CH11
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Too much, too late…
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Noveria- Main port- level 1
When the team arrived at the first level to the main cafeteria to the port's mass of exuberant and 'bountiful' corporations they were talking outside in the lift. Rana had kept her peace but after that encounter with Uri the team was clearly in deeper than what had been mentioned in the briefing, Rana asked.
"What in the name of the goddess was that thing we just saw?" She asked to Joseph.
The Spartan was a little concerned that she might lose her cool after that encounter with the overmind of the flood, it wasn't the first time he had this kind of situation occur, plenty of people were frightened half to shits by the sight of one of the flood overminds, and the flood was nothing pretty that people liked to talk about. Joseph decided to give her the summarised version.
"We've had a talk with one of our previous Spartans, Uri was one of those who were part of the teams assigned to the Warden system during the war, and he had some problems when he was there." Joseph stated.
"No kidding, so then, how does he know about you?" Rana asked.
The marines looked around nervously, they were all briefed on the Spartan's situation and also about the operations which Joseph was involved with, they knew not to speak about what had happened. Joseph decided that it was better to tell Rana now than hold the truth back any further, he didn't need her second guessing their objectives when they were in the midst of one of the most dangerous beings that the galaxy could possibly throw at them.
"Rana, Uri and I were brothers, not biological, but we were surrogated into a single family, surely you know about the Spartan program?"
"Yeah, that was in the open end information, I still can't believe that the UCAF even allows open recruitment from worlds. I know you're part of the Spartan program, but what has this to do with the flood?" She asked.
Joseph hesitated, there was a lot that he didn't want to divulge, and this was one of the few things. "The UCAF during the war assigned special Spartan units into the Warden system when we first found the flood; it was to initially keep the flood away from spreading and contain them as well as research a means to fight the flood. During the war when the flood was still a minor issue the UCAF researched into countering the infection, during those vaccinations, 16 Spartan V units were brought into a project called Chimera. It was to expose them to minor infections, we had a number of resistant systems to hold the flood off from infecting us and it was supposed to make sure that we could counter the flood should the need arise."
"And let me guess nothing went wrong and everyone came out alive?" She said sarcastically.
"The flood got loose during one of the experiments and we had to abandon the research centre, 4 units became openly uncontrollable and were supposed to be disposed but they managed to break through all security measures, and 2 more lost control from some kind of telepathic communications with the flood. The rest of us remained dormant and in control of our minds and our bodies, Uri was one of them."
"But you're saying that you are infected?" She said.
"Yes."
"But you're nothing like Uri, how's that even possible, the research at Warden for us showed there was no immunity to the flood, well until you vaccinated me when we exited the base, but still how did you manage to remain human when you were infected?" She said in confusion.
"The infection I was given was malignant, it wasn't meant to override my sense of humanity and the effects are there, you just can't see them as much. Haven't you ever wondered why I never seem to attract as much attention when I was at Warden? The flood recognise my sense as a neutral entity, it's only when I actually begin to throw myself into their plans that disrupt their nature that they consider me a danger, which they proceed to eliminating me." He explained.
"I don't get it, why would the UCAF do this to you, wasn't there any other way to counter the flood?" She said.
"Well that was it, the UCAF and ONI discovered that there was no actual means to learn more about the flood than actually having those involved infected. The chimera program which was involved with the flood was where I and the other Spartans were directly involved with interacting; we had to take the risk in order to learn more. And I have no regrets." He stated clearly.
"But your brother seems to have his reservations." She countered.
"Uri was involved but he was considered unable to continue, his situation deteriorated until he was consumed by the flood and eventually he went rogue, the UCAF had him tossed into the Warden system by himself and other flood failures, better that than having the Spartans try to clear up the mess." He expressed.
"What do you mean by that?" Rana enquired.
"The Spartans involved like myself were no match for the Spartans infected, the reason why we didn't engage would be because of me and also because Uri isn't like normal flood entities, he's one of the best, a morph overmind is one of the few entities that the UCAF try to avoid at all costs. They are deadlier than even Spartans because of their ability to adapt to damage and regenerate, and he can turn his armour into indestructible plating which is neigh invulnerable to gauss rounds, it would take a direct hit from a mass driver to penetrate the plating of his chitin flesh." Joseph explained.
"So, taking on Uri would be suicide for you and the team?"
