BioWare/EA: we own thiASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!
TEAM RED, "Front Door", Alexandria Station, Herschel System, Kepler Verge, July 25, 2183
Author's Note: Surprisingly, the theme to this ARC is based off the old-school 'Rainbow Six' video/computer game (not the R6V games from X-Box 360, but the ones from the 90's!) where tactical finesse and choice between characters strengths increased your odds of success.
Two things about this date; 12/7.
First? Pearl Harbor Day (77 years ago) so this goes out to all those who were there in Hawaii that day and those who served in WWII.
Second? This story is now nine months old and still going.
For now? Knuckle up!
You're about to kick in the front door with a Lion! MAKO-style! :-)
"Skipper? ETA to front door, thirty seconds."
"Roger, Army." Captain Jane Catherine Shepard (SAN, N7, OST) called out from her position in the General Dynamics' M-35 MAKO Armored Personnel Vehicle as they drifted through space "Teams? Update ready status." Everyone had at least four minutes to set breaching charges and portable atmo barriers to infiltrate Alexandria Station, to break into the facility without setting off an alarm and a normal hull-breach lockdown. TEAM RED was to be the doorknocker; they were to grab the attention of whoever was on-board and bring any kind of defenses to them.
They were bringing a tank to a VBSS fight; the assholes were going to need as much luck as they could pray for.
[TEAM BLUE set], came the duel-toned voice of Detective Garrus Kaaldor Vakarian at the 'rear door' position.
[TEAM WHITE set], answered Petty Officer (Second Class) Sara Elaine Ryder, her tone pure professionalism. Good.
[TEAM BROWN set], replied Urdnot Wrex, his deep rumble indicating he was looking forward to this.
"This is RED-1," Shepard called out, her right hand already on the MAKO's weapons trigger, having sighted on the main hanger door of Alexandria Station, the holographic crosshair on the image of the closed bay doors, "all TEAMs commence entry operations in three… two… one… BREACH!" Jannie thumbed the trigger of the main cannon of the Armored Personnel Vehicle, the one-hundred and fifty-five gram round exiting the barrel at a percent of the speed of light and slamming itself right into the weakest point of the main hanger door; the seam where the bottom section and upper section connected right in the middle of the ingress/egress port where spaceborne vessels were to enter/exit. The round penetrated through the natural weak point of the station, piercing it with little difficulty as it punched a hole big enough for a person to crawl through. Unfortunately for the door, the hull was pressurized and physics took over as the vacuum of space began to suck everything out through the hole right along the seam of the pressure doors… the metal ripping away as the breach grew larger. Jannie put another round right next to the hole that she made, enlarging the breach as something flew out of the facility and breach that she had made, what looked to be a Turian-made Trebin Astronaticals' V-23 Apaltus Personnel Delivery Vessel slammed into the breach and forced through, broadening the hole as the small-crew shuttle shattered and scattered from the force of being ripped through a small hole, making the breach more than large enough to put a tank through.
"Don't see that everyday." Sergeant First Class Ashley Williams coined over the SquadComm with mild amusement as she maneuvered the M-35 MAKO with the aid of its jump thrusters and boost thrusters, 'flying' the tank towards the entry point. "Brace for controlled crashing."
Jannie watched the holographic display of the station filling her screen as the hole 'swallowed' them and artificial gravity making them drop to the deck as the APV slammed into a small pinnacle berthed in the dock, knocking the small vessel over as its hull crumpled when introduced to the armor-plated hull of the MAKO at a high rate of speed, the pinnacle practically staved in the middle as the M-35 grinded to a halt somewhere in the middle of the main hanger with a squeal of metal and pops from rapid thermalization as the near-zero hull of the tank entered into the balmy temperatures of Alexandria Station, whatever condensation was on the tank heating up rapidly and boiling off as steam waifed off the vehicle.
"TEAM RED, deploy and conduct local security and five-by-twenty-fives." Shepard put out as she unbuckled herself from the Gunner's Seat, sliding out of the lifted cupola of the APV and onto the main deck of the cargo area/personnel area as Private First Class Louis 'Brassiere' Broussard mashed the deployment ramp button at the aft of the tank, dropping the ramp as he swept his Valerion Kinetics' R36 Karseus Assault Rifle from right-to-left before sweeping back left-to-right on the ground, looking for any immediate threats at range and then any possible dangers on the ground before stepping off the ramp and into the station proper. Doctor Liara T'soni was right behind the Marine, her Hydra Armaments' M-113 Drake Assault Rifle in her hands as she took a position beside Bra as Jannie stepped out as well, her Alliance Offensive Firearm Initiative M249 Typhoon Squad Automatic Weapon coming into her hands from its maglocked place on her back, opting for totality instead of precision since she knew this would likely be a more defensive fight on her behalf instead of a tactical insertion-and-exploitation operation. She had modified the weapon pretty extensively to bring down the weight, control the heavy recoil, dialing the rate-of-fire down a little for better accuracy, and crafted a more efficient heat sink for better capacity. Oh yeah, she got rid of that stupid-ass 'gunshield' attached to the weapon for extra protection. All it did was weight the weapon down and get in the way.
Jannie took a flanking position as she swept the Typhoon on the port side to see for any security personnel or devices as well as noting any access points to the hanger bay. The stations' alarms were blaring overhead, and she noted that an emergency Kiggs field had already dropped over the 'breach' of the door, atmospherics on the rise on the inside of the sealed portion of the station they had just flushed out with tank fire. Jannie was pleased to note that several of the small-crew vessels inside the hanger were now listing or moved from their moors, making them that much more difficult to use if anyone tried to acquire them.
"Area's secured, Skipper." Williams called out, her Kassa Fabrications' M76 Reverent Light Machine Gun in her hands, scanning the 'back' of the dock where the main door into the station was located, only two minor accesses to the port and starboard of the bay. "If there was anyone here when we knocked, they were either sucked out or got smacked into something hard."
"Agreed." The N7 noted, not seeing any movement in the hanger while all three doors remained closed. "TEAMs? Update." Jannie heard every Team Leader announce the success of their infiltration, timed with the 'noisy' entrance of the MAKO. TEAM BLUE, WHITE, and BROWN had breached their way inside and had reported their positions as inside the station itself instead of just the access airlocks. Everything was going according to plan. "Copy, Canus Majoris. RED-1 out." Jannie told them the codeword to 'continue mission' before turning off the Squad-Link of her SquadComm, reverting it back to Team-Level so her words remained only with TEAM RED. She wasn't going to micromanage the teams; that's why she had Garrus pick people with leadership skills and histories. "Bra? Take Gunner's seat and secure perimeter while Williams, T'soni, and myself secure and disable the extra vessels."
"Hoo-rah." The Marine piped up as he entered the MAKO through the deployment ramp to take the defensive position in the armored vehicle, able to hold out against likely anything this station might possess. The whole point of TEAM RED was to create a distraction and make enough noise to that the other three teams could action in on their objectives while Jannie and her team pulled in whatever security forces and equipment existed on Alexandria Station. Which is why they brought a tank, two personnel-carried machine guns, and the most powerful Biotic the SSV Normandy had. "RED-1, this is RED-Gemini. Defensive perimeter with eyes on all three doors for access denial."
