Ever wrote a Halo / Mass Effect Fanfic and watch AMV Hell at the same time?
It's an...interesting experience.
...
1009 Hours, March 5th, 2683
ExoGeni Skyway
Surface of Feros
Thesseus System, Attican Beta Cluster
...
From there I got away, my spirit's never failin',
Landed on the quay as the ship was sailin',
Captain at me roared,
Said that no room had he, when I jumped aboard,
A cabin found for Paddy,
Down among the pigs,
That some hearty rigs,
Danced some hearty jigs,
The water round me bubblin',
When off Holyhead,
I wished meself was dead,
Or better far instead,
On the rocky road to Dublin.
One, two, three, four, five,
Hunt the hare and turn her down the rocky road and all the ways to Dublin
Whack-fol-lol-e-da!
"Geth troopers." N'tho noted.
"I see them." Tali replied. She then turned the warthog's wheel to the right, swerving around the squadron of Geth troopers that were shooting at them. The machines kept shooting at the hog, but it only took a few seconds for the vehicle to speed out of their effective range.
"You see what I just did there, N'tho?" Tali asked. "Instead of driving through them, I drove around them. Now, wasn't that easier? Wasn't that less stressful?"
"...I guess." N'tho quietly and bitterly muttered. "You don't get a lot of kills that way, though."
The boys of Liverpool, when we safely landed,
Called meself a fool, I could no longer stand it,
Blood began to boil,
Temper I was losin',
Poor ould Erin's isle,
They began abusin,
"Hurrah my soul" says I,
My shillellagh I let fly,
Some Galway boys were by,
Saw I was a hobblin',
Then with a loud hurray,
They joined in the affray,
We quickly cleared the way,
For the rocky road to Dublin.
One, two, three, four, five,
Hunt the hare and turn her down the rocky road and all the ways to Dublin
Whack-fol-lol-e-da!
...
Finally, the two hogs arrived back at the Zhu's Hope garage. They looked overhead and saw the Yanme'e fly over them. "We're above Zhu's Hope." one of the Yanme'e reported via radio. "Beginning bombardment."
"Surprised they agreed to help." Ashley said. "Twenty minutes ago, they were ready to allow that whole colony to get purged."
"Yanme'e are followers, not leaders." N'tho elaborated. "With Jeong...'incapacitated,' they ran out of orders to follow, which left them open to suggestion." The young Sangheili paused. "Plus, it didn't seem like they really liked or respected Jeong that much to begin with."
"Hard to imagine why." Ashley sarcastically commented.
As the hogs slowed to a stop in front of the Zhu's Hope garage and began to climb out, they saw that an odd creature was waiting for them, crouched in the fetal position. It didn't move at all at first, but as the squad moved closer, the creature began to rise. Its skin was a sickly shade of grey and it had long claws on its hands. The exposed teeth and eyes so sunken in they didn't even seem to be there at all gave the head a decidedly skull-like appearance.
And most disturbing of all, it looked unmistakably Human.
It lunged at the Spartan. In response, the Spartan whipped out his pistol and fired, drilling a neat hole in the creature's head. It collapsed, a pool of green ichor forming around its head at the Master Chief's feet.
"What is that thing?" Kaidan asked. The Spartan kicked the corpse, flipping it over onto its back. "Can't be Human."
"Looks Human." Chief said. "Could be the final stage of Thorian spore exposure."
"No way." Ashley said. "No way the Thorian can mutate a Human that much, that quickly."
"The Flood could." Chief pointed out. He put his pistol away and kneeled in front of the creature. "Anyone got a knife?"
N'tho then reached into a pocket on his belt and pulled out a small handle and tossed it to the Spartan. Chief caught it and noted that it was an energy dagger. He snapped it on and used it to saw through the creeper's chest cavity. N'tho stood across from the Chief, keeping his needler shotgun pointed at the creature's head in case it tried to jump out and attack the Spartan like it would if this were a horror vid.
Chief handed the energy dagger back to N'tho when he completed his cut. He then gripped both sides of the creature's chest and pried it open. He was a bit surprised by what he saw. Tender meat, chambered vessels and a distinct shade of green, this creature's insides looked for all the universe like the insides of a cucumber.
"Okay. Now I know this thing isn't Human." Ashley said. Chief agreed. Even if this was a Human that had been infected, there would still be something vaguely resembling organs inside its body; lungs, kidneys, a stomach and a heart. No such structures here though. Just a lot of green chambered vessels.
"So if it's not Human, then what is it?" N'tho asked.
"Bombing complete. Most of the colonists are unconscious now." the Yanme'e reported over radio. The squad saw the fifty-strong swarm fly overhead, back towards where the ExoGeni employees were holed up. "We are heading back to the shelter. We have done our part. Good luck, Master Chief."
