MASS EFFECT: PROJECT PERSEPHONE
Hello my dear readers! Once again, many thanks to all those who have read, reviewed and favourited! They make me all happy and tingly inside :) Well, enough about that, here's chapter 3! Unleash the Necromorphs! Rawr.
CHAPTER 3: Subway Assault, part 1
Location: Titan Station Transport Hub, 1200hrs
Naomi gasped awake, her entire body jerking. Her hand instantly flew to her throat, her heart hammering in her chest. Slowly, she felt and massaged her neck, which was still disturbingly raw and painful where Kaiden had strangled her, but was otherwise intact. Kaiden...Naomi froze, turning to take in her surroundings, the terrifying memories of her dead boyfriend murdering her in cold blood still fresh in her mind.
She appeared to be propped up against the wall of the cabin, inside of the crashed shuttle. With a barely suppressed sigh of relief, she found herself back on Titan Station. There were small fires and shattered pieces of metal and equipment all around her, and the shuttle had apparently caused an impressive impact crater when it smashed into the Transport Hub floor. And speaking of the Transport Hub...Naomi tilted her head upwards, looking through the jagged hole where the top of the shuttle should have been, and saw the domed roof of their landing zone. Or what was left of it.
Despite the lingering shock in her system, Naomi allowed herself a wry smile as she observed the comical, vaguely shuttle-shaped hole in the ceiling. "Talk about making an entrance...literally," she muttered, shaking her head and immediately getting a sharp stab of pain through her skull, making her cry out and collapse onto the ground. Naomi grasped hold of her head, squeezing her eyes shut as her head felt like it was being crushed in a vice. She cried out again as the pain intensified, making her curl up into a fetal position. It was on a level that she had never experienced or felt before. Unable to bear the agonizing pain any longer, she screamed at the top of her lungs, begging and pleading for it to stop...
"COMMANDER!"
And just as suddenly as it had come, the pain disappeared.
"COMMANDER!" Naomi opened her eyes when she felt hands on her shoulders. Hands which gently pried her own away from her head and rolled her over onto her back with great care. It was Jacob.
"I heard you screaming, Commander. Are you alright?" He helped her to sit up, placing a supporting hand on her back.
"Yeah...just got a really bad headache..." She groaned, tilting her head cautiously just in case the mysterious pain returned with a vengeance and immediately saw that Jacob was looking unconvinced.
"That sounded like a lot more than just a headache, Commander," Jacob said incredulously, raising an eyebrow. The action brought Naomi's attention to the long cut across his forehead which had left one side of his face streaked with blood. His eyes followed her gaze. "It's just a scratch from when the shuttle crashed. I'm fine, Commander."
"Then so am I." Naomi hoped that Jacob caught the tone of finality in her voice. "What happened to me? I only remembered the crash and blacking out..."
"You were knocked unconscious when we landed and got a cut on your head," Jacob explained, his eyes trying to look for the injury through her red hair. "Mordin took a look at it and said you'll be fine, but Garrus didn't want to take any chances so he helped you apply some medi-gel on it."
Naomi nodded and slowly stood up, her arm draped around Jacob's shoulder until she was confident that she could stand on her own. Giving the Cerberus soldier her thanks, she proceeded to give herself a once-over, checking if all of her equipment was intact. When she was satisfied that all her weapons were still on her person, and that the cut on her head was the only injury she had received, she turned back to him. "So, what did I miss? As cliche as that sounds..."
Jacob grinned. "Nothing much actually. Everyone made it out in one piece and we split up to do some scouting of this area. You know, see if the trams are still working and if there are any survivors. I stayed behind to look after you. The rest should be heading back soon, Miranda told them to take 10 minutes tops."
While they waited, standing in the middle of the expansive Transport Hub lobby, Naomi finally had the chance to take a good look around. The central lobby was circular, easily three stories high and topped with a great glass and metal dome which they had just ruined. It was still sporadically raining bits of debris onto the ground floor and producing a surprisingly loud sound, suddenly making her aware of how quiet it was in the building.
