"Glory to the Empire of Man. Now here's your Bolter/Flamethrower combo." - Space Marine Veteran to a recruit.
Main Complex, Hadley's Hope, Feros, Theseus System, Attican Beta Cluster, July 12, 2183
Author's Note: Battled through a horrible, horrible writers' block that lasted several days. Barely did a couple hundred words a day until I found a way out and wrestled that motherfucker to the ground and put two to its head. Mostly thanks to Mick Gordan's Doom soundtrack. Nothing says love like heavy rifts to the ears and a heavy caliber to the face.
This place is a pinche deathtrap, Corporal Jeanette Maria Sanchez Vasquez thought to herself as she hoisted her Devlon Industries' M-56 Marshal Medium Machine Gun, leveling the weapon in a combat stance, aided by the carrying harness meant to lessen the load and help keep the weapon on-target by reducing its recoil. She was wearing an emergency rebreather over her nose and mouth since her helmet had been damaged fighting the Geth just a couple of days ago, though it seemed so much longer. She had gotten lucky; the round that cracked her faceplate and tore the armor off the forehead portion of her Aldrin Labs' Onyx Heavy Interceptor Armor had ricocheted outward, taking the spray of metal that was her helmet away from her and not towards her face and eyes. Captain Shepard had been worried about the possibility of biological contamination, and Seaman Monica Negulesco had converted two rebreathers for both herself and la pequina nina, Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden. Vasquez wasn't thrilled dragging a little girl along, but there was nowhere else for her. The Azul Flor, Doctor T'soni, was watching over the nina, likely the best one for that job. Didn't hurt the nina was practically attaching herself to the Asari's hip anyhow.
Jeanette scowled as she entered the darkened Complex with her Marshal at the ready, the grande cazador Urdnot Wrex taking the opposite side of the corridor with his Turian-made Cipritine Armories' T-24 Phaeston Heavy Assault Rifle in his meaty paws, both of his independent eyes moving in a searching manner as he lowered his helmet for a moment to sniff the air like a perro, searching for scent. As she understood it, Wrex was hired to take out big nasty things that haunted colonies and hunted colonists, a sort of space monster hunter or some such thing. Going what he said was 'quads' deep' into a building for something abducting folks was right up his alley. Vas wasn't about to turn away any help they could get, no matter the species. Before? Yeah, she wasn't a big fan of aliens, having grown poor and tough in the barrios of East L.A. where hombres and lolitas were more worried about catching hell from the pinche Rinches or from the cholos and urbano vaqueros peddling mesque or arena roja. No one on the streets care for the alienigenas or cared about them, more concerned for their own struggles back in Old L.A. Of course, one of their kind showed up? Then they were usually found in a gutter, beaten to death.
Amazing what a few days of working with some xeno hombres could do in a cuchitrill such as this.
"Air smells foul." Wrex's grumbling voice announced softly, his eyes zeroing in on the nearest pod, the thing burst open. "Like mold and death."
"Jesus Christo." The Latina breathed out, not because she disagreed, but because the situ sucked cula, big time. There were over nine hundred colonos in this building, pushed in with Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Hulick wanted to play grande mierda with them. The corridors should have people in them, people that were pissed to see them. Instead… instead…
All that was in these halls were ill-lit corridors and burst pods.
You can do this, you're a Marine, Jeanette reminded herself, wishing she could wipe the sweat off her face, sweat that was coming from stress and fear. There should have been Marines on the outside, but there were none found. There should have been colonists in he Complex, but they hadn't seen any yet. Everyone was gone, like her Platoon was gone. At least the pinche Geth didn't slink around and hide like cowards, giving a good stand-up fight. This? This was so much worse.
"Slow and steady." Came the voice of Captain Jane Shepard, the Lion standing in between Vas and Wrex, armed with her Alliance Offensive Firearm Initiative M-99 Saber Battle Rifle, Humanity's First SPECTRE right into the shit, taking lead and taking charge. Jeanette knew who this woman was before meeting her… Jesus Christo, was it only just the day before? Between the Geth attacks on Hadley's Hope, the jaunt to ExoGeni, clearing out that culo grande facility of a Headquarters stuffed full of Geth and Husks, not to mention a few Krogan under the employ of some puta named Saren, and then everything afterwards? It was hard to believe it had really be just over a day or so thanks to the thirty-plus hour days on Feros.
Vas had taken a nap on the drive back in the General Dynamics' M-35 MAKO Armored Personnel Vehicle, utterly worn out. She hadn't gotten any sleep, her dreams filled with the sight of people shoved onto meters-tall spikes dropping down to rend into flesh and bone. The stress, the exhaustion, the lack of proper meals at their proper times were getting to her; she felt like she had long ago since run past empty. Yet for many of TEAM LION, they seemed to be able to forge ahead despite having been through the same conditions as she, even the Marine Riflemen. Hell, little Doc Nugee hadn't slept on the trip back, caring for the little Quarian girl, Ensign (!?) Tali'Zorah nar Reyya, Seaman Monica Negulesco the only one able to keep the Pilgrim alive. She was still going strong despite the fact that this was her first ground deployment. There was no way in hell Vas would flunk out in front of Navy pukes and their alienigenas. She would keep going.
There were Marines here, there were colonists here. Mierde, they had a kid here!
