Chapter Updated
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
This is a horror story.
It contains the following: rape, violence, torture, abuse, racism, and language. If you can't stomach it, you probably shouldn't read it.
If you want to cry in the comments go ahead. However, I will not apologize for your ignorance.
No Good Deed
By: Absolute Edge
Incident I
First Contact
- - - Asari Republic Fleet scout cruiser - Quiet Verity
"What do you make of it?" Commander Kell S'Thus asked her First Sergeant; she looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Signatures imply massive energy blooms near the 314 relay." Logistic Sergeant Sarten La'Yira replied bringing up a series of data graphs on the nearest computer.
"Who's out there? The Quarians? Why would they want to activate the 314 relay? There's nothing out there but rocks and dust." Kell asked to no one in particular.
"Shall we investigate Commander?" Naia Ki'Sani asked glancing over at her.
"Of course Lieutenant; there's a relay involved. Take us in." Kell said with a smile; she honestly hoped it was something more interesting than a radioactive storm.
- - - Sol-system Government's National Space Coalition battleship - Red Jackal
"Larson, any ideas?" Commander Matheson asked his company champion, who strode over upon hearing his name; he stared at the pic-screen.
The object in question was massive, nearly fifteen times the length of the Red Jackal, and pointed off into deep space like a lone sentinel of some dead civilization; always ready, always waiting for a command that will never come.
"It's not a ship, it's not a station, and it's not a weapon. De'val kor Se'sai… scans would imply it's highly radioactive and emitting small doses of tachyon partials, among other things. My Lord, in my professional opinion, I believe this to be an inactive Gate." Larson said nodding in fair certainty.
"I concur; now, shall we dispose of it?" Commander Matheson said; although everyone knew he was grinning by the way he had spoken none could be sure what kind of expression was beneath the black death mask.
"Target that thing and turn it to slag." Commander Matheson said pointing at the pic-screen. Twelve weapon batteries, twenty-four barrels, rotated with all haste to target the Gate; they locked, cycled munitions, and waited.
"My Lord, ready to unleash eight hundred millimeters of Hell." Gunnery Sergeant Karxon said looking over at him. Commander Matheson had always envied the man's skill with a ship born weapon system and his mask reflected his skills, beautifully complex etchings of weapons and ammunition, battles and death, covered every inch of his midnight blue mask.
"By all means Gunnery Sergeant." Commander Matheson said with a nod.
"Your will be done." Gunnery Sergeant Karxon said depressing a button with a sick grin.
In perfect sync with each other all twelve weapon batteries released their firing mechanisms. The Red Jackal shook as the vibrations of twenty-four plasma tipped sabot rounds were projected forth at speeds exceeding twenty-five hundred kilometers a second. The Red Jackal was just under seventeen kilometers away. The high velocity rounds, each the size of a child, took only a handful of seconds to reach their target. The devastation wrought by the white hot munitions was instantaneous and complete; the Gate wouldn't last an hour.
- - - Asari Republic Fleet scout cruiser - Quiet Verity
First Lieutenant Naia Ki'Sani gawked in shock as the scene before her became apparent. A ship, that could almost be classified a dreadnought, was laying siege to Relay 314. Rounds punched straight through the Mass Relay and out the other side; Naia has heard of heard of armor piercing but this was ridiculous. Delicate, irreplaceable technology was being blasted to ash with every volley and Naia was helpless to stop it. Their ship, the Quiet Verity, was a scout cruiser designed for maneuverability and stealth and that monstrous beast was a vessel dedicated absolutely to destruction. As much as Naia hated to admit it she was silently thankful that those massive cannons weren't currently aimed at them.
"Hail that ship! Ask them to stop; beg if you have to!" Kell yelled in terror pointing at the screen; she didn't even want to begin to imagine the after effects of destroying a Mass Relay, total destruction on a scale too large to fathom.
"Ma'am, their weapons have stopped firing!" Sarten called out and, sure enough, the guns had gone quiet.
"Ah, Commander? They're hailing us, video link."
"Accept it, put them on screen." Kell said straightening her uniform.
The video blinked into life but there was nothing but darkness. Commander Kell was about to demand an explanation from her comms officer when a whisper echoed from the speakers; one word, just one, and though Naia didn't understand the language the hostile, almost disgusted tone struck Naia at the heart of her being.
"Alien."
"They're locking!" The Master Gunner called out as a figure loomed out of the darkness.
He was the living embodiment of his ship, equally massive and just as intimidating. He wore a full body suit of midnight blue armor with gold lettering around his right shoulder guard and a mask as dark as space itself. He crossed his arms, thick gauntlets studded with small barbs clanked against each other, over his chest and growled deep, threateningly.
