Sutori-Artifex back with another chapter of Masscreed! A notice. The Suicide Mission poll will be concluded with this chapter's posting. I'll give it a little bit more time, since this chapter should have sent out emails/notification blips telling you guys that I released chapter 10. Go to my main profile, check out the poll up top, click, "vote now" and vote away.
Also… The story shall be extended by another chapter. I made the mistake of accidentally counting out the Collector Ship Mission which I also forgot had a five-mission timer, which I exceeded.
Horizon Samara/Tali Thane Loyalty Missions a Ton Ashley Kaidan Alexander and Kairee Wrex.
So, there's been a change of plans. This chapter will detail the Collector Ship mission, and Chapter 11 will deal with the Apprentices. I am sorry for any confusion I may have caused. :)
This Chapter will feature a first glimpse into the Animus v5.7 and will offer an skippable segment near the end of the chapter featuring Eldar Koslov, the first notable ancestor in Alexander Clarke's lineage. Because I wanted this chapter to put the Assassin OCs off to the side (I know how OCs can be sometimes…), only Canon characters will be used for primary events in this chapter. HOWEVER, if you still wish to see the Animus freak out ala Collectors, you can read the Animus segment. You don't have to, though. Just a warning if you're A.) Tired of all the OCness, 2.) Not okay with the Animus being involved in a chapter, 3.) Itchy about game canon, and the way the Animus Genetic Memory Viewer is supposed to work.
Normandy SR-2, 2185
"Patching the Illusive Man through, Commander," Joker said to John as the door to the Briefing Room opened, and the table descended into the floor. John stepped into the dead center of the room and a scanning beam sweeped his body.
The Illusive Man had lit another cigarette. He turned to John. "Shepard, we caught a break," he said, "I intercepted a distress call from a turian patrol. They stumbled upon a Collector ship beyond the Korlus system. The turians were wiped out, but not before they crippled the Collector vessel. I need you to board that ship and get some hard data on the Collectors. Find us a way to get to their homeworld."
John blinked. "A turian patrol took out a Collector ship? How?"
"The hull is intact, so reports indicate," TIM replied, "but all systems are offline. They could be making repairs as we speak. I am not saying it won't be dangerous, but we can't just let this opportunity slip away!"
"You sure this is legit?" John inquired.
"Information is my weapon, Shepard. It's good."
"Send me the coordinates, and we'll take care of it."
"Already sent. Once you're aboard the ship, establish an uplink with EDI. She'll mine their data for information regarding the Omega 4 Relay. Good luck, Shepard," TIM ordered.
As John reached to hang up, TIM stopped him.
"Shepard. I am aware of your actions on Tuchanka. You are holding the Grandmaster and the Vindicator, yes?" he added.
"I don't know what you're talking about," John lied.
"Do not lie to me, Shepard. The Templars you took off of Tuchanka. The Order would like them back. So long as Skarn hasn't told you anything important about the Krogan cell, I'll personally order Garz not to pulverize him. He'll be treated well on the return journey."
So he knew. "Why the hell do you keep sending them after us? Do you not know that it jeopardizes the mission?" asked the Commander, who was righteously pissed with TIM's logic.
"The Assassin… the full-ranker, Mr. Clarke? Yes, him. The two of you bonded on Palaven when I ordered the abduction of Ms. Antar, and she was heartwarmed by your willingness to allow the Normandy to land on Palaven despite Cerberus flagging. All just for her, no? It's strengthened team resolve, and has shaken the Assassins up in the process. I warned Irzia about your arrival on Tuchanka ahead of time, I'll be gracious enough to tell you that," TIM explained, taking a long, hard draft of his cigarette after that first half of his elucidation. He then continued. Blowing smoke from his mouth, he said, "She didn't have many guards because she knew that you'd slaughter them all. She went with you willingly knowing she couldn't be assassinated."
John narrowed his eyes. "What are you planning?"
TIM scowled in response, "That is for the Order to know, and for the Brotherhood to squirm and writhe in their struggle to comprehend. Until Revelation Day hits them square in the jaw, I will not discuss this Templar-Assassin war any further with you. Be careful, Shepard, with who you align yourself with," TIM chuckled, "In the end, it'll all be clear, and you will have chosen the proper side. You will not discuss this matter with the Assassins on board the Normandy. EDI will promptly alert me if you do, and you will be dealt with. Have I made myself clear, Shepard? What's that? Yes, crystal clear? Perfect. Good luck with the Collectors."
TIM hung up before John could get another word in, edgewise.
John pondered the meaning of that final piece of information. He then turned on his heels, and left to prepare for the Collector Ship.
Korlus System, 2185
The Normandy flies by, the Collector Ship coming into view. "That thing is massive!" Joker said, truly awed by the sheer scale of the vessel. "How the hell did the turians take that out?"
In the bridge, John and Jane stood silent, having nothing to say in reply.
The Normandy approached, and EDI informed the Commanders Shepard. "Ladar scans do not detect any hull breaches on the side facing us. I detect no mass effect field distortions. It appears the Drive Core is offline."
"Rendez-vous in 30 seconds, Commander. Good luck out there," Joker said, keeping a vigilant watch over the consoles.
