Hi my lovely Readers!
Here we go again with a new chapter. This takes on a different angle on Eden Prime than what is shown in the game.
Not good with writing fighting scenes, but it is what it is.
Fixed 2022
Hope you'll like it anyway!
Escape the Fate
Chapter 3: Eden Prime
**Quinn's POV
The ship would soon arrive on Eden Prime and all she had to do was wait. The cuffs laid carefully in her hands, waiting to be used. Until then, she was keeping up the appearance. The two guards were as clueless as ever standing on the same spot, barley keeping an eye on their prisoner as they though her being safely restrained to the chair. Foolish nativity. Or maybe pure incompetence? Which of the two could be debated and still the answer wouldn't matter for long.
Neither of the two had taken to account that she had suddenly grown quiet. Another thing that had her question the two's competence. Did the one who had assigned them to be watch-dogs not know these two were complete morons? Or just because they knew that they saw them as expendables? Now that was an intriguing idea.
Her tongue wet her lips as she thought. There was no chance in hell she was going to let herself be taken to the Citadel and be confined to a small space with a toilet-sink combo next to the bed for the rest of her life and be told what to do, when to do it and how to do it –– was a fate she would never ever accept. She would rather die than submit to that fate. But dying was neither an option. No, she was going to get out of here one way or another. Most likely bloody. Just the way she liked it. Hopefully, John would timely stumble into her escape path and she would be able to plunge her fist into that conceited brain of his.
However, a bloody way out could also be bad for her. With no weapons other than her biotic, all she could rely on was stealing the guards' weapons. That meant taking them both by surprise and although that seemed to be quite easy, she still had no idea what to expect behind that door. With no clue of how many crew members, who carried weapons or not and who also was a biotic. It was one thing to take down a ship with a crew backing her up, doing it alone was a completely different story.
No, she needed to be smart about it. A clean and easy way out. No drawing unnecessary attention to herself until forced. For 750,000 credits, she would have to be patient.
Coming up with a strategy to deal with these two pyjaks, she shifted the cuffs into her right hand, making sure the sharp edge of it would hit its mark once thrown.
"Hey! Shit-heads!" She shouted, gaining their attention straight away.
No sooner than they had looked up from their Omni-tools, did she throw the cuffs at the nameless, paler guy's throat. Shocked, his hands shot up straight for the object which was sticking out of his esophagus. Clumsy hands tried pulling at it as he was gurgling but had blood slipping out and threatened to flow even more. Shock turned to full fledge panic and fear.
Gladstone, the darker of the two, stood frozen in shock as he watched his fellow soldier collapse against the wall, not fully comprehending what had just happened. Once his brain caught up, he was wavering on what to do. Help his dying comrade or secure the escaping prisoner? But before he had the time to actually do something, it was already too late.
"What the–"
The man never got to finish his sentence. With her Charge, she slammed the man into the wall, knocking his head hard against it with a sickening crack that left no doubt the man dead. Releasing the grip on him, Quinn watched his body slump lifelessly to the floor with pride.
A few feet away from her, the paler man was panicking. A grueling sound escaped him as he tried to make noises loud enough to alert someone for help. Turning her attention to him only had him panicking even more and he scrambled for the door. Slipping on his own blood only made him look more pathetic and for a moment she considered to just watch him struggle to death. Even if he could get help, he was still a goner, he just hadn't realized it yet. But as he got his footing and about to press his hand to the control panel, she decided his misery and pathetic little life was over. Covering her arm and fist with her biotic, she bashed it into the back of his head. He fell to the floor with a thud.
Standing between the two corpses, she wasn't sure if she should be astonished on how easy it was to take these idiots by surprise or in awe of how quickly they died. This was far from the worse she had done to a body and yet, they had died with not much of a struggle. Was this what quality the Alliance was recruiting now a days? Had they lost all their standards since she was discharged?
Looking down at the two, she said lightly; "You should've entertained me better. Maybe even brought me the meal I asked for. Now I had to fix my own entertain."
With two assault rifles lying at her feet, she picked up one and then turned to the other to remove the clips. "Do you mind if I take this?" She placed them into her belt. "I didn't think so."
Although she preferred a shotgun, this would have to do until she was able to get her hands on one. Preferable her own, but it had been taken away from her before she stepped on this ship. But as she was kneeling, her eye spotted something in the corner of the room that she had missed earlier. A small crate was placed underneath the desk and an awfully familiar shotgun was sticking out of it.
One shotgun, one pistol and now one assault rifle. With her other gear and bag of tricks, she was that much more confident she would be able to escape.
With one press on the door's control panel, the door slid open. Carefully, Quinn peeked her head out from the room when the same male voice from earlier spoke through the ship's intercom.
"Reaching the first drop point in 5 minutes, Captain."
5 minutes to find the way out of this ship. Doable if she didn't get interrupted. Her tactical cloak would keep her invisible when needed. Although the timer wasn't long and the recharge time was even longer, so she could only use it when it was absolutely necessary.
Fortunately, the med-bay seemed to be empty. The older woman who Quinn had guessed was the medic upon her arrival and the survivor from the Alliance vessel was nowhere to be seen. Still on her guard though, she walked through the room. Only stopping to grab as many medi-gel she could carry before heading for the next door. Once open, she peeked her head out and listened for voices or nearby steps but heard none.
The mess hall to her right seemed to be surprisingly empty despite the fact it was around dinner time. The whole crew must be busy working as they were about to reach the planet. One positive thing she could say about the Alliance marine, they hardly contained many slackers and did their jobs on time. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about most of the pirate scums she associated herself with. If they weren't kept on their toes, they would not even lift a finger.
Carefully sticking to the walls, she moved through the hall towards where she remembered the elevator were located. Her hand hovered just over the cloak switch just in case someone would show up out of nowhere. Suddenly, she heard movement and soon a voice with it.
"The first human Spectre. What an honor, sir!"
Three sets of footsteps approached her from around the corner but stopped just by the elevator door. The machine started to buzz as it was working its way up.
"Congratulation Shepard. You deserve it," another voice spoke cheerfully, and in awe.
Shepard? Carefully leaning out of the corner, she saw three men stand there waiting for the machine to reach the floor. Immediately her eyes landed on her brother and the feelings of anger and resentment filled her up to the point of wanting to smash his head in. But as much as she wanted him to feel pain and death, this was not the time for it.
