*****The Broken Reaper*****
Chapter 18: Awakening: The Visit, Part 4
AN: Reviews, because I'm too lazy to say anything else.
Tom712: Hey now, I'm just writing from the perspective of the character. Not my fault she has….issues. Well, ok, as I'm her creator, it is, but the point stands: I wrote with her mentality in mind, not mine. No, really. Why're you smirking?! I'm being serious!
Prometheus-777: You know, one of these days I'm going to make these short enough to be added like normal review responses once more. But today is not that day. [Covered in a PM]
Blaze1992: *opens mouth to respond, only to sigh and shrug* I don't intend to overuse them or anything; you just ruffled my rhetorical feathers is all. You're not the only one that sometimes lacks a filter. The difference between canon and this remains to be seen, and I'm not going to promise much beside the fact I have plans; and with a thousand years to play with, quite literally anything can change. As I said in that PM, I don't intend to waste the time I've given my MC's.
Guest: Judging by the fact you're still reading it, it's apparently good enough. As for the pilgrimage, I can explain that as one of two things: they never explicitly stated when the quarians first started going on them, and if they did, this is an AU for a reason. Oh, and seeing as /that/ isn't exactly very descriptive, and considering that there are quite literally dozens of possibilities as to what it is thanks to the nature of the internet, I'd love for you to explain what you meant by it.
Lots of news at the bottom of this one, as I've been pretty busy lately (if the long wait, by my standards at least, wasn't a good enough indicator), and am going to be even more busy in the future, just with writing a pair of new fics instead; so please be sure not to skip it! There are also going to be a couple codex entries for Reaper troops that I've been working on with Blaze1992 (thanks again for the help) that cover and/or expand on what was shown in the games. Not all of them are going to be posted with this chapter, of course; but as time goes on, they'll be added accordingly.
Well folks, this is the last part of Visit, so let's get this show on the road!
10th month, 31st day, 1027 CE, 18:43 GST, unregistered shuttle nearing Widow System mass relay.
She didn't know how long she just stared at her brother; unable to pull her eyes off of him. He seemed almost peaceful, like he was sleeping; were it not for the deep, unnatural trenches on his arms, legs, and chest where flesh should be. Meldos had been in the cockpit for several minutes, doing what, Salonia didn't know or care; too busy fighting the urge to tap Setherus' blackened face so he'd wake up and tell her it was all just an elaborate prank. The fact that his asari killer was in the cockpit with Meldos, albeit tied up and unconscious, left her feeling twitchy at just the thought alone.
Treniso must've noticed her fidgeting, as the older woman put a hand on her should and squeezed reassuringly. Salonia finally pulled her gaze off of him and regarded the hand's owner: her facial scar stretched in a frightening manner, but she recognized it for what it was, and smiled, albeit weakly, back at her.
"Hey, he'll be fine. From what I know of his personality, I bet he'll be up and about in no time at all once he gets put back together; and the one thing I can say for certain about the Major is that he follows through on his promises. It's best if you try and distract yourself for now; no point in worrying about something you can't change." the scarred woman said.
She took in a deep breath and let it out; more than happy to follow the advice. "I know. It's just…." she couldn't finish the sentence.
"First time something like this has ever happened to you?"
"Yeah." she answered quietly.
"You never get used to it." Salonia tilted her head questioningly at that. "Death that is. I mean it's one thing for it to be a stranger or someone you barely know, or hell, even a piece of crap that deserved it like slavers or pirates, but friends…family….those are wounds you carry for the rest of your life." she finished in a way that told her the woman knew firsthand, so she decided to ask.
"Have you experienced it before? Losing family?"
Treniso opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out; an expression that could only be described as sad remembrance flashing over her features for a moment as she rubbed the prominent scar running up the left side of her face that started at the neck and nearly reached her forehead. "You could say that. They weren't family, by blood at least, but I would trade my actual one in a heartbeat if it meant getting them back."
They were interrupted by the up-to-that-point silent Perdweigh: genuine curiosity shown in the alien's tone, alongside an emotion she couldn't identify. "You never really said much about your old squad. What were they like?"
Treniso glared at the third person present, only to examine her more thoroughly, and settle into a sad stare at the floor after she had; not that Salonia understood the specific feeling shown on Perdweigh's unusual, compared to what she was used to at least, face. I really need to learn how to recognize other species' facial expressions better.
"They were a lively bunch to say the least. Served as their Corporal and eventually Sergeant for six years on various postings; from frigates, to dreadnaughts, to colonies, even the Citadel for a couple weeks. Best marines I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, although they did have a habit of causing me more trouble than they were worth at times." she chuckled, obviously lost in memories for a moment. "What about you? I've been around enough asari to know what your kind look like when they remember old acquaintances; tends to be a problem with such a long lifespan, and you aren't exactly hiding it."
Huh. So that's what it was.
Perdweigh blinked and followed it by smiling; eyes distant and foggy with memory similar to Treniso's own. "I wasn't a leader like you per-se, but I'll admit to my position being similar. During the war, I was on the front lines for decades, every day worried that I'd lose one of them; and despite the constant death surrounding us non-stop, we survived without a single casualty for a long time. So very long." her smile disappeared, and was replaced by a look of what seemed like real, physical pain mixed with loss. "It was only a matter of time until it caught up with us…." she trailed off, leaving them to fill in the blanks.
"Damn krogan." muttered Treniso.
"Yeah. Krogan." the asari said, before inhaling deeply through her nose and closing her eyes; so still she could've been mistaken for entering some form of meditation.
They remained in silent companionship for several minutes as each of them remembered, in different ways, those lost to them, or in Salonia's case, temporarily lost. Eventually, the silence was broken by Meldos coming back into the cabin and glancing over them; raising a brow-plate at how they all stared at him. "I won't ask; just figured I should mention that we're about to hit the relay."
"Where are we going?" she asked, wondering why they weren't boarding a larger vessel first. Shuttles weren't meant to go very far on their own after all. Even if one was filled with nothing but fuel, it couldn't go more than a day or two in standard FTL before running out; whereas even a simple corvette could effectively double the amount you could travel, and frigates and larger ships could go for upwards of a full week or longer without refueling, albeit at the cost of speed.
"To an unnamed system in the Traverse. I have my ship waiting there for us, and it has what Setherus, Lavaeus, and Drutus need to get back on their feet."
"How long?" Perdweigh asked, nodding her head as if she expected the answer.
"Seventeen hours. It's on the border with the Terminus, so I'd recommend you all get comfortable for a while."
"Seventeen hours?! Umm…" she looked around nervously; suddenly noticing a basic urge most living beings needed to carry out. "This shuttle has a bathroom on it, right?"
He smirked in response and pointed to a door barely large enough for her to fit through at the rear of the craft. Not wasting another second, she speed walked to it; not quite running, but definitely faster than she would've normally gone.
