(Alright guys, Chapter 3! First off, I want to say thanks for all the feedback. A few matters to address:
Yeah, I know the Spartans were accepted really quickly, but I wasn't any good with that kind of stuff.
Someone said the Spartans are talking too much, but the Spartans have barely talked to anyone besides themselves. The Spartans treat each other as family remember.
Not everything will be lore directed exactly. The Mrk 7 armour isn't lore Mrk 7, as well as certain things doing more damage.
That's really it guys, thanks for reading!)
Chapter 3: The mission
The interior of the shuttle was eerily quiet as the five crew members sat inside it. The massive Reaper lay dead, almost motionless in space as it drifted quietly. The tendrils lay covered in construction and supports running along the black armour, where the Cerberus team had set up their base of operations to study the Reaper. Garrus growled.
"I have a bad feeling about this Shepard…"
"It's the only way Garrus. Master Chief, are you and your squadmate assured of what we're looking for?"
The Chief was silent, flicking a hand towards Linda. Linda nodded slightly, only the barely noticeable gesture causing the Chief to turn back to Shepard.
"We're ready to work," and with that, tugged a small part of his rifle fully back. Shepard stared at the rifle, surprised the Spartans were using it. They had such limited ammunition for them, even with the supplies salvaged from their crashed ship. Shepard donned his helmet, as well as Garrus.
"Alright then. Tali, Chief, you both take point. Garrus and Linda, cover us with your rifles. Tell us what you see at all times. I'll stay in the middle of the group, and make sure that nothing sneaks up on the sides of us. ."
It was a good plan, and it also meant they had better positions than the Spartans in case something went wrong. They'd need every advantage if they were lying to Shepard's crew.
The shuttle landed, and with a puff of smoke, it flew off again, leaving Shepard and the rest of the team facing the door into the facility. It slid open flawlessly, all of them entering in without a sound of complaint from the door itself. Strange.
"Everything's in working order Shepard, no sign of power shortage…" Garrus commented.
"Looks all clear, but I've found an audio log," Linda reported.
The video was short but interesting. It was basically the scientists starting to…feel a bit nervous around the dead Reaper. What was to fear? Something was a bit mysterious.
"Huh…seems like…indoctrination?" Tali whispered.
"Indoctrination? The thing were these Reapers control the minds of organics?" Linda asked.
"Basically…but a lot more dangerous than that simple explanation."
Movement was heard behind them, the team swivelling around. Shepard ordered them to move upwards, walking into a large open area, with what seemed to be…an altar at the end? That was disturbing.
But not as disturbing as the things crawling out of the floor.
"Husks!" Shepard yelled, beginning to open fire as the rest of the team did also. Bullets tore into the husks, ripping their mottled blue-grey skin to shreds as newer ones appeared, covered in a red skin colour. One of them seemed to be burning with fire.
This particular one came up behind Linda, swinging a fist. She ducked, kneeing it in the gut as she came back up, placing her rifle to its head and firing a round straight threw it. She turned around, only to see Garrus yelling at her to move.
The body exploded, rocketing Linda a few meters to the right, as her shields dropped down to twenty-five percentage remaining. She tasted blood in her mouth, and cursed her luck. Wasn't always good luck that came to the Spartans, or maybe the rules were different in this Universe.
Garrus was over her, kicking a husk away, and extending a hand. The scar on his face was more visible, and his eyes were looking into her faceplate with a stance that said 'Move it now!'
"Abominations as we call them. Nasty piece of work. Up on your feet," he revealed, pulling the heavy Spartan upwards. He raised his rifle, continuing his shots against the wave of husks and abominations. Linda wanted to say thank you, but she held back. She could thank him later.
The Chief worked like a proper soldier, shooting accurate bursts from his assault rifle, dodging, never moving into a defensible location, as that would be pretty pointless against an enemy who is basically throwing their men at you. He hit one so hard its head flew off, allowing him a moment to reload his rifle. He looked up again…just to see the room was clear.
"All clear Commander," said the Turian, putting away his sniper.
"You OK Spartan?" The Commander gestured to Linda. "That abomination seemed possessed."
"It's fine. Took down my shields a bit and I think I bit my tongue, but apart from that, I'm alright."
"Then let's keep moving."
They inspected the altar, which just seemed like a couple of the scientists had taken their worship of the Reapers a little too far, and kept moving, exiting into a large open area on the side of the Reaper. Linda spotted movement among the higher areas of the structure.
