1/15/2015 Hey everyone, almost through editing all these chapters. Should be done soon and am partway through the next chapter so yay. Hope you're enjoying the story.
"Hannah?" said Derrick in alarm as he stared at the fiery blue figure that had just spoken in her voice. What was she doing here? And why was she on fire? "Juno, what's wrong with her?" he asked as he cautiously began to approach the flaming blue figure.
THE ASARI IS EXPERIENCING THE ASARI FORM OF A PANIC ATTACK, Juno replied.
"And how do I stop it?" he asked the v.i.
INCINERATE AND CRYO BLAST WOULD BE MORE THAN EFFICIENT TO NEUTRALIZE THE TARGET, Juno answered.
"Jesus! I'm not trying to kill her Juno," exclaimed Derrick irritably, "I'm just trying to calm her down before she hurts herself."
MY APOLOGIES, RESEARCHING NONLETHAL ALTERNATIVES IMMEDIATELY.
Derrick carefully approached what could be Hannah as the woman slumped against the wall her glowing chest heaving. He recognized the glowing blue fire for the Biotics they were, but he'd never seen anyone in the game sustain the dark light they gave off this brightly for this long. Usually the shows of biotics were a darker hue. This was reminiscent of something out of Dragonball Z.
"Juno can her biotics hurt me if I touch her?" he asked as he began to slowly reach out to the blazing girl.
ONLY IF SHE CONCENTRATES THEM. OTHERWISE THEY REMAIN HARMLESS MASS EFFECT FIELDS, Juno dutifully replied.
"Ok then," said Derrick, more to reassure himself than to address Juno. Reaching out to the girl he hesitated as his hand seemingly cut through the blue light before gently placing a hand on her shoulder. He was completely caught off guard by her reaction. Shoulder dropping away from his hand the woman spun on her heel and launched a spinning heel kick at the side of his head. Only the kick passed harmlessly through air as Derrick's body seemed to instinctively bend backwards dodging the kick as though it were nothing.
All thought left him as instinctively lunging forward he grabbed her other leg and with a heave lifted her up into the air. His body twisted dexterously in the air as he guided his shoulder into her gut a second before he slammed her with a hard thump into the ground. Hearing the air rush from her lungs in a wheeze his hands, seemingly of their own volition, grabbed one of her arms and twisted it behind her back as he flipped her over onto her chest. Another second later and he had his knee jammed into her back with her arm beneath it. With a flick of his wrist his Omni-tool activated and he jammed it against the back of her head as his finger went to tap Incinerate and finish this.
"I-I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!" the woman shouted out making Derrick freeze as the voice hit him again. It had to be Hannah. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. He blinked as he realized for the second time his finger was inches away from that Incinerate button. Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding he pulled his hand away from the button realizing how close he'd come to killing. Still not releasing her arm due to the bright flaring of her biotics still going strong he leaned forward.
"Hannah, is that you?" he asked hopefully. The girl beneath him jumped at the name and began to try to turn her head to look at him.
"Derrick?" she breathed in relief squirming to look at him. Derrick let out a deep breath before releasing his friend and stepping back. He was elated as he looked at the figure. It was her alright. That voice was definitely Hannah's. His smile slipped away as he remembered taking her down so physically only a moment before. How the hell had he just done that? It was like his body had just moved in reaction to Hannah's kick. And since when could Hannah kick like that?
His worried thoughts came to a halt as he noticed Hannah trying to rise unsteadily to her feet. "Derrick, what's going on?" she asked breathlessly as she held out a blazing bluish white hand towards him, "Why can't I see?"
Derrick stiffened in place at her question, "You can't see?" The biotic flames around Hannah's head flickered as she shook her head at the question.
"Everything's white and sometimes blue. I-I-I can't…I can't s-stop it," she wheezed out as the biotic flames surrounding her flared brighter.
WARNING MASS EFFECT FIELDS HAVE REACHED POSSIBLE TELEKINETIC LEVELS, Juno's voice warned in his helmet.
"Juno, why is she blind?" he asked as he ignored her warnings and reached out and took his friends outstretched hand. Hannah's smaller fingers tightened like a vice around his two larger ones as he held her hand firmly, his thumb finger rubbing soothing circles into her hand.
SCANNING OF THE ASARI WOULD HELP ME ANALYZE HER BODY FOR POSSIBLE DEFICIENCIES OR AILMENTS, answered Juno politely, OTHERWISE I FIND MYSELF UNABLE TO ASSIST YOU. Derrick reached for is omni-tool, his finger flying for the tactical scan button when he froze.
