"Where is it?" A gravelly voice growled. "Where is it!?"
Crates of element zero flew across the warehouse as the commander unleashed a biotic discharge into the room. The bulky, uncouth krogan stomped forward as he snarled, his entire body radiating light blue biotic energy. His black armor covered his entire body, making him seem like a massive shadow, except for glowing green eye holes piercing the darkness.
"Well, you won't find it just throwing things around, Kraul." Another voice, much smoother and less coarse than the first, spoke. An asari, dressed head-to-toe in a sickening green bodysuit, strode into the warehouse, hips swinging with each step. Even if the only other person in the room was an angry krogan, she kept up her seductive mannerisms.
"You said they found a Window, Zemisze." Kraul growled, pointing at the asari accusingly. "I don't see it."
"They did find it. I saw them dig it out of the ground and stick it in the little box." Zemisze said. "But then somebody took it and hid it away in one of the warehouses."
"Well, then where is it?" Kraul asked, his voice dripping with annoyance. "The Grandmaster is expecting a Window, and he doesn't like to be disappointed."
"I know." Zemisze replied. "That's why he hired me."
"All troops, grab your gear. We're moving out." The voice of the Captain sounded over the radios of every soldier on the Shambhala. A platoon of armored Alliance soldiers began pouring out of the hanger of the ship, quickly mixing with the Asari Commandos.
"You're sure these girls are ready for this?" The Captain asked the head of the Commando unit, Miriar, as they overlooked their army.
"My squad tore through a Cerberus platoon during the War." Miriar said. "They can handle a few pirates."
"Same pirates who drove you out of the settlement?" The Captain asked, much to Miriar's chagrin.
"They took us by surprise." Miriar said, annoyed. "Besides, I'm pretty sure we have a mole somewhere."
"So I've heard." The Captain said. "How are we planning to deal with that?"
"I'm only sending my team into conflict." Miriar said. "I know them. They wouldn't turn on the asari." she looked back at the civilian population. "Them, on the other hand, I'm not so sure about."
"I'll keep some of my troops back here." The Captain offered. "Keep an eye on them."
"Thanks." Miriar said, nodding. She paused, looking at the Alliance forces waiting for orders. "I don't like this."
"Me neither." The Captain agreed. "Something stinks."
"...Well, we're here now, I guess," Miriar said. "and we've got a job to do." She moved forward to address her troops, leaving the Captain to return to the Shambhala where Mason, Delpratt, Montgomery, and Kelyrnea were waiting.
"So, what's the deal, Cap?" Monty asked, holding his shotgun on his shoulders.
"The 'deal', Service Chief, is this." The Captain said. "You three are going to be following Kelyrnea to find our artifact."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Mason asked. "You don't need us leading the charge?"
"Finding the artifact is our top priority." The Captain replied. "I need my best on the job...and Montgomery."
"Hey!" Monty spoke up.
"Kelyrnea is the only one who knows where it is, so she's going to make sure you find it." The Captain said.
"Well, that and protecting your asses." Kelyrnea said.
"We can't all be Spectres, but I doubt we'll need your protection, luv." Monty said, turning to his comrades. "Isn't that right, ladies?"
"Hm?" Maisie looked up from her omni-tool, returning from a million miles away.
Monty sighed, taking his shotgun off his shoulders. "Lieutenant?" he asked Mason.
"We can handle ourselves, Kelyrnea." Mason said. "But we'd be honored to fight alongside you."
"We'll see." Kelyrnea said. "I'd say it's time we got moving."
"My thoughts exactly." The Captain agreed. "Mason! Montgomery! Delpratt! Let's move!"
Kraul and Zemisze briskly made their way out of the warehouse they were searching through. "It's not there." Kraul growled.
"Hmm." Zemisze replied, putting a hand to her chin. "Clever Spectre..."
"Compliment the enemy later!" Kraul spat. "We gotta find that Window or it's both our asses!"
"Calm down, big guy. We've still got an entire town to search." Zemisze said.
All of the sudden, Kraul's radio buzzed to life. "Master Kraul, the Alliance ship touched down outside the settlement." a voice said. "They were carrying a busload of soldiers and it looks like they're preparing to attack!"
"Dammit." Kraul growled. "The asari must have called for help. Get ready to fight back! Rally the troops!" he reached behind his hump to grab his assault rifle, ready for combat.
"Well, this job just got fun." Zemisze said, grinning as blue biotic energy surrounded her body.
"I don't know about you, but I'm not just charging head-on into an alliance platoon." Kraul said. "The Window is still our priority. I'm just ready for what's coming."
"And what if I want to charge head-on into an alliance platoon?" Zemisze asked, her glowing intensifying.
"Be my guest." Kraul replied. "Just don't expect any help from me." he finished, walking off to continue his search.
Zemisze stayed in place, her biotic energy fading as she considered the situation, putting a finger to her cheek. She could go kill some humans. That would be fun. But if Kraul found the Window without her then she may not get payed in full. That wouldn't be good. After sighing in exasperation she decided to follow the grouchy krogan.
That was when she caught sight of someone sneaking around in the alleyways. A group of three humans and an asari. A very familiar asari...the Spectre. Zemisze grinned. She would be payed in full...with interest.
Kelyrnea peeked around the corner, looking in all directions before rounding the bend, signalling her comrades to follow her. Mason, Monty, and Delpratt followed, weapons raised and ready for combat.
"So, Spectre..." Monty said. "Care to fill us in on what it is we're looking for?"
"Classified." Both Kelyrnea and Mason replied at the same time.
"Real helpful." Monty deadpanned.
"Let's just say..." Kelyrnea sad. "...you'll know it when you see it."
"Again, real helpful." Monty repeated.
Kelyrnea looked back, sending Monty a glare. "Is he always like this?" she asked.
