Dear Marauder Shields, you should have gone for the head.
Hadley's Hope, Feros, Theseus System, Attican Beta Cluster, July 10, 2183
Author's Note: Get ready for the Siege. WARNING! Expect crew loss.
Also posted up a new side hobby; Battle Royale: Fett vs. Shepard - No Disintegrations. What happens when you pit the galaxy's most ruthless bounty hunter against humanity's most lethal N7? Why, a story, of course! Watch as the Hound of Mandalore and the Butcher of Torfan square it off throughout the events of Mass Effect.
Petty Officer (Second Class) Sara Elaine Ryder stood in a partitioned section of the Command Post of the Hadley's Hope Complex; a square room that was cordoned with work stations and terminals set in a horseshoe, with a large screen to detail ongoing operation throughout the colony. Sara had taken a few spare pieces of scrap to make a wall to check out the survivors medically, disappointed but not at all surprised by what she saw. The sixteen survivors were likely all malnourished if the first two were any indication, checking o the most injured of the lot, a man with cracked ribs that had been taped pretty well by former Deputy Chad Gaultier, and a woman who had suffered a nasty gash on her arm during their horrifying escape attempt.
Both had told her what happened. Sara had to endure that horrific story twice.
The next patient she saw was the young girl, Rebecca Jorden, who called herself Newt. Standing next to the little girl was Sergeant First Class Ashley Madeline Williams, the eight-year old girl having taken the Colonial Soldier with her. Ryder had been touched by the scene, the girl having latched onto Ash almost immediately, and was it any real surprise? Ash was tall for a woman, strong, proud, and well-armed. There were other women amongst the survivors, but despite having been stuck with them for a week, Rebecca hadn't latched onto them like she had with Williams. It had been perhaps an hour before Sara was seeing the little girl, and in that hour, she had bonded with the Lone Wolf. Sara could tell it had been mutual; Ash hadn't been more than a few steps from little Rebecca. The Corpsman knew they had probably talked, Rebecca no doubt telling her story in bits and pieces. It was easy to tell that her parents were gone; no child would have latched to a stranger like that unless her whole world was gone. The thought of it broke her heart, but seeing Newt giving Ash shy looks, never letting the woman out of her sight, it gave Sara some comfort. In a time of desperation, Newt had found her own chosen guardian in Williams. Good for her, for them both, really.
"Well, I see that I have the best medicine right here," Sara smiled to the little girl as she reached into her MedBay, pulling open a small compartment to reveal her private stash of candy. Ryder pulled out a Charms' lollipop, its white and green wrapper centuries-famous. "Just don't tell the boys, now." The Corpsman gave the little girl a smile as she handed over the lollipop, Rebecca returning the smile as the wrapper came off and the lollipop went right into her mouth. Rebecca got a clean bill of health, a little malnourished, but nothing bad. Gaultier had enforced rationing from the get-go, and the supplies were holding out, the survivors having at least another six days worth of food at the same two meals-a-day routine they had been keeping. Forcing people to ration was a hard thing to do, especially people without any real experience in that kind of discipline. No doubt the man who had been giving them issues before, William Hope, had made that even more difficult. The man in question was sitting at a station that was powered down, as far from the group as possible. Sara knew that Lieutenant James Vega was mostly keeping an eye over the survivors, the bury Latino having a bit of a guilt-streak about their treatment though he hadn't been a part of it. But for Mister Hope, Vega spared an eye, knowing a threat when he saw it.
"Is she doing good, Doc?" Williams asked, her hands on her armored hips, looking to Rebecca with a rather maternal look. Oh yeah, Newt had Army wrapped around her little finger already. Ash had three younger sisters, so looking out for little girls was a skill set the Colonial Soldier had in spades. Perhaps Rebecca had seen that quality without ever knowing, going for the woman she somehow knew would look out for her no matter how bad things were. Honestly, little Rebecca Jorden couldn't have picked better. Ash would drag that little girl right out of Hell.
Fitting, considering that, according to the previous two survivors Sara had talked to, they pretty much found themselves smack in the middle of.
"A little more food and a change of venue is exactly what Doc Ryder recommends." Both of them knew that only one of those would be solved. "But the best medicine?" The Corpsman pointed right at the Sergeant First Class. "You." That had the Soldier blush a little, but she didn't do anything to ward off the suggestion, either. "If had to guess? You probably resemble someone." That came off quiet, not wishing to suggest it to where the young girl could hear it, but Ash nodded her head slowly, obviously arriving at a likely conclusion; Ash probably looked a fair deal like Newt's mother. In a terrible situation, the Rebecca clung to a woman who resembled her mother, but also one that appeared strong enough and tough enough to get her through an ordeal. The way Ash was already doting on her? Part of it was maternal instinct; women were built to raise and protect children after all. But Sara remembered the Horizon, when the hordes of Husks had clogged the corridors to kill them all, and the terrifying realization that the Geth had converted everyone, children too. Many of the Normandiers had taken that knowledge hard, and Williams had asked Ryder for medications that would give dreamless sleep if they existed after that soul-wrenching mission. Ash had finally told her why; there had been a toddling Husk, a child of around two or so years of age turned and assimilated. The Corpsman knew what that was about; Ash felt like she killed a baby. It was a terrible feeling to have, and a grief that likely would never truly heal. Seeing Ash talking to Newt like a caring mother to a loved child, Sara having finished her basic check-up, Ryder knew she was seeing the opposite.
