Disclaimer: I do declare that I do not in any way own the Mass Effect Game Series, including the plot and any of its characters. They are all owned by Bioware sadly, but I do admit to own some of my own created material for the purpose of this story including new characters and items. With this said I do not have any money to give any lawyers and money I have is for my savings. Thank you.
Mass Effect: Revival
Part One of the Lazarus Rising Series
An Alternative Universe Story,
Based in the Mass Effect Universe
Written by,
William R. Woods
"Deathzealot"
"Deathzealotzero"
Chapter Six: Armory
The M-96 Mattock Heavy Rifle is a human-designed assault rifle that was developed soon after the discovery of the Prothean Ruins on Mars and Mass Effect technology. Therefore it comes to no surprise that thanks to humanity's little experience in Mass Effect the Mattock sports not only a large recoil kickback but a very high damage potential due to the large slug it fires. Therefore it has since become a favorite of many groups including Alliance Colonial Militia units and a few low-key mercenary groups. It has become quite famous after it was discovered that Commander Shepard favorite rifle is the Mattock and she used one during her hunt for Saren…
· Taken from Armax Arsenal Gun Catalog
Station Core
Safehold Freeport Station
Lagrange Point, Planet Valern
Anadius System, Horsehead Nebula
With a clear purpose Shepard walked out of the Director's office before looking around to find a figure wearing a similar uniform to her mother's waiting for her by the security station. She quickly made a bee-line for the figure noticing it was a short-red haired woman with a perky expression. As she approached Shepard eyed the woman with a small smile on her face for she liked what she saw but quickly shook her head and put those thoughts away for she had a mission. She finally stopped in the front of the woman making her straighten up to attention before saluting.
"Ma'am! I am Yeoman Kelly Chambers the Director's current personal assistant I was told to lead you to the main armory where we can get you suited up and ready for your new mission. Please follow me," the woman mentioned making Shepard nod at her before waving towards the security station.
"Lead on Yeoman," she ordered letting the woman lead her through the security station which once more waved them through without much fuss before quickly boarding the same tram station that took her to the Station Core. It didn't take long this time for the tram to travel to this armory. As they went Shepard eyed the other woman who started to look at something displayed on her omni-tool before looking up at her with a perky and beaming smile making Shepard sigh. Finally after a few minutes she noticed the tram slowing down as it started to come to a stop.
"If you follow me ma'am the main armory is right around the corner," Chambers said getting out from her seat waving for the door still in that perky voice of hers. Shepard only nodded at her before following behind and through the tram's doors.
Main Armory
D Block, Freeport Station
With the soft whine the doors to the armory sled open allowing Shepard to blink in sheer shock at the armory displayed before her. For while it did look similar to other armories she had seen in her career, she was shocked to see an opened airlock door on the other end of the large room giving everyone in the room an awesome view of the Gas Giant Valern. A slight shimmer could be seen indicting a mass effect field was active and most likely the only thing holding the armory's atmosphere in. She could only stare in shock at this before turning to look around the armory seeing everyone busy loading up a small zero-gee cargo sled that was by the airlock and most likely the reason for it to be opened like this. She blinked as she noticed her escort moving past her shocked form and towards a short, stout man talking with another man in a civilian grade space encounter suit. As they approached the two men Shepard was again surprised to see a familiar face on the stout man.
"Well look at this everyone our great hero has returned," the man called out with a smirk as he turned at their approach before turning to nod at Chambers who saluted and left the armory behind. He then briefly turned his attention to the other man that had been standing with him.
"That will be all Perkins make sure everything on that list is stowed away on the ship," he ordered making the other man salute with a nod before turning around and heading towards the cargo sled while slipping his helmet onto his head as he went.
