Here this is, finally. Not a lot of time these days. Before we start I want to the user Synchronistic for the fantastic new cover photo he made for me. I'm really pleased with the look.
As always read and review if you want. If you don't want to that's fine too.
Henry Glassman scrubbed at bleary eyes and tried to get back to work. The Infinity's night cycle was more than halfway over, but he still had mountains of cataloguing to do. His lab's light was dimmed for the cycle, only the two tables were brightly lit, the rest of the room was only illuminated by a swarm of tiny blue lights that festooned the computing banks.
His door pinged musically and opened to admit a flying drone carrying a heavy box in mechanical claws. The drone drifted inside and chirped curiously.
"Just put it there," Henry said, vaguely waving at the table that wasn't covered in Promethean junk and what appeared to be most of a Forerunner karaoke machine. The drone zoomed over and deposited the artifact before leaving.
Henry yawned mightily as he crossed the lab, his shoes scuffing on the metal deck. He picked up a data pad and tapped it on the artifact. Forerunner glyphs and symbols scrolled across the pad, quickly translating to english as the translator program ran. Henry blinked.
"Following ties that bind in the threads ahead, you will find what has gone before…"
Henry mumbled the inscription to himself, looking up. The lab was quiet around him, only tiny sounds of computing and the omnipresent hum of the Infinity's engines. He ran a hand over his face, pushing his glasses askew. "The fuck does that mean?"
He sighed.
He shook his head, "alright, Henry, wake up." He looked at the pad with renewed vigour. "Just get this last one done and you can get some sleep." He put the data pad down and looked over the artifact proper. "Start audio-log." The data pad started recording. "The artifact is rectangular in shape," Henry activated a sensor suite built into the lab table. "1.76 meters in length, .87 meters wide, and 17 centimetres in height." He ran his hands over the surface. "The surface is exceptionally smooth, like most forerunner devices, and there are no visible switches or mechanics of any kind on the surface." He waved his hands above the device. "Device does not appear to react to humans. Perhaps it was not designed with the Mantle in mind…" Henry thought for a moment, then carried on, his finger sliding along the surface. "Aesthetically it has many Promethean motifs, it could have been meant to be used by those repurposed by the composer…" Henry stopped his finger on what appeared to be some kind of button. "Strike the switch comment," he said, curious. "It appears this device has a button. Hmmm."
He pushed the button.
"Ah," Henry smiled as a display panel faded into being, overtop the device. "Excellent. That could have gone very wrong." He laughed to himself and he pushed his hands into the newly formed interface. "I would not have wanted to explain to Captain Lasky why some terrible calamity had befallen-" Henry's finger slipped into a holographic switch.
Henry's eyes widened as the device glowed orange and hummed to life.
"Ooooooh Shi-"
Reality blinked out. All was black.
Normally Mallus hated explosions, but there are times, in specific situations, where the sight of fire and force ripping through steel puts a warm fuzzy feeling in his core.
He hadn't decided yet if this was one of those times.
Janeth rolled his head around in a circle and stepped through a newly made hole in the side of the building. He dropped onto the floor, into a mostly deserted side street, dark in the citadel's night cycle. "Took you long enough." He grumbled at Mallus, as he and Zo hurried towards the hole from their cover.
Mallus looked behind him and levelled a borrowed pistol, emptying his clip at a pair of advancing C-sec officers. The two dove for cover.
"We figured you'd keep easily," Zo said. She moved from an alley across the street to the corner at the end of the street. She sighted down range with her shotgun and fired twice. Zo retreated back behind the corner as a hail of gunfire peppered the building's side, she looked back at Janeth over her shoulder. "Have a nice vacation?"
"Heh," Janeth laughed, not bothering to find any kind of cover. "C-sec has changed. This time, they gave me a 'massage' trying to get information out of me."
"Well, that was nice of them," Mallus said, backing out of the alley, carefully firing to keep C-sec at bay. He jerked his head down the street that was empty of C-sec, at least for now. "Walesh and the rest of the crew are already working on getting the Repose out of her shackles." He tossed a heavy shotgun over to the krogan, "Found this on our way over."
Janeth caught the weapon, "Thanks", he said, checking the thermal clip. The three of them started at a jog. Janeth fixed one eye on Mallus and fired behind them blindly, thundering booms and stark flashes of light filling the narrow street. "What about our new friends?"
"Don't know where they are," Mallus said. They stopped at the end of the street and turned sharp to go down an alley. The dirty side of the citadel was evident here, a keeper plodded along down the alley towards them, pushing a small pile of trash into a duct opening. The three of them squeezed around the keeper and kept running to the end of the alley. The two turians checked either direction.
