WARNING!
This fanfiction may not be suitable for all audiences, viewer discretion is advised
Blackbox Incorporated presents…
A ReppinOrphanTears24 Production…
With special thanks to Bioware who owns everything in the Mass Effect Universe…
With special thanks to iBayne for the story Galaxy at War: N7
and AXL999 and Andringo for their character submissions…
FOR COURAGE, DUTY AND HONOR
CHAPTER ONE
Part One:
A Day Of Infamy
Vancouver Megacity
United North American States
Earth, Sol System, Local Cluster
2186
The bar that Irving Wolfe found himself in wasn't just a bar, it was a bar and grill. The difference was mainly due that it was both a bar and a restaurant. A place where a person could grab a beer and a burger if they so pleased. Mind you, it wasn't someplace you'd take your kids but it was still decent enough.
It was the fact that it held a running tap of almost any alcoholic beverage this side of the Mississippi that caught the Gunnery Chief's eye. He had only arrived scant twenty minutes ago and already three empty mugs sat before him. A half filled one was clutched firmly in his grip, eager to send him on the blissful road to inebriation.
After taking an adamant swig from his mug, Wolfe glanced over to see the bartender mildly flipping through the stations of the bar's only holo-vid. Every channel had at least three people either discussing the reasons behind the blackout of Batarian space and the surrounding Alliance territories or the massive energy signatures racing straight towards Earth.
High Command at Arcturus feared a possible batarian invasion and had called back all their special forces to earth for reassignment. The hype was a response to Commander Shepard allegedly destroying the Bahak Relay effectively killing over three hundred thousand batarian colonists on Aratoht.
When Irving first found out about that he had raised his glass to the first human SpecTre. In his eyes, batarians were evil, sadistic, malevolent bastards that raided and enslaved anything with a pulse. Only those who never had to secure a colony after a raid or had to endure a week long torture session defended the creatures. Even before humanity had entered the galactic stage, the other races were already drawing plans to deal with the batarian situation. They had everything going their way for so long and without reproach that when the law finally came a knocking, they closed down their embassy and in effect became a rogue state. Sure there were other reasons for their departure such as the entire Attican Traverse being slated for human expansion but the biggest reason was that they saw the other races of the galaxy as mere cattle and that cattle was beginning to fight back.
Irving Wolfe wouldn't go so far to say he was racist. One of the best soldiers he had ever met was a turian and the first real relationship he ever had was with an Asari. But he'd also admit that there was always going to be a level of mistrust between aliens. The other races were supposed to be superior and all-knowing, using technology light years beyond humanity. And yet when his species first made contact with another, they had fought them to a standstill. Humanity had accomplished in decades what took the other races centuries to achieve. So some suspicion would be natural. So no, not racist. Every race had a few bad eggs and in order to interact with them you need to remind yourself of the good ones.
But when you are a twenty-one year old Corporal sitting, hands bound, in a chair at the mercy of your captors your views on the galaxy tend to get warped a bit. Wolfe would be lying if he said that he never thought of Torfan. He relived that month long battle every time he looked in a mirror and saw it every time he closed his eyes.
With his free hand, he slowly ran his fingers along the left side of his face which was covered in a series of overlapping shrapnel scars and three long jagged ones that threatened to invade the right side of his face as well. At a quick glance one would see just one big one but in reality they were each an individual. Irving both prided and dreaded the fact that he could recall how he received each one.
Deciding to drown the memories that began flooding his consciousness, Wolfe quickly downed the remainder of the dark amber lager and audibly slammed the now empty mug onto the bar counter.
"Reload," he grunted, which prompted the bartender to half-heartedly place another glass before the lone soldier.
"Crazy stuff, huh?" the bartender said regarding the news broadcast up on the holo-vid. Whilst taking the virgin sip of his new mug, Irving glanced upwards towards said broadcast.
"Doctor how exactly are you defining this on mass, because we can be talking about hundreds of ships," the anchorman asked his guest. The text at the bottom of the screen read: Fleet masses above Europe, are we under attack? Under that was a sub text claiming that the alliance was denying any reports that an invasion was underway.
The camera switched over to the guest and the fuzzy image of the guest's holographic projection appeared, "No," the guest replied, "we're talking about thousands actually."
