Rise of the Harbinger
-Betrayal-
-Quarters of the Kreza family-
Dyson was helping his now mother show Miri how to replace an electrical conduit that had blown. Dyson had help guide Miri step by step through the process and she became quite good at it. The young Quarian hugged Dyson, thanking her brother profusely being she was to be sent on Pilgrimage within the next two months. Zalea'Kreza heard a beeping in the next room and went in to see what was going on. On her terminal she saw that there was an incoming comm message.
Zalea tapped the terminal. The image of an Alliance officer appeared. "This is Zalea'Kreza vas Icarus."
"Miss Zalea'Kreza. I am looking for Lieutenant Dyson Courtland." He said respectfully.
"What is this in regards to?" She knew Dyson had started to question the Systems Alliance. Why were they contacting him now after all these months?
"I'm sorry, ma'am. But that is for the Lieutenant to know only." The Alliance Officer refused to divulge any more information than was absolutely necessary.
Something about that didn't sit right with Zalea. But she went and let Dyson know that the Alliance were looking for him.
Dyson sat down at the terminal, his mother and sister not far away. "Lieutenant Dyson Courtland reporting, sir." He saluted.
"Lieutenant, are you alone?" The officer asked.
"Yessir." He lied.
"Lieutenant, we are reactivating your team, Shadow Squad. We need you to do recon on the Quarian homeworld of Rannoch." The Officer started.
"Sir? With all due respect, that's deep in Geth territory." Dyson stopped the officer.
"Yes, Alliance Command knows this. But the Council as well as Alliance Command have decided that this mission is too critical not to have recon done." The officer leaned forward. "You know of Commander Shia'va Shepard, yes?"
"The first human Spectre? Yessir." Dyson was shocked to hear that name.
"She recovered information about the Geth and is on her way with the Normandy to investigate a possible Geth invasion in the Artemis Tau Cluster near the Perseus Veil." The officer leaned forward. "If that is true, then we NEED to know the strength of the Geth force on Rannoch. Your team can get in and out without being seen."
Something felt wrong about this. But it was an order from a superior officer. "Yessir. I'll meet up with my team aboard the Lincoln."
"Excellent. Alliance Command out." The terminal shut down.
"Harbinger, any Quarian could tell you the strength of the Geth force on Rannoch. Keelah, please, do not go. I have a very bad feeling about this." His mother walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulder.
Dyson touched his helmet to his mother's. "I know, mother. But I have to do this. I can't disobey orders. Shadow Squad is the best at what we do. We're Spec Ops."
His mother pulled him in tight. "Then you make sure you come back to the Migrant Fleet. You come back to us. Swear it!"
"In Keelah's name, I swear it." He hugged her back tight.
-Rannoch, three days later-
The reunion with Shadow Squad was a quick one. They had planned on getting together after the mission for drinks and to catch up. But now was the time to get down to business. The Spec Ops team exited the shuttle and had formed a defensive perimeter. Dyson was team lead and knelt down behind cover. No Geth were in the area and it gave him time to get their mission update. He acvtivated his Omni-tool.
"Alliance Command," Harbinger started the encrypted transmission. They had chosen this frequency because it was never used except for extremely dangerous Spec Ops missions. "This is Harbinger. We are planetside. Awaiting command."
The radio crackled to life. The signal was weak, but he could make out the orders. "Shadow Squad, find and ascertain the strength of the main Geth force. Lt. Colonel "Harbinger" Courtland, you are in command. Failure is not an option. Confirm command."
"Five by five. Confirm directive to ascertain strength of main Geth force. Is my readback correct, command?" Harbinger asked.
"Affirmative. Good luck, Shadow Squad. Command out." The radio went silent.
-Back at Alliance Command-
The young woman at communications touched the button and placed her face in her hands. She exhaled heavily and looked back at her commanding officer who glared at the terminal. "You've just sent them to their deaths."
The commander looked at the young woman. "Anything for the good of humanity." As the commander turned, a small insignia was seen under his collar. It was the mark of Cerberus.
-Back on Rannoch-
Harbinger looked to his team and motioned to their destination, speaking over their comms through their helmets. "Alright, boys. We have our orders. Two by two, tight cover formation. Don't let those synths get behind us. MOVE OUT!"