"Clear," Mallus said.
"Negative hostiles," Zo barked.
The three hurried forward, into another street, this one had people in it, hardly a crowd, but it would stop C-sec from firing on them. Overhead a C-sec skycar slowed and came to a stop, a blinding spotlight snapping onto them. Most of the civilians looked up in awe. Some were approaching slackjawed. Mallus, Zo, and Janeth kept running.
"HALT," an amplified voice commanded, the skycar turning, its spotlight following their progress down the street. When the people noticed who C-sec was following and that they were armed, a wide bubble of empty space opened up around them. Better than a good spotlight, Mallus growled internally. "You are in violation of Citadel Security Citizenry Act, if you persist you will be-" The voice was cut off by an explosive retort from Janeth's shotgun. Sparks flew from the skycar and it wavered in the air. It's engines whined and it sputtered away.
"Thanks," Mallus said, working a finger over his ears.
Janeth popped his thermal clip. "No problem," he rumbled. "What's the plan?" he asked. "I vote for getting the hell of this dumb station."
"Does have an attractive ring to it, sir," Zo said, checking over her shoulder.
Mallus looked at his crew sharply. "Last I checked we still have crew unaccounted," he said. "I'm not one to leave my own to luff without a course." They started to walk and turned again into an alley, each of them finding their own little alcove to hide in. Overhead a pair of skycars and a Kodiak shuttle sailed past.
"I'm not saying we leave them, sir." Zo said carefully.
"I am." Janeth shrugged.
"We'll be pinched if we stay here," Zo said. "We get out of system, then come back and mount a rescue mission." She gave Janeth a significant look.
Janeth grunted. "Half a good idea, at least."
Mallus glances at the mouth of the alley, they all shrink into their hiding places as a pair of armoured C-sec officer stomp past.
"Think about Simon and River," Zo said. "Cerberus has probably already I.D'd them. If they're caught…"
"That'd be nine kinds of unpleasant," Mallus said quietly. "Dammit," he said through clenched his teeth, his mandibles fluttering. "Fine. We make way." Janeth grinned widely. "But we're coming back," Mallus added, "we don't leave crew."
"Yes, sir." Zo said sharply, saluting.
"Got it," Janeth grumbled.
Mallus motioned forward with his pistol and the three of them crept from their hiding spots and headed down the alley at a run.
Master Chief knew something was happening today, He could feel it. The air had an energy to it.
"Can you feel that?" He asked.
"The humidity in our cell has gone up a few percent," Cortana said absently.
Chief shook his head. He stood up and paced the cell slowly, two steps each way.
"I can't detect anything different," Cortana said. "There's nothing."
Chief stepped up to the mirror that looked over his cell. His reflection looked at him, impassive. "There's something." He put his hand up to the glass.
He could feel Cortana looking through his visor with him. "Is it time to get back in the game?"
Chief's hand curled into a fist and pressed into the mirror.
"It is."
Armando Bailey sat at an unused desk in the tactical centre of C-sec headquarters, one arm in a sling and an ice pack pressed to his head. "Care to run that by me again, son?" He asked the fresh-faced officer giving him a report. Apart from Bailey, he was the only other person in the room not frantically doing something. Analysts were checking and double-checking information and directing field teams while alarms blared all through the building, the sound of armour boots pounding on the metal floor could be heard through the doors.
"Uh-um, the criminals that Spectre Shepard brought in with the A.I have escaped." He spoke nervously.
Bailey pinched the bridge of his nose with his good hand. "Jesus, two breakouts in as many hours," he said darkly. "Where are they going?"
The young man opened his omni tool and accessed a map of the citadel. A cluster of blinking dots indicated the convicts, grouped together on Zakera ward and moving steadily towards the Presidium. "They were last seen heading to the Presidium Docks."
"What about this Chief character?" Bailey asked.
"He's safely inside his cell in the Bachjret facility," the officer said.
"Good," Bailey breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm not sure I want to be between that one and an escape." He looked at the map, and the dots inching across it. "No honour amongst thieves, it seems," He mused. He winced and shifted his arm in its sling. "What about the other one? The biotic?"
The officer shuffled uncomfortably. "We've lost her, since her escape from C-sec there hasn't been any word of her at all, whoever she is, she's good at hiding."
Bailey sighed and nodded. "That'll be all, officer." He waved the young man away.
"Sir," the officer saluted and left, hurrying to the next job on his list.
