Chapter 12 – So I Want To Add A Comma
January 24th, 2211, 0205 hours – Aboard the SSV Hippocrates, Deck 12, Pedestrian Corridor 66F – Enroute to Medical
9 hours and 5 minutes after Outbreak
"What's his status?" I shouted at Fly.
"Pulse is about 45, BP's reading 80 over 40, it's not looking good," the Corpsman reported, "I've dosed him with a synthstim, the synthetic adrenaline should help buy us some time but it won't last long."
"We'll find better vasoconstrictors once we hit the med labs, not to mention spare blood" Rentea added. She had wrapped the young Jaeger currently draped over Teewin's shoulder in a shimmering blue biotic field that lowered his mass, allowing us to traverse the corridor more rapidly.
Fly quickly glanced at his omni-tool and said "We should hurry, his BP's too low for me to administer any coagulants, he doesn't have much longer."
"Fuck!"
"Get us to the medical wing and I promise you, I will save him!" Rentea shouted.
A Corpser dropped out of the vents above me, eyes glowing and lips curling in an angry snarl. With a wave of my hand I hit it with a small biotic field, throwing it against the wall and giving Cade the opportunity to end it with quick bursts to its head and stomach. A wave of dizziness hit me. I was drawing from my near-depleted store of energy to power what little was left of my biotics now. Anything stronger than a few simple abilities would soon start to eat at my muscle, then my organs, and if I wasn't careful could cause my body to start shutting down.
"Cloud, stop, let me take point!" Cade called out.
I stubbornly shook my head and maintained my pace. Immediately behind me tailed Cade and Camilla, Vindicator and Plasma shotgun out and pointed directly down the corridor ahead. Further back trailed Teewin, who was currently carrying Accer. Rentea and Fly walked on either side, periodically checking on the unconscious Alliance Jaeger.
The human and turian marines struggled behind. Galen staggered under the weight of the veteran turian sergeant and Rake and Soph each had one arm underneath the shoulders of the much shorter Corporal Jaypaul Gaffke. Jay taken a hard blow to the head from the turian saboteur back in the engine room and was likely still concussed. All of the marines had been wounded to some extent, forcing us to adopt a much slower pace than I would like.
Percival covered the rear, medi-gel hastily plastered onto his upper right arm. Fly had used the last of it on both him and Accer, and while it didn't help the young biotic much it returned Percival to some degree of combat readiness.
Percival let loose a few bursts from his Lancer at a couple of pursuing Corpsers. He tore one of his few remaining Inferno grenades and tossed it towards our pursuers. I felt a rush of heat caress my neck as it detonated and destroyed the creatures.
The indicator on my comm. set flashed green. I clicked on the receive button.
"Spectres, this is Captain Murgen, do you read me?"
"Roger, we read you five by five. Can you enable the self-destruct yet?" I transmitted.
"Negative, we can move and we can steer, but we can't activate the self-destruct sequence, the drive core must have been taken too much damage. Is there anything else you can do on your own end?" The Alliance Jaeger replied.
"Spirits, you've got to be kidding me," Cade complained.
"Lo siento," Camilla said miserably.
I cussed angrily at every deity I could think of, then at their mothers as well for good measure.
I turned to Camilla and shot her a reassuring look. "It's not your fault, you did the best you could in the circumstances that we were in."
My words were nothing but empty platitudes judging by the absence of change to the crestfallen look on the drive core technician's face. I sighed and clicked the transmit button again.
"Negative Captain, the engine room has been compromised and we've taken casualties. We're combat ineffective" I replied.
"Are you in need of medical assistance, Spectre? Give me your location, I can send you some of my men"
"Negative, we're enroute to the medical wing now. No KIA's but Lieutenant Burton's been badly wounded, half the marines can barely walk."
"Damn, are you sure?"
"Yes. Keep your men there, we'll be fine."
A moment of silence fell over the channel. "Copy. Will you still be able to handle the biology labs and lift the lockdown?"
I glanced behind me. Cade's mandibles drooped tiredly and one of Camilla's eyes had a slight twitch. Teewin's footsteps had become progressively slower and slower the longer we went on, and the marines all looked like they'd pass out given half the chance. Jaelen and Rentea were in reasonably good condition, but aside from them the only people I could count on to fight were Percival, Cade and I.
I sighed and wearily rubbed the bridge of my nose. "We'll find a way Captain. Keep the rest of the survivor's safe, we'll be back before you know it."
"Okay, good luck, Spectre. We'll hold down the fort here." Murgen finished.
Cade moved up to my position and leaned in close. "Are you sure we can afford to turn down the help? There's no telling what we'll find in the labs" the turian Spectre voiced worriedly.
I turned to my friend and lowered my voice, doing my best to hide my opinion from the rest of the group. "Any team he sends is going to have to go through that gauntlet of freakshows back in the engine room. Chances are the only thing it'll accomplish is weaken the defenses at the bridge and get good men killed."
Cade gave a little sigh and began to speak again. "I know, but if we go into the labs the way we are now, we'll die too"
I looked my friend in the eye. "Trust me Cade, I won't let that happen," I promised.
"You can't go alone either, incase that's what you were intending," Cade pointed out.
"Just trust me. Let's focus on getting to the medical wing first."
The turian gave me a silent, appraising look, then finally consented. Cade dipped his head towards me and pulled his mandibles tight across his jaws in acceptance.
I nodded thankfully and Cade briefly grabbed my upper arm. Up on the wall ahead was a large sign indicating that we were approaching the medical wing. Once we were in there, we could get Accer a much needed blood transfusion and maybe get the marines some real medication. I could also get my hands on a little something to keep me going. At least to keep me going for just for a little while longer.
