Monica Negulesco sighed as she just leaned back in her seat and stared at the glowing orange screen. Sometimes, this job really sucked. Don't get her wrong. She was honored to be a member of the Normandy's crew, and was now doubly so with the Master Chief himself as acting captain of the ship. But when he took his combat team down to Therum's surface, he basically left everyone else, including her, behind.
Granted, she was just a comm and navigations specialist with no real combat training outside of basic training, but still...
She leaned back and looked down the long aisle that was the Normandy's bridge, all the way down to the CIC. And here she was, just another techie typing away on a little orange screen. Granted, she was in the cockpit with Joker and three other comm specialists. Her job was a bit more glamorous than working in the 'trenches' that flanked either side of the long aisle between the cockpit and the CIC. But that's kind of like saying being an electrician is a bit more glamorous than being a janitor. People still barely notice your existence.
She went back to her screen and got to work. She was to monitor the pressure levels of all volcanoes within a 10 click radius of the drop zone. She sighed as she eyed the planet's surface.
"Bet they're having fun down there." Monica wistfully stated.
...
0848 Hours, February 27th, 2683
Science Camp
Surface of Therum
Knossos System, Artemis Tau Cluster
...
"WE ARE NOT HAVING FUN DOWN HERE!" N'tho yelled at the top of his lungs as his meager cover endured yet another pulse blast from the armature. He, along with Ashley, Wrex and Garrus, were hiding behind a crate. The four of them would pop out of cover and unleash hot mass accelerator rounds on the armature in between pulse shots, but nothing they did seemed to so much as damage it. Then again, damaging it wasn't really their job. Their job was to draw its fire while Chief and Kaidan did the real work.
The plan was that Kaidan would use his tech skills to disable the armature's shields and then Chief would open fire until the armature's shields recharged. Kaidan would then disable them again. Lather, rinse, repeat. However, the addition of Geth infantry, the hoppers in particular, were complicating things.
The troopers were fairly simple to deal with under normal circumstances. They were your standard rank and file infantry; they see an enemy, they shoot it. Nothing fancy about them. The hopper, however, was unlike anything the squad had ever encountered before. It wreaked havoc on the team's tech by constantly firing off EMP blasts that shorted out weapons and shields. The laser it shoots from its eye certainly doesn't help matters. Worst of all, it was jamming their motion trackers. The Chief had to deal with radar jammers multiple times throughout the Human-Covenant war, but it was just a little metal ball that can easily be smashed. This time, the radar jammer was an annoying little pest that hopped in every which way around the squad, making itself very hard to hit. This, to say the least, annoyed Chief greatly.
It seemed that, at that moment, the gods of war looked down on the spartan and took pity on his predicament, and decided to present him with an opportunity to remedy it. The hopper continued to leap from one end of the battlefield to the other, mocking the organics and their pitiful attempts to hit it. It landed on top of the crate that Chief and Kaidan were using as cover, with the intention of shooting them with a quick laser before hopping to another spot. It peeked its head over the edge and took a pot shot at the spartan. His shields were already down, but his armor was thick and did an admirable job of repelling such blasts, muck like it did with plasma in the great war. The hopper leapt away.
Or rather, it tried to.
Thanks to superconducting fibrification of his neural dendrites, Master Chief's reflexes were roughly 300% quicker than that of most humans. The hopper was apparently unaware of this. In fact, as the spartan's hand grabbed the hopper's ankle in mid-leap, its logic processors and internal organic capability database were all scrambling to determine how and why this human's reflexes were approximately 294.42% faster than most humans'. It was the Geth equivalent of yelping out "How in God's name did you do that?"
Chief looked on as the hopper's limbs were frantically grabbing at the soil, trying to gain traction in an attempt to get away. Not likely. The spartan's hand was essentially a bear trap around the hopper's ankle, and appropriately enough, it looked just like an animal trying to get out of it. Kaidan didn't need orders from the spartan to pour some shots into the Geth hopper's torso. With the hopper dead, the squad breathed a sigh of relief once their motion trackers cleared up.
Meanwhile, N'tho had separated from Ashley, Wrex and Garrus and was crouching low behind a small crate. His long neck craned over the edge of the crate ever so slowly. While the hopper had been dealt with, the armature was still the biggest problem right now. It was firing on the positions of the other two groups and seemed oblivious to what the Sangheili was planning. Good. He took out a plasma grenade and held it in his hands, one of his thumbs caressing the activation rune, waiting for the right moment.
The armature continued to fire pulse blast after pulse blast at the rest of the squad. N'tho grinned. It didn't even know the squidhead was right next to it. He leapt up on to the crate and primed the grenade.
"SUCK ON THIS!" he yelled as he threw the grenade. It sailed through the air like a beautiful blue comet and adhered itself right to the armature's head. With a crack and a boom, the armature's entire head exploded in a shower of plasma, sparks and roasted circuitry. Not only was it now blind, but the pulse cannon on its head was heavily damaged as well, rendering it useless.
N'tho rushed in, aiming to finish off the armature himself. He took out his plasma SMG and set it to full auto, taking out any Geth trooper that got in his way. As the armature staggered about like a drunk, the elite took out another plasma grenade, his last one. He ran underneath the armature and then took out his needler shotgun and fired a quick burst of pink death into the belly of the mechanical monstrosity. When the needles detonated, they created a nice little hole that exposed the Geth walker's inner workings. He primed the grenade and tossed it up into the armature's insides, and then he made a mad dash back to the crate he was hiding behind a moment ago.