"Did they find anybody so far?" Naomi asked hopefully, but Jacob replied with the negative. She also began to notice that the Transport Hub was poorly lit. Many of the lights were out, and the few that remained were either flickering or insufficient in illuminating the entire interior. There were also several giant monitors lining the walls in the lobby, most likely to display tram arrival times and other information for commuters, but those were either not functioning, or only displaying static. Could there have been a power outage?
Her eyes left the monitors and began to look at the seats, decorative statues, indoor plants, ticketing machines, and then...she saw the blood. In an instant, Naomi had whipped out her M-6 Carnifex pistol, switching on the flashlight attached to the scope and bringing it up to bear on the blood-stained ticketing machine. Narrowing her eyes and with her soldier senses tingling, she approached it with her pistol at the ready.
"Jacob!" She hissed. She jerked her head toward her discovery and his eyes widened at the sight.
"Never noticed that before, Commander. Looks like something messy happened here...and it's recent too." Jacob bent down to swipe his hand across the screen and when he withdrew it, Naomi could see his gloved hand slick with blood.
"Looks like the reports about the violent population were true," Naomi said grimly. "Look. There's blood everywhere."
Jacob straightened up and unfolded his M-22 Eviscerator shotgun, also switching on his flashlight and sweeping the ground floor together with her. Both of their weapons illuminated the countless splashes of red blood all over the ground floor and some on the walls, all previously concealed by the low lighting.
"Hell..." Jacob breathed. "What happened here?"
Naomi frowned. "It's not all this blood that concerns me the most Jacob. Take a look around. Where are all the bodies? If some violent riot or mass attack happened here, you would expect to see corpses right?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, Commander. Perhaps the authorities managed to regain control here and evacuated everyone?"
"I don't think so," Naomi mused, holstering her pistol and watching Jacob do the same. "The tram network links the entire station together. If they were evacuating the people, they would have set up a base of operations here and sent people straight to the Government Sector, which..."
"Is locked down," Jacob finished for her with a sad shake of his head. "I guess evacuation isn't on the top of the authorities' to-do-list."
"All because The Illusive Man has one of his pets running this place," Naomi spat, turning to walk away from the ticketing machine and leaving bloody footprints behind her as she stalked back to the shuttle to wait. Jacob watched her go with a heavy sigh before following her, still absorbing what Naomi had said about the lack of bodies and feeling a shiver run up his spine.
2 Minutes later...
Her entire crew returned soon enough, all having heard her scream of pain echoing through the deserted halls of the Transport Hub and ran back as fast as they could. Naomi stuck to her 'headache' explanation when the questions came, and Mordin unknowingly helped her to avoid further questioning by stating that she probably had a concussion. Despite her assuring her crew that she was feeling fine and Mordin's subsequent scan picking up nothing, Garrus had been the most concerned, running a hand through her hair and feeling for her head injury. While she let him fuss, the others reported their findings.
Miranda was quick to point out that their communicators were being jammed. At best, the signals were weak and laced with infrequent bursts of static, but most of the time, they could not contact each others' omni-tool at all.
Legion reported that all trams were still functional, and that it and Tali could try taking the tram line which led to the 'Dry Docks', as there was 88.97% probability that the planet cracker they were seeking would be stationed there for repairs.
Thane and Zaeed had found out the cause of the faulty electrical equipment and fixtures in the Transport Hub. The power cables which ran along the ceilings throughout the building had been severed in some places. The Drell had examined one of them and claimed that they were slashed not by a tool, but by some sort of claw. His observations were in line with those of Samara's and Jack's, who both saw vicious claw marks on the walls, accompanied by splashes of blood.
"That was some fucked up shit back there, Shepard," Jack had added. "I wouldn't want to have seen what those attacks did to to those poor fucks."
