Chapter I
The Switch
Disclaimer: I don't own Temeraire or Mass Effect.
On any other day, in a quieter, happier universe, Commander Cyrus Shepard the 'White Knight' of Elysium would've liked Horizon.
It was warm, idyllic and had a sort of rural charm to it that at the very least, would've made him want to purchase a small block of land and put a house on it.
As things stood however at present with Collectors everywhere trying to recreate every god-awful 1980's Sci-fi B-movie ever and proving to be every bit as painful as one would expect, it was fair to say Shepard's opinion of Horizon was quickly sliding from 'inclined to like' right onto his shit list.
At the colony's perimeter, the GARDIAN battery spoke again, lancing the Collector ship's side with light.
Shepard currently didn't have time to notice.
He was too busy practicing parkour to keep out of the line of fire of some giant flying purple crab-thing that had drifted down from the Collector ship and had proceeded to make the lives of him and his squad a living hell.
He, the tattooed convict Jack and his XO Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, their master-at-arms all threw biotic warps at the monstrosity, after the tank-bred krogan Grunt, the mercenary veteran Zaeed Massani and Shepard's old comrade in arms Garrus Vakarian fired concussive shots at its barrier, backed up by an overload pulse from the enigmatic thief Kasumi Goto.
A crackling red ball of plasma was the contribution of the old salarian scientist Mordin Solus.
Yet, despite all these devastating tricks, the monster still kept on flying and blasting at them with some sort of beam weapon that was proving to be murder on their defences.
It was also proving to have a frustratingly high constitution:
This was the third salvo of biotics, tech-attacks and secondary fire the damn thing had shrugged off, not to mention all the gunfire everyone was pouring on the damn thing.
For the fourth time, the thing dropped to the ground and was once again wrapped in some sort of circuit-matrix as its barriers regenerated.
'SHEPARD.' The almost demonic voice made Shepard whip around and brought him face to face,-yet again,-with the entity calling itself Harbinger once again possessing a Collector drone. 'YOU CANNOT ESCAPE.'
'Grunt! Jack! Kasumi!' Shepard called out.
On cue, the three broke off their assault on the giant monstrosity and joined Shepard as he begun yet another deconstruction of the entity:
Jack and Kasumi targeted the barrier along with Shepard as he and Grunt ran towards the thing and were quickly joined by the former two as Harbinger's barrier collapsed.
The rationale being that Harbinger couldn't target them all.
Indeed, firing in sequence, the four of them were able to keep Harbinger off balance enough that it couldn't effectively strike back.
'Keep the pressure on!' Shepard called, aware in the background that the other five were doing their level best still to kill the other monstrosity.
'YOUR EFFORTS ARE FUTILE.' Stated Harbinger as it suddenly erupted with a wave of shocking biotic power, which lifted the four of them off the ground. 'IF I CANNOT STOP YOU, I SHALL CONTAIN YOU.' The Collector puppet then formed a singularity in its talons, but kept pouring power into it until the null field had actually engulfed the group.
A peculiar, oppressive weightlessness overtook Shepard, followed almost immediately by a crushing weight on all sides.
Despite everything, despite Temeraire's injury, despite having to resupply at a damned slaver port, despite being shipped all the way to China on the tyrannical whims of said nation's emperor's brother, Captain William Laurence was starting to enjoy himself slightly.
At the least, he'd managed to have a civil conversation with Captain Reilly and Hammond earlier without a heated debate starting up or harsh words being exchanged.
The Chinese were so far abiding by his conditions in regards to taking liberty on the dragon deck for the most part and his aviators and Reilly's sailors weren't jeering each other across the ship for once.
There was still enough tension in the air to bend an anchor, but the current pseudo-peace was better than nothing.
Laurence allowed himself a small smile as he read a rather perplexing treatise by a Frenchman, Lavoisier, regarding the basic building blocks of the world, their composition and a curious observation regarding the state and mass of a substance and how the mass remained constant, even if the state changed.
Temeraire was paying rapt attention and didn't seem inclined to offer the perspective of the Chinese for once, which was an added bonus.
And then the deck exploded.
Laurence shot bolt upright as a loud boom sounded on the deck below and five figures came tumbling out of thin air: One was a person naked from the waist up except for an intricate and eccentric collection of tattoos, another was dressed head-to-toe in black, or appeared to be. Laurence didn't get a very good look before they disappeared into thin air again. The third looked like the bastard offspring of a dragon and a man and was roaring bloody murder as it climbed to its misshaped feet. The fourth was an exceptionally pale individual with brown hair, wearing blue and white suit of armour and hefting perhaps the most arcane looking carbine Laurence had ever laid eyes on.
