So...I just finished Mass Effect: Andromeda. First of all, seriously, why all of the hate? Okay, yeah, the facial animations aren't good and it had more than a few glitches, bugs and whatnot...but goddamn if it ain't awesome! Even if the story was kind of the same as the first game, what with the big bad trying to control something that could potentially allow him to doom/control the universe, but seriously, it was awesome. I really liked the characters.
That's why, even though I have more than enough stories on my plate...I've decided to write this little number. Word of warning for those who haven't finished the game and have yet to see Season 15, though! It has spoilers!
Enjoy you guys, because it is a Demons Anarchy of Pride original!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Mass Effect or Red vs Blue. Both belong to BioWare and RoosterTeeth respectively. I also do not own any of the characters or places, only what little events I have in mind.
A Mass Effect x Red vs Blue Crossover:
Red vs. Blue: The Andromeda Chronicles
It was finally over.
Half a year had passed since the successful arrest of Malcom Hargrove, the bald big bad wannabe corrupt corporate bastard extraordinaire, and the group had finally been given the relaxation time they deserved. They celebrated in probably the best way they could: Tucker somehow started up the Temple of Procreation, and needless to say, steamy hijinks and sexual pursuits and liberties were taken, though some encounters (i.e Simmons and Grif) were better left unsaid. Of course, the festivites couldn't last long, and the group certainly had no intention of going back to the UNSC. After all, technically speaking, they were still UNSC soldiers. Listed personnel. Thus, Kimball decided to give them their own bases on Chorus' moon.
Grif had originally been excited for the prospect of no longer having anything to do, though sadly he quickly learned it was more or less the same stereotypical bullshit that was common in Blood Gulch. In just a few days, Sarge got depressed about how he had not died heroically, and the Reds and Blues were quick to escape his soon-to-be-hatched insane plan. Carolina had a hard time adjusting to inaction as well, leading to her taking lessons from Grif of all people, though that obviously had not lasted long. Then the group found out the hard way that the moon was actually still populated.
...by Dinosaurs. Yes, you read that right. Honest to god Dinosaurs...which Caboose befriended.
Later, Donut accidentally burned down the bases through a mishap with his candles. Because most of the food was now gone, Grif had chosen to eat the native flora...which turned out to be powerful narcotics which Simmons described as "crystal meth ON crystal meth." Speaking of Simmons, he spent those months learning Esperanto, which he thought was Spanish for "Spanish."
The group then decided to raise up money by selling their movie rights to Hollywood. When a movie titled "Red vs. Blue: Dawn of Awesome" was released, which Grif complained was far too inaccurate, they received a large sum of money, enough to make new bases...though much to Carolina's chagrin, they believed that a water park was far more cool than bases. Then Donut came and apparently, well...let's just say on that day, they learned that lube is quite flammable. Flash forward a week later, Tucker has the bright idea of making a band to attract girls, though the only girl who joined was Carolina. To this day, the girl has yet to tell them that she took great pride tormenting them with her horrible singing, but she found it sweet that they didn't have the heart to tell her that she sucked.
Then Sarge had the BRILLIANT idea to make his own evil robot army, though they somehow malfunctioned and attacked the Dinosaurs instead. Somewhere in between this and his next idea of a war and enemy to fight, Grif convinced Simmons that Game of Thrones was actually real. Back to Sarge, the new enemy he made was...well, I'll let the man himself explain.
Sarge: For far too long our people have been oppressed, crushed, under the weight of our selves! If we don't start standing up to our mortal foe gravity, by god who will?
This wonderful endeavor led to the lose of one jeep, so Sarge believed it was time to once again start up the "Red vs. Blue War." However, the Blood Gulch Crew knew the futility of such a thing, thus came together to discuss a form of government. After minutes of debate, the consensus was...!
*drum roll*
...Malarkey. Meaningless talk and nonsense.
Then, somehow, don't ask me how this was even possible given that these are two different franchises, Caboose found himself in Stranger Thing's Upside Down. Hell, the Reds and Blues tried to use the same communication method that the mother did, only everyone's favorite blue idiot kept saying neat. Flashforward once more weeks later, Grif buried what he believed was Donut's dead body...in reality, the effeminate man had gone skinny dipping. The less said about that, the better. According to Carolina, the weirdest thing by far was Washington growing a beard of all things.
It has been a long time since then, and according to Grif, all of this, which happened in the span of nearly half a year mind you, he had only one thing to accurately describe all of this.