"Alright." Chief began over TEAMCOM. "These things are definitely hostile, so if we encounter more of them inside Zhu's Hope, shoot to kill. But check your targets. I don't want any dead colonists. Clear?"
The squad winked green.
"Good." The Spartan said as he keyed open the door.
The door opened and revealed over a dozen creepers inside the garage. They all began standing up from their fetal positions as the door opened.
"Aw, crap." Kaidan muttered.
"Singularity!" Chief shouted. Liara thrust her hands out and created a mini black hole in the midst of the creepers. Chief and the rest of the squad then held up their weapons and unloaded into the swirling mass. Chief noticed that he was taking fire, making him dive for cover on instinct. He dashed out of the doorway, the most obvious line of sight. He then peeked around the corner and saw two colonist guards with their assault rifles spitting rounds at the rest of the squad while they tried to take out the creepers. The Yanme'e's earlier bombardment didn't hit them. This garage had a roof, sadly. It made him wonder how many other colonists the buggers might have missed.
"Take cover and cease fire!" Chief ordered. The squad ran out of the doorway and out of the guards' line of sight. Chief then dashed back in, ran up the ledge and tossed a gas grenade at the colonists. The two were only able to get a few shots in before the grenade detonated in an explosion of green gas, making them both collapse.
Chief then turned towards the creepers, withdrawing his assault rifle and cleaning up the ones the rest of the squad missed. He lowered his weapon when the last one fell. "Clear." he reported.
"Goddess." Liara breathed as she walked in, noting all the bits of smoking creeper strewn across the garage. "How many of these things are there?"
"Guess the Thorian didn't think its thralls made for a big enough army, so it created a whole bunch of these things." Garrus speculated.
"Well, they go down easy enough." Chief said. He nodded to the elevator before walking in, the rest of squad behind him, carefully stepping over the two guards.
...
One three-minute elevator ride later, the squad arrived back in Zhu's Hope proper. They stepped out of the elevator, stepped around the corner, but stopped at the head of the stairs. The Chief had held up a hand, his thumb pressing into his palm, his fingers curled inward, the 'unknown ahead, wait' signal. "N'tho."
"Er, yeah?" the young Sangheili said.
"Cloak and move ahead. I need to know how many more of those things are out there." the Spartan ordered. "The rest of us will stay here."
"Can do." N'tho replied before activating his cloak. He trotted down the stairs as he faded from sight.
"Yeah. More of 'em." N'tho reported over TEAMCOM a few seconds later.
"How many?" Chief asked.
"I'm counting at least a dozen here." N'tho said. "Moving on to the other side of the freighter."
"What about the colonists?" Chief asked.
"They're all unconscious so it looks like the- Oooooooooh crap, there's like fifty more of these things back here."
Chief heard hissing over the radio.
"...And my cloak just ran out. Awesome."
"Get back to our position. Now." Chief ordered. N'tho winked green. "Wrex, Garrus, Ashley; around me. Firing positions. We're gonna have company in a minute."
"Less than a minute!" N'tho yelped as he appeared around the corner and ran up the stairs past the rest of the squad. Chief, Ashley, Wrex and Garrus all withdrew their assault rifles and positioned themselves at the top of the stairs. Chief and Wrex stood while Ashley and Garrus each knelt on one knee in front of them.
The hissing and moaning of what sounded like a hundred of those creatures grew louder as the horde got closer. The first few creepers then appeared from around the corner. As soon as they did, the four soldiers opened fire. Fire flowed out of their assault rifles as the creepers tried to climb up the stairs after them. They held down their triggers as more and more of the vile creatures charged up the stairs, not one of them getting far before getting riddled with bullets.
Finally, after killing what felt like a hundred of them, they stopped coming. A pile smoking creeper corpses sat at the bottom of the stairs. "Dead and done. Just the way I like 'em." Wrex commented.
"That all of them?" Chief asked.
"I think so." N'tho replied.
"Alright. Let's move out. Stay alert." Chief said as he began descending the stairs. He kicked some creeper corpses and body parts aside when he arrived at the foot of the stairs before heading out into the colony's courtyard. The rest of the squad tried to walk through the little path Chief created, not wanting to plunge their legs into the pile of death they had created just to follow him.
They made their way across the courtyard of the colony, carefully stepping over or around any unconscious colonists that were in their way. The Yanme'e had done a good job after all. Any colonists that were out in the open got hit with the gas, and from the looks of things, most of them were indeed out in the open.
They crossed the walkway at the far end of the courtyard and arrived at what seemed to be a crane. The Spartan walked up to a control console and pressed a few keys. The crane then lifted part of the freighter, revealing a stairway that led down.
