Don't forget to Review people. I know I sound like a broken record at this point but I truly do love reading them; good, bad or otherwise. They fuel me. Otherwise, enjoy the chapter people
POV: Aedbearer
After the fight we just had my group became almost as paranoid as me as we continued to go through the colony. It was something I was proud to see in all honesty. Though I attribute it mostly to the fact that everyone was nursing their own wounds. Still, it wouldn't stop us and we resumed as we had before. Kasumi scouting ahead with Grunt and Jack taking point for us and Zaeed in the back with me.
We had left the clearing a few minutes ago and were moving forward on the path to the AA controls. At the moment we were going through a house that had definitely hosted a fight. Collector and human blood on the walls and ground and the place in general was in chambles. Bending down to touch the blood it was still fresh, guess it happened recently. Knowing I couldn't do anything at the moment for whoever had been here before I pushed it out of my mind and followed the rest.
We continued on our path as quietly as we could, we knew we would be met with Collectors soon but if we could sneak up on them the better. We went through another house but this one was the exact opposite of the last. Everything had been left exactly where they had left it. Food still out, terminal still on, even the sink was still on. It was eerie.
"Boss, you should see this," Kasumi's voice came over the radio. Exchanging looks with the others I took point and continued on the path to where Kasumi must've been.
Exiting the house and going straight into another I saw Kasumi around the corner. She was standing dead still looking down at something in front of her that I couldn't see. Continuing around the corner as I entered the house I saw was Kasumi was looking at. It was one of the Collector pods and walking up I saw what was in it. There was a woman in their and in her arms was a little baby. Both paralyzed from the swarms but their eyes, their eyes were pleading with us for help.
"Can we do anything?" Kasumi asked in a soft voice as we looked down at the woman and her baby.
"No. We can't move them and as for now the Collectors are a bigger threat. The only thing we can do for them is to get those AA guns back on. Once we do that they'll be safe."
My voice was cold as I said those words and I knew that she probably thought I was a bit of bastard for saying it like that but it was the truth. There was nothing we could really do at the moment and the accusing and pleading eyes of the mother hurt to look at. Still, I made sure to mark the house omni-tool and made sure to send the info to Kasumi and the others as well.
Once that was done we continued on our path. I got to see the reactions of the others as they passed the pod. Grunt gave a small reassuring nod to them, Zaeed didn't acknowledge them all as he walked by. Jack stopped for a moment and put her hand on the pod staring at the mom and baby inside. I heard her whisper 'I'll be back' before tapping the outside of the pod twice quickly. She gave me a determined nod as she walked by me.
Bringing up the rear with Zaeed we began to push through the house and continue on our path. We didn't even get out of the house before Kasumi radio'd in that a squad of Collectors were in front of and they were wheeling out one of the pods. Both Jack and Grunt looked back to me for permission and I didn't hesitate at all to give them the go ahead. They took off like bats outta hell to the clearing and Zaeed and I sprinted after them.
I got there in time to see Grunt stomp and cave in one of the Collectors heads and for Jack to biotically atomize another. Picking the farthest target I squeezed the trigger as fast as I could firing at him. Zaeed then began firing at the same one and together we ripped it to shreds through force of fire as it tried to return fire. It barely got the chance to look in our direction before it died.
The final one was already lying on the ground dead from what looked like two combined Carnage shots. That would be my guess at least as the body was torn in several pieces and it was too clean to have been ripped apart; clean being a relative term here. Walking past Grunt and Jack I looked into the pod and there was a man inside. He looked like he had been mid run when the swarm got to him.
Signaling Grunt he came over and after a quick sentence nodded his head and pushed the pod back into the house. Once he came back out I gave a click over the radio and received one back in turn. Getting the return click I gave the signal to the group and we were back on the path.
As we made our way through the path I found a couple of datapads that detailed the coming and goings of this place. Most of it didn't matter and wasn't important at all. However, there were a couple that mentioned that they felt like the head honcho of this place was up to something. Plus a couple that said that there had been setbacks with the AA system controls but that it should be fixed in a couple of days; that one was dated two days ago. I downloaded all the information.
Continuing on the path we eventually found ourselves in what looked like the capital house of the entire colony; don't know if that's the right term. Whatever it was there was plenty of places in this one house that definitely constituted leadership. From schedules for all the shifts of mechanics, service workers and what not to planning on an incoming food shipment.