"Asari?" he said slowly, looking at the hand he was holding and feeling the five fingers wrapped around his two. Only four races in the Mass Effect universe had five fingers and there was no webbing in any of her fingers so she wasn't a drell. "How do you know she's an Asari?" he asked Juno quietly.
HER BIOTIC ABLILITY IN THE FACE OF A PANIC ATTACK IS VERY POWERFUL, Juno explained, SO POWERFUL THAT ONLY A MINUTE AMOUNT OF OTHER SENTIENT RACES COULD SUPPRESS THE AMOUNT OF MASS EFFECT FIELDS SHE'S DOING NOW. ASARI IS THE ONLY LOGICAL CHOICE.
"True," Derrick admitted before a more concerned look passed over his face, "What do you mean she's suppressing the mass effect fields?"
SCANNING IS REQUIRED, replied Juno shortly. Shaking his head disbelievingly at the situation Derrick activated the omni-tool on his arm holding Hannah's hand and tapped the Tactical Scan icon. As the tool scanned his friend he watched as her nervous system loaded from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. Next her circulatory system was displayed followed by a series of other systems that he didn't recognize but guessed were her digestive, immune, and respiratory systems by their locations. Next one he didn't recognize until he noticed its location around her pelvic region. Diverting his eyes he looked away as the scan overlooked her reproductive systems. DERRICK, YOUR HEART RATE HAS ELEVATED HIGHER THAN NORMAL ARE YOU ALRIGHT? asked Juno curiously.
"I-I'm fine Juno…just a little caught off guard that's all," he muttered uncomfortably, "Tell me when the scan's done."
A few moments later Juno spoke up, SCAN COMPLETE. HEAD CRESTS AND ADVANCED BIOTIC PHYSIOLOGY INDICATE THAT SUBJECT IS THE MONOGENDERED RACE KNOWN AS ASARI.
"Ok," said Derrick warily to himself as he squeezed his wheezing friends hand, "So what about the blindness Juno? What's causing it?"
THE ASARI IS REFLEXIVELY FIRING ALL OF HER EEZO NODULES IN REACTION TO SOME UNSEEN DANGER. IT IS THE ASARI EQUIVALENT OF THE FLIGHT OR FIGHT RESPONSE THAT HUMANS HAVE. THIS IS LIKELY IN ASSOCIATION TO HER PANIC ATTACK AS SHE IS POURING OUT STRENUOUS AMOUNTS OF BIOTIC ENERGY TO PREPARE HERSELF TO FIGHT SOMETHING THAT ISN'T ON YOUR RADAR. HOWEVER SHE IS AT THE SAME TIME USING THE TECHNIQUE BARRIER ON HERSELF AS SHE ATTEMPTS TO PUSH OUT HER BIOTICS IN A THROW. THIS STRAIN IS RAPIDLY EXHAUSTING HER AS SHE CONTINUES TO WASTE ENERGY IN A CONSTANT LOOP WITH NO FORSEEABLE RELEASE. THIS IS MOST LIKELY OVERLOADING HER NERVOUS SYSTEM AS THE NODULES ARE ACTIVATED BY THE ELECTRIC CURRENT THE NERVOUS SYSTEM PROVIDES. HER SIGHT WILL MOST LIKELY RETURN AS SOON AS SHE RELEASES THE MASS EFFECT FIELDS AROUND HER, Juno explained.
Derrick stared at the blazing blue figure wreathed in biotic flames as Juno finished describing what she was doing. So Hannah was that amazing of an biotic that she could dual wield abilities huh? For only a moment a pang of jealousy spread through him before he smothered it down and focused on his friend. He didn't have time to be jealous about his friend affectively being psychic he needed to help her.
"Hannah can you hear me?" he asked as he rubbed her hand soothingly.
"Y-yes," answered Hannah in a choked voice, "Derrick, who are you talking to? I can't hear anyone else." Derrick paused as he tried to figure out a way to explain the "V.I" in his helmet.
"Uh, I'm talking to the V.I in my enviro-suit," he said slowly, deciding to just be honest, "She's helping me find a way to help you."
"A V.I.'s helping you?" Hannah said tiredly, "And what do you mean enviro-suit?" Derrick tried to think of a way less blunt then saying, "I'm a quarian," to explain his current predicament, but words failed him. Instead he reached out and took Hannah's other hand by her wrist. Gently guiding it to where she was already holding his hand he placed the hand over his, "Feel."