"Rory Swann. Well this is a surprise though I shouldn't be really for it is the day for reunions for old friends," Shepard said with a shake of her head before shaking the man's hand noticing the other hand was no longer a clunky metal multi-tool that it had been after the man's accident and was currently a brand-new top-of-line prosthetic that resembled a normal hand. That said it had been a while since she had seen the man for he had been armory chief on-board the Marine Assault Ship Krulak for a couple years. Though it would be thanks to this man that she managed to get several modified Mattock rifles for the Normandy after she was made a Specter and received command of the ship. Though she really shouldn't be surprised he is now a member of Lazarus for he was a outspoken critic of the Alliance Defense Council.
"I heard you meet up with Ms. Williams, and I must say you trained her well for she and I have come up with some nice toys for the use of Lazarus," Swann answered with a smile with a nod to one of the armory's large weapon lockers which Shepard was surprised to see were filled with a few dozen examples of a modified example of the Mattock along with a few other weapons that she didn't know. She shook her head with a smile at this before turning her attention back to Swann.
"What do you have for me then Swann?" she asked making the man chuckle a bit before leading her over to a nearby weapon bench. On said bench were four weapons one she clearly knew to be a Mattock, and another she immediately recognized as a M-300 Claymore Shotgun which she became familiar with thanks to her time with Urdnot Wrex who was a fan of the design. She chuckled at that for the two had quickly bonded over their favorite weapons, the Mattock for her, and the Claymore for him. In fact Wrex had started to carry his own modified Mattock soon after he seen her using it during those first missions after receiving her Specter status. The other two weapons she wasn't that quite familiar with though one she thought looked Salarian.
"Well Cowgirl we have a newly modified M-96A6 Mattock Heavy Rifle as your primary weapon and rifle. It has been vastly modified from normal, including a new gyro system that helps prevent heavy recoil which allows the weapon to sport not only its normal single-shot mode but now sporting the ability to fire a short three-shot burst. A 5x Scope has been added to the top of the weapon, which can either be used as normal or linked to your helmet's display. The final modification is something quite different from any other modified Mattock," the man explained picking up the rifle showing her different parts of the weapons as he explained them. Shepard couldn't but smile in pleasure at she eyed the weapon. Finally Swann tapped a component built along the bottom of the weapon and suddenly grinned evilly as he looked up at her.
"This particular feature is a newly designed heat-sink that while doesn't completely act like the older internal heat-sinks still help cool the weapon enough to allow it to fire a bit more before needing to replace the thermal clip. Which I am sure you aware is one of the main flaws of a Thermal Clip equipped Mattock is that you normally have around ninety-six shots before you need to replace the clip. With this new heat sink you can fire twice that before replacing the clip," the man finished making her blink in surprise before chuckling evilly herself at this as she eyed the rifle.
"Oh you and I are going to have so much fun together," she said to the rifle itself much to amusement of Swann before he put the rifle down and picking up the white Salarian looking pistol.
"Now this baby here is a STG-P3 Scorpion Pistol, and it is one of the more unique Mass Effect-based weapons I have ever seen in my career. We managed to receive several of these from an unknown contact in the STG who said he was an old friend of yours. We really don't know how the guy figured out we were bringing you back and you would be joining us but still it is a one-of-kind weapon that many of the troopers would love to carry," Swann explained as he looked down at the weapon in his hands with a sigh. Shepard frowned at this trying to think of anyone she knew in the STG who could say was a friend of hers before shaking her head and bringing her attention back to Swann.
"Alright what does it do then Swann?" she asked noticing the man literally petting the pistol with a evil chuckle. Her question quickly jolted him out of his trance before coughing into his hand and tapping the top of the pistol which glowed strange light blue color.
"At first you have to understand it is not a true mass accelerator weapon instead it fires small explosives that can stick to either an enemy combatant or any surface. When attaching to a simple surface it acts like a proximity charge going off when an enemy gets into range, while it simply explodes a few seconds after attaching to an enemy," Swann managed to say with the same evil grin making Shepard's jaw drop in surprise for she had heard of similar weapons in the past firing explosive charges, but not in a small pistol format as this one.
"How does it carry the charges for it doesn't look like it has space to carry them really?" she asked eying the pistol. Swann only laughed before tapping the glowing part once more before he easily snapped the part off showing it to her.
