Alright, and now it's time to begin the next chapter. I'll admit, this is taking a bit longer than I expected, especially given the dual plotlines now of both the Benefactor and the Yuuzhan Vong. So, the end of the story might take a bit longer to get to than expected, but we are getting close to it.
But enough about that, you're here to see what happens next with both of the above. And with Anita Goyle revealed and captured, and the Pathfinder crew engaging the crew of the Vong vessel that oversaw the Nexus infiltration, things are about to get interesting. So let's dive right in, shall we?
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Mass Effect: Andromeda, blah, blah, blah, you should know the drill by now.
Kota looked over the unconscious form of Anita Goyle alongside Director Kandros. The ex-Alliance ambassador had been placed in a cell, devoid of any way for her to escape. For obvious reasons, they had kept the capture of the Benefactor a secret from the general population, with only a few aware of what happened.
"She's been out cold since the Imperials brought her in." Kandros noted as he turned to the General. "How long will it take before the stun effect wears off?"
"Shouldn't be long now." The Jedi replied. "What about her computers? Were you able to get any data off her systems?"
"Not as much as we would like." The turian shook his head in frustration. "She was able to set a virus and delete most of the usable information. We have techs trying to recover any data that they can, but it's not easy."
"I suppose that's not a surprise." The Jedi General sighed in annoyance. "She was able to evade the eyes of even SAM this entire time. It's not exactly surprising that she would have even more contingencies for her computers."
"Still, it would have been nice to have her data available for us to peruse." The Security chief said. "Now we have to interrogate her ourselves. And that gives her leverage. Never mind the fact that if she planned for us finding her by deleting her computers, who knows what other contingencies she might have prepared."
Their conversation was interrupted by a chime from the Jedi General's omni-tool.
"What is it?" Kandros asked.
"A report from the Impassive." Kota said in response. "Ryder has found a Yuuzhan Vong vessel on Kadara. They're engaging it now."
...
Thanks to the team outside, Captain Neral was quickly apprised of the situation regarding what the Pathfinder crew had found. An asteroid shaped Yuuzhan Vong vessel had landed out in the Badlands, it's very nature making it easily concealed from the inhabitants.
Now though, the ship was clearly coming active as reinforcements approached, and after seeing what the vessel on Elaaden could do, Neral wary of launching a ground assault and risking so many casualties against the weapons it had. Which was why he had a different strategy in mind.
"Captain, we will be in bombardment range in three minutes." Chief Michaels walked up to his superior as he stood at the viewport. "Turbolaser crews are primed and ready."
"Good." The Imperial nodded. "Alert the Pathfinder's crew that they have three minutes to evacuate to a minimum safe distance."
...
Back inside the Yuuzhan Vong vessel, the squad of Scott, Cora, Peebee, Drack and Ahsoka were engaged with the Yuuzhan Vong guards that remained onboard, waiting to ambush anyone who investigated.
Fortunately, the Tempest crew had expected as much, and gone in armed with weapons that would be useful against the Vong. Armor modifications and tech attacks that used fire and ice had proven themselves especially effective before, and proved even more effective now, the flames and frost making short work of the invaders.
Previous fights with the Vong had also made it clear that the extragalactic aliens had practically no defense against biotics, which Peebee, Cora and Ryder were using to devastating effect.
Gravity altering fields left several warriors floating helplessly, while warp bolts tore the Vong warriors apart at a molecular level. Biotic explosions rippled throughout the Vong ranks as the energy tore them apart, with the Tempest biotics gladly capitalizing on their ability to spread chaos.
Drack was more than happy to attack the Yuuzhan Vong warriors at close range with both his shotgun and brute strength. While the Vong had proven that they could potentially match some Krogan in terms of strength, the 1400 year old veteran had far more experience in close combat than many others, and put it to good use.
Ahsoka, by contrast, was struggling. The Vong's natural immunity to the Force meant that she was at a persistent disadvantage, being unable to effect them with telekinesis. The fact that their armor was resistant enough to even lightsabers meant that she wasn't able to do much to them.
She was able to take down a couple Vong by targeting their unprotected heads, decapitating them when she got the chance. But this only enraged the remainder even more, and the rest focused almost all their efforts on her.
And while this may have given the rest of the team some more breathing room, it also meant that she was hard pressed to defend herself. Even the armor she was wearing to help protect against the Vong attacks was being steadily worn down.
And to make things worse, SAM chimed in with more bad news.
"Pathfinder, we have a problem." SAM spoke up. "Captain Neral intends to bombard this vessel into dust within the next three minutes."
"He knows we're still inside the ship, right?!" Peebee asked, as she and Cora unleashed a biotic shockwave that knocked several of the Vong warriors away from Ahsoka.
"Of course he does." The asari-trained human huntress shook her head. "But he's not going to let that stop him from removing a threat."