She opened it to see a small toilet built for efficiency over comfort, a miniature sink barley large enough to fit her hands underneath the faucet, and a dispenser filled with universal soap able to be used by any race no matter their biology; and had to hold in a groan when the realization of it all being 'military standard' hit her. Not even a towel? Seriously? *sigh* I hope those seats out there are comfortable enough to sleep in at least. Is it weird I envy the asari's ability to mix both streamlined design and civilian sector comfort? Maybe the transport I took to the Citadel spoiled me a little, but spirits were those cushions soft. It felt like I was leaning back on my old bed rather than traveling on a passenger liner.
Bemoaning the stereotypical flaw in her species' mentality towards interstellar travel on anything smaller than a cruiser, that is to say it should be 'quick, painful, and make you want to get there faster' to use her DI's words, she sat down and did that most fundamental part of being alive.
10th month, 32nd day, 1027 CE, 15:20 GST, unnamed system ILM-1977, Sentry Omega cluster.
The seats were indeed, much to her surprise, comfortable enough to sleep in. After an hour or so of off-and-on conversation she started to get tired, and leaned back in the shuttle seat designed with turians in mind. She lasted a whole two minutes before drifting off; pleasant dreams of her childhood which seemed so distant now, even though some of them were only three months old.
After waking up, she learned they still had over seven hours to go, so to pass the time she played a game on her omni-tool. A couple hours later, Perdweigh invited her to join a game of cards called 'The Five Families' the other three were playing. She'd heard of it before, several of her fellow trainees used to hold regular matches in the barracks after all, but she had never actually played herself. When she informed the asari of this, the alien woman looked at the other two and they all nodded; telling her they'd 'take it easy on the new girl'.
Before too long, she'd somehow gotten several thousand credits richer.
"No way, just no way! How the hell are you this good when you've never played before now?!" the sole asari among them nearly yelled out.
"Beginners luck?" she answered with a shrug; although even she was surprised at the holographic pile of winnings next to her. The cards, chairs, and small folding table were real, while anything having to do with money was digital. The shuttle may have been small compared to a proper vessel, but it was meant for upwards of a dozen fully loaded and geared up soldiers, so they had more than enough room to set it all up.
"Luck is the word. Who shuffled that last deck, anyway?" Meldos asked, but from the way he glanced at Treniso, he already knew the answer.
"Hey, I shuffled just like I always do; it's not my fault she got a really good hand! Besides: weren't you the dealer of the round before this one?" said woman responded.
"Yes, but at least I didn't give her a full set! That hand's fucking unbeatable!" it was news to her that winning in the way she did was so impressive, if she was being honest. Apparently, the ways you could win the game varied a little bit, but each way was different in that if someone else also 'won', there was a chance you could lose yourself depending on the method of winning they used. Getting five of a kind was the lowest ranked way of winning, and subsequently the riskiest option, followed by what was called a 'mix-up', that is to say getting 1-10 with any mixture of cards from different sets, and the hardest to achieve way that was almost guaranteed to be a win: getting a 'royal family', which required the three different special cards, and they had to be from the same set.
She managed to get a mix-up when the cards were dealt, and decided to insure a win because she had a Maiden and Matriarch from the same set, thanks to drawing the Maiden from the card pile during her first turn.
A few turns later and Perdweigh, who was sitting to her right, placed the Matron she needed on the discard pile; and it was her turn next. To say they were shocked at her winning in two different ways was an understatement to say the least, which led to her being informed of the final, less known, way of winning: a full set. It could only be achieved by doing precisely what she did, although she could've also done it if she had five of a kind combined with one of the other two ways to win.
"Come on guys, I was just really lucky is all; no need to make a fuss over it. Besides, it's just a game, no big deal." she said, trying to calm them down; worried at how hard they took it.
"Just a game….just a damn game she says…." Meldos said with a dangerously twitching eye that showed a startling amount of anger at the statement, and she recognized the error in her wording too late to correct it. Oh crap, I forgot how serious some people take this kind of thing. Guess I better prepare for the oncoming verbal assault.
To her surprise he didn't go into the expected tirade; instead looking off into the distance, and followed by him schooling his features to be neutral for some reason. As if on cue, his omni-tool lit up, and he quickly went over whatever it was that it showed. "Looks like we're here. I'll be in the cockpit if you need me."
And just like that, he got up and left; his holographic credit chits disappearing. Perdweigh soon did the same thing, but rather than head to the cockpit, she went to inspect the three bodies near the front of the shuttle.
Treniso gave one last look at the table and shrugged; going over to one of the shuttle's seats and relaxing in it. Being the last person at the table, Salonia sighed and stood up herself, and followed Meldos into the cockpit. When she walked in, he seemed mildly surprised, but nodded to her. "You can take the copilot's chair if you want. I'll be flying us in."
She sent a glare to the still unconscious and tightly restrained asari laying on the floor next to the wall, but ignored her in favor of following his advice, and sat down. "So, where's your ship? I can't see it anywhere."
"We're in space; of course you can't see it yet." he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and she had to stop herself from pouting childishly.
"I know that! I was just wondering where it is so I know what to look for."
He raised a brow-plate and smirked, and she grumbled several unkind things under her breath. "See that garden world?"
"Well yeah, there's nothing else in front of us at the moment." she replied; not understanding where he was going with it.
"See that peninsula? The long and thin one on the left side of the continent?"
She scanned over the planet to try and locate it, and it didn't take her long to do so. "I see it."
"Keep watching it."
She looked at him curiously, and his only response was a knowing smile; not saying anything else. Well, suppose it can't hurt to wait and find out what he meant. Huh. Looks like this world hasn't been colonized yet. I wonder why? It looks like a perfectly acceptable candidate for settlers. Maybe it's because of the location?
Deciding to ask about it later, she kept her gaze focused on the slice of land on the mostly ocean covered world. After half a minute passed she started to get bored, but a distant flicker caught her attention. She squinted to get a better look at it, and noticed a steadily growing object fast approaching them: faster than what her limited knowledge of current naval technology said was possible. An experimental frigate built for speed perhaps? It wouldn't be too outlandish for someone with the apparent connections of the Major.
As it got closer, she learned how miraculously wrong her guess was; and she gaped at the gigantic monstrosity of a warship, her mandibles spread almost comically wide.
"Glad you like it." Meldos said mirthfully.
"That-you-but-HOW DO YOU HAVE ONE OF THE LARGEST DREADNAUGHTS IN THE GALAXY?!" she yelled out in open shock.
"Not one of, THE largest dreadnaught in the galaxy. Well, second largest anyway; but the one in first place belongs to a rather annoying competitor of mine. At least if he hasn't been killed by now, that is; which is entirely possible considering how long it's been since I last saw him." he replied casually, as if a single man personally owning the 'second largest' dreadnaught in existence was no big deal. Wait, so if this is the second, then how big is the first?