"Pretty much." Mason confirmed.
"He is fairly curious for a soldier." Delpratt chimed in.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Monty asked.
"Sh! Quiet!" Kelyrnea ordered, holding up her fist as a signal to halt. The alliance soldiers obey, stopping in their tracks.
Rounding an opposite corner were what could only be described as the enemy. Three soldiers, two humans and one salarian judging by their armor, were spotted. Their armor was as black as the void of space save for green highlights here and there, including their glowing eyeholes.
Their most striking feature, however, were the insignia on their chests and shoulders. It was a white sign, in stark contrast to the black of their uniforms. They clearly wanted them to be seen. It was a circular shape with four sharp triangles pointing inwards from each side. The circle was surrounded by swirls reminding any who viewed them of water.
"Three soldiers ahead." Kelyrnea said. "We ready?"
"Very." Monty replied, clenching his fist to his chest. His body began glowing blue as he charged forward.
"Incoming!" One of the human soldiers shouted, pulling out his pistol. The soldier fired, but the bullets did little to Monty's biotic barrier. Monty responded by blasting his enemy in the face with his shotgun.
The other two soldiers pulled out assault rifles and fired away at Monty, breaking his shield. Kelyrnea reacted by stretching out her hand and biotically lifting the second soldier, the other human, into the air. Mason thrust her arm forward, sending her own biotic projectile forward to detonate a biotic explosion, vaporizing the soldier and knocking the last one over.
"Good shot, Lieutenant." Kelyrnea complimented.
"Thank you." Mason replied.
"What, no praise for me?" Monty asked, spreading his arms in mock confusion.
"You rushed right into enemy fire, Chief." Kelyrnea said. "That was a boneheaded move. You could've been killed."
"This isn't my first rodeo, mate." Monty defended. "I've used the trick before."
"That's true." Mason said. "Though we usually have more intel going in."
The final soldier, the salarian, hastily scrambled to his feet, pulling out his pistol and aiming at Monty. Kelyrnea and Mason quickly raised their weapons, ready to fire.
Suddenly, the soldier began rapidly spasming before falling over, causing Monty to casually look over his shoulder.
"Huh. Guess we missed one." he said. "Nice overload, Maisie."
Kelyrnea and Mason looked behind them to see Delpratt aiming her omni-tool at the location of the soldier.
"Of course." Delpratt acknowledged before walking forward. "Now let's find out what he knows."
"Good idea." Kelyrnea said, approaching the final soldier. "Maybe we'll find out what they're doing here."
"It'd be about time." Monty commented, holstering his shotgun.
The three alliance soldiers and Spectre surrounded their prone adversary, still breathing but inert. Delpratt used her omni-tool to apply a less intense shock to the salarian, sparking him awake again and causing him to shout out in pain.
"You awake? Good." Mason spoke to the soldier. "You're going to tell us who you work for and why you're here. Understood?"
"I have nothing to say to you, alliance scum." The soldier said, turning his head away.
"You're not in much of a position to refuse, mate." Monty said, grounding his foot into the solider's hand, eliciting a whimper of pain from the enemy.
Mason glared at Monty, causing him to remove his foot. "Listen." she said, leaning down to the soldier. "Is giving us basic information about your employers really worth all this trouble?"
"Yes." The soldier spat back, falling silent once again.
"He's not budging." Kelyrnea commenting.
"I could loosen his tongue." Delpratt suggested, holding up her omni-tool. The holographic tool began sparking yellow, indicating the activation of the blowtorch function. The salarian whimpered again.
Mason grabbed Delpratt's arm and pushed in down. "We are not torturing him, Delpratt." she stated firmly.
"How else are we going to get the information we need?" Delpratt asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If we torture him he'll just tell us whatever we want to hear." Mason countered. "It will be worthless to us."
She let go of Delpratt's arm and knelt down to the soldier again. "Listen." she said. "I don't want to hurt you, but if you can't give us the information that we need we may have to kill you."
The soldier shifted. "If I talk to you, they'll kill me." he said.
"And if you don't talk to us then we'll kill you." Monty said, earning a glare from Mason. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't, eh?"
"You don't understand." the soldier said in a panicked voice. "They will hurt me in ways you cannot imagine. They, they'll-they'll-they'll-"
"Calm down." Mason said. "If you talk to us we'll place you under Alliance Protection. They won't be able to get to you."
The soldier's breathing began to slow. "You're sure?" he said.
"I promise." Mason replied, giving the salarian a smile.
"Ok..." The soldier said. "I'll tell you."
"That's great, but we still need to find the artifact." Kelyrnea said. "Give us the rundown. Organization, goals, leaders. Go." she ordered, pointing at the soldier.
"Charybdis, gather resources, the Precursors." The soldier quickly spilled.
"Charybdis?" Monty asked. "Wasn't that some pro-human organization?"
"You're thinking of Cerberus." Delpratt corrected.
"Either way, we need to get this soldier back to the Shambhala." Mason said. "Delpratt, Montgomery, get him back to the ship. I'll help Kelyrnea find the artifact."
"Aye, ma'am." Monty said, helping the soldier to his feet. "C'mon. Let's go."
Delpratt nodded before raising her pistol and heading back where they came, Monty and the soldier in tow.
"You sure they won't kill him?" Kelyrnea asked.
"They're soldiers." Mason said. "They'll follow orders." she raised her assault rifle. "C'mon, let's go."
"Move! Move! Move!" A platoon of Charybdis troops fired their weapons at the attacking forces. The alliance soldiers and asari commandos responded in kind with their own bullets and biotic blasts, but the two forces were locked in a stalemate. Charybdis' fighters were kept on their toes by the MegaMouth firing off shells into the air like a fireworks show.
