Disclaimer: I own nothing! Other than my own characters…
A/N: Things are starting to speed up, right? And yeah, the Oblivion may have been overkill, but with what I have planned (Sort of) it may be needed.
Akuze
"We have to land now!" I yelled, looking out the window. I could already see the Thresher Maws tearing in to whatever was left of Shepard's platoon. Most of them were in a group, laying waste to the now ruined camp, but I could see one of them was chasing down a lone soldier. I couldn't make out who it was, or what was really going on in detail, but I had to get there- now.
"I am sorry. Hostile threats detected. Unable to land in current location." the shuttle's VI responded, already starting for a high cliff about a hundred yards away. I growled and stood from my seat.
"What're you doing?" Ankou screamed as I opened the shuttle doors. Morena looked on in horror, knowing what I was about to do. The lone thresher was directly below now. I'd be damned if I wasn't going to help that soldier out.
"Express way!" I yelled back, leaping from the craft. I immediately drew my AR and peppered the thresher's head to get it's attention. As I roared and flipped in the air, smashing on to it's head, it stopped. The enormous creature screeched and jerked around, tying to dislodge me, but found no luck. Just as it screamed again, I jammed two grenades down it's maw.
My short distraction granted the monster enough time to throw me off and land on to the ground in front of the soldier that stopped when I jumped on to their pursuer. Just as I collected myself and looked up, the thresher exploded, sending guts and blood flying in to me. As I looked at the corpse, I laughed. The first thing I killed in this universe was a Thresher Maw!
"Damn, that was exciting." I muttered, standing up to look around. The camp was a ways away, but I could already hear counter fire. Probably Ankou and Morena, protecting whatever was left… I turned around and approached the soldier. Just as I neared though, I stopped short. She… this was Shepard. It was impossible to mistake the messy red hair and piercing violet eyes.
"Wah- Who-…" she was gasping for air. Probably ran from the thresher for a while. I crouched down next to her and pushed her on to her back so I could assess the damage. Several burns and a small laceration on her eyebrow, but nothing I couldn't handle.
"Deep breaths, you're safe now." I softly said, staring at her. She nodded slightly and proceeded to take my advice. I pulled out a pack of medi-gel and began applying it to her burns. Once finished on her torso, I moved to her face. The cut was bleeding, but her eye was intact, so I just stemmed the flow and sealed it with medi-gel.
"Thanks. I was sure I was-" before she could finish, I felt a fission in the ground. An instant later, another Thresher Maw erupted from the surface, towering over the two of us. I turned to see it ready for an acidic attack. Through reflex, I threw myself over Shepard, shielding her from the blast as it poured over me. I hadn't had time to put my armor on back on the ship, so I'd just thrown on a light Onyx mod. Unfortunately, the acid was too strong, melting through the plating like butter. I screamed, but managed to keep Shepard from the attack.
Suddenly, there was a slicing sound as the thresher screeched behind me. I turned my head enough to see it being frozen in place, a curious bluish-green line, reaching down it's body. Slowly, it split in half, falling dead beside of the other one. I saw a small hooded figure, not taller than three feet standing behind the now dead creature, two green light…sabers?… drawn.
Wait just a damn minute… that's… I thought, struggling to breath. The pain seemed to dissipate as I stood shakily. I looked down at my arms, noticing the gaping holes in the armor, but…no wounds? Once I recovered from the nausea, I gazed down at the small figure, now walking up to me.
"Yoda…?" I asked, recognizing the much-loved being from a movie series back on Earth. He drew back his hood and looked up at me with what seemed like recognition. How would he know me?
"Hmn. Know me you do?" he asked in his endearing backward speech. His eyes searched mine as I felt he could see in to me.
"Who wouldn't?" I asked, sitting down. Shepard was still behind me, but I could see her gobsmacked expression when I looked to my left. I noticed the fire and roaring coming from the camp had ceased now too, so everyone would find us soon.
"Saw you through the Force, I did. Very odd, a force sensitive, here." he said, standing in front of me. Was he talking to me? No… "Come to train you, I have. Will of the Force." I sighed and looked down at my hands.
"There's no way I'm a force sensitive." I said, frowning. That was impossible, especially because it was me. I was never one for fictional tales, but because of that, I never believed in supernatural abilities. It was illogical. But then, was anything in this situation logical? No…
"Fooling yourself, helps not. Brought here by the Force both of us were. No coincidences." spoken like the true Jedi he was.