As we continued through the house we came across a room that was definitely the head office. For one it was bigger than the rest and definitely more expensive; the chair itself looked to be triple the price of the rest at least. Calling a halt I went into the room and started looking through their stuff. I don't know what I was looking forward but multiple people didn't like this guy and thought he was up to something; maybe I could find something.
Looking around for a minute I found nothing and decided not to waste any more time than I already had. Walking back out we continued on our path and as soon as we got out of the building there was a little clearing. It would've been a nice sight if not for the buzzing of wings and we got to see 12 Collectors fly over a house and try to drop themselves into cover.
Flying over the house like they did just made them prime targets for everyone. Grunt even managed to hit one with a Carnage round as it flew in eviscerating most of its upper body. Still, seven of them were still able to make it into cover. Once they got into cover with four in one area and three in another I immediately sent Jack and Grunt at the group of three and let them charge in. Zaeed, Kasumi and myself providing covering fire for them as they charged.
The three Collectors never stood a chance against the two as they descended upon them. It took them seconds to kill the three Collectors but once they did another batch of 12 Collectors flew over the building and into the fray. This group was quicker and smarter than the previous one opting to drop into cover instead of float down with their wings. That being said Zaeed and I were still able to get one a piece leaving 14 in total left.
Bad news is that they got reinforcements, but the good news was that six of them ended up bunched behind the same cover. Calling for covering fire I prepped a grenade and tossed it at the packed group of Collectors. It bounced off the wall behind them and popped into the air for a moment before exploding; three grenades left.
Switching targets to another that popped it's head out I got two shots off before it dropped down and eight Collectors popped up in unison all firing at us; two from where I had thrown my grenade. Ducking down to avoid the fired I waited a few moments before popping up and into the gun fire trusting my shields and armor.
I got three quick shots off taking out another one of the Collectors. My shields took the brunt of their fire barely holding before I was able to get back down below cover. As I took cover I looked over to Zaeed and gave the signal that we would pop up as soon as they were done firing. My shields weren't fully charged back up but it wouldn't matter, they would hold; hopefully.
A couple of seconds later the firing started to die down and Zaeed and I popped up. Zaeed got the first shot off on a Collector who was still firing at us. Following his fire I fired at the same Collector and together we took out him out in a half a second with multiple shots to the dome.
"Assuming Control!" Fuck me.
Poking my head out of cover I saw one of the Collectors floating in the air and glowing a bright orange. I was not about to let it happen and roared out 'Focus Fire' before popping a grenade off my bandolier and throwing it at the Collector. It hit the Collector dead in the chest and exploded around him obscuring our view but that didn't stop everyone from firing at where the Collector had been.
As the grenade smoke cleared the Collector appeared in obvious pain but not dead. Still we didn't stop firing and he even took a Carnage round to the chest as we continued to fire. It barely did anything to him as the Collectors around him became invigorated and fought harder.
In mere seconds the eight final Collectors had completely suppressed us and I could hear them starting to push us by walking forward. At least they hadn't used grenades yet, if they had any. Pushing that thought out of my mind I radio'd Jack.
"Go nuts as on my signal," I got a single click in response telling me she understood the assignment.
Waiting another moment for them to get closer I could hear them walking towards us even over the gunfire. As soon as that moment appeared I popped out of cover and fired as fast as I could at the nearest Collector. Three shots to his dome later and he dropped and just as I was switching targets a massive Shockwave came from where Jack was. With the Collectors now on the ground instead of elevated behind cover on the house the remaining six normal Collectors got sent into the air like ragdolls.
Once that happened Grunt charged out of cover with his Claymore at the ready popping the head of the first Collector he came across on the ground. Seeing this the glowing Collector turned to face Grunt and pulled his hand back biotic power glowing in his hand but I was already on the move. Jumping over my cover I ran at him absent mindedly putting two bullets into the two eyes of a fallen Collector while on the run.
Reaching the Collector just as his hand thrust forward I was a millisecond too late as the biotic field shot forward towards Grunt. Still as I reached him and he let loose his biotics my augmetic connected with the side of the Collectors head and sent him stumbling back. Knowing none of my weapons would be of use here I jumped at the Collector not giving him any time to recover and grabbed his head with my augmetic and drained him.