Most troubling of all, every single one of them had not seen another soul or corpse, only blood-splattered hallways and floors. There was also plenty of litter, articles of clothing and pieces of luggage strewn all over the Transport Hub, as though everyone inside had been in a state of mass panic, dropping everything and stampeding for the exits.
Naomi considered all this carefully as Miranda placed a hand on her hip, putting her weight on one leg as she adopted her usual casual pose. "Your orders and analysis of the situation, Commander?"
She looked at all of their faces, each displaying different emotions but all appearing uncomfortable with the current situation. Rolling her shoulders, she took a step forward to address them. "Well, I don't like the current state of things as much as you all do, but we will not be deterred from our primary objective. We'll split up as planned and proceed to our respective locations. Find whoever you can, gather as big a group as possible and bring them back here."
Nods all around. "Our communicators are unreliable, so we have to decide on a cut-off timing to meet back at the Transport Hub just in case we are unable to coordinate. Remember, we have to leave before the Alliance shows up and we still have to find and bring The Illusive Man's Marker with us so that he can use it as his personal giant space dildo." Naomi said with a smile, the mental image in her mind more amusing than disturbing.
Garrus chuckled as The Illusive Man bounced up and down on the- NO! Stop it! He mentally kicked his misbehaving brain, trying to keep a straight face.
Miranda didn't know whether to look indignant or amused, but she managed to compose herself and ask, "If you are done fantasizing, Commander, maybe you want to tell us more about that deadline?"
Naomi scowled, but her eyes were smiling and filled with mischief. She mimicked Miranda's pose, cocking her hip to one side. "Oh I'm sorry I insulted your boyfriend Miss Lawson, I-"
A loud crash from the hallway on their left ended their friendly ribbing. 12 pairs of hands brought up 12 different weapons which shone 12 beams of light at the direction of the sound. The lights revealed a broken ventilation shaft grate which had apparently dropped from the ceiling. A deathly silence followed, with the only sound in the entire lobby being all of their heavy breathing for the next few minutes.
"It was probably some falling debris, Commander. I don't think there's anyone in those vents." Jacob said, and Naomi was just getting ready to agree with him when the body dropping out of the vent made the noise die in her throat. The noticeably bloody body fell onto the ground beside the grate with a sickeningly wet thud, and Tali's gasp was the most audible.
Immediately, Naomi had begun to advance toward the body. "Garrus, Legion, you're up! The rest of you stay back and watch the rest of the exits!" The Geth and the Turian moved forward and took up firing positions beside her, their weapons trained on the body. Naomi looked back over her shoulder and saw that the remaining members of her team were doing as instructed, each of the hallways leading out from the lobby now being clearly illuminated. Turning her attention back to the body in front of her, she felt her stomach squirm as Garrus whistled in amazement.
"This poor guy has been dismembered and disemboweled." He said, using his taloned foot to nudge the body over onto whatever was left of its stomach. "I've seen some grisly murders but this one is just..." Naomi just shook her head, unable to find the words to describe the horribly mutilated body that lay in front of them. Seeing that the body was as dead as it could be, she holstered her pistol and tilted her head to look up into the vent from which it had fallen.
And she screamed.
Looking out of the vent above her was a pale, bloodied face belonging to a dead body. But unlike the one lying at her feet, this one was still moving. It's eye sockets were bloody and hollow, and its features were twisted and fixed permanently into a snarl. Its mouth was hanging wide open, the teeth within horribly elongated, blood and saliva dribbling out of the gaping orifice. A huge, bloody tear in the cheek stretching all the way to the top of its head allowed her to see part of the skull, completing the ghastly visage of the undead corpse. Letting out an inhuman, guttural roar, it had leapt out of the vent with impressive speed, tackling her bodily to the floor.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Was all Naomi could manage before the wind was knocked out of her as she hit the ground. The thing was heavy and flailing about erratically above her, its bloodied hands grabbing at her arms as she struggled against its grasp, trying to pull out her pistol. All the while, it continued to scream and howl, spitting blood and saliva over her face and armor. She managed to free one arm from underneath the body as it started to snap at her head, slamming a hand into its throat to keep the gnashing teeth away from her. Still, it was unimaginably strong, and the wildly jerking head continued its slow decent nearer and nearer to her face.
