A/N: Hey folks! It's friday! The schedule for Mass Effect: Hearing The Call will be one every friday, provided I am at least one chapter ahead of the pack, and two this week because I'm still getting used to things.
Why friday? Because friday kicks ass!
Please Note: The Date for the following chapter was just an estimate on my part, MW2 was pretty vague on the dates of when stuff went down, so I had to use the New York level from MW 2.5 as a reference.
Anyways, I Hope you enjoy it, leave a review if you would be so kind!
Edit, 12/16/12 Changed some dialogue and made a few gramatical changes.
Edit: 1/3/13: Ah (Censored), I thought I'd fixed that! Thanks a lot to Atreyu429 for pointing out the repeating paragraph near the beginning.
Chapter 3:
Day Five; August 14th 2016
I guess a new recap is in order; remember when I said I would fight for my nation, only if I had to? Yeah, I have to now. After being recruited by Half-Life's The G-Man, thrown into Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2, and dropped off at the desert base in Afghanistan, I learned that I wasn't part of the soon-to-be Task Force 141, but was instead a part of Sergeant Foley's squad. I guess, in a sense, that is both fortunate and unfortunate. It was fortunate, in the sense that after the 'campaign' of Modern Warfare 2 ran it's course, I wouldn't be a US Fugitive. Unfortunate, in the sense that I wouldn't get to see Captain Price and Captain MacTavish in action. I only had a few hours to prepare for my first kill, as Private Allen [Who actually preferred to be called Joe, believe it or not] took his time getting to the Pit, and attempted it many times. My first kill was.. Easier than I expected, easy in the sense of getting it done, I just had to point, and shoot. Actually, it was easy only until the battle was over and we went home to the States, at which point I puked my guts out and didn't eat for a while. I'm amazed I've lasted this far, and I know I've still got a shit load more to go!
My identity, is relatively similar to my old one: I'm Private, First Class Christopher McGraw. Born and raised in New Orleans, my life ran very similarly to my real one, at least until I turned seventeen. At which point, a terrorist attack killed my sister and nearly destroyed my mother, mentally. My dad and I were able to keep my mom stable through the ordeal and the aftermath, but the moment I turned eighteen, I ran off to a recruitment center. A few years later, I'm in the Rangers, under the command of Sergeant Foley.
The G-Man has been relatively quiet, as I went through the 'Campaign'. I've caught him peeping a few times as I went through the missions, but he hasn't frozen time yet. He pulled me into the void when I was injured in Afghan, told me a bunch of lies and double speak, and then let me loose again. I honestly expect him to freeze me when we pop the green smoke on the White House. Fuck, I hope I survive the helicopter crash.
Right now I'm slumped up against the wall opposite Corporal Dunn, waiting for the events of: Of Their Own Accord to begin. Technically, they already did with the invasion of DC - which, I'll get to in a minute - but the level begins for us when Foley comes in and tosses a rifle to Dunn and I.
Before we got to DC, there were those 'Exodus' and 'Wolerines!' missions that took place in suburban America. Those went as expected, Russians everywhere, killed a lot, Sergeant Foley ordered Ramirez to do nearly everything. But I can't remember much of the 'Exodus' mission.. However, it was after the 'Wolverines!' mission, did something off the beaten path happen.
I don't remember much, but from what I do remember, we were told that there was a mansion out in the middle of no where, surrounded by Russian troops, and that there were some high-value individuals in said mansion. We were the closest team in the area, so we were ordered to go and save the HVI's. As expected, there was a boat load of Russian soldiers there to slow us down, but what made the occurrence.. Special.. Was what I saw when we reached the Panic Room in the basement.
When we got inside, I saw, not Russians, nor dead bodies nor blood, but three women - One in her middle ages, two in their teens, and one in her early child years - all stripped of their clothing, and from the looks of it, savagely raped and abused. But what really got me, was what Dunn discovered when he checked the bodies. Those Russian mother fuckers strapped them with explosives! Now, after that, my mind draws a blank. I've no clue what happened later, but the next thing I remember, I was in a Forward Operating Base, my throat was sore, and I was vigorously cleaning my Desert Eagle, which was caked in blood and gore. Foley and Dunn came to me several times, asking if I was alright, but it was Ramirez's look that really made me wonder what happened back there. Every time Ramirez looked at me when we were waiting around in the FOB, his eyes just portrayed.. Fear. Utter fear, either of me, or of what I'd done back at the mansion, I have no clue. All I know, is that it instilled a huge amount of fear of me in Ramirez, so much so that he avoided me as much he could. I had no time to go through my helmet camera's footage, or try and force the memories of the mansion through, because that was when we were called in to Washington DC.
