Well here it is, the long awaited chapter for Are We Alone. I know many of you have been waiting for this chapter for a long while and I apologise for not getting it out any sooner. But with my other stories and with how things have been going for me I have been busy as hell. But now I am working on this some more and intend to update it regularly.
So I hope you enjoy this chapter and all the glory of it. Got a friend from school to help me edit it, he is awesome. I think you will notice a massive upturn in quality with this piece. Simply amazing.
Are We Alone
Chapter 08: A True Reaper
Pishon, Eden Prime
Major Mikkai looked down at the piece of paper that currently served as his only map of the colony. With the damn tech down they'd been forced to repurpose a map for tourists into something that vaguely resembled a strategic map, with the end result looking as if a toddler had attacked it with a faulty fountain pen. Dots marking enemies overlapped with messy chicken scratch words, until the entire thing was practically a blob of red. Barely half the words were even legible and, in Mikkai's opinion, the thing was about as useful as a piece of paper someone had bled on and then declared a 'map'.
"Sir, Captain Anderson was on the horn, we're getting those reinforcements. They'll be dropping boots in twenty." Despite the supposedly good news, Ericson's face was grim.
"Good, but I can tell you're dreading to tell me something else." Mikkai prompted, deciding he'd better know before it bit them all in the ass.
"Beta squad sir, we found them… all KIA." Ericson replied, hands behind his back and doing his best to keep his face neutral and ignore the despair that had settled in his gut, heavy as a stone.
Mikkai raised his fist up, ready to slam it down on the table, but hesitated for a moment. He let out a breath and rested his palm against the map, ignoring the way things smeared so much like blood under his hand. Couldn't get bogged down yet, couldn't let the moral fall for they had a lot more work ahead of them. A lot more fighting, and, sadly, a lot more dying.
After a moment, Mikkai asked, "They went down fighting?"
"Took at least three hundred of the bastards down with them, sir. That army we were getting torn apart by was what got them. They're pretty much the reason we're still alive." Ericson explained, giving a helpless shrug. "I say they saved our arses sir."
Mikkai didn't doubt that; they had landed in the hottest part of the township and they all paid for it with bodies and blood. Their sacrifice had allowed them to succeed here and he was proud of that. Yet it still stung that all those good boys he sent out were cold and dead, and he would make sure they got their commendations later. But now they had a battle to win, an invasion to stop, and an ass-kicking to deliver.
"What about the Geth?" Mikkai asked. "What have they been up to since we took this location?"
"Don't know, they seem to be focusing on the Space Port and Main Colony. However, on the comms we're getting some scattered chatter on a few military channels, but we don't know if it's any of the marines that are still alive or just civilians looking to try and contact anyone they can." Ericson responded with a shrug. With how scrambled everything was, there was absolutely no way of picking anything specific out. "Once we get some of the gear down here we can see about what's happening outside this little hamlet."
"Good man, let me know as soon as it touches down; I want to speak with the Captain." Mikkai instructed, and the man saluted him before rushing from the room.
Mikkai knew that they had about a thousand marines on hand and not a single bad soldier among them, with all of them hardened and strong. You had to be to take the fight to the Batarians near the border of their space. If you weren't you didn't walk away alive, simple as that. To have these soldiers here and ready to fight was a miracle. Had they not been sent or if there had been a few hours difference, this entire incident may have gone unnoticed until it was over.
Mikkai prayed for small miracles like these; it was what turned battles and even wars in favor of those who knew how to take advantage of such a rare opportunity, and he wasn't going to waste this chance. He was going to be leading the Alliance Marines and his N6's against these machine bastards, and he was going to make them remember today as the day they thought they could fuck with humanity. But with that thought, the Major was brought back to demoralizing reality with a glance at the shitty little map he was using and scowled at the near illegible scrawl drawn all over it. He really should have kept the glass casing that was over it. Cracked as it had been, it would have made it a good deal easier to rub off unneeded markings instead of having to irritably scribble over it and just mark up the paper further. But until he got some actual logistics and a descent holomap, this was the best he had. Hell, he'd take another copy of the same map so long as the glass was intact- he couldn't afford to be picky anymore.
"Sir, dropships are touching down, and Shepard found two survivors." Joshua said, leaning in through the doorway. "Also, Anderson and Hackett are both on the line; we've got a direct connection to them both set up outside."
Mikkai nodded and quickly followed him out. The dropships where there just as promised, with marines pouring out of them and into the square they'd taken and defended. Around two hundred of them were in formations across the twenty by forty open plot of dirt, the only thing that stood out were the many crates filled with as much weaponry as they could reasonably carry. Which was a lot, since they were initially heading towards the Verge and were thus thoroughly stocked with a nice range of goodies for the inevitable fights. Even a few pieces of experimental tech had been added in for "field testing".
"Hackett and Anderson are waiting, sir. Also, the survivor is saying… well, you have to hear this, sir…"
"I will get to her after I speak with the Captain and Admiral." Mikkai said, ignoring Ericson as he was pulled aside so the Major could speak with his superiors.
Admiral Hackett and Captain Anderson looked as grim as usual on the screens, their mouths pressed into a needle-thin lines and brows creased. If he didn't know them well enough he would have thought them impartial to all that was going on. But deep down they were seething with festering rage they kept under tight lock and key until it was needed. Such a coordinated attack on Eden Prime at such a pivotal moment was one of the few things that could infuriate the two men to such a degree, for it reeked of a traitor.
The Council's sanctions that had been effectively choking their colonies for a long time now had finally reached their logical conclusion with hundreds dead in an attack they had neither the manpower nor resources to fight off. One of humanity's most important worlds and in just one attack it'd be crippled for months to come, with colony plans set back even further as more people grew afraid of the vast wilderness of space. When this was over, the sanctions being immediately dissolved would be the absolute minimum anyone would accept, and not even the meekest politician would be anything less than unmovable on the issue. The Council was certainly going to get flattened under the might of humanity's united voice when the final reports were released and demands for revenge were made. It would be brutal and there was little doubt other non-Council races would smell the blood in the water and dogpile the issues while sneaking in their own personal problems into the dialogue.
Personally, Anderson couldn't wait.
"Admiral, Captain, we've gotten everyone groundside and are ready to move out on your orders." Mikkai said, folding his hands behind his back and schooling his features.
"Good, I want any civilians evacuated and the Geth neutralized." Hackett ordered with his authority clear. "At your discretion Anderson, I already have the Third Fleet moving out. They will be there in an hour or two."
"I'll see you then Admiral. Mikkai, what's the current status on the Geth? Do you know why they're here?" Anderson inquired.
"Through basic scouting and what I'm reading now shows they have attacked the main Spaceport in the area. The surrounding colonies have been raided thoroughly, but that appears to be mostly incidental. The Geth seem to be localized around the ship they came in on." Mikkai said, looking over the sizable amount of data they were receiving from the deployed drones.
Anderson nodded stiffly and said the one thing everyone knew, "If they have taken the Spaceport then there is only one thing they could be after."
It had always been obvious the Geth were here for the Beacon, this only just confirmed what they had expected. The Spaceport was the pickup point for the Prothean Artefact and it had beeb there that they intended to collect it and then get the hell out of dodge before real reinforcements could arrive. It was the only explanation that fit the Geth's current behavior patterns, and, considering the otherwise sheer coincidence of the timing, a whole lot of sense.