"SHOOT IT! GARRUS! SHOOT IT! GET IT OFF!" Naomi bellowed above the thing's cries for her blood.
Garrus had been stunned by the sudden attack but quickly recovered, seizing his M-98 Widow sniper rifle and smashing the butt into the monster's back. Such a forceful strike would have easily crippled a human and forced it off but it had no effect on the reanimated human corpse. It continued to thrash about as he kept striking it, getting more and more desperate as Naomi continued to scream underneath it.
"Legion!" He called to the Geth, who was standing on the other side of the corpse with its Geth Pulse Rifle.
"Firing at such close range could cause the projectiles to penetrate the body and injure Shepard-Commander." Legion warned, still unwilling to fire.
"Just do it!" Garrus snarled, losing his patience. Meanwhile, the corpse had managed to twist its neck free of Naomi's grasp and with a howl of triumph, bit down on the hand which she had been using to strangle it. Its sharp teeth coupled with the insane crushing power of the thing's jaw broke through her glove and ruptured her skin, sending pain shooting through her arm as they continued to sink deeper and deeper into her flesh. "SHOOT IT!" Naomi screamed in agony, unable to pull her maimed hand free.
Legion jerked into motion, having reached consensus that any more delays would result in greater injury to Shepard-Commander. It leveled its rifle at the monster and pulled the trigger, discharging an entire thermal clip with of rounds into it. It howled as each slug, accelerated to incredible speeds ripped through its body, sending scraps of skin and muscle flying into the air, its blood splattering all over the walls and floor. As Legion ejected the spent thermal clip, the thing twitched its last, collapsing on top of the exhausted Commander.
Garrus stooped down and heaved the steaming body off her, it resembling nothing more than strips of bloody meat barely held together by bone and muscle, helping Naomi to force its head open to release its grip on her hand. She grunted in pain as he examined it, cradling her hand in his. Slowly, her armor began to dispense the medi-gel and she sighed in relief as the cooling sensation spread throughout her injured hand, reducing the pain to a dull throb. Now that the thing had stopped screaming into her ear, she could make out the confused and worried shouting from the rest of her teammates behind her.
"What the fuck was that?!"
"Shepard!"
"Commander, are you alright?"
"Is that thing dead?"
"Shepard, are you hurt?"
"Keelah! I was so worried!"
"I'm okay guys, just a little sore..." She shouted back, waving her injured arm weakly as Garrus helped her up.
"Shepard, are you really alright? It's not everyday that you get attacked by a corpse." He asked softly, looking as concerned as a Turian possibly could. Naomi looked down, taking deep, calming breaths before raising her head to look him in the eye.
"Like I said, Garrus, I'm fine. Hand still feels like shit, but I'll live. I just hate Lady Luck right now, i mean, why me right?" Naomi gave him a small smile, turning to walk back to the group. Despite her nonchalant reply, Garrus had detected a waver in her voice and had seen something in her eyes which disturbed him. Frowning, he grabbed her uninjured arm, yanking her back.
"Naomi." He said sternly, switching to the use of her first name, mandibles twitching. "That's not all there is isn't it? What happened to you before we all came back to the shuttle?"
Naomi stiffened as the memories of Kaiden returned. Cold hands ripping through her throat, choking...in reflex she shrugged Garrus' hand off her arm, crossing both her arms and facing away from him. Garrus sighed angrily, and she could imagine him shaking his head.
"Naomi, why do you always have to keep your problems to yourself?"
"Not now, Garrus. Please. Let's just get back to the others." With that, she strode back to the group, Legion following close behind. Sighing again, he folded his sniper rifle back onto his armor and did as she commanded.