The same damn shit, with the same damn idiots.
It was supposed to be a peaceful retirement, yet it was more or less what the simulation troopers had experienced back in Blood Gulch. That being said, the orange soldier wasn't willing to admit, but he enjoyed it. They all did. No more fighting, no more adventures...yes, it was going to take some time to get used to the peace and quiet, or what they considered to be peace and quiet, but it was a peaceful retirement nonetheless. That being said, however, Simmons and Lopez had been looking closely at Chorus' situation. Kimball had been in deep water when negotiations with the UNSC broke down, and had now formed a blockade. The cause behind the breakdown wasn't said, though it was an ill-omen. It made them worry about the UNSC accidentally finding them and shipping them off to who knows where.
Then, one day...everything changed. A single message that, despite all dangers that came from the UNSC making a naval blockade around the planet, had spurred them into action once more. And now the group stood before what could only be called a massive gate, which stood before them like an imposing monolith. It looked like the outline of a large gateway, though only alien tech-made walls was behind its vacant space. The Blood Gulch Crew looked at it, knowing what its purpose was.
[I have told you all before,] a red holographic image appeared over a hub console of some kind, resembling an alien being covered in armor. [However, I shall say so once again. I know nothing of what lays for you beyond this gate. My creators' predecessors, the ones you know as the Forerunners, did not have good relations with the Jardaan.]
"We know that," Carolina said to the alien AI, Santa. "But...we're willing to take the risks. Just to be clear, though...this gate leads to another universe?"
[Correct. Specifically, it leads to an alternate universe's Heleus Cluster of the Andromeda Galaxy, the home of the alien race known as the Angara.]
"And it's at this Andromeda place that we can fix Church?" Tucker asked, hope in his voice. "For real? You're not joking us around."
Santa turned towards Tucker, nodding his head. [If there is anything that still remains of the records between the Jardaan and the Forerunners, it is that the Jardaan's technology has unexplored possibilities. It is a safe assumption that you may be able to restore the Epsilon AI Fragment with it. However, that is all it is. A mere assumption. In the end, the decision...rests with you.]
With this said, Santa activated the gate. Once he did, a dark blue light engulfed the interior, becoming the portal that it was meant to be. The group marveled at the gate, only capable of imagining what might lay in store for them on the other side. Carolina turned to the Blood Gulch Crew, staring at them. "You heard Santa you guys," she said, her voice tense. "There isn't any chance that we might fix Church...and there's also a chance that we might not come home. I've asked you before, but I'll ask again anyway: you sure about this?"
"We have a shot on bringing back Church," Tucker said, crossing his arms with a serious look on his face. "There is no way in hell I'm passing this up."
"I want to see Church again!" Caboose cried, jumping around excitedly. "That way, he can play with me and Freckles! And the Reds! And Tucker!"
"Another dimension?" Simmons said, his face showing that his birthday and Christmas had come early. "New alien species? New technology? How can I pass that up?"
Sarge cocked his shotgun, pumping it with vigor. "New world means new enemies!" he said. "Missy, if you think I'm missing out on this action, you better get your head checked!"
"I'm with you, Caboose and Tucker," Washington said, giving Carolina a nod. "I'm willing to bet on this to bring our friend back...that, and looking after these idiots is kind of in our job description, Carolina." he added with a cheeky grin, making the older woman roll her eyes.
Donut giggled excitedly. "Its a brand new adventure in a brand new world!" he said. "Imagine what they must have in Andromeda!"
[No importa lo que diga o haga / Doesn't matter what I say or do,] Lopez said in his robotic monotone voice. [Ustedes los idiotas me van a traer a lo largo no importa qué. ¿Cuál es el punto en discutir sobre él? / You idiots are going to bring me along no matter what. What's the point in arguing about it?]
"Oh, you think so too, Lopez?!" the pink-armored man giggled. "Oh, this will be great!"
[...ni siquiera quiero saberlo. / ...I don't even want to know.]
The group chuckled at this, as despite not understanding what Lopez said, they could tell he was exasperated by Donut's attempts to translate. Carolina was certainly amused, though she then directed her attention to one of the more surprising individuals of the bunch. "And how about you, Girf?"
