Well i can't come up with any witty banter at the moment so enjoy chapter 4
Vanguard
Ch. 4
Fight for your life
I hear screams as people are dragged from their home. I look to see a field of statues, only to realize that they are alive. Frozen in place, helpless against the invaders who methodically place them in coffin like structures. Sealed away, they are free to move, only to struggle for escape. Their muffled screams seem as loud as a gunshot. The abductors stand there, menacing. They move towards me and I cannot move. They take me, their hands cold and hard. I can feel myself about to vomit from the scent. As they seal me in the only thing that goes through my mind, is total fear.
My eyes open and I shoot up. I'm relieved that I can move, and I relax back into my seat.
"You ok?" Tali asks, still in the pilot's seat.
"Yeah just an interesting dream." I answer. This one is different from the last. It was up close, while the other one I saw from a distance. Why is it that I can't seem to get a good rest? "How long was I out?"
"About an hour." Really? Once again I'm completely rested. I can't be sure but maybe something about the experiment makes it so I don't need as much sleep. Oh well, I'll figure that out later. Well there's still over two and a half days until we get to the flotilla so I might as well start a conversation.
"So you told me about your time with Shepard, but you never actually told me about Shepard." I'm curious what the person who is credited for saving the galaxy was like.
"Well to make a long story short, she was amazing. You put her in any tough situation and she'd make it look easy." Sounds impressive. "She was one hell of a soldier, and a great commander. She always enjoyed socializing with the crew." Then her expression took a hint of sadness. Her shoulders drop, her head hangs forward, and she has a bit of a grim tone. "She was a good friend."
"It must have been tough when she died." I can't imagine what Tali went through. I've never had to go through the tragedy of losing a friend.
"Yeah it was a year and a half ago, but it's still difficult at times." Well I can tell that this conversation isn't going anywhere good, so I'll change the subject.
"What about the rest of the crew, any other friends of note." I ask hoping to cheer her up.
"Of course, Garrrus was always a good friend. Wrex as well, when he wasn't trying to kil…" That sentence will have to be put on hold. Right before our eyes we see a massive dreadnaught emerge from the relay we were about to go through, and it's heading straight for us. Tali jerks us to the side to avoid a head on collision. As I check to make sure everyone is alright I realize that Tali isn't moving.
"Tali what is it? Are you okay?" She seems to be in shock.
"That ship. I…It's the ship that attacked the Normandy." What? We just happened to run into it out here.
"Where is it heading? Tali where is it heading?" I snap her out of her trance. She looks at her screen.
"It looks like their heading straight for a human colony." Crap I have a bad feeling about this.
"We have to get there now. If that thing attacks those colonists they won't have a chance." Then it seems that decision was made for us as the ship turns back towards us.
"Shit they're about to open fire!" Shala yells, and then I almost push Tali out of her seat and take the controls. I manage to avoid their first shot, and I make a b-line for the colony. As they take their next shot I maneuver around it, but I'm not able to avoid its full radius.
"Fuck, the drive core is fried. It's overloading!" Luckily the planet is close by. It looks like it'll be an emergency landing for us. "Everyone buckle up, this landing is going to get interesting!"
"Define interesting!" Tali yells as over every alarm this transport has.
"Oh god, oh god, we're all going to die!" I yell in a half joking, half… well half oh god we're going to die voice. Then there's a miracle. The drive core regains functionality just before we hit the atmosphere. But it's not quite enough for us to make a safe landing. I'm just barely able to keep us all alive as we hit the ground.
"Is everyone ok?" Tali asks.
"Just a few bruises back here." Shala answers.
"Other than almost shitting myself, I'm fine." I answer. I get up and open the seal to the transport.
"Damage report." I hear Tali say from inside.
"The drive cores damaged it'll take a while to repair. Other than that it's just comedic damage."
"Okay start the repairs." As I look towards the settlement that I struggled to miss, I see the ship that caused this making its landing.
"I'm going." I say as I turn back to the transport, grab my weapons, and some medi-gel packs.
"What? Are you insane?" Tali asks.
"I think so. I have to help them. I can't just let them die." Or worse.
"I'll go with you." Shala says reaching for her weapons.
"No, you need to stay here and make sure everyone else is safe." That's when Praza steps in.
"He's right; let him go on his suicide run." For once I agree with Praza… well for the most part.
"I can't let you do this Jacob." Tali says with obvious worry in her voice.
"You don't have a choice in the matter." Then I take off running. I know none of them can follow me. At a speed that has to be equal to an Olympic sprinter, I make it to the outskirts of the settlement within minutes. I pull out my Mattock and start moving slower, catching my breath.
