Chapter Seven: Mars
Left by those before
She had found the Old Gate, a
Dark, frightening leap
SSV Normandy
Earth
"So that's it then? We're just leaving? What the fuck!"
The sound of the shouted words echoed off of the walls of the deathly silent Normandy hangar bay. Shepard ignored it, sliding the chest piece of his N7 armor into place, completing the set.
"Hey! Commander! The fight is back there, at Earth! We're just going to leave those people to die?"
"There's nothing we can do Vega," said Shepard quietly.
The half-armored Marine was furious, dark skin colored darker by anger, fists clenched and teeth bared. He was walking slowly towards Shepard, who had his back turned to him, bent over the weapons bench.
"So, since when does the great Commander Shepard run from – "
Shepard turned around lightning quick and took a few long, angry steps until he was right in Vega's face. He jabbed a finger in the center of Vega's chest, hand glowing with a biotic blue aura. "There. Is nothing. We. Can do," he seethed, voice dangerously low. Shepard held that position for a couple of seconds before taking a step back letting out a frustrated sigh, running his gloved hands over his buzzed brown hair.
"You heard Admiral Anderson, and you know he was right," said the Commander, looking right into Vega's dark brown eyes. The big Marine's expression had regained some of its composure, but Shepard could still see traces of his own frustration etched in the lines of his face. "Do you think for one second that I don't want to be on the ground still fighting alongside him? Alongside one of my closest friends? But think – and I know you're smart enough to know this Vega – what good could we do there, realistically? One ship, and a few soldiers?"
Vega's head turned to the side a little and his hands unclenched.
Shepard continued. "There is no way we can defeat the Reapers by ourselves, not with what we have now. We need the support of the other races. We need their fleets, their soldiers, their supplies. Divided the Reapers will destroy us one by one, but together we stand a chance. We are going to come back to Earth. You can consider that a personal guarantee. But not until we have the Council species backing us. Do you understand?"
"... Yes Commander." said Vega quietly.
Shepard took a step forwards and placed one of his hands on Vega's shoulders. "Look. I know you're frustrated. I know you're angry. I am too, Earth is my home as well. But right now, we can't have emotions controlling our team's mentality. I need everyone ready to go, with no hesitation. If you're going to be angry, take it out on the Reapers. They're the ones that deserve it."
Vega nodded and Shepard stepped back, looking at Kaiden. "That goes for you as well," said Shepard.
"Yes Commander." replied Kaidan.
John and Kelly watched the whole scene silently from the edge of the hangar. The Chief could understand the Hispanic Marine's, Vega's, mindset. He had seen it dozens of times in UNSC soldiers forced to abandon a besieged colony during the Human-Covenant War. The anger, the frustration, the desire for revenge. He had felt it too.
"Sierra, this is Tiger-3."
The crackling of his helmet comm interrupted that train of thought. "Go ahead Tiger-3."
"Pelican Gamma 1-1 has safely arrived with Gamma 1-2, the Alliance Marines, and the rest of Blue Team.
"Roger that Tiger-3. We're aboard the Normandy with Commander Shepard and will be returning to the fleet shortly. Sierra out."
As soon as that comm link closed, another one opened, this one projecting from the Normandy's hangar intercomm.
"Commander Shepard, I've got Admiral Hackett on a comm for you, he says it's urgent," came a lightly scratchy male voice.
Shepard's head tilted towards the ceiling, a slight smile forming on his lips. "Joker, is that you?"
"Hell yeah it's me, someone had to save your ass from the Reapers."
"Glad to know you made it out Joker. Patch Hackett through to my omni-tool," said Shepard.
"Likewise Commander. Doing it now."
With that, the link fizzled off and Shepard thumbed on his omni-tool, activating the video-comm screen. Out of the static the grizzled face of Admiral Hackett materialized on the rectangle.
"Commander, it's good to know you and Anderson are alright," he said, causing Shepard to wince. Hackett's face turned quizzically worried. "What's wrong?"
"Anderson... Anderson stayed behind. At Earth."
Hackett was silent a moment before rubbing his chin. "Hmmm... I see. Did he give a reason? Though I think I already know why."
"He said he had to stay in order to rally what Alliance forces were left and organize a resistance. He told me to go to the Citadel and get the Council to send us reinforcements," said Shepard.
"Dammit, I had a feeling he would do something like that..." muttered Hackett. "As for what else he said, he might be right. We haven't been able to establish contact with Arcturus Station or any of the Alliance ships defending it, so we can only assume the worst. All of our politicians, diplomats, and ambassadors were on that station, and that doesn't leave Humanity in a very strong position."
Shepard nodded slowly.
"I know you're a soldier before anything Shepard, but since I don't trust Udina worth a damn and I have to try to regroup the fleets, we might need you to conduct negotiations on the Alliance's behalf."
"The Normandy can get underway to the Citadel immediately Admiral."
"No, not yet," said Hackett, shaking his head. "I called for another reason. The science team, as well as some of the artifacts, at the Mars Prothean Archives needs extraction and you're the fastest and quietest ship we have available to do so. I need you to get there ASAP."
Shepard furrowed his brows. "But sir, what about the UNSC team that was sent to extract me? We still have two of their members onboard."
