Nightmares
A Collector Ship…just hanging bare-assed in space for the taking…and we were the first ones to catch it. Maybe I'd thank the Illusive Man later, but then it'd probably get to his head…if he still has a brain up there. Anything is possible with eyes like that.
Shepard had everyone suit up and head to the briefing room, likely to run through a plan for scraping up every bit of intel we could on the bugs. I didn't blame his caution. This just seemed far too good to be true. Although, I was looking forward to seeing everyone in action at once, as well as the chance to shoot something without any kind of regret. Geth were nice, but they didn't give off the "we're here to murder everyone you love" vibe like the Collectors did. Tali would likely disagree, but it was understandable. I didn't grow up with the stories of how the geth seized Rannoch being drilled into my head.
Shepard was clad in N7 armor, looking prepared to win a war all on his own, and he's likely the only man in the galaxy who could actually live up to that.
"Listen up," he called out, and the room fell silent. "The Collectors slipped up and gave us a chance to learn more about them. I'm not taking any chances, so all hands will be on deck for this mission.
"Due to the size of the ship, we won't be able to cover every part of it, but EDI has compiled the most effective route for us," he pulled up an image of the ship in the middle of the table. "EDI, take it away."
I always liked EDI, especially before Tali had come aboard. While she was a shackled AI, she had a knack for humor, and the conversations we held were very enjoyable. Plus, she made functions around the ship infinitely easier, saving me from doing some of the dirtier jobs in Engineering.
"You will need to access the control chamber, here," she pointed out, and the image lit up with a dot on our destination. "There you will be able to establish a connection for me to begin extracting data."
"Right," Shepard confirmed. "I'll take a squad of six through the route, while Jacob will be in charge of the contingent covering our escape should we need it."
Jacob nodded. "We won't let you down, Commander."
"How will you divide the groups?" Miranda asked, equipped with black and yellow Cerberus battle armor.
Shepard paused and looked around, which made me figure he was not entirely sure as of yet. His eyes locked on Garrus, which wasn't surprising. "Garrus, Grunt, and Tali are with me. Zaeed, Samara, and Jack, you're with Jacob."
That just left Thane, Miranda, Mordin, and myself unaccounted for. Personally, I wanted nothing more than to go with Shepard, but I had a feeling that Miranda would be coming with me. Even so, I had heard the story about what she had done for her sister…which, I'll admit, opened my eyes to what she might be. Nevertheless, I still hate Cerberus.
"Mordin, I'm going to have you stay behind and work medical for Jacob's team. Keep them alive," he continued
"Of course, Shepard. Has to be me," Mordin accepted.
Shepard's eyes then panned between myself and Miranda, and that worried me. I wasn't prepared to deal with the prospect of not being picked over her.
"You two aren't going to have a problem, are you?" he asked. Miranda and I locked glances, and my instinct was to glare, but that would only give Shepard an excuse not to take me, so I managed to refrain.
"Absolutely not," she answered. "This is too important to let personal feelings get in the way."
I narrowed my eyes, mainly because I knew she was taking a shot at me, while unintentionally giving me a way out.
I nodded. "What she said."
Shepard hesitated for a moment, but eventually broke. "Alright, you two are with me then. Which means I'll need you, Thane, with the escape team."
Perfect. Just what I wanted…to be stuck with the Cerberus bitch-fit on a Collector ship, which could very well be the most dangerous thing I've ever done, and I had to deal with her.
No, stop losing your head in the negatives. I mentally slapped myself in the wrist, and then directed my thoughts towards what I had. Our team was full of my favorites: The Boss, Grunt, Shepard, and of course, Tali.
Maybe this'll turn out alright.
Just don't lose your cool.
Yes, conscience, thank you. You can shut up now.
Shepard flicked his head forward. "Everyone file into the shuttle. We leave in five."
Everything about this place seemed wrong. The walls were made of something I could only compare to stone, and yet it was held together in the form of an interstellar vessel. How it worked, I wasn't sure, and I had more pressing matters to worry about anyway. Eerie sounds could be heard echoing through the quiet halls that the six of us carefully traversed…odd clicking…along with some things you'd hear in a nightmare.
I kept my eyes scanning the area with my Viper at the ready, trailing behind Shepard and Garrus who had taken point. Tali and Miranda were on either side of me, while Grunt held up the rear, and I could almost feel the anticipation for battle emanating from the krogan.
It had been a horrifically quiet 15 minutes since we had split off from Jacob's group, who was stationed back at the shuttle and stood by for orders. The ship was completely empty through the ground we had covered, and it was beginning to seem too good to be true. Nothing involving the Collectors had ever been easy thus far, and it was too convenient for it to stop now.