"Thanks, guys. But I'm not a Spectre yet," John spoke, trying to sound moderate but she could tell he was secretly smug about it. "At least wait with the praises until it's official."
Wait-what?! John a Spectre?! Who the hell came up with that stupid idea? she thought. The guy may fit the description of a model soldier and care about nothing else than becoming a space hero, but become an agent for the Council? It had to be a joke. He could not be given the power to decide what is best for the galaxy. He would screw more things up than help it.
"If this mission goes as it should, then the first drink is on me," one of the guys suggested and she realized she had seen him before. It was the guy with the perfect hair who had been there when she had gotten arrested. Black, thick, shiny, and well kept. He must spend hours in front of the mirror every morning to keep that all in place.
The third guy she had not seen before. Although he seemed to have a lot of energy and treated John like he was some kind of celebrity. That he was worshiping her brother could be seen from miles away. Ridicules.
Well, it seemed like she would just have to wait for the next elevator. Although she could risk riding the elevator down with them, but she wasn't sure if the cloak would hold. But waiting for the next one could bring unnecessary attention to her once down there. She had no clue to how many people was down there, nor the layout of the ships hold.
Growing quite frustrated, John pressed on the button to summon the elevator a few more times. "Can't this thing go any faster?"
"The action isn't going anywhere, Commander," the young man said, his tone filled with ecstatic.
"You would think such an advanced ship would have a better elevator," Pretty-Boy commented.
Well, that was not good news. There would be no time to wait for the next one and Quinn would just have to risk taking this elevator down with these three pyjaks.
Once the damned thing finally decided to reach the floor, the three men wasted no time to step on it. With one press on the button on her Omni-tool, the tactical cloak was activated. First, her kinetic field flickered, before it mirrored her surroundings and made her invisible for the naked eye. Then quickly and carefully, rounded the corner and into the elevator before the doors shut.
"I guess we can't have it all," John responded to Pretty-Boy's comment with a slight frustration.
The elevator began to descend and all she could hope for as she stood in the corner was that the descent would be quicker as she silently counted the seconds. So far, she couldn't say she was super impressed by this vessel. A ship constructed by the Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy to be a peace symbol between the two races, she had guessed would be more remarkable. From her contacts, this ship was supposed to be a big deal. New technology, highly advanced and yet she had seen nothing special about it. What kind of ship didn't have a proper space to keep their prisoners? There was no way they were going to kill them, or at least that was their memo they tried to upkeep, so what the hell where they supposed to do with them? The storage space wasn't sufficient enough, she had just proved that.
Turning her eyes to the three, now quiet men, they seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Their expressions were completely different from just a moment ago. One would think they were expecting serious trouble from retrieving just a simple artifact.
But her eyes stayed on her brother's. Repressing the urge to shoot him right then and there, she gritted her teeth together tightly and clenched her fists. –, her thoughts rambled on. The hatred she felt for her brother was boiling just by the sight of him.
The arrival couldn't come any sooner. A second longer in the same cramped space as her brother and she would have submitted to the urge of crushing that skull of his. Just when the men stepped out of the elevator and had their backs turned to her, did her cloak deactivate and turned her visible once more. A relieved exhale escaped her before she silently sneaked out of the elevator and took cover behind a few crates in the far-off corner to the right. As silently as she could managed, she followed the three men by passing a Mako and stopped just by the nose of it, carefully glance past it to take a better look at her surroundings.
The trio walked up to a man whom she immediately recognized as David Anderson. Although older, he still looked the same as she remembered him. A few more wrinkles added to his face since she last laid eyes on him. A feeling of guilt hit her as she watched the mentor she had also seen as a father figure greet the trio. This she had not expected. First Nihlus and now Anderson. The hatred for the Alliance ran deep inside her, but that did not apply to that man. She still respected him. Cared for him and most likely, would let him guilt her into surrender. Why was he, of all people, on this damned ship together with the most hated person in this galaxy along with her former lover? Was fate trying to pull a sick joke on her? Was this some kind of karma shit? Well, screw that bull shit if it was!
"Your team's the muscle in this operation, Commander," Anderson spoke with the same commanding tone she remembered and had once admired. "Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."
"What about survivors, Captain?" Pretty-Boy asked.
Survivors? Weren't they here just to retrieve a simple artifact? Someone must have spread the word of this price to more people than just that strange man hiring her to fetch it for him. She wasn't surprised. Greedy people would always prey on an opportunity to make more money. However, that would make it slightly more difficult for her to get her hands on it. Not to mention, how to get it off of the damned planet. This made it a bit more complicated than she had first thought. But for now, she had to focus on getting to it before anyone else did.
"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority," Anderson declared with a slight coldness in his tone.
Slightly taken by her former mentor's order, she couldn't help but look at him with a raised brow. Was he for real? Survivors had always been on the top of his list as long as she had known him. He had even quoted "everyone deserves to be saved", to a point where it had run through her head like an annoying song stuck in the head that won't give. For him to say something other than that only meant how dire the situation was and how important the beacon truly was. As much as she could see Anderson's point, the same could not be said about everyone else, it seemed. Although the three men responded with an affirmative nod, they did it reluctantly.
"Approaching drop point one," the voice from the intercom announced and soon after, the hatch on the cargo door was opened.
The pressure to the air shifted as the door opened. If it weren't for the ship's artificial gravity, they would have been knocked down by the strong wind, or maybe even sucked out. The confined air was instantly replaced with freshly air smelling of nature. Having been on a ship for so long, she had almost forgotten the smell of fresh air and her lungs ravished in the opportunity to change the oxygen within her, giving her a new boost of energy.
The young jumpy guy from the trio seemed excited and turned to the turian who walked into her line of sight and asked; "Nihlus? You're coming with us?"
Leaning out a little further so she could get a better look at the turian Spectre, she watched him load his assault rifle with new clips before he walked down the ramp to the approaching land.
His tone was dismissive as he answered. "I move faster on my own."
So, they were splitting up into two groups. She could work with that. It would be easier to handle them separately. Of course, Nihlus would go off alone as he had pretty much always done. He would be the right one to follow. He may be a Spectre, but he was also her former lover. She could use that against him if need be. That cold mask of his which he was so determined to uphold would not hold for long if pushed and pressured.