Ash would absolutely fucking destroy anything that tried to hurt a child in front of her.
Federal Marshal Samantha Lynn Collins (SAMS, OST) stood by the Operations Center of the Command Post, where the Colonial Governor would have worked if he or she were still alive or around. Her former Deputy, Chad Aaron Gaultier, was standing with her, looking down at a map of the Main Complex that they were in, where the Systems Alliance Marine Corps had stuffed them in when the population of Hadley's Hope grew to be too unruly with their oppressive rule. Chad had informed her of some of the more delightful details of that experience, sending red, hot anger through her soul. The Marshal of Feros, Marshal Teresa 'Tequila' Aquila, was a woman she knew; a tough, no-nonsense Marshal who was a little bit of a hard-liner when it came to being a cop, but a good woman who took her job seriously. Chad had come to Hadley's Hope to have a retirement he would enjoy; to be useful while using his skills as a Deputy to help out without actually having to be a cop. When Sam had first arrived to Nova Yekaterinburg's Marshal's Office, Deputy Gaultier had been her partner, a ten-year veteran who had taken a bit of a shine to the young Deputy and only female in the Marshal's Office. For six months, Sam and Chad had pulled patrols in the dusty, rough-and-tumble environs of No'burg, Gaultier teaching Collins not only the ropes of being a cop, but the why of it as well in more ways than just words.
Then she had caught wind of a smuggling operation that involved the most dangerous criminal on Therum, with more than half of her Office in his pockets.
History remembered her as the Marshal of Therum; the woman who stood and face twenty men in a duel and won. But that wasn't the truth. Deputies Chad Gaultier and Mark O'Brien had been at her side, as well as Council Agent Nihlus Kryik. What had began as discrepancies in customs forms from the Mass Translation data she had learned to decipher from a Mass Relay ended up with seven criminals and six Deputies dead, a world famous criminal in her custody, a Marshal's badge on her belt and a Mammothkiller on her hip, and her partner bleeding in her arms along with Mark dead. Both herself and Nihlus had been shot as well, but Sam really thought Chad was going to die in her arms, telling her how proud he was of her for standing for the right thing, refusing to get on the bogroll with Marshal Bart Weathers and the rest when President Niko Dekker of the Interplanetary Brotherhood of Teamsters offered to bribe her for her silence and compliance. The Turian SPECTRE had showed up during her investigation, curious as to why a Human cop was accessing what was believed to be unreadable Mass Relay data so much, his curiosity leading to his involvement. Kryik had let her lead the investigation and eventual prosecution, offering advice and options, but ultimately letting her do her job. Sometime during the three weeks of his involvement before the deadly shootout that would be known as the Showdown of No'burg, they had become friends.
A year later, she had been offered the heady proposition of becoming a Level One Council Agent.
Chad had been there the whole time with her as Sam Collins became a Federal Marshal, able to track criminals throughout Alliance Space with impunity. With her ability to track a ship through a Mass Relay, as well as her Autistic mind giving her distinct advantages of finding ships out in the black, Gaultier joined forces with Sam Collins and Nihlus Kryik, hunting criminals aboard a SPECTRE's ship, making arrests and helping those in their time of need. Chad Gaultier was an anonymous hero, having no desire to be famous. He followed her for years, his practicality evening out her intelligence and drive. He had been the one to give her away at her wedding to Nihlus Kryik, a Level Two SPECTRE marrying a Level Three Turian SPECTRE. The darkness that the galaxy held was no mystery to Chad Aaron Gaultier.
Torfan had almost killed him, and it was then that he had decided to retire, too hurt to continue on.
"So what happened?" Sam asked her friend, happy to see him, but her heart breaking slightly. It had been four years since Torfan, but Chad looked to have aged ten. His blonde hair had started going gray, laugh lines and crows' eyes starting to make themselves known by his mouth and eyes. Back on No'burg, he seemed too tough, near immortal. Now he was getting on in years, and the sight had Collins' heart ache.
"After we got shoved into the pokey," Chad drawled, his Texas accent strong as always, "people got desperate and stupid. Myself, Director Dukakis, that's the Colonial Director, and a few of her Deputies tried keepin' order on the up-and-up and the retardation down. With over nine hundred people shoved in here, things were gettin' ugly pretty quick, Sammy." Sam snorted at her old nickname. Honestly… it felt good hearing it again. It reminded her of a time when she was just a wet-behind-the-ears Deputy who only had to worry about roughneck miners staring at her ass and making lewd comments. "A bunch of the diggers got the idea of tearing up at the floor and tunneling through the bedrock for an escape plan. People… really liked the idea." Gaultier closed his eyes and paused for a moment. "We voted for it. Had people busy and active, workin' together instead of against one another. Knew it wouldn't really work, but I was happy havin' the roughnecks doin' somethin' productive, workin' towards hope. At least they wouldn't be batterin' the walls down and getting a good amount of us killed.