"Yes, I know. Admiral Lasky and I have discussed this, and they'll be accompanying you to Mars. You simply don't have the time to rendezvous with the fleet and drop them off, as I'm ordering the retreat to the rally point in just a few minutes. Oh, and Commander, Lasky told me that Lieutenant Reeve's and the Marines you helped extract on Earth are safely aboard one of their Frigates."
Shepard nodded, glad that Reeves and his team had made it. "We'll depart for Mars immediately sir."
"See to it Commander. I've sent you the coordinates of the rally point, when you've completed your mission link up with us there. Hackett out." With that, the link closed and Shepard's omni-tool faded out of existence.
"Did you hear that EDI?" asked Shepard.
"Yes Commander. I have already plotted a course to Mars, and am awaiting your word," replied the Normandy AI.
"Let's get there as quick as we can."
"Affirmative. Entering FTL"
The hangar deck shuddered under Shepard's feet and he could hear the gentle hum of the Normandy's drive core increase in intensity. Then, after just a couple of seconds and another shudder, they reverted back to normal.
"We have arrived Commander. I am attempting to open communications with the research base now," said EDI.
Shepard pointed to Kaidan and James. "Gear up. Fresh thermal clips, grenades, secondary weapons, and hardsuit helmets."
As the two Alliance soldiers jogged to the armory near the hangar's elevator doors, Shepard walked up to the two towering Spartans, standing completely motionless with rifles cradled in their arms. He was about to speak when the one on the left turned his head and looked down at him.
"We've already been informed of the situation through our own channels Commander," came a gruff male voice from helmet speakers. "We will assist with the research base's evacuation."
"Thank you. It certainly wouldn't hurt having more hands on deck. But if you're going to be working with us, what should we refer to you as?"
The two Spartan's heads shifted by millimeters in eachother's directions, a gesture so subtle that only they were able to see it.
"You can call me Master Chief," said the Spartan. John tilted his head much more obviously towards Kelly. "As for her, Blue-2 will work."
"Alright then. EDI, how's that link coming?" Asked Shepard.
"Commander, I have not been able to establish any kind of connection with the surface base. Even my orbital imaging equipment is not returning accurate results. I think that there is something on the ground that is interfering with comm and sensor technology," replied the AI.
"What does that mean Shepard?" asked Kaidan, fastening the seals on his helmet to the rest of his armor suit.
"I'm not sure, but I don't like the sound of it." said Shepard lowly. He looked to the lone Kodiak Shuttle sitting on the floor of the hangar bay. "If the Reapers got there first, I don't want to risk the Normandy, especially with the jamming. Anyone know how to fly this thing?"
Vega stepped forwards. "I'm qualified Commander."
"Define 'qualified?'" asked Shepard.
"I uh, I got a B minus on my simulator exam. Plus I have over thirty flight hours, small time shuttle runs mostly, but nothing combat related." said Vega.
Inwardly, Shepard sighed. "Good enough. Alright everyone, load up."
Mars
Prothean Archives
"Approaching the LZ Commander. Looks clear, setting us down," said Vega.
With a whine of thrusters and a not-so-subtle thump, the Kodiak Shuttle set down on its landing struts.
Shepard gave Vega a pat on the shoulder, then strode back into the troop bay, all business. Vega sidled past him and joined the other four soldiers already assembled there.
"Alright everybody. We all know that our original objective was to extract the Mars Research Base personnel, but with the comms blackout that has changed. Our new objectives are as follows: Find and disable the source of the jamming, locate and extract any friendly personnel, and eliminate any hostiles we might encounter."
"Commander, motion sensors and thermal scans aren't showing anything outside," relayed the Chief through his helmet speakers.
Shepard nodded, then hit the door controls. As the entryway opened the group hopped onto the hard, martian rock and formed up in a natural semicircle pointing outwards. After a couple of silent seconds uninterrupted by gunfire or other hostilities, the six relaxed.
"Clear," called Kaidan.
Swiveling his head back and forth, Shepard surveyed their surroundings. Vega had put them down to the right of a small solar farm, the meter high-panels reaching for the sun. Electrical lines ran in orderly lines to a center connector, and a large black cable connected that to a small, nearby trailer. A weathered pathway stretched in front of them for about eighty meters before ending abruptly at a cliff, a gap in the safety railing probably signaling the presence of a ladder.
And then of course, there was the towering 'tower' of the Research Base knifing hundreds of meters into the sky, with enormous red block letters spelling MARS along its side.
Meanwhile, the Master Chief flexed his grip on his ACS as he contemplated how surreal this experience was. Here he was on Mars, but not his Mars. His Mars was a sprawling industrial metropolis home to almost three billion people and the arguable center of UNSC military manufacturing in the entire galaxy. This Mars however, looked exactly the same as it had been when his humanity had first colonized it. Barren, red, lifeless. As he gazed up at the Base's tower, the back of his neck started to tingle. All of a sudden, he got a strong feeling that whatever they find in this base would be of great importance. He had long since learned to trust that feeling.
"Let's move out," ordered Shepard.
