Me: Second chapter for Mass Effect: GHOSTs. Still have no clue how this got into the 'Alternate First Contact' community, but whatever.
Trin: So there will be THOR fights right?
Me: Only against Cerberus, but yeah there will be THOR fights sis. On with the story!
Helix: Disclaimer?
Me: If I owned this shit I wouldn't be on fanfiction.
"Talking."
"Thinking."
"[Electronic communication.]"
{AI intercommunication}
Bad Dog
[Nova Galaxy, 'Uninhabited' Sector, Cerberus base:]
"Hey Jake," a Cerberus trooper asked another.
"What," the other replied.
"You ever-…"
"Tom if you say 'wonder why we're here,' I will kill you."
"I was gonna say feel like you're being watched."
"Oh…well then yeah sometimes."
"I know its like-…," the first trooper suddenly stopped.
"Um…Tom?" the other trooper asked as he turned to face where his friend was.
Instead he found an empty space in front of the boxes they were standing by. He raised his weapon and spun around several times looking for something. He moved to the center of the boxes and continued to look for his buddy.
"Tom if you're-…," the trooper never got to finish that sentence as he was pulled back behind the boxes and his neck snapped. His corpse was dropped by Tom's corpse.
"This is Spawn 1, area is clear," Helix said through the GHOSTs secure com channel.
"[This is Strike 1, we're clear here,]" Brooks said over the coms.
"[Angel 1 to all, we're clear,]" Valence said over the coms.
"Spawn 1 to all GHOSTs, begin mission," Helix said as she readied her pistols.
This was the GHOSTs final mission for all 12 of them to be there at once. After this it would be the teams on their own ops. She and the rest of her squad moved up to the next line of cover and hid before checking for any other guards and patrols. Helix was about to have them move up again when Dalton came over the com link.
"[Strike to all GHOSTs, HVT sighted. Designate ML, repeat Level 1 target ML sighted,]" he said quickly.
Level 1 target was the second highest target level, Level 0 was the first and that was currently only held by TIM. There were three Level 1s, but ML was the only other Cerberus officer, Miranda Lawson. Helix smiled beneath her helmet as she could now prove another thing that the GHOSTs could do.
"Understood, all GHOSTs, get to Overstrike's location now!" Helix shouted over the coms as she and her team got up and started sprinting to Overstrike. "Overstrike, keep her there anyway you can."
"[On it,]" Izzy said as Helix heard an explosion. "[Her bird is down and I've locked down all but one door, and that is right behind us.]"
"[Angel right outside the door. Open her up Overstrike.]"
"[…Yeah that's you, opening the door.]"
Helix rounded a corner to see Angel team run through a door as Izzy leaned against it. Sinclair spotted her and waved her over. Hell Spawn team ran through the door as multiple Cerberus Troopers came around another corner. Helix looked at Izzy who flashed five fingers at her.
"We got five minutes before those troopers get through," Helix shouted at the GHOSTs as they killed Lawson's guards.
"Alright Ms. Lawson, time to come with the nice men and women in the Black and orange armor," Kimble said as he walked up to her with cuffs in his hand.
"You really don't know who I am, do you?" Miranda said as she threw a warp at Kimble.
Kimble only managed to say shit before the blast hit him and he was sent flying. Miranda smiled at how she just killed one of the 'invincible GHOSTs.' Her smile disappeared as Kimble got up from the small pile of rubble she sent him into. She threw multiple warps at the GHOSTs who began firing their weapons at or around her. Naya hit a small Ezzo container near Miranda. Naya smiled beneath her helmet as the container started to create a singularity. Lawson was pulled backwards as the singularity formed. She was then thrown forward by its destruction and explosion. She tried to get up and was stopped by a Guardian being put to the back of her head.
"By, by," the GHOST above her said.
"Wait!" Helix shouted, "We need her alive…for now."
The GHOST above Lawson grunted once before removing the gun from her head. She was about to throw another warp when she saw another GHOST above her.
