Mass Effect: The Three Headed Beast
Chapter 1: Overt Ops
It had been three years since Major Jake Harrow left the Alliance behind, the events of the First Contact War still haunted his waking hours and stalked his nightmares. The images were never based on the battle against the Turians or even the starvation and torment that came from the occupation of Shanxi. All he would see was one his best men lose their mind and rip his ship apart. Elias left a mark on Harrows mind, a scar that would have festered for the rest of his life if he let it.
Harrow left the Alliance after the events of the relay 314 incident to join a new group that had promised to protect Earth from the threats beyond the Charon Relay, most people assumed this applied to the Turians but Harrow knew there was something out there. Something worse.
The year was 2160 CE and humanity had come a long way in such a short time, The Alliance Parliament was formed making it the main governing body of humanity and Human Biotics had been fully established with the construction of Gagarin Station that geared humanity towards mastering these new powers and further cementing their role in the newly expanded universe. It wasn't only the Alliance that had advanced in these last three years, A mercenary by the name of Jack Harper created an organisation to protect and further advance the human race, even if the Alliance wanted to bow to their alien overlord they couldn't stop the rise of Cerberus.
In the beginning there was only three, Jack Harper who took the name of The Illusive man, Major Jake Harrow who was named The General by the men who would follow him and finally Henry Lawson, he came to be known as The Benefactor. Together they made the three heads of the organisation. Harrow handled the military aspect of the organisation, The Illusive Man handled the science and research while Henry Lawson was nothing more than a walking, talking bank account. In three years Cerberus grew from an idea into an army. Official Alliance records didn't acknowledge the existence of Cerberus and that was how they wanted it.
"Breach charge placed sir." whispered the corporal. Harrow grabbed the detonator from him. It was cold on this planet, Pragia was a garden planet that was never colonised due to the advanced rate the vegetation would grow it was overlooked by most authorities and only populated by pirates and corpses. Perfect for a research outpost.
"Breaching on three…two….one." Harrow pulled the trigger which brought on the sound of a hissing snake as the thermite burned through the door at over a thousand degrees. When the thermite had fully burned out, the corporal slowly lowered the door to the ground making sure not to make a sound. "OMNI-Weapons only, don't fire a shot unless you have to." The men nodded.
Covert ops were the bread and butter of the Cerberus military, while they did have the numbers for a full scale assault such brute force would lead to the needless death of valuable operatives.
Harrow was by no means a young man but he was still as deadly as a Thresher Maw. He made his way through the pirate base as quiet as whisper, a few rooms later Harrow could see that this place was a wreck with tree roots breaking through cracks in the wall, it was dilapidated and obviously forgotten by the rest of the galaxy. It was perfect.
"Does anyone feel like we should have found someone by now?" asked corporal Mathias. Harrow felt the same, there was something wrong. As they made their way further and further into the complex they found that this place had been hit hard, there were scorch marks on the walls and bodies strewn all over the place. Harrow approached one of the bodies and removed his helmet.
"Batarians" Batarians and Humans have had a rocky relationship from the start but the recent colonisation of the Skyllian Verge by human colonists has led to conflict between the two races with talk of the Batarians leaving the citadel.
"Shit…what do we do?" asked Corporal Sol.
"Nothing, the plan remains the same. No survivors." Harrow inspects one of the bullet holes in the wall. "Interesting…still warm. Whoever did this is still here. check your corners and keep…" There was a crash in the other room. Harrow held up his hand and slowly made his way to the door.
"Where is it?" came a muffled voice, it sounded feminine. Harrow flattened himself against the wall and attempted to listen in.
"What makes you think I'll tell you!?" Harrow still couldn't get a clear sound, he made his way to the door and waited. Harrow could hear the sound of something heavy being dragged and the faint sound of footsteps. Harrow drew his pistol and hovered his hand over the door release, Harrow was hoping the door would be quiet.
"I guess I'll have to make you tell me." Harrow nodded three times before opening the door, the left side was stuck and made a loud screeching noise, Harrow was halfway through the doorway before his head shot back knocking him to the ground, he had been shot. Harrow rolled back behind the wall and felt his helmet, the shields took most of the force with only a small scorch mark the size of an apple seed above the right eye.
"Holy shit…" he breathed. Harrow's ears were ringing and his nose was bleeding from the force but other than that he was fine.
"Did you see who shot you?" asked Corporal Sol. Harrow slowly shook his head before standing up.
"They were too quick." Harrow called out a Combat Drone from his OMNI tool and commanded it to scan the room. It reported no life signs in the next room but picked up multiple life signs further in the complex. "But whoever it was has ran further in, we need to find them. Move slowly and check your corners, let the drones go first." Harrow sent his drone further in and followed closely behind, the sound of gunfire bounced off the walls coupled with the odd scream in pain.
