August 1st, 2183 CST; Unknown System, End of Relay 314
Tali, Cato, Liara, and Garrus all crammed next to the window, trying to get a glimpse at the system that they had just entered. There wasn't much to see, at least not yet, beyond the single orange-yellow star in the center of the system; and the incredibly large Gas Giants that seemed to dominate the view screen.
"Hm… a single star, that's actually rather rare; most systems have binary stars." Tali noted.
"Well, that is a good indicator of a potential Garden World; and Gas Giants as well since they would block most asteroids from impacting them." Liara added.
Before Cato or Garrus could add anything to the conversation, a voice crackled over the intercom; "Matriarch to Engineering; please prep the engines for in system FTL travel. We have found a potential Garden World."
The four crew members looked at each other; many of their comrades and fellow engineers doing the same, before they scrambled to their stations. Garrus and Liara didn't leave the window, keeping their eyes peeled for said Garden World.
They were about to get a real close look; much closer than they thought.
Unknown Month, 20XX; City 1, The Citadel.
Jack Harper, Consul of the Combine Overwatch of Earth, sat at his desk quietly filling out reports made by his non-brainwashed Commanders.
He wore a crisp White Uniform, if a photo had been taken of him in black and white he would have looked almost exactly like an SS Officer; the only difference being the silver and gold band around his arm with the symbol of the Universal Union in place of the Nazi Swastika; and a white uniform rather than black.
A feeling of unease washed over him as he flipped through his datapads; and Jack frowned as he stood up from his desk, walking over to the massive window of his office, affording him an impressive view of the City 1 skyline below.
The Citadel's base was human made; but built around the harsh, minimalist, metal walls of the Combines local capitol.
The Administrator may have been a puppet, but he was a puppet granted much leeway in how he could govern and rule. As much as it wounded Harper's sense of human 'patriotism', Earth and the Milky Way really were just ass backwards postings to the Combine Empire.
Nothing more than a foothold into this Universe, a staging base for the Combines expansion once they could find a way to bring spaceships from their Universes to this one.
It was such a dead end assignment that all the Advisors that were stationed on Earth simply hibernated in their incubation pods rather than waste their thinking power on some primates that could barely shoot some guns.
So the Administrator had decided to host his Government in the Citadel in City 17.
But Earth was massive, and despite the Combine's best attempts it still had a sizable population. So Harper had… convinced him that humanity needed something to remind them that it was humans governing them; a human structure to show them that they were not completely forgotten.
And above all, he needed a command center in the America's because of the sheer distance between the Afro-EurAsian supercontinent and the America's.
Of course, Harper had been talking out of his ass when he had said that; but to his surprise, the Administrator had actually gone along with it, and had allowed Harper to actually pick a design for the base of the structure once he had set up camp in City 1.
After much internal debate, he had decided that he would have the people build a replica of the planned 'Palace of the Soviets', only it had a larger circumference to match the citadels. The topmost level, where the Statue of Lenin would have rested, instead blended with the Citadel; and while it wasn't a perfect and seamless blend, it was good enough for many of the regime's workers.
Only Harper had his office in the Citadel; everyone else worked in the Palace.
Beep...Beep...
Sighing loudly, Harper brought himself back to the present and turned to the ornate wooden doors that led to the outside. "Enter!" He called, and the doors opened.
His two Overwatch Elites stood to either side, keeping their eyes outward as Harper's guest entered. Grinning in spite of himself, Jack shouted "Ben!"
The Commandant of Earth's Interior Defense Units; or 'Civil Protection' as everyone knew them, strode into Harper's office with the swagger of a man that knew he had nothing to fear. Ben Hislop, former HECU Marine Sergeant; now the third most powerful human on Earth.
While the two of them had joined up with the Administrators regime early on, and had been good friends in the unit; their jobs had kept them rather far apart from each other for a good long while. They hadn't spoken in person for years, the last time being when they had put down a brief Vortigaunt rebellion in City 39; or 'Detroit' as some still stubbornly called it.
"Jack! So good to see you old friend." Ben exclaimed as the door shut behind him.
Quickly embracing, the two walked back to Jack's desk and took their seats in the soft leather chairs. "So, what brings you here to my neck of the woods? Last I checked you were in City 14 across the water in the Middle East."
"I caught a message from a little bird." Ben replied, looking around the room and scratching his ear.
Jack raised an eyebrow, and waved an arm, "You don't need to worry about bugs, the Administrator would be the only one with enough guts to do it; and he's too arrogant to have the thought of disobedient subordinates even cross his 'brilliant' mind."
Ben gave a relieved sigh, "Good, one of my sub-commanders made the mistake of conspiring with his friend to try and organize an uprising so he could crush it and make me look bad and try to replace me as Commandant."
Jack chuckled, not at all surprised. The Combine Empire was very much a dog eat dog hierarchy where only the most ruthless and intelligent survived. "What did you do with him?"
"I reassigned him to Nova Prospect as a Sub-Captain; if he maintains that ruthlessness and is more careful I have no doubts he'll be the new Prison Commander in a few years." Ben replied, leaning back in his chair.
Jack just shook his head, "Ah you're too merciful for this job Ben."
"He's useful, and I don't like wasting potential like that. In any case, the reason I came here is because I found this." Ben pulled out a data stick and handed it to Jack. "Apparently the early warning AI made a mistake; this was supposed to be sent to the Administrator, and it was sent to me instead." He explained as Jack plugged it into his desk, leaning forward in his chair; his grey and blue uniform contrasting sharply with the white and tan of Jacks.
It took a few seconds, then Jack's eyes widened as he read the report. After a moment, he turned to be and asked, "And you are sure this is not a glitch in the software." He demanded.
"No, I checked through all my back channels; this is real Jack, the question is how do you want to play this?" Ben asked.
Jack leaned back in his chair; "Space faring Aliens… once they get close enough to Earth we'll bind them with the gravitational tractor beams and shoot the thing down. That way the Combine can't use it to leave Earth and expand outward; we make ourselves look good to the Advisors for eliminating a threat to their subjugation efforts, and the resistance gains some potential friends." He decided, a wolfish grin adorning his features.
"Breen will bitch and moan up a storm that we undercut his authority." Ben noted, raising an eyebrow but nodding along nonetheless.
