A/N: Hey guys! So unfortunately one of my beta's has is unable to continue betaing this story. So If anyone else wants to beta read for me just send me a PM.
Part I
The Voice and Face of All Evil
Chapter 35: The Siege of Ba Sing Se
"You've got to be kidding me…" Hope hissed as she kicked away the arm of a dismembered combat form, "How many more of these things do we have to kill before we get off the streets?"
She moved up the alleyway, careful not to make any loud noises and slid next to the large Spartan.
In turn, John was standing at the edge of the alleyway looking up towards the wall separating Ba sing Se's interior. He could see the rails of the train system connected to it, but from the looks of it they would have to travel several more blocks down to reach the bottom of the actual station, which as far as he could see, was the only way up and to do that they would have to go through hundreds of more flood forms.
They had killed dozens already, but Hope was tired and John was having trouble dealing with so many of them with only only his hands since his plasma rifle had ran out of charge ages ago.
Hope grit her teeth, realizing their predicament. She was a skilled fighter, and though she was no where near this mans skill in fighting, she knew neither of them could hold out forever against the parasites.
It was why they kept to the shadows and alleyways, leaving the civilians and soldiers to distract the Flood while they tried to find Shepard.
She wasn't fond of it. She had tried to save some poor lady, but John intervened when she almost got overwhelmed herself by five combat forms.
In the end, the once mutant messiah decided to listen to the Spartan, yet she hated every time they had to turn a blind eye on someone in need. It pained her.
John on the other hand knew what was at stake. If they tried to save anyone, they themselves could die and that wouldn't help Shepard and their universe in anyway. He didn't have a choice. He had to keep going.
He wouldn't fail.
"If we had my transporter I could get us out of here." Hope whispered next to him, cautiously glancing out to the streets and flexing her hands.
She secretly wished she had the transporter Tony Stark had given her. The goons who had kidnapped her had taken it, and now she had no way to get it back or leave this realm.
"So whats the plan? No way we can go down the streets."
The Spartan glanced upward, keeping a keen eye on his motion sensor. He still remembered how those benders earlier had gotten him without his motion sensor picking them up. He'd have to be careful.
He looked around, studying the entire area.
The homes were dingy and run down, but most were tall, at least four or three stories tall. The station thought was about six stories up as were the railings.
He couldn't see any buildings tall enough to reach the station, but when he glanced at the wall he saw a single apartment complex that was about five stories tall. A few feet or so shorter than the railings, but tall enough that they could jump onto the railing from the roof.
"One chance. That apartment complex." John nodded towards the apartments and looked back towards the streets while Hope checked out the building.
"How on earth are we going to get over there?" She asked looking at him.
Chief looked back towards the apartment.
It was two blocks down and on the left corner of an intersection. Stands, stalls and wagons littered the streets, fires burning on some buildings and on the streets. Aside from that, over two dozen flood forms roamed the streets, apparently having defeated and assimilated the locals.
With no weapons, he wasn't sure if they could take so many combat forms.
Alone and in an enclosed space, he may have been able to single them out and do it, but with Hope and in an open area, there was no way to over power so many of them with just their hands and feet.
He did have his hard light shield, and there were cars for cover.
It wouldn't be enough.
There was no way they could cross through the streets and make it to the apartments alive.
"There's no way we can get through the street. Theres too many." Hope muttered to herself, tensing slightly.
The street.
John looked up.
The roof's.
He checked the buildings near the apartment complex.
None of them were nearly tall enough to get to the roof of the apartments, but the building right next to it was at least up to its third floor.
A plan began to form.
"The roofs." John motioned, checking the streets again to make sure they were still hidden.
Hope's eyes went wide as she realized what he was getting at, "We can get into the apartment from the roofs, then climb our way up to the railway."
"Exactly."
The red head glanced out again to the street.
"What about the Flood?"
"We'll only have one shot at this."
Hope furrowed her brow.
"Great…"
Shepard closed her eyes and turned away.
She had spent enough time watching cities burn, and yet another was burning down around her.
Korra however continued to watch, her face dark and her arms held at her side with clenched fists.
"I'm sorry Korra." Katherine said shaking her head.
The Avatar didn't respond. Instead she tuned away and headed towards the door, "You coming?"
They were standing inside a room towards the top of the outer wall on the far end of Ba Sing Se, which had the perfect view through windows to see the city burn.
Shepard nodded, and Korra moved out the doors.
Together, the two women made their way down the stairs.
It was slow and awkward, an unsaid accusation hanging in the air.
It took a few minutes, but they finished climbing the steps and stepped back out onto the main floor of the docks.
Hundreds of people lined the docks, waiting to get out on ships while some screamed, others cried, and many more just simply chattered wildly about the threat their city now faced.
Fortunately, the docks were shielded by the citys outer wall, being underneath the wall with a massive hole in the side where the ferries could sail in and out of the docks without problem.
"Avatar Korra!"
The two turned as an elderly man, dressed in an obvious military uniform and flanked by several soldiers, walked up to them.
"Yes?" Korra asked raising an eyebrow.
"Ah where are my manners!" The man laughed, "General Kun Lou at your service." He bowed slightly gracing both with a smile.
"Nice to meet you." Korra smiled back as she respectfully bowed back. Shepard shook her head so slightly that no one noticed but gave a small tilt of her head in respect.
"Commander Shepard." The General commented with a nod.
"General." Shepard greeted.
The man turned back to Korra, "Avatar I have grave news."
Korra closed her eyes and bit her lip, "What happened?"
"We've called it. The city will be lost in a days time. We simply can not hold it. There're too many and our forces are being overwhelmed."
The Avatar only sighed and looked at the general sadly, "So whats the plan?"
Kun Lou looked at the docks.
"This is the plan. We evacuate as many as we can and as quickly as possible. The Fleets ten minutes out and they'll evacuate the refugees from the ferries and take them to the Northern and Southern Water tribes."
"Great…" Korra muttered crossing her arms in frustration.
"Its the only plan we have. We can't take back the city and we can't hold it." The General replied.
"There has to be something we can do…"
A hand softly grabbed Korras shoulder. She looked back at and met the green eyes of Shepard, "Korra theres nothing we can do."