He watched as smaller flaming fingers gently felt his hand before flinching at the revelation of his only having three digits. To his surprise however Hannah didn't recoil in disgust or surprise, but gently began turning his hand over as her fingers gently ghosted across his palm as she felt his hand.
HEART RATE ELEVATING. ARE YOU ALRIGHT DERRICK, asked Juno suddenly. Derrick almost jumped at the voice, but nodded silently as he watched Hannah's hands trail curiously across his palms to his fingers. He began to notice that the biotic flames surrounding her had begun to decrease slowly.
Almost enough that he could see her head tilt curiously to the side as she held his hand, "Derrick is this what I think it is?"
Derrick paused before answering, "I don't know…what are you thinking?" Hannah's hands began to rise towards his facemask before stopping hesitantly. Derrick looked down at the hands warily before taking a breath and nodding to himself, "Go ahead Hannah, it's ok." Slowly Hannah's hands rose up to his facemask until he watched her index finger press against the glass. Standing statue still he watched as her fingers explored his mask. It was only as her fingers lightly pressed against the glass did he see that they were indeed a light purple and human looking.
"Derrick...either this is some seriously realistic cosplay or…" she said pausing as she struggled to finish the obvious statement.
"It's real Hannah," Derrick said quietly, "My legs have changed two."
Hannah's hands dropped listlessly from his facemask the flames surrounding her beginning to build in intensity, "So it is real? I'm not in some weird fucked up dream?"
Derrick frowned, "Why do I have to be a Quarian in your weird fucked up dream? Why not something cool like a Turian or a Drell?"
"Because you're a nerd," laughed Hannah lightly before punching him in the arm. The two friends froze as Hannah stared at her glowing hand then turned her head to look at Derrick, "I…I can see you…I can see again!" Derrick smiled in relief as his friend stared at her hands in obvious happiness.
"Juno?" he whispered softly, "Is Hannah going to be alright?"
YOUR FRIEND'S EEZO LEVELS HAVE DECREASED TO ACCEPTABLE LEVELS AND THE MASS EFFECT FIELDS SHE WAS GENERATING ARE RAPIDLY DECREASING. STRAIN ON HER SYSTEMS IS ALMOST COMPLETELY GONE. SHE SHOULD BE FINE WITH SOME FOOD AND REST, assured Juno.
Derrick let out a relieved breath as he watched the blue flames surrounding his friend dwindle and fade away to finally reveal his friends form. Derrick's eyes widened a fraction as he looked at Hannah. Laughing he shook his head, of course she was still gorgeous. The Asari standing before him looking ecstatically at her hands had the exact same features he'd known in high school. High cheekbones framed an elegant Victorian face that rivaled most models. And even with her skin a vibrant violet she was still the same knockout beauty he'd known in high school. Of course she would be Asari, he thought dryly before chuckling to himself.
"What's so funny?" asked Hannah. Derrick looked over at her to see her self consciously touching one of her scalp crests and cringing.
Feeling slightly emboldened at his own physical predicament Derrick simply shrugged, "I just find it funny that you're pretty much an Asari supermodel while I'm just a Quarian."
Hannah frowned at him, "Derrick my skin is purple."
Derrick tilted his head to the side as his eyes shown humorously through his facemask at her, "So?"
Hannah looked uncertain, "I look weird…"
Derrick almost scoffed at her, "Hannah the only difference is that your skin's purple and your hair is a bunch of-"
"Semi-flexible cartilage scalp crests. Yeah, I know," said Hannah off handedly.
"You do?" said Derrick, momentarily grateful for the facemask as it hid his look of surprise.
Hannah however seemed to notice his surprise as she raised an eyebrow at him, "Of course I do why wouldn't I?"
Because you actually have a functioning social life, Derrick thought before shrugging, "No reason, just surprised, that's all."
"Uh huh," remarked Hannah sounding unconvinced.
"Anyway, are you alright?" he asked carefully.
Hannah shrugged looking unsure as she looked at her hands, "I can see now at least, so yeah I guess. It's just kind of hard waking up and, surprise you're another species, you know? ."
Derrick grinned, "Yeah it is a bit of a change in the norm huh?"
"I miss my hair," Hannah said off handedly as she ran a hand down the violet crests on her head before stopping suddenly as her violet face paled, "And my ears."
