mistersnx: Thank you for your review. I will be better in the future, with the endings and the grammar. I hope you follow my fanfic until the end.
zealous specter: First, thanks for your review. And i really looked deeper into my fanfic and realized that you were rigth. I will focus on improving and hope you stay tuned.
DD-Returns101: Thank you for your review. Regarding the errors, I waste way more time editing the chapter than making it, and even then the errors still continue, it's frustanting. I don't have anyone that can be a beta reader, which lead me to the next subject..
Does anyone want to become my beta reader? I don't know how this is supposed to work, but i will really apreciate the help. Just write a review or send me a message if you're interessed.
That was it. I hope you guys like the new chapter.
I woke up with the sound of the alarm, indicating that we are near the meeting point.
So, I woke up Liara again. This time, she got up really quickly. '' We are almost there, I thought you might want to take a shower.''
She nodded, '' Yes… Thank you for waking me up.''
I smiled, '' No problem. In the bathroom, you will find everything you need.'' I pointed at it again, in case she had forgotten where the bathroom was.
She nodded once again and started to go to the bathroom. After 2 minutes with no sound, I heard the shower turning up and I focused my attention on finding the Normandy. It appears that I have arrived early, as I have not seeing anything related to the ship close by.
With nothing else left to do, I decided to train my body again. In the end, even with all those powerful gifts, I am still flesh and blood. I need my body to be at its peak every time and everywhere.
And just like that, 30 minutes passed by without me noticing. I was so focused on the training that I didn't even noticed Liara getting out of the bathroom and sitting on the bed, watching me training.
I stopped when I noticed her staring a hole at my body, '' Can I help you?'' I smiled at her.
She must have noticed her blunder and stuttered a bit, '' O-oh, sorry. You were so focused on your training that I didn't want to interrupt it….''
'' Oh…. thank you then.'' I told her while putting my shirt on,'' They are late.''
'' They?'' Liara asked.
'' The Normandy. They should have arrived 30 minutes earlier, but nothing until now.'' I am now sitting on my cockpit, checking my omni tool to see if they send a message.
'' Your crew. You think they will listen to what I have to say? They might think I am with Benezia and Sauren.'' Liara asked me, a little bit of tension on her voice.
'' Relax, I will back you up. Besides, you were stuck in that force field for a few days already, leaving almost no room to you to make contact with your mother and Sauren.'' When I finished talking, I received a message from Shepard. They will arrive in 5 minutes.
'' Did that vision made any sense to you?'' I asked Liara again, but I know the answer.
She shook her head, '' No, I am sorry.''
'' Hey, relax. Even I didn't understand almost nothing, only that it is showing something related with the extinction of the Protheans. Maybe with Shepard it will be different.'' I smiled at her.
'' Thanks for everything, John. You saved my life and even let me see something related with the lost history of the Prothean. Thank you.'' She is really strong. She just passed a few days trapped, learned that her mother betrayed her and she still is standing. What an amazing person.
'' No problem. I will go take a quick shower, feel free to grab anything on the kitchen.'' I told her while going to the bathroom.
4 minutes later, I was out and ready to meet the crew again. It was less than a day but it feels that way more time passed.
I meet Liara on the kitchen, she was eating something. '' They are close. Are you ready?''
She finished eating, '' I am. How do I look?''
'' Perfect.'' I grabbed something to eat as well and waited.
1 minute later and the Normandy arrived. Now that they are here, where I will keep my ship…?
The answer come right away as the Normandy hovered over me and, somehow, my ship was coupled to it. Well… that's something new.
After that, the Normandy sent someone to pick us up. We put a special outfit, literally got out in the open space and entered the Normandy through a side door. Another new thing, this day is full of surprises.
After entering, we took out the special outfit and went straight to the coom romm. The entire squad was there, waiting for us.
'' Wow, I have never received so much attention. Thank you.'' I was grinning so much. After saying that, I choose two chairs, one next to the other. I took Liara to one and sat on the other.
The atmosphere in the room was strange, they didn't know whether to trust the enemy's daughter or not. I decided to start the talk, '' She's on our side.''
Simple and effective. Shepard took this opportunity and started to ask questions to me and Liara, '' Why do you say so, John?''
'' When I arrived there, she was trapped in some kind of force field, preventing her from moving or leaving the area.'' I started and Liara continued.
'' I was trapped there for a few days already, I didn't even know where my mother was. We are not close and we don't maintain contact, so when John told me everything that has happened on the galaxy and that it she was involved, I was shocked.'' She told the true.
Shepard looked at me for confirmation and I nodded. She then continued to ask, '' What do you know about the situation?''
'' Only what John told me. Sorry Commander, I really don't know anything else about what my mother is planning or anything related to Sauren. I was really surprised when I learned the situation… if you need my help with anything, you can ask me.'' Liara sincerely told Shepard.
Ashley took this opportunity to ask, '' What can you do, besides being a Prothean specialist?''