"The Beacon, how the hell did they know about it?" Hackett growled. They had been damn careful with that information and taken painstaking measures to insure it remained under wraps. Only a few key people had even heard a rumor that it existed, and it was to such a point that he had neglected to tell even his fellow officers about it.
He was certain that only the Captain knew about what they were picking up, so how was it that the Geth found out about this closely guarded secret? But as worrying as the thoughts of a potential leak was, such things could come later, when there wasn't a firefight close enough that the sound of shots still rang out and the Beacon was once again secured. If the Geth were so desperate to have it then it must been even more valuable than ever thought and could not, under any circumstances, fall into their hands.
"Unknown, but right now we have our men ready to move. We've got heavy armor and a lot of people itching to get some payback on these bastards. We just need to finish scouting their locations and we can begin the assault." Mikkai said.
"Do not engage the enemy until you know exactly what you're dealing with; the Geth are a virtually unknown combatant here. For now, securing the Beacon is your top priority. I want your men personally to see about getting it back." Hackett ordered. If they could retrieve the Beacon, then maybe the Geth would leave once they were deprived of their goal. "They want it, so we need it, and if we lose it to the Geth there is no telling what kind of problems we'll be dealing with in the future. Get it back at all costs."
"I understand perfectly, sir. I will get my best men on it." Mikkai declared with a salute.
"Sir!"
Mikkai turned and looked over, finding one of his N6's standing there beside a marine in white and pink light armor. She definitely wasn't part of his unit so she must be the survivor Ericson had mentioned earlier. But he didn't have time to deal with this now.
"Shepard, not now." Mikkai dismissed, waving her away and turning back to the waiting Captain and Admiral. "Apologies, Admiral."
"No need, Major. Shepard, I see that the second chance we gave you wasn't wasted, good to know." Hackett said, glancing through the screen towards the N6 operative.
"It wasn't, sir, but we have information that is paramount you hear immediately. We may have an edge against the Geth, sir." Shepard reported quickly, before conversation could start up again. Those present frowned curiously at her eager, borderline gleeful, tone, as if she'd just been given a fantastic present.
"What is it?" Anderson asked.
"There is an anomaly here." Shepard stated, and the whole plaza seemed to go quiet as the totality of that single fact hit her officers. Their opinions were divided on the anomalies, but since they always helped humanity the news was nothing but good now. There was no need to say any more, but Shephard herself felt hope bubbling in her heart as she remembered the one who'd saved her life, "Specifically, the Guardian of Elysium. It's Ichigo."
The three looked at one another, words not leaving their lips as they tried to digest this revelation. There was an anomaly on this planet, and one of the more famous ones who'd been a ghost since his first appearance Elysium. To say it was earthshattering news was putting it lightly. Already Mikkai could hear some people within earshot muttering to one another, spreading the news like wildfire on a dried and desolate plain. Within seconds, moral had soared like a ship taking off, many of the hardened men there looking as if they were already over the moon and reaching deep space, victory assured to them all.
The teen had become a symbol to the Human Alliance; a representation of the might of humanity and that powerful gods protect them. If he was here, then it was inevitable that the people would rally at sight of him and follow him willingly into the hell of battle. To even know that he was on the planet would make everyone think they could win this with twigs and rocks if they had no other choice, for their god would surely cut down all their enemies.
"Where was he?" Hackett asked, voice steady even as his own excitement built.
"Near the Dig Site, sir; not to far where the Beacon was found." Ashley replied. "That was less than three hours ago, he might still be around there. The Geth were all over that place last I checked, and he seemed pretty intent on destroying them."
Hackett was silent for a moment, his eyes downcast and thinking hard on something, and Shepard figured he was trying to decide if it was safe to send in people. Not because they feared an attack by Ichigo, but the sheer number of enemies between them and the target. They had the logistics on the enemy numbers and what exactly they would be facing, but even so, with someone like Ichigo there was there even a real threat? That guy could take down entire armies himself, by the time they even got close all the Geth might very well be destroyed. All they needed to do was mop up the ones he left behind, if there even were any. He had been very thorough on Elysium after all.
"Major." Hackett said, and Mikkai snapped to attention. "Get your team together, you are going in now."
Saren paced up and down the walkways near the tram in a futile attempt to settle his nerves. Things were not going as smoothly as he had anticipated, and though he was confident his mission would still succeed, it was taking a toll on his mind. He cast a glance across the long valley below the cliffs of the transit station, and from there he could see three colonies in the distance. They were unremarkable, separated by open flat fields and some farmlands, but one particular colony was now peppered with the forms of multiple System Alliance aircraft.
He snarled, cursing his wretched luck. He'd known that the System Alliance had been set to arrive soon to retrieve the Beacon, but he hadn't expected them to send an entire fleet. It didn't matter, he had an entire army looking for those ruins right now and as soon as they found the burial chamber he would have the Beacon. He didn't have to win any sort of fight and the Geth were completely expendable. So long as he kept things moving quickly, they'd be off planet with the Beacon before the Alliance could make it even half way to the Space Port.
"Saren-Prophet, danger is close, Entity three point eight kilometers from your position. Consensus recommends immediate departure."
Saren scowled as he heard the report. It was one of a dozen he had received regarding some sort of…entity that the Geth were fighting. They hadn't been specific about what this entity was and simply referred to it as an unknown but powerful pseudo-organic when he asked for more information. Its apparent difficulty to kill and whatever that actually meant didn't matter; soon the Beacon would be secured and then loaded onto the tram. In less than an hour he would be departing for the Space Port and effectively unreachable, and Saren knew very well the Alliance would have to fight for every inch towards his position.
But this entity seemed to be different.
"I want to know what this entity is, now!" Saren barked, tired of these scattered reports that only gave barely decipherable information.
"Information fragmented, unknown interference from entity causing network jamming. Update: Danger close, Entity two point-one kilometers from position, accelerating north-west. Immediate departure recommended." Was the crisp reply over the Omni-tool, just as useless as the last few responses.
"Spirit damn it, give me a visual on this thing then!" Saren ordered. He was sick of this guessing game the machines seemed to enjoy playing. If they couldn't identify it, then he would do it himself.
"Affirmative, compiling fragmented visual files now."
Soon the files began to fill the screen of his Omni-tool, giving him terribly static-filled stilled images of the so-called entity. It was so horribly distorted and blurred he could barely tell where the black of the figure ended and the surrounding world began. He couldn't even tell the species of whatever he was looking at, and the sheer difficulty of it all almost made him considerate of the Geth's plight.
Whatever the figure was, it appeared fairly tall and almost a pure black smudge streaked with white in the distorted picture. What Saren assumed were its arms seemed bizarrely disproportionate, one significantly longer than the other, and nothing but sharp black lines with a few strange lighter patches. The only real color that could be seen was a smudge of orange near the figure's assumed head. It looked vaguely like fur, no, more like the hair of humans when kept short. But that hardly made any sense, no human could fight through so many Geth, and there were still its arms that looked too long.
Something wasn't adding up, and Saren felt himself fixate on the unusual color, 'Orange… where have I seen that…?'