"How much artillery did they bring?" Miriar asked rhetorically, blowing the head off a turian Charybdis foot soldier.
"Too much." The Captain replied, popping off a few shots. "This artifact better be freaking important."
"Captain, this is Delpratt." the Captain's radio buzzed to life. "We have an enemy soldier alive. We're bringing him back to the ship."
"Understood." The Captain replied. "I'll tell Lowe you're on your way."
"Aye-aye sir." Delpratt replied. "We're on our way."
"We've got a prisoner now." The Captain informed Miriar.
"Good." Miriar said, taking out an enemy engineer's shields, opening her up for her troops. "I need someone to take out my frustrations on once this is over."
"What, this isn't enough for you?" The Captain asked, chucking a grenade into the battlefield.
"It's too impersonal for me." Miriar said. "I need to punch something." she launched a warp attack at an enemy vanguard before popping her head off in a purple splatter.
"I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunity once this is over." The Captain said as his grenade shredded an enemy krogan to pieces.
"Commander!" one of Miriar's commandos shouted over the radio. "We have an unknown ship approaching the combat zone!"
"Hostile?" Miriar asked.
"Unknown. Looks like a Kodiak Shuttle." The commando said.
Miriar and the Captain looked up to see exactly what the commando described. Out of the clouds descended a rather sinister-looking craft. The ship looked like an Alliance Kodiak Shuttle, but the colors were not standard-issue. The shuttle was rust-red with black highlights. What appeared to be a skull and crossbones was emblazoned onto the side of the chassis. Altogether, the craft gave off an air of hostility and danger.
It was lucky that the shuttle seemed to be on their side. The craft fired its torpedoes at the first Charybdis fighter, maneuvering around the others with the speed and grace of a giant eagle. A second fighter began targeting the mysterious craft, forcing it to fly upward in an attempt to shake it. The shuttle performed a barrel roll as a pair of rockets fired off, striking the fighter and sending it to the ground.
A third fighter approached from the side, catching the shuttle off-guard and ramming into the side. The shuttle shook from side to side as it recovered from the impact, which gave the fighter an opportunity to blast one of the shuttle's thrusters. The shuttle reacted by quickly turning in mid-air and blasting the fighter out of the sky.
Mirirar whistled at the shuttle's performance. "Quite the pilot." she commented.
"Hmm." was the Captain's only reply.
The shuttle's thruster was clearly damaged, billowing smoke into the air, forcing the shuttle to abruptly land right in the middle of the Charybdis soldiers, squashing a few as it fell to the ground.
"Blow up that shuttle!" One of the Charybdis commanders shouted to his troops, causing a number of them to aim at the craft.
"Master Kraul!" The commander shouted into his radio. "The Alliance brought backup! They blasted our fighters out of the sky! We need help, now! We need-AH!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Lowe! It's us!" the voice of Monty shouted from outside the Shambhala. "We've got an escort here."
"What's the password?" Lowe asked, his pistol at the ready. "'Who's like us?'"
"Just let us in." Delpratt said, flatly.
"If you don't know the password then I don't know you're Alliance." Lowe insisted. "'Who's like us?'"
"Damn few." Monty replied. "And they're all dead."
Lowe nodded in satisfaction before activating the hangar door. The door slowly opened to reveal the two soldiers and their prisoner.
"Who's your friend?" Lowe asked.
"An enemy soldier who's agreed to give us some info." Monty said, shoving the salarian into the ship. "Apparently they call themselves 'Charybdis.'"
"Charybdis?" Lowe asked. "Like the sea monster?"
"We're about to find out." Maisie said, holstering her pistol and taking a look around. "What's going on here?"
The shuttle bay had seemingly been converted into a refugee center of its own, with asari civilians occupying the majority of the space. Asari were sitting against walls either alone or in groups, or standing by the hangar door attentively. Navigator Jean-Paul Clerico was seen checking in on a group of young asari, a family, presumably.
"The fighting was getting pretty bad so we let the civilians find shelter in the ship." Lowe explained.
Monty looked around, observing the shuffling civilians. "Then we should probably take this upstairs." he said, glancing at the salarian.
"Yeah, probably a..." Lowe began before trailing off, looking behind the salarian. "Look out!"
As quick as a flash Lowe shoved the salarian to the ground as a bullet fired right into Lowe's chest.
"Lowe!" Monty shouted as he sent a biotic blast hurtling at the shooter: one of the asari "refugees".
The asari was sent flying into the wall behind her, landing on her rear as Monty grabbed his shotgun and aimed it at her head, his teeth clenched in anger.
Meanwhile, the salarian was crawling on the ground in fear and panic as Maisie and Clerico inspected Lowe with the help of several other asari.
"Oh no...oh no..." The salarian repeated to himself, unable to collect himself to stand up again.
"How is he? Tell me!" Monty demanded, his hands gripping his weapon tightly.
"Bullet went clean through his heart." Maisie said. "He's dead."
Monty's eyes closed for just a moment as he heard confirmation of what he already knew. His hands clenched and unclenched their grip on the weapon, ready to fire at any given moment.
"Give me a reason." He growled, his eyes trained on the asari that had just gunned down his colleague. "Give me a reason to pull this trigger."
"If you're going to blame someone, blame the traitorous scum." The asari said, glaring at the salarian, who was in the process of removing his helmet.
"Don't." Monty said. "Eyes on me."
"It won't matter what you do to me." she said, not looking away from the salarian. "Your fate is coming."
"Hey! Eyes up!" Monty repeated.
The asari looked up at Monty, showing no fear, only confidence. "The Precursors are coming, and all those who resist will suffer."
"Shut up." Monty growled. "Just shut up!"
Maisie frowned, breathing a sigh of frustration. After a moment of thought, she placed a hand over Lowe's face and closed his eyes. "We better call the Captain." she suggested. "Tell him what happened."