"Those poor bastards found somethin' down there, Sammy. Somethin' bad."
"Unmapped tunnel?" Hadley's Hope had been built on top of a mountain, supposedly, the ExoGeni Corporation not willing to put a bunch of pre-fabricated buildings on a potential collapse in the Prothean ruins of Feros. Bedrock was more stable than a fifty century building with no maintenance.
"Maybe, maybe not." The former Deputy replied, though his green eyes said he thought the tunnel might have been known. "About day three, the miners reached a tunnel, and we thought it a Godsend, that there'd be a cave system that'd save us the work and time. Everyone was elated. Last happy thought we had when a team of about fifty went down with lights and markers and didn't come back. Lord have mercy on their brave souls." Chad looked over to where the little girl was with Sergeant First Class Ashley Williams, sitting on a station with the Colonial Soldier right beside her. It was pretty hard not to tell that the little girl had latched right onto the Lone Wolf. Thankfully, Ash had latched right back. "Her Pa was one of them, Russ Jorden. Good man, went in those tunnels for his wife, son, and daughter, to get them out of this mess. He wasn't using brave words, he had the talk of a family man makin' good that promise of seein' his family safe. Your Sergeant looks a good bit like Anne. Probably why the girl went to her first instead of you or your Doc."
"What happened next, Chad?"
"They came." Gaultier replied sadly, the forty-year old man shaking his head sadly as he took a seat, the weariness of someone that had seen too much taking over. "Don't know what they are, but they came pourin' out of the hole we made. Came at us durin' the night cycle, grabbin' colonists and breathin' some sort of green mist on their faces. Don't know what they were, but I saw what they looked like. Like people, but covered in… lichen and vines, like plant people or somethin'. Seen some weird shit in my day, little lady, but that? No, nothin' like that." Sam felt a little reviled at the thought. "People they breathed on would gag and seize on the ground as those plant thin's went and grabbed more. I... I shut the door on about a third of the complex, condemned about a hundred folk to being with them to save the rest, Marse. Waddn't time for a committee or votes." Chad looked over to where the girl, Rebecca, was. "There were families in there, Sammy. That wing was bein' used for quarters. Anne and Tim Jorden were in there, but Newt was here, underfoot. Just… bein' a kid."
"You did right, Chad, you know that." Collins placed a gentle hand on her former partners', knowing that she would have supported his decision or done the same thing herself in his steed. A hundred was a terrible toll, but in the name of saving seven hundred? No one would truly call Chad a monster or heartless, making such a hard decision. People needed a man in their time of need, and Chad Gaultier had been that man. Sam had never been disappointed when he was at her side.
"After I shut the door, we began pullin' in the people who got breathed on," the former Deputy continued, "but we were at a real loss on what to do. Some wanted to take drastic measures out of fear, but thankfully no one had the spine to do somethin' for the two hundred or so we had. Too many were friends and family members, so no one was goin' to start slittin' throats and callin' it mercy. Plenty wanted me to open the door and rescue the people in there, but they were easily outnumbered.
"Then the folk who got breathed on woke up… but they weren't themselves."
Chad went silent. Sam knew better than to interrupt.
"There was something in that mist of theirs, y'see?" Gaultier continued, his voice dead. "Those people got up, their faces changed. Like a green spiderweb had grown under their skin, their eyes bloodshot green. They… they weren't people no more. No manner of talkin' or coaxin' got them actin' normal. They just started attackin' folk, knockin' 'em out and draggin' 'em off, tryin' to pull us towards the wing I had closed off. One of them had gone back and opened the door, and the plant thin's were back, breathin' over the ones the people were takin', and thin's got real desperate and crazy then. Tried pullin' people back to close off more of the Complex, but thin's got bad quick, Sammy. By the time we reached this here Command Post…" Sam looked to the survivors. Out of over nine hundred people, Chad had been able to pull only fifteen others from whatever was going on. For a singular man, that was actually quite impressive. But that kind of math made a heart break. Chad was as tough as they came, but that was the kind of thing that could tear a man or woman apart on the inside.
"Chad." Sam held his hand, knowing her former partner well. He had grown up in the dusty plains of the Texas Republic of the United North American States, raised by a hard-drinking man whose answer to everything had been a belt. Chad Gaultier had made a promise to himself at a young age that he would be a defender, to be a good example of man. Both of them knew that the former Deputy had done the right thing and the best he could in a shit situation, but his heart and his dreams would never ever let him forget. She slipped her hands around his head and pulled him close, letting him rest his head against her armored abdomen, comforting him. They had been through much, through thick and thin, and he needed her now; both for himself and these survivors. She would do it not just because it was her job, but because she knew what it meant to him. She brushed his hair back as he sobbed silently, the once-Marshal of Therum comforting her former Deputy, a man she called partner and friend. In the very depths of Hell, she would be there for him and pull him out of it. Just like he had for her on Torfan.
She had faced worse than plant people, after all.
Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden sat on a work station as she munched on a military ration candy bar meant to give a Colonial Soldier calories while on extended missions, named a 'Hooah' Bar. It was a silly name for a candy bar, and it tasted pretty bad, too, but Newt didn't care. It was chocolate-flavored and she was hungry. She would have eaten it if it were the worst-tasting thing ever. She looked up to the swarthy-colored Soldier that she had moved to, shyly getting her attention. Everyone that had been in Hadley's Hope hadn't been very comforting; yes, they tried, but then they would turn around and say they were doomed, barely holding together themselves. The nice man, the one they called Deputy Chad, he was good, looking out for her and sharing his rations with her. Most of the rest just sat their and moaned. Then there was the mean guy, Mister Hope. All he did was argue and use bad language, blaming everything on everyone else. Whenever Deputy Chad said something to help others, to encourage them, Mister Hope would get mean and argue over silly things, shouting and screaming and using what her Mommy called potty language. She didn't like Mister Hope. Newt didn't think anyone else did either with the way everyone avoided him.
But then they came. Like heroes.
Newt felt her breath taking away, seeing three Human women, a large Human man, and a Salarian walk in, armed and armored and looking like the movies! Two of them were SPECTREs! It was like those old superhero movies her and her brother Timmy watched, where a group of heroic people came in to save the day. It was just like that.
They had taken off her helmets, and Newt's eyes had looked at the one in dark green armor, the Human woman that wasn't a SPECTRE. The little girl felt her jaw drop at the sight of the woman with the dark hair held back in a bun, carrying a really big gun in her hands. Heck, she had a whole mess of weapons on her, like those action vids her father and her brother liked watching, or like Act of Valor or The Fires Of Heaven. She looked tough and strong.
But she really looked like her mother.
Not exactly, of course. The woman was taller, stronger-looking, and a little darker in color. Her mother certainly didn't wear combat armor and have a whole mess of weapons on hand, either. Anne Jorden was a good woman who had been a nurse back on Earth, working in a Doctor's Office of some kind, seeing normal office visit patients. This woman looked as if she stepped out of an action vid, ready to take some names and kick some tushy. Newt had heard the woman being identified along with the others. She had heard of Marse Collins, mostly from Deputy Chad, but her Daddy as well. Supposedly some tough-as-they-come cop who had pulled a lot of people from some place called 'Torfan'. There was another they called Chief Ryder, the Angel of Illyeria. That one had her wide-eyed; she had seen the movie, of course. Chief Ryder wasn't a little girl though, but an adult armed with a really big looking gun with two barrels sticking out of it. They called her 'Doc'. She was a Doctor, now? Newt didn't know Doctors had guns.
But it was the Lone Wolf of Eden Prime that held her attention.
Staff Sergeant Ashley Williams was someone who was quickly becoming popular amongst Human media, the sole survivor of a horrific Geth attack on the colony of Eden Prime. Her nickname came from the fact that she supposedly survived against the Geth alone for an hour after her friends and soldiers were killed protecting people. She had joined the ranks of the Lion of Elysium, working along the side of the woman they now called Humanity's First SPECTRE, Commander Jane Shepard. This woman in bulky green armor and big, heavy weapons was a hero working amongst other heroes.
And she looked so much like her mother. It hurt, but Newt was okay with that.
"These Hooah bars are really disgusting." Newt told the Soldier, proceeding to take another bite. It tasted like chocolate and cardboard might. That had the older woman smile.
"Yeah they are." Ashley replied, the smile still on her face as she took her fingers and did her best to comb through Newts' knotted, unkempt hair. The young girl winced whenever Ashley found a snarl or a knot, doing her best to work it out without causing her discomfort. Honestly, it felt nice though. After so many days of being stuck here in the Command Post, always afraid, it was comforting. "They give us those things so we can have the energy to keep going. Unfortunately, someone forgot to add 'flavor' to it." That had Newt giggle. "Think that one is bad? The peanut butter one tastes like peanut butter, but it's so dry you feel like you're eating chalk. Good luck eating two. And then there's the banana one. Pure ugh!" That had the little girl laugh. Bananas were nasty. A banana bar had to be so much worse. Newt ate the bar anyhow, no matter how gross it was. Deputy Chad limited food so they could last longer, but she was hungry pretty often. She wolfed down the Hooah bar without any real complaint.
"Any other weird snacks they feed you in the Army? Moldy bread? Flat soda?"
"You forgot the runny stew and lumpy milk." Newt made a face, Ashley laughing. She had a nice laugh. "Back in garrison we eat in chow halls. Army cooks leave a lot to be desired, honestly. But when we're out on patrols or exercises, we eat you-grees."
"What's a… You-Gree?" The little girl asked.
"UGRE. Stands for… something retarded. Unified something-or-'nother." That had the little girl giggle. "Army can't have something unless they name it weird and backwards. Can't just call it 'meal in a box' or 'portable dinner'." Newt giggled again. Ashley was funny, and the little girl couldn't remember the last time she laughed. "Most of it was okay. Snacks were generally the best parts, though. Had this strawberry crumbcake that was actually pretty good. But then they went and messed up spaghetti. How do you screw up spaghetti?"
"By… joining the Army?" Newt felt like cracking a joke, and watched as the older woman's face just drop in astonishment. From to their left, there was an audible snort as Chief Sara Ryder stuck her head from around the partition and gave the little girl a smile and a thumbs-up of acknowledgment, mouthing the word 'nice'.
