The motley assortment of survivors followed their mute guide along the river.
She set a rather solid pace for as small as she seemed, but out of the group only Liara seemed winded. Even Cato managed to keep up, much to both Tali and the Salarian's surprise. They all remained silent though, as a palpable sense of foreboding hung over the forest, or maybe it was coming from their guide.
She called a halt at one point, pantomiming by waving a hand in front of her facemask.
"Tali, was it?" Tali almost jumped when the Salarian spoke next to her. "Our guide seems concerned about something. Could you scan the local air quality? My omnitool isn't optimized for environmental scans; was assigned to examine potential macro-biological samples."
She nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment.
"No need for all that; I can smell it." The massive Krogan lifted his face towards the forest and sniffed. "Methane pocket; big one too."
Everyone quickly activated the retractable helmets on their emergency gear. Their guide took note of that, then nodded and continued on.
Their next pause came when their guide, the Krogan and the second Turian all signaled to stop. A shuffling, whimpering four legged mass of fur and ragged flesh stumbled out of the forest. It was slightly smaller than a varen, but where it's head should have been was a bulbous mass.
The Salarian was swift to perform a quick scan. "Parasitic life form. Detecting mutagenic agents, significant necrosis," he paused in his analysis and looked with concern at the creature wandering near them, "dual neurological systems."
They could all feel the anger and disgust coming off of their guide, just before she turned and silently walked away.
Liara seemed near to tears as she looked back and forth. "Goddess, shouldn't we do something? At least..." she began pulling her pistol.
The second Turian placed his hand on hers and shook his head. "We're already likely to be hunted by whoever sent the assault team. A trail of dead bodies will simply mark our path." He looked at the traumatized beast and then, like the guide, turned and walked away. The rest of the group reluctantly followed behind.
By nightfall they reached a semi-worn path leading into the hills, which they followed into a clearly artificial cave. They had all just made it inside when their guide flared with green energy. She gestured sharply at the cave entrance which promptly collapsed.
"Spirits!
"Keelah!"
"What?! Why?" Garrus looked at the strange female, who simply shook her head and pointed deeper into the cave. "Why? Where are we going?" A general feeling of unease washed over them; a sense of hiding from something dangerous. "That's not an answer! You have words, don't you?"
Liara stepped up. "Let me try." The stranger backed away from her almost immediately. "There's no need to be afraid; simply Embrace-"
The entire group found themselves pinned to the cave walls by waves of green energy, while a single emotion rolled off of the female with equal power: Rage.
M-91811441 stalked up the river bank after her prey.
The Abomination was, typical for her degenerate kind, difficult to follow. The menagerie with her, however, were easy to track. They were heavy footed, and only one showed any semblance of experience in avoiding a tracker, however inexpertly they tried. She came to a point where they paused, likely due to their own weakness and unsuitability for the terrain.
It didn't matter; it allowed her to gain ground on them.
Two hours later, she came across a Necrotic wolf. The beast took notice of her almost immediately and shambled her way. She contemptuously dodged its feeble attempts to lunge at her. She backhanded it as it passed, breaking one of it's shoulders. It bounced against a tree and tried to stand up.
She stormed over to the worthless creature and delivered a simple axe kick, shattering its spine.
She gave a derisive snort as it tried to drag itself along on one leg, then spun and continued on her way. It was fully night time when she came to an old logging trail leading up into the hills. A sound like distant thunder rolled through the forest.
She sprinted along the ten mile trail until she arrived at a collapsed tunnel entrance.
She smiled wickedly inside her borrowed mask; the resistance cell here outside of City 1 had always eluded capture or detection, with only a few testimonials about an 'old underground base' to go off of. More than likely, the wretches were using one of the old mine shafts as their base, huddling like rats in the dark places of the world.
Scurry along, little rats! Try to hide your path from me, she thought, mines always have vent shafts.
She began searching around, visions of her triumphal return to City 1 carrying the Abomonation's head dancing through hers.
Ayita growled at the Blue woman as she finally let them down.
She had sensed the Aliens intention right from the beginning; and it disgusted her that a species would take such a dangerously innocent view of perhaps one of the most vile things one can do to a Vortal.
She made her displeasure at the idea known by flooding their minds with her emotions.
The woman immediately backed away from Ayita, holding her head. "How… how is it communicating its emotions to us?" the woman asked her companions, although Ayita couldn't understand her words, she sensed their meaning and intention.
"Thought impossible. Potential telepathic species. Ones that attacked us decidedly not telepathic. Perhaps a split society." The frog rambled.
"Don't know, don't care; what matters is how she reacted to you trying to meld with her. It felt disgusted that you even tried it, and terrified at how close you were. By the Spirits sake, I thought it was going to collapse the cave the way it panicked while trying to get away from you." One of the metal birds commented.
By this point, Ayita found herself fixated on the clear masked one; he was Vortal… like her…
Perhaps… Ayita pondered; before clapping her hands.
All the Aliens looked at her, and Ayita had to resist the urge to cower and hide; she did not like crowds looking at her like this. Scratch that; she didn't like crowds at all, but she needed to do this.
She pointed to the masked one's hands and mimed putting her own hands together like theirs. The two stared at her, and Ayita had to resist the urge to stare at the males face; it looked so human, and rather… cute…
Shaking her head, Ayita repeated the gesture, and the Aliens looked at each other.
"What does it want us to do?" One asked.
"I think she wants us to hold hands…" The masked one said.
"I am not holding hands with the Turians." The dinosaur rumbled; and while Ayita couldn't understand his words, she could understand its displeasure.
Rolling her eyes and giving an exasperated huff, she called on the vortessence; her eyes glowed emerald, and ignoring the alarmed shouts from the aliens she forcefully made the two masked ones hold hands.
They stared at each other then at her, "You want us all to hold hands?" The female asked, and as before, Ayita understood the meaning if not the words.
Nodding vigorously she took the clear masked one's hand while the others reluctantly followed suit, forming a ring which Ayita completed by taking one of the Metal Birds hands.
Taking a breath, she channeled her energy and a jolt ran through the ring; and everyone's eyes rolled back into their heads, and they fell to the ground as their minds left their bodies and entered the Vortessence under Ayita's guiding hand.
Opening her eyes, Ayita had to suppress the squeak of dismay when she saw the seven Aliens sprawled on the ground. More importantly, she realized just how unflattering her avatar appeared; and she felt a rather ridiculous urge that they could not see her Vortal form.