"Padre Nuestro, que está en el Cielo…" Vasquez breathed out slowly and quietly, scanning the darkened corridor of the Main Complex as she moved forward alongside Wrex and Captain Shepard, her Marshal primed and ready to go in case some ugly decided to jump out. "Santificado sea tu nombre." Vas huffed as she heard the clatter of bootfalls upon the grated floor of the Main Complex, the noise irritating as it broke noise discipline, but expecting so many people to be that quiet was an impossibility. "Venga a nosotros tu Reino…" The leading three people of TEAM LION went past the first pod in a single stack, the Lion taking the lead as Wrex went after her and Vasquez after him before the rest of the team followed once the heavy front had been reestablished. "Hágase su voluntad en la Tierra como es en el Cielo." Vas kept her Marshal sweeping back and forth slowly, aiming the barrel at every dark corner and crevice, inspecting every opened door that was cleared by the team members behind them, Detective Garrus Vakarian leading the clearing ops with Private First Class Louis Broussard and Private First Class Holland Hoss. And there were many doors to the corridor. "Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día…" The words were working as Jeanette continued to speak them whenever she felt afraid, her back aching something fierce and her feet felt like every step was on broken glass. She had been up for well over a day, damn near two, without any real rest or break save that mierde siesta in the MAKO, with the bouncing around and the dreams. "Y perdona nuestras ofensas…" Jeanette winced as they reached an intersecting corridor and found more pods, no longer one or two shoved onto a wall; there was a cluster here. "Como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden." Shepard moved forward, taking the center spot of the intersection fearlessly, standing right in the damn middle and pivoting to sight down one corridor, and then about-facing to observe the other. A grunt on the Lions' part had Vas and Wrex dash forward and occupy the intersection as well, taking the flanking corridors to provide security as the Captain looked down each to decide which way to go next, and chose the left corridor, where the Corporal was facing. "No nos dejes caer en la tentación…" Jeanette was in the lead for a moment before other members of TEAM LION replaced the Lion and Wrex, the SPECTRE and the Krogan joining each side of her as Vazquez flexed her jaw and moved forward, now in the lead. "Y líbranos del mal." The moved forward at a half-pace until the telltale click of a tongue on the roof of the mouth from 1st Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, their rearguard, indicated that he was established in the same section as they had the three of them bounding forward at a tactical pace, avoiding more empty pods and empty rooms in the corridor. "Porque Tuyo es el Reino, el Poder, y la Gloria por Siempre Señor."
"Amen." Captain Shepard replied unexpectedly to her left, making Jeanette tense a little with the reply, but she heard five other voices utter the same word in acknowledgment and benediction. Vas hadn't meant to be overheard, but no one was giving her any grief, either.
"Miss Jane?" The little nina, Newt, whispered loudly to get the attention of the Lion. The front stopped as Jeanette saw the Lion turn her head to look upon Newt who was standing by Doctor T'soni's side.
"They're here."
"How can you tell?" Vasquez asked, her muscles tensing and her nerves going on overdrive. La pequina nina had survived all this without any training or a gaat! If she said something felt wrong, Vas was going to listen. Madre de Dios, the little girl survived something horrific on her own.
"There's no more skittering noises." The colonist replied meekly, her tone afraid as she clutched at the Doctor beside her, as Jeanette rotated her head to crack her neck and regripped her hands on the handles of her M-56 Marshal, her grip so tight she heard her own knuckles crack. The Marine had heard the slight sound of what she thought were rats in the ducts of the Complex, but now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen one rat in the entire month she had been on Feros. "The big hole that we made to escape is over there." The little girl pointed towards the direction they were facing. The colonists had tried to did their way out as if escaping a prison. Well, they had been.
But they had found something. Something bad.
"I think it's reasonable to assume there's no one on this level, or they're bunkered safely and opening the doors might put them in more danger." The Captain said, making Vasquez nod in agreement. There wasn't any real location they could stuff anyone into, and they had already cleared most of the smaller buildings' in Hadley's Hope to look for the Marines of the Fourth Marine Expeditionary Unit, finding none of them. "If that intel on Species 37 is correct, then it's likely that the people have been collected." No one wanted to say it out loud, Vas included, but they had all learned what the 'Thorian' thing was suppose to do; eat people like a Venus Fly Trap or some mierde and use their bodies like some… pinecone-laying monstrosity. Those pods they had passed before…
Jodor, there had been people in them.
"Vas, take us down the corridor. Keep it tight and frosty." The SPECTRE told her softly with a pat on her shoulder, either to give her reassurance or to communicate her meaning. Jeanette pursed her lips and rotated her neck to crack it, trying to ease the stress she felt in that ill-lit passage as she moved forward, taking the lead with a Human SPECTRE to one side of her, and a Krogan on the other.
She felt like she was going down that mythical rabbit hole. I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!, the damn song ran through her head, and the Marine tried to force it out as she began to move down the corridor.
It was like walking in hell.
Captain Jane Catherine Shepard, (SAN, N7, OST) kept her Alliance Offensive Firearm Initiative M-99 Saber Battle Rifle at the up-and-ready as she walked alongside Corporal Jeanette Vasquez, the Marine Gunner walking almost like a robot. It wasn't hard to imagine that the Corporal was probably scared as shit but would never admit to it in a million years, not having to face the same things that the members of TEAM LION had. Yet despite the scenario they were in, the gloom of the Complex with its dim lights and burst pods, the Corporal didn't lose her cool. Jannie had to admit that she was impressed with the Gunner; during their infiltration and assault of the ExoGeni Headquarters to throw out the Geth and ascertain what the synthetic race was after, Adios had been there every step of the way, putting bullets-to-enemy with the rest of them in a manner that was more than just competent. 2nd Lieutenant James Vega had said the woman was an artist with her Devlon Industries' M-56 Marshal Medium Machine Gun, and that she was. She could pour fire in the best locations, whether to stave off an assault, suppress a defensive position, taking advantage of a weakness, rounds always finding their target and not waisting a Celsius more than necessary with her fire on bad aim or overkill. If they made it through this fucking shitshow, the N7 was going to make the Marine Corporal an offer she'd likely wouldn't refuse; the possibility of joining TEAM LION. They had occurred losses, and it was sadly up to Jannie to replenish the ranks as necessary, and she wasn't about to let some slack-jaw mouthbreather who was likely to get themselves or someone else killed as an option. Jannie needed both competence and versatility. Jeanette had showed on several occasions that she had both.