"FUCK OFF!" Jack screamed at a heavily armoured C-sec officer as rifle rounds impacted her barrier. Her arm swung upwards in a harsh uppercut motion and a series of biotic explosions cascaded over one another in his direction, tossing the officer into the air over twice his own height, falling with a sharp CLACK where armour met the steel floor of the presidium.
The gardens around her were empty, their occupants having long since fled from the news of her presence. Jack stood still, waiting, looking. She was alone.
"RAAAHGG!" Her body flared in a sapphire corona and a picnic table was tossed over the edge of the presidium ring, disappearing into the distance. "Where is that damn ship?" She started running again. The docks were in the outer ring, right? She looked around, eyes searching for a sign, literal or figurative.
A dark purple shape flickered further ahead. As Jack came closer the shape resolved into a holographic Asari. Jack skidded to a halt in front of the terminal. "Hey, VI, Tell me how to get to the docks." She demanded.
The hologram blinked, then smiled. "I'm sorry, You are a registered criminal, known to be evading custody. Please wait for security personnel to arrive and arrest you." Jack growled and slammed a blue glowing fist into the terminal. The holographic asair flickered and flashed in and out of focus.
"Tell me where the docks are!" Jack roared.
The Hologram's voice stuttered at started with the rest of her. "I- sorr- the Dock- be found- registered criminal- at the outer ri- Please wait for- head to the near- security services-" The terminal gave one last sputtering spark before it gave out entirely.
"Useless," Jack spat, turning to run. "Outer ring," She told herself. "Gotta find a ship. Gotta get out." She turned and kept running.
Two guards stood vigil in the night, watching over the main entrance to the most highly guarded building on the citadel. Not even the Council had more security. Of course, they weren't there to keep people out.
No, they were keeping someone in.
Brent Dyson shifted his weight back and forth, his partner for this shift, Tyris Vecta, gave him a sideways look.
"You ok? You haven't been able to sit still the entire night," the turian said dryly.
Brent shrugs, " there's something in my boot, been there all day," He grumbled, shaking his foot.
"Did you try taking it off?" Tyris asked. Brent gave him a level look. "Alright," Tyris said lightly, "just asking." He looked out into the darkened wards around them. It might be the night cycle, but the citadel was still alive with lights.
The wards, above and around them, shined with an intricate spiderweb of soft red, and if it was caught it just right, the faint glow of the widow nebula through the gaps between the arms. Most people like the citadel because of the thriving populace, during the day the station pulsed with vibrancy and life. But if you were to ask Tyris, he'd tell you it was the night where the citadel truly came alive.
Tyris looked back to his partner, still trying to get whatever was in his boot. "Come on, Dyson," Tyris said, "We've still got a patrol to finish." he was about to move when he heard something, it was faint, barely audible. Tyris stopped, angling his head to listening.
There is was again. CLACK, metal on metal, CLACK. It was rhythmic, and it was coming closer.
"You hear that?" Dyson asked, his boot problem was forgotten, the human was leaning towards the sound slightly, his rifle held at a low ready. CLACK. Tyris realised he was mirroring him exactly. "What do you think it is?"
Tyris shook his head. "I don't know," he said, "Better call it in." CLACK.
Dyson opened his omni tool "Yeah." A channel opened on the display. CLACK. The sound was close now, it felt like he should be able to see it. Like it was right in front of him.
Dyson was speaking into his omni tool, but Tyris wasn't paying attention, he was squinting into the gloom that surrounded the building, pushed back by a pool of soft light. "There!" He said, pointing.
A dim shape was moving through the gloom, all hard angles and sharp lines. It resolved into a person, at least he thought it was a person. It was wearing armour unlike any he'd ever seen. As the first person came into the light two more pushed through the dark behind it. Then three more. Tyris found the back of his neck sweating, and his mandibles were almost vibrating. These people were dangerous. He didn't know how he knew, but he did.
"Identify yourselves!" Tyris shouted.
The group halted. They stood before the prison, six of them, illuminated in red light. The first of them spoke. "My name is Commander Sarah Palmer, of the UNSC. You have someone that belongs to us, and we want him back."
Sarah Palmer ran down a plain, gunmetal grey hallway. A pair of guards appeared at the end of the hallway and opened fire. Palmer grunted as a pair of rounds slammed into her chest plate. Her shield crackled around her, but the armour plating caught the bullets easily. Running at full speed, she closed the distance between her and the guards quickly, much more quickly than they expected, it seemed. Surprise flashed across their faces and Palmer slammed into them, shoulder checking one so hard he flew back into the wall then dropping to sweep her leg out, catching her heel behind the other guard's ankle and bringing him down. She recovered quickly and delivered a solid blow to the fallen man's forehead. His eyes rolled up and he fell unconscious. She looked down the hall one way, then the other. She picked a direction and started running.