"It actually doesn't carry the charges internally instead instead it uses omni-gel from this cell to flash-forge the charges and each cell is able to build about sixty of the charges. The cells are also small enough that you can carry more then enough to last for awhile," Swann mentioned snapping the cell back into place onto the weapon while Shepard once again picked her jaw from the floor. For while she was aware of top-of-line combat omni-tools were capable of doing the same thing with omni-gel, she had never even heard of something the size of a pistol capable of that. She shook her head before eying the pistol with a small smile.
"I believe I can understand why everyone loves it for it for it would make a good secondary weapon for me," Shepard replied watching as Swann placed it back onto the weapon bench with a chuckle before he picked up the third weapon, the M-300 Claymore.
"Alright I am sure you are quite familiar with this weapon. Unlike the one you used during your hunt for Saren it is not scaled for humans. Instead it sports a similar gyro to your Mattock which prevents the recoil from snapping your bones when you fire it. Though it still will kick very hard even with the gyro so be warned," Swann explained making Shepard look impressed like he mentioned the Claymore she carried during the hunt for Saren was built from scratch for the use of humans and while it did not sport the heavy firepower of the original it still was quite powerful when compared to other human-built shotguns. Therefore having one that was still built for krogan but with a built-in gyro like that would give her some great close-range firepower when she needed it. Swann nodded at her before moving to the final weapon on the bench.
"Now we have this beauty, the M-11 Suppressor which is a pistol built entirely for stealth killing from the ground up. It doesn't have the bark of a normal pistol making it more of a whisper, it also fires a larger round then normal pistols. Basically I remembered your distaste for the suppressor kit for the M-2 and the M-5, and figured you will need a better weapon when you needed a bit more stealth during a mission. That said you really don't know where I managed to get that for these guys are quite rare and I personally have only seen around a handful in my career," Swann mentioned as he eyed the weapon before shaking his head and putting back onto the bench. Shepard meanwhile was the eying the weapon a bit more respect then she did before for Swann was right she never liked the modular suppressor attachment for the older M-2 Karpov or the newer M-5 Phalanx heavy pistol. They were clunky things that didn't really suppress the sound of the pistol all that much and only weighed the gun down.
"Now before we move on anymore questions for me?" Swann asked turning away from the weapon's bench. Shepard blinked before eying the rifles lined up in the nearby weapon locker before turning back to Swann.
"I take it those rifles are for the troops then Swann?" she asked nodding to the arms locker making the man beam with pride before move over to another gun bench which had one of those rifles half-dissembled on it.
"The M-95 Harrier was a joint project between myself and Lieutenant Williams. It is basically a mass produced counter-part to your older Mattock rifle. It sports the same gyro of your new Mattock, but not the new heat sink or scope. It sports three firing modes, three-round burst, single-shot, and semi-automatic fire. The Harrier has the same hitting power of the Mattock but can be used by those not used to the Mattock's disadvantages. It has become quite a favorite of the troops thanks to this and some of the former Alliance Marines have compared it to the old M-7 Lancer in ease of use but still sporting a hefty punch," Swann explained as he finished assembling the rifle making Shepard nod pleased that any troops she commanded in the field would have about the same firepower she sported with these guns.
"I take it these are new for I didn't see any when I was on board Minutemen Station?" Shepard asked for she didn't remember seeing any on the bodies of the security troops she had seen or in the hands of the handful of Lazarus Troops she saw in the shuttle hanger.
"Yeah these have only started to roll off the production lines during the last few days though the grunts have been practicing with those heavily modified Mattocks you most likely saw on the station. Therefore they should easily transfer over to the new Harriers with no trouble," he explained as he set the finished rifle onto the bench and turned back towards her.
"That said Cowgirl any other questions you have for me?" he asked nodding to the same weapon lockers she had been eying earlier.