"Commander, I recommend that Blue-2 goes and scouts ahead. Her active camouflage will render her invisible and our squad comms are still operational, meaning she can relay back anything she sees," Suggested the Chief.
"Good idea, do it," said Shepard.
Without another word from the Chief, Kelly shimmered, then disappeared completely into the Martian air, bounding ahead of the main group.
As the rest of them slowly jogged forwards, weapons pointed outwards, Shepard took a mental accounting of the impromptu squad's firepower. The heavily armored Vega was outfitted with an Avenger rifle and Katana Shotgun, and he could see a quartet of red-lined grenades on a belt around his hips. Kaidan was suited up in the standard blue Alliance medium armor, wielding a Katana with a Predator pistol on his hip. The glowing orange hexagonal plates hovering above Kaidan's armor told Shepard that he had activated his tech armor, and he thought he could see the faint purple outline of a biotic barrier as well. Those, combined with his armor's kinetic barriers, gave the sentinel quite the formidable defense. As for Shepard, he himself was carrying only an Avenger and a Predator, as he would be relying on his biotics to do most of the offensive work.
Then of course, there were the two UNSC soldiers. Based on looks alone, Shepard bet that their armor could withstand an enormous amount of punishment. In terms of weaponry, it seemed that the Master Chief was loaded for bear. The futuristic-looking silver rifle he had braced against his shoulder was accompanied by two firearms that had to be pistols on each hip, attached to the same combat belt that contained six rounded grenades and a couple of ammunition pouches. Then there was of course the large, blocky, rectangular object held in place diagonally on the Chief's back that Shepard had absolutely no idea about concerning it's function. From what he remembered of 'Blue-2' before she disappeared, the other UNSC soldier was armed much more lightly, carrying only the same rifle that Chief had and a pair of pistol-like sidearms as well.
"Commander, hold up," he heard from the Master Chief, and Shepard signaled the group to stop. "Blue-2 has bodies at the base of the ladder. Alliance soldiers, both with gunshot wounds in the back of their heads."
"Aw shit..." muttered Vega.
Shepard grimaced. This all but confirmed a hostile presence on Mars.
"Back of the head? They must have been taken by surprise. And I don't think that's how the Reapers would operate," Kaidan thought out loud.
"No, you're right. I don't think we have Reapers here," affirmed Vega. "This whole thing reeks of an inside job..."
"To the ladder people, double time," ordered Shepard, and they all set out at a run. When they arrived, they each took turns sliding down it until they were at the base. This path was only about ten meters wide, one side bordered by a cliff to their left, the other ending with a cliff drop and bordered by more safety railing. A few hundred meters to their left was another, circular portion of the research base that was connected to the main building by a long railway. To their backs was another cliff wall about ten meters high, and in front of them the path continued sharply upwards, the hill blocking any line of sight.
As the Alliance soldiers gathered around the bodies of their fallen comrades, the Master Chief made his way up towards the crest of the hill on which the path continued on.
"Poor bastards never stood a chance," remarked Vega sadly, bending down to collect the two soldier's dogtags.
Shepard noticed a flicker out of the corner of his eye coming from the slope of the hill, and when he turned his head to look he alarmingly found that the Master Chief was nowhere to be found.
"Where did he – "
Shepard nearly jumped as the supersoldier materialized a few feet away from him, rifle braced tightly against his shoulder and knees bent in a classic combat stance.
"Commander, I've spotted unknown figures approximately twenty-five meters from the base of the other side of the hill. They have human profiles, but their armor doesn't appear to be of Alliance make."
"Human?" questioned Vega, while Kaidan and Shepard shared a look. Just then, the crack-crack of a pair of gunshots echoed through the air and everyone instinctively lowered their level.
"Top of the hill, move!" said Shepard urgently.
"Kelly, where are you?" asked Chief over Blue Team's comm.
"A hundred meters to your six, I was investigating a landing craft. I head the shots, coming now."
They reached the top of the hill and found a couple of rock outcroppings that would serve as good cover, rushing towards them before peering out onto the field below.
Active camouflage reactivated, the Master Chief peeked out from behind his piece of rock and evaluated the scene.
The four bulky, charcoal gray armored figures he had first seen were still there, although this time the body of another Alliance soldier lay at their feet, blood pouring out of two bullet wounds in her chest and pooling onto the dusty red ground. From behind what looked like an unarmed armored personnel carriers came another trio of troopers, however the one in the lead of this group was a bit bigger than the others and had a large armored rucksack on his back.
"Cerberus," hissed Shepard.
"What the hell is Cerberus doing here?" asked Kaidan angrily.
"I don't know... but we need to get inside the base ASAP," said Shepard. "They haven't seen us yet. Kaidan, put a singularity right in the middle of that group of four. I'll lock down that big guy to the right with stasis. Chief, you and Blue-2 take out the two troopers flanking him then shift fire once he's immobilized. The rest of you, focus fire on the troopers suspended in the singularity until either I or Kaidan detonate. On my mark."
"Mark!"
Alenko opened up the group attack, a biotic ball hurled from his left hand curving in a high arc right into the center of the gathering of the four Cerberus troopers. One of them spotted the biotic attack soaring through the air and tried to warm his allies, but was too late. As the ball impacted the ground it expanded into a mini-singularity in a flash of dark matter, the negative gravitational field pulling the yelling troopers helplessly off of their feet.
