Alright, and it's now time to begin the next chapter and hopefully conclude the story arc regarding the Quarian Ark. To recap, the Benefactor has led the Sith to the Ark and the Tempest crew have followed them.
Aboard the Ark, they found a number of the crew had been turned into zombies, courtesy of the Blackwing Virus. The team have split up, with the Jedi dealing with the Sith, while the others go to the AI core. And that's where we are so far, so let's dive in, shall we?
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Mass Effect: Andromeda.
The Sickness had been dormant for a long time, with little awareness of the galaxy around it. Oh, it had been touched, modified by those who created it and others, but it hadn't been able to spread as much as it used to.
The last major outbreak aboard a Star Destroyer and later a small outbreak on Dathomir before it had been contained and its essence altered. They had managed to make it more diluted, and slightly less virulent than it had been.
Time had passed, how much the disease couldn't be sure, but years most likely. It spent most of that time in what it figured was some sort of warehouse or storage area, as much as it could understand the concept.
Despite many thinking it was nothing more than a disease, few realized it was more intelligent than they realized. Though it certainly lacked an interest in anything beyond spreading itself and infecting as many beings as possible, and the extent of its knowledge was around that.
Still, it had enough self awareness to understand some of what was going on around it. So, when someone eventually came and started moving it around, it knew that circumstances had changed in the galaxy, one that required its usage or destruction.
A new species had appeared, one which the Sickness hadn't encountered. It wished to infect them, but the others didn't want to. Or perhaps they did, it couldn't be sure. It wouldn't be the first time someone had wanted to use it as a weapon.
Either way, it knew when it was taken aboard a ship, so it was unlikely whoever was carrying it wanted its destruction. At least not yet. Still, it was almost certain that the pilot was trying to flee this new species, though what happened next put an end to that.
The ship carrying it was being attacked in hyperspace, when it struck the anomaly. The unstable phenomena had torn the ship apart as they passed through it, leaving the vial containing its essence drifting in space.
Fortunately, it had not been drifting for too long, as another vessel found the debris and pulled it out of the void. And even better, there was a leak in its container, allowing its essence to start spreading as soon as it had been brought onboard.
It did not recognize any of the species aboard this vessel, not that that kept it from infecting them. Those that were awake quickly succumbed to the disease, as was its nature, and soon they rose again.
Annoyingly, the ship itself was able to recognize the danger, locking down sections of the vessel and isolating and removing its airborne strain. Like before, it was left drifting, with nothing but its puppets.
Still, it was nothing if not patient, knowing that eventually someone would find it, as it had before. And fortunately, it didn't take long before someone had. The familiar forms of humans, Sith, Jedi, combined with unfamiliar species, well, it promised an all you can eat buffet.
And for all the bodies in the reactor, well... they were hungry.
...
Kota had barely heard the warnings coming over the radio from Scott and the others, more focused on fighting the Sith at the moment. But he heard the warning about zombies in the reactor. Then there was a massive ear splitting scream, coming from the dark pit below them.
The fighting Jedi and Sith all came to a halt at that noise, which was quickly joined by the sound of gunfire and biotics, followed by more screaming from the zombies below. Jedi and Sith alike spared a glimpse down into the pit, the sporadic gunfire revealing hundreds of undead jammed together in the pit.
Sara, Peebee and Jaal were already backing away and trying to seal the entrance they had created while zombies surged after them. Meanwhile, most of the other zombies turned up toward the Sith, and rather worryingly, some had weapons in their hands.
"I'd say it's time to put this on hold." Zhaff was the first one to speak up, just as mass accelerator from below started sparking around them.
Zombies started climbing up the walls of the pit, there mouths tinged with blood, their voices screaming as they ignored any damage being taken from their movements. Ahsoka immediately ripped a panel off the wall and hurled it at one of the zombies, cutting it in half and sending it falling back down.
"Agreed." The Jedi Knight said reluctantly as she and Master Kota quickly regrouped while the two Sith did the same.
The erstwhile allies headed towards the exit as the first zombies began to climb up onto the catwalk. Quick lightsaber slashes knocked several off or split the undead in half, leaving them immobile as the Force users made their escape from the reactor.
"Sara, Peebee, Jaal, you guys alright?" Ahsoka asked as they ran from the zombies, sealing the door behind them.
"For the moment." The Ryder twin replied through the comms, gunfire and the sound of biotics came through, mixed with the sounds of the undead screaming. "I don't know how we're going to deal with all these zombies though."
"We need to lure them off the ship." Kota responded, even as he cut down a pair of zombies in their path. "SAM, is there any way to vent the reactor room into space?"
"Would that even work?" Scott's voice broke over the comm. "I don't think zombies need to breathe."
"They can't do anything in a vacuum." Ahsoka countered, cutting down another two zombies as she spoke. "Beyond just floating around aimlessly."
