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Beta(s) :
Espa Cole
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"Her partner is either synthetic completely, and very well designed if that is the case, or heavily cybernetically enhanced." The Cerberus agent finished, stood in front of Shepard in her quarters, completely apathetic to her state of undress after her desperately needed post-spar shower. With a sense of finality, the woman clasped her hands behind her back and finished, "Enhanced to a degree that even Cerberus is likely unable to do without exorbitant costs comparable to what it cost to bring you back from the brink. And given her reference to 'gods', and acknowledgment of Polendina's nature, Nikos is not ignorant."
"More likely, if this is a Geth plant, she's in on it. One Cerberus told me to recruit." She left unsaid how big a fuck up that was, and what it reflected onto Cerberus itself. Though, judging from the woman's pursed lips, the Commander didn't need to say it at all. Sighing, the soldier continued pulling on her bodysuit and asked, "What do you recommend, then?"
"Capture them both, submit them to Cerberus interrogation, then disassemble the synthetic to study and use Nikos for research into super soldiers of our own." The woman answered quickly, having obviously already thought the matter through. Probably before she even came to meet her in Engineering or, failing that, in the scant few minutes she spent in the shower. At a raised eyebrow, and the silent demand for more that came with it, the woman explained, "Using Polendina we could gain a large amount of insight into cybernetics and energy systems, which would allow us to repair wounded soldiers readily. Nikos' 'Aura' poses obvious advantages as well, alongside the chance to find more like her."
"Her home." Shepard nodded, "Mistral."
"Indeed." Miranda smiled and returned the gesture, seemingly proud that they were able to reach the same conclusion. Still smiling, though for different reasons now if the Commander had to guess, she went on, "Imagine a shock infantry force capable of shock tactics and sustain maneuvers the way she clearly is. An entire army of people able to fight Krogan would be an undeniable advantage against the Reapers."
"It would be, yeah." And she could imagine how hungry the Alliance and Cerberus would be for it. And even then, that was presuming Auras only came in Humans from Nikos' home. If normal Humans, or even aliens, could do it too?
They would have a whole new kind of force multiplier on the board and one that, uniquely, the Reapers would have no counter to.
"You have EDI monitoring them both?" Shepard asked quietly, turning to lean back against her desk and rolling her shoulders to adjust the Cerberus uniform she'd finally zipped up. When the Biotic nodded, Shepard clicked her tongue, thinking through her orders rapidly for the last time. Satisfied, she began to rattle them out at lightning speed, "Continue monitoring them quietly, and alert the chiefs of deck security that they are being monitored. I want a no-approach protocol in place, though."
"May I ask why?"
"I don't want to spook them if they are indoctrinated plants." The obvious reason being that angering a potentially indoctrinated young woman who could move metal inside a metal warship didn't need to be said. Miranda nodded and her better went on, "Also, if they aren't," and her instincts, for some reason, urged her to that answer, "then I don't want to put them out or make an enemy out of them. Nikos' people could end up being just as valuable to us either way, and as an enemy she won't be incentivized to lead us to them."
"I understand, Commander. I'll see your orders dispersed to those who need to know about them." And even if she disagreed in a couple channels, Shepard suspected that she'd obey regardless.
Tim's instructions were to do so, after all, and she was a very loyal hound.
"How long until we're in-system for our operation on Korlus, EDI?" She asked, now that the matter of observing the self-titled 'Huntress' had been settled.
"We will reach the Eagle Nebula in a little under four days, Commander." The machine reported instantly.
"Send word to Massani, Vakarian and… Nikos. I want them all geared and ready for landfall as soon as we are in-system and can disembark. Calculate the time out, notify myself and my team, I want it down to the minute." The briefing on Korlus had listed it as a bumfuck nowhere trash heap populated by mercenaries, after all, and she didn't fancy sticking around any longer than strictly required. To Miranda, she explained shortly, "The area is nothing but metal, more or less, and I want to field test them apart. See if they're alright being separated. I suspect spies wouldn't."
"Ah." The woman nodded, "I understand, Commander. And… Thank you for explaining."
"Not a problem." She'd been in her shoes, now and again, with having to adjust to no longer being the one leading the deck. It was normal, and she knew how to handle it as well. Giving the woman a nod and waving towards the door, she grunted, "Now if you don't mind, I'm taking a few hours to myself. Personal time."
"Understood, Commander." The woman nodded, turning to leave.
