(Good day every one, sorry about the long wait, my proof reader as been snowed under at work with it being Christmas and all.)
(I hope you like this chapter, both myself and my proof reader have but a lot of energy into it, so please leave comments and reviews so we know what you think)
(Sincerely Gods-own)
Chapter 14: The only thing
The silence in the APC was palpable as the engine once more rumbled into life, which was in some ways a blessing, because it meant that I didn't have discuss what was going to happen next, that was until my turian co-driver coughed softly in my general direction.
"What?" I quietly asked as we thundered out onto the waiting section of skyway.
"Are you really going to go through with is Commander?" softly asked the alien as he glanced at me out of the corner of his vision.
"Do you remember what I said to you aboard the MSV Fedele when we hunted down Saleon?" it wasn't really a question.
"About doing what's necessary?" replied Vakarian with a questioning stare.
"Then you know your answer." I muttered as a rocket suddenly soared past the side of the Mako, moments later our conversation was forgotten as my subordinate got down to the task of blasting away at the rapidly approaching enemy.
"We've got Geth Juggernauts' on the skyway" Shouted my gunner as the main cannon fired, blinding me with its muzzle flash; the shell was dead on and as it detonated all that could be seen was the blackened carcass of a defeated opponent somersaulting through the smoke filled air.
"I'm picking up strong magnetic signatures" abruptly stated Tali as her voice cut through the surrounding tension. "I think it's Armatures." the girl's prediction turned out to be correct as moments later as we came racing over the sky line our vehicle was met with a crescendo of plasma fire as the waiting automations opened up.
"Brake left, brake left!" yelled Garrus as he tore his eyes away from the targeting display as the external camera took a direct hit.
"Shut up!" I roared as my foot hammered the accelerator flat to the floor; the armored vehicle rocked forward as the synthetic opponents desperately attempted to charge up for a second salvo, they didn't make it as a split-second later our weighty APC slammed into them like a falling mountain.
"What are you bloody playing at?" heatedly demanded Gwin as she manually activated the Mako's intercom. "It feels like you're head-butting a krogan back here."
"Busy, shut up." I muttered forcefully as one of the shielded walkers staggered back to its feet behind us.
"It's charging up!" nervously stated Vakarian as he glanced in the rear view screen.
"I can see that." I coldly retorted as I swerved to one side to avoid a second blinding projectile, fortunately they didn't seemed to want to chase after us and as we vanished from view we both breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"To close Commander" whispered the turian as he dragged a gauntleted hand across his plated forehead.
"Noted." I replied as the Mako trundled ever onwards towards our final destination, after a prolonged few moments we came to a screeching halt outside of the main garage where we'd only depart from a few hours earlier.
"It's show time." I whispered as the heavy hatch swung back to reveal an unpleasant scene; in our absence something untoward had taken place, the atmosphere felt darker, more unpleasant. Dark stains were leaking out from in between the cracks in the stonework and near the main entrance way was something that looked particularly unfriendly.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." whispered Doctor T'soni as she gingerly clambered out from the rear of the vehicle.
"Then keep it to yourself" I firmly replied as the firm feeling of my firearm materialized in my hand. "Vakarian, Gwin with me, you two" I jabbed a finger over my shoulder at the APC.
"Keep an eye on the Mako, if things go sideways, you have the turret." the ordered didn't go down to well with the young quarian as her posture show but I wasn't in the mood for a heated debate. "Am I clear?" It wasn't really a question.
"Yes Commander" replied the teenager in a quiet, cold tone.
"Good, move out" but my teams little foray forward didn't quite go as planned. As we neared the massive doors I saw something move in a patch of shadows. "Contact!" the statement caught everyone's attention, including those left behind.
"What's the matter Shepard?" loudly asked Tali as she sauntered over towards me with more than a hint of purpose.
"I saw something move" I glanced over at the male member of my team. "Garrus, go check it out"
"Affirmative." firmly replied the C-sec officer as he brought his assault rifle up to eye level, but even before he'd taken a step forward something happened; there was a sound like stretching leather as a humanoid figure lurched out of the darkness towards us, the things facial features would have given a zombie nightmares, its moan so haunted it chilled even my blood, and on impulse everyone including myself began blasting away at it until it was nothing but a green smear on the concrete.
"No amount of infection could have altered a human to that extent, I wonder what is going on here?" whispered Liara, who leaned down to examine the lifeless corpse.
"Keep telling yourself that doctor, won't make it true." stated Gwin as she gave the thing a disrespectful kick.
"You've seen these things before?" enquired Vakarain as he glanced over at the mercenary.