"Yes, which is why I won't engage him, the mission comes first and if Uri knows something. It's good to follow up on it, even as a flood Uri doesn't break his vows, his sworn oath in joining the UCAF was to serve humanity and obey his duty till his death, at this point even as a walking piece of mutations he's still loyal, all who follow the code are loyal." He replied.
"Fine, if he's still loyal, what do you think his objective is in all of this, surely helping us would mean that he's got his own agenda doesn't it?" She said.
"Uri has his own plans for the reapers, but whatever they might be we can't intervene in now, we need to catch up with Saren and his little friends at Peak 15, if Uri is right, then our priorities are just cleansing the world and saving whoevers left and then going after Saren. In that sense it seems pretty clear, but with Uri in the mix, I have my doubts." Joseph pondered.
"Why?" Rana asked.
"Uri is one of the few who ever knew anything more than the other members of Chimera, and thus he knows a lot more than most intelligence officers in ONI. But what he knows only he and the flood will ever know. He won't divulge anything else."
The doors to the lift opened and they were now on the level to the survivors of the port, Joseph decided to wrap up the discussion now.
"Whatever Uri plans on doing, it's going to involve us somehow, and if not, he'll vanish into the dark like before. Either way, we have a job to do, and the reapers are rearing their heads at us right now, so focus on the mission, I'll tell you anything else I might know when we get the job done." He said loading his rifle.
Rana was not entirely convinced that Joseph was telling her the whole truth, but it would have to suffice, he was right considering that they still had their mission to accomplish, the survivors had the information that they needed to locate Peak 15 and to the activities undertaken by Saren. The team exited the lift and wandered closely in their group.
The corridor that they had exited into had a massive pile of metal and objects stacked high and some of which was welded together by bolts and bits. A marine commented.
"Well isn't this just great, so who's going to be negotiating with the panicking civilians?"
Joseph waved to him and said.
"I'll deal with the civvies; just keep an eye out for trouble."
The marines nodded and Joseph carefully approached the makeshift barricade, he scanned the metal and junk carefully and analysed what it was made from. His scanners revealed multiple heat signatures and movement with some activity; he arrived close enough to touch the wall of the barricade when a voice shouted from behind the metal wall.
"Stop right there, don't move any further, this is corporate ground!" A voice shouted.
"And why wouldn't I be allowed to move further? You have something to challenge me with? All I can hear is a terrified guard who probably thinks that this is a fruitless gesture, as this wall of garbage isn't going hold me from punching through it and pulling you through it so I can pummel your sorry ass." Joseph stated passively.
The person on the other side made a small but audible noise that made even Rana smile, the guard appeared, one turian security member, he looked at them and announced.
"They're human, and one asari, open the doors." He called.
The wall of trash was pulled away by a couple of asari members who then held it up with their biotic powers for the team to pass through, as Joseph and the team cleared the trash wall the asari biotics dropped and the so did the wall. The people inside the lobby were all looking a little worse for wear but they were alive at least, a crowd had formed, probably expecting to meet some rescue not Joseph and his team of marines.
There was a bustle as an armour clad asari appeared, she and her security force of a dozen or so guards came to meet the team. Joseph had respect for asari commandoes and their race in total, being the mono-gender race which has had the longest amount of time in the greater galaxy they also proved formidable when challenged. He knew of their abilities, command had been pretty inclusive for every race that was involved in the war so all marines had knowledge of what to face in the field.
The asari security head greeted them.
"Good to finally see something that doesn't resemble the backside of a krogan, security Chief Tara Valesi, welcome to port Han Shan, or what remains of it." She mumbled.
The guns of the security snapped to, the dozen guards now aimed at him and his squad, Joseph made no attempt to draw his gun, the squad already had and Rana was nervously staying in the back observing carefully as to how the situation was unfolding. Chief Tara asked clearly.
"So what brings 5 armed humans to our humble pit of a situation?"
Joseph smiled under his helmet and answered.
"Simple, we were told to come here by our superiors."
"And why might that be?" She eyed him. Joseph had a feeling that the asari chief had no interests in letting them through for any reason and also she seemed undaunted in facing a being roughly 1'5 feet taller than herself, Joseph answered the unwavering security chief.