The belly of the armature blew out, angry plasma and fire bursting out of its belly like an alien life form from one of those archaic Human films. The armature then slumped into a heap, lifeless and no longer capable of threatening the organics. Without even waiting for his shields to recharge, which were already at only a quarter strength, N'tho rushed back in. He leapt to the top of the armature's corpse to gain higher ground on the two remaining Geth troopers, which fell quickly to his plasma repeater.
When the last Geth fell, N'tho looked like a great white hunter, triumphantly standing atop the corpse of his kill. "YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" he cried out in a war that would make his warrior ancestors' hearts swell with pride. "I'M THE MAN! I AM THE MAN!"
"Not bad." Garrus commented as the rest of the squad came out of cover to survey the damage. "We still recruiting?"
Chief gave the Turian no verbal response. He simply gave the hand gesture for everyone to follow him and he then led his squad into the mines. N'tho took notice, and followed them.
...
"Interesting." Cortana commented as Chief took out another patrolling Geth with his shotgun. "These ruins have been here for so long, that the cave has actually formed around them."
Indeed, Cortana was correct. Therum's signature shiny brown rock seemed to melt and form around the Prothean ruins. However, much of the rock showed evidence of being oh-so-delicately chipped at, likely with a laser chisel. That, combined with the complex series of catwalks and elevators, showed that while this excavation was massive in scale, the digging itself was done gently, most likely out of the fear that anything more powerful than a small chisel laser would've severely damaged a priceless ancient artifact.
"Hello?" N'tho said aloud. "Any survivors down here?"
Ashley gave the elite a quick dopeslap to the side of his head. "Ow! What did I do?" he yelped.
"Shut it!" Ashley harshly whispered. She gestured to the Geth that just fell to Chief's shotgun. "We have a confirmed hostile presence down here. We do NOT want them to hear us."
"Hello?" came a distinctively female voice off in the distance. "Can anyone hear me?"
"Oh great." Wrex commented. "Now the Geth are gonna hear her and kill her too."
Chief was off before the Krogan could even finish his last sentence. He ran to the end of the catwalk, which ended at the face of what looked like a Prothean skyscraper, or at least that's what it reminded the Chief of with its series of 'windows' leading to bathroom tile rooms going up and down. Chief turned and saw a grav-lift elevator; a reminder that it was the Sangheili who funded this excavation. The rest of the squad managed to catch up with the Chief, something that he noted that they were getting somewhat better at. They all boarded the elevator and N'tho hit the switch, which took them down.
They soon hit the second to last level, the floor of the cave itself being just below them. They all walked up to a rather odd sight. Before them was a forcefield. Nothing strange about that, but it was the floating Asari in what looked like a bubble that caught their attention.
"Can you hear me out there?" she cried out. "I'm trapped! I need help!"
Chief put a finger to where his lips would be. The Asari nodded, knowing what he meant. "Liara T'soni?" the spartan asked.
"Yes, and thank the Goddess you're here. I did not think anyone would come looking for me." the scientist answered. "Listen; this thing I'm in is a Prothean security device. I can not move, so I need you to get me out of it, alright?"
"How'd you get in there to begin with?" Ashley asked.
"When the Geth attacked, I hid in here." Liara answered plainly. "Can you believe that? Geth beyond the veil!"
"Yeah. We can believe that." Kaidan replied.
"Anyway, I activated this barrier curtain, knowing it would protect me. But when I turned it on, I must've hit something I wasn't supposed to. I'm trapped in here! You must get me out, please!"
"Alright, calm down." Chief said in his best assuring tone. Last thing any military operation needs is a panicky civvie, especially if the panicky civvie in question is also the VIP. "You're the expert on Prothean technology here. Do you know how I can deactivate this device?"
"There is a control in here that should deactivate this thing." she elaborated. "You'll have to find some way past the barrier curtain. That's the tricky part. The defenses can not be shut off from the outside. I don't know how you'll get in here. And be careful. There is a Krogan with the Geth. They've been trying different ways to get past the barrier."
N'tho then paused, and looked at Wrex. Wrex looked back. "She's not talking about me, you idiot." he grunted.
N'tho then looked to Liara. "Did anyone else from the science team make it?"
The Asari scientist paused, then looked down out of dejection. "I'm...not sure. Though it seems unlikely. As far as I know...I'm the only survivor."
N'tho paused, then hung his own head low in dejection. Chief then took notice of something. It was the all-too-distinct sound of feet marching in chorus. And by now, the spartan had learned to recognize that particular footfall. He looked over the side of the catwalk and saw at least a few dozen Geth, including a couple of juggernauts, marching across the cave floor towards their position.
"Cover me!" Chief yelled as he leapt off the catwalk and dived right into the sea of synthetic abominations.
The spartan tossed a grenade at a squad of Geth Troopers as he charged at them. By the time the grenade detonated, he was already upon them. The ones that weren't dead were now without their shields. He struck one with the butt of his rifle and then poured bullets into another Geth's chest. He turned to another Geth and fired a burst right into its flashlight head. Not a lethal shot for a Geth, but since the machine is rendered effectively blind, it might as well be.
Noticing his shields were draining from the incoming fire of the other Geth squads, Chief took off again like a cheetah and leapt into cover behind a small boulder. As he waited for his shields to recharge and his assault rifle to cool, he took out his pistol and did some blind fire with it, sticking only his gun arm out of cover. He had already committed the Geth's current position to memory and had a reasonably good idea of where to point his gun. Though he wouldn't be able to target specific troopers, he was fairly confidant that he was hitting something he was supposed to. He looked up and saw the rest of his squad firing down on the Geths' position, their assault rifles blazing. While all that covering fire helped to whittle down their shields, the Geth were more or less ignoring them, focusing their attention on their greatest threat at that moment; the SPARTAN-II that just killed a half-dozen of their troopers in under six seconds.