"Sir, yessir!" The men called out.
The group moved quickly through the foliage. Stopping every so often to check their six. No Geth. The group got to a second checkpoint. They quickly got below the foliage line when they spotted an Armature. The Armature scanned the area for any life signs. It didn't detect any. Or so the group thought. The Armature moved away to another route on its patrol.
"Sir, I don't like this. The Geth don't just use one unit to patrol a large area." Sergeant Dalin was one of the best intel officers the Spec Ops groups had. He knew the routines of a Geth patrol and how many should be there. And being that he didn't like this situation was enough of a warning for Harbinger.
Harbinger's voice went quiet. "Two flank left, three right. Watch for Hunters." Harbinger's body started to glow with biotic energy. As the first soldier started to move, his head exploded. Harbinger spun around to see a Geth Sniper reloading its rifle. A "spider" Geth leapt to another tree. They termed it "spider" because of its ability to attach to walls and ceilings without being detected. "SON OF A...! ONE SHOT ONE KILL! MOVE!" Harbinger unleashed a Singularity, catching the "spider" Geth and hitting the Singularity with a warp field, detonating the Singularity. The Geth flew through some trees and stopped short of hitting the sniper's perch. The sniper fired another shot hitting Harbinger in the shoulder. He snarled in pain but used a biotic levitate to catch the sniper and then threw him from the air.
Harbinger fell backwards, clasping his shoulder and tearing his helmet off. Sven ran over to him and put a breathing mask on him. His men pulling him to cover.
"SIR! They're on us!" Dalin called out.
"God dammit! How did they ambush us like this? We have to get to higher ground! Make the sons of a bitches pay for every inch they try to get near us! GO GO GO!" Harbinger stood and unleashed a shockwave of biotic energies. The shockwave shot back several Geth. He ducked quickly back to cover.
"Sven! Give those bastards something to chew on!"
"On it, Harbinger! Let's bring the pain! LET'S BRING THE NOISE!" Sven Montres, a very close friend of Harbinger's and a heavy ordinance soldier, stood up and threw an inferno grenade. It hit one of the Geth Hunters and exploded into several more incendiary pieces, burning through the armor of the Geth. A massive explosion ripped apart a section of ground, killing five marines. Six were left. Sven stood again and fired his assault rifle. Tesla rounds screwing up the circuitry of the Geth.
Harbinger saw the window of opportunity. "MOVE! GET TO POINT DELTA! GO GO!"
The Marines ran like hell, Harbinger unleashing more biotic energy. Covering them as best he could. But he was getting tired. Two Geth Armatures fired their pulse cannons, killing three more marines. A sniper killing the fourth. Harbinger and Sven were the only two to make it to the higher ground cover. The higher ground giving them the best advantage. But it was still a long drawn out fight.
Harbinger and Sven fell back against cover at Point Delta. It was a massive hill and they could see the Geth coming at them from the front. Behind them was the jungle. Harbinger panted heavily. He could feel the strain from his L2 implant. And the headache was getting worse. Exhaustion from pushing the L2 implant wore him out. But this was a fight for survival.
"Dys, we can't keep this up. I'm running out of heat sinks. And you're barely holding together as it is using your biotics as you are." Sven got off a few shots. They could still hear the Geth from cover.
"Why hasn't the Alliance sent word? Were the FUCK are they?" Harbinger activated his omni-tool. "Alliance Command! This is The Harbinger! We are under heavy enemy fire! Request immediate evac! Minus ten! I repeat: Minus ten! The Geth ambushed us!" He stood up and fired off a few rounds from his pistol. He heard something and got back to cover. "Say again!"
"We cannot evacuate you at this time. We have no ships in the vicinity. You will have to hold out for as long as you can. Citadel-Alliance Command out."
Harbinger's face went ashen. He looked at Sven. "Those god damn...sons of...they're leaving us here to die!"
Sven growled. "FUCKING HUMAN ALLIANCE!"
-In a ship just outside of Geth space-
Miri missed her family. But her Pilgrimage was important. But as she neared Geth space, but staying just far enough away so as to not attract attention, she picked up a communication from the coordinates of Rannoch. She adjusted and tuned the comm terminal to clear up the signal which was mired in static. She listened closely.
