Mass Riddick Effect

Chapter 2: Sacrificial Decisions

Riddick


Richard B. Riddick stood in the dead man's shadow, looking up at the corpse. The colonist was splayed out like a star-fish atop the metal spike, for it had impaled him just minutes earlier, and now fresh droplets of blood fell rhythmically from the corpse into the sand, congealing into a cluster of black spots. The man's gruesome death did not interest Riddick. The weapon did.

Despite serving as an interesting means of execution, he failed to decipher any purpose for the spike beyond that. Its thick metallic base resembled a tripod of some sort. The circular canister from which the actual spike had extended also gave away little of note. He squatted down to get a closer look at the contraption's bottom. Upon further inspection, he recognized specks of dried blood on one of the spider-like legs, giving him reason to believe the machine or tool had killed more than one. Still, why bother killing anyone like this? He internalized, Shooting them works just as well. He leaned left then right, still studying the thing. He quickly deduced there were no means of engaging said contraption from his position. No controls, buttons, or anything. Which means the geth must activate the devices remotely. But that did not answer his question. Why kill them like this? He rose to his feet and scowled at the device. In his experience, synthetics rarely acted without reason. He figured the geth were no exception.

Abruptly, a voice seared through the communications piece in his ear, "Shepard, it's Nihlus, I think I've got something! Something big near the transit station. I'm checking it out. Come quick."

He turned to look over at Shepard, just in time to watch her slap a hand to the side of her helmet, "Copy that. All right everyone, you heard him. Let's get a move on!" She whipped toward the gunnery chief, "Is the dig site on the way to the transit station?"

Shepard. Always to the point, a perfectionist, and an alleged hero.

He had known of her since the Skyllian Blitz, but did not start serving under her and Anderson until two months ago. His reassignment to the Normandy had been a diplomatic decision made by higher ups due to his so-called 'lack of discipline' following Torfan. Following the moon raid, he had spent 4 years on Earth. Two years on trial and under investigation for his actions, one year of psychological evaluations, and one year earning his way back to a space-post. When leadership finally agreed to let him back into the frontier, they figured that a by-the-book captain, like Anderson, would be the perfect candidate to straighten him out. Keep him in line sort of speak. Inevitably, that brought him right to the legendary and fascinating case that was Charlotte Jane Shepard. Anderson's esteemed protégé.

At first glance, what everyone said about her held true. She did not fit the mold of a soldier. The woman was shorter, skinny like a rail, olive-skinned, and really did keep a streak of her brunette hair dyed bright red. Rumors suggested it to be a means of honoring someone she had lost. He had never asked. The kiss of death on her cheek is what he found most notable about her appearance. The very spot where a thermal slug had connected with her unprotected face during the Skyllian Blitz and by all accounts, should have killed her. In some miraculous way she came out of the coma unfazed. No psychological damage, no trauma, and no newfound faith. Only the injury lingered. The scarring devoured a third of her face in the form of a crater, as if someone had bitten into her cheek. The disfigurement started just below the cheek bone and stretched down to her jawline like a misshapen hand. The ghastly wound served as the only visible proof that the incident had ever taken place. Thus, not only did Shepard muster a defense during the Blitz until help could arrive … she also came back from the dead.

The miracle aside, she showed herself to be disciplined and leader-like in the field, but today she seemed off. Like her mind wandered elsewhere. Battling some unseen enemy. Distracted. It seemed more so how she acted aboard the Normandy at times, when she proved hard to find or disinterested in the tasks presented before her. Almost as if she were a civilian on a ride-along rather than an Alliance officer. He had yet to figure her out, but he intended to. He wanted to know what made her tick. Call it professional curiosity. Today he made the first daring step towards that goal. He showed her just how unordinary he could be. Showed his true colors. Cut through the red tape and asked one of the vital questions. One that mattered. He'd deal with the consequences of taking such a risk later.

"Yes, Ma'am," was the answer from the female gunnery chief, whom he also did not know what to make of just yet. Williams. She seemed reliable. Being a potential sole survivor brought that assumption to life. His eyes stretched along her lean, armor-clad figure. She's definitely able-bodied, he determined.

"Good. All right team, let's move! Double time!" Shepard called out, as she drew the sidearm free from the holster at her hip. The group started jogging in his direction.