"Bah, let him; we know how the advisors think, so they'll shut him up as thanks for us nipping the bud early." The Consul leaned forward. "Guards, please send for M-91811441 to come up to my office. Thank you."
Upon seeing Ben's questioning look, he asked; "How many CP units can you spare to send into the countryside?"
"A platoon, some APC's, and a Hunter Chopper for most of them; why?" He asked.
"Most of my units are currently dealing with Antlion infestations; damned things are in spawning season, so the vast majority are tied up in dealing with them. I can only spare a Battalion per city; but…" Here Jack paused as a grin worked its way across his face.
Hearing the door open; Ben turned and felt himself pale as he spotted what had caught Jack's attention.
She wore a skintight white jumpsuit, with an Urban-Camo Flak-Vest; her helmet shaped much like the Elite troopers outside the door, only with a glowing orange eyepiece instead of red.
An Assassin, Ben realized, turning his attention back to Jack. "I wasn't aware that Eva was allowing you to control some of her disciples." He said, trying to sound casual; but the act was spoiled by the fact that he didn't dare take his eyes off the woman as she walked up to Jack's desk and snapped to attention.
Jack shrugged, "I borrowed her equipment, but nothing beyond that; this one was one of Lawson's projects." he gestured to the assassin, who hadn't said a word or moved a muscle. "How old do you think she is?" He asked.
Ben looked at her apprehensively, "I'd say mid twenties, and i'd assume quite the honey trap." He replied, giving Jack a look of disgust.
To the Consuls credit, he immediately realized what Ben was implying and looked similarly disgusted. "I am many things Ben, but a rapist and pedophile is not one of them. She looks like she's twenty, but physically she's only fourteen, chronologically only two; and mentally about five or six. Lawson and Eva used their DNA and grew her in an artificial womb with all of the knowledge of how to be an Assassin and Scientist."
Ben looked back at the Assassin and said nothing; but internally felt his gut sink somewhat, was this how far we've fallen? He wondered. "Why is she here?" He asked.
Ben jumped as the Assassin said in a silky, seductive yet monotonic, Australian accented voice; "This unit was called to the Consuls office." Ben stared at her as he dimly realized that she had assumed that he was asking her a question.
"The Commandant was not speaking to you M-91811441." Jack informed her.
Ben felt his unease grow as a very subtle shudder ran through the Assassins body; "This Unit apologizes, and submits itself for punishment." She said, bowing her head.
"That will not be necessary; in fact, it will be good for you to get to know your new Commander." Jack stated firmly, "Ben, I'm giving you command over this affair; Deal with any escape pods that make it planetside. Capture as many as possible, kill the rest."
"I understand, and the Lambda Resistance?" He asked.
"If they catch one or two, it is of no loss to us; after all, what can one or two aliens possibly do?" Jack replied.
"Ruins on a garden world; I can't believe that we've found an extinct sentient species." Liara gasped as the Destiny Ascension drew ever closer to the planet.
Cato kept stealing glances at the window as they approached the Planet; and as they got closer, Cato felt his unease grow with every passing second. The Planet looked… ill for lack of a better term; like it was dying. Plus he had felt this… itch almost in the back of his mind, like something was wrong; or he had forgotten something important.
"I can't wait to see what their civilization was like; were they like the Turians, or the Krogan since they destroyed themselves." The Asari mused.
"I don't know doc; hopefully we get to find out soon." Garrus replied.
Cato was staring out the window now, having tuned out the conversation entirely. He could see an odd rippling in the space between them and the planet. As the planet spun, a greenish patch of water gave way to brown land. That brown became red as it passed under the ripple. It reminded him of some of the training vids he'd seen of Disruptor Torpedoes and Biotic Warps.
"Grab onto something!"
Everyone started at his outburst, then one of the shipboard alarms sounded.
"Will all passengers please return to their quarters. Will all passengers please-"
The Destiny Ascension shuddered violently just before the world turned sideways.
Passengers and crew alike screamed as one corner of the observation gallery became the new local down. Cato desperately clung to a railing as everything fell towards the ripple. He was mesmerized by the sight through the viewport of the Citadel Council's flagship being twisted like cloth.
His attention was drawn back to the here-and-now when a shrieking, flailing Asari slammed into the bulkhead above him at what he guessed must be terminal velocity. His vision was blocked by a splash of purple just before her deadweight slid onto him and knocked him loose.
He kicked off and hit one of the emergency EVA features common to all Quarian suits.
A micro Eezo core was energized to reduce his mass and allow him to, hopefully, not be reduced to something akin to a Pyjac under a Krogan boot.
He was wiping some of the unfortunate Asari from his visor when he felt himself falling in a new direction. He looked through the smear and saw three shapes clinging to a banister. He grabbed what he guessed was Tali's arm. Beside her was a turian he thought might be that Garrus fellow who'd been talking to them, pinning Liara down so she wouldn't fall as well.
Her hand was glowing with biotic energy.
Cato clung to his sister and shivered while she rattled questions off; some coherent, others barely even words.
Any response or thanks he might have given to any of them was preempted when the Destiny bucked violently. They maintained a deathgrip on the railing as all sense of up and down vanished, along with the primary lights and alarms. They were replaced with rows of LED lights and emergency indicators, and the moans of the survivors.
Liara gasped. "What's happening?!"
"We've lost main power." Garrus bundled the distraught maiden up and kicked off towards one of the Emergency indicators.
Cato finally got his wits back as he and Tali followed the others. "We didn't lose power, we lost the ship!"
"You can't be certain of that, Cato." Tali tried to sound brave. She'd always done that for Cato, especially after their father threw himself into his duties as Admiral.
Cato just shook his head. He appreciated the gesture, but he intended to become a Marine; he didn't need coddling. "Whatever it was, it was happening outside the ship. It looked like slow motion images of Disruptor Torpedo impacts, or Biotic training. The whole ship was being twisted!"
"Do you realize what this means? This isn't a dead world! Can you imagine the power needed to generate that kind of Mass Effect field?" Cato wasn't sure if Liara had cracked under the stress, or if this was just how she coped.
"I'll take the time to appreciate our attackers after we're safely on a shuttle." The turian began leading us through the ship.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa! We're not leaving." Tali latched onto a door jam and Cato's arm. "The ship may be dead in space, but it's still our best chance at survival. It has food, water and air. Besides, when someone comes looking for us, they're much more likely to spot her than a tiny shuttle."