"We're almost there," I told the rest of the group. There were a couple of grunts of affirmation but apart from that everyone chose to save their breath.
Not wanting to waste another second out in this corridor, I moved into a light run towards the door. When I reached it I nearly palmed the activation button right in half. When the lock indicator pulsed red I nearly had a heart attack. Thinking that it might have been some sort of glitch, I pressed the button again, only to have the lock indicator flash red once more.
Someone had locked the damn thing.
I immediately began pounding on the door with my armored fist.
"Hey, open up!" I called.
Cade moved up beside me and looked at me in confusion. "What's the hold-up?" he asked.
I grunted and punched the door again. "The damn thing is locked!" I spat through tightly clenched teeth.
He tilted his head in confusion. "Locked? Why?"
I began pounding on the door harder and harder. Behind me the rest of the group had caught up, a few of the marines craning their necks to try and see why we had stopped.
"I don't know why, some fucking asshole locked the door1" I hissed.
Cade didn't speak another word, instead opting to pound on the door alongside me.
"Hey! Please, open up! We've got wounded!" he called out.
"Open this fucking door!" I screamed.
Off in the distance I could hear moaning. It seemed to grow louder and louder with each passing second.
"What's the hold-up?" Percival called out from the rear of the group. I heard him slip a new heatsink into his rifle and press the stock against his armored shoulder pad.
Camilla squeezed in between me and Cade and took a knee beside the activation panel. "I can try and see if I can open it from out here!" she said frantically. Camilla produced a knife, pried the panel open and began tugging out a variety of wires and plugging them into her omni-tool.
I slammed my fist into the door as hard I could. On some level I knew it was stupid. I had no idea if anyone was even listening, let alone around to open it. All I knew was that if we couldn't get through soon, those creatures were going to tear our wounded apart.
"If you don't open this door right fucking now my friends are all going to fucking die! And I swear to fucking god that if that happens I will fucking rip your fucking throat out!" I roared.
The door panel finally turned green and they slid open with a hiss to reveal a tall, light-blue asari with white facial markings and a medical patch on her uniform. In one hand she held an M-3 Predator pistol while the other frantically waved at us to come inside.
"Come in, quick! Who is wounded?" she asked.
I shoved Camilla inside then pulled my own Predator pistol from my holster. Cade and I moved to the rear of the group as Teewin brought Accer inside, followed by Rentea and Fly.
"Pricelle, I can't believe you're still alive!" Rentea exclaimed. She ran over to the asari and pulled her in a tight hug that the other asari reciprocated.
"I didn't think I'd see you again, Ren-ren" the asari doctor laughed, "Now come on, that human looks to be in bad shape, we need to get him into theatre as soon as possible."
Galen helped Mardinus stumble through the doors, Rake and his two squadmates close behind. Meanwhile Percival, Cade and I were firing at a couple of Corpser's who were getting too close to comfort.
Rentea pulled away from her fellow doctor and began to update her on Accer's condition. "He's lost a lot of blood, we've applied a bit of medi-gel but were unable to fully stop the bleeding. We gave him a synthstim to slow down the blood loss but he's going to need a transfusion soon, or else he might go into cardiac arrest"
Doctor Pricelle nodded and pulled Rentea with her, following Teewin and Fly as they carried Accer deeper into the medical wing. "Then we don't have much time. Go scrub up while I show one of your friends where we keep the spare blood. Hopefully the cut was clean or else we might need to amputate more of the limb."
"Got it," Rentea nodded. The two asari led the rest of our team away, leaving Percival, Cade, Camilla and I at the door.
We stepped through and Camilla sealed it shut behind us. Beyond the doors we could hear a cacophony of hisses and howls as the Corpsers tried to get in, their claws scrabbling against the thick metal doors.
I turned to the young technician currently sitting tiredly on the floor. "Camilla, can you temporarily weld the doors shut with some omni-gel? I don't want any of those things getting in while we're busy treating our wounded," I asked.
She gamely scrambled to her feet and nodded confidently towards me. "Sure, no problem," she replied. I nodded appreciatively and gently squeezed her shoulder. I knew she was tired, we all were, but we couldn't rest until we've secured the wing.
I turned to my friend next. "Cade, can you stay with her? And after you two are done you go check up on the marines," I told him.
"No problem," the turian nodded. He took position protectively above Camilla as she worked to weld the door shut with her remaining omni-gel.
Percival waved to get my attention then jabbed a finger over his shoulder.
"I'm going to check the perimeter, make sure we're sealed up tight. The three of you should get some rest after the door's sealed, we're going to need it," he suggested.
I shook my head. "Not until Accer's out of the red," I told him.
He sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder. "He's with the doctors now, you have to trust them."
"I'm fine," I assured him, "Once I've checked up on them I'll make sure I'm ready for the labs."
His eyes narrowed at my declaration but otherwise Percival refrained from pressing the issue. He nodded once more and walked away.
"Go, go check up on the Lieutenant, we'll finish here," Cade told me. Camilla looked up as well and voiced her agreement.
Cade held out an arm and I grabbed his wrist in appreciation and nodded to him. Satisfied that they could manage without me, I went to find my friend.
January 24th, 2211, 0254 hours – Aboard the SSV Hippocrates, Deck 12, Medical Bay – Surgery Suite 4 antichamber
9 hours and 54 minutes after Outbreak.
"The young marine is stable, we've managed to stop the bleeding and we're currently performing the blood transfusion now," Pricelle said.
