Vayelan

    “Rhodes, am I being thanked or arrested here? I’m getting some mixed messages from the crowd here.”    Dahlia turned to the lieutenant, standing out of the way in a corner of the conference room. A parade of colonial officers had been streaming in and out, bringing new datapads and whispered messages. Meanwhile, Dahlia had been kept waiting, seated at the center of the activity, for nearly an hour. Bored out of her mind, she’d have been secretly chatting with Pepper and scanning planetary extranet activity...if they let her put her helmet back on. While the officers accepted that they could not get Dahlia to remov

    The Ryxera crew was on Horizon for three weeks when the sky fell.    Hann and Elsai were volunteering at Barton Hospital in the colonial capital, wondering why the staff suddenly buzzed with activity, like a hive of bees agitated by a looming threat.    David was aboard the Ryxera, checking in with his uncle’s family, as he did every day since landing on Horizon, but the communication cut off unexpectedly.    “What in the…?” he growled. “Pepper, what happened to the channel?”    “Pepper’s offline,” Jin wheezed. “Dahlia’s up to something in her workshop.”    

    Dahlia couldn’t sleep.    She slipped silently by the others sleeping in the bunks they claimed and exited the ship through the cargo hold. Even though David and the ground crews had cleaned out the refuse, she kept her helmet on rather than risk facing that smell again. The night air’s cool kiss raised the tiny hairs on her neck, having slipped beneath her overjacket. She couldn’t wait to begin working with the armor in the storage lockers to create a new, sealed hardsuit.    “Pepper, wake up the arc reactor and route enough power to the repulsors for sustained flight. No walls or pipes to hem us in this time.&#

    About an hour after Hann stormed off the ship, Jin contacted the remaining crew aboard the Ryxera - Dahlia, David, and Elsai. He informed them that he’d paid for the docking fees they’d accrued during their short stay at the spaceport, for the ship to be refueled, to have its drive core static charge safely discharged, and for the cargo hold to be washed out. However, Jin also suggested that, once those matters were taken care of, they should move the ship to the grassy plains on the outskirts of the capital to avoid racking up any more costs.    “What about Hann?” Elsai asked Jin over the comm.    “I’

    No sooner had the crew of the Ryxera officially come together than it was nearly wrenched apart. Hann was initially stunned when Elsai confessed that she was not returning to the Migrant Fleet, but he quickly became livid.    “Don’t be mad, Hann,” Dahlia interrupted, trying to diffuse the bewildered quarian. “Elsai talked to me about this back at Mordin’s clinic. This isn’t about…”    “You told her about this but couldn’t talk to me?” Hann exclaimed to Elsai. Dahlia did not appreciate the bitter inflection he used to refer to “her.” She was about to set Hann s

    As the Ryxera broached the atmosphere of Horizon, a pair of outdated interceptors arrived to escort the ship through airspace over the colony’s capital, Discovery. With significant help from Pepper, Jin guided the vessel towards the spaceport where they were given clearance to land. David brought his relatives up from the cargo hold so they could return to solid ground and freedom, but Dahlia pulled him aside.    “I’m probably crazy to volunteer,” she said, “but you’d better let me disembark first.”    “Why?”    “Whoever leaves the ship first will probably set a new personal r

    When they emerged from the cargo hold below deck, David, Hann, and Elsai found Dahlia rooting through every drawer, box and locker she could crack open. The orange light of her omni-tool washed across the dingy bulkhead walls as she kept a digital record of everything she found.    “We need your help down below,” Elsai entreated.    “No thank you,” Dahlia replied. “I need to inventory our spoils of war. The three of you are better suited for working with the prisoners.”    “They need a human face,” David said. “One of the men would’ve lunged at me if my uncle hadn’t vouc

    “I’m surprised you asked for me, sir. Whatever the task, wouldn’t Ms. Lawson be better suited?” Viktor Hand asked, his words dripping with sarcasm.     His superior - or at least the holographic replica produced by Minuteman Station’s quantum-entanglement communicator - took a long, slow puff from his cigarette before answering.     “Spare me your petty rivalry. Miranda is tied up with a very important project. The less said the better. What I have for you is right up your alley, Viktor. We’ve received an interesting tip from an informant on Omega. It s

Full Name: Dahlia Natasha Stark DOB: 5 October 2158 Birthplace: Milgrom General Hosptial, Bekenstein, Boltzmann System, Serpent Nebula Father: Anthony Edward Stark (Deceased) Mother: Virginia "Pepper" Potts-Stark (Deceased) History:        Born while her parents were representing Stark Enterprises during the initial colonization efforts on Bekenstein, Dahlia Stark became part of the first generation of native-born colonists on the planet. She was educated by private tutors through approximately 5th grade, then entered mainstream middle school when Kaori Nagumo Preparatory School was built in the developing colony's capital, Milgrom.    

    Despite the pirate dragging her along by a cord wrapped around her wrists, for just an instant Dahlia felt nostalgic. The narrow hallway, running from the helm at the bow to the rest of the ship, reminded her of the crowded life aboard the Helash. She also reflected on how Imani'Barael would’ve thrown a fit to see how poorly kept this dirty, messy ship was.    The batarian pirate led Dahlia and her friends into what served as a living area: a wider space at the center of the ship furnished with a stained, worn table, a ratty couch set in front of a communal computer console and viewing screen, and some bunks set against the port an