Derrick nodded, "I don't even know if I have ears." Hannah blinked as if she hadn't realized that while she had changed significantly she still looked vaguely human, "Quarians are supposed to look humanoid so I bet you'll look great Derrick, like a really manly version of Tali."
Derrick's head tilted slightly to the side as he regarded his friend silently, her expression falling under the neutral stare of the glowing eyes behind his facemask. Then Derrick threw his head back as he burst out laughing. "Like a manly version of Tali?" he choked out through his laughter, "Was that supposed to reassuring?"
Hannah glared irritably at him, "Whatever Derrick. I was trying to be nice."
Derrick struggled to stop his laughter in the face of Hannah's offended expression, "I'm sorry, that was just…different." Finally suppressing his laughter Derrick looked at his friends unhappy expression, "Oh come on it was a little funny."
Hannah just huffed crossly and waved a hand at the surrounding hallway, "Any idea where we are?"
YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN A DERELICT SECTION OF THE TAYSERI WARD ON THE CITADEL, answered Juno promptly.
Derrick's eyes widened at her answer, "We're on the citadel?" Hannah's gaze snapped up at his question as their eyes both met.
"When?" she asked urgently, "When are we on the citadel?"
Derrick's eyes widened at the implications of the question. If they are truly on the huge space station that was the center of the mass effect universe then the timeliness of their arrival was key. Because if they were to late then chances are they could be very dead, very soon. Please don't be after the Reaper invasion, Derrick prayed to himself before asking Juno the question, "Juno what year is it?"
For the first time the V.I.'s voice comes out sounding almost concerned instead of her normal neutral, "THE YEAR IS 2184 CE. ARE YOU ALRIGHT DERRICK?"
Derrick let out a huge gasp of relief his hands grasping his knees tightly before looking up at Hannah, "We're fine its only 2184. And yeah Juno I'm fine."
Hannah looked relieved as she ran a hand across her crests before another look of concern flashed across her face, "So wait…Shepard's dead then?"
"Yeah," Derrick said sadly, "I guess he…or she is."
Hannah looked put out, "So what now?"
Derrick looked down the hall at the door she'd wandered through, "Juno can you find me a route to the Zakera ward clinic?"
PROCESSING. COORDINATES INPUTTED, STARTING VISUAL INTERFACE, Juno's voiced confirmed in his ear. Derrick watched as a bright yellow line shout out from his feet and proceeded to travel down the hallway they were standing in. "We follow the yellow brick road," said Derrick.
"Uh, sorry?" asked Hannah curiously.
Derrick looked at her dryly, "Sorry, corny joke. Come on I set a pathway to the Zakera Ward medical clinic. We should be able to find some familiar ground when we get there."
"What about Oliver and Jason?" Hannah asked as she fell instep beside Derrick before having to come to a stop as he stopped suddenly at the mention of his two other friends.
"Oh my god, I'm a fucking idiot," he swore before quickly activating his omni-tool. In focusing on calming down Hannah he'd completely forgotten about his other two friends. "It would make sense that they'd be here. After all we all went through that black hole thing together didn't we?" he said to himself as Hannah nervously watched him, "Juno cancel the guide to Zakera Ward could you instead search the immediate area for other life forms?" As the V.I. began scanning the area Derrick pulled out his omni-tool. He felt useless just waiting there for Juno to do all the work for him. Heading to his contacts he was surprised and elated to find the contact info for both of them just sitting there as two of the three contacts he had on his omni-tool. The other was Hannah. Quickly selecting Hannah's he hit the call icon and waited. Hannah jumped in surprise as her omni-tool opened up. Raising it slowly up she looked at Derrick questioningly before tapping the omni-tool.
"Why are you calling me?" she asked curiously before her eyes grew wide in realization, "We can call people with these things?"
Derrick's eyes smiled behind his mask before ending the call, "You call Jason and I'll call Oliver. And Juno is there anyway you can help them meet up with us?"
THE TWO OTHER CONTACTS ON YOUR OMNI-TOOL ARE CURRENTLY WITHIN A 1.5 MILE RADIUS OF YOUR VICINITY. HOWEVER DUE TO INTERFERENCE YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONNECT TO THEIR OMNI-TOOLS UNLESS WITHIN TWENTY TO THIRTY YARDS, answered Juno through Derrick's suit speakers so Hannah could hear as well.
"Interference?" asked Hannah curiously, "Do Omni-tools have bad reception areas?"