"...Right." Monty agreed quietly, not taking his eyes, or his aim, off his enemy. "Do that. I'll keep an eye on this one."
Maisie nodded, activating her omni-tool. Meanwhile, the salarian, his face now exposed, was finally able to get to his feet. He looked over Lowe's unmoving body, his eyes filled with terror.
"No. No, no, no!" he stammered. "This is all my fault! All my fault!" he repeated, delirious.
"Would someone shut that frog up?" Monty demanded.
Maisie growled. "I'm busy here." she said.
"I knew this would happen. I did!" The salarian rambled "I shouldn't have come, I shouldn't have, nononono..."
"Easy, now." Clerico said, getting up to place a hand on the salarian's shoulder. "Calm down. Now is not the time for panic."
"...But, but, but..." The salarian continued stammering.
"Hush." Clerico said, silencing the panicking alien. "Stop speaking. Take a deep breath."
The salarian gulped, but complied.
"Better now?" Clerico asked.
The salarian exhaled. "Yes. Better now."
"Good." Clerico said. "My name is Jean. Jean-Paul Clerico. What's your name?"
"...Feiyad." the salarian answered.
"Ok, Feiyad." Clerico said. "We're going to calm down and figure this out. You're our informant, correct?"
"Yes...yes, I am." Feiyad confirmed.
"So...inform us." Clerico said.
"...And we're here." Kelyrnea used her omni-tool to open the warehouse door, revealing a ransacked house of flipped crates.
"Looks like they already found it." Mason observed.
"Not necessarily." Kelyrnea strolled into the warehouse, weaving around boxes and crates seemingly in search of something. Mason followed cautiously. The trip up had been uneventful, a bit too uneventful. Something was up. She could feel it...
"Here we are..." Kelyrnea said quietly, eyeing an unusual square on the floor. She activated his omni-tool, a small screen appearing with many sequences of code flashing across it. After a moment a light hiss echoed through the room as the codes stopped flashing. The square opened to reveal a secret compartment, hidden beneath the floor, and within that compartment was their prize.
Kelyrnea reached in and pulled out her goal: a sealed glass cylinder, about 2 feet wide, holding what looked like a giant, green marble filled with sea water. Just looking at it sent chills down Mason's spine. The object seemed to exude unpleasantness with its very presence.
"What's so important about this thing anyway?" Mason asked, keeping her distance, weapon raised.
"Good question." Kelyrnea answered. "All I know is that both the Council and Charybdis want it...and I'd rather the Council have them than a bunch of space pirates."
"Fair enough." Mason said. "C'mon, let's get back to the ship."
"Not so fast..." A new, low voice interrupted. Before either Mason or Kelyrnea could react a biotic blast blew them to opposite sides of the warehouse. Mason's back hit the wall hard, knocking the wind out of her. She looked up to find that a new party had entered the warehouse: an pale blue asari wearing a noxious green jumpsuit, matching her snakelike eyes. The new asari grinned as she picked up the cylinder containing the artifact with both hands.
"Take her down!" Kelyrnea shouted from the other side of the warehouse, thrusting her arm forward and sending a warp attack at the assailant.
The assailant's eyes darted towards Kelyrnea and she activated a biotic shield, blocking the attack. Mason began firing her rifle, hoping to deplete the assailant's barrier, but it was futile as she biotically jumped out the open door with the artifact, making a run for it.
Kelyrnea ran up to Mason. "You alright?"
Mason barely opened her mouth before Kelyrnea said "Good. Now c'mon! We gotta get that artifact!" before dashing after the assailant, Mason in tow.
The assailant ran with the artifact under her arm, the other pointing her pistol at her pursuers. Kelyrnea threw biotic attacks while Mason fired her rifle. The assailant biotically jumped again, this time on top of a nearby residence. She kicked the antenna off the top of the house in an attempt to slow down her pursuers, to little effect as Kelyrnea knocked it away with her own biotics.
The assailant jumped from rooftop to rooftop, dodging the projectiles sent at her by her pursuers. They ran as fast as they could, but the assailant was far too nimble, swiftly dodging each attempt to hit her. The assailant even had the gall to smirk back at Kelyrnea and Mason as she dodged one of Kelyrnea's warps. They were not happy.
"Dammit!" Kelyrnea shouted. "This isn't working!"
"We need a different plan." Mason said, panting.
"You got any ideas!?" Kelyrnea asked. "I am open to suggestions!"
BLAM!
The assailant looked to her side to see a new projectile headed her way. She didn't have time to react before a glowing cyan projectile knocked her off her building and back onto the street.
"Well, how convenient." Kelyrnea commented.
Kelyrnea, Mason, and the assailant all looked forward to see a new face rounding the bend: a being none of them were expecting to see. It was a tall figure, easily over 6 feet with broad shoulders and a thin waist. It was red with a white skull-and-crossbones painted on its chest. Its most striking feature, however, was its head: a tube-like protrusion with three glowing lights pointing toward whatever it was looking at.
It was a geth, a Geth Prime unit to be exact, and it was aiming a rifle directly at the three organics before it. Mason and Kelyrnea trained their weapons on the Prime, weary of any movements the synthetic would make, but it stayed completely still save for the rotating of its optics.
Zemisze raised her head. Her entire body still tingled from the Siege Pulse she'd just taken, and she could barely move. A Geth Prime. Where in the Hell did that thing come from?
Her eyes darted to the Spectre and her human friend. They were paying attention to the Geth, and not her. That would give her a chance to escape.
She flexed her fingers. She was regaining control. Even in her awkward position she would be able to charge away.
It was then that the Spectre began walking toward her, ever so slowly, as if approaching an animal. She didn't want to spook the Geth, apparently.
