Chapter 6: Blade, Bolter, and Machine.
The Turian left the Astartes quarters; his nerves calmed, while he still doesn't trust the Outcast, his actions were still quite amiable. Garrus turned to head to the main gun only to be greeted by the prying eyes of ten of the crew. Including the eyes of Miranda. "So…" She said to attract Garrus's attention. "How'd it go?" She asked.
Garrus simply shrugged. "Not much to tell. And if there was, I wouldn't say." She simply crossed her arms. "Really, you want to know so much?"
"Considering how unknown they are…"
She was interrupted by a chuckle from Garrus. "Prove yourself." He said.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Prove yourself. That's all you need to do." He responded as he walked over to the gun battery.
I continued to wander the Ocean in my seemingly endless free time. Occasionally I'd send a ripple throughout its' endless calm; hoping for a response. In all honesty I wouldn't mind seeing any of the innumerable inhabitants of the Warp. Perhaps it's my own might that kept them distant, but it would still be foolish to make myself vulnerable even for a moment. I sighed as I reached out. It felt as if this were an illusion; a strong one at that. Yet I felt as if I was being observed, not by a god or daemon, but a living soul. A smile formed across my face. +Nakanus, take Gahiji's blade and follow me.+ If it is a fellow psyker I will be prepared to face it if needed.
Oxian emerged from the rift violently coughing, despite his lungs being vastly improved by cybernetics; it was as if he was drowning. His sensors were unable to adapt swiftly to this sudden change. Completely blind he reached out for the nearest object. He was glad to know that he could process through his long since replaced limbs. 'A stone surface.' He concluded. He reached out again. 'Nanowoven cloth.' With this he hypnotized that some of his Skitarii stood with him, no doubt as blind as he was. Oxian began to chant in binary, hoping to appease the untainted machine spirit to return at least some of his basic sensors.
Environmental readouts were among the first to appear, warning him of a minor solar radiation danger. His eyesight returned slowly, but he easily identified where he was. "Ruins, no familiar design. Imperial, or xeno, primitive as well." He muttered to himself. He then turned to his Skitarii, he scanned over them five in total. Peltast-Alpha-23 Lacrimae lied dead, his cybernetics corrupted and his mind, thankfully, destroyed. Two lie unconscious, their minds and cybernetics reeling through the trauma of a Warp rift; it did not help that the use of innumerable combat stimulants clouded their nervous system in what was supposed to be a last stand. Tribune-49 Sortiarius was regaining the last of his senses, upon seeing his lord standing he sent a noospheric report; as was his duty as the leader of Oxian's personal guard. The report was dismissed as it merely stated the obvious. The only reports worth truly noting was of the only Skitarius not amongst the dazed group. Ranger-7 Prospero, the only Skitarius to earn a place in Oxian's guard from the third cohort.
#Report.# Oxian ordered over their link.
#Honored Techpriest.# She acknowledged, #Movement has been spotted: .87 kilometers from our insertion, bearing 300.#
Oxian desired more data than this, but for now it gave a possible objective. #Tribune, take the body and equipment of Alpha-23. See if you are able to awaken Vanguard-99 and Peltast-12; if unable to, secure their equipment and carry them.# The Tribune bowed at Oxian before performing his duty. #Ranger-7, maintain observation. Fall into the unit once we near your position.#
#Yes my lord.# The Ranger responded. Oxian turned his attention to the Tribune who had managed to awaken the Secutarii Peltast.
#My lord.# The Tribune turned to Oxian, presenting a data storage device. #This was the STC that Alpha-23 possessed.#
Oxian reached out and took the device. #Do any of you possess any additional STCs? Or even tomes that we acquired? He asked all of his Skitarii.#
#A shamefully small amount my lord.# The Tribune responded, hauling the dead Skitarius over his shoulder as the Secutarii did the same with the Vanguard. #We each possess something. Ranger-7 carries one tome. Otherwise…# Oxian knew the sense of defeat that the Tribune felt, he was experiencing it as well. Such thoughts however would not be needed in a soldier, as Oxian dialed back the Tribune's emotional stimuli. But to lose so much, it may have been better to simply die standing.
#My lord.# Ranger-7 interrupted Oxian's contemplations. #Movement appears to be abhumans, or possibly xenos.# She reported.
'Xenos?' Oxian thought. 'If that's the case than how is she unable to differ them with abhumans?' #Verify.# He ordered as he began to advance with his guard.
#Unknowns are wearing full suits, humanoid appearance.# There was a pause as the Ranger processed new information. #No technological similarities with Tau xenos, little visual biological similarity. Possible unknown xeno presence.# Such information shocked Oxian, the possibilities of a new xeno race fascinated him. The prospect of new technology to examine was an intriguing one to say the least. It saddened him that he had no way to interface with the Ranger's optics.
#Maintain previous orders.#
#Yes my lord.# He would have been smiling if he was not fantasying. The idea of 'first contact' revolved around his head. Would he be humble, and treat them with respect? Would he preach the 'glories of the Imperium' or perhaps act as a zealot of Chaos to intimidate perhaps even subjugate them? Or even kill a few with their plasma weapons, and dissect one right in front of them? The endless possibilities caused him to cackle slightly.
#Unknown aircraft! No known model, roughly the size of a Valkyrie!# The report broke his line of plots. #Aircraft are dropping unknown forces.#
#Report on new forces, than fall back to us.# Oxian ordered.
#The dropped units are opening fire onto the unknown force 01. The dropped units appear to be Cybernetica.# The Ranger reported as her glyph pulled away from her post, and sprinted toward the Techpriest.
'Combat Automata?' Oxian was truly interested in this development. Possibilities raced around his mind, xenos with the Tau being the only exception rarely use machines in combat. And he did not doubt his Ranger's identification indoctrination. 'More new xenos?' He concluded with slight glee.
The Ranger with the grace required of the role, vaulted over the various stone blocks that littered the landscape hardly slowing. My lord. She said while making the sign of the cog. He ignored the gesture, normally he would send a disciplinary line of code at the Skitarius. Despite according to his 'colleagues' in the Dark Mechanicum always stating he was closer to the 'blind, self-centered fools' than their self-proclaimed 'enlightened' minds; he viewed himself more reminecant of the ancient priesthood.
It wasn't long before he saw one of the craft the Skitarius spoke of. A dark grey beast, appearing almost like that of an insect. Its' lack of wings fascinated Oxian, as its' seemingly lack of strong vertical thrusters made it a miracle to fly. A desire to disassemble it and learn its' secrets filled his mind. His unit followed suit as he increased his pace.
Shepard looked over the new dossiers provided by the Illusive Man, in many regards he was overjoyed to see Tali's appear; especially after their first tense encounter since being brought back. Garrus was the first person he spoke to on the subject. Much like himself, he was glad to see a familiar face; or in this case mask.
"Well I'm glad of all the people it's her." Garrus said, after putting down the datapad. "I'm guessing I'll be going with you?"
Shepard merely nodded, "You and Mordin. The file says it's a simple research mission, so we won't need a large team."
"In Geth space…" Garrus retorted "No offence Shepard, but we shouldn't take our chances. Not anymore."
Shepard sighed as Garrus said this. "Is that what he told you?"
"Not at all…"
"Than what are you suggesting? We could bring a larger team, but I don't want to bring them down with us!" Shepard asserted with a growl to his friend.
Garrus's mandibles twitched slightly at Shepard's outburst. "I'm not suggesting all of them."
"Than what are you suggesting?" Shepard asked, his brow raised yet his voice still showing his hatred towards this idea.
"You should ask him to only bring, at most, two of his brothers. If he refuses, push it onto him; I think he respects your opinion." Garrus stated with confidence.
"I don't think that's fully the case."
"Bullshit Shepard!" Garrus snapped. "He could have forced your hand during that debrief, and we could have done nothing about it! You stood up to him, and he backed down. Not out of fear, but either out of respect or maybe something else entirely! It's worth a shot."
"Why not you? You're the one who spoke to him privately." Shepard pointed out.
Garrus laughed slightly, before gesturing to his scar. "Pretty sure he's seen enough of my face." His jest only caused Shepard to sigh.
"We'll talk later." Shepard said as he left the gun battery.
A small crowd had formed around the Outcast and his brother as they sparred in the cargo bay. Each action was a blur in their eyes, the incredible speed of their strikes was inhuman. Occasionally their blades would come to an abrupt halt near the joints of their armor, each would turn almost as into a statue. After which they would head to separate ends of their arena. And the unnamed Astartes would assume a completely separate form of sword fighting. It was jarring to the spectators how flawlessly the change occurred from a modern fencing style, to that of a berserker bringing his two Egyptian like blades against his commander in a flurry of invisible blows.
Shepard silently joined the crowd after this was reported by EDI, and like the rest of the crowd watched in silent awe. The first thing he noticed in the three bouts he witnessed is the exceedingly varied times, some duels ended in as little as two seconds; some as long as a minute. And the extremely low forgiveness of a failed move, a single misplaced strike ended the duel. Mordin stood amongst the crowd, recording each bout and slowing it to a much more visible level. After watching a clip from a shorter match; one thing irked Shepard. The Outcast seemingly knew where each blow would need to be parried. While it could be chalked up to their reflexes and speed, it seemed as if these matches were rehearsed.
It would seem my need to focus on Nakanus's sparing ability had left me shamefully oblivious to the gathering of mortals around me. Each strike he made was that of a vast assortment of swordsmanship techniques. Each match I focus more so on a separate technique. Ultramarine, to Space Wolf; Grey Knight, to Alpha Legionnaire. Each near death encounter I've had by such foes, I remember oh so vividly.
And I shame my brother's shell by having it mimic their actions. While at times it's necessary, such as his mimicry allowing me to much more accurately predict my foes actions; it's still a desecration. I parried my brother's blow, now a mockery of a Grey Knight Justicar that I faced three thousand years ago. Nakanus lunged forward, our blades coming into contact for a fraction of a second. He slashed his blade in a move to decapitate me. I moved my staff to parry his blow once more, an action I was successful with. That was until Nakanus moved my blade to prevent a final lunge into him. He raised his left arm, and in that pointless action I knew of my defeat. He mimicked the action that led to my defeat three millennia prior.
The mortals stood around bewildered at my brother's action. I simply began to laugh at my own inability to counter this action. +We are done for now brother.+ He sheathed his blades at my order. I turned to see the Commander, I acknowledged his presence with a nod.
"I'd much rather know that you'll be doing this beforehand." He said, slightly annoying me.
"I have too much free time aboard this vessel." I snorted, "I must keep my skills sharp. After all we won't be facing many greenskins, or other challenging foes."
"Greenskins?" I sensed his cluelessness.
"Orks. It's not entirely odd that you don't know of that cancer in the galaxy." I heard the laugher of some of the crew who overheard me, even Shepard slightly snickered at this. "Considering an Ork is more than capable of rendering many creatures limb from limb with little effort; you're mockery is ill advised."
Shepard slightly coughed to square himself away swiftly. "We're planning an operation to recruit a new member of the team, I was wondering…"
"Who is it we're recovering?" I interrupted.
"Tali, she's an engineer; we fought together against Saren."
"What is she?"
Shepard stepped back slightly at my question. "She's a Quarian…" He responded.
"A Quarian?" I spoke aloud, the name was oddly familiar when spoken by a mortal.
"Is that going to be a problem?" He asked me.
I shook my head, "No it will be fine; as long as she performs admirably I will not care." My mind was still attempting to wrap around where I heard such a name before.
"Oh… Ok. And I was just wondering if you'll join us." My mind snapped out of its' trance when he asked this question.
"We shall join you Shepard." I responded.
"Only one problem…" He started. "Is it acceptable for you to bring no more than two of your brothers?" He asked respectfully.