At the same time Kaidan's singularity impacted, Shepard locked the large Cerberus trooper into a stasis field, the rapidly oscillating positive and negative mass effect fields freezing the trooper in place midstep. Almost immediately, two trios of whine-cracks signaled a pair of three-round bursts from the UNSC Spartans, each flurry of rounds burying into the heads of the two Cerberus soldiers. Before their bodies had even hit the ground a second volley of rounds impacted the soldier in stasis. The kinetic force from the first three-round burst from Kelly disabled the troopers barriers, while the second burst from the Master Chief turned his head into a bloody pulp. Now that its occupant was dead, the stasis field collapsed, sending the Cerberus soldier crashing to the ground.
The other four Cerberus troopers dangling in the singularity a few meters away weren't faring much better. One was already dead, peppered from Vega's Avenger, while Kaidan readied another mass of biotic energy. With a grunt, the Alliance sentinel hurled it right into the middle of the singularity and the two dark matter fields intermixed before violently exploding, obliterating the four troopers into bloody scraps.
From start to finish the whole engagement lasted less than five seconds. A silence fell over the surroundings as the Alliance and UNSC personnel waited to see if reinforcements would show up, but none did.
The Master Chief couldn't help but be impressed. Cortana had given him a crash course in biotics from the information she had found in the Codex, but seeing them in action was... something else entirely. Certainly incredible, and extremely useful. The ability to completely remove multiple targets from posing threats while at the same time increasing their vulnerability to offensive attacks was an enormous tactical advantage.
"Move up, but keep your eyes open. There might be more of them," ordered Shepard, and the group quickly but cautiously moved forwards to the base. The group reached the front of the base, and other than a trio of the unarmed APC's, there was no Cerberus presence.
They found to the entrance of the base, sealed by a large double door. Shepard cauitously walked up and palmed the green access panel, the doors sliding open with a hiss of escaping oxygen, revealing the spacious floor of a loading elevator. The Commander motioned the rest of the team into the elevator, and as the last man crossed the threshold the outer doors slid shut again. With another hiss, the space re-pressurized, and Shepard pressed a button near the neck of his helmet that would open his oxygen containers to be refilled.
As the rest of the party followed suit, Shepard located the controls and activated them, the elevator shuddering as it slowly started to ascend upwards. It halted as it reached the loading bay, revealing a large room dominated by crates, storage containers, and a couple of forklifts.
"Alright, spread out and try to find a way into the base proper, the sooner the – "
Shepard was interrupted by the sudden emergence of a cacophony of banging sounds, muffled shouting, and then a trio of gunshots.
Everyone immediately fell into a combat stance, weapons raised, and the Master Chief's heightened senses caused his attention to snap towards a run of what looked to be air ducts.
With a blink of his eye, the Chief flicked on his thermal vision and caught sight of three figures scrambling through the ducts. The lead figure's thermal image was thin and hot, while the other trailing two were cooler and significantly bulkier. "Commander, thermals show three figures in the air ducts!"
"Can you identify them?"
"Negative. However, it appears the lead figure is being pursued by the two following."
"Keep track of them. Spread out!" Shepard ordered, and the group dispersed, taking cover being some cargo crates, or in the case of the two Spartans, disappearing completely with the activation of their active camouflage.
There was another round of shouts, plus another two trios of gunshots, then all of a sudden a metal grate crashed from its former position on the end of the duct to the ground a few meters below.
Almost as soon at the grating hit the ground, a human-like figure followed, clumsily hitting it's feet and rolling after a dive out of the duct. As the figure, hidden by the shadow of a nearby crate, scrambled to its feet, the helmeted head of a Cerberus Assault Trooper popped out of the open duct vent.
"Cerberus!" shouted Kaidan, taking aim at the trooper.
The Alliance Marine was about to take a shot when she was beat to the punch by Kelly, who sent a trio of blue tracers from her ACS straight into the trooper's head.
Comparing the thermal profile of the just-killed trooper with that of the figure behind him, the Master Chief concluded that the figure behind the now-dead trooper was another Cerberus soldier, and let loose a duo of bursts at his thermal outline. The hard-light rounds easily penetrated through both the thin metal making up the duct and the Cerberus trooper's armor, riddling the man with holes and rendering him motionless.
Finally recovered to its feet, the first figure stepped out of the shadows, pointing a pistol in the Normandy group's general direction and giving them their first look at its features.
Her features rather, for the figure was an Asari, blue-skinned and scalp-crested, a modestly fitting blue and white labcoat covering her shapely body.
Shepard recognized her instantly, her piercing blue eyes, soft light purple lips, and lightly freckled cheeks forming a face that he could have never forgotten.
"Liara?" he said, stepping out of his cover and into view of the Asari.
"Shepard?" she responded, head bolting towards the sound of the voice. "Shepard!"
Eyes wide, the Asari lowered her pistol and took a couple of steps towards the Commander, before breaking out in a jog. As she got closer, Shepard returned his rifle to his back and slid his helmet off his head, attaching it to his belt.