Shepard waited until after the door had been shut for fifteen seconds to do anything, assuming that would be long enough for her to get into the lift and start heading down. Pushing off her desk she groaned, collapsing into her seat and pinching the bridge of her nose. Nothing could ever be simple…
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A few days passed by rather swiftly, filled with sparring sessions, exercise and movie night with Penny just before mission day. The young woman enjoyed romance and action, oddly enough, rather than anything more to what Pyrrha would have expected the bubbly girl to be interested in. Kelly, their Yeoman, had joined them for the movie, from which they'd drawn their selection for the evening. Or, well, for the afternoon they treated as an evening, as she had to be awake and alert at just past three in the morning by the standardised time.
On-planet, she'd been told, it was expected to be the afternoon.
Because everything was topsy turvy in space, apparently.
Regardless, she smiled tiredly as she stepped into the galley and nodded to the chef waiting on her. "Mess Sergeant Gardner. G'morning."
"G'night more like." He grunted, smiling good naturedly and nodding a greeting regardless. As she sat down he sauntered over to her and sighed, setting down a large tray for her. "Eggs, sausage, biscuits n' browns. Juice n' water, too. You Biotics get all the good grub."
"I'm not actually-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Special hippity hoppity bullshit." The man waved her off as Zaeed joined her and he turned, trotting off to get his morning meal too. They'd all been told to list what they wanted to eat before missions to let Gardner prepare them more readily, so he didn't need to order anymore than she had.
"Good-"
"Marghl." He partially grunted, partially murmured, and totally growled at her like a crotchety old man might. A mug of coffee was set in front of him that he took a long drink from before grunting a short, simple, "Not a mornin' person."
Well, that was fair, she supposed. And he hadn't been terribly rude, by what she understood to be his standards at least, so she simply shrugged it off and set to work on her own rather hearty meal. A bit much for her, she felt, with a lot of heavy sitting aspects to the meal. But then, they wouldn't reach the area of the mission for an hour yet, and travel there would be another half of one, so she was sure that she wouldn't be too heavy in the stomach to fight if it came to it.
Or rather, when it came to it.
"Thanks, kid." Zaeed grunted when she slid him a biscuit she caught him eyeing hungrily. Taking a hunk out of it before the mess sergeant could catch him, he bumped an elbow into her and grunted amicably. "You're not a total cunt after all, Red."
From him she supposed it was a great compliment, and so she smiled and murmured a bemused, "Thank you."
Archangel - Garrus, that was - arrived a scant few minutes later and took a small silver tube Gardner offered him. Special rations for Turians and Quarians, she knew, since their DNA was so drastically different from her own. Enough so they could get sick - or even die - from eating anything she had on the plate. Soon, Shepard joined them, murmuring her own good mornings and sitting across from her with a lighter meal before her. For a few minutes their foursome ate quietly, in an amicable early morning peace.
"Commander, we're closing in on the launch location.." Joker said over the ship intercom, prompting the fireteam to start clambering up and out of the benches they'd been eating at. As they did, stacking their plates and utensils in the middle and chugging drinks, the pilot kept talking. "Fifteen minutes out. Should probably get done with breakfast so I can get a nap after pulling this double you put me on."
It felt good to be back in her armor, she decided as they cycled through the Armory to collect their gear together and then climbed into the lift to head to Engineering. The lightly armored bodysuit was tight, but she was used to it, and it served as a token of Legion's friendship. Something she found valuable in and of itself. Her Mistrali armor needed no explanation as to the comfort it bright, of course. With both on, and her weapons' familiar weights on her back as well, she felt at home once again.
Though the silver of the space ship's interior did somewhat detract from that, even if it couldn't rob her of her good mood entirely.
"Friend Pyrrha!" A familiar voice called as the lift opened, Penny awake and smiling, dressed in her pajamas and looking tired. When EDI had chimed in to wake her up, Penny had been woken up as well. Like a little bullet, she slammed into the Mistralian's stomach in a hug, pushing her back into Garrus for the force. "I wanted to wish you good luck on your mission, since EDI woke me up!"
"I apologized for that already…"
"It's fine, Friend Space Ship." Penny assured her, letting Pyrrha go and turning to the other three as they shuffled by and towards the waiting shuttle. "I wish you all a good mission as well, friends!"
"Not your friend…"
"You forgot to add the 'yet', future friend Zaeed!" The android chimed, waving as she bounced by. As the elevator doors slid shut in front of her she began talking rapidly and energetically, slowly crouching as the doors closed in front of her so that she was always in view. "Just remember that as my father always said, friends who destroy expensive mercenary gunships together stay together!"
