Crow's line of thought could be summed up as a line of never-ending 'what the frick's, because Glint discouraged true swear words. He wondered if his Ghost might make an exception just this once, because really.
2185. Never heard of the Traveler. Alternate timeline. What the frick. What the frick. What the frick.
And now he stood out across from Commander Shepard while her fireteam kept an eye on the perimeter, trying to describe how Hive fought and feeling like he was totally losing it. He kept fumbling when he tried to explain how shreikers operated, and when he got to ogres, he realized he'd never actually fought one in a one on one fight. He'd been a bystander at best, sniping off smaller units from a safe hiding place while the Young Wolf handled the wrathborn.
Oh boy wasn't it fun trying to tell her how the cryptolith worked, trying to explain that the people down there couldn't be saved.
"I can't go in believing that, Crow." She said, shaking her head. "You're sure there's no way? "
"Yes!" He exclaimed, his nerves combining with frustration. "I've seen how things end if you try. I've tried myself and it's impossible!"
"Okay, calm down." Shepard raised her hands in a placating gesture. "I'm just... still having trouble with this."
"At least you live here!" He snapped, immediately regretting it. He took a deep breath. "Sorry."
"You're not a professional... whatever you are, are you?" Was all she said, one eyebrow raised. Crow felt his face heat up.
"No..." he admitted. There was no point in lying, and lying never ended well for him in the past, anyway. Someone always saw through it, he was an awful liar.
"Why didn't they send someone more experienced? No offense, but this isn't the best sit rep I've ever had." She asked, leaning forward with her hands bracing against the table they stood at.
"Nobody sent me, I just... followed the ritual. They were powering it using this side, so I went through the portal." She gave him an 'are you shitting me' kind of look.
"That portal could have led anywhere." Shepard pushed off the table, looking exasperated. "And you just jumped through?"
"I know I'm not the brightest, but anything the Hive do typically has bad consequences for someone else." Crow rubbed the back of his neck, face still hot. "So yes, I jumped through. And we really should get going before they do something else awful."
"Garrus, Thane." Shepard called her team in. As he approached, Garrus said something, but to Crow it was an incomprehensible humming growl that sounded too much like something bad for comfort. As he understood it, the two aliens had translators that let them hear English as their own language, but it didn't work both ways. Garrus took something out of his pocket and slid it across the table to Crow; a thick, strange bracelet of some sort.
He took it, eyeing it warily. If Spider had taught him anything, it was that you could never trust a 'gift'. Glint materialized at his shoulder, mistrust in the angle of his nodes.
"It's an omni-tool." Shepard explained. "It has a built-in translator, Garrus set it to English for you. Just put it on your non-dominant wrist, like you would a watch."
Crow had never had a watch before. He held the omni-tool up to Glint, who scanned it.
"Safe." His Ghost concluded, before phasing again. Shepard's face did something odd at that, and he clipped the omni-tool to his left wrist.
"What, did you think it was, a bomb?" She asked. He couldn't tell if it was rhetorical or not, and he shrugged.
"It could happen." He said. The last time someone had given him something, it had been an apple Arrha tossed him, which he had bitten into without letting Glint check it first. Surprise; it had actually been a grenade. Bad way to go for him, but incredibly amusing for Arrha.
She didn't like the implication of Crows casual paranoia. She didn't know why but something was just off about him. Not just that he was, in fact, green like she'd theorized, but something else.
"Okay, now that we can all understand each other, let's go over how this will happen." There were a million more things she wanted to ask Crow, but they didn't have time. The sun was getting low, and from what Crow said, the Hive thrived in the dark. "We have three targets, one up here, two down there. Our best option is to split up. Crow, you know what to expect down there."
"They may have set up more defenses since I came through, but if I can get to the cryptolith and burn it, you can fight them without risking the whispers." The strange man told them, setting several glowing grenades on the table. "After that, it's just a matter of setting solar charges to destroy the portal, and shutting down the ritual on my end."
"Your end?" Garrus questioned.
"They're draining power from this side, but the ritual itself is happening in my reality." Crow explained. "We'll have to cut the power and destroy the ritual simultaneously or it might not work. I've never seen a Hive operation like this before, so it's better to be safe rather than sorry."