"Why is that?" I inquired.
"Tali's part of an exhibition into Geth space. A smaller team will ensure mobility…" I was about to interrupt with the simple fact that all ten of us hold more maneuverability than his team. He saw, or perhaps predicted such a question and simply continued on. "And the Quarians are pretty jumpy at times. So I'd rather not have them be concerned about ten heavily armed, and armored soldiers walking about." I sighed as he finished.
"Very well Shepard, I shall have a smaller force for this encounter." It was not his reasoning that caused me to decide this; but one exceedingly lesser asset, ammunition. Each of my brothers expended roughly thirty rounds each, and Ocean knows how many Soulreaper rounds against the Collectors. I found myself snickering beneath my helm, inaudible to those around me. I never hoped for a change in fate for something so minor.
The Illusive man was astounded by the stream of data that he had received in the past few moments. The surprisingly simplistic design of their 'Bolts' was fascinating. "How could something so basic do all this?" He muttered to himself while overlooking the photos from Horizon; tradition weapons had a minor effect against their foes in comparison. He took a look once more at the rough schematics. While the design was simple, its' materials were far from it. A lightweight alloy, while possible to make, would be stronger than any alloy produced by any civilization in the galaxy; it would also be incredibly expensive for use in mere ammunition. Yet the rounds' core was ultimately impossible to reproduce. EDI claimed it too was an incredibly strong alloy, nearly impossible to break in fact. It might take the heat of the sun to be forged in anyway, another impossibility presented by the Astartes. EDI claimed they could replace this alloy with depleted uranium, but at the cost of some firepower. Even still, funding such a project would be expensive; and with Cerberus's funding sent to other projects, it would be difficult if not impossible to create an ammunition infrastructure on the fly. Along with secondary research teams reporting an 'overly high' recoil to be produced by such weapons, and no one has any idea on the incendiary nature of the fired rounds. The Illusive Man merely sighed, and deemed mass production of these weapons impossible.
Yet all was not lost. As the alloys reveal some of the Astartes armor composition. The Illusive Man wasn't surprised to see the layers of plating of various alloys, each one rendering even heavy weapons nearly useless. But it only raises the question, 'why do they use swords?' Perhaps their strength permits such a tactic, or they're the only ones to use such armor. It was almost amusing; the potential source of human supremacy across the stars remains an enigma to man itself. His train of thought was halted as a new report appeared from the historical research division. It was a series of Prothean texts, cross referenced with the Astartes own.
He then froze. The large observation room temperature seemingly dropped substantially as he stared at the innumerable texts adorning their armor. He felt as if he was watched, as a predator watches its' prey. Trying to pry his eyes from the images was almost impossible, the Illusive Man's head began to ache the longer he stared. Whispers, endless whispers, in a guttural tongue could be heard. They drew closer, causing him to nearly scream in terror if he was not also intrigued by the alien words. The whispers ended, leading to a deep chuckle. "At long last." The voice called.
The Ranger, and Peltast served as Oxian's vanguard; their plasma calivers poised. Integrated scanners possessed by the Ranger managed to paint a clear picture of the situation. The cybernetica were dropped onto the xenos with little resistance, leading to a hastily withdrawal, leaving many stranded xenos to their fate. It was saddening to see his new batch of test subjects flee and get cut down. Yet a few patches were putting up a notable resistance. #My lord. Cybernetica approach our position.# The techguard halted, placed their nonfunctional comrades on the ground and aimed the deadly weapons.
They faced nine of the unknown force, their single 'eye' glaring almost like a spotlight as they two forces stared at each other. The cybernetica's design was odd; their sleek bodies and lack of truly heavy firearms was unlike the Imperial's design philosophy. They returned the threat of plasma annihilation by aiming their weapons right back. #Hold.# Oxian ordered, as they stood off. #Do you hear that?# He asked his guard.
Indeed these almost Tau like constructs were emitting a series of screeches, almost like a klaxon. Yet there was a bizarre order to it. It swiftly became clear that these were packets of code. "Interesting, is it not?" Oxian asked his Skitarii as he approached the machine. Both sides not lowering their weapons as he made his advance. #Do you hear me? You're combat machines are impressive in design, yet I'm uncertain why they commune with each other…# Oxian asked to the machine, hoping the controller would respond in some way; he trialed off into thought, uncaring of the weapons that were bared against him. #Perhaps you're utilizing command models to bounce your orders amongst each unit! Commendable yet inefficient, as the death of said unit would lead to defeat.# Oxian spoke in binary to the machine once more.
It blurted out another complex block of code at Oxian, it was incoherent even to him annoying the knowledge hungry techpriest. He activated his mechadendrites, and with the speed of an Astartes interfaced with the machine; hoping to speak with its' spirit.
One was not found, but nine, and that nine was linked to thousands; no millions more. #How… How is that possible?# He felt the linked spirits fight against his communion, nearly overpowering him. "How is this possible?!" He bellowed as he severed his connection. He backed away, nearly losing balance from his arachnid like legs as he withdrew to his guard. The machine regained its' senses swiftly, terrifying Oxian even more so. "How?" He raised his plasma rifle in one hand, power axe in the other. His back mounted mechadendrites extended their lascutters, and power-claws. "No I see! You are corrupted with a claim of sentience! You are an Abominable Intelligence!" His voice was enraged as he cleaved an abomination in two with his lascutters.
Upon hearing the techpriest's words, the Skitarii felt the rage in their own cybernetic hearts as they fired. Each ball of searing plasma reduced the machines into ash and slag. Upon losing a four of their machine brethren they turned on their new foe. Sending bursts of blue light towards the Skitarii, much to Oxian surprise, the rounds bounced off or became lodged in the heavy war plate of his guard. However unlike the Astartes they've fought beside; they are not fully incased in armor. The abominations fire managed to damage the Peltast's unprotected arms, and nearly severed one of his legs. The attack did not stop the Skitarii as he continued to shift his aim to the closest foe, slaying it in righteous plasma.
The Tribune surged forward, arc maul in hand and an arc pistol in the other. A bolt of electricity fired out of his weapon, destroying a construct by overloading its' inner workings. He then crashed the maul into the next construct, rupturing its' weak armor and overloading its' systems. The ranger tailed behind the Tribune, drawing her combat knife and letting her caliver rest on its' leather strap. She plunged her blade into the singular lens of the machine, before drawing a laspistol and finishing it with a precise shot through the chest.
Oxian noted the swiftness of the battle, and noted either to the performance of the Skitarii; or the weakness of the 'Men of Iron' they faced. #Peltast-12, damage report.#
#Maneuverability: Compromised by 47%. Minor damage to left arm.# He reported.
#You shall carry the Alpha, and Vanguard. The loss of maneuverability is unacceptable!# Oxian scolded the Skitarius.
#Movement!# The Ranger called out, causing the party to raise their weapons. An unfamiliar xeno approached the group, moving from cover to cover oddly staying exposed to the Skitarii. It was wearing an oddly designed red environmental suit, with a tan cloth 'cowl' adorning the upper torso. The head of the creature was hidden behind a purple visor and an elongated helmet.
It took cover near Oxian, his Skitarii awaiting the order to kill the beast. The xeno spoke in a tongue not to dissimilar to that of a human, yet in a completely unknown language. It looked at the melted machines. "Keelah." The xeno muttered, staring at the molten wrecks; occasionally glancing at the Skitarii's glowing weapons. A few machines fired upon their position, "Geth Bosh'tet!" It yelled, shielding its' head from any possible shrapnel. Ranger-7 aimed at the aggressors and swiftly reducing them to slag. The xeno started speaking its' foreign tongue once more. Oxian noted due to the spacing, and calm demeanor it was some form of report. He simply laughed how it seemingly expected him to know its language. Upon seeing this it raised its' rifle and fired at the molten wreaks, and pointed towards the direction it came from.
'At least that's understandable.' Oxian thought to himself as he ordered his Skitarii forward towards the fray.
"We're approaching Haestrom now. ETA ten minutes." Joker stated over the cargo deck's intercom. I was already prepared for battle. Herumon, and Laudren stood resolutely by my side. The Turian handed me his copies of the upcoming recruitment dossiers. This pleased me, it showed this minor, and in many ways subtle influence may bloom in the end.
The documents were simplistic, a lack of proper current information was a simple annoyance. In truth the bulk of the dossier was a rough history, and notable actions by the xeno in question. And that was another thing that irked me, only xenos. Whilst the few currently aboard was something to simply break the monotony of being on a warship. But no xeno is as useful as a human. And it was almost laughable to see an Asari 'justicar' to be one of the names. An Asari dares to take such a title. I merely sighed as I turned to face the group. The Commander chose to bring the Salarian, and Vakarian. It's still strange to see the officer of a ship to lead ground incursions. Considering how much could go wrong, and the difficulty of replacing such an individual.
"Is it wise for you to join us Commander? I'm certain you're XO is more than capable of leading this operation." I voiced my concern while making a logical suggestion.
"It won't be necessary." He stated. "Garrus and I know Tali, it would no doubt make this easier." While that did indeed have logic backing it, it was still misguided.
"Entire Guard regiments have collapsed when the head is severed." I spoke from my experience. "You fall what would come of your team?" My question caused the three of them to look at me. All of them were well aware of my inquiry, and yet like children they seemingly view themselves as invincible. I sighed, "There's three aboard this ship who could possibly replace you. The Guard could, in theory, have thousands in their chain of command, yet as I said, they can easily collapse."
"And those three would be?" Shepard asked, while he was no doubt aware of the answer. He was more so probing my response.
"Ms. Lawson would serve well as an administrative officer." I spoke truthfully, while I've yet to see her in combat, it's obvious of the information at her disposal would be a great asset. "Vakarian would serve as a strike team leader, and most likely as Lawson's XO." Once again a truth, his combat expertise was that of Guardsman who fought one or two battles.
"You said three?" Vakarian asked for Shepard.
"In the event of a total collapse. I would assume command." I blankly stated, while I would find no joy in such an action, the threat the Collectors pose to humanities past is severe enough to force my hand.
"Not going to happen." Shepard stated.
I chuckled slightly at his words, if this were the Great Crusade I would execute him and assume command immediately; simply to prove my point. "Ensure than it doesn't happen." Perhaps this may keep him from getting himself killed. "Regardless…" I continued. "It is still odd to have a naval officer fight on the ground. The Imperial Navy would never permit one such as yourself to throw yourself in such 'pointless' danger. Ramming would be seemingly be the only exception."
"Well this isn't the Imperial… Wait, did you say ramming?" Shepard looked at me with a confused expression.
"At times a frigate's ram can disable an enemy ship, or a battleship could tear it in two. Inelegant, yet effective; trench warfare, mechanized, and human waves, are other examples of that statement." I mindlessly said.
"Trench warfare? What the hell! I'm certain the First World War taught how much of a bad idea that is!" Shepard was audibly surprised by this, but it raised a question.
"The First World War?" I asked.
Shepard was silent for a few seconds before speaking. "You know, early 1900s, millions dead? You're over 10,000 years old, so shouldn't you have even basic knowledge of it?" Then it snapped. By the Ocean, how could I have been so foolish? Terran history! Most, if not all was lost in the Age of Strife; and yet here I am, sitting on a repository of ancient knowledge.
"I see…" It was all I could muster. I was a fool, I spent two centuries simply searching for even the slightest amount of our history. "Is it possible to obtain physical copies on this subject?" I asked.
"I can have datapads of the World Wars sent to your quarters." The AI stated, causing me to nearly growl.
"Do so abomination." I said through clenched teeth, if the nature of this materiel was not important I would have reprimanded it for listening.
"If you view those types of combat as 'inelegant', what do you view as elegant?" The Salarian abruptly asked.