NOT USUALLY. HOWEVER DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF MUCH HIGHER THAN NORMAL AMOUNTS OF DARK ENERGY THE SIGNALS ARE UNABLE TO ESTABLISH ENOUGH OF A CONNECTION TO EVEN SEND SIMPLE TEXT MESSAGES THROUGH, answered Juno curtly.
"Where's the dark energy coming from?" asked Derrick.
LARGE PIECES OF THE REAPER dreadnought SOVEREIGN IMPACTED TAYSERI WARD DURING THE BATTLE OF THE CITADEL OVER A YEAR AGO. REPAIRS HAVE BEEN EXTENSIVE BUT THE DAMAGE AND RESULTING RADIATION POISONING WAS CATASTROPHIC. MULTIPLE AREAS ARE STILL WITHOUT POWER AND PORTIONS OF THE WARD HAVE SEEN A SHARP INCREASE IN CRIME, the V.I explained, WHILE YOU ARE CURRENTLY LOCATED IN THE KEEPER TUNNELS I WOULD ADVISE CAUTION ONCE YOU REMERGE INTO THE PUBLIC.
Derrick frowned behind his mask, "Juno is there anyway we can get to our friends? It's important we all meet up as soon as possible." Derrick blinked as a holographic 3D arrow appeared on his mask's screen.
DONE, PLEASE FOLLOW THE ARROW TO THE CLOSEST OMNI-TOOL SIGNAL AREA, Juno's voice sounded confidently.
"Wait I thought you couldn't get a signal," questioned Hannah as she began following Derrick as he quickly walked down the hallway.
I NEVER SAID I COULDN'T GET A SIGNAL HANNAH, ONLY THAT I WAS UNABLE TO SEND ANY MESSAGES THROUGH. LOCATION AND TRACKING IS A MUCH EASIER PROCESS WITH THE CITADELS WIDESPEAD EXTRANET SERVERS, Juno stated matter-of-factly.
Hannahs eyebrows raised at the explanation, "Oh. Well… that's really helpful then. Thank you Juno."
IT WAS MY PLEASURE, Juno replied politely.
Following Juno's directions the pair began to make their way through the interconnecting hallways and corridors at a quick walk. Derrick guessed that they'd walked a quarter mile before he noticed a large indent in one of the walls. "Um, what is this?" Hannah asked, looking at the large dent closely.
"It's a dent," Derrick said slowly as he activated Tactical Scan. The Tech ability went over the indent, giving him calculations on the force needed to make the indent as well as the species most likely responsible. "Made by a Krogan apparently," Derrick remarked in surprise.
Hannah's eyes widened, "Like the giant lizard people Krogan?" He nodded. "The seven feet tall, regenerating, prone to homicidal rage outbursts Krogan?" she asked again, her horrorstruck expression matching her nervous tone.
"Yes Hannah," replied Derrick dryly, "Although I wouldn't say all that out loud if we run into one." Hannah let out a deep sigh as they kept walking albeit a little more cautiously now.
They walked for a couple more minutes in tense silence before she spoke again, "I don't know how you're keeping it together like this Derrick. I keep almost losing it at every new thing that pops up. My skin color, the biotics, and now the Krogan actually existing…it's just to much new information too quickly."
"But it's not new information," Derrick reminded her as he stopped and looked at her her, "Everything so far is stuff that we already know about right? The Asari, biotics, Quarians, and even the Krogan. These are all norms in the game, right?"
"…Right," Hannah replied, looking less than convinced. "And it's not that I'm not freaking out Hannah, because I almost started to when I woke up with the wrong number of fingers and toes," he explained, suddenly feeling tired, "I've just been reacting to everything that's happened so far to the best of my ability. The loss of my body, your sudden appearance and panic attack, and literally just now realizing that all four of us are stranded on an intergalactic space station filled with aliens that's ultimately doomed to be destroyed by a giant mecha lobster race hell bent on wiping everything organic off the face of the known universe!" Stopping suddenly, as he realized that he had began to yell Derrick sighed dropping his helmeted head into hands he still didn't recognize.
"Hannah, I want to freak out and have a meltdown just as much as you do, but not yet. Once we're all together and I don't have to worry about getting robbed in the citadel equivalent of Compton, then I'll face all of those thoughts gnawing away inside my head. But until then…" He reached out and gently laid his hands on Hannah's shoulders as his purple skinned friend stared sympathetically at him, "Until then the only things that are worth thinking about are you, Jason, and Oliver, ok?" He stared patiently at her until she nodded slowly, "Alright, then let's keep mov-" He cut off as something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention making him spin to a ready position, hand over his omni-tool. Standing not fifteen feet away was a massive Krogan standing over seven feet tall.