"Alliance Command! This is The Harbinger! We are under heavy enemy fire! Request immediate evac! Minus ten! I repeat: Minus ten! The Geth ambushed us!" Harbinger's voice came over. Miri covered the mouth of her helmet.
"We cannot evacuate you at this time. We have no ships in the vacinity. You will have to hold out as long as you can." Alliance Command said.
Miri was shaking. She heard her brother again. "Say again!"
"We cannot evacuate you at this time. We have no ships in the vicinity. You will have to hold out for as long as you can. Citadel-Alliance Command out." The comm went dead.
"Oh Keelah...no!" At great risk to herself, Miri turned her ship towards Rannoch and pushed the engines to their limit to get to her brother. During the communications exchange, she had done a scan of the area. There had been no heat signature of any ships except for a small shuttle. The one she guessed Harbinger arrived at Rannoch on.
-Back on Rannoch-
The stress of the situation finally drove Harbinger to go beyond the ability of his L2 implant. Harbinger grabbed his head as his implant went into overheat. He screamed in pain. Grasping his head as Sven grabbed his friend and "brother". Harbinger opened his eyes, blood seeping from under them. At that second, the implant in his head fractured and broke. His eyes now glowing with biotic energy. The restriction of the implant no longer there, his biotics now at full strength.
Harbinger stood up, his body completed engulfed in biotic power. "WE ARE THE HARBINGERS OF YOUR DESTRUCTION!" His biotics lifting him off the ground as he let loose a massive biotic shockwave in front of him. The shockwave scorching the ground and destroying the small group of Geth left. The release of so much energy caused Harbinger to collapse to the ground.
Sven ran over and in a fireman's carry, got Harbinger and himself out of the area. To a cave that seemed to scramble the sensors of the Geth.
After arriving in the cave, Sven grabbed his emergency medical kit and injected Harbinger with a sedative and pain killer. Sven leaned his head back and cursed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" He roared angrily. He placed his hand on his friend...his brother in arms. "I swear to fucking Christ, Dys, when we get out of here, I'm gonna fucking kill those assholes in Command. They fucked with the wrong people." Sven kept his Predator pistol next to him. It had only a few rounds left. And one incendiary grenade. He leaned his head back again and closed his eyes. He slept but only lightly. It was something most soldiers on the battlefield did in long drawn out battles. Sleeping but just deep enough so the least little sound would wake them. And Sven heard something that shook him awake. He grabbed his pistol as a form appeared at the mouth of the cave. "FREEZE, YOU FUCKING SYNTH!" He was about to fire. He was going to die to protect Harbinger.
"No! Wait!" The figure raised her arms in the air. "I'm a friend!"
Sven didn't lower his weapon. "A fucking Quarian?! What the fuck are you doing here?!"
"I heard my brother's distress call passing by Geth space. I had to come help him." She said calmly, keeping her hands in view to show she was unarmed.
"Brother...?" He looked at a still sedated Harbinger. "Jesus...a family actually adopted him?"
"Yes, my family. And he's the best brother I could have. Please, let me get you both out of here." She stepped forward as Sven lowered his weapon. She saw Harbinger and noticed the blood. "Keelah...what happened to him?!"
Sven knelt down. "He used so much biotic power just to keep us alive that the stress of that and the situation caused his L2 Implant to shatter." Sven got Harbinger ready to move. "Should've killed him. But he's tough. He's going to need a new Implant. And I don't think the Quarians use biotics. We have to get him to the Citadel in the Widow Nebula." He hefted Harbinger in a fireman's carry again.
"But why is he sedated?" Miri asked concerned.
"His biotics are so powerful, if they aren't kept in check by the implant, he could very badly hurt someone. Even himself. I have to keep him sedated until we can get him to a medical facility." Sven moved with Miri as she guided them to her ship. As they got on the ship, Sven saw a Geth Armature. "Umm...kid...we have to get out of her! NOW!"
Miri's ship roared to life and lifted off. As the Armature fired, Miri punched her ship's engines. The ship roaring out of Rannoch's atmosphere. Miri hit the mass relay and headed straight for the Citadel.
