Rick Morgan was on the run for his life.
The moment those damn huge Reaper things landed on Trident, Rick decided his low-paid job wasn't worth it.
Some small research company called Sphere Laboratories had hired him as part of the security staff, in case they ever needed to defend themselves against the myriad of rival giants operating on Trident. The main players, such as Binary Helix and Exo Geni, had vast resources at their disposal, meaning the chances of discovering some sort of scientific treasure trove in Trident's massive oceans were highly unlikely for small firms like Sphere Laboratories.
Thus, Sphere was left to its own devices as the others didn't see it as a noteworthy threat. Trident's criminal population likewise never bothered the tiny company. There weren't any valuable artifacts or high-tech equipment pieces on the premises for pirates to take, and simply too few people were employed for slavers to grab. All in all, this made for a very boring job for the security staff.
Rick's typical day consisted of sitting in the surveillance room sipping tea (or coffee, depending on what the other guards bought for their little food stash), munching biscuits (which everyone agreed were an absolute necessity to go along with the tea or coffee) and watching the idiot scientists go about their work.
The most exciting day at work in Rick's opinion was when a camera went offline in one of the labs, and a minute later a scared out of his mind scientist barged into the security room and started babbling incoherently about an emergency or some such. Fearing the worst, Rick checked his shields generator, grabbed the Piranha Assault Shotgun that one of the other security guys had acquired off one of his Alliance contacts (or so he said anyway) and made a run for the lab. When he arrived, he found the eggheads fussing over some destroyed research sample that had a nice, crispy burnt look to it. The camera was hanging out of its wall pivot thingy, and there was a smashed microscope lying underneath. After calming the lab geeks down, they told Rick that the scorched sample was "the discovery of a lifetime," and when it caught fire, the lead scientist had thrown a microscope at the wall in a fit of rage, which smashed the camera.
To make matters even funnier, two days later, the so called "discovery of a lifetime" was revealed to have been discovered, tested and cataloged by Binary Helix over three weeks prior to the incident at Sphere. Sphere's lead scientist had unfortunately spilled his guts to the media before BH's announcement, ranting about the incompetence of the other scientists regarding the treatment of their amazing discovery. The fact that the organism was nothing more but the Tridentian equivelant of a seahorse, albeit quite large, and held no "dormant potential," ensured that Sphere Laboratories was made the laughing stock of the galaxy's scientific community. Naturally, the company fired the foolish researcher on the spot.
This particular incident, along with several other idiotic occurences, solidified Rick's decision to leg it at the dawn of the Reaper invasion without looking back. The imbeciles were simply not worth saving; they were hopeless and their fruitless research wouldn't get anyone anywhere. Similarly, the low pay didn't make defending his workplace worthwhile in the face of an enemy of apocalyptic proportions. Before heading out to his skycar, Rick ensured he got all the supplies from the guardsroom that he could carry. Everything from the mini-fridge was stuffed haphazardly into Rick's duffel bag, along with the biscuit tins and other foodstuffs that were located in the cupboards. Rick likewise checked the lockers for anything useful.
He found two pairs of jeans (one blue, one black), a t-shirt with a picture of Blasto the Hanar Spectre holding an Asari stripper in his arms, tentacles whatever, and a smelly pair of boots. There weren't any other guards on duty, and Rick doubted they'd come back for this crap. The showers in the back contained a variety of hygiene products, including shampoo, soap (the usuals) and for some reason an Asari scalp moisturiser. Rick had no idea why it was in there, seeing as Sphere employed only Humans, but he tossed it in the bag anyway.
Lastly, he grabbed his armaments from the weapons locker. There was a bit of fumbling with the keypad as Rick accidentally punched the wrong number in.
I'm sure I'm not the only one on edge today. Although… Ah it doesn't matter…
After a minute, Rick managed to enter the correct code. He strapped a Carnifex to his hip, put a combat knife in his boot, placed an old Mattock in the duffel along with a box of thermal clips and took the Piranha in his hands.
"That's it… I think," he mumbled to himself, and left for the parking area.
Outside was a mess. Smoke could be seen in the distance, along with strange spires that kept bobbing up and down as if they were walking around. The airways were jam-packed with traffic, people desperately trying to get home to their families. People were milling about in a panic trying to access their skycars, while a duo of frightened policemen at the entrance on street level tried to prevent any violence that would inevitably arise. Some civvies off the street started making their way into the car park through side entrances, trying to find someone who would take them. Some were refused, while others were permitted to hitch a ride. A tremendous crash followed by a bone-chilling, spine-tingling horn blast silenced everyone in the area. One of the sleek black 2km long Reapers had landed not too far away and was carving up the ground with big red death lasers. Beautiful glass towers housing thousands fell as the malevolent machine made its path through the urban jungle. Huge dust clouds and tremors assaulted the onlookers like a tsunami. After the initial shock, people started moving with an even greater panicked urgency. They had only seen the Reapers in the initial news reports minutes prior, it was nothing compared with encountering one in person.