Liara then stood up from the chair and demonstrated her biotic power. Needless to say, everyone on the room was ready to shot her the moment she raised from the chair, but thank god nobody did it.
'' A biotic. She appears to be quite powerful and we need every person we can get, commander.'' Kaidan supported Liara being on the team.
Shepard the looked at everyone in the room, who nodded. Everyone except Ash, who didn't like the situation.
'' Do you want to say anything, Ash?'' Shepard asked our teammate about the situation.
'' We don't even know her and you guys already want to accept her on the crew? We need to think more about this.'' She tried to persuade us but without success.
'' Ash, she is good. You have my word that she is not involved in this mess.'' As I have said before, I will back up Liara whenever she needs it.
Ash fiercely glared at me, but nodded her head in the end, '' Fine, but if she screw something up, the responsibility is yours.''
Shepard, noticing the timing was right, took the control of the conversation again, '' If no one is against it, welcome aboard the Normandy, Dr. T'soni. We don't know why Sauren wanted you out of the picture, but I think we'll be a lot better off if we can bring you along.''
'' Thank you, Commander. Sauren might come after me again and I cannot think of anywhere safer than the Normandy. And my knowledge of the Protheans might help in the future. I will not let you down.'' Liara looked really relieved. She must have been nervous about this whole situation.
Shepard nodded then asked, '' If John already told everything, do you know anything about the Conduit?''
Liara shook her head,'' I only know that it is a device that is involved with the extinction of the Protheans, nothing more than that. I could… look into your memories to see if the vision from the Beacon have something related to the Conduit.''
Shepard raised an eyebrow,'' How do you know about this?"
Liara looked at me. I simply smiled, '' I told her everything. I even let her see my memories to see if she can make any sense out of it, but with no avail. I hoped it could be different with you.''
Shepard looked conflicted for a moment before nodding, '' Okay … this might help. But to be honest, you do not look good, Dr. T'soni. I think it is better for you to see our Doctor, she will do a check up on you.''
'' Thank you, commander.'' Liara said and prepared to leave the room.
'' Okay. We will wait until Liara recovers a little and discuss our next step. Everyone, dismissed.'' Shepard ended up our little reunion.
Everyone has gone separated ways, leaving only me and Shepard alone in the coom room.
She looked at me with her eyebrow raised, '' Do you need anything, John?''
'' You're going to talk with the Council, right?'' i said while getting up from my seat and standing beside her.
She nodded, '' Yes I will. And why are you getting so close?''
'' I want to see the circus up close, see what bullshit they will tell this time.'' I said and smiled.
Shepard looked shocked for a moment before giving a small smile, '' I always forget that you also have seen the vision from the Beacon.'' She said the last words with a voice that contain a little bit of fear.
I heavily nodded my head, '' Yes… the Reapers. They exist and we know that they are coming. We just don't know when or where they will arrive, but they will. And those fools can't see the truth right before their eyes. It's frustrating.''
Shepard let out a sigh, '' I agree with you. But I need you to wait on the chair. We have to do it the right way.''
I let out a small sigh, '' Fine.'' I am now sitting on my chair again, waiting the show to start.
She then said to Joker, '' Patch them through, Joker.''
Joker, who I didn't even know was listening to us, answered, '' Setting up the link now, Commander.''
Less than a second later, 3 holograms appeared right in front of Shepard.
The Asari councilor started the meeting right away, '' We've received your report, Commander. I understand Dr. T'soni is on the Normandy.''
'' I assume you're taking the necessary security precautions?'' the Turian councilor asked.
'' Liara is on our side. The geth were trying to kill her.'' Shepard told them the true.
The Asari Concilor nodded, '' Benezia would never allow Sauren to kill her Daughter.''
The salarian gave his opinion, '' Maybe she doesn't know.''
'' Or maybe we don't know her. We never expected she could become a traitor.'' The turian councilor said.
The salarian councilor shook his head and said, '' At least the mission was a success.''
'' Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean Ruin. Was that really necessary, Shepard?'' the turian councilor is not a friendly guy.
Shepard gave me a side glance, '' From what I have heard, the geth was crawling all over those ruins. My crew was lucky to make it out alive.''
The salarian councilor nodded, '' Of course, Commander. The mission must always take priority.''
Then the Asari councilor ended up the call, '' Good Luck, Commander. Remember, we're all counting on you.''
After the call ended, Shepard started to leave the room. I followed her.
She asks me as soon as we leave the room, '' Did you really let Dr. T'soni search your memories?''
I nodded, '' Why not? I mean, she's a prothean specialist, she might understand something that we don't.''
'' But wasn't our vision the same? Do you think I should let her search my memories as well?'' Shepard asked.
'' We don't know if the vision is the same, we did meld with Shi'ara and we shared a little of our memories, but that situation was different. This time she will look deeper into it. In my case, she didn't find anything, but with you it might be different. It's worth the risk.'' I told her my opinion while we are walking around the Normandy.
Shepard sighed, '' That vision … it does not make any sense to me, only death and destruction. Do you think she will understand something?''
