Disclaimer: I don't own any Mass Effect characters or their world, but I own my own characters.
Enjoy!
Resurgam
Mali panted as she instinctively ducked down from the blaze of gunfire humming in the air. Dirt coated her armor and her face, and somewhere she had lost the helmet to her onyx armor a long time ago. Her boots held firm in ankle deep mud, and rain pelted down on the battle raging below. Smoke from artillery fires clogged her nose as she clutched tight to the thick metal bar in front of her with her rifle clipped snuggly to her back.
"Forward!" A voice yelled, and once again Mali threw her body forward against the bar, digging deep into the mud to gain a foothold as she and thirteen others struggled to push their giant war machine up the steep path toward the dark, bunker-like fortress ahead. Around her, grenades and artillery gunfire exploded harmlessly off their shield as they struggled on. If they didn't take this fortress today, they would lose the war.
The forty-five N7 trainees had been taking part of the dreaded Blackout, one of the last stages of their grueling training. In the time frame of 6 weeks all the trainees had to traverse the rugged Dango mountain range to the top of BeakClaw Peak, the highest point in the range, battling cold, hunger, and also their trainers all the way. At many points in the trail, there were traps, natural challenges, and the occasional fortresses that held valuable resources that had to be overcome to continue on, mimicking the conditions they would have to face in a large scale invasion. The forty odd soldiers had been split up into three groups of fifteen persons for the duration of the month, each team being released a few days in between each other so as to space them out on the course, and no electronics or contact with the outside world was allowed, hence the nickname that past N7 trainees had given it. The trainees had to rely on just their skills and the weapons in their hands to get them through.
Mali and her team had been the first to be released and had been struggling on for three and a half weeks, always barley managing to make it out with the skin on their teeth, and now their position more desperate then it had ever been. They were running low on provisions and ammo, having run out of food two days ago and their water and bullets were going to soon follow. Everyone knew that if they didn't take the fortress today they were done for. Her team had been sieging against it for the better part of the week, fighting for every foot of ground. For three nights Mali had slept with dirt falling down into her bedroll from the ceiling of their hastily made trenches protecting them from the heavy artillery guns that sat on the walls of the fort. As she pushed against gravity up the hill exhaustion threatened to overtake her, the endless battles starting to take their toll.
A sudden hand on her shoulder startled her out of her haze and she looked up to see the grey eyes of Oliver looking at her. He motioned her out from her position at the war machine. "Take a break Mali, you've been leading the charge all morning now." She smiled gratefully and stepped aside as he took her place shoving the giant pila up the hill. They had been lucky to come across it a few days ago inside an old mining quarry a few miles down the trail. Usually it was used for breaking up difficult-to-reach rock formations by shooting out a giant spear like drill that could be reeled back in by a thick braided meal cord, however someone in their group had had the bright idea to adopt it into a war machine for breaking down the doors of the fortress their scout had spotted earlier. The only down side was that it felt like it weighed as much as an elephant without its motor working.
"Push!" Oliver yelled, rallying the others to another attempt at moving forward. Mali shook her head as she took a draught of water, careful to stand within the radius of the pila's shield that was protecting them. They weren't getting anywhere in the thick mud of the track and the sun was starting to decline in its arc, indicating almost afternoon. They had been at this since before light and had only managed to push it about four-hundred yards, and they still had about two-hundred to go before they were even in range to fire. Taking a breath, Mali summoned her biotics and felt the rush of energy that coursed through her body, blue flames dancing across her skin. Her eyes flashed silver as she directed a blast of biotic power at the end of the pila, increasing the slug like pace to almost a run.
She could only keep it up for so long, and too soon she felt the strain starting to ebb at her body only twenty yards later. Mali grit her teeth and continued to focus her energy towards pushing the pila, but a shout from Cadence made her stop. "Mali! Stop!" She yelled form her place in the line. "You've already overtaxed your biotics, you might kill yourself if you keep doing that!"
"We've got to get there!" Mali argued back to her long-time friend. "We can't take this much longer." Mali was right, one look around at her comrade's faces and Cadence knew they were close to giving up.
"Then we are just going to have to think of another way." Oliver answered. "Sacrificing yourself in a training exercise is just plain stupid Mali." Even though she was frustrated Mali had to relent to his reasoning.
"Then what?" A shot from the large cannon on top of the fortress's barricade shook the ground, only just stopped by their weakening shield. Teddy stuck his head around from the back of the pila where he was monitoring its shield and the look on his face was not encouraging.
"We can only withstand a couple more of those hits from that cannon before our shield goes down," he grimaced, "three shots tops."
"That's it, we're dead." Cadence commented, always the optimist. Mali rolled her eyes at the comment, but what Cadence had said had a ring of truth. If they didn't figure this out soon, they're crusade was over.
"What about other teams? How far away are they?" Mali asked. Teddy shook his head.