"So who's going where?" Thane looked to Shepard. She considered her squad carefully. Herself or Garrus could handle the technical end of the op, between the two of them they had plenty of ways to cut the power, and plenty of contingency plans that could be executed swiftly of plan A didn't work.
"I'm not sure of I'm comfortable taking your people with me down there." Crow shuffled in place nervously. "Every moment the cryptolith is intact is a risk for you, you don't have powers like mine to protect you from it."
"And I'm not comfortable sending anyone down there alone." Shepard shook her head. Unkillable or not, letting him got down there solo sounded like a disaster waiting to happen, especially for a green kid.
"Who's best at hiding, then?" He asked. Thane canted his head slightly and raised one hand. What is this, school?
"Hey, I'm plenty sneaky!" She protested, trying to get at least a little smirk out of him. Thane shook his head, and didn't smile.
"Not enough, I'm afraid." He said. "I would be best suited to accompany Crow. I can hold back and assist from the shadows, while he does what must be done."
"O-okay." Crow looked apprehensive, and she had doubts she could trust him with Thane's life. She was about to ask if he'd ever been responsible for the life of another before, when a sudden stillness cut through the air. Crow went ridged, wide eye fixed over her shoulder. Turning, she saw the same hawk as before perched in the window of the prefab.
"The bird again." Thane commented. He could at least try to sound weirded out by all of this. The hawk seemed to be staring through her, seemed to tell her to -move-, and she edged to the side. It was staring at Crow, and Crow was staring at it.
"You've seen the hawk?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the strange bird.
"It led us to the tunnels." Shepard answered quietly. Something about the animal seemed to demand -silence-."What is it?"
Pressure seemed to fill the air. Thane tensed beside her.
"Shepard..." Garrus warned. Then she felt it. The earth rumbled beneath their feet, and an unearthly roar seemed to rise through the air. The hawk let out a cry, and the sound seemed to crash against the roaring, and something equal parts ice and warmth seemed to spread through her veins. It spread it's wings as Thane and Crow dove under the table, and Shepard ducked to squeeze in with them. Garrus was thrown against her, forcing the breath from her lungs.
As quickly as it started, the minor quake stopped. Crows grenades, thankfully, had not gone off. Herself and the heavily armored turian were left awkwardly trying to back out from under the very small table while their smaller, more maneuverable compatriots wiggled out easily enough. Garrus' chin barked against the top of her head, and he let out a yelp.
"Oh, quiet, you big baby!" She grunted. An elbow jammed into her side. "Watch the elbow, you horrible spikey monster!"
"Ow!" He exclaimed as the sound of something hitting metal rang out. "Why can't your people make roomier kitchens?"
"It seems real roomy to me." Crow piped up as she and her turian friend finally managed to get back up. The hawk was gone.
"I'm going to take what just happened as a sign to get moving." Shepard said, rubbing her tender side. "Thane, Crow, get to the tunnels. We'll track down the power generator."
Crow nodded, though he looked rather anxious and alarmed. "Be careful, Commander. Back off if you hear whispers."
"Be careful with my man, Crow." She warned equally, before addressing Thane. "Help how you can but don't take any risks."
"You needn't worry, Commander." The drell reassured her. Crow produced a number of fiery knives, handed one to Thane, and set the rest next to the grenades.
"Take these with you." He insisted, pushing them towards her and Garrus. "Grenades work exactly how you think they would, the knives will burn through any shielded wizards you come across. They'll look like they're wrapped in heat, that's how you'll be able tell if their protection is still up, and the shields tend to explode when you bring them down, so steer clear when you go after them."
"We'll keep that in mind." She said as she picked up a grenade, while Garrus examined a knife. Taking her regular grenades off her belt to make room for the replacements, gave Crow a final once-over. I really hope I'm not making a mistake. Trust was so hard to find these days. "Let's move out!"
I was originally going to go over Crow telling them how Hive units worked in more detail, but it was such a dry conversation I had to cut it. It just didn't flow well. I'm considering fusing this chapter with the last since ther're both so dialogue-heavy, so if the chapter count goes down or stays the same after an update, that's what happened. Suggestions on yea or nea are welcome.
Enjoying season of the lost so far. Glint has proven his status as a cinnamon roll that nobody can truely hate, and I can't wait to set him loose on the Normandy. Cinnamon roll Glint is canon and this makes me so happy.
Feedback is EXTREMELY welcome!
Fare Thee Well!