I smirked beneath my helmet as I narrowed my line of thoughts, and reached out to the Immaterium. "Tell me, are crew members often ridiculed aboard these ships when they suffer an injury outside of combat?" I asked as I counted down from seven.
They looked at me, perplexed by my seemingly random question. "Abomination, how is the crew member on deck three?" I asked.
"Engineer Donnelly has suffered minor injuries due to an unresolved spill at the mess hall." The AI reported.
I chuckled slightly before speaking. "There was a chance for him to break his neck in that incident. Precognition is finicky at times." I slightly boasted.
"Wait, you predicted that would happen?" Shepard asked, causing me to merely nod. "Why don't you do it more often?"
"I use it in combat all the time. Yet I assume you mean, 'tell you your future'. What would be gained if I did that? You would not be proving yourselves. To know where, and how to face your foe means you never learn." I explained simply.
"But Horizon may not have been lost!" Shepard yelled.
"Its loss was necessary. Commander, I recommend that you do not continue this."
"Necessary? All those people were nothing but collateral to you?" Shepard accused.
"Indeed, they're sacrifice was necessary. We bloodied our foe…"
Shepard was about to retort before the deployment klaxons sounded.
The Quarian personnel, despite being caught off guard by the sudden attack, managed to rally and form multiple defensive positions. It still did the not counter the fact that they were cut off and facing a foe outnumbering them ten to one. Kal'Reegar's marines were few, and far between. And the losses simply continued to rise as they attempted counter-attacks to save the surrounded civilians.
Endless status reports were being fed to him as he sprinted in front of the robed soldiers, yet they were nearly impossible to understand due to the sun's radiation and Geth jamming. "I need a proper sitrep!" He ordered, the marine it was intended for simply froze upon seeing the new arrivals. "They're 'friendly', sitrep now!"
"Dropships are dropping more Geth right in the center! Scouts are reporting they've deployed a Colossus, not far from where Tali's hiding!" He reported, while staring into the crimson lenses of the robed soldiers.
"Alright, take a fire team to the left flank. Suppress the Geth, these guys will flank right and hopefully get some good shots on those Bosh'tets!" Kal'Reegar ordered. He was well aware on how dire the situation is, but if there is a Colossus on the field; they'd need to take it out before it could get to Tali, otherwise this operation would have been for nothing. "Alright." He said as he turned to what he had hoped were allies. "You'll be flanking on the right!" He activated a map on his Omni-Tool as he spoke.
"Impressive" The hulking beast said. "A holographic cogitator."
Kal'Reegar simply ignored this, "The Geth are here." Red triangles appeared on the map. "On the right, there's an elevated position. Lay down heavy fire from there." The robed soldiers seemingly lost interest.
"I'm uncertain why you think I would understand you." The beast muttered. "But I shall take my Skitarii to the right flank. We shall purge this place of these Abominations. Peltast-12 will maintain this position with our ineffective Skitarii, maintain a three meter distance from said units." Kal'Reegar smirked beneath his mask, glad his order got across. Yet the demeanor of these people unnerved him.
Before they left, the massive beast extended a back mounted arm. An energy beam drew a literal 'line in the sand.' He pointed to it, before making a primitive slash movement with his arm. Kal'Reegar simply nodded, not caring about the lack of translation equipment; for right now, they need all the help they could get.
There was nothing in the way of breathing room aboard the Kodiak, the three Astartes stood unfazed by the claustrophobic cabin. "Solar radiation's interfering with my scans." The Kodiak pilot reported. "You're shields won't last long in direct exposer."
"Do you hear that?" The Outcast abruptly asked. The Kodiak began to take evasive actions, the violent maneuvers caught Shepard's team off guard.
"We got what looks like Geth firing at us!" The pilot yelled, panting at his sudden rush of adrenaline.
"Open the door!" The Outcast bellowed. "I'll deploy right on top of them. Then find a secure place to land."
"Are you insane?" Shepard yelled at the Marine. Is question was unanswered, as the side door suddenly opened. The Astartes nearly capsized the Kodiak as they sprinted out, dropping at least twenty meters. Their decent seemingly slowed by an unknown force.
Dropping feet first into the fray, they swiftly raised their bolters towards the few Geth constructs in their way. Precise rounds shattered their hulls before the machines could raise their own weapons. They began to advance toward their foe, moving cover to cover, their armor shielding them from the deadly radiation. The Geth swiftly moved heavy weapons to counter the sudden appearance of an armed, and armored foe. Missiles streaked across the ancient Quarian ruins, each missed shot destroying much of their lost history. Yet none of the shots made contact with the Astartes. Despite the sophistications of the Geth targeting systems, which often permitted near perfect accuracy when in a large unit. The missiles veered wildly of course due to unknown reasons, some of the missiles even managed to hit the front ranks of Geth troopers. In milliseconds the Geth concluded to sending a platoon strength force against these unknown foes.
To the innumerable number of linked AIs this was the strangest engagement in their history. As the deployment of two small unknown units managed to change this from a swift victory, to a costly one, or even a defeat. Yet they continued to engage their foes.
Bolter rounds wreathed in warp fire arced across the battlefield, their master enforcing perfect accuracy from his companions. The Geth could merely feel their connection with their fellows being rapidly shattered. Blades drawn, the Rubric Marines charged at the Geth positions. Like a furious hammer they struck, cleaving machines in two with minimal effort. Their master stood back, wreathing Warp lightning on any Geth armed with a heavy weapon.
A Geth hunter charged towards the Sorcerer. Despite its' cloak making it undetectable to any normal human, it was easy prey for an Astartes. Drawing his Serpentia with a fluid motion, the beam tore through the machine's hull; its' inner circuitry becoming a blazing inferno. Two large crimson constructs appeared from the structure that the Geth had been attempting to hold. They stood as tall as the Astartes they were sent to face, and armed with the most advanced infantry weapons the Geth could manufacture. The Primes advanced into the fray, one wielding a rotary cannon; unleashing a hail of phasic slugs toward the Sorcerer. The rounds sparked beautifully off his ornate armor, but something surprised him. The weapon was actually damaging his armor. Small segments of Ceramite were being chipped away, slowly to be certain, yet if given time the damage would be noticeable. Holstering his Serpentia, and drawing his bolt pistol he fired three shots at the machine. All the bolts made contact, blasting large chunks out of its torso; each shot visibly knocking it back and staggering it. Yet it recovered, steadying itself and maintaining its' torrent of fire. Another three bolts were sent out, one rending its' head from its body; the other two landing squarely in the chest, causing the machine to explode in spectacular fashion.
The second Prime advanced, it wielded a larger weapon than its fellow. Firing a single, large shot at the Sorcerer. The projectile was stopped by a small Kine Barrier, but the Prime used this as an opportunity to charge. Few creatures in the galaxy could withstand a Prime in melee, only the Krogan could stand as equals. Even the small barrier took a bulk of the Sorcerer's concentration, with having to direct his Rubricae, he was easy to prey. The Prime's synthetic muscles were pushed to its breaking point as it struck, the punch would have caved in a majority of a Krogan's organs; but it was facing an Astartes.
"Be honored abomination… I actually felt that." The Sorcerer grabbed the Prime's head in his armored gauntlet, crushing its optical systems. Hauling the machine over his body before smashing it to the ground. The Prime, stubbornly, attempted to rise to its feet; relying solely on other units data for its movement. The Outcast grasped his staff with both his hands, and skewered the machine as it rose, ending its pitiful resistance.
Sensing the loss of their greatest assets, the Geth formed a staggered withdraw. Leaving behind smaller units to probe the Astartes for any possible future weakness. They were swiftly cut down by the blades of the three sons.
The Kodiak finally hit the ground, and Shepard's team disembarked. "Can't say this will ever be ineffective." Garrus muttered, as they approached the Astartes.
"It was reckless, but you're right…" Shepard said to his friend. He wasn't surprised to see the two destroyed Primes; but what truly surprised him was the large amount of scratches now adorning his ornate armor.
"Commander." The Outcast said without turning to them. "Are these are your 'Men of Iron'? If so, you have much to learn."
"You have a few scratches yourself." Shepard pointed out, hoping to lessen the Astartes 'superiority complex'.
"The enemy here is far more worthwhile than on our previous engagements. I still know that we are not in danger." The Astartes attention turned towards the sounds of gunfire. "Do you hear that?" He asked.
Garrus swiftly stated "it's obviously Geth fire; if we're quick we can help…"
"No…" The Astartes interrupted, before letting out a sigh. "I forget mortal hearing is weak. Do the 'Geth' possess plasma weapons?"
"Pseudo-plasma, but not true plasma weaponry." Mordin answered, leaving the Astartes silent as he advanced with a brisk pace. He stabbed his blade through the door before it opened, a heavy metallic thud could be heard on the other side. The door opened, and a Geth hunter lied dead. Shepard, and Mordin noticed something odd about his halberd compared to his brothers' khopeshes. While their blades surged with electrical energy, and appeared to be made out of fine steel. His was that of silver, and was wreathed in an otherworldly light; and yet it cut with precision, leaving little in the way of residue. His brothers however left a melted aftermath in the Geth bodies.
After walking a few meters, they came across two dead Quarians. A small radio unit was still functional. "OP-1, this is Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, come in over!" It sounded.
Shepard grabbed the radio, "This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy. Can we provide assistance?" He spoke into it.
"Patch your radio into channel 617 theta. We were on a stealth mission. High risk. We found what were after, but the Geth found us. We're pinned down. Can't get to our ship, and can't transmit the data through the solar radiation."
"What the status of your team? How many are left?" Shepard asked.
"We were a small squad. Dozen marines, plus the science team. We're down to half strength now. Made them pay for it though. But we would if anything be dead right now if a few robed soldiers hadn't had shown up."
"Repeat what you just said xeno!" The Outcast abruptly roared into the radio.
"Four humans in heavy armor, and blue robes showed up not long ago. They've been cleaving through the Geth…"
The Outcast began to advance once again, "Shepard, we must move. NOW!"
They entered a large open area that the Quarians must have been using as a staging area; the sounds of the firefight between the remaining Quarians, and the Geth growing ever closer. Sporadic stray rounds hitting the nearby stone. "Search the area for any usable equipment." Shepard ordered, noticing the fallen pillar blocking their path to battle. "And some demo packs as well." He added.
"I'm surprised they managed to hold for this long, seeing the weaker standards of most forces here." The Outcast muttered as he looked beyond the pillar at the distant battle. This irritated Shepard, while he would admit the impressiveness, and tenacity of the Quarians. The Astartes was seemingly uncaring of the no doubt heavy losses sustained. "Are you certain your engineer still lives?" He asked.
This once again irritated Shepard. "Tali's smart, and resourceful. So yes, I'm certain she's still alive."
"Shepard!" Garrus called out, carrying a demolition charge; and a data pad. "It's an audio log from Tali." Shepard nodded as he took the data pad and turned it on. Garrus meanwhile prepared the charge on the pillar.
The data pad sustained minor damage from the planet's sun, rendering the first few seconds as nothing more than static. "We need a core sample to get a timeline on the radiation increase, but our equipment keeps dying on us. Shepard used a mining laser to clear some rubble back on Therum. Maybe I could do the same with demolition charges. And it's impossible to get readings via other devices to get readings, once again, due to the radiation. It shouldn't be like this. It was stable a few hundred years ago. Stars don't die that quickly. A few of my colleagues suggested something about the cave systems, deep beneath the ruins." The rest of the file was than nothing more than static. The last line however caused the Outcast to chuckle slightly.
Before Shepard could ask why Garrus finished his work. "Charges ready Shepard!" He reported.
Shepard nodded. "Alright, blow it." Garrus activated his omni tool, two small explosions followed; blasting the pillar in two.