Of course, they still had to make it through this fucking shitshow, of course.
Swear to God, I'm going to set fire to the ExoGeni Board Members when we're done with this, the Council Agent thought to herself, trying not to liken what she was finding in the Complex of Hadley's Hope with the Earth Alliance Carnival Cruise's ACV Horizon.While that had been a heart-breaking ordeal (especially with what happened to Lance Corporal Hong Jeong), that had been a true enemy action; the Geth had assimilated all those people, and they were the ones to blame for the deaths of four thousand souls at the very least that TEAM LION had been forced to kill in order to retrieve the vessel and return it to Alliance Space. But this? No, these people in Hadley's Hope had been killed by a Human Corporation for the sakes of money. They weren't any better than pirates, slavers, or assassins, those who killed or terrorized for green or personal enjoyment. Just because some motherfucker wore a suit, had an offer, and held a degree did not mean they got to play God.
On fucking fire, Jannie promised herself as she crept down the ill-lit corridor, her Saber at the ready.
There was a turn in the corridor, and at the silent count of three, Corporal Vasquez, Captain Shepard, and Urdnot Wrex rounded the corner to engage any threats with their respective weapons. Standing in the corridor was…
"Lieutenant Vega?" Jannie called out as loud as she could get without alerting everything through her vox as she spied a large Human male wearing Aldrin Labs' Onyx Heavy Interceptor Armor, toting a M-56 Marshal Machine Gun. The helmeted head turned slightly to look at Jannie, and she noted that the Marshal wasn't slung, merely pointing downward at the ground. Where the barrel was pointed at was a large hole cut through the deck's grating, evidence of earth and dirt around the surrounding rim to indicate someone had cut much deeper than the Complex's flooring. "James, that you?"
"Yes, Captain." The man replied, though his voice was… monotone through the vox speaker of his Onyx helmet that covered his face save for the narrow visor that allowed him to see. There was something about his response that had Jannie take a mental step back, not approaching the man like she might have. She couldn't put her finger on the why of it, though she had a sinking feeling she knew what this might be. Newt had said she had seen the Lieutenant just like the others; infected with green air. That could mean he was under the Thorians' control, though she didn't know if that meant a little bit, a lot, completely, or the range. Perhaps wearing a helmet prevented him from being controlled; ants on Earth used pheromones to communicate. For now, she was going to play it as if Vega were a potential hostile.
"What's in the hole?" Shepard asked, keeping her Saber pointed slightly downward, but ready to snap up at a moments' notice. Neither Wrex nor Vasquez followed her lead on that, keeping their respective weapons at the ready. She certainly wasn't going to admonish them for the precaution as her heart hammered in her chest. She could be talking to a man… or a fifty-thousand year old boogyman. Fuckin' ExoGeni.
"Talk to Sara. She's in charge." That had Jannie lurch for a second, hearing Sara's name. The whole time she had been worried about her team members that she had left behind on Hadley's Hope, but none more so than Sara Elaine Ryder. Was Sara okay? Shepard wanted to ask but bit her tongue. If Sara were okay, Newt wouldn't have been alone in a ghost town, that Shepard knew without a doubt.
"Okay, where is she, El-tee?" Vega wasn't acting like he did before; quiet, with short answers that didn't provide any information. She could see Jeanette's uncovered face, her mouth and nose protected by a translucent breather cup, and the N7 noted that the Corporal's jaw seemed to be chewing something without eating. That gave her all the confirmation she really needed; something wasn't right at all.
"Down the hole. Talk to Sara. She's in charge." The Marine Officer insisted, his weapon never moving from the hole, more like a marker than an instrument. Jannie didn't need to be told how the others of TEAM LION felt; it was a trap. But it was extremely likely that Sara, Ash, Sam, and Raeka were down there, not to mention the colonists of Hadley's Hope and the Marines of the Fourth Expeditionary Unit.
As well as the thing that was the center of this whole shitstorm; Species 37, the Thorian.
It's a plant, how bad could it be?
"Alright, Lieutenant. Lead the way."
Detective Garrus Kaaldor Vakarian was not in a good mood.
The former Blackwatch Turian stood in an overwatch position as he saw Captain Jane Shepard send her contragravity armored turret Bastilia down the dug-out hole to inspect it for traps or ambushes, taking a full minute to let the armored assault turret to ascertain any threats. This whole plan had gone to s'kak though that wasn't the fault of anyone here in TEAM LION. He honestly couldn't say that he would have done things differently with the knowledge that he had before, leaving key members at Hadley's Hope while the rest of them had gone to discover what the Geth were after. He couldn't even say he would have left different people either, each of the members left behind chosen for their profession and the accomplishments, wisely-selected and correctly-chosen. It just hurt that this whole s'kak-storm had involved people he trusted, ones he had no problems calling friend and comrade.
Garrus cradled his Kassa Fabrications' M-98 Widow Sniper Rifle and relished the thought of when he was going to be using it next.
A Thoi'han. Spirits! One of the ancient horrors!
Vakarian remembered that class well from his time in the Presidium Academy of Education, his sire so proud when Garrus had passed the Acceptance Exam at fifteen years of age, earning himself a spot in the most elite school in the galaxy, where Generals and Admirals sent their hatchlings to follow in their sires' footsteps. Alumni of the Academy could be found in the highest echelons of just about any endeavor of the galaxy, boasting to have educated corporate magnates, financial titans, political powerhouses, Generals, Admirals, Chamberlains, and even Councilors. The whole concept of the Academy was to educate a sapient to their fullest potential, to create a community of the most elite in a network of intelligence and success to practically rule the galaxy with knowledge, wealth, power, and networking. It had been this way in Citadel Space as well as outside of Citadel Space for nearly a millennium, educating the youth of some of the most powerful sapients in the galaxy so they to could control the motions of the galaxy.
