Chapter 38
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Author's Note: Jesus, 800 reviews? I must be doing something right if people are paying this much attention to this story I hope that you can bear with me, because I've still got a long way to go, there's is so much more story that I need to tell, so much development I need to have my characters go through. Well, let's get going.
"Covering fire!" Miranda Lawson shouted as the three operatives that were still alive fired a barrage of bullets at their oncoming enemy. Instead of ducking into cover or putting their heads down like she had expected, the Husks continued to charge at them, a dozen of them falling in the process. 'Doesn't look like they understand any kind of tactic besides charging," Miranda thought as she ducked behind a knee high wall, he SMG cooling.
'How did this happen? Everything was going according to plan, we were making good progress. But Wilson starting behaving erratically, then-" her line of thought was broken when she heard the snarl of another Husk baring down on her. Her SMG darted upward and a single bullet was fired, piercing the cyborg's skull with a perfect headshot. 'Everything went to shit!' she finished.
Miranda heard a scream and turned to see that three Husks had overwhelmed one of the operatives and had ripped his arm off. He fell to the ground where the Husks descended upon him, ripping his body to shreds. The remaining operatives trained their rifles on the Husks but hesitated as they saw their comrade's thrashing movements. This costed them their lives as the rest of Husks attacked them, ripping them apart at they did.
"Fuck," Miranda swore as she fired a series of bursts from her SMG, taking down five more Husks. Miranda grimaced as the remaining Husks, numbering at around 2 dozen approaching her. She could kill around 10 or 12 without any problem, but 24? Miranda gritted her teeth as she raised her SMG.
Before she could pull the trigger there was a piercing screech and six Husks burst into pieces. Not hesitating, Miranda fired her gun with inhuman speed, firing headshot after headshot at the incoming Husks as there was another screech and four more of them exploded, followed by a third screech. Within seconds the small army of Husks had been reduced to a pile of corpses.
Letting out a sigh, Miranda stared down the sight of her gun and scanned the room, looking for the source of the blast that had killed the Husks. She received her answer when she saw a hulking Jiralhanae on the other side of the room, holding an odd looking rifle. "Do not shoot," Marton said, his synthesized voice crackling through the air, "I am not your enemy."
"Forgive me if I have a hard time believing you," Miranda snarled, lining up a shot with Marton's head. "Why shouldn't I just shoot you?"
"Well, if she's going to be like, I don't see why the fuck we should be helping her." Miranda turned to see Wrex and Jack standing next to Marton their weapons out. "I recognize her uniform, she's with Cerberus." She glanced at Marton. "If they had their way, all aliens would be nothing more than pets and slaves to Humans, it's in your best interest that she dies."
"I would rather not," Marton said, glancing back and forth between Jack and Miranda. "We are in a rather precarious situation. Are there anymore of those creatures onboard?" As he spoke, Marton gestured at the pile of Husk corpses.
Miranda was silent for a minute as she continued to aim her weapon at Marton. "Hundreds, my entire crew were transformed into whatever the Hell those Husks are, the ones that weren't killed at least."
"I see," Marton said, checking his screecher's energy level and seeing that it was still at 70%, giving him seven more shots before he would have to replace the power cell. "It would be for the best if we were to remain together." He looked at Miranda, "This ship's kinetic barriers have been activated. If we wish to escape from here we will need to destroy the generator that powers them."
"You're insane," Miranda said, keeping her gun level. "If you destroy that generator you'll take out this ship's Mass Effect fields, it's the only thing that's keeping it from falling into the Brown Star. You honestly expect to survive that?"
"My ship is orbiting us, they are prepared to retrieve us at any moment. We must go now, that generator needs to be found."
"I ain't taking another step with the Cerberus bitch," Jack growled as her biotics flared around her.
"You're Subject Zero aren't you?" Miranda asked as her own biotic aura began to glow around her. "I've read about you and the project you went through. The report was accurate after all, you were a mistake."