"Sitrep" Palmer ordered into the comm.
"Negative on the package," Hoya said.
"Haven't found him yet," Grant added. "Just a lot of guards."
"No joy," Demarco said. "They must have been afraid of him, post so many guards here." Demarco chuckled. "I wouldn't want to have to guard Chief either." There was a dull WACK and a CRUNCH through the comm. "The hardest part is keeping things clean. They're all so fragile."
"I don't care how hard it is, Demarco, no fatalities." Palmer snapped, leaving the two unconscious guards behind her and turning down another hall. "I don't want to get any further on the wrong side of our Spectre friend." Palmer stopped at a door, the holographic interface flashed green and it opened. "Thorne?"
"Nothing yet Ma'am," Thorne said.
"We're still quiet out here, too," Madsen added. "I'd thought I'd be swarmed by now. But we've got quiet skies."
"We'll take what we can get," Palmer murmured, stepping into the room.
It was some kind of staff room, certainly not a staff room. Palmer stepped in and swept over the room just to make sure.
She was just about to leave when she heard something fall to the ground. She turned and went back for another look.
A large pair of frightened eyes looked up at her. A young man, couldn't be older than 19, was tucked in the far corner, behind a cabinet. There was a long moment where they both stared at each other. The boy was shaking with fear, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly.
"You don't hurt me, I won't hurt you," Palmer said, turning away. He wasn't any kind of threat.
PLING!
Palmer's head was pushed forward a bit as the bullet ricocheted off the back of her head. She slowly spun on her heels to see the young man holding a pistol, pointing at her head. His whole body shook, like a child who'd thrown a rock at a much, much larger adult. Palmer took two steps, towering over him.
"Really?" She asked.
The young man opened his mouth to say something, but Palmer smacked the back of his head. His body snapped forward and he bounced off her chest plate, face first. The young man gave a strangled gurgle and dropped to the floor.
"Idiots," Palmer grumbled, stomping out of the room and heading down the hallway.
Chief listened to shouts and screams filtering into the cell. He raised a single eyebrow inside his helmet.
"Ok," Cortana admitted. "I 'feel it'." Chief grinned silently. The sounds of fighting jumped up in volume and the mirror that looked into the cell shuddered violently as a heavy THUD permeated the room.
"Hey," Cortana said. "Do you think that Mallus and his crew have the means to rescue us from this place?"
"We'll see," Chief said.
Someone rapped a knuckle on the mirror, a short set of rhythms. Confirm identity. Chief frowned. "That's UNSC code." Cortana said, vocalising his thoughts, "Who here knows that?"
"Shepard said we weren't alone anymore," Chief said, tapping back a message of his own. UNSC Sierra-117. Identify.
The message came through. UNSC - SierraIV-SN: 83920-91083-GT. Chief smiled.
"Well, she wasn't lying to us," Cortana said, mildly surprised. "Maybe she isn't so bad."
Spartan Thorne tapped out a code on the one-sided mirror that looked into Master Chief's cell. "But how do we get in?" He mumbled as he opened the comm. A light tapping came from the mirror. Key. Door switch. Two people. Thorne smiled. "Nothing gets by him," he said to himself.
The comm crackled to life. "What was that?" Palmer demanded.
"Joy on the package," Thorne said hastily. "Transmitting my coordinates now." He began to search for a key, looking around the room for anything that resembled a lock box or a safe. He could see Chief, looming in the mirror, Thorne could almost believe he could see through it. After a minute of searching, Chief raised his hand to the window and tapped out another message. Key. Guard. Thorne frowned for a second, then started. "Right," he mumbled. He stepped over to the unconscious man, splayed out across the desk along the wall under the mirror, and plucked a thick cylinder with grooves scored along it from his belt. A pale yellow dot flared into life on his motion tracker.
Thorne didn't turn to look as Spartan walked through the door. "This is it?" Grant asked, stepping into the cell. "This is it," she said. Seeing the Chief through the window.
"We need two people to get him out," Thorne said, raising the key. "There's a button for the second set of doors here."
Grant quickly looked around the room. She didn't see anything. She lifted the unconscious man up with one hand. "Ah," she said happily, revealing a large circular button.
"Sitrep," Palmer ordered, striding through the door.
"Just about to open the package. Ma'am" Thorne said, slotting the key into the door.
"Make it quick. I'd rather not stay out our welcome." Palmer crossed her arms as Thorne entered the first set of doors. They sealed behind him with a heavy "CLUNK", then Grant pressed the button to open the second door.