The pretext was community and guidance. But really it was just a power play for galactic domination, which had been going on for nearly a millennium.
It was a bold plan that worked, honestly. Since the inception of the Presidium Academy of Education and its grossly exurbanite tenure, there had been no major wars in almost eight hundred years when Alumni from all species generally found themselves in key positions of power throughout the galaxy, tightening the grips against costly wars and destructive politics by commanding the most amount of political, business, and financial power in the galaxy. The Academy was as much a training camp as it was a font of knowledge, and its members prided themselves on keeping the galaxy in check. No more Rachni Wars. No more Krogan Rebellions. No more Unification Wars. There hadn't been a war that involved more than a system or two in almost a thousand years, keeping war itself in check by carefully inserting key people in key positions.
Each student had been told every day at the Academy that they would be the inheritors of the galaxy, and Spirits forgive them all, but the Academy was correct.
But there was the other side of the Credit coin, too; the ability to destroy everything if necessary.
And Garrus Kaaldor Vakarian, son of a C-SEC Executor, found himself at talon-range of just one of those reasons that they had all been warn about.
Not much was known of the ancient horrors that the Protheans fought; the Metacons, the Oravores, the Zah'til, the Ditakur, and the Enduromi. Bits and pieces had been molded together throughout the centuries of Protheantology, discoveries many by dozens of species brought together to craft a picture of the Empire From Before. While Vakarians' specialty didn't include archeology or paleontology, he had been educated to know of what happened to the Prothean Empire, though no one knew what had driven it to collapsing extinction, though a brutal fast-paced war seemed the likely conclusion. The Metacons had been a some sort of sentient living machines, not like an Artificial Intelligence that takes over the body of a mech or even like the Geth. Supposedly they were evolved machines with crafted synthetic thinking processes that made them individuals, technically an Artificial Intelligence, but what little information was known suggested that the Protheans were unsure who or what had created the Metacons in the first place. The Oravores were an organic race of atmosphere-breathing aquatic-descendant species that had tested itself against the might of the Empire, seeking to dominate and enslave the galaxy, seeing their species as apex predators and the rightful heirs to all they saw. The Zah'til were a race that had stupidly grafted synthetic components with various intelligence nodules that turned them into a blend of organic and synthetic intelligence that supposedly wished to place their line of thinking upon all the galaxy, seeking perfection through unity (under themselves, of course). The Diakur were a warmongering race that had struck the Empire and its client races for sapient trafficking, a hyper-aggressive species that thrived on war. The Enduromi were another race that tested its strength against the Protheans as well, supposedly committing genocidal acts and wiping out a client race. Supposedly, the Rachni existed then, too. Each of these races had been obliterated and hunted to extinction by the Protheans.
But none more-so than the ancient Thoi'han. Protheans had burned worlds eradicating the Thoi'han.
How terrible could these creatures be? Even the Rachni worlds hadn't been glassed.
One semester had been dedicated to the Prothean Era in the Academy. Several hours had been sequestered for the ancient horrors… and what an Alumni was meant to do upon discovery of the existence of one of those ancient monstrosities.
Spirits… I don't think I can do it.
Garrus watched as TEAM LION began to file into the hole, being led by Captain Shepard first, no surprise there, and then the rest took a small plunge into the recess, only a three or four meter drop as the Turian understood it. His eyes went to Doctor Liara T'soni, the only other Alumni left in the group now that Agent Zevin Raeka and Petty Officer Sara Ryder were… gone. The four of them together could have easily made sure that the Thoi'han would never see the light of day again, convincing the Captain to kinetic strike the colony to ensure it. If a Thoi'han were reported to the Council, no doubt the Councilors would immediately vote to glass the planet just to be on the safe side, each of them Alumni themselves, as well as the Grand Admiral of the Citadel Defense Fleet, the High Admiral of the Hierarchy Navy, the Matriarch Admiral of the Republican Navy, and several other leading military organizations in the galaxy. Feros would likely have ten percent of its mass reduced to ensure success. The Thoi'hans had scared an Empire more powerful than the Council so badly that they had glassed entire worlds to make sure the job had been done right.
Seems they missed one right under their snouts. Feros was once a Prothean world, and there was a Thoi'han on it. Perhaps a prisoner? The last remaining subject of its species, held in check for observation and science experiments? Regardless, it had to die.
But that's not what worried Garrus; his thoughts were of the colonists, the Marines, and their own team members. Sara…
"We will save them." The Asari Protheantologist said quietly through her Hydra Armaments' Lindworm Medium Armor helmets' vox, the visored slit where her eyes could see looking right at him, Vakarian seeing sapphire eyes looking to him. "They may yet be pulled from the grips of the Thoi'han, Detective. If they are only infected, we may pull them from the grips of that ancient horror."
"I hear a lot of 'ifs', 'mays', and 'hopes', Doctor." Garrus replied softly, unable to disguise the sadness in his sub-vocal tone. "I want to rescue them. I want to see them safe. I want her to…" He stopped his words right on their path, knowing he had said too much.
"I know, Garrus." The Asari Maiden placed a gentle hand on his forearm, her eyes showing pain. "She is worthy of you, and you are worthy of her. It does not surprise me at all that you would still care for her despite what might have happened before. If the situation were reversed? I see Sara trying to build a miracle out of tech and equations to free you."