Grunt huffed with impatience. "Where are they? I need something to kill!"
"Relax, Grunt," Shepard eased through his N7 helmet, Avenger pointed forward.
"It's only a matter of time," Garrus added.
We progressed until we had come across an odd disturbance, which at closer examination, turned out to be a pile of mangled human bodies. Dead bodies were by no means anything new to me, but there was something unsettling about it…maybe it was the atmosphere, but I just couldn't shake a feeling of twisted evil.
Shepard stopped to observe, taking a knee, while Grunt pulled up next to him.
"Lots of dead meat," the krogan noted, which was a strange comment, but not as surprising coming from him.
My eyes flashed to Tali at my side, who looked slightly flustered at the sight, based off her uncomfortable body language.
"Why would the Collectors leave a pile of bodies lying around?" Garrus asked.
Miranda crossed her arms. "Testing perhaps? It's possible they may have been trying to improve the effectiveness of seeker swarms…or…," she trailed off, likely because she realized she had no idea what she was talking about.
"Or whatever else these bastards please themselves with," I growled, the odd feeling beginning to get on my nerves. "Can't wait to do the same thing to them."
Grunt turned in my direction and laughed. "Heh-heh-heh."
Shepard returned to a standing posture. "Bad way to go…come on, let's keep moving."
I just wanted those bugs to die…their "inhumanity" was primitive and unjustified, and thus all they deserved was destruction. Nothing more.
After only a few minutes of walking, we came across what looked like a lab of some sorts; the test tubes mostly empty apart from one. That one…was filled with a Collector.
Garrus raised a brow. "Were they experimenting on one of their own?" he asked.
Shepard took a look before tapping into his communicator in his helmet. "EDI, I'm sending you the data in this console. See what you can find."
EDI had been linked up to all of our helmets, so her response came in through my own communicator. "Data received. Analyzing.
"The Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their species and humanity."
"Are they looking for similarities?" Shepard asked.
"I have no hypothesis on their motivations. All I have are the preliminary results…they reveal something remarkable," EDI filled in. "A quad-strand genetic structure, identical to traces found in ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: the Protheans."
I had no idea what that meant, or how EDI came to that conclusion, but it nonetheless took me by surprise. These…things…these bugs…they were the Protheans before?
"My god…," Shepard gasped. "The Protheans didn't vanish…they're just working for the Reapers now!"
The Reapers…right…the race of sentient machines apparently waiting to wipe us all from the face of the galaxy in dark space. Sovereign, which I had only known to be Saren's flagship, was one of them…and he had thousands more waiting.
Or so Garrus told me a few days ago.
It's not that I don't believe him, since I've learned that doubting Shepard never ends up working out well, it's just the timing of it all. Why are we still here if the Reapers had already rolled through? It just didn't make any sense…or maybe I just didn't want to believe it.
"These are no longer Protheans, Shepard. Their genes show signs of extensive genetic rewrite. The Reapers have repurposed them to suit their needs."
"The Reapers didn't wipe out the Protheans. They turned them into monsters and enslaved them," Shepard concluded, before turning to us. "Still, they're working for the Reapers now, and we have to stop them."
Tali sighed, shaking her head. "No species should have to suffer through that."
"Let's find what we need before the Collectors come to salvage this vessel. Move out," Shepard commanded, and we were back on the move.
There wasn't much that made me look away, but experimentation on living subjects was always something that bothered me. The immorality of it all made me shudder at the mere thought of the practice. It must've peered through, because Tali suddenly had her eyes locked on me while we followed Shepard.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Normally, I'd say I hate it when people suddenly become overly concerned about my wellbeing, mainly because of my cynical view on people in general. Omega was notorious for double-dealers and backstabbers, so I had just naturally attained an affinity for assuming the worst in people.
Tali was different, and it was beginning to stop surprising me.
"I'm fine, thanks," I replied, shaking it off.
Apparently, this ship was the same one that had destroyed Shepard's original Normandy, as EDI revealed. To think that the Collectors had been gunning for Shepard since the beginning, I'd call it overkill, but maybe it wasn't enough…judging by the fact that he's still here.
We reached the central terminal that had been highlighted back on the ship, somehow still not running into a single Collector. My senses were beginning to tingle, and a bad feeling followed…a feeling that had saved my life on countless occasions. The Central Chamber was massive, filled with thousands of pods for holding their victims…and I could feel the fear of being trapped in one build.