Quickly manipulating the shadows she covered her form so that, as always, only a vague outline of her forearms and forelegs were visible.
Once that was done, she turned her attention back to the Aliens.
She blinked as they slowly began to wake one by one; the first being the male masked one that she had saved and healed. She tried not to stare as she felt an odd emotion well up within her; she didn't even know what it was beyond the fact that it made her feel weird.
Instead she tried to focus on the other emotion that had flooded her mind; curiosity…
He seemed to be about her age, maybe a tiny bit older. He wore what looked like a mix between what Anderson had called a dress uniform, and medieval clothing. It's base color was tan, with a purple cloak that was wrapped around his shoulders and neck; which trailed down to below his knees. It's hood was drawn up, but it didn't hide the black hair that covered his head; nor did it hide the beginnings of stubble on his chin, jaw, and lip.
If his eyes did not glow mercury, and if his skin was pink, brown, or black instead of grey-light purple; she very easily would have mistaken him for human.
Turning her attention to what was either his mother or sister, Ayita tilted her head as she took in the similarities the young woman seemed to share with the teenager next to her. Instead of a uniform, she wore what appeared to be greasy coveralls, a tank top underneath it; and that same cloak, with the same cloud like patterns, with the same shade of purple.
Her hair was violet instead of black though, but their skin was the same shade of grey-light purple; although Ayita thought that the woman looked like she had a slightly darker tinge of purple.
The Dinosaur wore what looked like an ancient set of armor, more fit for killing the wearer in her opinion; what with all the spikes on it and the seeming lack of a helmet.
She turned to look at the two metal birds; one was dressed in an ancient suit of armor that reminded her of a knight. The other looked like a soldier, and even though he seemed to be wearing what they seemed to deem the equivalent of a dress uniform it still found a way to incorporate armor into it.
The Frog wore a simple lab coat overtop of his clothes; while the blue woman wore a simple dress, with a white shawl drawn over her shoulders and head.
She drew back into the darkness while the Aliens slowly picked themselves up.
"I… Kheelah! Where's my suit!? Tali, where's your suit!?" the male not-human exclaimed to the female, who's name was apparently Tali.
"I don't know Cato! Why are we not dying to contaminated air? Oh Kheelah, what are you wearing? What am I wearing?" Tali replied, sounding frantic.
"This… this is ancient Turian armor; we still had warlords and fought with swords and spears when this was used. Nihlus, you're wearing the dress uniform of the unification wars!" One of the metal birds exclaimed, his voice sounding younger than the other.
"Yes, I see that Garrus." The one called Nihlus replied, the sarcasm in his voice brought a tiny smile to Ayita's face.
"My family's ancestral armor; but… that's impossible. That varren fucker Tonn Actus still has it." The dinosaur who remained unnamed mused.
"The armor looks amazing Wrex… but what am I wearing? I think I saw this in a museum once, I think it was common attire for teachers and historians employed by the republics. What about you Dr. Solus?" The blue woman asked.
"Old teaching clothing. Haven't worn these since professor. Incredible… Telepath has access to memories. Oh, my apologies Dr. T'Soni; but it's Professor Solus. Or just Mordin." the one called Mordin replied.
It was then Ayita decided to step in and correct the Professor; she would never access another beings memories without their expressed permission. Nor could she unless they were brought to one of the many rooms in the hive. "The Mind is a Projection of the Soul; and the Vortessence show's our true form. We did not intrude in your minds; what you see is simply what the Votessence sees."
Cato looked around at the others in the darkness with him when a thought struck him. "I've been here before." He looked at their apparent host in curiosity. "Who… who are you?"
Their host tilted its… her... head; although he was only really able to tell because its glowing green eyes went from horizontal to diagonal. "We are called the Ayita Shephard; but many simply call us Shephard." She replied. Even as she spoke, a dozen or so vague Quarianiod shapes made of green light walked away in entirely different directions; their host following them as she talked.
"We?" Mordin cocked his own head. "Collective consciousness maybe? Implies multiple individuals involved."
"We are one with the Vortessence, and yet we are Ayita Shephard; we are an individual, yet we are not." Shephard replied, her voice echoing from the darkness behind them. Everyone spun around so fast that it was amazing they didn't get whiplash.
Her glowing green eyes, and the pinkish-brown skin of her forearms being the only things visible; she walked in a circle around them, watching them. Everyone stiffened as an Alien consciousness touched against their minds; curiosity ebbing from the foriegn presence.
Wrex rallied as he drew on his centuries of experience for calm. "Alright, you're one with the... whatever. So what were you doing in the woods conveniently near our crash site?" He squared his shoulders and a brutalist technological cudgel formed as a walking stick for him. "I've fought from one side of the galaxy to the other, and the only times that has happened to me were settups and betrayals."
Shephard seemed to nod before turning her attention to the Krogan; "We see you remember the sting of betrayal; you leap, you fall, we see you flash between barriers. You are right to feel distrust; and trust is one to be earned. It is not yours to give, nor is it ours to receive." she replied, as another Quarianoid shaped green outline flashed behind her.
Yet it didn't look like her; it was hunched, its limbs bony and spindly. But it was there so briefly that Cato wasn't sure if he imagined it or not.
Liara stepped up and raised her hand like a schoolmaid. "I understand if you choose not to answer me after earlier, though with all of this," she gestured to their surroundings, "I don't know why you would react that way to a simple meld. We came as explorers to this world, to learn about you."
The black void suddenly changed; now the group found themselves standing in the middle of a desert at night, a sandstorm whipping around them. It was surreal, as there was no sound from the storm; but they all cringed as they felt the Aliens mind brush against theirs again.
But this time, rather than curiosity purveying her mind; it was unknowable fury.
"Do NOT mention that… that… horrible crime against the individual again!" She roared angrily, still hidden in darkness; but her eyes glowed like stars now, while green electricity danced between her fingers.
Nihilus stepped up to the writhing shadow. "We need to know why this upsets you. It's common where our people come from." He pointed to Liara. "All of her people can do it, and others have similar ability to share memory. Even in our antiquity, there were those who had this ability." he turned back to the cloud of rage. "The Protheans shaped all of our species into who we are. If this is going to be something which prevents peaceful coexistence, we need to know."
She seemed to calm somewhat, as the sandstorm dissipated; leaving the endless sandy desert, and a very large moon shining in the darkness of the night. But she remained unseen; even as her eyes settled into a more tempered glow.
They could sense that she was still angry, but it was more restrained now.