"Night, night," the red haired GHOST said before she slammed the butt of her rifle into the Cerberus officer's face.
Miranda slumped to the ground as a bruise began to form on her forehead. Izzy holstered her weapon and walked back to Overstrike team. Helix nodded to her before looking towards the doors. The Cerberus troopers were already starting to cut through them. Helix looked at Angel squad and decided the best option would be to have a team stay here to transport Lawson.
"Angel team, stay here, HVT is now HVI until we are off planet," Helix said.
"Worst case scenario orders?" Malovic asked.
"Worst comes to worst, put a bullet in her brain."
"Yes ma'am," the GHOSTs said before hauling Lawson onto her disabled ship.
"Overstrike, kill anything that ain't UNSC or the HVI, we'll handle the main objective," Helix ordered Brooks.
"Understood Colonel," Brooks said as he lead Overstrike through an open vent.
Helix led her team to the door and had them get into breach position. She then place three breach charges on the door and backed up a couple of steps. She smiled as the cutting torch the Cerberus troopers were using hit the charges. Before anyone could blink, the charges detonated, killing several of the Cerberus troopers and knocking the rest on their asses. Before they could even try to get up, Hell Spawn shot them through the head.
Helix then had the team move forward. In the center of the facility they ere at was an unknown object that was sending off cryopod signals. Their main objective was to capture the object and find out what it was. Helix went to cover at a corner and turned her head to look down the hall. She saw several troopers transporting a black coffin like box. Diana activated the scanner in Kim's suit and showed that that box was their objective.
"No way we could be this lucky without-…," Helix tried to say.
"Hey, those four GHOSTs are heading this way, we need to move faster," a random trooper that had run up to the others said.
Helix nodded to her team as they started firing at the Cerberus troopers. They fell under the combined fire of the GHOSTs standard weapons. Once the troopers were dead, Helix holstered her weapons and walked up to the pod. She placed her hand on it and Diana started working on getting the pod open. She stepped back as the pod began to open. Inside was a frozen alien that reminded her of the description of Collectors. It began thawing as Helix's helmet peeled away to reveal her face. The Alien suddenly gasped and shot straight up before throwing a green warp at Helix. She leaned left and raised an eyebrow at the alien as it feel to its knees.
"Hey, you ok," Helix asked it. "We didn't come all this way for you to die on us now."
"Though he could and we would still have something to cover the failure of the first objective," Adriana said from behind Kim.
"Shut up Lieutenant," Helix said before turning back to the unknown alien.
"Humans," it said, "I'm surrounded by primitives."
"Anyone else having the sudden urge to shot the new alien," Sean said from next to Adriana.
"Lieutenant!"
"Sorry Colonel," Sean said as the alien got to its feet.
"How many others?" the alien asked.
"If there are any, then we don't know about them. Now back to the primitives comment, is that your species' version of a cryopod?"
"Yes."
"Ours don't require an outside power source and can be used for millions of years with no ill effects on the user. Now show me your weapons."
"Why would I bring those with me into a cryopod?"
"So you can't do that either?"
"Having better cryo technology does not make one no longer a primitive."
"What about weapons, FTL travel, armor, and AIs?"
"You use AIs!?"
"[Great, another technophobic race,]" Diana said over Kim's helmets speakers.
"Yeah, that would be Diana, my personal AI," Dawson said as she crossed her arms.
"Do you have any idea what you are doing!?" the alien said.
"You have a lot to learn…um…what's your name?"
"Javik, last of the Protheans," the alien replied as he also crossed his arms.
"Dalton I blame you for this," Naya said, unknowingly in French.
"Um, English Naya," Izzy said as she fired her Shattergun at another group of Cerberus soldiers.
They were instantly incased within crystal and a few shots from Naya's Warp Rifle caused singularity explosions that atomized the crystalized troopers.
"Sorry, I said I blame you for this Dalton," Naya said in English.
"Complaint noted, now keep firing Sergeant Deveraux," Brooks said as he caught several grenades in his Magshield.