"Is it your opinion then that this is a preparation for a legitimate attack?"
The guest let out a comical snort in dismissal, "I really don't want to lend any credence on reports of mythical sentient warships coming to kill us," the guest said in a mocking manner.
Irving dismissed it and took a sip from his mug, "Yup," was his response.
"I couldn't help but notice the badge on your armor, you an N7?" the barkeep asked.
"Yup."
The bartender quickly noticed that Wolfe wasn't up for any small talk and walked away. Probably looking to chat up some other, more social patron.
The sound of his omni-tool receiving an incoming call forced Irving's attention downwards to the holographic display on his left wrist. He didn't' even bother checking the caller ID. He already knew who it was.
Irving took a moment to swipe his credit chit to pay his tab and rose to exit the building. His gauntleted arm rose to shield his eyes from the sudden change in lighting as he stepped out into the bright Vancouver afternoon sun.
Wolfe opened up his omni-tool and took the call. His legs were already guiding him to his next destination.
"Hello?" he greeted the caller.
"Hey big bro. Where are you?"
The caller was none other than Irving's one and only younger sibling, Collin Wolfe. The both of them were orphans, their parents killed in a traffic collision in the skies above Terra Nova while the two of them were still in diapers. Afterwards they were sent to live with their grandmother who was one of the few in her company to survive the turian invasion of Shanxi. Even then Irving was forced to neglect his childhood in order to raise both Collin and himself due to the fact that his grandmother was too bust doing lines of red sand in order to deal with what happened on Shanxi. Sure, those actions led him to jail cell more often than not or running away from thugs twice his size. His saving grace came in the form of a priest who found the young man broken and mangled in an alley behind his church. He picked Irving up and put him in the hospital. Once he recovered, the priest paid the bill and pointed him to the nearest Alliance recruiting office. Irving may not be a believer but he knew a decent man and a chance when he saw one. He enlisted and never looked back.
Thankfully, Collin was the smarter of the two brothers. Somehow he managed to win a scholarship to Oxford University and took the quickest shuttle to Earth. In fact, he had only just graduated, walking the stage to clutch his master's degree in mass effect physics.
"I'm heading to the café right now," Irving answered, "is it just us or…" his voice trailing off but the meaning not lost.
"Yeah, it's just us. Claudia is at home with Nadine," Collin said regarding his wife and infant daughter respectively, "the poor woman probably hasn't slept in three mobths."
"Don't complain, you knew what you were getting into," Irving mocked.
"And I wouldn't trade it for anything in the whole galaxy."
"Except to see said galaxy," Irving reminded his younger brother of his choice to enlist in the Alliance navy.
"Yeah, well," Collin began struggling to find the right words to reply snidely, "diapers don't grow on trees."
"Well if you want to get technical, they sort of do."
"Whatever Irving. So what's going on with you man? You're never usually this chatty. You've been drinking?"
"No," he lied.
"Uh-huh," Collin replied disbelieving, "just get here alright, I already ordered."
"Be there in five," Wolfe said as he shut down the call.
It was only then, now that his mind wasn't preoccupied with a call, did he realize that he was walking through a river of people and doing so with ease. A path seemed perfectly carved right through the massive ensemble of business people and tourists. Most, if not all, were human but there was the occasional asari or salarian here and there.
Irving chuckled when he noticed a pattern forming. A person would glance in his direction, step out of his way, notice his N7 badge and his scars and then break all eye contact. After all, a fully armored and armed operative who looked like he was on the wrong side of a varren fight tended to be an intimidating sight.
"Wrong side of a varren," Irving darkly chuckled out loud at the irony of that.
Not before long, he found himself approaching a French themed restaurant. Table's for patrons sat both inside the café and outside in a small walled area. Irving found Collin seated at the latter.
Collin noticed the arrival of his older brother instantly and rose to greet him. As he shook Irving's hand, he playfully etched a face of mild disappointment regarding Irving's attire.
"Come on Irv, when I said casual, I meant casual for normal people, not super-bad-ass jarheads," Collin greeted sarcastically.
