One Year, Eleven Months after the destruction of the Normandy.
Miranda shifted uncomfortably in her seat, hating the 'actual' armor Bourne had insisted she and Jacob wear for this mission. At least he had a good reason, considering that they were about to land on an asteroid without any atmosphere.
"So, you didn't give us many details for this." Jacob said, leaning forward in his seat. "Now might be a good time."
Bourne nodded. His helmet showed that his face was expressionless- Miranda was still somewhat annoyed that he'd taken it from the inferno armor prototype that'd been sent to the station- but his voice was barely contained rage. "I got a priority call from Admiral Hacket about an hour ago- which is when I told you two to suit up. An unknown group of assailants has hijacked this asteroid, and strapped fusion torches to it, which are currently guiding it to the planet nearby- Terra Nova." His gaze seemed to shift down, as if he was thinking.
"How'd he find you though?" Miranda asked.
"If you're worried about the location of one of your bases being compromised, it isn't. He messaged me via my Spectre ID- and that encrypts location details; I have to approve the transmission for them to even be able to talk to me. I left it with the Alliance for situations like this." He shrugged and continued talking. "We've got almost no info to go off of, so our best bet is to head for the nearest base. Maybe interrogate one of the hostiles- or there might be a survivor."
"I hope you realize how risky this venture is- bringing us along or going yourself." Miranda pointed out. "If this goes wrong-"
"We're going up against the Reapers- or at least their agents- the second Shepard's back up. If you're worried about things going wrong you're in the wrong profession." He started checking his guns, seeing that they were getting close. "Beyond that, there are three other very good reasons I brought you along."
"Which are?" She almost demanded.
"First off, this thing's moving fast. Estimates are about eight hours to impact- and the course can't be corrected after six. I'm good enough to be made a Spectre, but even I want backup on something like this. One screwup and a couple million people are dead. Second point- I've fought with you briefly Lawson, but I haven't fought with him." He gestured to Jacob. "Or both of you at once, really. If there are any problems working as a team, I want to know now and not later. Third- that's a human colony down there. Ain't protecting humanity what you terrorist bastards are all about?"
"I think you're a little-"
He cut Jacob off. "If I'm wrong about Cerberus, now's the time to prove it. Or I'm right, in which case stay here and I'll handle this myself."
"Alright." Miranda grudgingly accepted. "I assume you want to take command?"
"There's no want about it. Cerberus tapped me for a reason. If you're only going to second guess me, don't bother coming with." The sudden sensation of falling indicated that they'd arrived, and Bourne took several deep breaths as they fell, before finally landing. He clicked the side of his helmet, and a dark purple band appeared in the faceplate of his helmet- the same tech as his visor. He moved up to the driver's seat as Jacob took the guns. "It's also a good time to test out this hammerhead thing you guys put together...though from what I've seen of it so far, I may end up saying words I never thought I would."
"Which words are those?" Jacob asked as they got moving.
"'I liked the Mako better than this.'"
Bourne:
Yeah, I think I did. At least the Mako could take some punishment. If Tali'd opened the doors on me back on Therum and we'd had this, I'd be as dead as Saren is right now.
I yanked the controls to the right, and we barely avoided a rocket from the canons guarding the base. At least I watched a playthrough of this mission once, since I never bought the DLC. Wasn't expecting to do this anytime soon...especially now.
I mean, with the reality warping and crap I guess it makes sense since it's like the last possible time I could do it, but...I'm here instead of Shepard. Just feels...odd somehow. Guess it's not as important as some of the stuff, but still...
"I think that's all of them, Bourne." Jacob said from behind me. "Should be clear to move in."
"Alright. But keep an eye out for if you missed a turret." The one nice thing about the vehicle was that it was faster than the Mako could ever hope to be.
I popped the hatch, the shields keeping the atmosphere in, and was first one out, assassin ready in one hand, left hand free to use the dreadshot or a lash if I needed them.
"You think this could be the Geth?" Jacob asked as we moved in.
"Perhaps." Miranda answered.
But as I popped open the door to the main part of the facility, I knew the answer long before I saw them.
"Batarians." I growled as they readied weapons. If I hadn't had my helmet on still, I'd have spit.
"Take them alive if you can." The leader said. "They look like they'd fetch a hefty price- strong and fit."