The orange-armored fatass was not easy to convince. When Santa had told them that it was possible to bring Epsilon back online through the use of another dimension's alien tech, he made it perfectly clear that he did not want any part of their adventure. He was tired of this: Church somehow coming back, and he was also tired of their adventures. He made it blatantly clear he wanted no part of this, and outright told them he was quitting. They were in retirement for fuck's sake, and now they wanted back into the fire because they could get their ghost friend back? No way, fuck that. With his piece said, the man went off somewhere...only to be talked to and dragged by the efforts of both Sarge and Simmons.
Whatever they said had brought Grif with them here, though it was obvious he still did not like the idea. "I thought we already it made clear that we're doing this, no matter what anyone says," he said annoyed. "Let's just get on with it."
Carolina frowned a bit, but accepted it nonetheless. Everyone slipped on their helmets, fastening it while prepping their weapons. Tucker whipped out Plasma Sword (read: Great Key), giving it a few swings before nodding in satisfaction. Grif huffed, checking out his Grif Shot, which he totally kept after the whole thing with Hargrove. It was technically his to begin with, since he claimed it as his spoil of victory for beating The Meta. Sarge inspected his shotgun, and gave it another pump. Simmons, Lopez and Donut inspected their rifles and found nothing wrong. Caboose, meanwhile, looked at his rifle. "This is going to be great!" he said happily. "We're going to see Church again! You think its exciting too, don't you, Freckles?!"
[Affirmative, Captain Caboose.]
After some debate, the group decided to return Freckles to inside Caboose's rifle. If they were going into unknown territory, the last thing they needed was friendly fire. Carolina looked at the small data chip in her hand, which was now empty. Everytime she looked at it, she half-expected a cobalt-blue holographic soldier to appear. "Hey," Washington comforted her, gently gripping her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll get him back."
"I know we will," Carolina said with the utmost confidence. She slipped the data chip back into her slot, and clenched her fists. "Alright boys. Let's go!"
With a collective shout of agreement and a grunt, the Reds and Blues of Project Freelancer jumped into the gateway. Unknown to them, should they return, another adventure would await them. One less epic, but equally as perilous, as the one they embarked upon now.
That, however, is a story for another day...
Episode 001: Same Shit, Same Idiots, New Galaxy
[Location: Ark Hyperion]
Sara Ryder, age 23, awoke with a startled gasp. Her body lit up like a Christmas tree - electricity sparking right through her body with a sudden jolt while her skin felt as if she had just taken a dive into a pool of hot coffee. A cold air greeted her, blanketing over her and flowed into her throat, creating a small chill down her spine. Her breath could faintly been seen as a thin cloud of warm air.
Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, but a single thought: the one that stayed with her when she was put to sleep, had told her one thing. If she was awake, that meant they had done it. They were finally here.
They were in Andromeda.
"...we made it," she breathed. She tried to stand, but her body had resisted the attempts. Her limbs felt like heavy weights of led, and found herself sitting back down on the seat of the stasis pod. "Crap..."
"Whoa, careful," someone told her, easing her back down when she tried a second attempt. Sara looked up. Already, she found more people leaving the cryo bay, some walking out sluggishly and others perfectly straight. The people in front of her seemed perfectly fine, and their faces didn't even seem remotely tired or rough after waking up, meaning they had been awake for quite a while. "You need to take it easy."
Sara smiled widely in excitement. "I've been taking it easy for 600 years."
600 years...was it really that long? Yes, that would be the estimated time when they would arrive in Andromeda, but has it truly been that long? It honestly felt like it was yesterday when she got into that stasis pod. Sara remembered that she wasn't alone, either. She looked around, hoping to find a familiar face, but to her disappointment she was met with only vaguely familiar and unknown ones.
"Let's see," one of the people taking care of her for the moment said, looking at the data provided on her Datapad. "Ryder, Sara. Specialist Recon Ops, right? You're apart of the Pathfinder Team."
Pathfinder...that's right. Her father, Alec Ryder, was named the Pathfinder - the official explorer for the human ark - by the Andromeda Initiative. As Pathfinder, it was his duty, as well as the duty of the team he selected personally, to secure a "golden world" for them to inhabit. In this case, Habitat 7 - "New Earth." His face was not among the faces that were leaving the cryo bay, so she assumed he was either not awake yet, or he was already up and waiting for his team to get ready for action.
"Can you find someplace nice and tropical?" the caretaker asked with an excited grin. Sara didn't blame her whatsoever. It was an exciting time to be up. "Warm, summer beaches, all year round?"
Her partner chuckled. "Come on," he said, grabbing Sara's arm gently. "First things first, let's get her back up on her feet."
