The three days it took for the Archangel
to be ready for flight were both the fastest yet longest days for Morrigan.

After spending the first night
speaking with Emily at Pandora’s Box about her potential career change,
Morrigan spent the following morning breaking the news to Yekku and Qiote. Both
of the S’randin took the idea of staying behind nervously, Qiote more so than
Yekku, and protested vehemently with sad adorable dejection. However, they both
relented after explaining it was only temporary, though it did not keep Yekku
from sulking dramatically.

The following days dragged as she
tried to keep busy, mixing between showing the Archangel to Xol, Emily
and Nora and filling out requisition forms. However, it still could not take
away the anxious nerves tugging along her spine at all hours of the day.
Receiving her order to return to the Cathedral had her chest humming
with excitement.

“Inquisitor Clarke? Are you doing
okay?” Solomon asked with a hint of amusement in his tone as he tapped away on
the central command console within the vast open space of the Cathedral.

Morrigan rocked back on her heels
and nodded “Mmmhm, I’m just ready to go and start my first mission,” she stated
trying to bite back her excitement.

Solomon smiled at her and pulled
up various images upon the main screen, one of which was a planet and a CoU
Frigate.

“This will be your first
assignment. The CoU have requested assistance in assaulting and capturing a
high priority asset on IPC-98 within the Delta system. It’s a small private
agri-world that have suffered a political mutiny and those who worked within
one of the primary agricultural refineries have seized control over the
refinery and have met any CoU attempts at retaking the factory with extreme
violence,” Solomon stated as he gestured to various screens.

Morrigan cocked her head to the
side, “So… is the asset the refinery? Or is it something else?”

Solomon shook his head, “They
wouldn’t say specifically. The only thing that was said was that the asset was
a dangerous weapon sent down with a large portion of their Marines, yet they
haven’t heard from any of them since then. With that heavy of a blow to their
combat personnel, they’re opting for our assistance on the matter.”

Morrigan bit her lip and studied
the data that hovered above her and Solomon. “Something doesn’t feel right
about this… there’s something sketchy if they won’t reveal what this weapon
is,” she pointed out.

Solomon nodded and stepped behind
her, “Yes, my thoughts exactly though given human ingenuity, a dangerous weapon
that requires secrecy could amount to anything, so I do suggest using caution
as well as using the full might of your Inquisitorial jurisdiction on this case
Miss Clarke.”

Morrigan mulled his words over in
her head before giving him an inquiring look, “You mean arrest the commanding
officers of the ship if the weapon turns out to fall within the guidelines of
banned weaponry?”

Solomon nodded, his expression
beaming with pride in her deduction, “Precisely. Though you may contact the Cathedral
if necessary, however, I do believe you are more than capable of making
such decisions upon your own.”

That list of banned weaponry
mostly contained Weapons of Mass Destruction that had been enacted right after
the nuclear bombardment of Earth over 100 years before Morrigan’s time. There
were some menial types of weapons such as flamethrowers on that list generated
between the Federation and CoU. Granted, the list was developed when only the
Federation existed, however, the rising Coalition of Unity found the banned
weapons list beneficial to all.

That did leave a lot of questions
for Morrigan. She did not suspect the CoU to have developed a WMD, much less
brought it to an agricultural world to subdue a political rebellion. If she had
to guess it was something far more menial and less dangerous on a global scale
than the most sensitive weaponry banned.

“Then again, it’s my job now
to go and find out just what they’re up to,” she thought to herself.

Oh yes, it should be fun. Go down
and find their little toy and then cave their skulls in for their blatant
misuse of weaponry! I mean really? How does one lose control of a so called
“dangerous” weapon?
Apollyon grumbled in a rant.

Morrigan stepped off the main
platform and strode with purpose towards the main doors. “Are you that
irritated? Or are you just looking forward to possible violence? I mean, I know
it’s been a while since we’ve been in a proper fight,” she asked Apollyon
internally in mixed amusement and concern.

Bah, I just hate stupidity. I mean
sure, I’ve been pretty damned bored lately but I get the necessity of this
boredom. You gotta go through the ropes and red tape before you’re let off the
leash to start hunting… which by all means I’m excited for, but to need our
assistance because they couldn’t get their shit together? That’s just annoying…

Morrigan snorted and bobbed her
head as she left the Cathedral. She wished there was a shortcut to her
ship which was an odd feeling to have, to have respective ownership of a
star-faring machine of war and exploration, yet it gave her both perspective as
well as pride in herself at how far she had come in her respectably short life.

She often forgot she was only 21,
having felt she lived an entire lifetime with Castile V before her escape.
There were even times she felt as if she had still just turned 19, just days
before she learned what true hardship was amongst every other negative emotion.