"Yeah one more. What sort of have heavy weapons will the troops carry when they need them Swann?" she asked remembering the M-100 Grenade Launcher she had used during her escape from the station. Swann blinked at this before chuckling a bit before heading over to one of the other nearby weapon lockers that was locked shut before he quickly opened it showing off several ML-77 Missile Launchers lined up neatly in the locker.
"For heavy weapons we brought back the old ML-77 missile launchers that along with a handful of the smaller M-100 Grenade Launchers are quite a powerful addition to the troops if they need them. However for the extreme heavy metal, well I am sorry to say we don't have any in this armory right now but I am sure you will be able to see it later," Swann explained making Shepard nod in pleasure knowing if they ran into something like a Geth Armature or another armored vehicle they could engage with heavy weapons if needed. Though she wondered about this heavy metal Swann had mentioned but didn't push the man for the look in the man's eye said enough that whatever it was it would be good.
"Alright I believe that is all of the question I have for you Swann. That said what sort of armor do you have for me?" she asked the man nodding to the armor lockers that were opposite of the weapon lockers. The man could only cackle in glee at this before leading her over to the mentioned armor lockers and stopping in front of one which sported a simple N7 flash painted on the door much to her amusement. Swann quickly entered a code into the small keypad built into the door and watched as the door slid open hardly a whisper before waving at the armor proudly displayed in the locker.
"I like to introduce you Shepard to the T8-III Inferno Modular Combat Armor System," the man mentioned a with gleam in his eyes while Shepard could only stare at the armor in some surprise for while it did look similar to other combat armors she seen over the years since she joined the Alliance Marines, it did sport an advanced look about it that made it seem like it was different to any normal armor. She eyed the armor from the full face helmet to the boots noticing the N7 flash on one side of the breast plate which anchored the Lazarus emblem on the other side of the breast plate. She then noticed the white and black paint scheme similar to that of the other Lazarus armor suits she seen. After a few moments of further inspection she turned to look over at Swann standing at her side.
"Impressive but what is so special about it?" she asked making Swann only chuckle before reaching into the locker and retrieving the armor's helmet.
"This is basically our version of the Alliance Special Operations T7-N Series Combat Armor therefore we have several different modular additions including a couple different helmets and other armor pieces. Each one adds something different to the armor, like integrated amps for biotics and other goodies. This particular set has been specially created for you drawing on my experience with your old N Series armor. The helmet sports a full Heads-Up Display which I mentioned can be linked up with your gun scope, an advanced tactical radio, a brand new sensor suite, and the cherry on top a Class-One Combat VI which provides you with needed tactical data," Swann noted with a small smile knocking on the top of the helmet. Shepard was once again surprised and eyed the helmet turning to the rest of the armor wondering what other surprises it sported.
"As for the rest of the armor well it sports a new hyper-carbon armor material which gives you a thirty-percent increase in armor protection. The backplate carries a newly developed battery core which power a series of a resistor mynomers that can give you the strength of a Geth Trooper Platform. There is also a new Kinetic Barrier emitter array built-in throughout the armor that allows you to temporary overclock your barriers like a Geth Prime can which increases your defenses even more," Swann said illustrating an interesting picture to Shepard who could only stare at the armor with some shock before turning back to Swann and eying the helmet still in the man's hands which the man noticed and only grinned at her.
"Another feature of the Helmet is that thanks to the full-face shield is that you have a larger viewing radius then normal Helmets. Not to mention this helmet can retract into your armor's collar when you don't need it though the VI can activate it immediately upon detecting any threat," Swann noted making Shepard nod in understanding since she wasn't a fan of wearing helmets for she didn't like blocking her peripheral vision not to mention playing havoc on her spatial awareness. She did wear them when they were required but for the most part she went without the helmet. Swann has eased some of her concerns though for the full-face shield like that would still allow her to have some peripheral vision after all not to mention the choice of retracting the helmet sounded like a good idea.
"Alright I believe I took enough of your time Swann, let's get me suited up and armed for I do have an attacked colony to investigate after all," Shepard ordered making the armory chief nod in understanding before turning to the armor locker.