My eyes flew open and I had to steady myself on the table to keep my ass from sliding out of the chair. I hadn't intended to fall asleep, and in most cases there was no reason why I would have, but the toll inflicted by the last ten hours was starting to catch up to me.
I'd gone for longer periods of time, even in combat situations, without an ounce of sleep, sometimes up to 48 hours. But the situation aboard the Hippocrates was like nothing that I'd ever encountered before, not in all my years of serving as a Council Spectre. I was confident that I hadn't hit my limit yet, but I felt deep down that it wasn't far off.
I got up and stood immediately at attention. "When will he wake up?" I asked the asari doctor.
Pricelle checked her omni-tool, then looked up and answered. "We've got him under for now to give him some time to rest. We'll bring him out once the transfusion is complete. Say, another half an hour?"
I nodded. "Sounds good, thank you Doctor."
The light-blue asari smiled at me. "I'm only doing my job."
With that, she walked out of the room. Rentea came in next, her eyes baggy and her scrubs partially covered with the young Jaeger's blood. She yawned, then tore off her scrubs and her gloves and placed them in a biohazard bin before making her way towards me.
"Lieutenant Burton will live, the cut was clean and he should have no problem being fitted with a prosthetic. If we'd thought to recover the arm we might have even been able to re-attach it," Rentea said.
I scratched my jaw and yawned as well. "We were preoccupied at the time, I'm just glad he's going to be okay," I admitted.
Rentea gave me a genuine, sincere smile. The veneer of aloofness that I'd seen her carry the entire time that I'd known her seemed to fade. It had probably just been a self-defense mechanism, triggered by the stress of the situation. Once she was in her element, once there was someone to help, someone to treat, she seemed to change completely. Although her body language marked her as beyond tired, her eyes shone with happiness at the knowledge that the young biotic would be okay.
"Doctor Pricelle Devaris is the chief medical officer aboard the SSV Hippocrates. I've served under her for the last eight years and I've known her for the last eighty. You won't find a better doctor in this quadrant of the galaxy," Rentea promised.
I nodded appreciatively and smiled back at her. "Don't sell yourself short, Doctor T'lana. I'm sure you helped too."
She laughed and waved her hand. "Please, call me Rentea. You should try to at least get a bit of sleep, I imagine we won't be moving on until the Lieutenant and the marines are in the clear. "
"Will do, thanks again for everything," I told her.
She nodded and made for an exit. "No problem, Pricelle and I will be checking on the marines. From the looks of it all of them have concussions to varying degrees, but Sergeant Mardinus might be exhibiting more severe neurological damage from the Arc grenade than expected," she said. With one last smile she left as well.
And with that she left the room, leaving me standing alone.
I looked through the window at the young Alliance Jaeger lying in the surgical theatre. A number of IV's were hooked into his left arm, attached to several bags of blood that were currently suspended above his bed. His eyes were closed but I could see them shift beneath his eyelids. His N7 Hurricane lay on a table to the side, his armor in a bundle off in a corner of the room.
I sighed and pressed a hand against the observation window. He had tried to pull me out of harm's way once the voices had started up, making him a target for the psychotic Olivia Flanagan. I remember the way the light had glinted off the blade as it descended towards its arm, the spray of blood and the agonized scream that followed.
I screwed my eyes shut. I brought my fingers absent-mindedly up to the scar on my left cheek. I touched it lightly, feeling the raised edges that the dried blood had left. My mind went back to the red-headed saboteur that had given it to me, her smile and her laugh, and for a split second a sharp spike of rage tore through my head.
I wasn't going to be able to sleep now. I left the observation room and wandered down one of the corridors, lost in thought. I passed room after room, each one dark and empty. This ship had been bustling with life less than a day ago and now it was as empty as a tomb. Now that I was safe and there were no enemies to fight, I finally noticed exactly just how cold this ship was.
One of the rooms ahead had its lights on. The door was open and I could hear somebody walking around inside. I walked up and paused on the threshold, it was some kind of lounge for doctors and nurses who were off-shift. A few couches lined the walls. There was a mini-kitchen with a refrigerator, a microwave, and a sink. A small table with a few mismatched chairs stood in the center of the room.
Doctor Pricelle Devaris loomed over a hot pot of coffee. I watched as she poured a mug full of the steaming beverage and brought it to her lips, quietly taking a sip and letting out a small sigh of satisfaction. It smelled amazing.
She turned her head towards me, finally noticing my presence. Her white facial markings framed her face like a one of those masks that people used to wear to masquerade balls back in the olden days. Her eyes were a pale green – rare, seeing as asari pupils usually matched their skin tones. She didn't look old, didn't look like she had hit her matron years yet. When it comes to asari lifespans however, that could mean she could be anything from 30 to 300 years old.
"Never seen an asari with a caffeine addiction before?" Pricelle chuckled.
I cleared my throat and crossed my arms against my chest, one shoulder casually against the doorframe. "Not the weirdest thing I've seen," I said airily.
She smiled and waved a hand at the coffee pot. "Want a cup?" she asked.
I stared at her for a moment before nodding in the affirmative. I made my way over to one of the seats at the table while she pulled an extra mug from one of the cabinets and poured me a cup of coffee. I brought my elbows up onto the table, my armor causing slight gouges in the well-worn wood. I accepted the steaming beverage and nodded my thanks, bringing it to my lips and taking a small sip.
I could feel my adenosine receptors cry out in joy as my body welcomed the caffeine. My omni-tool indicated that it was a bit over 3:00 AM, well into the usual sleeping hours. The coffee was a welcome stimulant, it fought back against the tiredness that threatened my mind and began to dissipate the lethargy that had been slowly overcoming my faculties.