Meeting the Commanders in the Cargo bay were Mordin Solus, Garrus Vakarian, Tali'zorah, and Jacob Taylor. Off to the side, the Assassins congregated to send them all off. "Alex," John said, approaching the Assassin, "You're not coming with?"
"Miranda's keeping me behind. We've got to finish up a Memory Sequence with Eldar. He's just about finished his training, and Ezio's gone off to Masyaf with Sofia Sartor, so Miranda's getting really pushy about finishing the Sequence," Alexander explained, laughing at his misfortune. "Since Mordin insisted on going with you guys to check out the Collectors, Chakwas is taking his role."
Kairee held onto his arm tenderly. She then spoke, saying, "I would normally go with, but mother wanted me to stay behind. She finally wants to sit down and chat about Alex while he's busy in those memories." She jabbed a thumb towards Coracia, her mother, who was casually sitting atop a crate adjacent to a barrel Zaeed Massani was sitting on. The two seemed to be getting along.
Jane laughed and patted Alex on the shoulder, "Alright, we'll send back postcards, if you want them," she said with a sly smirk. Alexander rolled his eyes and made a gesture to shoo them away.
Jacob jogged up to the Commanders and chortled briefly, "Thanks for inviting me, John, I almost thought you'd forgotten me!"
"You? Never. Alright, everyone, pack into the shuttle, let's move!" Jane shouted. John ruffled her hair affectionately and stepped onto the Kodiak. He was followed by the composite squad and the shuttle left the hangar.
They boarded the Collector Ship, landing in a small breach. The squad of six hopped out and scanned their perimeter.
"I just love what they've done with the place," Garrus quipped.
"It absolutely reeks in here, it's coming through my filters. Blegh," Jane commented.
Mordin was like a kid in a candy store, examining the walls and egg-cluster-like lighting on the ceiling. "Fascinating. Resembles insect hives!" he said, looking up in awe.
"Fitting for those bug-faces to make hives out of their ships," Jacob snickered. The team moved forward, finding an empty, steaming pod like the ones on Horizon.
EDI's voice was heard in their helmets or earpieces. "Shepards, I've compared the ship's EM signature to known Collector profiles. This is the vessel you encountered on Horizon," she said.
John whistled. "Those defense turrets must have done enough of a number on the ship as to loosen it up for the turians," he said.
"These pods," Garrus said, running a hand across one. "The missing colonists may be aboard, if they're still alive."
"…no," Tali said, shaking her head. She pointed over to the right. A mound of something she suspected were bodies. Walking up, her fears were confirmed.
"Horrible," Mordin scoffed, "despicable. Uh-unacceptable!"
A mound of eviscerated, human corpses, paled and swollen in death lay before the squad. A few bodies and their respective limbs and heads were strewn about every which way.
"Why the hell would they do this? I mean, they're going to capture us, why are they just going to let us rot?"
"Test subjects from Control Group," Mordin said, sniffling. "Discarded after tests were over."
"There are worse things than death," said John Shepard. He stayed silent for a few seconds with his head bowed, almost as though he were praying, "like being test subjects for twisted aliens…"
"This was wrong. Inhumane!" Mordin muttered. "Even if Collectors needed to kill for experiments… could have ended lives painlessly."
"You're probably right," Garrus sighed, "Doesn't feel that much better, though."
They pressed on, trying their damnest to ignore the piles of bodies on the way. They discovered a miniature laboratory; just a terminal, and operating pods. Jacob peered into a pod. "Not only are they experimenting on humans… they experiment on their own!" he gasped. Jane approached the terminal and forwarded some hard data to EDI.
"…analysis complete," EDI eventually said. "The Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their species and humanity."
"…similarities? I doubt they found anything," John murmured, shrugging indifferently.
"I lack a hypothesis on their motivations. All I have are preliminary results. They reveal something remarkable."
"Oh hell no," Jacob said, jumping the gun, "If they're supposed to be the creators of mankind or some bullshit…"
EDI cleared her synthetic throat and Jacob shut up. "…a Quand-Strand genetic structure, identical to traces collected from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: The Protheans."
Protheans!?
"My… God…" John said, stepping away from the pods and terminal. "The Protheans… they never vanished. They're working for the Reapers, now!"
"These are no longer Protheans, Shepard. Their genes show distinct signs of extensive genetic rewrite. The Reapers merely repurposed them to suit their needs."
Jane quizzically blinked. "You'd think somebody would have picked up on this by now…"
"No one has had an opportunity to study a Collector genetic code in this detail," EDI replied, "I have already matched two thousand alleles to recorded fragments. This Collector likely descends from a Prothean colony in the Styx Theta cluster. But, there are signs of alteration. Three fewer chromosomes. Reduced heterochromatin structure. Elimination of superfluous "junk" sequences."
A sense of revulsion dawned on the Shepards and their squad. "The Reapers didn't wipe out the Protheans," John began.
"They turned them into monsters, and enslaved them," Jane finished.
"They're working for the Reapers, now," Tali sighed.
"Right. So we have to put them down," Jacob chimed in.
"No species should have to suffer through that…" Garrus bemoaned.
The squad carried on. Through the dark hallways and past the pulsing, writhing walls, through the stench of decay. If one was told to imagine Hell as a place, this would fit the description.
