I: Awakening
"Humans, they're so... primitive, and ignorant... not mention violent." said Gort, peering out of the view port at the fight between a thug and an Alliance soldier. "And weak." finished Avisto. Gort nodded in agreement. Avisto hadn't known Gort but maybe a weak since his enlistment into Spectres. He didn't know Gort all to well either. Avisto felt a strong hand slap his shoulder. It was another Krogan... Phist... Jessy Phist. "Watching another fight eh?" Avisto had known Jessy for 3 years. He was a good friend of him too. Avisto's train of thought was broken when he heard a scream and a crack. He saw that the Alliance soldier had brokenthe thugs arm and he had passed out. Avisto recognised this soldier... or rather 'Infiltrator' as Jon Jenkins... and expert Sniper... who also good at Hacking. "Jon? Well you certainly taught that street thug."
"Yeah. He was asking for it, tried to beat up an old lady... pity."
"Why didn't you just rip off his head?" Replied Phist
Avisto looked over to speak to Gort and saw that he was gone. Probably really busy commanding a Krogan Fleet. Everything was always so fast paced and rushed here at the Citadel... 1 of many. A couple of years ago Cmdr. Shepard stopped the Reaper "Sovereign" from consuming it. Avisto wondered if there were any more of them.
Avisto was called before the council for a meeting. "Avisto, as a Spectre it is your duty to uphold the justice. We need you to go on a mission." Spoke the Asari Councillor.
"What kind of a mission?" replied Avisto.
"We need you to invesitgate a certain individual... she goes by the name of "Adriusa" she is a Turian Spectre. Several deaths have been reported on Akuze... the planet she was last on." finished the Turian Councillor.
"Where is she now?" said Phist.
"We believe she is still there and we need you to go there and 'spy' on her if you will." said the Salarian Councillor.
"It would be an honor. I will see what she is up to." said Avisto
Avisto had heard of her before, she joined the Spectres several years ago... but hasn't been as active since Saren's death. Avisto sees many similarities between her and Saren...its almost disturbing how much they have in common. The shadyness... the absence... the suspicion. But Avisto was going to find out whats going on.
Avisto's ship, The SSV Anomaly, departed from the Citadel in pursuit of Adriusa. When they hit the Mass Relay they as planned came out at Akuze. "Bring us in to the colony's docking bay Leoa." said Avisto. "Bringing us in." The ship docked and no one seemed to be home. Out of the airlock stepped Avisto, Jon, and Phist. Avisto knew something was fishy when he smelled blood in the air. He ran to the entrance and saw dead bodies. He ran over to examine one. The size of the rounds indicates that Geth were here. The real mission was about to begin.
II: Akuze Assault
"I hate this place" said Phist. "It smells like Stove Bellies here."
"Shhh!" Said Avisto interrupting Phist. "We've got trouble." There were nine of them, eight Troopers and one Shock Trooper. They were deploying Dragon's Teeth. "Damn, looks like were gonna have some Husks here soon." said Jon. "Nothin' we can't handle though... right boss?" said Phist. "Right Phist. Let's give 'em a little surprise." Said Avisto holding up a grenade. He flung it at the unweary robots blowing five of the ignorant ones to scrap metal. They then went in blazing fury. Two of them went down, they then quickly made short work of the last two. Avisto and Jon made short work of the Husks. And came to a locked security checkpoint. "Hold on, i'll take care fo this." and Jon went to work on the computer. "Goddam I hate it when he does this, its a waste fo time when we could be having fun blowing the damn thing down." Said Phist, as usual. "Well you never know there could be a whole crowd of them waiting to frag your ass on the other side." replied Avisto. "Got it! Just open it whenever your ready boss!" Avisto activated the panel and took cover as Phist threw in a grenade blowing huge chunk of Geth to smithirines. There were several Shock Troops in this room and a single Geth Juggernaut. "Focus heavy fire power on that Juggy!" yelled Avisto and they lunged grenades at it and fired at its red eye with Assault rifles. Avisto was pinned down by several Geth Snipers. He threw a grenade at them causing them to either scatter... or... well... "blow up". Avisto took care fo the rest of the scattered troops with Assault rifle bursts. The Juggy was really putting up a fight. "Damn, I wish I had a Rocket Launcher right about now!" Complained Phist. "Phist! Here!" Avisto tossed him some more grenades and he lunged them at the machine... it had to be near death. Then it stopped firing... had they won? Out of nowhere Phist was sent flying into the wall. The damn thing was berserking! It rushed at Avisto who dove out of the way and it went crashing tino the wall. He armed several mines and placed them at the new entrance the Geth had made and distracted it, which then rushed at him running right over the mines. They detonated and soon peices of the robot went flying everywhere. Phist and Jon showed up behind him. "So... er... what was our objective again?" asked Jon.