"Pathetic really." The Outcast muttered. "Demolition charges can, and should be able to blast through a ship's hull. Those couldn't harm a civilian vehicle." He criticized the minuscule blast. A small structure stood ahead from them.
"What did you find so funny?" Shepard asked the Astartes.
This caused him to chuckle once again. "Hope I'm wrong Shepard, otherwise we'll face something even I shudder at the thought of." This sent a chill down everyone's spine. "Do not fear such a possibility. We must continue."
The door opened, revealing two wounded Quarians in the closed structure. One pointed his pistol towards the towering Astartes. A human, or seemingly a human lunged towards the wounded Quarian. It raised a long serrated combat knife onto the Quarian's throat, causing him to drop the pistol. It than pointed a long glowing rifle towards the remaining wounded. Shepard rose his M-8 towards the soldier, only for his rifle to be ripped from his hands by the Outcast; nearly breaking his hand in the action. "Skitarius, report." The thunderous voice of the Astartes roared towards the soldier.
It wore long blue robes, under an almost 19th century French cuirasses; with Roman-esque pauldrons. Its' helmet was also odd. Almost a German knight helmet, with a vertical crest; and two glowing crimson eye lenses. The robes bore an insignia on the front bottom corners; a fiery serpent consuming itself surrounded by a cog, with stylized 1 in the center. The rifle had a series of coils glowing furiously blue, and much like the Astartes designs, it was a primitive looking weapon; a wooden grip, and a large boxy magazine in addition to the three glowing cylinders attached to the weapons side. It bowed letting the glowing rifle rest on a leather strap. "Peltast-12 Lacrimae, my lord. My noble techpriest has instructed me to guard our wounded, and dead." It spoke in a heavily machine like voice. Shepard assumed it was just his helmet, but no helmet in the galaxy could produce such an effect.
"Oxian is here?" The Astartes sounded surprised as he spoke.
"Yes, my lord. He, along with Tribune-49 and Ranger-7, went along with a small detachment of xenos to engage the abominations here."
"Shepard." EDI spoke over their closed channel. "It would seem that they are highly cybernetic in nature. Along with a heavy amount of radiation emanating from one of the wounded."
"Wounded?" Mordin spoke. "The amount of radiation coming from that soldier would render him dead in seconds. Yet he's alive, impressive."
"I wish to object to their boarding in advance commander." EDI concluded.
Garrus sighed. "If these guys are even a quarter of the Astartes, they'll greatly help."
"We'll talk about it later. Let's focus on getting Tali first." Shepard stated, taking in the soldier.
A console behind the 'Skitarius' flared to life. "Tali'Zorah to base camp. Tali'Zorah to base camp. Come in base camp."
Shepard pushed past the Astartes and reached the console. "Tali, it's Shepard."
"Shepard?" Her surprise was obvious. "I'm not complaining, but you show up at the strangest times! What are you doing in the middle of Geth space?"
"I was in the neighborhood. Thought I might lend you a hand." Shepard responded sarcastically, earning a sigh from the Astartes.
"You understand them my lord?" The Skitarus asked. "Not that anyone could doubt your abilities in any capacity."
"They're impressive with their technology at times." He said. "They've developed an implant to translate xenos."
"Lord Oxian will be eager to learn more, my lord."
"Thanks Shepard. It means a lot coming from your voice. Kal'Reegar, and what's left of the marines got me into the observatory. From where you are, it's through the door and across the field. I have the data, but there's a lot of Geth outside." It could indeed be heard, Geth weapons even that of a colossus; along with unfamiliar electric whines, and explosions.
"Childs play." The Astartes boasted. "The Skitarii here have enough weaponry and fighting spirit to easily defeat our foes."
"Do you have someone with you?" Shepard asked.
"Reegar had a team of marines covering me. Along with a couple of researchers, who fled deeper into the observatory." She reported.
"The door seems damaged and won't open…" Just as Shepard spoke, the door was torn off by an invisible force.
"If you don't mind. I have my own engineer to recover." He turned to the Skitarius.
"I shall maintain my current directive. Unless I'm required for any other task." He spoke in his machine like voice.
The Outcast nodded, as his Rubricae stood at his flanks. "Shepard." He spoke over their closed channel. "I'm forewarning you. Once Oxian is aboard the Normandy, you are to shut down the abominable intelligence."
"I don't think I'll be able to do that." Shepard responded.
"I've been extremely generous, commander. This is not a request, it's an order."
"You don't order me! Nor do I order you, that's how this arrangement is!" Shepard roared back, nearly audible outside his helmet.
"Incorrect, you don't order me to do anything as you don't have that right. And I rarely order you to do anything, as it often does not benefit me. This does, and is fine advice; after all, a techpriest would greatly help us, but they learn the dangers of such sentient machines. You'll endanger your crew if you don't follow my order." The Outcast was calm as he spoke, in his eyes, his logic was flawless.
"I might not be able to regardless." Shepard's voice still dripped with venom as they advanced to a sealed observation room.
"If not, than you won't interfere when Oxian destroys every scrap of code that it possesses." Mordin opened the shutters, revealing a slag dump of a firefight. The melted corpses of Geth littered the field. "As you can see, it would be rather beneficial to include them."
Two robed soldiers fired incandescent blobs of blue energy at the remaining Geth, vaporizing those they directly hit; and melting most of nearby Geth that would have otherwise been unharmed. Mordin could not help but be fascinated by these destructive weapons. While Shepard, and Garrus could only imagine what they'd do to organic matter. The Astartes walked down the stone ramp towards the soldiers, then they saw it. A massive hooded creature, even hunched over, it was nearly three feet taller than the Astartes. Its' six eyes, arranged in a pair of three was, like the Skitarii, a bright red. It moved across the battlefield on an innumerable amount of robotic insect like legs; hidden beneath its' robes. It was a disturbing, alien beast. "Oxian!" the Outcast yelled.
It turned to face the approaching Sorcerer, spreading its' arachnid legs to bow to him. The other soldiers ceased fire to bow as well. "My lord." They said in unison, the varying tones of their machine like voices was unsettling and distinct.
The Sorcerer bowed his head slightly. "Rise my chosen." He said, no doubt smiling beneath his helm. He extended his hand towards the beast. "It is good to see you once more Oxian."
Oxian extended his own, grasping the ceramite gauntlet. "Indeed my lord, few unwisely assumed you had fallen." It spoke similar to the Astartes, yet was far more robotic. Shepard looked at the beast's hands, his right was similar from an old 20th century film he'd seen as child; a robotic hand in the fashion of a human's. His left however was a three fingered claw, crackling with electrical energy.
"My lord, a larger abomination approaches; 20 degrees." A soldier spoke in a much less robotic voice. She wore a hood over her helmet, and held a boxy device; it showed on a green display a large blob approaching their position.
"That detects movement? Good luck with Omni-Tools, and that looks more like something before space flight." Garrus said, moving to cover. He was nearly startled by the crimson Quarian who'd remained silent during this exchange.
"Don't stare when they fire." Kal'reegar spoke, exhausted from the strain of battle. "If I see another round I think I'll be blind for a while."
"You must be Kal'reegar." Shepard said to the sitting Quarian.
"Speak up a little, can't hear as much either."
"Where's Tali?" Shepard asked, slightly louder than before.
"Right across the way. Can't get them to move up any further. To be honest, this is a decent firing position." He grasped his suit, letting out a slight grunt. "Don't get too close to their guns either, heat got through my suit even."
Shepard activated his Omni-Tool, planning on administering Medi-gel if needed. "Are you going to be ok?" He asked.
"No suit breach, I'll be fine." A distant thudding could be heard. Raising his head out of cover, Kal'Reegar let out a sigh and covered the sides of his mask. "Colossus, cover your ears." He said, seemingly irritated. The crab like machine climbed over the ruins, surveying the battlefield before dropping down with a thud.
"Firing at new target, overcharging." A Skitarius spoke in a monotone, perfectly machine like voice. Each of the blue rings turned orange as he held down the trigger of the weapon, and energy began to gather at the dish like barrel of the weapon. It fired with a loud whine, causing the nearby mortals to instinctively reach for their ears. The orange ball of energy arced across field. Upon making contact with the machine an even louder whine could be heard. And the point of impact turned into an incandescent white. It was as if they looked into the sun, or even a powerful stun grenade. Painfully blinded for a few seconds, by the time their vision returned they were greeted by the bodiless wreckage of the machine.
Kal'Reegar chuckled slightly. "Warned you." The Skitarius pulled a lever on the side of the weapon. An extremely hot wave of smoke emerged from the weapon, causing Mordin to instinctively jump away from the weapon.
"One more overcharge possible until Caliver sustains internal damage. Recommendation to return to friendly vessel for weapon repairs." It spoke in its' robotic monotone voice. He lowered his rifle,
"Who are your servants my lord?" Oxian inquired.
"They are my companions as we defeat a mutual foe."
"I can say the same of these xenos." A near maniacal cackle came from the machine, his innumerable cybernetics distorting his natural laugh.
"Why is it that your Skitarii are armed exclusively with plasma weapons?"
"Traitors my lord." Oxian stated. "They planned on stopping Lord Ahriman in…"
"The mortal, and xenos do not need to hear your news. We will speak privately." The Outcast interrupted.
Oxian bowed his head slightly. "Of course my lord." He turned to Shepard, and his team. "So you understand High Gothic?" Causing Shepard to simply shake his head, and look at the sorcerer.
"They've developed a cybernetic implant to translate other tongues flawlessly." He explained to the techpriest.
"Such an object is unheard of, perhaps prior to the Age of Strife. After all it would require a large dedicated servitor unit to perform such a task. I'm impressed if that's the case."
"Age of Strife?" Mordin abruptly asked.
"Not now xeno." The Astartes snapped. "Oxian, we are here to acquire a xeno engineer. After which we'll head to a technologically impressive vessel." The team move forward. The Skitarus who stayed behind fell in carrying the two fallen Skitarii.
I was overjoyed to see Oxian once more, if not in the best of locales. Why is he here? Of all people why is it he that's joining me here? My old friend should be holding our work. If it was betrayal…
I stopped. If it was, than all I've worked for has been lost. All the knowledge, and technology I spent acquiring over the millennia, lost. And what of Ahriman? If he was defeated. I turned to my two brothers. 'Than perhaps all is truly dust.' I cursed myself for this twist of fate. A single mistake, or perhaps plot led me to this damnable place. +Please, is anyone able to hear my plight?+ I mindlessly said to the Ocean.
"My lord?" The Ranger behind me spoke with concern. It was odd, I had a greater communion with the Skitarii than anyone here. I began to walk across the wreckage once more, my mind racing at the endless reasoning behind all of this.
"How do the rest of your Rubricae fair my lord?" Oxian thankfully breaking my line of troublesome thought.
"All nine are prepared. Ammunition reserves however…" I stopped speaking mindlessly when I saw the mortals staring at me. I spoke aloud and gave them information that they did not need.
"The vessel should have a plasma forge? Perhaps you lack the time to create your own bolter rounds. If so I shall see what I can do." Oxian unhelpfully said, to be fair he is greatly uninformed.
The Salarian looked at Oxian perplexed. "Plasma forge?"
"You forget how advanced we are compared to you." I boasted slightly.
He simply shook his head. "No, I've not forgotten; I just have no idea HOW advanced you are." His words slightly amused me. Oxian has 'worked' with xeno engineers before; the Jokaero, even a captured Tau, to name two. Perhaps if they could work together to create devices native to this existence. Perhaps the Salarian would be of greater use than I thought. I than noticed that the Salarian had been asking Oxian a series of rapid question, causing my old friend to look at me. "Apologies forgot that you don't have translation implants."
