Chapter 10: Turok 10
Turok
Chapter 10
By BigToFu
Time had come and gone and, before I knew it, three months had vanished into the ether. During that time I had never stopped working. I had never just laid down and been idle no matter how much I wanted to. What I had done was overhaul everything while also making sure Yorktown was completed on time even as I mined the hell out of the system. Huragoks were made in the hundreds of thousands which allowed me to release them into New Rannoch and Yorktown in droves.
They flitted around like the keepers of the Citadel but were a hundred times better and answered to me and my people. There were of course limits put in place but, with the Forerunner programming, the Advanced Huragok Ai systems were more like VI's than anything else. Once I had gotten all of my blueprints into the system so I didn't have to build everything by hand, I had turned the little buggers loose and watched as they crafted, molded, and did everything on my vast number of checklists for me.
Every time I left home and came back, they had done just that much more for me so I felt that it would only be right if I did something for them. So a month and a half into leaving things to the little buggers I had created a harness for them to use. This solved communication issues since the huragoks mostly used a form of ASL or connected directly to a person's omnitool. The harness contained an eezo production unit and shielding capable of protecting them from the harshness of the voice. A keyboard allowed them to text and use voice communication systems and allowed the huragoks to personalize their own voices. This worked even better with the life givers because that bedside manner was just amazing since I had nowhere close to enough doctors as the population approached one hundred thousand.
This paid off two months into bringing a Krogan to Yorktown because they not only cracked the code to the genophage, but also solved the immunity comparison issue. It was good news and it was a lot of bad news because there were clear signs that the things learned from destroying the Krogan reproductive system and used that knowledge to destroy the Quarian immune system. The signs were there, it just took some time to uncover it all and piece together the clues. I didn't know if I was happy or disappointed when it had all been solved with a neat little bow. I knew the Salarians were bad, but this was a new level of low and I couldn't even fight them with open action.
None of my plans for the Batarians could be used against them, but I had a plan. I couldn't use the plan now, but it was still worthwhile, starting from a lone research Quarian that Mara Sove had picked up with her brother. Out in a star system where he had been stranded, the little Quarian was logging signals from the background radiation of the system.
He didn't know what was picked up, but the computers did, and what they had found had me start the formulation of my people's get back against those fucking frogs. The Batarians I was going to just drop them back down to the stone ages; but the Salarians, for them I had something far superior and it all started with what I had found in that little out of the way research lab.
The frogs were running experiments on how to expand their intellect and thought that no one would say anything even though it was blatantly against Citadel laws that were laid down about genetics. Since they wanted to make their offsprings smarter, I would supercharge the damn project. Too bad there wasn't a fix for the increased metabolism and that the offspring were contagious. It would really be a shame if the overclock turned out to be a virus that could either make you super smart at the detriment of your health or make you just an average everyday normal guy.
When I was done with them, the Salarians would never meet the average galaxy intellectual levels for most minds. And I would make sure there would never be a cure.
With a grunt, I pulled myself from my mad ideas and plans. The cockpit beeped as my ship dropped out of hyperspace. Hands flew across the panels as I scanned the system hoping that they hadn't left yet. When the sensors returned with the report, I was one part happy, two parts pissed off. My people were on the other side of the system, but there was a salarian ship hiding out on one of the moons. His location was perfect for the electrical rotation which would allow him to scan and get information on my people's movements, but they wouldn't be able to pick him up because of the ore on the stellar body's surface.
The damn STG had used a natural one way mirror to use for their spying purposes. I couldn't tell how long I watched the sensor readings, but it was long enough for the Quarian Flotilla to finally pick me up on sensors since I wasn't running in stealth. This also meant the STG had been able to see me, which means it was also time for him to die.
Sending a quick message to my folks, I pushed forward on the yoke. With that action, I flipped a switch and the cockpit of my ship was bathed in a red glow. The STG didn't know I was coming for him until his second circle around the elliptical when he discovered that I was nowhere to be seen as my stealth was the absolute best in the universe. Because I was an asshole reborn, I dropped two decoy missiles into the void and watched as he rabbeted from the surface of the moon.
The decoys burst half way from the salarian ship, sensors pinging all across the vessel lighting it up for the entire system to see. From the way the ship jerked, the panic was evident along with his automatic shift in flight pattern. This was when I struck. He never saw me coming as I struck from the Z axis, the twin mounted Gatlin rail gau-8 Avenger fired a hundred rounds even though I only needed five. All of my shots tracked down the salarian ships back. This move tore nasty rents into the ship's body, tearing massive chunks out of it before something went critical and the ship exploded.