I took an even larger sip, wincing slightly as I burned my tongue. Pricelle cocked an eyebrow and gave me a disapproving look.
"Slow down, it's still hot," she said reproachfully.
I made eye contact but took a further sip, reveling in the aroma.
"How did you survive?" I asked.
She looked off to the side for a moment before meeting my gaze again. I could see a bit of sadness creep into her eyes as she called up her memories of the initial stages of the outbreak. To have made it this far aboard the ship was to have survived trauma that would have broken most people.
"I was making my rounds when the first patient was brought in. We had just lost communications with the rest of the ship. She had massive lacerations on her chest, had lost half of her blood, and was on the verge of cardiac arrest," she began. Her eyes misted a bit as the recollection came in full force. A part of me wanted to stop her, but the more I knew the better armed I would be when it came to delivering my findings to the Council.
Pricelle continued on. "She died within minutes of being brought in. Soon after we started getting more and more wounded, each one describing these horrific creatures that were aboard the ship, slaughtering the crew, converting them into these monsters," she shuddered. The mug in her grasp shook as her hands trembled, and I could see a tear roll down her cheek. I grabbed her arm with one hand in a wordless gesture for her to continue.
"They were screaming that we were being attacked. The security officer who was in charge of the medical deck ordered me to stay with the wounded and to manually seal all the doors and entrances, then took his team to try to make it to the Bridge. I was to stay and treat them until they could get back with some answers," Pricelle explained.
"A while after they left, the power went off" she whispered. "Soon after, the first of the wounded started dying. I tried my best but it was just me, I couldn't save them all. I tried and I tried but I just couldn't. I didn't have the medi-gel to handle such a large influx of such terrible wounds. Without power I couldn't run any equipment either. They all died one by one."
She began to cry silently, the kind that was all tears and no noise. Her mug was set aside and forgotten. "Why did this happen?" she croaked.
I bit my lip as I mulled over what I was going to say. "Someone sabotaged the Prometheus Project," I began, "A group of saboteurs were hidden aboard the ship, posing as part of the crew. They did something. When the Prometheus Team activated the Reaper Core, these creatures were created. They started killing the crew and began turning them as well. We don't know why or what their agenda is, we're trying to figure that out."
Her eyes widened at the mention of saboteurs. "Oh god, we did this? We did this to ourselves?" she gasped.
I shook my head and gripped her arm tighter. "No, the majority of the crew were innocent. This wasn't some accident, it was a deliberate act of mass murder. I promise you, I will find them and have them brought to justice."
Pricelle's hands clenched into fists and I could see a small tremor in her shoulders.
"Are there any more survivors? Is there a chance that more of these things could find us and attack us?" she asked.
I shook my head again. "We've set up a strongpoint on the Bridge. Most of the survivors are there now. Cade and Camilla resealed the door, and thankfully all of the air vents in the medical wing are too small for the creatures, so I think we should be safe. Once Accer is stable we'll escort you back to the Bridge, you'll be safe there." I promised.
Pricelle closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god," she breathed.
I gave her a reassuring smile and made to finish the rest of my coffee. Just as I swallowed the last sip Jaelen walked in. He halted in alarm, eyes wide as he regarded Pricelle. She turned his way and shot him a big smile.
"Jaelen, good to see you! I hope you're doing okay," she greeted him.
Jaelen swallowed and rubbed his hands together. "Yes! Very good, thank you Doctor Devaris, as you know salarians don't require much sleep. I am perfectly fine, thank you for asking," he smiled somewhat awkwardly.
Pricelle let out a tiny, musical laugh. "I'm jealous Jaelen, I feel as if I could collapse any second given half the chance."
Jaelen shot me a look before turning back to the doctor. "Yes, maybe you should try and catch some sleep. Lieutenant Burton is stable and Rentea has already taken care of the marines."
"Ren-ren always was a bit of a mother hen," she chuckled.
Jaelen's head bobbed in agreement. "Yes, quite so. Sorry to intrude, Operative Cloud, but there is something I need to talk about in private. Spectre Kitiarian has managed to ascertain the whereabouts of the remaining saboteurs."
I shot to my feet. "Let's go. Excuse me Doctor Devaris. Thank you for the coffee."
She waved a hand dismissively and smiled at me. "No problem, Cloud."
I nodded and looked to Jaelen. The salarian scientist jerked his head over his shoulder and motioned me to follow. We walked out of the lounge and began making our way down the corridor.
"Where did Cade say the saboteurs were? How did he find out?" I began.
Jaelen looked over his shoulder, back towards the lounge, before looking at me.
"He didn't," he whispered.
My brows knitted in confusion. "What?" I asked, perplexed.
"It was a pretense. Come, Spectre. Something I must show you," the salarian muttered silently.
I sighed as I ran an armored gauntlet through my hair before rubbing my chin. Something told me that I wouldn't like whatever this was about.
January 24th, 2211, 0316 hours – Aboard the SSV Hippocrates, Deck 12, Medical Bay – Morgue
10 hours and 16 minutes after Outbreak.
Jaelen tapped a button and the doors to the Morgue slid open.
The air inside was chilly, befitting the intended use of this room. I could see that nearly every corpse bay was occupied. A row of tarp-covered bodies lay on the floor, against one side of the room. A testament to how many lives had been lost thanks to the actions of the saboteurs. Each of the tarps were bloody, and I could see that many of them had large areas that had been completely soaked through in blood.