"Nihlus will scout out ahead," Anderson addressed the trio as the turian ran to jump off the ramp. "He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence."
Now that was like music to Quinn's ears. Playing her cards right and this trio of pyjaks would not even be a problem at all. Lovely. Opening her Omni-tool behind the Mako to see if the cloak had recharged, she quickly activated it when it was. Again, her kinetic shield flickered as it mirrored her surroundings and made her invisible again. After that, there was no hesitation. Making a break for the ramp, she ran as quickly as she could, trusting that all the noise from the engine and wind concealed the sound of her footsteps and then jumped off the ship.
Landing with a roll of her body, she easily maneuvered herself to get up on her feet by the force and came to a halt only a few inches behind Nihlus, who was taking in his surroundings. She quickly held her breath so that his superior hearing wouldn't pick up on her presence and quietly moved a few steps back. Then, he broke into a run towards the trees.
With a slight turn to see if the ship truly was leaving, a triumph smile crossed her lips once it flew off. Once again, she had escaped the Alliance clutches. One would think they should have learned by now. Her shield flickered, telling her the cloak was running out of time. Turning her attention forwards, Nihlus rounded a tree and disappeared out of sight just in time as the cloak turned off. She took one deep breath of fresh air and savored the feeling for a short time before she begun to follow the turian. With a rapid walk, half sprint, did she round the tree, carefully making sure she didn't make enough sound to alert the Spectre in the front.
They ran through the small forest, and she had to admit, Eden Prime certainly was as beautiful as people described it. Although the planet was similar to Earth, it had more of a fantasy touch to it. Like the idea of the planet had come from a child's imagination of bettering the human planet. The colors were more vivid and clear in an unnatural way. Like the green of the vegetation was glowing and the eyes were drawn to it, but that was the same with all the colors around her. Now she understood why this place was such a popular place for shore leaves and vacations. It was so beautiful one would almost like to puke. And it didn't help that the sun was beginning to set and turned the whole firmament in different shades of red. A sepia tone fell over the land, bringing the feeling of even more peace and serenity.
But black smoke suddenly filled the sky, ruining the perfect picture. Well, that was if you were about to take a photo. For her, it meant she was finally able to get some action and shoot something. It didn't take long until the ground was littered with dead human bodies. Apparently, it wasn't only her who had no problem in killing to get to the beacon first. Only problem was – she had no idea who this someone was nor how many they were. These bodies obviously belonged to the colonists and the military stationed here.
Empty clips laid spread around, giving evidence for their resistance. But once she found a body with a shotgun in hands, did she walk over to it and looted it for the ammo clips. Popping a fresh one into her favorite weapon of choice, she then resumed the stalking of her former lover, who was still at a distance in front.
So far, she had not spotted any survivors and began to doubt there even was any. How these bodies had been treated, it was almost like they had made sure there would be no one left alive. More bullets than necessary littered the bodies and even for her, she considered this over kill. Whoever had done this had taken these people by surprise and barley giving them the chance to react. As precaution, she grew more alert and on her guard.
Rounding another tree, she felt a shot fly past her head. Not fully comprehend what had just happened, she turned her eyes to the tree trunk and spotted the bullet hole where her head had just been a split second ago. Realization hit her and she turned her head back in a snapping anger to find the soon to be dead shooter. In her line of sight, she watched Nihlus taking cover behind a large rock and shooting something which was looking similar to a quarian. Although taller and the head was long with a single flashlight instead of eyes. Replacing the shotgun with the pistol, she took cover behind the same tree to observe the situation. Neither the thing nor Nihlus seemed to have taken notice of her.
Over the gunfire, she could faintly hear Nihlus speak. He must be reporting this to John and the rest. The next second, her Omni-tool was opened and scanning for the frequency he used to communicate with them. Some static at first, then voilà, his voice spoke into her earpiece.
"–everywhere. Keep your guard up."
Keeping a watchful eye on the situation, she was once again reminded on how good of a shot the turian Spectre was. With barley any struggle, Nihlus had managed to take out the two hostiles in no time. Almost like he knew how to deal with them. Once they were dead on the ground, he walked up to their corpses to examine them. Deep in thought, he didn't notice as she moved up closer and took his cover behind the rock.
Carefully leaning out to get a better look at the quarian-looking thing, she soon realized it was a geth. She had seen one once, but that was a long time ago when her crew had accidently entered geth space. Similar built as the quarians, except for the single brightly glowing photoreceptor as a head, most known as the "flashlight head" and the synthetic muscles and interior. In short, they were robots or artificial intelligences – AI's – self-aware computing systems.
What the hell would these machines want with the beacon? Were they even here for that or something else? They had not left the Veil in nearly two hundred years; she had once been told. Of all the things she could imagine who would attack this place, the geth had not even made the list. Her money was on another mercenary group, like the Blue Suns, the Blood Pack, maybe even the Eclipse who would like to earn a quick buck.
Moving on, it didn't take long before they reached some burned-out buildings. The foul smell of the burning flesh entered her nose and her stomach threatened to regurgitate its content. Even though it wasn't close to the first time she had encountered the smell, it still made her body cringe and had to turn away, covering her nose with her hand as she did so. She managed to stop the dry heaving that followed and turned her attention back to the scene. From where she stood, she could clearly see she wasn't the only one who had a bad reaction to the smell. With his sensitive sense of smell, it was much worse for the turian Spectre than it was for her. But she guessed he wasn't just cringing away by the foul smell alone.
A minute later, he managed to get his composure back and his voice spoke through the earpiece. "I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies. I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."
Although she had picked up on his struggle from the smell, he did not linger after the report. But his choice of not going for the dig site wasn't sitting well with her. If John got there first, then it would give her problems to claim it. As curious as she was to why the geth was outside the Veil and killing humans, it was not on her job description to find that out. But leaving the Spectre's trail now could bring attention to her. It was better to have Nihlus deal with the geth as they continued.
Following him deeper into the land, she watched him take out a few geths here and there as they tried to get in his way. As much as her own hands itched to kill something and join the action, she only let herself watch from a careful distance. It wasn't until Nihlus reached the top of a hill and stopped with his back turned towards her, did she dare get a bit closer. She needed to know what he was thinking and there was no way she could read him from a distance. Once a bit closer, she could see the apprehension in his stiff shoulders. Whatever had his attention beyond the hill clearly had an impact on him as he stood completely still for a couple of minutes or so.