"I see Ash setting that vracking thing on fire for you." Oh yes, he had seen the Asari Doctor and the Human Soldier growing closer, which boggled him at first. Originally, Ashley Williams hadn't been too keen on sharing ships with non-Humans. She had grown since then, due to no small part of being a part of TEAM LION and the budding relationship between Doctor T'soni and herself. Garrus had been like her once himself; not exactly fond of Humans. It had been Sara that had changed his mind and view of the species from Terra. "I don't want to see her dead, Liara. Not by anyone's hand."
"I agree. Which is why I have a plan." The Asari looked to see that TEAM LION had almost fully gone into the hole that would likely lead them to a monster of the stars. Garrus chuffed at the thought, but he didn't argue with it. Liara was damn smart and just as motivated as he to get their friends and loved ones out alive.
"I'm listening."
Subterranean Level, Hadley's Hope, Feros, Theseus System, Attican Beta Cluster, July 12, 2183
Sha'ran Niki'Raan nar Tombay was quickly finding out that she was a terraphobe.
The Marine Rifleman held her Rannoch Industries' Adas Electrostatic Discharge Rifle in her three-fingered hands, her grip tight on the pistol grips both at the trigger and the barrel of the weapon, working hard to keep her panicked breathing to a more manageable level. It was… just all this earth! Above her! Below her! Around her! It was like being entombed alive! All she wanted to see was metal, to hear the clang of boots on a grate, the spot of LEM diodes upon an electrical panel, to see the comfort of wires and hull protecting her. She could swear to the ancestors that the dirt was clogging her filters, trying to fill her EnviroSuit with its grit and its dirt. Didn't these bosh'tets know that the ground collapses?
This was worse than Therum. Way worse.
The Quarian Pilgrim mentally muscled her way through, trying to get herself in a more relaxed and tactical manner, trying not to move like a 'droid or a 'mech, but her digitigrade legs felt stiff and uncooperative as her suited feet hit… ugh! Earth! Why couldn't this ancient plant thing grow on the surface, like a proper plant? Weren't most plants attracted to sunlight and water? How did some krev plant in a cave get water and light? This wasn't the Hydroponics Section of a Quarian vessel, after all!
Niki hated being underground, and tried not to look up to much to see if the tunnel was about to collapse.
What was worse than being underground was the fact that they were practically walking to some bosh'tets' lair like this was some stupid action-vid, probably some Turian tuho at the end of it bristling with weapons and a condescending duel-tone. She'd been watching Human vids with Private First Class Louis'Broussard nar Elysium vas Normandy, and most of them were silly-stupid that the Marine Prospect generally snorted through the 'action' parts, scoffed at the 'romance' parts, and practically slept through the plot. Human action vids had nothing on a good Asari action immersevid with their swords and biotics and…
Ugh! Earth!
"You okay, Niki?" That was Louis, her… she wasn't sure what they were. Pay attention to the situation, not your malefriend!, Raan admonished herself, but paying attention equaled wondering if there would be a rockslide and collapse the tunnel they were in or… like that one movie Bra had watched with her when some Human man had gone treasure hunting and had to outrun a rolling boulder. That had scared her more than the tubular scaled animal things the Human male supposedly hated! She jerked her head up and behind her. No, thank the Ancestors, no rolling boulder.
"I was born on a ship, and I live on a ship." The Rifleman said as her grip tightened on her Adas. "Where are we now?"
"Um, underground?" That was Private Nathanial'Balsach nar Terra Nova vas Normandy. Bosh'tet-extraordinaire. He was always looking at her mammaries, Humans more attracted to her milking glands, as oppose to her lush hips. Well, he looked at those, too. But generally her mammaries when he thought she wasn't looking. Louis certainly liked her mammaries and liked to touch them whenever they were together and alone. Well… it wasn't unpleasant, and it certainly made him more affectionate. She was a girl out on her Pilgrimage, not in the confusing crowded bustle of the Fleet. She would be far from the first Pilgrim to have sex with an alien. She wasn't sure if they were merely quarterpartners or something more yet.
"Think it through, jhar hee-ad." She tried saying the Alliance English word without translation, but her mouth wasn't evolved for saying jarhead. Still, everyone knew what she meant, and Seaman Monica'Negulesco nar Elysium vas Normandy chuckled softly at the rather apt description of Ballsack. "It would be like if you were forced to live under water." That almost had Niki shudder at the thought. How the Hanar did it she had no idea. Nor did she want to. All that water! Ugh!
"Need something?" Doc Nugee asked softly from behind her, holding her own Winchester Arms M-96 Mattock Auto Assault Rifle in her hands, looking much more at ease than Raan felt. Didn't Humans evolve from some tree-climbing furry thing? How were they so comfortable? They should have been fretting like a Volus stuck in an airlock with a Krogan! "Got a dextro version diazapham that can help the nerves. It's an anti-anxiety medication for such situations."
"No. Being afraid means being alert." And Niki didn't trust that the… ceiling? Was that the word? She didn't trust it. Not for one second. It'd fall if she weren't glaring at it.
The tunnel kept going on as they marched through this death trap that had some killer plant thing. Why couldn't have been on the surface?
Niki kept her proper distance from Louis, who was marching tactically to her starboard, his hands coolly holding his Valerion Kinetics' R36 Karseus Assault Rifle, the helmet of his Kassa Fabrications' Colossus Medium Engagement Armor moving back and forth as he kept to his sector of fire… which happened to be more (ugh!) dirt. The tunnel/shaft wasn't very large, only letting TEAM LION walk two at a time, being led by a large bulky Human male, 2nd Lieutenant James'Vega nar Earth vas Feros. No one seemed to trust him, so Niki didn't trust him, despite the fact that he was a Human Marine like Bra and Ballsack. Some sort of wretched plant-creature supposedly had mind-controlling powers, and it was easy to put lead-to-connector and figure out that Vega was leading them to the 'bad guy' (silly Human vids!). Everyone knew it was a trap or an ambush, and they were ready for it.