They were traveling through the food courts now. Still no sign of... then Avisto saw the slender, menacing Turian, Adriusa sitting at a computer terminal. "Stay were you are! You are hereby..."
"What are you talking about!?" Said the traitor, interrupting Avisto. "I've been sitting here trying to call for reinforcements ever since The Geth first attacked the colony." She continued. "You're lying! I was told to bring you before the council if you were doing anything out of hand. You've been working for the Geth! I have a recording I found on a dead colonist right here!" He said throwing the tape recoder at her on. He had found it while searching a dead colonist's body on their way to the food court. [i"Take all the dead or wounded and destroy their remains. We can't let any evidence that we were here be found. I'll continue to search for more data on the Central Relay."[/i Avisto turned the recorder off and pointed his rifle at her head. "Now, I am going to ask you what, and where the Central Relay is, who you are wroking for. And you are going to cooperate and answer truthfully. Then we are going to escort you to the Citadel and you are going to cooperate. Is that clear?" Said Avisto. "Not entirely." and with that Adriusa threw down a smoke screen generator and was gone. Avisto was seriously pissed off now.
Avisto heard an explosion and whirled around to see several Geth Destroyers enter the room, Pulse Rifles blazing. "Get down!" Yelled Jon as he threw a grenade. The explosion didn't kill any of them but it sure as hell knocked them dizzy. Jon stepped out and got a few shots in with his pistol, killing the one in front. They began firing again, forcing him to take cover. "We're in a really really tight spot." siad Jon "And you think I didn't notice?" replied Avisto. Avisto peeked out from behind cover and fired a few shots from his Assault rifle damagin one of them. They returned fire and Avisto ducked backl in cover. "So what's the plan?" asked Phist. "As soon as their weapons overheat we all duck out and through a grenade at once." The lead Destroyer's weapon got out about 10 more shost before completely overheating as did the others. Then Avisto, Jon, and Phist all threw Grenades at the geth and they all blew up at once, destroying three of them. The lead Geth went berserk and rammed through Avisto and Jon and went right for Phist. "You robots are getting on my last nerve." Phist threw down his weapon and stepped to the right and grabbed hold of the machine as it ran past him, throwing it into the wall. It crashed into the wall and fell to the ground. When it tried to get up however, the Krogan simply stepped on its head, killing it. "Jessy look OUT!" screamed Jon. Phist looked up just in time to be tackled to the floor by a second Destroyer unit. This one was the last of the attack party. The Krogan kicked at the damn robot over and over again but it just wouldn't let him go. It scratched his face and chest repeatedly with its spindly fingers. "Its time to get UP!" screamed Phist as he picked up a metal rod laying on the floor next to him and it the thing in the face, the strike of the Krogan sent shock waves through it's body. It stumbled back. Phist leapt to his feet and hit it again, this time in the head, sending it reeling backwards. And again, this time he knocked its head off. The machine fell to the ground. Phist stopped to catch his breath. "Feel free (pant, pant) to jump in at any time." said Phist through pants. "Oh, sorry didn't want to cramp your style." Said Jon, who was then punched in the soldier by Avisto. "Alright, enough screwing around guys, come on we need to find that bitch, Adriusa.
They had traveled down several floors until they came to what looked like an excavation site. There were drilling equipment everywhere. Several walkways here and there. "So nice of you to join us, Avisto." Avisto and the others whirled around to see Adriusa standing on one of the catwalks. "Us?" replied Jon, puzzled. "Oh, I forgot to introduce you to my friends. A door opened and out rushed several Rachni Soldiers. Adriusa rank along the catwalk and into the door at the other end. "Damn it! Fire!" The first several fell from the hail of bullets. "I thought you Krogans killed these guys!" screamed Jon. "Me too!" replied Phist as they fired at the incoming swarm of Rachni. "Up here!" yelled Avisto pointing at an elevator. They hopped in and activated the lift. Adn it slowly began to ascend. Then they heard a wall crash and a massive creature crashed through the wall. "What the hell is that? A QUEEN?!" Yelled a startled Jon. "No its a Rachni Gaurdian. They Gaurd the Queen." It fired spores that would melt your skin. The lift jolted a little as another gaurd jumped ontop of the lift and began stabbing the roof. "Duck!" screamed Avisto and they all dived to the floor of the lift. The impalements left holes everytime the thing stabbed the roof. Phist jumped up and jabbed his gun through a hole in the ceiling. "Eat this you Ant!" He fired his gun and loud squeeling could be heard on the roof. "Let's squash it like one shall we?" Said Avisto as he went to the controls and put the lift in tenth gear. The Lift sped to the top of the chimney like structure rapidly. "We need to jump to the ladge there!" Said Avisto pointing up to a ledge that was drwing closer and closer. "If we miss it we could die. Ready..." The elevator drew close to the ledge... "NOW!" They all jumped and landed on the ledge. Avisto got up and saw the Elevator explode on the roof of the chimney and high pitched squeels could be heard amongst it. It all happened in a span of about a half of a second. They got up and went through the door on the ledge.