Morrigan knew she would not trade
any of that time away though. Even to Apollyon’s pleasant surprise, she had
even mentioned that despite all the terrible things she went through, she would
never wish to have not lived them. They were what brought her to her new home,
her new life and all her new loved ones.

Not only tangible things were
what she received between her 19^th birthday and the day of her first
launch; she also learned many things she may never have learned. Despite
Apollyon’s protest in regards to her power training and how she would've been
trained regardless, she also learned many life lessons as well as many wondrous
things during her time between Castile V and the Void Star. Now, she had
the opportunity to make use of her newfound knowledge and battle prowess to
turn the tide of oppression within her universe.

◇◇◇

“How are the systems, Sister?”
Shepard asked aloud before one of the bridge guards announced Morrigan’s
arrival.

“Inquisitor on deck!”

Morrigan stepped to the middle of
the relatively small command bridge. Given how large the ship was, the
Admiral's platform was only ten feet wide in a pentagon design before stepping
off to the various command consoles the others used to control the major
systems of the ship. Looking around the ship she spotted everyone she met just
days before excluding Gene, the Chief Engineer, and the two guards who stood
guard of the elevator.

Xol’s massive frame was comical
in the next to the short Admiral as Shepard’s good eye widened beyond disbelief
at the sight of the Kêzi’kân standing behind Morrigan.

“All systems are functioning at
100% Admiral Shepard.”

Shepard cleared her throat before
looking between Morrigan and Xol, “Very good… um, Mori? Why is there a giant
Saurian on my bridge?”

Xol let out a low hiss and
crossed his arms, glaring down at the woman nearly half his height as everyone
within the bridge turned in surprise to see Xol looming over their Inquisitor.

“Xol-Tau, species class: Kêzi’kân
of the Marmuro’k per Inquisitor Clarke’s update to our current Marmuro’k
records. Xol-Tau is designated as one: personal guard of the Inquisitorial retinue
of one: Morrigan Clarke,”
Sister stated out factually before Morrigan could respond.

She giggled at that and pointed
at the ceiling, “Got it in one,” she mused before letting her smile fade.

“Xol here is my personal
bodyguard. That won’t be a problem, will it?” Morrigan asked.

Xol bore his fangs at the
implication of there being an issue with his duty though Shepard shook her
head.

“No child, just a proper heads up
would have been appreciated. The bridge is yours though. I understand your
retinue is your business however, if there are anymore surprises, I do request
you inform me now…”

Morrigan pursed her lips as her
eyes swept across the various eyes on her, “Well, at this current time no,
however, I do intend to bring along a pair of S’randin once I find them
something to do aboard the ship. Other than that- “

“Inquisitor Clarke, my sensors
are picking up one of your retinue tampering with one of the exhaust manifolds
in sector 7, shall I dispatch guards to that location?” Sister interrupted.

Morrigan sighed and cursed to
herself as she felt Shepard glare at her. As far as first impressions go, she
did not think she was in the good graces of her Admiral now.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll handle it…
Xol, fetch her would you?” she asked in exasperation.

Xol studied the crew of the
bridge as he rumbled in thought before letting out a snort and stepped into the
elevator, nearly tall enough for his crest to scrape the roof.

“Sorry. That would be Nora… she
grew up as a saboteur and a pirate…” Morrigan stated with a shake of her head.

Shepard crossed her arms over her
chest and leaned back against her command console on the left side of the
bridge, “And you think it’s a great idea to bring a saboteur aboard the ship?”

Morrigan scratched her cheek
nervously, “She set up a training program for our ship boarding forces so they
can survive boarding a pirate ship… she’s just excited to be back on a ship…
I’ll have a talk with her,” she finished firmly as she realized she was just
digging herself a hole.

“Anyways, we should probably get
this mission underway um, Sarilla and Avery? I’m sending you the coordinates
now,” she stuttered out as she tapped away on her data-slate which had been
connected to the Archangel’s systems. All the while Shepard glowered at
her.

“Copy that Inquisitor!” Sarilla
chirped as she received the coordinates and Avery gave the Navigator a thumbs
up before initializing the start up sequence of the engines.

“Plotting out our trajectory, FTL
time will be eight days and two hours. No major Celestial bodies in our path,”
Sarilla informed as she worked on her monitor.

Avery tapped on various keys on
his own console next to Sarilla and hummed.

“Dock release in three, two, one…
and we are free, hey old man? We good to go?” Avery called out.

Gene’s voice boomed over the
speakers throughout the bridge, “Yeah, she’s purrin like a kitten. Just don’t
go abusin her again, would ya?”

Most of the bridge chuckled at
that as Morrigan stood stoically in the center of the bridge, her gaze
mesmerized by what everyone else was doing. She felt out of place given her
only job was to say where to go, then again, she watched Admiral Shepard do
very little as well.