"Then it would be easier just to cut the artificial gravity." Vetra pointed out.
"Whatever we're going to do, can we just do it now?!" Peebee shouted. "We've got a horde of zombies on our tail as is!"
"Copy that." Scott said briskly. "SAM?"
"Deactivating artificial gravity now." The AI replied.
With that warning, everyone was able to activate their own mass effect fields and magnetic boots to keep them on the floor. The zombies on the other hand, weren't so lucky, and started floating and thrashing angrily as they found themselves helpless to the lack of gravity.
"Well... that was easy." Sara said over the comm, breathing out a sigh of relief as Jaal and Peebee panted in the background. "Next time, let's lead with that."
"What's our next move?"
"We need to find the original vial that brought the virus here." Scott said, the team already moving. "It's apparently somewhere on the ship."
"And... why do we want to gain access to the zombie making bioweapon?" Peebee asked.
"Other than to blow it up?" Jaal agreed over the comms.
"With access to the original virus, I believe we can develop a vaccine to prevent the airborne strain from effecting anyone else." SAM explained, even as Ahsoka and Kota looked around their immediate area and noticed a problem. "Perhaps even an antiviral to cure those we can."
"Um we have another problem..." Ahsoka said over the comms, ignoring the floating and thrashing zombies around her and Kota as they found the hallway currently devoid of two people. "Where did the Sith go?"
...
The news from the Jedi that the Sith had disappeared was not the best news they could have heard, with the Pathfinder team of Scott, Drack, Liam, Vetra and Cora on edge from the idea of encountering them alone.
To make matters worse, SAM was having difficulty tracking them, as damage to the Ark's systems meant that a lot of the security cameras weren't working properly. This, combined with the zombies floating in the air, thrashing, growling and screaming angrily, wasn't helping their anxiety.
"The thing is, I don't think the Sith are interested in hunting the rest of us down." Ahsoka was explaining over the comms. "I can sense their concern and it feels like they're running."
"And we need to catch them before they can escape." Kota said in response, his voice tight and driven as he opened another channel. "Tempest, lock down the airlock!"
"Understood." Kallo's voice came over the comm, he, Suvi, Gil and Lexi having been listening in to the events going on. "We're detaching the Tempest from the hull, to make sure the Sith don't just cut through the door."
"Good thinking." Ahsoka agreed. "Better to keep the Tempest and yourselves out of their reach."
"They're not going to escape that way." Jaal noted as they all kept moving. "The shuttle they stole, where is it?"
"It's two decks below on the other side of the ship." Suvi replied. "If you hurry, you might be able to intercept them."
"We're on our way." Kota responded as the Jedi already started heading in that direction. "SAM, do you think you can seal the doors between there and here?"
"Already done." The AI replied.
"Alright, we'll head them off." Ahsoka said. "As soon as you get the vial, just head back to the Tempest and don't wait up for us."
"If you insist." Scott said, though he privately knew he was going to do no such thing. "Good hunting and may the Force be with you."
With that conversation done, the teams kept moving towards the waypoint SAM had set. There was a brief moment of fright when they ran into Sara, Jaal and Peebee as they were making their way towards it, but with the zombies still floating helplessly, the journey was weirdly peaceful.
"Y'know, I'm surprised we were so scared of these things before." Liam noted, ducking under a zombie's attempt to grab him. "Should have just turned off the gravity sooner."
"Who said I was scared?" Drack grumbled, then all but shrieked as a dead body floated right in front of his helmet.
"Just a hunch." Was all Vetra deadpanned in response.
There were a few brief chuckles in response, but they quickly died down as Scott reminded them that all the zombies used to be the crew of the Ark. With that sobering reminder, they resumed their search for their goal, eventually reaching the room it was supposed to be in.
"Found the vial!" A brief scan of the room had revealed its location, floating among loose detritus and body parts as Ryder scooped it up with biotics, before sealing it inside a more secure container. "Tempest, we've got the virus and we're ready for extraction."
"Understood." Lexi was the one who responded. "Quarantine and decontamination measures have already been prepared for your return."
"Right, pick us up at the starboard airlock." The Pathfinder replied, SAM setting a waypoint as he spoke. "Ahsoka, Kota, any luck finding the Sith?"
"They haven't shown themselves yet." Ahsoka said, clear frustration in her voice. "Though given the amount of doors we've found cut open, they've definitely been this way."
"Unless this was a decoy." Kota realized. "SAM, were there any shuttles still in the Ark's hanger?"
"Affirmative." SAM confirmed. "Several shuttles are active and prepped for launch."
"Oh shit." Peebee spoke for all of them at that piece of news, which was compounded by the next words from the Tempest.
"Detecting a shuttle launching from the hanger." Kallo said somberly, his sensors detecting as it flew off into the void.
"Can you intercept it?" The Jedi General asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"We don't exactly have any weapons on this ship to do so." Kallo said, and seconds after he said that, the signature of the shuttle completely vanished from all sensors. "And it just jumped to FTL."
