Prologue
Deep in the heart of the citadel. In an apartment in the wards. A man was having a nightmare. He tossed and turned in his bed, reliving the horror of that mission.
Andreas turned around from his locker to look around the cargo bay. The space was filled with technicians going about their work. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, in about ten minutes he was about to jump out of this ship. He was a soldier but still, why had he agreed to this. He flexed his arms that were encased inside the fabric of his hard suit. The dark red fabric armour were reinforced with plates of light metal, the blood red paint was chipped around the edges. Andreas sunk deep into his thoughts as he ran over the mission in his head. Roughly it was, drop in, silence the guards, break the defences, and get out. Simple. He was roused from his thoughts by a hand on the small of his back. He turned to face its owner. Meagan, his secret girl friend. She looked up into his eyes and spoke.
"Are you gonna be okay?" She asked.
"Jumping out of a star ship going at god knows what speed into enemy territory? Piece of cake." Said Andreas sarcastically. But he knew what she was really referring to. The deep, primal part of him. The curse of his troubled past. He sighed.
"I did some exercises in the sleeper pod. I'm calm."
"I know. But be careful." Warned Meagan. Meagan was always like this. She was the oddest N7 he had ever met. Then again he wasn't exactly normal either. Andreas rubbed his hands together.
"Weapon time." He said excitedly. He took her hand and squeezed it. He them walked over to the area the Gunnery Chief was standing.
"My toys if you please Chief." Said Andreas grinning. The chief and Andreas always went through that ritual. She returned the smile and handed him his sniper rifle.
"Oh and I've got a present for you Commander." The chief presented him with a small container. Inside was one of Andreas' favourite upgrades, sledgehammer rounds. He quickly slammed the ammo block into his rifle and grinned his thanks to the chief. He quickly took the rest of the weapons, pistol, assault rifle, grenades and finally, the shotgun. Andreas winced as he took it.
"Still don't like shotguns honey?" Asked Meagan. They both trusted the Chief so she didn't hesitate.
"They are mean to me." Said Andreas in a whiney voice.
"Oi! Andreas! You gonna lose your cool this time?" The voice belonged to the last N7 on board.
"That all depends on whether or not you piss me of enough Fin." Said Andreas as he attempted to keep authority in his tone. It quickly failed and he grabbed the Lieutenant in a bear hug as he burst out laughing.
"Where have been hiding yourself Finlay? And no your Mum jokes." Warned Andreas.
"I just arrived before morning rotation. Don't worry, I've been briefed." Said Fin. He held out his hand respectfully for Meagan.
"Lieutenant Finlay McBride at your service ma'm." He said curtly.
"Lieutenant Commander Meagan Jones. Commander Andreas has told me a lot about you."
"All good I hope." Said Fin as he ran a hand through his jet black hair. "On second thoughts, don't answer that."
Fin was already kitted out in a suit of Onyx light armour with weaponry on his back. He held his helmet in his right hand as he activated his Omni-tool to check the time.
"Five minutes Andreas. Better get the shoots ready sir."
"Belay that. Captain Rod up his rear has decided to appear." Said Andreas under his breath.
"Captain on deck!"
Captain Eric Leyton was one of the most arrogant rejects in military history, Andreas hated him. All of the crew stopped and stood to attention. The ground team were a little slower to do so, but not noticeably.
"As you were crew." Said the captain in a voice that may have well been saying, "Daddy bought me my commission and I don't know which is the right end of a gun."
Andreas sniggered at the thought but was quickly elbowed in the ribs by both Meagan and Fin.
"Commander. Is your team ready?" asked the pompous captain.
"Aye sir. Were making the final preparations sir." Andreas privately added, "My god you're an arrogant git aren't you."
"Now Commander. I need not remind you that this is a covert mission, not a siege. So keep you legendary anger under control." Warned the captain. Andreas breathed in sharply to calm him self. He knew that right now the artificial organ in his chest was pumping a small dose of modified adrenalin into his system. The effect doubled his anger towards the comment. Without the organ he would have been slightly peeved. With it, he was fuming.
"I understand sir." Said Andreas, pouring a little venom into it.
"Ground team. Three minutes until drop." Said the ship VI. The team abandoned the Captain and proceeded to clip themselves into the harness of the parachutes. All non essential personnel left the cargo bay as the ramp lowered to reveal the blue sky of a planet. Helmets went on and the HUD inside activated. The area around them sharpened as the sensors in the suit sent data to the visor. They stepped up to the ramp.