"Yes ma'am!" he returned before starting to drag out the various pieces of armor and setting them onto a nearby bench while Shepard got ready to suit up in the armor.
Several moments later saw her suited up in the new armor and quietly accepted the helmet from Swann before quickly donning it and locked it to her armor's collar. After she did so she was quite surprised to find that the face shield wasn't that big of a problem that she thought it would be. With a small buzz sound the helmet's HUD started to boot up making her blink in shock for it was quite superior over the simple HUD she was used to in a standard T7-N Series Helmet. It showed not only barrier strength, armor integrity and an icon for her weapons but showed several further features that she would have to get used too.
"Please Stand By. EVE-Series0001 Combat VI starting up," a soft feminine voice spoke in her helmet almost making her jump in surprise before nodding remembering Swann mentioning the Combat VI. However that really didn't sound like any VI she was used too, it almost sounded like the Prothean VI she talked to on Illos.
"Welcome Ma'am, I am the EVE Combat VI and ready for your orders," the VI mentioned with that same soft feminine voice making her wince before she took a deep breath and nodded.
"Alright thank you EVE, I am kind of new to having a Combat VI like you riding around in my helmet so it should take awhile before I am used to it enough to use you correctly," she explained kind of feeling a bit silly talking like that to a VI even a powerful Class-One like EVE.
"Understood Ma'am," EVE replied simply making Shepard raise an eyebrow before shaking her head once more and turning to Swann who was getting her weapons ready. She accepted each one before storing them on the weapon hardpoints on her armor before finally she was fully armed including eight thermal clips in a holder on her waist. Each weapon sported a small icon on her HUD which listed remaining shots before a thermal clip or cell needed to be replaced. With that done she turned once more to Swann and smiled at him from behind her faceplate.
"Thanks Swann and it was nice to see you once more. Now I have to head for the hanger," she mentioned nodding to the armory's main door.
"Understood ma'am I shall see you later, and good luck out there," the man fired back making her nod at him with a smile before making her way out of the armory and to the tram station once more. From there she easily managed to select the hangar and waited as the tram took off away from the station.
Main Shuttle Hangar
Safehold Freeport Station
A few minutes Shepard found herself entering a small shuttle hangar similar to the one she had seen on-board Minuteman station. While she was on the tram she got use to the various options her new helmet provided her with, and in was surprised that the armor had a built-in combat Omni-Tool allowing her to control features of her helmet including the sensor suite and various displays that her HUD sported. With a small smile on her face she walked over to the armored forms of several Lazarus Troopers waiting for her by a single UT-49A Marmot Shuttle, the full-on combat version of the shuttle she had arrived at the station on. As she approached she noticed Ashley talking to a man wearing a slimed down pilot's combat suit and was surprised to see that Ashley was now wearing a similar armor suit to her own though a few pieces a bit different from her own. Shepard only nodded remembering Swann mentioning the armor was modular and several pieces could be swapped just like her old Alliance Special Forces Armor. She also noticed the form of Miranda Lawson leaning against the side of the shuttle in a slimed down combat suit similar to some suits she seen being used by Alliance Infiltrators. As she closer to the shuttle Ashley noticed her before turned to the gathered troops.
"Officer on Deck!" she barked out making the troopers quickly line up in front of her at attention making her nod seeing that every single one was fully trained. She noticed that each trooper was equipped with the same armor she seen before, and carried one of the new Harriers along with a secondary weapon wither a shotgun or pistol. She nodded at this before briefly inspecting the men noticing that two of them were Corporal Toombs and Private Fredericks though Fredericks now sported three chevrons of a Lance Corporal on his breastplate. She shook her head for she was sure that she seen that before but never really thought about it. After a moment she took a position in front of them and entered a brief command into her omni-tool which retracted her helmet.