It was then that Chief heard a distinct stomping noise. He turned and saw that a Geth juggernaut had successfully flanked him from the side, and was now closing in on the spartan's position as it raised its weapon. Not for the first time in the middle of a firefight, Master Chief came up with a tactic that was unorthodox by spartan standards; which meant it was downright suicidal by most soldiers' standards. He took off running headlong toward the juggernaut, instinctively keeping his head down as the Geth Troopers fired at him.
When he finally came face-to-flashlight with the juggernaut, seconds before the mechanical monstrosity was about to pull the trigger, Chief pressed the muzzle of his assault rifle against the juggernaut's torso and pulled the trigger. The barrel of the gun was too close for kinetic barriers to be effective, and the juggernaut went limp after a couple of seconds of having its internal hard drive riddled with bullets. It fell forward...
...Right into Chief's hands. He had a firm grip on the android's body; one hand gripped the collar of the thick metal casing that protected the torso, while the other hand gripped the Geth's 'crotch' area. He held the body horizontally and held it in front of the rest of the Geth Troopers. He was using it as a shield.
Unfortunately, when Chief came up with this crazy plan, he underestimated the juggernaut's weight. A SPARTAN-II's strength can be ridiculously powerful, but only for short periods of time. Already Chief could feel beads of sweat form on his forehead and his arms aching from holding the dead robot up. He had to press this advantage now while he could. While still holding the huge robot horizontally, he entered into a light jog forward. His vision blocked, he was being guided solely by his motion detector now, and it did indeed show him heading towards multiple red dots. He jogged ever faster and eventually went into a full on run.
With a crash, Chief used the juggernaut's limp body as a battering ram, slamming a half-dozen more Geth against the wall, shattering their chassises so that they too went limp along with their oversized brother. Chief dropped the body and flung another grenade into the crowd of machines and then took off running, drawing out and firing his assault rifle as he ran circles around them like a taunting child on a playground.
He leapt behind a boulder, but only long enough for his shields to recharge. By now, Chief knew the best way to fight Geth. They're machines, and like any other machines, they like to do things in a routine and orderly fashion. Chief was the monkey wrench in the Geth's works. His mind can come up with tactics that a Geth's mind couldn't even fathom. He had to take advantage of that. He leapt out from the boulder once his shields had recharged and flung yet another grenade into the crowd. He ran in rifle blazing as the grenade detonated, knowing that the Geth wouldn't suspect such a suicidal tactic from an organic.
He did the old 'Charge n' Barge' on one Geth. He turned towards another and fired one last quick burst from his assault rifle into the Geth's chest; point blank. It didn't kill the robot, but it did make a hole in its torso big enough for the Chief to squeeze his fingers through. Using the hole as a pseudo-hande, Chief swung the helpless Geth around like a club, knocking its brethren off their feet. Chief straightened his fingers, allowing the Geth fly free of the spartan's grip in one last great swing, right into three other Geth.
Chief tossed aside his rifle and whipped out his shotgun. The rest of the flight was a blur. Chief fired his shotgun. He smashed the heads of Geth to pieces with the butt of it. He grabbed a Geth and used it as a metal shield while his kinetic barriers recharged before resuming the fight. It was as though Leonidas himself was reincarnated and then he traded in his sword for a Viper MK III. By the time the last Geth fell, Chief found himself surrounded by dead machines. He looked up to the rest of his squad. They still held their rifles ready, but the looks on their faces were plain to see.
"Wow..." muttered Kaidan.
"Holy crap..." muttered Ashley.
"Holy wort..." muttered N'tho.
"By the Goddess..." muttered Liara.
"By the Spirits..." muttered Garrus
"Not too bad I guess." stated Wrex.
Chief looked at his squad some more. The only one who did anything was Wrex, who leapt down from the balcony and casually walked past the spartan. "I'll go see if I can't find a way around that barrier." he said. Chief watched the Krogan look around the various rocks as he looked back up to the rest of the squad who continued to stand there.
"Wrex could use some help down here." Chief said. "Now."
They all but scrambled off the catwalk at the uttering of 'now.' Chief sighed and shook his head.
...
Sangheili are commonly thought of as the plasma gurus of the galaxy. While plasma does make up a large part of Sangheili technology, they are well aware of the value of lasers as well. This became evident to the Chief as he saw the massive mining laser cut a hole into the rock. "That's enough." Chief said into his team COM. Kaidan gave a green wink in acknowledgement before deactivating the drill.
What was uncovered was a room, virtually identical to the room that Liara was currently suspended in. The SPARTAN-II led his misfit squad inside. At the back of the room was a large, circular platform with a console in the middle of it. He approached it as the rest of the squad spread out around the perimeter of the platform.
"Looks like an elevator." Cortana commented. "See if it goes up."
Chief pressed a holographic button that vaguely resembled an arrow pointing upwards. Sure enough, the platform lurched as it ascended two levels before stopping on Liara's floor. There, right by the energy bubble the poor Asari scientist was trapped in, was another console. That was the console that would set the VIP free. Or at least, Chief hoped so.
"How...how did you get in here?" Liara asked as she tried to turn her head to the spartan, but could only show him the side of her head. "I didn't think there was any way past the barrier."
"Mining laser." Chief answered matter-of-factly as he approached the console.
"Yes. Of course. That makes sense. Please, get me out of here before more Geth arrive." Liara urged. Chief sighed. The Asari's panicky demeanor was starting to get on the spartan's nerves. The console's green holographic screen lit up to show all the options. Chief turned off his speakers.
"Little help here, Cortana?" he asked, unable to make sense of the screen.