III: Grudge
They arrived in a chasm, and there was only a little room to walk on. Avisto could see a bridge, they had to get to that bridge. "Jon, Phist, we need to get to that bridge. Be careful, and due try not to fall off." They inched their way closer and closer to it. Avisto heard skittering above his head. When he looked up... he really wished he hadn't. He looked down quickly. A small moan escaped his chitinous lips. "What's the matter boss?" asked Phist. Avisto shakily pointed up. Phist looked up and grunted. "What a day." he said, shaking his head. Above them, covering nearly every inch of the chasm, was a swarm of millions of Rachni, descending upon them, on strange web-like structures.
"GO!!!" screamed Avisto and they ran as fast as they could as carefully as they could. One of the smaller workers landed on Phist's shoulder and he threw it off of him into the abyss below. They jumped onto the bridge, where they found Adriusa standing infron of them. "Adriusa, stand down. You don't want it to be your fault that you me, Avisto and Phist die down here, you wouldn't be able to live with it." said Jon.
"Would I?" replied Adriusa, and a collosal creature lowered itself onto the bridge. The Queen. "Are you insane Adriusa? Trying to tame these creatures?" interrogated Avisto. "I'm not trying to tame them at all." spoke Adriusa, and with that she dissappeared through the entrance on the other side, leaving them... alone with the Queen.
Some of the Rachni descending from the ceilings landed on each side of the bridge. "So what now?" asked Avisto. Then Jon, with his gaze afixiated on a beam protruding from the ceiling leading to the bridge, found the solution. "Guys?!" said Jon. "Hold ON TO SOMETHING!!!" Avisto clung to the floor of the birdge. The first of the Rachni attacked. Phist pummeled thorugh them and leapt into the air. "Jessy, NO!!!" But Avisto's cry was in vain, Phist had already leapt upon the Rachni Queen and began pummeling her skull in, in defense of their mother the Rachni had all leapt onto Jessy Phist and began taering his skin. Jon decided that if he was going to do this, he's better do it now. Jon aimed at the beam, and fired.
The beam ruptured and the bridge listed to one side, ripping the beam on the other side of the bridge. The Bridge collapsed in two, all of the Rachni plummeted to their doom. Jessy fell about three feet before catching himself. The Rachni Queen was last to go. Phist felt a insectoid claw grip his foot. Phist looked down to see the Rachni queen herself with a deathgrip on his ankle. Phist then lifted his leg. "Off... of my foot!!! BITCH!!!" and with that he kicked, with the force of an 18 wheeler, the Queen and sent her plummeting to her fate.
Avisto studied the bomb, and his spirits fell rapidly. The wiring made little sense, he had only basic knowledge of tech, then it hit him. His gaze drifted steadly over to Jon, Jon was skilled at hacking, very likely skilled at disarming a bomb aswell. "Jon! You're good at Hacking?" said Avisto quickly. "Yeah? So?" he replied. "Try disarming the bomb, HURRY WE ONLY HAVE THREE MINUTES TO LIVE NUMBSKULL!"
"QUIT INSULTING ME AND I MIGHT BE ABLE TO SAVE US GODDAMNIT!" And with that Jon returned to wrk at the bomb.
[2 minutes and 49 seconds later
"HURRY, WE HAVE'NT MUCH TIME" Screamed Avisto.
"If I die in here i'm gonna kill you." said Phist.
"GOT IT! YOU HAPPY NOW TURIAN! WERE NOW GONNA STARVE TO DEATH IN HERE WITHOUT A BOMB RATHER THAN WITH A BOMB!"
Avisto stared at Jon. "You now what I don't get about you Jon?"
"What is that?"
"Why you and me are friends but you hate other species. Why is that?"
"M... my mom was killed by a Turian, his name was Saren."
"Saren..." Avisto said the wretched word and let it roll off of his chitinous lips. "Saren." He said it again. "Saren" This time he did not speak it but thought it. He thought it again and again until it had no meaning... until it was just a venomous hiss of sound.
Avisto did not know how long they would be stuck in this hole on Akuze. Months, possibly years would pass... quite possibly actually... is the fact they could never be found... Avisto hoped this was wrong.