'' Liara explained to me why we don't understand the whole message.'' I told Shepard.
She looked at me waiting for the answer, and I gave her, '' That message was supposed to be only for the Prothean race, any other race would be unable to understand any of it. She said both of us are incredible, because we didn't go nuts because of that.''
Shepard nodded, '' It makes sense if the message was only for the Protheans…. Okay, I have decided. When Dr.T'soni recovers, I will let her search my memories and hope that she can understand more than us.''
'' Good.'' We are now on the galaxy map and Shepard is looking at it intensively.
'' What's our next step?'' I asked her.
'' The mission that Hackett sent us was more difficult than I imagined. We will rest for a while and resume the search for Kahoku team. Then we will go to Ferros and then Novaria. If nothing new happens in the galaxy, we will follow this.'' She must have been thinking about this for a long time.
It is a nice plan, but i know that Feros and possibly Novaria are already doomed. I just hope that we can make it on time.
'' Okay. You should rest, Shepard. You look tired as hell.'' I told her while going to my room.
She nodded and started to make way to her room as well.
After reaching my room, I decided to start another plan. I made a call to a 'friend'. It got picked up fast, '' Hello.''
''Barla Von? Is that you?'' I asked.
'' Ohh, I recognize your voice, Earth Clan. What can I do for you?'' The volus is quick to go into business mode.
'' Ok, direct to the point. How much do you pay for information?'' I let out the bait.
The voice from the volus appeared excited, '' What kind of information?''
'' Planets with so much element zero that you will not be able to store all of it.'' I told him.
What I am doing is dangerous, but necessary. I don't have a lot of money and I need a lot of it to make some of my plans work. I can only hope that this doesn't come back and bite me later.
There is a moment of silence from his side, '' I was expecting something… more. But this is also good. If your information is right, I will give you 30% of the real value of it.''
'' 50%. You know that this is the fair price.''
'' 40%. I can't give you more than this.'' He does not back down.
''50% and every time I discover something new, I will inform you first. Remember that I work alongside a Spectre.'' I don't think he will refuse.
''….. fine. Tell me the location.'' He accepted.
I told him the location of 2 planets and waited for the money to come in. He said that in a few hours, if my information was true, the money would be deposited in my account.
'' it was a pleasure making business with you, Barla.'' I will need more services from him in the future, so if I have a good relationship with him, it could be good.
'' If you have any other information that you think it is important, don't forget to talk with me first, Earth Clan. Goodbye.'' He ended the call.
Now that this is out of the way, I will train. Again.
I head out to the gym. I arrived in a minute and put some appropriate clothes to train. After all that, I started punching the punch bag.
I always liked to train. It helps my body and mind to focus on certain things, like thinking about the next step and its consequences.
Thinking about the future …. I could change so much just by teleporting to Feros right now and helping the colonists. I also could simply tell the Council or the Alliance the location of the Mu relay. But I will not do it.
Keepor said that the future is a mess made by countless people choices. If I change it right now, what would happen? The future of the game is not bright but it could be a lot worse.
Just imagine it, I save Feros early but then Sovereign attack the Cidatel more early than the game and Shepard could not make it on time. The Reapers would arrive a lot sooner. It is too risky.
But what about the little things? Like Shi'ara and the baby. This will change the future? If so, how much? I need more time….
As I had been lost in thought, I didn't even notice that the punching bag is being destroyed. Literally, there is already sand coming out of. Then i punched it with so much force that it exploded.
I didn't even blinked, I just searched for another one and put on the hook, and started punching it again.
What I am most worried right now is The Collectors… they are an incognito on my plans. I can't think of a good way to eliminate them.
After 2 punch bags and 30 minutes, I stopped my training. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anything good. I did make a lot of plans but all of them involve high risks, not worth doing it.
I left the gym directly to the shower. After that I went to bed. I simply stared at the celling for a long time, thinking and thinking.
3 hours later and Shepard voice came through, '' We have reached Edolus. I need everyone armed and ready in 5 minutes.''
I got up from the bed and grabbed my armor from the inventory. After leaving and going to the coom room, I noticed Liara and Tali there, talking like good friends.
'' Hello. How was with the Doctor?'' I asked Liara while giving Tali a smile and a wave.
'' Hi, John. Dr. Chakwas said it was only mental fatigue, not to worry about.'' She told me.
'' That's good. Tali, how's the Normandy? Do you like staying here?"' I asked the quarian while waiting the rest to show up.
'' It is nice. A ship with the collaboration between Humanity and turians… is really incredible.'' She must be thinking about asking Shepard for a little information on this, for her Pilgrimage.
She didn't have to worry about it, because I will give way more information than that, only not right now.
Right after she stopped talking, all the rest of the crew arrived. Shepard then started the meeting, '' We followed the distress signal from Admiral Kahoku team until this planet. Now, I will go there with a small team to see if we can find anything. Who wants to come?''
All people on the room raised their hand. Shepard raised an eyebrow, '' Okay, so I will have to choose.'' She started to thinking.