The salarian was uncharacteristically silent as he led the way inside. Jaelen made his way over to the closest one and kneeled down beside it. He turned to me and waved a hand, beckoning me over.
I walked over and took a knee beside him. He lifted the edge of the tarp that covered the body, revealing a human male in his mid-to-late thirties. A patch on the side of his coveralls indicated that he was part of the janitorial staff. His stomach had a massive laceration and he had huge stab wounds in his upper pectoral region. His forehead had a small bullet-hole in it.
I studied the body for a few seconds. "Wounds seem consistent with the capabilities of most Corpser variants, Doctor. What's the problem?" I asked.
Jaelen didn't say a word, weird. Instead he moved on to the next one. He grabbed one corner of the tarp and flipped it back. This time it was a male turian, clad in the armor of a security guard. His arm was missing below the elbow and he had massive holes in his stomach from where a Corpser had sunk its claws through his armor. He too had a bullet-hole in the middle of his forehead. Strange, maybe his friends hadn't realized that turians couldn't be converted into Corpsers.
I studied the corpse for a few seconds. "Seems like a Corpser killed this one too. What are you trying to say here, Doctor."
Jaelen stayed quiet again. If you knew anything about salarians, then that in itself should have been the absolute biggest of red flags.
He flipped open a third tarp. This time it was the body of an asari, dressed in the standard medical officer's uniform worn by both Rentea and Pricelle. She had no wounds, no blood on her outfit. Her eyes were rolled back and her mouth was open in a slight grimace. She too had a bullet hole in her forehead.
An icy hand wrapped its frozen fingers around my heart. A chill erupted at the base of my spine and raced down my back. I grabbed the tarp and threw it back even further. The asari had no wounds that indicated that she had been killed by a Corpser.
I moved on to the next one and lifted the tarp as well. Salarian engineer, Corpser wounds, a bullet to the temple. I went to the next and flipped back the tarp. Nurse, human male, no Corpser wounds, bullet to the forehead.
Jaelen finally turned to me. I looked at the salarian doctor, my mouth set in a cold, thin line, trying my best to control the emotions currently raging through my body. My hands twitched and tiny biotic flames sparked on and off between my fingers.
"Spectre," Jaelen finally spoke, "I don't think that the Doctor is who we think she is," he said simply.
I quickly turned on my heel and sprinted out of the morgue, Jaelen close behind.
"Rentea and your fellow Spectres are still with the marines, but I fear that Lieutenant Burton may be in danger!" Jaelen panted.
I didn't both to respond, running as fast as I could back to the surgery suite. When we got there we found that the door was now locked.
My biotics flared to life and blue flames snaked up and down my body. I drew my leg up to my chest and whipped it out straight towards the door.
The door nearly tore in half, flying into the suite and crashing against the opposite wall. I strode in and saw Pricelle standing over Accer, his N7 Hurricane in her hand and pointed at the unconscious marine's head while the other maintained a shimmering biotic barrier that encapsulated the two.
I whipped out my Predator pistol and aimed it at the insane asari while Jaelen had his omni-tool out and in-front of him, ready to unleash an incineration bolt.
"Let him go, Doctor," I said coldly.
"Please, don't make us hurt you" Jaelen pleaded.
She laughed and ignored me. "I'd watch where you're pointing that, Jaelen. You wouldn't want to accidentally hurt your friend here,"
She pressed the barrel of the N7 deeper into Accer's temple. The Lieutenant let out a slight murmur but otherwise stayed unconscious.
"Pricelle, let the Lieutenant go. There is no need for anyone else to die," Jaelen ventured. He lowered his omni-tool and removed the Predator pistol clipped to his belt, placing it on the blood-spattered floor. He looked at me in an attempt to get me to do the same but I kept my eyes and my gun trained on Doctor Devaris.
"Let him go and I'll make it painless," I spat.
Pricelle laughed again and smiled at me. "You don't get it, do you? I'm doing your friend a favor. Do you think he'd want to become one of them? Don't you think he'd rather die first?"
I looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
She grinned and began to drag the barrel of the SMG from the unconscious marine's forehead and down to his neck, then chest. Her eyes glimmered with a manic light and her voice suddenly became twisted and ugly.
"I was there," she said, "I listened as the came back, bleeding, telling stories of how their friends became these monsters, how they lost their minds and tore apart their fellow crew members". The asari swirled the tip of her stolen gun in tiny circles above the Jaeger's heart.
Jaelen raised both hands. "No Pricelle! Wounds not a method of infection!" The salarian tried to explain, "Infection precipitated by Crawler entry into host's internal systems or through contact with Changer subs-."
I heard a pair of light footsteps behind me. "What's going on? Pricelle, why do you have a gun?" Rentea asked.
Pricelle smiled, all teeth and barred lips. "Ah, Rentea, I'm glad you're here. Just in time."
"Jaelen, Pricelle? What's going on?" Rentea asked in utter confusion. She looked at her fellow doctor with a gun trained on her patient then back at me, my own Predator aimed directly at the crazed asari's head.
"I'm saving you, Rentea. I'm saving us all," Pricelle explained. "Just like I saved those other patients, I did as the voices asked. Thanks to me they'll never turn, they'll never have to witness their friends dying at their own hands, will never have to live as monsters."
My eyes narrowed at the mention of voices. My hand tightened against the grip of my Predator. "What do you mean voices?" I asked.
Pricelle turned to me again. "The voices, they tell me things. They told me that I had to save them, that I had to save them all. They told me that if I didn't everyone would die. That's why I killed them, that's why I shot Jen, Peter, Daric."