"Say that again," Jack hissed, her fists tightening.
"This should be interesting," Wrex muttered as the two women glared at each other.
"We have no time for this!" Marton shouted. "No doubt the Husks are regrouping for a counter attack as we speak, yet you two stand here and bicker. Whatever quarrel you have can be settled AFTER we have escaped."
Jack and Miranda continued to stare each other down, until their biotic aura's slowly disappeared. "Fine, but the second the cheerleader gives me a reason to, I'm going to fuck that pretty face of her's up so bad that her own mother wouldn't recognize her."
"Same here."
Marton resisted the urge to reach towards the hilt of his blade, forcing his anger down. 'Why do I have the talent for surrounding myself with people that are likely to kill me the second I turn my back?" he wondered as he began to walk, heading deeper into the ship. He paused briefly as he looked up at the ceiling. His spider drone had all eight of it's legs dug into the roof of the room and was looking at Marton, waiting for instructions. "Scout out the area ahead, keep sending a live feed to me." The drone scuttled off almost instantly.
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"This is rather confusing," Demas said as he kicked over the corpse of the Krogan, making sure that it was dead. He in a garage that was littered with the bodies of dead Krogan, with the other Sangheili and STG operatives checking the bodies for survivors. Approximately 50 Krogan had been waiting for them inside, but they had been sloppily and careless. They had been completely wiped out, while the Alliance forces had only suffered 5 casualties. "I was under the impression that we would be facing Jiralhanae forces."
"Perhaps the Jiralhanae took them here to strengthen ties with the rest of the Coalition," Viluse suggested as he turned over a body with his needle rifle.
"Plausible," Mordin said, his eyes darting from Krogan to Krogan. "Perhaps Jiralhanae plan to use Krogan as cannon fodder, no makes no sense, would have deployed them to front lines. Perhaps trying to keep Krogan away from significant battles out of fear that they might degrade chances of victory, no no no no, why go to trouble of recruiting ally if said ally is not used? Perhaps holding Krogan in reserve because of low population, not waning to lose Krogan on unimportant mission." Mordin paused. "Possible, or maybe something else."
"Something else?" Ramos asked as he approached Mordin. "What do you suggest Mordin."
"Unknown, could simply be paranoid, or could be on the brink of discovering information that could change fate of entire war, either or." Ramos blinked. Mordin seemed surprising upbeat considering the seriousness of the situation. His tendency to consider all options from the most predictable to the most radical threw Ramos off slightly, but Ramos shook it off.
"It must be something that Salarians do," he thought.
"Fieldmaster!" Iasa shouted from across the room, "There is a survivor!" Iasa stood at the far side of the room standing in front of a Krogan that had loss both of his legs.
"Very good. Demas, Viluse, Mordin, come with me. The rest of you, secure this room. Be prepared should the Collation attempt to retake it. I need some time to speak with our guest."
The Sangheili troopers and STG operatives quickly crossed the room and took up defensive positions in front of the entrances to the garage, ready to fend off any attempt to take it. Viluse and Demas fell in line with Ramos and Mordin, crossing the room to where Iasa stood with the Krogan. "Is he still conscious?" Ramos asked as they came to a stop.
"Yes, he is still kicking...figuratively."
"Good," Ramos said as he knelt down in front of the Krogan, looking him directly in the eye. "I have some questions for you, if you do not plan on answering them I intend to make your last few minutes very uncomfortable."
The Krogan glared at Ramos. "I don't answer to you split jaw," he growled. "Count yourself lucky I'm not in fighting condition, or I'd be ripping those mandibles of yours off one by one."
"Fascinating," Ramos said dryly. "I would love to hear more stories of what you would do if you had all of your limbs but I am in a hurry, so I'll make this simple. I know that you Krogan have a rather high tolerance for pain, so I need to meet that standard." Ramos reached for his hip and drew his energy sword, activating it as he did. "Professor Solus, which areas of the Krogan body produce great pain when they are stabbed?"
