This Doom of Ours
Chapter: 7
The Councils private chambers:
"I apologize for requesting a meeting on such short notice councilors but a situation has developed that I believe you should be made aware of." stated Director Shore as he stood before the three representatives, who were not looking happy in the slightest.
"I take it by the short notice that something has happened, I assume that it has something to do with the strike force on its way to Eden Prime?" questioned Councillor Tevos pointedly as she fixed the human with a long stare.
"I afraid not councillor" Shore grimaced slightly as he court the looks of growing concern that darted across his superiors faces at the comment "There seems to be a situation..." he paused briefly before continuing "Here on the Citadel" colour seemed to drain out of the assembled listeners faces as the heard the statement, Tevos in particular seemed to have completely lost the ability to speck as her eyes dilated in barely contained fear.
"I want exact details, what precisely are we looking at Shore?" demanded Sparatus grimly as he slipped into a military mindset, the head of the CAC took a deep inhale of breath before turning the representatives attentions towards the holoscreen mounted on a nearby wall, which flashed into life.
"As of twenty minutes ago one of the Zakera Wards many warehouse has been locked down after an altercation with C-sec, the surrounding area has be cordoned off to keep the general public away for their own safety." explained the man as a three dimensional copy of the sector in question appeared before them on the display.
"What was the nature of this altercation?" enquired the salarian representative coldly as he tore his gaze away from the image.
"Two C-sec officers confronted what they suspected was a smuggler, a confrontation ensued, one of the officers was injured, the other gave chase after the criminal, a short time later the wounded officer heard what he describe as blood curdling screaming echoing out from somewhere deep within the building, he contacted headquarters and Executor Palin was quickly informed, he informed me under the assumption that it was a wild animal attack, I think differently."
"Are we sure that this isn't just a wild animal of some sort, if you don't mind me saying so aren't you just jumping to assumptions yourself director?" countered the asari matron bluntly.
"With all due respect councillor no I'm not." replied Shore as he fixed Tavos with unwavering glare "After everything that has happened recently I'm not taking any chances with your safety and the safety of everyone on this station." the turian nodded approvingly.
"We wouldn't expect anything less from you director." he stated "Who exactly are you sending to investigating this incident?" the man slowly slipped a cigar into one corner of his mouth before replying.
"I've sent Commander Shepard to investigate; she's already had experience dealing with this kind of problem and should be able to deal with the situation without much fuss."
"And what if the situation is beyond the good commander's abilities?" countered councilor Valern sharply. "I hope you've got a backup plan Director Shore."
"I do sir." replied the gray haired man resolutely "I have several rapid response teams on hand to deal with any situation that Shepard can't handle." the human let out a low puff of smoke "Although I will be the first to admit that the teams in question are no OSI operatives they'll have no problem getting the job done."
"Not that you believe them needed." added the asari pointedly "I'm not criticizing director, I just have some rather understandable concerns." Shore let out a long sigh as ran a hand across the back of his head.
"May I speak plainly ma'am?" the matron blinked in mild surprise at the unusually shift in the demeanour of the man in front of her as she nodded her head in silent approval. "Thank you." he took a long puff on his cigar before continuing "You gave me the mandate to deal with this incursion in any manner I saw fit, while keeping the general public in the dark, now I have done my best to honour that mandate but as it stands at this moment, I cannot do any more without endangering the public or failing my assigned task." Shore grimaced at the contemplation "If I'm proven wrong then I'll take full responsibility and step down."
"If your proven wrong Shore, then they'll been nothing to step down from." muttered Sparatus bitterly "Given the current nature of the ongoing situation here on the Citadel, I think my colleagues will agree with me when I say that I want you to do what you think is necessary to deal with this crisis, we'll deal with whatever public fallout if and when it appears." the others nodded in agreement
"Just try and keep the damage to a minimum if you please?" added Valern "Nothing will catch peoples attentions more than explosions of that I can guarantee."
"I would presume you've taken measures to make sure that we're protected." commented Tevos.
"I've got two teams on hand and I'll be here in person to lead them if anything happens of that you have my word" reassured the man as he looked at the three bureaucrats.
"Then all we can say is that we hope Commander Shepard lives up to your expectations director, for all our sakes." stated Sparatus grimly.
Somewhere on Zakera Ward:
"I just had to say yes didn't I?" muttered the red head to herself as she strolled through the check point set up by C-sec, some of the officers had made comment but as soon as she'd flashed her spectre credentials at them they'd quickly fallen silent and let her through, not that it was a full license, but they didn't know that.
"I take it you're the specialist that Shore said he was sending?" declared a middle aged looking turian sharply from where he stood by a official hovercar, a holographic map rotating on its heads-up display. "Well I hope your better than the rapid response team that we sent in fifteen minutes ago."
