and patiently waited for the young Eskarii to think on everything she said.


    After a moment, the young girl sniffed and ever so slowly unfurled herself and made her way closer to Mo’Emori’s hand. The moment the girl grabbed ahold of her hand, she paused. “Its okay sweetheart, are you hurting?” Mo’Emori inquired softly with concern only to see the girl nod.


    “Okay, I''ll be sure to be gentle sweetie,” she said, awkwardly but slowly raising her other arm into the cargo hold. With a nervous nod, the girl shifted forward within Mo’Emori’s reach.


    Mo’Emori shifted the girl gently into a position where she could use her manipulation over kinetics to adjust the air pressure around them to help compensate for the girl’s weight.


    Morrigan watched Mo’Emori gently carry down an Eskarii girl in her arms, one arm tucked behind the girl’s back and the other beneath her legs to reveal an Eskarii that seemed no older than Tali or Jae’ron with rare brunette hair and bright blue eyes.


    It took every ounce of willpower for Morrigan to keep the colossal, sharp spike of rage she felt under control and not turn her wrath upon the pirate ship she could see through the barrier. The impulsive need to destroy may have been held back but the sharp crackle of power that jumped across Morrigan’s body could not be held back, causing all of the women to flinch and cause the young girl within Mo’Emori’s arms to shriek, wrapping herself around the older Eskarii that carried her and shook violently in terror.


    “Its okay sweetie, she’s just mad at the man who hurt you, she’s not mad at you or anyone else,” Mo’Emori commented before looking at Morrigan, her bright yellow eyes pleading her to calm down.


    Morrigan didn’t need to be told though knowing well enough that her anger wasn’t helping the situation. Taking a deep breath, Morrigan took a few steps forward making sure to keep her distance from everyone, but allow her presence to be the focus.


    “I apologize for that…” she started as her words came out calm and even, “I am interim Lord Inquisitor Morrigan Clarke, and I welcome you aboard the Inquisition Light Cruiser Archangel.” She looked at every nervous stare set upon her, and forced her body to relax slightly, her nerves too wound up to fully switch her demeanor. “I too have been through what you have, respectively… but as commanding officer of this ship, as well as the entirety of the Inquisition, I promise you that you are safe now. Currently I have some of our ladies gathering and bringing you food and water and I also have an all female medical staff ready to make sure you are tended to.”


    She watched as some of the women relaxed while others, including young Eskarii girl, still had frayed nerves. Morrigan couldn’t imagine how long they had been abused, recalling Stephanie’s own history and what little she had known about Nora’s, she couldn’t blame them for being terrified.


    With a soft sigh she added, “Given what has happened I believe it is only fair that I inform you that I seek the Cradle of Eden. I know it may make this seem like a hopeless situation however, I will not risk you nor any member of my crew to the pirates of the Eden. As long as you remain aboard my ship, you will be safe, the men and women under my command will make sure you’re protected. I know it’s a drastic adjustment as well so please, take your time to get your bearings. In the mean time, I will section off space to give you a safe haven. I expect there to be trust issues especially towards the male personnel so I will make sure it’s a women only section of the ship however, if you wish to explore I can assign women to show you around.”


    “Thank you,” said the short haired brunette in shorts. She rubbed the back of one of the other women who began sobbing softly in relief as she looked up at Morrigan, her emotional waves cascading strongly. To her surprise, the woman who spoke appeared to be nearly unfazed by everything that had happened, solely content in the moment before looking towards Mo’Emori and the Eskarii girl. “Its okay, Vii’ona, we’re going to be safe here,” she said sweetly.


    Vii’ona shook her head against Mo''Emori’s shoulder, shivering still as Mo’Emori said, “Your friend is right, I know Mori scared you but my sisters love her dearly because she''s awesome and keeps her promises. She even has really cool eyes!” Mo’Emori did her best to pander to the girl’s sense of wonder that all young Eskarii had, including herself if she had to be honest.


    With some success, Vii’one managed to tuck herself underneath Mo’Emori’s chin and peek out from behind her shoulder, her soft, baby blue eyes contradicting her heritage. Morrigan couldn''t help but smile sweetly at how adorable the interaction was despite the terrible situation, offering the girl a small wave. “How come your eyes are so weird...” Vii’ona squeaked out in accented Terran.


    Thankful that she spoke Terran, Morrigan slowly stepped closer not to scare the girl. “Well, they''re part of what makes me special,” she said stopped just inside arms reach and ever so gently brushing the tips of her fingers through the girls hair, quickly pulling her fingers back as she shrank at her touch. “Much like how you’re special, Vii’ona. Not only do you have a really pretty name but, from what I’ve been told, you have very rare hair and eyes,” she said with a full, kind smile showcasing her upper fangs.


    The girl’s eyes widened in both fear and fascination upon noticing the sharpened teeth, much like Tali had done when she first noticed Morrigan’s evolutionary abnormality. “Are those real?” Vii’ona asked carefully.


    That made Morrigan, Mo’Emori and Nora all chuckle, the calming situation unraveling Nora’s nerves to comment, “Oh, they’re very real.”


    “You know, my youngest sister touched them because she didn’t believe they were real,” Mo’Emori quipped, teasing the idea that someone else had felt the same as the young girl in her arms.