"I- Sir, I am Commander Kell S'Thus of the scout cruiser Quiet Verity of the Asari Republic Military. I respectfully request that you belay any and all commands to damage or destroy that Mass Relay."
The masked man stared at them for a moment before glancing away and giving a quick nod to someone off screen. He let out a breath and cocked his head to the side slightly.
"I don't know what you're saying." The man said shaking his head.
"What did he say?" Kell asked looking over at Naia who shrugged.
"Great, not only are they hostile but now we have a language barrier to make them paranoid." Kell said with a sigh. Then an idea came to her, "No, no it's too simple. Sargent Sarten, pass me your flashlight."
"What? Commander-"
"Just do it!" Kell demanded and waited for the Logistics Sergeant to toss her flashlight. Kell caught it and held it up light end to the screen and began flashing it at the screen.
"Standard Distress Code? Does anyone use that anymore?" Naia asked with a raised eyebrow.
- - - SGNSC battleship - Red Jackal
"You've got to be shitting me." Larson said with a laugh. "Is that… Morse code?"
"Looks like it. Well, this is primitive alright. I can't remember the last time I used it. Larson, I know you know it, what are they saying?" Commander Matheson said waving his hand.
Larson sidestepped into view of the camera as Matheson moved out of the way and watched the alien ship Commander strobe her little flashlight at them.
"I have… no fucking clue." Larson said after a moment and looked to Matheson, "There are no words; it's just a splurge of letters and numbers."
"Why am I not surprised in the slightest?" Matheson said with a grin.
"Probably because their alphabet is completely different from ours?" Larson said throwing his hands up in sarcasm, "It makes so much sense now!"
"Ready the Fighters and a ship tug. I want all but one pod turned to ash. We haven't interrogated a Fesch in quite a while." Matheson said stifling a laugh and a chorus of affirmatives greeted him.
"Stream it live over the Core and call it a morale boosting exercise." Larson suggested and though he laughed he was being completely serious. "It'll be the most popular video in Red Jackal history, perhaps even in Leviathan Fleet history."
"Then we would be derelict in out duties if we did not make it." Commander Matheson said with a smile. "Gunnery Sergeant? You may proceed."
- - - Asari Republic Fleet scout cruiser - Quiet Verity
Naia looked at the screen and for a moment thought that the enemy ship was flashing dozens of lights at them. Her brain realized what was about to happen before she could react. Those were flashes of cannon fire, cannon fire being directed at them, at their ship. The aliens had opened fire.
"What are they-" Commander Kell wasn't able to finish her sentence. A massive explosion ripped through the Quiet Verity and rocked the ship throwing her off balance.
Naia reached out and grabbed onto a railing to keep her footing, "They've opened fire!?" Naia was bewildered by the decision. Where was the miscommunication? What did they do wrong?
"Our barriers repelled most of it but a round got through. Engines have taken a hit…" Sergeant Sarten said as she listened to their report, her eyes widened slightly, "we're dead in the water."
"Return fire! I want all batteries firing now!" Kell yelled as her command staff scurried about the bridge. "How did one round take out our engines?"
"I don't know commander, but engineering is reporting a massive spike in radiation." Sarten said quickly.
Naia ran to her Commander's side and began issuing commands to different parts of the ship. Engineering was working desperately to repair the damages but their initial estimates were depressing. Gunnery was targeting the ship with the broadsides but they weren't fast enough, Kell hadn't order them to lock on, they were caught off guard. Naia noticed another glimmer on the screen.
"Incoming!"
A second volley pounded into the Quiet Verity. The barriers shimmered, died, and half of the rounds impacted the hull unopposed. An alarm went off indicating dangerous levels of radiation. Naia grit her teeth, these weren't like the armor penetrating rounds that had been used on Relay 314. These were nuclear tipped warheads that were atomizing the Quiet Verity's hull in great swaths.
"Commander, we have to abandon ship!" Sarten yelled over the commotion, "We won't last another few volleys."
"Commander I concur, they're fired twice and we're not even locked on yet." Naia pressed.
Kell was clearly distraught but she couldn't deny the fact that the enemy ship was simply more powerful. The Quiet Verity is only a cruiser, a scout cruiser, and that behemoth of a ship is borderline dreadnought status. They can't win, they can't even run, they can only die or evacuate.
"Do it, sound general alarm. Get everyone off safely, and scuttle the old girl."
- - - SGNSC battleship - Red Jackal
"Commander, life boats detected." An ensign said looking up.
"Excellent, it took them a few shots but they figured out they didn't stand a chance in Hell. Don't stop firing Gunnery Sergeant, but take your time. They'll probably self-destruct to keep us from getting to their oh so precious technology." Matheson said with a laugh. "Send out the fighters."