"What happened?" questioned the woman uneasily, a full, trained rapid response team was nothing to sniff at, whatever was inside that warehouse was definitely dangerous, maybe Director Shore was right in his suspicions after all.
Half an hour ago:
"There's something that I want you to look into." Stated the unseen director of the CAC over the secure com-link "There's been a situation down on Zakera Ward." as soon as she heard the word situation the woman found herself being dragged back to that desolate station, where the only thing waiting around the next corner was some fresh, jabbering horror, she could feel the blood pumping through her veins, hear the thundering of her heart in her ears.
"Commander are you listening?" and then it was gone as reality came crashing back down around her.
"Yes sir." there was a long pause and for a split second Shepard thought the older gentleman was reconsidering his previous decisions about her, but after a long moment the director's tone echoed out of the speakers once again.
"Go to the warehouse on Zakera Ward, find out what's going on, if it's nothing I want you to handle it personally, if it's something more..." there was another pause "Serious I want you to check it out and then call in the rapid response teams that I'll have on standby, they'll take care of the heavy lifting, you'll deal with the more delicate matters, get it done Commander."
"Yes sir." replied Shepard quickly as she attempted to regain some form of professionalism as the line went dead.
In the present:
"We got reports from an injured officer of strange noises emanating from this building, the same building that another officer had just only vanished into, judging from the fact the officers in question were dealing with a suspected smuggler I came to the conclusion that some kind of rare or unknown life form is now loss on the station"
"Has anyone had a visual on the creature?" queried Shepard evenly as she glanced over towards the looming form of the depot nearby.
"No, that's why we sent in our people first, wanted to get things sorted out before they got to complicated" explained the C-sec captain "In hindsight that appears to have been the wrong decision, no sooner had alpha team stepped inside the building they were reporting interference on their comms, looks like the creature might have smashed open some argent energy cells, whole place has low level background argent radiation, must be playing havoc with the tech."
"Yeah, must have." muttered the red head quietly as all too unpleasant memories of the last time argent energy caused interference came to the forefront of her mind. "How many officers were in alpha team?" the turian took on a thoughtful air.
"Seven specialists, led by a sergeant, all are veteran C-sec with more than ten years under their belts each, all had military training." the captain looked grim. "I can't believe that all of them have been taken by some wild creature, no matter how strange."
"You'd be surprised" muttered the commander under her breath, in a louder tone she added "I'll keep an eye out for your team captain, is there anything else I should know before I go in?" the tired looking man nodded as he took a long drag of his cigarette.
"Sure, the officer that went in originally, he's the son of an old friend of mine, the son's a bit of a loose cannon, likes to play hard and fast with regulations but he's damn gifted so the executor gives him a bit of breathing room normally, I owe the father my life so if you could find out what happened to Vakarian, I'd really appreciate it." there was a dark undercurrent in the statement, one that didn't go unnoticed by the woman.
"You're not expecting him to have made it are you?" she countered, the captain grimaced slightly.
"Garrus is good, damn good, but whatever is in there is bad fucking news and he's been in there the longest with that thing so no, I don't expect him to have survived." it physically seemed to hurt the turian to admit it but he seemingly brushed off and carried on with his professional duties as befitted his position. "Just find out what happened to him, I owe his family that much."
"I'll see what I can do." the officer nodded gratefully as he beckoned some of his subordinates over towards him.
"Sergeant, please escort the specialist to the door, the human is going in." the hard looking asari passed a fleeting glance over her before grunting in acknowledgement, backing out a set of orders towards the rest of her team, who quickly fell in on either side of the commander as the little troop quickly made its ways across the opens space towards the waiting structure.
"Teams one and two, standby we're cracking it open!" bellowed the sergeant as there came the soft whine of mass effect generators, the heavy looking door slowly pulled about to reveal the gloomy interior to the world, only now accentuated by the unmistakable stench of death that wafted out to greet them.
"Fuck that stinks." muttered one of the officers as someone gagged.
"Just letting you know human we're going to lock the doors after you so your best bet to get out is to find a hard point somewhere inside the building to jack your omni-tool into, that'll allow you to communicate with us without any problems." commented the blue skinned veteran.
"Any ideas on where one of those will be?" Enquired Shepard quietly as she pulled the bulky looking shotgun from her back, a gift from Director Shore, he'd said that it might be of more use in the current situation than her usual arsenal, something that she was deeply grateful for considering what she'd seen and heard in the last few minutes of her arrival.
"Your best bet is the manager's office, at the back, first floor, there should be access up somewhere, hard to miss" stated the asari. "Just keep your fucking wits about you; we could do without losing anyone else to this thing, whatever it is."
"I'll try my best." muttered the red head as she pumped the shotgun, loading a slug round into the firing chamber.
"You sure you don't want something a bit more modern?" questioned one of the turian officers as she glanced at the weapon.