When he got back to the group, Naomi was already deep in discussion with the rest. Everyone had questions about the corpse which had attacked her and now, there were more questions than answers. Did all the dead bodies come back to life? Was that why they couldn't find any bodies? Why was it hiding in the vents? How can a dead body even move? The implications of it all were disturbing.
So far, Mordin was the only one who could come up with a likely theory. "Possibility of some organism inhabiting dead bodies. Perhaps parasites controlling motor functions. Though, highly unlikely, no such cases ever recorded. Could even be an infection. Once in body, virus kills host and takes over dead tissue. Troubling, yes." The Salarian said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.
"Wait a damn minute, Doc. Are you saying we could die and turn into zombies at any time?" Zaeed exclaimed. "If that's the case, either I get a raise or I'm out of here."
Mordin shook his head rapidly. "No no no no! No need for alarm. Even if virus exists, no evidence to suggest it is airborne. Scans detect no foreign contamination of air."
"I hope you aren't thinking of running tests." Naomi groaned.
Mordin's face lit up but then he shook his head. "Was considering. But body too damaged to be of much use. Wasted opportunity."
"We apologize. " Legion said, bobbing its head. "But this unit believed that the use of overwhelming lethal force was necessary at the time."
"We should be using overwhelming lethal force ALL the time." Grunt piped up, slamming a fist into his other palm.
"That's wonderful," Miranda cut in. "But we have tarried too long here. We should move out soon, Commander. Like you said, we're running against the clock."
Naomi nodded. "Ok people, I know we have seen some pretty weird stuff so far, and maybe it got a little creepy with that space zombie back there, but think about it. In all our past missions, haven't we seen more than our fair share of weird things? We faced the Collectors many times and their Husks are basically zombies too. And guess what? They went down just like every enemy we have encounteted." She paused her pep-talk as her team nodded and rumbled in agreement.
"For now, we stick to the plan. Stay with your squads at all times, watch yourselves, watch each other's backs and be careful. We don't know if there are more of those space zombies crawling around, but if you do see any, shoot first and ask questions later. Trust me, they don't want to be your friend. Try to maintain radio contact with each other at all times and give me regular updates whenever possible. When all this is over, we'll figure out how these space zombies come about alright? Organize yourselves, we move in five!"
As her team got into their squads, Naomi ducked back inside the shuttle to retrieve her helmet. Slipping it on and sealing it onto the rest of her armor with a hiss of air, she cast one last look at her team, standing in threes to form Alpha squad, Beta squad, Charlie squad and Delta squad.
Miranda was her usual calm and confident self, decked out in all-Cerberus armaments, her M-25 Hornet sub-machine gun and M-358 Talon pistol at her hip.
Garrus stood folding his arms, sending a small nod in Shepard's direction. His M-15 Vindicator assault rifle was attached to his lower back while his trusty M-98 Widow sniper rifle was in its usual spot behind his shoulder.
Legion quietly checked its unique weapons, all from the Geth Armory. A Geth Javelin sniper rifle and a Geth Pulse Rifle adorned its back. It swiveled its lamp-like head to look down at Tali and raised its eye flaps reassuringly.
Tali appeared to be slightly nervous and maintained a strong grip on her Reegar Carbine shotgun, her Arc Pistol clipped to her thigh. She looked up and nodded at Legion, and Naomi could hear her taking deep breaths through her suit's filter.
Jacob gave Naomi a confident smile, the cut on his forehead making him look like a battle-hardened Omega mercenary as he cocked his M-22 Eviscerator shotgun.
Mordin hummed his favourite tune, 'Scientist Salarian' as he loaded and readied his Scorpion pistol and M-12 Locust sub-machine gun.
Jack was looking as fierce and determined as always, cracking her knuckles as she glanced around at the others. An M-27 Scimitar shotgun and an M-3 Predator pistol were equipped to her tattoo-adorned lower back and thigh.
Thane stood tall and stoic, his hands in a position of prayer as he did his usual preparations before embarking on a mission. The Drell Assassin was wielding an M-92 Mantis sniper rifle and an M-4 Shuriken sub-machine gun.