"Roger, Gemini. Keep eyes on and call out anything that strikes you as odd." Shepard was actually pretty pleased with how Bra worked and thought. Despite the general opinion of Marines being 'Jarheads', Broussard was obviously of the more-intelligent variety. Which was why she had him in TEAM RED; she needed someone competent that she didn't need to keep eyes on or babysit, unlike Ballsack and Lapdance. They were good Marines, but leaving them by themselves wasn't exactly recommended. "Ghost, Bastila? Move to port side and scan for any life signs." The custom-made contragravity combat drone Ghost chirped in compliance as it floated off to the left while the contragravity armored assault turret Bastila disengaged from her back and hovered over to where Ghost was clearing the corner nearest the hanger bay doors on the port side, where several small vessels were blocking the possibility of seeing the entirety of the hanger bay, creating dead spaces with their bulks. "Team, head to starboard side and prepare to clear and disable vessels." Aye aye came from both the Colonial Soldier and the Protheantologist as Shepard took the lead, shouldering her Typhoon SAW and began clearing the 'near' corner of the starboard side of the hanger bay, starting near the exterior spaceside door and working her way around to where shuttles, pinnacles, and asteroid-jumpers were moored and somewhat scattered after the MAKO's explosive entrance. The N7's Typhoon scanned everything as her green eyes darted to any possible location a sapient, mech, droid, drone, or booby trap could exist. Years of training and experience had her an expert at detecting such things as Jannie eyeballed each shuttle, each nook, and each cranny.
"Ash, prepare to rip out instrumentals out of each vessel as we clear them." The Level Three Council Agent informed the Colonial Soldier as she cleared the first vessel, a Salarian-made pinnacle.
"Captain, if I may?" Doctor T'soni interjected politely as she raised a left hand, swooped it in a particular fashion and cast it forth into the cockpit area. Jannie watched as the 'dash' of the vessel was torn out, several vital components being 'pulled' out of the metal housing and smashing into the back cabin of the craft.
"That's handy." That actually worked out better than she hoped, and certainly better than setting explosives or firing into a contraption that could possibly explode, if unlikely. "Will you be able o do that for every single one of them?" There were almost a dozen space-worthy vessels inside the hanger bay.
"Easily." The Protheantologist replied, her helmeted head nodding once.
"Alright then. Let's do it."
Alexandria Station, Herschel System, Kepler Verge, May 12, 2179
Four years ago…
"Ah, welcome Seras Ryder!" The form of Doctor Vorhen Nisuses Ben Vares Tol Ingree Saelon appeared before Sara Elaine Ryder as she stepped out of a Trebin Astronaticals' V-23 Apaltus Personnel Delivery Vessel and onto a small space station that didn't orbit any planet, moon, or even situated near an asteroid belt. As far as being hidden, the location was perfect as the system in question didn't seem to get all that much traffic, and Sara couldn't recall anything of importance about the Herschel System when her Turian escort announced their arrival after exiting the Mass Relay and giving her an estimated time of arrival as to when they would reach Doctor Saelon's base of operations. The space station itself seemed to be a repurposed energy-oriented harvesting station meant to scoop gaseous elements from gas giants for processing into fuels as well as fracking ores dug out from mineral-laden planets for hauling. On the outside, it looked benign. On the inside, it looked… well-maintained. Friendly, even. The hanger bay that Sara found herself stepping in had several smaller craft for use, suggesting a small personally-owned port, and that the station was likely a small-scale operation that devoted to the care and needs for those on-board. It wasn't the Cit or the Arc, but it wasn't some trash-and-thrash piece of junk heaped and cobbled together by some independent company of 'free enterprisers' out in the black pirating on people like one saw on ENetFlix shows or vids. The bay was clean, orderly, well-lit, and the vessels in question looked to be in good shape and repair. A professional dock for a professional (if illegal) business. "I hope the trip went well."
"It was quick and without incident, Doctor." The young Human woman replied with a nod of her head and a smile as the Doctor approached her, wearing a traditional Salarian-oriented labsuit on his thin frame, and even a small device on the side of his right temple that was likely connected to medical diagnosing equipment, a holographic viewer or augmented reality display unit to aid in any endeavor with his patients. "I am glad that you were able to see me so soon. My mother… took a turn for the worse the other day, I'm afraid. An embolism." Sara had to stop herself before she began to cry, remembering when she got home from the Academy to the family condominium to find her mother unconscious and with labored breathing. "Sorry! That's not on you, and… I just worry."
"I understand, taddi." The Salarian placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder in comfort. "You wish to save your mother; there is nothing wrong with this. Now that we are both here, we can start the process that will help her survive her condition as well as be able to help many others with similar maladies. Together, we can work to where you need not have to worry about her health. Come, Seras, my laboratory is this way and I can describe the details of the process that will help save your mother's life."
"T-thank you." Sara wiped at a tear, the stress and grief and hope all roiling within her, her heart pounding hard in her chest. She wanted this to work so badly, to save her mothers' life. Ever since she had been diagnosed with ANED three years prior, it was like living with the pall of Death overhanging everything. Despite SAM and his glorious efforts to keep Mom comfortable and alive… it was really just a matter of time. But SAM had bought her that precious time, and now Sara was going to make sure that it was worth it.
Hundreds of thousands of lives were at stake… maybe millions. We can save them, the young Human woman thought as the Salarian led her deeper into the hanger bay as the escort who had flew her here accompanied them in a normal fashion, just following them more than escorting them. None of them looked back or noticed the third figure that extracted itself from the vessel that had arrived, following quietly, keeping its presence discrete as the Salarian Doctor and young Human woman went to the doors that would take them away from the hanger and deeper into the station.
"Now, Seras," the Doctor began as he walked beside Sara, keeping his longer stride slower so as not to force her to walk faster, "I will warn you that this procedure is by no means orthodox or without its risks. To ask you to do this, I want you to know that I value the idea of informed consent and observe the Laws of Sapient Care despite operating without scrutiny or oversight. I, after all, view myself as a professional and as a healer." Sara nodded, understanding. "To begin, I will let you know that to extract genetic material to clone an organ, the best way to do so is to take it from the source."
"So… you need a piece of my lymph node." She kind of figured that would be the case, likely a needle inserted into the organ in question and DNA extracted. "Needle biopsy or… something less invasive?"
"Less invasive, sadly." The Geneticist replied. "The more genetic material I can extract, the better quality the cloned organ will be. I learned long ago that the issue with cloning is not only the quality, but amount as well. Life is perpetuated through a growing amount of strands of genetic material, and an entire body is billion-billions of material replicating. Trying to create an organ or a system out of a few thousand strands increases the likelihood of genetic flaws or damage because if there are any natural deviations or flaws, they will quickly grow abundant from lack of source material. The larger the sample, the more material that is worked with, and the chances of a correct organ increases. A several gram specimen of each organ in question will be needed, I'm afraid, but I make the process as invasive as possible for not only quick recovery, but also lessen the chances of discovery as well. I most certainly doubt you wish to be discovered as to our actions."