Jacob noticed a red light on John's helmet. "Sir? There a… uh, light, on your head."
"I'm recording. Been recording since we found the empty pods. Figured there's no better method of showing somebody what something was like, than to record the horror yourself," John replied, cradling his shotgun close.
The group stumbled upon a weapon's cache. Jane crouched down by the pile and rummaged through the weaponry.
"Assault Rifles… Shotguns… Sniper Rifles…" she murmured, shifting through guns.
"…sis, what the hell are you doing?" John asked his sister.
Jane picked up a Revenant assault rifle. "Who calls dibs?" she said.
John gawked at the machine gun. He already knew how to fire shotguns, and sniper rifles were never good for Vanguards. Wrex brought a cache of M300 Claymores aboard, so there was no need for those. He put away his shotgun and reached out for the beauty of a gun, taking it it in his hands.
An M98 Widow Rifle. Jane held it up, and as soon as she did so, she could swear that she heard Garrus squeal slightly under his helmet. The turian reached out like a child after a lolipop and delicately took the Widow sniper-rifle from Jane. "I love you," he said to Jane, accepting his present giddily.
"I love you too, big guy. Consider that a late birthday present," Jane replied with a stifled laugh.
The rest of the guns were left alone, and the squad pressed forward. Looking up, Mordin gawped at the ceiling, which was swamped with pods. "…wonder how many are full… must be hundreds of pods," he whispered with a shudder.
"Too many," Jane growled.
"I detect no signs of life from the contents of the pods. It is probable the victims died when the ship lost primary power."
"Damnit. We can't even rescue them," Jacob groaned.
The ceilings dripped with viscous goop that drenched the floors below, coating the walls, pods, and bodies. The intermingling pongs of death, slime, and fuel almost drove Jacob to vomit, while making the rest of the team mildly nauseated.
Joker's voice came on over the comms. "Commander, you gotta hear this!" He said, "On a hunch, I told EDI to run an analysis on this ship!"
EDI said in addendum, "I compared the EM profile against data recorded by the original Normandy two years ago. They are an exact match."
John's face fell to an infuriated grimace. "The same damn ship dogging me for two years, and the one that killed me?! Coincidence? I THINK NOT!" he cried.
Tali patted his shoulder, "We're here now, and we're going to get them back for what they did," she said. That reassured John, and he took a deep breath, orally, as to not inhale the dreadful odor.
"Something… doesn't add up, Commander. Watch your back in there."
Climbing up a steep incline, the main chamber of the cruiser was revealed to Shepards and co. Hundreds of yards up, on the ceiling, and along the circular walls, were billions of pods, some filled, some not. "Unbelievable," Mordin whispered.
"It looks like they could have enough pods to empty the Terminus Systems and still not fill them all!" Tali said. Just to feel a bit safer, she pumped her shotgun and checked the thermal clip.
"They're going to target Earth…" Garrus predicted.
Hell no. The Shepards glared at the pods, then to each other. "We're going to stop them before they do."
"Over there," Tali said, "It looks like some kind of… control panel?"
"Lack of Collectors odd," Mordin mumbled, "Suggest caution."
"Yeah, this is really getting' Ghost Shippy at the moment. Something's not right, Commander," added Jacob, who gripped his hand-cannon just a bit more firmly.
Jane activated the console, seeing as how she was the most technically adept of the two Shepards. "EDI? I'm setting up a Bridge between you and the Collector Ship. See if you can find anything useful from the data banks."
EDI took the connection. "Data mining in progress, Shepard."
On board the Normandy, Joker and EDI watched the columns of data fall. Eventually, static overtook one screen, then the next, then the next. An image of the Collector General appeared in blood-red on EDI's holo terminal.
"Uh, that can't be good," Joker muttered.
An explosion of data rocked the console on the Collector Ship, staggering Jane.
After recovering from the initial shock, the rest of the squad looked about to see data terminals rising up from within tubes around the room they were in. John put a hand to the ear of his helmet, "Everyone's alright, Joker," he said, "What just happened?"
"Major power surge. Everything went dark but we're back up now."
"I managed to divert the majority of the overload to non-critical systems. Shepard it was not a malfunction. It was a trap."
The platform began to float upwards with a low whirring sound, spinning slowly counterclockwise as it lifted. As it began to move sideways, the squad had a bit of trouble keeping to their feet. "We need a little help here, EDI," Jane requested.
"I am having trouble maintaining connection. There is someone in the system."
"What? Damnit!" John said. He had a concern come to mind, "What about Alexander, are they in the Animus with him or something?"
Tali blinked under her facemask. "That's ridiculous. There's no way they could infect that machine, it's not connected to the Normandy, is it?"
"…it is," Mordin replied, "Not an engineer… still, Collector virus could infect Animus. What it does? Unsure."
EDI called back, "Miranda is attempting to rouse him from the Memory Sequence. I have live feed in background while I attempt to deal with the problem. He is currently stuck in the Memory Sequence. The Collectors are preventing desynchronization, and have openly attacked Constantinople. Alexander is understandably confused, and the capabilities of the Animus's VI software are being heavily taxed as simulated civilians and historical figures are realistically reacting to the attacks," she explained.