The fifth though was the Devil.
It glowed with hellfire and beneath was a void dark as night. It's eyes spoke of eons of malice and its form was a twisted mockery of men.
Without consciously acknowledging what he was doing, Laurence drew his sword and jumped down at the creature, bellowing bloody murder as he did, sword extended to impale the Devil and rid the world of its unspeakable evil.
He noticed Granby sprinting up with his own sword drawn and a look of exasperated anguish.
Well, damn the Corps and its regulations, it wouldn't matter if the Devil unleashed the apocalypse on them.
'YOU HAVE LOST, SHEPARD.' The Devil said in a mocking voice as the four that it had brought with it regained their feet, but were immediately repulsed back down by a lateral wave of fire, before the Devil summoned a sphere of darkness in its claws which rapidly begun to expand.
Just as it engulfed the Devil, Laurence made contact with it, impaling it through the back of the head.
Laurence felt a curious weightlessness overtake him, followed by a crushing weight on all sides.
Then he was gone.
Suddenly, the pressure vanished and he was sent sprawling across the dirt and into a metal crate.
'RELEASING THIS FORM.' The voice of the Devil said, followed by a high-pitched shriek.
Laurence looked around and saw yet another nightmare, before a woman in a tight looking white outfit hurled an orb of crackling blue fire at it, firing a pistol in her opposite hand at the thing.
'On your feet and kill that fucking thing!' This was from a man with mismatched eyes and a huge scar disfiguring half his face. As he said this, he hauled Laurence to his feet and used another strange carbine to hose the nightmare baring down on the woman in white with high velocity shots.
The nightmare gave another cry, this one of anguish and turned to face them.
To Laurence's horror, he could see the souls of the tormented inside it's jagged maw. Without thinking, he whipped out his own pistol, took careful aim and fired.
Much to his surprise, the nightmare twisted in on itself before it vanished into dust.
'Wait a minute, you're not Shepard.' The voice of the scarred man was in Laurence's ear.
Laurence turned to face him and he was surprised to see a look of frank confusion on his face.
'I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about.' Laurence replied. 'If you mean the fellow who that Devil dropped aboard the Allegiance, along with those other three, I-'
'What?' Laurence turned to see the woman in white approaching, her brunette hair looking dishelved from all the running, but she didn't seem otherwise effected.
'What the hell's the Allegiance?' Asked the scarred man. 'You manage to pirate a Turian cruiser or something?' He asked.
'I beg your pardon?' Laurence asked, before he was interrupted yet again.
'No! They got Lilith, and Sam and- and-' Laurence's attention was drawn by another man who ran up to the impromptu group with a look of anguish on his face.
'We did what we could.' The woman in white said firmly. 'If it weren't for us, you and everyone who's left would've been on that ship too.'
'Oh, and that just makes you such a fucking hero doesn't it?!' The man roared. 'Half the colony gets taken by the Collectors and you Alliance types go and pat yourselves on the back for a job well done?!' By this time he was right up in the woman's face. He spat and almost immediately, he was gone.
A thud some ten metres distant marked where he landed.
Laurence noted the woman was crackling with lambent blue power as she wiped the saliva from her face.
'Okay, he had that coming.' Said another woman, she was wearing pink-accented white armour and approached the group seemingly warily. 'But what's this about Shepard?' She asked.
'MIA as of two minutes ago.' The woman in the suit replied. 'One of the Collectors created some sort of overcharged singularity and pulled him into it, before it reappeared here with him.
The woman jerked her head at Laurence.
'If I hadn't seen the last half of that fight for myself, I don't think I could trust the word of a Cerberus operative on that.' The woman replied.
A series of unintelligible gibberish, drew her attention as a lanky, spiny creature that had an almost raptor-like appearance to it appeared.
'You're with them two, Garrus?' The woman asked.
Another unintelligible reply and the two got to arguing.
'Miranda, managed to procure readings from observation satellite in orbit. Will begin looking into disappearance of Shepard and the others when we're back on Normandy.' Laurence was almost expecting to see Sir Edward Howe come bustling up behind the group, but when he did, he saw an oddly amphibious looking creature, followed by a coal-skinned man wearing an impassive grimace.
The man stopped in front of Laurence, gave him one look up and down then turned to the woman in white.
'I guess we're taking him with us?' He all but drawled, jerking his head in Laurence's direction.
'Might be the only way to get Shepard and the others back.' The woman replied.
The man smiled humourlessly.
'I do not envy you and the amount of paperwork this is going to produce.' He said drily.
The attempted joke didn't even get a remark regarding bad taste.