"Danger close, Entity nine hundred meters from position, south west. Immediate departure recommended. Update: Target approaching location, sending in all available forces to intercept."
Saren stiffened in shock. How could it be moving so fast? It had covered over three kilometers in only a handful of minutes and seemed to be hardly slowed by the waves of Geth in its way. This couldn't be human; it had to be some kind of monstrosity that… looked human.
Eyes wide and mandibles flared, Saren stared at the clearest picture he'd gotten, and everything fell into place. The orange was human hair and its arms weren't deformed at all; in its hands were those two iconic swords. It was an anomaly, one of those so called gods that humanity had started praying to, thinking them some sort of bloody saviors. What were the even the odds that one of those things turned up on the one planet Saren happened to be on? Of all the times for one to appear and interfere it had to be now?
"No… no!" Saren roared, slamming his cybernetic fist into the closest breakable object near him.
The Geth had its chest caved in and inner circuitry shredded, but Saren hardly cared another of those worthless machines had been destroyed. The Turian Spectre continued to roar damnation, cursing his absolutely wretched luck. If one of those things was here then there was nothing they could do to stop it- he could throw literally every Geth in existence at it and the anomaly would rip through the millionth as easily as it had the first. They could only hinder and maybe distract it, but that would only buy them a few minutes at most.
But Saren only needed a few minutes.
"Contact all platforms, get them into the field and engaging this thing, distract it for as long as possible!" Saren ordered. If he bought them enough time then they could find the Beacon then leave and get away from that thing. He just needed to keep it away from where they were searching.
There was too much riding on this to fail now; he couldn't allow himself to fail Sovereign. Saren knew that failure here would mean more than just his death, but actually the end of all species in this galaxy. Even the anomalies, as strong as they were, wouldn't stand a chance. But as the minutes ticked by and the Geth reporting to him flickered out one after another like weak flames in a windstorm, Saren felt himself grow uneasy. What if there simply weren't enough bodies that could get in the anomaly's way?
"Saren-Prophet, Prothean Excavation Site located. Beacon secured for transport."
Saren nearly slumped in relief when the communication came in, moments before he allowed himself to sink into dark thoughts. His near-despair evaporated and finally the mission seemed possible. Finding the Beacon was the hard part, now all they needed to do was flee as fast as they could. There were surely enough Geth left to buy them that much time.
"All Platforms continue previous instruction, but lead the anomaly away from the excavation crew transporting the Beacon and the Spaceport. Make sure he does not get near here!" Saren ordered. The anomaly, as powerful as it was, couldn't stop what it didn't know about.
Saren turned and waved to the troops, and the Geth fell into line behind him with perfect precision. He was going to escort the Beacon himself and personally make sure it made its way back. There was no way he'd take even a single chance that it would be intercepted by anyone, be they the anomaly or the Alliance. Even if he has serious doubts he could ever stand up to the absolute might of that monster, he knew Sovereign was capable of destroying it in a matter of seconds. Nothing could possibly stand against a being such as him, creatures who had existed for millions of years without ever once being bested.
"Saren…"
The Spectre nearly stumbled as he felt the words reverberate through his skull, his biotic implant flaring up as his new 'master' spoke directly to him.
"Make for the Beacon and ensure its protection. The Geth have failed in their duty to dispatch a single unknown and I will not tolerate such failure with this simple task." Sovereign commanded, all-powerful and all-consuming.
"Yes, Sovereign, but the unknown is one of the anomalies. I believe it is Ichigo from Elysium." Saren said, trying to warn the Reaper of the dilemma.
"This entity is a known danger, hasten your efforts and collect the Beacon and the contents within. If that is not possible, destroy it." Sovereign ordered. "I will not allow anomalies to interfere in this cycle."
Shepard slammed into cover as a spray of rounds pinged off her shields. The Geth certainly had put up a bit of resistance around the Dig Site, guarding their prize viciously. Ashley had been helpful and informed them of the Beacon's location and how to best reach the site, but that had been the easy part.
The hard part came with the amount of damn Geth they had in their way.
Either their information had been wrong, or something had chanced, because there had to be a hundred of the bastards instead of the two dozen they'd been warned about, crawling like ants over practically every surface. They'd entrenched themselves in the Science Camp that stood between them and the Dig Site, packed so tight they were practically on top of one another. Shepard had a team of about twelve with her that were all N6's, excluding Ashley, and even they were struggling to stand their ground, much less push ahead.
"What are we dealing with here?" Shepard called over the comms.
"A lot of Geth, heavily entrenched and looking to make sure nothing gets into the Dig Site!" Was the reply over the line from Sergeant Greer. "I'm picking out large walkers as well!"
Shepard peaked over to see that he was right; massive quadruped Armatures that were effectively tanks that killed you with a hard look. She was being quite literal, since they had a pulse cannon of all things embedded in the head, making it both anti-infantry and anti-vehicle. If they were mounting this kind of defense to keep them out, then the Beacon was surely still there.
"Ashley! Where did you say the Beacon was?" Shepard barked out.
"We hid it within the chamber where it was found when we heard gunfire! We had it all ready to be excavated and transported to the Spaceport in sight of an hour!" Ashley replied, rising up and firing a quick burst at the Geth trooper.
She scratched their shields but did nothing else.
"Do you think they're still looking for it?" Shephard heard a shout over the comms that was nearly drowned out as an Armature nearly took her left arm. Back into cover it was then.
Shepard didn't have the faintest clue as to what the Geth were doing. Their tactics were completely contradicting what she'd expected to happen the moment she saw how completely outnumbered they were. The Geth were employing a Fortification tactic and had entrenched themselves into the Camp and were refusing to budge, holding off the troopers with sheer numbers. That wasn't right, why hold back and defend against a group of twelve when you had heavy support and vastly superior numbers? If she were in change, Shephard would have ordered a full assault and overwhelmed the enemy instantly, so why hadn't they done that? Was it a possible the Geth were flanking them even though there was no need to do so? Were they trying to hold the Dig Site completely just to make sure that something unexpected didn't happen?
"Rochelle! You got eyes on any other enemy movement around us?" Shepard asked, pressing a hand against her helmet and ear to try and drown out some of the gunfire to hear the reply.
Rochelle took a moment to response, but it was a simple "Negative" before the crack of a Sniper Rifle being fired off rang out a second later. An instant later a shield shattered and a distant Geth crumpled to the ground with its head blown clean off. Rochelle had been set up on a ridge about eight hundred yards from their position and was picking off targets and giving them logistics on the area.
"Only activity I got is about three point one kilometers to the South-East, Geth are currently engaging something en masse." Rochelle replied, ending the communication with another bang of her rifle. "There's got to be a thousand or more Geth down there, and they're all converging onto something."
Shepard scowled, that at least meant they didn't have to worry about an attack from the rear or sides. Logically, if the vast majority of their army was moving towards that one spot, and whatever there was still alive, then that likely meant that was there Ichigo was located. No one else would be able to hold off when surrounded on all side like that. But what was with the intense defense they were encountering here? There had to be a reason..
"Can you see into the Dig Site? I need to know what's going on in there!" Shepard ordered.