A dozen different outlandish images from various science fiction vids of a ship larger than the Citadel flashed through her mind, but the rational part of her saying how impossible that was won out in the end. It seemed like she was just in time too, as the Major opened a comms channel. "Honey, I'm hooommmee! Is the hanger ready for us?"
She stared at him in bewilderment; thrown off by his first sentence. Rather than ask about it, she heard a deep, emotionless voice respond, and it had an odd sort of echo in the background. "It is, Premalon. Do you wish to have an escort sent to accompany you?"
"No, that won't be necessary. I will need some help transporting three bodies though."
"Would you prefer a biotic or heavy-lifter team to assist?"
He seemed to think it over, and answered a few seconds later. "Let's make it biotic; don't want to mangle them more than they already are."
"Affirmative, Premalon. Preparing them now."
Meldos nodded in satisfaction and ended the transmission, turning to face her; and she was left in a perpetual state of confusion throughout the whole conversation, if it could even be called that. He noticed her current state, and answered the latest in a whole line of questions she had forming thanks to all of what she'd just witnessed. "A highly advanced VI installed on the Retribution, that's the ship's name by the way. Because of it's size, most everything had to be automated to decrease crew costs, and a VI was the most efficient way of handling such a task. And Premalon is an alias of mine."
She finally found her voice and managed to ask a question that particular bit of info brought up. "How many crew are needed to operate it?"
"Optimally? A hundred or so." her mandibles once more hit the floor upon learning it required less people onboard to operate than a cruiser. "If needed though, thanks to a self-sustaining population of repair drones, the captain can run the entire ship from the bridge as long as the VI is up-and-running."
She felt the air leave her lungs as if she'd been punched in the gizzard, and suddenly became rather pale. One person. It takes only one person to control that monster….Spirits! If there were a couple hundred of those things, the combined naval might of the entire Citadel wouldn't even stand a chance! It'd be child's play for a faction that holds such power to just wipe out any fleet they go up against.
"How many of those ships exist?" she asked, trying her best to hide the building terror that was gnawing at her in case his answer confirmed her fears.
"To tell you the truth: I don't know. Don't worry though; they can't be built like a normal dreadnaught. I'm still working on finding out the process behind it myself, but from what's been seen of how the drones repair any damage, we have a fairly good idea."
"We? And what do you mean by the process being unknown? I thought you just said the VI was installed to decrease crew costs. Isn't it a turian ship?"
"Nope: what you see before you is a fully functioning prothean capital ship. There are others like it out there, that rival of mine I mentioned for one, but this was a recent find. There were quite a few news channels discussing it a month-and-a-half ago when an image taken by an STG spy ship was leaked. Fortunately, the Hierarchy had long since relocated the vessel by the time investigators were sent to check it out. Needless to say, you can't repeat any of this to anyone else; it would cause unnecessary problems for all involved." he warned in a threatening tone that brooked no argument, and she gulped; nodding her head in the affirmative. "As for who 'we' are, I think your brother can better explain that to you in person."
Now that he brought it up, her mind focused on why they were there in the first place. "How long will it take for him to be…'healed'?"
"All estimates point to two days or less for the physical aspect of things. As for the mental side? Well, I think he'll be alright. Dying may not be pleasant, but it's easy enough to overcome once you get used to it." he said offhandedly, as if he knew firsthand, and she stared at him incredulously; which he apparently didn't notice. "Although, due to how you're going to be told everything you need to know, you can find that out yourself."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You'll learn soon enough." he said cryptically, and she forced herself to hold back an annoyed response.
It took another minute for the shuttle to be maneuvered into a hanger on the 'belly' of the ship, and it surprised her at how small it was when compared to such a large vessel. Noticing she was about to ask anyway, he answered the question. "The main hangers are filled with building materials, scrap, and other shuttles, so they'd be a tad crowded with us thrown in. This hanger was used to deploy a squadron of fighters according to recovered files from it's databanks, but they weren't there when it was dug up, and have yet to be replaced. For now, it's mostly used to deploy salvage or external repair teams."
"Ah." she nodded as understanding dawned on her.
"Could you tell the others to be ready to go? Oh, and I'm going to be busy overseeing the process relating to your brother's…" he seemed to search for the right word "rebirth, so Cerhn is going to be the one explaining everything to you."
"Alright, I'll be sure to let them know. And Major Meldos, Sir?"
He narrowed his eyes when she said 'Sir', but otherwise didn't visually react. "Yes?"
"Thank you. He may be a complete nerd and thick-headed at times, but he's family." she said with more than a little gratitude, and he merely waved it off.
"It's not a problem. He's a subordinate and a friend, so this is the least I can do."
Resurrection is the 'least' he can do? *sigh* Just what did you get yourself into, Seth?
Rather than say anything else, she gave a final appreciative nod and went to inform the other two passengers.
? ?, ? ?, ? ?, unknown.
The last thing he remembered was a flash of light from the package, and then total darkness. At first, he tried to fight against it, to push it back; but in the end, it overwhelmed him, surrounding him entirely.
He didn't know what it was, that all consuming blackness, but he soon remembered several old religious fables multiple cultures had that provided an answer.
I'm dead.
The thought struck him like a charging krogan berserker, and his non-existent legs gave out from under him as he sank into a pitiful state of depression. Questions like 'What happened?', 'Did everyone else make it?', 'Is Sal alright?', and a dozen others passed through his mind, only to be forgotten as fast as they came.
He had no way of tracking time in this new dreary existence, so for all he knew he spent years just sitting there despondently; that is, until a pinprick of light to started to shine in the distance. It seemed to be headed towards him because it slowly grew in size, and he stared unblinking at it in curiosity; wondering what the strange, dimly glowing orb was.
Huh. A blue so dark it's reminiscent of the ocean's lowest depths. Almost reminds me of Premalon, oddly enough. Wonder what the squid's doing right now?
As soon as he finished the thought, the orb expanded at a massively increased rate; and it swallowed him entirely before he realized what was happening.
10th month, 32nd day, 1027 CE, 17:04 GST, Home.
He slowly felt himself waking up in bed, and groggily swung his legs over the side. He opened an eye to check the time, and groaned when he saw it was past eight in the morning locally. I'll miss breakfast if I stay in here too much longer-wait, this can't be right.
Setherus looked around and saw that his room, HIS room, was just as he'd last seen it five years ago.
"What the hell? I haven't slept here ever since I left for basic. What's going o-" his breath caught in his throat as he remembered in unnaturally vivid detail the past several days of his life; culminating in what should've been his death. He started to shake uncontrollably, but felt a sudden 'pressure', for lack of a better word, around him, followed by the memories being replaced by the countless adventures, or misadventures in some cases, that he'd gone on ever since first stepping foot on Jartar; and he chuckled at a few of the antics he'd been involved in.
He took a deep breath and let it out, savoring the familiar and nostalgic scent of sweat and his mother's air freshener; ever locked in their unending battle for supremacy in his bedroom/makeshift gym.