"Theres always something we can do." With that the younger girl pulled the commanders hand off her and looked away with a scowl.
Katherine furrowed her brow. She wasn't stupid. The annoyance Korra was showing wasn't just because of the General's plan, it was her.
Cinder had done her job, created a wedge between them. It wasn't enough for Korra to just leave Shepard to die when she was unconscious but it was enough to place doubt in the Avatar, and doubt could be fatal in times of war.
Shepard however didn't have time to deal with that. She would deal with Korra later and instead she looked down at her omni tool, powering it up and checking her comm's status. Still jammed, she lowered her arm and looked out towards the docks.
She needed to get ahold of the others. With how fast the Flood were moving the other nations had to be warned, and she had to get a hold of the Keeper.
Their time table was up.
They needed their evac now.
"Rah!" Wrex roared throwing his arms up in the air and snarling like a madman. He turned away from the Normandy and headed towards the port shops.
Most of the water tribe's people steered clear of him and any other nonhumans, but being Wrex, he couldn't care less.
Despite the Normandy being here, despite the dozens of Promethean knights and Sentinels patrolling the entire area, despite his allies, the Krogan was uneasy.
He was nervous about something. Yet he couldn't figure out why.
It was why he called Shepard, but she didn't pick up. That worried him.
She almost always answered and if it had been the first or even second try he wouldn't have been worried, but after three tries she should've replied.
Something had to be wrong, but he had no way of contacting Shepard without the comms.
What could honestly keep her so distracted?
The Krogan shook his head and headed straight for one of the open stalls serving food.
Several teenagers that had been hanging out at the sea food joint nervously quieted down as the Korgan approached, moving aside to give him more than enough room to order.
"Whatcha got?" Wrex growled leaning on the stalls counter.
The cook inside gave a shaky smile before speaking, "We have fried Scallops, roasted tunasquid, a few…"
"Get me one of everything."
A few blinks, "Ev… everything?"
Only a nod was given in reply and the cook immediately turned away.
Wrex crossed his arms and turned around himself, watching everything with intent and purpose.
The ships in the seaport were all moving, the men carrying out orders and using the ships to form a defensive perimeter outside the port.
He had been told by the monk that the Water Tribe leader was anxious about something which was why he had left so suddenly, even leaving orders to form both land and sea perimeters around the entire city.
There was something they weren't sharing with him, and it royally pissed him off, even more so than he already was.
No matter how much he wanted too, he couldn't force it out of them, not unless Shepard agreed. He knew enough that being rash with people who barely knew you wasn't ever a good idea. Only if Shepard, who was normally the most rational of them, thought it was best would he feel ok doing it.
"Wrex."
With a sigh, the Krogan opened up his omni tool, "What do you want Joker?"
"Well… somethings weird."
"I had no idea." Wrex growled.
Joker took a second to respond, "Haha when did you get sarcastic?"
"Stop wasting my time Joker."
"Sorry…" A breath, "Well I was scanning the planet again with the probe, and well theres a comm jammer over the planet."
Wrex squinted up at the sky while the pilot continued, "And you've probably figured that its not global since we can talk to each other."
The Krogan baared his teeth, "Let me guess…"
"Its over that giant city Ba Sing Se. I confirmed it with that old monk a few minuets ago."
"He knows about it?"
"Not at first. He actually came to me..."
"Because no one can get ahold of the city or Shepard."
"Yeah... Only one explanation…"
Wrex roared, "I knew something was wrong!" He grabbed his shotgun off his back and stormed away from the food stall ignoring as the poor cook called out to him to come back and pay for what was already made.
A gunshot in the air shut him up.
"So what do we do?"
"Get a hold of Vakarian and Lieutenant Williams. We're heading to Ba Sing Se."
"Sweet jesus! What the hell happened in here!" Jacqeuline screamed.
Her hands were pulling her hair and her usual stone cold face was dropped in shear shock.
"It was an accident?…"
The entire room, the armory inside Admiral Hacketts ship was utterly trashed. Guns lay everywhere, ammo clips half open and pouring out their contents, food wrappers thrown around like garbage, scorch marks lining the walls, and Rapunzel holding a grenade in her hand.
"How did this even happen!" The N7 yelled stepping towards the smaller girl.
The brunette flinched and dropped the grenade, which was fortunately inactive.
"I uh. Well ok." She pointed at one the food wrappers, "I got hungry and so I kind of brought some stuff here to eat while I got better at using these things and I got sort of careless with my trash…"
"And how the hell did the guns get thrown everywhere, or how did the scorch mark get there!" The N7 said through clenched teeth and seething eyes.
Rapunzel shrunk down visibly, "Well ok the guns I got lazy, and kind of forgot to pick things up and the scorch mark was when I kind of lost control with the really large tube looking weapon and it kind of fired at the wall."
"Dear God…" Jacqueline sighed closing her eyes, wondering how they had not heard it.
Before their 'discussion' could continue the over head comms buzzed to life with a voice voice, "Lieutenant Winters and R please report to the bridge."
The N7 sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "We'll figure this out when we get back, just come on."
She turned away and headed back into the hallway with the younger girl following her with a defeated slouch.
Spending a week aboard the ship, R was getting used to the basic design of the ship and to the life style of those aboard. They ate, slept, trained, talked and basically did what any army would do on its down time. She herself spent most of her time in the armory, not cause she liked weapons but because she felt safe there.
Trust wasn't the issue, fear was.
The girl feared being alone anywhere without a weapon or someone else. She feared the things lurking in the shadows. She had seen the shadows come alive before and attack her and Shepard.
She wondered why Shepard told no one. It worried her that someone like Shepard kept that to herself. It was so unnatural even the Spartan who had saved her said nothing about it.
Maybe they had forgotten about it, but something told her otherwise. They were born and raised in science and technology, how could they even comprehend something like that?
"Hello? Earth to R?"
The girl blinked and looked up to see she was already outside the doors to the bridge. She'd been here a few times with the giant lizard so she remembered where it was and what it looked like.
"Sorry I guess I zoned out."
"I can tell. Come on." The blonde, still slightly frustrated, walked through the sliding door and onto the bridge, R following her.
The Keeper, Admiral Hackett, Thran, and the Arbiter all stood around the bridges center holotable.