Liara gripped Garrus' arm. "Yes, and her hull will also protect us from radiation. Perhaps it would be better to bunker down until help arrives."
Garrus shook his head. "Those would all be fine arguments if we hadn't been in a powered medium planetary orbit. As it is we're-"
He was cut off as the ship shuddered again. The sense of down returned, and was gradually building.
"Kheelah!" Tali looked at Garrus. "Did we just-"
"Hit the upper atmosphere, yup. We need to move, now!"
The quartet wove their way through the dying ship towards the hangar where the planetary exploration shuttles were stowed. Liara maintained a near constant biotic field around them so they could weather the growing acceleration. By the time they reached the hangar, she was nearly ashen with strain and exhaustion.
"Cato, get her strapped in." Tali left his own strapping in as understood, then headed up to the cockpit with Garrus. The young Pilgrim did as his big sister told him, then strapped down just before the shuttle launched itself into a wall of fire.
Cato found his hand grasped by Liara's weak grip. He squeezed back and pinched his eyes closed, trusting his big sister to get them clear of this nightmare.
Ayita's gaze shot upward as she saw the flash; her confusion turning to interest as she felt feedback throughout the Vortessence as other Vortigaunts and Vortals all across the planet saw a similar occurrence.
She frowned, absently blasting an Antlion as it scurried towards the nearby cave.
She had been out of the mines for several hours, and had managed to find an abandoned cabin in the woods; Antlions feeding on the poor soul that had previously occupied it. Ulysses had explained to her that his ancestors had used to breed Antlions for food and as hunters; Anderson had called it 'husbandry', and humans had done the same to Wolves and other such domesticated animals before the war.
As a result of this, Antlions had a natural fear of Vortal abilities; being able to sense beings connected to the Vortessence, and knowing to avoid them. Only when sufficiently angered would Antlions dare try to attack or kill a being tied to the Vortessence.
It was a shame, because Ayita liked animals; their thoughts were simplistic, and easy to understand, not at all like other sentient beings.
The Curiosity ebbing from the Vortessence was quickly changing to alarm and shock; causing Ayita to look back up to see what was causing all the fuss. She felt her own alarm add itself to the Hive as she spotted a massive spaceship being slowly dragged down from high orbit, the nearby Citadel of City 1 using its gravitational field manipulators to drag it downward.
The Ship to its credit was fighting back, hard.
Ayita could see the faraway lights of the city dimming and flickering; no doubt the Dark Fusion Reactor was straining to keep the ship in place as odd blue barriers flickered around it. Ayita was mesmerized as the ship rippled like cloth, something had to give; and either fortunately or unfortunately depending on one's perspective, the ship lost.
Its blue barriers flickered and died.
The star shaped space ship began to fall apart; its wings ripping off and falling to the earth below.
Ayita blinked as bright streaks of light began to fly away from the ship, the way they flew reminding her of Combine dropships almost. Ayita winced and held her head as she felt a familiar presence slam into mental blocks; quickly finding a chair of the cabin she was in, she sat down and closed her eyes and allowed her mind to leave her body and become one with the hive.
Ayita opened her eyes, before giving a displeased huff.
She hated going into these 'chat rooms' as some of her fellow Vortal's called them. As the Mind was simply a projection of the soul, and the soul simply a projection of the personality residing in the mind; a person in these… 'chat rooms' would appear as how their souls saw themselves.
Ayita found hers embarrassing and it made her very self conscious.
She remained a sixteen year old girl; but her clothing and style was completely different.
Or rather… her lack of clothing; she wore a simple buckskin skirt that barely reached past her thighs, a bead chestplate with feathers woven in to cover her chest, and a buckskin cloak that covered her shoulders and reached to her waist. Her chocolate brown hair was a choppy uneven mess, with two mini braids at her temples with more beads and feathers done in them.
Vortals had no control over how they appeared in the 'chat rooms' or in the hive in general; but Ayita had long found a workaround for that.
Concentrating, she manipulated the shadows so that they concealed most of her body; her bare feet and legs below the knee remained only just visible through a vague outline, same with her hands and forearms, and with her glowing green eyes.
"If the Shepherd is finished worrying over their appearance; we have more pressing matters that need tending." A Familiar voice growled behind her.
"This one apologies for her lack of attention to the Ulysses; may we know what this meeting entails?" Ayita asked, bowing as she did so.
It was odd how in her body the few times she spoke aloud, and on the rare occasion she used telepathy as opposed to images and emotions; she spoke like how Anderson and the non-Vortal humans spoke. But when connected to the Hive she, like all Vortal's, resorted to speaking like her Vortigaunt mentor.
"There are others that have come; we must find them, err the Combine do so. Death and the end of freedom will follow if all are captured or shed their mortal coil." Ulysses explained, a brown cloak wrapped around his spindly body, the hood drawn tight over his head; as flashes of humanoid looking aliens being slaughtered by Combine forces flickered in the corners of Ayita's vision as he talked.
"How does the Ulysses expect us to do so? The ship fell to pieces many leagues away from us, and their dark tower holds it out of reach." Ayita demanded, her eyes flaring emerald in anger.
Her mentor gave her a stern look, his red eyes glowing as well in the darkness; "Anger and impatience is unbecoming of a Vortal being; you would best quell them, lest they be your undoing." He cautioned, and Ayita cringed in response.
Quickly bowing, she asked; "Forgive us for our impatience, but please answer us this; how are we to find any survivors at all?"
Ulysses' eyes brightened, and the darkness… brightened as well for lack of a better term; and Ayita could have sworn she could see the Vortigaunt smiling under his hood, "Ask… and you shall receive; farewell, and good hunting."
And with that, the Vortigaunt turned and walked away into the black; his avatar fading into nothingness.
Ayita watched him go, before sighing and dispelled the shadows around her; turning in the opposite direction, she too walked into the black nothingness. But from her point of view, she saw the bright dot that was her body; and knowing that every second spent in the Hive was a picosecond her body was vulnerable.
And so she too, vanished into the black.