Derrick's finger stopped a millimeter from the incinerate button as Hannah's biotics flared beside him. Through all this the Krogan didn't move an inch simply staring at them. It's huge mouth hung partially open in a look that Derrick would say looked stunned if he knew anything about Krogan expressions. Pale green reptile slitted eyes stared out from under a large brown headplate as the Krogan studied the pair of them. What's he waiting for? Derrick thought curiously as he checked the radar in his suits HUD. All he saw were three blue dots so the Krogan was definitely by himself. …wait…three blue dots? Eyes darting to the radar Derrick stiffened as he confirmed what he'd seen. The two closest together on the circular radar screen were definitely Hannah and him, but the third…the third was standing right where the Krogan would be. Slowly lowering his gauntlet the quarian stared closely at the Krogan. His eyes. His eyes were green…just like- "Jason?" his voice emanated uncertainly through his suit's speakers as he watched the Krogan's mouth drop even further.
"Derrick?" the Krogan's deep baritone voice asked uncertainly.
Hannah's biotics cut off as her jaw visibly dropped, "Is that really you Jason?"
"In the flesh Hannah," the relieved Krogan replied before his expression soured, "Or whatever it is that Krogan have. Do they have scales? I feel like they would have scales."
Derrick shrugged happily as he walked up to his large friend, "No idea man sorry."
Jason looked curiously at Derrick and Hannah, "Do you think Krogan's have to sunbathe to stay warm?"
Derrick rolled his eyes, "No I'm pretty sure they don't have to do that either Jason."
The Krogan looked at his clawed hand, "Good. Taking off all this armor will probably be a pain in the ass anyways."
Jason turned his massive head to the side and peered curiously at Derrick, "What exactly are you wearing?"
"It's an exosuit," Derrick replied defensively at the large aliens scrutiny.
Jason's green eye stared at him, "And why are you wearing the helmet?"
Derrick looked humorously at Hannah as she slapped a hand to her forehead, "Jason, you didn't play the game that much did you?"
Jason's broad shoulders shrugged, "Nah, just the multiplayer with you guys why?"
Derrick shook his head wryly, "Jace, I'm Quarian."
The Krogan nodded, "Right, the engineer."
Derrick paused at the lack of worry Jason's voice carried, "And…that's not weird to you at all?"
The Krogan shrugged again, "Not really, you always were the smartest one with technology." He pointed at Hannah, "Hannah was always the pretty one who was good at talking to people." He pointed at himself, "And I was always the big one nobody would mess with."
"What's Oliver then?" asked Derrick curiously.
Jason snorted, "He's the mean, blunt one. Probably a turian." Hannah and Derrick laughed at that. That did sound like their friend. "So what now?" Jason asked curiously.
Derrick pointed down the hallway, "We find Oliver then get out of Tayseri Ward."
"Where?" the Krogan asked in confusion.
Derrick sighed, "Think Compton, but in space."
A thoughtful expression came over his friend's alien face before becoming suddenly concerned, "Wait we're in the hood?"
"According to the 'V.I.' in my suit," Derrick replied as he began walking again, his two friends falling in step beside him. Hannah and Derrick filled Jason in on their own changes as they followed Juno's instructions to their last friend's omni-tool signal.
Jason laughed at Derrick's story of finding Hannah earlier, "Sounds like you freaked hard Hannah."
Hannah shot him a glare, "Well it's not like any of this is exactly normal."
"Yeah, but you're an Asari," Jason snorted, "That's like the second best species in the game."
"Yeah, and what's the first?" asked Derrick humorously.
"Turians," the Krogan stated confidently, "You can't beat walking space Velociraptors." Derrick laughed as Hannah gave their friend a weird look.
"They don't even look like dinosaurs," Hannah argued. Checking his omni-tool to make sure they were heading the right way Derrick smiled. It was good to have Jason here. The gentle giant had always been the most positive one of their group. Which was weird since he played football, which wasn't exactly a sport known for it's positive outlook and niceness.