That was a mistake. You know how in the third game with Javik where he can get and give information through touch, yeah that happened here. It was a mishmash of images of pain and suffering with incredible anger all tied into it. A feeling of longing and betrayal followed by blind allegiance the Collector had no control over; exactly like a slave. In it too was a longing to be free, for the sweet release of death and for its existence to end.
Through it all though I could feel… something else stopping my memories and experiences from going into the Collector. I don't know how to describe it well but something was there stopping the flow of information from my side but I could still see everything coming from the Collector. It was weird.
Then as I continued the Drain I felt and saw something else… I saw Harbinger. I felt him, and I knew he saw and felt me. With it though there was no feeling of anything worming inside my head. No voices, no exchange of information, just us two and the same presence I couldn't identify from before all locked in a staring match. And it was one HE lost. I felt him recoil in shock and then there was anger and finally curiosity. Then the connection and Drain ended. THEY WILL FEAR ME.
Stumbling back from the Collector it disintegrated into dust. Recovering quickly I whirled on the Collector closest to me and opened fire just as it was getting up. The discharge of Claymores coming near me I paid them no mind and aimed at the next Collector before it's head popped. Looking over to where Zaeed was he gave me a nod before standing up.
Swiveling my head to look around the fight was over and the Collectors were dead. Good. Turning to where Grunt was I went up to him and looked him up and down, then looked behind him. There was a sizable indent into one of the railings outside another house.
"You good Grunt."
"Never better Red," I nodded my head and gave the signal for us to continue onwards. No one said a word as we got back into formation and got back on our way. However, I could see that Jack really wanted to say something but held back. She'll ask later.
Continuing on our way we kept to the path. Nothing really happened the rest of the way to our designated point but we did come across a few more of the pods. All of them occupied with people in varying positions of agony or fright. Still, there was nothing that we could do about it at the time so we continued onwards towards our designated point. At best I guessed that it was a storage house of some type with boxes everywhere; though none were marked.
"Shepard. We're in position," I radio'd him as soon as we got to the point. As I did so I gestured for the others to take a seat on a few of the boxes they could find.
"Copy. Wait on my signal; we're still a few mikes out from ours."
"Wilco*," was my response before I cut the radio and went to find my own seat.
Taking off my helmet I dragged my augmetic across my forehead to get the sweat off of it. After that I rubbed my face to get the sweat off of it. Letting my arms drop back down I looked down at them for a moment before looking at the others only to snap my eyes back to my hands. There was blood on them.
Feeling more wet begin to make itself present on my face I touched where the wet was. My nose was bleeding for sure, that had been a given, but I was surprised to feel a slow dribble coming from the corners of my eyes. Blinking it wasn't interfering with my vision so I guess it wasn't anything to concern myself with and put my helmet back on and looked to the others.
Grunt was inspecting his gun with his back turned to me, Zaeed and Kasumi were in a debate of some kind but neither glanced in my way. Looking to Jack though she was staring at me with a concerned expression on her face; guess she had seen that. Glancing at the others she walked over and sat next to me.
"The fuck Wynne," it wasn't a growl but it was the closest it could get while still having concern laced in her voice.
"Never happened before," I stated simply shrugging my shoulders. I was out of my depth here, medically at least. Mordin would need to run tests on me after this.
"And no one's ever done whatever the fuck you did when you fought the husks. That shit shouldn't have even been possible for biotics."
"I'm built different I guess," I stated shrugging my shoulders. She stared at me incredulously before slapping me upside the head.
"Do not do anything stupid. You've got to get back to Tali and I don't want to loose you," that was a bit of a surprise. I guess she could read my body language even without seeing my face as she continued. "You're one of the few who's ever given a shit about me alright fuckhead… Don't get yourself killed because then I'll have to deal with all these idiots alone."
Standing up she walked away and went back to where she had been before. Waiting a couple more minutes before Shepard's voice came over the radio telling us to get ready. Giving the signal to the others we stacked up on the door in the same way he had when we fought the Collectors and Husks. As we got into position there was a click over the radio and I returned it hitting my pulse and getting a good reading of what was outside, 20 signatures. A couple of seconds later there was a another click and we breached the door.
With Grunt and Jack first through I heard them both blast the closest Collector at the same time. Knowing they killed the bastard I didn't even bother looking and fired at the nearest Collector. It was able to get its gun up but that was it as my bullet passed through its head before it could fire.