"You know not what you say. You take from others minds that which is not yours; you try to force your way through to our bare souls, and seek that which is not earned." She spat bitterly.
No one seemed to understand what she meant as everyone looked at each other; then Tali's posture tensed. "You said that the meld… takes something from you?"
"That would be correct…" Shephard replied.
Tali stared into Shephard's eyes, and she into Tali's; and then a horrifying thought came to her mind. "Oh Kheelah…" she gasped, staggering backwards; sheer horror written across her features.
"Tali?" Cato grasped her shoulder. "What is it? What is she talking about?"
She turned her haunted eyes to her brother. "It's… Cato if I knew a male, or female if I went that way, was in the suit changing room; and I walked in on them? What would that be like?" Cato's eyes widened, but she continued before he could respond, "I would see them naked; I would take their privacy, their bodily secrets away from them… and that's just from starting the meld…"
They could see an expression of dismay cross Dr. T'Soni's face, "And a full meld where I share memories or take memories?" she rasped.
"It would… it would be like if I locked the hatch behind me and forced myself on the person." Tali replied softly.
She turned away from them, before quietly and mournfully saying; "Others we have known have been captured by the… Benefactors… they are never the same if they are saved." the landscape changing from the desert to some kind of island in the middle of space; everyone standing in a pool of blueish gooey liquid.
Cato looked around and found himself stunned as he looked around at the… Ethereal Destruction that surrounded them.
Liara steadied herself. "Please forgive me; it is my people's way. But you mentioned Benefactors. Are they known by another name? Perhaps, Prothean?" There was a strange hope in her voice, even as it would link the architects of the Citadel Species to whatever nightmare Shephard seemed to recoil from.
"They go by many names; those that have sold themselves and their minds to them call them Our Benefactors. They themselves call themselves the Universal Union; we simply call them The Combine." Shephard replied, walking another lap around them as more green Quarianiod figures walked off into the distance. "If these… Protheans were indeed the Combine, then you would be here as slaves to conquer; not as naive explorers here to learn."
Garrus planted a mailed hand on his hip. "That's all really interesting, but you still haven't answered Wrex's question: what were you doing conveniently in the woods just in time to save us, then lead us to this secluded location?"
"We were guided by another; we had been called away from our body to talk with our teacher. They told us that you would be there; that all would be lost were you not saved. And this path leads us to friends; friends that are unified by our shared hatred of the Combine." She replied, suddenly appearing inches away from Garrus; still wreathed in shadows, her eyes and a vaguely Asari looking face with Quarian like hair was very briefly visible to him.
But nothing more substantial than that; as he jumped backward in surprise at the sudden invasion of personal space.
Tali shivered and clenched a wrench tightly in her hand. "So what will this cost us? Nobody saves Quarians without asking for something in return," she looked straight at Shephard's cloud of shadows, "or just taking it from us."
She blinked; and everyone sensed genuine confusion trickle back from the alien; "We do not understand?"
Cato stepped up beside his sister. "If you saved us, it was for a purpose. You said you were guided to us; that if we weren't saved, then it would be very bad for everyone. We're saved, so now what? I doubt your mentor simply meant for us to sit around doing nothing if they sent you into harm's way to get us."
Her eyes flashed as she contemplated his words; "Something secret steers us both; he dares not name it to us, nor do we dare to ask. They remember a time before Them; they are coterminous… no false veils of time or space may intervene. They see themselves in Black Mesa; still they see the Freeman in the Nihilanth's chamber, still they see the Shephard's as they defeat the Gene-Worm. They see the future as plainly as they see the now, and the before." She stated, the landscape shifting this time to a blasted starscape, a tortured rock reaching upward as if to grasp the fiery disc at the center of all.
Garrus buzzed in mild distress. "Alright what's going on? You brought us into this..." the word Meld died on his tongue, "whatever; but where are we? What is that?!" He gestured to the nightmare construct dominating their current landscape.
"This is the tower of the former Slave turned Slave Master… We do not know why the Vortessence brought us here… and we brought your minds with us to this… Room; so you could understand our Plight." She replied as she stared at the black hole like sphere in the center of the island, she sounded angered and sympathetic at the same time. "But the Master is dead, the lesser evil lays defeated; so the greater's fall will come in time.
"But before that, if there is a before or an after, there was the Resonance Cascade." The Room began shifting: strange alien landscapes with what appeared to be a member of Shephard's species in a hardsuit wielding a hooked cudgel, a large machinery room filled with unstable energy, then fire, glimpses of scientists and soldiers, fighting each other, fighting hunched three armed aliens, fending off waves of the parasites they had seen in the forest, and then back to the Tower and to a grotesque, bulbous cyborg.
"The Freeman defeated the Nihilanth, the Slave Master, and in so doing liberated our Teachers. Others struck down the Gene Worm, that which would have consumed and reshaped this world."
An ugly, green creature emerged from a giant purple wall of energy; and two figures that were grainy appeared, fighting it with weapons, lazers, anything they could get their hands on it seemed.
One wore what looked like Shephard's mask and was clearly male if this race was anything like Quarians, while the other wore what looked like a carbon copy of Shephard's suit.
No… Cato realized, It was her suit. But that begged the question, was that Shephard fighting?
As they watched the thing called the Gene Worm began to die; slowly being sucked back into the portal behind it. The room began to crumble as the two Aliens held each other.
"No…" Shephard whimpered, and everyone turned in surprise to see the Alien appeared and sounded ready to burst into tears watching the two figures below. Slowly the scenery began to change, prompting Shephard to shriek, "NO!"
Green energy swirled around her as she tried to maintain the image, the two people below in particular; and as she did so she seemed to lose control of the shadows surrounding her somewhat. Hints of the person underneath became visible: a pinkish-tan arm, an animal skin drape, a strange slatted chest covering. More than anything else though, Cato saw her face. It was not the face of the female from the vision, but a fine boned face framed in brown hair so dark it almost looked black, and marred by grief and loss. A loss he had seen on both his sister's and father's face for as long as he could remember.
He began reaching out to Shephard. Her eyes flickered towards him, and she seemed to remember she wasn't alone. The shadows returned and swallowed up her form again. Cato retreated, feeling somewhat melancholic at her apparent rejection.
He was brought out of it by another shift in the Room.