"The UCAF has reported in the month that there has been flood activity in the region, not to mention that one of the corporations was working for a spectre we have reason to believe is behind this incident." He disclosed.
Tara was surprised for sure, and she had her suspicions, the parasite being released onto the world and all the things afterwards now made sense.
"Let me guess, you came here to look for traces of where the things are coming from and you need access to the database?" She asked.
"Yes, that's about right." He answered nonchalantly.
"Well you're out of luck, the admin has locked himself inside his room, and he's sealed the door to Binary Helix, he's the only one who knows about the break out and the only one who has the override for the doors." She explained.
She waved the security to lower their weapons. She then said.
"I know this sounds unusual, but seeing that you have an asari on your team…' she eyed Rana '…maybe you could help us out?" She suggested.
"What do you need my team for?" He asked.
The asari brought out her Omni tool and produced a map and some written instructions, but she highlighted the map and brought it into focus.
"Well, we need to get back the office and get control of administration so we can begin evacuation to the extraction fleet which for some damn reason had been ordered not to approach or rescue us, so I'd actually be asking more than just this favour."
"You mean, you need to evacuate and because of the council's definite policy on denying the flood to escape or live protocol?" He said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, that one, we can't leave or risk being killed so I would like to ask for you to call in asylum for most of the civilians here, it'd be better living the rest of the war out in a holding camp than being killed by our own fleet."
"Anything else?" He asked patiently.
"Yes, the main doors to the lifts have been frozen shut and emergency power is inactive as well, as the good admin sealed the emergency override for the roof, we can't leave. So it would be nice if one of your marines 'preferably' with engineering in mechanics would be able to repair the lift while you deal with the admin?" She replied.
"Well that sounds like a fair deal, I'll have one member remain to fix the lift, I'll contact the UCAF fleet to prepare extraction and quarantine flights. If that's all, I think you just need to direct me to the admin's office." He said.
Tara pointed to the limestone steps which lead upwards to the next level and then to the mass of glass domes where the sign 'Administration' was held above some lights. Joseph had no need to have a waypoint on his HUD to tell him to go there. However he and the team needed to sort things out, they passed through the crowd and headed to a corner of the lobby, the people seemed to head off and continue talking about the whole thing, being rescued by the UCAF was the last thing that anyone expected to happen. Tara waited at the lifts for the marine that Joseph would select.
As they arrived one marine said. "So it comes down to this…" Rana was confused until the group suddenly shouted. "Not me." The others soon followed with the last marine answering just a tad too slow. "Damn it." The marine said as Joseph had him marked as the volunteer, his ID was Jason Taylor.
The marine looked down trodden, probably because he had failed the 4th time at being 'it' and thus he had a grown annoyance with his failure to keep his distance from the menial tasks at hand every time something happened during a mission. Joseph told him what to do.
"Okay, so here are the instructions and here's the layout of the lifts, just don't cross the power conduits or you'll knock out the lighting on this level." He finished and sent the unhappy marine off to go fix the lift.
Rana was absolutely perturbed by the scene.
"Does this always happen in the UCAF?"
Joseph replied.
"Only in the marines."
The team waited as Joseph called in from his com to the fleet in orbit, he needed to load the location of the roof to the pelican flight and ask for a status update, he knew that they'd probably have some idea as to the situation above and below. He hit him com and waited for a response. "Command, come in, command."
He repeated until a few moments later when the AI of the Octavia replied.
"This is Octavia actual, what is your situation?" The AI asked distractedly. He could hear the sounds of alarms and explosions going on up in orbit; he wondered what the hell was going on? "Octavia, I have need for extraction of survivors, I count 59 heads. What is the status on pelican flights?"
"Not good, we have a dozen incoming enemy ships, and you know that thing we took out from orbit?" She asked.
"Yes?"
"It had friends." Another explosion frazzled the communication, but it sounded like a hard fight.
The AI still managed to pull in a few words.
"The UCAF fleet has engaged 2 dozen hostiles, another dozen have engaged the council fleet on the other side and it seems we have inbound landing parties, I would advise not trying to engage, there are more of them than the sensors can keep up with. Pelican flights are inbound in 3 hours, we don't have any more time than that, and these hostiles have more drones than the bloody flood have tentacles." She commented while firing the MAC at the nearest enemy squid.