The two met in a passionate kiss, Liara draping her arms around Shepard's neck and feeling the rough brown hair on the back of his head through a gloved hand, while the Commander wrapped his own arms tightly around the Asari's waist.
The two quickly broke off, retreating to arms lengths of each other. Liara's eyes traveled past Shepard and fell upon her friend Kaidan, as well as the bulk of Vega and the two USNC Spartans.
"Shepard? Kaidan? By the Goddess am I glad to see you," she said, the relief heavy in her voice.
"Liara, what happened here?" he asked with concern.
Liara looked back to the ducts and scowled. "Cerberus took us by surprise. The entire science team was in the base's hangar bay getting us and what artifacts we could grab ready for extraction, when Cerberus somehow got control of the environmental controls and vented the atmosphere. The scientists... we weren't prepared. It happened so quick we couldn't even get the breathers out of their crate. The only reason I survived was due to a biotic field I summoned around myself. The squad of Alliance Marines guarding us had hardsuits, but when Cerberus troopers stormed the hangar they were quickly overwhelmed. I don't even know if they're still alive, because I had to run when two of them got sight of me. But that problem's been taken care of I see..."
"Hmmm... based on just what we've seen, Cerberus has at least a platoon here, maybe two. If the Marines are still alive, we need to figure out where they are," said Shepard.
"I tried contacting the Marines on my omni-tool, but all I got was static." Liara said.
"Yeah, our comms are out as well. Even the Normandy's sensor suite is being affected. Cerberus must have some sort of jamming device here."
Liara nodded pensively. "If I had to bet, they placed it in the hangar bay. It's near almost the exact center of the base, so they would get maximum coverage that way."
"Well let's get going then. The sooner we get rid of this jamming the better," said Shepard, drawing his Avenger.
"Shepard wait, there's something else," revealed Liara, biting her lip. "I think I know why Cerberus is here. We've recently discovered another Prothean artifact... another beacon."
"A beacon?" repeated Shepard, eyes wide. "Like the one on Eden Prime?"
"Yes. We were close to unlocking its secrets when we got the order to evacuate. Shepard, from what little we were able to find out, the beacon seemed to address the Prothean's struggle against the Reapers," replied Liara.
"Do you think that the information in the beacon is important?"
"Yes I do, but I don't know what exactly it is. But what I do know is – "
"That Cerberus can't be allowed to get it," finished Shepard. "Alright everyone, let's move."
"Hell yeah, let's kick these Cerberus bastardos right in the teeth." said Vega.
"No Vega, not this time," said Shepard, turning to him.
"Wait, what?" questioned Vega, confused.
"I need to get back to the shuttle ASAP. You're the only one who knows how to fly that thing, and we might need a quick evac if things get hairy."
Vega nodded in understanding. "Got it Commander."
"I'll check in as soon as we destroy the jammer," called Shepard to Vega's turned back, which he responded with a thumbs-up.
"Lead the way Liara, you know this base better than any of us," ordered Shepard.
"Right. Follow me, the main route to the beacon leads directly to the hangar," she said.
As the group, sans Vega, moved out, the Master Chief couldn't help but ponder what a strange experience he had just had. When the feminine blue-skinned alien had first revealed herself, Cortana had explained to him and Kelly using information from the "Codex" that she was an Asari, an all-female species and among one of the most powerful races in the galaxy. Despite the blue skin and "scalp crests" as Cortana had called them, Chief was surprised just how human she looked.
However, when she started conversing with Shepard, her mouth moved in unnatural ways, speaking words and sounds which had no meaning to either of the Spartans. When Chief had told Cortana that it seemed she was speaking a different language, she quickly updated his helmet's translation software, pulling the language information from yet again, the Codex. What the Master Chief couldn't wrap his head around though was that although the Asari was now speaking English, her mouth should have still been moving in the unnatural gestures of her native language, and not matching up with the translated words he was hearing. Instead, the movements of her lips precisely corresponded with her words, as if the translation software Cortana implemented changed his very perspective of hoe Chief saw her talk.
It made Chief just a tad bit disoriented. Even Cortana, after several seconds worth of intense study, couldn't find an answer to why that happened, jokingly covering her failure with the explanation that maybe it was just "space magic." Nevertheless, they needed to be able to understand each other, and he could accept the inconsistencies for that sake, at least for now.
The Spartans weren't the only beings noticing something out of the ordinary. As Liara led the group of a ramp and into a long hallway, she asked "Shepard, what are you doing here? Hackett didn't tell me that the Normandy would be the one extracting us. And who are your... uh, very big and very heavily armored companions?"
"Liara, the Reapers are back," stated Shepard bluntly, eliciting a slight gasp from the Asari. "The Reapers are attacking Earth in force. They smashed through our ships and swept aside our defenses like they were a joke. We had to leave, there were just too many."
"Goddess... Shepard, I'm so sorry."
Shepard could only shake his head frustratedly. "We were sent because of the Normandy's stealth capabilities, and because what's left of the Alliance fleet has probably already retreated to the rally point by now.
