A.N. : Hello everyone, it's ya boy with a long time coming sequel to my one and only fanfic, Voidborn(e) ! For those who haven't read it, you might end up a little confused as to what's happening here, so I would advise reading it first ! To those arriving from it, I hope you're all doing well and enjoyed it, and hope that this sequel will live up to the expectations set by my previous work ! It was a bit of a daunting task to write a sequel if I'm honest; ME3 is such a large story, and I wanted to do something more with this sequel compared to Voidborn(e). I won't spoil however, that would just be rude after all.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this, and stay tuned for follow up chapters ! I can't promise a perfectly consistent upload schedule, but like I did last time, I can at least promise you all not to leave this story unfinished !
Reviews, favs and follows are always welcome, as is any criticism, good or bad ! It's how I improve after all !
The room was veritably drowned with the various sounds emitted by the many consoles and holographic screens as people, some dressed in military suits whilst others wore full on vacuum sealed body suits, ran around analyzing each and every piece of information getting to them.
-"How bad is it ?"
The man who'd asked the question was one of those wearing a military outfit; decorated to denote him as one of high ranking. The various symbols spread across his jacket denoted him as an admiral; the second highest rank in the Alliance fleet.
-"Bad." The man who answered him had a rough voice; one that spoke of authority and command. His age showed through the wrinkles of his skin and the grey in his hair. "We just lost contact with two of our deep space outposts." That brought a wince from the admiral. "There's something massive on the long range scanners."
There was a definite sense of trepidation in the room; technicians relaying information whilst analysts made their predictions, their reactions varying from worried to downright horrified.
-"Is this what Shepard warned us about ?"
The older man's response was absolute.
-"I'd stake my life on it."
The admiral considered that for a few seconds, before asking, his voice tight.
-"How long do we have ?"
-"Not long." The older man clapped his hands in his back, the decorations on his chest marking him as an admiral of even higher displayed prominently on his chest. "I've sent word. The fleets are mobilizing."
Through the window of the command post, one had to merely glance to see the vastness of space; and in it, the incredible amount of ships orbiting Earth. Dozens, hundreds of ships, with thousands upon thousands of fighters patrolling the various fleets assembled at humanity's homeworld. Cruisers, frigates,, and even the colossal dreadnaughts Kilimanjaro and Everest; kilometer long behemoths of steel and power, each a symbol of humanity's power.
And yet, when admiral Anderson spoke, there was only resignation and grim determination.
-"God help us all…"
Jane Shepard was many things. War veteran. Slayer of Saren. Vanquisher of Collectors. Ex-specter. Adoptive mother to a Krogan. Friend to an eldritch abomination from another dimension. One thing she was not, was easy to surprise.
Still, the sight of a tall, lanky, red capped humanoid bug in her room was a bit of an unexpected event.
The moment she'd blinked awake and seen it from the corner of her eye, she immediately rolled out of bed, reflexively reaching out for her bedside gun only to remember that, due to her current state with the military, she was not allowed a gun. Instead, she lunged at the creature, attempting to sweep it off it's legs. Before she could make contact however, it simply rose a spindly arm, snapping it's two dark claw like fingers together and vanishing in a burst of crimson flames. Shepard flinched, realizing a fraction of a second before hitting the floor that the flames weren't generating any actual heat; and in fact, didn't hurt as the last flickers licked her skin, dissipating as they did.
Slowly getting back up she turned around to face the intruder. Clearly, this wasn't going to be someone, or something, she was going to be able to get easily.
-"Come now, there's no need for such violence."
She took a closer look at the creature. It's voice was raspy; to such a degree she'd only heard in a few people, usually suffering from massive throat damage. It grated on her ears. It stood tall; taller than her by a solid head, and Jane Shepard was by no means small. It must have been a good two meters tall, perhaps a bit more. It's head was round, ending in two large horn-like protrusions, with large red eyes. Or she guessed they were eyes; there were no traces of pupil, only a single, monochrome red, focused solely on her. The creature's skin...or rather, exterior, was chitinous; bug like truly. Most of its form however was draped in a long grey cloak, it's long black arms similarly hidden underneath it. All in all, it looked like nothing native to this galaxy. However, it bore a small level of resemblance to a couple of beings she'd met a year ago while facing the collector threat…
-"Apologies for reacting a bit strongly to someone creepily standing in the corner of my locked room." She answered in a clipped tone. The creature, to her annoyance, only nodded.
-"Apologies accepted commander." Patience Shepard. You saw what trying to clobber that thing got you. "I in turn apologize for the...abrupt intrusion. However, I fear we have little time to discuss." That was one way of putting it. All Shepard had to do really was scream loud enough and she was sure to see a dozen armed guards rush in her room. But, if that thing came from where she suspected it did…
-"You're not from around here are you ?"