He continued to examine his childhood room, and smiled when his gaze settled on a pile of old and discarded computer parts on a workbench he enjoyed tinkering with back in the day. "Well, suppose it can't hurt."
He got up off the bed and walked over to them, pulling his beat-up desk chair up to the bench after he did, and was about to get to work/relax when someone knocked on his door. He stared at the door curiously, not expecting it, but figured he'd just go along with it. "Come in!"
The familiar white skin on the hand that opened it was a dead giveaway even before he saw the alien's face. "Sorry if I'm interrupting." the other person said.
"Premalon! What are you doing here?"
"Technically speaking, I'm not ACTUALLY here, but I suppose the simplest way to explain it is this: what do you last remember?"
"Oh come on, that's too easy: we were having the party for Sal, a package was delivered, and-" he cut himself off as the final piece clicked into place. "Spirits…none of this is real, is it?"
"Well, from a certain point of view, you could say it is. Here, where we are right now, everything is as real as it was when you first saw it in person. Look out your window if you want proof."
He followed Premalon's advice and went to the fairly large window in his room; the shades currently drawn. He opened them, and let out a small gasp at the unforgettable scenery he had come to miss. His family was one of the few on Palaven lucky enough to have inherited a decent sized country property outside a nearby city. It wasn't that big in reality, only a couple square kilometers, but a thick forest covered half of it, with the other half being made up of tall grassland. He had many fond memories of playing various games with Salonia in those fields, ranging from 'big game hunter', where they'd pretend to track dangerous beasts from across the galaxy, to 'hide and ambush', where one person would hide for as long as they could and the other would try and find them. Of course, by 'find', he meant just as the name implied: often tackling his younger sister from behind, much to her annoyance at the time.
It was only now that he realized he'd just spent several minutes reliving these memories as if he was actually in them once more, and he shook his head to try and focus. "Sorry about that, got lost in my thoughts."
"No worries; you'll get used to it." Premalon told him.
"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"
"You died." the ancient alien said simply; like it explained everything he needed to know.
"Well that's just ridiculous. I mean if I died, then the only way I could be talking to you right now is if…if…." he trailed off, yet another realization made. "Oh. Right. That makes sense, in a way."
"Come on, it's not that bad! Now granted, it takes a bit of adjusting at first; but after a couple days, you won't even notice it!" the man said cheerfully, and he responded with a displeased glare.
"Precisely what are you doing to me right now? The physical me, not this…projection." he 'asked' with a low growl.
Premalon raised an amused eyebrow and smirked, before waving a hand in a casual motion; the effect quickly shown as the window scenery was replaced with what appeared to be an operating table of some sort. The recording, as that is what it apparently was, then showed a door opening and multiple people stepping inside. Said people turned out to not be people at all when he noticed the grey-purple armor that covered them from head-to-toe.
They each held out an arm wreathed in biotic blue, and he found out why when three heavily burnt turian corpses floated in and were positioned on tables next to the one the camera was centered on. He got closer to the 'screen' to get a better look, and felt the, what he now knew to be imaginary, blood drain from his face due to the corpse shown on the one in the middle. Even with the cooked flesh and dried blue blood on it, he'd recognize his own reflection anywhere.
"Understand now?" Premalon asked him in a gentle tone, and patiently waited for an answer.
"I…I….*sigh* I do." he finally managed after a few seconds. "So, what now?"
"Now I get to tell Drutus and Lavaeus essentially what I just told you, except I ALSO have to explain to them what I really am; probably via transferring some memories like what I did with you and Valora. Feel like helping me out with that? I think if they hear it from more than one mouth, it'll be easier to accept."
He sent another glance at where he'd lived the majority of his life up to this point, and felt more than a little hesitant. "Will I be able to come back here again? I'd like to explore the place some more, you know?"
The Reaper, for Setherus knew that even though he started as a trescari, he had grown to accept his new life, chuckled good-naturedly, and lightly patted him on the back. "You'll be able to come back here whenever you want when we're not busy. Who knows; maybe when you're back in the land of the living, you can use the time you'd normally spend sleeping to get acquainted with your new digital side. That reminds me: I'll be running you three through some tests in here while you all get fixed up. However, that can wait until after the other two are informed of their current situation."
Setherus narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything, instead grunting in the affirmative similar to a krogan.
"So, you ready?" Premalon inquired.
"As I'll ever be."
"Good."
He then proceeded to snap his fingers like how Setherus had seen asari do, and the entire world disappeared in a bright flash; replaced with a distinct feeling of vertigo as he 'fell' through the floor that was no longer there, only to reappear in what looked like a hotel room standing in front of a sleeping turian practically buried underneath an assortment of females from multiple species. Ah. Then there's only one possible person this place can belong to.
Premalon sighed at the sight in front of him and took in a deep breath, before yelling at the top of his lungs with his 'Meldos' voice. "AND JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, LIEUTENANT EDORAKA?!"
The man on the receiving end yelled out himself in surprise and tried to sit upright, only to throw two of the women off of him, and planted both hands on a 'part' of the surrounding beauties; one on an asari's breast, the other on a turian's rear, which made what Setherus assumed to be the creations of the man's imagination yelp in surprise themselves. As he couldn't hold it back any longer, he let out a massive bellow of laughter at the dazed expression of his fellow turian, enjoying the scene in it's entirety.
Yup, that's Drutus alright; or, if I'm feeling like annoying him when Handless isn't around, that's without a doubt something Newbie would think up. You know, I'm starting to see the advantages of that newfound perfect memory of mine: I can blackmail him with something that didn't even actually happen!
His laughter turned into a more controlled cackle, and if not for Premalon loudly clearing his throat, the man's current subharmonics adding to the effect, he was certain he'd run out of breath before too long. Seeing as he wasn't the only one to notice the exaggerated sound, Drutus tried his best to snap to attention when surrounded by a veritable sea of shifting and attractive bodies.
"MAJOR, SIR! I'M IMPROVING INTERSPECIES RELATIONS….sir…." Edoraka focused on Premalon after taking a second look, and blinked, followed by squinting at the, to him at least, unidentified person in the room. "Uhh, Meldos, I think I must be imagining things, because last I checked, you weren't a snow-white quarian."
"Oh Drutus, if only it was that simple." 'Meldos' said, causing the other person to tilt his head in confusion. "We have a lot to go over, but first thing's first."
He snapped his fingers again, stunning Drutus with the unexpected sound, and each of the thoroughly naked women got up and headed towards the door to Setherus' left in near perfect sync. Unable to avoid it, he unintentionally ogled several of them, and when his eyes traveled up the form of a 'turian' female nearest to him as 'she' walked by, the woman winked at him. Suffice to say, he both blushed and came close to drooling, and were it not for a muffled snicker from Premalon, he was sure there was a very good chance that he would have.
"Damn, perverted, space squid. I knew you were spending too much time around Handless." he muttered, to which the 'squid' in question faked a gasp and looked at him with an expression that could only be read as 'Who, me?'.