Cortana sighed before highlighting all the buttons Chief was supposed to push in Chief's HUD. She's done this several times before whenever they encountered Forerunner ruins and hijacked the occasional Covenant ship. As Chief started pressing buttons, Ashley's voice came crackling over a private COM, unheard by the other squad members.
"Are you sure we can trust her, Chief?" she whispered, as though the secure connection didn't convince her of their privacy. "This IS Benezia's daughter we're talking about. She might be Saren's accomplice, like her mother is."
"I don't think Saren would send an entire army of Geth to attack an elite colony just to say hello to one of his accomplices, Williams." Chief replied. "We have our orders. Liara T'soni is to be protected at all costs. We clear on that?"
"Yes sir." Ashley replied, having been reminded of her place in the chain of command. At long last, Chief pressed the last button and the bubble disappeared. Liara dropped to the ground on her hands and knees. Chief turned around to watch her get up and dust off her arms.
Now that Chief could get a better look at her, he saw that Liara had a very young-looking face with thin eyebrows, calm blue skin, and dark blue freckles on her face. Most likely, she was an adolescent among her kind. That, combined with her supposed expertise on Protheans, would imply that she's something of a child prodigy. She turned and looked at the chief. "Thank you." she said.
"Don't mention it." Chief replied.
"So how do we get out of here?" Garrus asked.
"There is an elevator back in the center of the tower." Liara explained. She paused. "At least...I think it's an elevator. It should take us out of here. Come on." With that, she briskly walked over to the elevator, obviously eager to get out of these ruins.
The squad got back onto the platform, now with their VIP in tow. The mission was now two-thirds done. They went in. They grabbed the VIP. And now they have to get out. Unfortunately, it's always the third part of a rescue mission that's the hardest. As the elevator slowly ascended, Liara shook her head and held a palm against her forehead. "I still can not believe this. Why would the Geth attack Therum?"
None of the Chief's internal lie detectors were going off. Either Liara really is just an unwitting pawn in Saren and Benezia's game of chess, or she's a damn good liar. So far, she doesn't even seem to know that her mother is currently an accomplice to a rogue spectre. Chief decided not to mention that until later. Need to know basis and all that. Although, there was one question that he probably should ask while he waits for the elevator to take them back to the surface.
"This may sound off-topic but...have you ever heard of something called 'the conduit' in your research?" the spartan asked.
"The conduit?" the Asari asked. "I don't know-"
Her sentence was cut off by a massive rumbling. The whole room shook for a second. "What the hell was that?" Ashley yelped.
"These ruins are not stable." Liara explained. "That mining laser must've triggered a volcanic eruption."
"Wait, volcanic eruption?" Garrus asked. "You mean, we've been in a volcano this entire time?"
"Yes. You didn't know?" Liara asked.
There was a long, awkward pause. Then, the entire squad looked at N'tho. The Sangheili giggled nervously. "Yeah...the ruins here are in a once-dormant, now not-so-dormant volcano. Probably should've mentioned that earlier. My bad."
"...If I die in here, I'll kill you." Wrex growled at N'tho.
Without even needing to be asked, Cortana already linked Chief to the Normandy. "Joker. This is Spartan-117. You read?"
"Loud and clear, Chief." Joker replied. "We just picked up the civvies and the Sangheili Spec. Ops personnel."
"Good. Now lock on to our coordinates because now we need evac. ASAP." Chief ordered.
"Aye aye Chief. Secure and away. ETA 2 minutes." Joker acknowledged before signing off.
"It's gonna be tight..." Garrus commented in a worried tone.
"Everyone relax." Chief said, hoping to calm his anxious squad. "The elevator's going up and we'll be out of here soon. There won't be any more complications from here on."
No sooner did the words leave the spartan's mouth did the elevator stop on the top floor. The squad was greeted by a squad of four Geth shock troopers, and a black-crested Krogan standing in the middle with two troopers flanking each side. The Geth pointed their guns at the group while the Krogan smiled triumphantly. Needless to say, this was a complication.
"Surrender." the Krogan ordered. "Or don't. That would be more fun."
"You and your big mouth." Cortana scolded her spartan.
"Thanks for getting rid of those energy fie-"
The Krogan never got to finish his sentence as the SPARTAN-II charged him head-on. The Geth immediately reacted and began firing on the Chief. However, this left them vulnerable to the rest of the squad. Within seconds, the two squads of organics and synthetics were locked in a firefight on the platform.
...
Meanwhile, the Chief and the Krogan had begun a deathmatch of their own. The Chief had tackled the reptillian alien onto a catwalk on a lower level and now the two were locked in a heated close-quarters combat duel.
After he got up, the Krogan pushed the spartan away with a biotic push. This caught the Chief off guard; he wasn't expecting this Krogan to be a biotic, nor had he gone up against biotics in a fight yet. He was quick to recover though, and began firing at the Krogan with his assault rifle in a prone position. The alien activated a biotic barrier and stalked towards the spartan with a bloodthirsty grin on his face, giving the bullets bouncing harmlessly off his barrier little to no heed.
At once, the spartan's mind kicked into an analytical overdrive. Krogan soldiers enjoy two advantages few other species in the galaxy have; endurance and strength, and they use both to deadly effect in combat. An injury that would be fatal for a Human would be merely a setback for a Krogan. Their raw physical strength is easily on par with that of a SPARTAN-II. And of course, their reputation for being ruthless savages is rivaled only by the similar reputation of the brutes. Krogan were among the finest warrior species in the galaxy and they knew it. And just like that, the Chief realized the one weakness of all Krogan.
Overconfidence. This Krogan probably isn't used to opponents that can effectively fight back. He's not used to fighting spartans.