Rentea grabbed Jaelen's pistol off the floor and aimed it at Pricelle. Even with her added firepower, we wouldn't be able to penetrate the asari's biotic barrier fast enough, not before she killed the sleeping Jaeger.
The look on Rentea's face was a mixture of betrayal, horror, and like looming like a massive titan above it all - sorrow.
"You killed our friends, you killed the wounded patients… Why?" Rentea whispered.
A look of annoyance marred Pricelle's face. "I told you, Ren-Ren. They would have changed. The voice's told me I had to save them."
A tear rolled down Rentea's cheek, but her eyes lit up with fury. "We're supposed to save lives!" she shrieked at her fellow doctor.
I lowered my gun and took a step towards the deranged asari. "Tell me about the voices, Pricelle," I demanded. Rentea and Jaelen both looked at me in bewilderment, uncertain towards the direction I was trying to take the conversation.
Pricelle's brows knitted in confusion and she lifted the barrel of her stolen gun so that it was no longer trained at Accer, although she maintained her biotic barrier.
Her eyes met mine. "The voices… They come and go. First there's pain, so much pain, then the voices all come at once. After a while you start to listen, you start to hear… They had to die, I had to save them," she stammered.
The hand around my fist clenched even tighter and blood pounded in my ears. For the first time in a long time I felt fear. It wasn't a re-acquaintance that I found pleasant, not in the slightest bit. Would I lose my mind, as she did?
Jaelen grabbed me by the shoulder and jolted me out of my reverie. "Cloud, Doctor Devaris is obviously deranged. Stress of the situation too much for her mind, she snapped, killed her patients and her fellow medical officers".
Pricelle threw her head back and laughed. "Snapped?" she said, amused. "I didn't 'snap', dear Jaelen. On the contrary, I've been given a mission, a direction. I will save us all."
She looked at Rentea and grinned one last time, the barrel of her SMG trained directly at the young Jaeger's head. "Starting with him," she crooned.
Time seemed to stop, as it always seemed to do before certain events played out.
A hand flew up from the bed and grabbed the wrist of the asari. Accer yanked her arm over his chest, removing himself from the immediate path of her gun. He then brought his head up and sank his teeth deep into the crazed doctor's arm.
She screamed and squeezed the trigger of the N7 Hurricane on impulse. The gun clattered loudly and bullets lit up the wall beside the young Jaeger, but Accer was otherwise unharmed. He sank his teeth even deeper, small traces of blueish purple blood appearing around his mouth.
Doctor Pricelle Devaris howled in pain, the hand she was using to hold up her Barrier dropped and went to the aid of her trapped arm. The biotic blue field disappeared.
A quartet of gunshots rang out. Pricelle staggered from the impacts, each one pushing her a step back until she was against the wall of the surgical suite. After the fourth, she slid down the wall like a puppet with its strings cut. The N7 Hurricane fell out of her hands and slid to the ground.
Dark blueish-purple splotches began to form on her medical officer's uniform. Pricelle coughed, spraying her legs with blood. She looked up at Rentea, now standing above her with tears on her face and a look of utter loss, Jaelen's discarded Predator in her hands.
"Why, Prissy? You were the best Doctor I ever knew, you saved so many lives…" she whispered.
Pricelle smiled, her teeth stained blue. It was the smile of someone who one would be hard-pressed to consider human, or asari, or any other sentient species capable of higher level thoughts, empathy, and feeling.
"Ren-ren, you should have helped me, together we could have saved them all," she croaked. She coughed again but her eyes never left Rentea's. Her smile grew even wider as the barrel of Rentea's Predator started to shake.
"Ren-Ren-"
Another gunshot rang out, then another, and another, until it was hard to tell that Doctor Pricelle Devaris had been smiling in the first place. The Predator went clattering to the deck, dropped from limp hands, and Rentea dropped onto the floor with a sob.
Jaelen immediately moved to comfort her. He kissed her on the cheek and then hugged her tightly. The salarian was quiet as Rentea sobbed into his chest.
Accer slid his legs over his bed and staggered to his feet, his one good arm braced against the table beside him. I immediately rushed over and slid a shoulder beneath his stump.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
Accer spat out a bit of asari blood and shook his head. "A whole fuckton of different things, first and foremost being anxiety at the fact that I am unarmed aboard this fucking death-trap of a ship!" he croaked.
I grinned widely at the young Jaeger and began to help him stumble towards his armor.
"Get it, 'unarmed'?" he cocked an eyebrow at me.
"Classic comedy," I chuckled.
He gave me a look of feigned hurt and threw his head back. "Next time I'll just leave you on the ground, clutching your scar and screaming about Voldemort," he scoffed.
"What?"
"Nevermind," he sighed. "You need a less clichéd handicap, brother."
Rentea stood up, Jaelen's arms still wrapped protectively around her. She brushed the tears from her eyes and began to move towards the young Jaeger.
"We should run some tests to determine whether or not you're stable. How are you feeling?" she asked.
Accer smiled at the asari doctor. "I'm good, doc. Just need a hand, and probably some mouthwash," he grinned.
Rentea smiled at the biotic's little joke. "That's good. Honestly I'm surprised you're up on your feet so soon. If you can walk and talk you should be okay for now, maybe even shoot a gun. I wouldn't recommend using your biotics though, you lost a fair portion of your Eezo nodes with the amputation."
I grabbed his microweave undersuit and held it up for him as he slid in one leg at a time.
"Understood," he said, "Honestly, I'm feeling great, no headaches, no dizziness, barely any pain," Accer assured her.
