Me: Ok I know I've been gone for a long time and there's not much I can say about it. Writer's block hit me and when it did, was like hitting the emergency brakes on a train going 90 just before a sharp turn. Off a cliff. Into a nuclear reactor. Basically, big fuckin wreck. I can mostly attribute it to my xbox PMSing on me and not reading ANY of my disks…. So whole library of 360 games? Useless now… sighs So, here's me trying to get started again, it'll be a bit difficult and hopefully the flow will get back to normal so I don't update once in I-don't-even-know-how-long. As further apology, Delta and I would like to present you with a potato points behind him at an empty space.
…Where's the potato?
Disclaimer: Zero612 does not own Mass Effect 2 or Halo, both video games and their universes were created and made awesome by the people at Bioware and Bungie respectively.
A Change in Method?
Alright… so we have Garrus, Jack, Grunt, Zaeed, Kasumi, Miranda, Jacob, Mordin, and Thane. Tali, Samara, and Legion are the last ones we need to get and Miranda's loyalty has been earned thanks to yours truly. We're still on Illium so Samara has got to get got next and then we're off for Tali. I thought while walking to my room in my under-armor bodysuit. On top of that better armor is what I need. I need to find someone who can make my armor from the schematics I wrote…
"Delta, Shepard ahs requested your presence in the cockpit" EDI suddenly popped up beside me at one of her access terminals. I looked at her and nodded before heading to the elevator and preparing for a slow ride back up to the CIC deck. Once there I stepped out and gave a small wave to Kelly and the crew while walking to the cockpit and adjoining airlock. There I saw Shepard with Garrus, Thane and Jack. I greeted them all then leaned against the airlock with my arms folded.
"So, whats today's schedule look like?" I ask.
"Shopping for upgrades and new equipment with credits from the last mission, tracking down who we want, fighting a whole mass of hostiles to get to them, and then fighting even more to make sure they actually come along with us. You know, the usual stuff." Garrus replies.
"And that's just how I like it, with a lot of things to kill." Jack adds with a hopeful and sadistic smirk.
I looked at Jack and made a silent prayer to God that she and Grunt never get together. As a couple, long term friends, anything unless they're fighting to the death. Unless they both learn to curb their killing impulses but seriously, how likely is that? "Well, sounds like fun." Let's see… Vindicator, Viper and Eviscerator shotgun with a phalanx heavy pistol. Ok, I'm good to go.
"Delta, your sniper rifle looks…odd" Damnit, Garrus would notice it wouldn't he…
"Really? Why do you say that?" I merely raise an eyebrow and try to play it cool.
"The frame around the firing mechanism looks different… like it was changed to accommodate something."
"Oh… well I might've juryrigged it a bit… in my spare time."
"How so?" And now Thane's interested.
"I added the Mantis' firing mechanism for more stopping power. Viper has capacity, Mantis has power, why not combine em, you know? I still need to try it out, work out the bugs, as it were" Hehe, bugs… with a Mantis rifle and Viper rifle hybrid.
"If it works please tell me, I'd love to have that upgrade." Garrus states with a nod of some approval.
"As would I" Thane looks like he wants the toy for himself too. Well too bad its MY toy! My toy…
"Well seeing as we're done here and everyone's geared up, Let's move out. We have an Asari Justicar to find." Woohoo! Samara recruitment!
~Out of the airlock and through the terminal, to Samara's place we go!~First a stop at Li-a-ra's to get us in the knowww~Over the bridge and by some taxi's we fly to the right zone~Ignore the guilty, traitorous volus who stinks like a sowww~Now we just find Anaya and go say "hiya" Before we head on out~And then before the day's all done we'll have Samara and maybe Gardenr's fried trout-
"SHUT THE FUCK UP DELTA!" I jump away from Jack who was standing beside me and had a very dangerous looking corona of biotic power coming off her. "YOU'VE BEEN MUTTERING THAT SAMEFUCKING SONG AND ITS DAMN CHANGES FOR THE PAST 10 MINUTES! SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!"
I just shrink down a bit and step away closer to Garrus, keeping my mouth shut until Jack calms down. Until we find some Eclipse mercs to fight, I am not touching that powder keg even with a 20-yard pole…
So we go into Anaya's office, get the rundown of the situation however I barely paid any attention as I was trying to stay out of Jack's line of sight. That was made much easier when I remember I had a tactical cloak… dummkopf.