Joseph acknowledged and closed the com channel; he doubted that he'd be receiving any further communication from the Octavia for a while. He decided it was now to address his squad in quiet.
"Look I have good news and bad news, the good news is we have a pelican flight on the way here and the civvies can get going. But then we have a lot of hostiles on their way as well. I would suggest we haul ass to Peak 15, the hostiles seem to be rather determined to stop us and I don't want any further delays."
They nodded. "Good, now let's move."
The team filed up the stairs to the landing above; there they were greeted by a salarian clerk.
"Sorry, but the admin is only accessed by those who have clearance."
Joseph had little patience for this; the fleet had already given him his deadline he wasn't going to argue with some idiot for trying to follow the orders of a bigger idiot who probably assisted in the situation's deterioration. He decided to take this with the best possible speed. He grabbed the scruff of the neck of the salarian who suddenly looked terrified staring into the eyes of an armoured monster that could easily look like it could crush him without breaking a sweat.
"Look here, you want my clearance, how about my fist?" He brought his armoured knuckles to the eye level of the salarian who in turn became a few shades lighter than his normal red complexion.
"You can go through." The alien whimpered.
Joseph dropped the salarian and walked by, the alien was terrified enough he decided to walk away mumbling about another career option once he left. The team entered through the door and to the office complex of empty cubicles, it didn't take them that long to find their way to the head's office. A pair of massive white stone doors stood in their way, each door had an intricate alien design of carvings, probably something with cultural meaning. However the team had one problem, the doors were in their way, and beyond the door was the database on what they needed to know and control to the port, this door was an obstacle that they had to remove.
One marine asked. "Okay, 10ft door and about 9 inches of iridium, titanium, and ceramic plating, so what do we do?" The marine kicked the door with his foot absently, he waited for the Spartan to come up with a solution, however even Spartans had their limitations.
"Well anyone got 50 pounds of HE Ion shells? This door is energised, not to mention probably has enough locks in place to hold back a fucking juggernaut." The explosives expert examined the door.
They were at a standstill, the door was harder than it looked, the team hadn't packed anything that could break the door and Spartan V units didn't carry heavy weapons unless it required them to, but Joseph had no idea that they'd run into anything like this. He analysed the door and thought about the best approach, the door controls were manually operated and thus locked on the other side, there was also the fact that the wall was too thick for even the combined explosives to tear into it.
"How do we do this…?" The last marine commented.
Rana tried to think of a possible answer and she concluded. "You're going to need a very big gun."
"No kidding…" He replied drolly.
They needed a means to get through the door, and they needed a solution fast. It was then that the asari security chief arrived; she looked at the door and asked.
"So, no luck on Aledoli's impervious defence?"
He threw a glance at the chief and replied.
"No luck at all, we don't have the explosive capabilities of a gauss tank or a fusion lance with us, there's no way to cut through and our gear just won't cut it in time, so unless you have a small fusion tactical bomb lying around there's no way to rip through the doorway."
Tara stood there for a moment and then said thoughtfully.
"You know, the UCAF may use some advanced weapons that could level our own technology, but that doesn't mean we haven't made our own search for improvement."
"What, you have fusion cannons capable of ripping through 1 meter of dread chitin carapace, or a scarab shot which is capable of blowing out a UCAF gunship with a single shot?" He said with a raised brow.
Tara scratched her head sheepishly and then said. "How about one of those covenant pulse launchers? The council had some left from the field and they brought remaining guns and weapons that they could recover for reverse engineering." She offered.
The covenant pulse launchers were an old weapon, still used to the day it was considered rather obsolete due to the iron sights and lack of advanced technology and development put into them, but they were commonly used for the grunts so that they could take on heavy armoured vehicles. The pulse launchers fired a single heavy burst of plasma which accelerates and then fuses to a target; it doesn't track but packs a significant punch. The guns themselves were as good as hefting a log onto your shoulder and trying to keep it balanced, the weapons were heavy and slow at reloading. It wasn't much, but better than trying to cut through with plastic and liquid explosives meant for flood.
He took her offer. "Okay, where do we find the pulse launchers?" He asked.
"They're down by the Dantius Inc and Synthetic Insights, a manager from Synthetic Insights can help you pull the weapons from the storage level. You'll find him down around the front of one of the cafes; he's a turian with a grey and blue suit and has a few marking on his face."