I tied up the left sleeve of his undersuit and helped him clip on his armor plates. Accer tugged on them experimentally, ensuring that they were all properly secured, before pulling out his silenced M-3 Predator pistol and inspecting it for any damage. I grabbed his silenced N7 Hurricane and went to clip it on his back but he shook his head, nodding to me that I should keep it.
"You think I'll be able to fire that thing with one hand?" he asked.
"I think you'll be able to talk those things to death with one hand."
He grinned but simply waved his silenced M-3 Predator at me as I clipped his N7 Hurricane onto my left thigh. Satisfied that his armor was on and he was once again armed, he then turned towards the asari doctor, walked up and hugged her. With one arm of course.
"Thank you, I know how hard it must have been for you," he whispered.
Rentea wrapped both hands lightly around his waist and sniffled. "It was my job. I'm a doctor, I save lives."
They broke apart, Jaelen smiled and patted the young biotic on the shoulder.
"Good to have you back, Lieutenant Burton. Have no fear, know STG scientists who specialize in cloned tissue, can grow you another arm once we're off this ship, or give you advanced robotic replacement if you so choose. Elon series or Stark, both excellent military models," he gushed.
Accer smiled and thanks the salarian scientist. "Oh, I am definitely getting a robotic replacement. I'm going to take slap bets between me and Sean to a whole new level."
Jaelen cocked his head in confusion. "Slap bets?"
"Never mind."
I shook my head and stayed behind as Jaelen and the Jaeger left the room. I glanced back at the still form of former Doctor Pricelle Devaris and sighed.
Rentea looked at the body, then at me.
"She wasn't always like this…" she began.
"I know,"
Rentea grabbed the sheets off of the bed that Accer had been lying in and draped them over the body of the crazed asari, mercifully hiding the ruin of her face and the shattered grin still etched on it. Dark blue splotches immediately began seeping through the sheets.
She then bowed her head and said a prayer underneath her breath. I waited for her to finish, arms crossed tightly across my chest.
"She was one of the best doctors that I ever knew. She saved countless lives and she taught me to do the same,"
Rentea wiped a few tears away with the back of her hand. "She wasn't evil," she insisted strongly.
I stayed silent, my eyes resting on Pricelle's body. Eventually Rentea turned to leave, leaving just her and I.
No, I didn't think she was.
January 24th, 2211, 0333 hours – Aboard the SSV Hippocrates, Deck 12, Medical Bay – Waiting Room
10 hours and 33 minutes after Outbreak.
I walked in to find the marines all crowded around Accer. Teewin had the smaller biotic in a massive bear hug while grins were plastered onto the faces of each member of Rake's team. Verus and Mardinus were also looking happy, the big turian sergeant now thankfully back on his feet and looking much better than he did a short while ago.
Rentea sat on one of the nearby chairs, Jaelen beside her. There was a light smile on her face as she observed the marines' antics but her eyes told a different story. Her hand was tightly entwined with Jaelen's as she sat quietly. Percival, Cade and Camilla all moved towards me.
"She told us what happened. I can't believe it, she saved Accer's life," Camilla started.
"Yeah, she didn't seem the type. I watched as they operated on his arm, she looked like she was trying her best to help him," Percival mused.
Cade yawned and shrugged his mandibles. "This is why I don't date asari," he quipped, prompting Camilla to punch him angrily in the arm.
"Ow!" the turian complained.
"Can you not be so insensitive? She was Rentea's friend," Camilla hissed quietly. She looked back over her shoulder to wear the asari medical specialist was still seated. If she had heard, she gave no indication that she had.
Cade rubbed his arm and gave a look of hurt to the technician. "Did we all miss the part where she snapped, murdered all her patients, and tried to kill Accer too?" he said in bewilderment. Camilla had no good reply to this, choosing to instead punch Cade in the arm once more.
Percival gently put an arm on Camilla's shoulder and lightly pushed her away from her target. "Regardless, Lieutenant Burton, Sergeant Mardinus and Corporal Gaffke are now back on their feet, the threat has been contained, and we need to figure out our next move."
"We still need to deal with the biohazard," Camilla pointed out.
Percival nodded. "Yes. And while they might be on their feet, I don't think we can ask them to fight."
Cade sighed and scratched his fringe. "I don't think you can ask any of them to fight. The human marines look dead on their feet, Doctor T'lana is emotionally compromised and Mardinus can barely walk in a straight line. Galen's barely eighteen, he's good but he doesn't have our stamina."
"So what do we do?" Camilla asked.
Cade shrugged. "I shoot things, I usually leave the planning to Percival or Cloud."
Percival crossed his arms over his chest and looked up expectantly at me. I sighed and rubbed my jaw.
"We send the marines back to the Bridge," I began, "Percival can take Rake and his team, along with Mardinus and Camilla."
"I'm not leaving you guys!" Camilla protested in shock.
"Worried about a certain turian?" Cade joked.
"Hardly, but you're going to need some technical expertise just in case—"
I cut her off with a wave of my hand. "We can manage. Captain Murgen said that the self-destruct is disabled. We need you to get back to the Bridge and figure out another way to destroy the ship" I ordered her.
Camilla paused and carefully considered my words. She knew I was right, I could kick down locked doors in a pinch but I couldn't single-handedly assure the destruction of this ship. Only she could, and that made her a damn sight more important than any of us.
I continued on. "Cade and I will take Jaelen and Rentea, and Private Galen too. Hopefully whatever this biohazard is, it'll require brains and not bullets. We'll handle it then rendezvous with you at the bridge, we can then radio the SSV Excalibur to meet us at one of the hangar bays."