"This was all the catalyst for what would follow." She continued, though no one missed the bitterness and sorrow in her voice. Images of clear blue skies and ivory columned buildings appeared, only to be replaced by the carnage only war could wreak. "The arrival of Xenian life, the Combine, and the Seven Hour War." They all watched as years of planetary and ecological devastation played out before them. Strange military constructs like those they had already faced, and stranger creatures swept over the globe and began devouring a once thriving society.
To Cato, it felt as if the events were playing out in real time, yet all happening at once. He collapsed to his knees, shocked at both the tragedy of it all and the sensory overload.
"Cato!" Tali exclaimed, kneeling down next to him as he held his head. It was too much, the emotions, the memories, all the senses; all of it was overwhelming.
"Help…" He rasped; his head felt like it was going to explode.
He looked up at Shephard, whose eyes had widened as she watched him. There was a flash of green, and the spindly Quarianiod being from earlier tapped her shoulder before disappearing again.
Slowly, like a skittish animal; Shephard walked up to him, and knelt in front of him.
"Leave him alone, it's your stupid room that's doing this to him!" Tali exclaimed.
"No… He is simply unlocking his latent connection to the Vortessence. It is always… overwhelming the first time. All races are innately connected, but some races have a stronger connection than others. We Vortals… are half that of our race; and we sense that your kind is like ours." Suddenly, Shephard's eyes were again glowing like stars; and they could all feel the anger pouring off of her. "These… Protheans" she spat the word like poison, "They worked to suppress all your kinds Vortal abilities."
After a moment of kneeling in front of him, she said; "You must return your minds to your Mortal frame. What we must do is something only Vortal Kind may see and know."
Tali stepped forward, her glowing mercury eyes flashing in kind. "Now look here shadow Alien; you will not do anything to my brother without my supervision-"
"Do you desire him to die?" Shephard asked hotly, shooting up and staring Tali down; still appearing quite intimidating. That in itself was quite the feat considering that both Cato and Tali had inherited their mothers height.
The Alien only stood around 1.65 meters if he had to guess; Cato stood at around 1.7 meters while Tali towered over them both at 1.72 meters.
So imagine how almost comical it looked when Tali took a step back and bowed her head; submitting to something much smaller than her. "No… I don't! He's my brother!" She knelt at his side and cradled his head. "Cato always seemed to have a sixth sense of some kind, and he always seemed to be able to tell what a person was thinking or feeling within seconds of meeting them. We always dismissed it by saying he was just extremely observant and deductive."
"Suppressed Vortal abilities still manifest in minor ways that can always be dismissed by being explained away as the mundane; Please… you must leave us to help him." Shephard practically begged now, sounding desperate.
Everyone looked at each other while Wrex's eyes flashed as a thought crossed his mind. "Ahh why not; not like we're gonna see anything interesting. C'mon everyone, let the kids have their fun." He said nonchalantly, giving Nihlus a look as he knew a similar thought had crossed the Spectre's mind.
She's shy… She doesn't know how to interact with others. Wrex mused, "How do we get back to our… bodies, anyway?" he asked.
"Just walk off into the void; the Vortessence will guide you back." Shephard replied.
"Thanks; Come on Vakarian follow me, we both know you couldn't find your way out of a box if you had to." Nihlus stated, grabbing Garrus's hand and yanking the Officer away over the man's protests.
"C'mon Nihlus, it sounds interesting; it's not like their mating or anyth- OW!"
The two vanished off into the black; and Professor Solus quickly grabbed Liara, "Come Doctor, we best leave, species cultural secrets are still secrets, will not intrude."
"What are-?" She started to ask before they too faded away.
"I… I don't want to leave my brother; I want to trust you, but I deserve to know what he's going through." Tali said, sounding close to tears as Cato started twitching.
"The truth… you can never know…" Shephard replied, as she knelt down and placed Cato's head in her shadowed lap. Already, green sparks began jumping from her palms and the shadows surrounding her began to fall; "Please… we must begin; we will not hurt him, we will help him."
Wrex finally walked over and picked up Tali and slung her over his shoulder, ignoring her protests. "Okay play nice you two; I don't want to see little Quarians or whatever your race is running around in six months." He joked.
He turned so that he was facing Shephard so Tali couldn't see as the Aliens shadowed disguise failed. He could see her frown like an asari and tilt her pinkish-tanned skin; "We do not understand…"
"You will… someday when you're older." He said with a slight grin that would terrify any lesser species.
"WREX! Put me down!" Tali bellowed in rage as she struggled to worm out of his grip.
"Alright, do what you gotta do; good luck." He called, walking backwards and fading away into the darkness.
Ayita watched them go, grateful that the one called Wrex had seen fit to prevent the others from seeing her Vortal form.
She looked back into Cato's face; the Quarian having opened his eyes again.
She had dropped the shadows covering herself completely; but she still couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at how revealing her Vortal form was.
"Please… make it stop." He rasped.
"We cannot stop the pain, but we can make it bearable until you learn to control it. Brace yourself." She whispered.
Then, she pressed the palms of her sparking hands to his temples, and the room turned as bright as the noon day sun with the emerald green of the Vortessence.
Wrex slowly dragged himself up; ignoring the groans of discomfort from everyone else, and looked over at the prone forms of Ayita and Cato.
Both were curled in a fetal position, holding each other's hands tightly. Tali crawled over to take her brother's hand, but a green spark jumped into her palm.
"Ms. Zorah," a blue hand rested on her shoulder, "I know it is hard to trust after everything that has happened, but we have to." The distraught Pilgrim looked up at the decades older being, still only a child herself. "The universe has offered us a chance, I think; a chance to help these people."
"What," Garrus threw his hands wide, "this Vorpalscent convinced the Council to send their flagship through to this Spirit's Damned system? That's absurd!"
Wrex huffed. "I don't know; that Shephard kid made a damned good argument, and we're well and truly in uncharted space. We've got to... hey what do you think you're doing?!" He stormed over to where Mordin was scanning Cato and Shephard.
"Science." Everyone looked at him in shock. "Demonstrable proof of non-physical telepathy, collective consciousness and subconsciousness, direct manipulation of electromagnetic and gravitational fields without Element Zero catylization, possible A-Temporal entities. Abilities exhibited in multiple Council races, and potentially unheard of abilities, but never all at once in the same being."
"I'll admit she puts on a good light show," Garrus pointed to Shephard's still form, "but like you said, it's nothing we haven't seen before. The rest is just her word. How do we know any of it is true and not just these people trying to advance themselves at the expense of the traveling rubes?"