"Shepard, picking up multiple signals on scans. Hundreds, actually. I'm going to slow down and be careful." Static cracked over the comms as the turian paused, then came back. "I highly advise you to do the same."

"Copy that. Watch your six."

"Will do. Kriyik, out."

Riddick looked up at the corpse again and said, "Well, this is goodbye. You take care." Then as his comrades neared, he took the lead, with Jenkins, Williams, and Shepard hot on his heels. Alenko brought up the rear.

"Riddick stay up there and keep point," Shepard ordered over comms. After the stunt he pulled there's no way she'd offer his back to him willingly again. A damn shame. He said nothing back and did as he was bid, finding a rhythm to his jog that kept his team at the right distance.

The valley's width narrowed as he trekked further, now only stretching about twenty yards apart into more of a canyon or trench, when back where they rescued the chief, it seemed closer to five Makos wide in sandy expanse. The chief's mentioned dig site came into view just under three minutes, but he knew better than to go in alone. Instead, he slowed to a walk and stared at the excavation ahead. From this distance it appeared to be surrounded by a circle of massive stone or metal pillars. Beyond one of the pillars, he could see some laser drilling equipment and crates, but not much else of interest.

"Hmph," he grunted, then turned his head to the left. There he found what he sought. A suitable boulder. Said boulder was somehow placed right where the chasm's sandy base met its rocky wall. Protection if needed, with a perfect vantage. He sauntered over and put his back to the stone, but before he could get too comfortable, that familiar tickle brushed the back of his head. Right at the base of his skull.

I'm being watched.

He jerked his head in the direction of the dig site just in time to see an orb of light floating. It had an uncharacteristically strong glow for broad daylight. The orb crept forward. He tilted his head to witness the orb grow into a silvery, metallic figure with arms and legs, as it emerged from behind one of the pillars. Geth. Alarm seized hold of him when his shields sparked from the impact, as the hostile's rounds hit home before he could drop safely behind the boulder.

"Fuck," he grunted, contorting on the ground to unclasp his shotgun and squeeze it to his chest. Without a helmet, his armor's kinetic shields had their parameters hampered. No helmet meant the shields weakened above the neck, but his line of sight and vision stayed clear. It also meant death had just toyed with him. One good shot by the machine and kumbuya.

"Riddick, stay down!" Shepard snapped.

"No shit. How many are there?" he demanded back through the comm channel. He had to strain himself to hear over the relentless enemy gunfire. They were unloading rounds without remorse at his position now. Thankfully, the boulder stayed suitable for him and held strong.

"Five for sure," Alenko chimed in. Riddick twisted on the ground to face the squad running towards him. Shepard and Alenko were leading the counterattack.

"Jenkins, Williams, give us some covering fire!" Shepard barked over the comms, pumping her arms to sprint ahead of the group.

While Shepard and Alenko surged forward, Williams and Jenkins followed orders by moving to opposite sides of the chasm, raising their rifles, and opening fire. The symphony of a heated crossfire pounding his senses, Riddick shifted himself up into a seated position just in time for his shields to recharge fully. Shepard slid into cover beside him moments later.

She hit him in the chest plate. "This is why we listen to orders!" She poked her head around the boulder, then swiftly pulled back into cover. "You're lucky I didn't hold off and let them ghost you."

"I disobeyed an order. Does this mean I'm relieved of your command?" When she glared at him, her eyes narrowing in intensity, he smiled. Slow and satisfying like.

"Don't be an ass. Shut up and focus on the fight!" She spun herself back in the direction of Jenkins and Williams, both of whom were still laying covering fire. They had followed orders well, and now held the enemies' full attention. Chunks of rock fell from the cliff sides as the geth tried to gun them down. "Jenkins, Williams, find some cover," she ordered over their comms. After that, she rounded the boulder and squeezed off several shots. "Alenko, see if you can disable one of them like you did earlier." When organizing the battlefield, she really was something worth watching. Like a flowing river. A restless gush of logic, experience, and savvy. She dipped back into cover and turned to him, "You'll answer to me after the mission for that shit you pulled back there."