"Nope, but after a while in the private sector monstrous experiments gone wrong tend not to shock you anymore." the asari let off an unpleasant smirk as she said this. "Isn't that right robo?" I ignored the woman and turned my attentions to overriding security mechanism on the front door.
"Is this the kind of thing that you do then as a company agent, killing innocent civilians?" snidely snapped Tali as she began to wipe some slime from her visor.
"Sometimes" I quietly replied as the internal workings of the lock were revealed to me.
"And that doesn't bother you?" asked the teenager in a frustrated tone, silence was the only thing that answered. "Keelah your job is horrible!" muttered the girl as she turned to walk away.
"Tell me about it." the reply was so soft that I almost didn't realize that I'd said it and by the way that the young quarian half paused made me doubt if she had heard too.
"Any luck with that door Commander?" Garrus came striding over towards me as he said this and for once I was rather grateful for the interruption.
"Just removing the last line of security code now." as I said this there came a noticeable click from the garages doors as dead bolts drew back into their housing. "Let's move!" I barked as the doors began rolling up in front of my squad, but as ever on this mission, it was never that easy because as the door opened we were met with a whole swarm of those things that came storming out to greet us.
"Suppressing fire, suppressing fire!" the order echoed all around as we began unloading fire into the approaching horde, unfortunately it didn't seem to be having much of an effect and with every passing second the opposition drew closer and closer.
"Biotic lift, now!" I ordered as one of the ugly abominations got within spitting distance, which was rather unfortunately named as the thing suddenly regurgitated something in my general direction.
"Spirits that's revolting." whispered Vakarian as he watched me violently throw myself backwards to avoid the churning green mass that hurtled through the air towards me.
"Keep shooting!" yelled Gwin as she let fly with a bone shattering amount of kinetic energy, as if on command the front dozen assailants suddenly levitated into the air.
"Shoot them in the head." I calmly instructed as I scrambled back to my feet, which everyone duly did, but Mother Nature really didn't seem to be on our side as half a second later a light splattering of rounds began hurtling down all around us.
"Fresh targets, eleven o'clock!" Barked Garrus as he began blasting away at the newly appeared opposition. "They look like some of the colonists." I silently slipped back into a professional state as the grim task in front of me took hold.
"I'll take care of it." I firmly stated as yet another monster came leering up towards me, it was met with a metallic fist which crushed the front of the abominations face in a shower of green fluid "Give me covering fire!" the order was carried out almost instantaneously efficiency as half of my team switched priorities to the entrenched position above us; it was exactly what I needed and almost on impulse I triggered my combat stimulants as the cowering defenders homed into view directly in front of me.
"This isn't personal, just necessary. I'm sorry." I whispered as I vaulted over the nearest barricade; the closest opponent was greeted with a savage kick that sent blood gushing down over the colonist's face, his colleague directly behind him was slammed into the ground by a trio of shots; but even this wasn't enough to break the defender's morale, which was quickly demonstrated by a razor sharp knife that darted passed my face as I squared off against remaining attacker; it was over in a heartbeat, the man lunged forward once more only to be met with thin air as I sidestepped, grabbing hold of the offending limb with my right hand I wasted no time in wrapping my other hand tightly around the thrashing figure's neck; there was a short, sharp crack as the individual went limb and I was left holding the dead body in my arms.
"Are you alright cyborg?" Gwin shouted up to me as I silently allowed the defeated opponent to slip effortlessly out of my grip.
"I'm fine." I coldly replied as I watched my team jogging up the sloping gradient.
"Oh Goddess" whispered Doctor T'soni softly as she stared at the bloody carnage surrounding me. "Was there no other way?" I didn't bother to respond as my fist punched the button to summon the elevator.
"It's only going to get worse little maiden" chuckled the female mercenary as she bent down to check one of the body's for anything valuable.
"Don't you have any respect for the dead!" snapped Tali angrily as the teenager glared down at her unwanted associate.
"The dead don't need respect, they're dead." retorted the asari as there came an all too familiar ping as the lift doors opened in front of us.
"Everyone in!" I ordered as the sound of stumbling feet from outside the main entrance; as we all piled inside the cramped space I caught sight of the unmistakable silhouettes of more of those zombie-like creatures come staggering in from a number of different directions. "Close the doors close them!" I roared as Garrus glanced over his left shoulder at the stumbling hoard behind him, the C-sec's officer's eyes dilated in mute horror for half a moment before he quickly smashed an armoured elbow into the door controls with unnecessary force, luckily for all those involved the metal portal pulled shut as the electronics responded to the command.
"To close commander, to close" Whispered Liara as she let out a deep sigh of relief.