"This thing sends a slug down range that could put a krogan on it ass, I think I'll be fine thanks." chuckled Shepard grimly as she stepped over the threshold and as soon as she did the atmosphere changed, a sharp, stinging coldness slipped down her spine and an all too familiar sensation crept to the fore once more.
"Alright the specialist is in close it up!" snapped the matron sharply as the officers as one step back as the blast doors pulled shut, sealing the commander in with her imagination and a loaded gun.
"Well out of the frying pan and into the fire." commented the woman to herself as she slowly moved off into the gloom, carefully checking her angles as she went, the nature of the battlefield didn't help matters; the tall, vertical landscape lent itself to predators not the prey and she knew that in this instance that she was well and truly the prey.
"I need to get some height, staying down here will only get me killed." she added, a statement that was quickly reinforced by the gory display that greeting her around the next stack of crates, what might have been once a C-sec officer judging from the bodies insignia, lay mangled and broken up against a wall, its upper half a sickening blue mess of mangled meat and undersuit; it was not pleasant, not pleasant in the slightest.
"It...it looks like that something's been chewing on him." muttered Shepard as her stomach retched slightly on impulse. "Poor bastard." she glanced around carefully, picking up the telltale signs of footprints on metal leading away at a quick pace from the carnage, and judging from the fact that they passed through the gore led to only one conclusion.
"Looks like we've got a survivor, maybe it's this Garrus the captain was telling me about, or maybe a member of C-Sec rapid response." the commander slowly moved off making sure to move as softly as possible, if surviving Cartagena station had taught Shepard one thing; it was keeping a low profile at all cost.
Somewhere far far away:
"I take it that everything is going to plan?" the formless voice echoed out of the gloom that seemed to dominate the cavernous space.
"Partly." murmured the lone figure that stood surrounded by the darkness "There have been some setbacks."
"The loss of the station was not wholly unexpected, that particular watchdog has been a thorn in our side for some time." there was a short pause "But his new allies were unexpected and unwelcome, we could do without extra pieces joining the board, we hope you've taken steps to deal with them?" the hooded form nodded softly.
"Nihlus is travelling with the watchdog as we speak, with any luck he should die on Eden Prime, as for the human commander..."
"Yes, the human." declared the unseen speaker harshly "We know of this Jane Shepard, many are there that hold a grudge against her, quite a feat indeed, something that we don't acknowledge lightly."
"Do you wish for me to corrupt her? Bring her into the fold?" questioned the figure softly.
"Perhaps, but one such as her will need a special touch, for now continue with the ritual, how goes the site on the fortress, there was a disturbance." there was a short pause from the listener before they replied.
"Someone interrupted the ritual before they were finished, so the gateway was not complete, which is unfortunate, but it is not a total loss in its place they were able to summon some allies."
"We are aware, the fear and death can be felt clearly, we approve, it is most interesting to see the female commander interfering in this matter, it is time to see if this human can pose a really threat without the watchdogs presences" counter the chilling tone venomously. "But for now complete the main ritual even without the gateway it will have the desired effect and remember we do not except fail, do you understand Arterius?" it wasn't a question and the turian knew it.
"I will not fail."
"We will see."
Back on the Citadel:
"Ow shit ow shit ow shit!" shouted Garrus loudly over the roar of battle as the two figures darted franticly down a side passageway, a looming outline close on their heels.
"Will you just shut up and run!" snapped the human woman angrily from his side as the pair thundered in through a poorly closed door.
"What do you think I'm doing!?" countered the C-sec officer irritably as he let off a burst of rifle fire over his shoulder at the snorting creature that was lumbering angrily after them, its jagged tusks slick with the dark blue blood of a fellow turian. The rounds slammed into the horrific monster, but to his growing annoyance it only seemed to make the beast more angry, if that was at all possible, as it let out an enraged bellow.
"Well that didn't work!" muttered the redhead under her breath as she caught sight of the attempt.
"I'd like to see you try!" countered the officer sharply as they ducked into a narrow corridor, narrowing the things massive jaws that snapped at the empty air just behind them.
Twenty minutes earlier:
Garrus let out a low hiss as he crept quietly down a long corridor, towering stacks of crates looming over him. By this point he was determined not to be eaten by whatever was lurking in this spirit forsaken warehouse.
"Got to get a warning out." muttered the turian to himself as he edged slowly forward, he'd only court glimpses of the beast but judging from the fact that it was shoulder deep into what was left of the salarian smuggler, what he did know was the creature was big and meat eating, a sudden burst of static over the com-link snapped his attention away from self-contemplation.
"...Come in...Vak- …rian...do...y-..." the broken sentence drew a slow hiss from Garrus as he picked up the unmistakable scratching sounds of the things claws digging into the metal flooring, the beast seemingly picked up on it as well and sauntered off, apparently bored trying to get to a potential meal.