You know how, in Modern Warfare 2, the big reveal of the Capital Building in ruins, and the Washington Monument scorched was a big 'Holy Shit' dramatic moment? Yeah, imagine that times ten, and then put yourself in my shoes; I'm living it! It tore my heart apart when I saw American civilians get mown down and blown up by the Russian Troops, as the Army, Marine Corps and Air-Force all waged a desperate - and losing! - battle to get them evacuated. I almost cried when I - by complete chance - saw a Russian soldier execute thee innocent American civilians, a father and his two daughters. For me, there was no sudden reveal, no split-second 'Holy Shit I can't believe that happened!'; there was just me, the capital in flames, the dying civilians, the chain gun on the helicopter, and the eighteen - yes I counted - Russians I cut in half as we landed behind friendly lines. Foley had to practically knock me out when I refused to go into the bunker, he had to get Ramirez and Dunn to restrain me and bring me down inside, after which he gave me a pep-talk worthy of a paragon Commander Shepard, and I cooled down immensely, mostly because I didn't have to see the buildings I'd been at mere weeks ago, in flames and under siege. It didn't help at all that the fucking sky was blood red, I swear I think I saw the moon eclipsing the sun.
I saw Ramirez walking down the hallway, and a moment later a Ranger came in and tossed Dunn and I some rifles, I got an M4A1 with a hybrid sight, and a grenade launcher. The hybrid sight didn't surprise me, I wasn't in a video game, limited to what the developers could think of at the time, this was real life, and I had real equipment. I chambered a round, and stood up.
"On your feet, we're Oscar Mike." Said the Ranger, as Foley's voice came in.
"Roger, Hunter Two-One Actual out." He said, Dunn chambered a round, Ramirez sped up, and we all fell into formation behind Foley as we filed outside.
"Alright, listen up: This evac sight is getting hit hard, we're going up to buy them some time, Hooah?" Said Foley.
"Hooah!" We all shouted back.
We all dashed through the trenches, ducking our heads as the ground and air exploded around us. I caught a glimpse of the building we would infiltrate, I forgot the name. It's columns were in pieces, and the ones that were standing were in little better shape. As we ran past a squadron of tanks, I heard Foley call in a request for air support, but was shot down by Command, who said that all air forces were tasked to capacity with casualty-evacuations. We were then ordered to proceed to the building to the west, and provide any support we could. We cut the radio, and fell in behind the chest-high walls on the other side of the street of said building. As Ramirez, Dunn, Foley and I cut down Russian troops, Foley said something about a Light Armored Vehicle, and that we were to move on his word.
One moment passed, two bullets flew out of my rifle and landed in the skull of a Russian. Another moment passed, I yanked my head down as I noticed the sniper drawing a bead on me. A third moment passed, and Foley shouted in the radio to move as fast as we could inside. I followed Ramirez, being the last of the group to get inside, and immediately had to dive for cover as my position was painted with small and medium arms fire.
"Use your Grenade Launchers!" Ordered Foley, that was when I realized I had one, I immediately began racketing the Russians with my grenades.
"Move up! Move up!" Ordered Foley, when our path forward was clear enough.
We moved into a hallway, and I swiped a few grenades for my rifle from a few dead Americans, not before I said a small prayer and closed one's eyes first. I rushed ahead to catch up, and saw the Russians first.
"Contact front!" I shouted, firing in their direction with my rifle as I ran to cover.
It took a few minutes of cat-and-mouse before we could move out of the garden-like area, and into the office-wing of the building. I tossed a grenade behind the desk - knowing beforehand that there would be two or three Russians hiding there - and when it exploded, body parts went flying and the death-screams of Russians followed. Did I mention that Modern Warfare got it completely wrong when it came to gibing? Yeah, cook a grenade or have it land at your feet, your fucking hands and legs are going to get blown off, these Russians learned that as they tried to crawl away, I mercy killed them, no one deserves to that kind of pain, not your allies, not your friends, not even your enemies.