"...The fuck?" Zaeed grunted after a long pause, turning to Pyrrha beside him and gesturing at the door. Waving his hand he added, almost pleadingly, "The fuck, though, Red? Just… The fuck?"
"You get used to it." 'Or go insane.' Though she didn't add the second part, merely patting his shoulder and stepping into the shuttle to take a seat.
"Well, unless we want to drive the crazy, sociopathic mercenary any crazier, "Joker cut in to prompt, "we're at our launch point, and using stealth systems. Gonna get hot while we wait, so might wanna run before the Normandy becomes this system's largest oven. And that's not a record I wanna run for. I hate running."
"Only thing you get to break is bones, Joker." The Commander called, laughing at the man's beleaguered sigh and stepping into the little shuttle.
Zaeed climbed in after the Commander, murmuring that he just had to focus on his paycheck and he'd be fine. The Mistralian chuckled but otherwise, no one really made a sound as the shuttle lifted off and turned to drop out of the Normandy and into the cold of space. As the engines whined and the shuttle trembled with their efforts, she let her head lean back against the cool hull of the craft to wait out the ride in content excitement.
Visiting a new world? It sounded exciting, and Korlus had to be nicer than Omega had been.
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Korlus was, she decided the moment she stepped out of the shuttle and smelled it, not nicer than Omega. The shuttle had let them out at the far edge of a seak of destroyed, rusted ship hulks, with a single walkway leading in flanked by mounds of debris and ancient looking ship hulls. Under her feet wasn't even proper dirt, for the most part. Rather it was metal caked in grime and dust that looked like soil, which the partially broken and very rusted barriers were part of. A fact that gave her the distinct feeling they weren't on the ground, per se, but rather they were atop the hull of an ancient ship that had become as the ground. And then it had been layered with even more stacked ships of various sizes and scopes, stretching around her in every direction.
It was breathtaking, in a depressing, 'makes you feel like an ant' sort of way.
"Nikos, front rank, tank. Massani behind her, support with your rifle. Vakarian and I in the rear." The Commander ordered, helmet on and voice clipped in the fashion of shoulders. With a flick, Pyrrh's sword extended into a spear and she took her point position, fingers flexing along it. "Nikos, if you can, get into melee. Knock 'em out if you can, or just distract them and we'll pick them off from a distance. Standard Citadel ROEs. No executing downed combatants unless they try something, and accept surrenders. Maybe we can get some information as we go."
"Citadel rules of engagement?" Zaeed grunted, sounding flabbergasted but looking over his Vindicator idly. Like he'd expected this to come, and was resigned to it even if on principle he was going to complain about it. "In the Terminus? Might as well take my goddamn rifle away and make me ask 'em nicely to give up."
"Orders are orders…"
"Spoken like a true Turian." Massani grumbled, shaking his head and rolling his eyes when the Commander only cocked her head at him for it. Waving her off he moved past the two marksmen and towards the Mistralian, "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Goddamn soldier boys."
Orders given, and Zaeed's complaining subsided to a quiet grumble in the background, they began to make their way forward. With each step they took she could hear the echoes of their footfalls below them, carrying across some empty, likely inaccessible cavity within the ancient hulk. Around them she could hear the same kinds of intermittent groans as old houses, their foundations and structures eternally sinking, settling and resettling. Every now and again she could make out the distant clang of falling metal, alongside the echoes of gunshots beginning to carry through the wreck and around them as they walked.
"Commander…"
"I hear it, Garrus." The woman nodded, adjusting the grip on her sniper rifle warily. "Nikos, set the pace. Rapid advance, close with whoever you find first. I want at least one alive after for interrogation."
A chorus of affirmations followed her command and Pyrrha took off, jogging briskly down the path and listening to the sounds of their armor behind them to know how fast they could go.
The end of their path was marked out rather dramatically by a ship that had come down on the one they were walking on, crushing through half of the ship and destroying their 'naturally' marked out path. A raised section of the same ship that had destroyed their path made up a new one, hooking to the right away from a corner made by the larger section of the ship to their left, forming a massive wall no one had any inclination to climb. A white painted arrow pointed to the right, along the path, and had written under it 'Outpost Zeta', alongside a handful of other faded scribbles behind it in various colors.