"I know there may not be, but…" I trailed off, hearing someone approaching us. Once I looked up, I was positive insanity had me in it's grip. There, before me stood Ankou, Morena and…
"Hey Crusnik, look who we found!" Ankou called, gesturing to Noble team. Yes, the very Spartans of Reach were here, in front of me. Each of them walked straight up to me and stared down at me, helmets off. I glanced at Yoda then stood up.
"You their leader?" Carter asked, eyeing me.
"Yes." I said, returning the half-glare. He seemed to relax at what he saw, but still just looked confused. All of them did. The entire Noble team was staring at me along with Yoda. It made me wonder if I had something on my face.
"Alright then. I'd love to know how in the hell we got here." he said it as if I was supposed to know. It had to be the doing of that voice. Maybe they were 'chosen' too.
"I imagine each of you were teleported here an instant before your deaths or something, right?" at their nods, I continued, "Then you're probably going to want to know what happens…" I searched each of their faces, only finding either irritation or confusion. Ah, so Noble six was a girl, huh? Cool.
"The Force, it wishes for our meeting." Yoda piped up, looking at me. I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, something like that. I'm going to have to ask all of you, if you wish, to join me. I have plenty to explain and plenty of time." they all nodded and seemed relieved. Sort of.
"Um, hello? Someone want to tell me what's going on?" Shepard coughed, getting all of our attention. I had almost forgotten she was there.
"Once we're back on my ship, we'll take you where you need to go." I said, heading for the shuttle.
…
After two hours of explaining to everyone (excluding Shepard) what was going on, what happened in their respective universes, they took it pretty well. For the most part, they only listened to what their efforts meant. Apparently, the Noble team tried to get to Shepard's camp to help out, but didn't make it in time. Yoda said he woke up and sensed me so he went right to finding me. Not to mention, saving my ass.
When they all met Cortana, they were a little confused. It was understandable, but I explained they were different AIs. I had to wonder if there were going to be any others joining up too. Oddly enough, I was able to adapt to the situation pretty well. Yoda said he'd start the training the next day, so I told everyone to rest and do whatever for the time being.
"Odd bunch, Crusnik." Tana said, referencing our newest arrivals. "We drop one off, get seven more. What is this?" it seemed rhetorical, so I only shrugged. We were in the cockpit, setting in the course for Shepard's next station. Admiral Hackett had sent a message to me earlier after I'd gotten in contact with him. Apparently, Spectres got enough pull to be able to pull a fleet admiral from a meeting just to tell him of one soldier's status. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but Shepard had been insisting on news.
"Yeah, but they're cool. Best of the best you know…" I added absently, standing from the pilot's seat and heading towards the elevator. Tana followed beside me. We'd become good friends already, but it was evident she wanted some more action going on. With our new guys, it would be hard to stay on track, what with everything already happening. I entered the elevator and pressed for deck three.
Once on deck three, I saw everyone was hanging around the mess hall, chowing down. I went in to the med-bay and watched Shepard as she fiddled around with her food. I suppose losing your entire platoon like that was enough to screw with anyone's appetite. She looked up when I got to her, seemingly tired.
"We're on our way to Arcturus station. Hackett wanted to send his apologies." she only nodded and continued to pick at the rations. I really needed to update our supplies. I turned to leave, but a hand circled my wrist and stopped me. I turned back to see Shepard.
"Thanks. I thought I was screwed from that first one, but then you… then the second one… you shielded me…" I tried to see the reason she felt a need to thank me, but failed. I may have save her life, but Yoda saved both of ours. I didn't do a very good job in my opinion. But what happened after I got burned by the acid… I felt it melting my skin and pouring through my system. But when I looked down a minute later, the injuries that were supposed to be there, weren't. I wanted answers, but it looked like I'd just have to make due for the time being.
"It was nothing." I said. She released my wrist, but still looked at me like I was crazy.
"It wasn't nothing! You killed that thresher and saved my ass, so thanks." I nodded and sat down at the bed beside hers.
"Not hungry?" I asked. She looked at me a little guiltily, but shook her head.
"It's not right… for me to eat right after my platoon died…" I went up to her and clapped her shoulder to get her to look at me.