Curious to what had stunned the normally composed turian, she carefully took a few steps closer to get her line of sight over the hill. It wasn't hard to find what had Nihlus so mesmerized. A huge and massive black thing stood tall on the ground beyond the space port. It must be at least two kilometers long and reached the clouds. It looked more alien than anything she had ever laid eyes on. Beneath the massive body, it stood on four long legs and above them, a set of three more on each side, but shorter. With both shock and awe, did she stare at it and only broke out of her trance when Nihlus voice spoke in her ear.
"Change of plans, Shepard." His voice was grim as he spoke and began to move down the hill. "There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."
Standing alone, her eyes went for the large object once more. She wasn't sure what the hell it was. It looked like some kind of creature, but the energy coming out of it indicated it had to have an element zero core. Not only that, but something so big shouldn't be able to land on the surface. So, this thing was a ship or dreadnought shaped like a creature. That was a tacky design. The power of this thing's guns must be horrendously powerful! But who could possess something like this, and no one even knew about it? If the Geth had built this, then the quarians should've made a big fuss about it a long time ago and demanded the Council to help them destroy it.
Shaking her head to regain her focus, Quinn searched for the turian with her gaze once more. He had reached the base of the hill and was moving between the trees. An odd feeling struck her as she watched him go and disappear out of sight. Not being able to place it, she laid her hand on her stomach, thinking it had to be because she hadn't eaten since this morning. Those damned pyjaks for guards could have at least given her a meal before they died. Was that too much to ask? Now she was running on fumes here. If they weren't dead already, she would have found them after all this and kill them for that. Unconsciously the hand moved from her stomach up to her heart before she broke into a run to catch up with him.
It didn't take long before she reached the clearing just before the spaceport Nihlus had mentioned. A few fires covered the area, along with more dead bodies of the colonists and what she could tell was scientists. They were as mutilated as the others she had encountered. But the thing that struck her as odd was the meter-tall metal spikes with a tripod-like supports which was spread out throughout the area. Not only that, but the bizarre looking bodies who were hanging from them with pierced torsos as well. There was nothing except for the shape of the bodies that indicated that these things could have been humans. That had to be a gruesome way to die, she thought.
From here, the dreadnought looked even greater in size. More intimidating. Just by the look of it someone would think twice before engaging with it. If that ship was in her possession, then the Terminus Systems could be hers to claim and rule. It would bring fear and terror in her enemies, and she could easily envision it. But as much as she liked to daydream, she was no fool to believe it was easy to take. A jealousy and wanting spread through her as she gazed upon it.
Movement from the exterior of the spaceport got her attention. Quinn jumped behind a large rock and leaned out just enough to be able to see what was happening. Nihlus had also caught the movement and cautiously moved up the short ramp and onto the spaceport. His assault rifle was ready in his hands and his finger barley touching the trigger. Holding her own shotgun in both hands, she cautiously moved closer and kept her body low. Any cover she crossed; she hid behind to get a better view of the situation before she once again moved.
Nihlus was too occupied with what was in front of him, that even when he turned towards her as he took cover behind a short wall, he did not notice her at all. With a few deep breaths, Nihlus leaped out from the wall, his assault rifle aiming at whatever he had seen, ready to fire if needed. But it didn't even take a second before he lowered his gun. The shock in his tone took her by surprise. "Saren?"
Moving further up, she hid behind a broken crate and from there, she could make out the body of another turian standing by a fire on the spaceport. The pale gray turian turned to Nihlus as he was called upon and spoke a single word she could not pick up on from where she stood.
Nihlus lowered his rifle, but still was apprehensive towards the other turian's presence. "This isn't your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?" he demanded and took a few steps closer to the other turian.
Nihlus dropped his guard and seemed to relax a bit even though there were enemies nearby. Clearly, he trusted this Saren, enough at least to expect he would have his back. But the other turian didn't have the same demeanor. He was not relaxed and seemed to tense up more instead. Moving around like he was walking on eggshells or slowly moving in on a kill. The look in his eyes was familiar and she didn't trust his intensions. Whatever Saren was up to, meant no good for Nihlus.
As the two seemed to focus solely on each other, Quinn decided it was better to get up closer. What they were saying were important and she needed to know what that was. Using her tactical cloak for that, she made her way over to the spaceport and climbed up on it before taking cover behind the same wall Nihlus had used a few seconds ago. From there, she could get a better view of the pair and hear them clearly.
Sensing the puzzlement from his fellow turian, Saren turned to him and placed a hand on Nihlus' shoulder as he spoke; "The Council thought you could use some help on this one." He walked past him, forcing Quinn to retreat her head back behind the wall to avoid being discovered.
There was deception in his tone, and she could spot the lie a mile away. But Nihlus didn't seem to detect it. Instead, he spoke his thoughts, trusting in Saren. "I wasn't expecting to find the Geth here. The situation's bad."
Risking peeking out from the wall, she saw Saren now stood turned towards Nihlus back and pulled out a pistol. He lifted his arm to take aim on the back of Nihlus' skull, who was oblivious to what was about to happen.
"Don't worry," Saren reassured and began to press on the trigger. "I've got it under control."
The pounding in her heart grew harder and louder as fear and adrenaline struck though her entire body. What was not in slow motion, was perceived as such in her mind. Feeling all thoughts and reasons leaving her sanity, her body reacted by pure instinct. Before she knew it, she had leaped out from the wall with the Armageddon shotgun aiming at the gray turian and growling between her teeth with the darkest and most enrage tone she had ever used in her entire life.
"Don't you fucking dare!"
The shot that followed had Nihlus practically jumping as he turned around with shock, first laying his eyes on her and the smoking weapon in her hands, exclaiming in disbelief; "Quinn?" before laying his eyes on the turian with the pistol pointed at his face. "Saren?"
The first shot had been a warning shot, but the second one would go straight for his heart if he tried anything. With a quick reload, she aimed it in the line of the turian's sight and demanded; "Drop it –Now!"
Unfazed, Saren kept his gaze on Nihlus and the pistol still aimed. But when he spoke, he spoke to her with a hateful tone. "I don't take orders from pitiful humans."