"I understand." The thought of having surgical removal of portions of her lymph nodes had Sara little queasy, but the Doctor certainly had good reason in his methods. Everyone knew why cloning organs was such a hotly-contested issue and while doing so without a license from a proper University or Hospital was slammed upon by the Council of Law. The thought that as much genetic material was needed to successfully making a viable organ was sound while as taking only a few cells would certainly mean that said organ would likely grow incorrectly due to natural flaws and damages that a lifetime could bring. A few grams of tissue didn't sound… horrible. Such surgery could be healed in days or a week or two with little complications to the body. And Advanced Neurological Entropic Dystrophy was a form of lymphoma that shut down the body's ability to fight infections and regulated the fluids and cell that created the blood-brain barrier. Sara knew once that barrier was gone, her mother would be dead, unable to prevent diseases and fluids from entering the passages into her central nervous system and spinal fluids. They continued down the corridor of the station, the young Human woman seeing several doors that indicated rooms, but no one else in the hallways or any indication what were in the rooms. Likely, the entire station was a guise so that Doctor Saelon could work in secrecy, with a few autonomous systems to regulate and keep functional the station while the Doctor worked. Chances were there weren't many (if any) other people on board Alexandria Station save perhaps a patient or two, or someone like herself. "How long will the procedure take?"
"Several hours, sadly." The Geneticist replied as they walked. "There are five to six hundred lymph nodes in the Human body, though most remain in the trunk or torso region. The tissues I will need will need to come from the major clusters in the upper thoracic region, under the arms, in the neck, and under the legs in the pelvic region. There we can extra dozens of samples quite easily without having to perform incisions throughout the body, as well as gleaning samples from major lymph nodes instead of secondary. I propose an hour per section, and six areas to work on. For your comfort, I shall put you under generalized anesthesia so when you wake up, we will be done. You shall be returned to the Citadel within a day barring any unforeseen complications. I don't predict any, but both you and I know that there is always a possibility, and I would like you to remain while I investigate your genetic material for viability. It is better to do it now to make sure that the work is satisfactory as oppose to risk capture making multiple trips. I am certain you do not wish to miss any of your schooling days at the Academy."
"Okay. I can certainly live with that." Sara replied, and everything the Salarian said made sense. She had done labwork at the Academy, studying different organisms such as bacterial decomposition of tissues and how diseases worked under a nanoscope, and everything that the Geneticist had said sounded exactly how the Academy ran a Biology lab. This is how a professional does it, how a Doctor does it, the young Human woman thought, feeling a little giddy. She was going to do it! She was going to create the chance her mother needed! Yes, there would be awkward questions later when Mom got better and someone did a check-up and found her lymphocyte count was getting better and had less damage, but Sara knew that her father was out in the black trying to find a means to discover a cure. Captain Alec Ryder would forge some sort of plausible explanation to ensure his wife's survival (not to mention his daughters' involvement with illegal cloning) before trying to work the right people into the idea that could cure ANED… maybe even other diseases and maladies. Oh, Dad would be pissed as hell at first, but Sara knew he would see the light pretty quickly when his wife and the mother of his children was making a turn for the better. She knew that Dad had stepped on a lot of toes try to develop a cure for Eezo cancer, finding exotic (and sometime illegal) methods to do so. She wanted to tell him, she really did, but Sara didn't want her Dad to worry and shut down the idea at the tiniest risk towards his daughter at the chance to thwart death and defy the impossible at something so completely profound.
Cloning was illegal because there was markets filled with idiots who thought immortality could be gained by cloning new organs to replace aging ones, or curing the Genophage by replicating a Krogans' quadraple set of testicles, or (dear God) creating an entirely new body from scratch for a wide variety of sick and scary purposes. There had been some sort of shadow war about two centuries or so back when Organic Technology had truly unlocked the mysteries of genetic manipulation and exploitation, and some Traverse Warlord had made himself an actual clone army of Turians and Krogan to wipe out his competition and take sole possession of the Attican Traverse. Tens of thousands of easy-bake Turians and Krogans had drowned other warlords and planetary dictators with numbers, multiple bloodbaths and massacres ensuing as some Salarian Warlord named 'Harte' had begun to conquer expanses of the Traverse. While that wasn't anything new, per se, some warlord out in non-Council Space always having some harebrained idea that he should be some sort of conqueror or emperor, what got the attention of the Council of Law and the Office of Special Tactics was that the number of his forces never truly depleted despite losses, always seemingly able to field an army that never dropped in numbers despite not having some government back him or mercenary forces hired to bolster numbers. It had originally be thought that Warlord Harte had a slave army of some sort, but the numbers didn't add up; there hadn't been an increase in raids and captures during those times, and the Warlords' forces weren't capturing enemy forces and arming them for their cause, either. When it had been discovered what Harte had been doing, the Council had absolutely slammed upon the idea of Organic Technology, unleashing the Hierarchy Navy, the Republican Navy and the Office of Special Tactics upon the Traverse with the sole purpose of eliminating anything and everything dealing with the Warlord, his forces, and his means of creating a clone army.
It was the last instance of the Council calling for a 'glassing'; the utter annihilation of the main location of an Enemy of the Galaxy.
As the Salarian led the young Human woman towards an appropriate door, inviting her in, the silent stalker paused and thought about all he heard, opting to get more intelligence as he recalled the situation he had with his own mother.
TEAM BLUE, "Back Door", Alexandria Station, Herschel System, Kepler Verge, July 25, 2183
[BREACH!]
With the words of Captain Jane Catherine Shepard over the SquadComm, Seaman Monica Valerie Negulesco watched as 1st Lieutenant Kaidan Raphael Alenko thumb the breaching charge that would blast open a sapient-sized hole for them to enter through while deploying a Kiggs atmospheric barrier to prevent a breach alarm or depressurization sensor from being set off. A meter-by-meter chunk of metal was separated from the exterior airlock door as the Hospital Corpsman stood on the hull of Alexandria Station, protected from the rigors of space by her Kassa Fabrications' HyperGuardian Medium Expeditionary Armor, a little unnerved at standing in the middle of space and vacuum while waiting for an explosion to go off. This was her first Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure operation, though she had done the mandatory one in Boot Camp. She was 'unofficially' attached to Corporal Jeanette Maria Sanchez Vasquez's side, the Corporal having done this on a number of occasions both in training and mission-wise, so Doc Nugee was to follow Adios and do what she did. Vas was to also look out for Doc and protect her, like a Marine was suppose to with a Corpsman, and Jean had no issues with that, giving her a friendly thump on the armored shoulder before exited the Bell Aerospaces' UT-47 Kodiak Utility Transportation Vessel "Rey Kenobi" before leaping off a perfectly good shuttle and into space before landing on the hull of a station with her maglock boots. Monica had followed suite, her stomach doing a lazy flipflop when she went grav-less in between shuttle and station, a part of her brain screaming at being weightless and without surface to purchase upon before her feet hit hull.
Throwing up in her helmet had been a fight she won… just barely.
The chunk of Alumnisteel hull flew away from the breaching charge as a semi-translucent blue film covered the crafted hole in the exterior airlock door to prevent atmo from bursting out, the Kiggs field generated by the same charge used to take a calculated portion of the hull out, the device a two-in-one piece of equipment crafted by Human combat engineers for VBSS and hostage rescue. Detective Garrus Vakarian (callsign 'Virgo') was the first to enter into the breach, doing a maneuver that looked akin to an acrobatic roll to go from a null-grav to full-grav environment by flipping himself forward and into the breach so that he could land on his feet inside the airlock with its atmosphere, pressure, and gravity. He made it look so easy! Vas was next as she gripped something on the hull and did something akin to a cartwheel, her feet going in first to where the Latina slid into the hole feet-first and landed on her feet as well, pulling herself into an upright position like she had done it a hundred times. El-tee looked at her with a nod, and it was time for Doc to 'take the plunge' as it was called.