[Location: Unknown]
"SON OF A BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!"
[¡Hijo de puta! / Son of a bitch!]
Those four words came screaming out of the mouths of the Blood Gulch Crew as they found themselves being propelled through what could only be called a wormhole. A mixture of flashing lights - red, blue, green, yellow, purple, pink, black, white - all danced together in a colorless void that seemed to stretch on, tossing them around and disorienting them. No one could tell if they were falling down, or up, or sideways. It was impossible to tell. It was like a wild rollercoaster ride cranked up to a hundred, going so fast and twisting around so much it was impossible to get their bearings. It almost felt like being caught in a wave and being pushed down by the currents.
"EVERYONE, HOLD ON TO EACH OTHER!" Carolina shouted. Her voice echoed across the void.
The crew tried to follow her advise. Caboose swung around frantically, trying to grab on to someone close to him. His arms wrapped around Sarge's waist, and the colonel grabbed on to Lopez's ankle. Tucker was looking around for something to grab, and found Donut reaching out to him. "GRAB MY HAND, QUICK!" the pink-armored soldier cried. Tucker wasted no time, and grabbed on to Donut's hand for dear life. Simmons and Grif, by some cosmic twist of fate, held on to one another, falling down like a couple on a parachute wedding. Carolina struggled to try and reach out to them, to try and grab on to her family. However, they were all drifting too far apart.
"CAROLINA!"
The woman turned, and found Washington flailing close to her. He was upside down and spinning, enough so he swear he was starting to get dizzy, and held out his hands in an attempt to grab her. She cursed, realizing she wasn't close enough to grab his hand, but then remembered she still had her plasma guns. She took one out and fired a round, using the recoil to push her back. Four more shots, and she was close enough so that Washington was able to grab her foot, pulling himself closer to her and fix his out of control body movements.
"THIS WAS SO NOT FUCKING APART OF THE PLAN!" Tucker shouted at the top of his lungs. "NEXT TIME, WE ARE WALKING IN! NOT JUMPING!"
"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT?!" Grif snapped. "WE DIDN'T HAVE A FUCKING PLAN!"
"I DON'T WANT TO BE DEAD!" Caboose cried. "I WANT TO BE ALIVE! OR A COWBOY!"
The group was drifting further and further apart. At this rate, they were praying that they held close to whoever they were with. The rate at which they were being tossed around or falling was going even faster. The lights were getting brighter, converging with one another as they spiraled around. There was an unseen force pushing against them now, something fierce and crushing them under its weight. "OH FUCK OFF WITH YOU, NEWTON!" Sarge got out. With his war against gravity still ongoing, he was sure as hell not about to let whatever force was pulling them down win. However, whatever was pressing up against them was most certainly not gravity.
Eventually, the void began to break apart. The air around them was shaking, and the lights continued to grow brighter.
"HOLD ON!" Carolina screamed. The words were unneeded at this point as they were all hanging on to their friends for dear life. "EVERYONE HOLD O-"
Then they were consumed by the light.
[Location: Habitat 7]
Sara Ryder had seen an experienced many things during her time in the Human System's Alliance. The call for adventure had been a big part of her since she was a little kid growing up with her twin brother was one of the many reasons she became part of the Andromeda Initiative with her father and brother. The chance to discover a whole new galaxy and establish a new home light years from the Milky Way was something she couldn't help but want to be a part of.
For over 600 years, Sara, along with the other 20,000 colonists on the human ark: Hyperion ventured from their home galaxy through the depth of dark space to the neighboring one. Sleeping in cryostasis as she waited for them to arrive...
Of course, upon waking, what everyone on board the Hyperion had been expecting had been crushed.
Instead of finding a golden world to call home, they found a galactic anomaly that damaged their ship and stopped it in its tracks before they even touched the atmosphere. SAM, the initiative's AI, informed them that it was some form of unstable dark matter that surrounded the planet and caused massive disruptions to the system, and that something was happening down on the planet below as well that they were not expecting. Once the situation was established, Sara and a small team joined her father Alec on an expedition to figure out what was happening down on what should have been their new home. The planet that had been dubbed, 'Habitat 7'.
Two shuttles were loaded and left the Hyperion, trouble not hitting them until they breached the atmosphere and running straight into an ion storm. The vessel Sara was on with half the team was struck with a bolt of lightning, the power behind it tearing the shuttle apart and sending the occupants hurtling into open air. Through good timing, and a sheer amount of luck, Sara had been able to hit the ground without breaking anything, save for a crack in her helmet's visor that she had quickly repaired when she had trouble breathing.