"But would they want you to starve yourself? You may be the only one here, but they live on in you." she nodded once I finished and weakly smiled.
"I guess you're right. Thanks." at that, I left the med-bay.
…
We got to the next post for Shepard about a week later. She had gotten better after what I'd said to her and continued to be paragon, you could say. Honestly, I was just glad she was alright, as sentimental as that sounded. Once we docked and Shepard was ready, I accompanied her down to Arcturus station.
"It's been good." she said, shaking my hand I nodded and returned her smile.
"Yeah. Though, I've got to say…" I began, getting an inquisitive look from her, "I can't imagine this being goodbye." she didn't know what I was talking about quite yet, but hey… all in good time, my friend.
"Well, you never know. Who are you, anyway?" she asked. I remembered she never really found out what my purpose was or what our occupation was, so I shrugged.
"Just… someone who'll be there when needed." so, without further ado, I departed from Arcturus station.
…
"Crusnik, what are your plans at this time?" Tana asked following me as I headed towards the OP.
"I think we're going to need some more supplies if we're going to keep from starving to death." I absently replied, entering the room.
"Yeah, talk about hollow legs!" she laughed, flipping in the air. I zoomed our location in the system and caught sight of the Oblivion, gliding through space. I stood beside it as I looked out at the stars surrounding us. Nebulas and asteroids drifted by and planets seemed to scroll slowly across the room. It was beautiful. I had been spending a slowly increasing amount of time in this room to think and meditate on everything.
"Yeah, I didn't know Yoda could eat like that." I snickered, purposely skipping Noble over. She laughed in response and flitted about. "Anyway, do you have any suggestions as to what planet we should drop by?" I asked, getting her attention.
"I guess a planet with a city would work better if you want variety…" she said, circling around me, as if in thought. I wondered if the motion was akin to a human pacing.
"That'll be great."
"Then how about we go to Illium?" she suggested. I had to ponder what possible consequences would entail a trip there. It was better than Omega and the Citadel was a little far away.
"Sounds good." that decided, I continued to look out at the passing nebula.
About a half an hour later, Yoda came in and joined in my wanderings. We sat beside each other silently for a while until he broke the silence.
"Sense worry from you, I do. What is wrong?" he asked, genuinely curious. I looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.
"Just… everything. I've been having visions lately."
"Hmmmm. Show you the future, do they?" he asked in his exaggerated tone. I couldn't help but feel more at ease in his presence.
"I'm in this place, but not. There's nothing there, but everything exists. It's Limbo, I guess. Then, something comes, as if from everywhere. It speaks, but not with a voice. It's been telling me that I've been chosen for the future of the universe, but nothing more than that." as I explained, I saw him thinking deeply. After a moment of silence, he looked up at me seriously.
"Speaks to you, the Force does. Never before happened, young one." he looked totally sold on the notion that the thing, I'll call it Limbo, has contacted me. I suppose it was a good a guess as any, but it would explain how it seemed to flow everywhere, even through me. Maybe that's why I had those visions, anyway.
"Yeah, I agree. But why is it that I'm the only force sensitive? Ankou's my brother, so wouldn't he have ability too?" Yoda thought on it briefly, then shook his head slowly.
"Know, I do not. Awaken, your brother must. Unpredictable, the Force is." I had to agree with that, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to be the only one who could use the Force, other than Yoda. Of course, it only meant I'd have to find out if Ankou was going to awaken sometime soon. Before that though, I wanted to stock up on supplies and figure out what to do.
"Master?" he looked up at me questioningly, "Are you okay?" I remembered he was never really asked about his health in the movies, though he always helped everyone else. It was a little irritating how that was. At the question though, he only smiled.
"Hm! Fine, I am, young Jedi." well, he certainly looked healthy. I nodded and stood up.
"That's good. Do you mind if I get some rest?" it had been a long day, with plenty of twists and such, so I wanted to catch some shut eye. He shook his head, indicating for me to go ahead, and began to meditate.
…
A few days later, all I could do was think about what was to come. The wasn't much I could do at the time, so I passed it by running checks with everyone. Noble was taking up the bunk room (thankfully, it was large) while Ankou took the Co's room, Morena took a single room and Yoda… well, you never know with Yoda. I never saw him sleeping, anyway. Maybe he just slept while meditating.