    Piggybacking off that Mo’Emori’s comment, Morrigan leaned forward, “Would you like to touch them too?” her tone playful and kind as she smiled once again feeling the girls rampant anxiety begin to wane with something non-threatening to focus on.


    Shyly, Vii’ona nodded, letting Morrigan open her mouth and lift her head enough to reveal her fangs in their full glory. Cautiously, Vii’ona leaned from Mo’Emori’s arms and pressed a finger to her top right tooth, applying enough pressure to notice it wouldn’t move. With newfound interest, Vii’ona shifted to pinch the fang give it a gentle wiggle to find that the sharp tooth was rooted deep into Morrigan’s mouth, causing Morrigan to awkwardly chuckle and make the girl pull back quickly.


    Vii’ona giggled sharply before murmuring, “That’s really cool…”


    Morrigan could help but smile at the compliment, “I’m glad you think so,” she said before hearing a door open across the hangar followed by the chatter of women echo across the relatively empty room. Morrigan looked up to see five soldiers carrying a variety of food and drinks entering the hangar before turning back to Vii’ona, “Are you hungry, sweetie?”


    To her delight, Vii’ona nodded energetically as her head perked up, searching for the food while the human girl that knelt by the others sighed in relief.


    Without another word, Morrigan turned and met her soldiers half way and fished out a container of juice and what appeared to be hispanic tortas, freshly made from one of the mess halls and the smell reminding Morrigan just how hungry she was as well, before guiding the group of soldiers over to the rest of the women while Morrigan returned to Vii’ona.


    “Here you go darling. Once Mo’Emori finds a place to sit you can eat as much as you like, the ladies here have more if you''re still hungry,” Morrigan said handing the items to her.


    “Thank you,” Vii’ona said brightly, her tone lighter as Morrigan felt all of the girl’s worries bleed away now that she was fully distracted.


    Morrigan gently ran her fingers their the girls mildly tangled hair, “Of course, if you need anything more you just let me or Mo’Emori know, now eat up.”


    With that being said, Mo’Emori found the closest spot she could sit with the girl, never letting her go so the girl could eat peacefully. Morrigan turned her attention to the only other woman that managed to be vocal.


    “Hi, do you mind if I speak with you for a moment?” Morrigan asked as she approached. The woman looked up from watching the soldiers pass out food and drinks to everyone, holding her own rations in her lap before nodding and standing up.


    Guiding the woman far enough away from the group, Morrigan turned and asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, what is your name?”


    The woman managed to chuckle in mild embarrassment of all things as she smiled, “Sorry about that, my name is April, and thank you, for handling Vii’ona. Ever since she was… brought aboard, I’ve done everything I could to keep her happy but given what happened its been…”


    Morrigan noticed the paused, “Hard,” she finished knowingly, “As far as I can tell, she’s in her early twenties, which means her mentality is probably in her early teens… maybe even pre-teen…” Morrigan added as she ground her teeth being reminded of what horrors the girl must have gone through.


    April nodded in understanding as she looked back at the renewed life in Vii’ona, even if it was temporary, she was happy to see the girl smile again as Mo’Emori spoke with her while she ate. “Yeah… she’s kind of like a little sister to me even though I’ve always been pretty sure she was nearly as old as I am. I did my best but there is only so much I could do while trying to survive.”


    Morrigan nodded before looking at April’s softened features, noticing that she may have only been a year or two older than herself. “You seem to be… handling this better?” Morrigan asked curiously.


    April nodded at that before casting her gaze at the pirate ship, “If it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t be. But as long as she’s okay then I can deal. I’m just glad that fat bastard is dead.”


    “Do you mind if I assign you person of contact? I don’t mean to be rude but since you’re the most “functioning”, these ladies are going to need someone to speak for them until they become more comfortable,” Morrigan said bluntly.


    April’s dark brown eyes lit up with determination as she looked back at Morrigan, “Of course. So, you’re really letting us stay? And all those other things you promised?”


    Morrigan nodded, “You’re free to stay if you wish, if you or any of the women wish to join the Inquisition you may as well, however, if there is somewhere else you would prefer to be I can do my best to get you where you want to go but I am waging a war against the Federation… so I can only promise my effort. In the mean time, there will be restrictions as to where any of you can go.”


    April smirked as if impressed by Morrigan’s words, “To say you have been bold aspirations is an understatement. But really, you’ve done more than enough for us as it is…” she paused as she seemed to think on what Morrigan had said, “But I will let them all know, and you promise no one will harass us or anything? I know you’ve been kind and all but given the givens, I feel like it’s a valid question…”


    Morrigan smirked at that, nodding in concession, “My men are well behaved however, I will be sending out an Inquisitorial decree soon and my people know I’m the last person they want to earn the ire of.”


    “I like you, and thank you, for what you’re doing for us,” April commented with a more confident smile.


    Morrigan chuckled at that as she looked back to the group of women, “Very well, I’ll have someone bring you a data-slate and a list of contacts including me as well as the admiral of the ship. If you need anything just let us know or you know, if any of you just need someone to talk to that isn’t a medical professional. Like I said, I’ve been through this myself… anyways, I’ll let you get back and I’ll start designating quarters.” With a handshake, Morrigan left April as well as the hangar. Despite not wishing to abandon the women so soon, she had a lot of work to do to make their new lives comfortable but Nora, Mo’Emori, Ebony and Stephanie all remaining behind was good enough to help lift the women’s spirits in the mean time.