Moving slowly so she stood at the turian's right, she mimicked his tone with her warning; "If you don't want your head to explode like a watermelon, I suggest you start." Even if neither of the turians knew what a watermelon was, she thought the message was still clear enough for them to understand. If not, she would gladly use his head to demonstrate what it meant.
Nihlus gaze jumped between the two. Not sure what he was supposed to do, he tried to figure out Saren's reasons for pointing a gun at him. But it was clear to him that his former mentor and teacher was working with the geth. But the why needed to be answered even if his betrayal stung. He let the betrayal into his demanding tone as he asked; "Saren. Why are you really here?"
Saren ignored the question and instead, turned his head to Quinn with his own warning. "How about you drop your weapon before something bad happens." His eyes turned to something going on behind her, but before she had a time to react, Nihlus shouted at her.
"Quinn, behind you!"
A loud, husky deep moaning sound suddenly came from behind her. Sensing danger, she began to turn to see what it could be when a shot flew past her, and the left side of her face was splashed with a dark blue, almost black liquid. Her eyes landed on the human like thing she had seen pierced on those spikes further back, now lying lifeless on the ground with a significant hole through its head. But there was no time for her to freak out by the suddenly moving black corpse with blue glowing veins lining the body, because two more came up behind her. Turning fully, she shot one of the two in the head, so it exploded just like a watermelon. However, there was no brain parts that flew as it would if it were human. Instead, more of the black liquid splattered on the ground as it slumped into a heap.
Before she had the chance to reload, the last of the two got closer and shot away a powerful electric pulse with its whole body that struck her. An agonizing scream escaped her as she was immobilized by the electricity that ran through her whole body. Every muscle contracted, the blood was on fire and the bones felt like they were about to snap.
Nihlus risked slamming Saren's weapon out of his hand as he had called out to the pirate. A shot was fired as it slipped out of the older turian's hand, however, his former mentor managed to catch it. But during that time, Nihlus had grabbed a hold of his own weapon and moved away from Saren to give himself more room to move. He fired a few rounds at Saren, but unfortunately missed as the older turian ran out of the way and fired his own shots. But when the pirate's scream pitched up a notch, he got distracted and failed to take cover before a shot scraped the side of his face. Turning his eyes to Quinn and the husk, he shot it before it could kill her.
The electric pulses left her body so suddenly, the relief was almost too painful. All strength had left her, and she collapsed to the ground immediately. Breathing was hard as the lungs had gotten the air knocked out of them. Her muscles spasm as an after effect and she had no control of her body. At this very moment, she was glad she had not obtained food nor fluid in hours.
From where she laid, all she could do was watch the two turians trying to kill each other. Their movements were quicker than what her brain could grasp, and it all looked like a blur of white and black. The spasm disappeared and left the muscles aching with exhaustion. Soon after, her brain regained its focus and the blurry forms of the turians started to get contours. As each second went, her vision got clearer, and strength came back to her aching limbs. But still, she couldn't move yet. The frustration was growing as she watched the fight continue.
Growing tired of this never-ending standoff, Saren turned his pistol towards the pirate, who was lying exposed and spoke to his former protégé. "Surrender. Or the human dies."
Quinn looked up at the pistol aimed at her with a growing hatred. How dare he use her as bait and think he would be the one to kill her. There was no way she would give him that satisfaction nor have Nihlus fall for something so ridicules. Fighting against her weak muscles, she tried to push herself up from the ground, but her trembling arms protested, and barley had her an elbow length away from the ground. Her eyes landed on where Nihlus had taken cover to see his response. Knowing him, he would take the bait and have himself killed.
True enough, after a few seconds of hesitation, Nihlus stood up from his cover with a defeated look. "Fine." He dropped his assault rifle on the ground and walked into the open.
Saren pushed himself away from the wall and walked into the open with a satisfied demeanor. Still keeping his pistol aimed at her, he kept a watchful eye on Nihlus.
Nihlus turned his green eyes to her, and she could see the regret within them. This was not the way he had expected himself to die. He may love her, but sacrificing his life for a ruthless, cold-blooded, and sadistic killer was not honorable. Yet, that was exactly what that stupid fool was about to do. Dying for her. Sacrificing himself to save her, a lousy, lowlife piece of scum who had no problem letting people take the bullet meant for her. To be used as cannon fodder and thrown into fire. To have as a shield and then thrown away as soon as they stop being useful. To have them die instead of her. She did not feel guilty about that.
But – this – she had a problem with. This – she felt guilty about. She was not going to allow him to die for her. No. Not if she could do anything about it.
Fighting harder against her weak muscles, she clenched her teeth as she forced herself to be pushed to an almost sitting position. Her legs were beginning to tingle as the numbness was slowly leaving her. But that wasn't enough, she needed to be standing.
"Goodbye, old friend," Saren said dryly and turned the pistol to Nihlus' head, then fired.
She barley heard herself scream as the bullet flew into her former lover's face, piercing the hide underneath the left eye and entering the skull. The back of his head seemed to explode from the brutal force as the bullet perforating and flew off, leaving a rain of blood and brain tissue in its wake. Her eyes widen in horror as time seemed to slow down by the scene. Her mind turned completely blank, and the breath got stuck in her throat. Nihlus staggered backwards a few steps before he fell lifeless to the ground.
Only when there was a thump, did she regain the ability to breathe and her lungs forced as much air into them, it burned, but soon used to give a heartbreaking scream. Tears formed behind her eyes and pushed themselves forward to stream down her cheeks.
"Don't worry," a reassuring voice spoke and almost penetrated her agony. "You will see each other soon enough."
Hatred – was the first feeling that filled her mind. Pure and undeniable hatred. It blackened her mind and took control. It fueled her numb limbs and forced them to move. Standing up on her two legs, she turned her enraged stare towards the turian. She hated this man –this turian. He needed to be brutalized. To be crushed. Pulverized. Cease to exist.
Through clench teeth, she roared with menace; "I'll tear your body apart with my bare hands!" The biotic engulfed her whole form and flared into a massive explosion. Everything close to her that could be moved was thrown away by the immense force, and what could not – buckled and dented instead.