Irving could only laugh at that. Collin and Irving were what some would call polar opposites. If Irving was ying, Collin was his yang. While Irving is quiet, Collin is talkative. He is sociable and outgoing while Irving tended to be more closed off. Irving has a sharp pointy nose while his younger sibling's is small and stubby. Irving's Jaw juts outwards and his chin is cleft and broad. Collin's jaw is thin and his chin is small and shallow. While Collin tended to be more sarcastic and playful, even when its uncalled for, Irving errs on the serious side.
In short, they're perfect for each other.
"I'm just paranoid, I guess," Irving answered, taking his seat across from Collin.
"Okay, I'll let it slide but just this once. I don't need you cramping my style."
"You're style?" the elder balked, "Collin you're married and have a kid, what style could you possibly have?"
Collin shrugged playfully, "you'd be surprised."
The waitress arrived seconds later carrying a mug of fresh coffee for Irving, a refill for Collin and two plates of food for both of them. Each plate held a burger and a small order of French-fries. It seems the owners were getting culturally diverse, Irving thought sarcastically towards the irony of getting French-fries at a French themed café.
As Irving lifted the burger up to his lips, his eyes caught something hanging in between the buns. His heart began to race and sweat began to form on his face. Irving licked his lips as his took the first bite.
"Bacon," Irving said in a state of bliss, "little brother you shouldn't have."
"I told you, style."
They both tore into their meals. When Irving went to take a sip from his coffee, he faintly noticed the sweet tender aroma of hazelnut, one of the marine's personal favorites. He threw Collin a mock toast in thanks and sipped it, relishing in something that didn't have MRE tattooed on the front.
"So," Collin began with half his burger in his mouth, "what brings you to Earth? Not that I'm complaining, its just that I heard you N7 types were all business?"
Irving chuckled slightly although he waited before he was finished chewing to answer, "Yes we mean business which is why I'm here actually. I'm sure you've heard about the batarian blackout?"
"Yeah, of course. Shame what Shepard did though, killing all those innocent people."
"Innocent?" Irving balked, "Hardly. The commander did the galaxy a favor that day. Batarians are nothing but a menace on the galaxy. They deserve the worst."
Collin suddenly got defensive, "Oh, so you are going to start deciding what people, like the batarians, deserve."
Irving shut his eyes at that comment. While normally he would agree with Collin that blind hatred was wrong, this is one situation he couldn't agree on. He has seen the true colors of the batarian peoples and he didn't and still doesn't like what he saw.
Unconsciously, Irving's mind drifted to that godforsaken bunker. The screams of his comrades as they were tortured, the feel of his best friend's face break under his fists, the feel of the creature's claws as they dug into his flesh, the look she was giving him as they…
Irving's head shook violently as he whisked away the memories, "yes, I have that right."
Collin must have sensed his brother's inner demons because he backed off but only slightly.
"Irving, what those slavers did to you was monstrous and I am thankful for every day that I can still talk to you, but," Collin stopped abruptly as he struggled to find the right words, "all that hate and rage… its going to burn you up."
Irving looked at him in the eye as he said, "it keeps me warm."
Collin could only shake his head.
"But," he continued, "to answer you question, HighCom thinks there might be a threat of invasion. His unit and I are here to resupply and then we're heading back out."
Grateful that the conversation took a different spin, Collin responded, "When?"
"Tomorrow."
Collin nodded, "Before you go you should stop by the house. I'm sure Claudia would love to see you and you can visit the baby. She got bigger you know. It's a shame her uncle isn't around much though."
"Collin," Irving sighed, "I love his job. I'm doing important things, making a difference out there. Besides, soldiering is really all I know."
His younger brother didn't really have an answer to that mainly because Irving was right. He had enlisted at eighteen and after passing boot camp at Macapa he got sent to the 99th garrison on Eden Prime's southern most continent. Irving stayed there until his transfer to the 15th Infantry Division, one of many divisions slated for the invasion of Torfan. After that he spent several years attacking pirates and slavers along the boarder of the Terminus until his eventual induction into the N program in 2182. Irving joined the N7 team Sabre and remained there to this day.
It was the sound of thunder that drove his eyes upwards. He looked up expecting to see storm clouds brewing but was only greeted with blue skies and the occasional cloudy overcast. There was nothing that could warrant such a sound. Judging the fact that Collin's eyes were pointed skyward as well, he knew that he hadn't imagined it.
