Freeman's Odyssey
Chapter: 23
Planetary Adventures
Decontamination in progress, Decontamination in progress
The ship known as the Normandy an advanced ship belonging to the Alliance is scanning for anything with a simple scan, the ship is docked at a docking port of the space station known as the Citadel. Finally the doors opened as Gordon Freeman follows the others inside as Commander Shepard is talking to Captain Anderson outside for a moment. The One-free-man is impressed by the level of technology in here. The Uniformed officers going about their duties as Gordon walked around a little bit, until he came upon the pilot's area as a single man is sitting there.
"Nice ship," said Gordon "You must be the pilot."
"Well if I was anybody else," said the man "Who would I be."
"A comedian would be more like it," said Gordon "But no one can be everything at once."
The man chuckled "That is why they call me Joker," said the man.
"Joker….Joker," said Gordon "Interesting name, so I take it you have a clown costume for Halloween,"
"No way," said Joker "It's just a nickname, I'm Jeff Moreau, and I'm not good. I'm not even great. I'm the best damn helmsman in the Alliance fleet." He goes on a rant about his piloting skills, the disease he has and all.
"The what?" said Gordon!
"You mean you don't know," said Joker
"Afraid not," said Gordon.
Damn muttered Joker as he went on to explain all about the disease that is affecting him!
"Just goes to show a disadvantage can be an advantage," said Gordon "You overcame the odds in your own way, and it is something I am all too familiar with."
"You look like a guy who has seen a lot of action," said Joker! "You don't look Alliance Navy, or even the Alliance, maybe a mercenary or a spectre. My best guess would be scientist"
"Would you believe a wanderer who travels to dimensions in warning about an inter-dimensional empire bent on conquering other dimensions," said Gordon.
There is a brief pause as Joker laughed a little bit.
"Yeah right that sounds very corny," said Joker "But whatever."
Gordon Freeman just shook his head as he knows the truth is usually hard to believe as he just walked away from the pilot's area to get a glance of the ship. A large table that shows a holographic representation of the universe as that alone is interesting, he took the elevator and went down to the lower levels of the Normandy. So the elevator stopped and Gordon stepped out as there isn't much to see at first.
An all terrain vehicle is parked and the one called Garrus is busy doing calibrations upon the vehicle, Wrex the Krogan seems to be just standing around, Ashley Williams looks hard at work but gave Gordon a sharp look and an unnamed officer is standing around as well. He headed towards the engine room as he is impressed by the sheer look and design he found Tali'Zorah doing her duties.
"Hard at work," said Gordon "Or hardly working"
"Your technology is most impressive," said Tali "The ships engine is so quite until the Flotilla of the migrant fleet,"
"This is not my people's technology," said Gordon.
"But you look like an alliance officer," said Tali "Your armor is of their technology,"
"No, I'm not," said Gordon" My suit is a Mark eight hazmat suit capable of many functions," he went on to explain even further.
"That is impossible," said Tali "You mean you are telling me you come from another dimension, as in some form of traveler. It hard to believe my people have been studying dimensional travel but nothing credible came out of it."
"A wise choice," said Gordon "Consider travel between points in reality to another by a simple walk through a door. Infinite dimensions in infinite combination all you need to do are unlocking it, but as in where you will be," he pointed out "Is unknown."
"I see," said Tali "A proven theory if indeed true,"
"Consider this," thought Gordon out loud "Right there before your eyes is a singularity travel a Mass Effect as everyone would call it in a form space travel, it is almost similar to dimensional travel."
Tail and Gordon talked on a bit about certain scientific matters that impressed her, until the ship takes off from the docking area and heads outside the citadel until finally heading off to its next destination by way of the Mass Relays. That is when Commander Shepard had walked in and started a conversation with Tali asking about this and that, Gordon found it useful to know about Tali's people.
"So where to?" asked Gordon
"Therum," said Shepard "To get in contact with Dr. Liara T'soni, why don't you walk with me for a bit,"
Gordon does just that in which he is walking with Commander Shepard as he is talking to his misfit crew like Tali, Wrex, Garrus, Kaiden and finally Ashley Williams whom Shepard is making a pass, or at least he is trying to. Gordon just chuckled at this in which Ashley glared at him again.