Joseph decided to leave the explosives expert with the door, the marine would continue to tinker with the door until he found his way through or blew himself and half the whole port to hell. The team went back out from the admin and headed over to the café suites which were occupied by all those who were still waiting around hopefully for some rescue. It was a bit busy but they found their man, or as loosely the term fit for the turian manager. He sat by himself at a desk in front of a shop called Starbucks, which did raise a few questions in the mind of the Spartan, but decided not to ask.
The turian was drinking his beverage while sitting by himself; he took notice of the Spartan and his team as they came into view and said. "Ah, so our would be heroes, good to see someone is still gets things done around here, unlike those damn fools who follow the orders of that moron Aledoli, damn fools are keeping me from getting my work done."
He then noticed that the Spartan and the team had no idea what he was talking about.
"Sorry about that rant, I've been under some pressure." He recuperated.
"We were told that you had the clearance to get into the storage lockers to Synthetic Insights. You know anything about captured covenant pulse launchers?" Joseph asked.
"Oh those oversized bulky paperweights? Why by the damned spirits would anyone want to carry those things? They're as light as my damn car when it's stripped down, and that's still pretty heavy. What do intend to do, try and break someone's back over the course of a week?" He asked taking a sip from his drink.
"No we're going to blow a part Aledoli's front door and cold start the doors to the roof to evacuate the whole port." He Joseph replied.
The turian did a spit take at the comment and looked at them with utter shock.
"Well that surely ambitious, but I don't think I can help you now." He said with some dismay.
"Why?" Joseph inquired.
"The security teams hired by Aledoli were those who work specifically for him, they had orders to keep me from the office, it was something to do with my involvement with the Noveria corporate council and he's been trying to stop me from getting that benchmark. He's frozen all my assets and called an inquiry into my affairs, I can't help you because his goons are tearing through my officer and through the complex… unless you can help." He explained.
Joseph felt as though he jumped into one problem he was getting thrown into a dozen others.
"What kind of help are you talking about?"
"Look if you could clear out the goons from my office and keep them from accessing my computer and if you could recover the corporate databanks and files on my activities I'll let you access the storage facility in the complex, after that we go our own ways." He offered.
It seemed reasonable enough and from the things that Joseph could feel, Aledoli was probably corrupt in some fashion and whatever's going on he'll only be helping take the administrator down. He took a look at the others and asked if they thought the same.
"We're going in it if you are sir."
Joseph decided to accept the offer.
"Very well, I'll take you up on the offer, we recover the info on your activities and you give us access."
"Deal." The turian concluded.
The map on Joseph's TAC pad updated with the next set of objectives, his HUD displayed all listed objectives that had been spoken about, Joseph used his CNI to record all the verbal conversations and then sort out the objectives or tasks from the discussions, he only used it in the field. He checked on his auto-map and took the team through the cafeteria to the other end of the port. It was there that the more popular corporations had their offices built, Gemini Industries and a the studious Sonax Applications, the Synthetic Insights office was just to the far left of the large complexes and inbuilt offices. The office was like that of the others only being different was the white chrome walls of metal and the hired guards that were just standing around at the front.
Joseph checked his guns before gesturing the team to follow his lead. Rana asked.
"What do we do about getting in?"
"Simple… Either that they don't comply and we shoot them or they do and they leave, we can't be saving every life we come across and I don't think we could spare the time at the deadline in which we have to clear this place before the reapers come knocking." He replied.
The asari wasn't so sure but admitted time was short, they moved ahead, 4 guards waited at the front doors and were busy discussing amongst themselves when they arrived. The 4 guards moved to halt them.
"Hold it, administrator Aledoli had ordered that none is allowed the premises, turn back."
The guard clearly looked intimidated as Joseph gave no immediate response.
"You know, it's a bad idea to be standing here while I and my team need to get inside there, you might do yourselves a favour by leaving while you still can."
"Is that a threat?" The guard said.
"No that's a fact…" Joseph waited as the guard made his decision.
The pregnant pause was followed by a number of nervous looks between the guards, they had heard the stories of the Spartans and the helldivers, the super soldiers who could wreck hell upon all those unfortunate enough to get in their way, and if they were standing there now, it wouldn't take much before they were all but corpses. The guards weighed their options, but fear gripped into all living beings.
One guard just exclaimed.
"I'm getting out of here."