'' Wrex, Garrus and John. You will go with me. The rest is to be ready to be sent at any minute.'' After that we got out of the room and directly to the Mako.
Joker did us a favor and let us near the signal. Garrus is piloting, Wrex on the guns and me and Shepard are looking around the planet, to see if we can find something.
Now that I think about it, Garrus is the only person on the crew that I have not talked that much. After this mission, I will go talk with him.
After 2 minutes, the signal started to became stronger and Shepard said, '' Stay sharp. We are close.''
Just as we are getting more and more close to the signal, the ground began to shake. I heard Wrex say, '' Ohhhh, this is going to be fun.''
I already knew about the Thresher Maw, but Shepard and Garrus don't. They looked at Wrex in doubt, but I give them the answer, '' A Thresher Maw nest! Garrus !''
The reaction time of the Turian was good, we managed to dodge the first attack, but the real fight starts now.
'' Garrus, maintain a medium distance, don't let it get too close and don't let him get too far. Wrex, fire everything you have on that thing. I will support you with visual.'' Shepard then looked at me, '' John, do your thing.''
I grinned and opened up the door of the Mako, getting out in the open and face to face with the Thresher Maw. This is going to be fun.
Let's be realistic, I don't stand a chance one to one without heavy guns, I can only resist it for some time. I am not invincible, i need help with enemies like this.
I took out 10 grenades from my inventory and started throwing it on the direction of the monster. In the meantime, Shepard and the others are firing at him.
It noticed my presence after the 3 grenade that hit him. He is now focusing on me, throwing acid everywhere in order to hit me, giving time to Wrex to shot him multiple times on its weak spots.
The monster is getting angrier and started to go beneath the earth. It disappeared after a few seconds, but good thing that I have the Map. I followed the path he is taking and prepared a surprise for him.
Right after he emerged from the ground, a huge explosion hit him, thanks to the multiple grenades. It staggered for a moment before Wrex shot him one last time, killing it.
That was intense, not difficult, but very intense.
Then the Mako stopped right in front of me and someone opened the door. I entered it and Wrex immediately said, '' Are you sure you are not Krogan?''
'' Who knows. Nice skill Garrus and Wrex, that was some nice fight.'' I told them.
'' You too… you're a little bit crazy, you know that, right?'' Garrus said while driving close to the signal.
'' Nice work.'' Shepard said to me. I just nodded.
Garrus said in the next moment, '' We have arrived.'' he stopped the Mako and everyone got out.
Right after we got out of Mako, we noticed some corpses around the area. '' Kahoku team, I suppose.'' I said.
Wrex added, '' It appears that someone have lured them here. But why?''
'' Who knows? Shepard, Admiral Kahoku need to know about this.'' Garrus said while getting on the Mako again, ready to leave this planet.
Shepard nodded and stared at the distress beacon, that have lured the poor marines here. She started to shot it. I only looked for a moment before helping her as well. The beacon was destroyed after a few seconds.
'' Let's get out of here.'' Shepard said while entering the Mako. The she sent a message to Joker, '' Joker, the ground is clear. You can pick us up now.''
'' On it, commander.'' Two minutes later, we are on the Normandy again.
After we arrived, Shepard immediately called Kahoku to inform him of the situation.
We are on the coom room, and Kahoku answered the call, '' Commander. Any word on my missing men?''
Shepard looked apologetic, '' I'm not sure how to tell you this, Admiral. Your men were killed by a thresher maw.''
Kahoku looked taken aback, '' A … a thresher maw? That's not.. my men wouldn't just stumble in a thresher nest! Not the entire unit!''
Shepard nodded, '' Somebody lured them there with an Alliance distress Beacon. Placed it perfectly so they'd land right beside the thresher nest.''
Kahoku looked pissed, '' Damn it! I had a bad feeling about this ever since my team disappeared. An Alliance beacon used as bait, my unit wiped out… and nobody seems to know anything about it!
He sighed and continued, '' Commander, I appreciate what you did. Now I need to do my part. The families of those marines deserve to know why they died.''
Shepard asked, '' Do you need anything from me?''
Kahuko shook his head, '' Not right now, Shepard. But I'll let you know as soon as I find something out.''
He ended up the call. The room was silent, waiting Shepard to start or end the conversation.
'' Now that we have resolved this, we will go to Feros and see what is happening there. Any opinion on this matter?'' she asked us.
Nobody said anything, '' Good. You guys are dismissed.''
I went to my room, sat on the bed and waited for us to arrive in Feros. In the meantime, I received a call from Barla Von, '' Your credits are being transferred right now.''
'' Thank you. It was a pleasure working with you.'' I told him and watched my bank account being filled with more than 50 million credits.
'' If you have any other information, don't forget to talk with me first.'' He said that and ended up the call.
Now I have money to start things up. I only need more time.
I tried to sit down on bed again and think about what to do with the money, but I couldn't focus. I had a feeling that it will not go the way Shepard want. And I was right.