"Okay, you win this round." Ashley stuck her tongue out at her, and Newt smiled triumphantly.
For a brief moment, she didn't feel fear. And for that, Newt loved her.
"Okay, this is bullshit."
Sergeant First Class Ashley Madeline Williams looked over from Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden to see the pudgy loudmouth William Hope standing up from his self-imposed exiled away from the other survivors of Hadley's Hope. Petty Officer Sara Ryder was finishing up the last medical examination of an older gentleman who elected to be last because he thought himself to be in good enough health to let others go first while Marshal Sam Collins conferred with the former Deputy of hers, Chad Gaultier. 2nd Lieutenant James Vega had been hanging loose near the door that they had come in, knowing that the survivors would probably not want to be near him as well as keeping post on their only access. Agent Zevin Raeka was busily working on a terminal, accessing logs for the Complex, getting an idea what they might be facing as well as the current state and status of their route out. Unfortunately, it seemed that the cameras for the Main Complex had been tampered with sometime during the insurrection against the Fourth Marine Expeditionary Unit and the colonists of Hadley's Hope, and not much could be gleaned. Ash had been telling Newt stories, some of the very ones that her father use to tell her when she was a little girl, some of the Greek Classics and others of the Heroes of Men. She had been regaling the story of Orpheus and the Underworld when the loudmouth decided to make his presence known again.
"How much longer are we going to fucking wait here? It's been over four Goddamn hours!" Mister Hope demanded, his voice crass and obstinate. He was on his feet, moving to the middle of everyone with a raised voice as if he couldn't be heard in every part of the Command Post at its furthest point. Someone wants to play ringleader, Ash thought with disgust, knowing the man was going to cause a scene just to rile people up. This was the kind of guy who would stand behind a protesting crowd and throw a brick at cops or soldiers to incite the Officers to protect themselves, and then blame it all on the same cops or soldiers, never admitting to the fact that it had been him to cast the first stone. If they left prematurely, people could die. If they left with him in tow, he'd likely do the absolute wrong thing that would get people killed.
"Not all the check-ups are done, sir." Sara called out from behind her partition, bless her heart. Her answer was a lot nicer in response and tone than Ash's would have been. "Still got a couple more to go after Mister Jackson here. Unless you plan on having someone with a potential injury or illness risk themselves and others?" Ryder was playing the medical card, the only one who could. If he said anything against it, the rube would look like a belligerent asshole for making someone suffer and risking their lives. Rebecca was looking at the man in question with an apprehensive face. She didn't trust the man, she had said. Even a child knew better.
"All your fucking fault." The man snarled, actually getting the hint that he had no leg to stand on, but still wanting the last word. "You put us here in the first place!" James was thankfully silent, merely looking at the man with a thousand meter stare, smart enough to know that actually arguing with him would likely make things worse. "You're the one who put us in here with monsters!"
"Will, they didn't bring the monsters in." Chad Gaultier corrected the man, who merely muttered obscenely under his breath. Rebecca whimpered a little, and Ash took her hand into her own larger one, the little girl obviously remembering the 'monsters'. She wasn't going to dispute the term; she had seen Husks, as well as what happened to Lance Corporal Hong 'K-Pop' Jeong. Monsters did exist, after all.
"No, but you brought these monsters in!" Will was screaming, spittle flying with his words, pointing right towards Williams. "Now we're stuck with them!" Shit, Ash wanted to tell the man to shut the fuck up, but likely that would just make things worse.
"Not monsters."
That brought everyone up short as Agent Zevin Raeka spoke, typing at a terminal. Most everyone had seemingly forgotten the not-Dalatrass as she looked up security footage.
"Monsters imply the unknown, a fear one cannot describe." Her black eyes went from her work to the survivors, and then back to the terminal. "Everything has an origin, an explanation. When you opened the tunnel, something was already underneath the colony, something already there. You did not know of this when you wished to escape, and those who went down disturbed something. Something trapped. Perhaps trapped… on purpose?" The Salarian looked up from her work again, her three-fingered hands ceasing. "Humanoid, organic, capable of transferring some form of control into others. A self-replication organism."
"A sentient self-replicating organism." Sara came out from behind her partition, Mister Jackson coming out as well buttoning up his shirt as the Corpsman spoke, her tone thoughtful. "Never heard of one being so complex, though. An intelligent virus that could control a host implies not only mutating RNA, but a broad intelligence matrix to override a hosts' free will." Doc Ryder frowned for a moment. "There was a species capable of such long ago, back during the Prothean Era."
"The Thor'rians." Zevin answered, nodding her head. "Yes, I remember that class session about extinct space-faring species. A supposed organic construct that spawn through the use of others; a parasitic growth that replicated through the use of…" The Salarian looked to Doc Ryder, her lipless mouth opened, but not saying a word. "Void." That sounded suspiciously like a swear word.
"What?" Sam Collins asked, looking to the Salarian and the Corpsman, the two Academy Alumni exchanging glances. That couldn't be a good thing, when two highly-intelligent and educated people looked at each other like that, Ash thought. Newt scooted closer to her as Williams placed an arm around the girl's thin shoulders for comfort.