He shrugged. "I can't wait." Finding satisfaction in the exasperated sigh from his CO, he dropped to his stomach and leaned out from the boulder's far side to get a view of what was taking place. True to Alenko's word, there appeared to be five synthetic soldiers marching forward. They kept themselves clustered together, unfazed and not balking. That sort of careless positioning presented an obvious plan of attack to him.

"Hey," he said, rolling in the sand back toward her.

"What?"

He unhooked a grenade from his belt and held it up to show her. Her face brightened in understanding.

"Roger that," she replied, lowering herself in the sand. She looked like a plated armadillo when all balled up. She pressed a hand to the side of her helmet to give the command over comms, "Everyone standby, fire in the hole!" Then with anxiety in her eyes, she watched him as he rose to a crouch, peeked over the boulder, and tossed the grenade. He caught sight of where it impacted the sand, about a yard from the synthetics, before their unending shooting forced him back into cover.

She met his gaze immediately after. "Well?" It were as if she had been waiting for ages, her tone razor-sharp.

The grenade's explosion answered for him, along with Jenkins' whooping cheer over the comm channel.

"Nice throw," the corporal exclaimed. His voice came through muffled and distorted, unlike the clarity others had. Maybe from the fall the corporal took earlier?

"Agreed, nice throw, Commander," Alenko said, popping his head up from a outcropping of rock nearby. He had been on the chasm's opposite side, parallel to them. "My omni-tool didn't even finish warming up on that one."

Williams jogged up to join Riddick and Shepard as they stood in unison. "What they said, great toss."

Shepard jutted a thumb at him. "His throw." She almost sounded disappointed.

"Nice. Still bet I can one-up you, LTC," Williams said, as she allowed her overheated rifle to ventilate with a hiss. She had mischief in her tone.

The corner of his mouth curved. "Is that so?"

The chief responded with a warm grin. The kind that spurred serotonin.

"Shepard! Shepard, do you copy?! It's Nihlus! I've found survivors but we got a big problem!"

She went rigid beside him. Almost as if she were struck by lightning. Dazed for a few moments, she shook herself, and then the authoritative tone came back. "What is it, Kriyik? We're just about to hit the dig site. Had some unfriendlies along the way, but we're uh," she looked around, "Clear for now."

"Clear is a bit of an understatement, Shepard!" This time the turian's voice came through with loads of static. As if he were flying a few systems away rather than a few klicks out. A squeaky, high-pitched static.

"Kryik," she asked, taking a few uncomfortable steps forward, "Could barely hear you there. What do you mean clear is a bit of an understatement?"

Riddick watched her get more anxious. In moments, she started to pace like a rabid animal. Frenzied and frantic. Her head bent, eyes on her feet, shoulders stiff, and back painfully erect, she moved faster and faster. She liked to pace when something didn't sit right with her. That much he knew about her.

"The survivors and I are... being chased," the spectre's voice fell away to static, and what now sounded like birds. As if a few thousand were chirping at once. A truly deafening sound. Riddick had never heard anything else like it.

"I can barely hear him. Anyone else?" Jenkins asked, kicking up sand as he jogged over to them. Alenko had walked over as well, the whole squad now grouped together. Alenko had his omni-tool brought up in seconds.

"Nothing wrong with his comm channel from what I'm seeing." Alenko sighed, "So it's not interference of any kind."

"Wonderful," Shepard said, then started spinning in place. Almost as if searching for something in the sky. Riddick shared her sense of unease though, and when she stopped spinning, he followed her gaze up to one of the cliffs above. Part of him expected to see something there other than the thin treeline. Still, his muscles tightened.

"Shepard!" His flanging voice boomed in their ears. "We're being chased by… humans… of some kind! Hundreds of humans! Spirits, they're everywhere!" The background screeching increased, like how a mass relay's roar amplified in volume as it bent and rendered gravity. The high-pitched wailing sent forth knives of auditory pain. Whatever they were being chased by, it was getting closer. Much closer. So much so that they were hearing the screeches outside of the comm channel now.

Riddick pivoted, his gaze still latching to the cliff above, his shotgun raised and ready. He could sense the others doing the same. Suddenly, about sixty yards away, the red-black shape of the turian spectre appeared with at least four other humanoid figures. Alliance soldiers in various armor colors, by the look of them. The five of them eagerly ran forward off the cliff, then half-fell, half-tripped their way down into the canyon's sandy base. At times, some of them were just a blur of rolling armor and flailing limbs in their desperation. Observing the sheer fear in which they fled with, Riddick returned his gaze to the cliffside and caught sight of the danger.

