Author's Notes: Ah, the whole plan is coming into place. (Evil laughter) ...Sorry, just loving the Revelation novel. I finally bought it. Bloody great piece of writing it is. Enjoy!
…
Weigman's POV
We sat in a small shuttle that Hunter had stolen from the ship. The cockpit window was obscured by a purple haze. For the last hour, the three of us had gone over most of the basics of this place. Mass Relays, most species, weapons, and the major factions. It was a lot to take in at once.
"So what is this "Citadel" your taking us to?" John asked Hunter.
"If you wait you'll see." He replied in a huff.
We waited for another minute, when the purple haze finally started fading. What the three of us saw was amazing. We saw a gigantic structure, shining in nebula. It had five huge "arms" all connected to a large ring. Surrounding it where hundreds of ships, all microscopic compared to the structure.
"Welcome to the Citadel, hub of Council Space." Hunter said calmly, causing all of us to look at him.
"Wow! I've never seen anything like this in my life!" Sydney said excitedly, watching the ships we passed by.
I couldn't describe in words how awe-inspiring it was. John looked about the same way, eyes scanning the structure.
"If this is what amazing, why don't you three brush up on your codex before we land? I don't need you gawking at everything we walk by." Hunter said, sounding slightly annoyed. "Damn children."
"Sure." I said, sitting back down in my chair and opening my Omni-tool. About five minutes later, Hunter started taking us closer to one of the arms.
"Unknown Shuttle, please identify yourself." A man asked Hunter through the console.
"This is a private shuttle, registration number 525775. Requesting permission to dock at the Zakera Ward." Hunter read off from his Omni-tool calmly into the console.
"Roger, Shuttle 525775. You may dock at Port 11 on the Zakera Ward." Came the response a few seconds later.
Hunter cut off the comm, laughing to himself.
"Ha ha, get's them every single time." Hunter said to himself, leaning back in his seat.
We swooped in, taking in how huge this place was. There were thousands of shuttles moving at once. I couldn't imagine how they keep all those shuttles in order without them slamming into each other.
"So where are we going to meet these people?" I asked Hunter as we came in for our landing.
"We will be meeting this person in the warehouse on the lower level of the Zakera Ward. Just follow me." He said, unstrapping himself from the driver's seat.
"What should we expect?" John asked, closing his Omni-tool.
"Um...crowds? Businessmen? I don't know." Hunter said in a exhausted tone, grabbing his sniper rifle and pistol. "You know...what you would normally expect from a city?"
"Jeez, just checking." John replied, turning around and checking his boot.
Hunter walked over to the hatch, opening it. There was a surge of activity on the outside, crowds filled with all manners of species. We followed Hunter them for a while, making our way to the bottom levels of the Zakera Ward. On the bottom levels, there wasn't nearly as much activity as there were on the upper levels.
We walked into the warehouse, finding it to be really small.
"Alright, this is the meeting place. Now all we do is wait." Hunter said, sitting down on one of the crates. We did the same.
…
Sean's POV
"Allen, I'm telling you that's impossible. There is NO WAY Ghost could be Gaz!" I told Allen as we waited in the cockpit. We were docking with the Citadel.
"Whatever. I still think Ghost is Gaz." He replied, turning away.
"How could he be Gaz? He was shot right in the face at the end of Call of Duty 4!" I said, trying to prove him wrong.
"I have to agree with Sean, Allen." Thomas added. "He was shot in the face."
"Then how do you explain them having the same voice? " He said, turning back to us.
"Never mind. Joker, are we almost there?" I asked out loud.
"We'll be there in about one minute." Joker replied calmly.
"Good. We have work to do." I said, putting my helmet on. It sealed with a hiss.
"Scary helmet." Joker commented.
"Good. That's how it's supposed to be." I replied, feeling a cool sense of calm roll over me. God, I love this helmet.
It seemed no one else was really in the mood for shore leave. The only ones going out were Shepard and Wrex. We docked with the Citadel, walking back on the familiar platform.
"Let's reach out and touch someone."
…
When we left the C-Sec Academy, we hopped on a Rapid Transit shuttle and punched in the Zakera Wards. I looked out the window, taking in the sight of the Citadel once more. It really was beautiful. It's going to be so sad when this place is attacked by Sovereign.
We stopped at the markets, exactly where Shepard gets off in Mass Effect 2. I chuckled a bit at the irony. We walked through the checkpoint, into the crowds.
"Damn, this place is crowded." Allen remarked while we made our way through. There was a much bigger level of activity here than there was on the Presidium Ring.
We managed to make our way through to the bottom level of the Markets. There was that guy who sells ramen, those other two shops, and the door to the warehouse.
"Wait, guys. I'll go in first just in case." I said, stopping them with my hand.
"Alright, fine." Allen said, leaning against the walls.
"Well, here we go." I thought, walking through the two doors.
I walked through the door. There was a quarian with three other people. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw who they were.
"Weigman! Sydney! John!" I yelled, surprised to see the three of them.
"Um...who are you?" John asked, staring at me.
"Oh sorry! The helmet!" I said, taking it off. They had a look of utter surprise plastered on their faces.
"Sean!" Weigman yelled, seeming really happy for somebody so morbid. "How's it going?"
"Well, a few gunshots there, a few exploding faces there..." I said in a sly tone.
"Very funny." John said, walking over to me. I gave him a pat on the back.
"Wait, I'll be right back." I said, running out the two doors in a dash.