Saren flew into a wall on the other side of the spaceport. The wall prevented him from falling off this level, but it didn't do it without give up a large piece of itself. Having have the breath knocked out of him, he scrambled up on his legs and grabbed his pistol at the same time. Recovering quickly, aimed, and shot. But she jumped into a roll, and he followed her with a trail of shots, hoping that at least one would hit its mark.
Rolling off the spaceport and onto the ground, she hit her back hard against the wall when in cover. Ignoring the protest in her back, she pulled out her pistol before she rose up to fire a few shots herself. But the movement had her right thigh ache with pain and her eyes shot down to find the reason for it. A bullet had grazed through her armor and skin, leaving a bleeding wound. There was no time to tend to it, so she pushed it out of her mind and turned her attention back to the fight.
But where she had expected to find the damned turian– was now empty. Franticly searching for him, she spotted him running and about to disappear behind a corner on the other side of the spaceport. Did that fucker really try to run away just now? Did he really think he could escape? There was no way in hell she would allow that bastard to live after what he had taken from her. Never had she loathed someone more than that bloody turian and he was going to feel her pain – her hatred– the rage. Standing up fully, she took her aim at the running turian and pulled on the trigger with a rapid fury – until the clip was emptied and the barrel of the gun smoking from the heat. Yet she kept pulling the trigger repeatedly, ignoring the clicking of the gun until Saren had run out of her sight, – alive and mostly unharmed.
The pistol dropped from her hands and fell on the floor of the spaceport as she slammed her fists on the hard surface while shouting; "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck – You!"
Coming to a stop, her breaths was heavy as her predatory eyes scanned the area for any kind of prey. She needed to crush something – to feel a heart stop – to see the light in someone's eyes go out. She needed to kill something. Anything. Jumping back up on the port, she only saw already dead bodies lying scattered. Only one – caught her attention. Like in a daze, she stood there looking at it, not really daring to walk any closer to it. No thoughts entered her mind as she took in the bloody scene.
Suddenly, she found herself next to it. Dropped to her knees with a shaking hand reaching out to the chest, barley touching it. This was not real. This was not – now. This was not... How could this be? He wouldn't let himself die for her. He would not give her that satisfaction. He wouldn't. Shouldn't. This – this was a joke. This – was a dumb, foolish, and stupid fucked up joke! He could not be – dead. He could not have a hole through his fucking skull. And blood – and brain – and... Blood. So much blood.
Teary eyes turned to the blue liquid pooling underneath his body. She hadn't realized it, but she was sitting in it. Still slightly warm as it left the body. Or maybe that was just her imagination. Her skin wasn't really touching it. Yet in her mind, it was. Eyes turned to look at the green ones staring up into nothing. Underneath his left one was the entering point, slightly beside his nose structure and where his white clan markings lined up. Blue blood was still seeping through the wound, covering his face with it.
Tears fell down her cheeks and loudly hit the surface of his armor. With hands shaking, she reached for his face but didn't dare touch it in the last second. She had done this. It was her fault. Nihlus was dead because of her. She had no right touching him now. Her hands clenched into fists instead as the realization hit her and agonizing grief was threatening to break that cold-blackened heart she had beating inside her chest.
"Why...?" The question was barely above a whisper, breaking and cracking by each following word. "Why did you do it, you fool?" Each word got harder to spell out as it suddenly got hard to breathe. "I'm not worth this. –Not from you. –You should've..."
There was no way she could finish that sentence. Her last words to him were not going to be a lie – she did not want to die. As much as this would haunt her for the rest of her life and leave a permanent scar in her heart, she would not feel guilty for him choosing to die for her. She could not.
This grief was new. Like nothing she had ever experienced before. It was all consuming and took over the whole being. Crying hysterical was a must and tears burst out in a fluid motion. Anger, pain, confusion and blame all mixed together until she didn't know where it had all begun.
But then something snapped.
The dark energy of her biotic engulfed her being, flaring up violently. Fueled by the pure rage that took a hold and would reside inside. Her already balled fists grew tighter, pressing on the armored gloves she wore and nearly breaking through the tough material. With all her might, the fists slammed down into the surface she kneeled on, breaking, and cracking the metal by the raw power. The body was forgotten and all she could focus on was the hatred, – the need to kill the one responsible.
"I will kill him," she promised. "I – will– kill –him!"
She rose to her feet with a new determination. A new goal. Everything else was either pushed aside or completely forgotten. The reason for being on this planet as well. Nothing else matter than to tear that turian's head from its body and have it crushed underneath her booth. Ignoring the aching in her muscles, the wound in her thigh, and the anguish in her heart, she walked over to where her shotgun laid. Picked it up and put it in its hoister. The same for her pistol. But before she left to hunt down this Saren, something in the corner caught her eye.
Although stained with the blue blood of a turian, she did still recognize it. Nihlus had taken it from her one and a half year ago. It was a good and powerful weapon. An HMWA Advanced Assault Rifle – stolen from another Spectre she had killed and the reason why Nihlus had come to cross her path in the first place. The weapon was the reason why they had met. It was only fitting; this weapon would be one to shoot the bastard dead. The assault rifle she had taken from the Normandy was thrown away and replaced with one containing the memories of her former lover.
*John's POV
Echoes of gunshots erupted in the distance. And more followed soon after. John turned to the path where he guessed it had originated from. It sounded like it had come from a pistol and an assault rifle. A feeling of urgency spread through him as he tried to remember when the last report from Nihlus had come through the radio. He had said he would meet them at the spaceport, but from what they had encountered so far, John doubted the turian Spectre hadn't come across something similar as they had. They needed to move out now and turned back to the scientist and her assistant they had found hiding out in one of the shacks.
"Yes, we will be fine," Dr Warren assured him after he'd asked them if they would be fine on their own.
Even if the answer had been a "no", there wasn't much more they could do for the two. They were not supposed to focus on survivors and here he was, doing exactly that. He could not ignore people who needed help, no matter how much he tried to tell himself he was doing it for the mission. In that way, he was not the obedient soldier the military expected of their recruits.
"Alright then," he said and gave the female doctor an encouraging nod before turning to Alenko and Williams. "Let's move out. Williams, take us to the spaceport."
The pair responded with the standard "Yes, sir" and let him walk by them to get out of the shack. Turing to look at the path where they had come from, his eyes landed on the many corpses lying scattered on the ground. So many people had died for this Prothean Beacon, he could only hope whatever it contained – was worth it. The path ahead did not reveal what was awaiting them, but from what he had seen so far, he did not expect it to get any easier.
