Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect or Danny Phantom
Chapter Three: Alien Technology
Danny could hear the sounds of battle and the cries of despair echoing around him. The sound of energy blasts and bodies falling backwards onto the ground. Regular people were still trying to escape the area running like a headless chicken. Others were huddling in the dirt trying to stay below notice and hope that they were not discovered until the fighting was over.
He wished them the best and hope that the people on this planet figured out a way to survive and rebuild from this tragedy. The only thing he could say for certain was going to happen was that the Geth would soon have a war on their hands on a massive scale. Nobody liked the Geth anyway so maybe more than just the humans might be fighting against them. The Quarians would more than likely join just to get their revenge on the Geth for their exile.
Danny and the others were surrounded by hills providing cover against the Geth weapons. The ash was still falling from the sky and covering the land.
"We thought this world was safeā¦. Until the Geth showed up." Ashley said to them. Danny turned and noticed the others had finished with burying their fellow soldiers. He had helped dig the separate holes that the soldiers were in but when it came to the words he had left them to talk amongst themselves.
It was only respectful. The whole thing took about six minutes.
Now that they were done it was time to move. The soldiers raised their guns and got into a focused stance. It was clear they were ready to enter the battle and go to the military base.
"So how far until we reach the base?" Danny asked as he checked his surroundings for any enemies. The Geth ships were still here so no matter how clear an area appeared there was a chance that it would soon be part of the battlefield that was claiming more and more of the planet.
"Stop complaining. You wanted to join this mission." Kaidan said to him. For some reason the man just did not like him. It was kind of harsh because Danny had not even tried to annoy the man yet.
"That is a little harsh. I know following orders is your thing but some people are curious and sometimes those people ask questions." Danny said as they ran forward. As they moved they could see the damage the battle had done. As they ran through a stump of trees that looked to be made of a mineral similar to stone yet different.
After a few turns they ran up a hill and ran into a military camp or at least a part of one. Mostly because it was trashed and there were no Geth so Danny knew that whatever the group he was in was looking for was not here.
"Looks like they hit the camp hard." Ashley said as they looked at the building in the camp that still had smoke trailing off of them but Danny's focus was mainly on the giant spears that were sticking up from the ground that had bodies impaled on them. For beings without emotion The Geth could be pretty sadistic.
"It's a good place for an ambush. Keep your guard up." Kaidan said stating the obvious.
"Any other brilliant statement Lieutenant. Maybe something more obvious like the color of the ground or the sky perhaps?" Danny asked the lieutenant who clenched his weapon in his hands and glared at him. There was no point bothering with someone who disliked him and who Danny would not see again once this task was done.
"Stop it the both of you." Shepard commanded the both of them. Danny just shrugged and accepted. She was technically in charge. A failure on this mission would really only affect her. Apparently she was going to become a spectre if this mission succeeded. It was a huge deal to the humans given that they had still only recently joined the alliance and the council.
Danny really did not care that much but he did not want to ruin Shepard's life over a simple argument with a guy that seriously needed to learn how to smile. He was like a clown who was crying on the inside and smiling on the outside. Except with Kaidan it was more like a mad clown on the outside while the inside of him was a sad clown that had an even angrier clown inside that.
Such a complex and confusing metaphor for such a simple looking man.
Of course after Shepard stopped the both of them was when the spikes holding the bodies began lowering to the ground. The bodies no longer looked like humans. While being impaled on spikes might have been what killed these people it probably would not have altered them so much. While they were humanoid in shape their skin color had become darker and there were blue lights all over their body.
If Danny had to give a guess it would be more than likely to assume that the corpses were being converted into a sort of technological/biological hybrid if not technology consuming and altering organic flesh and making it something non-organic. That would be something the council races would probably in a rare agreement to take down the Geth.
"Oh god they're still alive." Kaidan said to the lot of them as the spikes got closer and closer to the ground and the bodies began to move.
"I am not sure if I would call it that." Danny said as his suit created energy shooting pistols. He wasn't letting any of these things get close to him because if they were anything similar to Technus allowing them to get close to anything technological could be bad.