"You guys! You will not believe who it is!" I said in a frantic tone, surprising the two of them. "Come on!"
They ran in, seeing the trio waiting.
"So you two bozos are in this mess too?" Weigman asked, punching Allen lightly in the shoulder.
"Hey, I don't get a punch?" Thomas chirped up.
"Nah, I would be too afraid of breaking one of your bones." Weigman replied with a grin.
"Hey, I resent that!" He replied, punching Weigman in the shoulder.
"Wow, someone worked up some spunk while they were gone!" Weigman said, rubbing his shoulder.
"But seriously, it is nice to see someone familiar. God knows the situation at home isn't improving." John said, leaning on a crate.
"What? What's going on at home?" I asked, suddenly worried.
"When the three of you disappeared, there was a big search for you guys. The Police couldn't find a trace of you or your parents." Sydney said, causing the five of us to turn to her.
"Wait, did you say they couldn't find our parents, ether?" Allen asked, scratching his head.
"Yeah. The thing got so bad that they even sent the FBI up to us to investigate. It was all over the news. Everything." Sydney said, recalling the ordeal.
"That's not what I asked about. I asked if our parents are missing too." Allen repeated.
"Everyone was missing, Allen, even the pets. No one knew where you guys were." She said, sitting down on a crate. "So we broke into Sean's house to try and find anything."
"Instead, we ended up here, captured by Batarian slavers. We were going to be sold, when we were rescued by this guy called Hunter." John said, turning around and looking at the spot the quarian was a minute ago. "What the hell...where did he go?"
"Guess his job was done. He didn't seem to like us very much, anyway." Weigman commented, crossing his arms.
"Good riddance. Sexist." Sydney commented, crossing her arms.
We talked for a while about our experiences. I was horrified that they ended up in that situation when they first got here, and they had trouble believing they were in a video game. I had trouble looking at Sydney, though. Her outfit was nice in a...curvy way, kind of like the Chinese Stealth Suit from Fallout 3. Needless to say, she looked great.
We discussed for an hour what we were doing with Shepard, saving the galaxy and all that shit. They were surprised at what we were doing.
"Wait, so in the time you were gone, you three basically became badasses?" Weigman asked, giving us a grin that could kill.
"Yep, pretty much." Allen replied slyly.
"Order now and in one month, you will be 50% more badass, guaranteed or your money back!" John said in a mocked tone, causing all of us to stare at him.
"What?" John said, throwing his arms out.
"You need better jokes, John." I said, shaking my head.
"Oh, come on! What's wrong with my jokes?" He shouted, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Everything." I said, turning back to the group. "Besides, we have experience with this type of thing. Maybe not in real life, but we know what's going to happen."
"Have you tried changing anything?" Sydney asked, running her hand through her hair.
"No. Never. We have no idea what could happen to the story if we did that." I said in a reassuring tone. "Doesn't mean it's easy, though."
"Someone on our ship died on the last mission. It was hard, not being able to help him." Thomas said, eyes dropping to the floor.
"Wow, I'm sorry." Weigman said in a sympathetic tone.
"You didn't know. Don't be sorry." Thomas replied, looking back up.
An awkward silence fell over the six of us for a minute, when Allen spoke up.
"Um Sean? How are we going to get them on the Normandy? I don't think Shepard will like the idea of having more people on her ship. It's too suspicious." Allen said, causing my mind to surge.
"Oh crap, I hadn't thought about that!"
"Umm...I don't know..." I stammered, trying to think of something.
"I know! Lets buy them an apartment for them to live in! They can stay there until we're finished our mission!" Thomas chimed up.
"Thomas, you are a life saver. Guys, will you be OK here for a few more weeks?" I asked the three of them.
"It doesn't sound like a bad idea. You guys save the galaxy while we study the aspects of this world. Sounds good." Weigman agreed. "What do you think, guys?"
I think it's a great idea. It means I don't have to shoot people, right?" Sydney asked, face filled with energy.
"I would think so." Thomas replied.
"Great! I agree!" She said, a smile appearing on her face. "How about you, John?"
"I suppose so. It sounds kind of boring, though." He said, rolling his eyes.
"We'll buy you a luxury apartment." I said, turning on my Omni-tool. Everyone hovered with their Omni-tools, when Sydney squealed.
"What? What happened?" I said, looking away from my Omni-tool.
"Where in the world did I get this kind of money?" She said, staring at the digits on her display. She had 2,000,000 credits in her bank account. Weigman and John promptly opened up their accounts too.
"Hot damn. Who has this kind of money to throw away?" John asked, rubbing his eyes to confirm what he saw. "Jesus."
"Well, it looks like we're buying." Weigman said, a smile flickering across his face. "I think we can handle ourselves from here."
"Are you sure?" I said.
"Yeah. Don't worry. The next time you see us, we're going to buy a big ship, OK?" Weigman replied, closing his Omni-tool.
"Gotcha." I said, shaking his hand. "See you later, man."
"Bye, Sean." He said as the three of us left the warehouse.
"See you three in a few months."
AN: Sorry about any sloppy writing. I've been out of the loop as of late. It's getting harder to think of any really good ideas. I've been thinking of maybe starting a new, crazy story to help rejuvenate myself. I've given up all hope of ever updating The Failed Transfers, partly due to the games being so simple. It's hard to write for something that has so little content. I'll keep the story up, but there will no longer be anymore updates. This is GIR, signing out.