A sea of writhing gray bodies.

They were so great in number that he lost sight of the treeline in seconds. Each decrepit-humanoid creature let out a blood-curdling scream. The shrill, piercing sounds raped their way through his ear canals and shook his auditory nerves into a panic. So powerful that he thought one of his ears may have started bleeding. His mouth falling open slightly in awe, he lifted the goggles from his face and blinked several times at the creatures. They're humans, he decided mentally, Or were. Squinting, he could make out what looked to be flashes of light emitting from the creatures' limbs and torsos. Electricity? Even their eyes glowed a deep-burning luminescence. That ain't no shine job, either.

"We're going to need more grenades," Williams muttered, stalking forward, "Holy shit. A lot more." She turned back to them, her expression beneath the visor incredulous. "What the hell are they?" She asked the question as a knee-jerk reaction, but she didn't need the answer. She whirled away from them before anyone could respond, rolled her shoulders, and stiffened her resolve. In a fluid motion that could be described as pure practice, she checked her rifle, shouldered it, and took aim at the monsters on the cliff. A whooshing motion of lethal accuracy.

"God, they must be some kind of…" Alenko trailed off, shaking his head. He couldn't find the words.

"Monsters," Riddick finished, pulling the goggles back down over his eyes. He could feel the heat of the entire squad's gaze finding him for making such a declaration. To him it seemed obvious. Through the shrill screeching and fiery stares, he only desired the attention of one. "Shepard." He had her gaze, but she seemed lost. As if in a stasis. "We need to move." Just as he got the words out, the monsters began their descent into the valley, pouring down the cliffs like liquid. Their pursuit of prey relentless. "We need to move right now," he repeated. The words came out easy, but his legs felt heavy, like they were encased in quicksand. Never had he seen something such as the scene ahead. Not in battle, not in his dreams, and not in the hell he knew as Torfan.

The monsters' prey did not fare well. While the turian spectre had handled the fall into the valley rather gracefully, the others were detained. One soldier appeared to have broken his leg while others stumbled to their feet like they were drunk on shore leave. They sobered up fast upon seeing the horde's approach and jumped into action. Two soldiers, still clutching their rifles, sprinted after the spectre in retreat, while only one brave soul went back to help his fallen comrade.

"The man on the ground, we have to rescue him! Alenko, Jenkins, let's go!"

He snapped his vision to Shepard in shock. She started running forward, but he snatched her forearm before she could get past him. Alenko halted with his CO, but Jenkins pressed on, racing toward the commotion. Williams hesitated, then followed the corporal.

"Let go of me! We have to help that man!" Using her free hand, she ripped off her helmet and threw it down into the sand, exposing her face. Beautiful, yet painful-looking at the same time. She had a fierce look in those deep-chocolate eyes as she glanced from him to the injured man, then back. A living, breathing tornado. Her hair, despite the military bun, looked wild. Her face was caked with sweat and her expression could scare off vorcha. "That's an order!" She tried yanking herself free of his grasp, but he held tight. This angered her more.

Riddick slowly shook his head from one side to the other, an anvil settling on his shoulders. He knew the words well. He had used them before. "We can't help him." He indicated the spectre and the other soldiers with a tilt of his head. She whirled away from him to see what he saw. The soldier who went back for his comrade was struggling. He had managed to lift his comrade and drape the injured man's arm over his shoulders, but their awkward hobble did little to separate them from the encroaching sea of bodies. Williams, recognizing this, slid to a stop in the sand and dropped to a knee. The chief began shooting while the spectre ran past her without stopping. The other Alliance soldiers rallied with Williams though. Both men halted their retreat on either side of her, and joined in shooting back at the horde. Only Jenkins moved on toward the wounded.

"Kryik! You've got injured," Shepard gasped, still trying to pull herself from Riddick's grasp.

"We don't have time!" The spectre yelled, now less than twenty yards from them. His long legs made good time. The turian came to restless stop a little ways away and keeled over, panting. "Shepard," he hissed between breaths, "Call your people back. There's no helping it." When confronted with her indecisive silence, he lifted his head and brought his piercing green eyes to bear on the commander. "What are you waiting for?"