The only reason I stayed around the floating display of my ship's viciousness was to make sure there were no survivors. I made doubly sure that no escape pod went unblasted. Happy with the outcome, I dropped a final implosion bomb and left the non-scene behind. Bringing my ship around, I took off in the direction of the Quarian fleet and met them on the other side of the star. When I had arrived, I got there while they floated around one of the two planets in this system.
They were deployed in a defensive formation but I ignored that as my IFF signals passed muster with my father's ship. Pulling up beside the vessel, I sent a mag tether over to latch onto the opposite ship's hull allowing me to sync the both of our ships together. The downside was that the ship was so old, the data transfer rate was barely over a terabyte. Ignoring all of that, I put my own ship into a sort of autopilot tag along since the mag teathers would work like an umbilical cord along with the cargo air lock extension.
With everything set in motion, I got up from my seat and called over Ent and my personal Huragok, Blue. Just seeing him made me smile as he wore his little construction cap and yellow vest. When I met him halfway, I couldn't resist giving him a boop on the snoot as I started to go over things I wanted finished.
"Alright buddy, you are in charge now," I started as I booped his snoot one more time. "Just keep things on schedule and let me know once you send out the parts for the super gate."
Blue thrilled along with his words being translated by the voice box, "It would be my pleasure creator. Would you also like me to start accessing the Flotilla's mainframe and begin the archival downloads?"
I chuckled at that, "Yup, and I want it all double backed up, checked, and then given to Athena for analysis."
"Affirmative," Blue replied with a thrill as his voice modulator spoke for him since he was still getting used to the little device.
"Thanks buddy," I replied one last time before booping his snoot and heading for the airlock area. When I got there, It was more than just standard protocols.
Before me were fifty of my best out of the full one hundred Guardians that had come with me. Lucky for them, I was using a lot of space expansion tech inside my ship so everyone was able to get nice and comfy instead of being cramped like any usual starship.
Ignoring the gaggle of Guardians, I walked calmly to the front as people made a hole for me to get through, even if they didn't need to gather around. I should feel some type of way about it but it's been some time since they were last back at the Flotilla and I understood how they felt. It was easy to feel that little underlying sense of excitement being shared by everyone. They all had their helmets off, which would be the chance to share the cure with our people. They all knew what was on the line along with also wanting to see that their own families were cured.
The Admiralty board might be able to not only dismiss but also strong-arm one person if they claimed to have a cure. It would be a whole lot harder if that person with the cure showed up with a hundred deep armed guards of examples. Then it would be doubly harder when that hundred deep hit harder than any known military force beyond anything seen. Little did the Admiralty board know, I had drones prepped and ready in my bay just in case I had to take over the flotilla. Well, since I didn't want to bring down my own mood from what I might be forced to do if the admirals turned out to be the same ole ordinary dick bag politicians like to be when faced with the possibility of giving up power.
I smiled as Cayde waved me to the airlock as the system connected to the other ship. Walking up next to him, it wasn't that hard to see how excited he was along with a few others. Stopping and looking around, I noticed I might have been the only calm one throughout the ship. Shaking my head, I motioned for Cayde to get out of the way before punching the correct command key into the airlock to open things up. With a soft slow hiss, the airlock opened. Yet, no one moved to be the first to take a walk out into space.
Granted, it didn't look that safe even if it was, but also the fact that it was a giant hallway just hanging out in space between two ships. Looking around, I then shrugged before ensuring my helm was firmly on my head. Everyone was happy about that as I then stepped past the ship's hull and into space. While in the little hallway I noticed the blue shimmer of a forcefield and couldn't help but press a hand against it. The force field never stopped me as my hand passed right through the shield.
Shrugging my shoulders, I started to walk with everyone still in my ship's airlock blocking the path as they watched me like a bunch of little kids. This stretch of bridge was easily only twenty-five feet, but that was barely anything for ships of this size. Then you also had to consider that I could have just got on a teleporter and sent myself across to my parent's ships. That would defeat the purpose though of this first contact-like scenario. Before I knew it, I was on the other side of the little airbridge and knocking on the Kla'tu airlock.
DING, DING! DING!