"As for them..." Shepard glanced over his shoulder at the two Spartans in the rear of the group, where they not only could cover their six but also had a clear line of sight in front due to their size. "It's a long story. They got me off of Earth, and they're against the Reapers. I'll explain more later."
"If they're against the Reapers and against Cerberus, that's good enough for me," said the Asari.
The group soon reached the end of the hallway, finding that further progress was blocked by a sealed double door, a glowing red symbol flashing in its center.
"Damn," cursed Liara. "The hangar is just past this door. Let me try to override it, I still have some hacking tech on my omni-tool."
The Asari brought up the orange device and pressed it to the red icon, and both started spinning. Then, after a few seconds and a series of sparks, the lock symbol flashed green and the door slid open.
All of a sudden, Shepard's instincts went into overdrive as he heard the unmistakable whhiirrrrr of the wind-up of a heavy gun.
"Liara!" So quick that it didn't seem humanly possible, Shepard grabbed the back of Liara's labcoat collar and yanked her back out of the doorways before diving out of the way himself, a torrent of bullets filling the space that the two had just occupied.
As Shepard scrambled to his feet, he hoisted up a coughing Liara and pushed her against one of the hallway walls as far out of the line of fire as possible. He took a quick look around and saw that the rest of his team was pressed up against the walls of the hallway as well, while bullets continued to flood the majority of the hallway space, pockmarking and ricocheting off of the floor.
"Chief! Ceiling mounted heavy turret in the hangar! Permission to neutralize?" shouted Kelly over the roar of the mass accelerator stream.
"I'll handle it. Everybody down!" the Chief shouted back. With that, the Master Chief exchanged his ACS for the heavy weapon on his back, an M6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle, more commonly known as a 'Spartan Laser.'
With a trio of blinks, the Chief shifted suit power to concentrate shielding to his front, and pressed down on the weapon's trigger in order to start the firing process. He kept the weapon pointed towards the floor as an increasing whine signaled its charge, not wanting to expose himself to the turret's fire any more than he had too.
Right when weapon reached the zenith of its charge, the Chief darted out of cover and into the middle of the hallway. As a torrent of mass accelerator rounds pinged against his shields he used the smart-linked reticule in his HUD to aim the Laser right in between the two barrels of the large turret. Not a millisecond after he did so, the Nonlinear Rifle discharged its payload, the ruby-red heavy energy beam lancing right through the core of the turret, disabling it. There wasn't an explosion, just a marked silence as the turret ceased fire, interrupted only by a crackle of sparks from the hole caused by the Laser and the rapid breathing of Shepard and Liara coming down from an adrenaline high.
"Anyone hurt?" asked Shepard, taking the silence that greeted him as a negative. "Christ Chief, what the hell is that thing?"
"M6 Grindell/Galilean Nonliner Rifle," answered Chief simply. "Directed energy weapon."
"Yeah, of course it is," remarked Shepard dryly. "Alright, move up into the hangar and spread out, try to find that jamming device. Keep your eyes out for any more 'surprises'."
The five fanned out into the hangar, searching amongst the containers and crates for the jamming device, grimly noting the two dozen dead bodies of the science team scattered about on the floor.
As Shepard rounded the corner of a large crate, he saw Liara knelt over the prone figure of a female scientist, a gentle hand closing shut her open eyes.
He walked up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "A friend?"
Liara stood up and nodded sadly. "No. I hardly got to know any of them, I was so engrossed in my work... although I suppose that was for the better."
"Commander, I think I've got something!" the smoky voice of Kaidan called from a corner of the hangar bay.
Shepard and Liara rushed over to the source of the voice and found Kaidan hunched over a black, two meter tall pyramidal device on the floor, while the two Spartans faced outwards.
Noticing Shepard's arrival, Alenko stood up from his ministrations and gave a frustrated shrug. "I'd bet this is it Commander. I've been trying to find an access panel or some sort of interface but I can't find anythi – "
Shepard gently pushed him aside, then leveled her Avenger and put two rounds into the thing, causing the device to flame and spark.
"Or, uh, you could do that too I guess." said Kaidan.
"Sometimes the quick way is the best way," Shepard said, deadpan. "Vega, can you hear me? Lieutenant, this is Shepard, come in."
"Vega hear, I read you five by five Commander."
Shepard nodded in satisfaction that one of their main objectives had been accomplished. "Any trouble getting back to the shuttle?"
"No sir. I've got the Kodiak warm and ready for action, I can be there in thirty seconds if you need me."
"Roger that Lieutenant, keep your ears open in case we do. Shepard out," he said, closing the link. "Liara, which way to the beacon?"
"The exit is at the opposite side of the hangar from where we came in. From there, a couple of hallways will take us to the tram station that leads to the complex the beacon is housed in." said Liara.
"Let's move then," ordered Shepard. As the six started moving again, Shepard opened a channel to the Normandy. "EDI, are you getting this?"
"Affirmative Commander. I assume that the source of the jamming has been eliminated?"
"Yeah, we got it. EDI, our mission parameters have changed. Cerberus has attacked the base and the entire science team except for Doctor T'Soni is dead. We're making our way to a Prothean beacon farther in the base that Liara believes may have some intel against the Reapers in order to make sure it doesn't fall into Cerberus' hands. Vega is back at the shuttle waiting for our call for extraction, and once we're aboard we'll head back to the Normandy."