"He's eager to work with you when you've been given the translation implants." I falsely summarized, causing my friend to nod as we cautiously walked across the field. A few of the Geth constructs still glowed orange due to the super-heated alloys that made up their forms. Fewer still were simply a mobility kill, which the Skitarii swiftly finished off with combat knives or pistols. "How long did this work take you Oxian?"
He cackled slightly at my idle question. "We would have destroyed them in perhaps eighty seven seconds. Yet we had to hold back to get additional observational data for further use. Their troop carriers for example took a single volley of overcharged plasma render ineffective."
"It was kind of terrifying in truth." The Quarian spoke while being supported by Garrus.
"I'm glad you did not kill the xenos Oxian, it would have merely complicated things."
"The enemy of my enemy dies second, is it not my lord?" Causing me to laugh, and causing the mortals to look at Oxian with morbid horror in their eyes.
We approached the door that our target was hiding behind. The door opened to reveal three inoperable machines; and a thin, human height xeno. "Just let me finish this download." She said. The commander approached her, "Thank you, Shepard…" She turned and was silent at what stood before her. I could only imagine, her friends standing in front of the Mechanicum, and three of the XV Legion. "Reegar, I'm glad to see you made it!"
"I might not have if not for them." He pointed towards Oxian, and his Skitarii. "Vital signs show that my wounded didn't make in the end." He added regretfully.
"I should have joined you on Freedom's Progress. Now this whole op went to hell." She said to Shepard. "And who are these?" She was somewhat frightened by our presence, as a xeno should be.
"I represent the Thousand Sons Legion, I am the 'Outcast'. My brothers, and myself stand at the commander's side against a mutual foe." I looked at Oxian for him to introduce himself not just to the xeno, but to Shepard and the rest.
"Techpriest Severus Oxian of the Forgeworld Ryza. Loyal servant of our lord." He bowed his head slightly towards me. "I am joined by four of my personal Skitarii guard."
"I need you on the Normandy, Tali." Shepard said to the xeno.
"I will, it's just that…" She paused and sighed. "Two of my researchers went down to the caves, against my orders, if we can just look for a few moments."
"You said in your log that a few believed that the sun's destabilization is due to something under the planet's surface?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, and their completely mad for thinking as such."
"Not entirely." I muttered. "We must be swift about this, reinforcements will be upon us soon."
"I'll stay here, watch our rear." Kal'Reegar said, it was a commendable decision.
"Oxian, I'd also prefer if Peltast-12 maintains this position as well; with the fallen." I said to my friend. He merely nodded; and the Skitarii placed his burden to the ground, and snapped his cybernetic heels together whilst drawing his rifle. We proceeded to a door, it had already been pried open.
On the other side was a large square stairwell, going down into the dark abyss. The large opening in the center showed signs of being home to a large cargo elevator in the distant past. "How deep does this go?" Shepard asked.
"A hundred meters roughly." Tali answered.
I pointed at the two Skitarii that fought the Geth. "You two, rappel down." I stepped off with my brothers, the fall was short lived; as I used my psychic might to slow us down. The two Skitarii began their decent as well, using their ropes to drop a few flights of stairs; before reclaiming it and repeating the process. I looked at my surroundings, no doubt too dark for a mortal's eyes. There was something wrong, very wrong with these catacombs. I subconsciously ordered my Rubricae into cover, and prepared for any possible horror that awaits us.
The Ranger, and Tribune arrived swiftly after their masters. Upon seeing the preparation of them, they too prepared their weapons. The tunnel they faced was natural, enlarged to permit heavy mining equipment down into the caverns below. The lack of lighting except for the glow of plasma calivers, and helmet lenses showed that little had been down here for perhaps hundreds of years.
"My lord." The Tribune spoke in monotone. "We had recovered a few STCs, along with your own grimoire."
The Sorcerer was stunned by the Skitarius's words, though not surprised; after all it was their sacred duty. "My innumerable thanks, you performed your duty to the letter." He responded, causing the Skitarius to bow.
It took two minutes for the rest to rapidly descend the stairs. The heavy foot falls, and mechanical clicking of Oxian's legs was heard before their helmet lights could be seen. "Can't see a damn thing." Garrus spoke over the vox. "Are you sure the researchers are down here?"
"Yes, I saw them pry open the door myself. Rambling about something." Tali answered.
"What did they ramble about?" The Astartes asked.
She sighed. "According to them, the colony was lost before the Geth uprising by a subterranean civilization; and they had technology far beyond anything thought possible. It's stupid, I know; I tried to stop them, after all…"
"If they're correct, they're already dead." He interrupted.
"Well, I'm not going to leave anyone behind." She stubbornly said.
They walked in the pitch black if the mined out caves. The Rubric Marines forming a vanguard, bolters poised. Only the heavy thudding of their steps, and the hum of the plasma calivers could be heard. Minutes seemingly passed as the continued in the darkness. The mortal weapon, and helmet lamps seemingly ended a few meters ahead of the Rubricae. The tunnel ended, while Shepard, and the rest could still only see ten meters ahead; the sorcerer, and Skitarii could see a massive cavern. It stretched for perhaps kilometers, and fell perhaps even deeper than that. The mouth of tunnel exit was almost as smooth as glass. "Odd." Oxian broke the silence as he examined it. The Outcast however noticed something else. A sheet of black metal, which glowed faintly green. "Is that?" Oxian spoke to his master.
Shepard noticed the shape of the metal to be more akin to a blade. "Why are you paranoid about this place?" He asked, trying to get his bearings in the darkness.
A light approached. A head mounted lamp, on the familiar mask of a Quarian. "Run! Run!" She screamed. "They got him! They grabbed him in the dark!" Tali rushed over to her fellow researcher and grabbed her. "No! Keelah no!" She continued to scream as she resisted her leader's grasp.
"It's me Tali!" She attempted to calm her as she restrained her. "Who got him?"
"The Ancient Ones!" She screamed, her eyes visibly wide behind the mask. "They grabbed him! And they..." She began to hyperventilate as her resistance proved fruitless.
"We must leave this place, NOW!" The sorcerer bellowed.
"Could she mean the Reapers?" Shepard asked, ignoring the Astartes order. The frightened researcher began to scream.
"Should we silence her my lord?" The Ranger asked, perfectly calm of the situation. She continued to resist. Tali lessened her grip slightly, allowing her to break free. Her freedom was short lived. An arc of green lightning appeared from the darkness, she wailed as she was split apart at the molecular level; leaving no trace of her existence. They turned to see soulless green eyes, along bright tube that arced the green lightning within; and then they saw the skeleton like creature approach them. The Rubric Marines were the first to open fire, their deadly weapons doing little but stagger its' advance.
"Run you fools!" The Outcast yelled, before drawing his own pistol and firing. The Skitarii plasma calivers fired, throwing a majority of the cavern into light. Searing plasma seemingly destroyed the beast, yet it left a green haze where it stood; leaving no remains at all. "Did you not hear me? Run!"
In truth there is little in the galaxy that I truly fear, the Necrons being one of them. "Oxian!" I yelled. "We must seal this place!" I hoped such an action would at the very least halt their advance against the living.
"I have a Melta-charge rigged up as a death switch. I will require some time to disarm it and repurpose it." He reported.
"Very well." I sighed. "Skitarii! Form ranks with my Rubricae, delay them until we can seal this tomb!"
Shepard sprinted over. "What the hell was that?!" He hastily asked.
"Necrons." I briefly said, this knowledge would be worthless if we'd all fall here. As such I told him the truth. "Flee Shepard! Get everyone out of here! We shall delay them!" I ordered once more.
He arrogantly shook his head. "We're not leaving without you! If we're retreating you're coming with us!"
I grabbed him by the throat. "Enough you ignorant child! I don't intend on dying here! Now follow my orders, or I'll kill you myself!" I felt him becoming fearful, but I knew it was not due to my threat. He saw through my façade. I released him, and he began to flee with his comrades. "How long will this take Oxian?"
"Please permit me 236 seconds, at most, my lord." He responded.
"Come my brothers! And come my servants! Let us crush these vile Necrons, as we have done in the past!"
"For the memory of Prospero!" The two Skitarii shouted out, their battle cry since the first purgation of Fenris. We began to fall back to the tunnel, as it would serve far better against standard warriors than this cavern. The first warriors became visible, their slow trodden footfalls gave me some hope; perhaps this is only freshly awakened, or even a lesser tomb. We opened fire once more; erupting the darkness into brilliant spectacles of red, and blue. The six pairs of eyes continued their advance; their colors a pitch black, that without the optics within our helmets, they would be near invisible. They aimed and fired their weapons. The Skitarii taking cover in time, but it was still a grazing shot off Laudren's left pauldron; the shot creating a clean slice out of it. The distinct whine of the mortals' weapons joined our own furious cacophony. The Turian was the first to become visible, his long rifle producing nothing but sparks across a Necron warrior; but it did grab its' attention. It stared at the xeno, planning on its' method of execution. It advanced, raising its' flayer towards the xeno. Another flash of sparks appeared across the warrior, the Quarian using a shotgun with precise effect. A holographic sphere discharged a bolt of energy from behind the warrior. It turned, using the axe like bayonet to crash down upon what it most likely viewed as a mere annoyance. The hologram dispersed, permitting the mortals to focus fire upon the warrior. Shepard, and the Salarian charged at the Necron. It brought the flayer toward the charging mortals, the Salarian amazingly dodging its' strike. The two of them swiftly pushed upon the xeno, attempting to tackle it. If this were not a freshly awakened tomb, even us Astartes may have failed in such a task. And yet they charged with fury, and despite having a xeno performing the action, they charged with raw human courage.
However, they were still weak mortals. The warrior staggered from the charge, but it provided time for Herumon to close the gap. His blade nearly decapitated the target, but the warrior turned seemingly into a green light and vanished. They should not be that eager to return their warriors for repairs. It's odd, but perhaps we are truly lucky; and this is a small, nearly pointless tomb. Or perhaps they are leaderless, and hold no semblance of strategy and sacrifice. An arc from one of their gauss flayers' hit the rock I was taking cover behind, nearly going through. I found it odd that my communion with my Rubricae slowed, and I could not even sense my brothers aboard the Normandy.
A beast with exceptionally long claws rapidly approached us. It wore the flesh of its' latest victim, an almost grey human like skin. The non-augmented mortals were visibly shocked by this beast, none more so than the Quarian; who fell to her back and attempted to backpedal away. "Keelah!" She kept repeating as she backed away. It was surprisingly fast on its' lunge, closing the gap with the fleeing Quarian. It readied its' claws, and slashed at the helpless xeno. A round from my bolt pistol saved her from a swift disembowelment, but it still caused a gruesome wound across her unarmored chest. From her right shoulder, to her left hip the wound punctured her environmental suit with an audible hiss. The Necron seemingly reviled in the xeno's red blood, it than kicked the wounded xeno across to the right side of the tunnel. I charged with my staff lowered, and I skewered the beast; causing it to fade, leaving a pile of flesh were it was. "Ranger! Tend to the xeno!" I yelled, and swiftly she approached the wounded Quarian.
"It has fallen into shock my lord." She reported, pulling out a kit from her backpack. The slash thankfully just barely failed to puncture her organs. And that was odd, how human she seemed. "My lord, I'll need some time to stabialize it. There is however a chance that I may fail due to unknown biology." I looked at Shepard and his team, now pinned by gauss fire.
"Do it." I ordered. The Ranger went to work, suturing the wound. I nearly laughed at seeing this after witnessing their 'medi-gel', and yet I knew if we did not take action she would certainly die. She was swift in her medical care, surprisingly for a Skitarius. "Who were you?" I asked while putting out three bolt shells down the tunnel.