'Outpost Zeta', as it turned out, was a simple raised platform built roughly out of the scrap metal around them. Like a tower that had been built up on the path, with a ramp on their side and a ramp on the opposite side, and high walls to either side. In the middle a low barrier had been built, for cover in either direction. A half dozen Blue Suns mercenaries manned the watch tower with their backs to them, using the low half-cover and the side of the doorless entryways as cover against the veritable hail of fire that buffeted them.
"Nikos, charge." Shepard ordered unnecessarily, "Massani with her, Vakarian and I will cover at range."
One spotted her sprinting towards them and stood, talon pointing towards her as he made to call out a warning. A warning that died with him as two heavy rounds punched into him, one to the chest and other into his throat, pitching him over the half-cover he'd been occupying. That drew the attention of a young looking Human who turned to them in shock, and met the same fate, head evaporating as a round punched into it and simply deleted the man's extremity. Two deaths to cover her advance up the open, well-lit path and ramp.
A scant few seconds she'd needed to reach them, which had cost two lives.
But now she was on them, leaping through the door and vaulting the barrier in one huge leap. She pushed off the barrier with her arm and Semblance both, rocketing her forward into a Turian in cover by the door. Her heels slammed into his rifle and crushed through it, into his chest to drive him into the wall. Using him as a springboard she leapt off and spun, spotting a second mercenary scrambling back from the other side of the door and flailing with a Vindicator. Using her momentum and, again, her Semblance she spun in the air to build up even more centrifugal force, launching her shield into the man's weapon and ruining it entirely.
A Turian, seeing her too close for his heavy looking rifle, abandoned it and launched towards her with her talons bared. She caught one claw swipe on her arm, Aura sparking as it landed, and stepped in to slam her shoulder into him. Physical contact made with his chest she held a hand towards him, fingers curled invisibly to 'grip' his armor and then turned, pitching him into the Human rifleman whose weapon she'd ruined. The weight of the Turian knocked him for a loop, and a boot to the face sent the Turian into sleep.
A rifle clicked to the floor and her spear snapped up to the throat of another man, his hands in the air and voice quivering, "I surrender, but the Krogan are insane! L-Like animals, you have to-!"
"Got it." She grunted as Zaeed reached the checkpoint and grabbed the man by his collar, snarling something she missed.
Down the ramp the path opened up into a wide platform covered in the dead, Blue Suns mercenaries and Krogan alike, spread out over a dozen yards in any direction. The battle had been quick and brutal, whittling the numbers of both sides down to what she'd torn through and leaving only a pair of Krogan warriors alive and standing. They both saw her at the same time, raising the pilfered Blue Suns rifles and grinning ferally.
Those grins vanished when her shield shot back to her arm and she charged, though, for obvious reasons.
Sprinting towards them she raised her shield as one opened fire, the rounds sparking off her armored defense and her Aura both. Spinning and stepping to the side to evade the worst of the withering fire she hurled the shield the scant few yards towards them, catching the shooter's rifle along the barrel assembly and ruining the weapon. He snarled and pitched it to the side, charging forward as his fellow raised his rifle, rounds searing through the air as she closed with the Krogan.
Whose head vanished with a familiar crack-crack of rifle fire, courtesy of the Commander's semi-automatic rifle.
As he fell she used him as a springboard, sprinting up his hide and leaping high, over the head over her opponent who watched on with wide eyes as she went. Landing, she called her shield to her and was one him before he could turn and bring his rifle to bear. Her shield struck him across the face to dislodge the rifle stuck to it and carved through the softer hide around his eyes, earning a howl of anger as much as pain as he staggered back. From behind him, automatic fire ripped into his back, forcing him forward and against her, where she took the opportunity to slam a shoulder into his chest. He laughed at the ineffective check, ignoring the pain from the rounds carving into his spine and closing his arms around her to crush her, but she only sighed.
With a herculean force of Semblance backed will she pitched him to the side and over the edge, letting him fall to wherever the platform's base had been built, far below.
"Fuckin' hell." Zaeed murmured as she returned to the raised lookout post, looking no worse for wear even after having rushed headlong into automatic fire. The only one to have not personally seen her in combat, he gave her a gaping-mouth look and asked, quietly, "What in the bloody god damn are you, you psychotic cunt?"
"A Huntress." She answered with a shrug as she stepped by him and into the lookout tower, the man himself staying outside to keep watch and grumble to himself about 'every goddamn redhead being crazy'.
That at least earned a laugh from her, if only a quiet one.