The Window was there, still in its container, just out of arm's reach. That must have been what the Spectre was going for. Must of thought she was paralyzed. Boy, was she in for a surprise.
Quick as a flash, Zemisze charged at the Spectre and scooped up the window before taking off behind the human, biotically throwing her for good measure. She flipped to avoid another Siege Pulse from the Geth, nearly dropping the Window. Zemisze launched herself upwards with her biotics and grabbed onto the ledge of a roof once again. This time she wouldn't show off. This time she would focus solely on escaping.
She let her barriers recharge as she floated down to the other side of the building. She was done goofing off. It was time to get her paycheck.
BANG!
Zemisze's barriers shattered as a sniper bullet collided with it. She swiftly dashed into a nearby door, breaking it down. She leaned down, her hand on her knees. Was every street on this colony filled with people trying to make her life difficult!?
"There she is!" a voice shouted.
Of course. Zemisze projected a Backlash barrier at the door. In the doorway stood another human, this one male and dressed in maroon armor with the same skull-and-crossbones insignia she saw on the Geth emblazoned on his shoulder pad aiming an assult rifle at her. Behind him was a drell (his gloves giving him away) who was definitely fond of leather, seeing as it covered his entire body save his head, which was concealed by a ski mask and red goggles.
Who were these guys and what were they doing here? Such questions would have to wait though, as she had to escape somehow. She surveyed the room she was in. It looked like some sort of eatery, with tables and seats all throughout the room. A large pair of windows were on her right, leading to another street. She didn't catch where the sniper bullet had come from, so she couldn't be sure if her escape route was in the shooter's line of sight. There was a door behind her, either leading to another street or a kitchen. It was a fair distance away though, so she'd have to drop her barrier to make it. She could fight directly against her new pursuers, but that would mean running right back into the sniper's line of sight, and any sniper worth their salt would blow her head off the first chance they got. Her backlash was draining her energy, and her barriers wouldn't be able to handle another shot.
After weighing her options, Zemisze came to a decision. She charged into the windows, shattering them into piece, before taking off down the street. The Window suddenly seemed far heavier than it was originally. She found a corner and ducked behind it, finally getting a chance to catch her breath. She clutched the Window close and took a moment to actually look at it. What was so damned important about this thing anyways? Why was Charybdis willing to pay a fortune for this funny-looking marble? Whatever the reason, it was becoming a major pain.
"Where did she go?" the husky voice of a drell asked. Right on cue.
"This way!" The human called. Zemisze dashed off down the alley, allowing her barriers to recharge. She held her omni-tool to her mouth.
"Kraul! I've got the artifact!" she shouted. "Where's our evac?"
"Getting blown up by Alliance!" Kraul replied, obviously frustrated. "We need to get out of the town! Then we'll call for backup!"
"Damn." Zemisze said. "Things have really gone to shit, haven't they."
"The High Order won't be happy about this." Kraul said. "What's your location?"
Zemisze sent Kraul a navpoint. "Meet me. I've got assholes on my tail."
"Understood." Kraul growled.
"OK, if we're getting anywhere we need to figure out what sides we're on." Mason suggested, keeping rifle ready just in case. "You attacked the asari we were chasing. Why?"
The Geth's optics rotated as it seemingly considered the question. "She was Charybdis." It replied, its voice like a synthesized rockslide.
"So, you're against Charybdis, then?" Mason asked. "Well, so are we."
"Acknowledged." The Geth replied.
"What are you doing here?" Kelyrnea asked, cautiously lowering her shotgun.
"My Captain was contacted through his private channel." The Geth explained. "We were ordered to assist Alliance forces."
"We, as in you and others?" Kelyrnea asked.
"Yes." The Geth confirmed.
"So, they're's more of you?" Kelyrnea continued.
"That was implied by the use of 'we' when referring to us." The Geth said. "So, yes. There are more."
"Ok. A wise bot, then." Kelyrnea observed, her eyebrow raising.
"Looks like my message got through." Mason lowered her rifle.
"Huh?" Kelyrnea turned around. "You called them in?"
"Yeah. Don't worry, the Captain knows about it." Mason said. "In the meantime, we should meet up with the Geth's boss."
The Geth raised his rifle again. "Captain ordered not to reveal his location to anyone who could not complete this sentence:" it said. "'Life is a tale, told by an idiot...'"
"'Sound and fury, signifying nothing.'" Kelyrnea said. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"That is not the correct answer." The Geth said, much to Kelyrnea's chagrin.
"'...An idiot with a sick sense of humor.'" Mason finished. The Geth's optics rotated and its face panels shifted as it processed the answer.
"Correct." The Geth said, lowering its rifle. "Greetings, Alexandra Mason."
"Wait, what!?" Kelyrnea asked.
"So you know me." Mason acknowledged. "Who are you?"
"This mobile platform I pilot is designated Dhar'Kil Prime-Unit 462." The Geth said. "Though my crewmates refer to me as 'Blaster.'"
"Well, Blaster." Mason said. "This is Kelyrnea. Special Tactics and Recon. She's helping us out."
"First off, you're helping me, not the other way around." Kelyrnea said. "Second, SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING!" she shouted.
Blaster's Omni-Tool blinked, prompting it to open it. "Blaster speaking." it said.
"We found the artifact!" a male voice shouted over the omni-tool. "It's in the hands of Charybdis! We've got her on the run! Sending navpoint! Get your aft down here!"
"Understood." Blaster replied, closing its tool. "My Captain needs me. Would you like to come along?"
"Sounds good." Mason agreed. "Let's go."
Kelyrnea just looked on with an incredulous expression as the human and geth ran off. She sighed. "When this is over, I'm getting answers!" she said to no-one in particular as she ran after them.