Alien technology if it wasn't helping save lives it was helping endanger them. It was almost nearly always one or the other but in a rare while it was both.
"What did the geth do to them?" Ashley asked no one in particular as the spires retreated into their base and with a few sparks the husks came to life and came towards them like a zombie.
"That doesn't really matter right now does it?" Danny asked as he took aim at the newest attempt on his life as they walked closer to them screeching in a tone that was more annoying than anything else. He spent times with plenty of ghosts that had way more dangerous moans and wails.
"He is right. We can't save any of them." Shepard said as she started firing at the husks. Danny had to admit that her aim was very sharp. All her shots hit either the throat or the head as far as he could see with his enhanced vision due to the helmet.
It was almost as good as his was normally. Since they were probably dangerous Danny was shooting as quick as he possibly could at the things. Sometime his shots caused the husks to fall downwards with a chunk blown through their stomach and other times it caused them to lose limbs and flounder on the ground where a second shot would destroy them.
Once everything was done they ran into the building that survived the assault. The door sealing the place opened with a whoosh. Looks like nobody locked it up due to all the chaos that was happening around them.
"What are you doing?" Kaidan asked him as he placed his hands on a box he found in the room.
"Looking for loot." Danny said as he opened the box and search the insides of it. Looking inside he could see it was a sniper rifle, shotgun, and armor. Useless for him to use but not completely useless. The suit had a function where it could absorb materials to make new weapons or reinforce the suit to increase its abilities for a short while, create more ammo for weapons, or be broken down into energy to increase the boosters when flying. Luckily it could all be decided later on at a better moment.
"What do you mean?" Kaidan said with a harsh tone. Danny looked up and noticed that the others were watching him as well with distrust and suspicion.
"Don't worry about it." Danny said trying to change the subject and ease the tension in the group.
"I would like to know more about it as well." Shepard said and he knew that it was more or less an order. She seriously kept forgetting that she was not the boss of him.
"People leave strange things in lockers. Sometimes weapons and sometimes money. I have learned not to leave a box unchecked. This one however had nothing." Danny said lying with a straight face while looking right at them. They looked unconvinced but given that the box was empty there was nothing else to say.
"Still robbing the dead is not something I say I agree with." Kaidan said to him.
"I spend a lot of time in conflict. Sometimes you need a weapon and the only one to have one is a dead body." Danny said thinking back to one of his previous missions where he was not lucky enough to have his suit with him.
Eventually once they checked that the room was clean they moved towards the other one. Shepard was at the front with Danny and Ashley at her side with Kaidan in the back. Danny had volunteered but Shepard and Kaidan both disagreed on that. Apparently they both wanted to keep an eye on him.
"That door. It's closed. Security engaged lock." Ashley said as she took a look at the locked door.
"Do you have access?" Danny asked Ashley who just shook her head. Danny just sighed and walked up to the door.
"Fine I guess I will do it." Danny said as he placed his hand against the door feeling how thick it was.
"You know how to hack?" Shepard asked him a surprised tone of voice.
"I have some skill in the art." Danny admitted. He was not a novice at the act given that some missions required him to break in and steal certain information or unlock certain doors in order to save someone's life.
So after his admission they were certainly surprised when he used his pointer finger to cut a giant hole in the door to make an entrance that they could all fit in. He could feel the stares of the crew on him. It felt like he was an ant and they were holding magnifying glasses above him trying to burn him with the light from the sun. It took a simple tap to knock the cut part down. Looking at the dying green light on his finger Danny was once again reminded why he loved his suit.
"I said I could hack things. I didn't say I was going to do it now." Danny defended himself as they went into the room.
"Well this is a welcome surprise." Danny said as he looked at the two people inside the building who managed to survived without any weapons. Of course that was ruined when the man came rushing at him with a desperate and panicked look in his eyes.
Danny was unprepared for the assault and was knocked on his back with the crazing man looming over him. He was about to give the man a non-lethal electric shock when the woman came and got the lunatic off of him.