"Prepare to drop in three, two, one." And with that they leaped out and started to dive through the atmosphere.
Falling through the atmosphere of a planet was one of the most terrifying yet exhilarating experiences Commander Andreas had ever experienced. Few things truly scared him. The only one that brought a shudder to him was the thought of ever losing control of his Biotics, while he was enraged. The group plummeted through a layer of clouds and caught sight of their target. A collection of low buildings that formed a slavers base. The grounds rushed up too meet them. The marines pulled open the parachutes open and landed gracefully under the radar. Well almost. Two mercs, a Batarian and a Turian, spotted them and drew assault rifles. They stood at the end of a sort of path leading up to a locked door. Both sides of the path were closed in by walls. Fin used his tech abilities to overheat their weapons as Meagan shot the Batarian threw the head with her pistol. Andreas tore of his chute and ignited his biotic corona. He felt the electrical signals in his nervous system pulse down his arm as he swung it up and pointed it at the Turian. In split second a pulse of Biotic energy, imbued with electricity rocketed towards the merc. Horror barely registered on his raptor like face as the pulse flew down the corridor and struck him, killing him instantly. Andreas' shoulders fell slightly at the effort but he quickly recovered.
"What the hell was that Commander?" Asked Fin.
"Hell if I know. The 316 christened it biotic arc." Said Andreas as he drew his sniper rifle.
"Biotic arc? Why?" This question came from Meagan.
"The first time I used it, it had the same effect as an arc welder." He explained. "Fin get that door open. Meagan you're in first. Use grenades to clear the path. Use the merc's to save our own. And Fin…"
"Yeah I know. Break anything of theirs that uses electricity."
Fin took position behind the door and activated his Omni-tool. Meagan stood on the opposite side of the door and drew her assault rifle. She held the rifle in one hand as she readied a grenade. Andreas stood back and crouched as he drew his rifle to eye level. He nodded to Fin who quickly cracked the lock. Meagan threw the grenade and was rewarded with several pained screams and moans. She charged in and took up position behind a large crate and started to pepper the mercenaries with mass accelerated slugs. Andreas sprinted in and took cover behind a crate opposite her. As Meagan distracted the mercs with her gun fire, Andreas sought out a victim. He spotted a human who from Andreas' angle was exposed and didn't know it. The Commander unleashed the polonium stamped slug from his weapon. The poor guy disintegrated as the slug breached his helmet.
The fighting continued like this for about an hour. Charge in, clear the room, move on. After the fifth room the got close to their target. They were heading for some sort of control room. All Andreas knew was that once they deactivated the base defences, a battalion of Marines from the SSV Indomitable would come and secure the area. They had travelled these identical corridors for hours. Andreas hated prefab buildings, they lacked personality. At last they came within sight of the target. A plain locked door, much like the others throughout the base. Except this time the hard suits computer read something of interest lay behind it. Meagan and Andreas took positions facing down the hall as Fin activated the Omni-tool and started to break open the door. It sparked and he stepped away swearing.
"Bloody pirate rejects!" Fin's Omni-tool started to sputter and die as he tore it of, threw the micro-wire frame to the ground, and shot it with his pistol.
"Report Fin." Said Andreas as he swept the corridor with his sniper rifle.
"They loaded a spider bot virus into the lock. Bloody clever. The Omni-tool is useless."
A brave merc peered down the hall and unleashed a slug from his pistol. It breached Fin's shields and embedded it's self in his shoulder. Andreas roared and let pent up fury loose as shot the merc twice, overheating his sniper rifle. He was rewarded with to gory holes blossoming into existence on the merc. One appeared in his stomach, the second in his throat. As Meagan patched up Fin, Andreas wheeled around to face the door. He ignited his corona and channelled as much power as he could into a blast of biotic energy. It had no form but it did its job, cracks appeared throughout the door. Andreas again called on his reserves of energy. He delivered a full force biotic kick, aided by the motorised joints of his armour. The door caved inwards and the party rushed inside. With one last effort, Andreas formed a biotic barrier over the door frame. He took a long swig from his canteen, which was filled with the foul tasting energy drink issued to biotics. It worked though, he felt his energy return. He turned his attention to Fin.