From there it was a cacophony of a violent orchestra. Gunfire and killing in every direction as our biotics went crazy with their abilities. There was absolutely no cover out here so that made them all the more deadly. Even being outnumbered 20-9 we completely outpaced them in terms of manueverability and violence of action.
The only time they gained any type of ground was when one of them began to be controlled. Growing a bright orange apparently Shepard's group had run into it too as both he and I shouted out 'focus fire' at the same time. Everyone got the message and laid into the fucker. Two Carnage rounds, two Concussive shots, three Warps, an Incinerate program and a whole lote of fire within the span of a few seconds and we killed it right after it was completely controlled.
It did give the rest of the Collectors time to fire at us and recover the little they needed to but at that point it was just a mop up job. We put them down without that much trouble and the clearing was now completely empty of everything that wasn't us. Of course, this wasn't counting the console in the center of the clearing was a pillar that had to be the controls for the AA guns. Even had a keyboard sticking out of it with a screen on it. I couldn't understand why the kept it in the middle of clearing but there was evidence of construction starting at the edges but not much. Maybe they were planning to cover it, not my problem.
"Wynne, get the gun up and running," Shepard ordered. I gave a nod before going up to the controls. As I did so EDI's voice came over the radio.
"Commander. My scans indicate that the Collector Vessel is preparing to take off and you have a large force of husks coming your way from the east side."
I didn't hear Shepard's response but as soon as I heard those words I grabbed the det cord off my thigh and shouted out for Garrus. He jogged over and didn't even stop as I tossed him the det cord and sent his omni-tool the detonator code. As I got to work on the console he began to set the det cord in circles around the east side wall.
Barely paying attention to that though I got barely 30 seconds into working on the console when I realized something was wrong. The thing had a god damn virus on it. I could activate the system and it would turn on immediately but it would be wildly inaccurate. That or take the time to purge the virus… I'm purging it. I relayed that to Shepard and he just gave me a calm voice in response telling me to just get it done.
As I started to upload my own program to purge the virus I heard the loud moaning of the husks coming towards us. I poked my head around the pillar but didn't see anything so I still had time. Continuing to upload the program there was a set back as the virus already in started to attack my program. That resulted in having to upload another program from my end to combat that.
There was a lot of nuance to hacking but for the most part it was like chess when either hacking someone or dealing with a virus. You make a move and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If it doesn't though, like now, you had to react to your opposites action and make the right call accordingly. Like I said, it was chess and in this case a bit stressful.
The virus had again countered my progam and the husks were getting louder. I tried one more progam but within 30 seconds the virus had countered it and subsequently purged my own original program. You know what, fuck it; cave man style.
Kicking below the keyboard and denting that part of the pillar I bent down and ripped off the casing exposing a bunch of wires. More importantly though, I exposed the hardrive. Grabbing the hardrive I ran my PURGE program right over the hardrive and completely wiped the hardrive and the virus that was in it. Putting it back in I stood back up and got a blank white screen in front of me with black dot you would see when typing.
I then began to write my own code for the entire AA system. Now, that being said as soon as I started this I heard the det cord start to go off signalling that the husks were here. Knowing I had less time than I ever thought possible I put in the simplest code I could imagine. Still even with it being simple it had to be over 15, almost 20, lines of code. Not exactly something that could be done quickly. And it was simply coded to fire at the biggest thing it could find, the Collector vessel being the main target.
"Shepard! I need a guard!" I shouted out to him and immediately I got a response. In the form of a husk appearing around the corner of the pillar next to me but before it could hit me a biotic bullet appeared and slammed into it. Shepard himself would be my guard, good man.
Continuing my typing to set up the system I was moving as fast as my fingers could possibly type correctly. As I got about halfway through a husk appeared on my right, opposite of Shepard. I simply jumped back pulled out my pistol and put a hollow point through the husks face. It collapsed in a heap and I jumped back to the console continuing to type.
In the frantic typing I was able to finish in another 30 seconds but as I began to upload the code I got an error. Going back to the code I was so absorbed I didn't even notice the multitude of husks that were coming until one got past Shepard and hit me with it's claws across my chest. The force of the hit pushed me back a foot or two and I responded by grabbing its face and draining the fucker before going back to the code.