"Good thing we tagged along" muttered my quarian engineer in a cold tone. "Otherwise things could have been very different." the atmosphere in the narrow space was unbearable at the best of times, but at this exact moment it was as intolerable as any military court-martial.
"Let's stay focused on the task at hand." stated Vakarian nervously as he desperately attempted to placate the situation; fortunately the assent was much quicker than the descent so in a little under two minutes we'd reached the colony proper.
"Stay alert; the colonists might have set booby traps." I ordered as we slowly stepped out onto the solid masonry floor.
"Understood Shepard." replied Tali as she stuck her head around the next corner, it wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done and as if responding to this a glistening sharp claw flashed out towards her; fortunately for the teenager I was being a bit more alert and my response blew the offending limb off at the elbow.
"Down!" my voice echoed off our surroundings as the girl obeyed instantaneously, which was rather fortunate because the next shot drilled effortlessly through the thing's face in a dark outpouring of green gore and brain matter. "Are you alright?" I asked as I walked up to the floored figure, but the girl didn't have a chance to respond as there came a savage impact that sent half a dozen alerts thundering across my heads up display, but that wasn't my main concern as I spun around to face my would-be assailant, it was another one of those zombie things, which was summarily dispatched in a blaze of gunfire.
"Are you alright Commander?" spluttered Doctor T'soni in a worried tone as she came rushing to my side. "Are you hurt?" I knew she meant well but the young asari's concerned manner wasn't something I particularly needed or wanted.
"I'm fine!" I firmly retorted as I turned back to the alerts playing across my internal display.
"At least let me clean that slime off of you." pleaded the woman as she took a step towards me.
"Don't touch me!" the response brought the individual to the stumbling halt as everyone glanced over at me in surprise.
"I didn't mean…" stammered Liara as she began to become the emotional, but luckily Tali was quicker on the uptake than anyone else and she quickly scrambled to her feet.
"Shepard what's wrong?" the teenager enquired steadily as her onmi-tool flicked into life.
"The stuff I'm coated in is toxic, whatever those things regurgitate under no circumstances allowing them to get you with it." I began to quickly pull my partly soaked trench coat from my shoulders, because whatever was inside the goo began to eat both into the fabric and my skin as it turned out. "Damn it all!" I spat as began to desperately wipe the last vestiges of the ooze from my face. "It won't come off!"
"Take your hand away!" Snapped the female quarian as she calmly pulled a slim looking bottle from her tool belt. "Close your eyes." ordered the girl as she aimed the things nozzle in my direction; I jammed the offending eyelids shut and moments later I felt the creamy foam splattering all across one side of my face as the containers contents was emptied all over me.
"What the hell are you doing?" I spluttered angrily as I began wiping the white froth from the corner of my mouth.
"It's an antiseptic foam, we use in cases of suit tears, it also neutralizes acidic compounds so it should stop whatever's in that stuff from melting your face off." I flatly glared at the teenager as I heard this. "It was a joke" She coldly retorted.
"Is it done yet?" I enquired as I mentally released a large dose of medi-gel into my system to counter the toxins that were running rampant throughout my bruised body.
"I would leave it for a few moments more if I were you" advised the tech expert as she began to run scans on one side of my countenance. "I can't be totally sure if the medical foam as completely neutralized the acid yet" but this advice would have to be pushed to one side as a crescendo of footfalls heralded the arrival of more angry assailants.
"We've got incoming!" snarled Vakarian as he hastily stuck his head round the next corner.
"How many?" my question wasn't answered as two more colonists came storming into the confined space, weapons blazing.
"Down!" Barked Gwin as her shotgun roared; at this range, she didn't miss.
"Spirits that woman is going to be the death of me." whispered Garrus as he quietly glanced down at the ruined carcasses in front of him
"What a mess." but this was neither the time nor place of such thoughts. I returned to the task at hand.
"Stay focused!" I snapped as I calmly stepped over the gory scene beneath me. "Remember the mission!" this order wouldn't and didn't go down well with a selected number of my team; especially one suited individual.
"How could we forget?" muttered the young quarian as she felling in unwillingly behind me; I made a mental note to have a word with the uncooperative individual when and if we got back to the Normandy.
"We're nearing the colony, stay sharp." I coldly stated as my team began descending down the awaiting staircase, but even this wasn't going to go as planned as moments later more of those zombie like things came rushing up out of the midday gloom toward us. "Open fire, open fire!" I barked as my weapon roared once more into life, all of the rounds hit home, sending the two leading assailants tumbling backwards as gravity took hold.
"Over heated!" snapped Vakarian as he dropped to one knee beside me.