"Very few are, but a handful of possibilities exist."
"I'm not surprised that you know Salarian," the Krogan growled. "Your kind just love poking your noses where is doesn't belong. The Turians might've been the one who dropped the Genophage on us, but you're the ones who gave it to them. The way I see it, you're just as much to blame as they are. I can't help but wonder how many other species you keep underfoot without the public knowing, for all I know there might be some pre-space travel species that you wiped out for your own good."
"Those locations professor?"
"Yes, while Krogan rarely feel pain when most body parts are damaged, some still produce agonizing pain. Krogan feel unbearable pain when amputated, but the most sensitive area would be the genitalia."
Ramos raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."
The Krogan blinked, "You wouldn't."
"If you don't want me to I suggest that you start answering my questions," Ramos threatened, holding the tip of his sword over the Krogan's crotch. "Do so and your death will be painless, do not and I will reduce your quad to a pair. Tell me, what is your purpose here? What is the Coalition doing in neutral space?"
The Krogan paused before speaking. "They don't fill in the grunts like us on all of the details. All I know is that they're cooking something up in the back labs, I don't know what. They called in some Jiralhanae big shot doctor for it though, someone called Rason, huh like I care."
"Is there anything else that you wish to tell me?"
"No, so do me a favor and get out of my face, losing my legs is bad enough without having to stare at your ugly...wait a minute." He turned to face Mordin. "Did you say that his name was Solus? Mordin Solus?"
"What of it?" Viluse snapped.
The Krogan let out a bark of laughter. "Oh this is too good, this makes up for my legs to problem." He stared at Mordin with an ugly smile on his face. "Tell me Solus, did you ever keep in contact with your old STG team, the one that kept running covert operations on Tuchanka?"
"You know of that?" Mordin questioned.
"It's rather amazing how much information the Jiralhanae are willing to give to us when it's related to the genophage. So answer my question, did you ever talk to members of your old team?"
"What does this have to do with anything?" Iasa demanded.
"More than you could ever imagine."
"Enough riddles," Ramos growled. "Tell me what you mean unless you wish to become sterile."
"And spoil the surprise?" the Krogan taunted. "I think not. How about a hint, when you get the chance, ask Ramos, you may get some interesting information from him. Just be sure to ask about Solus' student." Ramos let out a roar as the thrusted his sword downward. The Krogan let out a roar of pain and Ramos drew his sword out and swung it again, beheading him.
"What could he have possibly been talking about?" Demas questioned.
"I am unsure," Mordin admitted. "Multiple possibilities exist. Former student Maelon was mentioned. Perhaps Maelon has been killed by Coalition forces, or is a future target, perhaps a prisoner, or all could have merely been a bluff. Impossible to tell without proper evidence."
"I agree," Ramos said gruffly. "Until we have a better understanding, it would be in our best interest to continue with our mission." Mordin nodded. "Steel yourselves, I fear that many more foes wait deeper within this fortress."
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"I have not seen much of your kind on the battlefield" the Acolyte said as it dove at Aria, swinging both of his blades at her. She dove to the side, barely dodging the Acolyte as his arms tore a pair of long gashes in the ground. "I must confess, it is very interesting, you are unlike any kind I have ever met. Your military is small in size, yet it is composed of some the most deadly warriors I have seen. It is fascinating how you rival races such as Sangheili, Jiralhanae and Turian, but only in one on one combat."
The Acolyte beat it's wings as it rose above Aria, eyeing her with a hawk's eye as it calculated the best way to combat her. "You lack the reserves and organizations that make so many other species the threats that they are. Humanity alone would be able to overwhelm you with it's superior numbers and technology."