"I am truly sorry for Dr. Manuel's behavior. The stress of recent events have made him a bit crazy. I am Dr. Warren." Dr. Warren said as she introduced herself to the group.
"They have killed us all!" Dr. Manuel shouted while glancing outside the room at the destroyed camp. Danny wondered if the man would still appreciate the electric shock. It might give him a good nap that he sorely needed.
"How did you end up in this shed?" Shepard asked the two doctors.
"We hid here during the attack. They must have come here for the beacon." Doctor Warren said to them. Given that he was the only one in the room that looked confused they must know what the beacon was and why it was so important.
He could find out more later. Given that it was the thing everyone wanted they more than likely could give him the basics.
"When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives to save us." Doctor Warren said leading to a brief silence for those who died.
"No one is saved. The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain." Doctor Manuel said once again making Danny wonder if it was not better to put the man out of his misery.
"What else can you tell me about the attack?" Shepard asked clearly trying to move on from the crazy doctor.
"It all happened so fast. One second we were gathering up our equipment. The next we were hiding in the shed while the geth swarmed over the camp." Doctor Warren said.
"Agents of the destroyers. Bringers of darkness. Heralds of our extinction." Doctor Manuel said. Danny knew the man was scared and talking more out loud than to anyone else but it still meant that the man was not calming down.
"Calm down buddy." Danny said before walking up to the man and giving him that light shock that he was thinking about earlier.
"What is your problem?" Kaidan asked him in his gruff tone of voice.
"I think it is better for everyone if the nice doctor gets some sleep. Don't you agree?" Danny asked the group and he and Kaidan turned and saw that no one really disagreed with him.
"Continue please." Shepard said to Doctor Warren.
"We could hear the battle outside. Gunfire. Screams. I thought it would never end. Then, everything went quiet. Too afraid to move. Until you came along." Doctor Warren said while gripping her shaking arm. Her eyes glazed back as she recalled the event.
"Did you notice a turian in the area?" Shepard asked the doctor.
"I am sorry but I was not paying too much attention to things like that though Dr. Manuel might have noticed something." Doctor Warren said to them causing Shepard to turn at him and glare with those green eyes of her.
"Don't glare. We all agreed to send the doctor to sleep just a couple minutes ago." Danny said in response not scared of her at all.
"Fine. Just no more shocking people without my say so." Shepard said and he gave her a salute to show that he understood. Shepard just rolled her eyes and turned back towards the doctor.
Shepard opened her mouth but instead of saying anything she closed her mouth and turned around to him.
"Can you wait outside?" Shepard asked him.
"Why?" Danny asked her.
"Military business and last I checked you were not military." Shepard said to him. Danny just nodded and left the room. It did not really matter to him. He was already hacked into their communication system and his helmet could pick up their voices easily. Did not matter where he was he would hear everything anyway.
Once again he loved his suit.
"Can you tell me anything about the beacon?" Shepard asked the doctor.
"It's some type of data module from a galaxy-wide communications network. Remarkably well-preserved. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetime!" Doctor Warren ended with a shout showing just how excited she was. Danny had to rub his ears at that part because he was not expecting it.
"Miraculous new technologies. Groundbreaking medical advances. Who knows what secrets could be locked inside?" Doctor Warren asked.
With that done the others came out of the shed looking at him wondering whether Danny had actually heard what was going on.
"So you guys finished talking?" Danny asked the lot of them.
"Yes. We are heading to the spaceport now." Shepard said.
"This is for you lot to fixed the part of the door I broke." Danny said handing them a giant shield. It was about the size of the hole he cut and in big black was a giant letter d. The suit had made it but he would never admit to it. It was made from the material he absorbed in the other room. It was only fitting after all.
It would disappear eventually but long enough to hopefully serve its purpose.
"Where did you get that?" Ashley asked him.
"Found it. Now let's go." Danny said to Shepard who was clearly hesitant but nodded all the same.
It did not take them long to arrive at the location. Though the giant ship floating nearby held their attention for the most part.
Their attention on the giant ship almost made them sitting ducks for the husks and geth troopers that started firing at them. Danny was lucky enough to notice and create a huge shield to protect the whole group.