[i"I think they're in here."[/i
[i"Hurry this way!"[/i
Avisto was awoken when a rock hit him in the head. When he opened his eyes brilliant beams of sunlight poured in on his eyes. When his vision recovered he could see Asari, Human, and Turian operatives with heavy drilling equipment. "Avisto? Is that you?" said a fimiliar voice. "Yes, I'm Avisto. I cannot believe you found us... and you are?"
"I am Codus." said the Turian. "Codus? CODUS?! Oh my god it seems like decades since we've met." said Avisto. "You should probably wake the others." Said Codus. "We're taking you back to the Citadel."
IV: Indoctrination
"It appears as though we have a tough situation on our hands here." Said The Turian Councillor
"No shit!" replied Phist.
"I am aware that you failed to eliminate Adriusa, all of you did." said the Asari councillor.
"Yes ma'am, we are sorry for our mishap, I will never fail you again, that is a promise!" said Avisto gallantly pointing at the Council.
"But we are also aware that you saved an entire planet from destruction by disarming the bomb." said the Salarian Councillor.
"That was Jon, he deserves any reward you have for him.
"But it was your idea, had you not thought of it the planet Akuze would've surely perished. I think all three of you deserve a reward. Jon Richards, Avisto Daviam, and Jessy Phist, please step forward." said the Turian Councillor, and with that they did so. "Spectres, are not trained, but selected." with this Avisto looked up at them. As they were speaking, he was thinking. Thinking about something his father said to him before he died. Avisto could only vaguely remember what he had said. "Avisto, when I am gone... you must continue what I have started." His father was a spectre too, so he was one step closer to continuing his father's work... if only he knew what it was so that he could continue his father's work. When he did find out... he would make sure to avenge his father, and continue his work. "This meeting, is adjourned."
Avisto and Jon parted ways with Phist, the first Krogan Spectre, he said he needed some time alone and now Jon and Avisto find themselves in the elevator to the dock.
"So our first mission is on Dartmoor?" asked Jon.
"Ever been there?" asked Avisto.
"Pff, never even heard of it until now. It's in the Satish Kumar system." replied Jon.
"Ever been there?" asked Avisto.
"Nope."
The elevator stopped and Avisto and Jon stepped out. "We're supposed to meet Leoa, the Captain of the Anomaly on Dartmoor. She'll tell us what we need to do." said Avisto, entering the Anomaly.
Jon had never heard of a Turian Captain before.
Codus was piloting the Anomaly. "I've set a course for Dartmoor." said Avisto sitting down in the pilot seat next to Codus. "Its been, what? 12 years since we last met?"
"13.5 to be exact." Replied Codus.
"Damn, thirteen years and six months. Where've you been all this time?" Asked Avisto.
"The Kepler Verge."
"Doing what?"
"Mining, I worked for a while on a Gas Giant named Skyrim, we worked on a platform before moving to several more planets. I retired, when I got inducted into the spectres two years ago, and, here I am!"
"Well its good to have you back Codus."
The Anomaly set down in the easern docking bay of Dartmoor Alpha. Avisto took a quick look at Dartmoor Alpha's statistics.
Dartmoor Alpha
Colony Founded: 2160
Capitol: Hiliat
Population: 892
Area: 300 sq. miles
Avisto met up with Nathan Zimmer, another human, on his way out. "Sir, Avisto, nice to see you here." he said.
"I'm going on a mission, I have to meet the captain in Hiliat." replied Avisto.
"I've been here before, I went to the military academy here before joining the alliance." said Nathan.
"You have? Well do you know this planet then? I've never been here and It would be a severe advantage to have someone here who knows the planet, you do... don't you?" asked Avisto.
"Like the back of my hand sir."
"Well then why don't you come along."
They had to continue along the tunnel on foot. The Geth weren't smart enough to leave them alone though. They had several encounters with small Geth strike teams consisting usually of 3-4 Troopers being lead by a Shock Trooper or two, and occasionally being accompanied by a Gthe Destroyer or Juggernaut for support. About an hour into their hike they encountered heavy Geth resistance. Countless Geth Troopers, 6 Snipers and 3 Rocket Troopers that were positioned on watch towers, 2 Armatures, 7 Geth Destroyers, 3 Shock Troopers, 4 Hoppers, 3 Juggernauts, a Prime, and a Collosus were gaurding a remaining Train. "We need that train." said Hackett. "Hmph, why do you think they were gaurding it?" replied Nathan. "Nathan..." said Avisto.
"What?"
"No rash fight starting shots, okay?"
"Aye aye sir."