The bridge itself was empty of anyone else except for a few key personnal and the leaders.
They barely paid any heed to the new comers that approached and joined their circle.
"Sir whats going on?" Jacqueline asked, feeling the bad vibe the group gave off.
Hackett looked up and nodded to the Keeper.
"I have been unable to contact Shepard for over twelve hours now." The Forerunner informed.
R tilted her head curiously and looked around, "So?"
"Nothing in that realm is technologically capable of blocking my transmissions." A grim voice accompanied by slight frustration got R to shrink again.
"So what could possibly be blocking the transmissions?" Jacqueline asked baffled.
"Thats exactly what we were discussing when you came in." Hackett stated rubbing his chin in thought.
"My theory," Thran started, "Is that the Flood used the random portals opening a few days ago to traverse the realms and refuel their lines with weaponry form our own."
With a shake of her head, the Forerunner retorted, "Impossible. I checked over and over, the signals given off by all the portals were random and not a single one I detected was opening to the universe Shepard's in."
"Is it possible you miscalculated or misread one of the signals?" Hackett asked.
"No. No chance."
"There could've been other portals. Hundreds, maybe thousands opened up at once. One could've slipped your instruments detection." Jacqueline added.
The Keeper sighed.
"It is possible." Thran agreed.
"I agree…" The Forerunner hissed, annoyed by such technicalities.
"Then theres no way to contact her without destroying whatever's blocking our transmissions." Hackett guessed.
Thran nodded, "Precisely."
"I have another theory." All heads turned to the only one who had yet to speak.
The Arbiter.
He leaned forward, "The Keepers and my devices did not catch anything even to hint that the Flood were moving towards that universe with those portals."
"Your devices?"
"The Keeper and I placed some of her technology with my ships. We sent scouts out to the voids of space before the portals began opening."
"And when were you going to plan on telling the rest os us this?" Hackeet asked crossing his arms. Their alliance was new sure, but he firgeud against the Flood secrets couldn't be afforded.
"We were to tell you that day, alas we were distracted, and deemed it wise to keep it between us for now."
"Arbiter…"
The ancient warrior held up a hand, "I mean no disrespect and I apologize for my deeds, however you may want to here my theory before you speak anymore."
He took the silence as a welcome to speak, "If the Flood have not transferred or even moved from our realm to that realm then how would the technology have gotten there?"
"It couldn't have."
"Unless they gathered it from another," The Arbiter waved his hand over the holotable and a diagram, one of a massive creature with dozens of tentacles flickered to life.
He looked at the keeper, "You said the Gravemind had ways of crossing universe's without technology."
"Yes but it was only a theory." The Forerunner responded.
"What if your theory is correct? What if," The elite motioned to the hologram, "He opened a pathway and transported machines capable of blocking our communication with Shepard from another universe?"
"Impossible. We would've been alerted by the signal. As far as I know he is still within our own universe."
The Arbiter sighed and lowered his head in a glare towards the hologram.
"Well…" Heads turned to R who finally spoke up, "What if theres more like him?"
"What do you mean?" Hackett asked curious as to where the girl was going.
She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "When Shepard rescued me, these… things attacked us. I've never seen them before. It was like the shadows on the wall came to life and came after us…"
Hackett smiled sadly at her, "R I understand that in a fight things can be stressful but shadows don't come to life and just attack you, besides we have other matters to worry about."
"She may be right Admiral."
The Admiral looked back at the Keeper.
She gave him a nod and looked at the hologram.
"When we went to recuse R we were attacked by these beings… Creatures even I've never seen before. At first I passed them off as just other creations of the Flood. I never considered that maybe they were something else entirely."
"I too was attacked by those beings." It was the Arbiters turn to speak, "On the planet you refer to as Thessia, beneath the surface we were assaulted by creatures that manifested themselves from the shadows." the elite visibly tensed up.
"Why did you not tell us this?" the Keeper asked.
"For the same reason you did not. It was not logical. I believed they were of the Reapers, or even the Flood."
"Is it possible that these are just more pure forms?" Hackett asked.
The Keeper rubbed her chin, "Possible. The Flood can theoretically assimilate any being. Its possible they found some with the ability to become intangible across the different realms."
"Maybe the Reapers created a new soldier?" Jacqueline added.
"And genetically enhanced it with the parasites bio material?" Thran agreed.
"But its not!" R yelled finally losing her cool.
The room became quiet, each of the older warriors and generals looking down at the younger girl.
She let lose a shaky breath, "I've lived for almost two years with the… those things in my home! I know what they can do and what they are! And those shadow monsters are not them! I hadn't even seen them till Shepard came through that portal!"
"We can't be sure." The Keeper replied without missing a beat.
"They're not!"
"R…"
"Why won't you believe me! I know that you guys are all super great at fighting but these things are not the Flood! You have to believe me! There's something about them… I… I just know!"
"Jacqueline." Hackett nodded.
"Come on kid lets go talk about this somewhere else." The N7 stated gently grabbing R by the arm and ushering her towards the door.
"Please trust me!" R begged trying to pull herself back towards the table. "I know their not! I don't know what they are but… Just please!" She wasn't nearly strong enough to get out of the soldiers grip and it only took a few seconds before the two were gone.
"Poor girl." Hackett sighed taking off his hat and running a hand through his hair.
"What if she was right?"
"Excuse me?"
"Those beings had capabilities I've never been before." The Arbiter replied.
"What if it is something else? Worse than the Flood?" the Keeper added.
"Worse…" Hackett didn't even want to dare think of the possibilities.
"What if," A wave of her hand, and the forerunner pulled up several different Flood forms in hologram form, "R's right? If these things arent Flood, and part of a different group entirely."
"Then…"
"There could be other creatures, other abominations out there like the Flood." Thran growled.
"By the gods…"
"Not just like the Flood." The Keeper looked up at them and let the hologram change again, "What if there are other beings out there like the Gravemind? With capabilities similar to, or greater than his own, giving the enemy technology and weapons to destroy us."
Hackett shook his head in disbelief.
"Admiral its time I showed you how I know what I know. There is a video you must watch, a message from years ago. I showed Shepard, but we have… played it close to the chest so to speak. See if those people who left the message were correct…"
She looked at the hologram herself, "We may be in more danger than any of us could have ever imagined."