Standing and getting her first look at what should have been Humanity's new home, Sara felt all the beliefs of what the initiative stood for die a little. Lightning flashed in the darkening skies, whole mountains floating in the air as though willed by destabilized gravity, and if her trouble moments ago was anything to go on, the air wasn't capable of supporting human life.
"This isn't the golden world we were told about..." Sara said to herself before bringing up her omni-tool. "This is Ryder. Come in." her response was static. "Hyperion? SAM? Anyone there?" she tried again with the same result.
"Save your breath, Ryder." Sara turned her head and saw one of the men on the team, Liam, jumping over a couple floating rocks to join her. "SAM's offline. Comm link's trashed. I'm surprised we aren't, too." he said, putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
"Did the other's make it?" asked Sara, wondering about the others as well as her father.
Liam shook his head, "I don't know. It was all a blur. Shuttle split in two...this is like some nightmare." he replied, his accented voice still heavy with fatigue after his own brush with death.
"Yeah. No way this is home." said Sara, looking out over the dangerous landscape before them. "We need to get to higher ground, see if we can locate the others."
"Just thinking the same thing," said Liam as they started making their way up a rocky path leading into the mountain they had landed on. "How's your survival training?"
"I've seen my share of troubles." said Sara, "Nothing crazy, but..." she trailed off, hinting toward their current predicament as they came across wreckage from the shuttle. Checking it for anything usable, they continued forward, keeping their eyes and ears open for any sign of the rest of the team.
Discovering more wreckage from their transport along the way. "Do you think that energy cloud we saw could have caused this?" asked Liam.
"SAM said that it was dark energy, but that was in space." replied Sara with a shake of her head, "No, this is something else." They rounded a corner along the path and came to a sudden stop.
A head of them, multiple bolts of lightning continuously struck the ground. Each powerful zap sending rocks and debris floating into the air in small puffs of smoke. "What the hell is this?!" exclaimed Liam, trying to understand the bizarre and very dangerous anomaly before them.
"Whatever it is, we gotta get through it. Come on!" Sara ran forward, pumping her legs hard as she sprinted through the open area. Barely managing to avoid the lightning strikes that rained down around her while hearing Liam right behind her, cursing loudly as he narrowly avoided being fried by the freak ion storm.
The duo reached a open cavern and ducked inside, safe from the dangers of the outside.
"Is this shit for real?!" Liam shouted as they stopped to catch their breath. "What the hell's wrong with this place?"
"Welcome to Habitat 7," Sara said back with a bit of sarcasm. "The damn planet's trying to kill us!"
"It can try!" the man replied as they kept going. Working along ledges and climbing up rock faces with the aid of their jump packs. Lightning still raining down around them, but not nearly as severe as before.
Sara pulled herself up to another ledge and peered down at Liam, "How did my dad find you for this?"
"I was a cop. Then crisis response." replied Liam before they both jumped over a wide gap with the use of their jump jets. "I'll tell you the rest over a beer sometime."
"Deal." Sara kicked her pack on again and leapt up over another rock face. "I think I can see the top, almost there."
They pulled themselves up and looked out ahead, in the distance was a large monolith that looked anything but a natural rock formation. A vortex of dark-blue energy spewing from the top and exploding into the sky where it spread out in all directions. A pulse shot through the air from the vortex, making the two Humans steady themselves. "What...the hell is that." Liam said in equal parts awe and hesitation.
"It's not a hotel, that's for sure." said Sara in the same state. "Nothing around here makes any sense."
Liam nodded in agreement, perking up when he looked farther down and finding the burning front half of their shuttle setting against a pile of rock. His eyes widening from behind his visor when he saw movement by a piece of the wreckage and finding someone on the ground leaning against it.
"Ryder look! It's Fisher!" he said, preparing to go down and help the man.
Sara grabbed him and pulled him down before he got too far, "Wait...look!" she said pointing out something else.
From around the other side of what was left of the shuttle, they spotted two other beings come around into the open. The way they stood and moved, they could almost pass for Human, but their skin looked hard and white, almost like bone. Their faces were a pale-grey with blue-slitted eyes set in them. In their hands were weapons that resembled their own assault rifles, and the green armor they wore signified that they were some form of soldier.