Each time the terrifying horn blared, it was as if a Krogan was squeezing Rick's head. It was incredibly hard to think. After a few more moments of dazed confusion, Rick made a beeline for his car. There was some idiot trying to pry the door open with a Swiss Army Knife. Rick punched the bloke square in the face, knocking him out. He picked up the knife, threw the duffel on the back seat and immediately started the car.
I didn't know they still made these knives, not with everyone having access to omni-tools… Must've been a souvenir or something…
As he ascended slowly into the sky, Rick observed that there was panic in the traffic lanes. Fighters, both Alliance and Reaper, screamed through the sky. It was obvious the Alliance pilots were fighting a losing battle, Rick noticed more than one falling victim to the Reaper fighters and crashing to the ground below. He could see smoke everywhere in New Cousteau, but it was mainly concentrated in the areas where the actual Reapers were walking around and annihilating everything in sight. There would be no time to go home, if there was anything still left of it.
Suddenly, one of the enemy craft strafed the line of civilian traffic, causing at least six or seven skycars to explode, and another two or three to simply plummet downwards. It was horrifying. Many drivers decided to just fly in any direction that wasn't congested with other traffic.
Rick was already doing this, when a fat yellow shuttle came screaming out of the blue. It was on fire, having obviously taken damage from the Reaper forces. It was on a course straight for Rick. There was nothing he could do.
"SHIT SHIT SHIT!" he screamed just before it hit.
Somehow, the shuttle just glanced off the side of Rick's car, but it was enough. The engine stalled, and the car began to tumble downwards. Rick was barely conscious during the ordeal, but that was rectified once the vehicle hit the ground.
Rick came to after an unknown span of time. He had been thrown in the back of the car, and the front was steadily filling up with water.
"Oh great just what I bloody need," he grumbled.
Rick's head was pounding, and he felt extremely weak in general. When he tried to move, an unbelievable pain wracked his back and his vision blurred. He thought there was something stuck in his leg too.
Pain is good, means I'm still alive… But for how long…
At that exact moment, he heard movement outside, followed by strange chatter and some noises that were definitely not human. Then there was silence. Rick wrapped his hands around the shotgun and the duffel, which had both conveniently landed on either side of him. Before Rick could react, a hand shot through the roof of the car and grabbed Rick by his shirt. More hands began to pry open the metal to pull him out. To Rick, it looked as if everyone was wearing gloves with some strange blue pattern.
Perhaps that's a bunch of security mechs sent to rescue me or something. Or…
Rick shook and screamed as he stared into the face of death. What could only be described as an abomination was holding him in its hands, which were as cold as ice. It had the face of a Batarian, but its arm had a Human skull sticking out of it. There were glowy cybernetics everywhere along its body, including the hands. There were other creatures clustered around the pond into which the car fell. They sneered at their Human victim, making grunts and other gurgling noises like teapots. Some sort of consensus was reached amongst them, and Rick's captor began to drag him along the grass somewhere. He couldn't really see much, his vision was still blurry, however he was able to make out an emerald canopy above.
Must be in a park or something… But what difference does any of it make?
All the fight had gone out of him. Rick knew these were Reaper creatures. It was obvious all of them used to be people. Therefore, a similar future awaited Rick. They had taken his Piranha and Carnifex, so there was nothing he could do. Although, they did forget the duffel bag. It was clinging onto his leg; he didn't know how it got there.
Ha, must be the magic scalp moisturizer!
But it didn't matter, Rick's fate was sealed. As they approached the center of the park and the trees began to part, Rick could hear other people crying, screaming and every now and then there was a wet squelch as something (Rick didn't want to think what it was) happened. There was also a humming sound. Like the Reaper horn, it made it difficult to think for everyone.
Rick's thoughts were snuffed out one by one like a series of dying candles, until he could think no more. The Reaper creatures had begun hooking him up to the source of the buzzing noise. Glowing tubes wrapped themselves around him like snakes, and electrodes (or something similar) were attached to his head. As Rick looked around, he saw people being impaled on spikes. Their screams were drowned out by the horrible, wretched buzzing.
As the creatures prepared to conclude whatever hellish ritual they had begun with Rick, something happened. An Alliance fighter, out of control, came careening out of the sky. The people being corralled by the husks began to panic, but the beasts weren't fazed by any of it. They probably couldn't feel fear. Some desperate folks tried to make a run for it only to be gunned down by the Batarian lookalikes.
At the same time as all that was happening, the ritual had begun. The husk stood back as it finished pressing buttons and stared straight at Rick. He felt his body being pierced in several places, followed by a trickling sensation that made it seem as if he was being inflated somehow. Then the fighter impacted the monolith.
Darkness enveloped Rick. A metallic voice then whispered "You were lucky Human, very lucky…"
Rick woke up gasping in a wide open green field, and then collapsed again as exhaustion took over.
A/N: So the first chapter is out! This is my first fanfic of any kind, I will update as often as I can. I would greatly appreciate tips and advice in any Reviews!
This story is inspired by Wyolake's Middle of Nowhere,and totallybursar's Stars Fade. Both of these are absolutely amazing pieces of writing.
Go and read them now!
Mass Effect and Dragon Age belong to BioWare.