Shepard watched as a ferry left the docks and headed out to the water beyond, people crying and cheering as it left. It was another group that got away, but was a reminder of those who didn't.
She stood with her arms crossed, and leaned up against a wall, watching as the people of Ba Sing Se tried to flee through the Ferries.
There were only four operational ones, and they kept coming back and forth to move people out to the Earth Kingdoms fleet out in the ocean.
It pained her to see the thousands struggling to get aboard, to see fights break out between people who were all just trying to survive, and to hear the screams and cries of the city behind them.
The wall provided them excellent protection, and so long as the held this portion of the outer wall and the small patch of city around the docks entrance, then they could continue to evacuate as many as possible.
She wondered how long they could last.
From the sounds of it, the city was in chaos, and from the things she heard soldiers discussing, the entire left half of the city had already fallen. They were still holding the upper ring and the right halves of the lower and middle rings, where the docks entrance was, but she didn't think it would last long.
The Flood was too much for them. They would lose.
"Hey Shepard."
Katherine looked and found Korra walking towards her.
The Avatar was still a little cold towards her, but for now she was cooperating. Shepard could explain herself later. They had a world to save after all.
"Korra."
"Next ferries where we get on. Took a bit longer than ten minutes though.. Anyway The General wants us to get to the southern water tribe as soon as possible. From what he knows the entire northern half of the earth kingdoms already gone, and once Ba Sing Se's gone, the southern half won't last much longer."
"A week at best."
Korra didn't reply and instead took her place next to Shepard leaning against the wall with a frown.
An uncomfortable silence fell between the two.
"Korra."
"Look I don't want to talk about it alright? Whatever Cinder said doesn't matter."
"I was going to say the ferrys here…"
"Oh."
Shepard held back a smirk, instead shrugging towards the docks newest arrival.
The Ferry was already docked, refugees piling on board, as a group of soldiers headed straight for the two.
Korra pushed herself off the wall and met the soldiers who told her it was their time to go. Shepard without hesitation, pushed herself off the wall and followed after Korra, who had already started the short trek to the boat.
The Spectre couldn't help but cast sad glances at the Refugees they passed.
Their tired and scared faces.
The injuries, the fatigue, the broken souls, the pain of loss and suffering.
Despite all that, it was the looks they received that hurt her.
Mothers glaring at them with envious eyes, fathers angrily shouting at them, sons and daughters crying for safety and salvation.
People afraid of death.
It was happening all over again.
It was just like the Reaper War.
"Commander Shepard please hurry."
Katherine snapped her attention back to the front, where several soldiers holding back civilians from the ramp were standing. Korra was already on the ramp waiting for her, and one of the soldiers ushered her forward.
"Mam?" A child. A young boy, "You look funny."
Katherine smiled and kneeled down, "Do I now?"
The boy nodded and tilted his head at her.
"I am so sorry!" A woman, not much older than Shepard, cried running up to the boy and sweeping him up in her arms, "I'm sorry he doesn't know any better."
Shepard shook her head and to back to her feet, "Its fine. I probably do look sort of strange."
Something shook under her feet.
Before she could even look, a loud boom echoed from outside. The roof of the docks shook, the walls shook, small rocks and dust falling down into the crowds of people accompanied by more screams.
"What the…" Katherine mumbled looking around as another boom echoed through the docks.
Static filled the air, and the docks PA system came to life, "The flood have breached the outer perimeter! They're inside the tunnels! They'll be here any minute! Evacuate immediately!"
Panic.
Screaming, shoving, cursing, crying, people jumping into the water and trying to swim away, others trying to push their way onto the ferry in front of her.
"Commander we have to leave now!"
She turned to look at the soldier who had called to her.
The red head turned back to the docks entrance where the massive undergrounds tunnels were.
Hundreds were still filling through in a rush. Then there were the hundreds witting for the ferries.
They'd be slaughtered.
Just like the people on earth when the Reapers invaded.
She wouldn't, couldn't let that happen again.
"Tell the ship to go!" Shepard called out drawing her rifle.
"Wait up!" A gust of wind, and Korra landed in a couch next to her, having launched herself off the ferry to land next to the Spectre despite the masses of people and ever growing panic, "You're going to need help." She knew what Shepard was up to.
The N7 nodded in thanks as the soldiers stared at them with somber looks of respect and awe, then the one on the ferry jumped off the ramp entrance to the ferry. The soldiers pulled the ramp away and signaled for the conductor to leave even as civilians continued to try and get on.
The ferry whistled, steam crying out from its shaft and slowly pulled out into the water.
"Soldier keep evacuating people as long as possible! We'll buy you as much time as we can!" Korra yelled. The soldiers nodded and immediately their resolve solidified. One of them immediately started shouting orders, and the avatar turned away.
Katherine looked towards the tunnels again, then back at Korra, "You ready?"
"Come on these guys are like bugs. I'll just roast them."
"Then lets go." Together they broke off into a jog, chaos surrounding them, and headed right towards the tunnels.
Hope slammed into the tiled roof, scrapping her knee against the harsh material, "Seriously this was your plan?"
A screech and she instinctively ducked, serval razor sharp spikes flying right over her head. She didn't stay put and continued, running on the roof and hurtling over a small chimney.
On the building in front of her, Chief didn't say a word, instead just continuing on the roof towards his destination.
The spartan noticed a potted plant, grabbed it then spun around and launched it right at Hope.
She ducked, already knowing what he was doing, and heard the shatter of porcelain against rotting flesh. Her movement never stopped and she continued forward in a burst of speed, leaping right off the edge of the small roof and landing on the one Chief was on.
A roll kept her speed and momentum, and she used it it to launch herself in a flip right at chief. Her aim wasn't for him, but the Flood that had just landed behind him, so when he moved she proceeded to land a two footed kick to the abominations face, sending it hurting over the roofs side railing.
The mutant landed lightly and looked up at the Spartan who instantly drew his hard light shield, deflecting several more spike aimed right for them.
"Now I owe you." Hope sighed getting to her feet.
They had one more roof top to go, but this was the farthest jump. At least a twenty foot jump. That wasn't all though. The Apartment complex wasn't just farther in distance, it was taller, meaning they would have to jump through a window to get inside.