Three rapid hard knocks before waiting on the others. I watched as helmeted faces shuffled around the viewing port window. This happened for a time until my father finally came to the airlock to open it even though he should have been there from the start. That told me he was either talking to the Admiralty board or talking with whoever backed him to become captain of this ship. Once my father did open the door, we both stood apart for a second that seemed to stretch on for eternity. Then out of nowhere, another body pushed past my father and wrapped me in a massive hug that would have crushed a lesser Quarians ribs.
With a sigh, my hand came down to lightly pat the back of the lady whose embrace I was in. Her body shook a little, and the shiver she had sent pain through my chest as I realized how much trouble I might have given her. There was a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see my father giving me one of those grim nods of fatherhood. With a sigh, I just hugged my mother back while motioning towards the ship.
"Permission to come aboard Captain," I requested of my father and I could see the subtle shift of his shoulders and posture.
The visor to his helm shifted to lighter opacity for me to see his eyes, "Permission granted, and your crew?" My father questioned with a look over my shoulder.
"I would appreciate shore leave for them, but I understand if you don't have space, your crew is also welcome to explore my ship as well," I replied formally so we could get this out of the way.
"Noted and granted, although I must let you know that half rations are for another month." My father returned, and instantly my stomach dropped a little bit.
This wouldn't do, shaking my head, I sighed while pulling my mother from my chest. Turning her towards my ship, I took her hand and started towards my airlock. "Come, it's time for you both to eat, if not a solid meal then a full meal," I replied and waited for no response as I took my mother with me to the mess hall of my ship. "And yes, you may come aboard my ship."
My father shook his head at me before he also followed along, "You have been summoned to speak with the Admiralty board about the pilgrimage gifts you have brought."
At that I snorted and just kept walking, "Yeah, I bet those leeches would love to get their hands on my ship's technology."
"Your ship?" My mother questioned with a shift of her body posture.
My father hummed, "So you weren't lying over the call then or the report."
With a chuckle, I let my mom's hand go to stop in the middle of the space bridge. Turning towards my father, I reached up for my helmet but was stopped swiftly by my mother's hand.
"Cano Nar Zula, what are you doing?" She questioned.
Ignoring her, and holding out a hand to stop my father from trying to stop me. I removed my helmet and smiled at them without something playing as a barrier. The shock was instant and immense, and it only doubled when they noticed my own people removing their helmets. Pressing my helm against my mothers, I breathed deep, let it out in a huff, and then started to walk once more towards my ship.
Blue could bring the immunity cure for me to the mess hall.
Walking back onto my ship, Cayde gave me a shake of the head as if he couldn't believe what I had just done. My only reply was with a shoulder shrug, nobody, and I do mean nobody, was going to stop me from taking care of my folks.
Taking a seat by one of the massive hologram windows, I smiled at my parents as they also sat down but across from my location.
"Cano, what?" My father started with a hand motion towards me.
I couldn't help but chuckle at that name, it's been such a long time since anyone called me that. "Dad, I go by Turok now, only Turok," I replied, then waved a hand over the table bringing up a holo menu. "Cano hasn't been my name for some time."
They both shared a look, then looked at me even though I motioned towards the menu.
"How?" My father pressed.
In reply, I smiled at him even though I picked us out some human food that I had programmed into the replicator systems. Well, technically, it was all food, but I was also trying to keep things labeled properly in case I had guests on a ship that wasn't Quarian. Then again, Quarians no longer had proper meals since our bodies have been consuming liquids for a long time. This was solved with my Gen 2 immunity shots that weren't even considering the other goodies that came with the Gen 2. The Gen 3 would need a lot of work and maybe some genetic materials from an Asari if I could get my hands on 1 or 4 of the bad ones.
I had some big plans to allow my people to breed those bullshit mono-gendered assholes. If they think they could breed the galactic population out of relevance, they have another think coming. I was going to knock up a few of them along with Humans just to prove how superior my species was. Salarians, Turians, and Krogans were far too ugly for me to even include them into those plans.
The hand on my cheek pulled me from my musings as I turned to look at my mother who was now on the same bench with me.
"Ohhh, how I know that look, tell me little Cano, what goes through those bright stars you call eyes." My mother, Yaeso, whispered as she inspected me all over.
Before I could answer her, Blue came floating in with two of the Gen 2 shots and I took them off the tray he offered. "I would like to explain, but first you need this so you can take that helm off and eat."