"Are you always a stiff ass," said Gordon "Man sweetheart you need to lighten up,"
"Skipper permission to kick his ass," said Williams
"Denied," said Shepard "Be nice to our new crewmember"
"Yes, sir," said Williams
It was an hour later as they arrived on Therum in which there is heavy resistance in a form of robotic machines known as the Geth. It was a tough fight and Gordon used his Gravity gun several times on these Geth in which it caused them to explode which impressed the others until finally reaching where this Liara T'soni is at but it looks like Seren's forces have come for her as well. They managed to escape and head back to the Normandy
Once all of them are in the meeting room it was pointless talk about Protheans, other matters of interest and of course T'soni touching the mind of Sherpard with some form of telepathic ability. Gordon shook his head at this and then all of them looked at Gordon as Sherpard glared at him for a moment.
"I want to know more about you," said Shepard
"Is he a mercenary," asked T'soni "I do not know what the symbol is."
"It means freedom," said Gordon "And I don't come from this dimension, in fact I've been traveling to one dimension to another in warning about the Combine,"
"The Combine?" asked Shepard
"I'll get to that, shortly" said Gordon
Then he went on to explain about himself as he is or was a native of Seattle, Washington life in which he always had it's ups and downs since he got a job to join Black Mesa research facility, as he told them he was an orphan with no parents in which the only thing that people found on him at when he was found on the door step of an orphanage is his name and nothing more. All of them listened with great interest.
Gordon explained that he was already regarded as the quiet type and willing to adapt to any situation until he was in his teens as the orphanage at first put money away for him to go to college considering how smart Gordon is who is willing to learn and grow upon in life. His childhood heroes were Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Richard Feynman because books were his friends in which that is all he had.
He told them about an exhibited an early interest in theoretical physics, especially quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. After observing a series of teleportation experiments conducted by the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck, the transmission of matter became Gordon's obsession.
He told them he had no known dependents. As he explained he graduated from MIT with a Ph.D. degree in Theoretical Physics. His doctoral thesis on the teleportation of matter through extremely dense elements was titled Observation of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement on Supraquantum Structures by Induction through Nonlinear Transuranic Crystal of Extremely Long Wavelength (ELW) Pulse from Mode-Locked Source Array.
A whistle is heard from an indication Tail is impressed.
"Blah, blah, blah," said Wrex "Get to the point.
He told them he took up residence in Black Mesa however his job in general in regards was nothing more than a joke like manual labor, despite his qualifications. Consisting of little more than pressing a button and pushing a cart as he found that to be a little embarrassing at times, but it paid well and Gordon often wondered if he would be doing this utter nonsense for the rest of his life. At time he spent in Black Mesa he only said a few words and kept his mouth shut most of the time, he considered himself a little anti-social being an orphan and all.
"Finally, that faithful day my world changed forever." said Gordon
An interdimensional rift in space time happened and his world changed forever, as he told them in detail in which he became something he would never thought in becoming. A hero, he never dreamed he was one. In which he explained he survived all the challenges and got the respect of a few people for his acts of bravery. Then he wound up in another dimension called Xen and doing battle against an alien warlord named Nihilanth
He told them he killed the alien warlord and then he was confront by a being he despises the most, the G-man. The people noticed in the room how angry he got with that name. He was given a choice to live or die in a form of a deal. Gordon did not want to do either, then all of sudden the choice was made but not by him. No it was the G-man himself. Gordon explained in detain It wasn't until two decades later he had learned the G-man put him in a place far from time, space, thought and even Earth itself.
The G-man stated the right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world it wouldn't be an understatement it is a fact as Gordon found himself in the middle of the occupation by an interdimensional alien empire known as the Combine. They in fact conquered the Earth in seven hours thanks in part to a traitor named Dr. Wallace Breen, that name alone made his blood boil.