An approving nod.
-"Indeed not commander. I believe you are already familiar with the realm I hail from." A pause, then a flourish, as the ...bug ? She was going to go with bug until further notice, spoke in a grave tone. "The Land of Hallow Nest." Then, in a much more casual tone, it added : "Or at least, that was our last location before we arrived here."
God damnit. She was right, that thing came from the same place as Ghost. How the hell did it get here ?! Did that strange teleportation of theirs allow them to go through walls as well as air ?
-"I was under the impression the way was blocked off."
The creature shook its head, eyes still fixed on her.
-"No. When our mutual friend returned to it's world, it stabilized the connection. They did not fix it. And while usually, one would be unable to cross through...the Grimm Troupe is a bit of a special case."
She cocked an eyebrow at the thing, unimpressed. Still, that thing apparently knew Ghost...or at least their involvement in her own galaxy. But just because they referred to them as their 'mutual friend', she wasn't planning on lowering her guard quite yet.
-"Grimm Troupe ? What, you part of a carnival ?" Hey tall and buggy came in uninvited, the least she could do is allow her natural sarcasm to do it's work. To her annoyance however, it merely chuckled.
-"Of sorts. I am Grimm, master of the Troupe. We go from place to place spreading cheer and laugh...amongst other duties." There was something sinister in the being's last words. Shepard's eyes narrowed.
-"Alright, cut the chit chat. What do you want."
Grimm turned around, looking out of the window to the people below.
-"The Grimm Troop's change of location is not something I can control. It could be a land of fire or snow. It could be a monarchy or a democracy. But there is always one common thread." The bug turned to her, it's eyes burning with crimson light. "It is always where a civilization is about to die."
Shepard felt cold. It was absurd of course. The creature could be just trying to sound cool, or merely utilizing the fact that her claims of the incoming Reapers here to kill them all were well known.
There was too much about this situation that was far too strange. Too much unknown. But Shepard was used to dealing with the unknown and absurd. And… it did come from the same place as Ghost. A land of magic and gods. She had seen it all herself. A magical troupe that appeared when civilizations died ? Far fetched...but not impossible.
The bug, however, was not done.
"You and your people stand at the precipice. The beings you call Reapers are almost here; you have tried to prepare. Tried to delay. But you are out of time." It spread its arms in a grandiose movement. "But who's doom we are here to herald is unsure. The board is set. The pieces arranged, albeit in your favor. But there is still a chance your people will be the ones to survive the coming onslaught."
Well that was all good and ominous.
-"Okay...so besides coming to say all that grandiose stuff, why are you actually
here ? Or did you just come to watch the world burn, so to speak." Her experience of the creatures from the other side so far consisted of the Hollow Knight, a mute giant of a creature, Ghost, who she still now considered part of her crew, the Radiance, a goddess hell bent on dominating the minds of all she could, and the Pale King, a being so determined to destroy the aforementioned goddess that he willingly sacrificed millions of its children for the sake of creating one devoid of a soul. Although, with what she did in that Batarian world...it had become harder to claim she was any better.
No cost too great indeed.
But overall, it wouldn't surprise her that the creature in front of her had merely come to watch the fireworks.
-"I am here to give you a better fighting chance." At her disbelieving expression, he chuckled. "Now now, don't look so grim. That is a task for my troupe after all." Did he just...no. She wouldn't deign that with a response. "I understand your disbelief. A strange creature walks into your room, starts prattling on and on...I would hardly be much more inclined to listen. But, you are running low on options. And we both know you could use firepower on the level of dear little Ghost."
Now that caught her attention alright. Still, she wasn't going to be distracted by such an obvious bait.
-"...that doesn't explain why you want to help."
Grimm shrugged.
-"Well my dear, to be quite frank, I owe the wyrm's child quite a bit. They have helped me in a most important task, and I would see that assistance repaid. They seemed quite determined to help you last time they were here...I doubt they would appreciate seeing you die at the hands of those mechanical abominations." A chuckle. "Assisting you seems like a good way to repay the debt."
Well, it wouldn't surprise her that Ghost somehow got involved with tall and creepy over there. The vessel seemed to have a habit of getting into trouble.
-"Fine. Let's say I believe you. How do you plan on helping exactly ?"
Not that she did mind you. But it didn't hurt hearing this Grimm fellow out she supposed.