After that we go off to find Samara before Anaya does. Thankfully, we got a headstart, and a few doors might've decided to lock themselves behind us. I'm not saying anything more about that. I stick close to Garrus at the back with my modified Viper out and watch Jack take the lead with Shepard. Once the girl blows some steam then I think I'll be in the "can talk and still get away with minor-mid level injuries" zone. That's kinda funny because even I don't know where exactly that zone sits. Oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained. Moving on, we come down a hallway and up a few steps before catching sight of some Eclipse Mercs. I immediately spot one Asari with Tech armor, 3 LOKI mechs and a helmeted human. Jack uses a Pull on her nearest target while charging forward, her shotgun lighting up the human. Garrus fires and downs a mech as does Thane, both shooting at the same time towards the last one, blowing its head clean off. It lands by the asari and soon blows, stunning her while I use my rifle to knock the rest of her tech armor off and Shepard moves in with her Tempest SMG to finish her off.
After confirming the kills and moving on we come to a room with a green lit door. Shepard taps it open and right when we step in some poor Asari's screams ring out and she hits the corner of the wall right by us, the snap and crackle sounding out in her impact as it breaks her spine.
"Well that's one way to say hi…"
In a room with glass walls just above the floor where we stand there's another Asari in Eclipse armor glaring and backing off from an elegant and graceful Asari who's back is to us, dressed in a red, black and gold outfit with some armor plating. I can see their lips moving but can't tell what they're saying, though, I already know. The Eclipse girl points her gun at Samara and is thrown back through the glass. Samara follows, glowing blue and doing a half-swan dive, which gets an 8 for style and flair. She saunters over to the other Asari even as she backs away and steps on her neck. After some words are exchanged another snap is heard. Samara turns and looks at us while walking over to us, gesturing at the dead Eclipse soldiers.
"My name is Samara, a servant of the Justicar Code. My quarrel is with these Eclipse sisters, but I see 5 well-armed people before me. Are we friend? Or foe?
"We're friends. I'm going up against suicidal odds on a mission and I need the best – that's you." Shepard replies.
"I sense the truth in what you say, and it humbles me. But I seek and incredibly dangerous fugitive." Samara steps away and paces as she speaks. "I cornered her here, but the Eclipse sisters smuggled her off-world. I must find the name of the ship she left on before the trail goes cold."
During this time I got sidetracked by several things. First was a chit for 5,000 credits on one dead merc, woot free money is always good money. Also I saw something by the window and found out it has a spectacular view out onto Illium's sunset and skyline which was accentuated by the sunset. It was mesmerizing with its oddly imbued hues of blue and green but also more neon-like colors of orange and red that seemed to come from Illium's own giant orb of flaming gas. Which brought me to distraction number three, which was the fact that I was hungry and was craving a donut. I haven't had one in so long too maybe like…9 months? And with a Krispy kreme so close to home too that should be preposterous! A good glazed donut should set me right, maybe even a cinammon roll hybrid if they have one. I wonder if they do… Oh god I hope so, maybe we can find a bakery that sells them here, it would be fantastic to have a post-mission donut. Or 2. Or 12. I think 17's my limit last I checked before I get sick… Meh, either way it'd be great, and I can finally have a donut again!
"Thank you Shepard." I look back at Shepard, Anaya and Samara to see the two Asari leave as Shepard shakes her head and motions for the team to follow. Guess the donuts will have to wait for later.
So…now we talk to Pitne For. Crap, I hate this guy. He cheated the Eclipse, abandoned his partner and then has the gall to act like he's innocent! And act badly too. Batarians and Volus' two races I doubt I'll ever get along with. Pitne's a coward too, so a little threat'd break him easy.
"Hello again Earth-clan. Did you speak to the detective?" Ah, Pitne…
"You said you didn't know anything about all this. You've got one chance to change that statement."
"What do you mean Earth-clan? I'm just-" I pop out a plasma blade and point it at him. Pitne immediately shrinks back and raises his arms defensively. "Oh dear! Please put that away! I'll be cooperative, I swear!"
"Confession time then." I say. Shepard gives me a sidelong glance of slight disapproval but doesn't say anything.