Laurence, for his part was by now taking in his surroundings:
White buildings that looked more like a child's blocks than anything else made up the majority of the surrounding area. The courtyard they were currently in was strewn with what Laurence assumed were crates and wheels for some oversized wagon of some variety, along with all sorts of odd looking contraptions, strewn about as the result of the battle.
The victims of which were visible still:
Dark brown demon creatures, more of those tormented souls that had been in the nightmare's maw, yellow ichor and what looked like mushy brains.
The argument between the woman and the 'Garrus' creature had finally wound down and they were talking more or less civilly.
'Garrus' said something unintelligible, before the other woman turned and left, before 'Garrus' rejoined the group.
Suddenly, the sheer strangeness of everything caught up with Laurence and he promptly fainted.
Cyrus Shepard climbed back to his feet with a muttered obscenity.
As he looked around and took in the staring faces, their surrounds and the sodding tall ship Harbinger had dumped them on, he felt his heart sink.
This was not going to end well.
'By God what have you done with Laurence!?' The horror-struck question came from Shepard's right and he turned to see a gaunt looking, dark haired man wielding a cutlass, looking on Shepard and his companions with wide eyes.
'Shepard…' Jack said.
A glance to the left revealed the sailors had hemmed them in, some of them with weapons.
It was not surprising then, to see Jack with her M-22 Eviscerator in hand, along with Grunt with his massive M-300 Claymore.
More troublingly, Kasumi was nowhere to be seen.
Still, no reason not to use diplomacy yet.
'I take it you saw that yellow glowing bastard that dumped us here?' Shepard asked calmly.
'Hard to miss it when the Devil himself appears on your ship.' Called one of the sailors.
'There's your answer. That thing dumped us here and then took off.' Shepard replied. 'I don't think it was expecting your crewman to stab it like that though.' He added.
'So, he's not dead?' The first speaker asked.
'Not if Miranda and Zaeed and the others are on their toes.' Shepard replied, hoping against hope that the poor, stupid bastard that had thrown himself at Harbinger like that didn't end up getting shredded by the monstrosity his team had been trying to take down.
From the corner of his eye, Shepard could see the circling men were either looking at Jack with undisguised interest, or watching Grunt with undisguised apprehension.
The first speaker motioned to Jack and Grunt.
'Are you planning on causing trouble?' He asked.
'Are they?' Shepard replied, nodding to the sailors, noting two men in well-appointed blue coats running up, weapons drawn.
Before the first man could speak, the two runners arrived.
'What the blazes is going on here?' The one on the left, a blond haired man with the bars of a captain on his shoulder asked.
'The Devil himself through this lot here then disappeared, sir.' One of the sailors reported.
'Don't be ridiculous.' The man on the left said as they made their way to the front of the group, then stopped on beholding Grunt and Jack.
'Your sailor isn't far wrong there, but that thing is dead by now, one way or another.' Shepard replied.
'And who might you be?' The man on the right asked.
'Commander Shepard of the Normandy.' He replied. 'These are Jack,' he nodded to the diminutive biotic, 'and Grunt.' The krogan simply leered, daring someone to say something.
'Is there anyway to get you back wherever it is you came from and return Laurence here?' The first speaker asked.
'That's outside my sphere of expertise.' Shepard replied. 'I'm pretty hopeful someone aboard the Normandy should be able to think of something though.' He added.
The first speaker sighed.
'Well, I'll take what I can get, but Temeraire is going to be in a right state when he hears this.'
'I already have, Granby.' Said a resounding voice from above.
Shepard, Jack and Grunt looked up as the crew of the ship backed off. Jack and Grunt immediately brought their shotguns around.
'Stop!' Shepard ordered. It was likely a testament to the respect Shepard commanded that the two least stable individuals on the Normandy obeyed his order without question, although they didn't lower their weapons as the massive head peered down at the with blue eyes glittering with a volatile mix of possessiveness, anger and fear.
'What have you done with Laurence?' The question was oddly calm, but the quivering ruff around the base of the creature's skull was all the hint Laurence needed that this was an illusion.
'If you heard Temeraire, then for God's sake don't antagonise them. It's hardly their fault that whatever that was just happened.' The first speaker said, the only one that hadn't retreated a fair distance.
Shepard decided it was best not to mention that when all was said and done it was.
Killing Harbinger at range would've taken longer, even with mob tactics, but it certainly would've been safer.
At least, in hindsight.
The first speaker,-Granby,- sheathed his sword.
Shepard, for his part locked his Carnifex to his thigh.
'Lieutenant John Granby, on Temeraire.' He said, extending a hand.
For the first time, Laurence noted that unlike the sailors, his coat was green.