"Holy shit! What was first contact protocol again?" Liam said lowly, while they watched the two unknown aliens kicking around pieces of the shuttle wreckage. More than likely searching for something.
"No deadly force unless fired upon." said Sara, remembering the briefing clearly.
"Yeah, said no one in the field ever. How do we handle this?" asked her companion.
Sara thought it over, weighing the pros and cons of the actions they should take. "We take it easy. We only get one shot at 'hello' with these guys."
"And Fisher gets shot in the head if we're wrong." Liam couldn't help but comment as they stood up. Approaching the crash site with their hands half-raised as a sign of peace. The two aliens checking around the shuttle saw them coming.
"Niad shurid!" one of them shouted in an unknown language.
"We can't understand you!" Sara called out to them slowly, "We're not here to fight, that man is with us!"
"Niad shurid!" the first alien exclaimed again, raising their weapons at the approaching Humans. The second one started beating Fisher while he was down. "Tolerad!"
Sara cursed, pulling up her pistol and fired at the one attacking their comrade. Liam doing the same to the first alien who had begun firing upon them. The two Humans dropped behind different rocks for cover when their shields went down, reloading their weapons and waiting for their shields to recharge as they tried to figure out what to do.
"Oh, shit! They got friends!" Liam called out, seeing three more aliens coming out and joining the other two, all of them taking shots at their position. "What do we do, Ryder?!"
The young woman gritted her teeth, letting her Alliance training kick in as she stood up. Blue energy channeling along her body as she cocked her arm back, the same energy gathering in her hand as he threw it forward, a bolt of power launching through the air and striking one of the hostiles in the head. The biotic lance sending it crashing against the shuttle before landing in the dirt, never to rise again.
"One down." Sara muttered, having to drop down again when her shields shattered. Peering over her cover, she saw one of the remaining four aliens moving toward Fisher. The man unable to defend himself as the hostile raised its weapon at his head. "Fisher, shit!" she screamed, knowing an execution when she saw one, and preparing to make a go at helping him despite the risks.
Before she could move, however, a thunderclap roared above them. It sounded different than that of a typical thunder strike, as following was what sounded like a scream. "...aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAH!" In the next second, something blue came crashing down atop the unknown alien. The ground shuddered a bit while Sara and Liam had to regain their bearings. They looked, and to their shock, the alien that tried to Fisher was dead. And sitting on top of it was a figure wearing dark blue armor. It was a make neither had seen before, bearing a golden visor and wielding what appeared to be an assault rifle. "Wow...that was fun."
"What in Sam Hill is going on here?!" another voice cried out indignantly. Popping up from behind the wreckage was another soldier, this one dressed in red armor and with a different helmet bearing the same colored visor, and holding a shotgun. "Stupid gateways and portals! Unreliable, I'm telling you! We should have just grabbed a ship and drove our way here! Would have been a lot more stylish and dramatic!"
Sara blinked. What...in the hell was he talking about? More importantly, those guns looked like antiques. Were they actually using pre-Mass Effect weapons? Why? They were so heavily outdated. Regardless, she was thankful that they had shown up, since the blue soldier was sitting atop the alien that tried to kill Fisher, which was as dead as doornail, head reduced to brain matter and splattered across the ground.
"Niad Shurid!"
Dammit, she forgot about them! Cursing, she and Liam snapped out of their stupor when they saw the rest of the aliens converge, ready to end them, their guns at the ready. However, as soon as they did-
[Hostile threat level increased. Firing main cannon.]
The blue soldier's rifle went off, firing a steady stream of bullets that tore straight into the aliens' bodies, pumping them full of holes. Strangely, it seemed as if the gun itself was guiding the soldier as it jerked around, aiming itself at its targets. In no time at all, all of the aliens were dead. Eventually, the firing ceased. Sara stared at the gun, bewildered.
She swore she heard it talk.
"Ah, dammit!" the red-armored soldier swore, moving close to the blue one. "Caboose! You should have left me some! I wanted to greet 'em personally with my shotgun!"
"Sorry," the one called Caboose apologized, looking at his rifle. "Freckles, leave some of the mean people to Sarge! He wants to make new friends!"
[Acknowledged.]
Okay, she wasn't hearing things. The gun...was talking. That was weird. She had heard of guidance systems before, but someone implanting a VI into it? Liam walked up next to her, looking at the two in a befuddled manner. "Uh, Ryder?" he asked. "Who in the world...are these guys?"
"I...honestly have no idea."
TO BE CONTINUED...?