They both gave Blue looks that screamed on edge, but my little space squid was already leaving before anyone could freak out. Honestly, the last thing I wanted was for them to see an AI and then run away. That would ruin my plans, alot. My mother, Yaeso, looked at my face, studying me hard before accepting her own shot with a nod of the head.
My father, on the other hand, gave me a hard look, "Is this why you stopped making requests as a child? All those times I caught you in the archives, all those times you rerouted power from the reactor?"
In return, I gave my dad a sad smile, "I gave up while I was on the flotilla, but out there, I had my shot to cure us all."
There was a grunt, then a nod of his head. Sliding the Gen2 across the table, I turned and helped my mother with the seals located at her left wrist. The way her hands shook a little clearly showed how nervous she was, but that was fine. This would all be over soon.
Sliding the sleeve on her bodysuit, I placed the injector on her forearm and pressed the trigger. There was a hiss, and it happened so fast she never felt a thing.
My dad placed his auto-injector on the table "How long is this going to take?"
With a hum, I rolled my mom's sleeve down as I activated a timed clock over the table, "It's already working, but you can take your helms off in sixty seconds."
The excitement radiated from both and a steady underlying nervousness, but I turned back to the holo-menu trying to ignore their current moods. I finished placing the order for food and smiled as the clock finished ticking down. With the way the Gen2 immunity cures worked, it forgoes the instant knockout and wake up 12 hours later to be all Captain America levels for an increased metabolism to help fuel the body. Without the knock-out part, you were going to feel the minor discomfort as your body grew, adjusted and perfected the minor little things generally wrong with a Quarians body.
In about four hours, they would also both need new hard suits, bodysuits, enviro-suits, and that growth would stay in flux until their body reached full growth. I didn't even need to mention birth control to my parents. They had always wanted more kids, and a second dose of puberty would get all those sexy hormones going as their bodies improved over the next 12 hours. The timer dinged, and my mother wasted no time in ripping the helm off of her head. I sighed because I knew that her seals were bad, which was one reason she didn't get to see much off-ship action.
She wasted no time in also ripping off the gloves and placing her hands on my face. Forcing down the reflex to grab at her hands, I allowed my mother the time to examine me once more without the visor plate being in the way.
The light purple of my skin matched my parent's even though the lightly glowing spots of my flesh that made me look like an Awaken from Destiny stood out along with my glowing eyes. With a chuckle, I leaned forward to give my mother a kiss on the forehead.
I turned to my dad, but my omni-tool activated because of an incoming call. Once I checked it, I found that Rit'suko was calling.
"Who's that?" My mother, Yaeso, questioned as she peered over my shoulder.
With a flick of the wrist, the call was answered, the sight I was greeted with was very unlike anything I had expected. Rit'suko was in a medical wing with all kinds of things strapped to her. A set of heartbeats was on one of the monitors, and on another was a hologram of a baby's face. It was very clear that Rit'suko was pregnant. If it wasn't that baby bump, then it was the other medical equipment in the room. Next to her were two of my life-giver medical space squids doing their own little adjustments.
My return gaze was flat, "I thought you wanted to wait?"
Rit'suko winced, "I did, then I got a heartburn, and since I was here, I just took a peek. I'm sorry, okay; but it's a boy. We're gonna have a boy." Rit'suko squealed while showing off the hologram image of our child.
There was clearing of the throat, and when I turned around. I found both parents were equally excited, and also one was scowling: my mother. Dad looked proud, but like he wanted to be anywhere but in the crosshairs of his wife.
"And when were you going to tell us that we had a grandchild on the way?" My mother questioned, and even if she was trying to stay mad, it was hard for her to hide the excitement in her body language.
I rolled my eyes and turned the video call over to the table's holo-suite. Our population was so low that each birth would be extremely important to us. And the fact that I was also having the very first child of the new age would mean alot for what I had to do in the future.
Authors Notes : For those who are not apart of the discord. Yeah, I been slacking during the month of September. Honestly, far too much was happening and alot of money was going out and I do mean alot.
My brand new car got totaled, the rental was shit, I had to get a new car along with school projects because of course the easy class wanted to give a project that was a bitch and a half to complete. Then there is also the fact I'm in selection for two of three { Redacted } jobs.
So there was alot of stress and even the week I took for my birthday on the 26th still saw me working to get stuff done on time. Things had me thinking about getting that 800-dollar ticket to just leave and go to the Philippines maybe Thailand and check right out of life.
ANYWAY! I opened a subscribe star for those who would like to join that since I know Patron has been up to some weird stuff lately.
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