Palmer waited impatiently. Her foot tapping restlessly. The sound of the inner door opening and closing was the only other sound in the room. Hoya and Demarco appeared at the door. Everyone watched the door to Chief's cell.
A clack and a scrape emanated from the door - the key turning - And the door opened.
Master Chief Petty-Officer Spartan John-117 stepped free. Cortana appeared, a small woman sitting on his shoulder. " Not who we expected, but we'll take it," she said dryly.
Chief stepped up to Palmer, in his armour, he was taller than even her. "Thank you," he said simply. "It's good to see a friendly face."
"Well," Cortana added, "a friendly visor, at least."
"It's good to finally meet you, sir," Thorne said, his voice sounded a little overawed.
"Pleasantries later." Palmer barked, turning to leave. "Madsen, pack up, we've got what we wanted."
"Yes, ma'am," Madsen said sharply. "Oscar Mike to evac. I'll be outside the shield in two."
"We'll see you in ten," Palmer motioned the group to follow, walking out of the room and heading down the hallway without waiting. The Spartans broke into a run, and caught up with their commander.
Cortana flashed in and out of visibility, switching positions to Chief's other shoulder, closer to the Spartan next to them. "How many of you are there?" She asked Thorne, who ran next to Chief.
"The full complement of Fireteam Majestic, five, plus Commander Palmer." He nodded to the leading Spartan.
"Doesn't talk much does she?" Cortana noted, amused.
"Not really, no," Thorne said apologetically.
"That means she's one of the good ones." The A.I. chuckled lightly. "What's our evac plan?"
"We've got a local contact who's secured a ship," Thorne said. "Once we get out of the facility we'll be off the station."
"I have companions," Chief interjected.
"We've been… adopted… by a bit of a roguish type," Cortana elaborated. "When we were brought in they were arrested as well."
"We've drawn too much attention to stay here any longer," Palmer said over her shoulder. "We need to leave as soon as possible," her voice was calm, but it was layered over a stony harshness that would not be challenged.
"I won't leave them." Chief's voice was cold and slow. It didn't have the rough edges and energy that Palmer's did, but it resonated with the quiet strength of a glacier. A glacier would barely notice grinding boulders to dust.
"We can come back once the heat dies down," Hoya suggested.
"Fine," Pamer snapped, "We can discuss it on the ship."
The outer doors to the facility burst open, admitting six Spartans to the still dark ward. The two guards that tried to stop them coming in, a human and a turian, were just now rousing from the thorough beating they took. The turian was shaking his head and the human was stumbling to his feet.
The man craned his neck upwards, watching, open-mouthed, as giants passed him. "What are you?" He called after them as they headed into the gloom.
A faint blue spark flickered, casting a tiny glow over the armoured plates of one of the giants.
"We're Spartans," A young woman's voice called out. "Of the United Nations Space Command. Tell your bosses not to follow us." The spark zipped away into the darkness and the quiet of the night cycle returned to the facility.
Brent Dyson sat heavily on the ground and took off his boot. "God, I need a drink," he muttered. He stretched his toes in the open air and shook his boot again. A credit chit fell onto the floor. He looked at his recovering partner. "C'mon, Tyris, let's go get drunk."
The Shadow Broker was not someone accustomed to waiting.
But here were some things that even he could not hurry. Studying an impossibly old artifact made by no known civilisation was one of those things.
The massive beast drummed his three massive fingers on the armrest of his chair. It had been weeks! What were those fools doing? The Broker snorted, he opened his communicator and accessed the dig's video feed.
A swarm of people worked on and around a tall angular obelisk in the centre of a natural cave. A handful of prefabed structures dotted the periphery of the cavern. Most of the people working there thought they were working for Eldfell-Ashland Energy, and they were, but there was little energy to be had coming from that obelisk, at least in the industrial sense. It was full of power, power to hold sway over the entire galaxy. The Broker would expand his sphere of influence over everything in the galaxy.
"A far cry from our beginnings, Broker," The Yahg said. Looking over at the dark stain that coloured the far corner of the office. The previous Broker had thought he was tame, a dog to be loosed on his enemies. So he had shown the Broker what it was to be tamed until he... expired.
The video feed from the dig site showed one of the human worker standing at the base of the artifact. A pale green interface appeared and he began to carefully filter through the computer.
Something was happening at the site. Workers started to run, and the man working the interface snapped stock still, every muscle straining. The lights dimmed and flickered, and a low hum pulsed through the feed, growing and mounting over itself. The hum grew to a roar, then a howl, then a shriek. Just before it couldn't go any higher, an explosion ripped the obelisk apart from the inside and the video feed went dead.