Collin easily dismissed it and returned to his meal. But Irving wasn't so easily deterred. His eyes were fixed on the sky when the entire ground seemed to shake. The cutlery and plates jumped in unison to the various tables causing the various patrons to glance around in confusion.
That was when what looked to be meteors began failing planetside. Their trails marked by the fire and heat caused by passing through the upper atmosphere.
"What is that?" someone asked.
As Irving rose to his feet to get a better look, several fireballs came streaking overhead. These seemed different though. They didn't appear to come from space, their velocity was too slow. No, these originated someplace else. Someplace close by.
Suddenly the entire horizon lit up like it was on fire. The likely culprit being some massive explosion. That was when Irving noticed the distant sound of gunfire and explosions. He quickly unclasped his Valkyrie Assault Rifle from the magnetic plating on his back and allowed it to unfold in his arms. Irving instantly regretted not bringing his helmet. It seemed ol' Murphy and his fucking law was throwing Irving another shitty hand, punishing him for not being prepared. But this was Earth! What could he have possibly been prepared for?
Irving was in the middle of chastising himself when another dozen fireballs landed in the nearby street. The earth shook and cracked wherever they landed. A few managed to pierce the surrounding buildings including the café he was standing outside of.
The force of the explosion that followed sent him off his feet. His ears began ringing and his vision was spotty. When he regained his senses he realized that he was on his back and was covered in debris and dirt that must have been kicked up. Irving quickly rose to his knees and picked up his rifle, scanning the front of the café for anything hostile.
When people began screaming and pointing at something behind him, Irving turned half expecting to see a batarian death squad or something similar. What he did see made him pause for a moment.
A person was shambling out of the impact crater. Only thing is, is that while it looked like a person, something was wrong. The eyes, the skin texture, the various tubes… it wasn't human. It looked human but now it seemed… soulless… a husk of its former self.
A police car came speeding up, its four wheels screeching to a stop some distance before the husk. Two officers disembarked, brandishing predator hand guns.
The husk turned towards the officers, drawn by the noise and began shambling towards them.
"Stop, or we will open fire!" ordered the lead officer, his partner not too far behind. The husk ignored their demands and turned its shamble into a trot. The officer repeated his order once more and once more it went ignored as the creature entered into a full out sprint.
This time there was no warning and the officers both fired into their attacker. The rounds entered and exited its chest and it fell, skidding along the pavement until coming to a stop at the officer's feet. Alarmingly a pool of red blood began to form around it. Both cops looked at each other then down at the husk. Two centuries of horror movies and paranoia fueling them as they kept their weapons trained on their victim.
Out of the corner of his eye Irving saw something rise from another impact crater. It was red, bulky, had four eyes, and, most worrisome, had some kind of weapon attached to it right arm.
Before he could act, it roared, opening it maw to reveal insides that glowed a bright bluish light. It raised its weapon as four more similar creatures joined it and fired.
The lead officer was the first to go down. The shot pierced his skull, killing him instantly. His partner turned to return fire only to be met by the creature's buddies who opened up on him. The force from the amount of fire the creatures threw at him sent the poor officer flying backwards and landing in a pool of his own blood.
This time Irving didn't hesitate as he raised his weapon and began sending volley after volley towards the mysterious hostiles. Years of training and experience guiding his shots as three of the four hostiles went down.
By now panic was everywhere. People were running in every direction, looking for whatever refuge they could find. More and more fireballs were landing around spilling out more and more husks and their four eyed counterparts.
It soon became too much and with no cover to speak of, Irving knew that he needed to think of something.
"Irving, watch out!"
The N7 turned to see two of the four eyed invaders bearing down on him. He took the next couple milliseconds to remember how much he had left in his current clip and summarized that he had enough left to take out at least one.
Irving acted as fast as his body would allow him to and disposed of the nearest creature first. He dropped his rifle and turned to confront-
Pain!
The creature flailed outwards with its gun arm and smacked him clean in the nose. Irving was actually surprised by how much power was behind that right hook as he felt his nose break. He did his best to ignore the pain and tears filling up his eyes and instantly reached for his boot knife.
Irving stabbed the creature right in its jugular. It let out a shrill like scream and attempted to repeat its last attack and aimed a swing at his head. The burly marine ducked underneath it, feeling the distortion of air above his head and let loose a powerful kick.