Just… did it have to be under the surface? Plants grew on the surface! Raan had seen pictures of it!
Cousin, be glad you aren't stuck in this dirtcoffin with me! The thought of Tali'Zorah nar Reyya twisted her heart as Niki's left hand ungripped the forward grip of her Adas to touch Tali's Rannoch Industries Reegar Carbine Electromagnetic Emission Shotgun on her left thigh, somewhat wishing her cousin was here. That would mean that she were alive and well in the vracking planet instead of the SSV Normandy, medically evacuated with an emergency code as her cousin clung to life. Ancestors, please look out for your Daughter!, Niki thought to herself as her left hand went back to its deathgrip on her Adas, really hoping something silly or stupid would pop out in the narrow tunnel, like one of those terrible Human horror vids that really weren't that scary. Shooting something right about now would seriously improve her mood.
Then again, the bad guy probably wasn't dumb enough to get themselves stuck in the dirt. UGH!
The tunnel kept going on, no end or relief in sight as the Pilgrim panted, feeling the earth suffocating her, the sound of dirt scrapped by treading suitboots getting on her frayed nerves, the sight of dirt cascading from the hull of the tunnel frightening her. How much of the planet was above them? Ancestors! They could get crushed! Tunnels collapsed! It was a statistic! That's why people invented mining drones! But nooooo… they just had to go trapezing down the earth hole to face some sort of ancient monstrosity. They couldn't kinetic strike it from space or… send some sort of anti-fungal gas down the hole. Poison the bosh'tet good with some weed killer Asari advertisements were always going on and on about for their sacred Thessian gardens and whatnot. Here lies Niki'Raan, killed by earth! Her Fleet Captain would not be pleased, and she would be the laughingstock of Migrant Fleet Marine Recruits, buried in dirt instead of being cloaked in the stars. Bosh'tet, Raan thought to herself as she felt the grit and rubble of dirt under her soled feet, you could have elected yourself to protect the little out-of-her-bubble Human girl on the surface! But nooooo… let's swim in the dirt like its some Asari tidal pool!
No, she would have never abandoned crew like that, but it was an entertaining thought. Niki regripped her Adas once more and tried not to think of how many megatons of earth was above her helmet.
"Take a fiver."
That was Captain Jane'Shepard nar Ticonderoga vas Normandy. The term 'fiver' meant a five-minute break, for everyone to 'take a knee' and rest while one could. Niki'Raan tried not to think how her knee was touching the dirt but she did so anyhow. All of them had been up for well over a day, going on near two, and it didn't look to being over any time soon. She watched the Captain (and the dirt) as the Human SPECTRE went to each individual, seemingly giving each one orders or words. Niki really liked Captain Shepard; she was easily a match for any Quarian Fleet Captain and Quarian Fleet Marine Commander combined! She was strong, tough, fearless, cared for ship and crew, and loved building destructive toys. In a group comprised of well-versed warriors and fearless combatants, she showed herself to be a step above and beyond that, leading them to victory each and every time against numbers that were frightening! She was the epitome of what a SPECTRE should be; a warrior without peer.
"How are you holding up, Raan?" The Captain came to her, taking a knee beside her after she got done talking to Bra, the communication private.
"Stuck inside a planet with kilometers of dirt above us with a murderous mutant plant that might make us think were Hanar Fornax stars? I think the Turian might need a hug!" Niki quipped, eliciting a chuckle from the non-Quarian. "I hate it under-the-ground. It's going to squish us."
"I know what you mean, actually; I was born on a ship, and lived on ships or stations my entire life until I joined the Navy." That was right, Jane'Shepard was known as a 'spacer' amongst the Humans. "My big one was open doors. First day on Earth, and someone just walked right out the door and outside and all I could remember thinking was 'oh God, we're all going to get sucked out!'" That had the Quarian Pilgrim chuckling a little. Yeah, she totally understood. "Took a week for me to walk outside without feeling the need to puke or cry out of that fear. Took another year for the nervousness to go away. Don't think I've ever told anyone that. Not even Sara."
"We'll find her." If it had been Tali? Niki would forge megameters underground to see her cousin and friend safe, dirt be damned! "I got some Hydrogen Slush grenade mods stored in my OmniTool if you really want to set something on fire."
"Oh boy, trapped underground with a firestorm. Sounds lovely." Raan could hear the amusement over the personal communication. "Hey, you are doing well, especially if its in a location that would be personally difficult for you even in normal circumstances. Didn't think of that, honestly. Guess I should be glad I don't have the same issue."
"Yeah, didn't Humans evolve on trees?" Not at all like the plains and steppes of Rannoch that were displayed on pics, paintings, tapestries, and even decorated on the hulls of the Fleet, reminding the People of the Home That Was.
"Yup, just sat on a mango tree until our tails went away." The non-Quarian replied with a chuckle. Niki just looked at the Special Forces Warrior for a moment, boggled.
"Wait…you have tails, too?"
2nd Lieutenant James Vega led the way, and Captain Jane Shepard followed.
Wherever they were going, the N7 knew that TEAM LION was close. The tunny they had been traveling in for the past hour or so had broadened, and there was evidence of a few of those sickening pods that they had seen in the Main Complex adhered to the rock walls of the tunnel, obviously where poor colonists had been dragged underground and… whatever it was that had been done to them. Though… no, that hole in the deck of the Complex hadn't gone outward, but inward. The colonists had been stuffed into the Complex by the Fourth Marine Expeditionary Unit, and some of them had gotten the idea to escape by digging their way out like a prison break. They had dug and found a tunnel, and no doubt saw it as a path to salvation.
Poor bastards.