Drutus, being who he was, looked like he was about to ask the 'women' why they left, but didn't, as his own expression turned into one of puzzlement. "Wait a second, how did I even get here? Weren't we just at the…party…." his features then morphed into obvious shock, and his head darted around in a panic. "No, this isn't right. It can't be right! WHAT HAPPENED!?"
Premalon stood completely still, but Setherus noted that same distinct 'pressure' that he experienced from before as it made itself known. So that was his work then, huh? Guess that explains it. Suppose it would have been too good to be true if he could bring us back with no strings attached. Ah well, nothing I can do about it I suppose.
While he knew what to expect to a degree, when Drutus snorted out of nowhere, he was still a bit surprised. "Ahhh, those were fun times. Sorry about that, boss."
"How many times have I-you know what, never mind." Premalon said in exasperation. "Now that we don't have any distractions…" he paused, and when he spoke again, it was with his 'normal' voice "let's get started."
A loud and very confused 'Huh?' was the last thing Setherus paid attention to before the conversation went into territory he'd known for weeks now; and he simply waited for whenever he was asked to confirm what Premalon was explaining. Thankfully, it eventually ended with Drutus saying the words he'd been waiting for. "Alright then. Show me these supposed 'memories' of yours 'Premalon'. I'll decide for myself if I believe them."
"Suit yourself." the Reaper replied, and once more snapped his fingers. Oh crap, not this again!
As predicted, the world disappeared, and he started to 'fall' through the floor for a second time. When he at last stood on 'solid' ground again, Setherus glared at the only person to have come with him from the previous 'scene'. "You could at least warn me, you know!" he growled out.
"Where's the fun in that?" Premalon replied innocently.
Grumbling curses normally used by a certain asari mercenary, they both turned to face the final person of the 'dead three'. The old, well, older than him at least, man was sleeping on his back on a standard navy bunk; and from what Setherus could tell, they were onboard a ship of some kind. That is, he appeared to be sleeping, right up until he withdrew a heavy pistol from a holster around his waist; not even bothering to open his eyes as he pointed it straight at them. "You better have a good reason for sneaking up on me like that. It's typically considered rude to interrupt a man's well-earned nap."
"Nice to see you too, Lavaeus." 'Meldos' said, causing the other man to lower the gun.
"Primus?" he cracked an eye open and tried to find him in the dimly lit room. "What are you doing here? Wait, where is here? Weren't we just at the-" a sharp intake of breath is the only reaction he gave to the no doubt returning memories. "Oh. How long have I been out?"
Premalon looked surprised, albeit pleasantly, at his reaction, and answered him. "Just under a day."
"Really? Just a day? Must have been a rather pathetic bomb then; I feel perfectly fine, no aches or pain even."
"Yeah, about that…" he trailed off, before using his real voice once more "you may want to stay laying down for this."
The elder turian snapped his head to Premalon, attention fully on him now, and subtly moved the pistol in his direction. "And just who are you supposed to be?"
"You already know." he answered with his 'Meldos side', making Duvirian freeze up.
"How?" he asked in disbelief.
Another ten minute explanation later, and silence fell over the three of them as Duvirian contemplated what he was just told. "I believe you."
"Really?" Premalon asked in mild surprise.
"Yes. If you were lying to me, then at the very least, you'd have thought up something more believable than that; and I've been around long enough to know that even if something sounds crazy, that doesn't mean it's impossible."
"Well then….thank you. So, do you want to experience what I've told you firsthand, or are you satisfied with taking my word for it?"
Duvirian thought it over for a second before nodding. "Very well. If you've already given it to young Setherus here," said 'young Setherus' frowned but didn't say anything "and you're giving it to Drutus as we speak, I'd be a fool to refuse having your knowledge."
"Good; I'm glad you accept. Oh, and about that: his little sister, Salonia that is, and Calvatia are getting the memories as well."
"What? Why?" Setherus asked, concerned he hadn't been told about this before now.
"When you three…died," the pair of turians in the room winced a little at the word "myself and 'Cerhn'…lost ourselves, for lack of a better term. Those two just happened to see us with the proverbial curtains pulled back, and found out we aren't exactly what we show ourselves to be. As such, they're getting the same treatment that you got," he gestured to Setherus "and will get." he finished while pointing to Duvirian.
"Oh." was all the younger of the two could say.
"Now then, if you don't have any more questions; are you ready for this, Lavaeus?"
"Whenever you are, Primus."
The Reaper raised an eyebrow but didn't correct him; looking at Setherus with a shit-eating grin. "I'll drop you off back at your 'home' until they're through with the memories, and I told Salonia that you'd be explaining quite a bit of it personally, so she'll be visiting you soon enough. Oh, and seeing as you did ask for a warning, I suggest you hold on."
"Now wait just a-" he was cut off when Premalon snapped his fingers, and released a torrent of curses while he fell through the nothingness where the floor used to be. If he didn't know any better, he could've sworn he heard a soft, echoing laugh in the background; and only when he landed on a patch of tall grass in front of his family's home did he finally stop yelling obscenities.
Sometimes, I really do hate that squid. *sigh* Well, at least I can walk around the old place for a bit. I'll admit: it's nice to see it all again, even if I'm not actually 'seeing' it for real.
He took in a deep breath to savor the familiar Palavanian air, and walked off in a random direction to enjoy the sights and sounds of home while he waited for his sister to arrive.
10th month, 33rd day, 1027 CE, 7:31 GST, in orbit above unnamed garden world.
"Hey, whatever you want, boss." she said with a thick layer of sarcasm.
He glared at the alien woman for a second before cutting the transmission; not willing to give her the satisfaction of a response. I swear, I take my eyes off her for just a day, and she's already managed to give me multiple headaches. And I'm not even physically capable of getting them anymore! *sigh* Aren't asari supposed to have a reputation as being cautious and wise? With Valora, it's more along the lines of headstrong and morally dubious. What am I going to do with her?
He sighed one more time, not that it really mattered considering he was in the network aboard Retribution at the moment, and went back to the training mission he was currently running. When his body 'reformed' in the middle of the five man fireteam currently behind varying pieces of cover, plus Ocean just sitting on top of a large chunk of destroyed concrete, she was the only one not to jump at the sudden appearance.
"Spirits! You know I hate it when you do that!" Drutus nearly yelled.
"Eyes on the battlefield, Newbie!" Ocean ordered; having taken to her role of second-in-command during their 'exercises' fairly well.
"Who even decided on that being my official callsign; I mean come on! Can't it be changed to something better, like 'Krogan Slayer' or 'Spectre Candidate'?"
"Nope; so get used to it. Graduate, watch your left; I shouldn't have to point them out to you by now!" she told Salonia; her having been unanimously given the nickname by the other six people present. The girl herself didn't agree to it, but since when did that matter for their peculiar group?