When I did so though my vision darkened at its edges like before but it stayed there as I fixed the code and uploaded it. I got an all clear on the code and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing that. The AA system then began to power up and I tapped Shepards shoulder signaling him I was done. Once I did so I got to the other side of the pillar from Shepard and used it as cover against the oncoming husk hoard.
They came like a never ending wave of grotesque death. Still, we didn't falter and kept on firing until our guns ran dry and then switching to our other weapons we continued to fire. Hell, the husks even got my final grenade into a big group that had just jumped over the wall. After that too it was it seemed that was end of the husks and the AA guns spooled up.
It was just in time too as the Collector vessel was just starting to take off. The AA guns targeted the vessel and slammed into it until it broke the atmosphere. We could visibly see the damage that had been done to the vessel but it wasn't enough; it still got away mostly intact. At least we definitely put it through the ringer.
As it broke the atmosphere though I walked back over the AA controls and turned it off. I didn't want to risk the AA guns targeting any of the civilian houses or the Normandy now that the Collector vessel was gone. As I was doing this I heard a couple of footsteps, who weren't from our group, start padding their way into the clearing. Once I finished turning off the AA guns I looked around the pillar and saw both Kaiden and Ashley standing there looking at Shepard in silence. The rest of our group behind Shepard looking back at the two of them.
"Commander. I thought you died?" Ashely began walking forward with a strained smile on her face.
"What can I say, I got better," Shepard responded smiling.
"On Cerberus' dime," Kaiden cut in with clear anger in his tone. Never understood that, the man is alive; who cares who brought him back.
"Yes, on our dime. And as it seems we've done more for the Terminus colonies in a month and half than the Alliance has ever done," Miranda cut in and I couldn't help but groan a little. Great, just what I needed; to be in the middle of a pissing match. Shepard looked to be of the same mind too as he opened his mouth to respond to that only for Kaiden to interrupt him.
"Don't tell the Terrorist organization decided to finally have a conscious," he sneered.
"It is an added benefit," God damnit Miranda. I could see Shepard visibly think the same as well through only his body language.
"And you Garrus! Aedon. I thought you two would be better than this. Why would you work with these people?" Ashley spat at us. That finally allowed me to talk.
"We have a Krogan, a Salarian, and a Turian with us. This isn't about who we're working for. The fact is colonies are going missing in the Terminus Sector and no one else is being proactive in doing anything about it. This is the 6th colony to be gutted Ashley and the Collectors won't stop. Someone needed to do something."
"Agree with Aedon. Doesn't matter who we're working for, saving lives is priority, judgement of Cerberus clouding judgement to real problem," Mordin cut sending a surprisingly scathing look at both of them.
"That doesn't change the fact you're working with Terrorists!" Kaiden spat. As he spoke I looked closely at his armor and noticed that instead of a Lieutenant symbol on it he had a Corporal insignia on it. The guy had been demoted so hard he went from an officer to an enlisted, a lower tier enlisted to boot.
"Also doesn't change the fact you left me for dead, or have you forgot about that Corporal. Who you work for doesn't decide what type of person you are," I shot back scathingly. I heard Jack give an exaggerated 'ooooohhhh' in the background.
"Be quiet. All of you," Shepard snapped at us with his commander voice shutting everyone up. "Who I'm working with doesn't matter. Cerberus is the only ones willing to actively try and combat the Collectors from taking human colonists. That is all that matters to me, if you two are willing to move past that we can work together again," he said taking a stand in front of the two.
"You know I can't Shepard. I'm loyal to the Alliance above all others, even you," Ashley stated with a tone of sadness entering her voice.
"I'm the same Shepard, sorry," Kaiden stated in a tone that barely held any remorse. Specifically looking at me as he said the words; dick.
"Then I'm sorry. I'll use Cerberus as long as our goals align and no further. I'll come back to the Alliance soon but only after this mess is taken care of and not a moment sooner."
I saw Ashley's voice open to respond to that but I tuned it out in favor of going over to Mordin. Reaching him I motioned with my head for him to follow me and we took a mini stroll away from everyone else. Once we were a good distance away I made sure he was in front of me with my back to everyone else and took off my helmet.
"I drained a lot of husks and a possessed Collector," was all I said.
He, without preamble, brought up his omni-tool to my face and flashed a light to my eyes. I instinctively turned away from the light as it hurt my eyes but he grabbed my face and turned me back. Sighing at it I forced my eyes open and kept them that way so that his light could shine in them. It didn't hurt but it was highly uncomfortable.