"Noted" I calmly replied as my left foot slammed heavily downwards, crushing an exposed monster's kneecap in a shower of dark green blood.
"Move!" Gwin's unmistakable tone made me duck on impulse as the uncaring asari unleashed a churning wave of dark energy that sent the remaining attackers thundering to their doom below.
"Spirits, watch where you shoot that thing!" angrily growled Garrus as he picked himself up from where he'd been thrown a short distance away.
"You should learn to roll, it's not that hard" retorted the mercenary as confidently she stepped past him, offering him a sly wink as her hips swayed.
"Not the time!" I coldly ordered as I moved softly towards the main entrance that lead into Zhu's hope, the only thing that could be heard echoing in from the other side was the tell-tale sound of deep breathing. "Stay here, I'm going to scout ahead." but even before I'd managed to get my head half way out of cover it was already being bombarded by a hail of lethal projectiles. "I think they know we're here." I calmly stated as I began returning fire. "Vakarian, Gwin, covering fire, the rest with me!" the air around us erupted into flame as my subordinates began blazing away at the infected colonists, who wisely ducked back down out of sight, that had been the stimulus we'd been waiting for and in a split-second I, along with Tali and doctor T'soni found ourselves charging out into the open space; the world started once more to turn gray as my combat stimulants worked their way into my blood stream, I was going to have one hell of a come down after all of this was over I thought as my pistol smashed the nearest assailant off his feet in a gory spray of crimson.
"Shepard!" my instincts kicked in at the warning and I threw myself forward just as a nasty looking hatchet cut through the air where my head would have been.
"Bloody amateur." I spat as the aggressive attacker swung the weapon back over his head. The man never finished the manoeuvre as my left fist hammered into the bastards face with bone shattering force; this was brutally followed up with a vicious stab from one of my arm blades that cleanly gutted the unfortunate individual. "Shout out if your hurt!" my voice echoed all around us as I caught sight of Tali struggling with yet another colonist.
"I said, get off!" frantically demanded the teenager as she drove a kneecap home into a particularly delicate part of the male anatomy, I followed this up with a lone round that quickly removed the threat from her general vicinity.
"Stay focused!" the female quarian didn't seem too happy about my intervention, but wisely she decided to turn that frustration into something practical by emptying the contents of her shotgun into the chest of one of those zombie like monsters as it attempted to drag itself over a nearby railing. "Garrus get up here!" I ordered as my sidearm began to overheat.
"Roger that Commander." replied the C-sec officer as he rushed forward to support me, which as it turned out was rather well timed as an nearly unending tide of inhuman abominations came surging out from behind the parked supply ship.
"Incoming!" Roared Gwin as she began flinging wave after wave of biotic energy into the surging masses in front of us, it didn't really have much of an impact and step by step the monstrous horde drew ever closer.
"Meat grinder!" I coldly stated as ripped my left blade from the face of yet another assailant, the instruction was carried out with a level of clinical efficiency that only appeared in critical situations. "Shoulder to shoulder, overlap fields of fire." the air was close, the stench of testosterone and adrenalin permeated all around us as we allowed our weapons to cool down.
"What's the plan Commander?" whispered T'soni as the groaning mass of body's hurtled ever onwards towards us.
"Commander?" still no answer and yet they still came.
"Shepard!" I brought my gun up to eye level as if I was out for a morning stroll.
"Open fire." the order wasn't loud, in fact I had the distinct feeling that everyone only reacted because they heard the tell-tale sound of the pistol screaming; but the effects were immediately noticeable as the enemy's front-line crumpled under the withering crossfire. Even this didn't totally stop the shuffling advance and I was forced to pull everyone back towards a nearby choke point
"I've over heated!" nervously stated Tali as a plume of steam came rushing out of the side of her firearm.
"Backup weapon, now!" the order was crisp and clear.
"Understood Commander" replied the young quarian as she hastily pulled a matte black handgun out of its holster.
"Give me a lift field" I snapped as the monstrous attackers started to get uncomfortably close; in an instant a blue haze searched out from between the two asari as the pair combined their impressive potential into one, unmistakable force that dragged the unwilling victims up into the air until they looked no different than manikins on display.
"We can't hold this forever!" muttered the mercenary from in between clenched teeth as sweat began trickling down one side of her face.
"I know Gwin." I calmly replied as I began executing them one after the other, until all that was left dangling in the air was gore soaked corpses.
"We've got in coming!" Garrus's frantic shout cut through the air a moment to late as the first rounds started to slam into my exposed back, there was a bright flash of blue as the body armour's built in shields took the brunt of the attack, unfortunately there was still ample kinetic force to send me staggering forwards into Tail, who unsurprisingly failed to hold up our combined weights.