'' Everyone one to the coom room. RIGTH NOW!"' Shepard sounded a little anxious.
I think this is the fourth time today that we have been called to the coom room. Everyone arrived there in a hurry.
'' There's was a situation. We were passing close by the Asteroid x57 when we noticed that it was going to fast in the direction of the planet, Terra Nova. So I asked the VI to run an analysis on it and this is the result.'' Shepard said and a transmission started.
Normandy VI, '' Status: Sensors reveal three fusion torches propelling Asteroid X57. At its current rate of acceleration, the asteroid will collide with Terra Nova in approximately four hours. Analysis: Torches must be disabled to cease the acceleration.''
The room was silent, all of us wondering what to do. Right after the transmission ended, a distress call came through, '' Hello? Hello?! I heard your transmission. Can you hear me?
Shepard looked surprise at this situation but answered, '' Yes. This is Commander Shepard. Who are you and what's the situation?''
The people behind the call appears to be in a hurry, '' They haven't found me yet, but I can't talk long. If anyone is hearing this you have to hurry. Please. Shut down the fusion torches or we're all going to die.'' After that there was only silence.
'' She didn't hear us. Someone must have been blocked the signal.'' I said.
Shepard nodded, '' Yes, if she had heard us she would have talk about what we are about to face… Okay, this time I want everyone on this. Good thing we have more than one Mako.''
She then started to think how to divide the squad, '' Ash, Kaidan, Garrus and me will go to the torch on the left. Wrex, Tali, Liara and John will go to the right. We will group up at the last one.''
'' Commander, do you have any info on the hostiles?'' Kaidan asked.
'' Unfortunately we don't have any info. Just be careful and don't trust anyone. Any more questions? '' Nobody said anything, '' Good, we are running out of time. We only have 4 hours. Good luck.''
Shepard and her squad goes to their Mako and my squad goes to the other.
I asked the team right after we reached it, '' So.. who wants to drive?''
Tali raised her hand, '' I would like to drive.''
I nodded, '' Okay. What about the weapons?''
To no one surprise, Wrex raised his hand. '' Leave it to me kid, I want to kill a lot of people now.''
'' Okay, this leaves me and Liara as lookouts. Let's go.'' I said that and entered the Mako.
Then Joker got us more close to the ground and dropped us. We started to make way to the torch.
We heard another transmission, '' You're headed in the right direction.''
I looked at the crew inside the Mako, '' Do you think she's talking with Shepard or with us?''
Liara said, '' Why not both? We both are heading toward one torch.''
'' Makes sense.'' Right after I said that, another transmission came through.
'' My name is Kate. I don't know who you are, but I'm - Damn it! Got to go.'' She still didn't tell us what we are facing.
'' Someone must have been close. We can safely assume that she's in danger and surrounded.'' Tali said.
'' Yes, we have to hurry. '' I checked my clock and noticed that 30 minutes already passed.
After that I noticed Tali is looking really excited, so I asked her, '' Tali… why are you so excited?''
She appeared surprised at my question, '' Ohh, don't worry about it, John. It is just that this is my first time driving this kind of vehicle.''
Wrex, Liara and me all stared at her. '' Wh- What?"' she asked innocently.
Wrex said what everyone wanted to say, '' Why didn't you say that before? ''
She appears to be embarrassed, judging by her body language, '' I mean, I know the basics and we didn't have any problem until now.''
Wrex looked like he's proud and angry at the same time, '' OK, I will let it pass this time… don't do this again.''
Tali nodded, '' Ok.''
'' Don't they look like a family to you?'' I asked Liara.
'' Now that you mention it, yes .. they do.'' she smiled at me.
Five minutes later and we arrived at our destination, the first torch. I activated the map and there is 50 red dots inside the torch, and 4 turrets outside.
I warned Tali and Wrex, '' Hey, there might be turrets around here. Stay sharp.''
To my surprise, the turrets didn't activated and we managed to reach the door to enter the Torch without meeting anyone.
'' Wrex, you go first, I will be right behind you. Tali and Liara stay close to us and protect our flanks. Ready?"' they nodded.
We entered the building and came face to face with our enemy this time, Batarians and a few varren. Shepard is going to love this.
I think that the only thing that can put pressure on us is a Reaper or an army, because we are too strong. The batarians didn't stand a chance. Wrex simply charged at them while I helped with my biotics. Tali and Liara also helped, killing at least five of them.
After we finish those batarians, Wrex commented, '' That's was easy. We are way more deadly than any team I have witnessed. And we haven't even met for more than a day. Imagine when we are more comfortable with each other…. Nobody would be able to stop us.'' He started to laugh in a creep way.
'' Okay … let's find the control room and turn this thing of.'' We left Wrex dreaming and started to look for the control room.
After two minutes, Tali have found something, '' Over here!''
We followed her voice and entered a room with two consoles. One of them must disable the torch.
'' Which one?'' I asked the team.
They looked at each other and pointed at the right one, '' Are you guys sure?'' they nodded.