Grunt was tense, and anyone could see that he was already itching for a fight after witnessing Naomi getting attacked by the corpse. His meaty hands cradled his powerful M-300 Claymore shotgun as he peeled back his lips, baring his teeth and growling in anticipation.
Samara glowed blue with biotic energy as she readied her weapons, an M-96 Mattock assault rifle and an M-9 Tempest sub-machine gun.
Zaeed was scowling, folding up and stowing his M-55 Argus assault rifle behind his shoulder. It clicked into place beside his M-97 Viper sniper rifle and Naomi could hear the old mercenary mutter "I'm getting too old for all this zombie bullshit."
Naomi checked her own weapons as well, grinning behind her helmet as she detached each one, slamming in a thermal clip before slipping them back into their respective slots. M-76 Revenant assault rifle, check. M-6 Carnifex pistol, check. Black Widow sniper rifle, check. M-11 Wraith shotgun, check. Shiny, destructive guns of all shapes and sizes never failed to make her smile. When the 5 minutes were up, Naomi cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.
"Alright, you have your assignments! We meet back here in 4 hours. Move out!"
The different squads gave each other reaffirming nods, handshakes, hugs, and fist bumps, with Grunt attempting headbutts which everyone wisely avoided. Wishing each other good luck, they parted ways and walked down the different hallways to the trams which would take them to their respective destinations.
Alpha Squad
Miranda, Naomi and Garrus advanced down the dimly-lit hallway marked with 'Titan Station Hospital Tram Line'. They passed by plenty of blood but still did not find any bodies, nor did they find any of the claw marks which Jack and Samara had seen. Naomi paid extra attention to the overhead ventilation shafts, not wanting to get jumped by any more slavering space zombies. Whenever they approached a section of the ceiling with a grate, Naomi found herself instinctively bringing up her assault rifle to shine the flashlight at it, half expecting to see another bloodied corpse. She was getting paranoid and she hated it. Garrus and Miranda were starting to give her concerned looks as they followed closely behind, Miranda serving as the rear guard.
Their flashlights bounced off the metallic walls and their footsteps echoed loudly through the silent hall, none of them feeling like talking. The only words they spoke were to report that the corners were clear as they proceeded. Eventually, they descended a long flight of steps which led them to the tram platform.
"Good to see the tram is still here." Miranda said, picking her way through the piles of discarded luggage scattered all over the platform, making her way over to the six-carriage long tram which had stopped with its doors open. "Judging by the look of things, the tram was carrying a full load of passengers when it stopped here. Then everyone just...threw down their belongings and ran."
"A good guess would be that those ah...space zombies got to them inside the tram." Garrus brought their attention to the blood smeared all over the platform and tram windows. He then motioned to the tram doors, some which were smashed and broken. "Then, when it reached the station, everyone stampeded for the exits. There was probably a lot of mindless panic."
Naomi nodded grimly, stepping inside the first carriage. The interior was just as bloody and empty as the platform, and some of the windows had been smashed, glass littering the floor and seats. "Mass panic alright..." She murmured, making her way to the driver's compartment at the front of the carriage. Garrus stopped at the door, waiting for her signal, his rifle at the ready.
At her command, the Turian kicked the door down, sending it crashing into the cramped space which housed the controls for the tram. Naomi and Miranda shone their lights in, revealing a bloodied console and a dead body seated behind it. But this was no ordinary dead body.
"My god, Shepard. Look at those things coming out from its shoulders." Miranda gestured at the two extra arms which were portruding from a bloody mass of flesh on the body's upper back. They were not covered with skin and were purely bone, flesh and muscle, ending with a long, sharp piece of bone shaped like a blade. "By the spirits," Garrus groaned. "I think those 'arms' grew out of the body..." Naomi let out the breath that she had been holding and continued to inspect the mangled corpse. It still had its four limbs in addition to the two extra ones on its shoulders, but the bloody gashes across its neck and torso showed how the tram driver had met his end. His face was intact except for his missing lower jaw, which appeared to have been hacked off. His tongue was hanging loosely and the inner part of his throat was clearly visible. Naomi cringed and looked away.