-"Simple. I cannot bridge the gap between worlds; the Grimm Troupe was summoned here, and here it shall stay until the Fall of the curtain." It pointed one of it's spindly hands at her. "But you. You can travel to Hallow Nest and find them. Find Ghost. And bring them back here." He chuckled. "With his ascension, I have little doubt he will prove more than a match for your foes."
Memories of a scream; a silent scream, that rendered through the void. Of tendrils of void tearing apart ships the size of cruisers like they were tissue paper. Of a singular being, towering over all, eclipsing the very stars as they made a mockery of the Collector fleet.
Yeah. Yeah she could use that kind of power against the Reapers.
On the other hand, she wasn't sure she liked the idea of dragging the vessel back into her war...this wasn't their world. Not their fight. Last time at least, the Radiance had been a common foe that she helped defeat, and the Collectors had merely been repaying her back. Here...she would be asking for their help whilst offering nothing in return. Their fight was over in Hallownest after all, from what she'd understood.
But if she chose not to. If she chose to leave Ghost in peace, and they lost. When she stood in the ashes of trillions...would she really think she did the right choice ?
...no cost too great, huh ? She wasn't sure where, but somewhere along the line, she'd started to understand that phrase of his, that pale bastard. Maybe it was seeing the nightmares that laid beyond the void. Maybe it was the knowledge that had made her blow up a mass effect relay and condemn hundreds of thousands of civilians to their death just to delay the inevitable.
Maybe it was staring into the eye of a smiling child and realizing that, should she fail, there would not be a single being left alive in the galaxy once the Reapers were done with it. So, despite hating herself for it, she looked Grimm in the eye, and gave a single tight nod.
-"Alright. What's your plan."
Grimm tilted himself slightly to the side, once more snapping his fingers, making a strange red symbol appear on her floor. It glowed with light, and small red particles floated in the air; circles of complex shape slowly drifting around the symbol. It was similar to Ghost's...what was it they'd called it ? A Dream gate ? Except red.
-"Merely step into the gate, and it will bring you...well, not quite your destination. It is hard to estimate from here. But it should be close enough. Seek a place called Dirtmouth. That is where our little friend often returns to rest; and where he resides when not on his adventures."
Well, that wasn't suspicious at all. Step into the glowing red circle, said the spider to the fly. At least, the red gate proved that he indeed was from the same world as Ghost...and could use similar powers, it seemed. Then again, hadn't that power been related to the Radiance ? Hesitation gripped her. Was this a trap ? A revenge from someone related to the goddess ?
But then she remembered. She remembered the devastation brought upon Horizon. She remembered the insides of the collector ship, where thousands, millions of pods lined the walls, each ready to dissolve humans into their base components. She remembered that, should they not defeat the Reapers, this would be the fate of all intelligent life in the galaxy.
At the end of the day, it really was no choice at all.
And so, in a move that could be described as foolhardy at best and suicidal at worst, she stepped into the circle. As she did, Grimm drew something from his cloak; making her freeze as she saw the gun now pointed at her. Shit. But, her fear was quickly calmed as he merely handed her over the weapon.
-"I believe you could use this. The lands around Dirtmouth are safer than they used to be, but they are not clear of all danger."
A carnifex pistol. That should take care of whatever danger this guy was referring to. A flash of red enveloped her for an instant, and then, she was gone; vanished from the room.
The tall being stood there for a second, staring at the spot she'd been but an instant ago. Then, he chuckled, his raspy voice grating to the ears.
"Well then...I hope you are ready, oh God of Gods. It is time for you to perform again."
The moment the red light around faded, Shepard snapped to attention, taking in her surroundings. She seemed to be underground; in some fairly large tunnel. The walls, floor and ceiling around her were all made of dirt and rock; although, strewn across them, were colossal shells; eggs perhaps ? Each the size of a car or more. Looking around, she couldn't see anything move. There was light here, strangely enough; lamppost like contraptions illuminating the tunnels in gentle white light. Approaching one, she saw the light in them was in fact generated by small little creatures; similar to how Ghost's lamp had been.
It was the sign next to it however that caught her attention. There were strange symbols on them; symbols that, for some reason, she could actually read.
East : Dirtmouth.
West : Stagway.
Below : City of tears.
Ah. Well that was convenient. Still, it begged the question as to how she could read this...she was quite certain she'd never seen these symbols before. She brought a finger to her lips, thinking. Actually, hadn't Ghost managed to learn how to understand languages by using that nail of theirs ? Was it possible that when she shared that vision with them, that she learned his as well ? It was as close to an answer as she had really. But, she supposed it didn't really matter. She had a direction now, and so, she started walking down the long corridors.
It took her all of three minutes to find trouble.
