THEY CALL ME…PROPHET.
Time seemed to slow down. Everything slowed down. The giant, pulsing beam of blue light that shot into the sky to form a huge wormhole slowed down. The debris that swirled around the sky and into the gaping wormhole slowed down. EVERYTHING slowed down. He could hear Psycho's words echoing in his mind.
"Do it! Kill that thing!"
And now here he was, reaching out for his abandoned predator bow. He watched the forms of numerous Ceph around him, their horrible, multilated forms raising their plasma weapons to land the killing blow on the vulnerable soldier. The creature's many eyes digged into his, and he watched a single devastator approach him, its huge T-PAC Mortar aiming at this body. If he didn't act fast, he was going to be nothing but plasmatic dust.
With a final ounce of strength, the man once named Major Laurence Barnes, now only known as Prophet, the man who had sacrificed everything, including his own humanity, to destroy the Ceph, reached out and grabbed the bow by the handle, gripping it in his right hand tightly. He quickly loaded an explosive bow into the weapon and moved with efficiency only possible with a nanosuit to aim it at the gaping mouth of his enemy; the Alpha Ceph.
The giant beast loomed over him, large orange eyes glaring into his as if waiting for him to make a move. When the beast saw what was awaiting him, it attempted to retreat, but its reaction time hadn't been enough. Releasing the string, it shot forward like an elastic band, the frag-tipped bow shooting forward to impact the Ceph leader in the mouth.
A huge explosion resounded through the area, the Alpha leaning back, screaming in agony as a fiery hell engulfed its form. Prophet watched as the bodies of its Ceph adjutants fell around it, nothing left but the discarded armoured plates that once protected them.
With a final, resounding boom, the Alpha Ceph exploded in a shower of molten metal and glowing red jelly, the huge beast now no more. The blast was blinding, and before Prophet could do anything else, everything went black.
If this was death, now was a better time than any.
You're not dead yet, Boss. Psycho.
Get up. The fight ain't over yet. Aztec.
You're a marine! Get up and finish the fight! Jester.
You can do it sir. Remember Lingshan? Well here you are, finish what we started! Nomad.
The voices of Raptor squad filled Prophet's mind, all with purpose, all urging him to continue. But he was dead. What was there left to do but scream at his own failure?
You sacrificed everything. Everything. You gave up your humanity to fight the enemy. So why give up now? If you do, Nomad's sacrifice will have been for nothing. Make it count. Get back in the fight, Prophet.
Prophet recognized the voice, it was one that had remained silent for so long, and one in which he had consumed.
Alcatraz.
Everything became recognizable in an instant.
He still had a job to do, and he'd be damned if he gave up now.
Two Hours Later.
"Nathan Gould?"
Nathan was a tired man these days. Twenty-four years had past since Alcatraz disappeared, twenty-four years since the Ceph were defeated. Or so they had thought. He couldn't have predicted what CELL would do, but it had been obvious from the get go that Lockhart wasn't and hadn't been the only idiotic moron to be against CryNet's Nanosuit program.
CryNet Enforcement and Local Logistics, simply known as CELL, had become a major organization ever since the conclusion of the Manhattan Incident. When they rolled in, the Pentagon was unable to stop them. CELL even managed to majorly fuck up the CIA, and it wasn't long before they started a 'nanodome' program. And of course, guess what? New York was the test puppy.
'It's for your own protection' CELL had said. More like 'For money' in Gould's opinion. And thanks to Lockhart's buddies in CELL's ranks, they authorized a large scale EMP strike on New York. He had always suspected that Alcatraz was caught in the blast and captured, and ever since the incident in the Liberty Dome, he had been proven right.
Distracted from his thoughts, he turned to look at Lieutenant Tara Strickland, now Senator, who seemed to have a serious look on her face. She wasn't the 'say cheese' type, not to mention smiling would probably ruin whatever demeanour she had going on. Gould and Tara had never really been on good terms, and he didn't need them to be, as long as Tara left him to do his work, he'd be fine.
"Yes Senator? Is this about Alcatraz or CELL?" Gould asked, noticing Tara's shift in position.
"Both actually. CELL's in complete disarray. Apparently the Ceph have returned." Gould went wide-eyed at that, but Tara held up her hand to forestall him from saying anything else.
"But…Alcatraz managed to escape CELL's 'hospitality' and was able to stop them. Apparently the Ceph had a massive invasion force moving in from the M33 Galaxy, ready to burn Earth into dust. Alcatraz took control of Archangel and used it to destroy the Ceph flagship, collapsing the wormhole. As for CELL, well, let's say the Ceph have given them food for thought. The local populace has all but kicked them out and without US funding or Archangel to help them, CELL is falling under bankruptcy. CELL's days are numbered to say the least."
"And Alcatraz?" Gould asked, pulling on strings.
"MIA. Although…he was seen falling into Earth's atmosphere."
"Over which area?" Gould demanded.
"Impossible to be sure of, but according to approximated fall trajectory…Lingshan."
"Shit…that's where it all began. Where your father…"
"Died. I've already sanctioned for the dispatch of the First Fleet. The Koreans weren't too happy, but I think the president was able to keep them quiet."
"Tara…thank you." Gould stated, "For everything. You've done. If there's even a chance Alcatraz is alive…"
"We'll find him. You'll be the first to know. Goodbye, Gould." Tara finished, turning to leave.
"You too, Senator."
When Tara was gone, all Nathan Gould could do was slide into his chair and smile a LARGE smile.
You crazy son-of-a-bitch Alcatraz…
Or should I say…Prophet.
Meanwhile, in Lingshan.
The man named Laurence Barnes looked out across the clear blue ocean, smiling at the beautiful setting he found himself in. He slowly looked down towards the dogtags held in his palm. Aztec. Jester. Nomad…
Psycho.
Closing his opened hand, he threw the dogtags into the ocean, laying his comrades to rest. He had moved on, and with the Ceph finally defeated once and for all, he could rest. Many had said that the suit was the only thing keeping Laurence alive. And one point, they had been right. The suit had been his body.
IT WAS his body. For right now, Laurence was living OUTSIDE of the suit. He had long stashed it away, exchanging it for his white shirt. He smiled at his coffee-brown skin, now covered in tiny, blue hexagons of light.
He looked up at the sky one final time as he entered cloak, moving back into his hut, content with where life had taken him.
Sure the suit kept him alive…it still was.
But for all the Ceph technology digged into him, he was now something more.
He didn't need the suit.
I AM THE SUIT.
THEY ONCE CALLED ME PROPHET.
MY REAL NAME IS LAURENCE BARNES, RETIRED SPECIAL FORCES.
NOW THEY CALL ME…RAPTOR.
AN:
Hope you enjoyed this one-shot, it's a nice break from doing mass effect fanfics. If you are angry at spoilers, then blame yourself, it said in the description that there would be spoilers you silly man/woman.
Until next time, ;)