DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MASS EFFECT ONLY MY SELF AND THE PLOT OF THIS FIC...I AM BROKE PEOPLE!
A/n: This is a reminder that this is an A.U. Fic that takes place in the year 2012 so no flames and just read the story to get why it was in the Mass Effect section.
Mass Effect The Immortal Series pt 1.
Mass Effect: Flight of the Normandy
Chapter 11: The Meaning of a Name
Martha stared at the picture in her hand on her I-Pad tablet. After finishing the image she transferred it to her I-Pad and the others all stared at it along with her other drawings both printouts and pencil sketches.
"When worlds fight? What kind of thing is that?" asked David who was with them in the meeting room.
Martha was cleared to leave from the medical staff about two hours ago with the promise to go easy for the next few days. And since there is not much to do since everyone is on survival mode she sat there with the other subjects going over her sketches and drawings of the dreams.
Though not everyone's mind is one it considering that they are all thirsty and hungry.
"What I wound not give for a chocolate bar," grumbled David as he stared at the image of Martha following the shadows.
"What is there to eat...practically nothing since we ran out of food yesterday," Lucas grumbled.
As if to protest everyone's stomach started to growl.
"Look we can't give up!" Hilary said.
"How would you know? We are stuck at the bottom of the ocean with no food, no water and a whole bunch of alien tech. I know you science types love this sort of shit, but we real people need some sustenance to survive here you know." Jessica said her blonde hair bouncing in front of her.
Martha felt the top of her hairless head. The burns are completely gone leaving her head bare and even her eyelashes and eyebrows are gone. She is as bare as a newborn baby. But the doctors said that her hair will grow back in time and from the itch at the top of her head she would have to agree.
The only one who is not talking is Ichigo who was busy listening to his I-Pod while looking at the images. His mind working on the one image that Martha recently did.
"You know," he said taking his ear buds off, "This does not make sense. Why tell us to give it a name and then give us this riddle," his Japanese accent clearly coming out now.
Martha remained silent while the group argued. It was getting nowhere.
ALENKOV'S OFFICE
Dr. Alenkov was reading Aaron's latest report and even had Martha talk to him on the communications channels for a while. She was bursting in tears when she heard his voice again and Alenkov's heart clenched at the sight. She misses her own husband who is currently working on the space station Mira out in space. It was a multinational space station and the only one of its kind. Their mission was to do deep space surveillance of the solar system to find anymore traces of Alien technology.
But so far they found nothing.
She can just imagine what her husband is going through hearing his wife is at the bottom of the ocean trapped. No food and no water and starving she can see his face in her thoughts when she goes to bed. Alenkov was not a fool she knows that everyone on this ship is thinking the same thoughts.
They all wanted to go home and they all wanted to see their loved ones again.
And she was determined that they do.
Another matter is the newest mystery that Martha has brought up from the land of the dead. The image that she pulled up on her note tablet showed the image of Marty standing in the middle of the room with the image on a computer screen. It was not much to go on but it does help. Alenkov wanted nothing more then to help the woman succeed in solving the mystery of the ship. They all do and when they do it is a scientific find of the century.
She just need to find a way to help them solve this mystery.
She became aware of a presence in her office. Since there are no doors there was no need for privacy.
"What can I do for you Martha?" she asked
"I want to ask for your opinion on the riddle?" Martha said as she walked in.
"There is not much to say Marty that riddle has me baffled as well. It could be talking about Earth or it could be talking about other planets who knows," she said shrugging.
Martha sighed as she looked at her drawing again.
"A place in history where the world fought against one another. Where west fought east and from the ocean they come shall rise victorious," it read.
Looking at it again she read the other clues, 'Password: what is my name?' also came up.
Martha sighed too hungry to think and too thirsty to even think about anything else. Her lips were chapped and skin shallow. She was a shadow of her former self. As she looked down towards the ground something caught her eye. Behind the doctor was a bookshelf full of history books.
"You like studying about war?" Martha asked looking at the books on her wall.