"We are too far ahead, the other teams should just be coming up to the halfway point and the one-third point according to my markers, whereas we are just about done." He answered. Using spare parts and wires Teddy had created a few basic GPS markers with scavenged wires and parts out of boredom and had left them behind along with tips for the other teams as to what lay ahead. When disturbed, they sent out a signal that was picked up on by his receiver, and in that way they could keep track of the other team's progress. Mali sighed, rubbing her forehead. Hunger was making it hard to think, and the added noise of battle around her wasn't helping either. She tapped back into the line, letting someone else rest, and heaved helplessly against the pila.
"Think, think, think!" Mali mentally pounded her head with her fist as she pushed, but nothing came to mind. A loud commotion tried to wriggle its way into her mind but she pushed it out, trying to concentrate as her frustration at their situation grew. Another shout invaded her train of thought, and with a snarl she raised her head to see what was the matter, only to be met with a threatening sight. Currently exiting the fortress and was a recently empowered atlas mech, towering over them by a good eight feet, and it was swiftly making its way over.
"Oh Kee'lah!" Cadence sighed, "What in heaven's name is next?" Mali snickered, a grin forming on her lips. This was exactly what she needed.
"Actually, this can work..." Mali smiled as she abandoned her place in the bucket brigade.
"Hold up! Mali!" Oliver yelled as the girl prepared to leave the protection of the shield. "what are you thinking?! You got nothing on you that could break through its armor and if you haven't looked around lately, there ain't no plants around us anymore! We are way to high up the mountain!" Mali turned and smirked at her old friend.
"Your forgetting I learned a thing or two about energy way-back-when," she answered," besides, they wont want to hurt their own machine, and plus, this ain't my first rodeo." She quoted their famous catchphrase as she stepped out of the shields radius.
"Great." Oliver groaned. "Just great." He shot a look at Cadence, "Cade..." he didn't even have to finish before she was abandoning her spot in the line.
"I'm on 'er." She answered, shaking her head in disbelief.
Mali wasted no time once she stepped out of the shield and took off toward the ever approaching atlas. She purposely ran in a diagonal direction away from the pila, in hopes she could get it to follow her away from them. "Listen to me, big buddy!" she yelled as she ran toward it, "you aint gettin' anywhere close to my friends!" The atlas's head jerked at the sound, and it started to focus on her. The cockpit inside was surprisingly empty, so it was remote controlled, Mali deduced. "Come get me! Come get me!" Mali ran in circles, waving her arms in the air, drawing it her way and away from the others. "I'm just a lonely little sitting duck right out here in the open!" The atlas took one step toward her, and then a whistling sound filled the air.
"Mali! Watch out!" Cadence crashed into her, pushing them both out of the way as a blast from the artillery cannon came hurtling out of the sky. Mali covered her head as dirt sprayed everywhere and a concussion shock rattled her ear drums. Smoke clogged the air and Mali coughed as she staggered back to her feet, lending a hand to Cadence.
"Thanks," Mali spat blood out of her mouth, "that was a close one." The artillery guns on the fortress were silent, giving the battlefield a strange quiet. It would have been too much of a risk for the defending force to keep firing at them with their guns while the atlas mech was roaming around the battlefield, however, the artillery cannon, being more highly accurate do to a location lock feature, could still be fired without risk.
"It seems they wasted their next shot on us, which gives us time." Cadence replied. They watched as the atlas began firing at the pila and their comrades within the shield. For now they were protected, but that wouldn't last for long. "What is your plan for dealing with the atlas?" Cadence asked, her hand on her hip as they took their small reprieve. Mali smiled.
"I'm going to take its energy." Cadence frowned at her.
"Is that even possible?" She asked. Mali nodded, keeping her eyes on the atlas as she replied.
"Remember when me and Oliver fought that atlas during the raid in the NightWall program?" Mali asked and Cadence nodded, remembering. "Then you remember how we took it down. That's what I'll do here, but this time, I'll add a little something special." Cadence gave her a warning look.
"This isn't going to end with you as a fried piece of toast again, right?" She chuckled at the memory. Mali snickered.
"It probably will, knowing me." She replied. "What I need you to do is distract it so I can pop the hood of the cockpit open." Cadence shook her head.
"You know open confrontation isn't my style Mali, it's not going to end well." Mali placed a hand on Cadence's shoulder.
"It's all we have Cadence, there is no other way and we are running out of time." Cadence looked at her and then the now fourteen year old took a deep breath.
"Fine. Let's do this." Mali nodded and they took off toward the atlas, who had its back turned to them. Twenty or so yards from the beast Mali signaled and they split off from each other, Mali circling behind the mech. "Hey, you!" Cadence yelled, trying to gets its attention. While running, Mali pulled her spear point knife from the build in sheath in the onxy armor in the hollow of her back. The atlas immediately turned to the sound of Cadence's voice and took a couple shots at her small form.