She'd been making good progress, in her humble opinion, when she encountered some sort of wandering creature. It was a humanoid bug; of all the creatures from Hallownest she'd ever met, this one resembled a bug the most in fact. Standing at about a meter and half, it was smaller than her by a bit; but the large abdomen of it made her wary of how much strength it could bring to bear. The thing that really got her on guard however was how empty it's eyes seemed, as it shuffled along the path towards her.
Gripping her gun tighter, she was unfortunately unsuprised when it finally caught sight of her, letting out a pained moan and charging at her. She considered shooting at it, but for all she knew the creature was merely defending it's home.
-"Wow, hey there ! I'm not looking for trouble !"
No response as the creature took a clumsy swipe at her, easily avoided by simply side stepping to the side. Well, she'd tried. Slamming a fist into the creature's face, she immediately followed up by swiping it's legs from under it; sending the bug crashing to the ground with a pained squeak. Falling on it's back, it seemed unable to easily get back up, struggling to move from side to side like some sort of turtle. Watching it do so, she had no doubt it would eventually get back on its feet; but hopefully, she'd been a good ways away when that happened. She came here to find Ghost after all, not slaughter the locals. If they were all as weak as that guy however, it shouldn't be too much of a problem to dispatch them non lethally.
Clearly, the universe had been listening to her blatant baiting, but not two minutes later had she already found something far more threatening.
It was large, that much was clear. As tall as the Hollow knight had been, and that bastard had been a good four meters tall. It looked similar to the creature from earlier, but it's carapace looked thicker; having grown over it like some sort of body armour. Most worryingly of all however was the absolutely massive horny like club it held in its hand, as it slowly lumbered towards her.
Well, this wasn't good.
"Um...I don't suppose you'd be up for a chat, yeah ?"
The creature responded by swinging it's weapon down unto her with frightening speed, Shepard jumping to the side.
"Guess that's a no then !" With that, she grabbed her gun and fired at it's chest. No way was she taking chances in close quarters with that big bastard. The powerful shots of her carnifex gun seemed to actually affect the creature, the first three making it reel backwards whilst the fourth actually penetrated the thick armour, gooey green ichor spilling out. Well at least she could scratch the Radiance as the possible cause for these creatures behavior.
Still, it was not dead, slowly getting back to its feet. As she aimed her gun to finish it off, heavy footsteps echoed from behind her. Then to her sides. Swinging around, she paled. No less than a dozen of these creatures were making their way towards her; coming out of the multitude of corridors which crisscrossed with the main path. They were still a few dozen meters away each, but with how much it took to put down, her lack of equipment, and most crucially her lack of teammates...Shepard snorted. Not the worst situation she'd been put in, not by a long stretch, but still not exactly a comfortable one either.
With a single shot aimed at the head, she finished off the first of the giants. One down. Twelve to go. Taking careful aim, she started firing into the shambling creatures; managing to gun down three before they finally reached her. Squashing her fear, she waited until they were just about to swing before sliding underneath the legs of the closest one, the bug getting slammed with the horn of one of its compatriots, killing it instantly. As she'd suspected, these bugs weren't the brightest. Springing to her feet, she lunged to the side to avoid another hit, only to have to roll backwards as a second one slammed where she'd been. In the same motion she got back up, taking only a fraction of a second to aim with her gun and, with an aim only surpassed by a select few in the galaxy, shot the head off another of the creatures. As she reloaded her gun, ejecting the thermal clip, a voice rose from above the creatures.
-"KASSA !"
The next thing she knew, two of the creatures were hitting the ground, ichor sprouting from their backs. She'd barely had the time to catch a glimpse of the offender before they were already gone, vanished in a blur of speed. Snapping out of her confusion, she took the chance and backed off, the bugs seemingly as confused as she'd been, and much slower to react. Aiming once more, she shot two bullets in the closest head, then another in the second. That brought their attention back to her. Good. If however had helped her hadn't stuck around for a fight, it meant they were must be an ambush fighter. If the big bastard's attention were on her, maybe he'd get another shot. Only three left.
Once more, the voice emerged from the darkness above them.
"KASSA !"
And in a flash of steel, two more of the creatures fell. This time, Shepard did not blink, merely gunning down the last of the giants. Then, she tensed. This may not be over yet. She looked for any sign of movement; any sound out of place, any…
"My, I haven't seen anything like you before…" She did not shriek, but it was a close thing, whirling around with her gun up. There was a bug behind her. But unlike those she'd come across so far, there was intelligence in his eyes; a certain light that showed sentience. That, and it was talking. "although, you do strongly resemble a description made by a friend of mine. Say, would you be one of those 'humans' Ghost met during their little travel ?"