The topic came up over a week ago when they first started their 'enhanced training'; and each of them had since then either been given a more appropriate (as in non-Valora influenced) callsign, or had been stuck with/decided to keep the old one. Well, it was a week by the simulators timescale anyway. When every hour of real-time passed was an entire day from your perspective, time limitations tended not to be an issue.
It surprised him when Salonia wanted to join them on their missions, but he understood the intent to stick with her brother as much as possible considering how close she came to losing him for good; and after the 'big reveal', there wasn't much else for her to do onboard Retribution while the finishing touches were made to the soon-to-be undead turians.
Speaking of 'Graduate', she popped out from the cover provided by a concrete barricade and sent a burst downrange: suppressing an attempt by their 'opponents' to rush them. "What're those four-eyed freaks called again?" she asked after ducking back down, a hail of slugs sent where her head used to be.
"Cannibals: batarians able to eat nearby downed husks and turn them into a layer of armor." Hystuss answered her.
"Right, Cannibals. I FUCKING HATE CANNIBALS!" she finished with a tossed grenade, earning several screeches of pain when it went off.
"Kid, we've got Saboteurs pushing our flank; take Ice and deal with them!" ordered Lavaeus, his callsign being 'Gramps', to no ones surprise, as the turian was the designated fireteam leader; he and Ocean were just playing the role of observers and overwatch during this particular 'mental exercise'.
Setherus repositioned to their rear, followed by Calvatia; her being the team's designated marksman meaning she could easily take them out at a distance before they became a problem, and him being best equipped to deal with the salarian husks thanks to his proficiency in tech warfare. Of course, his skill with a shotgun helped too, never mind the predicted physical enhancements he was allowed thanks to the boost in strength from his soon-to-be new body; estimated to be almost as durable as Hystuss' own, just with an increase in vulnerability to the vital areas. Granted, the three of them could now shrug off chest wounds that would either gut or incapacitate any normal person, and it'd take more than a single headshot to kill them due to their skulls getting an especially thick layer of nanite reinforced bone during the 'upgrade process'; but they could still be brought down, as proven by the previous sessions he'd run them through.
Funnily enough, he only now just realized that he'd created and was training three effectively un-killable, for any normal opponent that is, immune to aging, super soldiers. If how they tore into the simulated Reaper forces around them was any indication, he'd done a very good job indeed so far; and a vicious smile formed underneath the helmet he wore at the thought of them being actual Reaper troops rather than digital programs controlled by Orchestra.
Their current objective was deceptively simple: hold this chokepoint against steadily increasing waves until reinforcements arrived. His conversation with Valora had been relatively short, as it was less than five minutes long, but due to the increased speed inside the sim, the group had been fighting for close to an hour now; and the two 'mortal' teammates among them were starting to show how tiring it was for those that actually got tired. The simulation was designed to be as realistic as was possible which, because it was created from the ground up by a hyper-advanced AI comprised of billions of people that had actually been alive at one point in time, meant the pair of women even had to stop and 'eat' while inside of it every now and then; everything down to the wind making long-range shots more difficult, and dirt clogging up their gear's mechanisms if they weren't careful, taken into account and put into effect.
Hey, if I have access to a supercomputer that puts an entire modern-day planet's worth of processing power to shame, who am I to refuse such an advantage?
His point was further proven when 'Kid', as in Setherus, threw one of the Saboteurs into a nearby wall with enough force to leave a dent, both in the wall and the husk's thin chest armor where the turian had grabbed it; and the former salarian's Reaper improved omni-blades that were twice as long as their standard counterparts and lasted for several minutes rather than just one or two swings before needing to be remade, flickered and died as it crumpled to the ground in a heap of twisted metal and flesh.
As expected, 'Newbie' pulled out a pistol and fired three shots into it: one to the head, the other two into it's chest. The kill confirmed, he went back to sending out accurate bursts from his Phaeston Mk. 10, the highest quality version of the weapon available, at any husk that showed itself downrange, which just so happened to be a Marauder leading a group of Cannibals; causing the grotesque things to shoot at him in animalistic fury when their 'officer' was killed.
Drutus stopped firing immediately following a bone-chilling screech that was let out from where he was pointed, and cursed in time with a barely dodged and impressively large warp flying past where he previously stood. "Shit! I'VE GOT A DEMON AND A SQUAD OF DEFILED BEARING DOWN ON ME; NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!"
As if on cue, a series of cries similar to the first, but more in the range of sound that a normal person could make, rang out, followed by several near-misses from a pair of enemy snipers trying to get a bead on the turian.
"Dammit! KID, ICE, ARE THE FLANKERS DEAD YET?!" Lavaeus yelled in agitation.
Their response was a shotgun blast from Setherus that turned everything above the upper chest on a Saboteur into a green and grey mist, and another's head getting cut off via a combat knife shoved through the side of it's neck and then pushed out by what, if Hystuss had to guess, was a very angry Calvatia.
"What'd it do to you?" he asked, a little curious.
"THE DAMN UNDEAD FROG AMBUSHED ME AND NEARLY CUT MY ARM OFF, THAT'S WHAT!" she held up her right arm, and just as she said, the ceramic plate had a diagonal gash on it that leaked blue in some areas. The one downside to everything being so realistic is that, well, it was realistic. Although the pain was dialed down a little to keep every gunshot wound from being debilitating, it was by no means non-existent; and getting cut by a searing hot blade still hurt like sticking your hand in boiling water, at least according to what they'd told him. Another advantage a proper infiltrator held was that it's pain receptors were removed entirely, and instead replaced by a nanite network over the skin that allowed the 'pilot', for lack of a better word, to register wounds on their body without actually 'feeling' the wound in question; something the 'revived' turians envied him for. Unfortunately, even if he wanted to, making them full infiltrators would remove their free will like any other husk, so they didn't complain about the advantages he held that often.
"Can you still use it?" asked Lavaeus.
She clenched her hand into a fist and unclenched it, nodding after she did. "I'll make it."
"Then help Newbie take out that squad; focus on the snipers first! Kid, you go after the Demon once it's long-range support is taken down!"
Two "Sirs!" was the pair's answer to his order.
"How much time left until those reinforcements get here, Major?" the fireteam leader asked him, and he held back on reminding the turian that he wasn't really Meldos due to the fact that the last time he tried, the reply he got made him seriously consider Lavaeus' words. Them being: 'I never knew the original, but if what you've told me is accurate, I'm glad you're the one I met rather than him. And as far as I'm concerned, you ARE Major Primus Meldos: the honorable and trustworthy commander of Antrafell, savior of our Councilor, and a recently made friend of this old, retired, Blackwatch captain.'
He pulled himself out of his thoughts to provide the man an answer. "3 minutes, 59 seconds."
Lavaeus nodded and turned back to coordinating the defense, and Hystuss once more reminded himself of how lucky he was to get a thirty year veteran of a spec-ops force to join up with Antrafell so early in it's existence. And now, thanks to not technically being alive, he'll get leadership and combat experience normally reserved for trescari War Dancers, asari Matriarchs, and krogan Battlemasters. Then again, the others will too now that I mention it. I wonder if Calvatia would be willing to make the switch?