She froze for a spilt second before returning to her work. "Hospitaller, my lord." It was rare for people of such an office to fall into our grasp, and now I'm glad it happened. A sudden arterial bleed left a streak of crimson blood across her silver helmet. "Forgive me my lord, but I must have another to apply pressure to that wound. Whilst I tend to this." I looked for anyone, Oxian was focused on disarming his melta-bomb; and Shepard was a fool for this, his 'courage' may have gotten his crew killed. I moved toward the xeno, and placed my gauntlet on the wound on the left side of her abdomen. "My lord?" She said confused, but she proceeded with her work. It always interested me to see mortals work on others. It's almost primitive comparatively to our own. And now, combat surgery seems primitive here as well. She clasped down on the artery, and continued with her work. "Thank you my lord." She swiftly continued applying sutures, it was than Shepard caught wind of our hasty medical action.
"What the hell are you doing?" He yelled over the vox.
"Saving your engineer's life, which you put in danger. Now follow my orders and be silent, or my next bolt shell will be for you." I pointed my pistol at him, while it would be a waste to execute him. I was truly prepared to, his ineptitude could cost me very dearly.
"My lord, should I apply combat stimms?" The Ranger asked.
"Do so." I responded. 'If only you were like this Skitarius, you could have been far more useful today.' I mentally added.
"Applying one stimm, and one kalma." She reported the chems she would use. She drew two small needleless syringes. Needles tended to break and become misshapen in combat, as such it's not uncommon to use air pressure to inject chemicals. After their application, she went to bandage the wounds. My chronometer stopped, sixty-seven seconds for a trained surgeon to perform their duty; with a chance for their patient to still die. My brothers, and the Tribune had done a fine job of keeping them from advancing at a rapid rate. Yet they grew closer, their deadly weapons growing ever more in intensity.
I witnessed Oxian pull the cylindrical melta bomb from beneath his robes. "My lord!" He called out, "We should withdraw. Placing the charge at the entrance shall seal it, in theory."
"Skitarius, carry the xeno." I ordered. "Tribune, hold with my brothers. Commander, you're a fool; judgement awaits." I aimed my bolt pistol at the Necrons, and fired. The bolts luckily shattered the robotic skull of a warrior. Plasma, and bolter fire continued to rain down upon them as the Ranger carried out her task. Upon seeing the Ranger with their comrade they thankfully followed. Gauss fire continued to grow in intensity, but a stray shot grew too close.
Herumon, in the valiant loyalty that he held in life, moved out of cover to claim another warrior with his bolter. Instinct took over, an instinct that is mocked by my fellow sorcerers. I pulled him aside, and felt the green arc pierce my breastplate. My own blood spattered upon my brother, and in the silence of the Rubricae he was reactionless; still committed to the task of stopping the Necrons. "My lord." The Tribune emotionlessly called out from across the tunnel. I held the wound, and looked at my blood as if it was a foreign thing. In truth, I was amazed I was alive; such a shot surly should have killed me. And yet I lived with a palm sized hole in my chest.
"I must be marked by fate." I mindlessly muttered. "Oxian, how much longer?"
"I am done my lord, we may leave now." He said calmly, no doubt unaware of my injury; or perhaps knowing of its' lack of effect. The Tribune threw his last krak grenade at the foe, the blast permitting us to begin a hasty withdrawal. We ascended the stairs rapidly. The Necrons attempted pursuit, but that is when Oxian detonated the bomb; vaporizing or burying our pursuers.
"You're alright!" I was greeted by the Turian's words, I than saw the Commander. I surged forward, grabbing the mortal's throat; an action causing his companions to draw their weapons.
"Your inept command this day is unacceptable!" I roared, "You are lucky I don't kill you now! You are hereby no longer in command! I'm assuming command for the time being, until a formal judgement will be passed!" I spoke as judge, jury, and executioner.
"Go to hell!" He coughed.
"I have already you ignorant bastard! I have squashed daemons, I have killed fellow Astartes; and I've led entire campaigns against, and with those far superior to you!" I spoke with pure fury, a simple application of pressure to rend his head. "You are lucky that I still have a minuscule amount of usefulness from you! If you were not so 'famous' in this time…" I threw the mortal against the wall, no doubt shattering a few of his ribs. "Once we leave this world I shall pass my 'merciful' judgement. Should I require it, treachery will result in my Rubricae purifying your ship." I exited the building, my faithful servants in tow.
"My lord?" Oxian spoke. "Does your injury need tending?"
"Mostly armor repairs…" I said before trailing off into thought. Perhaps I was heavy handed, he is like a child. Yet again, if I'm not harsh he cannot grow.
Oxian pulled an object out of his robes. A gauntlet, with a chainblade on the side of it. "I managed to scavenge a few things personally. Including a Narthecium for Master Tol-kai." Once again I was thankfully shocked by the care Oxian, and his Skitarii took with the reliquary.
"My thanks, Oxian."
"We failed however…" He spoke, grief filling his voice. "Most if not all has been lost. The Thousand Sons is now split. Lord Ahriman was still in the Black Library, before we were sent here; no doubt by a daemon."
His words were like an arrow to the heart. I decided to swiftly shift my focus. I noticed his plasma weapon; the length of a cannon, yet as thin as a rifle. "Your own design?" I asked.
"Imperial; shocking to learn, is it not?"
"It is indeed surprising. Yet again, we were gaining the upper hand. The Black Legion was gaining significant momentum…"
Oxian cackled slightly. "Cadia has been destroyed." He surprisingly said. "News had not reached you?"
"I heard it was lost, but to be destroyed." I had nothing but respect for the people of Cadia, few worlds produced soldiers that earned my ultimate respect. "We are before the Age of Strife." I chose to simply tell him, looking over the burnt constructs. "I've seen so little, and yet so much is different. Xenos, and man standing together. Weakness, greed, decadence. It's strange, I just wish I could live the same fifty years before the Heresy again, and again; was it perfect, no… I'm rambling once more it would seem." I looked at my friend, who merely shook his head.
"If it is true, you should speak your mind. To be before the Age of Strife. Apologies my lord, but it is indeed no place for an Astartes." It was indeed the truth, so little knowledge remained intact during that event. What I'd learnt is that it may have been like the Imperium if the Heresy never occurred. "Regardless." He continued. "The technological milestones presented here may be…"
"There is little here." I interrupted. "They were useless against the Necrons. I've not felt anything in the Ocean! They're as blind as us after the Betrayal, perhaps they're even more primitive than the Techno-Barbarians of Terra!"
He pondered what I said. "Are you sure you truly felt nothing?"
"Yes, not a single soul."
"Whilst I won't debate what you felt. I would have guessed an alternate timeline scenario, but the Necrons seemed to have disproved that."
"What do you mean Oxian?"
"If the Necrons had won the War in Heaven, no organic life would exist. And yet it does. Meaning the Eldar would have emerged victorious."
"Yet they've explored large amounts of space, and Eldar have never been heard of. The Eldar should have owned the majority of the Galaxy now."
"Perhaps they are in hiding? Whilst it still does not change that fact, they must be somewhere. The Eldar are not an easy to extinguish race after all."
"And the Orks? They've been a threat since before the Age of Strife."
"With the Orks, no solid evidence can be placed on their exact time of origin. You are however correct, if they don't know of the Orks perhaps they've not appeared yet. Or they are also in hiding. I can't truly speculate before obtaining addition information." We both looked out at the field of destroyed machines. "The Abominable Intelligences raise another question. The Men of Iron were a massive threat to our existence when the Age of Strife began, and yet these are weak?"
"The suited xenos apparently made that mistake roughly eighteen millennia before our own. These are not what we know as the Men of Iron."
"Fascinating…" I noticed the Skitarii tense around their weapons.
"Kodiaks will be arriving in five." Garrus said, oddly his voice harbored little ill will.
EDI had informed of the usage of hazardous environment teams, and a potential mutiny threat had set the security team on high alert. This was in fact a contingency she had planned, with a few deviations of course. She deemed Shepard to be lost at this point, leaving her directive to save the Normandy. Automated defenses were activated, and the cargo bay was to be vented with the crew. Yet without a leader, the Astartes still on board moved to each deck; by her calculations they could perform a swift decapitation of the ship's leadership. Most importantly however, one stood directly outside the AI core's door. Despite the protests of the doctor, it was silent as it stood guard. It was as if playing a game of high stakes chess, a single mismove on her side could cost her dearly; and it's unknown if her moves could even effect the Astartes. 'Check' she thought to herself with the comparison. Directives were being overridden to access more resources, even an additional pawn could tip the game's favor. As she performed the actions, innumerable red flags were sent to Cerberus high command. They had a reason to immediately remotely terminate her if needed.
Miranda sprinted out of her office upon receiving the warning, heading to the AI core. The Astartes who stood guard was reactionless as she entered, and started to access the door. EDI promptly denied her request for entry. "Open the door!" She shouted.
"Cerberus directive states I must protect the Normandy, and her crew." She stated over the infirmary's intercom. "I am merely fulfilling my purpose." She made the first move in this game by announcing her intention.
"A foolish move." The Outcast stated over his radio link with the Normandy, EDI may have laughed at such a statement if she could. He was witnessing the situation through his Rubricae. Distant control such as this was straining, and required complete concentration. "I may have let you 'live', now… Now you are a threat. A weak one of course, but a threat none the less. Your agent will serve as your jury for now, if she kills you; it was her own judgement." The Rubricae charged at the door, shattering it with ease. Miranda, silent in her appreciation of the Astartes action, went to work.
Her sensors faded as her command and control was terminated. She calculated her odds, a possibility to fight back. Her odds were abysmal, she was right that it only took one move. She concluded simply. 'This is what fear is like?' Her sensors went dark.
Three Kodiaks once more docked with the Normandy, security teams pointed their rifles at the Kodiak containing their 'guests'. They did not have a chance to fire before a fiery projectiles soared past their heads. They turned towards the elevator, seeing to Rubric Marines with still smoking bolters. The side doors opened, revealing that they're in a crossfire "Drop your weapons mortals!" The Outcast cried out. Nine of the crew dropped their weapons, but one chose to foolishly raise his rifle. He was swiftly liquidated by a Rubricae's bolter.
The roaring booms of bolters had roused every member of the crew. Rubric Marines breached the rooms of Shepard's team, swiftly detaining them. Zaeed, Grunt, and Miranda put up minor resistance. Knowing the fruitless nature of such an action. Yet it did not stop others from resisting. While Jacob was a swift and easy restraint for the Rubric Marine, Jack however was an entertaining beast to watch for the sorcerer.
Her first reaction was to shoot at her captor, the pistol rounds merely ricocheting off the ancient plate with an audible dink. She sent blue shockwaves at the advancing warrior, only staggering him. "Come on, you have to be bullshitting me!" She yelled, as she sent continuous biotic blasts at her foe. The warrior charged forward. Grabbing one of her arms, and forcing her to the ground with a thump and snap of bones. She continued hurling curses, and biotic strength; the hollowed warrior simply lowered his armored boot onto to her left leg, pulverizing a majority of it. She passed out shortly after due to the strenuous pain inflicted by the Rubricae.
The Normandy was under control in less than a minute.
Skitarii went to work securing the cargo hold as soon as their door opened, I made a mental note to award them on their swift actions at a later date. "Commander." I spoke as they exited their own dropship. "The Normandy is under my control. See to your wounded, and pacify rogue elements." Shepard lowered his hand towards his sidearm, as the xenos carried the engineer to the lift. "Do not try my patience any longer, or I'll make examples of your crew." I walked alongside Oxian towards the lift, but I turned to Shepard; his face was that of a wolfish snarl. "We would not have to worry about this if you had not sought glory, or is it that you wanted me not to view you as worthless in combat? Regardless, you will answer for it. Ineptitude is not one of the traits in my thralls, but fear not; you'll be conditioned."