"Oh that's so sweet, you think I care!" Aria shouted as she sent a Warp at the Acolyte, who quickly evaded the attack. It quickly folded it's wings behind it's back as it dive bombed Aria. Aria jumped back as her opponent slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Screaming it's spine chilling cry, the Acolyte emerged from the cloud, swinging it's arms at Aria. Aria ducked a to avoid horizontal swipe and slid to the side to evade a vertical swipe from the other hand. Concentrating a ball of biotic energy around her right fist, Aria brought her hand up in a brutal uppercut to the Flood's "face". There was a nauseating squishing noise as the fist connected, sending the Acolyte several feet into the air. "That hurt you son of a bitch?"
"I do not feel pain." The Acolyte tone was calm, despite that a yellow liquid was dripping from the red tentacles that acting as a face. "Pain, fear, anxiety and hatred, all of them are flaws that you lesser beings experience. They are what holds you back, pain cripples your bodies, fear causes you to abandon your cause, and pain clouds your judgement. We Flood are superior beings, possessing non of these flaws."
"Goddess you love the sound of your own voice." Aria sent a Pull at the Acolyte who rose even higher to avoid it. Undaunted, Aria sent another Warp upward. This time it hit it's target, clipping the Acolyte's right wing. Hissing, the Acolyte spiraled downward, landing and sliding sloppily across the ground.
Aria did not hesitate as she gathering an aura around herself and used it to propelled herself across the room, kicking the dazed Acolyte squarely in the chest. There was an earsplitting crack and the Acolyte was sent flying across the room, hitting the wall with a deafening smash, leaving a nasty dent. Aria smiled in satisfaction as she spotted that three of the Acolyte's rips were sticking out of it's chest.
The Acolyte let out a snarl as it got to it's feet, bearing it's blades. It took a step forward before stopping in it's tracks, staring blankly into space. Aria raised her biotic aura again, waiting for him to make a move. "I apologize master, she is a very formidable opponent."
"What? Did I kick you so hard that you're talking to yourself now?" Aria taunted, a self-confident smirk on her face.
"So confident and fill of energy, yet you understand so little. I am but a servant to the true leader of the Flood, merely a pawn to the king."
"What the fuck are you yapping about?" Aria shouted.
She was about to send another Warp at Acolyte when an inhuman roar filled her mind. "Most interesting, not many are able to hold their own against the Acolyte."
Aria tensed as her hands clenched into fists. Whatever was making that noise, it wan't the Acolyte. Something else was here. "Who are you?" Aria shouted, her eyes darting from corner to corner. "Face me head on you coward!"
"You inferior beings and your misplaced insults, you are like children who rage against their elders, confident that you are superior when you are hopelessly outclassed. You are nothing more than a small speck standing in the way of far greater doings, but I will humor you." As the voice spoke the entire room began to rumble, as if a massive creature was moving underneath it.
The Acolyte stared at Aria, if it had been possible for it to do so, it would have been smirking. "Your time has ended Asari, soon you will be part of us, part of the Flood. However, take pride that during the last moments of your pitiful life, the greatest being in the galaxy graced you with it's presence." As it spoke, a dozen tree trunk thick tentacles forced their way through the ground, the metal bending out of their way as if they were plywood. The tentacles then anchored themselves to the walls and then tightened, as if they were pulling something something up. Sure enough, a massive form was pulled up through the ground, completely destroying the half of the floor of the room.
Aria had no idea what she was looking at. It was a massive shape of yellow flesh that vaguely resembled a Venus flytrap with tentacles protruded from the base. "Now then, Aria L'toak," said the Gravemind, "You have reached the end of your path. The coffin has opened, waiting for it's occupant to enter."
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Author's Note: Three battles and three climax's in the making, the outcome of none of them clear. Marton makes contact with Cerberus, Ramos receives some confused information, and the Gravemind makes his appearance. A little shorter than usual, but it's mainly bridging and building.
Now, I would like to take a moment to talk about something not fanfiction related. For those of you who do not know, I am American and I would like to say this...WE GOT HIM WE GOT HIM WE GOT HIM WE FUCKING GOT HIM! Osama Bin Ladin is fucking dead! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!...sorry, I'm usually not this patriotic.
Well as always, tell me what you think.