“Sister? Be a dear and give the
announcement,” Avery called out.

“Attention Archangel crew
members, FTL transition commencing in ten, nine, eight…” Sister announced as the AI
counted down, while Morrigan looked out the window as the Archangel pulled
away from the Void Star.

She felt the rising excitement
return as the reality of traveling through space became very real to her; grinning
brightly as she watched the dark architecture of the hive world pass her by.

In the next moment, she felt a
gentle shift of momentum before her entire view was drown out by blurs of light
funneling around the view port of the bridge.

“It’s not as glamorous as one
would think,” Shepard pointed out as she stepped up next to Morrigan, who
unknowingly vibrated with excitement.

Morrigan looked down at the old
woman and smiled with a shrug, “Maybe not visually, but the charm of it is
beautiful.”

Shepard snickered as the elevator
chimed. Both women turning to see the door open to see Xol carrying a very
mouthy Nora.

“This is bullshit Xol! I am more
than capable of walking, you overgrown lizard!” Nora barked before Xol
unceremoniously dumping her on the ground before both women.

“What the fuck Xol? Was that
necessary?” Nora complained as she sat up rubbing her elbow before looking up
to see the old woman glaring down at her with one eye, and Morrigan with her
arms crossed with a bemused look of disapproval on her face.

“Oh, hi precious and uh… old lady
pirate?” Nora said awkwardly with a grin.

Morrigan shook her head with an
amused smile as Shepard cleared her throat, “So, this is the rat nibbling at my
ship?” Shepard questioned.

“Sweetie… 20 minutes and you’re
already getting yourself in trouble,” Morrigan huffed out before looking at
Shepard, “This is Nora. Nora, this is Admiral Shepard, she commands the Archangel.”

Nora furrowed her brows as she
stood up and brushed herself off while Xol stood menacingly in front of the
elevator, “I thought you commanded the ship?”

Morrigan sighed but Shepard
answered instead, “She does respectively, however, I have the final say about
anything that happens within this ship. I hold the power to override any order
or command the Inquisitor has, as well as the authority to throw anyone aboard
this ship in the brig, say someone who was found tampering with an exhaust
vent?”

Nora threw her arms up, “Fucking
bureaucracy bullshit, I wasn’t doing anything! Was just going to rig the vent
to blow hot steam at anyone who decides to try and move through the ventilation
system!”

Morrigan face palmed and shook
her head, “What am I going to do with you?” she murmured aloud which caused
Nora to grin.

“I can think of a few things,”
she purred, which caused Shepard to eye both women with scrutiny.

“Morrigan, there won’t be any
issues of… bias, here, will there? I may not be able to give orders to your
retinue, I will however, have her arrested if she poses a threat to the ship,”
Shepard informed. Nora motioned her arms wide as if in disbelief of the
audacity.

Morrigan shook her head and
sighed, “No Shep. I’ll make sure she behaves, Nora, no messing with the Archangel.
Come on,” Morrigan said grabbing Nora’s wrist and dragged her to the elevator.

“Oh, I’m in trouble now!” Nora
giggled as Xol stepped in behind them.

As the elevator closed and began
its descent, Shepard shook her head.

“What in the hell was Solomon
thinking?” she murmured aloud as she watched the countless streaks of light
flash past the bridge of the Archangel as it soared through space.

◇◇◇

Morrigan spent the entire
eight-day trip going through more information on the Archangel as well
as their mission after guiding Nora to the training areas to blow off her extra
energy.

The cigar in her mouth smoldered
as she sat on her semi-circular sofa with soft music playing around her room.
Xol quietly rummaging through the kitchen for something to eat.

“Do you think Yekku or Qiote
would want to work in the R&D lab or the armory?” Morrigan asked as she
tapped the ash into an ashtray.

Xol chewed on something he found
before grunting in response.

Morrigan nodded, “Yeah, my guess
is either would do. I should probably meet the heads of those departments, a
Mr. Robert Danson and Lars Anderson.” She tapped a message onto her data-slate
to Emily and sent it to her one level below. Morrigan found her a private room
to use during their tour and requisitioned the space to be retrofit for an
administrator’s living quarters.

Truth of the matter was Emily was
beyond nervous about floating through space, so getting Emily her own room was
the least Morrigan could do to help her adjust.

“Inquisitor, we will be arriving
at our destination within one hour.”
Sister chimed over the speaker system in her quarters.

“Thank you Sister, can you tell
Nora to come back to my room please?” Morrigan asked before taking a drag off
her cigar.

“Of course, Inquisitor.”

Morrigan set her data-slate down
and stretched, feeling the vertebrae between her shoulders pop.

“We leave now?” Xol gruffed from
the kitchen in his harsh guttural tone.