"Whoever our mystery guests are, they're pretty badass." commented Corporal Annex
"Cut the chatter Annex." retorted Harrow as he checked the feed from the drone
"We've got a locked door ahead. Manual override is required." Harrow kneeled by the door and began to mess with the lock. "When I get this door open I want some cover, I'm not fond of being shot in the face." Harrow could hear gunfire on the other side of the door. "Does anyone have any Omni-gel?" Sol marched over to Harrow and handed him a small tube that contained the Omni-gel. Harrow used the Omni-gel on the lock which caused it to short out, Harrow waited for the lock to power back up again which usually took a few seconds. "Do you think they'll stop people from doing this?"
"Not likely." responded Sol
"You would think that this little exploit would be fixed by now." interjected Annex as she began programing her combat drone. "Some of the most secure buildings in the galaxy cane be access just by…" The lock cycled back up. Harrow and his men stood ready.
"Opening in three…two…one." The door opened smoothly this time but it was to a hail of gunfire. "Send in the drones!" A small flock of four drones glided into the room, Harrow could hear the sound of electric shocks and gunfire. "Drones are reporting six tangos, all Batarian." It was hard to hear him over the gunfire.
"Where's our mystery guest?" questioned Sol, his head hidden firmly behind cover.
"They may be further in or they're hiding, either way they're not…" Harrow checked his Omni Tool again. "Drone has picked up an additional life sign!" Harrow's Omni Tool began counting down the life signs. "Uhh…make that six agai…no five…four life signs detec…three life signs." the gunfire was getting more and more sporadic as the life signs began to run down, the drones went offline which meant that they we're in the dark. After the sound of a quick thud all went quiet.
"State your intent!" came a female voice from inside the room. Sol went to move up but Harrow held out his hand.
"We're Alliance Military! We're here to clear out a pirate base and question their leader. This is an official Alliance operation and I demand that you state your name and rank, if you have one." There was a brief silence.
"Tela Vasir, my rank is…unimportant." Harrow tried to search her name on his Omni Tool but found nothing, no social media accounts, no official military records or any traces of her, not even a second hand account.
"It's not every day you meet a Spectre." responded Harrow.
"How did you…?" she questioned.
"Tela Vasir, doesn't exist which means one of two things. One, that's a fake name or two, you're a spectre. You training says Spectre, you're name says Asari." Harrow heard the mechanical whirring of a weapon either being holstered or drawn, he was confident that it was being holstered but he wasn't taking any chances with a Spectre.
"Impressive human, I can see why the council likes your kind. Come in, I'm unarmed." she responded. Sol went to take a step forward but Harrow put up his hand.
"You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it, you did nearly take my face off a few minutes back." Harrow called up his drone. "I'm sending in a drone to scan you and the area." the little orange ball of light floated into the crumbling room. Harrow's drone reported two life signs in the room amongst the vegetation, it was hard to determine the state of the second life sign because the foliage was interfering with the signal. Who's in there with you?"
"My target." she responded. Harrow stood considering his options before he opted to walk into the room, weapon by his side. He was flanked by his men, Sol and Annex flanking right and Mathias on the left. "Are the guns necessary." Harrow gestured to his men to lower their weapons.
"Now that you have your target are you going to leave the facility?" interrogated Harrow, recalling his drone. The little orange ball flickered out drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"No." responded Tela.
"Then what's your intention? And will it interfere with our work?" Harrow rested his hand on his hand cannon hoping it went unnoticed. It didn't. Tela didn't like loose ends but these four Alliance marines had her in their sights and the squad leader seemed more capable than most other soldiers she's seen before, top that off with the fact that Humans are the most unpredictable species encountered made her situation a dangerous one.
"I need to destroy this base to prevent the pirates from coming back." Harrow's hand began to slightly grip his pistol, Tela could see that he didn't like that answer. The interval between each sentence was getting longer and longer creating a tense atmosphere that often leads to twitchy fingers.
"That conflicts with my orders Ms Vasir…I can call you that right?" Harrow was trying to aggravate her, to see if she telegraphs anything. All he got was a wrinkled nose for a split second.
"While we are on the subject of names, what's yours?" questioned Tela, she decided to circle the table in the centre of the room. It was bolted to the floor but if she could find a single weakness she could use it to her advantage.
"It's Major John Doe. This is Jack Lad, Jane Smith and Tommy Atkins." Harrow knew this was going to go south. He followed Tela with his eyes around the room and it didn't take long to figure out what she was doing, she was sizing them up and looking for a way to get the drop on them. Spectres are extremely dangerous agents of the council and can easily take on an entire battalion but in such a small room Tela is at a disadvantage. She has two options, she can either go guns blazing and possibly take all four of them out or she can improvise.