Monica cheated by simply bending her legs to where she could step onto the frame of the breach that was at a ninety degree angle of how she stood, stepping up, forward, and towards the ledge and then stepping into the airlock. She wasn't about to fumble and embarrass herself with fancy gymnastics moves she'd never performed before, going with the tried-and-true method taught in Boot. Nugee got inside without issues or despairing comments from the others as she went deeper into the airlock to give room for the combat engineer as Lieutenant Alenko slipped in a fashion that was more of a monkey-bar swing by leaning over the breach, catching the edge and maneuvering his feet and body into the hole to land in a crouch.
Okay, she was going to have to practice if she didn't want to look like a complete newb.
"El-tee, door." Vakarian ordered softly as Doc went to one side of the interior airlock door, hoisting her Winchester Arms' M-96 Mattock Auto Assault Rifle to her shoulder as she took a knee to engage any hostiles as the Special Crimes Detective took the opposite side with his Rapid Response Unit-issued ERCS M-15 Vindicator Battle Rifle.
Corporal Jeanette Vasquez took front and center, her Aegohr Munitions' Kestrel Heavy Combat Armor expensively crafted to boost combat performance of a warrior. Chief Ryder had given Vasquez options on what she wanted in terms of improvements to her armor and weapons, and the Latina had surprised most everyone by going to a Salarian armor manufacturer for a custom set of armor that was designed to turn a Salarian soldier into something akin to righteous wrath on the battlefield, increasing shields, stability, power, and performance of its user. Jeanette had done just that during their week-long Liberty on the Cit, getting fitted for the armor and paying a rather pretty Credit it for it, financed by Doc Ryder. Vas knew that she would likely be front-and-center of any engagement, the largest target and the pivot point of any assault or defense, and had wanted armor that would compliment that endeavor. Garrus and Sara had taken the customized armor when it had been completed and had added a layer of ablative paint to the surface, energized plating weave under the plates of armor, a hardening weave to her underarmor combat suit, micromotorized joints to the suits' mechanical exoskeleton, a First Aid medical interface to her software, shock absorption interface to the legs and boots, extra shield batteries and capacitors to her belt, and an regulated energized weave for power distribution and efficiency.
Effectively, they had practically made her a Human member of the Final Line; those titans of the Blackwatch who covered retreats by deploying in hot zones and never retreating until the enemy or they were dead.
So when Lieutenant Alenko opened the interior airlock door by hacking past the security console, Vasquez had her upgraded Devlon Industries' M-56 Marshal Medium Machine Gun with its twin heat drums leveled and ready to destroy anything hostile, able to take a beating and dish out hell.
"¡Claro!" The Latina called out, her Marshal sweeping left-and-right quickly, her helmeted head pivoting as well to scan the corridor quickly and efficiently as Monica's M-96 Mattock, Garrus's M-15 Vindicator, and Kaidan's Hahne-Keder Diamondback Assault Rifle added to the potential devastation they could cause in case they needed to fight their way out of the airlock. Thankfully, the corridor was bereft of any signs of life, nothing in its environs as Nugee got up from her crotch to slip inside several meters, taking a position equidistant with Vakarian, setting a foothold in the station as Jeanette bounded forward, her heavily-armored body able to move as easily as if she were wearing heavy Human armor thanks to the fine manufacturing by the Salarian customizer who had no doubt been shocked to see a Human female asking him for the best armor to come out of the Salarian Union with a permission slip from a Council Agent to authorize the request. The Salarian's reaction to that one had been rather priceless.
Monica took a knee at her position as both Detective Vakarian and Lieutenant Alenko began working on their separate OmniTools, Garrus his Cipritine Armories' Nordash OmniTool while Kaidan worked on his Ariake Technologies' Logic Arrest OmniTool, the both of them scanning for any alarms or notifications of their presence during their breach and infiltration. Her Mattock was held steadily in her hands as she guarded her sector of fire with her eyes peering through the visor of her helmet, her Heads-Up Display showing only the green outlines of her team members, their software fingerprints identified and downloaded onto her VIOS software suite so that they could be tracked even beyond her line of sight and to reduce the possibility of fratricide. Both men worked their OmniTools for a moment as Vas and herself held their positions, seeing an empty corridor in front of them with only a series of doors to either the port or starboard of the hallway, all of them closed. No one was moving in or out of them, and no one was certainly traveling on the decks of Alexandria Station where they could be spotted. So far so good.
"I'm not detecting any alerts to our presence." Lieutenant Alenko finally acknowledged, looking up from his Logic Arrest OmniTool. "Plenty about the hanger bay being breached and suffering a depressurization. I don't know if the station manager is aware that it was a forced entry or not, but they've alerted security forces to investigate."
"Looks like the station is mostly automated." Vakarian was still working on his Nordash OmniTool. "The best way to keep its presence hidden is to have as few organic pieces involved as possible. You'd be surprise how often we can find Black Sites just like this one through food orders and porn searches on the ExtraNet." That had Nugee stick her tongue out a little at the thought. Of course, she really didn't have much room to talk anymore, not after… well, Kyle.
"Stop thinking about your stripper boyfriend, Doc." Adios called out quietly, a hint of amusement in her voice.
"I'm not!" Monica was rather glad her HyperGuardian helmet covered the vast majority of her face and that the visor was tinted with a reflective surface so no one could see that she was blushing. "And he isn't a stripper!"
"Oh? You didn't meet him in a fashion entertainment review and get invited for a much more private viewing at a hotel room and then his personal apartment?" The Turian asked dryly, though he was a little amused, too. Whoever had told him that, Monica was going to anesthesia them and induce a massive case of strep throat to prevent them from talking ever again.
"Can we talk about anything else in the galaxy other than my love life?" God, her cheeks were burning bright. Everyone was teasing her about her so-called 'sexcapades' on the Cit with Kyle Phillips as if she were running around the Cit with only one thing on her mind. "And technically, he isn't a stripper."
"That would require clothing for him to take off." Kaidan observed, nodding his own helmeted head, his Kassa Fabrications' Inferno Heavy Armor visor looking right at her, and she could almost imaging him smirking. "Saves time."
"I… urgh!" Vas was chuckling through her vox as Garrus finished up with his OmniTool, having done a sweep in front of them with some program that detected movement of air molecules that worked as a motion detector and even sapient locater through breathing.
"We're just happy for you. And teasing the shit out of you, Doc." Vasquez said, her tone still mirthful. "My first wasn't a stud stripper wearing a pair of Crocs. I just think most of the ladies are jealous you pretty much one-up'ed everyone on that department."
"Anything else in the galaxy." Monica reminded them, getting Alenko to chuckle lightly as he fabricated a small contragravity access drone that would plug itself into various pieces of electronics and technology to find hidden back doors for access, usually meant for disabling explosives or defeating PGP security systems, having been upgraded with scripts and exploitation software by Ensign Tali'Zorah nar Reyya, their hacker guru. "I'm not bringing up the three separate cholos you had when we were on the Cit, Vas."