"I was in the Russian Military before the Soviet Union was split. I was an intelligence officer but I was not KBG if that is what you were asking." Alenkov was not afraid to admit her military career in fact it was one of the things she was proud of.
"I wanted to be in the military but I did not pass my physical and my psychological tests," Martha admitted.
"ADHD am I correct?" she asked
Martha nodded her head, "Borderline asthmatic as well,"
"I see, if you like you can take them with you to read. They are in English if you were asking," she said with a smile.
Nodding Martha got up to grab a few books and headed out leaving Alenkov to smile while she went back to looking over at the drawings.
ELSEWHERE
It seems as if the ship has nothing better to do but to try to figure out the whole situation with Martha and her resurrection. The alien device was the one thing that has the most complicated minds on the ship arguing. As for the ones who have the element zero in their blood they are busy trying to think of ways to pass the time. Playing cards is one of them. The betting pool since no one has any cash on them was a pile of rocks. Another group was busy looking at pictures trying to figure out the dreams. And others still were comparing notes with their journals.
Hilary and Ichigo were spending the time alone in Ichigo's bed since it is bigger. Laying naked both parties were just enjoying each other and the company of each others presence.
"I am worried Hilary," Ichigo said
"How so," Hilary asked
"About this whole thing with the governments trying to find the time and the funds to build a submersible so they can feed us. Why didn't they have one in the first place?" he asked.
"You know how governments are, they are cheapwads," Hilary replied.
"I wish they would have done it so that we won't be in this mess," Ichigo replied.
"You figure after the billions invested into this project that they would spend the money on another submarine to give us needed supplies? Those bastards don't even care about anything but the money they made off this 325 million year old space junk," she said
"And you were going to give me the lecture on fish," Ichigo joked.
"I will show you the lecture..." she said and a new round of pleasure began.
DREAM SEQUENCE
She once again found herself in the room with the same image on the wall. The same words littered the computer terminal and the same creatures floating around in the tanks. She walked around the room exploring the articles on the desk and on the wall. She found a photograph sitting down on the desk but she could not make out the face. It was blurry as if the ship does not want her to find it.
A place in history where the world fought against one another. Where west fought east and from the ocean they come shall rise victorious, it made not sense whatsoever! She scratched her brains trying to figure out the password and here she was completely baffled.
She needed a break.
She walked out the door down a short hallway towards an elevator. From there she took it down to the next level. Looking around she was amazed at the shades around her. The lights from the roof and the amount of technology.
The scientists indeed would be jealous. But she was drawn to the front of the ship towards where she first entered. Walking towards the front she made her way towards the very door she was at. When she reached the door she was surprised that there was another door right next to it. There she found herself staring at that door. The door itself was high tech just like the others but nothing like this. Martha placed her hand on the door and surprisingly enough it opened.
Her eyes widened at the room beyond it.
It was the bridge! The whole time the bridge of the ship was right next to the front door!
"Holy shit!" Martha said to herself as she walked into it.
The room was brightly lit with holographic panels everywhere. There was a shadow in the pilots seat working away at the controls. She was curious as to what this person was doing, was he the pilot?" she thought.
Martha approached from behind careful not to disturb him or her. As she did the chair changed and slowly turned around. The figure in the chair made her eyes widen in shock...
END DREAM SEQUENCE
Gasping for air Martha shot up from her sleeping mattress. Her hand going to her heart as sweat covered her face. She was shivering from the cold as frost came out of her breath in ragged gasps. The freezing cold of the ship was starting to eat away at the crew. Martha especially even at the low temperatures and not enough body fat to regulate body heat they were either going to die by starving or dehydration, or freezing to death.
Time was running out!
The image in the cockpit was something that shocked her to the core. In the pilot's seat of the ship was not a shadow...it was herself.