Derrick's thoughts came to a halt as a blue dot appeared moving toward them on his radar. Hands reaching out Derrick grabbed his friends shoulder's, "I think Oliver's coming towards us." Jason smiled a large Krogan grin as Hannah's shoulders slumped in relief. However, as he watched the blue dot slowly approach them something seemed…off. He was approaching too fast, almost like he was running. But what would he be running from? Derrick looked closely at the radar, his eyes widening in worry as red dots began to trail behind Oliver's blue one. "Juno what are those?" he asked quickly, failing to keep the anxiety out of his voice as he watched the blue dot weave through hallways barely keeping ahead of the red dots.
JUDGING BY THE SECURITY FIREWALLS ON THEIR OMNI-TOOLS AND THE LANGUAGE PROGRAMS THEY HAVE DOWNLOADED THEY APPEAR TO BE BATARIAN SLAVERS. ALSO THEY APPEAR TO BE ENGAGING YOUR FRIEND OLIVER WHO IS FIGHTING BACK WITH HIS BIOTICS AS HE ATTEMPTS TO EVADE THEM. ALSO THEY ARE HEAVILY ARMED, Juno concluded through his suit speakers.
Derrick's eyes stayed wide as he looked up at his two friends who were wearing matching alarmed expressions. Looking each of them in the eye he said the one thing they were all thinking, "We need to get the fuck out of here." Looking at his radar and the approaching dots he grimaced before activating his omni-tools, "Juno, I need a way out here right now."
SEARCHING, the intelligence's voice replied immediately.
Watching a loading bar quickly begin to fill Derrick looked over to see Hannah anxiously fiddling with her omni-tool. Suddenly the sound of gunfire and rushed rapid breathes began pouring out of the miniature computers speakers. "Ollie, can you here me?" asked Hannah quickly.
"…annah? …nah is that y…," a static filled voice asked.
"It's me Ollie," Hannah confirmed, "I need you to keep running you're almost to us." She looked up at Derrick, "Right?"
He nodded before adding, "Tell him to take a left then a right. He should see us at the end of the hallway." Not listening to her repeating his instructions, Derrick watched the loading bar come to a finish and a line weave it's way through the map on his radar.
Juno's voice then spoke into his ears, THE DIRECTIONS FOLLOWING THE GUIDELINE LEAD THROUGH SEVERAL DOORWAYS. WHEN YOU PASS THROUGH THEM I WILL ACTIVATE A SUBROUTINE IN THE DOORS PROGRAMMING TO LOCK THEM FOR THE NEXT 30 SECONDS THAT-
"Should buy us enough time to get away," finished Derrick in an impressed tone, "Wow Juno, you're amazing."
I AM SIMPLY DOING AS MY PROGRAMMING DICTATES, replied Juno cordially, ALTHOUGH YOUR PRAISE IS APPRECIATED.
Raising his omni-tool up Derrick sent everyone the guide Juno had made only pausing slightly to wonder how he knew how to do that at all. Saving it for later he watched as Hannah and Jason both looked at their omni-tools hit a few keys on their orange keyboards and resume waiting nervously. Until they both frowned raising their arms to look at the omni-tools.
"How do I even know how to do that?" asked Jason in confusion.
"Worry about it later," said Derrick as he pointed down the hall at a figure running around the corner, "Run now." The trio began quickly jogging down the hallway as Oliver grew closer.
"DON'T JOG! FUCKING RUN," screamed their friend angrily. Derrick hesitated for a second as he saw Oliver was a green skinned Drell. Then half a second later a hoard of the four eyed species known as Batarians rounded the corner at the far end of the hall and suddenly mass accelerator rounds were flying everywhere.
"HOLY SHIT," Derrick heard Hannah scream as accelerator rounds tore through the air all around them. The four college students sprinted down the hallway as the Batarians did their best to cut them down. Derrick felt two sharp punches in his back, but before he felt any pain a blue line at the bottom of his HUD (heads up display) screen depleted slightly inward. We've got shields, he realized as another shot hit him in the left leg leaving a painful welt, but doing nowhere near the amount of damage it should have done. He could also see the faint bluish shimmer around him for the split second the shot had hit him. However, as great as finding out he wouldn't be instantly cut down in a hail of bullets he had absolutely no inclination to test them.
So when Hannah finally turned around a corner and the gunfire stopped he took a breath of relief. Or as much of a breath as you can take when sprinting full out. Not slowing down the group passed through a doorway with Derrick slowing slightly to let Oliver past him first. The moment he passed through the door it shut behind him with it's access panel glowing a bright red.