"Roger that Commander. I'll keep the Normandy's systems up and sweeping for any more intervention, whether it be from Cerberus of the Reapers. Commander, be advised that the Reaper fleet has begun their counterattck. Admiral Hackett has already signalled the retreat, the Kilimanjaro and the Infinity will be among the last out."
"Acknowledged. Shepard out."
"Commander, I've just tried contacting the Marine squad on the universal Alliance frequencies, no response," said Kaidan, deactivating his omni-tool.
Shepard frowned. That wasn't exactly a good sign.
As they rounded a corner into another hallway with a sealed door about thirty meters ahead, Liara said "Right through this door up ahead is the tram stat – "
Before she could finish her sentence, the door slid open revealing six Cerberus troopers waiting on the other side, looking surprised at the sight of Shepard's squad.
Two in front were dead almost immediately, blood, bone and brain matter splattering their comrades behind them as bursts from Cheif's and Kelly's ACSs shattered their helmets. Before they had even begun to fall, the other two directly behind them met the same fate. A round from Kaidan's shotgun left a large bloody hole in the chest of another trooper, while the last one was eviscerated by the combined fire from the whole squad.
"Go, go, into the tram station! We can't get boxed into this hallway!" shouted Shepard.
The group rushed forwards over the dead Cerberus troopers into the large tram station, noticing another Cerberus squad pointing weapons at the door from our of cover. The Cerberus troops opened fire, bullets pinging off of biotic fields, kinetic barriers, and energy shielding as the five fanned out and found their own cover.
Shepard darted up from cover and launched a singularity at a pair of troopers, the Cerberus soldiers trying to roll away, but with no avail. As they dangled in the negative mass effect field, Kaidan launched a warp right into the middle of Shepard's singularity, the resulting dark matter detonation all but disintegrating the two Cerberus men. Meanwhile, Liara locked down a Centurion in a stasis bubble giving Shepard time to line up a lethal headshot, and Kelly nearly decapitated another with a series of shots to the neck.
The Master Chief put six rounds into the cover a trooper was hiding behind, the flimsy material not in the least protecting the trooper from his hard-light administered death. A few meters away, another trooper stepped out from behind a crate into the open, and the Chief started to run towards him.
As Chief quickly closed the distance, the Cerberus soldier withdrew sparking electrical sword from his right hand and tried to swing it horizontally at the Chief's chest. John stepped into the strike and slammed his right gauntlet into the troopers wrist, causing him to grunt in pain as his armor warped and his wrist shattered from the force of the blow. Quick as a flash, Chief swung the butt of his ACS at the trooper's head, and with a loud crack he fell to the floor. The Master Chief finished him with a three-round burst to the chest, the snapped his rifle up, scanning for targets.
He found none however, the rest of the Cerberus troops already dead.
The five regrouped, and Shepard nodded at their effectiveness. "Onto the tram, let's hurry."
The group quickly made their way onto the vehicle, and Liara activated it at its control panel. With a shudder, the tram started moving, its occupants keeping their weapons raised towards both ends of the track.
Luckily though, the ride was uneventful, but as the tram stopped at the other side, Shepard grimaced as they stepped into the other station.
Spread out amongst the ground were the bodies of three men and a woman, their blue Alliance armor cracked and holed by bullets, crimson red blood pooling on the floor.
"Guess we know what happened to the Marines..." remarked Liara, saddened.
"Commander, these Marines were are only recently dead. Whoever killed them could still be in the vicinity," warned the Master Chief. The fact that their bodies still had enough heat to show up on thermals, and that blood was still flowing led him to that conclusion.
"You heard him. Keep your eyes open," warned Shepard.
The group keyed the door into the beacon chamber and entered cautiously, weapons raised. The room was large, cylindrical, and dark, the Prothean beacon glowing a soft green in the center of the room, cordoned off by thick glass.
Shepard, Liara, and Kelly approached the beacon while Kaidan and Chief drifted off to patrol the boundaries of the room.
Liara keyed her omni-tool into the system, and pressed a few keys, but soon her face turned concerning confused.
"What's wrong?" asked Shepard.
"I'm not sure... I'm trying to access the data but..." Suddenly, Liara's eyes went wide. "Shepard, the data is being downloaded to an off-site location and deleted!"
"Off-site? Where?" asked Shepard urgently.
"I – I don't know! I can't stop it!" shouted Liara in frustration.
On the perimeter of the room, Kaidan noticed with suspicion a flicker of light in an alcove in the wall. He approached it shotgun raised, and when he was presented with the back of a slender brown-haired woman working quickly with an omni-tool over a console, he placed his finger on the trigger.
"Deactivate the omni-tool and turn around, hands raised. Slowly," he growled.
Much to his surprise, instead of surrendering in the face of loaded weapon, the woman spun around and delivered a vicious kick into Kaidan's midsection. The force of the kick caused the air to burst out of his lungs and sent him flying the air, crashing to the ground in a heap.
The woman darted over Kaidan and started sprinting towards the entrance of the beacon room, omni-tool still glowing a bright orange.