Ayita gasped, her breath muffled by her gas mask as her emerald colored eyes stopped glowing solid electric green. Blinking, she quickly assessed her surroundings to make sure no antlions, bears, wolves, or anything else potentially hostile had snuck up on her in the few real world seconds her mind had not been in her body.
Upon confirming that there was nothing around, Ayita stood up and quickly searched the cabin to see if the dead person had left anything valuable behind.
She ignored the rotting corpse, long desecrated by antlions and wolves, as she walked around the small two room cabin. The roof having long since collapsed, and the walls rotting away slowly but surely.
A humming noise filled the air, prompting Ayita to turn her gaze skyward.
Three of the odd alien spacecraft were flying overhead, but one of their number seemed to be damaged; trailing smoke and slowly descending to the ground. Suddenly whatever was giving the ungainly thing lift failed, and the craft dropped like a stone for a few seconds before its engines reactivated.
But it was clear they were going to have to put down in the valley below.
Ayita shuddered at the thought, it would be about a thirty minute walk down the mountain to the Potomac below; if the Aliens followed the river and went south, they would end up at City 11. But if they went north…
Quickly checking the second room, the first having nothing of interest; she found a safe.
It was a big one, and the metal had clearly rusted the thing shut. Ayita briefly considered just shooting the lock with her Combine SMG, but decided that it would be a waste of ammo. Even if she destroyed the locking mechanism, she would probably just end up destroying whatever was inside.
The humming had decreased significantly; prompting Ayita to walk over to the nearby window and look outside. The damaged spacecraft had set down beside the Potomac, it's two compatriots quickly following and landing in a rough triangle.
Knowing that she didn't have much time before the Combine showed up and laid siege to the Aliens position, she decided to just do it the easy way.
Clenching her fist, Ayita channeled the Vortessence into her fist; and backed up slightly to give herself space. Growling, she slashed her arm through the air; and a glowing emerald green bolt of energy slammed into the door of the busted safe.
The safe door bent inwards, popping off the hinges; before slowly tipping forward and slamming into the ground with a loud Thud! Staring for a moment, Ayita nodded in satisfaction; stepping around the fallen door she peered inside the safe.
Inside, was a gun and ammo.
Had Ayita been a gun enthusiast like some of the rebels; or if she had grown up in the old world, she might have known what kind of gun it was. But as it stood she took it anyway, noting the knife that was as long as her forearm resting in a sheath beside it.
Noticing a scrap of paper, Ayita grabbed it, and seeing that it was folded up, she opened it to see what was inside.
Dear Sir or Ma'am…
By the time you read this I will almost certainly be dead; but that doesn't matter. What matters is this gun and its ammunition, the bayonet and utility belt I leave to you; on one condition, Never kill another human being with this weapon, those that are not Combine that is.
This gun is a M1917 Enfield, or Winfield as many called it.
It fires .30-06 Springfield ammo, of which I left about 100 rounds for you to get you started. This rifle was the workhorse of the Armies of the United States during the War to End all Wars; and it never saw combat. My Grandfather left it to me on the condition I never use it to kill another human being, and now I leave it to you with that same condition.
If you use it to kill Combine, that is fine with me; for they are no longer human in my eyes.
Keep that Bayonet sharp, the barrel clean, and the sights properly zeroed; and she will take care of you.
I hear the Antlions breaking down my door; I must close this safe so they don't destroy the gun.
I leave with this final message; good luck… and long live the resistance.
Ayita stared at the note, then turned back to the rotting corpse in the other room. It was more of a skeleton than a corpse if she was honest with herself, but it was clear that it was the person from the note.
She looked back at the gun, and after a moment of internal deliberation, she grabbed the utility belt and strapped it on; making sure the 'bayonet' wasn't in the way of anything important. Then she grabbed the ammo boxes and made sure to stuff her pouches with them.
Then she grabbed the Winfield, and used the sling to strap it over her shoulder; resting across her back. She would figure out how to use it later, she had her Combine SMG and her Vortal powers to keep her safe until then.
Walking out the door, she looked back at the mostly decayed corpse and gave a nod of acknowledgement to tell its soul that she understood its conditions for her use of its weapon, and would follow them to the letter.
With that done, she turned and jogged down the mountain to where the Aliens waited below.
"Everybody, sound off!"
Cato looked groggily towards Garrus. "Aye, sir."
"None of that 'Sir' business, I-"
"Work for a living?" Garrus smiled and patted Cato on the shoulder, then looked him in the eye. "How are you holding up?"
"He's a Zorah," Tali came out of the cockpit, "he's doing great, all things considered." Cato could see the relief in her eye-lights.
Cato smiled wanly, though Garrus couldn't tell through the faceplate. "I'm doing fine, but Miss T'Soni is out cold."
Tali went over to the sleeping maiden and was about to unhook her when one of the consoles started to beep. Garrus headed over and checked the console. "We have inbound; looks like, six aircraft coming from the nearby structure."
Tali grunted. "I suppose it's too much to ask that they be friendly."
Cato levered himself out of the chair. That itching sensation was back, like an annoying tune you could almost remember. "I doubt it Big-Sis. But whether they are or not, we need to be ready for them."
Garrus gave him another grin, then went to a locker near where Cato had been sitting. "The other reason I wanted to get to this shuttle, is it's the one I was assigned to." He unlocked and opened it to reveal a small armory. "I've met a few Pilgrims in my time in C-Sec, even a squad of Migrant Marines during my Armringer Legion days so I know how resilient and resourceful your people are. How handy are you two with small arms?" He pulled out a Widow Rifle and did a quick function check.
Cato looked inside and was shocked at the arsenal inside. "Were you expecting us to be attacked?"
Garrus shrugged and pulled out the three remaining weapons: a submachine gun, a shotgun, and a heavy pistol. "I was hired on for security, not subtlety."
Cato heard an odd whirring noise, and the itch felt like it got worse. "Well we're here to survive." He took the sub-gun while Tali checked over the shotgun. "Let's make sure we do."
They all nodded and stepped out of the shuttle, just as four giant flying spider things and two miniature flying thresher maws opened fire on the group of Asari who were waving them down.
Garrus immediately took aim at one of the flying worms and opened up, though to no avail. The creature slithered through the air towards them, spitting blue bolts as it came. Cato's itch was almost a burning sensation as it drew closer, his attention drawn to its bulbous black protrusions. The moment it was close enough, he fired a short burst into the mass. The thing gave a screech like a wounded beast and raced away. The other rushed in to replace it, though it maneuvered to protect the masses.