John didn't wait, and the moment the last spike shattered against the shield, he dropped it and turned on his heel, spiriting right to the end of the roof and jumping.
His enhanced muscles made the jump relatively easy despite the length of said jump and the sliding glass doors he was aiming to land through.
Shattering glass raining down around him, Chief landed hard, cracking the wooden floor, and spun to his feet.
Hope, though slightly hesitant, didn't wait and followed after the super soldier, her feet pushing of the stone roof and throwing her to the air. She had done crazier back home, but that was with her powers.
Time slowed, the distance closed, but her eyes caught her mistake. Her feet had failed to propel her far enough into the air. She would fall.
As a last ditch effort her hand reached out for the balcony of the room Chief had fallen through, a hopeless and last try.
After all she had done and been through, at her weakest and most vulnerable, that was when she would die. It was fitting. No more suffering.
Her fingers scraped the edge of the balcony, flesh on stone, but she didn't fall.
Metal clasped around her wrist, breaking her free fall, and without effort, it yanked her up over the balcony, placing her safely on her feet.
Shields flared, shards of biological spikes shattered in every direction, and Hope Summers threw herself into the apartment, rolling off to the side behind a wall.
Chief followed her, and dashed into the apartment. His shields began their recharge, and shrieks could be heard from outside.
"Now what?!" Hope asked as the shrieks and the thud of spikes impacting the walls rang out around the building.
"Up." John stated. He charged what looked like the front door, and kicked it off its hinges.
Hope ran after him as he exited and looked around.
It wasn't like a typical apartment from his time, but he figured that would be the case.
Alas, there were similarities, such as the stairs at the end of the hall. Debris of all sorts, blood and gashes in the wall, and he paid no heed to them.
The Spartan ran, knowing their window to escape was short. He could hear Hope behind him, and made his way five at a time, up the stairs.
They had landed on the fourth floor. At their current rate, it'd take thirty to thirty seconds to reach the top. Seventy for the Flood to surround and completely over run the building.
Door in their way, it lasted less then a second as the Spartan literally barreled right through it.
The roof.
"How on earth are we getting up there?" Hope asked a few seconds later when she caught up to Chief.
The train railing was at least twenty feet above them. The sides of the roof were taller than the actual roof. It had mislead him.
John could survive a twenty foot fall easy, but jumping straight up twenty feet was different.
They needed a plan and quick. He counted his options. They couldn't fight, couldn't run.
What else could they do?
He spun around when he heard the feet and mush of decaying flesh charging up the stars after them.
"Chief?"
He took a fighting stance and powered up his hard light shield.
Hope gulped and let out a huff of air, taking a lower fighting stance and tensing every muscle in her body.
This was it.
The sun was bright, the smoke black, the sky blue, a single black dot in the sky growing bigger as it raced towards them, fire in the distance, screams, and yet she felt peace.
No more running.
A final stand.
"We should've just sealed the the tunnels." Korra muttered as she stepped over a fallen chunk of roof.
Shepard kept her light on and her gun pointed ahead, "They would've just blown a hole in it. Better we give them something to fight then nothing at all."
"We'll give them more than a fight."
"Hmm." Shepard only grunted, more focused on the enemies she knew were coming for her. Her Comms were still down, her friends and allies spread across the globe, and the Flood had basically taken the largest city on the planet. She wondered where Reluctant Promise was. She hadn't seen him since they split after meeting at the police headquarters.
"Just like old times…" She muttered under her breath, though not quietly enough.
"What?"
"Nothing."
A disapproving sigh, "Look Shepard if were gonna be allies then you better start trusting me."
"It goes both ways you know."
They turned around a corner, still having seen nothing more than debris from the explosion outside. Apparently the crowds had been smaller than she anticipated. What truly worried her was the lack of Flood. It had been at least ten minutes since the explosion, and they still had yet to run into any trouble.
"Well after what Cinder said…"
"Look Korra," Katherine stopped and faced the younger Avatar, "I know what she said bugs you, it bugs me too because she's right, but we can't let that tear us apart. We're in this together, and…"
She spun around, facing the dark hallway to her left. Considering that she had just heard something soft, like a breath, she figured it wasn't the best of ideas for them to stop right at an intersection within the tunnels.
"Shepard?" Korra asked taking a stance and standing back to back with the Commander.
"Quiet."
They stayed still, their experience, their instincts screaming at each of them to leave, to run. A human sixth sense that no science in any world or realm could explain.
When the shadows moved and red eyes met hers, her heart stopped.
"Shit." Shepard hissed firing rounds in the dark tunnels. The flash of light from the muzzle are her own flashlight were enough to see the shadows skid and something dodge her rounds.
"What the…" Korra asked looking behind her and over Shepard's shoulder.
"Korra!"
Too late.
From in front, a mass of black shadow slammed into the avatar knocking her over, and in turn throwing Shepard off balance.
Bullets ripped into the stone walls, light flashing in every direction, Korra tumbling to the ground with a massive beast on top of her.
Katherine powered up her biopics and still knowing the direction the first beast was at, fired off a shockwave.
The blue lit up the tunnel, and she saw the same type of black wolf from Thessia and R's home. It snarled and tore itself apart into black smoke, dodging the shockwave and seeping into the tunnel walls.
Korra rolled under the weight of whatever had knocked her down. She didn't need to stop and instead blasted a gust of air from her hands, propelling herself into a wall and the beast into the air. The pain was minor and she rolled out of the way of the beasts landing.
With a twist, fire sprouted from her feet and slammed into the creature, as well as lifting her off the ground.
The beast rolled within the smoke from the fire, and now seeing its form, Korra watched as the wolf snarled at her before bubbling, and like a liquid, reformed into something else entirely.
"What the heck are these things!" She roared, slamming her foot into the ground and ripping up several chunks of earth before hurtling them at the newly formed creature, a massive samurai with dual katanas.
Shepard grabbed the head of the wolf that was attacking her and kicked it hard in the chest before slamming a full forced biotic back punch into it, throwing it back a dozen feet, "No idea thats for sure, but I've fought them before."
The wolf again tore itself apart into smoke and reformed itself behind Shepard, grabbing her leg with its teeth, slicing open both armor and flesh, as well as flipping her onto her stomach.