Shepard caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye, and his mind put the two and two of a rapidly fleeing woman and an activated onmi-tool together quickly "That's where the data's going, stop her!" he shouted, trying to get a clear line of sight so he could launch a stasis field at her.
"I've got it!" called Kelly, slapping her ACS onto her back.
"Be careful, we might need her alive!" shouted Shepard.
The woman was fast, faster than a human should have been, but not nearly as fast as a Spartan-II, and especially not Kelly-087. In just a couple of strides, she accelerated to her maximum speed of sixty-two kilometers per hour.
Aware that she was being pursued, the runner flung an incineration fireball back at Kelly, which the Spartan deftly dodged. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over.
Kelly had caught up with runner before she had even reached the door, and knowing fully well that tackling the women with the full force she was capable of would likely kill her, the Spartan lunged and wrapped her arms around the runner's waist, spinning her to the ground and pinning her arms to her side.
When the woman hit the ground with a distinctly metallic clang, Kelly came to the realization that what she had in her arms wasn't natural. "Chief, this thing's not human!"
Chief was the first to get to Kelly, and he pointed his ACS right at her prisoner's face. "Not human?"
"Chief, she's right! She is actually an AI!" revealed Cortana.
"Can you disable it?" asked Chief.
"She's got some countermeasures, but it's nothing I can't handle..."
All of a sudden, the construct stopped struggle and went completely limp. Cautiously, Kelly let go of the robot and backed away, the Master Chief still pointing his rifle squarely at its head.
"There. I've trapped the AI within repeating lines of its own code and disabled its body," said Cortana.
Just then, Shepard and the rest of the group arrived.
"Is it... off?" asked a heavily breathing Kaidan.
"Yes, it's disabled for now," said Chief.
"I've downloaded what's left of the data from the Prothean beacon Shepard. With the data on the uh, robot's, omni-tool we should have the complete picture," said Liara.
"Alright, well that's it then. Vega, come in," radioed Shepard into the comm.
"Here Commander."
"We got what we came for, meet us at the hangar bay for extraction. Let's get the hell back to the fleet before the Reaper's get here. Shepard out."
USNC Valiant-Class Super-Heavy Cruiser Yorktown
Deep Space, Alleged Precursor Artifact
"Still no movement?"
"No Captain. The Covenant vessels have held position since we arrived."
"And they still aren't responding to our hails?"
"Affirmative sir."
Captain Damien Skyheit rubbed his chin as he thought on the situation.
Five Covenant ships had just arrived a couple of hundred thousand kilometers away from them, four CCS-Class Cruisers, and a Super-cruiser. The fact that they weren't answering their hails left an uneasy feeling in Skyheit's stomach. Numerically Battle group Yorktown had the advantage, his own Valiant Super-Cruiser, two Marathon Cruisers, four Destroyers, and Six Paris Frigates rivaling, the four CCS-Class Cruisers and Super-Cruiser of the Covenant. In addition, there were a number of lightly armed UNSC replenishment ships with accompanying Battlegroup Yorktown, loaded for bear with supplies in case the Infinity was in desperate need.
But the UNSC hadn't seen a Covenant Super-Cruiser since the fall of Reach. What one was doing here, Skyheit had no idea, but he doubted it was good.
As for what Battlegroup Yorktown was doing here, the tall, dark-skinned Captain could only sigh in frustration.
Saying that the disappearance of the UNSC's most powerful, and expensive, warship caused a turmoil within High Command would have been an understatement. Fearing that they would be attacked, High Command had ordered the UNSC to it's highest level of alertness. All throughout UNSC space colonies were being fortified, fleets were being recalled from exercises, militias were raised, and ONI was sent into overdrive trying to figure out what the hell happened to the Infinity. Task forces were searching all throughout UNSC space looking for any sign of the disappeared ship, while ONI Prowlers were conducting their own investigations deep into Separatist space.
Seeing as they were the closest USNC force, High Command had ordered Battlegroup Yorktown to stay put at the last known coordinates of the Infinity in the hope that they would return.
And so, here they had been for the past four days, waiting until they were ordered by Command to look somewhere else.
"Venus, get me a firing solution for the energy projector on that Super-Cruiser, just in case." ordered Skyheit.
"Done. Expecting trouble?" replied the AI, the strikingly graceful figure of the Roman Goddess Venus, adorned in flowing, pearl-white robes.
"I don't know, but you can't be too careful."
That reasoning was also why Battlegroup Yorktown had been staying as far away from the 'Precursor' artifact as possible. Based on slipspace-borne data packages being sent from the Infinity to High Command, among the last things the ship's instruments recorded before vanishing was an insanely high pulse of unknown energy from the artifact. If that's what caused the Infinity's disappearance, Skyheit damn well didn't want it to happen to Yorktown as well.
"Comms, get me Captai – "
"Sir, I'm detecting an outwards wave of energy eminating from the artifact! " alerted Venus.
Skyheit grimaced. "We should be far enough away to where it dies out before hitting us."
"Negative Captain, the wave appears to be... increasing in speed and intensity?"
"Shit. Brace for impact!"
Special thanks to my beta JonHarper