Garrus quickly clued in to what Cato had aimed at.
Rather than shooting the threatening beast, he aimed for one of the flying spiders. The result was spectacular as it thrashed and screamed, dropping a container it had been carrying; a container that spilled soldiers onto the ground. As the arial monstrosities flinched from the assault weaponry, the surviving Asari rallied, three of them combining their Biotics to rip the wounded worm thing in half.
A warp was thrown by another Commando just before being cut down by blue bolts crushed the front of a second spider dropping it like a stone. Another shot from Garrus and a blast from Tali sent their harasser fleeing back to the safety of the pack. The handful of survivors, a heavily scarred Krogan in red armor, a Salarian with a broken horn, and another Turian, fell back inside the circle of shuttles, while the remaining spiders unleashed their troops. Most were in heavily reinforced armor, though the only kinetic barriers seemed to be a kind of riot shield arrangement.
Cato's attention was drawn back to the shuttle when Liara stumbled out, gripping her pistol. "Maybe you should stay inside."
She groggily shook her head. "I don't think we can afford to spare anyone."
"Hah! That's the spirit ya little Pyjac!" The brute of a Krogan looked over his shoulder and frowned slightly. "Still, you look like Varen shit. Stay behind the line and let your strength return. We're gonna need every edge we can get."
"Speaking of edges," the Salarian casually nodded at the rapidly approaching wall of troops, "numbers seem to be theirs. Recommend we correct that imbalance." He looked pointedly at Garrus and the Krogan. Both veterans took some meaning from the glance and readied.
Cato was having difficulty following the conversation; it felt like they'd had it before, and it seemed to end badly then too. The itch turned into a jarring screech as the Krogan flared with biotic power and flashed into the oncoming troops. Those that weren't crushed in the charge were scattered to the sides, at which point everyone opened fire. The alien rush stalled as the Krogan began casually swatting soldiers aside; either into Garrus' precise shots, or the Salarians calculating bursts of fire.
A barked order came from something in the back of the alien group.
Several of the more heavily armored creatures threw themselves at the Krogan while the rest retreated and reformed a defensive line. He had just finished crushing the last assailant when a hail of blue bolts slammed into him. His barriers flared for a second before he threw up a biotic shield and fell back to the survivors, his armor seriously scorched.
"I don't know what they're shooting, but it cuts through K-barriers like Vorcha."
"Extremely disciplined, highly adaptable. Not a good combination when outgunned."
Cato couldn't follow the rest of the conversation at all as something stepped through the aliens.
He could taste malice and wrongness and felt ten thousand voices gnashing at his consciousness at the… immorality of the Asariod creature. It gave a single command with a voice that cut like silk and grated like salt in a wound.
The wall of aliens advanced as one, their shields absorbing fire while laying down a barrage that kept the defenders under cover. In short order they were on them. Shock prods subdued nearly everyone except the Krogan who merely raged and laughed about a glorious end, and Cato.
The first time one of them hit his sister, he unloaded his SMG into the alien until the thermal safety shut the SMG down. One of the faceless things stabbed him with the shock-prod, but instead of pain he felt a rush of energy. He channeled all of that energy into smashing the creature with the butt of his gun.
Both the weapon and it's victim broke.
Another alien stabbed at him, and again he felt a rush. Each time there was a wave of almost-sound. He jerked his elbow into its skull with a very satisfying crunch. The chorus changed and he ducked under a swing he hadn't known was coming.
He spun and came face to face with the Asariod.
There was no one else but them, and something else on the edge of his senses. Even the mighty Krogan had been brought to his knees. He knew he couldn't beat this creature; every scenario ended with them all dead, or worse.
All he could do was delay it.
He swatted the pistol out of its grasp and threw one desperate punch. It twisted like a coiled cable, then snapped around with a kick that knocked the wind out of him. There were sudden flashes of pain and alarms as she slashed his suit open, then a deep biting cold as she drove a knife into his side. His suit tried to seal up around the injuries, but he had nothing left to fight with.
He stared dumbly as she loomed impossibly close.
He realized too late what was happening as her helmet shattered his visor. Rancid air poured in as alarms wailed in his ears. He thought he heard Tali as well, but he was too fixated on trying to get his emergency mask in place. The chorus was in his head again, though now oddly comforting, like early memories of his father before he became 'Admiral Zorah'.
There was more commotion around him, but he couldn't focus on it until he finally got his hands around the replacement faceplate. He ripped the old plate off of its gasket and slammed the new one in place.
He took several calming breaths and realized his side didn't hurt. He certainly ached, but he knew he'd been cut and stabbed and made to breath contaminated air. He should have been dying, but instead he was just tired, and hungry.
He was tackled by Tali who frantically began running diagnostics that he knew would not, could not tell her what had happened. A flash caught his attention as another Asariod flung his assailant aside like a discarded garment. She glowed green and ebbed grief and an ancient unfathomable rage.
He had no idea who she was, and knew without any doubt that she was a friend.
He watched her closely, seeing her draw on a well of green and wrath to sweep the other aliens aside. Each time she did, he felt the power come off of her, like a cool misting shower and the hot embrace of a protective parent. The itch called him to her, and he flexed muscles his people had forgotten about centuries before the Morning War.
She was now his destiny; for good or for ill, he would follow her, learn from her, and change his people's future.
Ayita frowned heavily as she spotted the dropships immediately encircling the Alien spaceships.
Picking up her pace, Ayita practically sprinted the rest of the way down the mountain; only stopping when she reached the edge of the treeline. Peeking around the trunk, she watched as the Overwatch units began swarming the Aliens defensive positions; dozens of augmented brainwashed cyborgs against maybe a dozen at most unknown Aliens.
Her frown turned into a scowl as she watched the Overwatch units abandon their usual blitz tactics of overwhelming a position with numbers and surprise.
They seemed to be fighting cautiously; using their juggernaut units to advance forward to absorb any return fire with their hard light shields and their superior armor. In fact, if she didn't know any better; she could have sworn that she had seen some Civil Protection teams mixed in with the Overwatch units.