“Yeah, I got to get ready and
figure out where exactly we are heading,” she stated before standing up and
heading into her bedroom, her excitement resurfacing after being contained for
so long.

By the time she changed into her
armor, Nora had arrived.

“Oh, I see, send the A.I. to
fetch me while you dress up for me, huh?” Nora stated with a quirked eyebrow.

Morrigan chuckled and shook her
head, “No, you need to get ready, we’ll be there soon.”

Nora scoffed and crossed her
arms, “You are seriously the biggest tease! Wait, does this mean we might get
in a fight?”

Morrigan smiled at her and nodded
before clipping on her cloak, “Yes love, I have to get to the bridge and
coordinate with Shepard, so go get your butt dressed and meet me in hanger
one.”

Nora pumped her fist and sprinted
towards the bedroom only to be forcibly stopped by Morrigan who caught her and
pulled her into a deep kiss.

“You’re going to melt my brain
precious,” Nora said against her lips with a giggle.

Morrigan grinned and kissed the
tip of her nose before spinning Nora around and playfully shoving her towards
the bedroom.

“Come on Xol, let’s get this
started!” Morrigan exclaimed excitedly as she stepped to the door, her faithful
Kêzi’kân stepping right behind her.

Stepping off the elevator onto
the bridge, Morrigan was greeted by bloated holo screen with a CoU Admiral on
the main view.

“Ah, Inquisitor, glad to not have
to call you. This is Admiral Nelson of the SS Winston,” Shepard said
over her shoulder.

Morrigan straightened as she put
on her professional demeanor before stepping up next to Shepard.

“Inquisitor! I am so glad to meet
you and I thank you for coming to assist in this endeavor of ours…” the older
man started before Morrigan raised her hand and cut him off.

“I don’t care for the
pleasantries Admiral, what I want to know is what I’m looking for. Your request
was very elusive to what it is I’m supposed to be finding, which I find not
only highly suspicious, as well as highly annoying. Therefore by the order of
the Inquisition, you will power down your engines and weapon systems until I am
finished in retrieving the asset and determine its credibility and legality,”
Morrigan stated in passive aggression, she had no intentions of being spurred
into some form of sympathy for the CoU’s plight while she had to investigate
their business.

The CoU Admiral sputtered, “But
Inquisitor… if you would just let me explain…”

“No. You had your chance to
explain. Currently you are now under suspicion of possessing and deploying
banned weaponry. Until my investigation deems you innocent, the SS Winston and
all of its personnel are under Inquisitorial detention. If you do not comply,
attempt to flee or perform any act of aggression, you will be fired upon. Is
that understood?” She said with higher aggression, Xol behind her letting out a
low hiss through his long teeth.

Morrigan waved her hand over the
central command console and ended the communication before looking at Gunnar
and Luisa, “Both of you, if they so much as twitch, I want you to disable it by
any means necessary. Use the rail gun to take out their engines if you have
to.”

Both nodded in surprise at her
switch in demeanor. Even Shepard gave her a raised brow look of intrigue.

Morrigan ignored their looks and
looked at the display of the world IPC-98, “Sister, are you close enough to
scan the surface and highlight our landing zone?”

“Yes, Inquisitor. One moment.”

Morrigan glanced at Shepard and
quirked her own eyebrow, “Is something wrong?”

Shepard’s old wrinkled face
cracked into a tight-lipped smile before she shook her head and stepped next to
her, “Not at all, I’m just surprised that you appear to be significantly
sterner than one would consider, given your… childish disposition.”

Morrigan sighed and nodded, “Yeah,
I get how you can think that but know this, when shit gets serious, so do I.
Solomon put a lot of faith in me and I have no intentions of being pushed over
by anyone and failing at my job. So, I wasn’t lying when I said to shoot that
ship out of the sky if they try to run, if they really are guilty of using
banned weaponry, they will be arrested and if they refuse… I will use lethal
force.”

Shepard nodded respectfully.
“Very good. I can always appreciate an Inquisitor who can balance a good heart
and an iron fist. Solomon thinks you will do well and so far, despite your…
interesting personality, I am inclined to agree though you still have a long
way to go before getting full devotion.”

Morrigan snorted and smiled, “Good,
because that would be where I draw the line when it comes to everyone having
such faith in me… it’s weird for me.”

Shepard chuckled and pat her on
the back as she studied the location the popped up on display.

Morrigan glanced at her Admiral,
“Is there a dropship ready in hanger one?” which Shepard nodded in
confirmation.

Morrigan nodded at her, “Good,
keep an eye on them. We’re heading down to the surface.” She stated as she
turned.

“Do you want some of your soldiers
to come down with you?” Shepard asked.

Morrigan stopped before the
elevator and looked over her shoulder, “No, just a pilot for the ship. Xol,
Nora and I can handle the rest.”