She saw herself in the pilot's seat looking confident and proud. She remembered that much from the dream. She quickly reached for her laptop and tablet and booted up photoshop. She began to draw with earnest trying to get the images translated onto the screen. After having run out of paper and pencil days ago she relied on her computer now to do the work. The good thing about generators was that it provided enough power to power everything.
But they were also running out of gas.
Soon they would be out of power and without it their chances of help would be nothing. Using the last of her batteries Martha placed them into her flashlight. The blue glow lit up the crevice that she calls a home as she quickly cleaned up the drawing.
The image after about four hours was complete.
She stared at the bridge through her eyes and found it to be fascinating. Now she was more determined the ever to solve this riddle.
She got started with the books that she took from Dr. Alenkov. Pouring through them she started with the civil war of the United States and on to other wars fought in the world.
"None of them makes sense!" she growled in frustration.
Getting up she got dressed and headed down towards the mess hall hoping to clear her head. Wrapping her parka around her she started her trek down. When she gotten to the lower levels she began to make her way across the mess hall towards the main entrance.
The others watched as she slowly made her way past them towards the door. When she got there she slowly placed her hand the rock wall that; in her dream was the door to the bridge. She placed her head on the rock and felt the cold presence along it.
"I wish I knew your name," she said softly as tears began to fall from her eyes.
She was starting to lose hope as she walked away. The long extremely narrow passages made the trek even longer. She walked along this path many times, but never with this much meaning. Each step was labored and each time she turned to look at people she remembered those faces in the core.
She finally reached the opening to the mess hall. It really looks like a shabby underground bar of sorts with everyone milling around talking. She started to slowly drag herself through it when something caught her ear.
"...And so my grandpa came and shot up a whole bunch of Germans out in the streets of Paris and then he turned to see some kid a girl about her mid teens was left on the ground brutally raped. Her brother was a soldier for the German Army badly wounded. He was trying to protect her. So he rushed in and offered aid..." was all he said as Martha walked past him having lost interest.
She walked back to her room after using the bathroom. The trek felt long indeed and it helped clear her head.
She sat down again and tried to ponder what it was she was missing. The lamps in her room was giving off a faint glow while doing this. The short lengths of her hair that came out of her scalp helped also. As the last of the battery light gave way she activated her alien device. It glowed a bright orange as Martha sat down to look at the books in her hands.
WAR THROUGHOUT THE AGES
WORLD WAR I
WORLD WAR II
D-DAY THE DAY THE WORLD STOOD STILL
Martha stared at those books trying to see the point it all. She stared at the drawing for a while trying to determine what it had to do with the war. Her thoughts on the dream still lingered but she laid back on the bed trying to think. She needed to think that is all she needed to do.
AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND
The building of the new submersibles was taking far too long!
Those were the thoughts of Philip Morgan a man who was determined to help the people down in the Challenger Deep. He followed the submersible schematics all the way down to what materials he would need to keep the pressure off of him. He and his team have been building the new submersibles for the past few weeks as backups in case something like what happened to the Odyssey happened.
Only the didn't get to make them due to funds being cut.
Now with the theft of the Odyssey and the hostage situation the people who depend on the monthly supply run need those subs immediately. They are starving and by now have run out of food and water. They are slowly dying and they need help now.
BANG!
"Shit! What the fuck was that?" Philip shouted from across his work station.
"Damn it! One of the generators blew!" shouted another voice from across the garage.
"Fuck!" Philip shouted as he leaped down from where he was working at.
Walking across the garage he managed to find the other man in question. He was a Maori man in his late thirties with the Maori tattoos of his tribe across his right arm. But where he was looking at had Philip more pissed off then ever.
On the right where they kept the generators someone blew a hole directly through the warehouse and destroyed the generators that were going to the Challenger Deep. Generators that can save lives. Even all the supplies that they were bringing with them, water, food, fuel, generators gone.
"You think someone purposely did this?" the man asked.
Philip didn't need to answer that one.
AUCKLAND GOVERNMENT BUILDING
"That explosion could be seen for miles! The supplies down there were supposed to help the people down in the Marianas Trench! How could security let this happen!" a man said he was the Prime Minister of New Zealand and he was not happy.