They had already lost Jenkins. Tragically, he had been killed not long after they had arrived on the planet. Neither of them had seen it coming as the squad had run straight into an ambush. John and Alenko had managed to take cover, but the young soldier had not been as lucky. Shot down by a swarm of drones, their armaments had pierced straight through his armor – killing him instantly. Not long after, they had encountered Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, who had been running and pursued by geth who had killed the rest of her platoon. Once cleared of the geth, Williams had offered to take them to the dig site, only to find out someone had moved it. More geth had tried to prevent them to get any further. It seemed the geth was on Ede Prime for the beacon. But why the quarian created A.I.'s was after the Prothean artifact was still a mystery. Only when they had spoken to Dr Warren, did they found out the beacon had been moved to the starport this morning. John had already expected for the mission to be hard, but this complicated things further.
At first, John had been hesitant to bring the Gunnery Chief with them. After all, she had just watched her whole platoon be wiped out, leaving her as the only survivor. That was usually bound for trouble as most people would suffer from survivor's guilt and would be out for revenge – which she had admitted she was. But instead of letting her emotions take control, he was impressed by the restrain she had demonstrated so far. Cool and collected, she didn't take a shot she didn't expect would hit her target and most of them hit their mark. Quick and levelheaded – but maybe a bit impatient to get the job done quickly.
Walking up the hill on the laid path, he checked his assault rifle one more time. It had taken a hit, back when they had boarded the Alliance shipping freighter and arrested Quinn. It had seemed fine when he had checked it afterwards and still did its job, yet something wasn't really feeling quite the same anymore. Only a couple of years old, he figured maybe it was time to invest in a new one.
As soon as he got to the top of the hill, did he look up but what his eyes landed on had him stop in his tracks. His blue eyes widen in both shock and astonishment as he took in the sight of the enormous black object covering the sky.
"What – the – hell...?" The words came out of his mouth before he could even think of them.
He had seen the distress transmission vid back on the Normandy but seeing it in person struck him even more. The picture had not given its size justice. The massive spaceship was spectacular, but also intimidating. Nothing like he had ever seen before. The shape of it didn't even look like a ship, but a creature. The first thought that struck was some kind of insect or sea creature. It was bizarre and wrong.
"What is that? Off in the distance," Alenko exclaimed as soon as he had reached the hill's top.
"It's a ship. Look at the size of it!" Williams said just as mesmerized.
The massive ship slowly rose to the sky as it prepared for takeoff. Pulses of red energy sparked aggressively from its surface and the sound of the engine roared as it powered up for its ascend. The power of its engine was felt in the wind as it forced its way through the land and almost had him knocked off his feet even from this disttance. For a moment, he struggled to keep his footing and had to take a few steps back so to not fall back on his butt. An arm reached up to cover his eyes from the dust following, but movement from the spaceports' exterior caught his eye and his guard was once again up. Two geth stood guard, close to the ramp which led to the structure at the bottom of the hill. They had taken notice of him and his squad, but the two geth waited for them to walk closer before engaging. They were up to something. His eyes follow the path down the hill and just halfway down and to the right was more of those spike devices. Each and every one of them had an impaled body attached, just waiting to be released and attack.
There was no avoiding it. As soon as they got closer, they would have both the husks and the geth to deal with. Turning slightly to his squad, they seemed to have the same thought. "You two, take out the husks while I deal with the geth," he commanded before breaking into a run for the large rock down the hill.
"Roger that." John heard Alenko acknowledge behind him, but he was already concentrating on the oncoming geth.
Both sides shot at each other as he ran for cover. The moaning sounds from the husks indicated they had been released, but as long as they did not get too close, they were not his problem. Switching for his sniper rifle, he placed the tall weapon on top of the rock so he could take his aim through the scope. Thinking he may have spotted a few containment cells on the platform; he used the scope to confirm it. Calculating the distance. The direction of the wind. The geths' positions. The most obvious possibility of the containers splashing zone. Cutting out everything that happened around him, he allowed his concentration to focus on his target alone. Until he had taken the shot, nothing else mattered. Inhaling a deep breath, he held it for a couple of seconds before exhaling – he pulled the trigger. The container exploded from the impact and took the two Geth out instantly.
Williams and Alenko wasn't far behind. Between the two of them, they had managed to take out the husks quick and clean. The two worked in a perfect sync and their abilities complimented each other well. Both knew what they had to do and communicated with each other without any complications. His own contribution only made their little team that much more efficient.
Heading down the rest of the hill, John stopped just at the base of it. Looking down at the husks, he kicked one of the more intact ones just to make sure it was truly dead. "How many more colonists have been turned into these things?"
The zombie-like creature shifted from the impact but remained lifeless. It was hard to believe it had once been human. Or even a living creature. There was nothing organic about them anymore. The skin, bone and organs had all been replaced by some type of cybernetics material. The blood had changed to bio-mechanical dark – almost green-blackish fluid. The body generated an electrical charge which he guessed was – if not deadly – then at least damaging.
"Commander," Alenko called from on top of the spaceport and John turned his head to the Staff Lieutenant, who had his gaze down, looking at something on the floor of the port. From what he spoke next had John run up the ramp as fast as he could. "It's Nihlus."
The tone in Alenko's voice already told him to expect the worse. John came to a stop by the turian's body – lying lifeless in his own pool of blood – confirmed it. His eyes fell on the turian Spectre and saw the entering point of a gunshot in his face.
"A turian? You know him?" Williams asked surprised and turned her head to him.
John answered with a soft nod. Kneeling, he examined the wound further. It had been sustained from a close distance. Pushing his head to the side, he could make out the larger hole of the exit point. The death must have been instantaneous. But this was not where he had fallen. The blood had trailed as the body had been pushed or thrown from a distance. Following the direction of the blood, he spotted a larger pool in the middle of the port – right next to a small crater formed in the floor.
"He's a Spectre," Alenko said. Explaining to William how they knew him. "He was with us on the Nor–"
"Something's moving!" William cut the Lieutenant off and had her pistol aim at the direction. "Over behind those creates!"