Chief continued to hold down the trigger on full auto. The Krogan stamped forward, knowing his victory was assured. The rifle overheated and could give no more. Chief looked down at his rifle and then back up at the Krogan, trying to look as helpless as possible to allow the Krogan to think that he still had the edge. The Krogan smiled at him for a second and took a swing at the spartan's head with a balled up fist.
Spartan time kicked in.
Chief caught the fist with one hand and as he rose to his feet, dealt a crushing uppercut with the other hand right to the alien's chin. Chief identified that the forehead was too thick for a blow there to be much effect, but a blow to that fat throat might do the trick. Chief released the Krogan's fist and then hit the Krogan's throat with the same hand. He then noticed the Krogan's arm glowing blue. He was getting ready for a biotic counter attack.
Chief didn't remember much about what Cortana told him about biotics. He was fuzzy on the details, but he did recall that it had something to do with the nervous system. He then deduced that a few critical blows to the Krogan's nervous system might be enough to forestall a biotic strike. He then hit the Krogan's arm and torso with four tactically placed punches, all intended to target key nerve centers and disable his arm.
Unfortunately, the Krogan seemed unphased by this as, with a snarl, he struck out at the spartan with a biotic push, sending him flying towards the wall at the end of the catwalk. It was in that moment that Chief realized that when Cortana told him about Krogan tactics, she mentioned that Krogan had redundant nervous systems, so targeted nerve strikes wouldn't be very effective on them. No doubt that Cortana will give Chief grief over this and lecture him on the importance of doing one's homework once they were all back on the Normandy.
Chief was slammed against the wall and, much to his alarm, found that he was unable to move. He realized that he was trapped in a biotic stasis, an attack that rendered the target immobile by freezing them in a mass effect field. The Krogan spit some orange blood out of his mouth and cracked his neck a bit before walking up to the spartan.
"Been a while since I was hit THAT hard." The Krogan said in a congratulatory tone. He then pointed his shotgun right at the Chief's head. "It was a good fight. Shame it had to end so quick."
A biotic warp then hit the Krogan, making him snarl in pain and stumble towards the edge of the catwalk, almost making him stumble over the edge. At first, Chief thought it was Kaidan or maybe even Wrex coming to the spartan's rescue. He shifted his eyes around to find them. What he did find took him by surprise.
There, on a separate catwalk about five yards away, stood Liara T'soni, her hands still glowing after her biotic warp. The rest of the squad was busy carving a path through the Geth that were now pouring in onto the catwalks. Another tremor hit, and everyone struggled to remain upright. Everyone except Liara, that is, as she remained focused on the Krogan. With burning determination in her eyes, she biotically lifted three large boulders the size of washing machines and tossed them at the Krogan. One missed, one hit his shoulder, and the third hit his chest dead on, making him stumble back further.
The Krogan snarled as he pointed his shotgun at the Asari scientist and opened fire. Liara countered with a biotic bubbble; one that not only covered herself, but also the rest of the squad. The squad fell back, closer to Liara as they continued to unleash heavy fire on the Geth, the biotic bubble giving their shields a much-needed chance to recharge.
The Krogan snarled again, becoming increasingly frustrated with the archaeologist. He fished a grenade from his belt. "Damn Asari's more trouble than she's worth..." he growled. The bubble might've been enough to shrug off gunfire, but a grenade blast was a dicier proposition. Luckily, it was at this point that the biotic stasis that held the spartan in place wore off, something the Krogan was as-of-yet not aware of. Chief pressed the advantage.
He rushed up to the Krogan as spartan time kicked in again. No sooner did the Krogan prime the grenade did Chief snatch it from his hand and wedge it just under the shoulder pad of the alien's armor. Chief turned on his heel and ran a safe distance.
*BOOM!*
His unique physiology was the only reason the Krogan's arm was still attached, though just barely as the orange blood and ichor gushing from the wound can attest to. The Krogan howled in pain and hatred and charged at the Chief, bloody vengeance in his eyes.
SPARTAN-II's were educated in various forms of hand-to-hand combat during their training, and Chief was no exception. One important lesson he learned was, when you're up against a physically strong opponent, out-muscleing him is rarely the way to go. Using your opponent's own strength against them is usually the smarter tactic. Keeping that combat philosophy in mind, Chief sidestepped the charging Krogan and then pushed him on the shoulder, altering his charge route. By the time the Krogan realized the trick the Chief just pulled on him, his momentum was too great to stop himself. He ended up charging right off the side of the catwalk and fell down onto the cave floor below.
By this time, the squad had completely cleared the catwalk in front of them of Geth and began to run towards the exit. They were running because the tremors were getting worse and now large chunks of rock were falling from the ceiling. Chief leapt from his catwalk onto the squad's and used his blessed spartan speed to catch up with them. He eventually did, running a bit past Liara who was trailing behind, but was staying just close enough to her to keep an eye on her.
It was a tactic that payed off when a huge rock came down on the catwalk behind them. Before she even realized what was going on, the floor beneath Liara's feet was gone and she fell a ways. Then, something tight but firm grabbed her by the wrist and hefted her up, and then carried her the rest of the way with the same break-neck speed it was running with before. It took Liara another few seconds to realize that it was the Chief who saved her and was now carrying her out.
The squad eventually made their way up the shaft and back out into the science camp, just as a billow of hot smoke reached out behind them, as if cursing them for getting away. As he stopped to catch his breath, Kaidan turned to the Chief. He couldn't help but smirk.
Decked out in the iconic SPARTAN-II armor and carrying a beautiful Asari maiden bridal style, Chief looked for all the universe like a superhero.
"You okay?" Chief asked as he let the Asari scientist down. Liara shook a bit, but was able to stand up on her own.
