"Tell me", the Senshi said, "What did they promise you?"
The Primaris made a noise. It was hard to tell what he said. Because Sailor Mercury, Guardian of Wisdom, was choking the life out of him.
Freezing rain hit the Guardians skin. She didn't seem to mind. She was shorter than Primaris Zouken. That's why she was dangling him over an ledge. So she could comfortably watch the light fade from his eyes despite their height difference.
"You thought that I'd ignore the battle on that Frozen world, didn't you Zouken. You thought that I was distracted. You were half right. I was distracted. That's why I tasked my A.I. to the Battles comm Network. Would you like to hear my personal opinion on the after action report?"
Zouken was turning blue. Right now he was just a shade lighter than Mercury's hair.
"And imagine my surprise, when I learned that Chaos was also infiltrating the enemies ranks. You engineered a blood bath. Tell my why? You can use his body", said the Senshi in low cold tone, "He won't need it".
She dropped the Primaris. His body fell and fell and fell towards the city scape below.
Mercury teleported. A flurry of snowflakes accompanied her arrival. And the primaris . . . was a mess. His bones were broken. He wasn't breathing. He no longer had eyelids. He no longer had eyes. Dark orbs of the purest black were where his eyes should be.
The abyss stared at Sailor Mercury. And she stared back.
"You're too late", the ground rumbled. The voice wasn't male or female. It creaked and shattered. Mercury didn't flinch. She knew this voice. She heard it in her dreams. And she knew its name.
"Perhaps I am", Mercury replied.
"The Blood from that battle will awaken her. The sailor of that world. I will crawl into her flesh. I will make her Mine. With that body I will destroy your worlds. I will make your galaxy burn."
Mercury raised an eyebrow, "You want to use Sailor Nunatak. Ah . . . because the previous Sailor Nunatak could process dark energy. How very Logical of you".
Mercury knelt down. She tilted her head.
The twisted thing that was once a man said, "You can't outhink this. You can't out last us. You are no match for Chaos Sailor Mercury"
"You're right", said the sailor, "I am no match for Chaos. Alone I wouldn't stand a Chance."
Sailor Mercury stood up and took a few steps back. Now the automated turret that guarded this street corner had a clear shot.
"But I'm not alone"
Hyper velocity ammunition tore into the writhing mound of flesh. Bones shattered, flesh tore, and sinews were ripped.
"According to my calculations . . . your form will survive another 9 seconds. Looks like the guns still need calibrations"
Shepard stood before the Citadel Council, in person. There were dark rings under his eyes. In the past Shepard was, well, one could possibly describe him as handsome. Or they could at least suggest that he possessed some sort of charm. That Shepard was gone.
He looked up with haunted heavy eyes. Like just looking at the councilors was a challenge. He had a gun in his hand. C-Sec couldn't take it off of him. They gave up after 30 minutes of struggle, a few broken bones, and few fits of heavy swearing. At one point they hit the commander with electro-concussive rounds to try and bring him down. That didn't even phase the man who once considered himself to be a hero.
"You called me back", Shepard said in a deep gravelly voice. His eyes flashed. His hands were shaking. His skin had a grayish tint to it. Like he was little more then walking corpse reanimated for some cruel plot. Technically, he was. But Miranda Lawson did good work. So he shouldn't have looked like this. Nothing that wore a mans face should look like the commander did today.
"We tried to contact you", the Salarian councilor said slowly. He spoke in sort of tone you'd use to coax a semi feral varren out of its cage. Shepard looked deep into the Salarians eyes. The Salarian saw fear. They saw anger and . . . somethings his language couldn't quite describe.
"I talked to the Leviathans", Shepard said, "and they showed me things"
The councilors exchanged looks. A door opened and two C-sec troopers stepped into the space. The Human C-Sec trooper had a nasty black eye. His weapon was aimed at the commanders knee's. The Turian C-sec trooper moved around around to try and get an angle on the commander. So he could get a shot off without threatening the councilors.
"Shepard", said the Turian Councilor, "You helped fight against the Reapers and you know that the Leviathans are capable of indoctrination. Do you think that there is chance they might have-"
Quentius couldn't finish that statement. Because the commander was laughing. It was ear splitting laughter. A sharp heaving uneven sort of sound that was hard to forget. The commander threw his head back. And somehow he laughed even louder.
The Deluge of laughter slowly subsided to a trickle. And the commanders face split into a macabre grin. " I WISH that's what happened councilor. I wish that I was possessed. That someone was controlling me. They didn't give me that luxury. And they gave me this".
Shepard tapped his omni tool. And the device projected things into the air. Messy horrific things.
A child torn in half by something with rows of mouths, and an world reduced to fleshy writhing vines, and a bizarre entity that sucked star like objects from the mouths of its victims. World burned and there were flashes of soldiers. The sort of Soldiers that the council had encountered during their skirmish with crystal tokyo. These soldiers were ripped limb from limb and they rib cages burst open and things crawled and writhed around in their entrails.
Mothers held tight to their children, and then their faces split open to reveal rows of teeth that surely had not been there before. They devoured their young whole. And then they tore off their own limbs to devour those too.
A star turning read and then collapsing in on itself. A sea stained with blood. A mountain of writhing dead. There was no sound. Thank the Spirits for that. But the sight of all this, made even the Turians stomach turn.
The counselor was no stranger to horrors. He lived through the reaper war. But the reapers still had to follow the laws of physics. Even their terrors had to follow them. Those images . . . they couldn't be explained away by any rule or law that existed within reality. It was almost like-
"Irissa", the Turian councilor said, "Did you get those files I sent you"
The Asari councilor didn't give a verbal response. Instead her posture shifted ever so slightly.
Quentius sighed. He then cleared his throat and announced, "We took that small ice world called Nunatak a few months ago. We took disproportionate casualties. And when we brought our dead back to give them proper burials . . . there was an incident"
The lights went out. The temperature in the room dropped. And then there was a harsh crack. The Sound of Ice breaking. When the lights came back on, an young woman was standing between Shepherd and the Council. The woman had blue hair, blue eyes, and she wore a strange sort of uniform.
"I apologize for the interruption", the Woman Said, "My name is Sailor Mercury. And I'm afraid that you are all in terrible terrible danger".