"I smuggled a chemical onto Illium that boosts biotic powers in combat. It also is toxic. I may have, um, forgotten to mention that to the Eclipse. So they are perturbed and want to kill me."
"Sounds like you're a swindler and your actions finally caught up with you." Shepard remarks with a sly smile.
"True and true. But I haven't survived as a merchant this long without being able to tell when there's a deal in the making. You want something."
"The Eclipse recently smuggled someone off-world. I need the name of the ship she left on."
"I don't know about their people smuggling operations. They must keep records in their base. I do have a passcard they issued me to bring my goods in. Well I had to return that one but I did happen to make a copy."
Shepard gives him an expecting look.
"Here, take it. But be careful- each Eclipse sister commits a murder to earn her uniform. They are all dangerous."
Shepard nods and takes it as we all walk away to the elevator that leads to the Eclipse base, prepping our weapons inside. Jack seems eager while Thane and Garrus stay calm an Shepard sighs in a bit of frustration. Soon enough the elevator stops and we step out. First thing we see are… 3 LOKI mechs, which rise up to greet/shoot us and are dropped before their VI's even fully processed what got here. We stack up at the door and I tap the adrenaline button, smiling as everything goes into slow-mo just as the door opens.
Pulling out my Viper I sight down on an Asari Vanguard and shoot her.2 body shots for the tech armor and most of the barrier then a headshot to finish her. Garrus pops out with his Vindicator and lays fire down on a neighboring asari soldier, quickly taking out her shields then sending a 3-round burst through her skull. The Drenalin surge is stopped and we step out into the room and go down a hallway with a few crates of minagen, dropping behind cover as some Asari Vanguards lay down suppressive fire. Jack took cover beside a canister of the illegal chemical and suddenly yells out with a strong couch as the canister is blown apart by one Vanguards errant Warp attack. The resulting red cloud covers Jack and her biotics flare up immediately, not fading even slightly as she suddenly gives out a gleeful yell and sends three shockwaves down the hall, blasting the Asari out of cover, against the walls, onto the ground, into the crates, into each other and then back again.
"Damn this stuff is good!" Jack exclaims.
"Don't forget it's toxic too Ja-AAAAAAACK!" Jack jerked her hand up and launched me into the air while I was talking. I hit the ceiling and seems she immediately cut off the control since I only came plummeting back down to the ground with a new concussion. Great. "ow…"
"That song was really fucking annoying"
"Jack!" Whatever Shepard was about to say next was interrupted by gunshots as more mercs came into the room and started shooting at us. I rolled behind cover and switched to my Vindicator. We exhcnaged shots with the enemy for a few minutes, Jack shockwaving a mech and an Asari off an open docking platform which allowed me to move up and distract a few Vanguards who were keeping Thane and Garrus busy long enough for the two to get a bead and down them. One asari made the unwise decision to try and take cover within arm's reach of me and I showed her how wrong it was by grabbing her arm and pulling her into me which sent my now-activated plasma blade straight into her spine through her stomach. After letting her drop we all moved up tot eh next doorway, seeing as the area was clear and continued on. Shepard picked up a Scimitar shotgun and I switched out my eviscerator for it, as did Jack. As Shepard walked to the stairs I stopped to open a door that led into a little personal office that seemed empty. Except for the front half of the Tempest SMG that was lying on the floor by the desk. This is that Elnora girl's spot… wonder if I can have some fun here. I activate my tactical cloak and creep up silently, coming up behind her and waiting quietly while my hand reaches forward to her shoulder.
"BOO!" I grab her shoulder hard and firm, even as she jumps and fumbles for her smg, which is suddenly slid away by an invisible force. I crack up laughing while fading into view. Elnora's face takes on a look of anger then surprise to resignation as she notices my pistol held up to her point blank.
"Don't shoot! I didn't shoot at you, I just pretended to because the other Eclipse Sister were watching!"
"You're in an enemy uniform. So, I'm going to kill you" Jack steps in and up with the rest of the gang.
"I'm not one of them! I'm new! I thought being Elnora the mercenary would be cool. But I didn't know what they were really like!"
"You're a new Eclipse Sister?" I ask.
"Yes! I just started as one today!" Elnora frantically replies.