"Alright troopers you all know our mission therefore I am not going to say anything on it, besides that whoever did this made a big mistake pissing off Marines like us. Once on the ground we need to move in to search for survivors or any clues on what happened to the colonists. That done we return to the shuttle and return," she ordered looking over each of the troopers and smiled slightly at the straightening each of the men did at her calling them Marines. For while Lazarus officially apparently called their main infantry Troopers they all were Alliance Marine-trained therefore had the hard-bitten pride of any other Marine. She nodded at this before turning to the man standing at attention next to Ashley.
"I take it you our pilot for this mission?" she asked him noting the flash of a fighter pilot patch on his combat suit.
"Yes Ma'am! Lieutenant Steve Cortez at your service," the man replied making her smile slightly before nodding and turning back to troopers.
"Move out and load up!" she called out and watched as they quickly boarded the shuttle before following behind them with Ashley at her side which felt like right after losing her at Virmire, meanwhile Miranda took her other side. She leaned towards the other woman with a sad smile on her face.
"It is really great to have you back Ash," she whispered making Ashley look over at her with a smile of her own on her face. Miranda could only smile herself at this for she was quite pleased with herself.
"Same here Skipper," she whispered back before bringing up her omni-tool and entering a few commands into it.
"That said I know how you like to know about the men under you therefore those are the files on these guys. You should have time to skim through them on the trip to the colony," Ashley explained as Shepard's own omni-tool light up at the transfer.
"Thanks Ash," Shepard replied before ordering her helmet to extend over her head once more so she read those files without them knowing. Once that was done she took a seat in the side-mounted seats and winced as the shoulder clamps of the seat lowered over her shoulders holding her into place. With that done the pilot Cortez nodded to her before donning his helmet and moving to the cockpit and quickly piloting the shuttle out of the hangar and into space before jumping to FTL heading for the Freedom's Progress Colony.
-o-Chapter End-o-
Well this chapter came out longer then I planned but it does cover what I wanted to basically explaining the weapons and armor of Shepard for this story and future stories of the set along with some back story with said armor and weapons. I originally planned on this chapter covering the beginning of Freedom's Progress but like I said it went on longer then I planned therefore the mission starts next chapter.
That said I like to mention that yes I am a big fan of the Mattock in game for I like how easily I can bring even the toughest enemy down with a few bursts of fire from a Mattock with either Inferno or Armor Piercing Ammo. In Mass Effect 3 the Harrier is just as good with some modification for it can drag up I notice therefore needs a recoil suppressor. Though lately I have started to use a fully upgraded M-7 Lancer which is pretty sweet for I don't have to worry about the damn clips with it. Not to mention I can spray all I want without having to run to find t-clips laying around behind my advance. Had to do that more then once in Mass Effect Two. I also have since become a fan of the Scorpion and use it interchangeably with the Mattock during Mass Effect 3. However I wonder how it carried the charges therefore figured I explain it somewhat in this story and got the idea from something I read from the first game that said Omni-Tools could produce Grenades or charges from Omni-Gel. Therefore the upper side of the Scorpion is a detachable cell that contains omni-gel.
I also changed the Inferno Armor and made it into a Lazarus copy of the N7 Armor, which I call T7-N Series Armor in this story thanks to it being used by every member of the Alliance Special Forces not just N7s. It shall replace the Cerberus Assault Armor inspired armor seen in earlier chapters while the regular Lazarus troops shall remain wearing the armor based on the Aegis Defense Armor from the Infiltrator Game.
Moving on, I am adding a full squad of troops for this mission since I am not really a big fan of the three-man teams you have in game therefore expect larger squads during the other missions while others would have an extra squad or two of regular troops supporting the main ground team during some missions. Like I mentioned happening on Virmire in the early chapters.
I would also like to mention that yes I added Rory Swann of Starcraft II fame into the story as Armory Chief for I never understood having a team member having a position like that when they would joining missions themselves therefore didn't have time to fully have the position of Armory Chief in my opinion. Same goes for the Executive Officer therefore Miranda will not be the XO of the Normandy-II I am sorry to say though she have a sort of command position which shall be revealed later.
With all that said I shall get to work on the next chapter. Till then.