Growling lightly behind her mask, Ayita made sure to reign in her stray thoughts and emotions so that they didn't travel outward and alert the… Abominations, that she was nearby.
As she did so, Ayita almost stopped and extended her mind outward; for the briefest of moments she had felt… another. But the moment she saw what was leading the Combine troopers, she immediately sealed off her mind; trying her best to prevent her fear from escaping her mind.
It was a Combine Assassin; directing the troopers.
Ayita knew to fear these abominations more than the rest; its ability to seek out and kill her in the quickest, most efficient, and most painful way possible was something that was always on her mind.
Now she knew she had to wait until the aliens were subdued; since all the effort the Combine troops seemed to be putting into not shooting them, pointed to the Assassin wanting the Aliens taken prisoner.
And so Ayita waited, the Combine troops whittled down to only a small squad of grunts and a juggernaut by the Aliens. But the dozen or so Civil Protection Officers brought in as backup did their job marvelously.
Only seven Aliens remained when the CP's rushed in to subdue them.
One looked like a blue woman with no hair, two wore skin tight suits but looked like humans with three fingers, two looked like metal birds of some sorts, one reminded her of a toad or a frog, and the last looked like those dinosaurs that Anderson had told her about.
The dinosaur alien in particular apparently warranted special attention; as both the sole remaining juggernaut and the Assassin both moved to subdue it.
Ayita continued to watch as the Juggernaut with its genetic, mechanical, and biological augmentations matched the Alien blow for blow for a few minutes; before the Assassin moved in and stuck the aliens neck with a shock collar. It would pump enough volts into the wearer that it caused the muscles in their body to contract and paralyse it so long as the collar was active; meaning that it would be safe to transport.
The rest of the aliens were put in cuffs, zapped by the CP's and the lone squad of grunts whenever they resisted too much.
But there was one Alien, the human looking one that seemed to be male; that managed to fight off the CP's, catching the assassins attention. The Assassin made a gesture, and the twelve CP's, four grunts, and the Juggernaut stopped what they were doing.
The Alien seemed unimpeded by the stun sticks, in fact it seemed to give him energy.
The Assassin drew its pistol; and the Alien punched it out of her hand, following up with a punch to the jaw. The punch being strong enough to snap the Assassins head to the side. Then the Assassin retaliated; kicking the Alien in the chest, slashing its shoulder with her wrist knife, stabbing it in the side below its ribs with its other wrist blade.
And then headbutting it and shattering its visor.
Ayita starred in fascinated horror as its red mask shattered, revealing a purple-grey colored face, black hair, glowing mercury eyes, and a face that looked very much human otherwise. She snapped out of her trance, the Vortessence drawing around her as she felt… anger and fury build within her.
Before she knew it she was sprinting out of the trees towards the river, her hands trailing emerald green energy as the Vortessence answered her call for power.
All the Aliens were focused on their fallen compatriot, who was choking and holding his breath; his face showing pure panic as he frantically dug around in his bag for something; what it might be, Ayita wouldn't know.
The CP's and Grunts were all watching the Alien in silent amusement, but the Assassin saw a flash of green out of the corner of her eye; and turned to see Ayita sprinting towards them.
The Assassin never got any more warning than that, as a bolt of green energy slammed into her face; sending her flying backwards and into the Potomac, still caught completely off guard by the presence of a pissed off Vortal Human.
Ayita's vision was tunneling now, ignoring the Aliens stunned looks as she used her Vortal abilities to jump on top of one of the crashed ships; the juggernaut blasting where she had just been only moments before.
Ayita growled, and raised her hands; emerald orbs of Vortal power glowing as bright as the noon day sun. The juggernaut frantically tried to realign its aim, but was too slow as twin bolts of energy slammed into his head and chest.
His head practically evaporated, while his chest now had a smoking hole where his artificial heart used to be.
"Shit!"
"Vortal!Vortal!Vortal!"
"Run!"
The Grunts and CP's were far less disciplined than their two commanders had been.
Two of the CP's charged her with their stunsticks while the other eight dropped whatever they were doing, which included holding the aliens; and drew their pistols.
Ayita jumped and moved with such speed and grace that it looked to many like she was dancing and teleporting. But to Ayita, everything was moving slowly as she saw the actions that every grunt and CP would likely take, and already began working out how best to counteract them.
The two with the stun sticks reached her and smashed their metal rods onto her back; their batons set to maximum voltage, forgetting in their panic that Ayita was Vortal.
She felt rejuvenated as the waves of electricity surged through her body; and she grabbed the two CP's by their heads and smashed them together so hard that their metal helmets caved almost instantly, crushing their heads.
Flipping away, and gracefully landing in the midst of four more CP's; she didn't bother fighting them. She simply bobbed and weaved the smarter one of the four as he tried to restrain her, while the other three stupidly tried to shoot her. Twisting her body, Ayita didn't even bother to watch as the CP behind her was turned to meat from the MP7's 4.6x30mm armor piercing bullets.
In the blink of an eye, she had charged up another orb of energy in one hand while using her other hand to twist the barrel away from her, and towards the CP's other friend as Ayita smashed her supercharged fist into the CP's head.
Even as the Quislings head popped from the energy contained in her punch; his finger contracted from the electricity Ayita had put into her blow, and hosed down on the trigger. The bullets flew into his remaining two compatriots, tearing them to shreds; even as Ayita jumped and flipped onto the top of another spacecraft.
One of the grunts tried to climb up and shoot her in the back with his Pulse SMG; but Ayita simply struck him with another bolt of energy, not even bothering to look at the fallen grunt as she jumped and landed feet first on the chest of another CP.
She charged energy in her hands and slammed them down on the ground, killing the CP she had landed on; while sending the other three flying.
One smashed into a jagged piece of metal, which tore through his heart and killed him instantly.
The second fell flat onto his back and had only just raised his head and arm before his head disappeared; emerald green smoke trailing from the stump of his neck.
The third didn't even manage to land before Ayita had caught up with him. Catching the flailing grunt by his jaw, Ayita promptly flipped him over her back and slammed his neck into the ground; his limbs flailing as Vortal energy sparked throughout his body.
Ayita rose from her knee; just as a pulse round slammed into her temple, dropping her to the ground. Her suit shield dropped from 100% down to 70% instantly; and she could already feel a massive headache coming on.