"Yes. Thank you." Liara replied.
"Don't mention it." Chief said. He and the rest of the squad looked up and saw that the Normandy had been there since they first emerged and was now lowering itself closer to the ground. The cargo bay doors, which lead into the garage, opened up and several Normandy servicemen and Sangheili spec. ops hopped out to help secure the area. With the VIP in safe custody, Chief gave the signal for all units to withdraw back into the ship and move out. Now that the area was volcanically active, they had to get out, ASAP.
A point that came across rather nicely as the ship attempted takeoff. A hilltop exploded with angry sulfur that just missed hitting the Normandy's hull. Joker swore as he swerved the ship out of the way. He leveled out and resumed course for Beacon of Discovery as the eruption continued behind them, lava gushing out of every hill and coating the land in fire.
...
Beacon of Discovery was the name of the Sangheili port on Therum, named so because colonization rights to the Artemis Tau cluster were only recently acquired by the Sangheili Empire, within the last twenty years or so. So while the cluster is considered to be Empire space, much of it remains unexplored. The elites remain hopeful that the cluster's vast, untapped resources will bring further prosperity to their people. The area's close proximity to the Terminus Systems concerned them little. After all, Sangheili fear nothing.
The Normandy slowly sailed above the port town, which boasted several tall skyscrapers, shining green that reached up to the heavens; a popular staple of Sangheili architecture. The ship eventually found a docking bay to make birth in. A series of powerful grav-lifts all around the dock kept the ship in place. The cargo doors opened, and the Sangheili spec. ops. that had hitched a ride about the Alliance frigate escorted the survivors from the science team off the ship and into the custody of Beacon of Discovery's Colonial Defense Force. They would then be treated for injuries and given physical exams to make sure that all is well.
Hurogok, still maintaining the niche' they occupied in the Covenant of old, floated up to the Normandy to inspect any wounds she might have recently suffered. Of particular note were the scorch marks from that near-miss at the science camp. Several Hurogok floated around the patch of black soot, looking fascinated by it.
This did not sit well with the ship's pilot.
"Hey! HEY!" Joker's voice came booming over the ship's outer speakers. "GET AWAY FROM MY BABY YOU VULTURES!" The Hurogok barely even acknowledged the screaming voice as they set to work cleaning the soot off.
"Peace, Helmsman." came a dock operator's voice over the Normandy's intercom. "The Hurogok mean your ship no harm. Quite the opposite, in fact. They wish to clean, repair, and refuel it. We have trusted the well-being of our ships to them for many cycles, and they haven't failed us yet. You are in good hands."
Joker grimaced as he adjusted his seat in the cockpit, not all that assured by the elite's words. "Fine." he sourly replied. "But they scratch the paint, and my foot is going up someone's ass."
Joker severed the connection with that final threat. He didn't like Hurogok, and he didn't care how good mechanics or engineers they were. He saw how they handled ships. How they probed and fondled ships with their tentacles like Hanar porn stars. Well, Joker had news for the Hurogok. The Normandy is NOT a Japanese schoolgirl needing to be pleasured. She's got more dignity than that, damn it.
Chief and the others were in the communications room, debriefing most likely. Joker decided to hail them. Chief will want a status report. And he needs reminding of who almost got the Normandy fried to begin with by asking for pickup right next to an erupting volcano.
...
"Chief, just wanted to let you know we're docked in Beacon of Discovery. Refueling and repairs are underway." Joker's voice reported. "Oh, by the way? That was WAY too close. Ten more seconds, and we would've been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy wasn't designed to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference."
"We almost died out there, and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara incredulously asked.
"Yeah well, I guess that's why we call him Joker." Chief replied with a shrug.
"I see." she said with a nod. "It must be a Human thing."
The squad had gathered in the communications room, which also doubled as a conference room for briefing and debriefing missions, as the eight chairs of the room; four on each side, implied. Garrus, Wrex and now Liara sat on one side. Kaidan and Ashley sat on the other.
"I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Chief." Liara confessed. "But I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there, and not just from the volcano. Those Geth would've killed me."
"What did the Geth want with you?" Kaidan asked. "Do you know something about the conduit?"
"Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my REAL area of expertise. I have spent the last fifty years of my life trying to find out what happened to them."
"Fifty?" Ashley asked. "How old are you exactly?"
Liara looked downwards, as though out of shame. "I...I hate to admit this." she replied. "But I am only 106."
"Damn!" Ashely quickly blurted out. "I hope I look that good when I'm your age."
"A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the Asari, I am barely considered more than a child. That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other Asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans." Liara explained.
"Those theories being?" Chief asked.
"Well, when the Protheans vanished, they left remarkably little evidence behind. Almost...too little." Liara began. "This may sound crazy, but it is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. It's like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them."
"What made you think that? I thought there wasn't any evidence." Chief pointed out. He was more than a little skeptical about the archaeologist's theory.
"I have been working on this for fifty years." Liara emphasized. "I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. It is difficult to explain to someone else. I can not point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more a feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research. But I know I'm right. And eventually, I will be able to prove it. There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over."
"What exactly is this cycle you keep going on about?" Chief grilled further.
"The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive. The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements; the mass relays and the Ctiadel, are based on the technology of those who came before them. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."
"There's one thing your theories don't seem to take into account, Doctor." Chief pointed out. "The Forerunners. We Humans know for a fact that they were wiped out by the Flood. Are you saying the Flood wiped out all these civilizations too?"