In any case, I resolved to start acquiring crewmembers that actually maintained the ship. So far, the only people I had mostly hung around. They were more fighting types anyway. Luckily, Kat, Noble six AKA Alexis and Tana made sure to keep everything running smoothly. Kat and Alexis were also working on upgrading armor and weapons. They were using their own as templates and such, even taking measures to add extra features to our HUDs and suit capabilities.
"About five minute till we get there, Crusnik." Tana said, still following me around the ship. It was hard, sometimes, to remember she was an AI, given how 'alive' she sounded or how she was able to just float around. I occasionally poked her avatar just for the giggling that ensued. Apparently, I was the only one that could touch her other than Ankou. He just wasn't really the type for constant company, so Tana preferred to stick by me, stating it was more exciting than checking systems constantly.
"Okay, thanks." I said, already heading towards the airlock. I called Kat, Ankou, Alexis and Morena to join me, seeing as they were the ones itching to look for whatever supplies. Kat wanted to check out the tech, armor, and weapons places with Alexis while Morena looked for the food and Ankou and I searched for… hmmm. I didn't really have much of an idea of what we were looking for, but maybe some information would be helpful. We could be like galactic saviors or something. Nothing better to do anyway.
"Hey! Hey, Ms. Crusnik!" I turned at the voice calling me to see a human male running up to me.
"Yes?" I asked. As he caught his breath, I crossed my arms. Ankou looked at me with irritation, but I shrugged it off.
"I'd like to make you a proposition." he said, smiling at me. It was odd how he already knew who I was, let alone wanting to make some sort of deal with me. With those thoughts, I waved for Ankou to go on ahead while the man and I headed off.
After a small while, we came to a seemingly deserted walkway, which was odd, given this was a city full of people. He turned to me with a smile still on his face, only this one somehow… off. I didn't feel right about the situation or this man, but even through that, he'd be stupid to do something to me, right on Illium.
"Ms. Crusnik, how would you like to help make humanity stronger?" he asked. I felt that the question was abrupt. He seemed to have some hidden meaning to the words.
"What are you talking about…?" I trailed off as I saw him pull something out of his pocket, showing a part of his shirt I failed to notice earlier. It had a diamond symbol emblazoned on his shoulder. I couldn't help but curse on the inside.
Cerberus! before I could react though, I felt a stinging pain in the back of my head, the force of the blow knocking me in to the ground. As I hit, I felt a needle jamming inside of my neck painfully. The liquid ejected from it burned slightly as I tried to wrestle free from whoever had me on the ground.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Crusnik. You'll be the perfect prototype for Project Phoenix." the man's smug voice was the last thing I heard before darkness consumed me.
…
Ankou was starting to get impatient with Cru. She had all of this shit going on and he was stuck playing the side-character of a brother. He'd be damned if he was going to le his sister get all of the damn glory, that was for sure. As he passed another asari family, he couldn't help but notice the way they all seemed so happy. The exact opposite of him and his sister. Well, not really opposite. They didn't actually 'get' the whole feelings thing and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to.
It was odd, the way things seemed to be happening so quickly. He wasn't sure if being here or having everything they had was a good thing or not, either. One day, the core of P-66 decides to go critical, he and his sister get blown up, they wake up in the ME universe, get a home, a ship, new teammates… it was just ridiculous. Yet, at the same time, Ankou couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of killing all of those Geth and the Reapers later on. Until then though, he'd have to find some way to ease the itching of his trigger finger.
"Where are you…?" he absently muttered, referring to Cru. Suddenly, a wave of danger and pain filled him. He twirled around, looking for the source of the feeling, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Then, he noticed that it felt… distant somehow. As if it was coming from somewhere else…
Cru! the realization struck him hard. That sister of his never knew how to stay out of trouble did she? But how did he know?
"Ankou!" he turned to see Noble team, Morena and Yoda rushing up to him. He met them half way and immediately knew why they were here.
"It's Cru, she's in trouble!" he stated, looking to each of them. They nodded in agreement and looked down at Yoda, who was staring intently at Ankou.
"Know where she is, do you?" he asked. Ankou nodded slowly.
"I think I can feel her presence…she went with some guy earlier who said he needed to speak to her." at that, they all went after Cru.
A/N: Sorry it was a little shorter than the last one, but I thought I'd just end it off here and let you guys take everything in before I continued. Anyway, please review!