The others broke and ran and the last guard who was facing Joseph suddenly felt his bowls empty. "Um, well, I'll be going…"
The last guard broke and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, the marine commented.
"Wow that's as fast as when Jackal heard about those ponies on the Hub Network on Saturday's."
Joseph ignored the comment and continued through the front door, he pulled out his AR carbine and added a silencer to the barrel, he checked his armour and activated his camouflage plating, the field would distort the image of his figure and blend it as close to the environment close to him, this wouldn't work at close range, but from a certain distance not many people would notice the distortion caused by the plating.
Joseph would take point while the others covered his back, the marines would make sure to keep their eyes on the corners while Rana covered them with her biotics should the need arise. Joseph entered the lobby where he found that the guards were only present on the floors above. He moved silently and quickly. He reached the first steps and hurried up, his sensors could detect that there was movement around the corner with others on the other side of the wall where he would arrive at.
He stepped onto the landing and listened carefully, the team held back as he went ahead. 2 guards were talking around the corner; his translator was actively translating the discussion about the plans to abandon the port soon. The two never noticed the shimmer from the corner as Joseph took note of their position, he made sure that the guards around didn't pass by. As soon as the guards turned away Joseph took his chance.
The guards were faced away when Joseph grabbed the two and drove two blades between their necks; they dropped dead without even managing to splutter as Joseph grabbed the bodies and dragged them to a cubicle not far away. '2 guards down another 7 more to go.' He thought. The guards on the other side of the stairwell were unwitting to the danger present; Joseph made his way from their blind spot and drew out a compression pistol, the M5CI was his modified variant which was useful for these kinds of missions.
He picked up a desk stationary and tossed it nearby, the guards were suddenly distracted and Joseph silenced both of them before they could react, their barriers didn't hold as the ion shells punched clear into them and dropped them before they knew what happened. He dragged them away, but as luck would have it, he didn't expect the single guard to be on patrol, he strolled around the corner and straight into Joseph when he was about to take their bodies away.
Joseph jumped on the guard before she could put her rifle up; the asari guard however was harder to kill than she looked. Joseph was suddenly slammed by a biotic field and he was tossed only a few feet away, the guard was about to call out for help but Joseph managed to clear the distance and tackle her from behind. The asari smacked his head with her fist charged with biotic powers and made his head feel a little dizzy, but he then grabbed her hand before she could try again and snapped her wrist before he put his hand around her throat and crushed it.
The asari took only moments to die as a lack of oxygen and blood loss took its toll, Joseph piled her body next to the others. He called the team over and had them follow him to the level above; the level was clear except for the manager's office, there were 2 guards outside with the last 2 inside, Joseph made sure that the marines took the ones on the outside so Joseph could deal with the others who were trying to recover the data from the manager's console.
Joseph timed the whole thing and on 3 the guards dropped. Joseph sprinted at top speeds and kicked the door in, which wasn't necessary as the door was not on hinges and in truth the most interesting part was when he ended up flying through the flexi-steel doors and into the air. If there ever was a more surprising entrance, this would have to have taken the cake. Dramatic entries aside, Joseph managed to get the jump on the guards. He managed to down both before they could bring their guns up and then land on his face.
The team entered shortly with the guards outside falling and Rana stated.
"Interesting how you managed to blunder your way through every obstacle."
He brushed himself off and replied.
"It's someone's job, and besides I never knew that the door wasn't on hinges."
Joseph walked over to the terminal in the well decorated office, the tapestries of turian clans and families and all of the expensive decoration must have cost the manager quite a bit. The console on the desk was active but it didn't seem as though the guards had managed to access it, Joseph brought out his TAC pad and activated it; he used the intel system to do a quick bypass to begin downloading all the content and then wiping the computer.
He grew curious as to what the password was and then he filed through it when it was revealed. "The password is PASSWORD?" He exclaimed. "What kind of idiot uses the password as password?"
The tech marine disagreed to the statement.
"Sir who would guess that the password would be password, they'd be thinking about all of the other things besides it."
"It's ingenious!" Rana thought out loud.
The last marine commented with. "I'm surrounded by idiots…"
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AN: And we end it here for now, I don't want to cover all of the events too fast seeing as I was hoping to go into far more detail for the Quarian incident and the Omega Crisis, and there will be more to come!