"Keelah!" spluttered the self-conscious teenager as she found herself sprawled flat on her suited back with me, in a rather compromising position directly atop the struggling teenager.
"Is this really the time cyborg?" sarcastically stated Gwin as she glanced in our general direction.
"Shut it!" I forcefully replied in slightly louder tone of voice than I'd wanted.
"Commander." the sudden voice near my left ear snapped me back to the slightly embarrassing event going on directly beneath me.
"My apology's Miss Zorah." I quickly replied as I hastily removed myself from the unpleasant situation by rolling to one side. "You're not hurt are you?" the girl quickly shook her head in response as I dragged myself into the relative safety of cargo container "Good." I glanced around just in time to see Vakarian land a clean headshot on one of the infected assailants'.
"Nice to see you could join us." chuckled the turian as he ducked back into cover for half a second.
"Stay focused!" I snapped as my hands double checked the dust covered firearm in my lap. "This isn't a game Garrus." the C-sec officer seemed to fall quiet for half a second.
"If it was I'd have the most kills by now." whispered the alien as he brought his eye line up to mine.
"Don't keep score, keep shooting." I coldly muttered as I prepped a waiting hand grenade. "Fire in the hole!" everyone ducked as the metal projectile spun effortless through the air and it turned out to be a wise decision as the explosive rolled to a stop next to an ill-fated fuel tank.
"Ah shit." spluttered asari mercenary as she throw herself bodily over a nearby barricade and without a moment to spare as the ensuing explosion sent a thundering shockwave hurtling downfield towards us; the chaos kicked up by this event was particularly unwanted due to no small extent the cloud of dust that blanketed the entire battlefield.
"Spirits I can't see a bleeding thing." wheezed Vakarian as his dirt filled voice echoed out of the gloom all around me.
Don't move!" I roared as there came the gentle sound of footfalls from somewhere deeper within the distorted haze. "Gwin is that you?" the multitude of swear words that drifted across from my left said otherwise.
"I would take that as a no." stated the turian as I watched him crawl on his hands and knees towards me.
"You alright officer?" I enquired with a raised eyebrow as the alien slumped down next to me in cover.
"Fine sir, just trying to regroup." I nodded quietly as I heard this.
"Alright, this is what's going to happen, I'm going to try and reach that grounded freighter; while the rest of you hold the fort here, understood?" Garrus gave what I assumed was a thumbs up.
"Roger that Commander, good luck" my subordinates encouragement wasn't really need and as I silently slipped into the clinging fog I made a mental note to have a word with the enthusiastic officer when this was all over; unfortunately all of this was suddenly thrown out of the window as my internal earpiece blurted into life.
"Commander what's going on?" the voice was raised and ever so slightly frantic but even so unmistakably recognizable.
"Miss Zorah what's wrong?" but even as I said this my radar gave a worrisome ping as it detected movement somewhere in the swaying smog.
"I can't seem to find anyone, I think I'm lost." I swore loudly before getting down to the task at hand.
"Can you see any kind of landmark?" I asked quickly as I continued towards the looming shadow of the waiting spacecraft.
"I think I can see some kind of ship, a freighter maybe, I'm heading to that location" as she said this I glanced down at the corner of my holographic display, as if on impulse it started to bleep with ever increasing frequency as a small point of light moved towards my general location.
"Shepard is that you?" this time Tali's voice wasn't coming out of an earpiece but from a position just off to my left.
"Keep your voice down!" I hastily muttered as a female figure quickly materialised out of the grimy hue.
"Sorry Commander." whispered the teenager as she nervously trundled over towards me.
"Hurt?" the girl didn't answer "I said, are you hurt?"
"No Commander." came the hasty reply.
"Answer quicker next time." I snapped as I began hacking the nearest access point on the ship
"Yes Commander." stammered the girl with noticeable embarrassment as she glanced around at the hidden surroundings. "I won't do it again."
"Good." moments later there came a noticeable thud as the security locks slipped back into their housing. "Stay close." I ordered as we moved cautiously into the confines of the darkened derelict; the internal stench was overwhelming, it smelt like rust and damp, a sickening mixture of death and decay. "Stay alert." the female quarian nodded in understanding as she tucked in behind me as the two of us advanced further into vessel.
"Commander, do you read?" once more the unnerving quiet was shattered by my personal communicator rumbling into life.
"Go ahead Vakarian." the turian began to quickly unload a torrent of information down the airwaves and into my ear, but after a long moment I had to interrupt. "Get to the point officer." I muttered as an annoying scraping sound could be heard emanating from the outside of the ship.