A scream let itself out, but the Spectre was more than prepared for the pain. She grabbed her rifle, and twisted her body then letting lose a stream of rounds at the beast holding her leg.
It shuddered and yelped when one round hits it red eye, releasing her and letting itself literally flow back into the wall.
Fire and earth were deflected with dark swords, and Korra was forced into defensive moves as the dark entity now swung at her body.
She flipped over one sword, using a gust of air to propel the other one away from her when she landed. A boot hit her gut and she slid backwards.
A sword swung at her, cutting the bottom of her ribs, before she managed to unleash another torrent of air, which pushed her and the samurai away from each other.
She grit her teeth, feeling pain, "And you didn't think it would be a good idea to tell me about them!"
"Would you really believe me if I said the shadows came to life and attacked me and Chief?" A singularity, a charge, and a kick to the head then Shepard hit the wall hard.
Korra ignored the obvious, and ducked under a sharp and cylindrical projectile, before the samurai tore apart into smoke and raced at her.
Unlike Shepard though, Korra had a better defense against this.
Smoke surged behind her, but a twirl of air dissipated the smoke, forcing it away from the Avatar before it reformed into a massive snake, the reformed snake crashing into the ground as it reformed.
"Really a snake?" A sigh, and another kick which sent a blast of flames at the new beast.
Shepard rolled underneath the wolfs lunge. Her cryo ammo was ready, and she spun up onto her knee.
Before she could fire the wolf slammed into her, deforming and wrapping tendrils of shadow around her shoulders.
Korra flipped over the massive snake, letting air boost her away only for the snake to continue away from her and towards Shepard. Her eyes went wide and she unleashed a volley of concentrated fire.
The snake opened its mouth as it raced towards the incapacitated commander, and Shepard put everything into her biotics preparing to overload and send out a shockwave in every direction. It'd hurt but she didn't have a choice.
Waiting for the last second, she didn't expect the snake to fall apart, and form a mass of black shadows that suddenly lightened up with orange sun light.
Before she knew it, the one holding her trusted her forward, and the next thing she knew she was falling.
"No!" Korra roared as the portal closed.
Her eyes glowed white.
The wolves reformed and snarled.
Then there was fire.
Shepard's eyes looked up to smoke covering blue sky, her head slightly dizzy from the fall.
She wondered how far the fall had actually been.
A swish in the air, and her instincts screamed again. She immediately moved her head to the side, only for a sword to slam into the stone her head had just rested on.
Her biotics activated and she formed a barrier right above her as another sword came down at her.
It hit her shield and she pushed it off.
Her armor had deployed its medigel, but her injured leg wouldn't let her flip onto her feet so instead she rolled away just as the first sword struck again at where she had been.
Katherine cursed, then stopped herself, putting out her hands towards the attacker and sent a blast of pure energy at them.
It struck seconds before the next sword hit and threw the attacker over a dozen feet back.
The Spectre used the time and got to her feet, drawing her side arm, her rifle having been left in the tunnel.
She glanced at her enemy.
A girl, black straight her down to her shoulders, black eyes, and a cold look. A red scarf was tied around her neck, and her body was covered in black armor that reminded her of the Black Knights. Two small attachments were on her hips, and she twirled two swords in her hands.
"Who are you?" Shepard called out powering up her omni blade just in case. She knew she was on a wall, a large one, but where she couldn't tell without looking away from her enemy.
The girl narrowed her eyes and Shepard knew talking was not an option.
She lunged towards the spectre. Her speed wasn't super human like Chiefs, but it was definitely peak humans, close to Shepard's.
Shepard drew back her arm with her blade for a strike, and readied her pistol.
Then a wire, made of pure light energy, shot out of the device on the girls hip, shooting out right at Shepard.
The Commander's eyes went wide and she ducked underneath the light, not seeing the second wiring that had shot out from the second device and anchored itself into the wall.
A foot slammed into her face and she rolled to the ground, the wiring having pulled the girl forward at exponential speeds.
The Spectre threw up her arm just as a sword came down, meeting the omni blade.
The second came at her from her side, and she was forced to block it with her pistol. Somehow, said sword imbedded itself in the pistol, not breaking it but almost cutting it in half.
Katherine twisted her body, and swiped her attackers feet from under her.
Her swords left Shepard, and the Commander kicked the girl in the gut as she fell. The girl flew back and hit the ground, but rolled back to her feet.
Shepard regained her own footing and fired a biotic attack at the girl, then her black armor formed a shield of red around her, deflecting Shepards attack and dissipating into the air.
They stood still.
Hunter and Prey.
Warrior and Assassin.
"I'm figuring the Black Knight gave you that amor." Katherine grit her teeth and raised her pistol, though she knew her pistol was a bluff. The bullets would likely face the same force field her biotics met. It would be pointless to shoot.
The girl glared at her and lowered her chin, to where the scarf covered it. Her swords twitched.
Green eyes studied her.
It was a waiting game, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
An explosion in the distance.
The wall they were on shook, only slight enough for Shepard's left foot to need to move an inch. It was all the girl wanted.
Two strings of light shot out on either side of the Commander and the girl shot towards her.
A wall of biotic energy appeared, but the girl twisted, one line of light disappearing, and spinning her around to where she was able to land a hard kick on Shepard's back.
Her armor protected her and the only repercussion was a stumble forward.
Knowing what her enemy would do, Katherine rolled forward, using the momentum to her advantage to avoid the dual swords the sliced the air above her.
She spun on her heel when her body rolled upright, and thrust her blade at her attackers gut.
Her attackers eyes went wide, and she barely avoided the blow by moving to the side, when Shepards elbow slammed into her gut.
The girl gasped for air, not expecting such a harsh blow and received a blow to the head with the other elbow when Shepard got back to her feet.
Not letting up, the red head continued her assault with punch to the face, then to uppercut the girl.
Each blow landed, and the dark haired girl flew back, hitting her back hard on the stone.
She got up only a moment later, using her swords to block Shepards blade meant for the killing blow to her neck. Her devices activated and light pulled her backwards and away from the attacking N7.
The momentum was reversed in an instant, and with a twist she shot forward at Katherine.