The Broker roared, slamming his fist into the table and denting the metal. He scrolled through his agents and opened a channel to the man watching the dig. "Man in the Shallows, report!" He snapped.
"Broker…" The Man in the Shallows said slowly. "I'm- I'm not sure what just happened." A small beep filtered through the channel and an image notification popped up on the Broker's communicator. "It just appeared…"
The Broker's eyes widened as he saw what was on the image. "Maintain distance and observe." He ordered.
"Understood, Broker." The channel closed and the Broker quickly connected to a contact in the Hegemony. It would be expensive beyond belief, but he needed ships over that dig.
No, he needed a fleet.
Mallus dashed across the final stretch of open ground that separated him from the Quiet Repose. Janeth and Zo were behind him, trying to lay down enough cover fire to keep C-sec at bay. There were at least twenty soldiers, far too many to keep at bay for long. "Just a few more minutes." he told himself.
Mallus was just about to the airlock and to cover, when a bullet ripped through his shirt and shoulder. Pain exploded in his arm as the round shattered inside him and he stumbled, falling into the airlock with the cry of pain and a thud.
"Spirits! Hit." Mallus shouted.
"There's too many!" Zo shouted back. She opened her radio, "Walesh, how are the shackles coming?"
"Poorly, difficult to hack. Will take some more time."
"We're running a little short of that here!" Janeth roared into the comm. Mallus pushed himself up to sit at the corner of the airlock and raised his pistol to fire out at the advancing soldiers.
A blue flash of light flared in the distance, and a handful of bodies were tossed into the air. Screams of pain and surprise permeated the air, and a group of their attackers turned to face a new threat.
"Go, go, go!" Mallus shouted at his crewmates. Zo and Janeth took their opening and made a mad dash for the air lock. Mallus fired to cover them, but most of the c-sec officers were facing the other way, another flash of blue tossed the remaining soldiers to the ground. And in their place stood a single human man. "Wait, no," Mallus squinted. It was a woman with no skull fibres. "Strange."
"Hey, assholes. Let me in." The woman ordered, stepping over the bodies. "I want off this station and you're taking me."
Mallus struggled to stand. Hand pressed over the bullet wound in the shoulder. "Apologies, miss, but we're full up for passengers," He said, trying to smile. "Besides, we've already filled our quota for unlikely human biotics on the run."
"Yeah, that's great." The woman didn't stop walking, "Stop me and I'll pop your brain from the inside." She walked passed Mallus, Janeth and Zo without a backwards glance. "Come on, I want to get off this shitbag."
Mallus limped after her into the Repose. "Look, human-"
"Jack." The human said, looking around the cargo hold curiously.
"-Jack," Mallus continued. "This is my ship, and I don't take kindly to those forcing their way into my home." He raised his pistol in his good hand, aimed firmly at her head. "Kindly disembark."
Jack stopped in the centre of the hold. "Tell you what," she started. "You put that pea shooter away, and I'll consider not shoving it up your ass so far you'll be your own heatsink." Jack turned to face Mallus, a dark grin painted on her face as a sapphire corona flared up around her. "Make your move little man."
Mallus bared his teeth. He was about to pull the trigger when a diminutive shape seemed to float between them.
"Albatross?" Mallus lowered his pistol as River walked between them, her bare feet almost silent on the metal deck. River was looking at Jack with wide eyes. She walked around the woman, looking her up and down.
"The fuck is this?" Jack asked, jerking away from the young woman.
Mallus watched River carefully, still gripping his pistol tightly. "It's quite a tale," He said warily..
River stood back from Jack, tilting her head like a bird watching an interesting worm.
"I'm your sister." Jack's face changed from confused to furious in an instant. "What the hell did you just say?" A ball of biotic energy built in her palm.
River opened her mouth to speak but Jack didn't wait. She threw a biotically charged punch at River's face, so fast that Mally didn't have time to react.
River blinked and leant casually to the side, the enraged woman's fist brushing her hair as it passed. Jack gasped, she didn't expect to miss, then she set her jaw and launched a flurry of attacks, lashing out with biotics and her fists alike.
River backed away, every blow missing her. She stepped away from every attack with such grace you might think it was a choreographed dance rather than a rage fueled assault.
"God. Dammit. Let. Me. Hit. You!" Jack punctuated each word with an attack. River twisted and turned, flowing away from her strikes like water around a boulder. After seeing that every one of her attacks failed to make contact. Jack growled like a wild animal and her entire body glow blue. She drew back, her teeth bared in a snarl, and spread both hands wide.