"Can you finish the job Fin?" Asked the Commander. Concern for his best friend crept into his voice.
"Yeah." He winced afterwards. "Just get me an Omni-tool." Meagan handed him hers. The commanders helped Fin to a console in the corner of the room. After a few minutes of fiddling with the Omni-tool, Fin grinned in triumph.
"It's done. Give them the word Andy."
"How many times? That isn't my name." Said Andreas with mock annoyance.
"Star ships SSV Marathon and SSV Indomitable, This is Commander Andreas, please respond." He waited about half a minute before he got a reply.
"Roger Commander this is Indomitable." Came the voice through his helmet.
"Auto defences are down, begin deployment now!"
Meagan and Andreas rushed through the facility, carrying Fin between them. No Mercs decided to appear. After a few minutes of running they made it outside. Crates littered the area between the exit and the perimeter. A perimeter manned by mercs with big guns.
"Oh crap!" Hissed Andreas. The group crept behind a large crate.
"Right guys take stock." The group pulled out what equipment they had left. The only useful things were the last of the grenades.
"It's not enough Andreas." Said Meagan, giving voice to what they were all thinking. Andreas activated his Omni-tool and scanned the nearby crates. Something caught his interest. He pulled over an oversized rifle case and dumped Omni-gel on the locks. All three leaned over and let noises of awe.
"That is very shiny." Said Fin. The device inside looked like on oversized sniper rifle, albeit a disassembled one. It was more than that though, it was an anti-tank rifle. Andreas hastily assembled it and clipped on the mass effect suspensor that would allow him to run with it. Andreas addressed his squad.
"All right, here's the plan. They'll know were about by now. I'm going to break cover and run to that crate over there. You two stay here. On my signal throw the grenades at that guard tower over there." He said pointing. "I'll finish the job with this monster." At that he gestured to the oversized rifle. "And use my Biotics to guide it onto the defences. Then we run into the forest and wait for evac. Got it?"
They all nodded.
"Okay, three, two, one, charge!" Andreas sprinted towards the new crate. Machine gun fire puffed into the ground but missed him. He reached cover and three grenades soared through the air and adhered to the tower. Chunks of concrete and metal fell away as they detonated. Andreas took aim and unleashed the four high explosive shells in the guns magazine. They all impacted in a cloud of fire. The tower leaned to the side and squished the perimeter without any need for biotic aid.
The squad legged it, even fin, who ignored the burning pain in his shoulder. They were home free, almost. A merc creeped out of the shadows, sniper rifle in hand. No emotion could be seen through his black visor as he pulled the trigger. Two shots two kills. The experiment would soon reach its potential. Shame that the mercs were about to die, it would have been fun for the Krogan experiment to be unleashed as well, thought the sniper. He turned to leave, the symbol of a three headed dog the only material clue that he was there. The emotional scar would last much longer.
Both Fin and Meagan stumbled and fell. Andreas turned in time to see Fin hit the dust, he was already dead. Meagan slumped against a crate, holding her hand to her throat. Andreas rushed to her side, all thoughts of escape forgotten. His hand trembled as he opened a medi-gel packet to treat a fatal wound, that had already done its job. Andreas let out a long primal scream, it barley gave justice to the rage inside. All personality drained away as he stood. To be replaced by an unquenchable bloodlust. A group of mercs came round the corner. They came in time to see Andreas's corona flare up. It now burned over him like fire, but that wasn't what had caused one of the mercs to wet himself. The blue colouring had been replaced by a deep, blood red. Andreas roared and then….
Andreas shot out of his dream, covered by cold sweat. One year had passed and the same damn nightmare of the same damn mission still troubled him. It was 3:00 am by alliance time. There was no way he was going too sleep again tonight. He hauled his body out of bed and pulled on his work clothes. All this time and he hadn't noticed his corona was burning. It was still stained red; it probably would always be so. He extinguished it and silently went through to the living room, not bothering to put the lights on. He didn't want disturb his room mate. Too late, he already had. He was confronted by an Asari in a dressing gown.
"Another nightmare?" She asked. Andreas nodded. He plonked himself down on a chair. The Asari sat on the arm.
"Would you like to talk about it?" she asked.
"No Nadia. Anyway you've heard it all before."
"Andreas. I'm 557 years old. I'm used to hearing things again by now. It was about the mission wasn't it?"
Andreas merely nodded.