"Yeah, but I didn't blush my way to their beds or bring them to the docks to kiss me goodbye, either." The Marine pointed out, making Negulesco growl in frustration. She just wasn't going to win this battle. "So is he a portside husband, or are you trading sexy EN-mails?"
"That is none of your darn business." The blush was returning, dang it. Kyle had been pretty charmed to learn that Monica hadn't been with a guy before, and he had made it quite special and very memorable. After that first night, when Nugee rediscovered how to walk properly again (they had both been quite vigorous), Kyle had surprised her by being a gentleman who had taken her own on tours of the Cit, showing her not only fun places to hang out, but some cultural things. Kyle had come to the Cit to be an artist, doing graphical designs for advertisements and video games, but competition was fierce and the profession not quite as well-paying for a location like the center of the known universe. Lollipops had started off as a means to make ends meet, but he had gotten good at it and soon it became his 'Creditmaker', so to speak. The Mars-born man had been doing it for a year or so and had found himself not really enjoying being just seen as a temporary sex object. So when Monica had told him of what she was doing, where she was doing it, and her own views, she found out that deep inside Kyle was a man who, like herself, had hopes and dreams and wanted a future with a woman in his life with children, too. They had connected together well, and yeah, it didn't hurt that she could practically play tic-tac-toe on his abs. What had surprised her was that he had found her attractive as well when she…
"Mind back in the game, Doc." Vas reminded her, making Monica flinch. "I can practically see you drooling through your helmet." Drat.
"We'll tease her later." Vakarian confirmed as he switched off his OmniTool. "Vas, prepare to cover as we investigate these rooms. Last time they were empty, but who knows what four years might have changed. Everyone expect the worst, and then add to it." The Turian said as he reminded them all of where they were and what they were about to do. The light levity of the teasing had been a nice break from the seriousness of their mission, but they had a job to complete.
They were about to discover what was inside what Chief Ryder had called 'the House of Horrors'.
TEAM BROWN, "North Spire", Alexandria Station, Herschel System, Kepler Verge, July 25, 2183
Sha'me Tali'Zorah nar Reyya was holding her Rannoch Industries' Reegar Carbine Electromagnetic Emission Shotgun in her three-fingered hands as her silvery eyes scanned the incoming displays and markers on the inside of her visors' SMARTglass viewer as her VIOS software suite SHODAN took multiple telemetry readings from her EnviroSuits' sensors on her duel Armali Councils' Nexus OmniTools as well as her AeroGel-crafted Utility Drone, Chatika vas Paus. There were also other telemetry readings coming from her Quarian-manufactured Rannoch Industries' QuArmor EnviroSuit (Migrant Fleet Marine Engineer variant), a gift to both she and her cousin Niki'Raan nar Tombay received from Lady Eloa'Varis nar Thessia vas Armali, the Lady of the Chamber. The armor was electomagnetically adhered to her EnviroSuit, plates that would protect the vital locations and organs of her body while keeping her mobile enough to utilize the speed and flexibility inherent to Quarians. Both Petty Officer (Second Class) Sara Ryder and Detective Vakarian had gone over the armor to see if any improvements were needed considering the missions they were on, and with the exception of of an additional ballistic hardening weave for extra resistance from rounds and explosives, the mylomar fabric hardening with kinetic force for added protection without extra weight or hampering movement, they had both deemed the armored additions both worthy and more than effective.
Of course, the best defense was good cover and an accurate shot to the enemy's face, but Tali was comforted that she had more advanced armor than even Captain Shepard had gone out of her way to provide.
The corridor leading from the 'north' access was bereft of anything organic as Tali had SHODAN search for any signals; electronic, signal, and even device noise. The VIOS was in the middle of a two-prong attack, one being a Man-in-the-Middle Attack that tried to impersonate or represent itself as a 'trusted' source to intercept any kind of communications, be it signal or data, while the other being a 'search engine' side attack that 'listened' for any receiver transmissions and hardware noises to log in any access keys gleaned from physical noises or connect to any minor unprotected devices such as music players or SelfieCams on monitor devices. The scripts were running at full efficiency, a sidebar tabulating the data collected to the right side of her SMARTglass while interpreting any kind of exploitable devices by 'shading' them with outlines, even through walls. She had taken point in the corridor when they had entered, the smallest of the group, trying to be as tactical and as quiet as possible when TEAM BROWN entered into the facility unannounced and undiscovered. In a team of heavy hitters and superior firepower, it was she that was the secret weapon; a dataware hacktivist.
Private Nathaniel 'Ballsack' Balsach called her 'the invisible fist'. He wasn't far off.
"Pret," Tali spoke softly over her SquadComm to the Team Leader Urdnot Wrex, having learned to use her helmets' vox only when necessary and to turn of the indicator light when on mission for light discipline, "I'm seeing several unprotected medical devices in the next several rooms to both our port and starboard. There is no indication of protected devices such as OmniTools or computers within fifty meters of our location. It's as good as I can get to saying that we shouldn't have any company without opening a door and sticking my helmet in."
"Understood." Pret Urdnot Wrex replied softly, his rumbling voice no less intense with a drop in decibels. Likely, he knew that 'Pret' meant 'Lieutenant' in Keelish, or 'one-in-charge'. Captain Shepard expressed that they were not to use names in communications, even with an AI to help secure their transmissions and signals. It was just good OpSec. "Sagittarius, move forward and listen in." That was Agent Zevin Raeka's callsign, after some Human constellation… which made a sort of sense, Tali guessed. There were more Humans than not on TEAM LION, and most non-Human sapients wouldn't recognize the names as Human because they were from some forgotten Human language long ago, untranslated through common translation software, and even unidentified as to what language or species that used it. A Human would recognize it as their own, but even if they were listening in, that would only think it the name of some patterning of stars from Earth's point-of-reference. As she understood it, a Sagittarius was an archer, and the Salarian sniper had been amused at the reference. The Special Tasks Groups' Reconnaissance Specialist moved forward to the first door to the starboard side, activating one of her Kassa Fabrications' Polaris OmniTools and using a vibration sensor to detect noises from beyond a DuraPlast door; essentially, an acoustic noise detector. The Salarian Not-Dalatrass listened for a moment and with a shaking of her head in the negative, went to the opposite end of the hall to listen to the other door while Tali and Ballsack pulled security, her Reegar Carbine and the Marines' Valerion Kinetics' R36 Karseus Assault Rifle pointing down the corridor ready to defend their teammate while Wrex occupied the center of the hall, too large to make himself unobtrusive. He hoisted his Nakmor Arms' Graal Korogish Hunting Shotgun that would deliver a twenty-five gram spike of metal that generally killed anything less than a ton with a single shot. There were ship weapons that were smaller than the Krogan weapon designed to pierce Thresher Maw hide.
"Nothing. No voices, footsteps, or clattering of work." The helmeted head of Zevin Raeka turned to face the rest of TEAM BROWN. "Only one way to be sure."
"Knock knock." Ballsack replied, Tali rolling her eyes at the dumb Human-oriented joke that generally ended with some crude or raunchy punchline.