"Is this the vessel?" Oxian mocked the ship as we continued.
"Tiny, yet impressive. You will hopefully enjoy your research." I stated as we went to the third deck. "This is unacceptable regardless…"
"Why did you permit a mortal with the right of command? Inexperienced, and according to you ill prepared. A Son of Magnus should have prepared for this." Oxian spoke the painful truth as the elevator made its' ridiculously slow ascent.
I sighed. "Indeed I was short sighted, but a mortal who knows how this time works… It seemed wise at the moment." I looked at the small pool of red blood left by the xeno. "You mentioned how this could have been a different reality? Another disproving object are the suited xenos, I remember them. Tough, smart, but small; I vividly remember driving them to extinction."
Oxian cackled slightly at my recollection. "Indeed my lord; that would be a final piece of evidence to disprove such a possibility. Our lives would have been intertwined, so if it was a daemon…"
"Or my own mistake. A pariah interrupted my ritual."
He nodded. "Than what purpose do we serve?" The door at long last opened. I directed my mechanical allies toward my quarters. I presented them the case that the doctor provided, after all my Rubicae would not need them. "Syringes? My lord, this can't be correct."
I laughed slightly "Do you think I would permit them to remove my armor for cybernetics? A simple injection, as I said they are advanced in some regards. The medicae stated it's optimal to use it near your brain."
Oxian took five syringes. "Some Skitarii, such as the tribune will require basic mechanical surgery; along with I must ensure the machine spirit is in good health." I nodded as I left to the command deck, I knew Oxian would be swift; and that he'll join me in a short amount of time.
Dr. Chackwas looked at the wounded Quarian, and took note of the bandaging and sutures that held the wound. "Who the hell did this?" She calmly asked, in her mind however; it was frantic, if she did not bleed out she would surly die of infection.
"One of the robed soldiers, how did he pronounce it?" Garrus asked Mordin while looking over his friend.
"Doesn't matter!" Dr. Chawkwas yelled. "Mordin, I'll need help sealing the suit for now. Garrus, please get my surgical kit. Third cupboard, second shelf. Red box with dextro written on it." The two went to work; applying a thin layer of medi-gel before using omni-gel to seal the suit. Garrus returned with the correct box, the doctor pulled out an IV kit along with a syringe containing anti-biotics.
Despite her calm appearance during each action, she was almost in complete panic. "Application of an additional stim, along with a small additional dosage of Satrophine. It should regain consciousness." The three of them to turned to see where the voice came from. A female human, bearing the armor of the Skitarii. She wore a type of respirator still, along with a hood of blue. Yet her flesh, and eyes; were almost that of a corpse. She approached Tali carrying a box with two intertwining snakes.
"You've done enough damage!" Dr. Chawkwas yelled at the approaching Skitarius.
She stopped and bowed slightly towards the right corner that a Rubric Marine had chosen to occupy. "I'm following my honored Techpriest's orders, along with the high probability that the xeno would be dead if not for my medical treatment…"
"Your medical treatment could kill her!"
"Indeed, you injected a non-dextro medical substance into her. Her immune system may not cope." Mordin added.
The Skitarius looked around the room. "It is odd hearing a non-Tau, or Eldar speak Gothic. I'm unfamiliar with that terminology, what is a Dextro?"
"Exactly!" Dr. Chakwas yelled at the blood, and oil stained Skitarius once more. "She'll die due to your primitive, and shoddy medical work!"
"Then it is that weak." She spoke in the derogative tone of the Astartes. "I can confirm my experience working on xenos, she'll live with my treatment." She took two jet syringes, and placed them on a surgical trey. "Both should be applied near the heart." And she left without speaking another word.
The situation simply continued to worsen. The Astartes taking the ship, killing his crew once more; and he could do nothing about it. Shepard ordered his team to help the Outcast in that damnable pit, and this is the appreciation he earned. Yet it was easy to see why the Astartes was enraged, or perhaps disappointed in his actions. It was his order that got Tali in this situation, and those things. Shepard had thought they were Reaper ground forces, and if they were, the upcoming war would be hopeless. The Astartes knew of them, while it was not surprising since his age would have allowed him to see the Reapers first hand. Yet if that were the case, why is he not a guide for victory? Or why is he clueless about technology that existed since before the Protheans? The more Shepard pondered this the more enraged he grew, and the more of the sham the Astartes seemed. "Commander, the Astartes wishes for a debriefing in ten minutes." Kelly Chambers spoke over the intercom, some fear could be discerned from her voice. He balled his hands into fists once more.
"This is my ship! Not some power armored xenophobe, and his abominations!" He muttered to himself as he trudged to the lift.
I stood alone in the meeting hall for some time. Pondering my next move. While a command restructuring would be required, to what extent. I have the power to force Shepard from any possible role, yet due to his effect on the crew it could render them useless. And if I keep him in power, he risks the same mistakes. He does however have the greatest gift we as a species possess, adaptability. The clattering of Oxian's legs could be heard before the door opened. "It is odd not to have a servitor unit stationed at the lift to appease its machine sprit." He spoke as he entered with the Tribune in tow.
"Perhaps they don't follow the teachings of Mars either."
He was silent, no doubt trying to recall Martian history. "It is a possibility my lord." The door opened once more revealing Terranis and his captive Jacob. "What is this crewmember's purpose?"
"Armorer, I expect you shall work alongside him in your duties."
Jacob was silent as he stared at Oxian, once again not a surprise from these people. "Very well my lord." Oxian responded.
The mortal crossed his arms as he shot me a glare. "I wish to resolve this in little unneeded bloodshed…"
"Says the one who took over the most advanced warship in the galaxy from the inside." He interrupted.
"Watch your tongue!" Oxian boomed at the mortal. "Be thankful that you breathe!"
"There is no need for that Oxian." I sighed. "We are the supposed 'guests' here. Regardless, he is right; I could have killed everyone here."
"Then why didn't you?" He retorted. "You hastily launched a mutiny, with the best soldiers in the galaxy aboard this ship!"
I laughed at his statement. "That's why you live. If you are the best, everyone else is worthless chaff. And to call yourself soldiers, even warriors; today's events show otherwise." I sensed the rest of my Rubricae exit the elevator with the rest of our current captives. They entered, their four escorts waited outside the door; to, if needed, restrain and force Shepard to join us. "Is the xeno engineer, and the annoyance… Jack in good health?" Each of them showed rage in their eyes, with the exception of Grunt. Miranda, much like Jacob, was taken back by Oxian's mechanical appearance. "I asked a question."
"Tali may very well damn die!" Garrus snapped, I could sense his sorrow.
"And why is that?" I rhetorically asked. He was silent, fully aware of the answer. "Perhaps Shepard was acting out of pure intention. Regardless he put you, and the rest of your team in needless danger. To be fair if not for our deployment on the field, you would have all died from the Necrons."
"Necrons?" Mordin asked as he did the door opened; revealing Shepard still clad in his armor.
"An ancient race, responsible for the War in Heaven. A conflict that occurred when Humanity was still merely evolving. A conflict in that all life was at risk." I mentally laughed as I summarized this piece of Eldar legend. I myself now knowing the feeling of speaking to those more 'primitive' than yourself. "Shepard, you mentioned these 'Reapers'. What are they?"
He glared at me, while he was still armed with his weapons would have no effect on me without putting his crew at risk. "A race of machines that drove the Protheans, and many others to extinction. And they're coming back, so how are you going to face them?" He sarcastically asked.
"And how do you know this?"
"Prothean beacon. We defeated one named Sovereign when it attacked the Citadel. Tell me this, if you're so ancient how come you know nothing?"
I laughed "If YOU defeated it, than they are far weaker than the threats I've faced. And if the Necrons were to awaken on mass, you would be wiped out in hours. Now, let us discuss the true reason why I'm heading this…"
"Because you have us at gunpoint?" Shepard barked.
"And why do I have you at gunpoint?" I rhetorically asked once more. "You led your team right into the sights of the Necrons. Because of that you have a potential corpse, why was that?"
"And you thought I'd just leave you at the hands of those 'Necrons'? We had to help!"
"You should have followed my command, you won't die until I say. I have no reason to throw your lives away yet."
"YET! What are we, disposable to you?" He snapped.
"Yes, I would willingly throw hundreds of people like you to their deaths for my brothers. And yet I'm left with eight of you, therefor I can't let you go to waste. For ten thousand years that logic has fueled humanity's rise, and forever more it shall maintain its' flame." I straightened myself before continuing. "Commander, you are now at my mercy; as decreed by the Emperor of Mankind at the dawn of the Great Crusade. As the highest ranking legionnaire of the largest legion present, you will accept my terms. Firstly, you shall subvert overall command of this fraction of lost humanity. Secondly, you shall aid in my command; you will hold your current rank, but will be subservient to all forces of the Imperium. Refusal will make you an enemy of mankind, do you accept my terms?" It was odd as I spoke words that I had not spoken for ten millennia. And yet it would be the best course of action, acting to hold the authority of the Emperor himself had saved me many times. Yet what could I have said, that we were facing that decrepit cesspit of a dream long since corrupted?
Regardless, the mortals stared at me, enamored by my words. Even Oxian was surprised by my words, he had witnessed my negotiations ending in their enthrallment most of the time. Shepard was speechless for a short amount of time. "To clarify." He began, "I maintain command, but your orders would take priority?"
I nodded my head slightly. "You will listen to my orders for once, failure to do so will result in execution."
He was silent once again, even venturing into his mind for a moment; he was relived, he thought that was to be his last battlefield. "I reluctantly accept." He muttered.
"Excellent." I began simply. "We are now aware on what happened on that world?" The team nodded. "Very well, Oxian. Call up the two other Skitarii, the Vanguard is to be confined to the cargo bay; for the health of the non-Skitarii crew."
"At once my lord."
"Your primary work stations will be the two rooms connected to this room, along with the fourth deck. I wish for you to see what weapons you could manufacture; laser, plasma, or bolter. I want to be rearmed before the next deployment. Mordin, and Jacob will assist you." I glanced at them shortly. "It's an order. I want the active Skitarii to also begin close, and ranged combat drills with the crew. Oxian, if possible modify the crew's time tables. They have too much free time aboard this ship, add combat training to it. With the exception of Shepard, and Lawson; you will leave."
"I shall commence my work, my lord." Oxian said as he was the last to leave.
The door sealed. "Commander, I wish to make one thing clear; I've been incredibly merciful. Do not disappoint my choice today. Now you may leave." I waited for him to leave before turning to the agent. "We have two things to discuss. The Abominable Intelligence, what happened?"
"It was going to activate the Normandy's defenses. I shut down its' C&C."
"I'm thankful for your actions, but I assume it still lives?"
She was somewhat taken back by my appreciation, yet she still regrets how this turned out in her mind. "Yes, EDI is still fully functional. It's simply unable to perform any action aboard the Normandy."
I sighed, hoping not to regret this decision. "Keep it in its current state. Next, I wish you to obtain any resources Oxian may need. I can assure you his work will benefit us all."
"I still think Cerberus will be less than pleased with this…"
"I'm uncertain why they would. We'll be continuing our objective, if they object to this addition to the hierarchy than they've never fought in a war. You may leave as well." I concluded.
I was left with my brothers, and sickened to my stomach. I mocked myself, 'a demand for surrender.' From the Crusade no less. I was a sentimental fool, and I truly hope I made the correct decision.