"Tracking its vector now." Suvi reported. "With any luck, we might be able to determine where they're going."
"I wouldn't count on it." Ahsoka sighed. "We're on our way back now."
...
Soon, the entire crew had reached the Tempest, which immediately took off from the Ark's airlock. The ground team had to undergo extensive decontamination and quarantine, to ensure that none of the Blackwing virus could infect the rest of the crew or anyone else.
Once Lexi was totally certain that they were clean, they were allowed out of quarantine, letting everyone shed their full enviro suits as they got everything stowed away. Unsurprisingly, there was also a lot of discussion about what needed to be done, the zombies on board the Ark and how that happened.
"I think one of the biggest questions we need to answer is just how the hell there were so many bodies onboard the Ark in the first place." Vetra said once everyone had gathered in the briefing room. "Because the records said it themselves, most of those people were already dead before Blackwing got onboard."
"That's... a really good point." Scott admitted, before turning to the holotable. "SAM, any detail on what the the hell happened?"
"From the reports, it would appear this was not the first time a biological weapon was unleashed on the Ark." The AI replied, bringing up holograms of hundreds of people awake and sick. "It would seem someone smuggled a powerful bioweapon from the Milky Way that affected multiple species. Fortunately, the virus was cured, but not before it effected over a thousand colonists."
"Who the hell would do that?!" Liam asked, his eyes wide in shock.
"Officially, the cause is unknown." The AI replied. "Unofficially, it would seem the captain was to blame, with a hidden report suggesting she had issues with the other species and desired a new status quo not bound by the Citadel Council."
"Well, the Initiative's screening process certainly failed there." Kota deadpanned with a frown.
"The Quarian Ark was the last one built, and the one that was behind schedule with everyone else." Sara noted. "Makes sense that things became a bit lax. Especially given the timing of the Reaper invasion."
A grim silence followed that statement. If what little they knew of the timing was correct, then the Quarian Ark had left while the Reapers had begun their rampage through the Milky Way. They would have literally just missed them.
"Could they have encountered the Reapers?" Ahsoka asked. "It would explain the damage to the Ark."
"Negative." SAM answered. "The Ark wouldn't have made it this far if that was the case. All signs indicate that it was debris from a malfunction plus encountering the Scourge that caused the damage."
"Wait, back up a second." Cora interjected. "Why were the bodies still onboard? Shouldn't the standard procedure have been to eject them into space?"
"Lieutenant Harper is correct." SAM noted, a noticeable tone of confusion in his voice. "The records even show that the bodies were supposed to be disposed of. I'm not sure why they were not."
"So we've got yet another mystery to solve. Alert the Impassive to what's happened here." Scott sighed. "And make sure the Initiative proceeds with caution regarding any of the escape pods they find. With any luck, we can find some actual survivors to explain what the hell happened."
"Where the hell was the Impassive anyway?" Drack spoke up, giving voice to what the crew of the Tempest been thinking. "We could have used their help dealing with all these zombies and ensuring that the Sith didn't get away."
"The Impassive was investigating some new developments." SAM reported, having already sent the messages and gotten replies back.
"What kind of developments?" Ahsoka asked.
"There have been attacks on isolated stations and settlements across Heleus, most prominently at H-074c." The AI replied. "Ones that obviously couldn't have been caused by the Sith."
"Is it the Kett?" Jaal asked, but the AI replied in the negative.
"The attacks do not match the typical behavior of Kett raids." SAM said.
"Then if it wasn't the Kett, and it wasn't the Sith..."
"Then who the hell was it?" Kota finished Cora's thought.
...
Meanwhile, the Sith were back aboard their stolen Angaran shuttle, hidden deep among the Scourge clouds. They had taken a couple random jumps to ensure they wouldn't be tracked, before recieving another communication from the Benefactor.
"So... that clearly didn't go as well as we hoped."
"You think?!" Xianne growled, glaring at the hologram of a turian. "You had access to the Ark's systems. You could have warned us of all those undead in the reactor!"
"My access to the ship's systems was not quite as complete as I had hoped." The Benefactor admitted. "Nevertheless, what's done is done. And there are still ways for us to accompish our goals."
"Our last endeavour with you turned into an unmitigated disaster. Why should we listen to a word you say?" Zhaff asked, causing the Benefactor's image to smirk.
"Because I know the location of something important to you." The holographic image shifted, this time to a familiar pyramidal item of black and red, covered in Sith markings. "I believe this belongs to you, correct?"
"Our master's holocron." Xianne's eyes widened and then narrowed. "Where is it?"
"On the Nexus." The grey eyed hologram shifted to a turian as it replied. "And I can help you get it."
And I think this is where we're going to end this chapter for now. The plot thickens, to say the least, and there will be a lot of changes on the horizon as we go further along into the story.
With that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.