"Bodies." Sara replied, looking disturbed. "Prothean data suggests they hunted the species to extinction because they planted spores into the bodies of its victims for nourishment and propagation. It feeds off of sentient lifeforms, supposedly gaining in intelligence as well as knowledge. A cannibal plant with the taste for brains."
"And we're fucking stuck in here with it?" William Hope asked, incredulously.
"I think we built a colony on top of its prison or hiding spot." Ryder replied, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Only spot of solid ground in a thousand kilometer area, a mountain with a tunnel system. Protheans didn't pave over it or build on top of it. We just came in and plopped a town on top none-the-wiser. And then we accidentally went and opened the prison gate. Those pods we passed by? The chrysalids?
"They're troops."
It was dead silent inside the Command Post for a good long moment as the news was absorbed.
"You fucking bitch!" Mister Hope exploded in fury, aiming his anger at Sara. "You stuck us in here!" The man's hand dipped to the nearest station and picked up the first object that came to his hand; a common datapad. Before anyone could stop him, the colonist hurled it towards Sara Ryder like a ninja star, the PlastiGel frame spinning end-over-end rapidly as the Chief merely ducked the flying object that was close enough to her head to necessitate it as it continued on its course.
And struck the access panel for the door to the Command Post that was behind her a couple meters away.
Williams was absolutely dumbfounded as the pad struck the access panel, opening the door. Vega cursed out '¡Madre de Dios!' as he pivoted, drawing his Devlon Industries' M-56 Marshal Medium Machine Gun, raising it and extending it into combat operations as Ash stepped in front of Newt at the same time she pulled her Kassa Fabrications' M-76 Reverent Light Machine Gun from her chest, cursing while Sara grabbed her custom-made M-37 Falcon Duel-Purpose Objective Weapon, crying out in warning as everyone saw the door open.
And revealed a corridor full of mossy-looking humanoid monsters.
"¡Madre de Dios!" Petty Officer (Second Class) Sara Ryder heard the exclamation as she lifted herself upright after having ducked the flying object flung at her by the aggressive colonist William Hope, dodging the datapad. She turned to see that the datapad had struck the access panel to the entrance of the Command Post, opening the door to reveal creatures that looked to be covered in moss and vines, almost like those pictures of Earth where people styled their bushes into shapes of animals and people, but much thicker and certainly mobile. There were easily dozens right at the door, forcing their way through as 2nd Lieutenant James Vega opened up with his M-56 Marshal Medium Machine Gun, pouring gunfire right into the breach as an easy dozen spilled out through the opened portal, several of them falling on the floor only to get back up while others tried to force their way in through the clogged entryway as Sara pulled her M-37 Falcon and activated it, her heart thrumming with adrenaline and fear.
"Fall back!" She screamed as a mossy creature jumped and leapt towards her, the Corpsman putting a shotgun round right into its chest, halting its progress and dropping it to the deck a few meters away as several more began running towards them. She engaged two more with her shotgun, the round staggering the creatures back but there were so many pouring through the door as Sergeant Ashley Williams added her own fire with her M-76 Reverent Light Machine Gun, trying to seal the breach with rounds as more tumbled into the Command Post as Sara tried to shoot them, her one rounds aided by Agent Zevin Raeka's Kassa Fabrications' M-55 Argus Battle Rifle and Marshal Sam Collins' Nexus Engagement Reliable Firearms' ECS-10 Modulus Battle Rifle, sweeping up the ones that got past Vega's and Williams' fire. Sara switched from her shotgun to her assault rifle on her Falcon, letting the shotguns' heatsink cool while engaging with her five-round burst assault rifle, putting the creepy-looking things down as quickly as she could. Much to her dismay, she saw that many that were shot and fallen were getting back up, seemingly uninjured. Former Deputy Chad Gaultier joined in, pulling Sam's Springfield Arms Model XD Seven-Five Service Pistol to add to the defenses, trying to quell the amount of creatures barging their way in as Vega cursed out loud; his heatsink had reached capacity and needed to be cooled. He switched to his Hahne-Keder M-5 Kessler Pistol, but it was hardly an effective tool.
"We've got to decimate the bodies!" Ryder called out as she went from assault rifle to shotgun, pumping round through her Falcon as fast as she could, acquiring and firing targets that were constantly falling into the room from the tide that was pushing its way into the Command Post. Lord, they were practically stuffing themselves through the door! Bullets weren't causing enough injuries. "Army! Frag!" Williams complied by grabbing a pre-made grenade with her left hand and chucking it at the door, the anti-personnel device exploding a few seconds later, blowing chunks off the mossy-looking humanoids, a few limbs sheared off as the explosion held the tide back for but a second, staggering a few that were already in the Command Post.
It wasn't enough.