Finally she rose up and started firing, a solid burst to the nearest Geth's chest took its shields and faux life in one blow. Littered with holes, it fell brokenly and Shephard mirrored it, diving to cover as her own shields flared with warnings. Tucked tight, she waited for them to recycle and recharge as bullets and charges soaring over her head. If the Geth were on the defensive than maybe they were worried about Ichigo, and Shepard couldn't blame them. But he wasn't here, so was all this for them? To keep them away from the Beacon as it was located or even being transported away?
"Got something…" Rochelle said, halting for a moment. "I got a Turian at the Dig Site; he seems to be in command."
"A Turian? What the hell is one of them doing here?" Shepard said, grunting as her boulder was rocked by a pulse blast from an Armature.
"Unknown, but there aren't that many reasons… Shepard! I've got sight of the Beacon! They've already found it and are already wheeling it out of there!" Rochelle shouted, a bit frantic but trained though to still be steady enough to fire off another shot, deadly as always.
"Shit! Alright boys we need to pick up the pace here!" Shepard ordered, turning out of cover and firing for all she was worth.
If the Beacon was in motion they needed to get to it before they lost it. Whatever the Geth wanted it for couldn't be good, and she wasn't about to let it fall into their hands. In a flurry of shots she downed two Geth and tore an arm from a third before her gun overheated and wailed angrily in protest. The retaliation hit nothing but air as she dove back behind her cover. Mentally counting down the seconds until the gun cooled, Shephard breathed deeply and moved to the other side, repeating the entire process and praying the Geth didn't wise up.
"Put the lead out! We need to get to the Beacon!" Shepard barked.
"Ma'am, we've got two walkers and about eighty infantry between you and that Beacon, not to mention any turrets they've set up. There's no way we're getting in now." Rochelle, ever the realist, pointed out.
Shepard cursed. They needed a damn miracle right about now.
Then she had a crazy idea she should have dismissed the minute it entered her mind. But she didn't.
"Rochelle! Do you have eyes on Ichigo in that big ass battle three clicks away?" Shepard asked. A moment of silence insured in which time she took a moment to shoot a Geth that had gotten too close.
"Yeah, I can make him out through the scope. He's a ways away though."
"Ping him."
A confused pause, "Ma'am?"
"Shoot him and get his attention!" Shepard shouted, firing around the edge until her rifle overheated. Again. Someone really needed to do something about that.
"Uh… I don't think I can do that."
"You have a recorded kill range of four klicks; I've seen you do it!" Shepard responded, leaning back into cover as her shields shattered. "We'll never reach him, so hit him and make him come to us!"
Rochelle's voice was meek and surprisingly girlish with her next hesitant works, "I… don't want to die."
Shephard blinked, a little taken aback by the sudden shift in the soldier's attitude. It made sense, but there wasn't time to think of a polite way to get their only hope's attention. "We will die if the Geth decide to rush us! So turn that sniper onto him and fire!"
"God dammit." Rochelle grumbled.
She still trailed her gun on Ichigo. At least his bright hair made him easy to pick out.
Ichigo lazily swung his sword and half a dozen Geth exploded into flying shrapnel and wires. Two attempted to overwhelm him, one at his front firing nearly point-blank in the teen's face while another leapt at him from behind. Ichigo stabbed the machine who'd shot him, tearing it half and blinked the annoying spots out of his eyes as sparking remains rained to the ground. Metal screamed behind him and the Geth who'd attempted the tackle crumpled to pieces, raw pressure of Ichigo's reiatsu crushing it nearly flat.
'I don't have time for this.' Ichigo thought, irritation growing with each weak Geth he cut down. He could barely take a step before yet another of the robots was there, attempting to kill him and being all kinds of annoying. He would have thought the machines would have realized they weren't about to win after he destroyed the first hundred or so, but no, they just kept coming like some endless suicidal swarm.
He hadn't even wanted to fight these so-called Geth, but as soon as they'd seen him they'd started attacking him obsessively. They seemed to flood in from all corners of the colony, crawling from the houses and side paths in a never ending stream of mechanical limbs. But Ichigo's mission wasn't to deal with the never-ending horde, but instead to location a single someone. Mindless slaughter such as this wasn't on the menu and reminded Ichigo of Elysium a bit, but with significantly less blood. In fact, the entire thing was so similar that Ichigo was starting to worry that, not only would his target escape, but he would also become more powerful once again.
'Best end this quick.'
Raising his blade to the heavens, he bathed it in his spiritual energy, saturated the very air until the power was thick and heavy. He swung a wide arc, the wave of strength given form destroying all before him and leaving behind nothing but scorched earth. Another rippling crescent devoured the stunned Geth behind him a heartbeat later, leaving the teen alone among the destruction. But Ichigo didn't allow himself to relax, already seeing the lights of more Geth approach him. The longer things dragged on, the more Ichigo considered just simply ignoring the machines and getting on his mission. But getting shot constantly was annoying as hell, and ever since they'd decided to start trying to dogpile him, he could barely see where anything was. He might walk right past his target without even realizing it because there was a wall of Geth blocking his sight.
There was no way anyone could accuse him of clearing out the Geth only to protect the locals. And if completing his mission and protecting innocents just so happened to overlap, well, wasn't that convenient?
"I don't understand it…" Ichigo vented his thoughts, glaring at the approaching Geth as if that would stop them. His general confusion had nothing to do with the suicidal Geth, maybe they thought he would eventually wear down or something, no, it had to do with his target's choice of location. How in the world could he have known that there would be a battle of this scale going on an otherwise peacefully world?
Yet somehow he was able to be in the right place at the right time and had once again disappeared among the chaos. Ichigo had been given a very thorough explanation of just how dangerous his target could be under the right circumstances, which had been…less than reassuring. With that in mind, Ichigo took advantage of the brief break he had and expanded his senses, trying to locate the tainted spiritual signature.
"If he feeds on war and conflict then he would be wherever there's the most fighting. That should be here, but I can't find him." Ichigo mused. "Just where are you…?"
Something hit the back of his head. Probably yet another bullet, yet a quick glance over his shoulder and he saw that none of the Geth had snuck behind him. In fact, there wasn't anyone near him and for a second Ichigo wondered if he'd just imagined it somehow. Yet, as if to spite him, another shot hit the dead-center of his forehead. Nope, that was definitely a sniper, and a fairly good one at that, since he couldn't even see them. And one who was dumb enough to try and shoot him, probably thinking he couldn't reach them.
"Alright, who's doing that?" Ichigo grumbled, turning around fully and daring the sniper to take another shot. He'd show them just how little that distance mattered.
Then he got shot in the crotch.
"Mother. Fucker."
In an instant he took off into a burst of Shunpo, leaving behind an army of confused Geth and covering the distance between himself and the sniper's perch in a heartbeat's time. Reappearing a few kilometers away, he was surprised to find a startled woman who immediately took a knee before him. He strode up closer to her, full of confidence, and could see her practically shaking before him, obviously terrified out of her mind. As mad as he was, he wasn't about to kill her, her reiatsu distinctly human. But still…
"Not nice hitting people below the belt you know." Ichigo said with his voice deadpan as he reeled in his temper.
"Yeah… sorry…" Rochelle replied, but still swallowed her fear and pointed towards the distance, "Listen I was ordered to, okay! I just needed to get you here to help!"