Then he went to explain uprisings, creatures and other things as well in which began as Gordon helped in many ways often doing battle against combine forces until finally driven out of his dimension. Then finally he explained after the death of a friend of his, his other friends went off to the artic in finding a ship owned by Black Mesa had survived and after discovering technology like the Hazardous Environmental Suit that was on board the Borealis Finally told them he went on several adventures in other dimensions.
"Holy shit," said Williams "I can't even believe this."
"Heh," said Wrex "He is like a Krogan I like that, a warrior scientist"
"These Combine are conquering other dimensions," said T'soni "That means they could have wiped out the Protheans."
"My dimensional scanners detect no activity," said Gordon "Your dimension is completely unknown to them."
"I would have loved to shoot down some of these Combine," said Garrus
"I can see it in your eyes you are telling the truth," said Kadien "You have experience behind them."
"We'll focus more on this later," said Shepard "We have a job to do in stopping Saren,"
All of them nodded as they went about their duties, their first and next stop is Feros a colony that the Geth have overrun in which they put a stop to it and Gordon used his special weapon to shoot down a Geth flyer that was about to attach to a large tower. They learned several things as they headed back to the small settlement in which people were under control of a large planet and that was resolved in lives saved.
Then after that traveling to planet to planet, helping out the alliance with several problems, also collecting objects of interests and among other things as well. Also visiting the Citadel on several occasions to get information and relax a bit as well before heading out again.
Noveria mission was weirder than the last as Gordon used the all-terrain vehicle to travel in the snow and head to a certain location to confront a lackey of Saren and the mother of Liara T'soni. Also a very big bug that Shepard allowed to live and then they headed out after that once again in space to explore even more like gathering minerals and unknown objects as well.
Virmire is a virtual war zone as the allied forces managed to penetrate the defenses of Saren and freeing a lot of prisoners as well. Until they came upon the source of what is going on a Reaper.
"You are not Saren." Said Sovereign
"What is that? Some kind of VI interface?" T'soni
"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding." Said Sovereign "There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it, I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."
"A hyper-machine race," said Gordon "Something similar to the Combine"
"Sovereign isn't just some Reaper ship Saren found." said Shepard "It's an actual Reaper!"
"Reaper?" said Sovereign "A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they chose to call us is irrelevant. We simply... are."
"A creation of your own masters," said Gordon "Let me guess, the Combine created you to do their bidding in this dimension, like whipping out those Protheans."
"Combine," said Sovereign "Their names are irrelevant now."
"The Protheans vanished over 50,000 years ago. You couldn't have been there, it's impossible!" said Tali
"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident." said Sovereign "Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."
The conversation goes on for a bit.
"Where are the rest of the Reapers? Are you the last of your kind?" asked Shepard
"We are legion. The time of our return is coming." said Sovereign "Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom."
"You're not even alive! Not really." said Shepard "You're just a machine, and machines can be broken!"
"Your words are as empty as your future." said Sovereign "I am the Vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over..."
"Well that was a lot of fun," said Gordon.
After that a choice was made in which Commander Shepard went to go save Ashley Williams in which she is in trouble by Saren and his forces, but Gordon went to go help Kaiden as he is pinned down by Saren's forces as well, for he arrived just in time. Kaiden looked surprised at this.
"Get out of here before it blows up," said Kaiden in which he continued to shoot
Gordon is shooting as well "Relax I can get us out of here," he smiled "Do you trust me?"
"Yeah," said Kaiden "But what are you going to do?"
Wordlessly Gordon Freeman grabbed the man and used the teleportation program to teleport away to the Normandy in which it had just flown away from the planet, everyone seemed surprised that Kaiden and Gordon are still alive but how they thought it was impossible to survive.
"Doctor," said Gordon "Patch Kaiden up,"
"Thanks," said Kaiden
"No problem," smiled Freeman "Anything I can do to help."
Gordon then went walking around as the Normandy was recalled back to the Citadel; however the ship was under lockdown but now for long as everyone was ready to go and took off in the Normandy to the Prothean home world of Ilos as it is a race against time. Thes band of misfits were going down in history as heroes only if they save the galaxy and the universe. Impossible odds as Gordon has beaten the odds and so will they.
Chapter: 24
Final confrontation