"Squad, move up! Watch your corners, check those doors!" Ordered Foley, as we moved through a corridor. At the end, a door opened up, and just as an AK47 appeared and was about to start firing wildly, I pumped the rest of my magazine into the door, and several Russians came screaming around the corner. The Rangers and I dived to cover, and began returning fire.
"Changing mag, cover me!" I declared, as I ejected the magazine from my rifle, and slapped in a new one. I chambered a round, and fired more bullets at the Russians.
After a few more moments, Foley's voice came through: "Fire team suppressed in section Two-One Alpha."
Overlord came back with "Solid Copy, Two-One."
As we moved through the building, Foley requested that the LAV hold it's fire, as we would be passing into their lines and we obviously didn't want to be turned into friendly-fire incidents.
We moved through the 'Mezzanine', dispatched the Russians within, and Foley reported their elimination. We continued on and ascended a floor, to be met with a Russian uncovering a huge Surface-to-Air Missile battery.
How the hell did they get that in here?! I thought, before Ramirez cut them down, bringing all eyes - and guns - on us as we continued moving forward. Foley, the squad and I cleared out the rest of the floor, and began moving upstairs. We received an update that many hostiles on the Sixth Floor were hammering the evacuation sight, so Foley focused our efforts to move there.
"Watch your sectors.. Check those corners." Ordered Foley.
"I've got movement." Reported Dunn, a moment later, we entered a room in which, several Russian soldiers were literally standing around, taking a cigarette break.
They looked to us, and us to them, and before anyone could move, we cut them down. One managed to get a lucky shot, as he'd had his rifle in his hands, and I felt a burning sensation on my left leg.
"I'm hit.. It's just a scratch." I reported, as I tested the leg, it hurt, but I could still stand on it, that probably meant the bullet just grazed it; it wasn't as bad as it looked, most of the blood on me was Russian.
"Understood, Ramirez, take point, McGraw, cover our rear." Foley ordered, as we moved forward, shifting position to accommodate.
"All Hunter units, be advised: I have a visual on an enemy crow's nest at the south west corner. Move forward and clear it out." Ordered Foley.
Dunn and I stacked up on a ruined wall, with a clear view into the crow's nest, and Foley and Ramirez at the door leading inside.
"Move! Move!" Ordered Foley. Immediately, he and Ramirez dashed inside and shot the first few Russian soldiers they saw, while Dunn and I dispatched the rest.
"Overlord, this is Hunter Two-One Actual, we have secured the crow's nest on the southwest corner." Reported Foley, as Dunn and I entered and reloaded our weapons.
"Overlord copies all. The Evac site at the Washington Monument reports several transports away, but they are still vulnerable. Can you provide assistance from your position? Over." Asked Overlord.
"Roger that, we're sitting on a stockpile of enemy munitions, we'll dig in and burn through their ammo. Out." Declared Foley, before he ordered Ramirez onto the .50 Caliber sniper rifle, and me to set up claymores in the hallway.
Immediately after I got back, and Ramirez fired off two more thunderous shots, I happened to look at the Washington Monument, and just barely saw that mother fucker the G-Man, standing there, adjusting his tie and watching the carnage. I had no time to take a pot-shot at him, as one of my claymores exploded.
"Hostiles on the perimeter, open fire! Open Fire!" Ordered Dunn. Ramirez tore himself away from the sniper rifle, and I whipped around and shot down the hallway at the advancing Russian soldiers.
"Hunter Two-One, recommend you get the hell out of there I see a mass of foot mobiles converging on your position!" Declared Overlord.
"Negative, Negative. I have eyes on enemy armor and helicopters converging on the evac site from the south and southwest." Foley declined. "Ramirez, get back on that rifle. McGraw! Use some of these rocket launchers and take out those vehicles!" Ordered Foley. I'll admit, I felt a little unsafe about sitting out there in the open with a big ass target in the form of a Javelin Surface to Air Missile in my hands, but I'd be next to James Ramirez, so I knew I'd survive. Or at least.. I hoped I would.
I pushed these thoughts out of my mind as I grabbed several Javelin Launchers and began taking aim at Tanks and Helicopters alike. One pesky helicopter nearly got a missile-lock on us, but Ramirez pulled a Captain Price and shot the pilot dead.