He smiled under his helmet as he launched them back at the original throwers. The Cerberus troopers tried to run, but were caught in the explosions of their own grenades. He then turned and fired a Magshield blast at a group of Cerberus soldiers that were attempting to flank them. The blast disintegrated everything it hit, turning the walls and floor where the troopers had been from grey to red.
"We're gonna need a mop," Dalton said as he deactivated the Magshield and pulled out his shotgun.
He fired twice and killed two Cerberus soldiers. Naya readied her Warp Rifle and began firing at troopers attempting to flank them. She held the trigger down until the troopers before her began exploding. She smiled beneath her helmet and turned back to see a Cerberus Atlas mech charging at them. The Overstrike GHOSTs looked at each other before charging at the mech. Izzy fired her Shattergun into its legs and managed to immobilize it. It tried to swing at her, but she rolled backwards behind Dalton. Jacob fired several bolts into the mech from behind Dalton's Magshield and detonated the bolts. As the mech began to burn, Naya fired her Warp Rifle at the cockpit. The glass almost instantly shattered and the warp rounds hit the pilot. A few more shots and the singularity was formed.
"Think we got them all?" Izzy asked as the team looked around.
Dalton was about to reply when the ground started to shake. Before he could question what was going on, Hell Spawn team ran up to them with a new alien at the heels. He looked straight at Helix he pointed in the direction of Angel team. Dalton nodded as all of them ran towards the hanger. They got to the hanger to find Angel team and Lawson gone, but a data packet where they had been. It read 'had to run, hanger D5.'
Helix instantly had the GHOSTs head to there, and hoped that the shaking wasn't what she thought it was.
The GHOSTs got to the hanger and found that Angel team was restraining Miranda inside a transport shuttle. Lawson herself was still KOed. Helix looked around and found a control panel for the hanger's doors. She ran over to it and pressed the button. Kim then watched the doors start to open and was about to sigh in relief when a giant metal hand ripped the doors off. She instantly started firing her weapons at the HOUND mech. It looked down at them and one of its guns began to move. Before it could a singularity formed around it and exploded. The THOR knock-off backed up and looked at the now destroyed weapon. The GHOSTs instantly started firing all of their XL weaponry at the giant mech.
Helix ordered the scouts to focus fire on one area and for the heavies to cover them. The marksmen and medics would shot everywhere and try to do as much damage as they could, or at the very least, temporarily immobilize parts of the HOUND. Multiple Arcshot bolts hit the HOUND before being detonated simultaneously. The augmented mercury spread across the mech and continuously damaged it as multiple Shattergun hits crystalized the lower part of its left arm. The marksmen and scouts instantly switched targets and destroyed the crystal arm. Before they could do anything else, the HOUND tried to smash them into the ground with its only remaining hand. Helix wasn't sure if they could survive that and ordered the GHOSTs to scatter. As they ran, the GHOSTs continued to fire, this time aiming for the right leg of the HOUND. As it got up and reach behind it, its leg became crystalized. The marksmen detonated the bolts that were now under the crystal surface and caused the leg to be completely shattered.
The HOUND fell to the ground as it lost its balance. It tried to lift itself up with its good arm, only to have that also become crystalized. This time it was shattered by Warp Rifle shots. The mech fell onto its face as Helix, Dalton, and Valence climbed onto its head. Just as the got the door open, the HOUND managed to rise to its knees and fire turrets connected to its hands at the GHOSTs still on the ground. Helix held onto the mech with one hand and grabbed Angie's arm with the other. Kim groaned as she threw the GHOST into the head of the HOUND mech. She reached up to grab onto the mech with both hands, but slipped and began to fall. Before she got too far, she was caught by a quick grab from Valence. The GHOST pulled her into the mech and sealed the door behind them. Helix thanked her and pulled out both of her Guardians. They then walked up to the pilot, who was trying to control the severly damaged HOUND mech. He stopped moving when he felt the barrel of a pistol placed against the back of his head.