BLAST! BLAST! SHOOOOOOM...
A trio of Alliance soldiers fell to the floor as the intimidating form of Master Kraul blasted them away with his shotgun and biotics. The whole op had been a true pain in his tail, and a thorn in the side of Charybdis.
But the fact remained: if they got the Window to the Grandmaster then they would be one step closer to their ultimate goal. It was invaluable. Kraul wouldn't lose it. Not without losing all his remaining organs first. If that cursed asari didn't show up he would tear her limb from limb to get her precious cargo.
Now the Alliance forces were advancing, and Charybdis was losing even more ground. They would be doomed without help...drastic help.
Kraul's thoughts were interrupted by a bright blue flash of light. Zemisze had arrived, at last.
"Here...as promised." Zemisze handed the Window to Kraul, visibly tired and panting.
Kraul yanked the container from the asari, allowing her to bend over, clutching her knees. Kraul gazed into the shifting insides of the Window, watching the sea-green aura with fixated interest.
"Finally...we have it." Kraul said to himself, moving to open the container.
"...Y'know...that thing sure is trouble." Zemisze commented. "What's so special about it, anyways?"
"They are Windows..." Kraul said, uncapping the artifact's cylindrical prison. "The Precursors' only way to see the outside world," The giant sphere slowly rolled out of the container, falling into Kraul's open hand. "...as well as interact with it."
"...Sure." Zemisze said, skeptical but not caring enough to press farther. So long as she was getting paid.
Kraul dropped the container and held the Window with both hands, staring into it even longer. "Our forces are being decimated." Kraul said. "If we don't fight back then we may never get off this planet."
"So, what are we going to do?" Zemisze asked.
Kraul was silent for a few seconds, before he answered in a tone that oozed of dread, and anything that made a krogan dread was something worth fearing. "We have to call upon the power of the Precursors..." he said.
Mason, Blaster, and Kelyrnea had arrived at the navpoint specified by the enigmatic captain. Or, at least he was enigmatic to Kelyrnea. She was the Spectre and yet she was the only one out of the loop here. That was something she simply couldn't stand, and if she didn't get answers soon she was going to explode.
Thankfully, it seemed that answers were literally right around the corner as the group was stopped by an armored human male and a drell that must have been inspired by old human biker gangs.
"So, are we coming across more people you know that I don't?" Kelyrnea asked.
The human just looked at the Spectre before turning to Mason. The two just looked at each other for a moment in silence.
"Life is a tale, told by an idiot." Mason said.
"An idiot with a sick sense of humor." The new human answered. "Nice to see you again, Alex." The man removed his helmet, revealing his face to all. Kelyrnea always thought that humans looked similar, but she could tell that the Mason and the new guy were closely related. He had the same pale blonde hair, white skin, and light blue eyes, the main obvious difference between the two being their genders (genders or sexes? Humans were so weird) and the large scar trailing down the male's left cheek.
"It's been a while, 'Captain'." Mason greeted the new human like an old friend. "It's good to see you too." Mason holstered her weapon and embraced the human, him returning the gesture.
"Uh..." Kelyrnea said.
"What's going on?" The drell asked.
The two humans broke their hug and turned to their respective teammates. "Sorry." the two said at the same time.
"Kelyrnea, this is Xander. He's my brother." Alex Mason explained. "I called him in for extra help. Xander, this is Kelyrnea. She's a Spectre. We're helping her."
"Well, it's good to know we have a reason for being here." Xander joked, turning to his drell companion. "Sotsam, this is Alex. She's the one who called us here. Alex, this is Sotsam Reas, my crew member."
"Nice to meet you, Reas." Alex nodded.
"Likewise...I think." Sotsam said, his tone uncertain.
"You feel lost too?" Kelyrnea asked.
"Yeah, pretty much." Sotsam replied.
"Captain Mason." Blaster interrupted. "We must move forward to retrieve the artifact."
"I hear you, Blast." Xander replied, re-equipping his helmet. "Just catching up."
"Right." Alex said. "Let's get moving. Where to?"
Xander opened his omni-tool. "The Charybdis dropship is about 3 blocks north. Your Alliance forces and Asari Commandos are closing in and Charybdis is getting desperate."
"So that's where we're headed." Alex said. "C'mon, let's move." she ordered before rushing off, followed by Xander and Blaster.
"Have we forgotten who the Spectre is here?" Kelyrnea asked.
"Is that supposed to mean something?" Sotsam quipped before following his Captain.
"...Apparently so." Kelyrnea answered herself before following along, grumbling.
"This is it..." Kraul stated. "It's time." he held up the Window to the sky. "Precursors!" he shouted "Oh, great Masters! Lend me your power to smite your enemies!"
Zemisze looked on in confusion and mild amusement. She didn't expect anything to happen, loading her weapons for a fight. That was when the light around the Window seemed to dim, as if it was somehow absorbed by the odd sphere.
Kraul began shaking as he dropped the Window, a constant shuddering uncommon in Krogan. It was making Zemisze uncomfortable. She was about to step closer to her colleague, but was thrown back by an unseen force. It wasn't biotics. It was something...different. As soon as the invisible blast hit her a chill ran through her body, as if she had just been transported to the coldest place in the galaxy for just a moment.
Kraul had finally stopped shaking, instead staring directly at the ground. He was completely still, as if waiting for something.
"...Kraul?" Zemisze called, standing up again. "You OK?"
"Silence." Kraul replied, but it wasn't Kraul anymore. The voice emerging from the krogan was as deep as a Yahg's, and sounded as if it was being spoken by several speakers at once. "Move the Window to the transport ship. I will exterminate the vermin."
Zemisze was taken aback by Kraul's new demeanor. She certainly didn't feel like arguing with...whatever had taken control of the krogan so she grabbed the Window and dashed off.