After a few minutes, Overlord called us again.
"Hunter Two-One you've bought the evac site valuable time. Well done! Now get your ass to the roof you're in danger of being over run!" He declared.
"Roger that!" Foley responded. "Everyone, we're headed to the rooftop, move out, move out!" Shouted the Ranger, as I heard a few more claymore mines explode. Foley shotgun-breached a door, kicked it in, and we advanced up a stairwell as quickly as we could. I took down a Russian that would have killed Foley, just as we exited the building and climbed to the roof.
"McGraw, get on that minigun!" Ordered Foley.
Whoa, what? I thought Ramirez was supposed to do that? Damn.. That's actually the only time something like that has changed [To my knowledge] from the natural order. I needed to come up with a name for that, I remember reading something in a Mass Effect fan fiction, but I couldn't remember what the guy called it. Oh well, no time. I hopped in the helicopter and manned the chain gun as it took off. I wheeled it around to fire at a Russian helicopter that was a moment away from taking us down, but a Sea Air and Land operative destroyed it before I could; I knew these guys were the best, but that's just showing off. He didn't use the Javelin sitting several feet to his left, but instead opted for the grenade launcher mounted on his rifle. It got an extremely lucky shot, and managed to take out the pilot and several rotors, destroying the helicopter a moment later.
Our helicopter took off, and Foley inquired about the status of the Washington Monument evac site.
"Negative Two-One, they're still pinned down by infantry and light armor from the World War 2 Memorial. It doesn't look good from here, over." Responded Overlord.
"Copy Overlord, we'll do what we can from the air, out!" Declared Foley, and just like that, we were hurtling towards the World War 2 Memorial site. I cut down many a Russian, and cut into many a enemy tank as we flew.
As we arrived, and I began opening fire, one allied helicopter got hit and exploded upon impact with the ground, Foley reported it in. We moved in closer and I began tearing into enemy RPG wielders and fuel tanks, killing men and creating huge Hollywood style explosions as I did so.
A man reported in from the Evacuation Site, saying that they were taking fire from the main road, so the helicopter shifted position and we moved towards there, I chopped down any Russian I could see.
"Overlord to all units, evacuation order: April, I repeat: Evacuation, Order, APRIL." Came in Overlord's voice. "Everyone get the HELL out of there!" He ordered.
As we were shifting position, I ran out of targets on the ground. If I hadn't had a previous memory of the events, I wouldn't have seen the RPG that slammed into the helicopter coming. But I did, and I had time to brace.
"Overlord! We're hit but still in the air!" Declared Foley. "We've got a massive SAM battery at the Department of Justice!… We're going in!" He shouted, and as the helicopter flew vertically alongside the building, I fired into the windows that held Russian soldiers, just like a Hollywood movie we flew along the side and I carved a line of destruction with my machine gun. After a few moments, we ascended to the roof, and I began chopping down soldiers there. But when we finally breeched the rooftop, we immediately realized our mistake. Countless Surface to Air Missile batteries were scattered across the rooftop, and upon noticing us, they all turned to the helicopter and fired. I took out as many as I could before they could fire, but I couldn't take them all out.
"SAM Launch, hang on!" Declared the helicopter pilot, immediately after we swerved to the left to try and avoid the missiles. It was futile, as eventually two or three got lucky and broadsided the tail.
"We're hit! We're hit! Mayday, mayday, this is Dagger Two-One. We're going down in grid square Papa Bravo 2.." The first pilot was interrupted by the second.
"We need immediate evac! We're running out of…"
He didn't get to finish, as the helicopter swerved and bucked and dived to the ground. I braced for the inevitable impact, but after a few moments of waiting, saw that it hadn't come. I realized there was no motion, no sound, nothing. Just, silence.
Cautiously, optimistically, I opened my eyes, to see the helicopter still suspended in mid-air, and everything around me frozen in place.
"Time.. Private McGraw?" Asked a raspy, light voice.
Ah shit. I thought, as I saw the one and only G-Man walk towards me - while standing on thin air. He's early.. I could've sworn he'd be doing something like this when we take the White House. Granted.. That'd be no where near as dramatic. I thought.