Mordin's Omni-tool beeped. "Through science: examination, theorization, experimentation. Look at this." He held out the holographic display for everyone to look at.
Most just stared uncomprehending at the data, except Nihilus. "No Eezo?"
That got everyone's attention. "Not a single particle, and yet there is Dark Energy coursing through them both. At these levels, she should have reached critical mass by now, and he should have collapsed into a singularity. Both are," he looked up from his tool at the two forms on the cavern floor, "relatively fine."
"Fine?!" Tali shot to her feet. "My brother was fine before we crashed on this Ancestors Cursed planet! Since then he's been stabbed, made to breathe this putrid planet's air, and now in a coma because he's supposedly one of these Vorpal things and I have to what? Trust her?!" She pointed accusingly at Shephard with her newly acquired weapon.
"Cato is not fine! None of us are, and we won't be until we're back in Council space away from this wretched world!" She knelt back down and tried reaching for Cato again, only to get zapped once more. "I promised mother and father I would look after him." She sank to the cavern floor and wept as Liara tried to comfort her.
Garrus flopped his arms at his side. "So, what do we do? We can't leave them, and we can't just stay here; we have no idea how long they're going to take."
"Perhaps it is best if we wait." Liara comfortingly rocked Tali.
"We haven't truly stopped to rest or assess our situation since the initial attack," Nihilus looked around the cavern, "and this is a passably defensible position."
"Humph!" Wrex stomped off into the dark.
Garrus rushed up to grab him. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"
The ancient Krogan leveled a baleful glare at the Turian's hand until it lifted from his arm. "Reconnaissance." He looked deeper into the darkness. "I'm no use standing around staring at a couple of kids 'discovering themselves', and we don't know what's ahead of us. One of those things I can fix."
"Yeah?" Garrus stared at the old Battlemaster. "And what if you run into trouble?"
Wrex grinned. "Then I'll give the 'signal'." He hefted the scavenged cannon onto his shoulder and sauntered off into the dark.
It took a lot longer for M-91811441 to find an alternate entrance to the mine shaft than she cared to admit; but eventually she found a ventilation shaft, and after some effort managed to worm her way through the vent and dropped down into the tunnel.
They said that this mountain range used to be called Appalachia; and that primitive humanity, before their generous benefactors had come to help them, had mined the mountains to extract some resource called Coal.
What they used it for she had no idea, nor did she particularly care.
What did matter was that these mines went down for miles in some cases; back when humans used primitive picks and shovels to get what they needed.
M-91811441 gave a snort of contempt; those primitive and sickly things that had dug these tunnels didn't even deserve the title of human. They weren't like her, a perfect example of humanities potential; someone that could live for hundreds of years while still looking the same.
She never failed… except this time…
M-91811441's face twisted into a scowl behind her borrowed mask, and she kicked a nearby table; breaking it in half as she did so. "DAMMIT!" She snapped childishly. "I have not failed!"
She hadn't failed yet, as she had not lost the Aliens or that Vortal Mongrel; she could keep tracking them and bring them to her superiors. Yes… that would please them.
She drew her pistol and without even looking she shot a Worker Antlion in its acid sac; the Xen creature practically exploded as her round caused a chemical reaction in its acid chambers, igniting it from the inside out.
She watched the Antlion for a moment, before grabbing what appeared to be a crescent Wrench.
She did not desire to waste ammunition on the Antlions if she could help it; and her superior reaction time and strength and healing would allow her to keep ahead of the insects whenever she moved in for the kill.
Squaring her shoulders, she marched off into the darkness; unaware that she had only needed to dig down a foot or two, and she would have been on top of her prey.
Ayita watched with concern as Cato slowly opened his eyes; noting that they glowed emerald rather than mercury now.
She quickly re-cloaked herself in shadows, ignoring the rush of heat to her cheeks that confused her; as Cato looked around the darkness that surrounded them before turning his attention back to her.
"Where are the others?" he asked, even as his concern trickled out of his mind.
"They are back in their mortal frames; for their own safety as well as ours. We shall return to them shortly; but first I must teach you how to dispel your vortal energy." Ayita replied.
Cato's head whipped around and fixed his emerald green eyes on her own; "You said 'I' not we." He exclaimed.
Ayita blinked, "Did we? It matters not; I managed to restrain your Vortal energy so that it will not collapse in on itself when you use it. It is very common for Vortal's whose abilities have been suppressed for most of their life; until you learn to control it completely, you need to expend some energy at least once per day." She explained, not noticing that she was switching between how she was referring to herself as she talked.
Slowly she built up a sphere of electricity in her palm; "Even I must expend some energy from time to time; where we sleep, we have an exposed set of wires that feed directly into the room's power. Every time I wake, we send a bolt into the wires to power the room. When you reach my level of control and understanding this is not strictly necessary; but it feels good to do so."
Cato, deciding not to comment on Shephard switching between 'We' and 'I' without noticing nor on the potential significance, asked; "So… it's like purging and refilling the SCBA containers in our suits?"
Ayita blinked in confusion, "We don't understand; but I assume that analogy makes sense to you." She stated. "Now, you need to learn the most basic expulsion technique for your Vortal abilities. It also doubles as your most basic and simplest offensive attack."
Ayita held the sphere of green energy in front of her; "We have gathered and shaped power from the vortessence by concentrating on shaping it the way it is now. And to discharge it, all that is required is this."
She windmilled her arm and slashed it forward towards an Overwatch Grunt that she conjured up; a beam of energy slammed into his chest, sending the grunt flying into the darkness. She looked back towards Cato, whose eyes were bugging out of his head in amazement; much to her own amusement.
"Don't get too excited, this is the most basic ability that all Vortal's are expected to do." She said, allowing a slight giggle to escape her lips.
"How… How do I gather my power?" He asked.
"Concentrate… concentrate on gathering the Vortessence in the palm of your hand."
Cato's eyes narrowed, and he stared at his hand; while Ayita watched him as he tried to gather the Vortessence. After a minute or two he gave a loud huff of annoyance; "It's not working."
"You must be patient, Impatience breeds stray thoughts, stray thoughts inhibit the Vortessence." She explained, tilting her head.
"Easy for you to say, you've probably done this for decades…" He grumbled.
Ayita blinked, "Decades?"
Cato stammered as his face turned a deep shade of purple, "Er… sorry, i just assumed you've done this a long time with how knowledgeable you seem to be about this stuff."