"Raaagh!" Jack's voice was ragged and vicious as a massive wave of Biotic energy blasted out from her in every direction.
The rest of the crew only had time to squeeze their eyes shut and brace for the attack before it hit.
Nothing happened.
Mallus opened an eye, carefully.
River stood, her hands thrust out in front of her. Her entire was body tense and shaking with effort. Jack's eyes widened.
A barrier covered every inch of the inside of the cargo hold. Jack's biotic attack, by rights strong enough to rip the interior to shreds, had done nothing.
Jack put a hand to her head. She was covered in sweat and breathing hard. "Who are you?" She asked tiredly, her eyelids fluttered.
River flowed over to Jack like a snake and looked up into her eyes through dark curtains of hair. "What they learned from you, they did to me."
River reached up, a single finger extended, and tapped the exhausted woman on the forehead. Jack's eyes rolled up in their sockets and she collapsed to the ground unconscious.
Without another word, River swayed away, up the stairs and down towards the stern of the ship.
Mallus looked at Zo, then Janeth. "The hells was that?"
And explosion rocked the Repose. The shipwide speaker crackled on.
"Captain, shackles are gone, all hands aboard. C-sec shuttles advancing. Orders?"
Mallus thought for a moment. There was a heavy moment of silence all through the ship. Mallus accessed the shipwide. "Lose them," He ordered.
"Aye Aye, Captain," Walesh said gleefully. The Repose shook as she disengaged from the docking cradle and they all felt the push as the inertial dampeners strained to cope with the acceleration.
Through the airlock window, Mallus watched the Citadel recede into obscurity, twisting and turning violently as Walesh dove and swooped to evade their pursuers.
"We're coming back for you two," he said quietly. "Don't leave crew." He turned away from the window and regarded the unconscious human. "Now what do we do with you?" He asked himself.
Liara was not trained as a combat pilot. This was a source of a significant amount of stress as she waited in a discrete docking cradle, waiting for her companions to board, so they could make their escape.
An alarm appeared on her dash, making her jump. The outer airlock had been opened.
"Hello?" Liara asked into the shipwide comm.
"It's Madsen," the spartan said. "Better start things up, the rest are a few minutes out."
"Alright." Liara tried to sound confident as she activated the core and prepped the thrusters.
The ship rocked noticeably and the dash told her that the airlock was opened again.
"We're on." Palmer snapped into the comm. "punch it."
"We're on our way," Liara said, pulling the ship up and out of its cradle.
They were in the air less than a minute before a shuttle came up on the scans. Liara swiped through her screens trying to find the communications hub. "There- wait, no. Oh dear." Liara went three screens past it and hurriedly backtracked.
A channel opened. "This is Citadel Security, You are suspected of harbouring known fugitives, please power down and dock at these coordinates."
"Apologies," Liara said into the channel, "I cannot do that."
"Then you will be considered a hostile threat and treated accordingly." Liara swallowed and pushed on the thrusters. The ship shuddered and accelerated, but the shuttle easily kept pace. "If you do not respond we will open fire."
An alarm on the exterior camera flashed up on the hud. The side of the shuttle was open and a C-sec officer was shouldering a rocket launcher.
Liara began to sweat. How did Joker do this all the time? "Oh dear." Her eyes darted around the cockpit, what should she do? They wouldn't get very far if they were in pieces. A broad shadow fell over her.
Liara looked behind her to see a green armoured giant loom above her. "Keep flying." He said. He reached up and pulled something from the back of his head. Liara narrowed her eyes. It was a chip, with a brilliant blue disk in the centre. The Giant, Master Chief, she assumed, extended the chip towards the dash and a bright spark lanced from the disk into the cockpit. The orange of the holographic screens faded to a blue, the space that was once covered by the piloting suite projected a cool pair of blue eyes.
"Hmm, feels good to stretch out after so long." The ship said. Liara shied away from the cockpit, standing and taking several steps back. "Hold on." The ship rumbled around them and the C-sec shuttle fell away like a stone. The world around them swung around wildly as the ship spun around a missile fired after them. It exploded in front of them and the ship sped through the roiling flames to freedom.
Liara watched in awe as the A.I. - it couldn't be anything else - piloted them to safety. She was sure it was a trick of the light, but she could have sworn that the moment those eyes came into being, the pupils, now pale discs of white, had flared a bright green for an instant.
"Aaaand we're free." The A.I. said. The screen depicting eyes shimmered and reformed to the full form of a woman, if it wasn't for the short hair style, she could almost have been mistaken for asari. The woman waved. "Hi," she said to Liara. "I'm Cortana, who're you?"