They hadn't been spotted yet, they needed Jon right about now. Their second best sniper was Codus. Codus snuck out slowly and leaned out with his Sniper rifle. His first shot penetrated the mechanical skull of the first Geth Sniper, it toppled out of the defense tower. He took out the remaining four snipers and three rockets in the towers. Unfortunately his marksmanship wasn't as 'clean' as Jon's and he missed the last Sniper which immediatley began firing at him and alerting the rest of the Geth battalion. Codus took a shot in the heaviest part of his armour, the shoulder and ducked behind cover. The Armatures began slowly making their way towards them.
"How the hell are we going to get out of this mess?!" asked Nathan.
"We are." replied Codus, pointing to the nearby Mako.
The Geth Collosus stopped. The Armatures under its command stopped in accordance with its actions. Their organic system of 'cover' seemed empty, unoccupied. The Collosus relayed a command to the Armatures to stay put while it went to check. It slowly rounded the corner, readying its cannon for anything. What it found was... upsetting. No organics anywhere. It could read faint waves of sound originating from somewhere off in the distance. It made matches to organic 'nonthinking' vehicles, unlike itself, to find which motor the sound matched most, and it knew it was a motor. It matched it with what the humans called the 'Mako'. It found out however that doing so was futile as it was collapsed by the Mako arriving out of the darkness and plunging right into the mahine's systems. The last thing that it read was the vision of a Mako running it over.
Aivsot fired the cannon into the army of AIs, blowing them this way and that. The footsoldiers tried to retaliate but they were vaporised. When the defenses had lightened up the Shore party got out and made a run for the train.
VI: Hazardous
They made it into the rear car and Codus dashed to the front of the train and hit the power. Avisto got as many shots in at the enemy as he could before the door closed and the train started.
"What the hell happened to everyone?" said Leoa.
"Leoa what are you... ?" Avisto trailed off when he saw the mutilated human corpses. Nathan leaned down to examine it.
"It appears as though the skin has been warped. Skin condition does not become this severe so early. It takes decades for it to reach this level of decay." he said as he continued to examine the corpses occasionally touching it with his hand. Admiral Hackett came into the rear car, as soon as he saw the bodies he panicked.
"What are you doing!?" he excalmatorily interrigated.
"I was just... ." But Nathan was cut off when The war veteran tackled him. "Get down!"
Hackett had saved Nathan from nearly getting his head taken off by the corpse, the corpses were alive!
"What the hell?" screamed Avisto as he rapidly backed into the next car, firing off pot shots from his Stiker V Pistol. Hackett and Nathan followed Leoa into car after Avisto. Nathan locked the door and the Zombies were trapped in the rear car.
"The hell? Some sort of new husk subspecies?" asked Nathan.
"No husks... only Thorian Infectees." replied Hackett.
"You were right! ExoGeni is harvesting the Thorian." said Avisto.
Avisto jumped as he heard a smash behind him. They were in this car too. Avisto killed the first one as it slahed at him an fell to the ground. They ran into the front next car. Avisto hit the 'purge' button on his way and the last two cars were ejected from the train. Avisto locked the door behind him and they sat down.
"I'm not so sure if this is ExoGeni anymore." said Hackett.
"Why not." asked Leoa.
"A fellow named Eric Allen formed this new corporation called Allen corp." Continued Hackett.
"They started off as a company looking for more cures to cure obesity."
"Obesity?" asked Nathan in a half chuckle.
"This is no laughing matter. Eric was obese himself. He tried many attempts at the cure but none of them helped. He then found something in the Thorian's blood that helped reduce it's effects. He started harvesting it. He then tryed transferring some of his blood to the Thorian, and transferring it back. He repeated this many times with no positive results. After a while Eric went crazy and started cutting off his own body fat. He dissappeared for a few years and Allen corp. turned bad. They started harvesting the Thorians for bioweapons, it all makes sense now."
"Humans can be so ignorant." said Avisto.
"I agree!" said Nathan shrugging.
"Now Allen Corp is back, and its here, on Dartmoor Alpha." said Hackett standing up.
"We have to stop them! They are a danger to everyone here on Dartmoor." said Avisto.
"Oh, not just Dartmoor, but every living thing in the Galaxy. They are planning to ship their supplies to Eden Prime, the tourist capital in the Galaxy. If the Thorian spreads it could cast a blanket of doom over everything in the Milky Way." said Hackett.
"Look out!" said Leoa as a Thorian creeper rushed at Avisto. She pushed him down and got a hold of the creature's neck. She snapped its neck like a pencil. A door to the other side of the car burst open and Thorians spilled out. Avisto told Codus to lock the control car over hhis radio and Codus agreed. "Come on!" everyone rashed through the long train through cars filled with Thorians. Avisto got to the door to the control car and banged on the door to let Codus let them in. Codus opened the door allowing the four of them in. He shut it behind them. Avisto then ran over to the Purge All? control and slammed it. With a sudden pulse of energy the remaining cars were detached and the Thorians were killed when the cars slammed into the wall and exploded.