When he saw the explosion and had gotten the call from one Philip Morgan about the supplies warehouse and then later that day the submersible construction site his heart went out to the people at the bottom of the ocean. They are fighting for their lives and others are trying to get to them to lend them some aid.
But he fears that there are those who would want them to rot.
This is going to be a media nightmare.
KAILUA KONA HAWAII
Aaron was watching the news feeds about the explosion down in New Zealand and he was angry. There are some people down there who would want to end the lives of those down there. He would not let them. Martha came back from the dead and appears to be fine he can live with that. But he is not happy about the fact that she would only die again of starvation if food and water don't arrive soon. She already wrote to him telling him that their gas is going to run out soon also and so communications will be kept short as they conserve power.
Things were not going good.
His contacts don't know what is going on either and they should be afraid. If someone is working from the shadows then he is betting that they are up to no good. He is already feeling the strain at work and now at home worrying about his girlfriend. She still loves him and that is keeping her going.
He hopes it will be enough.
OCEAN ODYSSEY
Now Enrique was worried they could hear the ships in the distance and the shouts that occurred from the various crew members. He was concerned for their safety as they dragged the scientists around ordering them to maintain the subs. What they were diving for he had no idea but his concerns grew more when he heard men come onboard. He looked out through the tiny window and watched as they gone past. His concern grew when they were escorting a man in richly tailored clothes.
Could he be the man who ordered this?
Enrique knew that they must head towards port pretty soon or they would run out of fuel. Unless they have refueled without him knowing. He could not see the ships on the side for the view port was too small. But he could guess why they are here.
OUTSIDE THE ODYSSEY
Tun-Yao head of the Ocean Odyssey raid was watching the man exit his ship. Crossing the boarding ramp onto the Odyssey and exploring the ship with his escort of armed guards. From top to bottom he explored it and when he finally gotten back onto the deck he had a pleased look on his face.
"My buyers will be pleased," he said in Cantonese.
"How much will we be paid?" Tun-Yao asked
"You will be paid in the millions friend for your work in securing this ship and her resources. If my buyers would want you will be paid higher." he said.
Now the pirate was pleased as the man left. The sight of him and his guards leaving back to their ship had made the tension in his body relax. He would soon be rid of this ship and he would be well paid. He could not wait till he was paid and be done with it. All this alien tech was giving him the creeps. Some of the devices on the ship has his mind going crazy at what they could do. There was one device he saw that looked suspiciously like some sort of gun but he was not so sure.
He was scared that much he knows and he does not like it one bit. This ship gives him the creeps and he has a feeling that what ever it was at the bottom of the ocean will someday come up and get him. He dreams of it at night and it scares both him and his men.
This does not look good at all.
CHALLENGER DEEP
Martha, Hilary, Ichigo and the rest of the group sat at the one table closest to the exit. Even with all the familiarity of the crew Martha's demophobia still causes problems. At the moment they are singing some songs to pass the time. Ichigo though his voice was not the greatest he can at least carry a tune without totally butchering it. He was singing a Japanese song from back in his home town. He had with him a makeshift drum out of a garbage can and some tin.
David had his guitar with him while Jessica decided to be background vocals. It turns out that Lucas with his big burly hands is actually good at piano. They made the make shift band trying to keep morale up. Some of the others have already lost all hope but they still are holding on as much as possible, too afraid to die.
As the song ended people from all around the mess hall clapped half halfheartedly their strength was not with them.
"Ok now it is your turn," Ichigo said to Martha and the girl looked down, "I can't sing," Martha said.
"Hey I can't sing either but it is worth a try," Ichigo said.
"Yeah Martha besides there is so many ocean songs that I can deal with but they are not lyrical," Hilary said to her.
"I don't know many songs that people like," Martha replied.
"Ah come on Marty try something you heard and even if you don't remember the lyrics try to sing it as best you could," Lucas said.