And they are right. I used the console and turn the torch off.
Right after that, Kate voice come through, '' I'm reading that the second torch is offline. You must be the other team that Commander Shepard talked about.''
Liara, who is still suspicious about this situation, asked, '' Who are you? What's going on here?"'
'' My name is Kate Bowman. I'm an engineer. I was part of the team assigned to bring this Asteroid to Terra Nova. We were attacked yesterday by batarian extremists. I've been hiding since they arrived. I think they know about the torch by now.'' She told us.
'' You said you talked with Shepard right? Do you know where she is? And why the Batarian are doing this?'' I asked the engineer.
'' Yes, I have talked with Commander Shepard five minutes ago, right after she turned off the other torch. She said she's is going to look for some missing marines on the asteroid and meet you right afterwards. About the batarians … I don't know. But if this asteroid isn't slowed, millions of people on Terra Nova are going to die.'' She sounded a little distraught.
She continued, '' If I find out anything I'll - '' some kind of noise from her side interrupted her, '' I've got to go! Good luck.'' She ended the call.
'' Someone must have found their hidden spot. We are running out of time, let's go directly to the last torch.'' I said while running through the building.
We rushed out and entered the Mako, Tali stepping on the gas like never before, Wrex, Liara and I are almost rolling on the mako's back seat, but I helped both of them to grab onto something.
I tried to contact Shepard, and for my surprise, I succeed. She must have done something, '' Shepard, do you copy? I repeat, Shepard do you copy?''
'' Yes, John, I'm here. What do you have for me?'' she appears to be on the Mako as well.
'' I have just talked with Kate, she said that you're looking for some missing marines. Is that true?'' I asked and watched Tali do a drift on the asteroid. Wrex is looking more and more proud.
'' Yes, I have met Simon Atwell, he's the chief engineer on this asteroid. He said his men are missing and I thought I could look for them while you guys are turning off the other torch. By the way, I fixed the cooms.'' She said.
'' Did you find any of them?'' I asked Shepard while holding Liara hand. Do you want to ask why? Well, Wrex decided to 'teach' Tali how to drive. Needless to say, we are almost crashing at every turn.
She sounded defeated, '' Yes, all three are dead.''
I was about to console her when I see Wrex pointing at something ahead of us. A hill. I almost screamed but held on and asked Shepard normally, '' It's a shame… Do you know what happens if we don't stop this rock?''
'' Yes, Simon have told me about it. This asteroid is 22 kilometers long, twice the size of the asteroid that wiped out the Earth's dinosaurs. It would be like millions of fusion bombs striking at once…. He said that Terra Nova will die, not just the colony—the whole planet. There will be a climate shift, mass extinctions. The ecosystem won't recover for thousands of years. Millions, maybe.'' She told me.
Now, Liara is seated on my lap, hugging my head with all her strength. I don't blame her, we just did something crazy. I think Wrex passed out, because he's splashed on the ground of the Mako, right in front of me. Tali is just giggling about this situation. I tried to sound calm, '' Do you have any more info?''
'' I do. The final torch, the path to it is rigged with mines, so be careful. You guys will have to go on foot at some point.'' She said.
I looked at the map and noticed that we are getting closer. By the way, Wrex is fine and I think he's having a lot more fun than me and Liara.
'' Good, we are almost arriving. We will be entering first, stay safe.'' I told Shepard.
'' You too. We will be arriving in 5 minutes.'' She ended the call.
I asked Liara as soon as the call ended, '' Are you alright?''
Liara weakly nodded, '' I am okay, but… I think they are crazy.''
'' Yes, that they are… Tali, Wrex,'' I called them and they turned their attention to me, '' Shepard said that there's a mine field around the last torch so be careful.''
I regret telling them. I watched their faces turn into excitement right after I told them. They started whispering to each other.
Wrex asked me after some time discussing with Tali, '' Hey, John. Aren't you a powerful biotic?''
I nodded, '' Yes, I am. Why do you ask …?'' they couldn't be thinking about going directly towards the mine camp, right?
It suddenly clicked,'' No! We will not be going through the mining field!''
Wrex continued to nagging me for some time before giving up. He goes back to talk with Tali. Next, she was coming talking with me.
'' The answer is no.'' I directly told her.
'' Are you sure?'' she asked me and started to get more and more close. Then she whispered something on my ears.
Liara must be super curious , because I am certain that my face must have been changing since Tali whispered to me, but didn't ask anything about it.
'' Are you sure? Why are doing this, just for fun?'' I will not lie, if she does what she told me she will do, I will help her right away.
She appears surprised and looked at Wrex, who's grinning like a lunatic. He must have told her something.
'' I didn't think you would accept … But! But if you do it, I will do that for you as well.'' I think she's blushing? I don't know because of the mask, but it appears so.
'' Okay, I will do it.'' I got up from my seat, '' Liara, I think it's best if you come with me as well.''
The asari hurried and followed us to the driver seat. I asked Wrex right after I arrived there, '' How did you know that that was going to work on me?''