She took a second to examine the bug a bit closer. They were about the same height as her; following a similar structure to the others, with spindly limbs and a thicker abdomen, all covered in carapace; albeit, his did not look thick enough to serve as armor. They had a mask on their head, tilted upwards to reveal their face, and held in their hand a long nail resembling that which Ghost used to wield. It was hard to read expressions on the face of a bug, but if she had to qualify what she saw she would say they looked curious more than anything. Then, she realized she'd been staring for far longer than a second and awkwardly nodded.
-"Ah, um, yes. Human, that's me. You know Ghost ?"
The bug nodded, doing no effort to hide the fact he was looking her over. Had it been from someone back in her galaxy, she would have thought they were checking her out. However, she saw in their examination the same sort of detached attention she saw in Mordin when he was experimenting.
-"Yes, quite well in fact. We met during some of my travels when I first arrived in Hallownest. I was quite worried when he disappeared for days." They chuckled to themselves. "Not the first time they do so, but rarely for so long. Their sister was...twitchy." At that, there was a slight shiver. Well, he'd known what a human was from sight, and Ghost was the only one here who could have given that sort of information...added to that that she assumed they were the one who'd assisted in the fight, she decided that, for now, she could place some trust in the bug.
-"Well, I appreciate the help with those...I don't think I got your name ?"
The bug gasped softly, shaking his head.
-"Oh, how rude of me ! Forgive me, in the face of something new I lost all my manners...I am Quirrel, scribe for Dirtmouth." Quirrel. Well, a name was a start. Before she could reciprocate however, the bug lifted a hand. "Ah, no, please, let me try and guess ! Red hair, female, a terrifying ability to dispatch even tough foes like those...you must be Commander Shepard ?"
Oh great. Even in another goddamn dimension people knew her. Hiding the slight twitch of annoyance, she gave a smile to the bug.
-"Correct. Glad to know I felt an impact."
Quirrel chuckled, gesturing to her to follow him as he started to head down the tunnel.
-"You could say that. Ghost certainly enjoys talking of their time aboard your ship." The bug gave her a gentle smile. "Between the two of us, I'm very grateful Commander. It's nice to see them so open." She cocked an eyebrow at the bug, to which he shrugged. "They're still quite reserved compared to most, but...they've improved by miles. They used to be so quiet and reserved...barely writing more than a few words at a time. So thank you Commander."
She wasn't sure what to respond to that. She was used to praise for being a great commander, a good soldier, for helping save people...but being thanked for being a good friend ? That was...nice. She found herself smiling softly.
-"Well Ghost helped us quite a bit. They've got quite a few friends aboard the Normandy."
-"Ah, your...ship, is that correct ? Yes, Ghost did mention that...it is hard to imagine, a vessel travelling the stars...I am quite jealous of them for that." The bug gave her an inquisitive stare. "Still, I was under the impression that the passageway was closed...how did you even get here ? And what brings you to our land ? Not that you are not welcome of course."
That brought Shepard's good mood right down. She scowled, thinking back to the red bastard. It might be unfair, they had done nothing but help so far, but they'd been a cryptic bastard doing it and she hated that kind of bullshit.
-"Tall and red showed up in my room to announce doom and gloom. Said he could help me contact Ghost to ask for help. Much as I hate dragging him back in this mess, we could really use them right now."
Quirrel hummed.
-"Well, it is not my place to judge that. Ghost is their own person, they will make the decision themselves." The bug smiled. "Still, I will at least make sure you find them safe and sound." She realized they'd reached some sort of platform, light shining from above. There was a chain hanging down, which Quirrel held out to her, a small grin on their face.
"Hold on tight, it's a bit abrupt when you aren't used to it."
Confused, she grabbed the chain as Quirrel gave it two short tugs, waited, then gave another. Suddenly, the chain started being lifted up at a frightening speed, Shepard yelping as it did. In an instant she was out of the...well ? She was in a well ? And out in the open. Some sort of large bug was holding the chain, having apparently been the one to drag her out. The sound of someone landing softly behind her made her turn, glaring at a grinning Quirrel.
-"Thanks for the heads up." The sarcasm dribbling from her words did nothing to stop the bug's small chuckles.
-"Sorry sorry. It was too tempting." Walking up to her, he helped her get back to her feet, giving a sweeping gesture towards an assembly of strange buildings a bit further ahead. The land around was like a large plateau at the heart of a series of cliffs, giving it the strange impression of being at the heart of a bucket. The bug gave her a happy grin as he gestured to the assembly of buildings.
"Commander Shepard. Welcome to Dirtmouth."