"Ok I will try but only one," Martha agreed seeing it as a way to get her mind off of finding the answer to her dreams.
That morning as she told everyone her fears. The other Element Zero patients agreed that too much stress was causing everyone to go nuts. So by making this makeshift band they decided to try something to lighten the mood.
Unfortunately because of most of the people's bad singing it sort of made it worse.
"Um David can you play a C cord with a three fret...I think that is how you say it." Martha said
"I think I get what you are trying to say." David said getting the meaning.
He started tuning his guitar to the right chords while Martha repeated a different set of notes to Lucas and then a beat to Ichigo.
The sound in the room turned immediately as she had them adjust the tune to make it sound just right.
"I heard this one on YouTube once so I hope I get it right," Martha said.
When they got the chords right she let them play the intro first to get a feeling of the song.
"Hope can drown, Lost in thunderous sound," she kept the song slow to give a sense of sadness.
Her voice rang true and others began to turn their heads at her song.
This surprised even Martha and she nearly faltered at how sweet her voice sounded.
"And fear can claim, what little faith remains" now everyone in the hall had their attention to the one table.
"But I carry strength from souls now gone, they won't let me give in,"
"I will never surrender, We'll free the Earth and Sky," Martha put her hand on her heart.
"Crush my heart into embers, but I will reeeiiiggggniiitttteee laaahhhhaaaaaiiiii lllllaaaahhhhaaaaahhhhaaaaii ii...I will reignite"
At this Martha asked David, Ichigo and Lucas to play a little faster.
"Death will take...those who fight alone," at this Jessica decided to join in.
"But united we can break...a fate once set in ssstttoooonnneee,"
This time her voice became stronger as she continued the song gaining more confidence as people started to come in.
"Just hold the line until the end, Cause we will give them hell..."
Martha felt more determined then ever as strength started to return to her.
The music had gotten stronger and faster as Martha sang it out for everyone to hear.
"I will never surrender! We'll free the earth and sky, crush my heart into embers, and I will rreeeiiigggnnniiittteee!
Laaaahhhhaaaahhhhhaaaahhhhaa aaaiiiii lllllaaaaaahhhhhaaaaaaaahhaa aaahhhaaai I WILL REIGNITE!, Laaaahhhhaaaahhhhhaaaahhhhaa aaaiiiii lllllaaaaaahhhhhaaaaaaaahhaa aaahhhaaai I WILL REIGNITE!" when she finished David and Lucas gave one last cord to let the song go back to its solemn note.
When they were done the applause was actually encouraging. Martha had never felt anything like this since she was a kid. And since then her vocal cords had been damaged by repeated laryngitis caused by strep and other throat problems. This was the first time her voice ran true without cracking or going out on her. She felt a sense of accomplishment as people smiled for the first time in weeks. Then others started adding their songs into it as well filling the room with music and laughter something that has been missing from this ship in a while.
It was something that Alenkov missed the most about this ship. A sense of hope had returned to the ship. A sense of light that in the darkness of despair there is hope. She smiled for the first time in a long time and she was glad it was so.
SOMETIME LATER
Martha returned to her station feeling a bit more upbeat then normal and not just her...the others in the ship too had felt it. That episode in the mess hall had given them a new sense of purpose in finding the truth. They poured over journals and sketches trying to figure out the answer. The last clue that Martha found was something that everyone was willing to crack.
But they did not know which war was fought and where? It could be on any planet and any place on that planet for all they knew.
As Martha sat there going over Alenkov's books she could hear the same story again. This time she knew who was telling the story it was a security officer named Reynolds who by his age was proud of his lineage.
"Awe come on Reynolds you told this story millions to times already!" Lawoski shouted as he was going over security detail.
"Yeah but it keeps me going...so there my grandpa was on 1944 on one of the loading boats for Operation Overlord crossing the channel towards Normandy..."
his words became blurred as Martha started to slump in her chair.