Ichigo, long having learned to tune out gunfire, finally noticed the fighting and felt vague interest. So he hadn't been the only one being swarmed by those machines? He looked and wasn't too surprised when he saw a dozen marines in a firefight against seven times as many Geth. He scowled at the battle below, instantly seeing just how odd things were going down there. The Geth had had little to no qualm throwing themselves to their destruction, so it wasn't any sense of self-preservation that was holding the machines back. So there had to be something else going on, something that, if suddenly changed, would see the soldiers below swarmed and killed in a few seconds.
He leaped off the edge of the plateau and launched himself towards the Geth's main defensive line.
Ichigo smashed into the nearest troops with the force of a natural disaster. Unstoppable, three were cut down, bisected, and a fourth fell with a quick stab from his shorter blade. The Geth, even with their calculating minds allowing them to process events down to the millisecond, were unable to quickly react and counter any of the strikes. Metal, wires, and synthetic flesh shredded before the whistle of the blades had even begun, Ichigo nothing but a ruthless predator at slaughter. An Armature, away from the death, tried to turn its head to attack. But the whine of its cannon had barely started before it was blown to piece by a single high-pressure slash from one of Ichigo's blades.
"Move up! Give him support!"
Ichigo heard the call and ignored it; the thought was nice, but did he look like he needed it? He ignored the humans, not the least bit worried about friendly fire, and hacked the Geth apart, making sure to keep his strength in check. It wouldn't be good if he accidently blew half the colony off the map because he got careless.
Finished, the Shinigami huffed, 'Now I just need to figure out where…'
"My god, it is him."
Dread settled in Ichigo's heart at those words, spoken with such raw awe and reverence made him cringe. Facing the music, the teen turned and grimaced at the looks of shock and even borderline worship he saw on the soldier's faces. It was one thing to hear about the waves his actions had caused in human society, but it was another entirely to see it for himself. He was sure that if the people before him were anything but hardened vets, they would have fallen to their knees and started worshiping him. With each passing day, more and more humans began to put Shinigami on the pedestal labeled "God", and Ichigo had no doubt today's events would only make it all worse.
'Just another screw up that people are going to hold over my head now.'
Ichigo was firmly in the camp that humanity wouldn't forget about Shinigami even if they did hole up and disappear for a hundred or more years. Technology had gone far and the proof had spread so far so fast there was no way it could ever all be erased. Video evidence would be out there forever now; they were long past the point of erasing a few memories and moving on. Legend and Myth had been one thing; easy to counteract and it naturally distorted with time until virtually no truth remained, if not forgotten entirely. But nowadays? They had his face all over the Extranet and on damn bed sheets.
"I am Staff Lieutenant Jessica Shepard," A woman with darker armor and a pale face introduced, walking up to him with a nod. "thank you for the assist."
Ichigo looked to the dark haired woman who seemed significantly less star-struck than the others in her squad. That didn't mean she wasn't clearly excited, expression as bright as a kid meeting Santa Claus. He shifted, uncomfortable with all the worship he was receiving and decided it would be better if he didn't say anything more than necessary. It wouldn't be good if he revealed something he shouldn't and started yet another intergalactic incident. Even telling them what he was, a Shinigami, would be too much.
If they realized that their new "gods" were called Shinigami, literally a 'Death God', there was no telling what kind of crap would result from that. Shinigami were fairly obscure in human history, but there were records, most of them not good and very inaccurate, and the things people would begin to assume would be terrible. The last thing they needed were people seeing them as spirits that encouraged suicide, and the fallout of that made Ichigo's head hurt. He could already see the cults committing mass suicide to try and coax Shinigami into appearing before them.
"Listen…"
That was as far as she got before Ichigo vanished from sight, leaving behind a group of awestruck N6 soldiers and a massive pile of Geth scrap.
"Lieutenant, I've tracked him from the Dig Site; he's moving towards the Space Port." Rochelle reported, snapping Shepard out of her stunned stupor.
"Alright, form up! We are going after that Beacon!"
Saren strode towards the Spaceport, the Beacon secure on the tram and ready to be taken to the second platform. He would activate it there and then prepare the nuclear warheads; he couldn't leave a single trace behind. And maybe, if he was lucky, the blast would be enough to also incinerate that damn anomaly. He was concerned though, as the creature masquerading as a human had disappeared from the Geth that had been stalling it. Worse yet, the Dig Site platforms had suddenly stopped reporting, and he had a good idea on who was responsible for that.
It would be best to make sure they couldn't be followed, "I want you all to make sure nothing gets onto this platform, destroy the trams if you need to, but do not…"
Midway through his commands there was the distinct whistle of air being displaced. Surprised, Saren turned and felt his blood chill to ice, freezing him in place at the sight of the anomaly. Behind him the three Geth Primes Saren had had in his routine had been destroyed, their bodies sliding apart from impossibly clean cuts.
"Get the Beacon out of here!" Saren roared, whirling around to face the anomaly head-on.
Immediately the tram powered up and raced down the rail, disappearing from sight within a few seconds. Saren drew his side arm, not the least bit comforted by the somewhat puzzled expression on the anomaly's face. He knew for a fact that it, or anything he was capable of, would do little to stop this thing, but that didn't mean Saren was about to let himself be completely helpless. And he was perfectly fine serving as bait.
Ichigo strode after the alien, mostly curious about the seemingly random Turian clearly leading the Geth army. That went against everything he knew, so maybe-
A sharp blast that Ichigo vaguely recognized as a carnage shot hit his back, harmlessly dispersing. He turned to see yet another large hulking machine he was getting sick of seeing swing down its massive three fingered fist, trying to pulverize his skull. Ichigo caught it easily, bored from all the constant attacks, and threw the Geth into a nearby wall. Concrete exploded outward as the wall caved in, leaving a smear of synthetic flesh and metal on the floor.
Annoyance gone, Ichigo continued the line of thought that'd escaped him briefly. No, there was no way the Turian was the one he was after. A disguise was entirely possible, but he wouldn't resort to using something as mundane as a gun. 'Definitely isn't him, but if I take him out maybe it can stop the fighting.'
A Shunpo later and Ichigo was abruptly in front Turian, larger blade drawn high to cut the alien down and move on. But to his surprise the blade sliced through nothing but the air, and for a second Ichigo nearly stumbled from the lack of resistance. Ichigo easily located the Turian some twenty feet away, wisps of biotic power clinging to him.
'Didn't expect that…' Ichigo mused and decided that the repetitive Geth had made him sloppy. The Turian seemed stronger, and was most certainly faster, but catching up and then trailing the fleeing alien still wasn't much of a chore.
Biotics shrouded Saren's form like a second skin, empowering and propelling him forward at dazzling speeds that were nearly impossible to following with the human eye. But Ichigo found the speed nothing worth wild and was suddenly by the Turian's side, ready to literally cut his legs out from under him. Saren panicked and threw all his biotic fields and shields out and into the Shinigami's exposed chest. The Turian was sent flying from the concussive force of his own improvised attack, while Ichigo stumbled back a half-step, shaking he head at the vague tickling sensation the biotics gave him.
'This guy is actually making me hound him, first time for everything.' Ichigo mused, finding the entire experience novel. It was the first time he'd fought any humanoid enemy who could dodge him without the aid of any sort of spiritual pressure.