Shepard twirled back to him, her eyes desperate. Pleading. But Riddick agreed with Kriyik. He nodded at her and simply said, "Do it."

Her facial features flinched as if in agony. Abruptly, she tried to jerk away again, "No, we have to help them! We have to一", he punched her with all his might, just under the ribs, expunging the air from her lungs. Dazed, she slumped and he bent to lift her light frame over one shoulder. When he stood up straight, he found Alenko with his pistol trained on him. The staff lieutenant's expression is ice-cold, his stance unyielding, the gun lined with Riddick's forehead and following. He knew nothing he could say would make up for what he had done. True loyalty to one's squad could not be broken by mere words. Nearby, the turian spectre watched the stalemate in disbelief. Probably because such treason amongst turians would be paid for in blood. Immediate retaliation.

"You just attacked our CO, sir." Alenko side-stepped to check if the turian was making any moves, but his weapon stayed locked on Riddick. "She's in charge here. Not you." He swallowed before continuing, "That would mean you've just committed mutiny. I should gun you down here and now."

"You're right. You should."

The uproar behind the spectre made Alenko keep shifting his focus. His eyes darted from Riddick, the turian, and the terrifying scene beyond. His thoughts were sifting like the wind, his focus questionable. Still, he had loyalty. "Give me one reason not to pull the trigger."

He hefted the shoulder their CO rested on. "You know her better than I do."

Alenko's dark brows popped up and his mouth tightened to form a straight line. The sword of truth had sliced him in half. The lower-ranking lieutenant cursed to himself, then slowly lowered his gun. With that resolved, Riddick did the only thing he knew how to do in life and death. He acted.

He put a hand to his ear to speak over the comms and chaos, "Jenkins, Williams, this is Riddick, get your asses back to the dig site. Retreat. That's an order!" Without waiting for any kind of affirmation and with Alenko still eyeing him with skepticism, he started trotting towards the dig site. Kriyik wasted no time following him, but Alenko hesitated. Alenko would have to think for himself. He was carrying the only person who wouldn't retreat on their own. The woman over his shoulder was no hindrance however, for she weighed less than the backpacks he had carried in bootcamp. "Normandy, this is Lieutenant Commander Riddick, we need an immediate evac!"

"Shit. On my way back," Williams responded, her rifle's churn blaring through the channel, along with the screeching horde.

"Riddick, it's Joker. What the hell happened down there?"

"No time! Can you get us out of here?"

"What?! Are you crazy?" The pilot chuffed over the channel. "In case you missed the council's agent perusing our ship for the past week or uh, the five hundred briefings, this is supposed to be a stealth mission, remember? I have stealth systems engaged. If I drop those and send a shuttle, the Captain will throw me out an airlock. Evac isn't an option unless you're serious. Where's the Commander? Where's Shepard?"

"She's with us," he said, doing his best to conceal the angst in his tone. "Standby!" He rounded one of the excavation site's gigantic pillars with Kriyik right behind him. While Kriyk took up a position on the dig site's interior, he moved in a little deeper to deposit his CO against one of the crates. There were spikes with bodies lined up here in the dig site too. The geth weren't just targeting soldiers. Some of them were civilians. As Riddick set her down, she started moaning and coming to, but he did not have time to address his actions. He ran back to the site's entrance where Kriyik and now Alenko, stood watching events unfold.

Jenkins had just reached the injured soldier and his companion. The trio had less than fifteen yards between the horrors streaking toward them, and their speed with the injured man did not improve. "Guys, we need some help! Keep shooting," Jenkins urged, but he swiftly realized their peril. Williams and the other soldiers were shooting back less and less. They were back pedaling and dropping fewer of the horrors than before. There were too many. "Okay, guys we have to move faster. Let's—," the corporal got interrupted, the other's voice echoing through the mic,"Leave me! Let go and leave— What?! No way. We're in this togeth— LEAVE ME!"