"Hey Mart are you ok?" asked Hilary as she noticed that Martha had this far away look and was rubbing her head.
"Yeah," Martha said she remembered her grandfather's stories as well.
Then something hit like a ton of bricks.
A vision of something came to mind. Turning on the alien device by thinking it on she added more light to the room. She then reached for a book on the side of her sketches. It was a war book on World War II. She turned towards the pictures on that page.
There was images of boats and planes coming across the English Channel for the invasion. Allied forces coming to free Europe from Germany.
"THIS IS POINTLESS!" Someone shouted from across the room.
A place in history where the world fought against one another.
Against one another or against each other? Martha thought.
She looked down at the book and it was starting to make sense. Then as her mind went back to the dream world she suddenly had a thought.
She placed her hands on her lap and closed her eyes.
She was imaging herself in the room again with all the computers and the strange rise with the ship's holographic form floating in front of her. She saw the terminal and the shadows around it. It played the same thing again.
Password
Hilary's voice played in her head but Martha was paying no attention to it.
Her mind was elsewhere.
As she was imaging what was going on she slowly turned towards the back wall. This time she could see the elevator behind her. The same elevator as before. This time there was no wall, no words. She turned towards a door. Looking around she finally spotted it...
The white blur on the wall that could only mean letters.
A place in history where the world fought against one another.
"Do you mean World War 2?" Martha asked herself.
As if answering the words started to focus a bit and Mart could just barely make out the lettering but she was starting to see it.
Suddenly she found herself shaken by a worried Hilary.
"What?" Martha asked,
"What were you doing?" she asked clearly worried.
"I was going over the details of the dream, I sometimes do that it helps," Martha said.
"Care to share?" Hilary said
"Hold on a sec, Lucas can you pass that sketch there?" Mart asked.
Lucas reached for the one she was talking about and handed over to her. Slowly Martha rubbed her finger into a piece of the pencil graphite on the paper and began to darken certain areas with her finger tip. The blur started to take shape into a sign.
She could barely make it out but she was certain that it was the answer.
She then looked at her book again.
"I think the vision is talking about World War Two," Martha said.
"Are you sure?" asked David.
"Yes, it is starting to make sense. HEY REYNOLDS YOU ARE A GENIUS!" Martha shouted a smiled came to her features.
Reynolds turned to her, "What for?" he shouted back.
"For figuring out the name of this rusty piece of shit!" Martha said.
"And how did I do that?" Reynolds asked
"Your grandfather's story! Where did you say your grandfather went to in World War Two?" Martha asked.
"Normandy why?" he asked and then he stopped.
A large smile came to Martha's features as she held the book.
"Normandy? The ship's name is Normandy?" asked Ichigo.
"Yeah I figured it out! The first part was worded wrong it was not, 'World fights against one another' what it meant was 'The world fights against each other' it was talking about countries!" Martha said.
"Yeah but if that was the case it could have been any world war?" Lawoski said.
"The second part gave the real clue, "Where west fought east and from the ocean they come shall rise victorious" It was talking about the Allies going against the Germans! I thought at first it was World War One but there was no talk of any major sea attacks! I was listening to Reynolds story that it started to dawn on me. So I looked in Dr. Alenkov's books and found those photos on Operation Overlord. It was photos of the landing of Normandy France. It was the taking back of France by the Allied forces. That is what the second line meant, 'From the Ocean,' it meant the English Channel." Martha said.
"Now you know that I am no believer in dreams till I came to this ship but I think you people are all bonkers!" Reynolds replied.
"Hey if that was the case then why do the scientists follow it then?" asked Ichigo.
"They are all crack heads," Reynolds replied.
"Reynolds shut up before I cut your tongue out!" Lawoski said.
"If Normandy is the answer then how are we going to activate it?" asked a third person this one on the far side of the room.
"I have no idea," Martha replied.
TBC
The song 'Reignite' is a song by Malukah on YouTube dedicated to Commander Sheppard if you want the link is here http: watch?v=re32xnyYP3A