VII: Slight Miscalculation
The remaining car sped down the tunnel at high speeds. Codus eased on the brake a little so that the car slowed down a little and allowed him to control it more easily. As they desended Avisto became more and more ill. "Avisto, are you okay?" asked Leoa. "I'm fine, just a little shaken, but not stirred." he replied. "You're looking a little pale Avisto." said Nathan. "Do you see a doctor around?" asked Avisto motioning with his arms around the small car's one single room.The shore party sat back in silence for what seemed like days as the Car continued to descend. Avisto was thinking about his fahter's face, what he remembered of it anyway. He saw his father smiling down at him. Then everything went bad, Avisto saw a Turian silhouette appear behind his father. It stepped out of the shadows and raised a Pistol to his father's head, it was Saren. Avisto cried to his father to look out but he didn't hear him. With one gunshot the rouge Turian shot his Father in the back of the head. Avisto awoke, unknowningly he had fallen into a deep sleep, when he heard Codus yell, "Hold on!". Avisto gripped the railings on the ceiling as tight as he could as the Car went reeling into a gurder.
The Shore Party were all unharmed, except for a few scrapes and sores that is. Avisto through the door that had fallen on him aside and shook himself off. Avisto could hear something crawling on the wall behind him and quickly whirled around, his Assault rifle trained on the area he had heard it, nothing. He followed the rest of the part, Leoa in the lead, down the dark tunnel. Every now and then they would hear Thorian Creepers crawling on the wall, but whenever they took aim... there was nothing. They progressed deeper into Hiliat and the Creepers' scuttling became more frequent. "They're not attacking us," said Codus, "why?" "I don't know," said Hackett. "but I don't like it." "The thorian's signal is getting strong, very strong, we're close." said Leoa, using the Thorian tracker she had been using the mission. "This may come as a shock guys," said Leoa, continueing. "but it appears as though there are a whole hive of Thorians... very near." Hackett and Avisto exchanged glances and they moved on. They came to a massive opening, and inside... ancient, evil.
VIII: The Portal
Avisto looked around the massive cylindrical room and he then heard crawling, the claking of claws and turned around as did the rest of the party to see swarms of Thorians. Infected humans, salarians, turians, and krogan all around the massive room, stretching all the way up to the ceiling, in organic-like pods... were Thorians. Kept in cryogenic stasis for... expermenting. On the pods were small lettering, lettering that read, Product of ALLEN CORP. industries. Avisto heard rasped breathing, almost like sighs. He slowly turned around as did the rest of the party, weapons at the ready, to see a giant gelatanous mass of flesh, and Thorian. "Are you more of The Impurities, coming to contaminate my home? And make me and my friends, unhappy?" Avisto could vaguely make out a human face, a nose, eyes, and mouth from which it spoke, but it had been nearly warped by heavy experimentation. That is when Avisto knew, this was Eric Allen himself.
"Allen, what have you done to yourself?" asked Hackett, obviously recognising his face aswell. "You've turned yourself into a monster!" he continued. "No, old friend. Me and my friends are messengers of god. He is very near, nearer than you may think. And he loves all of us." Said the corrupted Allen. "Messngers of God? What the hell are you talking about? We have to destroy these Thorians, I am sorry Allen, but they endanger all life in the galaxy." Allen looked confused. "How DARE you even think of killing God's creations! You reek of sin, bow before me and be cleansed!" Said the insane Thorian/ Human hybrid. And with that he raised his right hand, and left tentacle."My Children, the feast has arrived!" All over Thorians spilled out of nooks and crannies. Avisto spotted three generators, keeping the Thorians alive. "Codus, Nathan, you stay here and distract them. Me, Leoa, and Hackett will split up and take out the three generators. Avisto picked one and went for it. They were situated on the fourth floor of the complex, and when Avisto was almost to his Hackett and Leoa had already offlined theirs. Aivsto located his and went for it but was sent flying into the wall by Eric Allen. Avisto felt a thick, muscular tentacle wrap around his neck and lift him up to stare at the smiling, warped, obese, human face of Eric Allen. "You cannot meddle with god's creations. You are but a Sinner, but deserve a second chance. I have spoken to god... and he told me to take us all to heaven." Avisto stared blankly at Allen, and then after hearing a muffled ripping sound, electrical... he knew it was the sound of the portal opening. He looked below him to see, in the center of the room, an army of Geth arrive out of the portal and start slaughtering the Thorian Creepers. Eric allen looked away and roared in anger, he stared back at Avisto. "Your plan?!" "Yep." Eric Allen threw Avisto against the wall. "You will pay YOU WILL PAY!!!" "Kiss my ass!" and with those words Avisto tackled Allen and sent him reeling over the edge and into the portal just as it closed and ripped Eric Allen in half.