The four prisoners had, in the short time she'd been gone, been set against the right wall, arms and legs bound behind them. Two were still unconscious, laid back against it and only shifting occasionally in their sleep. Of the two conscious, one was silent with his head bowed and the other, who had surrendered, was rattling off his explanations animatedly, evidently terrified.
And not of the Krogan, either, judging from how his wide eyes turned to her when she returned. Playing into it so they could more easily get their information, she smiled, cocked a hip to rest a hand on, and reported, "I dealt with the Krogan, Commander. We're safe."
"Thank you, Nikos." She answered, gesturing at the trussed up mercenary in front of her. "Our friend here was just explaining why the god damn Krogan outside were attacking them. Right, buddy?"
"I-I don't know, I swear!" Oddly enough, he was speaking to her, not the Commander, almost pleading with her to believe him. Still focused on her, he went on, "I-I don't know why, but all the Krogan Okeer was experimenting on got loose. Normally they stay in their little… Pod, incubator, things until Okeer ejects them out into the Hulkyard."
"The Hulkyard?"
"It's, uh, our name for this stretch of the junk." He answered, finally turning to speak to the Commander herself. "These junk heaps stretch for miles, but these are more… Well, cleaned up, than the other areas are. We moved 'em around, built these catwalks and stuff to use the old hulks for living and working quarters."
"Why are you here at all, though?" The Commander asked, "Why set up here? Salvage?"
"I mean, partially, yeah. Sometimes we find good bits to sell in the Terminus, or even sometimes ships we can fix and sell off. Spare parts to hock at the Quarians whenever their outrider ships pop in-system, too." The man shrugged simply at the obviousness of it, "Mostly, though, we use it for training. Scrap is everywhere and with this variety, we can train recruits to fight inside ships or, if we set it up right, buildings."
"And the Krogan?"
"Aside from live-fire target practice for better trained recruits that need it?" He shook his head, anxious for not having better answers, "I don't know, Ma'am. Commander Jedore keeps a lid on it."
"And she's with Okeer?" He nodded and the woman turned, looking out towards the body-littered catwalk on the other side of the outpost. His gaze followed hers as best it could from where he was kneeling and, dramatically, the woman mused. "Not doing a good job at keeping him under control, then. Maybe you should send me his way so I can put an end to this before the psychotic Krogan experiments come and eat you?"
"Y-Yeah, sure." The man stammered, nodding his head towards the door, "You just have to follow the catwalks for about a mile. At the end of the, uh, path, you'll find an old freighter turned on its rear. The lab is on the other side of that. Area is crawlin' with Krogan, though, so there's bound to be Mercenaries there."
"Don't worry," the woman consoled him, leaning over to lay a hand on his bare head, fingers gripping his hair, "we won't let the Krogan kill all your friends. So," she grunted, standing while his terrified eyes followed her, "we're going to leave. If you or your friends here follow us, or call ahead, we'll know and we will kill you. Clear?"
"C-Crystal, ma'am!"
"Good." She turned, heading for the door with Pyrrha and Garrus following behind her quietly, "C'mon. We have work to do."
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Tried to more closely match how Pyrrha moves and fights in the show in this chapter. Felt a bit chaotic and messy to me, but input is welcome to that end.
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TPoynt :
Pyrrha is aware AIs are illegal, and has an inkling of how people react to them based on Legion's implications about the Geth. But no, they don't know how the galaxy views AI, nor do they know how they react. They just know it ain't good.
Frosty Chops :
She's just the best, yeah.
Scrub Lord :
Oh there's a fic idea… Also, there are cameras throughout the Normandy. As established by cameras and recording devices being the plot element causing problems here.
Unknown Man :
'Gynoid' is simply the female alternative to 'Android'. I will try not to use it to not bother you but might forget. So make a note and you should be able to reference it. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Blaiseing Fire :
...I am not giving Penny a pet Collector.
Stop with the puppy dog eyes.
Someguy the Anon :
XD
Dr Killinger :
The point of that instruction was to wait for evidence to come to her naturally, or for THEM to admit to things. AIs and indoctrinated individuals are risky enough, though, that Miranda would feel a need to brief the Commander on the suspicion.
Jubilee Marie :
It's a Supporter request so it will continue until they cancel it or it finishes, no worries.
Yo! Jubilee I'm glad that you are enjoying my little brainchild. Without Twisted here writing it, it would've just sat in the back of my mind.
And Thank You Everyone Else For Reading
From, Espacole