"Is it really that.. Time.. Again?" He asked, as he got closer and closer to me. I found myself unable to move, entranced, by the very feat he was pulling off.
"It seems as if.. You only just.. Arrived." He said. Wait a second, is he about to quote Half Life 2's ending word for word? That.. Seems a bit lazy, actually.
"You've done a great deal in a small time.. Span." Son of a bitch, he's doing it!
A smile stretched it's way across his face, wait, can he read minds? That'd actually make sense, seeing as how 2 of the 3 people he's dealt with are decidedly mute.
"I.. Assume.. You've heard this.. Monologue before, hm?" He asked, turning the word 'monologue' into three separate words by over pronouncing the syllables.
"Watching you work with Mister Foley, Mister Dunn, and Private Ramirez has been… Interesting.. To say the least." I wanted to tell him off, to tell him to go screw himself, but I found my throat clamped shut.
"I do wonder though.. What happened at the Mansion? I know.. Corporal Sanders, knows." Who the hell is Corporal Sanders?
"But.. It isn't my place to break your.. Self.. Any further, so I'll just continue on."
My world went dark, then back to the helicopter, but everything was rapidly losing color. "Rather than give you the.. Illusion of free choice I shall take the liberty of… Choosing for you.. If - and when - your time comes around again.." He said, and with that I was warped into some sort of.. I dunno, it looked like the hyper-space background in star wars, only everything was inverted, black was white and white was black, and so on.
"I must apologize for what has occurred to you in the last few days. Even I shall admit… I didn't see that coming." He paused, what the hell was he talking about? "Well.. I'm not really at liberty to say." That tears it, he can read minds.
"Your session here has ended.. I shall file my… Report, and we'll prepare for the next eventuality, hm?" Okay, I know he's an omnipotent being who most likely gets off on screwing with the mortals, but why the hell can't he just give me straight information? Maybe.. I dunno, tell me something I don't know!
"I know you've heard this before.. But.." He's about to prove my point. "I believe a restatement would go a long way.. For the both of us." He smiled, that weird, sadistic smile he would wear. "The Right man in the wrong place, can make all the difference, in the.." He interrupted himself, but I could tell he meant to, the way his facial expression remained the same. "Well.. I suppose it will be galaxy soon, won't it?" Where's my next stop? Star Wars? "You'd do well to remember that.. It will be a lot more… Useful.. Where you're going than you realize." He said, his raspy, quivering voice showed the slightest hint of amusement.
"In the meantime…" Everything returned to normal, black was black again. "This is where I.. Get off."
He abruptly turned around, and walked to the rear of the.. Void. I just realized I wasn't in the helicopter anymore. A door opens up, revealing a room of pure white light. The G-Man adjusts his tie, then enters the door. Streaks of light continue flying by, until my head is hit with excruciating pain, and I lose consciousness.
Pain, was the first thing that registered in my mind, as I slipped in and out of consciousness. Pain in my head, in my legs, my arms, and on my chest. As my eyes flickered open and shut, I saw blurry figures, and heard panicked voices, though they were muffled, as if I was recovering from a flash-bang grenade.
"I'll call an ambulance." Said a female sounding voice, before I felt pressure on my left leg, right fore-arm, and my left chest. That alone told me there was more than one person trying to help me.
I felt the weight of my Ranger uniform on my chest, whoever was putting pressure on my wounds obviously was too preoccupied to remove it. I felt the familiar weight of my Desert Eagle on my right hip, but couldn't feel the weight of my M4, or my helmet. Someone had either removed them from my person, or they had been lost in the crashed gunship.
Oh crap! The gunship! That's right, it crashed! I need to help Foley!
I thought, as I gathered as much strength as I could to open my eyes.
When I did, I almost wished I hadn't.
Staring at me, with the blue skin and fucking tentacles to match, was an Asari. From the video game, Mass Effect.
"Well… Fuck.. Me.." I said, as I finally began to comprehend what I was staring at.
A/N: And with that, we've fallen into Mass Effect.
As a side note, the DC levels had always been my favorite moments in the Modern Warfare series, and I tried to convey that in this chapter, I hope I did well.
I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!
Reviews are greatly appreciated!
Also! If you're looking for updates on Hearing the Call [Or any other story I may be writing] check out my profile!