For a moment, I had no idea what the hell they were talking about. Then it hit me, as the memory of knocking a gun from a girl's hand as I injected her with a sedative flashed before my eyes. The next thing I knew, I was standing in front of the leader, glowing with biotic energy, my hand clean through his chest. I could feel his spine in my hand, and I ripped most of it out with a single motion.
"Anyone else want to try taking us as slaves?" I asked sardonically, tossing the bits of spine on the ground and teleporting back to where the other two were. "You have two choices. Surrender, or-" They opened fire and I ducked behind cover as their rounds bounced off my shields. "Guess they choose die then."
"How do you want to play this?" Jacob asked, popping up to fire a shot before hastily ducking down again.
Singularity plus one of Miranda's warp would take most of them down...but they're too well bunched up in front- they'd mow us down the second we stood up. Plus, I have to worry about these two running out of thermal clips...but I bet they're not ready for an attack from behind.
"Keep their attention here so I can sneak around and soften them up." I teleported before they could reply, ending up behind a crate, and peering around it. One of them had glanced my way at the sound, but he went down from a shot from Miranda before he could tell the others.
I raised my assassin, before thinking better of it and storing it on my hip. I grabbed my scorpion instead, and took a deep breath. I opened fire, sticking a mine to the back of each head. Most of them had a chance to grab back there as they felt it hit before it went off. Their helmets kept them from dying instantly, but it stunned them, letting the other two move up and take them down with a few well placed shots, while I handled the last one with a blast from the dreadshot.
My radar showed one more upstairs, and I teleported up behind him, shoving him over the edge and grabbing him by the ankle before he could fall all the way. He made a weak attempt to raise his gun before I speared it with a knife, using my biotics to add to the force and rip it from his hands.
"All hostiles neutralized." Miranda commented, storing her gun.
"Looks like. Controls for the fusion torch are back there- think you can get it powered off?"
"Shouldn't be a problem." She replied, moving to the stairs.
I looked down at the survivor. "How many more of you are there?"
"You'll get nothing from me!" He spat.
"I will get the information-" I drew the knife from my right shoulder, holding it not far from his face as I lifted him up higher. "Or will get your eyes as trophies."
I saw said eyes widen as he realized it was no idle threat, and he gulped. "What do you want to know?"
"Your plan is to ram this thing into the planet, that much is obvious. There are two more torches, right?"
"Yeah- and a command center at the far end of the asteroid. I don't know how many of us there are- maybe fifty? I don't think there's anything else that would help you."
"Nothing else you want to say?"
He thought desperately for a moment. "No- I don't know anything else helpful."
I studied his face. "I believe you." I rammed the blade through his throat, and he twitched once before going still. I yanked out the blade and let the body drop.
"Alright, this torch is down." Miranda said over the comms.
"Roger that. Meet you at the entrance." I teleported down.
And immediately put up a barrier as the human standing at the door turned my way and fired a shot that would've hit me square in the chest if not for said barrier.
"Oh god." He took a step back as he realized I was human. "I'm sorry! I thought you were-"
I yanked the gun out of his hand biotically. "Most basic rule of gun safety- always know exactly what your target is before you pull the trigger."
Miranda and Jacob rushed in at the sound of the gunshot, weapons ready.
I motioned for them to stand down, and tossed the guy his gun back. "You're not a soldier by trade, are you."
"No- I'm chief engineer on this rock. Simon- Simon Attwell."
"Jason Bourne." I responded. "Spectre."
"A Spectre?" He asked, surprised. "I didn't think any of you were human."
"Only a select group." I said dryly. "What's the situation here- batarian extremists want to run this rock into the planet, right? Which'd cause total global extinction?"
"That pretty much sums it up. There's two more torches to shut down- one of them is surrounded by live blasting caps. Your vehicle out there would set them off if you used it, so you'll have to move in on foot past them. There's a console in the center you can use to shut them off."
"Glad I can teleport then."
He gave me a confused look.
"Figure of speech." I lied.
"There's one other thing- I had a crew working offsite when the attack happened-"
"Then they're probably dead." Miranda interrupted bluntly. "That, or they've been taken as hostages by the batarians."
"I'd believe that. But still…"
I shook my head. "I hate agreeing with her, but we need to focus on the torches anyway."