"The major is stalling." mused Tela, she could see him scanning the room yet keeping her in sight at all times. If she was going to make a move, she would need to do it quickly. The table could be flung with a biotic shockwave but they're too far spread out to hit all four of them at once, the Major is the priority target but the other three will be a problem…
"…she'll follow up with a barrier and attempt to use a singularity to put us off balance before she engages with her shotgun." Harrow was on the same page as Tela, as well trained as Tela was she still only had one advantage and that was her Biotics. Cerberus has attempted to create a biotic and steal data from the BAaT facility created recently by the Alliance but to no avail so far. What Cerberus did have however was detailed information on the limitations of other Biotics, for example Harrow knew that Asari biotics, though the most powerful of the other races, had to wait 1.28 seconds between each "cast." If she wants to use her biotics she will need to drop her shield to allow the wave through it which means for 1.28 seconds she'll be vulnerable…
"…however, it takes 2.35 seconds for a hand cannon to fully unfold." Tela was confident that was more than enough time. "While it is regretful mister Doe that my orders contradict yours, I'm afraid it's time you leave."
Harrow saw her eyes glow for less than a second which was the tell-tale sign of a biotic synaptic charge, he didn't waste time reaching for his gun with his right hand while crossing his left arm across his body. Tela began to glow purple now as her arm swung towards the underside of the table ripping off a segment and flinging it at Harrow. Harrow's arm began glowing orange as his Omni-Blade began unfolding while he was drawing his hand cannon. A purple shimmer began to envelop Tela originating from her head and flowing downwards. Harrow swung his arm and cut the table in half while raising his gun arm in the same motion, he pulled the trigger twice in rapid succession, the slugs erupted from the barrel as they flew towards Tela. Tela began pulling her arm back for a singularity but it was too late, the first shot just missed the barrier and struck Tela in her lower stomach while the second shot ricocheted of her barrier, Tela's plan would have paid off if Harrow had not modified his hand cannon for maximum draw effectiveness.
Harrow had always been a fan of the old Wild West vids and he saw the advantage of a faster hand cannon, the drawback was that it had less stopping power making it ineffective against heavy armour unlike most Carnifex class hand cannons. Tela recovered quickly though and retaliated with a singularity aimed at Harrow, he managed to sidestep it but it struck the doorway behind him, Harrow attempted a follow up shot but the pull of the singularity made it hard to steady his hand. Just when Harrow thought it couldn't get worse Tela shot a warp at the singularity causing it to become unstable, before it exploded Harrow summoned his Combat Drone. Sol was knocked unconscious after he smacked into the wall, Annex was dazed but fine and Mathias was blown into another room.
Harrow didn't have time to gather his wits he, had to capitalise on this opportunity, Tela was injured and distracted by his drone. Harrow charged towards her with his Omni-blade poised to strike, she must have had eyes in the back of her head because without turning around to face him she ducked under his strike causing him to hit his own drone, Tela gave Harrow swift strike to his shin forcing him on one knee. Harrow lashed out with an uppercut to her face that was partially deflected into her shoulder. It was almost like she didn't feel pain because her wound wasn't bothering her in the slightest. Annex tried to get a shot off but she was knocked back by a quick biotic throw which left Tela open for a shot from Mathias who was leaning in the doorway with what appeared to be a broken leg. The shot hit Tela square in the head but her barrier took the hit, she went for a shockwave but Harrow cut it short with a quick yet powerful jab to her face putting her on the defensive. Harrow went for another stab with his blade but it was parried Tela used this opportunity to use a biotic lift on Mathias.
Annex came in close while being backed up by Harrow, Tela went back onto the defensive opting to parry the oncoming barrage of strikes coming her way. Annex opted to go for a more powerful strike but made the mistake of telegraphing her attack, Tela used this opportunity to strike Annex in the chin with her elbow, dazing her. Tela then focused on Harrow, she grabbed one of his strikes and pulled him in for a knee to the groin, she then rolled over him while charging a throw and threw Mathias who was still suspended. Mathias was flung back into the other room accompanied with a loud thud meaning it was just Harrow and Annex now.
Annex took a step back and used tech armour to provide extra protection while Harrow continued the attack using an overload and a cryoblast, both had no effect, Tela responded with a biotic throw that knocked Harrow back. Annex went for a right hook and managed to connect it, Tela attempted a relation strike but Annex's tech armour absorbed the impact, Tela hit Annex with a warp before using a biotic slam on her rendering her unconscious. Both Harrow and Tela drew their weapons, Harrow had his sniper rifle fixed firmly on Tela's face while Tela had her shotgun pointed at Annex.
"Well fought human." compliment Tela nearly breathless. Despite her obvious pain and exhaustion her arm wasn't faltering.
"The compliment is returned." responded Harrow. "What now?" he questioned. Tela looked at Annex then returned her gaze to Harrow.
"Either you put your gun down or I shoot her, or I put my gun down and you shoot me." Tela took a quick gasp. "Either outcome is unpleasant." Harrow had an idea but he would need to be fast.
"There's always a third option." he proposed.
"Oh yeah? And what woul…" Harrow shoot Tela's shotgun out of her hand and went for the follow up but she ducked into the adjacent hallway. Harrow tried followed behind her but she blocked it off with a singularity. She was gone for now.
"Shit…" he muttered before he went to check on his men.