"Nira, you copy?" Xander shouted over his radio.
"I read you, Captain." Nira responded.
"We have Charybdis cornered at their dropship. I need you to provide us with cover fire." he ordered.
"I got your navpoint." She said. "On my way now."
"Another crew member of yours?" Alex asked.
"One of my most trusted." Xander said. "She'll have our backs."
"I sure hope so." Kelyrnea said. "Looks like the dropship's getting crowded."
Sure enough, the Charybdis dropship was surrounded by black-uniformed soldiers of varying species firing wildly at the advancing enemy forces. It looked like a massive, deadly game of King of the Hill.
"The artifact must be on board." Mason stated. "We need to get on somehow!"
"Don't you Alliance have a tank or something you could use?" Sotsam inquired.
"That's being used to defend the civilians." Mason answered.
"...wait, seriously?" Sotsam said. "You brought a tank!?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't we?" Mason said.
"Did you expect there to be a massive skirmish on this planet?" Sotsam asked.
"No." Mason said. "You just never know when you might need a tank."
"That's Alliance for you." Xander said. "No kill like overkill."
"Well, when it works..." Mason trailed off.
"Ahem." Kelyrnea interrupted. "Massive crowd?" she gestured to the battle before them.
"Right. Crowd." Xander said, putting a hand on the side of his helmet. "Nira?"
"I'm here." Nira replied. "Give me a target."
"Any Charybdis troops would be fine." Xander said.
"Aye aye." Nira replied.
BANG!
A Charybdis sniper's head was blown to bits by another sniper's bullet.
"Alright, people." Xander said, pulling out an assault rifle. "Open fire!"
So they did, spraying bullets and biotics into the crowd. The Mason twins combined their biotic abilities to create massive explosions, creating chaos and disorder in the enemy ranks. Kelyrnea sent troopers flying about with her singularities and lift attacks. Sotsam launched a series of cluster grenades into the fray as he sprayed his SMG into the crowd. Blaster's heavy rifles launched high-caliber slugs into the crowd, in addition to Siege Pulses and tech explosions.
Unfortunately, the constant gunfire was interrupted by an invisible force. It was a force powerful enough to send an entire squad of soldiers, both Charybdis and not, flying several feet away from the dropship. A krogan in black armor, similar to that of all other Charybdis troops, was not walking, but floating away from the dropship. His arms were outstretched as the invisible force carried him forward. It was then that he began to speak.
"MORTALS." The rumbling, baritone voice of an angry God burst forward from the floating krogan. "YOU ARE IN THE WAY OF DESTINY."
THOK!
Miriar's fist collided with the spy's face once again, sending her to the floor.
"You done?" The Captain asked.
"For now." Miriar said, shaking off her fist. "This bitch betrayed us. She deserves more than I could dish out in a day."
"Damn right." Monty agreed, standing off to the side, observing the spy's beatdown.
Feiyad wrung his hands together, eyes shifting everywhere, lingering on the Captain and the unmoving body of Flight Lieutenant Lowe. "I never wanted this, by the way." he said. "I-I was down on my luck a-and I knew how to shoot a gun so..."
"Stop talking." The Captain demanded.
"Yes, sir." Feiyad said, promptly shutting up.
Delpratt's omni-tool buzzed. "Captain. Incoming transmission." she said, silently thankful for the interruption.
The Captain's omni-tool buzzed to life a second later. "Hmm." he said.
"I got an alert too." Miriar said. All omni-tools opened to reveal a frightening message.
"Capta-they've go-invis-need help!"
"Comma-kroga-some kind of pow-requesting back-UNNHH!"
The room fell silent as the messages ended. No-one made a move, until the Captain spoke their thoughts.
"Arm yourselves." He said. "We're moving out."
"Well, this has taken a turn for the worse." Xander acknowledged as another soldier flew past his hiding place.
"So Charybdis has telekinetic powers now?" Sotsam asked. "If so, then we're screwed."
"I called for backup." Alex shouted. "I asked for the tank. It should help."
"If it doesn't, then we're screwed." Sotsam called.
"Is there any situation where we aren't screwed?" Kelyrnea shouted.
"Any situation where the krogan dies." Sotsam shouted back.
"IT IS POINTLESS TO RESIST." The krogan said, monotonously yet loud enough to be heard.
"Nira!" Xander shouted. "Do you have a visual on the krogan?!"
"There's too much chaos!" Nira yelled back. "I can't get a clear shot!"
"Well, find one!" Xander ordered. "Before he notices you!"
"What about us!?" Kelyrnea shouted.
"And us!" Xander continued. "...Nira? Nira, are you there!?"
"Nira'Vael! What is your status?" Blaster commanded.
"Well, there she goes." Sotsam deadpanned.
"Don't talk like that, Reas!" Xander demanded. "She's fine!"
BANG!
A great roar erupted from the krogan. Xander looked from his hiding place to see the krogan clutching his right eye.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Three more bullets were fired, sending the krogan to the ground. He stopped moving, and the remaining soldiers breathed sighs of relief.
Xander smiled. "That's my girl." he whispered. "Good work, Nira!" he shouted.
"Just doing my job." she replied.
"Well, that's a crisis avoided." Alex commented, getting up from her hiding spot.
"So, nobody's going to talk about the fact that they had a telekinetic krogan that wasn't biotic?!" Kelyrnea asked.
"We're gonna have to." Alex said, walking toward the krogan. "What happened to this guy?"
"I wasn't aware that we'd discovered magic recently." Sotsam snarked.
"Not the time, Reas." Xander said.
Alex frowned, leaning down to investigate the unmoving krogan. He'd taken down an army using just his mind a moment ago, and a few sniper bullets were all it took to take him down. She didn't buy it.