Ayita shrugged, forgetting he couldn't really see the action since she was hidden by shadows; "I unlocked my abilities when I discovered my mother had died. Our mentor taught me everything we know; and even then, we know very little in comparison to them."
Cato stared at her, and she felt sympathy and sadness ebb from him; "I know what that's like, my mother died giving birth to me, Tali and Auntie 'Raan did most of the raising; my dad just… buried himself in his work to try and forget the pain."
Ayita looked at him, and bowed her head; "My father… I do not know what happened to him; Mother, pregnant with me, was teleported to safety. But father, no one knows where he went." She explained, close to tears as she remembered seeing him in the vision from what felt like so long ago.
"How old are you?" Cato asked suddenly.
"What?" she replied, startled out of her melancholy at the question.
"How old are you? I'm curious, because you look like a typical Quarian pilgrim with that suit of yours. And out of your suit… well you look about the same age as one." He explained, sounding nonchalant about it.
Ayita blinked, not understanding that he had changed the subject because her sadness had been washing over him, "I… turned sixteen a few months ago…" She stammered, still caught off guard.
"Nice, I turn seventeen in half a cycle; or half a year as you call it." He said cheerily, before concentrating on his palm again, "So… why have you increased in using 'I' rather than 'We' as we've talked?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as he did so.
"We… I am simply trying to emulate your speech patterns… Our teacher always used 'We' and 'us' when referring to ourselves, so we did the same." She replied, somewhat embarrassed at slipping up.
"I like it, makes you sound more friendly and likable when you aren't using those kinds of mannerisms." He said, giving her a friendly wink.
"I-I-We will keep that in mind; Now focus on the vortessence." She snapped, ignoring her confusion and the rush of heat to her face.
Cato shrugged, but Ayita could see that he was still smirking at her expense; but that smirk quickly faded as he growled in irritation. "This is impossible." He finally snapped, after a few minutes.
Ayita sighed and walked up to him and took his hand in hers.
After a moment, she said; "Your suit… it is restraining your power… This Element Zero as you call it, restrains Vortal abilities. Once we awake in the real world you will need to remove it."
She frowned at the flush on his face, "What!" He demanded in both anger and another emotion Ayita could not identify.
"Here you simply need to remove your cloak and uniform shirt; even in the Room connected almost directly to the Vortessence, Eezo seems to permeate your Vortal form." She continued, tilting her head, "I do not understand where your issue lies."
After waving his arms for a moment and choking on air, he pointed at her; "I don't know if you wear anything underneath your suit, but we Quarians don't. And you're one to talk since you cover yourself in the shadows, I saw what you look like without it; you're practically naked underneath it, and you made sure no one can see it." He exclaimed.
"Oh… well… we are in an old coal mine; there are almost certainly spare workman's clothes laying around nearby." She stated uncertainly.
"Well what about my immune system? The only reason i'm not dying here is because it's all in our head."
Here Ayita regained some of her confidence and smiled behind her mask of shadows; "Oh there's no need to worry about that part; the reason your immune system was so poor was due to Atrophy. When we healed your injuries I also healed your Immune System; you can now walk around without a suit, even with this poor environment. Being exposed as you were, allowed it to adapt rather quickly so long as you didn't die. And you didn't, so it's fine." Clapping her hands she started to pull the purple cloak and hood off of Cato's neck, "Now let's get these off for the time being, once you remove your suit in the real world; your Vortal form will not be tainted by it, but we'll have to make due for now."
"Wait- you can't! Wait!" Cato protested.
"It's just a shirt and cloak." Ayita replied, ignoring his protests.
"Fine, but you dispel those shadows; you're covered just fine without them."
Ayita paused, "Fine… but not a word to the others."
Wrex had traveled many roads in his life. He had been a warrior, a leader, a mentor, an executioner. One thing he had never been, thanks to that damned Genophage, was a father. So few Krogan got the opportunity to even try, and the endless torture and grief of burying one stillborn child after another had broken stronger souls than him. For all the terrible things he had done in his millenia-long life, he could not bear to visit that upon one of his people.
As such, he had never spent much time around children.
Doing so was always awkward, both for how inexperienced he was with 'kids', but also with the emotions it brought up; his own lack of children, his abysmal relationship with his own family, all of it. In circumstances like this, where he was stuck protecting refugees or escorting people with families, he found it better to just distance himself.
That led to his current condition: wandering the warren of tunnels these people had dug in the side of a mountain.
-klklklklk-
-Crunch-
Tunnels that had been infested with Rachni.
Well, maybe they were a different species, but as far as he was concerned there wasn't a difference. They were giant bugs that occasionally shot toxic goo at him, so it amounted to the same thing. "Hm, Rachni, but not; Rach-not?"
-cre-e-e-e-
-crack-
He stopped in his tracks. He didn't think he'd killed another one of these things. He sidled up to the fork in the tunnel and glanced around the corner. Kneeling on top of one of the pseudo-Rachni was who he guessed was the elite female from the assault team.
Her head jerked towards him and she shrieked.
"Yup; same one." he said as she ripped something out of the creature she had apparently killed bare-handed and hurled it at his head. It hit the stone just as he ducked back with a -splat-hissssssss-
"Huh, so that's where the acid gland is on these things."
He could hear her charging down the tunnel with surprising speed, and equally surprising inelegance. He waited a split second before swinging his cannon around to where her midsection should have been. He caught a glimpse of her sliding under the weapon and coming up right behind him with alarming speed and lashed out with a kick to the back of one of his knees. Any lesser warrior might have been caught off guard, and he was genuinely surprised at the ingenuity and strength of this brat.
He relaxed the limb to take the blow and drove an elbow into her gut, launching her back.
She managed to flip mid air and land on her feet, but not before he stood up to face her. She shrieked again and leapt at him. He could hear more of the Rachni coming to the racket she was making, and decided that enough was enough. With a flick of his wrist, he trapped her in a Biotic stasis.
"Alright you little Varen, play time's over." He said coolly as he walked towards the trapped soldier.
As he stepped up, she managed to wrest enough control of herself to headbut him. He was more surprised than anything else. After a moment, he chuckled, then started to laugh outright. "You must have one hell of a quad on you! Now let me show you how it's done." Finally, he reared back and headbutted her in turn. Her mask shattered, revealing a face strikingly similar to an Asari maiden, both in form and in youth.
Her eyes though… they were barely sapient.
"You really are just a wild Varen, aren't you." There was something that stirred in him at the sight of this child made into a killer. He dissipated the stasis and caught her stunned body before it hit the ground.