Her foot slammed into the older woman's chest, of course not doing any damage but forcing her again into a stumble.
Biotics flared, and swords slashed, they two continuing their engagement like a well choreographed dance.
Finally, Shepard got the upper hand. She noticed the girls flawed stance, a foot a little to far out, one sword holding off Shepard's omni blade and another coming for her throat.
With an all or nothing move, she stepped back, the sword missing her throat by inches, the sudden lack of resistance letting the girl fall forward a bit, before unleashing a charge.
Her head slammed into the girl, a red barrier barely saving her life, and ended up sending her towards the walls edge to where she slammed into the stone railing.
The Commander started to raise her pistol, thrusting her free hand forward with a singularity when a strand of light shot out towards her.
She misfired her biotic attack so she could dodge, but failed to see the second strand.
It pierced her armor, bypassing her shields entirely, and slicing open her right side.
She gasped in surprise and lost her balance, being forced to catch herself with her left hand as she held her side with her other one.
The girl got to her feet with a bloodied lip and sore muscles, twirling her swords.
Blue shimmered in the air as Katherine let her biotics power up again, preparing to unleash all she had on the girl.
The girl lowered down and glared.
Yet their fight wouldn't conclude, as a gust of wind picked up around them and they were both forced to look up from the noise of whistling air and engines.
A large figure slammed down next to Shepard, and the Krogan stood up wielding his shotgun, "You picked a bad day to mess with Shepard kid." And he fired.
A red force field again powered up, blocking Wrex's rounds, but the girl fired off both strands of light, yet not at the Krogan.
The strands implanted into the railing on the far side of the wall and she shot towards the railing, flipping over it, and launching herself away and down as Wrex continued to fire after her.
He roared as she tried to escape, but by the time he reached the far side of the wall and looked down after her, she was gone.
In seconds, she had escaped.
His shotgun cocked back, and he turned to his old friend.
Katherine, having gotten to her feet, looked up with a smile.
Chief stared down, holding himself as he watched Shepard talk to her old friend.
He was lucky to be alive.
Hope and him had fought at least a dozen more Flood forms when the Normandy had arrived above them, Reluctant Promise in tow, and ended up rescuing them from the hordes of Flood.
Like Cortana had said all those years ago, he had luck.
"So thats Commander Shepard?"
He looked at the small red headed girl besides him.
"Didn't know she was a red head."
The Normandy hovered over the wall Shepard was on, and on the back ramp were Legion, a large green spartan she had thought was dead, her favorite floating light bulb, and a young red headed girl she didn't recognize.
She couldn't believe they had come. Her friends never failed her, and Chief was alive too. She would have to ask him where he was and how he got away.
"Looks like I got here just in time." Wrex stated taking a place next to her.
"I had it."
"Of course you did."
She only glared back at him for his statement before looking around to see where she was.
Still in Ba Sing Se, on top on one of the outer walls. The wall next to the water, above the docks.
It clicked. The wolves had sent her to the top of the wall for her to get assassinated and for them to take care of the Avatar. "Korra is she with you guys?"
"No why?"
"She's going to need our help."
Korra hissed in pain, rocketing backwards towards the docks once more with jets of fire as blood leaked from the wound on her side.
She had fought hard, but the wolves were refusing to go down.
Again, the two leapt at her, having followed her as she retreated back towards the docks.
The girl slammed her fist into the wall, and let shards of earth rip out and close off the tunnel. The Wolves of course, turned to smoke and phased through and around the shards, reforming on the other side of the closing, chasing after Korra who had resumed her retreat.
A gust of air barreled at the them, and they sunk their claws into the ground, taking the blast and letting it wash harmlessly over them.
White eyes and a blast of fire was sent at one of the wolves. It would've killed anything else, but the wolf dispersed into the air, reformed, then rejoined its comrade in its chase.
Korra flipped back, avoided the teeth of one wolf, while kicking up two large rocks that slammed right into the seconds head.
The first wolf deformed itself, transforming, and then three smaller bird like creatures zoomed at Korra.
She went wide eyed and shot bolts of fire at the first two, but failed to deflect either, each of the birds landing swipes with their claws and opening up wounds on her shoulder.
The third bird raced towards her chest, and when she failed to blast it, it slammed into her, digging its claws into her gut and snapping at her neck.
Again, her eyes went white, and the dark haired girl let loose a breath of fire that singed the bird into a hasty retreat.
Two pairs of claws grazed her back, and she screamed in pain reverting back to her normal self, when the second wolf slammed into her head on and sent the young avatar flying backwards.
She used air to catch herself before she hit the ground, but weak and injured she lazily held her balance.
With grit teeth she studied her enemies.
Every attack she threw at them was almost useless. Other than being blown back, they were completely unaffected by any of her attacks.
"Avatar Korra?!" A voice form behind her. She glanced back, seeing the entrance to the docks only fifty or so feet away. The soldiers were still guarding it, and from the noise, she could tell hundreds of refugees were still there.
"Close the entrance!"
"But…"
"Do it!" Fire and air surged at the wolves, which each dodged by falling part into smoke and leaking into the walls.
She heard the entrance seal with stone.
She had to stop them. The soldiers and refugees would be massacred if she didn't stop these things now. But how?
Her attacks hit sometimes, but did hardly any damage. The wolves always recovered, and attacked. None of her attacks seemed strong enough.
Then it hit her as the wolves reformed only a dozen feet form her.
Every time she tried land a harsh blow, they turned to smoke, and avoided her attacks. Only air ever seemed to hit them, or when she used area attacks with fire and earth.
A close ranged, focused hit. She hadn't tried that yet, at least not consciously.
Her fist, lowered down, heating up dangerously. Charged hits weren't part of her style.
The wolves charged.
She lowered herself down as the wolves lunged at her, one for her upper half, the other for her legs. They were going to try and rip her in two.
With her free hand, a gust of air was enough to send the wolf aiming for her legs away, but the other was about to hit her.
She spun around it, lifting her fist as the wolf sailed by her, and let loose a charged blast of flames.
The blast ignited and slammed into the wolf. It's hair singed, and it yelped, hitting the ground and rolling as it snapped at the flames coating its back.
A smile, and she twirled around, waiting a second as the second wolf lunged for her, mouth open and teeth aimed for her face.