-At Huerta Memorial, the Citadel-
Dyson slowly came around. His head hurt. But not as bad as before. He felt groggy and disoriented and his eyes had not yet focused. But he saw a form sitting next to his bed. "Wh...where...?"
Miri put her hand on his. "Easy, big brother." She said softly and soothingly.
"M..Miri?" He tried to sit up but she gently pushed him back down. "Rest, Harbinger'Kreeza. You've been through a lot."
Sven walked into the room and smiled seeing Harbinger awake. "Hey there, you lucky son of a bitch." He clasped Harbinger's good shoulder.
"Sven? Where are we?" Harbinger looked towards Sven's blurry form.
"The Citadel. Your implant shattered and your sister here happened to be in the area of Geth space. She saved our lives, Dys." Sven's expression darkened. "Those assholes are gonna have A LOT to answer for."
"In time. Just...give me a minute to at least see straight." Harbinger again tried to sit up.
Sven this time pushed him down. "Woah, easy there. The doctors say you have at least three more days of recovery. They had to get every last piece of the old implant out and they're worried poking around in your brain may have done something. We'll face the Council about this crap after."
The door to the hospital room opened and two more Quarians walked in. "Harbinger'Kreeza?!" It was Zalea'Kreeza and Rosv'Kreeza. His mother ran over and touched her helmet to his head. "Keelah. When Miri'Kreeza told us...we had to come to you. We just had to." His mother grabbed his one hand, his father grabbed the other.
"I'm alright, mother. Just sore. And angry." Harbinger rested his head back.
"You should be!" Miri shouted. "They left you to die!"
Sven squeezed her shoulder. "Easy there, kiddo."
The doctor came in and checked on Harbinger's vitals. She was Asari but had a warm demeanor. "Just to let you know, visiting hours are almost over. You can stay at the hospital just not in the room."
A second person, someone in an Alliance military uniform walked in. "I think we can make an exception for our survivor, don't you think, doctor?"
Upon seeing the uniform, Sven stood up and stood in front of the military officer. Anger in Sven's features. "Get the fuck out of here, asshole!" Sven pointed to the officer.
"Excuse me, soldier? You dare talk to a superior..." Sven cut him off.
"Kiss my ass, you son of a bitch! You left us on Rannoch to die!" Sven was poking him. "We don't answer to people that abandon us!"
"You are on the verge of a..." The Alliance officer's head snapped as Sven punched him hard in the jaw.
"Shut the fuck up!" Sven roared. He grabbed the Alliance patch on his uniform and tore it off, throwing at the Alliance officer. "I refuse to be a part of a military that wantonly throws their soldiers away like so much used tissue paper and considers their lives shit!"
Harbinger spoke up next from the bed. "You can consider this my resignation as well. And you can tell the brass that. After we speak to the Council, we are leaving Citadel space. Humanity has no right to ask anything of us anymore. The Quarians are my people now. At least they know the value of a life. Unlike the Alliance and humanity."
The Alliance officer was spewing mad. He glared at the two former Alliance officers. "You'd turn your back on your own people?"
Sven scoffed. "After what they did to us? Phh. Yeah."
The Alliance officer pointed at them both. "You're both traitors. Were it up to me, I'd have you both imprisoned for betraying your own race."
"Look in the mirror, asshole. You betrayed us." Sven growled.
The Alliance officer turned on his heels and stormed out of the hospital room.
After three days, the doctors released Harbinger from their care. Harbinger, Sven, Rosv, Zalea, and Miri went to Citadel Tower and stood before the Council. Upon reporting what the Alliance had done, Harbinger told the Council that he and Sven refused to aid either the Alliance or the Council in any further missions and openly resigned from the Alliance Military. Though unhappy, the Council understood. Two hours later, Rosv, Zalea, and Harbinger were headed back to the Migrant Fleet. Sven decided to leave for Omega. Miri returned to her Pilgrimage. Upon returning the Migrant Fleet, Harbinger was greeted warmly. The Fleet had heard about what happened to the only human, at this point, who had become a part of their community. And the Admiralty Board promised Harbinger that they would not turn their backs on him. Harbinger found comfort in that. For the first time in his life, he felt free.