"Right, four million are more important than three people." He admitted.
"You should make yourself scarce. Judging by what I've seen of your combat prowess, you don't want to be anywhere near these batarians."
"Yeah, good idea."
Line Break
"Alright- mines are disabled. Bring the Hammerhead in." I said, stepping away from the console, and over the body of a batarian. Teleporting. Thought it was awesome to have in multiplayer- real life is even better.
"Roger that." Jacob responded, and I could see the thing moving in.
"Alright, I'll meet you inside."
"Didn't you say the point of this was to get a sense of how we'd work as a team?" Miranda pointed out.
I digested that for a minute. "Point taken. I'll wait out here then." I leaned against the wall, frowning beneath the helmet. I knew how to work alone, sure, but I was more used to working as a team with others. So why do I have the desire to just do this solo- maybe even wreck the tank so they won't follow? It's the same feeling as the sudden rage at the slaver back there...almost like the council was with my Spectre status- made sense at the time then regretted it later...Reality warping?
I never did this mission in the real world though since I didn't have the DLC, so there's no basis for it...screw it, I'll chalk it up to just nerves about being closer to actually starting the 'main game'...though that doesn't explain the weird same sorta feeling that I'm going to get my ass kicked in at the third torch. I shrugged and readied my assault rifle as the other two got out of the tank and followed me in.
The batarians opened fire from the catwalk, but a quick biotic wall in front of us gave us cover to move behind some nearby crates. "Alright, Jacob, pull them into the air. Miranda, you and I will warp them once they're affected- blow them to hell. We already have info, so no need to keep any alive this time."
A rocket suddenly impacted just behind us, barely missing.
"And the rocket drones?" Miranda asked calmly.
I grabbed my assassin with my free hand, then stood up and fired six times, making the gun overheat before ducking back down. "What rocket drones?" I chuckled, spinning the gun around on my finger before storing it again.
She rolled her eyes, but stood up to warp a batarian Jacob pulled towards us.
I didn't know if she could actually use pull- it was one of the most basic biotic moves, but she'd never used it in game- so I tossed a pull field from each hand as well, then followed it up with a throw orb from each, sending them into oblivion as well.
Jacob stood up and reached for the three remaining, but they barely stumbled, and he ducked back down with a curse as they opened fire. "Those three must have heavy armor."
"We can warp through them, but it'll take a while, and it'll give them a chance to get in a lucky hit." Miranda said.
"Agreed." I rubbed my chin- or at least the bottom of my helmet, since I hadn't bothered to take it off. Might be close enough for me to hit them all with a flare and take them out, but if they aren't, I'm weakening myself for about half a minute and leaving it to them.
Could pop and hit them with Dark Channel, then Miranda and I can just detonate them one after the other and maybe Jacob pulls them if they're still alive...but that's boring.
"Time for a new strategy." I vaulted over the crate we were hiding behind, and aimed the dreadshot at the ground, setting it to fifty percent power as I jumped and fired it.
The kickback knocked me into the air, and I made my best guess as I spun and fired it again, tucking my legs in close.
I flew backwards in the air, and slammed into the center batarian, propelling us both past the other two, and into the wall. Though he hit harder than I did, since he wasn't lucky enough to have a four-eyed cushion. The other two spun around as I activated the whips, throwing my arms forward and wrapping them around their heads, before pulling back, and thrusting my hands forward as I killed the power.
They both flew straight into my punches, and were knocked onto the ground.
I just backhanded the first guy as he weakly tried to get back up and get me from behind. I heard the sound of my fist connecting, and he slumped to the ground. I stuck a scorpion mine to the faceplate of each one and moved towards the back room where the fusion torch controls were housed as the explosions went off.
I looked at them, and briefly debated waiting for Miranda before opening my omni-tool myself. It took me a few tries, but I managed to figure out how to shut them down just as they came cautiously into the room.
"You know, a heads up that you were alive would have been nice." Jacob commented as he stored his pistol.
"Were the batarians still firing at you?"
"No. But they could've been expecting us to think you were dead and lying in wait." Miranda pointed out.