"I'll take the first." Wrex said, moving to the door. "I can take a hit, and I can lift anything to the ceiling without damaging anything inside with gunfire." That had the Quarian Pilgrim impressed with the Krogan big game hunter. He wasn't at all like the reputation of his kin and species; some bloody-thirsty maniac looking to turn into paste anything that annoyed him. He could be subtle and quiet when needed, and an organic force of devastation when warranted. He didn't start fights, but he always finished them with simple efficiency, generally a large round to the head or heart (or processor core, in the Geth's case). He didn't argue, didn't get in anyone's face, and didn't intimidate anyone… well, more so than any one tonne Krogan needed just standing in a room. He either left you alone… or you earned yourself a very messy death. Wrex was nice like that. Raeka stepped aside and queued up the doors' activation mechanism as the Krogan lumbered into the room with his massive presence.
"Clear of hostiles…", the voice came over the SquadComm, "but I'm going to need Sagittarius to tell me what I'm looking at. Don't chuck up in your helmet." Zorah shared a looked with Ballsack, her silvery eyes touching the Human's where they laid behind the narrow clear visor of his Kassa Fabrications' Colossus Medium Engagement Armor helmet, hazel eyes looking at her own. Ancestors, did we find what the Captain feared? She watched as the Salarian Agent entered into the room with her Ariake Technologies' M-90 Indra Automatic Sniper Rifle in her hands, disappearing into the room when the Quarian and the Human held their position, guarding their teams' backs as they investigated whatever it was had been discovered in the room.
"Oh… oh Void…" Came the transmission a few seconds later, and the Pilgrim could tell by the tone of the Not-Dalatrass's voice that it was quite likely they had walked into a 'horror show'. "These people…" Tali could feel her soul roil a little at the thought of people; more than one. How many? She couldn't say, but she would have to guess more than a couple. A dozen? More? "Taurus… this is worse than what we imagined or guessed." 'Taurus' was Wrex's personal callsign, after his planet of birth instead of his species. 'Bull' seemed appropriate.
"Take a moment to figure out what's been done to them and what's keeping them here." The Krogan replied softly, his tone disgusted. Despite the common view of the Tuchankans, there were few things that one did not do around a Krogan. Hurting a child of any species was one of them. Anything that defiled the body was another. One only had to think of the Genophage that wracked their species and what it did to their viability to understand where that view came from. "We're not solving it now, but we need an idea to pass on."
"I understand." Raeka didn't sound pleased, but she wasn't arguing it, either. Tali wasn't sure she wanted to know what could bother that magnificent female who had looked upon Tali and Niki as equals and had faced the worst of horrors alongside TEAM LION without blanching. If it disturbed the Salarian, it was likely extremely horrific.
Sara's eluded to this, Zorah thought with a pang in her heart, but I think we're finding out that words can never truly convey something we need to fear.
"Taurus," Raeka began after a few minutes of obvious investigation while the Pilgrim continued to hold her position in the corridor, "these sentients are being kept alive with medical machines, mostly plasma dialysis and electronic impulses to keep the cardiovascular system operational with the inclusion of respirators. They are being fed intravenously to keep them in a coma-like state. They are… asleep."
"To what purpose?" The Krogan asked, neither arguing or asking silly questions, keeping it to the point.
"WHITE-1 was correct; they're biological incubators. Extra organs are being grown inside of them for future harvest."
Dear Ancestors, I want to throw up.
"All of them?"
"All of them. Multiple organs and biological systems for each. This one," Raeka swallowed so hard that even Tali could hear it over the SquadComm, "this Turian has two extra hearts, an extra liver, three kidneys, and several additional plates that are almost at full maturity according to this medical update. And then there is the rampant tumors and growths of the failures that didn't mature properly that were left behind… slu'ha mei wa." That last part didn't translate, but Tali could imagine well enough. What the STG Agent had described… Ancestors! "If… if we take him off any of these life support systems, he will die from shock and system malfunction quickly. A few hours, at best. And I don't see how any reasonable or exception medical intervention will improve his chances. This…" there was grief and rage in the Salarian's voice, barely contained, "this poor male has suffered something far more horrific than I've ever encountered or heard of. And one of MY kind did it to him." There was no mistaking Raeka's stance on that. How would Tali have felt to discover that a Quarian had been doing this? Devastated, at the very least. The Salarian returned to the corridor, moving in only a semi-conscious way, likely numbed by what she had seen, her mind probably still reeling. Tali put a soft hand on Raeka's armored shoulder, getting the Salarians' ovaloid helmet to look at her.
"I don't know how to make this right," Zorah told the Not-Dalatrass, "but it starts now, and it starts with us."
"Yes. Thank you." The Salarian replied, taking a deep steadying breath. "Tali? Thank you." The Pilgrim knew that the Salarian was likely a long drift from being right or fine, but the Quarian had said the right words that Raeka needed to hear, to let her know that none of them viewed this as the Not-Dalatrass's fault, nor blaming her because a member of her species had done something so sickening. Tali fought the curiosity that wanted her to look into the room for a quick peek, but refrained. She knew she wouldn't want to be gawked at like some novelty.
"TEAM RED, this is TEAM BROWN…" Wrex called up, getting Captain Shepard's attention over the SquadComm.
Alexandria Station, Herschel System, Kepler Verge, May 12, 2179
Four years ago…
Sara Elaine Ryder found herself standing in what looked to be something quite akin to a normal Doctors' office, complete with a medical table, various investigative instruments for the monitoring of basic vitals and readings, pieces of medical equipment for swabs, blood draws, and invasive checks, and a datapad on a counter so that someone could detail and note all that had been discovered. The similarity put her at ease, discovering that Doctor Vorhen Nisuses Ben Vares Tol Ingree Saelon was what he said he was; a professional. He had been educated at the Presidium Academy of Education and had gone to the University of Talat, the most prestigious school in the Salarian Union, located in the capital of Sur'kesh to become both a Medical Doctor and a Geneticist. He was a Salarian Chenobit, that much was obvious, the five percent of Salarian males born in a clutch that were naturally more intelligent than the rest of their brothers. In the ancient days of Sur'kesh, when they were hunter/gatherers, Chenobits ruled the Salarian Clans while the Dalatrasses raised their broods and created trade laws in between clans and families. The vast majority of males were practically fodder; manual labor, hunters, builders, and farmers that kept their society functioning. But it was the Chenobits that were the leadership of the Salarian race, and overseen by their sisters and mothers. Doctor Ingree Saelon was one of these hyperintelligent beings that likely held multiple degrees and doctorates, using his boundless intelligence and increased cerebellum to strive forward for the sake of clan and species. That he had figured out a means to craft correct cloning wasn't that far of a stretch for a Chenobit, and Sara briefly wondered if his clan, his Mother Dalatrass, or his Sister Dalatrass knew of his endeavors and gave silent approval. That wasn't that far of a stretch, either.
"To begin, I will be needing a simple blood sample and Human DNA swab to check for any pathogens or anomalies." Sara nodded as the Salarian Doctor took a small hypodermic device and pressed it against her forearm, pulling the physical trigger as he took a gram of blood and skin tissue in one act, the process immediately and hardly painful. Sara instinctively rubbed the site, not even feeling pain and barely noticing the divot in her flesh from the extraction. The Geneticist was taking the sample and placing it into the scanner of a IntergenX's RapidHIT 200 Gene Analyzer, the spectrometer and genetic material sequencing machine as the VIOS of the machine scanned the tissue samples and began displaying the contents onto a holographic projection screen. "Ah… beautiful." The Salarian was looking at the display as Sara observed curiously. "No genetic modifications that one sees so commonly amongst Humanity."