Her hand thrusted forward, and a pure concentrated and charged line of fire hit the wolf dead center in its mouth.
Its body hung in mid air as fire pumped into it and a second later the wolf was incinerated into black ash.
Korra bit her lip and ducked down, unleashing another blast of fire when the remaining wolf rammed her.
They rolled together, and the wolf sunk its claws into her back trying to hold on.
Like before Korra opened her mouth and breathed fire on its face, but it held on.
White eyes appeared again. She kneed it in the gut the moment they stopped, breathed fire, and blasted it in the chest with air.
The wolf flew up in the air and deformed into smoke, while Korra twirled on the ground, using her back as a center of balance with her hands held out in a charge.
A samurai reformed the moment Korra thrusted her hands up, sword pointed down for her heart.
Flames, heated to the extreme and charged up with enough force to shatter stone walls, slammed into the samurai.
It floated in mid air for a split second, red eyes staring down at her before the flames completed their work and tore the beast apart into nothing.
The air was clam.
Korra's hands fell down to her side, and she took in a deep breath, smiling as she did.
The floor shook slightly, and she looked over to the entrance, watching as the earth moved away and several people charged in.
"Shepard?" She asked sitting up with a groan.
Katherine kept her weapon up and trained down the tunnel, "What happened?"
"They weren't that tough."
"So are we ready?"
A shake of her head, and the Keeper sighed, "We have no way of getting to Shepard and with her communications still being jammed we have no way to contact her."
The Arbiter crossed his arms and Hackett shook his head.
The Admiral was still having a hard time comprehending everything he had been told. So many realms, their implied enemies, men who could destroy stars with their power, and technology that could transcend neural physics.
"What if we amplify your personal transporter?" He asked.
"We could, but the power needed would destroy it. It wouldn't last long enough to evacuate the world, and we both know…"
"Shepard won't let us go back on our word. We said we'd get all of them out."
"Why don't you go and find her yourself? Tell her about everything."
"My transporter has yet to recharge its own power supply. Its charging station was within my ship."
They stayed silent.
"I have a solution."
Hackett looked up at the Arbiter who looked at the Keeper who looked at Hackett.
The Admiral raised an eyebrow and looked over at the crew on the bridge, "Who said that?"
A flicker on the holo table, "I did!"
Another monitor, like Reluctant Promise.
"A monitor?" The Keeper asked baffled, as far as she knew Reluctant Promise was the last of the monitors yet here one was, floating in hologram form over the holotable.
"I am 343 Guilty Spark!"
"Impossible…" The Arbiter said with a low growl, his hand lowered to his sword.
"How the hell did he hack our systems!" Hackett snapped at his crew.
"Simple I used complex forerunner algorithms to bypass your security in point zero zero zero two four seconds. I would explain but the equations may be too complex."
The Keeper stood tall, "Guilty Spark how are you still functioning?"
"It does not matter, what matters is I have a way to get to your Commander. Is that not your current dilemma?"
The Keeper was prepared to respond but Hackett beat her too it, "What do you have in mind?" His voice was agitated from the monitors actions but he was slightly interested in what it had to say.
The monitor turned to him, "I have myself a reality transporter. One that is functioning and ready for use. It could lead a fleet of ships to wherever they need to go."
"How did you know what we need?" The Keeper asked.
"You should know Keeper, daughter of Librarian, that these… primitive communication systems are easily able to be hacked by superior Forerunner technology."
She stayed silent.
"How do we know we can trust you?" Hackett asked.
"Take my word for it admiral."
A man, dressed in Alliance uniform stepped up next to the monitor.
"Captain Johnson?"
"Alive and well sir. This guy was the unknown fleet when earth was attacked. Bought us time and got me and my men out of our ship before they were destroyed."
Hackett nodded, skeptical of the whole thing.
"Here are my coordinates. If you wish…"
"Hold up Spark." Johnson took a step forward, "Admiral we know Shepard's in trouble. I can guess how this looks… I swear to you he has this portal. I've seen it. I don't exactly how it works or even where he got it, but he can help."
Hackett shared a look with the Arbiter, "Send us your coordinates. Well meet you there."
Johnson smiled slightly and nodded.
"We shall see you soon reclaimer!" and with that the hologram flickered off.
"What exactly is a reclaimer?"
Ash.
A descendant to her name.
Cinder.
She stepped over the black remnants of a building, ashes and black soot spread everywhere, the fires having destroyed the building hours ago, in the few hours it had taken for the city to fall.
Two people followed her, weary of the woman they followed and the creatures in the city.
"Zaheer you want the Avatar correct?"
"Yes." The man with a strong build and bald head replied.
"And you want her because?" Cinder looked back at him, a sly smile on her face as she continued forward.
"Thats for us to know." The woman with Zaheer, P'Li, stated.
Cinder didn't reply and stopped when she reached two charred logs left from the roof.
A glint of metal caught her eye. She bent down and with a wave of her hand, the dust swirled up into the air.
She grabbed the circular device and stood back up, studying it with a vicious smile.
"You want something. Power, money," she turned to them and seeing the distaste on their faces smiled, "Freedom."
Zaheer crossed his arms and intensified his glare.
With a wave of her hair, she lifted the device up to her eyes, "What if I told you I could not only give you the avatar, but you could free the rest of the realms as well?"
"What do you mean?"
A grin.
A/N Here we are again! So Korra is pretty powerful, but like Shepard, had to figure out how to beat those wolves. What exactly are those wolves? Where are they from? The Korra defeating them should actually make sense since in Legend of Korra and the Last Airbender, firebenders have been shown to use attacks that are weaker and dissipate rather easily against solid objects and have also shown much more concentrated and deadlier attack that can shatter rock walls easily so it makes sense that her weaker flame based attacks did no damage.
Shepard was in her fight a superior fighter however she was caught of guard by AOT's 3D maneuvering devices, which said devices were enhanced by the black knight just so you know.
Who forgot about Captain Johnson and Guilty Spark?!
Now the heroes are all together! Chief, Hope, Elsa, Shepard, and Korra, but the enemies are expanding their own ranks.
What happens next?
Find out next time!
Thanks for reading! Please review and god bless you guys!