"No." Liara replied. "I have studied the Forerunners and the Flood intensely after the 314 races were introduced to the rest of the galaxy. The evidence I've found suggests that this cycle takes place roughly once every fifty thousand years. The Flood seem too chaotic and disorganized for that kind of punctuality. And I know what you're suggesting Chief. My opponents too tried to use the Forerunners to disprove my theories. But I believe the Forerunners only further support my claims."
"How?" Chief asked.
"The Forerunner Cluster is the only place in the entire galaxy where Forerunner ruins are found." Liara pointed out. "But I think it's obvious that at the height of their power, the Forerunners' civilization spanned the entire galaxy, much like the Protheans. Whatever wiped the galaxy of clues to the Protheans' existence must've done the same thing to all the Forerunner ruins after the Flood wiped them out. Why the Forerunner Cluster was spared, I cannot say. But I assure you, the Forerunners DO fit into the cycle. Their technology and architecture take inspiration from several other civilizations that came before them."
"So..." Ashley began. "If the Flood isn't behind this cycle, what is?"
"I cannot say." Liara admitted.
"I think you might know the answer to that one, Chief." Cortana said. Chief sighed, knowing what Cortana was suggesting. She wasn't the only one, as the rest of the squad (save Liara) were giving the spartan expectant looks. The idea might be crazy, but at the very least, a Prothean Archaeologist could confirm it.
"Dr. T'soni...have you ever heard of the Reapers?" Chief asked.
Liara looked confused. "Reapers? What do you mean?"
"According to a recently scavenged Geth memory core, the Reapers are sentient machines that wiped out the Protheans. The Geth view them as gods, and they think that something called the conduit is the key to bringing them back. We think it's some kind of Prothean super weapon." Chief said.
"A rogue spectre by the name of Saren Arterius is leading the Geth in their search for the conduit." Kaidan further elaborated. "Our mission is to find it before he does. He must've sent the Geth after you, thinking you might know where to find it."
"I see." Liara replied. "Unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find the conduit. As for the Reapers, they sound like a fallacy invented by Saren to rally the Geth."
"That's what I thought." Chief replied. "But there was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime, a Human colony world that was recently attacked by Saren and his Geth. It burned a vision into my brain. It was about machines, I assume the Reapers, killing organics, I assume the Protheans. I'm still trying to sort it out."
Chief expected, even hoped, that the scientist would agree with him, that the Reapers were most likely just a myth and the vision didn't really mean anything. He expected it as it was the most likely scenario. He hoped it as it would rule out the worst-case scenario.
"Visons? Yes...that does make sense." Liara said with a nod. "The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare. No wonder Saren attacked Eden Prime. The chance to acquire a working beacon, even a badly damaged one, is worth almost any risk."
Chief was taken aback by that. "So...you're saying the beacon was supposed to give me visions? Visions that were most likely true?"
"Precisely." Liara said with another nod.
Chief sighed. He was lucky, but evidently not that lucky.
"But the beacons were programmed to interact with Prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would have been confused; unclear." the Asari went on. "I am amazed you were able to make sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. You must be remarkably strong-willed, Chief."
"Well, he is a spartan." Ashley pointed out. "He wouldn't be a very good one if he was weak-willed, now would he?"
"So, you don't really know anything about the conduit?" Kaidan asked to clarify.
"No. I know it has something to do with the Prothean extinction, but outside of that, I know nothing." Liara replied.
"What about Saren? You know where he is?" Chief asked.
Liara paused at that and raised her eyebrow in confusion. "Er...no. Why would I?"
She didn't know. It was plain to see. The Chief sighed, knowing that he was about to give bad news. "There is evidence that clearly shows that your mother, Matriarch Benezia, is Saren's accomplice in all this. Did she mention any of this to you?"
Liara's eyes went wide with shock and her mouth was slightly agape. She looked down again as she put a palm to her forehead, as if trying to process what she just heard. Ashley was about to say something, but Chief held up a hand. He knew the Asari needed a minute.
"...No." Liara said, finally getting her wits back. "In fact, Benezia and I have not spoken in many years. I assure you, I had no idea what she has been doing since then."
"So...you don't really know anything that would help us?" Ashley asked.
"I'm...I'm afraid not, no." Liara replied.
Ashley sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "Well, so much for that lead. Back to square one, I guess. So what do we do with T'soni now? Hand her over to Therum's CDF?"
"I don't think we should." Garrus said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting began. "We know the conduit is a Prothean artifact of some sort. Her expertise on Prothean archaeology could be useful later on."
"And her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts." Wrex added.
"Not to mention Saren could come after her again. She'd be safest with us, I think." Kaidan threw in his two cents.
"I think we have a unanimous vote, Chief." Cortana said.
Chief nodded. All good arguments in favor of keeping her on board, and the only argument against it he could think of was her being a target could make the Normandy a target. Then again, the Normandy is currently one of the most advanced stealth ships in the Alliance fleet, so they were pretty hard to find to begin with. Doubtful the Asari's presence on board would change that.
He turned to the Asari. "Welcome aboard, Dr. T'soni."
"Thank you Chief." she replied as she stood up. "I'm very gratef-" she lost her sentence as she staggered a bit before standing upright. "I am afraid I am feeling a bit light-headed.
Unusual, but then Chief remembered that the scientist must have been in that bubble shield thing for a while. "When was the last time you ate?"
"Not since breakfast. That was several hours before the Geth even attacked." Liara answered. "I have a bad habit of being so indulged in my work that I often skip meals."
"We'll have our medic, Dr. Chakwas, take a look at you. Then I want you to eat something. You're no good to me starving to death." Chief instructed.
"It is probably just mental exhaustion." Liara dismissed. "Coupled with the shock of discovering the Protheans' true fate. I need some time to process all this."