John followed her line of sight but could not see any movements. Rising, he still could not see anything, but trusted the Gunnery Chief's words. Alenko had followed her lead straight away and had his own pistol aimed at the same direction.
With three pistols pointing at the crates, a voice shouted in panic; "Wait! Don't shoot!" A man appeared from behind them with his arms raised in the air, his face showing the fear of being shot. "I'm one of you! I'm human."
"Sneaking up on us like that nearly got you killed!" John warned him and removed the pistol from the man's face.
"I... I'm sorry. I was hiding. From those creatures." He said, his voice trembling from fear and retrieved his arms. His eyes scanned the area, making sure there was no deadly threat close by, but it did nothing to calm him down. "My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him."
John motioned for the other two to drop their weapons, before he walked closer to the man so he wouldn't have to shout. They didn't need to draw more attention to them than they already had.
"I need to know how Nihlus died," he spoke with a commanding tone.
Powell gaze went over John's shoulder and over to the body lying across from them. "The other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up," he explained. "He called him Saren. I think they knew each other." The man scratched his head a little, a clear sign of nervousness. "Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down... and Saren pulled a gun on him."
As the man finished, John got a thoughtful expression upon him. So Nihlus had known his killer. That must have been–
"That was when that woman showed up," the man revealed suddenly, breaking John out of his thoughts.
Turning his eyes back to the man, he stared at him in confusion. "What woman?"
"A woman." He turned to the side of the port and pointed as he continued to speak; "She jumped up from nowhere and pulled her shotgun on Saren and told him to drop it." Then he turned his pointing finger to one of the husks. "But one of those things came up behind her and your friend shot it. But there was more, and one electrified her, as the other two shot at each other." Following the finger to the open space of the port, the man continued; "Then Saren threatened to kill her if your friend didn't surrender. He killed him right then and there. Right in front of her." Lastly, his pointing finger fell to the pool of blood by the crater.
John turned his head back to the man, who looked him straight in the eye. A sympathetic expression plastered on the man's face, though his eyes could not lie. He was perfectly happy with the outcome as long as he had been safe and sound.
But the man's story didn't end there. "Then that, Saren, guy tried to kill the woman. But she blasted him with a powerful biotic blast and then he took off running. I'm just lucky no one saw me behind the crates."
"Who was the woman?" Alenko asked, trying to get the man to give them a better description.
"I don't know. A woman." The man shrugged as he shook his head oblivious. "Scary little thing with different colors in her eyes. She got real mad – crazy mad even – when your friend died. Cried and screamed and all. She was the one who did this." He pointed to the place on the floor where it had been bent down and cracked.
"A woman with different–" John though out loud but grew quiet when his mind settled on only one suspect. He knew of only one woman with those kind of eyes. It was too big of a coincidence not to be her. And he did not believe in coincidences. But his sister was sitting cuffed and secured on the Normandy – inside the lab – with two guards – watching her every move. A feeling of dread came upon him as he realized she must have escaped when they had reached the first drop point. He turned to Alenko to have him contact the Normandy, but the man had already beat him to it.
"What's going on?" Williams asked, clearly confused.
Kaidan stepped away as the radio got through to the ship and Williams let her gaze jump between the two men. But before he got any confirmation, there was no point in explaining it to her in case he was wrong. But that was highly unlikely. Instead, he turned his attention back to Powell.
"We were told a Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. What happened to it?"
Turning to his right, the man pointed at the direction leading further down the spaceport. "It's over on the other platform." He turned his head back to John as he continued, his voice more leveled now. "Probably where that guy, Saren was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend. That woman followed him."
The man grew frustrated and began to walk back and forth, showing he was no longer afraid to lose his life. At least not for the moment. "I knew that beacon was trouble," he began to complain. "Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that damn mother ship showed up. Then the attack." His shoulders slumped suddenly, and a sad expression crossed the man's face as he shook his head. "They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates, I'd be dead, too!"
Ignoring the man's complaint, John turned to Williams. "We need to find that beacon before it's too late." There was a haste in his tone.
Behind them, Kaidan quickly wrapped up the radio transmission and walked over to the others with a grave look upon his face. He didn't have to say anything for John to know he had been right.
"She's nowhere to be found. She's not on the Normandy."
John clenched his teeth together in frustration. Wasn't one problem enough? Did he really have to deal with his sister once more? He could not even guess what was going through Quinn's mind, but he was sure she was after the beacon. Nihlus warning back on the Normandy came to his mind and John knew they had wasted enough time here. They needed to hurry to get to the beacon.
John turned to chase after the pirate and the mysterious turian when someone grabbed at his arm and pulled him back.
"They found Avery and Gladstone dead in the lab," Alenko announced with a grim expression on his face.
Although John had already expected that outcome, it was still another thing to have it confirmed. They had underestimated the pirate's viciousness and cunning. He – had forgotten how good she was at getting herself out of tough situations. A skill she had had since an early age. He would be wise to remember that she wasn't the sister he remembered, and that this woman was unpredictable and deadly. This was a pirate they were dealing with and should be treated as such. When this was over, she was going to pay for what she had done to Avery, Gladstone and every other Alliance marine she had killed. But their mission was not to capture an escaped prisoner and drag her back onto the ship for justice, no they needed to focus on the beacon first and foremost.
"What are you talking about? Who is this woman?" Williams asked, growing more and more impatient by the second.
Alenko let go of his arm and John released a heavy, but frustrated sigh. He didn't really know how to explain it without them having to stand there and answer endless number of questions. So, he explained it as simply as he possibly could; "A dangerous prisoner escaped and got off the ship." And with that, he headed out.
Whether Williams accepted his explanation or not, did not concern him at the moment. They had their hands full with the geth and now they had found out there were two more players, one who had killed Nihlus and another who would kill anything. But as much as John liked to focus on the mission, he could not get the whole Quinn-crying-over-Nihlus-part out of his head. Did the Spectre know she had been following him this whole time? Had he allowed her to? Why would she cry over his death?
Thank you for reading!
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See ya in the next one!
Now for the teaser...
"Wha– what happnd?" He managed to slur out, but was surprised by the difficulty to speak, and the hoarseness in his tone. Desperately trying to ignore the aching in his limbs, he tried to push himself up into a sitting position to find out what was going on.
Gently, Williams, pushed him back down as she said; "Don't move."