"Any last words?" Angie asked from behind Helix.
"You UNSC soldiers are on the wrong side of this war," the trooper said.
"No we aren't, you are," Helix said to the trooper. "Now play dead," she said as she pulled the trigger of her gun. The gun fired and painted the spot in front of the trooper red. "Good boy," Helix said as she holstered her pistols.
She looked back at Valence who nodded at her. Both of them then climbed out of the mech to see the shuttle landing in front of them.
The two GHOSTs climbed in to find the rest of the GHOSTs and the Prothean already inside. They also saw that Lawson was awake again and screaming at them all.
"You will all regret this dearly, do you understand me? I will get out of here and when I do-…" Lawson was interrupted by a punch to the face that gave her a black eye, but didn't knock her out.
"Can we please just shoot her Colonel?" Valence asked as her helmet peeled back and she rubbed her temples.
"Not yet, we need to confirm it's her first."
"Fine, but after that I'm fucking shooting the bitch," Valence said.
"You'll have to get in line," Naya said as she readied her Guardian.
Izzy walked over to the Cerberus officer and activated her suit's bio-scanner. After two seconds she turned to the other GHOSTs with her helmet peeled back. She had a smile on her face as she flashed them a thumbs-up.
"Pay raises all around," Izzy said as she turned back to Lawson with her Guardian pulled out.
She made Miranda rise to her feet before pointing the pistol at the woman's knees and pulling the trigger. Lawson fell to the floor and attempted to get back up. Izzy turned back around and held the pistol out to the next person. Valence instantly took it from her and shot Lawson in the elbows. Dalton walked up to the Cerberus officer and kicked her several times in the stomach and face. Helix took the Guardian after that and grabbed Miranda's hair with her open hand. She yanked the woman's head up so she could face her. Lawson spat blood onto Kim's helmet and glared at her. Helix peeled back her helmet and smiled before shoving the gun into Miranda's mouth. Miranda only had time to switch her glare to shock and fear before her brains were splattered against the wall behind her. Kim got up and wiped the blood from her face before looking back at the GHOSTs.
"When we get back to Sydney, I'm buying all of you drinks," Helix said before remembering that all of Angel squad was originally Alliance N7s. "I mean my Earth's Sydney, Australia."
"Oh," Valence said before turning back to her team. "Next stop, the Terra Galaxy people, time for us to finally see what the UNSC's Earth looks like." [For the record, I never said that they've been to the UNSC's Earth.]
"This should be interesting for them," Kim thought.
{I think it will be a good experience for them,} Diana replied.
"Agreed. They should get to know how the ODSTs handle post mission R&R."
{This is not going to end well for them is it,} Diana said jokingly.
"Why Diana, I have no idea what you mean," Helix said sarcastically and jokingly as they docked onto their ship. Once the GHOSTs and Prothean were aboard, the UNSC Prowler Class vessel launched into slipspace, heading towards the portal in the Draco system.
[Terra Galaxy; Sol System; Sydney, Australia:]
"…And that ends my report Dr. Halsey," Helix said to the director of ONI.
"So you managed to take down a low level THOR…with hand held weaponry…and no support from anyone else…in less than ten minutes?" Halsey asked, her face not showing any emotion, but both Kim and Diana could tell that that little detail was hard for the Doctor to maintain.
"[Actually it took 15 minutes and 27 seconds for them to take down the HOUND,]" Diana said.
"…I thought it would be faster," Halsey said as she began showing emotion again.
"We probably could have done it faster, but we had two HVIs, one of which we needed to kill, that we had to protect with us," Helix said.
"I have no doubt about that. I asked that you all be given two weeks of shore leave, enjoy it," Halsey said as she got up from her seat and went to the door.
"Thank you ma'am." Helix said as she also left. She then started heading out to where the other GHOSTs were.
"You don't look ok," Adriana Houser said to the Angel team member Donavan 'Donnie' Fulson.