"I was born on the Cit. No environmental damages or pollution, and my parents were born in either an environmentally-sealed Arcology or off in a location where the background radiation and pollution was much lower than the norm." Sara replied, knowing that Earth's environment had tumbled out-of-control back in the early 22nd Century, the biosphere having difficulty sustaining certain species that were needed for a healthy ecosystem. Pollution and nuclear radiation had devastated hundreds of thousands of species of bacteria, insects, marine life, and small organisms that were natural parts of Earth's biome, and the early years of the 22nd Century had been a bit of a disaster with a runaway environment and the struggle for people to grow food to feed the explosively-increasing amount of mouths of Humanity as the population reached fifteen billion, underdeveloped nations on Earth unable to control population growth while the more developed nations tried to hold everything together through politics, military action, and technology.
The answer had laid in the stars as concentrated efforts of colonization and exploration shuttled Mankind to the Solar colonies to relieve the burden on Man's homeworld as well as growing food in other locations that were struggling to sustain. There had been… regrettable but necessary decisions made for the sake of survival such as the sending of half a billion people in generation ships to colonize local star systems to create biological preserves in case Earth's biosphere faltered and imploded, many of the colonists having been selected and sent without their knowledge, approval… or consent. The colonies became the first independent planetary nations of mankind, but their opinion of what had been done to them was very dim, and to this day, the Human Independent League still refused to submit to any Earth-bound governance, including the Systems Alliance.
Genetic modification was almost a Human-norm (and a Citadel headache) when things got so bad, genetic diseases and cancers wracking Humanity before the discovery of the Prothean Archives on Mars. At first, it had been to help people ailing from diseases, illnesses, cancers, and maladies. But by the time of the 2140's, about ten percent of Humanity had been born with genetic corrections to stave off potential natalcide; children were being born stillborn from malignant tumors while growing in the womb from pollution and genetic damage from the parents. It was a very horrific portion of history from Earth, the days when Mankind really was looking at the last possible generations of its existence. Exploration and the technologies of the galaxy had staved off the possibility of the demise of a Garden World, and today terraformation of Earth back to a cleaner, more sustainable environment was on-going, predicting another century of work before all the pollution and nuclear damage was removed permanently. Mankind had almost committed Auto-Genocide, and the horrors of it were slowly but surely being corrected. Sara and her twin brother, thankfully, had been born in the pristine environment of the Citadel, and had been born without the need of any genetic correction despite being born Biotically-capable. That particular mutation had been… quietly encouraged upon her parents at the time, Biotics oh so very rare amongst Humanity and seen as a positive gift.
Of course, it was killing her mother, too.
"I see natural inclusions of quite a few positive benefits, Seras." The Salarian continued to study the binary helix of her genetic information, her genes laid bare. In some ways, it was a little embarrassing to her, as if someone were trying to peep at her. "There was a long period of time when Salarians practice eugenics through breeding contracts, genetic studies, and ancestral genealogy. Contracts are still employed, of course, but it is seen as traditional. But many maladies were staved through selective breeding, though I wonder if we were right to do so. 'Forcing' evolution can get out of hand, creating sub-straits and sub-species that are otherwise undesirable. Chenobits were one of the fascinations of our ancestors, originally trying to impress more than one or two per clutch into a much larger number. In that, they succeeded, but the rest of our brothers suffered from a drop of intelligence in return, I'm afraid. The average Salarian is less intelligent that the average Turian or Human, and with a shorter lifespan and no prospects for their future, I feel that the endeavor, while successful for its target, was a failure over all. I do not believe our ancestors wished to make their brothers less intellectual."
"I think we've all made our mistakes that we look back in shame and guilt." Sara replied, thinking of some of the things she had learned about with Humanity's past as well as that of some of the other species. The Turian Hierarchy had been responsible for the devastation of no less than three viable worlds during the First Unification War before their discovery during the Krogan Rebellions, and Tuchanka itself was a world whose ravaged environment was damn near inhospitable even for the planets' hearty species. "If we fail to learn from our mistakes, then we truly have made a grave mistake."
"True." The Doctor looked to her with a lipless smile. "And today I will strive to correct one of those mistakes. The laws that have kept good people from receiving the care and treatments that they need may very well change with this endeavor, with your help. With so many sapients ill with damaged or destroyed organs, unable to receive the necessary care, unable to get a donated organ? We can impress upon the galaxy itself the need for this process, to help change lives and the view of the galaxy. No longer will we be held in check by the views of politimongering sycophants who lord over us from a few chairs by a decision made two centuries prior…" Sara was listening, but she felt a little queasy, a little dizzy, "…a mistake made because…" she tried to stay awake, shaking her head to keep her heavy eyes open, "…a few elected idiots…" her head lolled and the room faded slowly to black. "Ah, the injection is takin…"
Sara didn't even stay conscious enough to feel herself fall back upon the medical table.
TEAM RED, "Front Door", Alexandria Station, Herschel System, Kepler Verge, July 25, 2183
TEAM RED had quickly cleared and disabled the vessels on the starboard side when Jannie got her first update.
[TEAM RED, this is TEAM BROWN,] the deep grumble of Urdnot Wrex came over the SquadComm, [found a whole lot of patients asleep in a lab. BROWN-Sagittarius,] that was Agent Zevin Raeka's callsign, [thinks they're in a chemical coma. They're in a bad way, RED]
"Torture? Enslavement?"
[Medical experimentation, bad ones], the Krogan replied, making Jannie's heart shutter. Sara had eluded to some of the things that she and Garrus had encountered, but that had just been words. TEAM BROWN was now likely finding out the truth of it. [Never seen anything this bad. Looks like the idea was to grow as many organs as possible in a body. Most everyone will throw up at the sight] That had Shepard a little queasy at the thought, trying to imagine how bad it was. If a Krogan thought it was bad… [Might be a mercy to end them peacefully while they sleep. Most of them will not enjoy waking up]
"Leave them be for the time being." Jannie finally ordered, letting out a slow breath as she did as she tried to picture what Wrex might be seeing. "You might be right about the last bit, but it will be better to keep them as they are and determine what choices and options they have, as well as family members who might not appreciate us just killing their bloodkin out of hand. Clear the lab, don't change anything, and physically weld the door shut if you have to. We found them alive, and we'll keep them alive."
[Understood], the Krogan replied, neither happy or dissatisfied with the answer. There wasn't a good one, and likely Wrex knew that. Most wouldn't necessarily see a mercy-killing as a good thing, especially family members who suffered having gaps in their families only to have the hope of those members from every returning via a round to the head shattered, no matter how well-meaning'ed. Jannie suspected that something like this would occur.
"RED-1, RED-Gemini," came the voice of Private Broussard from the MAKO, "main interior hanger bay door just opened up, and company is coming."
"What is it?"
"Droidekas," the Marine answered.
Fuck.
"What are those?" Liara asked as Ash cursed inside her Rosenkov Materials' Titan Heavy Combat Armor helmet, readying her Kassa Fabrications' M-76 Reverent Light Machine Gun for a firefight.