Avisto was hanging onto the ledge for dear life. In a desperate attempt to save himself he accidentally grabbed the hatch to the Thorian Pod and it opened a little, killing the Thorian inside. He looked up to see the Thorian's layers of skin slowly melting away as the creature groaned in agony. "Avisto! We're pinned down I repeat: We're pinned down. Codus has a serious injury, and man these Geth are tearing these Creepers to bits!" said Nathan over an open comm. "I hear ya, I'm about to kill these Thorians for good." Avisto managed to pull himself up onto solid ground. He ran over to the third generator and thrust his fist into it. It ignited and he yanked his fist out of it and went rolling down the stairs. The Generator exploded and one by one the pods all around the room began exploding and the whole room was lit up in a light show. The thorians all fell to the floor dead and the Geth opened the portal and fell back into it. "Now is our chance!" said Avisto over his comm to the others. "Leoa, you stay here with Codus. Radio for evac and get the hell outta here! Nathan, Hackett, we're going into that portal!" continued Avisto. "You better hurry before it closes." said Leoa. Aivsto arrived infront of the portal, as did Nathan and Hackett at his side. They nodded to each other and then at Leoa, she nodded back and they all stepped into the relay.
IX: Into the belly of the beast
Avisto had never entered a relay in person before. It was an agonising experience and when the burning stopped he collapsed on the floor in an immobile heap. He could barely move his eyes to see Nathan and Hackett were unconscious, humans were much more fragile than Turians, so Avisto could not even begin to imagine the amount of pain they were in right now. Avisto felt the courage to try to move his right arm, pain pulsed through his body, running from his arm all the way to his spine and following that it ran to his brain. Avisto held his breath, as letting one out would emit a cry of pain and alert nearby Geth forces. Avisto slwly lifted his head, holding his breath he looked around slowly. The inside of the ship was typical Geth architecture. The corridors were narrow and would be very unpleasant for a victim of human claustrophobia. He slowly lifted himself up onto his arms, putting his knee under him for leverage, needing it to lift all three-hundred twenty-six pounds of himself.
He winced in pain as he slowly stood up. He moved his legs up and down, shaking off the pain, popped his neck and knuckles a few times, and looked over to see Nathan slwly moving his way to standing position, gritting his teeth and clenching his eyes closed. Avisto helped Nathan the rest of the way up and gave him a good pat on the back for good luck, a symbol in his culture of it anyway. Avisto held his Assault rifle at eye level, guarding Nathan while he helped the older man up. "Shh! Take cover, incoming Geth forces!" hissed Avisto,and Nathan dragged Hackett over to a cranny and Avisto silently dived behind a Geth container. Around the corner, being lead by a group of more than ten Recon Drones, came marching an army of Geth Destroyers, maybe a hundred. Avisto held his hand over his mouth to not make any noise, Nathan let out a silent scream. When they had gone Avisto motioned for them to arrive out of hiding.
Hackett had recovered and they moved silently deeper into the ship, looking for the bridge. They would occasionally have to take cover whenever a few Geth parties came passing through. Avisto was nearly seen by a repair drone but he snatched out of midair and ripped out its memory banks, where it then proceded to float mindlessly in awkward positions. Avisto knew their luck would soon run out so they had to find it soon. They came to a large atrium which outlooked space. There were trees and fauna here, as though there were organics on the ship of some sort. The floor was flat except for a podium-like structure which stretched out over Prothean looking technology and a hydrogen lake.
There were no Geth here but there was one familiar looking Turian who was speaking with an unseen figure louging in a chiar. Avisto could barely hear them, but he could make out most of it. What he heard, shocked him.
"Ofcourse, holy prophet." said the Turian, "I eradicated them from the face of the universe. We shall have no more worries."
"No more worries?" said a deep voice, the voice of a krogan. "In case you haven't noticed 'Turian' Avisto, Jon, and Phist and possibly others aiding them, are still very much alive. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to have living souls walking around with too much knowledge already of what we are trying to do?" the krogan finished.
"I... I am sorry holy..."
"Do not call me holy. I am but a vanguard, carrying out the balance." the krogan interrupted.