I shook my head and groaned as Shepard approached the terminal. "Something doesn't seem right Commander…I've got a bad feeling about this."
"I agree," Miranda threw in. "This is too easy."
"Relax, you two," Shepard eased, running through the function of the console. "But stay sharp."
The next few minutes began calmly, until our entire platform shook once Shepard had linked the terminal with EDI. Everyone looked around in confusion until bullets began ripping through the air. The initial burst was held at bay by my kinetic barriers, but a high-caliber sniper round ripped right through them, tearing through my armor and ripping my flesh to shreds as it buried itself in my left shoulder. I screamed in pain, instinctively diving below to avoid any more enemy fire. My hearing was filled with the sound of gunfire, followed by a frantic Shepard shouting out orders.
"Take cover and spread out!" he shouted.
I could hear Tali screaming next. "Kibo's hit!"
"He'll live!" Garrus shouted back.
"Suppressing fire, now!" Shepard continued, his Avenger roaring in retaliation, followed by the sounds of Collectors screeching in defeat.
The pain wasn't stopping, but my tolerance for it was definitely above average, and I fought through each wave with grit teeth. My eyes panned over to the wound, my gloved hand covered in crimson blood where I had tried to minimize the bleeding. I was lucky…a few inches down and it would've severed a major artery, basically rendering my arm useless.
Grunt was roaring in the midst of battle as he gunned down multiple Collectors at once, but the enemy fire hadn't eased for a moment.
"EDI, get us the hell out of here!" Shepard shouted, which I figured he was referring to the control of the terminal.
"I am simultaneously fighting threats on over 8000 firewalls. I am tasked to capacity," she responded through our helmets.
Shepard grumbled in annoyance, but took a glance down at me, seeing the blood from my wound begin to puddle on the platform. "Miranda! See what you can do about Kibo's wound!"
"Right!" she shouted over the gunfire, and then proceeded to run to my side, taking a knee while Garrus and Tali gave her covering fire.
"Is he alright?" Tali asked.
I moved my hand away from the wound, allowing Miranda to get a look at what she was dealing with. On cue, she pulled up her omni-tool and held it up to my shoulder, applying medi-gel. Numbness swept through the area, and I groaned in relief from the effect.
"He'll be fine!" she replied, with her work finished.
"Thanks," I said, albeit a little embarrassed she had to bail me out.
"Don't mention it."
She was back up and fighting in no time, but I was still stuck behind cover. The numbing effect of medi-gel made precise motor movements in my arm virtually impossible, so using my sniper rifle to retaliate was out of the question. It was extraordinarily frustrating not being able to fight back, especially after such a cheap shot like that.
Even so, EDI was soon able to regain control of the terminal, and the others cleared out the last of the Collectors just in time. With the threat passed, and Shepard reaffirming control of the platform we were standing on, my adrenaline had finally worn out. If it weren't for the medi-gel I probably would've screamed from the influx of pain that came, but it had done its job…thanks to Miranda. She had helped me…without hesitation…albeit on Shepard's orders, but nonetheless.
Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.
Tali was in my face before I could even stand. "Are you ok?" she asked.
I nodded as she helped me up. "Yeah…ugh…I'm fine."
She didn't seem convinced. "When I saw your barriers go down I-,"
"Tali," I cut her off, grasping her shoulder. "I'm fine." Luckily, she got the message and nodded, her shoulders and body language loosening up soon after. She just looked away however, which made me feel bad.
"Thanks for asking," I added, and she turned back, giving me a nod.
During our exchange, Shepard had linked EDI back into full control. "I knew you could do it EDI," he praised.
"I always work at optimal capacity," she responded, and suddenly the platform we were standing on began to levitate through the area.
"Did you get what we needed?" Shepard asked.
"I found data that would successfully navigate the Omega 4 relay," she relayed. "I have also found the turian distress call that served as the lure for this trap. The Collectors were the source. It is unusual."
The platform reached its destination with a thud, and I found myself struggling to regain my footing.
"Seems logical to me that they would have sent the initial message as bait," Shepard deducted.
"No, it is unusual because turian emergency channels have secondary encryption. It is corrupted in the message. It is not possible that the Illusive Man would believe the distress call was genuine."
Shepard seemed intrigued, but I was beginning to piece it together myself. All this time, I knew to not trust Cerberus…and now we're learning that he was too incompetent to check the legitimacy of a distress call?
"Why are you so sure?" Shepard asked.
"I found the anomaly with Cerberus detection protocols. He wrote them."
Shepard erupted in a ball of fury. "That son of a bitch sent us right into Collector hands!"