"That must feel surreal," Garrus jested as the platform the group was standing on collided with several other hexagonal, floating platforms. They all tumbled forwards onto the next platform.
Another platform was veering around a chitonous "mountain" and was making its way towards the squad's platform.
Garrus readied his Widow rifle and took careful aim. He fired off a shot and nailed a Collector soldier right in the head, cracking it open like a melon. He cried out, both in excitement and from the insane recoil.
Several more platforms began flying in as the squad dropped the drones and a scion, packing another group of drones and scions. "EDI, get us out of here!" Jane cried, throwing a biotic warp onto a shielded Collector.
"I am simultaneously fighting Collector firewalls in over 8,000 nodes, plus 1,000 in the Animus systems. I am currently tasked to capacity, possibly beyond."
Meanwhile, while EDI was dealing with those firewalls, the squad sought cover from the hail of bullets the Collectors fired. Tali activated her assault drone to fly over and distract the Collectors. This bought Garrus much needed time to fire a concussive-explosive shot over cover, into the center of the Collector gathering, sending drones flying off the platforms. John hefted his new Revenant on top of the half-wall serving as cover and spewed bullets into the Scions while Jacob laid down the biotic hurt, with Mordin incinerating the Scions' armor.
Eventually, victory was had for the heroes, and the link to the Normandy was reestablished. "I have regained control of the platform, Shepard," EDI said.
"I knew you wouldn't let us down, EDI," John replied, smiling under his helmet.
"I always work at optimal capacity."
"Apparently that capacity is over 9000," Jacob quipped.
"Goddamnit, Jacob," Jane said, perpetuating the joke. EDI's avatar dipped back into the console, vanishing and raising the platform up and away. "Did you get what we needed?"
"I found data that could help us successfully navigate the Omega 4 Relay," EDI said, "I have also found the 'turian' distress call that served as a lure for this trap. The Collectors were the source. It is unusual."
"Seems logical to me that they would've sent the original message as bait," Jane replied, shrugging.
"Yeah, if there's anything that can lure you in, it's a cry for help," jibed Jacob, who received an elbow in the rib from Garrus.
"No, it is unusual because turian emergency channels have secondary encryption. It is corrupted in the message," EDI continued, her avatar reappearing. "It is not possible that the Illusive Man would believe the distress call was genuine."
"How are you so sure?" Jacob asked.
"I found the anomaly with Cerberus detection protocols. He wrote them."
Joker's eyes widened. He calmed down and turned to EDI's avatar on the Normandy. "He sent us into a trap?! Why would he do that if he knew it was an elaborate ruse?"
"We don't have time to throw blame around," Jane sighed, "We'll question him when we're out."
John grinded his teeth. That's twice today. First, the Templars and Tuchanka being a set-up. Coupling that, Kairee's captivity was a ploy to encourage Assassin cooperation with Cerberus and the Order. And now? TIMmy sent the Normandy into an obvious trap. He was going to have a stern talking to TIM when returned.
"Behavior within norms for Cerberus. Not unexpected," Mordin admitted.
"Uh, Commander? We got another problem! The Collector Ship is powering up!" Joker cried. Lighting fixtures around the cylindrical Collector Ship's interior began to flicker on, and the tell-tale whirring began. "You need to get out of there before their weapons come online! I'm NOT losing another Normandy!"
"I do not have full control of their systems, I will do what I can," EDI announced. "Sending coordinates for Shuttle Extraction."
With that, John and Jane took off running. "Come on, let's move!" they shouted in unison. Their team made haste to follow the Shepards. An ambush of Collector Drones stood in their way. Both parties halted, in a sort of standoff. The Shepards hesitated only because the Collectors had been hesitating for several seconds now. One of them began to twitch as their eyes began to glow. It was lifted off the ground, flesh violently pulsating as it ripped open with shining, yellow cracks. It thrased about as a deep, dark, monotonous voice boomed.
"Assuming DI-RECT, control…"
"Great. Harby made it to the party…" Jane sniggered.
"Harby? Ugh. Nevermind. Open fire!" John cried, letting loose with his Revenant. He was loving that thing right now. Rounds of ammunition hammered Harbinger's barrier as Jane warped them, bringing them down. Garrus fired a concussive round into a small swarm of drones, blowing them away. Tali overloaded the last bits of Harbinger's barrier and Mordin incinerated his armor. The resulting tech explosion disintegrated Harbinger's host body. Jacob threw a biotic-pull towards the regrouped drones who had succeeded in dropping his shields.
"Gravity's a meeeaaan muthah, huh? That'll teach you to stop groupin' up on me!" he called out, taunting the Collectors, which he skillfully killed with a few shots from his pistol. A total of five Collector drones were killed by the time he holstered his pistol.
Garrus and John gave him a nod of approval, with the latter whistling at the man's accuracy with a handgun. Jacob chuckled and followed the others further into the Collector Ship, where they dealt with a similar ambush in a similar manner.
They stomped down a ramp leading to a spacious room… without Collectors… "I'm opening a door on the far side of the room," EDI's voice called out, as said door opened to reveal husks.
"What the?! Husks?! Here?!" Tali cried, remembering all too well the husks the Geth had made two years ago.