"Time to get down to business." I say to myself. Then I see a sight that stops me cold. A field of statues, but I know what they really are. "What the fuck." I say slowly as the dream flashes back into my mind. How is this possible. Damn I don't have time for this. I check the person closest to me. Her eyes are still moving. They're still aware of what's happening. "Don't worry, I'm here to help." I say as I leave looking for the invaders.
Then what seems to be a swarm of insects starts flying towards me. "Shit." I say as I put my arms up to defend myself. But to my surprise nothing happens. They just fly right past me for some reason. Not that I mind, but what the hell.
"What am I not important enough for you?" I yell at the swarm. Ok enough joking around. I move closer to the center of the settlement, and see more and more people frozen in place. Covered in those strange insects. "Who could be doing this?" I ask the air, and my question is answered as I turn a corner and see the culprits. I quickly move back and take cover. "Ok they didn't see me."
"Were those Collectors?" More random information shows up, but not much. There's not much known about them to begin with. "Well time to say hello." I turn around the corner quickly and fire off a powerful biotic shot. There are six of them. Two were sent flying by the biotics; the others turn and start shooting at me. I leap behind a crate to the left of me and fire back periodically, until they go down.
I reload my gun and pick up more clips that the collectors dropped. Then I make my way towards the ship. Another group turns a corner and I reflexively take them out before they had time to react. That's when I walk into the center of the settlement. "Holy shit!" I yell as I dive into cover. There's a god damn army here. "Bosh'tets!" I yell as I emerge from cover and start shooting. I take out a few of them and the rest start firing. Shit this isn't good.
I put up a barrier and run behind a different crate, firing a biotic shot just before getting into cover. The explosion from the shot takes out a few of them, but there are hundreds. I lean out of cover to shoot, and take a round to the left shoulder. "Fuck!" I fall back and quickly apply medi-gel. Shit I can't use the mattock without that arm. I pull out my phalanx, and start firing on them again.
Then I hear a deep menacing voice from inside of the crowd. "Assuming direct control." I look to see one of the collectors with a strange glow throughout its body. "You cannot stop the inevitable."
"Maybe not but I can stop you!" I yell as I unload a full clip into him. Then he shots some kind of biotic blast that sends me on my ass. I could feel my ribs crack from the impact. I stand and throw up another biotic barrier as they start shooting again. That's not going to hold long. Then they run up point blank. Great it looks like it's going to be hand to hand.
I hit the closest one in the head with my pistol. I then start what can only be described as gun-fu, as I alternate between hand to hand melee and shooting them point blank. My reflexes kick in unlike anything that I've experienced so far, but I'm still struggling. I continue fighting through the pain of my injuries, but then I suddenly feel an explosion in my hand as one of them shoots my weapon. That's when things turn for the worse.
A constant barrage of hits from the collectors sends me to the ground. I can't move, pain fills my body. I start to see double, and the one from before walks up and looks down to me on the ground. "Your resistance is futile. We are your saviors through destruction."
"Fuck you." That's the only thing I can say as the pain continues to spread throughout my body. Two of them grab me by the arms and start dragging me. I yelp in pain as they pull my wounded shoulder. I'm able to look behind me and see that they're dragging me to some kind of pod. The last part of my dream flashes through my head. I struggle to get away, but there's nothing I can do. They're going to take me, put me in this thing, and I'm helpless.
As I start to give up I hear a gunshot, and one of my arms is released, then the other. I look up to see a Quarian drop ship with shala leaning out holding a rocket launcher. She then proceeds to open fire on the collectors. God she is suck a badass. Five Quarian vessels drop down and engage the collectors, Tali and shala run to me firing at the group.
The grab my upper arms and drag me to the drop ship. As they lay me onto the floor of the ship I can hear Tali ask. "Jacob can you hear me?"
"What took you so long?" I say with a smile.
"Oh you bosh'tet. You ever do that again and I'll shoot you myself." Tali says with authority.
"understood." I say weakly.
"We have to treat your wound." She says
"Nonsense. It's only a flesh wound." I look at the gunshot on my shoulder. "Never mind, that looks like shit. You should really get started on that." I say trying and reassure her, but I'm far from okay. My entire body is in pain, I'm covered in blood from the profuse bleeding of the gunshot, and I know I must have a few broken bones somewhere.
She starts to treat the wound as we take off. I feel the pain lessen as I slowly lose conciseness.
I hear muffled voices over a long period of time. Finally I can feel myself start to stir. I regain conciseness and see that I'm in some kind of hospital room. I look down to see IV's sticking out of my arm.
"This is oddly familiar." I say to myself.
"So you're finally awake." I hear a woman say. Must be my doctor. I look and she's an older woman with a head of grey hair.
"Yep, you my doctor?" I ask.
"Yes, Dr. Karin Chakwas. You're at a medical facility on Mars." Now I'm kind of confused.
"How did I end up in a human hospital?" I ask.