"I have faith in you Adriusa, I know of your potential, just make sure next time you actually kill your target. Okay, I do believe this exchange is over." the krogan finished, and Avisto recognised Adriusa from Akuze. He wasn't surprised, but what happened next did indeed surprise Avisto. As Adriusa exited the Atrium the Krogan rose from his seat, ripping away the shroud of shadow from his face. Avisto recognised the scar on the Krogan's neck, and his cybernetic left eye, it was Gort. And what Gort did as he stood at the Podium, truly stunned Avisto and his fears were brought to life. "All of the indoctrines are gone, my lord Dark Energy." said Gort, as he said this a red VI interface materialised infront of him. "Then, the reaping, shall begin." said the Reaper.
X: The Shroud Revealed
Everything hit Avisto sqaure in the face at once. Adriusa's rougeship, Gorts absence, the rebellions springing up across the galaxy, when Avisto had seen the Reaper, heard it's seductive voice, he knew, that the Reapers had returned, and would not stop until the cycle was fixed. Their new vangaurd Dark Energy was apparently here to activate the instrument known as the Central Relay from what Avisto had heard so far the central relay would destroy all of the mass relays, or rather disable them, and would also destroy the Citadel. Apparently the Reapers had seen this coming, so they've precautions, unfortunately. Avisto listened to the speech between the krogan and the Reaper. "I have them on the run, and more and more fools are gathering up. Soon, we'll have fleets of thousands at our command." said Gort. "Your services are much appreciated Gort. You are not like other organics, you can see, you're vision is not shrouded by ignorance and confindence. You will be rewarded g..." "What is it?" asked Gort as the Reaper hesitated. "Are you okay?" Avisto sensed the Reaper hesitating was not a good sign. "I sense organics in your presense Krogan." "Time to go." Avisto said quitely to his shore party. "You cannot escape! Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh!" The trio got up and immediately ran for the lift. Avisto rolled in just as the door closed and a swarm of Geth Assault Drones began firing on their position. Avisto climbed to his feet as the elevator descended sharply, Hackett equipped his Omni tool. "At our position the docking bay should be directly below us." "Lucky us." said Avisto as the elevator opened revealing 2 Geth Collosi.
Avisto spotted the nearest Geth Dropship and made a beeline for it, Hackett, and Nathan in tow, but they were forced to take cover behind what appeared to be a Geth Rover when the walking tanks began firing thier seige cannons. Avisto did not know what to do, but that is when he spotted a loose rafter hanging from above the Collosi. Avisto primed a grenade and threw it at it, it swung down and smashed into the two machine cuasing a bright blue explosion. The trio emerged from the cover of the vehicle when suddenly, as if on queue, doors opened and armies of Geth Destroyers entered. "Time to go... now!" said Nathan and they ran up the ramp into the Dropship, Avisto closed the ramp as soon as they were in. Hackett used his Omni-tool to pilot the Dropship out of the opening hangar. Geth went flying out along with the rover and other Dropships. As they were escaping Hackett activated the ship's cloaking device and they were invisible, Avisto hoped they could not detect them. He got a good look at the Geth Dreadnaut they had boarded. It wasn't a reaper, not big enough, but it was shaped like an oval with a long neck extending out where Avisto assumed the bridge was located. Hackett set a destination for the Citadel.
XI: Ghandi
"Are you absolutely sure this information is accurate, Avisto?" asked the Turian Councillor as Avisto, Nathan, and Hackett stood before the councillors. "It is what I heard with my own ears Councillor, the reaper even said that the relay was on the planet Ghandi. I think we should send our strongest fleet there, destroy the reaper if it tries anything funny." "Avisto, we are not even sure how we destroyed Sovereign, the other reaper, in the first place. The only way we were able to defeat Sovereign was after Commander Shepard killed Saren." Avisto cringed at the name Saren, but nodded at what the Asari Councillor had said. "We will send our strongest dreanauts to Ghandi then, until further notice, this meeting is adjourned. Avisto walked up to Leoa who was stnading beside Codus in a sort of hovering wheel chair. "You okay Codus?" asked Avisto. "Just a broken leg and a few broken ribs, nothing serious." said Codus waving a hand at him. "We successfully boarded the geth ship and got the information we needed. Also, the alliance has agreed to reinstate me as Admiral, I hate doing it, but I have to do it for my people." said Hackett. "I understand Admiral." said Avisto registering him by his new title. "The Council has agreed to put me in charge of the fleet defending Ghandi from Dark Energy. Along with you Leoa, your ship will be leading the defense, the Anomaly." said Hackett. "I still think they should've picked someone else, I mean, the Anomaly is only a Cruiser.""You'll do fine." said Hackett.
When they exited the relay they saw Ghandi for the first time. A dark planet, older than Ilos.