"No problem!" John shouted, putting away his Revenant, taking his Eviscerator out and biotic-charging into one husk, sending it sprawling away before aiming and firing the head off of another. He flipped his gun in the air, caught it by the barrel, and swung it like a bat into the throat of a husk that had tried to lunge at the Commander. It flipped back over its heels and hit the floor, crown-first, in a "scorpion" position, its heels tapping its head before the husk flopped onto its chest. He spun the gun on his finger by the trigger guard and gripped the handle. He executed the husk.
Another had tried to throw itself onto John's back, but was promptly shot dead in the neck by Garrus's Widow rifle.
"Scoped it, dropped it," Garrus said, reloading, "Line me up another!"
At that moment, Jane squeaked and hauled ass back into cover, shouting out about a "Praetorian."
Oh no.
John burst into a run, dolphin-diving over chitin-coated crates to cover. Garrus fired a round into the barrier of the Praetorian and joined his Commanders behind the crates. Jacob, Mordin, and Tali were forced to retreat up the ramp from which they came as the Praetorian flew overhead. The Commanders and Garrus switched sides of the crates as soon as the Praetorian moved over them. Bullets struck them in the shields and their heads snapped around to behold a fireteam of drones storming the room. Garrus reloaded and took aim. John threw a shockwave across the ground, watching it pulse as it exploded underfoot of the drones. A Widow round popped the head off of one drone as it flew away. Jane drew her akimbo-wield N7 Hurricanes, somersaulting over cover to chase down the Praetorian.
By the time she arrived, its barrier was down and it looked like it was taking a beating. Mordin incinerated it, and it began to glow purple, recharging shields, possibly.
Jane cursed and dove backwards into the dust as swirling energy formed a bubble around the Praetorian. It exploded, knocking Jacob and Mordin into the walls and tripping Tali into a faceplant as she turned to run.
John arrived, and cried out in rage when he saw Tali hit the dirt, mask-first. He jumped into the air, boosting himself forwards and upwards on his biotics, landing on the Praetorian's back. He began unloading his shotgun into the top of the monstrosity, breaking its barrier. He flicked his wrist; the blade given to him by the Apprentices would come in handy. His fist exuded clouds of electric blue "flames", and he thrust the slender blade into the top of the Praetorian. An electrical charge was sent into the Praetorian, stunning it and resulting in ferocious convulsions. It couldn't recharge like this!
"Take the shot! Everyone! At once!" He roared, throwing his shotgun down and drawing his backup pistol, an M77 Paladin. He held it over the hole made by the blade and began firing into it. Garrus popped another Widow round out, hammering the Praetorian's armor. Mordin fired another Incineration module, Jacob threw a Pull into the leg of the Praetorian, yanking it away and causing the already juddering monster to expose its underbelly and husk heads for Tali. When the Praetorian began charging its beams, Tali defiantly picked up her shotgun and blasted the heads in the Praetorian's maw. Jane unleashed hell-in-bullet-form from her SMGs.
It was essentially just abusive overkill, at this point. The Praetorian screamed out and shortly died after a finishing blow from John: He jumped up and slammed his entire body through the softened Praetorian's shell with a biotic charge. He military-crawled out from the carnage and shell fragments, to the amusement of his twin sister, who just snickered at all the Praetorian gore that coated his armor, offering her hand to pick him up.
With the fight overwith, the squad continued through the ship. A locked door.
"…EDI? We have a problem," Jacob said, squinting in mild disbelief at the door.
"This is just a setback," EDI reassured the team. "Firewall 3217 is in the way; I am busy rerouting commands through Firewall 7164. Please hold…"
Garrus sighed and shook his head, "Alright but if she starts playing Elevator Music, I'm done."
John hummed a little diddy which, to Jane and Garrus sounded like the Toreador March. "…you watched the turian version of Carmen didn't you?" Jane asked him, a tone hinting at incredulity.
"…I watched it with Garrus and Joker, okay?" John snapped. A door on the opposite wall was opened by EDI.
"There. That's where we came in," Garrus said, pointing down to the terminal with the operating pods.
"Go the other way. They likely know where we came in from and have it well protected," John ordered, running in the opposite direction. Jane and Tali ran mini-scans over the technology along the pathway and salvaged it as the others trudged on.
Yet another ambush came out to jump at our heroes. Drones flew in assisted by abominations and husks. Garrus and John stood back to offer support with their heavy-hitting weapons, the Widow and the Revenant, respectively.
"Di-rect intervention is necessary."
Harbinger. Again. He assumed direct control over a particularly hard to kill Collector. He took a defensive approach and moved back into cover. Throwing a Grenade, he managed to wound Garrus, Mordin, and Jacob as the lattermost two were passing by Garrus to advance on the Collectors.
Tali hid behind a column of chitin and offered assistance via Chiktikka vas Paus.
John cursed, loudly, as his team was wounded by the grenade. His Revenant ran out of clips; he spent his last thermals wanton on this machine gun. He put it away and flicked his wrist, rushed Harbinger, and flushed him out of cover, swinging his arm with the intent to strike the possessed Collector. Harbinger drew out two chitinous tonfa blades and twirled them in his hands, lifting one up to strike John's arm, parrying the attack. He swipes his other blade and hits John in the side.