"Sniper!" She yelled, diving away, but two flashes of gunfire were seen, along with the usual 'puff' of what seemed to be a Viper class Sniper Rifle. At the far end of the platform, a figure stood up. It was covered in black armour, a hole in its chest. It had an elongated neck, ending in a brief semicircle, with a lightbulb in the middle.
"Shepard-Commander," it called out.
"It's…it's a Geth!" Tali gasped.
"Geth?"
"AIs, I'll explain later."
The Geth turned around and walked away, leaving the Commander and his team to start moving forward yet again. Shepard glanced back at them.
"How the hell did it know my name?"
"It shouldn't have been able to! A single Geth has no more intelligence than a Varren!"
"Well that one talked. I'm dying to see why," Garrus commented dryly.
But, another day, another group of husks and abominations. They were relatively simple to put down, the team alternating their fire between the enemies approaching them. This continued for another assault by the misshapen people, before they came across something else entirely.
Looked like a flood carrier to the Chief.
"SCION!" Shepard shouted, leaping out of the way of a blue forcefield heading towards the Chief. The Chief didn't seem to realise what it was, and watched as it enveloped him. His shields dropped quickly, the pain evident through the armour. The beast walked up to him, the face on its shoulder screaming.
Too close for comfort actually. The Chief reached up, grabbing the thing and pulling himself up with it. At its height, he lifted it and threw it into the ground, watching as it hit the ground with a hiss, and struggled to stand back up. John raised his foot, slamming it through the chest area of the Scion.
He breathed heavily, standing still for a couple of moments as dust flew lightly past his feet. Tali walked up to him, placing an arm on his shoulder.
"Are you OK?" She asked cautiously. Even Linda was staring. The Chief had just completely destroyed the monster that killed entire squads of careless marines.
She would have told me what it was.
"I'm fine. We should get moving."
After a few more encounters with husk, abominations and around four Scions, they reached a large door. No other words to describe it really, it was just a big freaking door. It opened slowly, and there on the table…
"Reaper IFF found," Shepard reported. He scooped it up in one of his hands, placing the device carefully into a compartment on his armour. Another door lay open, and Shepard approached it slowly.
"Shepard…" Tali warned.
"I want to know why that Geth was here. It could be important for all we know."
The door slid open, revealing a large open room with a suspended sphere in mid-air. Energy crackled from it, and at the console near it was…the Geth.
A couple of husks walked up behind it. It noticed too late, swerving around to see a fist slamming into the side of its head. Shepard's team finished them off and then looked up to see what they were dealing with. The console read that this was…the heart of a Reaper?
"We need to destroy it," Garrus said quickly. "That is the thing that caused those scientists to go crazy. It could affect others, or even us if we don't stop it now."
"Agreed. Tali, get it to open up-."
But it already did. The team opened fire at it quickly, the energy of the sphere crackling under the intense firepower of all five of them. A final round from Linda's sniper cracked it, shutting down the heart. The structure shook as it died.
Shepard ran over to the Geth, looking it over.
"We should take it Shepard. The thing might have valuable information on it, and besides, it didn't shoot at us."
"It's a Geth, Garrus. It could kill us in our sleep."
"Sir, if I may."
Shepard was surprised to see John speak. Out of the four Spartans, he was the quietest. "Speak John."
"This 'Geth' unit as Tali said shouldn't have much of an intelligence, but it does. It didn't fire on you, nor did it attempt to stop us. In fact, I'd say the Reaper heart opened up because of it. If that's the case sir, I think this unit may be useful in the upcoming mission."
Shepard nodded slowly. It made sense, and it wouldn't hurt to have a look. He nodded sharply one more time. "Alright, grab it. We need to move."
Garrus and Tali grabbed the Geth, Tali occasionally muttering 'Stupid bosh'tet' as they dragged it along, The Spartans and Shepard aiming and firing at any Husks or Abominations that got too close to the Geth. The Normandy appeared not too far off, circling around and opening its side door. Tali and Garrus chucked the Geth, its limp body floating through space into the doors of the Normandy. Tali and Garrus jumped next, landing safely inside the hallway. Shepard jumped after, turning to see the Spartans take down a Scion.
"John, Linda, move it!"
Linda jumped first, leaving John finishing off a Husk. He spun around and ran, jumping and floating slowly towards the interior of the ship, landing with a thud against the far wall. The Normandy's doors closed, leaving the team feeling a little tired and strung out from the withdrawal of adrenaline.
Shepard smiled slightly, taking off his helmet. He looked over at the Spartans.
"Well then…you sure as hell passed your evaluation. Welcome to the Normandy."