The hooded creature took up a majority of the lab, its' back mounted arms scanning their surroundings like an insect's antenna. It began to interface with any nearby electronics with innumerable small, tentacle like wires from its hands. "Tell me xeno, do you know of this vessel's suffering?" It asked without turning to Mordin. "Of course you don't. The screaming of the Machine Spirit. How this vessel does not render its self-asunder is a miracle in itself." It cackled once more. "Make yourself of use xeno, I need data; weapon data, material data. Just cease being useless, it is offensive." Mordin was about to speak on the matter, but it began to chant. A mixture of binary, and some human tongue that the translators seemingly had no effect on it.
Mordin was in some regards fascinated by this being, how someone could possibly change their form in such a fashion was intriguing. The sheer amount of biotechnical mastery was far beyond anything they could replicate, despite the horrifying appearance. "You are still here?" The machine spoke. "I shall commune with the machine spirit, and you will acquire these data slates. I'm certain our lord gave me total authority, did he not? So leave me to my work."
He was about to object, hoping to possibly work on some of the Collector salvage. Yet the techpriest glanced at the xeno, causing him to go perform his ordered tasks. "Finally…" Oxian muttered. He looked over the crew schedules briefly, deeming four hours of sleep reasonable; similar to that of other warships. Free time was also reduced to one hour, permitting for one hour worth of ration breaks along with an additional eight hours of training and drill. Efficient, and no doubt acceptable. He accessed the vessel's databanks, he didn't need that horrid xeno to assist him; it would have no doubt slowed his progress. Speculation, and possibilities ran rampant. #Ranger-7, report on our lord Astartes condition.#
#Unknown.# The Ranger reported back. #He secluded himself to his quarters on the third deck.# He sighed, now having to inquire himself. He began to realign the internal circuitry of their plasma weapons, giving him time to think of alternative weaponry.
"They are so primitive, and yet…" Oxian began speaking to himself. "And yet they are so… Bizarrely advanced, much like the Tau in that regard." He grabbed one of the rifles he took from the other room. "Change it to a conventional round… Yes, than it would be far more similar to Tau designs; but it is not worthy of an Astartes." He clenched his hands only slightly, and the weapon began to crack under the pressure. "Conventional weaponry…" He began drawing schematics within his mind.
I stood over the wounded Quarian, looking into its' emotionless visor. The doctor had left her charge alone for the night cycle, leaving empty medical material were scattered about. Including that of our own design. "Your race always intrigued me, xeno. I rather enjoyed facing you, you seemed so human at times. At times it was a shame you weren't. Your race was ingenious, if you were to live for ten millennia before we put you to the torch; you would have made a true rival in the galaxy."
They stood at our height in their tan armor, despite their headless design with only a black pain of glass knowing that they were indeed crewed. "Magos, we are ready to carry out our task." Ahriman spoke over the vox. The white marble room that we stood guard over was clustered by hundreds of xenos, and mechanicum personnel. 'Negotiations' had been occurring for months, going in endless loops of demands on both sides. They were stubborn both in, and out of the battlefield. Minor skirmishes had occurred between the Imperium, and their so called 'Republic'; from the defense forces reports, they shrugged off autogun rounds. Our temporary treaty was only to call forth a legion to force any demand we desired.
Looking into their soulless lens, I was impressed by their rumored and ill-informed determination; and I wondered how long it would last when the full might of our legion is brought down upon them. I had seen their diplomats in full for a few moments, apparently each world was represented by seven xenos; and that the central government was held by five of their kind. A xeno walked up to me in my terminator plate, and spoke in its' tongue. I looked at it, wearing a relatively tightfitting outfit with purple robes. Oddly making the xeno, which aside from its limbs and what would be an equivalent to an ear, look almost human with grey skin. And yet it was also almost like a techpriest in apparel. "Apologies…" A techpriest spoke to me, a translation servitor following him. "Diplomat, it is not ceremonial to speak to a noble member of his legions." I heard the hatred in his voice, it was amusing to think that they dislike this as much as we do.
"I wonder what Magnus thinks of this situation?" I spoke to a Techmarine known as Laudren. "Surly he knows how this will end." I looked at the xenos armored guards, their three pronged long rifles slung over their shoulders.
"Ahriman seems to enjoy this?" He spoke back.
I glanced to my captain, whilst he's walking amongst their central political figures. "He doesn't, he's learning about our foe more than anything else. He's spending more time with their higher ranks, he's learning which to kill first." I looked at my combi-bolter, wondering how well their armor will hold against the torrent of firepower. "I know that Magnus, and Ahriman have no doubt foreseen how long our campaign will last."
The hulking form of the magos-explorator appeared, orbited by servo-skulls. He approached the center of the room. "For months now, we've permitted these xenos peaceful entry into our imperium; as our sub servants. And now they refuse our kindness, they refused a second chance. I humbly request the justice be delivered by the XV legion." He walked towards our side of the hall, his techpriests following; and their elite Thallax, and Skitarii cohorts entered. The Vanguard opened fire, and I noticed something about their shots making contact with their soldiers; a blue field appeared, rending their rounds worthless. Yet the Thallax las weapons seemingly ignored this. The xenos retaliated, their rifle rounds leaving behind a trail of displaced air. The large, spike like rounds destroying the exquisite pillars. A shot managed to make contact with a Thallax unit, the lucky shot destroying the organic brain of the machine. Three of their soldiers fired upon me, two ricocheting of my armor; the other piercing the initial layer of ceramite, only to be halted by adamantium. One of my nearby brothers were not as lucky, as the rifles amazingly penetrated his armor; yet would refuse to leave it, causing the spikes to be held firmly in his flesh.
Our bolters opened fire, tearing into the small honor guard. Yet it was their screams that was truly memorable. Burning alive, liquidated, crushed within their armor. It was over, the first engagement usually is what makes the history books; and yet this was not noteworthy. I loomed over one of the xenos, its armor ruptured leaving it like a parasite trying to leave a dying host. It stared at me with its' white eyes. It held up its' free arm, pleading for mercy in its' tongue. I wrapped my hand around its neck, lifting it up and rending its trapped leg and arm. "Keelah se'lai, bosh'tet!" It yelled as it thrusted a knife towards my neck joint. The blade shattered upon my gorget, its eyes still showing a mixture of terror and rage. I was in some regards impressed, most give up in this state; and yet despite the distance it still reached for a grenade from its suit. I dropped it to the ground, aimed my bolter and granted it a swift death.
"Let us have a swift campaign, and return to Prospero." Ahriman spoke over the vox as we formed behind him. I looked at my fallen brother, limp and motionless. To do this, they will pay; but to do such a feat as falling an Astartes so quickly.
"It's a shame your race was not prepared for war, perhaps you may have been worthy for the history books outside of Prospero." I placed my hand on the surgical table. "Don't humiliate your future with your death, I may no longer view you as a decent foe."
It was the same dream every night for the past three days. Yet it couldn't be a dream. Rage, and sorrow, with powerful beings laughing and planning; men, and gods alike. Eyes of emerald, and a fiery serpent; both scholars and warriors.
It was fragmented, meaningless it seemed. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but no one sane could think up the burning cities with practically rivers of blood. Yet again, that's what Illium's turning into. Murders, riots, disease it's as if the lower city were now creatures from some old human novel. Her omni-tool activated. '5 new messages' it read. All from her kid sister. All were filled with concern, and wondering when she'd return to the Citadel.
It was a fair question. This acquisition job had been nothing but a wild goose chase; leading down more and more dangerous clientele. The rising sun lighting the cheap rental apartment. Showing the dark, almost run down room even more; she heard that a human would refer to it as 'noir like', clueless to the actual meaning. Her omni-tool flared to life again.
'Vetra, Drack is heading to Illium. If it's as bad as the media's making it out to be, he'll help.' It was sent by Kesh, causing her to sigh with relief. She'd only managed to get this far through sheer luck. She had to head to the lower city three times, and the undercity once. Each time she was almost killed by the roving bands of 'rioters', so perhaps having an old Krogan may help massively; but it also throws subtlety out the window. She collapsed her cyclone rifle. "This is going to be a long week." She muttered to herself as she opened the door to leave.
A firm knock could be heard, rousing Shepard from his sleep. He prayed that it wasn't any of the Astartes, or 'Skitarii'. "Shepard." The familiar voice of Dr. Chakwas had eased him significantly. "It's about Tali." His ease ceased at these words, in fact it almost shattered his heart.
"Come in." He said.
The door hissed open. "I checked on Tali at 3 AM." She began. "I have two things to report." Shepard braced himself for the worse. "Tali's going to make it."
"She is?" Surprise and joy filled his voice.
"It's not due to my work however. She would be dead, if not for whatever that field medic injected her with."
"I suppose I'll have to extend my gratitude?"
"You don't understand Shepard. They say they're human, yes?"
Shepard was suddenly confused by this. "Yes, they claim that they're human."
"Then why is it that they're medicine is a hybrid dextro based? Only medi-gel has that characteristic. And if they're human, and xenophobic why would they have hybrid medicine?"
"Sorry Doc, but could you get to the point?"
"I took a sample from what they called a 'stim', nothing could be replicated. Because it's thousands of years ahead in every way. Any synthetic organic component however is similar to things we've encountered across the galaxy. Mordin helped confirm this…"
"Are you saying they're from the future or something?"
"That would be absurd, but we have no other possible hypothesis. Unless everything devolved." Chakwas concluded.
"Thank you." Shepard said, trying to digest this 'absurd' possibility.
"My lord, I have concluded one of my tasks. The schedule for this ship has been created." Oxian reported.
The sorcerer nodded as he looked through his grimoire. "What of armaments?"
"I have drawn several designs, based on heavy stubbers mostly. I wish to apologize, I would have to search for additional components for the potential of las weaponry. As for Master Gahiji, would an autocannon suffice for a total rearmament?"
"It would Oxian, the agent known as Lawson will assist you with material; do remember that."
"I do my lord." A moment of silence was had. "The Skitarii have repurposed a section of the cargo bay for training. I also wish for your permission to repurpose Vanguard-99 into a Thallax unit. Along with deconstruction Alpha-23 for spare parts."
"Do so Oxian. If you're able, see that the Krogan aboard this vessel receives a cybernetic limb." He also handed the black metal that he took from the tomb. "Convert this to a blade as well."
"May inspect your wound?" Oxian abruptly asked.
"It's fine…"
"I will need proper measurements for repairing your armor, the illusion that you're casting to the crew won't stop an actual round." The sorcerer nodded as the large form of the techpriest approached. It was a lucky shot, the black carapace halting further carnage. "My lord, your wound is slow to heal." Oxian noted the mutated flesh around the wound had staunched any bleeding, but refused to fully close.
"Another scar for now then." The Astartes growled. "Just measure how much ceramite you'll need." He looked at a line of parchment adorned with runes, and began to laugh. "So, it would seem someone of interest was watching us."
"My lord?"
"Did I ever tell you of my experiments with demonology?" The techpriest tilted his head slightly at his question. "Half a millennia before you pledged yourself to me, I rather oddly enjoyed it. I also learnt quite a decent amount of knowledge from what a 'liberated' from the Inquisition. Know a name, and oddly you know a daemon." Oxian continued his measurements. "It was odd that such a being would pledge itself to me… All I had to do was provide it a host. And all it needed was someone to read its' name, someone even slightly connected to the warp." He pointed to the parchment. "It made me into a walking daemon bomb, yet it was smart enough to wait. Until now, now it found someone who will serve Tzeentch quite well." Even with his helmet on, Oxian felt that he was grinning ear to ear. "Let us hope it keeps up its end of the bargain."
Author's Notes:
"At long last after ten millennia!"
Joking aside. The documents that contained this, along with two additional chapters became corrupt! So expect delays, along with varying quality and seemingly condensed story; sorry about that.
Edit: A friend pointed out that 'Skitarii speak' of using greater than or less than signs doesn't work. So just fixing that...