'' He-he, I know what men love the most. But to be honest, I had some doubts if you'd accept it. Now I know who are you and how to get on your good side.'' He is laughing hard.
I smiled at the Krogan, '' Okay guys, better prepare yourself. It's going to be turbulent.''
I closed my eyes for a moment and let my biotic power do its part. The Mako is now surrounded by the same kind of barrier that protect my body, meaning we will be okay to pass through the mines.
'' You can go now.'' I said that to Tali and grabbed on something. Liara did the same while Wrex is just looking at Tali.
Needless to say, but the ride was not pleasant. A lot of booms and kabooms, but we manage to reach the torch.
We exited the Mako, looking like we just have gone through a war. '' Did you guys enjoyed that?'' I asked them.
Tali and Wrex nodded and Liara just said no. '' Okay, but now we need to focus.''
The air around Tali and Wrex seems to have changed, they become more serious. I mean, I don't blame them for having fun, but now we need to focus. After we end this mission, maybe we can do it again…
'' Check your weapons and armor.'' I checked mine and it is all good. It's the same for them. '' The plan will be the same, Wrex and I on the front and Tali and Liara covering our flanks. This time it might involve hostages, so be extra careful.''
We entered the building in formation, I checked the map and noticed 30 red dots and no blue. This is going to be fun.
As I have said before, they didn't stand a chance. We are now on the console to turn off the torch and Shepard still haven't arrived.
'' Shepard, are you there?'' I called her through the omni tool.
'' I'm here, John. What do you have for me?"' she asked.
'' I am about to turn off the last torch. Is that okay?'' I asked her while checking the console.
'' Do it. We will probably meet outside the torch. Stay safe.'' She ended the call.
I turned off the last torch out and when I did, Kate desperate voice come through, '' Are you there? You've got to hurry. You have really pissed them off. Their leader is setting bombs everywhere. I think he's going to blow this whole facility.''
Then we heard a noise, and an unknown voice said, '' Get away from there.''
'' DON'T shoot. Please!" Kate voice sounded even more desperate than before.
After more noises, another new voice has heard, '' Who have shut down the torches?''
There was only silence. The unknown voice talked again, '' I won't ask you again.''
Another silence and then a shot. Then the unknown voice said, '' It doesn't matter anyway. I have already sent someone towards the last Torch, before she was turned off.'' Then the call ended.
The room was silent, everyone wondering what the Batarians are going to do next. '' Let's move.'' I said while getting out of the room and going in the direction of the exit.
But we stopped thanks to a strange scene. Shepard and the rest are face to face with a group of three batarians. I think we arrived at the begging of the conversation.
I came closer to Shepard and the Batarian said to us, '' Don't come any closer. We can do this the hard way.. or we can end this peacefully.''
I said Hi to Ash, Kaidan, Garrus and waited to Shepard to make the decisions, '' Peacefully? You're literally trying to kill four million humans, not to mention the whole planet.''
The batarian that looked like the leader, started to talk, '' Look, I'm just doing my job here. Hijacking this rock wasn't my idea. I signed on to make a little profit. A quick slave grab. Nothing more.''
Shepard, who have already fought against batarian slavers before, didn't look good, her face is distorted in fury, '' This isn't just a slave grab anymore. Millions of people are going to die.''
The batarian sighed, '' Don't you think I know that? I'm just following order here. If it were up to me, we'd have already left.''
Shepard, who managed to calm down a little, said, '' Well, it's not too late. You can still leave.''
The batarian shook his head, '' I don't think so. Balak would skin me alive and sell my hide out of spite.'' He let out another sigh, '' Crazy bastard. This whole mission's gone to hell and I'm gonna pay for it.''
Shepard is still demonstrating mercy towards this batarian, '' You keep listening to this Balak and you'll end up dead.''
'' Huh, maybe. I had a bad feeling about this from the moment we landed. Now Balak wants you dead. And what Balak wants, Balak gets. I can't change that.''
And now, let's see what Shepard will do, kill him or convince him to run away.
'' Do you always want to be second in command? Get us out of here and I'll take care of this Balak. Then you can start giving orders.'' She let him go. This was a surprise to me, based on her past with Batarians, I thought she would kill him.
The Batarian, who still didn't know that he's have just escaped certain death, said, '' An interesting proposal. It certainly has benefits over the current situation.'' He then turned towards the other batarian, '' Turn the bomb off. This is Balak's problem now.''
While the other batarian disarmed a bomb that I hadn't noticed, the 'leader' continued to talk,'' I hope you're quick with a gun as you are with your promises. For both our sakes.''
Shepard smirked, '' Don't you see my crew? Balak don't stand a chance. And so will you if I ever catch you in a human territory again. Are we clear?''
The batarian nodded, '' Perfectly. Balak's holed up in the main facility. You'll need this to get in.'' he passed something to Shepard. He then said towards his man, '' Let's get out of this damn rock.''