Chief then noticed a moving white dot on his HUD.
The Spartan spun around and aimed his rifle down the sights, the squad following his lead. There was Fai Dan, shambling towards them. Buggers missed him. He was probably inside the freighter itself during the bombing run.
"I tried to fight it...but it gets in your head." Fai Dan strained to say, his face scrunched up in pain. "You can't imagine the pain..."
"Stand down, Dan." Chief said.
"I'm supposed to be their leader...these people trusted me..." The colonist leader reached for his gun and pulled it out, aiming it at the Spartan.
"Stand down." the Master Chief repeated, more sternly this time. "I won't tell you again."
"It wants me to stop you..." Fai Dan replied. Chief kept his gun trained on the colonist.
"But I won't." Fai Dan said.
He pulled the pistol away from the Spartan.
He pointed it at his own head.
"I won't!"
Spartan time kicked in.
Chief aimed at Fai Dan's shoulder and fired, aiming the weapon in such a way that the shot would only graze him. With an assault rifle, it was a risky shot, but there was no time to pull out a more accurate weapon. Besides, Chief was confidant enough in his own aim that a short, controlled burst of fire would be accurate enough. It was. Fai Dan yelped in pain, dropping the pistol to grip the wound with that hand. Chief pulled out a gas grenade and threw it. The grenade detonated upon hitting Fai Dan's chest, knocking the colonial leader to the ground.
"Liara. Get some medi-gel on his shoulder." Chief said. The Asari nodded and rushed over to the now-unconscious Human. Chief walked over to Fai Dan himself, watching as Liara rubbed medi-gel into Fai Dan's bleeding shoulder. Once she was confidant that the wound itself was covered, she took out a medical wipe and began cleaning the wound. She looked up at the Spartan.
"I think he'll be alright." she reported.
"Good." Chief said. Enough people had died defending this colony. This battle didn't need to be like the Human-Covenant War. It didn't need any more dead heroes. "Move out. Down those stairs." Chief said over TEAMCOM.
...
"Okay." Wrex said as the squad descended the stairwell into the bowels of Zhu's Hope's substructure. "So now we just need to kill the Thorian and we can call it a day."
"I don't know, Wrex." N'tho said. "The VI said it has tendrils that are kilometers long. I don't think killing it is gonna be that simple."
The Krogan grunted. "How big can it be?" he scoffed.
Finally, the squad reached the bottom of the stairwell and reached the end of a corridor. They were in a large chamber that was cylindrical in shape and layout. The ceiling had what seemed to be a large lamp, casting light on the giant room.
And its occupant.
Its skin was pink in color, reminding the Spartan of a Human brain. Giant roots as thick as tree trunks adhered to the walls, keeping the thing suspended over the dark pit below. Its face, if you could call it that, was something right out of a Lovecraft poem. What looked like eye-sockets had no eyes at all, and tentacles dripping with fluid drooped down, giving the appearance of a mouth.
"...And you think I talk too much?" N'tho asked the Krogan.
As Chief took in the grotesque creature before him, the Spartan couldn't help but be reminded of a similar creature.
Now the gate has been unlatched,
Headstones pushed aside,
Corpses shift and offer room,
A fate you must abide.
Grotesque, plant-like, infection of sapient beings via spores, a distinct stench, there was no denying that the Thorian was indeed quite similar to the Gravemind.
"You getting a bad sense of deja vu too, huh?" Cortana asked. Chief nodded in reply. "Well, let's try to stay objective here." The AI went on. "Though similar, there are several key differences between the Thorian and the Gravemind. For one, the VI said that its release of spores is an act of survival, not aggression. Which implies that the Thorian doesn't want to conquer the galaxy as much as it simply wants to be left alone. Also, what the Thorian does to its victims is nowhere near as horrific as what the Gravemind does. The Thorian is a plant, while the Flood is a fungus, and you know how I hate when people confuse the two..."
The Thorian's 'head' suddenly started moving. Its pink flesh and face tentacles began twitching as the Thorian started making sounds that resembled intense, labored breathing. It lifted up its tentacles, revealing that it actually had something like a mouth, viscous fluid leaking out.
A green-skinned Asari in a black catsuit slipped out of its mouth and landed on one knee.
"...And of course, the Gravemind certainly never did that." Cortana finished.
The Asari stood up and walked over to the Spartan. "Invaders. Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe."
The Master Chief looked up at the Thorian. Then back down to the Asari. "Alright. I'm in awe." he said in an even tone. "Now that that's been settled, I understand Saren was here a few days ago. What happened?"
"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone." the Asari began. "The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in a long cycle. Trades were made. Then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given."