Garrus sighed. "And here I thought I had my betrayal and attempted murder for this year."
I was infuriated…I knew something like this was going to happen…and yet here I am, stuck in the middle of a Cerberus trap. With building anger, and nowhere to put it, I turned to the most obvious outlet: Miranda.
"Looks like your boss left us all here to die!" I shouted. "You knew about this!"
She grit her teeth. "You really think I'd approve of walking into my own trap?! I didn't know anything about this!"
"Enough!" Shepard shouted, pulling us apart. "We'll figure this out later! We need to get out of here before we're overrun!"
I still wanted to vent out my frustrations, but Shepard knocked me back into my senses. No one was going to escape with the two of us shouting at each other.
Shepard tapped into his helmet. "Jacob! We're coming in hot! Make sure the shuttle is prepped to get us the hell out of here!"
"We're on it Shepard, but make it quick! We're getting a lot of movement back here!" Jacob responded.
Suddenly, a deafening buzzing sound started up behind us, and my eyes flashed back to spot a horde of seeker swarms gunning for us.
"Oh crap," Garrus gasped.
"Run!" Shepard shouted. "Move, now!"
The six of us broke off into a frantic run, our legs moving faster than they had since we set foot on this accursed ship. The seeker swarms were far too dense for Mordin's countermeasure to work, and being caught in that field meant death for anyone.
So we ran, as fast and as far away as we could.
The buzzing never stopped, and only seemed to inch closer with every step I took. My wound had been numbed by the medi-gel, but that didn't mean it wasn't getting worse with each turn and stretch of my skin, the ripped flesh giving way. I felt myself staggering as new pain emerged, the numbness being overpowered by my nervous system's will to let me know that my shoulder wasn't getting any better.
A dark, ominous voice sounded behind us as we ran.
Take Shepard and the male quarian. His immune system must be studied. Kill the rest.
Whatever that voice was, it was controlling the swarms, and it wanted me. It only enticed me to run faster…and in my panic, I became less aware of my surroundings.
We were nearly at the exit, and Jacob's team could be seen fighting off Collector drones at the end of the hallway, when my stumbling finally took root. My head hit the ground with enough force to knock an average being unconscious, but I was too stubborn to let that happen. Even so, the horrific buzzing began to overtake my hearing, and my nervous system broke through in that moment. Excruciating pain shot through my arm as the flesh tore itself once again, and I screamed. The others didn't have time to stop for me. If they did, then the swarms would only take them too, and losing one team member was better than two.
Even so, I grimaced in helplessness. Not like this.
A shotgun blast ripped through my hearing, and a firm grip pulled on my healthy shoulder. Tali's voice followed. "We're almost there Kibo! Come on!"
It was a boost of adrenaline. Suddenly the faces of my father, Garrus, and herself flashed before my eyes, and the pain stopped. I was back up on my feet in seconds, Tali running close behind. I could see the shuttle ahead, Jacob moving the escape team inside and waving his arms toward us. Grunt, who had ran ahead, jumped in first, followed by Garrus and Miranda, while Shepard stayed by the entrance for the two of us to reach him. With a last effort, I jumped into the shuttle, collapsing to the floor as the door shut behind Tali and the shuttle took off.
"Get us out of here, now!" Shepard commanded.
Before my vision faded to black, I heard her voice one last time.
"It's alright, Kibo. You're safe."
Senses rushed into me in a sudden flash, and my throat tensed as I emitted an unobstructed gasp. Next came light, and I shielded my eyes without the protection of a mask. After that, a hand.
"Relax, Victor," an aged female voice followed. "You're just waking up."
It took me a moment to realize that we were no longer on the Collector Ship…or that this was the afterlife. The face of Dr. Chakwas was disproof of that notion. Once it set in that I was in the Med Bay of the Normandy, I allowed myself to relax with a few breaths.
"You're safe now," Dr. Chakwas assured me. "You're just recovering."
I shook my head, allowing my head to lay back in the operating table I was lying on. "Wh-where…m-my mask."
"I needed to remove your armor to treat the gunshot wound you had sustained. The medi-gel patch job had either been insufficient, or whatever you had to do to escape made your wound worse," she explained. "You're lucky. Without your immunity you would've likely died from exposure to a foreign substance."
"Did everyone make it out?"
She nodded without hesitation. "Yes. You were the worst, luckily."
I sighed, relief flowing through to release the panic that was building. "Thank you, doctor."
"Not a problem Mr. Price, it's my job. Now, I'll just need to run a few more tests to make sure you have stabilized, and then you'll be free to go."