"Salarian roller droids." Shepard answered quickly as she heard the chattering of gunfire from the MAKO's coaxial machine gun, the ten-gram machine gun spitting death as Jannie took to a cover position behind one of the shuttles, seeing an easy double-hands' worth of spherical robotic droids rolling on the ground at a fast pace, stopping inside the hanger bay and telescopically unfolding themselves as kinetic shielding defended them from the incoming rounds as twin automatic weapons at the end of their 'arms' began to open up on the Armored Personnel Vehicle. The N7 winced at the sight of the Salarian-owned Colicoid Creations' number one product; a robotic security droid with kinetic shielding, good armor, a weapons that ranged from light machine guns to munition launchers. They were well-crafted, expensive, and employed by many a firm, company, business, and less-than-legitimate entity for security and protection. Sadly, the Droidekas generally had better shields, armor, and weapons than most Systems Alliance Marines and Turian Hierarchy Hasti Soldiers, and a couple could easily ground a squad and inflict casualties and fatalities if not dealt with judiciously. She spied ten of them opening up on the MAKO, and while the tank was armored and firing back, such a sustained assault would likely cause some damage to the vehicle, perhaps even extensive damage. And who was to say how many of the droids were on the station, how many were coming, and from which direction?
This is why Jannie wanted her TEAM to have the firepower; just for this very thing.
"Ash? Get some hockey pucks ready." The N7 called out as her left hand dipped to a hardcase at her waist, pulling out two M68 All-Purpose Explosive Disc Devices, generally known as 'Puck Grenades'. Used as an anti-personnel device, a breaching charge, a door opener, and a wide variety of creative applications, the disk grenade was common munition for the N's in the Teams. Shepard had gotten authorization and schematic licenses to print out the M68 from SASOCOM, and had 1st Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko craft about ten dozen of the damn things to distribute to TEAM LION. The M68 was versatile, multi-purposed, and lethal. Both herself and Williams grabbed two each, thumbing the central button on the device to activate a semi-charge of Eezo to lighten its mass and make it more aerodynamic so its 'flight' would deliver the device to where the thrower wanted it. Both Jannie and Ash frisbee'ed the M68's towards the roller droids, each of the four pucks landing in locations where the blast would be near the concentration of the 'bots. Those kinetic shields were great against gunfire.
They didn't do shit for explosives.
The Lion thumbed the activation signal on her OmniTool, and watched the area turn into a cloud of metal shrapnel and flying parts.
"Light 'em up!" The SPECTRE roared as she used the corner of the shuttle as a covering position while sticking her Typhoon out to engage the position, seeing four of the droids still on their triple-waldo legs, tottering a little, three having fallen over on the ground and unable to get back up, and three that would be sent to the scrap heap. Her SAW spun up as she squeezed the trigger, the light machine gun's rate-of-fire spinning up as it chattered from four rounds-per-second to ten rounds-per-second in three seconds, ensuring accuracy at first and then a torrent of death afterwards. The explosives had damaged the Droidekas, and most of them had lost their kinetic shielding as well as some of their armor plating suffering abuse. Jannie easily took down one of the ones still standing as Ash engaged another with her Reverent, having taken a position beneath the N7 by positioning herself in a crotch and engaging the enemy with her in an Israeli Corner technique. Liara was holding up a Biotically-powered barrier for protection with her left hand while using the Captain as a Human shield and trying to engage with her Elkoss Combines' P9 Edge Self-Defense Pistol; not exactly the most impressive of small firearms, but the Asari was more potent as a Biotic than as a tactical combatant. Still, the Protheantologist was hitting the targets easily (they weren't small targets) and succeeded in making chest shots on one of the other standing droids in an attempt to put it down before it engaged them.
Five seconds later, the standing ones were now tottered ones as Ash pulled out a regular Colonial Army Anti-Personnel Grenade (generally called 'pineapples' for their spherical appearance) and bowled it right over to the mess of parts and 'bots. Between the MAKO, two machine guns, and Williams' 'strike!' (and whoop of triumph), the ten Droidekas were put into no-power states.
"NetCall," Shepard told her HMWA MasterGear SPECTRE Mk. IV Armors' VIOS suite, getting her SquadComm to talk to everyone in TEAM LION, "TIC involving Droideka/Roller droids. Scratch ten, no casualties. Expect more." At the least whoever was in charge of security on Alexandria Station had taken the bait with the landing of the MAKO Armored Personnel Vehicle and assailants that were now disabling their vessels and destroying their security 'bots. Shepard had no idea how many more of the tech-security forces that station might employ, but chances were they were sent to recon/destroy what had breeched the hanger bay. Will they send in more droids, better droids, something else, or something organic? Jannie led TEAM RED to finish disabling the vessels when a call a few minutes later came.
[RED-1, this is BLUE-1], the voice of Detective Garrus Vakarian came over the SquadComm, quiet yet confident. [Found a lab that sounds similar to what BROWN located. Digging for intelligence and then will physically lock the doors behind us] There was a pause. [There seems to be just about every major and minor species involved, RED. This is… worse] Jannie got the point that Garrus was getting at without describing what he meant; it was worse than last time. God, Doc Nugee was probably going to have nightmares over this. Likely, they all would.
"Understood, BLUE. Canus Majoris." The N7 felt her heart squeezing in her chest a little, trying not to picture how this was worse than what they were expecting when they had two eyewitnesses to what was happening before. It was obviously that Garrus wasn't trying to describe how worse it was, but she suspected he didn't mean by a little, either.
We've got to stop this, the redhead knew, her teeth practically grinding at the thought. This fucking asshole had better show up so I can cut his fucking throat and watch the light die in his eyes. The thought of what Garrus and Sara had encountered… what had been done to them?
She could have blasted the station into pieces with her SPECTRE authority, but who was to say that the good Doctor was even here?
[RED-1, WHITE-1!], Sara's voice came over several minutes later as her team had disabled two-thirds of the stations' vessels, her tone filled with panic, not pain or fear, [requesting an immediate MEDEVAC Extraction/Emergency!]
Shepard felt her heart jump up right in her throat.
Author's Note: Thank you Ninja Tracks for coming up with totes awesome albums to write by. Check out "All Six Bullets", "Cut The Cord", and "Passages" for rather epic music to get into the mood for a slobberknocker. I would raid buildings to these songs if AC/DC and Dr. Dre didn't get in the way.
The Trebin Astronaticals' V-23 Apaltus PDV Shuttle makes its appearance again, coming from Mass Effect vs. Aliens 2: Valkyrie Rising, and I brought it back for a non-Human vessel. This is the Turian Hierarchy equivalent of the UT-47 Kodiak.
The AOFI M249 Typhoon SAW shares the same designation and role as the Belgian-manufactured FN Herstal M249 Squad Automatic Weapon that has seen service in the US Army since the Invasion of Panama (Operation: Just Cause, 1989). But I got rid of that stupid face-shield thing. I mean… seriously… between the shields and the armor, what was the point of it except to block your view?
Droidekas - Yep, those asshole droids from the prequel Star Wars Trilogy (Ep. I-III). I mention that they are manufactured by Colicoid Creations, which is mostly true in the Wookiepedia/SWU, as they are created by the Colicoids, an insectile race, and the manufacturing arm being the Colicoid Creations Nest. In the MEU, they are manufactured by the Salarians, who are bot-heavy. And I wanted something else other than the Hahne-Keder LOKI mechs so populous in ME2 and the standard Geth Trooper.