"I'm…completely…fine," the former N7 said.
The former ODST looked at him questioningly as he ordered another beer. The bartender raised an eyebrow at him and then looked at her. Adriana mouthed 'Nova' and the bartender nodded in understanding. Several instances have already created the stereotype that Humans from the Nova Galaxy couldn't handle alcohol as well as Humans from the Terra Galaxy. The other N7 GHOSTs had already stopped drinking, knowing that they had reached their limit. Donnie on the other hand, kept going even after it was just the UNSC GHOSTs.
"Hey, is your buddy gonna be ok…wait…Adriana?" someone asked from behind her.
Adriana turned around to see a man in his mid thirties with dark blue eyes and a large scar on the right half of his face. He was also a member of Adriana's former unit and someone she had known since they were kids.
"Hector!" she said as she hugged her best friend. "How've you been?"
"You know, getting shot at every other day," he replied with a smile after letting go of her.
"Ah, it builds character."
"True," Hector said as he sat down. "So how have you been, heard you got into some knew top secret unit."
"That I did, but I can't tell you more than that buddy."
"Damn, and I was thinking I could get you to leak a bit of intel at least."
"Yeah, that's what happens when you get the black suit."
"You didn't," Hector said in true shock.
"Yeah, yeah I did," Adriana replied while looking at the ground.
"I can't believe you joined ONI."
"They aren't as bad as they used to be."
"It's still ONI. Why the fuck would you join them!?"
"Put more of the…thing…the thing that goes in the…thing…for drinking," Donnie said next to them, breaking them from their argument.
"I don't think it's a good idea to give him more," Hector said after a bit.
"Has to learn some how…you still mad?" Adriana asked.
"Mad, I'm fucking furious…but I know you. You would only do this for the right reason…I just realized how cheesy that sounded."
"Some things never change do they Hector?"
"No they don't," Hector said as Donnie fell out of his chair, completely unconscious.
"Great, now I gotta lug his drunken ass back to the ship," Adriana said, a little annoyed.
"Need any help?" Hector asked.
"Really?"
"Hey, what are friends for?"
"Thanks buddy," Adriana said as they each took one of Donnie's arms and dragged him back to the Prowler.
"Read 'em and weep fellas," Dalton said to the other GHOSTs at the table.
They were playing cards and he had just thrown down a full house ten high.
"Sorry buddy, but I think you spoke to soon," Kimble said as he pointed to Izzy's held out hand.
She smiled as she revealed a royal flush. Dalton cursed as he handed the credit chit to Izzy.
"Hold one…I thought we agreed not to actually play for money until the Colonel and Houser got back?" an angel team member named Mike 'Sarge' Navern asked.
"It no fun without risk of lose," Andrew 'Andy' Malovic said.
"What the Russian said," Houser said as she and someone the others didn't recognize walked in, Donnie being carried between them. Angie looked up at the new guy then at Adriana and raised an eyebrow.
"Friend from my old unit, we've known each other since Pre-K," Adriana said.
Everyone went back to what they were doing at that and Adriana and the other guy laid Donnie on an empty cot. They were turning around as Kim walked in.
"Officer on deck!" Adriana's friend shouted and everyone dropped what they were doing and went to attention.
"At ease," Helix said before continuing onto into the room. "We now have two weeks of vacation, find a way to make the most of it."
"Permission to speak freely ma'am?" Brooks asked.
"Permission granted."
"HELL FUCKING YES!" Dalton shouted as he high fived Kimble. They didn't notice as Izzy swiped the money form the credit chits they had on them. Adriana smiled at her friend and Helix smiled at nothing. This was going to be a great two weeks.
Me: Well that seemed like a good chapter to me.
Trin: No public execution of Miranda?
Me: If you are allowed to kill an HVT that is annoying as hell, and has biotics, would you wait for the execution?
Trin: Good point.
Helix: I sure as hell couldn't have waited any longer than that.
Me: Exactly. That's all for now VR Commando ATA out.