"Ah." I pull the trigger a couple times and Elnora drops to the floor, paralyzed by shock and well, I shot her spine too. Think that might've had a hand in it. Anyway, Shepard and the others are looking at me in surprise while Jack seems a little ticked I just stole a kill from her. She and Grunt better not ever get together. Thankfully with Okeer dead there actually is not chance of mixing her genes with his. I hope.
"Delta, why'd you kill her like that? That's kind of unlike you to kill in such cold blood" Shepard asks.
"Not exactly Shepard. Do you remember being told about the volus they found murdered just last night? With that in mind, there's also the fact an Eclipse Sisters initiation involves cold-blooded murder and Enyala just said she's a newbie Eclipse Sister."
"Oh I see, well done Delta."
"Why thank you Detective Vakarian." I smile a little proudly. It's deflated when I see Shepard and Jack roll their eyes and walk out up the stairs, quickly followed by us. At the top of the stairs Shepard opens a door to a docking area with a pathway along the back dotted by crates that lead to the door to the next room. I follow Shepard, firing at the mechs that Jack uses pull on and Garrus pops an overload on one Human soldier who is then taken down by Thane. We drop behind cover and shoot some minagen crates to make a smokescreen/toxic cloud, which damages the Asari that were too eager to fight us. As the cloud faded I ran forward under the cloak and slid behind the furthest piece of cover, whipping out my dual plasma blades and stabbing them into the backs of the Asari firing at my team. As the last two soldiers turned to focus on me they got blindsided by Shepard and the others. Jack and I take point through the nearby doors, killing two hiding Asari with a few shotgun blasts each that sent them stumbling moreso than fighting back.
Moving through a room of little importance we came across another flight of stairs and went on up, reaching the top level of a docking bay and getting on the main pathway to fight through. I switched to my Vindicator once more, as did Garrus and we took turns wearing down the shields of one Vanguard until a rocket blew into my cover. I stumbled back as it hit the top part of my cover and gave me quite a bit of splashback, which took out half of my shields and the rest were being drained by a couple mechs and a Vanguard. Jack punched one of the mechs into the other with a loud cackle and then shotgunned them until they stopped moving. The vanguard was taken down by a joint effort from Garrus and Thane, which gave me a second reprieve to find new, taller cover crates.
"I could really use a donut after this mission… " I say as I pop out and score a headshot on a trooper. We go up some stairs to a large open dock, which contains 6 mechs, 7 troopers, and 3 vanguards along with a docked gunship. As we step into the room, immediately combining fire to take down one vanguard the gunship pulls off and flies away, leaving the infantry to deal with us. I move to the left, using my Vindicator and phalanx to clear the area as Shepard and Garrus set up with their sniper rifles and start scoring headshots on the others. I use a three-round burst to bust open the head of a mech and then smile as Jack uses a short pull to help it get some last-minute quality time in with its Eclipse buddies before it goe-Boom!- ooh, that's messy…
Well… at least it died happy. The troopers I'm not so sure. That guy seems really mad. Oh he's still alive.
"Hello." For a good 2 seconds. Nice not knowing ya man. Have fun with Jack.
"Team, on me." Shepard is currently at the exit door so Jack and I hurry over once she's done and follow her into an incandescent blue room that seems to be a living quarters entrance. Hey an audio diary.
"Well, it's official. Little baby Elnora is finally a full-fledged Eclipse merc! I earned my uniform last night when I killed that ridiculous volus. Up close exploding rounds. Blew the little bastard's suit wide open! Hah! I can't wait to see some real action. Next time I go home, my friends are going to be so jealous!" There we get a view of Enyala's murderous sadist side. Kinda like Minatsuki. That was one fucked up deadman-bitch….
"It seems killing her was a good judgement" Thane remarks, glancing at me.
"Still would've preferred it to be me who killed her" Typical Jack. Can't live with her, would definitely have a higher general chance of survival without her.
"Right… Hey look! Things to kill!" I point ahead at some more Eclipse mercs at the doorway to yet another docking bay.
"Hello dead people!" Jack says with glee and a spring in her step as she runs forward and Pulls the mercs into the air before unleashing the fiery fury of her shotgun.
"Ah, look at her Shepard. Doesn't she seem so happy, and at peace and carefree while destroying the bodies of people who try to kill us? What kind of a life has scared her to find happiness in that?"