It sent the creature stumbling backwards far enough that he had time to whip out his Crusader Shotgun from the small of his back and fire two slugs into the creature's body. The first slammed into the creature's shoulder rocking the entire body towards the afflicted side. The next hit its… hump?... and it flew backwards.
Irving calmly strode over to it. He was amazed to see it still trying to stand but a well placed boot to its face stopped that prematurely. He aimed his shotgun and mercilessly blew its head off.
Irving took a couple seconds to notice that the blowback from the creature's face was a mix of organic and inorganic substances. He saw skull, blood, and brain matter but also saw a various array of tubing, circuitry, and metal implants.
Before Wolfe could investigate any further a shot slammed into his back and he felt his shields flare. He looked over his shoulder to see over a dozen of the four eyed creatures advancing on his position.
Irving fired the remaining shots left in his Crusader and watched as two of the hostiles fell.
"We need to move!" Irving yelled to his brother who was huddled behind a table that was knocked onto its side.
"I agree! But where to?" he yelled back.
The N7 took this time to slide his service hand gun, a simple predator, over to Collin who immediately snatched it up and began to return fire.
Irving paused when he heard the sound of a high pitched whistling noise and looked up to the sky. He saw a Mantis gunship, its engine on fire and spiraling out of control. In his mind he traced its path and saw that it was coming right for them. Irving wasted no time in picking up his Valkyrie and Crusader a placing them on his back. He grabbed Collin's wrist and practically threw him into the café. Wolfe followed seconds after just as the gunship slammed into the group of hostiles who were firing at them.
What greeted them inside the café could only be described as a massacre. Every patron and employee was killed. Each either shot in the back as they tried to run or shot in the front as they were taken by surprise.
Irving looked over to Collin whose eyes were wide in surprise and disgust. He reloaded both his weapons and put a hand on his brother's shoulder grasping his attention. Collin looked down to Irving's hand which was presenting him with a fresh thermal clip. He took it wordlessly and reloaded as well.
"Still think I'm paranoid?" Irving asked trying to lighten the mood but could see Collin was extremely perturbed by what was going down.
To be honest Wolfe was as well. No soldier ever can get used to seeing dead civilians. But as a soldier Irving has been trained to put those thoughts towards the back of his mind and address them when his life wasn't up for grabs.
Irving followed his brother's gaze back out onto the street and past the smoldering wreckage of the gunship. Most of the creatures had moved further down the block, chasing the remaining civilians and gunning down those they caught up with. However a couple remained. Irving nearly upchucked when he saw that they were actually eating the members of their dead.
"Jesus…" Collin muttered as a creature tore off another's and munched on it like it was a chicken leg, "They're… like cannibals or something… eating their own dead… but why?"
Irving shared this curiosity too. That is until he noticed that with every bite, the cannibal's skin would grow tougher and darker. The first one to finish stood upright and began striding towards another group. Irving recognized what he thought was communication between the two creatures and noticed that the cannibal was walking a little more intelligently than before, as if it had better control over its own body.
"We need to get out of here," the marine said trying to stay rational even though on the inside he was screaming his head off.
Collin nodded in agreement, "true but where do we go?"
Irving had no answer besides, "link up with my team. They're in an apartment block not too far from here. If we can find them we can form sort of organized defense, fight back."
"Okay, cool, but who exactly are we fighting?"
Irving Wolfe took a look at both forms of these invaders trying to recognize anything about them that could name a culprit. He just kept drawing blanks.
"I don't know kid, I don't know."
Author's Note
For those who have read this before: I've changed the POV from first person to third person. This was mainly due to the fact that third person is much easier and more fun to write. Also I have plenty of ideas for the later chapters that I can't do if the story is in first person.
For those who haven't read this yet: Thank you for joining me and I hope you enjoyed this. As you can tell it takes place at the start of Mass Effect 3 and will continue on in accordance with iBayne's story Galaxy at War: N7. If you are unfamiliar with it, go check it out, it's in my favorites. It is actually where Irving Wolfe, this stories main character, comes from. I submitted this character and soon decided to do a back story explaining his origins. Two other characters will appear as well but not until next chapter.
So thank you and remember to review if you have anything you'd like to say or have questions that you want answered.
So long and stay classy!