Rentea moved up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but I think I should accompany Spectre Percival and the marines back to the bridge. I need to keep a close eye on Lieutenant Burton and Sergeant Mardinus' condition," she suggested.
I pursed my lips and considered it for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Good idea, then we'll just take Jaelen."
The salarian scientist nodded, "Look forward to some good old-fashioned male bonding time," he smiled.
I looked at Percival, seeking his approval for my plan. After a few moments he nodded approvingly at me. The only way we could assure the safety of the group we intended to send back was if one of us went with them. Of the three of us, Percival would be of most use back on the bridge. His old rank would carry more weight with the crew than our status as Spectres and he could begin to organize the evacuation.
"Boys night out," Cade happily sighed. Camilla rolled her eyes.
Percival went to relay my orders to the rest of the group. There was a couple groans of discontent from the marines but most of them were too banged up to argue. Private Galen looked nervously at Percival, then at his sergeant, then finally at me. I nodded reassuringly to him and that seemed to light the young turian up. Cade went up to him and put an arm around his shoulder, pulling him close and ruffling his fringe with his other hand.
He was probably telling him all about the time he did something incredibly awesome and saved everyone around him. Camilla stood a few steps away, the pretty technician had her arms crossed against her chest and looked to be in the middle of another scoff directed towards Cade. Her face was liable to be permanently stuck in that position if she spent any more time with the turian Spectre.
Accer looked up and made eye contact with me. He raised his stump in a mocking caricature of a salute and winked.
I slipped quietly out of the room, back down the hall. The halls were dimly lit and my eyes had to take a moment to adjust to the lack of light.
I passed room after room, each one containing a bed, each one dark and empty. I shivered. The ship was fucking cold.
A sign on the wall indicated that medical storage was to my left, up on the next door. I approached it and palmed the activation button, causing the doors to slide open with a hiss.
The air felt even colder inside. Understandable considering the fact that this room held a variety of different drugs. Shelves lined the walls and filled the room, each filled to the brim with an assortment of different vials and containers. On their labels were trade names that I had never heard of, ingredients that I could barely pronounce. I recognized maybe one in ten, the rest I was completely unfamiliar with.
I moved to the side of the room with the pre-filled syringes. I grabbed one that contained a simple synthetic adrenaline and slid it into my belt. It was relatively harmless, similar in composition to the synthstim carried by Systems Alliance Forces. For a moment Sarah's face flashed in front of my eyes, so real and vivid that I had to look away. I still had her picture in my utility belt, and it was beside it that I placed the syringe.
Next I grabbed one filled with Minagen X9. It was a derivative based off of Minagen X3, an illegal recreational drug used decades ago to enhance biotic powers, highly toxic in large quantities. Since then it had been refined, redesigned for asari use to act as their own analogue to synthetic adrenaline. Minagen X9 was typically used on any asari currently undergoing cardiac arrest. Synthetic adrenaline didn't work on asari physiology, they lacked the same adrenogenic receptors that humans had.
It would jump-start their hearts, with the added side effect of massively boosting their biotic capabilities at the risk of completely short-circuiting their nervous system if they pushed it too hard. Users were instructed not to use their biotics for at least twenty four hours after being administered Minagen X9 specifically for that reason.
I removed my chestplate and uncapped the syringe, jabbing it right through my microweave undersuit and into my chest. I depressed it and shuddered as the substance began to flood my systems. Tiny blue sparks danced around my fingers and I winced as my amp hissed and spat biotic fire. After a moment it stopped and I sighed with relief.
"Save them all," echoed the words of the dead asari doctor. I shook my head and re-attached my chestplate to my suit. I wavered unsteadily on my feet and had to brace myself against the shelf with one hand. My heart hammered against my rib cage.
I used the shelf to pull me towards a large steel cage. Inside I could see a box labelled "combat stimulants". As the main medical deck for the Systems Alliance Research and Development flagship, I wasn't surprised to discover that they kept their combat stimulants in the same room as their antibiotics, spare blood, synthetic adrenalines and species-specific drugs. Probably in case they were boarded and they had to send wounded soldiers back out to fight.
My hand lit up with blue fire and I ripped the cage open with the same amount of effort I would use to open a bag of chips. I grabbed a pre-prepared syringe. The label was marked with its trade name, some long string of letters forming a word that I could hardly pronounce. It was some kind of amphetamine developed for military use.
I uncapped it and jabbed it in my neck. This time I gave out a light cry of pain as it coursed through my veins. My heart hammered even faster as the combined effects took their toll. It was probably not safe to mix them, but I didn't have the luxury of time. Our little group would be splitting up, our firepower effectively halved. We were all tired, ragged, and if we were going to all survive then I needed to be more than at the top of my game. I had to be at the top of 'the' game.
My limbs felt like they were on fire and my eyes snapped open. I stumbled towards a sink attached to the wall and looked into the mirror. I had the beginning of a rough five-o-cloak shadow, having not had the opportunity to shave since I boarded. My blue eyes were unnaturally wide, my pupils heavily dilated. No one would notice, not in the dim lighting of the corridors.
Olivia's mocking, psychotic laughter rang in my ears.
I gripped the sink tightly, waiting for the immediate effects of the combat stimulant to pass. After a while my heart resumed its normal, albeit slightly elevated rhythm. My hands stopped shaking and I let out a cough. I wasn't tired any more, couldn't feel any fatigue in my limbs at all. I felt as if I could run a marathon, fight a krogan with my bare hands, use my biotics to tear apart a starship.
I wouldn't let anyone else die.