"Hey! Hey, I hit her!" One of the three grunts exclaimed excitedly; seeming proud of himself.
At least until Ayita stood up, and allowed the floodgates in her mind to open. With no need to mask her presence; she allowed her fury, anger, and annoyance to wash over the area. Birds, Wolves, Bears, headcrabs, bullsquids, and Antlions nearby immediately turned and ran for their lives from the angered presence that had invaded their minds.
The Aliens cowered in fear as the presence washed over them, the maskless one managing to find the strength to fix a clear transparent visor to his helmet to replace his destroyed one in spite of his trembling hands.
The three grunts? The last three Combine troops in the area facing off an incredibly angry Vortal found themselves only able to say two words before they met their fate.
"I'm sorry…" The grunt that had shot her whimpered meekly.
Growling again, Ayita telekinetically lifted the three grunts into the air; the Grunts dropping their Pulse SMG's as they began to choke, unable to breath as Ayita slowly crushed their windpipes. With a gesture with her right hand, the two Grunts that had not shot her had their necks snapped instantly; and they dropped to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.
The one that had shot her would not be so fortunate.
Ayita growled again and lifted the grunt higher, and gathered another orb of energy in her hand; before lashing it forward. The bolt slammed into the Grunts chest, and he screamed as the electricity worked its way through his body; the endless beam being continuous as opposed to short and concentrated like the others.
It was only for a few seconds before Ayita ended his pain, overloading the grunts heart before allowing him to drop to the ground.
After a few seconds of silence, she turned to the dinosaur looking Alien; it stared at her in what appeared to be awe, and a bit challenging too. Its electric shock collar kept it paralyzed, Ayita charged another bolt of energy; but this one was weaker and more concentrated.
The Aliens eyes widened, and tried to move; while the other aliens began shouting at her while trying to struggle out of their own bonds. The now re-masked alien just stared at her, and she found herself looking back at it, allowing her curiosity to wash over him for a moment; before turning back to the Alien.
She slashed her arm, and the bolt of energy slammed into the Aliens shock collar; and it fell to the ground in pieces.
The Alien slowly stood up and barked something, but Ayita was no longer looking at it; having walked over to the nearby Pulse SMG's that had been dropped. Quickly inspecting them, she disabled their user locks with a quick jolt to its safeties; then lifted them into the air.
Waving her arm, the four SMG's she had spotted flew in an arc to the two suited Aliens, the Blue woman, and the Frog; those four being the only ones able to handle their small size. The two metal Birds and the Dinosaur looked at each other, before turning their attention back to Ayita as she telekinetically lifted three Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifles and flung them towards the three Aliens.
The Frog was yammering endlessly at this point; already having figured out how to load his SMG to Ayita's surprise, which she allowed to wash over the Aliens as she watched the Frog work.
They all whipped their heads from their new weapons over to her as they felt her surprise and curiosity wash over them; and Ayita bent down to the dead Overwatch grunt and held up a Pulse Plug for them to see. Hitting a button on the side of her own SMG, she slotted in the plug into the magazine; throwing away the energy stick.
She quickly telekinetically began to retrieve as many as she could find, while the Aliens alternated between watching her, chattering amongst themselves, and retrieving gear, boxes, and what looked like food from their destroyed spaceships.
She knew they were talking about her, but she did not care; she could sense something about the masked one.
She could feel… power...
"Cato!" The young Pilgrim flinched at his sister's yell. He looked at her and, as if for the first time, realized how scared she was.
"It's okay Tali, I don't think she'll hurt us."
Cato flinched as his sister shivered; that was always a prelude to him getting smacked in the head.
Whap!
"Bosh'tet! You were sliced, stabbed and had your faceplate shattered! My diagnostics say you're running a ten degree fever; We need to...to..." She frantically looked at the wreckage around them. All of the shuttles had been unshielded when the attack began and were now perforated. Her vision settled on one of the downed spider-carriers, and it's intact carrier box. "Come on!" She grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. At that moment, the extent of his injuries caught up with him.
Cato stood in a cloud of mist.
He was wearing the traditional ankle length coat and cowl of the Pre-War Territorial Guard. He often dreamed this, but the weight had never seemed so great before. He could feel others around him; some bright as a freshly lit flame, some dark as the space between stars.
And some still who defied his ability to perceive, yet perceive them he did.
Cato rasped out in terror and pain as Tali held him up.
"I know it hurts, but I need to get you to the container over there so I can rig up a temporary clean room."
Cato heaved ragged breaths as his head whipped back and forth; his attention was drawn to the Asariod. Even now her light burned bright, and understanding passed between them; she knew what he had seen, had brushed against. She knew what terrible burden and glorious purpose seemed to await them all, and who would be awaiting them at the end. She knew the extent of his injur-
She placed a hand over his stabwound and another over the gash and the world turned white with pain for a moment.
Everyone was yelling and pointing their newly acquired weapons at the Asariod. He really needed to learn her name. He coughed and rolled his shoulder. "I'm alright, I'm alright." He stood tall, using his sister to support him while placing himself between her and the other.
Tali clutched him with one arm and the strange SMG with the other. "You are not alright! I need to get you over there, now move!" She all but dragged him over to the container. "Sit!" She started pulling bits from her packs and started a program on her omni-tool. She cobbled her device together and clipped it to her belt, then tried to get the container door to close.
There was a thumping from nearby as the Krogan came over, giving the other a wide berth. "What do you need?" There was a pain in his voice, buried under centuries of anger and disappointment.
Tali looked over for a moment, then stopped heaving. "I need to close this door so I can sterilize the interior without irradiating everyone here." She unclipped the Eezo-catalyzed Nuclear Decay device from her belt.
He chuckled. "Don't worry about me little Pyjac. Krogans can take a lot."
"A thousand Rem in a second?"
He was motionless for a moment before getting a hand under the door and heaving. Tali managed to toss the device in a moment before the front slammed shut. "I'll be over here." He stomped over to the far side of the other downed spider.
The container hummed for a moment as the tiny quantity of Eezo was energized, causing the tiny quantity of Uranium to undergo centuries of decay in a matter of seconds. The door popped open with a belch of flame, at which Tali threw a small cryogenic Nitrogen canister in. The loud Pop produced a wall of steam which Tali dragged Cato into. "Could you close the door again?"