But enough was enough, and Ichigo quickly schooled himself as he watched biotics flare and his opponent once again took off. He was done missing because he wasn't taking this guy seriously, and decided his third strike would be his last. Ichigo stepped and cleared the distance the Turian had made instantly, appearing several yards straight ahead of him, sword ready. Momentum too strong to stop, Saren attempted to swerve, but the black blade followed him and carved through his arm and chest as if the metal and muscle was nothing but air.
The arm flew free, severed from its host and hit the ground with a wet splat. Ichigo looked at the strange prosthetic arm curiously. He'd meant to bisect the Turian, but through some combination of reflexes, instincts, and biotic power, the alien had just managed to avoid that bloody death, a deep and perfectly smooth line carved deep into his chest. Just shallow enough to avoid instant death, but certainly fatal within a few minutes without treatment. Probably pretty painful too, and Ichigo wondered if he should put the Turian out of his misery before he slowly bled to death.
"Dammit!" Saren hissed, remaining arm trying to put pressure on the wound and stop his life blood from spilling out, but the cut was too clean and armor too stiff to make much of a difference. At best he was able to keep the blood pooling in the slash where he prayed it would clot faster. It was absolute agony, but he knew the pain was a good thing for it meant he wasn't about to pass out from blood loss. He counted his lucky stars that his prosthetic arm was the one severed, for it bled a whole lot less and he'd have probably already gone into shock otherwise.
Ichigo watched the Turian managed to roll over onto his back and clutch at the gaping wound desperately. He had to respect the guy for being able to survive this long, and even more so to not pass out immediately from pain. Heck, dodging even one of his strikes, as lazy as it'd been was impressive and he wondered just how many years the man had fought. Yet respect for a guy leading a bunch of machines with a taste for genocide against a colony of innocent people only went so far. In fact, on second thought, Ichigo supposed a mortal wound was actually better. Now that he thought about it, the guy might have at least some information to give. He wasn't very good at interrogating, didn't have the stomach nor grey morals for it, but he supposed it couldn't hurt to at least try.
"I usually finish the guy off, but I want to know why you are here." The glare he got was absolutely murderous and the Turian's breathing sounded disturbingly wet, so Ichigo decided it'd be best to go simple. He only really needed to know one thing anyway to make sure he wasn't technically wasting his time here, "Ok, I'll make this simple. Were you told to come here and start killing?"
To cause trouble and start a slaughter; it wasn't above the guy he was looking for to do something like that. In fact, it was something right down his dark alley. Death, suffering, all the things found in bloody heart of war, was his bread and butter; the more violent the better he'd feed and grow. Saren, however, did nothing but focus on controlling his breathing, hissing as each inhale felt as if it was splitting he chest even further open. He turned it into a feral sound to spit at the Shinigami in spite.
"Well? If you don't say anything I'll let you slowly bleed out here. Trust me, it sucks." Ichigo asked, scowling down at the wounded Turian.
"I was told… yes…" Saren said, before he gave a laugh. It was over, he'd done all he needed and finally, finally the wretched anomaly would be utterly crushed! "And he will… tear you apart…!"
Ichigo scowled and very nearly rolled his eyes. Bad guys and their melodrama had got tiring after the first time. Ichigo would have told the Turian just as much if he hadn't felt the sudden pulse of energy. Turning, his vision was consumed by brightness, red and all-consuming like a Cero but oh so much larger, carving a path of pure destruction through the world. It hit and overwhelmed him, flinging him back and driving him deep into the ground. The very world itself crumbled under the onslaught, and Ichigo disappeared under the crimson death.
Saren crawled away from pulsing beam that'd only narrowly missed him, ignoring the blood gushing from his chest as he did his best to prevent himself from becoming collateral. All the pain had been worth it just to see that bastard get blasted into oblivion, surely disintegrating from the half megaton of energy that was more than enough to shatter the entire colony. He hoped the anomaly was at least strong enough to leave a body, no matter how broken or charred it was. It would be the perfect sight to shatter the Alliance's moral and faith in their "gods".
"Get that tram up! We are leaving now!" Saren barked.
As he somehow managed to stumble to his feet, wobbling and weakly grasping his chest, gunfire had him freezing. Behind him the Alliance soldiers his army had been holding over filtered down the hill, armed and ready. Shepard only gave a brief glance to the massive beam of energy rapidly leveling the hillside and decided to ignore it. There wasn't a thing she could do against that, so the Geth were a higher priority and she just had to hope they were deemed unimportant by the massive ship who'd taken the shot. She rushed down the hill and slid into the nearest cover, skidding into a makeshift barricade and once again began the process of taking potshots at the Geth. There weren't even that many, but the towering juggernauts were well worth a dozen Geth on their own.
"Lieutenant! I got eyes on the Turian, behind the two big Geth!" Rochelle shouted over the radio.
She leaned out of cover and look over two ten foot juggernauts, eyes sliding past their heavy pulse cannons and to the Turian behind them. Both stood there as clear guards, protecting the obvious commander with their bodies as a smaller Geth helped lead the Turian away. Heavily injured and missing an arm, Shephard was vaguely impressed the Turian was even still alive, and was glad he was. It was pretty hard to interrogate a dead body, after all.
"Slow them down." Shepard ordered, sharpening her focus and she readied for battle.
The plan was simple: they take the two juggernauts down and move in to capture the Turian. He wasn't about to fight back and the rest of the scattered Geth would be easy pickings. Then they made sure he didn't bleed out on the way back to base and she'd drop him off right in the oh-so comfy chair of a very experienced interrogator. He had a hell of a lot to answer for, and she'd go in there herself if that's what it took to get answers.
"Ma'am, to the south!"
Shepard turned but saw only absolute destruction. The hillside the beam had hit was simple gone, utterly flattened with a deep gash torn into the ground. The scar wheezed smoke, all of the surrounding land completely destroyed and dissolute. And the massive dreadnought that eclipsed anything she'd ever seen was still firing, still devastating the area and refusing to let up for a single moment, bathing the area in red light and creating a crater. Just how strong did that thing have to be able to maintain that power output for so long and not have something overheat or just simply run out of energy?
"What am I looking at here?" Shepard barked over the coms. Yes, it was impressive and downright terrifying to see, but it wasn't something they could waste time worrying about since they were helpless to stop it.
"Look at what it's hitting!"
Shephard squinted, trying to see past the light and destruction. It was hard, and the figure was almost completely obscured by the crimson hue, but once she saw it there was no denying it. A black figure that had to be Ichigo was slowly strolling up the ruins of the hills, surrounded by the crimson. Only his hand was extended, as casually as if he were shielding his eyes from some mildly annoyingly bright light. It looked as if the entire sun was bearing down on him, and yet for all its might it cascaded off his hand and slipped around him like water battering an immovable rock. Maybe, with enough time, the water would wear away the rock into dust, but the dreadnought clearly didn't have that time and the earth-shattering beam wavered in intensity.
"No fucking way…" Ashley muttered beside her, looking seconds from falling to her knees.
Shepard tore her eyes from the awe-inspiring, godly, sight, "Keep the pressure up!" She ordered, and her troops turned back to the fight obediently. It wouldn't be good if they got shot in the back because they were distracted.