Sara switched her Falcon for 'fun', putting five round bursts and a shotgun blast with each trigger pull, the effect downing the creepy things with each engagement practically obliterating the chests of each of the creatures as they were knocked back from the force. None of them had any kind of kinetic defenses or armor, but they almost didn't seem to need it. Physical trauma seemed to stop them, not merely internal injury. While the 'fun' setting seemed to permanently stop the moss-covered humanoids, she only got six shots before she had to vent both of her heatsinks. Ryder clapped her Falcon to her chest after she downed six of the creatures and drew her Smith and Wesson Model 696 MA Revolver, cocking and firing it single-handedly as she pulled her HMWSM MasterGear SPECTRE Mk. I Submachine Gun, firing it after she went through the revolvers' rotating heatsinks and holstered the weapon to engage the creatures with her SPECTRE Submachine Gun. The Mammothkiller blew holes right through the humanoid assailants, the shots going through them and sometimes striking another behind them, but the Submachine Gun wasn't nearly as effective as Sara fired in a sprinkler-fashion, engaging four targets in front of her before sweeping back. She didn't put any of them down. She realized that only heavy calibers were doing the trick as Marshal Collins began cutting through a swath of creatures with her SPECTRE Mk. I Shotgun, practically splitting the moss-covered humanoids in half while Sergeant Williams did the same with her Kassa Fabrications' Armageddon Objective Shotgun, each blast putting a creature on its ass. Sara switched from her Submachine Gun to her Falcon, putting more shotgun rounds into the tide of invaders that were spilling into the Command Post.
They had been retreating the entire time while the room was steadily filling up with more and more of their kind.
"We need an exit!" Sam shouted as she quickdrew her own Mammothkiller, putting down six of the plant-like things quickly before going back to her Modulus. "Chad!"
"Only way out is the vent shafts! Too tight for us!" The former Deputy replied as he continued to engage with Sam's XD Seven-Five Pistol, not able to do much with it but still adding to the totality. "Newt might make it out!"
"On it!" Williams declared as she worked her way over towards one of the walls of the Command Post, her Reverent firing long bursts into the entryway to stem the tide as much as possible, as James was doing with his M-56 Marshal. She reached the obvious panel that was a screen covering for the Complex's atmo exchanger as she kicked it in with her armored boot, staving the screen to where some of its edges were pried from the wall. The Colonial Solder stepped on one of the bent edges and tore the metal screen with her foot, opening the access. The creatures were being shot and held back, but just barely as Ash took a knee by the opening. "Newt! Honey! Get in the vent!" Sara was firing her MA Revolver as she ducked down and found the little girl huddled with the other survivors, packed in a corner. The colonists of Hadley's Hope were looking at their very fear filling the room, frightened beyond sense as Ryder grabbed Newts' arm and led the eight-year old girl towards the vent. Sara grunted as she felt resistance and looked back to see, of all things, that asshole William Hope clutching the girls' other arm, making her cry out in pain.
"What about the rest of us?" The man screamed, stopping the Corpsman from saving a child. "You can't fucking leave us here to die!" Sara snarled as she pistol-whipped the man across the face, knocking him to the side as he let go of Rebecca's arm, Ryder pulling the child towards the only available exit. Williams holding position, guarding the only way out as she fired her Armageddon Shotgun into the tide of creatures, keeping the only exit free. Dozens of creatures were in the Command Post, none of them able to fire at the door to hold back the tide, having to engage those closest to them out of desperation.
And they were losing.
"Ashley!" Newt cried out as Sara got her to the opened vent, the little girl pulling away to hug the Colonial Soldier, wrapping her small arms around Williams' neck, hugging her fiercely.
"Get out of here, kiddo!" Ash begged, her brown eyes filled with tears as she held the child with one arm, hugging her back. "You crawl and you don't look back, Newt. Do that for me." The Soldier give a fierce kiss on the little girls' forehead as Sara engaged the oncoming tide of creatures with her Falcon, covering for the little girl as Newt slipped inside the vent, her youthful face streaked with tears as she sobbed, crawling into the vent, disappearing from view. "Worth it." Ash said as she began firing her Reverent once more in devastating sweeps. Sara knew what she meant; they were going to die securing the exit of just one child. Her heart had broken at that parting.
"Agreed." Ryder pulled out her MA Revolver and fired it six times as she heard Sam cry out Chad!, seeing the former Deputy being tackled by several of the creatures. Sara saw the Marshal pull leather and tried to shoot the assaulters attacking her friend as Collins herself was collided with a couple of moss-covered creatures herself. Sara fired the last shot out of her heatsink to free Sam, taking the head off of one of the humanoids as she saw several of the creature breath onto Chad Gaultiers' face, some toxic green mist exuding from the dark holes that were their mouths. NO!, Sam screamed as she reached for the man, struggling to reach him as Chad gasped and coughed. Vega hammered a creature that had latched onto him with his fist as several more swarmed him, the large Latino man using his M-56 Marshal as a melee weapon to swipe them away as Collins' head was pulled back as a creature jumped on top of her and breathed upon her. Sam…
Sara was still trying to engage as many of the creatures as she could, the press of them spilling over as she and Ashley continued to fire, the Soldier switching to her shotgun as Vega fell from the press of moss-covered creatures jumping on him. Raeka was pulled to the ground, something grabbing her foot and yanked, bring the not-Dalatrass to the ground and dragging her towards the mob as she continued to fire into the crown before the sound of her M-55 Argus went silent, Vega disappearing as the tide consumed him, bodies spilling over him as the Marshal Machine Gun went silent. Sara and Ash had their backs to the wall in front of the opened vent, still firing as the creatures absolutely flooded the room. Several were pouncing on the survivors, the people screaming in terror as they were tackled or dragged away, and Ryder felt her heart break at the sight of a woman getting breathed on as she continued to pour rounds into the mass of assailants, another man being dragged inside, trying to swing a chair as a weapon but not even lasting a second. Ash grunted as she dumped the entirety of her heatsink of her Reverent into the onslaught, shredding plant-things with the pouring fire of her light machine gun as Sara fired with her Falcon, turning the weapon at a diagonal plane so that the muzzle climb would stick small arcs through the approaching crowd less than a meter away. Green hands were stretched towards them, and there was nowhere to go.