'Commander Cyrus Shepard of the Normandy.' He replied, shaking.
Granby, nodded reassuringly to the two navy officers.
'Captain Tom Reilly.' the blond haired man said. 'This is my Lieutenant, Lord Purbeck.' He added, indicating the second man, who nodded evenly.
'Put 'em away you two.' Shepard said, addressing Jack and Grunt.
They complied, folding their shotguns away, but as expected, Grunt spoke up.
'What the hell is going on, Shepard?' He asked in his guttural base. Judging by the startled expressions on the faces of Purbeck and Reilly, Grunt was speaking English and it wasn't Shepard's translator implant doing all the work.
'We're stuck here until someone,-Mordin most likely,-figures out a way to get us out of here.' Shepard replied.
'You mean we're not fighting our way out?' The krogan asked in disappointment.
'Not out of this predicament.' Shepard replied with a shake of his head.
'On the bright side, we should be able to find some trouble to get up to while we wait.' Jack said, from the rail where she'd walked to.
Shepard followed her gaze, his eyes falling on a port not too far distant.
Apparently the ship was at anchor.
Shepard looked back to Captain Reilly, who'd just got done dismissing his men back to their stations.
'So, this Normandy of yours, is she of the merchant marine or is she a ship-of-the-line?' He asked.
'She's the finest frigate ever built, but she's privately owned.' Shepard replied. Deciding he wasn't going to bother trying to explain Cerberus.
'Well, which nation do you sail from?' Reilly asked.
Shepard considered his answer carefully. It seemed likely that Reilly was trying to gauge him as a friend or foe.
'It's bit more complicated than that.' Shepard replied. 'And I'm not comfortable discussing it in public.'
'That Harbinger asshole dragged us here from the future.' Jack said from the rail, not bothering to look back. 'From the year 2185, if you're interested.' She added in the same bored tone. 'Fuck, Shepard no sense in trying to be delicate about it.' She added, finally turning to look at him as Shepard gave her a pointed look.
'When I want someone to know just how screwed they are, I'll consult you on how to deliver the message.' He replied. 'In the meantime, there's no need to make a song and dance about it.'
Jack shrugged indifferently, then went back to watching the port city.
'The future?' Asked Lord Purbeck sceptically.
In response, Shepard opened his omni-tool and brought up a schematic of the Normandy.
'This is the Normandy.' He said briefly.
'She doesn't look like any ship I've ever seen.' Lord Purbeck said hesitantly after a moment. 'And what's the matter with your arm?'
Shepard deactivated his omni tool and tapped the emitter on his wrist. 'Nothing's wrong with my arm, that was just a projection.' He replied.
The blank looks on his face were telling.
'This is going to take a while.' He said. 'Can we discuss this over drinks?'
'Only if you do it where I can hear.' Temeraire said from above them.
Shepard looked up to see that massive head looming over him again.
'You're going to tell me exactly where Laurence is and what's going on there, or I'm going to squash you.' Temeraire stated.
'Hah. Shepard would eat you for breakfast and spit you back out.' Grunt replied looking back up at the head of whatever was coiled on the foredeck without a trace of fear.
'I would like to see him try.' Temeraire replied.
Shepard elbowed Grunt.
'Play nice.' He said sternly. Grunt nodded in response as Shepard looked to Lieutenant Granby. 'Is he going to be trouble?' He asked.
'No, but it might be for the better if you humoured him.' Granby replied wearily. 'Was Laurence getting into these sorts of scrapes back when he was in the Navy, Captain?' Granby asked Reilly in a depressed tone.
'Not of this bizarre nature, but he was definitely a fighting Captain.' Reilly replied as two crewmen reappeared with stools.
The group proceeded up to the foredeck, Grunt collecting Jack and following Shepard and the trio of officers.
On the foredeck,-which was a lot bigger than Shepard had been expecting,- was coiled the rest of Temeraire.
A hundred and twenty feet, more than likely from nose to tail tip of black dragon.
Shepard heard Jack and Grunt stop cold as they beheld him and Shepard himself,-who'd killed more Thresher Maws than he really cared for in his hunt for Saren,-had to give the dragon credit for being the biggest freaking thing after Sovereign he'd ever seen.
As they settled down under the dragon's imperious eye, Shepard decided to start things off:
'So where do you want to start?' He asked.
Sorry, I'm not here with an update for Crucible of War or one of my other stories, but this plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone.
Crucible is coming along well, and if all goes well should be done sometime next week so long as I don't run into complications.
Which means that despite my best intentions, not bloody likely.
In the meantime, have some Temeraire\Mass Effect randomness.