The Human SPECTRE kept one eye on the Lieutenant, who had nothing more to say than 'talk to Sara, she's in charge' whenever a question was asked, infuriating the hell out of her. Jannie wanted answers, not walking towards an obvious trap. Unfortunately, it seemed that Sara and the others were down this little fuckfest murderhole, and unless she missed her guess, the Thorian would be down here, too. Good, because she had it to about her eyeballs in this bullshit. She was going to find this flower or frond or whatever the fuck it was and set it on fire. Then she could rescue her friends and the colonists and get the fuck off this shithole planet post-haste. Jannie did not like being underground, and having next to no room to maneuver certainly wasn't improving her spirits, either. She held her M-99 Saber Battle Rifle at the ready as she led her team deeper into the tunnel, wondering how the hell they were able to fit some nine hundred colonists and two hundred plus Marines down here. Were they cocooned? Jannie tried not to think of some of those classical movies from the late-20th and early-21st Century, campy horror movies where people ended up meals or whatnot to something nasty. Because she was practically about to walk into something similar.
Why couldn't they be facing something… benign? She was seriously considering missing the Geth!
The tunnel was getting brighter, an echo of illumination peering before them as Vega led them on, Jannie looking to her starboard to see Urdnot Wrex beside her. The N7 gave the Krogan one nod, remembering the instructions that she had given him personally and him alone. Three others had also gotten something similar, a set of personal instructions to face whatever was in front of them as the N7 looked forward, the Augmented Reality Overlay Display on the interior curve of her HMWA MasterGear SPECTRE Mk. IV Helmet beginning to shift from low-light intensification to a lesser degree as her eyes began to see more into the gloom of the tunnel, no longer having to rely on low-like amplification and the armor's on-board advanced VI mapping program that highlighted contour lines of the tunnel and outlined friendly units. She would bet her SPECTRE armor that they were about to walk into the boss level. She hoped to God the damn thing didn't monologue like some cheesy action vid bad guy.
Show up. Blast plant silly. Save colonists, Marines, and team. Everything else expendable. Play by ear and adapt to changing conditions.
No need to over-complicate it, after all.
The tunnel terminated into what looked to be a humongous cavern as Vega walked forward, looking neither left nor right, his M-56 Marshal never sweeping from side-to-side to check for threats, Jannie noted as she slowed her pace, waiting for the man to put some distance in between them as she found herself slowly able to see more into the cavern the closer to the tunnel's end she got. The gloom was almost washed away as Captain Jane Shepard passed through the entrance into the enormous cavern that looked large enough to fit a colony in, the bowl extending almost as high as it was wide. God, you could fit a small city in here!, Jannie thought to herself as she took a few steps into the interior, looked to her port and starboard to make sure the immediate vicinity was clear, and found her slowly pivoting to see the entire scope of the enormous hollow cave that she was now in. How in the fuck did the Protheans miss this? Shepard was pretty sure she could guess the reason, the easiest one being that the extinct race hadn't missed the Thorian or its cave. Still, Jannie looked around the cave, taking her time as she looked at the bowl that had to be at least a cubed kilometer in size, in awe of what she saw.
Inside was something like a paradise.
There was a microclim inside the cave, that was easy to ascertain. Every surface and crevice of the cave was covered in growth, most of it easily recognized as some alien flora, the N7's touching upon what carpeted the deck of the cave, a spiky grass-like frond growth that blanketed the ground, vines and leaves decorating the caverns' walls, finding recesses and cracks for purchase as the vines crawled their way upward at least dozens or so meters. There were even tree analogs, tall trunk-like sentinels that had mushroom-like caps for its tops. There was a vibrancy of color to the cave, mostly in the hues of yellow and indigo and in between those, and Jannie briefly wondered if this was what Feros had looked like before, before the Protheans' industry and growth had conquered the planet and build over literally everything.
And in the center of it all. Jannie saw her destination.
It was a house… of sorts, if a house could stand what appeared to be two hundred meters tall, wide, and thick, in the shape of what appeared to be… Jesus, it looks like a gigantic testicle. Sitting in the middle of the cave was certainly something hanging from thick cables drooping from the ceiling of the cavern, looking for all the galaxy like a gigantic scrotum sac, a slightly wrinkled bag with venous protrusions decorating its surface, its lowest-most portion bulging with something circular and full…
Oh… oh fuck…
That wasn't the house for an alien plant.
That was the alien plant!
Jannie felt herself almost in shock at the sight of it; the thing was larger than the SSV Normandy! It was practically the size of a Light Destroyer! It didn't look like a plant, not really. The information terminal back in ExoGeni Headquarters stated that Species-37 did spread a spore that allowed it to infest and communicate with other 'sentients', and spores were a fungal or mold-like seed…
Great, a giant killer puffball mushroom.
Vega was walking down the bowl, seemingly without a care in the world as Jannie turned her head and 'snicked' her tongue to her team, indicating that they could enter the cave now that she was sure the ambush wasn't immediately at the entrance. The remaining ten members of TEAM LION entered into the cavern, and she could hear a few whispered words of wonder through some of their vox's of the sight of such a lush environment inside a cave in what had to be at least two kilometers underground. Jannie wasn't even a hundred percent sure where the luminosity was coming from; she didn't see a hole in the ceiling of the cave to indicate an area where sunlight was coming in. Bioluminescence, perhaps? Sara would have gotten a kick out of this, seeing life pulling off miracles in the most unlikely of places. Sara… Jannie thought as she looked to where James went, the Marine waiting a dozen or so meters away, slightly de-elevated from the natural bowl that the Thorian occupied. The N7 noted that the slope was too even, too smooth to be natural; this wasn't a hole made by millions of years of water and microfractures from microtremors; it had been carved out. Amphitheater, maybe, the cavern did seem to be made into a large half-sphere, perfect for acoustics. Jannie trudged forward slowly as she swept the surrounding area with both her Saber and her wonder, her mind whiling at the implications. The last of its species… the last of its kind… and they kept it in a cage!