The Commander front-kicks Harbinger in the chest of his host, staggering him. Jane stayed back with Tali to finish off the other drones and deliver Medigel aid to the wounded teammates. They all managed to brush off the grenade with a little dulled pain and some medigel to patch the injuries.
Meanwhile, Harbinger continued his 1v1. "You will know pain, Shepard," he said, striking John in the head with his elbow. "I know you feel this," he added, kneeing the Commander in the gut. John stumbled back and shook his head. He threw a feint punch towards Harbinger's left, then withdrew and stabbed him in the throat. As Harbinger's host began to disintegrate, he left a parting remark. "If I must destroy you, Shepard, I will."
John made a spitting sound effect (without actually spitting) to show his indignation towards Harbinger as his blade retreated into the wristguard of his hardsuit. That thing came in handy.
"Uh, Commanders? I hate to rush you all, but those weapons are about to come online! You best double time it," Joker announced over the comms, "Y'know, so we can leave before they blow the Normandy in half. Again."
As told, the squad double timed it, only to turn a corner and be set upon by a horde of husks. Three of them tackled Jacob to the ground, wailing away at him. Fortunately, he created a biotic barrier around him, the expansion of which pushed the husks off of him. He quickly shot them down with his pistol and rejoined the others, who were busy traipsing through the husks, pushing, shooting, and stabbing as many as they could. John unleashed a biotic nova, clearing the way. A few managed to get up, and in an effort to conserve what dwindling ammunition they had, the squad just sprinted ahead, chased down by the horde that was steadily gaining reinforcements.
"We're out of time, Commander, we have to go!" Joker cried, nervously hitting buttons and haptic-interface keys in desperate anxiety, checking systems with a rabid fervor.
"You heard the man," John said, "Everybody onto the Normandy, let's go, go, GO!" he shouted, turning back to face the onslaught of husks while the rest of the squad jumped into the shuttle.
"John, what are you doing?!" Jane cried.
John's right arm ignited with biotic energy. He drew back a punch and let it fly, a burst of biotics surging forth and obliterating the bodies of the husks. Strained, John held his helmet and stumbled back, running towards the shuttle. Tripping and falling into it, the shuttle closed its doors and departed for the Normandy, landing inside just in time.
Lights and systems were reactivating across the Collector Ship. "Strap in people!" Joker boomed. "We're gonna have to make them work for it this time around…"
John and Jane immediately took the elevator up to the CIC Deck and were joined by Miranda, the latter of whom had made it up from the Crew Deck to oversee the human crew's toil to optimize ship functions. "Where's Alex?" John shouted, worried.
"Still in the Animus! We couldn't flush the Collectors out!"
They hurried to the Bridge, only to blunder once the Collector Ship fired its beam at the Normandy, causing the ship to rock. "We can't dodge this guy forever, EDI! Get us the hell out of here!"
"Specify a destination, Mr. Moreau."
Goddamn it.
"ANYWHERE THAT'S NOT HERE!" he screamed, eyeing the AI's avatar, enraged.
"Very well. Engaging Mass Effect Core," the AI replied.
The Normandy soon made the jump to FTL, outrunning the Collector Ship.
(I offer the opportunity to skip the below.)
Animus-Simulated Constantinople, 1512
The Memory had gone swimmingly at first, Alexander thought. As Ezio and Sofia were out to find Altaïr's library in Masyaf, the Russian Assassin, Eldar Koslov, was left alone in Constantinople with Yerman Ragar, the man he was honored to call his best friend. The two were in the Grand Bazaar, the place (and the immediate surrounding area) that Eldar was assigned to, training to become a Den Leader. The two were chatting, curious as to what Ezio was up to in Masyaf. They wandered through the Bazaar, looking at the goods and luxuries available for sale.
Eldar approached a fine Qom-Persian rug, looking it over. "Yerman," he said, getting the Ottoman's attention. "Do you think this would look nice in the den?" His Turkish was flawless; a curious effect that took hold shortly after his arrival in the city. He had been thrown out of his homeland by a rogue, tyrannical nobleman and renowned Templar. Upon his arrival by boat he began to learn the Turkish language at an unnatural pace, learning the curves and edges of the grammar and able to understand entire phrases and sentences after hearing them only a few times. His ability was respected as a form of "Eagle Sense", which he also possessed, although it was vastly inferior to Ezio's. The only superiority his Sense had to Ezio's was the fragility of any lingual barriers.
The Ottoman Assassin casually strode up to the rug, blinking at it and looking it over. "I do like the Tree of Life motif," he remarked, smirking approvingly.
Eldar's vision flashed red. Alexander Clarke oversaw this and he felt a paroxysm take hold.
Damnit, a desynchronization. What's going on?
The air flashed red and a mechanical droning sounded off.
"Attention, Clarke, Alexander. The Animus has detected a critical error; Mal-Mal-Mal-Malware Infection. Firewall co-co-co…" the Animus VI, Oriana, called out. Only Alexander could hear it, of course; Eldar said nothing about the mysterious voice.
"Error; system over-ererererererererererer…" Oriana rapidly stammered, glitching in the creepiest of fashions.
"ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL."
Oh Mother of God. Alexander immediately knew what was going on. The Shepards must have tripped a trap and gotten the Normandy infected. Through the Normandy they must have stumbled upon the Animus and decided to look into the systems.
Eldar heard screams outside the Bazaar. "Eldar, what was that? I heard something," Yerman said, backhanding the Russian's shoulder.
Why wasn't this damn sequence Desynchronizing!?
"Wha? What did you hear?" Eldar replied, growing concern on his expression.
"I heard someone shout something in a strange language. It echoed through the Bazaar. People outside are screaming," Yerman explained, increasingly worried.
"What did it say?"
"Uh… it wasn't Turkish, or Russian… I think it was… English? AH-SOO-MING DIE-WRECKED CON-TROLL or something."
Eldar blinked at Yerman. The air flashed red again, three times, repeatedly.
Oh shit, he's acknowledging Harbinger, Alexander thought.
Eldar rolled his eyes and brushed past Yerman, making his way outside. Turkish civilians were screaming and evacuating the area as a patrol of Collector Drones walked by. One got the idea to test the fragility of the simulation. It fired its rifle at a charging Ottoman Brute, shredding his heavy plate armor into twisted pieces of shrapnel. The mass-accelerated rounds of ammunition eviscerated his body, tearing stringy holes through him, the impact ripping his flesh, bones, and organs asunder. He dropped his axe and fell back on his back, into a pool of his own blood.
"Allah, help me!" Yerman squeaked, falling back behind a corner. The gunshots got the curiosity of other civilians yet to witness the Collectors. Their simulated intelligence finally registered a realistic response, after their processes recovered from their confusion. They began to scream and clear out from the area.
Eldar began to breathe heavily, ducking back behind a pillar. "What the hell are those things?"
"Spawns of Iblis. Is the trumpet about to blow?!" the very Muslim Yerman cried, squeezing his eyes shut and quietly praying to Allah.
They've seen COLLECTORS, from several hundred years into the future, shoot a guard down. WHY HAVEN'T I DESYNCHED YET?!
…that's it! They've overriden the system for some reason, and inserted the likenesses of Collectors into the Memory. They're preventing a desynchronization from getting me out of here.
…are they trying to kill me within the Animus?!
"Not sure, but I think we can kill them, if we're careful," Eldar said to Yerman, who gave him a look like he was insane.
Before Yerman could open his mouth, a mysterious, feminine voice spoke, in Turkish (that sounded English to Alexander). Her voice reverberated around the Bazaar as the world flashed red and began to waver, textures starting to crumble. Shops began to flash white, their cowering shopkeepers disintegrated into white light.
"I am currently combatting Collector Firewalls in over 1,000 nodes within the Animus. Alexander, I am accessing several Animus hack programs," the voice said.
"…who is Alexander?" Yerman whispered to himself.
"You now have full control over Eldar Koslov. I am attempting to access the invulnerability hack."
Eldar moved his arms and hands to test his movement. Yerman's eyes bulged as Eldar acknowledged the voice. His voice was his own, but he said something unusual. "Thanks, EDI," he replied.
"EDI?"
"Alright, I know this is confusing as hell to you, but you've been dead for a few hundred years and this is all a simulation," Eldar said. Yerman's eye twitched.
"That might explain the demons, and the voices… and the white holes, actually. I'm okay with this."
Oh, Yerman. Anyways. Alex-Eldar jumped out from cover and jumped up to a window from a construction rampart, using the drapes to pull himself up just a bit further. He ran on the rooftop, around to the Collectors that had begun to enter the Bazaar.
With a running start, Alex-Eldar leapt from the rooftop, flicked his wrist to reveal his hidden blade, and plunged it into the skull of a Collector, which thanks to his Eagle Sense, he knew had no barrier. It pierced the chitin with some difficulty, and killed the Collector on the spot. He stood up and fired a bullet from his hidden gun into another unshielded Collector. As a shielded Collector tried to smack him with its rifle, Alex-Eldar rolled to the side, drew his kilij, and slashed the Collector down at the knees. The shields were mildly damaged by the sword, and the Collector was tripped.
Yerman joined the fray and tackled another Collector, shouting "Allah" repeatedly and speedily as he wrapped his arms and legs around a Collector Captain that just happened to be possessed by Harbinger. Harbinger fell to the ground and rolled with Yerman as Alex-Eldar dealt with the drone he downed. He drew a contact explosive grenade and prepared to throw it down.
"Invulnerability hack enabled. Attempting to wrest control of Oriana's systems from Harbinger to restore and end the Memory. Continue fighting, Mr. Clarke. You're almost out."
Alex-Eldar threw the bomb onto the head of the Collector. The ceramic casing released the payload upon shattering. The explosion coated Alex-Eldar in Arabic gunpowder, but the explosive didn't harm him. He picked up a Collector rifle and aimed it at Harbinger. Letting the bullets fly, he hammered Harbinger with bullets as Yerman held him from behind in a perfect wrestling technique. The barrier shattered and Harby was down to his armor. He finally succeeded in throwing Yerman off of him, and the hapless Assassin tumbled into a nearby fountain with a pitiful yelp.
"I am assuming control, now," EDI quipped as the Memory began to repair itself.