Once the door was closed and magnetically sealed, a final sterilizing spray applied; then Tali went to work examining Cato's wounds. Or rather, his lack of them.
"What? I'm certain you were stabbed!"
"I was, but now I'm not. You're not getting the top bunk from me that easily, sis." Cato tried to joke, but the glare she leveled on him caused his chuckle to die in his throat. "I don't know how, but she fixed it. You've heard some of the weird stories about the things Biotics can do."
"Yes, Biotics! She's..." she flailed hopelessly.
"Green instead of blue?"
Tali nodded imperiously. "Yes."
Cato stared at her as the absurdity of her position sank in. "Sis; whatever happened, I survived and am whole enough to travel. Which I think we'll need to do soon. Whoever sent these," he motioned to their temporary shelter, "is likely to want to find out what happened. I don't want to be here when they do."
Tali huffed and thumped her faceplate against his. "I'm scared."
"So am I, but we're alive, we're together, and we're not alone."
She nodded and unsealed the door. They stepped out to find the Krogan had apparently scavenged the heavy gun off of one of the transports and was, through pantomiming sound effects and interpretive dancing, trying to get her to help him make it usable as a Krogan-portable weapon; Everyone else was watching in rapt fascination.
Tali stared for a moment. "Seriously?!"
Garrus looked at the two Quarians and shrugged helplessly. "He insisted."
The Krogan stomped one of his feet, making everything shake. "Absolutely!" He never broke off his act.
Cato looked at what he knew was a bemused look on her face and chuckled. She looked at him, at which he simply gestured at the weapon. She returned the chuckle and made a few crude adjustments to the back end of the weapon. She then heaved the weapon up and fired a short burst at one of the other Spiders, eliciting a pained warble, then thumped the gun into his arms. She pointed to the nearby river and began walking.
With no other real plans or options, the group gathered up what supplies they could and followed.
Assassination Unit M-91811441 slowly crawled out of the Potomac river.
Her uniform was a mess, her flak jacket long gone; her suit torn in many places, the skintight suit leaving her with even less modesty than before. But the most obvious sign of damage was her helmet; it was cracked neatly down the middle.
The top left of her helmet was gone, revealing half of a beautiful face and long raven black hair.
But none of that mattered to the Assassin; no what mattered to her was the sight of all of her CP units and Overwatch troopers dead on the ground. Her dropships were destroyed; and the Alien Spaceships were nothing but twisted piles of metal.
But most upsetting to M-91811441, was the Aliens; they were gone.
The half of her face that was visible twisted into an expression more fit for a child than a teenager; but the Assassin didn't know that or particularly care.
"NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!" She wailed, punching the burnt out husk of the Alien spaceship; denting the metal with every punch. She began to sob as she did so, she'd failed… she'd failed her new commander and brought shame to the Assassins.
She'd allowed a Vortal… a mongrel abomination of a human to blindside her and best her.
HER! The pinnacle of human evolution bested by an Alien hybrid. No… no she would not let this stand; her communication equipment was gone, her weapons were gone, her suit was in tatters, her armor was gone, and her helmet was damaged beyond use or repair.
Snarling in frustration, M-91811441 ripped the damaged remains of her mask off, revealing bone white skin on an otherwise beautiful face, and long curled raven black hair. But the image of beauty was marred by her red and puffy eyes and the tears streaming down her face.
Growling, M-91811441 quickly walked over to a dead CP impaled on a piece of metal; and snorting in disgust she peeled his gas mask off his face, and quickly slotted the mask into place, covering her face once more.
She hated using it, but the methane and CO2 pockets scattered across the wilderness were deadly, even to her. So she needed this mask, as much as she despised its primitive HUD and shape.
She would hunt these aliens, and she would hunt them until they were all dead; or she was. She was doubtlessly already slated to die for failing her mission, so she would make these Aliens suffer.
They would join her in the abyss; even if it meant disobeying orders…
As she worked, M-91811441 didn't even consider the thought that she was disobeying orders; something that should have been impossible.
And as she scrounged up weapons and supplies, M-91811441 failed to notice a blue suited man off in the distance watching her; didn't notice him give a cold smile, straighten his tie, and walk off into the wilderness.
Pilot A/N: Link to the Discord is "Pv2bv88"; check my profile if this does not work.
I know there are going to be ME fans pissed at us for creating Cato, but we needed him for the story.
I am a Half Life fan through and through; I've been one ever since my sister got the Orange Box and I Played HL2 and its episodes. And most recently Black Mesa and HL: Alyx has renewed my interest in the series.
I love the Half Life series; it is the Video Game standard of "Show, don't Tell". Most games (ME is semi included here) rely largely on Info dumps, and assume the player is stupid when telling its story.
Half Life does the opposite; it's story is completely optional and you kind of have to pay attention and use your brain to get it.
I love Black Mesa Xen levels so much, because the Crowbar Collective knew this and followed the idea when they essentially remade Xen from the ground up. If I ever refer to Xen in this Story, it will be of Black Mesa's Xen because it's so good; I think even Valve considers CC's Xen to be semi canon since many of the Xen environments from HL:A remind me of Black Mesa's Xen levels.
Alright… Ian you got any thoughts before we wrap this up?
Ian A/N: I will admit two very important details: I have never played a Half Life Game, and I have never played a Mass Effect game. I am however an avid fan of science fiction in general and have absorbed as much as possible through cultural osmosis.
Over the years, both Mass Effect and Half Life have become cultural icons of science fiction storytelling. Where Mass Effect was essentially a playable love letter to 80's action sci-fi, Half Life was an homage to that of the 50's Orwellian Dystopia as well as 'Eldritch Horror'. The blending of these two styles make for an intriguing examination of storytelling as a whole, and our science fiction Zeitgeist in particular.
I am pleased and flattered to work on this story at Archangel's prompting, and hope that our combined vision entertains you, the reader, as we have in its creation.
Pilot: Couldn't have said it better myself Ian, We hope to see you guys next week; as the next chapter is quite the doozy.
A TV Tropes page would be greatly appreciated for both of us.
Check out this story on Archive Of Our Own if you're reading this from , or vice versa.
Leave a Review and tell us what you think.
And we will see ya when we see ya.