"Everybody fall back!" Scott shouted as they made a retreat towards the way they came. "We need to get out of here."
"On it." Ahsoka backflipped away from the Vong, reaching out with the Force and grabbing the omni-tool of the Quarian prisoner as she did so. "May as well try to get something out of this."
The team beat a hasty retreat back through the tunnels of the ship, being chased down by the Vong all the while. Several organic doors had sealed shut, necessitating either explosives, brute Krogan strength, or the application of Ahsoka's lightsaber blades to get past.
This cost them critical time, and they were close to the hull when the ship started shaking. They quickly realized that the shaking wasn't a result of the Star Destroyer's fire tearing through the Yuuzhan Vong vessel.
"SAM, what the hell is going on?"
"The ship has taken off." The AI responded. "It is attempting to take evasive action."
"Well... crap." Peebee eloquently said. "Now what are we going to do?"
"We jump." Ahsoka said simply as they came across the entry way, which had sealed as the ship had taken off.
"That's it? We jump?!" Peebee asked incredulously, even as the others started setting up explosives on the entry.
"You got a better idea?" Cora countered as she set the last of the explosives and took cover.
"Besides, it's not that bad." Drack said, pausing in his explanation as the entryway exploded. "It's really not that much of an issue if you have a redundant nervous system."
"We don't exactly have those, Drack." Scott snarked before activating his long range comms. "Tempest, we're going to need a pick up." The screams of the Vong warriors chasing them wasn't completely drowned out by the rushing wind from the air. "Preferably sooner than later."
"We need to go now." Ahsoka prompted, pointing out how the hole in the entry was already starting to heal itself.
With only Peebee protesting, the team made a run out of the rapidly closing hole and leapt out into the open skies of Kadara, while Kallo had already been airborne and with SAM's help, had plotted their trajectory and ran an intercept course.
Ahsoka used the Force to slow down their descent as they landed on the outer hull of the Tempest. They made their way through the airlock and made it back to the cockpit to watch as the Impassive opened fire on the Vong ship.
To everyone's surprise, the turbolaser bolts were blocked by micro black holes that snapped into existence to absorb the destructive blasts, leaving only gamma radiation behind.
"Bloody hell." Suvi spoke for all of them. "That's incredible."
"And dangerous." Ahsoka growled. "If they can use black holes for shields."
"SAM, please tell me you can see some way to bypass their defenses." Scott asked with concern.
"From the analysis so far, it appears that the micro singularities need to activate for every single shot." The AI replied. "Perhaps a higher rate of fire would overwhelm them."
"Worth a shot." Scott replied. "SAM, tell Neral what you just told me."
The message was quickly relayed, and it appeared that the Star Destroyer captain took it to heart, as several fighters launched from the Impassive's hanger and joined the battle.
The Vong vessel retaliated with its strange magma weapons, but the fighters, combined with the Impassive's increased rate of fire, were doing the trick. Furthermore, the fact that the vessel was a scout ship and not a dedicated warship meant that its dovin basal was quickly overwhelmed.
Eventually, the micro black holes stopped appearing and turbolaser bolts bit deeply into the vessel. It almost seemed to scream and writhe in pain as chunks of it were vaporized.
Three turbolaser bolts later, and the vessel had been destroyed, leaving viscera and debris burning up in the atmosphere. Ahsoka looked away sadly while the others reacted with disgust at how the ship died.
"God, these Vong are just a nightmare that keeps on giving." Suvi muttered, drawing a chorus of murmured agreements from everyone else in the cockpit.
"With any luck, we can be sure this nightmare is coming to an end." Scott said, turning to Ahsoka and the omni-tool she had retrieved from the vessel.
"Hopefully we can get something off this." Ahsoka said, handing the device over to Scott. "In the meantime, we probably want to pick up the others on the surface."
As the Tempest returned to the ground to pick up the Nomad and everyone who'd been outside the ship, SAM got to work analyzing the Quarian's omni-tool and the data it contained. Fortunately, the Quarian in question had managed to discreetly gather quite a bit of info, in spite of the Vong's pathological hatred of technology.
He had managed to record a lot of the Vong's conversations and deduced a few facts from that. Ahsoka couldn't deny that she was impressed with the prisoner's fortitude and wished that she could have gotten to know the man in person.
Now though, they had to deal with what they knew now. The good news was that this was only one of three Yuuzhan Vong ships present in Andromeda. Of course, that meant the other two ships were still at large. And worse; according to SAM's analysis, one of those ships was heading to Meridian.
Alright, and it looks like we're going to end this chapter here. Quite a bit has happened, with both Anita Goyle under arrest and the Initiative uncovering where the third Yuuzhan Vong ship has gone; straight towards Meridian.
Now, we're going to pick up on that in the next chapter, though for now I'm going to keep the details quiet due to spoilers.
With all that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.