This is a zoo!
Now it made sense to her as Jannie continued to lead TEAM LION, the members of her team automatically moving into a wedge formation with her at the head of the point of the inverted 'V', designed to cut a swatch forward if necessary while maximizing upon volume-of-fire in sectors with three to four people able to engage the same target without having to shift-fire or turn. In terms of totality, it was the best formation possible for facing a likely ambush from the front or the side, able to shift and respond in an direction from the front and the side. The Protheans must have went on an eradication spree to kill off these Thorians, but left one alive… as a living display case, to show their Empire their might by parading around the defeated enemies of their kind and culture. Much like the Romans did, trudging defeated generals down the main boulevards of Rome, the Protheans kept this specimen as a way to wank their ego, burying it upon a city-wide planet and probably making money off of tourists with the thought of showing off a monster!
Fucking disgusting. At least the Council hadn't kept around a pet Rachni to show off.
"Captain, there are subjects in the tree-growths, keeping their distance and concealment." Detective Garrus Vakarian said over the SquadComm, his tone quiet as the Turian cradled his ERCS M-15 Vindicator Battle Rifle, updated and modified by the Rapid Response Unit Armorers to make a very lethal rifle for the most prestigious law enforcement unit in the galaxy.
"I see them." Her ARO had highlighted the movement, and she had Cortana zoom in on one of the creatures in a separate viewing window,, and Jannie winced at the sight of what Newt had called 'green monsters'. Despite the child-like description… Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden hadn't been far off. They were humanoid, around the size and shape of a Human, with two arm-like upper limbs and two leg like lower plantigrade limbs. But the rest of the creature was covered in some moss-like covering for skin, green and yellow, thick enough that it seemed to be skin. Organic armor, perhaps, Shepard wondered as she followed Lieutenant Vega, heading deeper into the bowl, approaching the humongous testicle-thing that just dangled there, suspended by trunk-thick cable-vines that came from the top of it, connecting it to the ceiling of the amphitheater, probably meant to collect water or even sunli… no, this thing doesn't use photosynthesis, the N7 reminded herself, remembering what the ExoGeni Database had informed them, horrifying the redhead at the thought that this plant ate people as food. "Don't engage unless engaged or I give the signal. The colonists and the Marines might be down here, and they might be mind-control. If it's Human, use non-lethal munitions. We didn't come here to kill innocent folk." Once Jannie got done setting the Thorian on fire, it would be Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Hulicks' turn. That bitch was getting tossed on the pyre too, the two-timing cunt.
TEAM LION continued down the path forged by Lieutenant Vega, the testicle monstrosity towering over all as they got closer and closer and closer.
Shepard felt the ground shift from slant to flat as they walked through a forest of mushroom trees and frond-grass, finding a clearing that was about a hundred meters square, cleared of vegetation as she walked forward, her team staying in the cover of the alien trees as she went ahead, knowing that she was probably about to get the James Bond Villain treatment or some shit. One didn't escort an armed and armored opponent unless they were trying to sell something, and Jannie had the feeling that's what was about to happen; the Thorian wanted something, something that she had. While the clearing itself was void for most anything and everything in the front of the gigantic plant hanging from the ceiling, the N7 saw that the clearing was positively lined with those creepy green monster things, hundreds of them lining the area as if to watch a show, none of them moving forward. Yet in front of her was a small group, most of them facing her. Jannie immediately recognized the persons in front of her with a grimace as Lieutenant James Vega included himself in that line of five sapients, turning to face her, standing to the port-most position of that line. Four people faced her, and Vega clicked a portion of his gorget to collapse his helmet to reveal his face, showing the same signs as the four others; green web-line lines spreading under their skin, obviously infected. Their eyes, too, showed the same indication, bloodshot with green blood vessels, all of them looking right at her, not saying a word and not moving a muscle.
2nd Lieutenant James Vega, Marshal Samantha Collins, Sergeant First Class Ashley Williams, and Agent Zevin Raeka.
In the middle of the line was the only one with their back turned to her, gazing upon the Thorian, the figure in ultrablack and deep bloodred armor. The only one that moved, the only one that seemed cognizant.
"You came. We knew you would. We've been expecting you."
Jannie flinched at the sound of that voice, so familiar yet so foreign as the figure turned, and Shepard's heart twisted in her breast at the sight of the same infection on that face, on her face; the same green-webbed desecration spreading under the skin, yet still visible, eyes that were tainted with green, bloodshot blue eyes. The N7 had hoped beyond hope that the worst hadn't come to pass, but seeing the remaining members of TEAM LION in front of her had made that hope a folly.
The figure turned, and Jannie's heart broke at the sight…
…of Sara Elaine Ryder.
Author's Note: I had some straight up begging on what I did to Sara and Crew at the end of The Siege Of Hadley's Hope, IV, people honestly went and cried.
I'm not translating all that Spanish. Some of it is 'potty language'. The Lord's Prayer is in there, and the rest should be pretty easy to figure out.
Taphephobia is actually the fear of being entombed or being buried alive, which is different from claustrophobia (fear of enclosed places). There isn't a 'proper' term for being afraid of being underground, so I went with one people would likely recognize; fear of earth.
The movie Niki'Raan references is Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Quarterpartners? - Quarian version of a fuckbuddy. 'Quarters' being another word for a room for a Sailor or member in the military.
I still remember my thoughts of the Thorian when first encountered for the first time in Mass Effect; probably blasted it for five minutes before some squadmate told me to go for the nodes (and being too dumb to find them all quickly). Instead, I changed the Thorian a bit with a mix of that one cave on Habitat Seven (the survivor tree) with a drove of bad guys. Seriously, where did all those Creepers come from anyhow. Well… now you know.