- - - SGNSC Vyper class fighter - Desolate Six
Desolate Six exploded out of the Red Jackal's small fighter bay, only one squadron, fifteen Vyper class fighters, accompanied the massive beast of a vessel into war. The fighter entered a long, high arc with his brothers and sisters as they soared 'over' the battlefield, surveying the scene and arguing over targets.
"Dibs on left." Desolate Nine said over the comms.
"You're left or mine?" Desolate Ten asked, he looked over and saw that ten was flying sideways. Well, clarification was indeed required, he though with a smile.
"Obviously my left."
Desolate Six ignored the rest of the twins conversation and focused instead on the fleeing pods and their dispersal. All were headed either away or parallel the Red Jackal but none directly opposite of. It was suspicious and he made a point to see if anything was behind the alien ship just out of visual and scan range.
There was no order to the fighters decent upon the helpless pods. This was a slaughter and would be treated like one. Safeties were off, hate was loaded, and rage was allowed to run rampant.
He heard whoops and shouts as pods died under hails of high caliber fire but he didn't find pleasure in this, there was no sport in killing escape pods. However, just as the thought passed through his mind he released a salvo of his 30mm autocannon, shredding a pod to scrap, and flew through the wreckage. Just for the laughs. Bits of metal dinged off his hull and some purple liquid splashed against the upper right of his cockpit view port. He groaned that part of his view was obstructed but since he didn't expect to be fired upon he ignored it.
Suddenly the alien vessel detonated as the Red Jackal's guns opened up on the small cruiser. His cockpit auto-tinted to shield him from the light and his fighter rocked slightly under the shockwave. He looked over to watch the vessel die and smiled under his plain white mask. Then his scanner beeped at him and he looked down, it had detected a pod far off in the distance. He gunned his engines.
"Hunter One, Desolate Six, I've found a lone pod. It's headed opposite the Red Jackal, unlike the others." He said making a long arc to intercept and glanced out the side ports to his fellow fighters who were all busy with their own targets. "I think it's the Command staff of this Fesch ship."
"Desolate Six, Hunter One, capture that pod immediately!" The voice was very insistent and sounded like the Commander.
"Yes Sir, capture not kill." He responded as he gunned his fighter to full speed.
- - - Asari Republic Fleet escape pod - Alpha One
Commander Kell, Naia, and Sarten sat in the cramped escape pod with five others. They watched through the small view ports as the Quiet Verity grew ever distant.
"Shit! We have incoming!" Their pilot said as she banked the pod hard.
Naia caught a glimpse of something sleek and dark blue zip by them at high speeds. She held onto her harness for dear life and prayed that the enemy fighters didn't get a bead on them.
"He's circling us." The pilot whispered and suddenly killed the engine.
"What are you doing?" Kell asked in angrily, though her fear was overwhelming her.
"I'm a pilot of a hundred and thirty years Ma'am. I know when I'm being given the chance to surrender." The pilot said as the fighter cranked hard sideways performing a kind of drift as it flared its back right maneuverability thrusters and rotated to face them. It drifted close and came within meters of them; they were so close Naia could even see movement from behind the dark tinted glass of the cockpit. A small red light blinked on as the fighter's weapons locked onto their pod… but he didn't fire.
"See, told you." The pilot said with a relieved sigh.
A bright light lit up the rear of the pod as it flooded in through the back view ports. Naia turned to see the Quiet Verity become engulfed in a massive fireball. Other, smaller, explosions filled the space around the dead cruiser. Other life pods were being snuffed out.
"They're killing them." Naia said softly as her eyes were drawn to a small gleam coming from behind their shuttle. "What's that?"
"We have incoming. Looks like a shuttle of some kind." The pilot said getting up and moving to the back to get a better look.
As the ship came into view Naia noticed it was indeed a shuttle but as it continued to close on them four massive arms extended from its sides and reached out to them. As the tendril-like claws opened wide they clamped down on the escape pod with a magnetized whine. The shuttle began towing them.
"We're all fucked, you know that right?" Sarten said softly.
An Asari deck officer strapped in next to her set a hand on her knee and tried to reassure her, "It'll be alright. It's just a misunderstanding, that's all." The officer said with a false smile, it didn't fool Sarten.
"Hope and pray." Commander Kell said softly as the massive ship loomed over them.
One row of monstrous, quad-barreled gun systems dominated the entire side of the ship while dozens of smaller point defense batteries poked out like fingers into the void. A long section of hull split open horizontally spilling bright light out into space and Naia watched as fighters zipped by them and into the light. That was their destination; that was where they would be able to settle this whole mess out.
It was all just a misunderstanding.
It had to be.