"So you think three batarians could take me out at close range when I have the advantages of being an incredibly strong biotic, in addition to having cybernetics and genemods designed to make me stronger than any normal human, along with advanced hand to hand combat training, a couple dozen knives, the lashes I stole from you, armor that's been upgraded multiple times, and two guns that make things explode?" I chuckled as I turned around. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
They exchanged a look as I walked past them.
"Or, you guys could simply have checked your radars." I said, glancing at them over my shoulder. One thing this helmet doesn't have is peripheral vision...maybe I should put a camera in the back, hook up a display in the front. Wouldn't hurt to have that on the visor too...I have all sorts of tech I want to finish. And I only have another 42 days to do it.
"Come on, we still have one last torch to deal with."
Line Break
"And another one bites the dust." I said, pulling my knives free of the last batarian's chest and flicking them to get the blood off before storing them on the belts across my chest. "Miranda, get the torch."
"Did you bring us just for tech duties and driving?" Jacob commented.
"I was expecting heavier opposition than this. And we likely will find it at the main compound."
"Yes, you will." I spun around, gun in each hand, seeing a batarian with his arms behind his back, flanked by a dozen more. Each of them had heavier armor than what I'd seen on the others, and the weapons looked better quality too- though none were pointed at us.
I motioned for the others to stay back but be ready as I stepped forward. "You didn't just shoot us when our backs were turned. Either your training and strategies are idiotic, or your plan is to attempt negotiation."
"I'm trying to get my men out of here without further bloodshed." He tilted his head to the left- a sign of respect. "You could kill all of us if you wanted to, judging by what happened at the other bases."
"What do you mean if I want to kill you? The only reason you're not already dead is that I might get some amusement out of this little conversation."
That simple matter-of-fact declaration caused some of them to shift nervously- the one in front included. Charn, I thought he'd been called.
"Hey, I'm just doing my job here." He said, somewhat defensively. "I signed on to make a little profit, a quick slave grab, nothing more."
I felt an eye twitch, a fist clench. "Nothing more?" I took a step closer, ignoring the raised weapons this caused. "You think a slave grab is just a day at work?"
"Just because you humans are too weak to-" I didn't give the speaker a chance to finish before I threw a knife into his eye, then grabbed Charn by the throat and lifted him into the air left handed.
"My best friend lost her entire family from one of your 'quick slave grabs'. I've seen the horrors you batarians are capable of inflicting." The others raised their guns, but I sent knives into the weapons biotically without even looking, thanks to the perfect memory. Some of them tried to run, only to be stopped by the wall of energy I created behind them.
"What about what you humans have done to us?" He wheezed past my grip. "You drove us out, made the council take your side with bribes."
For a brief moment, I was tempted to spare his life. I didn't know why. Maybe it was the fact that batarian culture was so warped, he really saw nothing wrong with slavery. Maybe it was that the alliance's prisons would be worse than what I could do. Maybe I was just tired of killing so many people.
It passed as images of Raptor's eyes and Talitha's tears filled my vision.
"Maybe your government will figure out how to actually compromise or negotiate in the future." My biotics flared around me. "But you'll never get that chance."
I fired the dreadshot point blank, separating his head as cleanly as if it'd been cut by a guillotine.
I threw a pair of singularities into the others, and didn't bother waiting for Miranda. I charged into one to set it off, then immediately turned to the other and slammed my fist into the ground to create a nova to detonate it as well. There was so much blood, the explosions themselves looked red. A moment later, I looked down at the biotics still on my arm, and felt a chill go through me as I saw they were red.
They faded back to blue so quickly I wondered if I'd imagined it.
"I can see why Shepard had the reputation for being the better negotiator." Jacob deadpanned as he knelt next to Charn's headless corpse. "This looks like a key card- must be for the main facility."
"If it's not, I can teleport in and open it from the inside." I responded, standing back up. "Come on, we should get moving."
Line Break
In game, there should've been a fight before Balak showed himself. Instead, he was waiting at the top of the stairs for us, troops backing him up- I did a quick count and came up with 40, even as Miranda muttered the same.
"You humans. You're nothing but trouble, are you."
"Most humans are trouble." I corrected. "I'm simply your death." I raised the dreadshot, aiming at his head.
There was no way he knew what it was, but he obviously could tell I was ready to do something. "I wouldn't if I were you." He gestured to the far end of the room, and I took my eyes off of him long enough to see several engineers held hostage- I thought I saw seven of them through the window, along with a bomb that would most certainly kill them all if set off.