"Do you really want to broach that subject Delta?"
"Quite honestly, not even with a stick 2 km long. I'm empathetic and nice and all, but I get the feeling that's at a level I can't even reach." Jack finishes killing the troopers and the few mechs that were brought along for the death ride just as we finish our conversation and walk up to meet with her on the pathway. Shepard goes off to grab a couple tech upgrades, resources and equipment scattered around the area while I stare off into the sunset. And down at the loooooong fall from the edge of the dock.
"Pretty steep drop eh Specialist?" Garrus says as he steps up beside me, looking through the scope of his rifle down.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights now Vakarian." I answer with a smirk.
"Are you kidding me? Heights are a Turian's best friend. And a sniper's. Gets you good visibility for miles with a good enough scope."
I nod then frown as I hear a sound, the sound of a certain kind of thruster engine. The ones that are found either on the UH-14 Falcons in Halo, or a- "Gunship!" I yell, backing away as the Gunship flies up right in front of us. Garrus and I backtrack, raising our weapons at it and firing as it backs away for more space, rotating turret locking onto Thane who was also nearby as two missiles click into place on its wing. I tackle Garrus to the side behind a fragile crate, one missile hitting our previous standpoint while the other destroys the crate. Garrus recovers quickly and guides us into a diveroll behind a pillar as Thane runs and jumps around a bit, demonstrating some impressive ability while the gunships turret tries to get a lock on him, firing all the time and chipping the floor around him but rarely even hitting his shields. After a few seconds the Drell drops into cover behind a thick crate and Shepard joins him. We all quickly switch to incendiary ammo and top off our guns before popping out and opening fire on the Gunship's cockpit. We chip and burn away the armor rather quickly, only taking a minute or so and breaking through to shoot the inner controls of the ship just as it starts its first pass over us. With the loss of controls it turns into a pass under us and into the side of the building, emphasized by the resulting explosion.
With that out of the way we hurry through the last door right after Shepard hacks it. We find a shipping log showing the minagen sales, along with red sand deals that Pitne For made with the Eclipse. Shepard stores it away while I access a nearby terminal that transfers 6,000 credits to our accounts. We then keep on walking through another door and down the white hallway that is just before Wasea's office, cargo bay area.
We stop as the volus, Niftu Cal, who seems pretty drunk or high or…something starts claiming he's a biotic god, we're lesser creatures and he's pure biotics made flesh.
"You need help." Is Shepard's only response to that.
"You need help! You stand before the mightiest biotic ever. Yes, the Asari injecting so many drugs into me was terrifying. But then I began to smell my greatness. They may laugh when I fall over, but they don't know what I know in my head - that I know that I am amazingly powerful. Fear me!" Don't do the gesture to me man, its hard enough holding in the laugh as it is.
"Alright, can we please just go take care of the Eclipse captain? I want to be done with this." I ask Shepard.
"Yes. The Captain of the Eclipse is in the next room. I shall toss Wasea about like a rag doll!" Interjects Niftu.
"Fifteen creds says the little guy doesn't make it five steps before the merc explodes him" If Shepard lets him, I'm taking her up on that bet, little dude takes 6 steps every time.
"I will tear her apart! My biotics are unstoppable!"
"Maybe you should lie down a nap then toss Wasea around."
"No! I will not delay any longer" Shepard hits the back of his suit and it does something. First he falls over then gets back up, noticeably tired and such. I just shrug and ignore him shuffling past me while I walk up to the door and draw my Vindicator. We all go through and start walking towards Wasea while she's drinking something and looking at a datapad.
"Everything's gone to hell ever since we smuggled that filthy creature off-world. First a Justicar shows up, now you. At least I can take pleasure in turning your head into a pulpy mass." Wasea biotically tosses a canister of minagen at us which we all sidestep.