Shepard had never seen such high moral before, and the smaller Geth fell laughably quick, still caught in a feedback look at the sight of Ichigo doing the impossible. The two juggernauts stood strong and protectively in front of their Turian leader, but even they weren't a match for the collective gunfire from twelve rifles. The Turian fell with a cry when the Geth that'd been supporting him exploded from a well-placed sniper shot, and as if that'd been a signal, the massive beam above their heads flickered and died. The smell of ozone was oppressing and Shephard's ears were ringing from the sudden silence, but she turned to where Ichigo was. His cloths were ruffled and even burnt off in some places, revealing an angry red chest that looked as if he'd stayed in the sun too long, but was otherwise untouched. Casually he shook out his hand as if it were asleep, clenched and unclenched to get feeling back into it, and then stared up at the dreadnought, clearly unimpressed.
"My turn."
There was no way whoever was in that massive ship could have heard Ichigo, the distance between the two had to be several kilometers. But they must have seen his intent, for the strange ship with its bizarre appendages seemed to shutter, and it managed to fire another shot. But, whether it was a lack of energy or simple because it was overheating, the attack was it was practically a sphere of energy instead of the beam they'd seen. It still moved fast, but Ichigo was faster, and, with a flick of his wrist, the energy was sent soaring harmlessly into the sky and out of sight.
Surprisingly, it wasn't the larger blade he attacked with. Instead, he drew the shorter trench knife, and the shorter blade cut a line across the air where, from its tip, a line of pure power bled. It hung, suspended, looking as if a rip in space itself had been made, bright energy seeping from the wound. The second sword, a crude and oversized Khyber knife as black as lifeless space, swung up and was wreathed in bright blue energy that wildly lashed out at the world. It condensed to a perfect single line along the edge of the sword, and, with words none could understand, Ichigo brought the blade down as precisely as an executioner.
"Getsuga Jūjishō!"
Where the two energies met, a singularity was born and ripped free, expanding and devouring the very sky like the maw of oblivion. The cross tore through the space between it and the enormous ship frighteningly quick, passing through the kilometers in seconds and reaching it, eclipsing the ship in size and making it seem all the more like an insect under the wrath of God.
The kinetic barriers didn't even flair.
The ship was hit hard, the squid-like appendages uprooted as, for a brief moment, its hull resisted the assault and it was pushed back. But it was all in vain and the energy pushed on, slicing through the metal and blowing out its back messily. Pieces and parts of it rained down like blood and massive portions of its body flew free, separated by clean cuts. The entire construct feel apart, barriers flickering weakly before dissipating entirely. Shepard could only watch in awe as the ship, one which eclipsed even the largest of Alliance Dreadnoughts, was brutally torn into uneven fourths.
"My god… he destroyed it…" Ashley breathed, voice tiny and threatening to fail from the shock.
"With only that one attack…" Another said, watching as the massive beast of a starship settle on the valley floor and die.
It was amazing, but Shepard had noticed something strange and incredibly important, "The barriers didn't-"
Suddenly, the world itself seemed the waver and the ship exploded as its core reached critical mass and failed. The chunks, so large they had looked as if they were falling in slow motion, were suddenly flung away from the force. Sheperd had just enough time to register a massive piece as large as a Pearl Habour-Class Frigate flying towards them before they were eclipsed in its shadow. Too late to dodge, she tackled the person nearest her and pulled them low, hoping it would barely skim over them. Metal shrieked and the world shook for a moment, the cacophony of noise as buildings and supports were flatted all-consuming.
The headache told Shepard that she was still alive and she slowly peeled herself off the soldier she'd tried to cover. Ashley groaned, looking just as dazed, accepted her hand and the two women stumbled upright. A quick glance around reveled the debris had been spilt unnaturally smooth into two pieces, both of which had missed the soldiers. The tram station would be needing a new…everything, but, through some miracle, no one was hurt.
And that miracle was hovering protectively ahead of them, staring down the massive ball of fire and heat where the dreadnought had once been, daring it to fling more oversized scrap to try and crush the humans behind him. It was a breathtaking sight and an impossible ideal crystalized before her eyes; a larger-than-life figure who'd stared down impossible odds and taken out the biggest damn warship she'd ever seen singlehandedly.
"Ma'am, we got him!" Joshua called, grabbing the downed Turian while two more keep their guns trained on his back. Not that it was needed, but better safe than sorry.
Shepard shook off the surprise and quickly began issuing out orders as if literally earth-shattering events hadn't just occurred before their eyes. They had a prisoner to keep alive until interrogation, after all. The Beacon wasn't in sight, but considering they were at the tram station, she could hazard a guess as to where it would end up. But that could wait long enough for her talk with a god.
"Hey, remember me?" Shepard called up to the Guardian of Elysium, ignoring the way her men looked at her as if she were insane. Instead, she crossed her arms when he landed continued to ignore her to instead focus on the pillar of smoke where the giant dreadnought had been. "Not nice leaving a lady when she's talking to you. Did nobody ever teach you any manners?"
Ichigo was as stoic as ever, only giving her the briefest of glances when he looked over to the captured Turian. The Turian noticed the attention and hissed at him, eyes filled with hate and borderline madness. Shepard ignored the madman and focused on Ichigo, honestly unsure what he was thinking. Reports had it that they would observe the people watching them, but never made any move to speak or reply. Only when attacked did anyone get a different response, with the anomalies eliminating any hostiles to them in record time, usually, though not always, by killing them with brutal efficiency.
Maybe he didn't know if he should talk to them or not, it seemed like there was some unspoken rule, but Shepard hoped Ichigo was a bit different. The other anomalies had only ever done whatever mission they had, but the Guardian of Elysium was called guardian for a reason; time and time again he went out of his way to protect random civilians. If he was willing to do that, then maybe he'd be more willing to bend the whole 'no talking to non-anomalies' rule, if given the right incentive.
"You saved my life before, on Elysium." Shepard started, figuring that'd be the best way to reach him. She noticing that there was a brief flicker in his eyes, attention caught even if he didn't show it. "I was dying. Got shot in the kidney and was bleeding out, but then you came along and save me, told me that it was going to be alright, that'd I'd be ok. It was the middle of hell out there, a place where hope goes to die, but I still believed you."
He finally turned and looked her over thoroughly for the first time. It was clear he recognized her, and even clearer he wanted to know what'd happened. Despite everything, he was so surprisingly easy to read that it made Shephard smile a bit. A god had a terrible poker face, who would've thought it?
"I woke up a day or so later, right as rain and wondering what the hell happened." Shepard continued. "I never got the chance to thank you for what you did, you know. This is the first time I have ever seen you, that anyone has seen you actually, since Elysium."
She decided to make sure that certain things were kept secret, after all confessing some of the things she felt right now might be a little much. He didn't seem to be someone who would take hero worship all that well anyway, based on how he reacted to the marines staring at him earlier. But he at least needed to know that she was thankful for what he did, and that his actions had impacted so many people's lives for the better. Ichigo had become the center of worship, praised as a hero and god for what he did single-handedly. Not for any of the fame and glory he'd gotten from it, but simply because he wanted to help people.