"I'll not add to the litany of sins heaped on you." He tipped her head back. "Plus, if you want to know your enemy, meet them." He draped her over one of his shoulders, then swung his cannon around to face the oncoming wave of bugs. "Maybe that Shephard girl can summon ghosts of the past, but I need a living person if I want answers."
He made the long, bloody, very loud trek back to the rest of the survivors.
Ayita was doing her best to ignore the odd feelings welling up within her; and tried to ignore the feeling of heat rushing to her face every time she looked at Cato's bare chest, and similar feelings whenever he accidentally looked at her chest.
The Hairpipe Breastplate covered everything important, but it left little to the imagination; it only covered the front of her chest, everywhere else was exposed.
She watched as he wound up his arm, and 'threw' the bolt of energy at the targets she had set up.
"Good, Good, it seems your analogy of 'throwing' the bolts works for you." She admitted, waving her hand and dispelling the fake grunts. "This will conclude our first lesson, but as soon as we return to our mortal forms; you will need to dispel your energy. This early on, you don't know how to restrict its flow; so you need to expel it before your forces you to… the results of forceful expulsion are never good for those that surround you. Us being here has delayed it, but as soon as you re-enter your mortal body it will be necessary." She explained.
"How long before I have to? Expel it i mean." Cato asked.
Ayita looked away, ignoring another flash of heat in her cheeks. "About two minutes…"
Cato blinked, "That's… not very long at all."
"I can minimize the risks of not making it in time if I leave the Room and remove the upper portion of your suit; then come back to get you." Ayita proposed.
Here Cato narrowed his eyes; "As cool as all this Vortessence stuff is, and as much as you are teaching me; I don't exactly trust you to… undress me and not take advantage of me." He said coolly.
Ayita tilted her head, "I do not understand." she said, and Cato could feel her confusion was genuine, both from her allowing her feelings to wander and from the very Quarian expression on her face.
"You know…" Cato paused, struggling to find the right word. "See what i'm packing?"
Her confusion only increased, and Cato mumbled something under his breath; "See me naked?"
"Oh!" She replied, and Cato swore from that day forward that her face turned as deep a shade of red as his old visor. "No! Nononono I wouldn't do that, i-i-i wouldn't… I-" she stammered, unsure how to respond.
"The Cato'Zorah would do well to stop confusing and flustering our Apprentice." A deep rasping voice stated, to Ayita's relief and mortification.
"The Ulysses… We apologize for the lack of communication." Ayita exclaimed, pushing Cato behind her and bowing. "But we were-"
"Busy attempting to unlock the Vortal abilities of a Race long suppressed by the Combines old machines. Yes we know full well what the Ayita Shephard has been doing." Ulysses interrupted, his red eyes glowing beneath his brown hooded cloak; and he held a cane in his left hand, which he leaned on heavily.
Ayita bowed even deeper, and Cato quickly backed up; he could feel the power this… being contained. There was so much power in him that it felt like a windstorm. "Who… who are you?" He asked. "Wait, what 'Old Machines'? Do you mean the Geth?"
"Cato!" Ayita hissed.
But Ulysses simply tilted his head; "What we are is not important; why we are here is what is important." He walked forward, his cane clicking on the… ground of the all encompassing darkness that was the Room. "We have come to give a warning… and reassurance."
He looked at Cato, "Your inhibition only slows you down; removal will allow your potential to fester and grow."
Cato blinked in confusion; "So… you're saying Shephard's right and that I'll be fine removing my suit?"
"Yes." Ulysses replied, causing both Vortal's to blink in surprise at his bluntness; before the Vortigaunt turned his attention to Ayita. "And as for our warning; the path that you must take will lead you to the den of the one you call 'The Rat Queen'."
To Cato, those words had no meaning; but it had an immediate effect on Ayita, "What?! We have to deal with that psychotic reject! And not just deal with her, spare her for violating our conditions when the Collective banished her?" Ayita roared, electricity sparking and shooting off in random directions.
Cato immediately backed up, while Ulysses simply stepped forward and rapped Ayita's right shin with his cane. "OW!" She yelped in surprise in pain as she hopped backwards on one foot holding her leg, and dispelled the electricity surrounding her.
Cato blinked, while Ulysses shook his head "Calm yourself the Ayita Shephard, 'The Rat Queen' must be left alive for the Vortessence deems her survival necessary. She has not violated the terms of her Banishment, not… technically; as such there is nothing you can do to her unless it is in self defense or punishment." He stated firmly.
Cato watched as Ayita balled her fists, before crossing her arms and turning away from her mentor with a huff. He timidly raised his hand like a school boy, "uh… apprentice is feeling a little confused here, who's this 'Rat Queen' you guys are talking about?" He asked.
Ayita turned to him with a very Quarian pout on her face; one that he'd seen Tali do whenever their Aunt 'Raan or their father refused to allow her to do something. "A… murderous psychopath that did…" Here she paused and her pout morphed into several expressions; rage, disgust, and terror were the ones that stuck out to him, "She did something so horrible the Collective, a group of the most powerful and educated Vortal's elected by the rest of the Hive, banished her from the Vortal Hive; and sealed it so that she cannot access it again, not until she has repented for her sins."
She turned away from both beings and looked towards her feet; "I was the one that brought the Collective's attention to her crime. We were a member as well, I am the equivalent to what you consider to be an enforcer; we only gather with them for criminal matters, or serious events such as your peoples arrival."
Cato blinked, "So you were like Garrus then, he's a C-SEC officer; he catches criminals and all that." He said.
"Yes… We suppose we are… but I left…" She replied sadly.
"Why?"
"The tale is long and convoluted; but the end result was that of the Ayita Shephard cutting herself off from the Collective unless absolutely necessary. And they do not desire to interact with her unless they must; oftentimes they simply send Us and our Kin as messengers. A self imposed exile if you will." Ulysses interjected.
"Why-" He started to ask, but Ayita cut him off.
"It is not important Cato!" She snapped at him, causing the Quarian to back up and hold up his hands in mock surrender.
Whack! "OW!"
Ulysses stepped back and leaned on his cane while Ayita jumped up and down as a bruise started to form on her left shin. "Respect is always given to your apprentice even when in the most dour of moods." He admonished, "You will guide them, and you will not cut her mortal string no matter what she does; short of her attempts to foist her mind and will upon the others."
Ayita growled, but nodded reluctantly; "Very well… If there is nothing else, we need to discharge Cato's Vortal energy."
