It was dark, voices were coming from all around him. He couldn't silence them, they seemed to come from every angle. They cursed him, told him he was failure to the Carmine line of soldiers. He saw the face of his brothers, yelling and screaming, telling he he was worthless, but then they all went quiet. He seemed to be lifted from this blackened place and pulled to a place of light...he was looking straight at the light above his bed. He had a headache, he was dizzy, and he was gonna throw up if he tried to move again. He felt like he was dieing, for all he knew he was.
He looked around the room, he hadn't really looked at it when he crashed out. The room was small, maybe twelve by eight feet. It was a gunmetal grey, easy on the eyes. The bed was only three feet wide, enough to hold him and sleep, but that's all. The bed was pushed against the corner, away from the door that made the left half of the wall. The right side of the room was made up of a cabinet, a workbench that had a storage shelf under it, and another cabinet. They were steel cabinets with doors, it looked very old fashioned for what he'd seen on the ship, but still durable. The lights were like old mine lights, round metal lamps with a light bulb that hund from the cieling, two of them. He also had a peg board to hold tools above the bench, the tools having been removed.
Ben stood, letting his headache settle before moving anymore. He walked toward the door, grabbing his rifle and the two helmets as he left. The room beyond was the main engineering room, which was empty. It held consoles, most of which looked as though they were displaying numbers, charts, and readouts. He walked to the door, it slid open and allowed him into a stairwell, walking through the door ahead of him. He walked over to the elevator and entered, going to the second deck to visit the armory. The elevator was slow, unlike back home...home. Carmine thought about home, his brothers, mother, his squad. He felt like he let them down, getting transported here, this new place.
The elevator stopped at the second deck after what seemed like an eternity. He walked out, the CIC was an interesting room for sure. It held a large holographic map, something he had seen only a few times back at home. It was of the Milky Way Galaxy. He had only seen it a few times, and he knew what arm his planet was in. He had just been shot across the galaxy from a lab. Somehow, Carmine felt a sense of relief in knowing that he was still in his dimension. It meant he could still find his brothers and his family.
Ben noticed that the yemon, kelly, was smiling his way and he smiled back. She seemed like a genuinely nice person. She walked up to him, red hair moving slightly with her advance. She was very beautiful.
" Hello Carmine, feeling alright? You look a little rough." She asked him with concern. Carmine smiled, his growing beard making him look even more feral than he thought. His tribal tattoos stretched and bent to contour with the lines and angles of his face. The scars that had formed from the transport of his body did the same, the webbing scars on his face making him look stranger than he thought he could.
" I'm fine Mrs. Chambers, no worries. I'm roughed up a bit, but nothing that's gonna stop me." He smiled, happy that someone was showing concern. His voice was rough still, but he was glad that it no longer felt as though his throat was made of rubber. It was very annoying to talk that way.
" That's good to hear Ben, where are you headin?" She asked politely, genuine curiousity filling her eyes.
" Just heading to the armory, though it would help if I knew where it was. Do you know where it is?" Ben asked, he had forgot to ask before. He was going to see about getting some more ammuntion and to try and fix his helmet. He knew it wasn't going to work without a little bit of work.
" Of course, follow me." She said happily. She turned right and started to walk, Ben followed, glad to be helped so easily. She walked through a set of doors, a room filled with tables and cabinets in front of them. Guns lay in pieces for cleaning or freshly reassembled. It was an armory for sure.
" Here you are, feel free to ask me for anything else you might need assistance with Carmine. " She said with a smile, walking out of the room. Ben smiled again, looking around the room. He spotted a man at the back of the room, working on a sniper rifle. He had dark skin, black hair, and was definatley a man of the military. He moved with precision, no slack movements, no unecessary force. Ben walked to him.
" Excuse me, can you help me?" The man turned around, smiled, and held out his hand.
" Hey, name's Jacob Taylor, you must be that new guy they picked up, must be. I've never seen a soldier, hell, a human as big as you are. " He looked Ben up and down, nodding in approval.
" Sure am sir, my name is Benjamin Carmine. Most just call me Carmine." I shook his hand, our grips firm and solid. Jacob smiled.
" You look like a brick shit house. That's some tough looking armor you have man. What do you need help with? " Ben showed him the two helmets.
" I need help fixing my helmet, also, is there any way you could make me some ammo for my guns?" I layed everything out on the empty table next to us. My longshot, revolver, and lancer, along with the two helmets. Jacob seemed to be sizing them up, looking at each one. He lingered on the lancer, a questioning look as he inspected the chainsaw bayonet. He looked very intrigued by them.
" So, you use ballistic rounds? I didn't think anyone still had those, only antiques. One thing's for sure, these things look like they'll tear up anything that comes in contact with them for sure. I could reproduce the rounds, no problem. Might even be able to make some improvements on them." Ben smiled, glad that he could keep his weapons.
" Thank you, I hope they're ready soon. I've got enough for maybe another run in like before, but that's it. I'm gonna go see shepard, he said something about a meeting to introduce me to everyone." Ben started to leave, until jacob's voice hit him.
" Just head to the meeting room, it's in the door to the right. Everyone's gonna be there soon, so it shouldn't take long." Ben nodded, heading through the door. Two more doors were located in the hall, one on the right and one straight ahead of him. He went through the one on the right, ending up in a room with a long table, a holographic representation of the Normandy in the center. Ben took a seat on the ground in the back, sitting on the ground against the wall. He was still in shock a little from the events earlier, it was something he thought could never happen in any realm of possibility. He missed everyone, but something told him he had a bigger role to play now, as if he had been given a bigger purpose. He closed his eyes, intent on getting a nap before whatever they had planned, until Shepard walked in. Carmine stood, saluting the smaller man.
" Sir!" Ben yelled out of habit. His yell was soft, but firm. Shepard smiled, saluting back.
" At ease soldier, just here to talk to you before the show begins." They both relaxed.
" What do you want to talk about Commander?" Shepard's face grew a bit firmer, he walked over to the table, leaning on it and looking at the hologram. He looked to be in thought, as though he was about to say something important.
" Carmine, our doctor found some interesting things about you in her exam of you. In your system, was a bioconducter that she had never seen before. Most of it is out of your system, but it allowed your body to go through a mass accelerator. I think you got transported here from another part of the galaxy. This means that there is another race of humans out there. We need to find them. You see, we're here to fight the coming of a race of synthetic beings intent on destroying all life in the galaxy." Ben noded, of course there was more things trying to kill him. It wasn't very surprising news. Shepard, seeing that he had heard him, continued.
" Also, it seems that you aren't exactly the same as us humans. You have much more testosterone and much more muscle mass and bone mass than most. You even have extra organs, of which I could suspect is an augmentation. You have an exact DNA match to us, you just developed differently. Before anything, I need to know I can trust you with the lives of my crew. That you'll be willing to put your life on the line for me and my crew, just like we're gonna do for you. Will you?" Shepard looked to Carmine, hoping to get the answer he wanted. Ben thought hard on what he had been told. He could save his world. He knew what he had to do.
" Sir, yes sir. I've got your back, all the way to hell." I saluted the man, smiling, my tattoos and scars giving me that look of feralness. Shepard smiled aswell.
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