Alex-Eldar attempted to throw a Biotic Warp, and even made the motions. Eldar had no Biotics, however. Alexander cursed under his breath and resorted to using another contact grenade. He threw it at Harbinger's chest and it detonated, severely damaging his armor. Alex-Eldar tossed the gun away and drew a dagger, running up to Harbinger. As he brought the dagger down, his throat and wrist were grabbed by the Collector. The two were locked in a struggle.
A gunshot sounded, and a wheel-lock bullet whizzed by Eldar's head and struck the Collector in one of the eyes. It disintegrated, and Alex-Eldar faceplanted into the wall, his dagger getting stuck in a crack in the wall.
Turns out, Ezio and Sofia came back earlier than expected. Upon hearing the commotion, he borrowed an Assassin's hidden gun, having left his in Masyaf.
"Oriana's control over the Animus has been reestablished. Harbinger and the Collector firewalls have been cast out. Prepare for the jump to Faster-Than-Light, Mr. Clarke," EDI broadcasted.
Oriana then spoke. "Ending the Memory. Have a Nice Day, Clarke, Alexander."
Ezio's eyes bulged as he and Sofia looked up to the skies. The Assassin Mentor had only three words:
"What. The. F*ck?"
Cut to black.
Normandy SR-2, 2185.
Alexander woke with a start, spilling out of the Animus chair and rolling across the floor, bumping into a cart with monitors and wires on it. Kairee ran to his side and held him up, wrapping her arms around him and looking him over worriedly.
"Spirits, Alex, are you okay?!" she cried, looking Alex in the eye.
"That was the most bizarre thing I have ever done," he groaned in a thick Russian-Turkish accent, holding his head.
Kairee just hugged him close, relieved that he was alive. She didn't even care that his abrupt departure from that accursed machine gave him an accent. Chakwas was horrified by the events that unfolded and was toiling ceaselessly over reports of Alexander's vital signs during the cyberattack.
Miranda and Mordin came stampeding down the stairs and knelt by Kairee and Alexander. Mordin looked him over while Miranda checked the monitors and process history for the source of the attack. "Can you tell me what happened?" Miranda asked.
"Are we safe from the Collectors?" Alexander said, still carrying that accent.
"Yes, we made the jump and are safe from their Ship, now what happened?"
"…Eldar and Yerman Ragar were buying a Qom rug in the Bazaar… the tell-tale signs of Desynch were showing up, and I heard screams… then Yerman acknowledges Harbinger when the latter booms out about Direct Control Assumption," Alexander explained, "Collector Drones, or at least, viruses in the form of Collectors, attack us in the Bazaar. EDI gave me situational and bodily control over Eldar, accessed some hacks already present in the Animus to make me invincible. Yerman and I killed the Collectors, and Ezio arrived to shoot Harbinger dead…"
"Sounds like a dream from hell," Chakwas jibed, trying to lighten the mood as she and Miranda overlooked the recorded feed from the event.
"Collectors infected Animus. Inserted Collectors into simulated historical city. Capable of killing within Sandbox or Memory," Mordin murmured to himself. "Most fascinating. EDI, request scan of Animus. Must ensure no Collector programs remain inside."
"Already done, Dr. Solus."
"Good," Alexander said, his original accent returning slowly, "Let's pray that doesn't happen again."
They picked him up off the floor and carried him out of the Animus chamber. The crew had survived, and picked up valuable knowledge as to the key to the Omega-4 Relay…
Sutori-Artifex, back with the post-chapter Author's Note: I don't have much to say here. Sorry, not sorry, about the Animus segment. I had fun writing that even if it was goofy/confusing ^_^
I just want to thank you all for staying with me on this journey. I want to give my community a name. To the people who have been following this story, and my profile, I want to call you all something. Something relevant to the Masscreed universe. Leave suggestions in the reviews.
I also want to announce that, I apologize sincerely if I may have snapped at any of you in reviews, or Private Messages. I've had a lot on my mind recently, I've had some trouble with school and tests, and I've been trying to improve not only my writing, but my schoolwork. I hate algebra.
On top of that, I will be holding a Pre-Chapter Q&A featuring characters from both this story and my Skyrim Fanfic, Nobleborn. Q&A Chapters are not permitted by the guidelines, but nothing is preventing me from holding one in the Pre-Chapter Author Notes, followed by a legitimate chapter to a story.
If you have any concerns, questions, or things you want to say to my characters (or myself), leave them in a review. I ask that you write in proper English (you are excused if you are not a native speaker). The reviews posted on this story reflect the story's content and the community that follows and favorites it, in the eyes of a new viewer and/or potential follower. I LOVE getting reviews, as they tell me what needs work, what I've done right, and how I can improve the story even further. It also lets me communicate with you guys and gives me a window of opportunity to reply to you all and have conversations with you. So, shamelessly, I will ask for reviews. No, I am not a sellout or attention wh-e.
So with that, I leave you with this chapter and this long Author Note. Remember to leave a review, drop a favorite on this story, and follow me, or my story, for more updates! ALSO REMEMBER: The Suicide Mission Poll is still up there if you want to make some last second votes! Think it through! I'll be closing it TOMORROW!