He glanced over at the woman in question in time to watch her put a round through the head of the second Defiled sniper over a hundred meters away, and decided to ask when she didn't look like a vengeful ghost taking out her frustrations on the targets at the other end of her barrel.
If looks could kill, then this exercise would've been over the moment she got her arm slashed open. Damn. Women can be scary sometimes. Speaking of: Ocean, don't you think it's about time they had that little 'surprise' you were planning?
Hmm? Oh, THAT surprise. Heheheh, I thought you'd never ask. He couldn't see it due to the helmet, but he just knew she was grinning evilly.
Just try not to go overboard. We want them to understand that there's bigger fish than them out there, not make them think that you're impossible to beat.
Oh fiiiinnneee. Goddess, you sure know how to ruin a girl's fun.
Goddess? Really?
Hey, last I checked, it'd be a tad bit suspicious if we're the only ones in the entire galaxy to say 'God above!' or 'Darkness dammit!' or 'Go to the depths!'. The way I figure it, if we start thinking with and using sayings and words that belong to our chosen infiltrator's species, it'd be more fluid and believable; don't you agree?
He wanted to retort, but found he couldn't when he thought it out thoroughly; and came to the same conclusion she did. Well Dar…I mean Spirits dammit, you're right. This is going to take some getting used to.
I know I am, and thanks. I'm still getting the hang of it myself, so in a way, we're learning this together; and I'd have it no other way.
Together indeed: now and forever. He told her, and when she turned to look at him in apparent shock, he was confused for a second; at least until he realized what they'd both said. They then proceeded to look at opposite sides of the entrenched warzone around them, and she 'cleared her throat' over the connection.
I'll go and do that thing now. She said in an obvious attempt at changing the subject.
Yeah, do that. He replied, trying to do the same.
Her projected avatar fizzled and disappeared like it was made of static, and the only person besides him that immediately noticed was Salonia. "Where'd she go?"
"To start the final phase of this mission." he answered vaguely.
"Hold up: final phase? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Drutus questioned him, and after he had, fired off another burst at one of the asari husk's legs, followed by the creature's chest when the offending limb buckled under his shots.
"All I'll say is that you may want to prepare for something unexpected."
"Like what?!" Calvatia growled out, apparently still peeved about her arm.
Rather than respond, he pointed to where one of the Defiled started to glow a bright blue while raising itself in the air with it's arms outstretched, and if that wasn't enough, Ocean did something he remembered his 'old friend' Harbinger had an apparent fetish for: being overly dramatic.
"ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL." the now supercharged asari husk said in a low pitched and menacing female voice, and he rolled his eyes at her theatrics. She then proceeded to throw an obnoxiously large and brightly glowing warp at the ruined aircar Drutus had been using for cover, and succeeded in ripping through it like paper; forcing the now cursing turian to roll behind a pile of rubble common throughout the 'ruined city' landscape Orchestra had made for this scenario.
When the man came out of his roll, he sent a glare through his clear visor at Hystuss that could melt through a steel wall, and continued his stream of curses. Ocean apparently decided to go all out, and said something that made the turian on the receiving end loudly growl in anger. "YOUR DEFEAT IS INEVITABLE. YOUR ATTEMPT AT RESISTANCE IS PATHEITC. ACCEPT YOUR DEATH, FOOLISH ORGANICS, AND JOIN THE RANKS OF THE ASSIMILATED."
"FUCK YOU, YOU BITCH! FUCK YOU TOO, YOU BASTARD! YOU KNOW WHAT?! FUCK EVERYBODY! THIS IS NOT WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, YOU DAMNED SQUIDS!"
He shook his head in both amusement and pity as the team was torn to shreds by the unexpected powerhouse that was an unleashed Reaper War Form, and when all but Salonia and Lavaeus were laying 'dead' on the ground and occasionally missing a limb or two, that is to say that when they were 'killed' their bodies dropped like a rock and they were forced into a spectator's view from above, he finally stepped in and told them the overall point the two of them were trying to make. While he did, the entire battlefield seemed to freeze, as no one and nothing moved a muscle for several moments. "Always have a plan in case everything goes horribly wrong. In spite of what it might look like, this is absolutely something the Reapers can and will do; so if any of you want to last in a real fight against them, I suggest continuing these training sessions."
He nodded at the body Ocean was still operating, and she returned the nod, before leaving the husk behind; and it disintegrated into ash soon after she did, as a baseline husk just wasn't meant to handle that much exertion put on it.
After numerous experiments involving husk creation over the past month-and-a-half while his and Ocean's infiltrator bodies 'slept' in order to keep up appearances, which led to the discovery of what the time period's races were turned into when he had them converted following standard Reaper guidelines, he found out that very few husks could actually handle the onrush of sheer power that 'possessing' one of them created; and came to understand precisely why they were a relatively uncommon sight in the war from his time. What good is an incredibly powerful soldier if it can only 'survive' for a few minutes before burning out? Useful for siege breaking, taking out high value targets, and leading a frontal assault, but not much else. It's a waste of troops to continuously use husks not built to handle it, and as arrogant as they are, Reapers are anything but inefficient with their resources.
As the mock battle ended, the 'dead' turians rose up from the ground and stood normally; all their wounds having been erased.
"Next time, don't just drop something like that on us unexpectedly." Lavaeus told him with a disapproving frown.
"That's the whole point: it was unexpected." he noticed how the others sent glares at him, and then Ocean when she reappeared. "But…I'll admit this was a bit much after only a week of training in here. So, to make it up to you all, I'll give each of you the next six hours of real-time off to enjoy at a special resort sim I've been crafting alongside Orchestra and Ocean. It's got mountain retreats, bustling nightclubs, hunting zones for any animal on the extranet, relaxing spas, anything you can think of really."
That seemed to brighten them up if the smiles he could see thanks to them pulling off their helmets, along their pleased subharmonic hums were anything to go by; and he chuckled at the motley bunch of turians in front of him. As he always did at the end of their sessions, he made a set of doors appear for each of them to go through that would take them to their respective 'mind palaces' as Ocean described it one time. "Go on, get out of here. You've all got a few minutes until I come over to bring you lot to the vacation sim, so until then, I suggest you spend the time planning what you want to do. Oh, and Calvatia? Salonia?"
The women in question looked at him, with the former being the first one to speak. "Yeah?"
"Once this trip is over with, you'll both need to unplug and take care of your actual bodies. However, the good news is that if all goes according to current projections, you won't be the only ones to leave the network."
"Does that mean what I think it does?!" Salonia asked with barely concealed joy.