I turned back to him.
"That bomb is connected to a heart monitor I'm wearing. If I die, they die."
"Wrong. If they die- you die." I looked at the batarians. "That goes for all of you. Let the hostages go, and I merely will call the alliance to take you into custody. Or you can kill them, in which case every one of you will be slaughtered, with your eyes ripped out as a bonus."
"You're bluffing." Balak said confidently.
"No, I'm not." I shrugged my assault rifle over my shoulder and into my arms. "Dead or alive, you're coming with me." ...Huh. I thought it'd be more fun if I ever got to actually say that.
He hesitated, and I saw his gun start to go up slightly. I suddenly felt...something, radiate outward. It was like the shockwave from the explosion, and I was ground zero. I couldn't feel it through the air- I seemed to feel it through reality itself. The only effect it seemed to have was that he let his hand drop. "Stand down." He told his men, tossing his gun down the stairs.
One of them raised his gun, and I yanked it from his hand with one of my lashes, before swinging it back and knocking him out with his own gun.
The rest hastily dropped their guns, but I still pulled them out of reach just in case.
"Now what?" Miranda whispered. "If you call the alliance, we'll have to stay here until they arrive to make sure they don't escape."
"I plan on giving them only batarian terrorists." I responded. "For today at least. The armor you're wearing lacks cerberus markings, and the hammerhead hasn't had them added yet. As long as you have the brains to keep quiet, they won't even care about you." I rolled my eyes. "I had you wear all that for a reason. It's also why I have been doing the heavy lifting- you two are unused to suits like that." The first part was true- the second part was a justification I'd only now come up with.
Wonder if Shepard is even going to be able to keep up with me on the battlefield any more...yeah, knowing her she'll get a headshot right as I go to take someone down, and steal the kill.
I looked at my hand as I started gathering the batarians into one place and sent Miranda and Jacob to unlock the door the hostages were trapped behind.
Specifically, I looked at the hand that Hero had cut open to free me over two years before. It seemed like a lifetime ago- technically it had been.
She's dead. So is Iron...so why were my biotics red?...I need to have Hephaestus check me out next time I get the chance. It's probably just a side effect from the new implants for the gloves- they could've combined with the damaged components from Iron or Hero's sets, or maybe just the leftover eezo…
But why do I get the feeling that the fight against the Collectors isn't the only storm headed my way?
T117: So, I decided after having "Bring down the Sky" in UiaWoF that I wanted it in this fic; couldn't exactly go back and put it in SiaWoF at this point.
)So you basically put it in right before the second game, blamed the reality warping, and said 'fuck it, good enough?(
T117: ...Eh, pretty much.
)*shrugs.* Could've been worse.(
T117:...Okay, yeah, I'm not as good as carrying on a conversation style A/N solo. So, I'll just remind everyone that next chapter is a question-answering-chapter and leave it at that.
)Uh, Solo? What am I, chopped liver?(
T117: Don't make me get into that and shatter the fourth wall further.
)I'm just saying- between me and CTHI you have three people you can have talk during this thing. If you can't have us keep a conversation going, how are you supposed to do it in-story?(
My guess is he will rip off a lot of what is already there.
T117: Okay, I'll admit I did that fairly often in SiaWoF, but I tried to be better about that in SaWoF...and UiaWoF things went off the rails completely for a lot of conversations.
The conversation with Simon Attwell was somewhat-
T117: In cases like that I think it's justified since Bourne needs to pretend to get info but already knows it so he has to fake it. That, or he's the one regurgitating info just to troll people/prove he knows their secrets already.
You can say whatever helps you sleep at night.
T117: Like, 'I know what to unplug to turn CTHI off if she gets on my nerves?'
...you are fortunate I cannot log you off.
)Wouldn't that just make him more likely to unplug you?(
Perhaps, but in that case it would at least be worth it.
T117: Uh huh. Anyway, leave questions for next chapter in a review and I'll be sure to answer them.
)By the way, you guys are awesome, seeing as how we're already at a hundred faves and a hundred-and-fifty follows for this story, and we're not even ten chapters in...granted, some of that is from the fact that this is a sequel, but still, you guys rock.(
Agreed.
T117: What they said. Sayonara.