Armando Bailey sat in the C-sec Commander's office, watching the Turian pace back and forth. They both had a glass of Whisky in their hands, but the Commander neglected his.
"Are you going to drink that?" Bailey asked. "Because I'd hate to kill myself finishing your drink." The turian commander grimaced and drank the glass in one.
"This is the worst day in C-sec history." The Commander said stiffly. "Three breakouts in one day…" he trailed off. "How? How did this happen."
"Well," Bailey took out a cigar, he didn't light it. "Technically speaking the biotic wasn't a criminal until after she escaped." He put the cigar between his lips. "So really it's two breakouts and a psychotic rampage." The commander glared at him.
Commander sat heavily behind his desk. "They'll have my job for this."
Bailey nodded. "Probably," He admitted. "But you've had a good run, you were going to retire in a few years anyway, just take it a few years in advance."
The turian sighed heavily and dug in his desk. He pulled out a thin cigar of his own and waved his omni tool at the ceiling. "Smoke detectors," he said, a little listlessly. "Want a light?"
Bailey stood up at leant across the desk. The commander's omni tool sparked and a bright flame leapt from the tip. Bailey dipped the end of his cigar into the flame and puffed a few times, blowing out a small cloud. "Thanks." The commander nodded and lit his own.
They smoked in silence for a moment. "I'm suggesting you as my successor." The commander said.
Bailey nodded, though he wasn't happy about it. "I figured."
"Hopefully the job is easier on you than it was me." The commander chuckled.
"The job being easy is exactly what I'm worried about," Bailey grunted, gesturing with his cigar.
"Well don't look too hard for a challenge, or you'll find it." The commander laughed. "Besides." he drew on his cigar. "What's the worst that could happen now?"
The UNSC Infinity screamed, alarms blared all through her and main power was offline.
Acting Captain Thomas Lasky strode into the bridge. Putting both literal and figurative fires out all along the ship. "Will someone tell me where we are?"
An angry spark popped as the navigation officer worked on the terminal. "The system doesn't recognise any of these star patterns," She shouted over the chaos.
"How the hell is that possible?" Lasky demanded. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine, that can wait. Roland, give me some good news."
The small yellow bomber pilot the ship's A.I. chose to look looked at the Captain as though distracted. "Well main power is down, but I should be able to get it back soon."
"Good news, Roland."
"The frigate bays were mostly unharmed in… whatever just happened, and backup generators are holding steady." He drifted off, like some trying to read five books at once. "No serious damage to the ship's superstructure. But the main guns are down."
Lasky cursed, "How long?"
"Minimum? Three weeks. Probably longer." Roland said.
Lasky breathed deeply for a moment. "Alright, we need to focus on the Infinity, get her back into shape, then we can figure out what to do next."
A fresh alarm added to the cacophony already pounded in the air.
"What now?!" Lasky snapped.
"We've got contacts," Roland said. "A lot of them."
"Shields?"
"At 84% efficiency"
"I hope that will be enough. Are they talking?"
"I think so?" Roland said. "They're not using any kind of system that I'm used to seeing, it'll take me a while to figure out what they're saying."
Lasky thought for a moment, his face utterly calm and completely at odds with his surroundings. "Get ahold of the Strident Captains, I want them launched five minutes ago."
"Yes, sir," Roland saluted and disappeared with a yellow flash.
Lasky looked over the tactical map, a habit, the holo tank wasn't functioning. His face was etched with worry.
The batarian Captain watched, open mouthed as the scans came back, they depicted a ship larger than anything ever seen. "By the Pillars…" He gasped. "It's a monster. You pulled us out of war games to fight that?"
"I don't care how big it is, Brecta," Admiral Vrash snapped at him through a comm, from the Hegemony Capital Ship, a massive dreadnought just over a kilometre long. "It's out numbered and damaged. If we capture it we will strengthen the Hegemony.
"Where did we learn of this?" The captain asked.
"A confidential source leaked us the information." The admiral said. "Now, your orders are to take the Eminent Victory and lead the support fleet in covering fire and interference. My group will get into position and disable the vessel. Are we clear?"
Captain Brecta looked at the scans, the strange ship looked almost half a dozen times as large as Vrash's dreadnought. He noticed the inscription on the broad side of the vessel. "UNSC INFINITY…" He read aloud.
Brecta shook himself, he had his orders. "Support group, this is Captain Brecta of the Eminent Victory accelerate and engage the target at close range. Try and keep away from the bow, I don't want to see what that thing's main gun can do." Brecta gritted his teeth as he sent his ships into the fray.