"The Quarians weren't properly equipped to take care of a human patient, so they contacted the Alliance." Well I suppose I can't blame them, but I was hoping to avoid the alliance for a while. Oh well, nothing can be done about it now.
"How long was I out?" I ask.
"A week." She replies. Damn that's the most sleep I've ever gotten. That I know of.
"So, what's the damage?" I ask curious about my injuries. I still feel like shit.
"Gunshot to the left shoulder, nearly shattering the joint. Three cracked ribs, along with internal bleeding. As well as multiple bruises, contusions, and you almost blew your hand off."
"Fun times." I say and we both laugh. "Ow, hurts to laugh." This got yet another chuckle out of the doctor.
"There will be significant scarring on your right hand. The blast tore through most of the flesh, and straight into the implants you have. Though it should heal rather well, those implants will be showing from now on." She says. Damn no wonder my hand hurts like hell.
"Any advice on that?" I ask. I don't want the implants showing only because they would be conspicuous.
"My personal prescription. Gloves, that's about all I can advise." She says with a chuckle. Great I got a doctor with a sense of humor. I like that. "Though you should have full use of it in a couple of weeks." That's good, I wouldn't want my dominant hand to be useless for too long.
"How are my friends, they here?" I ask wondering if they went back to the fleet.
"Yes, and it' been a challenge to get them out of this room. Tali is reporting to the Migrant Fleet as we speak." And as if on cue Tali walks into the room.
"Jacob you're awake." She says relieved, as she walks over and hugs me gently. Shala walks in after.
"So you're alive. Praza owes me twenty credits." She says with a laugh.
"Well it's good to know you were worried about me Shala." I say with a smile.
"Well of course we were worried about you, you bosh'tet!" That's when I notice someone else enter the room.
"Ah I figured the commotion meant you were awake." This new person is female, obviously military with dark hair put up looking professional.
"Oh Ashley, when did you get back?" Tali asks. She obviously knows this person, and then it hits me. Ashley Williams, she was part of Shepard's crew.
"Just now. I was curious what all the ruckus was about." Then she turns to me. "Operations Chief Ashley Williams."
"Jacob Terminus, I'd shake your hand but I don't currently have one available." I say. One is I a sling, and the other is bandaged to the point that you can barely tell it's a hand.
"Good to meet you. So I heard you almost got yourself killed." She says in a smug tone. Ok I have to make a joke now.
"Well you see, what happened is, I burst in on the intruders taking them by surprise. They counter attacked of course, but they were no match for my awesome power. I quickly killed most of them, and accepted their surrender. Then, as they bowed before me, one of them shot me as I was showing them mercy, clearly a sneak attack, not my fault. Then they took the advantage and placed a well-aimed shot on my gun, taking me again by surprise. I fought back for a while with just my legs, but they still had an army, and I couldn't keep it up." I say all of this in a fake manly tone. I look to see all four of the women giving me a look that can only be translated into 'You're an idiot.' I started laughing, it hurt like hell.
"More like you rushed in, ended up well over your head, and had to be saved by two women." Shala said with a laugh. She has a point.
"Well it's not like you didn't have help. That reminds me, where did all the drop ships come from?" I ask trying to figure it out myself. All I can think of is that Tali made them out of rocks and branches. I don't think that's it.
"We got lucky. One of our ships was going to drop off a kid starting his pilgrimage. They were able to give us the help we needed." Tali answers. That makes much more sense.
"Lucky us, well me. You two were fine where you were." I say.
"Well down to business. Jacob, Councilor Anderson would like to speak with you." Seriously?
"The councilor? About what?" I ask. What would he want with me? Maybe Tali told them everything. Well I'll just have to find out.
"Not sure. We have a communication room set up. That is if we can move him." She points the last part at Chakwas.
"As long as you're gentle. He'll need a wheelchair. I'll go get you one."
About ten minutes later, I'm being wheeled into the so called communications room by Tali. Ashley opens up a channel, and Anderson shows up in holographic form. "You must be the man I've been hearing about." He says. I can tell that he's been in the military all his life. He has a kind of aura of authority.
"Apparently so. Jacob Terminus at your service." I give a salute even with the heap of bandages.
"Good, I may need your services." Now that has me curious.
"For what may I ask?"
"It's not definite weather or not you're needed yet, but there's a job that has to be done."
"Where's this job?" I ask curiously.
"Omega." Well this should be interesting.
There you have it.
There were concerns about Jacob being to powerful, so i decided to beat the crap out of him.
I'm not going to spoil anything, but i will say that Omega is going to be a major point in the story.
If you want to find out how, you'll have to keep reading.
In closing i'd once again like to thank Gray Spectre Warden Boom, and FlurryofStrife for all of their support.
Check out booms Odyssey 2183, and Flurries upcoming story.
Untill next time, StrifeOkami signing out.