Humming after a few moment's he reached out and swiped some of the blood that had come out of my nose and put it onto his omni-tool. After a few moments his omni-tool chimed signalling it had a result; he looked at it for a few moments before reaching back out to me with his omni-tool. This time he took a sample of the blood that was seeping out of the corner of my eyes and did the same as before. I put my helmet on after he did so.
As the results came into his omni-tool he looked them over for a quiet few seconds. As he did so I could hear Ashley, Kaiden, Shepard and a few others still talking in the background; Jack was loud as usual when she talked and sent a good amount of vitriol at the two. After a few seconds of waiting I saw Mordin stand a little straighter and look at me.
"Eezo overdose is best prognosis I can give for now. No adverse affects beyond bleeding, will need more tests once back on Normandy. Go to Med Bay immediately," I nodded understanding his reasoning. With that I turned back to the group as a whole and saw Shepard shaking hands with Ashley as Kaiden stood a few feet away with a cross look on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.
Once he ended his handshake he stepped away and so did Ashley. He then called in to Joker signalling for him to come and pick us up. Knowing we had a few minutes before he got here I walked up to Ashley. She noticed me walking over towards her and turned to face me in a stance that suggested she was expecting a fight. I held up my hands placatingly as I approached to signal I meant no harm.
"The AA system had a virus on it. That's why it wasn't working. I don't know who did it but I thought you should know," I stated. She looked at me in silence betraying nothing on her face before giving me a stiff nod and walking away. Once she began to walk away I turned to Kaiden and flipped him off before walking back to the rest of the group.
We waited for a few minutes saying nothing to the other though Jack kept giving me the side eye. I simply responded with a thumbs up and she nodded back before going over to Shepard. She spent the remainder of the time before the Normandy got here talking to him and actually smiling at some of his comments. I should really start a betting pool again.
As for the rest of us as we waited no one really said anything. Though Grunt did come over to me and gave me a malicious smile. He didn't say anything verbally but I could tell just from his body language he looked forward to more jobs that we would be able to fight together. Guess he really did look up to me, or at least respected me more than anyone else of our group.
When the Normandy did get to us I silently walked up the ramp. The others talking amongst themselves but I paid them no mind and went straight to the med bay. Dr. Chakwas saw me enter and gave me an exaggerated sigh as she began too look over my injuries. Most were minor, as she said, but there were a few broken ribs in there and my right forearm was fractured. I would be fine all things considered.
I never took off my helmet during the whole process but as she finished Mordin walked in and gave me the doctor stare. A stare all soldiers knew and it meant to shut up and do what they say. Before he could give out any orders to me though he darkened the windows of the medbay to a pitch black before looking to me. I instantly got the message and took off my helmet.
Dr. Chakwas gasped at what she saw but I paid it no mind. Mordin came up to me and turned on his omni-tool as he took a vial and took more samples of the blood that was just staring to dry out of both my nose and eyes. Giving them to Dr. Chakwas she immediately put them in a machine that tested them. Continuing to observe me though he began to speak into his omni-tool.
"Patients pupils have dilated. Sign of overdose; first recorded case of Element Zero overdose. Iris' have changed color, deep purple; Sclera* a deep red. Most likely result from blood buildup caused by eezo overdose. Resulting in bleeding from nose and eyes. Eezo overdose most likely cause. Tests to follow."
As soon as the words were out of his mouth I felt my stomach churn to an incredible degree. Seeing my face Dr. Chakwas acted instantly, grabbing the garbage can by her desk and tossing it to me. Catching it I put my face in and threw up. The first one wasn't all that bad but the subsequent ones sucked, if you've ever thrown up while drunk you'll understand. It sucked but once it was done I felt better, a lot better.
"Patient also experiencing nausea as adrenaline subsides. Common happenstance in overdose cases. How are you feeling Aedon?"
"A lot better now doc."
Over the next hour or so he ran me through a clinic of tests as I sat there and took it. It wasn't my place to say anything here as it wasn't my field of expertise. Though Mordin kept himself professional the entire time Dr. Chakwas looked on disapprovingly at me once she found out how it happened. Draining husks and Collectors wasn't my best move and she seemed to be firmly in the camp that what I had done was stupid; can't exactly blame her either. Once Mordin was done with his test he asked me a few questions.