Wasea stands by cover, shooting at us while a few Eclipse troopers come into the room and join the firefight. I lift a couple of the canisters and chuck them hard at the two entrance doors, covering them in the toxic gas. Back by Shepard and the others their shields are going down by Trooper fire and soon I have to duck down as well. More troops come in from the doors as the toxic clouds slowly fade, providing Wasea with a good amount of troops to keep us behind cover. I try to toss a canister over at them like a grenade but it's blown apart halfway there. Everyone starts taking potshots but stays stuck as the troopers use their numbers to allow each of their members a break from the fighting if their shields start getting low. Wasea's armor has barely been scratched and her biotic shield is back up to full again. Jack sends out an irate, anger-powered shockwave at the group which blows some of them out of cover. Garrus Thane and Shepard take the opportunity to focus fire and take down a few troopers while I use my adrenalin surge to attack Wasea. Once she drops back down to recharge her barrier I activate my tactical cloak and move around for a canister of minagen. Once I've found one I sneak as close to the entrenched Eclipse troopers as I can and launch it at them, thankfully getting it in a good position before it's blown apart by their desperate preventive fire. The biotics get a boost in power but the non biotics stagger and cough, which distracts the ones nearest to me logn enough for me to jump and double knife them with my plasma blades. I continue, driving my blades into several other mercs nearby until the Vanguards turn their attention to me. I drop behind cover and fire wildly while Shepard and the others take them down. After that I resume firing at the other troopers until Wasea turns her eyes on me at which point I duck and activate my cloak. I sneak away and get close to her then tackle her with my blades out and ready to be slammed into her gut. She grabs both my arms and squeezes, holding back my enhanced muscles as I strain to stab her biotics help keep her alive. My shields get peppered by enemy fire but Shepard and Garrus appear in the edge of my vision, providing cover fire.
"Pulpy mass this bitch!" Jack runs up and with a biotically enhanced glowing boot stomps down on Wasea's head through her barrier and skull, smiling wider than she has before today before resuming killing the troopers that were quickly losing their morale and starting to retreat, only for Jack and Garrus to follow and gun them down while Shepard just provided sniper support.
Meanwhile I crouched there and tried not to barf at the taste of Asari brains, blood, and head scalp, tentacle, thing. Also trying to not think of how close to unfried squid it tasted. Soon after we found ship name and headed back to the police station to finish this mission up and get Samara on our team.
Man I can't believe how long that took. I might miss Legion online… And I can't wait to see the schematics for that new VR helmet those game developers are creating that he, uh, looked at. To actually be in the game, that'd be so awesome!
…Oh the irony.
Well, I think I'm gonna go introduce myself to our newest crewmember. I get up and walk out of my room then head over to the starboard observation deck. Tapping the green panel the door opens before me and I step through angling my sight immediately to see Samara sitting cross-legged on the floor meditating with her biotic ball. That…looks pretty cool actually. I shake my head a bit and take a step forward.
"Hello Samara, my names Delta. Welcome to the Normandy, I look forward to working alongside you." I put on a sincere smile towards Samara who stops meditating and looks at me.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Delta. I look forward to our work as well."
I provide idle chat for a few minutes before letting her get back to meditating and returning to my room. I turn on my terminal and load up the schematics before getting a "new mail" message. I open it and read the message:
Delta-Specialist,
We have written to you with news of possible assistance. When we last had runtimes inside your terminal we noticed the schematics created for your personalized armor. As a gift of gratitude and offering of peace the true geth would be willing to manufacture the armor for you.
We await your consensus.
Huh… This is PERFECT! Legion and the geth can create my armor for me! Pickup is likely to be a disaster but who cares, I'll have my epic armor of epic Spartan epicosity! Yeah, it's that epic! Oh man I can't wait! The Geth are perfect for this, they have the resources, the skill, and best of all the safest network to share the schematics with! Tim'll have a hard time getting them from either me or my geth buddies. Sweet! With That in mind I type a quick response of acceptance and expression of gratitude. And now done I lay back in my mind and let the rocking of the Normandy soothe my tired bones and muscles for a quick nap before I shower as the ship pulls away from Illium's doc- MY DONUTS! I slam my face into a window and watch the Illium skyline move away at a progressively faster pace. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Me: (running down the street) DELTA! GET BACK HERE WITH THE READER'S POTATO!
Delta: (rolling down the street atop an 8-foot wide and 10-foot tall potato) Never! This will feed me French fries for several months!
Me: Dammit Delta that's my apology potato!
Delta: Write another chapter as an apology!
Me: (pants) Dammit… I just, hah, had to live on a freakin hill… I'm gonna try to get that potato back. And write a new chapter soon. Peace out loyal readers.