She didn't take long, and once she had finished, I was in the Med Bay alone, doing my best to get my suit back on. Everything was custom-fit to my specs, and yet as I returned each part, I couldn't help but feel more dissatisfied. The notion of self-imposed restriction was beginning to fade away inside me…but I instantly realized the dangerousness of that thought.
It's not fair. You're a quarian. This is just the way it is.
It didn't make it any easier, but it did enough to help me complete the task…at least most of it. The mask was the final piece, and it was the hardest to return. I could see the glow of my eyes reflect onto the scratched visor that had covered my face for so long…and it felt like the cell door closing. Maybe…maybe just…
The sound of the door opening shoved the thought from my brain, and my mask was back on my face in a state of instinct. I looked up, and saw my visitor.
It was Tali. She looked unharmed, albeit a little shaken, judging by her posture; hands clasped together in front of her, along with the favoring of one leg at a time as she swayed.
"Hey," she greeted quietly, approaching. I turned in the table, letting my legs dangle as I positioned myself sitting towards her.
"Hey," I replied, but my mask hadn't finished calibrating, so my voice was emitted in a jumbled, robotic tone. A few smacks with my hand seemed to knock it back into shape. "Sorry," I apologized, this time unaltered. "How are you?"
She stopped just in front of me, her eyes struggling to stay in one position behind the purple haze of her helmet. "I'm fine," she replied unconvincingly. "I got out unharmed."
I couldn't help but notice her disposition. "Physically, maybe, but I've got a feeling something else is bothering you. Did the Collectors spook you or something?"
Suddenly, her eyes slanted downwards and her arms crossed. "Really?" she asked, annoyed. "That's it?"
I froze, unsure of what I had done. "…Tali?"
"After what happened on that ship…you're acting like everything is…normal?!" she sounded off. "How can you be so calm?!"
I must've still been recovering, because nothing in my mind could answer as to why she was acting this way. "Tali…I…this is-,"
"You almost died Kibo!" she shouted, her mask almost meeting mine as she lunged forward. "The Collectors were going to take you, turn you into…whatever they're doing!"
I shook my head. "They didn't!"
"Ugh!" she groaned, turning away. "You're impossible!"
"Because of you," I finished.
She froze for a moment, and her frantic movement slowed. I continued, "You got me out of there, Tali. Everything worked out."
"It's not that simple," she denied.
"It is."
"No, Kibo, it's not!" she turned to face me once again. "You can't just brush something like this off anymore! You're too important…and when this mission is over…and I return to the fleet without-," she paused, the thought seeming to take a toll on her emotionally.
After a breath, she continued. "Admiral Gerrel knows you're with me."
I narrowed my eyes. "How did he-,"
"I don't know, but he knows. He sent me a message…telling me to do everything in my power to keep you alive so that you could return to the Migrant Fleet once our mission is complete. Me. The woman who couldn't even save her own father, has been tasked with protecting the last hope for any of us to watch a sunset without a mask. Me!" She then huffed, releasing the pressure that she had built during her outburst, and fell into one of the chairs nearby.
My head bowed…and just like when I had first met her, I had no idea what to say. There was no precedent present for me, and I didn't have any previous experience to get an angle at what she might be feeling.
"I-I don't know what to say…but what I do know is that you won't have to worry about me. I've been taking care of myself ever since my father died," I assured.
"This isn't a mission that you can survive alone. You-," she paused. "You can't be reckless. There's just too much at stake."
Something snapped inside me when she finished. "Listen to me. I don't belong to that Fleet!" I said sternly, and her head popped up in shock. "They didn't care about my safety when I was an infant, so why should they start caring now?!"
"I don't know!" she replied, unknowingly. "B-but you can't die, Kibo, you just can't. You're too important to our people."
I couldn't believe what she was saying. All this time I thought she and I had become good friends…but maybe it all was as a duty to her people. The thought threw me for a loop…and I just couldn't look at her anymore.
"I see what this is. You never cared about me. You just wanted to kiss my ass enough that I might come back to join your suicide war against the geth."
Tali looked as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "K-Kibo…I-I…that's not-,"
"I'm staying here," I stated, getting my things together. "I'm finishing this mission…but I am not going to be some pawn for your people."
I stormed out, not giving a backwards look…and revealing the hurt behind my mask.
Very rough chapter. I struggled with writer's block early on, otherwise I would've had this out sooner. This was a bit depressing, but necessary to shape the final two chapters of Part I. The next will introduce a very important character, along with a dilemma that will dictate the future issues of this story. Stay tuned.
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