"Since then, many things have changed. People look at you and are inspired by what you did. They want to know who you are and why you've done everything that you have; to understand what you are and if you really are a god." Shepard said.
"I am not a god." Ichigo's reply was immediate and without hesitation, perpetual scow deepening dangerously. "None of us are, not even a word for it in our language."
"Then tell them that. Let's open start a dialogue so everyone can understand why you're here and doing what you are." Shepard argued, trying to get him to understand. No one would believe her, and nothing would change if he wasn't the one to start it.
Ichigo glanced to the side, she knew that he wanted to talk and was trying to reason with himself if he should actually say anything. All she needed to do was keep prodding him until he cracked, it wouldn't be too hard, she just needed to make him understand some more.
"What are you after? What do you gain from doing this? Do you want to be worshiped for saving people?" Shepard asked. She knew the answer, but the soldiers behind her were shamelessly eavesdropping and news spread best when it came straight from the god's own mouth.
"Like hell I do." Ichigo growled, his frustration obvious when he glared at her, offended. "I don't care if you think I'm the hero or the damn villain, I did what I did because I didn't want people to suffer. That's it."
"But no one else knows that. All they see if that you and the others suddenly appeared from nowhere, stronger than anything we've ever seen and doing things that were thought to be impossible." She continued, unafraid to keep the pressure up. He needed to know what was happening. "No one knows who you are and what you represent, and as much as you want to keep away from the spotlight, your presence is causing problems for the Alliance and human race. We're being oppressed by the other races because they're afraid that one of you will suddenly show up and start obliterating their worlds because they overstepped some invisible line! We need you to set the record straight so we can get our freedom back."
He perked up at that, frown deepening and his jaw tight. But…
"I can't…" Ichigo replied, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he sighed. "We don't involve ourselves with normal human affairs. It's…the law, and aliens aren't even something we consider."
"But people are suffering! War is brewing and soon enough Eden Prime might be considered the world that marks its beginning." Shepard did her best to reel her temper it, because Ichigo didn't seem like he was happy about it either. "I know you don't want to see people suffer, your words and actions prove that. Please, help us."
Ichigo looked at her for a moment, really looked at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. Shephard stared into his eyes and saw determination even fiercer than her own, a will foraged through hardships she couldn't comprehend, and barely restrained power that could flatten her in an instant. But all she could think was how painfully human his eyes were, that, despite the almost feral intensity in them, she saw not a single inhuman thing in them that would have made her thought 'god' if she didn't know him. He broke the contact, closing his human eyes and taking a deep breath, and she smiled a bit. Even if he seemed annoyed with her persistence, it was only because she'd gotten through to him. But just because he understood didn't mean he had the authority to do anything.
"If a war is coming, then stopping it is just as important as what I'm doing now. Not only for you and humanity, but for my…people as well." Ichigo replied, turning to move off. "The last thing we need is a war on that sort of scale."
"Will you come back with us then?" Shepard asked.
"I can't. The law's clear and even I'm not immune to it, no matter how many people joke otherwise. Besides, I'm on a mission of my own I can't afford to fail." Ichigo explained.
"What could be more important than this?" Shepard asked, but didn't feel betrayed. She could tell how important it was just by the resolve embedded in his words. But that made her curious and a bit afraid: what could his mission possibly be that he, a natural protector, would risk put the lives of billions at risk?
"Hunting down the father of all monsters."
It sounded ridiculous, almost childish, but he was dead serious. Ichigo turned from her, and Shephard thought the conversation was over, that he'd disappear in an instant, but then, "Tell your leaders what you will, and I'll do the same. If things escalate, we might be able to work something out."
With those final words he vanished as completely as if he'd only ever been a dream. Shephard was left to her thoughts, dwelling on the idea that something was so dangerous he was needed to hunt it. The 'father of all monsters', what the hell could that be?
Shaking her head she decided not to worry about it too much. It wasn't her job to think about what a guy like that would consider a 'monster', and she had nothing short of absolute faith in his strength. Right now she needed to do all that she could to help resolve the situation on Eden Prime, and that happened to be focusing on the bastard who'd led the Geth to slaughter hundreds of innocents. That was the kind of monster she could deal with.
Fire and ash clogged the air, choking any and all who were too close to the hulking remains of the destroyed ship. Of course none who'd been near it had survived the devastating crash, leaving nothing but corpses to be swallowed by the fire from its brilliant demise.
Its ruined body laid splayed over an area nearly three kilometers, with pieces of it the size of cars scattered even farther than that. The attack that had cleaved the mighty Sovereign had all but gutted the Reaper, its Element Zero core collapsing in on itself in a brilliant flash that'd devastated the already ruined body even further. What survived was nothing but a shell of a machine, not even a trace of the powerful AI left to haunt the remains.
"Remarkable…"
A single figure strolled up to the destroyed ship, passing between two twisted pieces the size of a city block and approaching an even larger slab. He marveled at its sheer size and unique, insect-like design, passing through the fires and suffocating smog with no issues. He had not seen a ship the likes of this before, even with all the species he'd seen take to the stars and boast of their craft. But what made it truly impressive was that the vessel had history. Age and memory had been burned into the metal and wires and artificial flesh, craved so deeply that even now they lingered if one only knew how to look.
"I can smell the carnage and blood. So many horrifying moments lingering within your metallic flesh…" He said, hands brushing across the surface of what may have once been one of its powerful legs.
He shivered as he felt the lingering energies of a long forgotten battle permeate from within the appendage. The lingering spiritual energies within, fleeting as they were, told him of the grand slaughter that had taken place. Of all the suffering the grand creature had wrought in a twisted sense of justice. The memories and emotions made him shiver with anticipation. This vessel had seen thousands of battles, lived a long and bloody life, and had even been born from feasting on other's suffering.
Yes, they truly were kin.
"Are there more like you?" The hooded figure asked, smiling as he tried to keep himself from getting drunk from the phantom memories. No, danger in the form of a hunter was close and he needed to stay alert for if he was found.
Just being in the presence of this great machine had brought out long suppressed urges and impulses he had not felt since before him imprisonment. He ran a hand over the metal, willing the dormant spiritual energies within to come forth. It was an influx of memories and emotions, overwhelming at first from the sheer volume. This vessel was older than he anticipated, yet it was so beautifully made it still offered him more than he could have ever dreamed of.
"I feel agony and torment ripple through your metal hide." He whispered lovingly, smirking as he felt the desire and purpose buried in the machine dance under his fingertips. "You are not just some mere machine. No, a hundred million dying voices sired your creation as you took their life without a thought. Born from the deaths and slaughter of others, you were made to inflict that same torment on others. Yes, you are the perfect embodiment of my will."
His hands began to glow and pulse, feeding his power to the machine. For as long as needed it would bask in his might until it was ready to strike down his hunter. The hunter was strong, overwhelmingly so to the point that his fingers were just inches from reaching absolution. Such a thing could never be allowed, so he'd strike the hunter down before the apex was reached, and then nothing would threaten him. There were others with the potential, but unlike the hunter, they were miles and miles always from that- thus not a threat. And when that deed was done, he would move on and find the kin of his newest prize. For there were many, many other Reapers hiding beyond sight.
"What a glorious slaughter awaits this galaxy."
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, was a blast writing this one.