"See if you can start the tram Miranda, let's get to that hospital."
Garrus followed Naomi out of the driver's cabin as Miranda got to work, linking her omni-tool to the tram's console and typing rapidly. Naomi collapsed into one of the vacant seats, looking fustrated as she popped the seals on her helmet, ripping it off and dropping it to the ground where it rolled and stopped at his feet. She put her head in her hands and shook it slowly, letting out a depressed sigh.
"Not a single survivor, Garrus. And all the dead bodies we've seen are just sick...not to mention one of them just tried to bite my head off. Then there's that gunship that shot us down. Just what is going on here?"
Garrus stood in front of her, his mind working furiously as he tried to formulate a politically correct response to make her feel better. At the same time, he knew that there was something else bothering her, he had seen it in her eyes after the attack in the lobby. Whatever it was, it must have been serious enough for her to shut him out completely. The way she had brushed him off earlier...he didn't like it when Naomi shut everyone out and kept beating herself up over her own problems. It was both worrying and infuriating.
A few minutes passed in silence with him unable to come up with anything to say, until the sound of the tram powering up turned his attention to the driver's cabin. He grabbed one of the overhead hand grips as the tram jerked into motion, gradually picking up speed and pulling out of the station.
"I got the tram operational, Commander." Miranda smirked, looking proud of herself. She disengaged her omni-tool from the tram's systems and turned back to face them. "According to the information on the console, we should be reaching in approximately half an hour. Looks like that Masters degree in Engineering wasn't a waste of my time after all."
Naomi looked up, a smile back on her face. "Nicely done, Miranda. Although...you might want to check on that alarm."
"What alarm? I don't hear anything, Commander."
"Oh, just the 'I have a really huge ego and am about to explode out of my suit' alarm." She grinned mischievously, folding her arms across her chest.
"I fit my suit just fine, Commander. Unlike you, I have no need to hide beneath XL-sized body armor," Miranda quipped, matching Naomi blow for blow.
Naomi gasped in mock outrage. "Was that a fat joke Miss Lawson?"
Garrus wisely stood to the side, staying silent and trying his best to suppress his laughter. Even though it was just a friendly catfight of words, he did not want to be seen as taking sides. Both of the beautiful women in front of him had enough physical and biotic power to rip the mandibles clean off his face.
Miranda stood laughing as her Commander spluttered and stammered, trying to find a retort to her jab at her weight. Shepard was the heaviest woman on board the Normandy and resented it, though the reason was due to her larger muscle mass, being a front-line combatant and all. But everyone still enjoyed taking swipes at her every now and then, especially when the Commander was in one of her teasing moods and the crew needed an easy way to get back at her.
Suddenly, Shepard and Garrus' facial expressions changed to one of utter shock and terror, and Miranda could sense movement behind her, turning her blood to ice. No, it can't be...
"MIRANDA! LOOK OUT!" Naomi screamed, reaching behind her back for her assault rifle.
It took Miranda half a second to react and spin around on her heel.
It took her another second to register the previously 'dead' corpse rearing up in front of her, its gruesome bladed appendages raised above its head and aiming for her head.
Another second passed as she instinctively threw her arms up in a cross in front of her, trying to block the incoming blow and at the same time unleashing her biotics to defend herself.
The undead monster only took 2 seconds to leap forward and bring its arms slicing down on her with incredible force.
Miranda was half a second too slow.
Oh no! Is this the end for Miranda? Decision time, Mass Effect style! (Well, sort of) Paragon, she lives! Renegade, it won't look pretty! Based on input, I may or may not change what I have in store for our favorite Cerberus Officer. Stay tuned dear readers, and remember to let me know if you liked this by reviewing or favouriting! Gibbering Gemstone out!