"What in the world?" Kaidan asked completely shocked. Danny was not surprised at his reaction. The current level of energy shield protection was way below his shield.
"Focus more on the things attacking us. Get ready." Danny said as he lowered his shield once everyone was ready and prepared. They moved forward shooting and blasting everything that tried to get in their way. Husks and geth troopers alike were taken down and surrounded them like a flower of destruction.
"You were looking for a Turian?" Danny asked Shepard as he used his helmet's zoom function and looked up the structure they were headed for.
"Yes. Why?" Shepard asked him.
"I see one atop the platform." Danny said with a point.
"Double time people." Shepard said and they ran forward and met the alien that was lying on the ground. He was clearly dead.
"Commander, It's Nihlus." Kaidan said.
"Something moved! Over behind those crates." Ashley said her weapon and their attention.
That was when Powell introduced himself to the group. He had been hiding during the attack and especially even more so when Saren came and killed Nihlus. Danny wondered how common spectre on spectre violence was and why Saren killed a fellow Turian when everyone knew Saren's grudge was against humans for his brother being killed during humanity's first contact war.
"We were told a Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. What happened to it?" Shepard asked. Danny wondered if she remembered that he was here or if she was too focused on stopping Saren from getting the beacon to think of it.
"It's over on the other platform. Probably where that guy Saren was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend." Powell said.
Danny just shook his head when he heard how the man survived the attack. Taking a nap on the job is the only reason he was not impaled on stakes like everyone else.
Being lazy certainly served him well today.
When Powell was done talking he walked away and no one really stopped him. He would have to find a way to deal with this on his own. There were bigger problems right now to deal with.
The race to the beacon was not easy. Husks came at them along with geth troopers with energy shields. Danny was glad that the others had not run out of bullets even if they had to switch weapons to save some bullets. Who knows what would happen later if they had to split up.
Missions always get harder the closer you are to completion.
Of course when the got off of the cargo train they ran into a new problem. The geth had left bombs all over the place and going by the timer on them it would not take long for them to explode.
"Let us split up and defuse these bombs." Shepard said and before he could say anything else they agreed each running off to find a different bomb. They all knew the end goal so they all knew where to go.
Danny just sighed and looked at the bomb he was currently dealing with. Danny would like nothing more than to just toss it into the sky and blow it up but it would draw far too much attention.
Danny placed his hand on the bomb and the arm of the suit glowed green as it begun to hack into the bomb. His helmet instantly showed him the details and instructions of the bomb. It took him a little bit but he found the instructions to shut it off.
Shutting off the bomb was easy at that point. So the universe decided to mess with him and bring in more enemies to try and kill him. Glancing at the horde coming at him Danny took to the sky and started bringing green destruction down on his enemies with glee.
It was mainly so that the others would not be surrounded while they were dealing with the bombs. Defusing bombs and killing enemies was a very hard thing to do at the same time and so getting rid of enemies became Danny's job.
Once he saw a majority of the enemies were done and dead he flew towards the location they were all heading to. He did a majority of the work and now it was time for the others to catch up.
Danny landed near the Prothean beacon and took a look around for Saren but the area was clear. Whatever Saren had wanted from this place he had gotten. Now all that was left to do was wait for the others.
"This is amazing. Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable." Kaidan said announcing his presence. Danny turned to look at him and noticed that Ashley was here as well. Shepard was the only one missing.
Hopefully nothing bad had happened to her.
"It wasn't doing anything like that when we dug it up. Somebody must have activated it." Ashley said as she walked closer to the glowing green device in front of them. Danny could not believe she was just walking forward like this. Countless movies showed this was how people ended up giant monsters in movies that later went on to rampage cities.
Danny tried to get her to stop but unfortunately this drew him into the energy field of the artifact. What happened next was like twenty hammers being banged against his skull while listening to the horrifying screeches of polka music. It was a suffering he was sure he never wanted repeated on another sentient species.
It sent him staggering to his knees and roaring in pain. A normal person would have been knocked unconscious from the pain.
Alien technology was truly the biggest source of misery in the universe.