They were not really given a choice when the injured man let go of them. He fell backwards into the sand, freeing Jenkins and the other soldier so they could start running. They seized the opportunity while the injured man accepted his fate. The army of creatures swarmed and ripped into him from all sides. His panicked screams were terrible, and audible even from where Riddick stood. A sea of hands tore apart skin and armor alike, while their teeth did the rest. What had once been a man in the distance, quickly turned into an indistinguishable red pulp amongst the charging creature's legs. Soon the remains could no longer be seen.

"Shit guys, shit," Jenkins exclaimed, still sounding somewhat distorted. He and the other soldier made good time, but the infernal horde moved just as fast.

Riddick gritted his teeth. "Joker!" Only static answered. "JOKER! Come in!"

"Yeah, yeah I'm here! What's going on?! Can I talk to Shepard yet?"

He glanced over at her. His CO remained near motionless. "In a minute, look I need air support on our position now! We're trapped."

"Are you serious? Show me."

Scowling, he stepped up as Williams and the other soldiers ran through the excavation site's entrance. They took up positions nearby to keep shooting while he activated his omni-tool's bright orange interface and enabled the stream option. He positioned his forearm so that the holographic rectangle lined up with the monster-filled chasm ahead of him. It worked.

"Holy shit, why didn't you say so? Yeah this one's worth me getting grounded for. All right, all right. Hang tight. I'm coming in hot but I'm leaving stealth systems engaged, you got that?"

"Just hit them with everything you got!"

"Loud and clear! Impact in sixty seconds!"

Moments later, the soldier running with Jenkins tripped, about forty or so yards from the dig site. The corporal started back for him, but the man climbed to his knees and waved him off. Jenkins maybe got ten strides away when the horde reached the man, who greeted them by detonating a grenade. What seemed an epic explosion did next to nothing against their sheer numbers. Their pursuit of Jenkins continued as if nothing had happened. Their ranks just swelling to replace any losses they sustained. Like a surging current.

Riddick lost his balance when a force plowed into him. Shepard.

"Who the hell do you think you are!" She screamed, Alenko and Kryik watching. Williams and the other Alliance soldiers were too focused on taking careful shots at the approaching horde. "First you try gutting me in secret and now you're open about it? What balls out and all?"

"Commander, look, we needed to get moving. The LTC was right," Alenko insisted, reaching towards her. She slapped his hand away.

"Stay out of this, Staff Lieutenant! This is between me and him." She locked her venomous glare on him. "Seriously, who the hell do you think you are!? Some hot shot running the show?" Her eyes surveyed him top to bottom, then she made a face of disgust. She turned her head to look out at the chasm, suddenly aware of Jenkins' danger as if she had a sixth sense. The creatures were catching up to him. "Shit, everyone grab a gun and start shooting. We're getting him out of there! Have grenades at the ready!" Shepard rushed over to squat down next to a rock and unfold her sniper rifle. In seconds, she leaned into the scope and fired, blowing one of the monsters in half.

He studied her for a moment, then observed as those around him listened to her. Soon everyone, including Kryik, were firing whatever they could in an attempt to save the corporal.

The corporal made it within twenty yards of the dig site when he leapt up onto a rock formation, and started climbing. Only then did Riddick feel his chest contract. He smashed his index and middle finger against his ear piece. "Jenkins! Keep moving!"

Jenkins did not reply. Instead, he worked to find foot holes and climb higher up the rather tall rock formation. The horde below swept past him, as if unaware of his choice for ascension.

Shepard fired off another round, then echoed his thoughts verbally. "Jenkins, what are you doing?! Get back here! That's an order!"

His insides dropped. Something wasn't right.

He marched over to Alenko and grabbed his bicep. "Are the corporal's comms working or jammed?" Alenko frowned in misunderstanding. "The corporal's comms! They working!? Check them!"

"Yes, sir!" Alenko pulled up his omni-tool, his face one of sheer concentration. He searched through the interface options at lightning speed, but when finished moving, his petrified expression gave Riddick the information he needed. He sighed and stared at Shepard.

She shot again, oblivious to his discovery. Moments later, Joker's voice filled his ears.

"All right, coming in hot! Impact in ten seconds, hang on guys!"


A/N: Took some creative liberties with the Eden Prime geography for this chapter and will be taking lots of creative liberties throughout. If you want pure canon play the games because they're AWESOME!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Leave a review if you got praise or criticism!