"You've got incoming, can't say how many but they're on their way." this revelation wasn't wholly unexpected as that frustrating noise was only increasing in intensity.
"Get ready kid." I coolly stated as my young companion began to frantically clicking her angles
"Shepard?" nervously whispered the girl as she glanced up at me with a desperate expression; it was strange I thought, when was the last time someone had looked at me like that, I couldn't even recall and that more than anything else caused me to say what I said next.
"You'll be fine Tali, I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise." there was real emotion in my voice, which unsurprisingly took the quarian totally by surprise and she began to embarrassingly fiddled with the side of her helmet in a desperate attempt not to look directly at me.
"Thank you Commander." whispered the young woman in noticeably happy tone just before the sound of screeching metal filled the air.
"Here they come." I said in a level voice as the first of the abominations forced their way into the cramped confines of the freighter, its reward was a pistol round to the face that shattered its skull and splattered its brain all over the far wall. "Cover the other end!" my order reverberated off the surrounding spaces as I began to advance towards the gaping hole in the side of the vessel, it didn't take long for a second, aggressive assailant to drag its way over the threshold towards me.
"Are you all right Shepard?" shouted my subordinate as I began blasting away at the new arrival.
"I'm fine, watch your end!" I snapped as once more the sound of tearing metal filled the stagnant air and she soon had something to worry about as several extremely unhappy zombie things began manhandling themselves through an open access port.
"Commander?" the girl's voice had a distinct note of concern concealed within it, but at this exact moment I was slightly preoccupied the troubles of my own.
"Just shoot the damn things!" almost instantaneously my order was obeyed and from behind me there came the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being pumped into life; the next few minutes flow by in a blur as the two of us fought simply to survive the never ending storm of green filth that swarmed down both ends of the corridor and then it was over.
"Commander, do you read me?" the frantic call echoed down the silent passageway, unanswered. "Come on, don't do this to me Shepard." I slowly dragged a goo smeared hand up to one ear.
"I read you Vakarian." the relief was almost palpable as the turian let out a deep sigh. "Give me a sit rep."
"We're fine Commander. That last wave was pretty intense but most of them seemed to be more interested in you then they were in us." as the conversation continued I found myself walking down a carcass clogged corridor towards what I assumed was the cockpit.
"What does the situation outside look like?" I asked wearily as I punched in the override command into the doors locking mechanism.
"It seems pretty clear out here Commander, but I wouldn't bet on it staying that way for long"
"Roger that" I whispered as the metal hatch pulled back to reveal the unmistakable outline of my quarian engineer, furiously working away at a command interface. "Wondered where you got to." as I said this there came the faintest hint of noise from somewhere deeper in the ship, but before my attention could focus on it Tali decided to distract me once more.
"Sorry about that Shepard, I was just trying to find the lift mechanisms, they must be around somewhere." this time the sound was clear and definitely closer. "Did you just hear that Commander?" Whispered the teenagers she quickly glanced away from the glowing screen.
"Yes I did." I coldly replied. "Stay here." it wasn't negotiable and if to reinforce this fact I locked the door behind me; the darkness returned once more, making every nook and cranny come alive with impossible apparitions "Why are things never easy" I muttered as my feet carried me forwards into the clinging gloom; the blow came out of nowhere, I felt my vision blur as the fist collided with one side of my face.
"I tried to fight it, but it gets in your head; you can't imagine the pain" stammered Fai Dan as he came staggering out of a nearby alcove.
"You talk too much." I retorted in cold professionalism as I levelled my pistol; but it wasn't going to be that easy as the crazed colonist smashed the threatening implement to one side before head butting me in the face.
"I was supposed to be their leader, these people trusted me." the man's pitiful explanation was cut short as I broke his nose with a desperate right hook. As blood gushed down the poor bastards face my body regained its senses and followed this up with a bone breaking leg stomp that drove the opponent to one knee.
"It wants me to stop you, but I won't, I won't!" red crimson began pouring out of Fai Dan's ears even as he said this, it was to be expected but even so, it was unpleasant.
"No you won't." my response was drowned out by the baleful roar of the weapon as it went about its dreadful work.
"Shepard, what's going on out there?" frantically demanded Tail as her voice came barrelling down the corridor towards me.
"I'm fine, just tying up some loose ends." I stared down at Fai Dan's corpse and felt I should say something. "Find peace Fai Dan. You died a man, not a puppet." I turned to leave but all of a sudden I had other things to worry about as the entire vessel jerked viciously to one side.