"Yup: the building process will be finished by then, and they'll be as good as new." He told her with a smile, and she squealed like the little girl she pretended not to be. She practically skipped off to join Setherus in going through his 'door', as Hystuss found out their 'mind palace' was the same place when he went to hers; and rather than stay by themselves while they were here, the siblings decided to stick together so they could properly catch up with each other.
With that dealt with, the two Reapers left the group to their own devices as they went to make the finishing touches on the steadily expanding simulation that was their combined pet project over the course of weeks; even the third aspect of their existence had occasionally joined in every now and then during it's creation, if only because Hystuss told him/it to.
It'll be nice to relax for a bit, even if it's all 'unnecessary and a waste of time' according to Orchestra. I know he's the only one of us that lacks a true range of emotions, but he needs to learn to lighten up a little. Without some peace and quiet in-between all the action and work, any normal person would go crazy; and while the two of us are anything but 'normal' anymore, we still need a nice vacation once-in-awhile. Ahhhhh, I can't wait to enjoy some time on a beach or two. Might even go deep sea fishing with Ocean if she's up for it; I know I miss being able to go swimming for a few days straight myself. Hmm, maybe I'll visit the hanar home world if I find the time for it; I hear Kahje's ocean is world-spanning just like ours used to be.
After a minute of real-time passed, in which everything from the programmed 'citizens' down to the 'wild animals' was checked and found to still be in working order, he went to get his fellow vacationers for some well-earned time off.
Soooo, about the longer than normal wait between chapte-hey-no-stop-you almost-! *he dodges multiple thrown objects, and closes the door he came through* *he opens it tentatively to see if he can come out, and does so* Come on, it wasn't THAT long! Honestly, the impatience of some people! *the crowd glares at him and slowly raises more stuff to throw* Err, I mean I shouldn't have kept you waiting; shame on me. *he chuckles nervously, and they put the rocks, rotten fruit, and whatever else down* Anyywhhooo; I was just very busy lately and couldn't find the time to write (and after having to cut 2k words soon after the chapter's beginning thanks to realizing it wasn't up to my normal standards, I couldn't find the drive to either). Sorry about that. If it's any consolation, I hope this longer than normal chapter makes up for it.
Also, I'm debating something and can't decide, so I figured I'll leave it up to the readers: do you guys want to actually see parts of the 'vacation', or would you rather it be skipped in favor of pushing the plot forward at a faster rate? Either way, just let me know through reviewing, and depending on which one wins, I'll keep it in mind for the next chapter.
Points if you recognize the reference I made using the unnamed system's, err, well, name. Even more points if you can figure out precisely which system it actually is.
Alongside that Halo/ME xover I'm working on (have the basic outline planned for the first couple chapters, just need to write them; which I will be doing as of now), I've also started work on an Overlord (insert original Japanese translation here) and Skyrim self-insert crossover. It's still a work-in-progress, but considering how I've been a fan of Overlord since before season 2 aired, and considering how many Skyrim play-throughs I have under my belt, I can't wait to get started one way or the other. To that end, both ends really, I'm not going to work on this specific story for a couple weeks, maybe longer. That's not to say I'm going to abandon this, far from it in fact; I just want to start working on my other projects for a bit.
Alrighty then: TIME FOR SOME FREAKING CODEX ENTRIES! WOOHOOOO! *clears throat in embarrassment* Yeah, that. Now, keep in mind that these aren't all of the new/altered husks I'll be using; rather, they're simply the ones mentioned in this chapter (as Cannibals haven't been changed, they don't get a reworked entry). Oh, and I'll eventually add all these into their own special chapter sometime down the road; just letting you know. (PS: As these are codex entries made from the time of the Reaper War, expect the 'narrator guy' to explain some of their names in a way that can be told to your average citizen; because it would be rather troublesome to reveal to the public that they were in fact named over a thousand years ago by a group of people that didn't officially exist at the time. Oh, and be sure to read them in narrator guy's voice; makes it better in my opinion.)
Saboteurs: Former salarians capable of cloaking, strategic ambushes, sneak attacks, and assassination, these husks are rarely ever seen on the front lines; instead deployed ahead of Reaper invasions and assaults as scouts, to decapitate the local force's leadership, or to destroy vital defenses and fortifications undetected. Armed with dual omni-blades, the only ranged attacks they possess are enhanced tech mines, and are highly skilled in their usage, further aided by Reaper technology.
Demons: Biotic shock troops and psychological weapons capable of tearing through entrenched positions using nothing but raw biotic power, these former asari will close in on their opponents to use deadly claws and their natural abilities to great effect. When entering combat they release a deafening scream, often described by turians as the screech of a forgotten spirit, or by humans as a banshee's wail. No matter the species, this scream is surprisingly effective in shattering the morale of already tired soldiers. Rarely seen on the battlefield, they have been known to change the tide wherever they are deployed, often making any forces engaged flee due to fear factor alone. [Note: basically, they're just Banshees except with a different name because, well, banshee is a thoroughly human one.]
Defiled: Typically deployed in squads of eight, these asari husks are used mostly as biotic and/or sniper support. Their accuracy is unmatched among Reaper troops, with both their biotics and the semi-automatic rifles they often carry, but their close range fighting capabilities are sub-par. To make up for this, they avoid getting close to their opponents: instead using biotics and their natural agility to stay at a distance, harassing them with sniper fire, warps and throws. While they lack the more demoralizing scream of their larger and less common counterpart, the Demon, their features have been twisted into a cruel mockery of what they once appeared as; earning their name thanks to the still living asari forced to engage them as a result.
Marauders: Turian husks that fill the roll of officers and squad leaders, they improve the tactics and coordination of any nearby Reaper forces; making them more intelligent on an individual level as they act as a central processing hub, able to command those under them with the skill of 20 year veterans thanks to the combined thinking power of dozens of Reaper ground troops. Strangely, this appears to have no effect on other Marauders, and there are rarely any Reaper forces comprised solely of this husk variant, more often being used in conjunction with other types. They can wield every modern weapon type to great effect, but will most often be seen with an unusual Reaper assault rifle visually similar to a Phaeston that destroys itself upon it's owners death. It is unknown exactly how the weapon is made, but from field reports, they seemingly never overheat; thermal clips unnecessary for their continued function.
Possessed: While this Reaper ground unit is not limited to any singular husked race, certain aspects of it remain true across every variant discovered so far: they are incredibly dangerous, and should never be engaged with anything less than a company of Marines or an armored vehicle. According to reports, the only way for any fighting force incapable of killing it to survive an encounter with one is to attempt to flee. The reason behind this is that the process that leaves the husk empowered fortunately also burns out it's nervous system in a spectacular fashion that results in the atomic incineration of the reanimated body, typically within ten minutes after the husk is first 'possessed'. Should you find one while alone, do not engage, and if possible, report it's position to nearby allied forces for a concentrated artillery barrage.
Ah, that felt good to finally put out there. Thanks for reading my guys and gals! If all goes well, expect the next chapter for this to be out in, hopefully, a month or less (fingers most definitely crossed). As always, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time!