Ulysses bowed his head, "May the Vortessence guide you…" He said, before turning on his hoofed feet and walked off into the darkness.
Cato watched him go, then looked back at Ayita; "So… are we waking up now?"
"Yes, we'll work quickly to get an arm free; but I don't know what to do about your sister or the Professor." She admitted. "We'll have approximately sixty seconds to get an arm free before forceful discharge. A hard goal to reach, especially considering how tough your suit is; and the way Eezo impedes Vortal abilities. And the way the others reacted to me healing your injuries does not inspire confidence; they likely have not pieced together the fact that your immune system is healthy again."
Frowning, she tilted her head and looked at his face; "In fact, once it adapted to Earth's environment; your immune system is far stronger than even mine, I don't think you can get sick from anything on earth now." Ayita admitted.
"But they don't know that… I'll have to wake up first, and you will have to keep them away from me while I try to get an arm free." Cato decided.
After a moment of internal deliberation, Ayita said, "Alright, ready?"
After Cato nodded in affirmation, she tensed; "Three… Two… One…"
"Bosh'tet!" Cato yelped, lurching forward and yanking his hand out of Ayita's grip. His sister jumped back in alarm while everyone else rushed over. He didn't pay any of them any mind, as he felt like he was on fire in his suit. "Set timer: 45 seconds. Mark!" The timer began running down as he began pulling his arm free of his damaged suit.
"Cato, what are you doing!?" Tali moved to stop her brother when a wave of green power pushed everyone away from him. Tali looked to see Shephard standing up. "What are you doing? He's tearing his suit! He'll die! Let me go!" She thrashed against the ethereal restraints.
Tali felt the force suddenly lessen as a wave of blue pushed against the green.
"You spoke of freedom at length, yet you see no issue with imposing your will here." Liara strained against the alien onslaught.
Shephard said nothing, though everyone felt her anxiety, and her determination to allow Cato to continue.
"He isn't one of you!" Tali shrieked as she moved towards her brother as if walking into a storm wind. "You'll kill him! Please stop!"
Both women gave no ground as Tali inched closer to her brother. She was a meter away when he finally got his arm free and punched it through the tear where he had been slashed. Tali wailed as sweat poured off of his fingers. She reached out towards him just as he started to windmill his arm. A beep came from his suit just as he threw a bolt of green electricity down the empty tunnel into the collapsed entrance.
Liara and Ayita both stopped their assault, one from surprise and the other from relief. Tali finally reached Cato, just as he ripped the mask off his ruined suit while gasping for air.
"Cato!"
"It's-huff-alright-Tali.-huff-The surge-huff-shorted the-huff-regulator." Cato leaned on his still suited arm, grabbed Tali's shoulder and smiled. "If this world's air didn't kill me the first time, I don't think it will now." He looked over to Ayita who's posture suddenly stiffened as she looked down the tunnel.
He stood up and helped his shocked sister to her feet, only to suddenly find himself face to face with Mordin; specifically with his Omni-tool. "Fascinating! Body temperature still elevated, but full eight degrees cooler than earlier. Was unable to monitor initial discharge due to," he glanced at Liara and Ayita, "complications."
Garrus and Nihlus walked up, their Combine weapons drawn. "We saw the biotic flare and-" Their eyes widened upon seeing Cato with one arm out of his suit and maskless. "Okay, what did we miss?"
Everyone looked helplessly for a moment until Cato sheepishly smiled. "I, um, apparently have, anti-biotics?" He looked at Liara and Ayita who just shrugged.
Garraus worked his mandibles for a moment, then secured his weapon. "Must be some antibiotics. I suppose that explains the new 'no-mask' look."
Tali stepped away from her brother and looked him in his dimly green glowing eyes, and smacked him in the back of the head.
Pilot A/N: Discord link is "Pv2bv88"
And there we have it, Cato is a Vortal.
The Room sequence is very G-Man esque; HL:A's ending being a chief inspiration regarding it.
Cato being Vortal was a decision that had gained traction early on when we were writing this; because the more one thinks about it, the more insane the Half Life Lore is, and we really wanted/needed an outsider's perspective on it.
Mass Effect and Halo are the two big series I can think of where the characters face a vast almost unstoppable threat; the destruction of humanity and the Galaxy are inevitable unless you stop them. And the Reapers, Flood, Covenant, and Cerberus all recognize just how big of a threat your character is to their plans and treat you accordingly.
The Half Life Writers thoughts on the matter? "Yeah that's cute... our bad guys have already conquered multiple Universes and the dimension between Universes; and your Player Character is nothing more than a nuisance in the grand scheme of things."
It's a very sobering thought, because at multiple points in Half Life 2 and its episodes; Characters from both sides of the conflict are all too ready to remind you that you're just fighting a token garrison on Earth. If the Combine actually wanted to take things seriously, Humanity would be extinct within minutes; and there is nothing you could do to stop them.
And it's even more sobering to think that if the Multiverse truly does exist; then the Combine exists, and they ground Earth's combined armies to dust in Seven hours.
Not a pleasant thought is it Ian?
Ian A/N: Indeed not. Though as has been said, "The lesser slave master is dead, the greater's fall is inevitable." The story will, by necessity, be interspersed with expository moments. Unlike the protagonist Gordon Freeman, our leads have a great deal to say; though it begins with the question, "What is going on?"
We will endeavour to not bog the story down with exposition, nor to "tell" when we could better "show". But there will always be points where we must break and exposit, such as in "The Room". Rest assured, those moments will always serve a purpose, and we will do our best to keep those moments as brief as possible.
Pilot: Agreed, though Shephard's penchant for speaking telepathically or just impressing upon others what she feel's/thinks, is a bit of a mythology gag towards Half Life's "Silent" Protagonists; and yet the NPC's around them seem to know what they want or are thinking.
Of Course, this being us, All of Shepherds powers serve a purpose of some kind; checkov's armory if you will, and it's a dice toss for you readers as to which of the guns will be fired by the end of the chapter, within the next few chapters, or by the end of the act.
Hell, there are even a few as the story goes on that won't be fired until close to the end of this fic, though that is a very long way off.
Ian: One thing we will be trying with all of our creative might to avoid is the infamous, "H:FY!" scenario. Make no mistake boys and girls, mother-Earth is on the back heel for this story, so set your expectations accordingly.
Pilot: Alright, I hope you guys enjoyed this Chapter.
A TV Tropes page would be appreciated.
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And we will see ya when we see ya.