Chief crossed his arms and stared at the Asari. Somehow, Liara just knew he was giving her the kind of look a parent would use on a child who knew better. "Still...it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional."
"Indeed it couldn't." Chief pointed out.
"Chief, don't pick on the newbie." Cortana scolded.
"Are we finished here, Chief?" Liara asked.
The SPARTAN-II nodded and then turned to the rest of the squad. "Dismissed." he said. With that, everyone got up and left the room.
"Mission reports are filed, Chief." Joker's voice reported. "You want me to patch you through to the Council?"
Chief sighed. He really didn't want to, but he knew that it would bite him in the ass later if he didn't. "Go ahead." Chief replied.
"Setting up the link now, Chief." Joker reported.
The ship's onboard VI had automatically written up and sent the mission report to the Council while the Normandy was flying from the science camp to Beacon of Discovery. They've likely already read it by now and want to clarify a few things. Unusual that they would provide feedback on the report not even an hour after the assignment was completed. You'd think they'd have other things to do, being the rulers of Citadel space and all. Then again, Chief was the first Human spectre, so he supposed it was logical that the council would be keeping an especially close eye on him.
The spartan turned to the three kiosks that stood at the edge of the comm room. They were installed after he was made spectre, so that he would always have a direct line of communication with the council. After a minute, the images of Councilors Sparatus, Tevos and Valern materialized before the Chief.
"Councilors." Chief said with a nod of what he hoped was respect.
"We've received your report, Chief." Tevos began. "We understand that Dr. T'soni is on the Normandy."
"We assume you're taking the necessary security precautions?" Sparatus asked with a skeptical tone.
"That's not necessary." Chief replied, immediately catching on to what Sparatus was insinuating. "Liara didn't know what her mother was up to. She's on our side, for now at least."
"And if she's lying?" Sparatus asked.
"She's not." Chief replied matter-of-factly.
The old Turian grunted. "You seem oddly convinced of that."
"I can tell when people are lying to me, Councilor." Chief stated. "In any case, the Geth were trying to kill her. That seems to imply that she wasn't working with Saren or Benezia."
"Benezia would never allow Saren to kill her daughter." Tevos resolutely said. Chief suspected that Tevos and Benezia might have been old friends, judging from the way Tevos tried to defend her.
"Maybe she doesn't know?" Valern suggested.
"Or maybe we don't know her." Sparatus countered. "We never expected she could be a traitor. Perhaps she could be a murderer as well."
"Well, at least the mission was a success." Valern said.
"Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin." Sparatus was quick to point out. He turned his accusing eyes on the spartan. "Was that really necessary Chief?"
"Collateral damage, councillor. Couldn't be helped." Chief stated. "Dr. T'soni's well-being was the primary objective, not the preservation of the ruins."
"Of course, Chief." Valern said with an approving nod. "The mission must always take priority."
"Moving on." Tevos stated. "Since Dr. T'soni doesn't seem to know anything about the conduit, we seem to be right back where we started. No leads."
"So, what do I do now?" Chief asked.
"Our finest intelligence experts are keeping their eyes and ears open." Valern stated. "We will alert you of further developments."
"Until then, you should return to the Citadel. Once you are done resupplying at Beacon of Discovery, chart a course for home, spectre." Tevos concluded. And with that, their images faded away.
"I'm going to have to put up with them after every mission, aren't I?" Chief asked.
"Looks that way." Cortana replied.
Chief sighed as he called up the ship's inner-com. "Joker. What's the ETA on repairs?" the spartan asked.
"Another few hours. Meantime, a lot of the crew are taking a look around Beacon of Discovery for more supplies."
Chief grimaced. "I didn't authorize a shore leave."
"Requisitions Officer Lawrence did, sir." Joker informed. "He does this whenever we hit port. The Empire's got some pretty unique guns and he thought we could take advantage of it. Should I call him back?"
Chief sighed. "No. Let him get the weapons. But once we're ready to go, I want to see him in my quarters."
"Sir, yes sir."
...
Joker switched off communications and leaned back in his chair and grumbled. Chief was more of a hardass than Anderson. Oh well. Lawrence was the one that was gonna get it and not Joker, which suited him just fine. He went back to looking out the window and watching the Hurogok like a hawk. He had already written up a nasty letter to the Beacon of Discovery's dock office, and his finger was hovering over the send button, just waiting for the tentacled engineers to screw up. Monica chuckled at the sight. She thought it was cute, the way Joker watched over the ship the way a mother bear would watch over her cubs.
The last hour or so was quite exciting for Monica. Chief called them, letting them know that there were civvies in need of evac on Therum's surface. The ship flew on down to the planet's surface, and if it weren't for her mapping out the area and tracking radio signals, they never would have found that camp. Then, not even two minutes after the job was done, Chief called again, saying that now HE needed evac. Once again, it was all because of her awesome navigation skills that they were able to even find the pickup zone.
Monica wasn't exactly on the front lines, but she found glory wherever she could.
She heard Joker mention that they were going to remain docked for another couple of hours. She wondered if she could get Harvey to cover for her while she left the ship to buy herself a souvenir.
...
A couple of notes. You may have noticed that I FINALLY got the Turian Councilor's name right (Velarn? Varn? Valern? Valern! That's it.). I promise, I will remember it. Valern. Valern. I will repeat that in my sleep.
As for why this is the first update in over two months...I got nuthin'. I've run out of excuses. If any of you feel compelled to flame me, feel free to do so. Lord only knows I would do the same thing if the roles were reversed.
And finally, how have I been portraying the Chief so far? Too powerful? Not powerful enough? I was worried he might be the former in that fight sequence with the Geth, but the aim was to make him look VERY powerful, the reason why will be made clear in the next chapter