The raven-haired girl took a flying leap to the side and rolled out of the way of the incoming missiles. She quickly popped up again and continued to goad the machine on. Mali crept closer, gripping the black blade tight in her hand, waiting for an opportunity. "Come on, is that all you got?" Cadence yelled over the roar of its gunfire. The atlas raised its other arm and fired a mini cannon at Cadence, and it was then that Mali decided to strike. Mali leapt upwards at the same time that Cade screamed as the cannon shot hit her full on the chest, knocking her backwards as electricity enveloped her body. Alarmed shouts made their way through the pila shield and Mali could here Oliver's voice shouting over the roar of mech's cannon.
"This ends now." Mali spat through the knife clenched in her teeth as she clambered up the side of the mech. It twisted in alarm as she gained a foothold on its shoulder and hoisted herself up next to the cockpit. She crouched down as a metal arm whizzed above her head, trying to displace her from her perch. Mali quickly jammed the flat end of the knife into the crevice between the cockpit and the metal chest plate and attempted to leverage it open as she struggled to keep her footing in the slick rain. Mali knew they didn't have much time left before the fortress's cannon was ready to fire, so with a last heave and a loud pop, Mali wrenched the cockpit open.
Gasping and with sweat dribbling through the dirt on her face, she slid into the driver's seat and ripped the control panel out of its moldings and threw it over the side of the mech. Mali ducked her head inside and struggled to push the thick tangled web of wires aside, looking for its power source. As she dug through a light blue glow started to permeate the cabin and as she pushed the final remnants of wires aside a small portion of the spherical power source was exposed. Closing her eyes, Mali laid the palm of her hand on the globe and fired up her biotics. Remembering what Liara had done that very first time she had activated her power, Mali drew upon the energy from the orb, but instead of only taking it and allowing it to dissipate, Mali let it renew her own waning resources. She literally sucked the life out of the machine.
The orb's glow slowly died as Mali took its energy, and she felt a shudder run through the atlas before its legs gave out and it collapsed to the side, jarring her and making her bang her head against the side of the panel opening as it crashed to the ground, lifeless. Mali crawled out of the mechs remains, alit with her biotic's blue flames as the unmistakable roar of the artillery cannon drummed against her ear drums. Mali looked up into the sky and saw the smoke trail as it reached the highest point of its arc and started to descended upon them. "Not this time." Mali smirked as it barreled toward them. With her biotic strength renewed Mali created a mass effect field and flung it up toward the missile, entrapping it and ripping it to shreds, causing it to blow up above their heads.
For good measure Mali turned toward the fortress and ripped the artillery cannon off its hinges from its place on the wall of the fortress and flung it off to the side of the battlefield, making a huge spray of mud and water shoot up from where it crashed to the ground. As fiery shrapnel from the missile rained down upon them Mali jogged over to where Cadence lay a little ways away from the atlas's body and crouched down next to the girl, who's armor and hair were still slightly smoking. Cade's eyes were a little hazy still from the shock of the blast hitting her and the electrocution she had so sacrificially received. She slowly turned her face toward where Mali was crouched and looking concernedly down at her.
"How you doin'?" Mali asked. Rain drops made soft plink sounds on both their armor in the quiet of the battlefield.
"i could be better," Cade replied, "like, for instance, be lying somewhere on a beach where they serve those little umbrella drinks with pineapple kebabs." Mali smirked as she held out her hand. Cade took it and Mali heaved the younger girl to her feet, patting her shoulder in comfort.
"Just be glad this is only a training exercise and the setting was only set to stun." Cade harrumphed and rolled her eyes.
"Let's just get to the fortress...the only thing that would make this situation better right now is those freeze dried rations I know are waiting on the other side."
"And maybe some butter." Mali chuckled as she slung the girls arm around her shoulders and they started to hobble toward the pila, which had depressingly only moved a few yards without their help.
"Butter?" Cadence asked in confusion, looking at the taller girl out of the corner of her eye.
"Ya, seeing as you are the one who ended up a little piece of burned toast this time." Cade burst out laughing in surprise and both started smiling, not having felt this easy comradery since the trial began.
"Would'ya guys stop slacking over there and give us hand?" Oliver yelled with a grin on his face as they neared the others. He wiped the sweat, or maybe it was rain, off his brow as they came limping into the safety of the shield. "Take five everyone." Oliver commanded as Mali deposited Cadence into the care of another teammate and joined Oliver at the front of the pila. Together they took in the sight of their quarry in front of them. The dark fortress stood cold and silent, unmoving in the rosy colors of dusk. "Is that too far away for you?" He asked, the same idea in both their heads.
"Nah," Mali wiped her matted hair and dirt from her face, "but as soon as we start moving again those artillery guns are bound to come active again. It will have to be fast, our shields are almost done."
"Then how do you propose we do this?" He asked. Mali smiled.
"Have you ever been on a roller coaster before?" Oliver's face paled.
Next Up: Mali learns to fly!