"Get out of there!" Garrus's yelled almost deafened me as I hurtled back towards the cockpit
"Tail, we're leaving!" I roared as an ear ripping screech filled the air. The young woman wasted no time in extracting herself from the cramped compartment; unfortunately fate had other ideas as the entire world violently flipped ninety degrees before plummeting backwards into oblivion; the last thing I heard was Vakarian's screeching tones echoing out of my earpiece.
"Shepard, Shepard!" the world was burning, section of building were collapsing all around me and the only think I could think about at this exact moment was the fact that I was going to die "Toddy!" my name was accompanied by a sudden slap that brought me back to reality with a thud.
"What!" I angrily retorted as the light of day forced its way into every crevice of my brain.
"We have to go!" the shadowy outline above me barked as burning debris began to rain down all around us.
"If you insist" the remark was pushed to one side as my rescuer manhandled me to my feet.
"Shut up and run!" it wasn't a request that I need to be asked twice as we both began sprinting towards a nearby staircase, blue flames licking at our heels; the polished wooden surface of the door posed no problem as my foot smashed it from its hinges in a deadly shower of splinters.
"Go up!" the order drew a incredulous looking from my companion as she glanced at the fire storm quickly encroaching on our position.
"You can't be serious!" she angrily snapped as a cascade of sparks rained down all around us.
"Do you want to die?"
"No"
"Then run!" I roared as a section of wall thundered backwards, revealing the darkening black sky outside; that seemed to have an impact because moments later my reluctant associate almost flew up the remaining steps as if her coat tails were on fire; and given the general situation they probably were.
"It's catching up!" worriedly stated the woman as we dashed out onto a waiting rooftop, a split second later the entire doorway erupted as the infernal engulfed it from all sides.
"Well, what are we going to do now?" frantically demand the woman a she nervously glanced off the edge of the immense skyscraper that seemed to rise endlessly into the heavens.
"Will your biotics holdout until you reach the ground?" I quickly enquired as the concrete beneath us began to become particularly uncomfortable.
"They might, if I'd had a goodnights sleep in the last couple of days" muttered the tired individual as she attempted to wipe the soot from her face; the answer only helped me to make up my mind, which was quickly demonstrated when the surprised figure found herself being ungainly thrown over one shoulder. "By the Goddess what are you doing?" spluttered the embarrassed woman as I took a decisive step back from the edge.
"Hold on tight!" my voice was calm and steady, something that the struggling passenger found particularly terrifying.
"Toddy you can't be serious!" I took yet another step back. "Toddy don't" frantically demanded my companion as I came to a shuddering halt "Just wait.." but her desperate plea fell on deaf ears as my form rocked forward with as much force as I could muster, the edge of the building reared up in front of us and then it was gone as we thundered downwards into the sickening gloom "Shepard!"
"Shepard?" the voice was different, young. "Shepard please wake up." I felt a hand gently slip down one side of my face as it continued speaking "Please!" the demand was almost pleading in its tone and it had an effect as my bruised brain forced reality back into the darkened world that surrounded me.
"Not so loud" I whispered as light burnt its way onto my retinas.
"Keelah Don't worry me like that Commander." quietly stated Tail as she homed into focus above me.
"My apologies." I could have sworn that the girl was actually concerned about my welfare; it was a slightly alien feeling but a pleasant one nonetheless. "You alright?" she nodded in silent acknowledgement as she helped me to my feet. "Good, we could do without that kind of complication." I glanced up at the ruined shell of the cargo freighter that was spread all around us. "Must of been one hell of a fall" my colleague offered me a half full water bottle as I said this.
"I couldn't tell you Commander, both of us were knocked out on the way down; when I came around you were unconscious under a ton of wreckage." the teenager pointed to a broken section of the spacecraft "I dragged you out and tried to get in contact with rest of the ground team, but it seems we're too deep down to get a signal." as the girl continued her explanation I found myself becoming more and more impressed with her handling of the current situation.
"Nice work." I replied in a quiet tone as I began running a diagnostic of all my systems. "But we shouldn't stay here for too long, it isn't secure and the enemy could be on their way" this statement only reinforce the perilous feel of our situation.
"Should you really be moving Commander?" stammered Tali as I began to walk stiffly towards the nearest exit.
"Probably not, but we have a job to do." I muttered as the throbbing chest pain that had been the hallmark of this operation came back with a vengeance as I stooped to pass through a partly collapsed doorway. "We can't afford to wait around, hoping that our side finds us first." the explanation made sense to the young woman, who quickly fell in behind me as I advanced further into the underground structure. Time seemed to blur as we continued ever onwards into the swirling blackness, with only the occasional encounter to heighten the tension, but it couldn't last and as the two of us dragged ourselves of yet another mound of rubble we were confronted by something totally unexpected.