The group didn't even look back as they ran for their lives through the winding keeper tunnels. They hit the second doorway before forty seconds had passed. The fourth by 1:20. And soon the red dots signifying the batarians were nowhere on Derrick's radar as the tired group of college students jogged through the second to last doorway and came to a tired halt. Jason's huge chest heaved as he gulped in huge breathes of air, "Can…we just…take a second? Running…with…all this armor…sucks."
Derrick's lungs burned as he came to a stop beside the large Krogan. He'd never ran so far for so long before in his life. "Juno…how close are the batarians?" he asked tiredly.
YOUR PURSUERS ARE STRUGGLING TO HACK THROUGH THE THIRD DOOR, answered Juno, I SEEM TO HAVE OVERESTIMATED THEIR HACKING ABILITIES. A SLOWER PACE SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR NOW.
Visibly relaxing Derrick slumped against the wall beside Oliver. "You alright man?" he asked the exhausted Drell as he rested his head against the wall.
The Drell looked angrily over at him, "I just got chased by fucking aliens, shot at, and oh yeah, my skins green. So no, no I'm not fucking alright."
Yup, definitely Oliver, thought Derrick as he pushed himself up off the ground and held out a hand to help the Drell up, "Well look at the bright side at least you're not dead. That's good, right?"
Oliver just glared up at Derrick for a second before taking his hand and letting him pull him up, "Let's just get out of here."
Nodding to his friend Derrick walked over to Jason who had finally caught his breath. "Ready?" he asked the gargantuan alien.
Jason nodded as he straightened up to his full height, "Yeah, I'm good."
Nodding to Hannah Derrick fell in line with the group as they took off at a slower more sane trot. It was quiet all around them except for the trod of their feet on the hard floor and the occasional hiss of a door opening and locking behind them. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the final door. Realizing Juno's guide path ended at the doorway Derrick let out a relieved breath, "We're here." Hannah stopped before the doorway looking skeptical.
Unlike all the other's they'd seen earlier with their pristine stainless steel condition this one was coated in dirt and rusted around the edges of the door divider. The red holographic panel even flickered on and off as they all looked at it.
"Why's it so dirty?" Jason asked curiously, verbalizing what they were all thinking.
Oliver groaned tiredly from the wall he was slumped against, "Don't know, don't care. Will someone open the damn door already? I'm really starting to feel all those bullets my barrier stopped." Rolling her eyes Hannah reached out to touch the red panel when the door slid open on it's own, revealing a turian with white face paint standing their with a pistol drawn.
For a split second they all just stood there frozen in surprise. Then everything became very slow. Derrick's sight flared strangely as everything brightened and became more in focus while at the same time moving at a slow crawl. His gaze took in the scene as Hannah's biotics began to flare alongside Oliver's their cornea's of blue flames erupting slowly across their figures as their hands began to rise to direct their energy.
His gaze flickered to where they were directing their aggression to see the gun the turian was holding beginning to rise. It was an M-3 Predator, probably the worst pistol in the game. However, the gun's statistics didn't stop Derrick's reaction as he felt his body tense and hurl itself forward with his leg lashing up at the gun in a rising kick. It was as his foot connected with the gun that Derrick finally saw the familiar insignia on the Turians armor, C-sec. BANG!
The gunshots pop was as loud and jarring as the Batarians rifle's bangs had been, but more nerve wracking with the closer conditions. Falling hard on his back Derrick looked up to see a weaponless turian staring down at him in shock, his gun hand still pointing towards the group. Then a small weight landed on him as the Predator he'd kicked skyward bounced off his chest and landed on the ground beside him. The turian's eyes widened in recognition as he began to lunge forward only to have a wall of blue light slam into him and sent him flying backwards as his armor scraped loudly against the ground before he slammed into a wall with a huge crash. Scrambling to his feet Derrick quickly ran over to the Turian before skidding to a stop a few feet away from the prone alien.
"Juno is he dead?" he asked nervously.
THE C-SEC OFFICER IS ONLY UNCONCIOUS DERRICK, the answered, ALTHOUGH HE MAY HAVE SOME DIZZINESS FROM THE BLOW YOUR FRIENDS JUST DELIVERED HE SHOULD BE FINE.
Derrick let out another deep sigh, today was going terrible. First they all change races, next they get chased by alien slavers, and now they've assaulted a cop. Derrick shook his helmeted head sadly. Could things get any worse?
No Song this Chapter sorry :(