We watched them leave the place in hurry while going towards our Mako.
'' Who are we doing this? All together or separated? '' I asked Shepard.
'' I will decide when we arrive at the Main facility. Let's go.'' She entered her own Mako and started to go toward the building. We followed right after.
We arrived at it after 5 minutes. Now we are gathered on the entrance, waiting Shepard. '' Okay, listen up. They probably are not waiting so many people, so we will use this. John, Tali and Liara will stay hidden until the end, only acting when extremely necessary. The rest of us will face them head on and give you the opportunity to act. Any question?''
''' Can I kill this Balak?''' Wrex and I asked at the same time. We looked at each other and I suddenly gave him a head butt. I regret that.
Wrex is holding his head and so was i. He looked at me and asked, '' Why did you do this?''
'' He's mine.'' I glared at him and he glared back. Then both of us started to laugh at the same time.
'' Hahahaha, I really like you, kid. You can have him.'' The krogan said while reloading his shotgun.
'' How about both of us kill him? I will even let you shoot first.'' Everyone on the crew is looking at us like we are crazy.
'' Really? Good, good. I like that.'' He started to laugh.
'' Hhum-hum.'' Shepard managed to get our attention, '' You can kill him, but be sure to not involve any civilian. I think he has a lot of hostages, and from the batarian early on, he might have put a lot of bombs inside this building.''
Everyone nodded. Then Shepard opened the door to the building and we goes to separated ways.
Liara, Tali and I started to search a good place to hide and to shot. We did find one with vision to all main room. We noted a lot of humans around but no signal of the Batarians.
No visual but I know where they are, thanks to the map.
We waited for 5 minutes before we heard shots on the distance and Shepard, alone, appeared right afterwards.
Then a batarian, who I suppose is Balak, come out of his hidden spot and started to yell, '' You humans. '' You're almost more trouble than you're worth.''
'' Let the hostages go and maybe you'll live long enough to explain yourself to the Council.'' Shepard said to the Batarian.
'' I don't answer to the Council! Or to you.'' Balak said. In the meantime, I pointed my gun at the batarian, waiting until the right moment to kill him.
'' I'm leaving this asteroid. If you try to stop me, I'll detonate these charges and your helper and her friends are all going to die.'' He said while looking at a room with hostages. What he didn't see is that Ash is already there, disarming the bomb. And the rest of the crew is disarming the others as well. Shepard is just gaining time.
Shepard shook her head, '' I can't just let you go, Balak. Not after what happened here.''
The Batarian snorted, '' This is nothing. You humans have done far worse to the batarians. We've been forced into exile. Forced to survive on what we can scrounge up. It's been like that for decades.''
I sent a message to Shepard, '' Ash have disarmed the bomb and the rest are almost done. We need a little more time.''
She must have heard, '' Why take it out on those people? They didn't do anything to you or the batarians.''
The batarian seems to be enraged, '' Didn't do anything!? Aside from colonizing a world that could have been ours? Aside from using resources that should have been ours? We are left to defend ourselves. But the humans were stronger than us, we knew that. The council knew that. But it didn't matter.''
I checked the progress of the crew and all of them have already disarmed the bombs, '' Shepard, all bombs disarmed. It's up to you now.''
My finger is on the trigger, ready to kill the batarian at any second.
The batarian was still mumbling , '' It was you. You and your kind are the only reason we're in this position.''
Shepard is running out of patience, '' How does killing innocent people make up for that?''
'' We had no other options. Sometimes you need to get someone's attention before they'll listen.'' The batarian said.
Shepard snapped at his comment, '' Is that what Elysium was? A way to get our attention? Well, you got it. And when we responded you ran like cowards. Now you want to start it all over again.''
Shepard must have touched a sore point, because now he really look pissed, '' Enough! You couldn't possibly understand… Actually, you just don't want to understand. And I'm done wasting my breath.''
He then grabbed some kind of detonator from his men, '' Now, if you want your friends to live, I suggest you step aside.''
Shepard looked around the place and sighed, '' John, do you have him? If you have, do it.''
One second later Balak's head exploded. His team seems to be shocked and hurriedly tried to grab the detonator that was falling, but with no success.
What followed was a massacre. Kaidan used his biotics to throw some of them to Ash that shot them dead, Garrus and Wrex are having fun, Tali hacked the remained drones and used to kill some of the batarian and Liara, Shepard and I are just watching.
With almost everything taken care off, I approached Balak's body and called Wrex, '' Wrex, where are you?''
He heard me even while fighting and come to my direction, '' What do you want, Kid? If you didn't notice, we are in the middle of a fight.''
I pointed at Balak's body, '' I'm sorry, but I had to shoot him first.''
Wrex face was priceless.
This chapter took more from me than I thought it would. It probably have some grammar errors and i'm sorry about it, i'm still learning. I hope you guys don't mind that much, and i promise that i will be better in the future.
The next chapter is going to focus on the interection between the crew and the aftermath of the Asteroid X57.
See you guys next time. Stay safe.