"Nira? Good work." Xander spoke over his radio. "Regroup. You know where we are."
"Aye aye, captain." Nira replied, a grin in her voice.
"All right, people." Kelyrnea announced. "We better search the dropship to find the artifact."
"And who put you in charge?" Sotsam asked, venom in his voice.
"The Council did when they assigned me here!" Kelyrnea spat back.
"Settle down, Sotsam." Xander ordered. "We should probably search the ship."
"Aye aye, captain." Sotsam replied without missing a beat, causing Kelyrnea to look on in confusion.
Xander and Sotsam walked up to the dropship followed closely by Blaster. Kelyrnea followed as well, hoping to accomplish her mission before a bunch of strangers beat her to it.
"Lieutenant, you coming?" Kelyrnea shouted to Alex.
Alex furrowed her brow, ignoring the Spectre's shout. Just being near the krogan sent a chill down her spine. His eyes were still glowing green. It was a pale, sickly color. It was uncomfrtable to look at, and yet Alex couldn't bear to look away. It was hypnotizing, in a strange way.
"Lieutenant!" Kelyrnea shouted.
Mason looked away for a single moment. That was all it took for the krogan to reawaken.
Mason felt an indescribable force grasp her neck, blocking her windpipe as she was lifted into the air. The krogan had gotten back up, holding its hand out as if it was grasping her throat itself.
Xander dashed out the dropship. "Alex!" he shouted, firing his rifle at the krogan to little avail.
BANG!
The krogan turned his head to the side. A quarian woman was slowly advancing on him, firing a large sniper rifle periodically. The shots were powerful, but the krogan wouldn't make the same mistake again. With a flick of the hand, the quarian was sent flying back into a wall, knocking the wind out of her. He then turned back to Alex, staring deep into her eyes.
"FOOLISH HUMAN." The krogan rumbled. "WE ARE LEAGUES ABOVE YOUR KIND. LET THIS BE AN EXAMPLE."
The pressure on Alex's throat began to increase. The krogan's grip never subsided even as bullets were fired at him in force by Alex's companions. Her world began to turn black, pierced only by the bright green of the krogan's eyes.
"YOUR FIGHT IS FUTILE. THE WINDOW WILL BE RETURNED TO ITS RIGHTFUL OWNERS." The krogan shouted in its' monotonous way. "YOUR INSIGNIFICANCE WILL BE YOUR DOWNFALL. WE SHALL RISE AND TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS. YOU WILL KNEEL BEFORE US. YOU WILL-"
BOOM!
The krogan's speech was interrupted by a well-timed rocket exploding in his face, sending both the krogan and Alex flying in opposite directions.
The Alliance soldier giggled as he hugged his rocket launcher, finally getting to blow something up.
"You idiot!" Monty yelled at the rocketeer. "You just blew up the Lieutenant!"
The rocketeer's giggling immediately ceased, as he realized what he might have just done.
"She's ok!" Xander called, kneeling over his unconscious sister. "The blast must've been absorbed by her shields."
The rocketeer breathed a sigh of relief.
"You got lucky, mate." Monty said as he proceeded to check on Alex, followed by the squadron brought alongside by the Captain.
BANG!
The quarian blew a hole in the krogan's head with her rifle.
BANG!
BANG! BANG!
"You OK, Nira?" Sotsam said as he approached her.
"Just making sure he's dead this time." the quarian replied. The krogan's eyes had stopped glowing. It was dead at last.
"How's Xander's sister doing?" she asked.
"Let's go see." Sotsam suggested. The two approached their captain. He stood guard over Alex, who lay unconscious on the ground.
"How's she doing?" Nira asked.
"She's alive. That's what matters." Xander replied, removing his helmet.
"I should have made sure he was dead." Nira said, looking away and smacking her mask. "Stupid."
"Hey." Xander grabbed Nira's attention. "You couldn't have known. Not even a krogan could have taken that many shots under normal circumstances."
"Still..." Nira looked away.
"In any case, it's dead now." The Captain made his way toward his Lieutenant. "Before it could kill my best operative...how is she?"
"She's unconscious, but alive." Xander said. "The thing somehow managed to grab her through her shields."
"So it wasn't biotics, then." The Captain observed.
"'Fraid not." Xander said. "It's something else."
"Hmm." The Captain hmmed. "Chief, take her back to the ship. Get her to the medbay."
"Aye, sir." Monty agreed, picking the unconscious Alex up bridal style before carrying her off. Xander started to follow, but was stopped as the Captain held up his hand.
"You're not entering my ship." The Captain said. "Not until we've had a talk."
"She's my sister." Xander protested.
"And my lieutenant. One of my best operatives." The Captain said. "I trust her judgement, but I want to make things clear." he leaned in close to Xander, making sure he was clear. "On my ship, we follow my rules. If you hurt my crew, in any way, shape or form, I will personally throw you out the airlock. We clear, Alexander Mason?"
Xander's jaw tightened as he was called by his full name. "Crystal." he said.
"Good." The Captain said, straightening his back again.
"Captain." Kelyrnea walked up to the man she was addressing. "We checked the dropship. No sign of the artifact."
"Well, then where is it?" he asked.
The Captain's answer came in the form of a Charybdis fighter blasting past and jetting off into space.
"That can't be good." Xander summed up the feelings of everyone around him.
Zemisze approached the Mass Relay, plotting her course back to Charybdis' base. The Nefrane mission was a disaster, but she got the artifact in the end. That meant getting paid. That was a victory in her book.
She glanced at the green sphere, fastened into the unmanned gunner seat of the fighter. She didn't know what it was about that Window, but it disturbed her greatly.
She'd be happy to hand it off to the Grandmaster, and even happier to take all the credit for the op, seeing as all her colleagues were dead. Yes, this mission was a success indeed...