"You've got to be kidding me" Whispered the teenager as she slipped down the scree strewn slope behind me, directly in front of our isolated position was a towering chasm, several hundred metres high and an as we drew close it only became even more imposing as I carefully leant out over the bottomless pit that seemed to stretched out forever beneath us.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." I quietly stated as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up one after the other.
"We just need to find this thorian creature and determine what it, what it... Keelah" the girl's explanation came to a spluttering halt as out of the corner of my vision I caught sight of a sickening glob of green mucus coming flying past our faces as it disappeared deeper into the cavernous hole.
"Its above me, isn't it." but the local surroundings answered that question for me as there came a low, body shaking rumble that echoed throughout.
"Keelah, what is that?" softly whispered the teenage quarian we both slowly glanced up at the titanic form that hung suspended in mid-air.
"Nothing's ever simple is it?" I muttered as moments later there came the unmistakable sound of thundering feet.
"It's not going to be Garrus, is it." nervously stated my companion as we readied ourselves for the coming onslaught.
"Don't bet on it." I coldly replied as the first inhuman opponent came hurtling out of a doorway, it didn't get very far, but for everyone that was gunned down there were two to take its place.
"Shepard!" the frantic nature of Tali's voice snapped my attention away from the approaching threat, just in time to catch sight of the young woman struggling madly with one of the green skinned freaks.
"Hold still!" I barked as a split-second later a combat blade embedded itself cleanly into the lower half of the monsters skull, as the limp form fell away there was a soul shattering impact that sent me slamming into a far wall.
"Commander!" the world went black and for a long moment I had the horrible image of my young engineer being overwhelmed by an unending swarm of ghoulish nightmares; it didn't last as the world came rushing back with a vengeance as I found myself being hastily dragged to my feet. "Commander, talk to me!" nervously demanded the quarian as I desperately attempted to gain my footing. "Shepard!"
"I'm fine" I quickly replied as the unpleasant surroundings came back into focus. "What happened?" the girl shook her head in disbelief.
"I don't know, one moment you were standing in front of me the next, you were being thrown across the room." as she said this I quickly glanced around at the unfolding scenes being played out all around us.
"Must have been a biotic impact." I muttered as my internal systems began a hasty scan to assess any potential damage. "Which means there's somebody else here besides you and I." this statement didn't help the current situation and if to punish me for the remark there came even more footfalls as yet another wave of attackers.
"What are we going to do Commander?" quietly enquired the girl as she watched me assessing the situation, I didn't answer straight away. "Commander?"
"Get into that alcove!" my order was carried out with a certain level of confusion as Tali found herself being squeezed into a narrow gap in between two walls.
"Shepard?" Spluttered the female figure as she glanced up at me with a worried expression, but I'd already turned away so that the young woman couldn't see the cold determination in my eyes.
"Whatever happens, no matter what you see, don't leave that hole." I stated in a firm tone as my eyes closed shut; the world went dark as all outside stimuli died away, the only thing that remained was the glowing holographic display playing across the inside of my augmented vision.
"WARNING, MANUAL OVERRIDE DETECTED!" the alert flashed bold and bright as I mentally disabled my inbuilt safety mechanisms.
"WARNING PROSTHETIC LIMITERS DEACTIVATED!" moments later there came an almost indistinguishable sound as a small compartment under one of my shoulder blades slotted into a pre-designs position; I was once told the difference between combat stimulants and the thing that was about to be pumped directly into me; I don't remember much of the complicated nuances now but the one thing I do recall was the fact that they said it should only ever be done as a matter of last resort, there were a host of reasons why, primarily among them was the fact that the unpleasant cocktail contained not only concentrated adrenalin, but also testosterone which could cause serious short-term side-effects if counter agents weren't administered in a specified time period and don't even get me started on the opioids and amphetamines that were chucked into the mix.
"WARNING HEART RATE AT DANGEROUS LEVELS. CARDIAC ARREST IMMINENT." I felt the blood inside my veins boil as the toxic cocktail worked its way into every nook and cranny as it blazed a path towards my brain.
"DANGER, UNNATURAL BRAIN ACTIVITY, CONTACT COMPANY MEDICAL PERSONNEL IMMEDIATELY." but it was already too late, my soul screamed in pain as a life time of pent-up frustration was released and I roared along with it as the lucid world vigorously pushed itself to the fore.
(Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it)
(let us know by review or commenting, if you're interested there is over work by me on my deviant art page, type in Gods-own and you'll be taken straight there)
(I won't be posting another chapter before the holidays due to the pressure my proof reader is under, but thank you all for following this work, it means so much to me)
(Yours sincerely Gods-own.)