"Doc!" Ash cried out as she fell, something getting a hold of her foot and bringing her to the ground. Sara grabbed one of Williams' hands, holding onto it tight as she pulled out her MA Revolver and fired, trying to drag Ash back as hands grabbed at her, pulling at her as she struggled. "Doc! Let go!" Despite the fear on her face, Ash's brown eyes were calm and knowing. Sara hated herself as she did, slugging a monstrosity with her fist as Ash was flipped on her back and breathed upon by no less than six of the mossy creatures as Ryder fought back, trying to free herself from the clutches of the horde. Sara opened herself to her Biotics, the tingle of electrical current running down into her hands as she wreathed her fists with biokinetic force and began to slug her way free, her punches knocking creatures back into the press, buying her a little room as she gathered the energy within her, concentrating as she shoved a hastily-made wall of force in front of her, a wave of force pushing outward to knock back the dozens pushing against her. Sara's victory was short lived as she was tackled from the side, sending her careening into and over a work station as she fell on her back with something on top of her. Hands went around her neck as Ryder struggled, grabbing the hands to pull away and looked up at what was on top of her.
It was Ash. But it wasn't.
Green veins were growing along her face, decorating her skin as the Colonial Soldier croaked and growled, her brown eyes decorated with green bloodshot corneas as she pinned Sara to the floor. Sara tried to get up from off the floor by shifting Ash's weight from directly on top of her, but the Soldier and her Rosenkov Materials' Titan Heavy Armor were too heavy. Ash was looking at her, but there was nothing Human in those eyes as Sara struggled, seeing moss-covered creatures pouring into sight.
"ASH! LET GO!" Sara screamed, desperate to free herself as green hands grabbed at her, pulled at her. The Corpsman fought back as best she could from her position, unable to get enough force or strength with her back on the floor and Williams on top of her. Several creatures loomed over her, their black maws opening as her arms were grabbed, unable to defend herself. "ASH!"
And mist was breathed upon her, enveloping her face and filling her lungs.
Author's Note: Canon? What Canon?
And I had to give an ode at the top for the worst final boss fight ever; a simple marauder (with shields) that shoots you in the shoulder. Should have gone for the head to prevent us from seeing that shitty ending.
Deputy Chad Gaultier was slated to be a part of Marse Collins' team in A Fox Amongst The Wolves, and even into The Fury Of Our Makers' Hand. Having him with her on Torfan (In The Season Of Wither) might have been a possibility if I had ever made it that far into the Peacemaker Series.
Hooah Bars - I bet there might be a few Vets who remember those disgusting things. They came in a variety of shitty flavors; chocolate, peanut butter, banana, cookies and creme, and apple. Every single one of those things sucked and felt like you were eating a terrible version of a Clif Bar… which is what they were.
I knocked Army cooking here pretty hard. For all you 92F, please don't think that reflects you as individuals. But on deployments, I contracted no less than five cases of food poisoning from Army-ran DFAC's, not the ones populated by Pakis. Had a camp where the entire population got hit with Salmonella. So… yeah.
UGRE - Unified Ground Ration Entree - It's actually a full meal meant to be cooked for a group of people (I think a section, so probably 16-24). They're… not horrible. Certainly better than most MRE's, can be fully cooked, and some of the components can't double as a lethal weapon (such as the wheat snack bread or the vegetable crackers… not to mention the entirety of the scrambled egg breakfast thingie that I think breaks the Geneva Conventions under the subject of torture).
I wanted to have a bit of a bonding moment with Ash and Newt, as one of the whole points of Aliens was for Ellen Ripley and Rebecca Jorden to become a surrogate family in a time of desperation. While you might think it was quick in this story (and it kind of was, but realistically it's been a couple of hours in-story time) how long do you think Ripley and Newt had in between the massacre of the Marines and the Invasion of the main complex? Couple hours?
William Hope is actually a Canon character… in the Aliens movie. This is the name of the actor who plays Lieutenant Gorman in that movie. Considering I've inserted Jeanette Vasquez and Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden, I needed an asshole. I also mention Teresa 'Tequila' Aquila… who is also an AvP character from the video game Aliens vs. Predator (2010), the only known survivor of that universe to have an embryo implanted in her by a facehugger but put into cryo to save her life. You'll meet Tequila later on.
And yet another asshole cliffhanger moment (ahem, The Astartes). Even one with the loss of a major character (which I'm known for doing, and have done before in this story back in Fall Of The House Of Therum, IV with Jannie being plummeted off a broken catwalk, and crew loss with Private Mikael Holodansk and Lance Corporal Hong Jeong).
Forward unto next chapter!