"Anything else happen?"
"Vision began to blur while I drained the husks. Plus a pounding headache while it happened."
"What else?" he demanded. Well, he didn't demand it but his tone made it seem like he was.
"Call Jack in here. She'll be able to give a better description than I. I could barely see in front of me when it happened," both Mordin and Dr. Chakwas exchanged glances at that confession but he called Jack in regardless. Close to a minute later Jack walked in looking slightly pissed but that was her default look so we made no mention of it.
"This about what numb-nuts did?" she briskly asked as soon as she entered the room. Mordin gave a sharp nod at her question and she continued. "He charged forward into the husks like an idiot ignoring us the whole time and fought them with his ax and hand only. Then he gets knocked down, we loose sight of him but then jumps up curling into a ball. Never seen anything like it. It was like a ball of pure biotic energy surrounded him and exploded outwards. Sent the husks flying in every direction and the ones that had been within a few feet of him were atomized."
Both Mordin and Dr. Chakwas were silent for a few moments before they silently dismissed Jack. She left without a word leaving me with the two doctors. They had a quiet and rather heated conversation between themselves in front of me but I stayed out of it. The few words I did hear went completely over my head terminology wise. At the end of their mini argument they seemed to come to an agreement and I got some blood drawn. Once that was done I was allowed to leave back to my room.
I sorely needed a shower and a nap; before that though I washed my face to clean off all the blood. I wanted to take my nap and shower as well but I was still the head of a Mercenary group and decided to check my messages just in case anything happened. When I did so I saw a few messages from Kelli. Nothing pressing for the most part, most of it was just telling me what was going on. Who deserved a promotion and what not and if I would okay it. I sent her a message back telling that since I didn't see any of the action of those people I would leave it up to her.
There was one message that got my attention above all other though. It was from Tali and she was asking for help. Even included the planet and coordinates that she was on, never would've remembered it otherwise. Guess I knew where we were going next. I wasn't about to let my girlfriend wait it out. No way no how.
Leaving my room I went to Shepard's cabin. Both Miranda and Jack were outside of it at the moment heatedly arguing, about what I didn't know or care. As I approached them they both quieted down and looked to me. Acknowledging both of them I stepped passed them and opened the door and walked inside. Both the girls following me inside.
Shepard was sitting at his desk going over paperwork as I did so. As I entered though he looked to me and gave a short nod before shutting down his terminal and standing up. He saw both the girls but ignored both of them in favor of me as they were both quiet at the time. With him standing in front of me I saluted him and he returned it with an exasperated sigh.
"You know you don't have to do that right?"
"It's curtesy Shepard. You've earned it," I stated going into a relaxed stance.
"Okay… What do you have for me?" at his words I showed him the message from Tali. He looked at it for a few seconds before looking back to me. "We'll head there straight away. From what I know that's in Geth space though, don't get your hopes up."
"She's alive Shepard. She knows the only time she's allowed to die is once we're back on Rannoch. After many years together and lots of children; I'm shooting for five, maybe six."
"Didn't know it was that serious or that you could even have children with her," he stated giving me an amused look but it wasn't judging. He knew better.
"I'm compatible. I'm the only one who is, the bomb at Virmire saught to that. They ran a litany of tests on me when I was with the Fleet."
"When did that happen?"
"About six months after you died. Cerberus attacked while I was with them."
"What?!" Miranda cut in, shock coating her voice. Turning to look at her I gave a sharp nod before looking back to Shepard.
"It happened. You can ask Tali all about it when we pick her up. For now though let's just get there okay," he gave me a nod pulling up his omni-tool talking into it to Joker. I didn't stay for the conversation and instead went back to my room. I needed sleep and Shepard would get us to Tali, that's all that mattered to me at the moment. Getting back to my best girl.
Either way I made sure to send her a message saying that we were on our way. I don't know if it got through to her but it is what it is. After I sent the message I called Frank and talked to Iris. She was enjoying her time with them but did miss me. I'll have to ask for us to visit the Citadel soon, if we can. We've been running around a lot but I hope we'll be able to make a little time for myself. I guess that was my loyalty mission; making sure my family was okay.
And that's the chapter. Hope you enjoyed.
*1: Wilco: Will comply
*2: Sclera: the white part of the eye.