"Shit." the C-sec officer set off at a brisk pace back towards the front doors.
Around the same time nearby:
"Check your angles Kesan!" snapped Sergeant Terscus as he glanced over his shoulder at the veteran asari officer, who nodded as she moved back into formation. "Calril, Mutigius with me on point, the rest of you keep an eye on our six, this is an apex predator, it'll try to catch us by surprise."
"Yes sir" murmured the rest of the rapid response team as they swiped their weapons over the cramped landscape.
"Did you hear that?" muttered a human as the group came to a slow halt, the sound of thumping foot falls echoing over the metal work as a lone figure came sprinting into view.
"Its Vakarian!" stated someone pointedly as the turian darted towards them "Hey Vakarian!"
"Fall back! Fall back!" bellowed the individual as a split second later a low growl rumbled out from nearby as out of the corner of their vision a lumbering former came surging towards them out of the shadows, jaws snapping.
Garrus flinched visibly as the first officer went down screaming, the horned creature ripping clean through an asari's leg, sending the severed limp spiraling to the floor in a shower of blood.
"Fire at will weapons free!" yelled the sergeant as the bone plated animal lashed out with a set of razor sharp claws, gouging into another unfortunate officer who let out a breathless splutter as their lifeless body toppled backwards onto the floor.
"I'll fucking kill you!" roared an older looking matron as he let fly with a blast of biotic energy that sent the monster staggering backwards, but it only seemed to make the beast more enraged as it turned a glowing, blood red eye towards the security team member.
"I fucking hate you so much right now." muttered her superior as one of the remaining members of his team unloaded on the creature.
[CITADEL COUNCIL CENTRAL ARCHIVES: ACCESS GRANTED]
.
[DATA REQUEST RECEIVED: SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIRED]
.
[SECURITY CLEARANCE RECEIVED]
.
[DATA REQUEST INITIATED]
.
[ARCHIVE SEARCH RESULTS]
.
[Physical Character Evaluation and Psychological Profiling Report]
[Date Stamp: 01/07/2159]
[Author: Doctor Tevilra Pesaburo, Council Accountability Committee Chief Medical Officer]
[Co-author: Doctor Vonar Loralano, Council Accountability Committee appointed psychiatrist]
To Director Melcius.
Sir as per the requests of Operations Officer Shore and yourself I have conducted along with my team an in-depth assessment of [Name Redacted] who from this point onwards will be referred to in the document by the codename 'Doom Guy'.
Overview:
This document will be divided into two halves, the first will be a physical character evaluation undertaken by myself, as wells as a selected number of medical associates, the second half will be my evolution of the report handed to me by Doctor Vonar Loralano, along with some of my personal thoughts on the information provided within.
Section:1 Physical Character Evaluation
The subjects physical state outwardly fits the standard pattern for alliance marines, well developed physical conditioning, along with permitted gene therapy has led to a body that while not flexible has above average resistance to long periods of intense physical activity, in the case of Doom Guy however the individual demonstrates a much higher than normal threshold, both in mental tolerance and the accumulation of lactic acid build up in his muscles, under testing my team discovered that the subject showed a nearly seventy five percent increase in operational durability while undergoing physical examination.
This was not the only discrepancy discovered, the subject was able to demonstrate higher than expected weight carrying capacity, with a nearly fifty percent increase in load over the standard marine template with little to no sign of discomfort or decrease in operational capacity shown.
After this was discovered I ordered a string of tests to see what was going on with codename Doom Guy the results of which were both fascinating and deeply alarming at the same time.
Director Melcius to be brief, the subject in his current state is the result of extensive gene therapy, well above and beyond what is permitted by the Citadel Council at this moment in time. If I were to permitted to speculate on the matter, the data combined with the seemingly improved optical reaction time suggest a deliberate attempt to produce some form of super soldier by the Systems Alliance. Now, at this time it is unknown if such an action was carried out with the approval of their central government, but judging from the nature of Jump Zero as a major R&D facility it could be speculated that certain operations were undertaken without the full knowledge and backing of the human government, it could be...
.
[SYSTEM LOCKDOWN INITIATED]
.
[SECURITY CLEARANCE CODE DEFECT DETECTED]
.
[SUSPECTED HACKING ATTEMP IN PROGRESS]
.
[SYSTEM COUNTER MEASURES ACTVATED]
.
[STAND BY]. . .
Apologies for the long wait folks its been rather hectic for both myself and my proofreader, as always a massive shout out to Darth Azrael for all their hard work, couldn't do it with out them.
Please review if able, it takes a lot of energy and time to write my stories, so I politely ask that if you are able please leave a comment at the bottom, it really means so much to me when I get reviews, it truly does, SO PLEASE READ AND REVIEW.
Thank you all for reading this I'll see you in the next chapter.
Gods-own.