Her eyes narrowed. "The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies. It will listen no more."
"Easy." Chief said. "We didn't come here to start a fight."
"We didn't?" Wrex asked. "Why not?"
Chief looked up at the Thorian. "The 'cold ones?' They're all dead. I killed them, so you don't have to worry about them anymore. In exchange, you can just give me the knowledge you gave to Saren. Give it to me and I'll leave peacefully."
"No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry!" the Asari shouted, "Your lives are short, but have gone on too long!" Biotics began flaring around her. "Your blood will feed the grou-"
Chief withdrew his shotgun, held it up against the Asari's torso one-handed, and pulled the trigger, the force of the blast sending her corpse flying into the pit. He looked back up at the Thorian and pumped his shotgun.
"Alright. Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough, so let's try this again." the Spartan said. "I need you to tell me what you told Saren. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Here's a hint; the hard way's not fun."
Hissing and groaning suddenly filled the chamber. The squad looked around and saw Thorian creepers moving around on the upper floors of the chamber. What looked to be dozens, perhaps even hundreds of them, growled at the team.
"I think it wants to do this the hard way, sir." Kaidan reported.
"They always do." Chief noted with a tired sigh. He pointed at the Thorian. "Light it up." he ordered over TEAMCOM.
With that, the squad aimed their weapons and opened fire on the Thorian. Despite all the assault rifle fire and shotgun blasts, the Thorian didn't even seem phased. The shots left little more than pock marks on its skin. Even the needles from N'tho's needler shotgun just seemed to bounce off.
"Mike Foxtrot!" Ashley swore. "Does this thing have kevlar for skin or something?"
"Company!" N'tho shouted as a pack of creepers came charging at the squad from a corridor behind them. N'tho whirled around and fired his shotgun, the needles hitting one of the creepers in the chest and then detonating. Kaidan biotically pushed one of the creepers away and filled another one with bullet holes. One of the vile creatures got close enough to Wrex to claw at his armor. After grappling with the creeper for a second, the Krogan threw it down to the ground and then stomped on its head.
"Chief. I'm picking up a faint bio-electrical signal from down that corridor." Cortana reported. "I think it's one of those nerve bundles that VI was talking about. Could be the Thorian's weak point."
"Worth a shot." Chief quietly said to himself. "Everyone down that hall! Move!" he ordered over TEAMCOM. The squad rushed down the hall, blasting any creeper that got in their way. They turned left into a room and found the nerve bundle. It looked like a giant tendril or root, connecting the Thorian with the wall.
"What's that thing?" Garrus asked.
"Something we should be shooting at." Chief replied before raising his assault fire and firing on it tendril.
"Works for me!" Wrex said as he joined the Spartan with his shotgun. After a few seconds of the assault, green ooze suddenly bursted from the nerve bundle, as though a pipe had busted open, as the bundle itself turned a sickly black. A shrill cry of pain from the Thorian pierced through the air.
"It's hurt!" N'tho cheered.
"And unlike the Thorian itself, these things aren't bulletproof." Kaidan added. "There must be more of these around this chamber."
"He's right, Chief." Cortana said. "I'm picking up more bio-electrical signatures just like that one all around the chamber."
"Up the stairs!" Chief said as he pointed up the nearby stairway. The squad ascended the stairs until they were up a floor. Chief checked his HUD and noted that there were more of those nerve bundles in either direction. They needed to split up.
"N'tho, Liara, Wrex, you three are with me. We're going that way." Chief said as he pointed down one end of the hall. "Everyone else, go the other way." he pointed down the other end of the hall. Everyone winked green before moving out.
Chief and his team saw another neural node down the hall. However, there were about a dozen creepers between it and them. As they rose up from their fetal positions, Chief noticed more creepers approaching them from behind on his HUD. "I got these ones." Wrex said before charging right into the Creepers in front of them. The Krogan surrounded himself with a biotic barrier before blasting his shotgun into the chest of one creeper and headbutting another one. He grabbed one creeper by the leg and used it as a club against its comrades.
While Wrex was dealing with the ones in front, the rest of the team swiveled and poured some fire into the oncoming horde. A few of the zombie-like creatures suddenly stopped mid-charge, stood upright and began to, for lack of a better word, vomit. The green slime spewed forth like a corrupted fountain, spraying the Asari, the Sangheili and the Spartan with the vile stuff before Chief gunned it down. It was only at that point did Chief note that his shields were almost completely drained.
"That green slime was some kind of acid." Cortana said. "You and the rest of the squad are definitely gonna want to keep your distance from these things."
Chief nodded before keying Kaidan. "Kaidan; be advised. Keep your distance. These things spit out acid."
...
"Yeah! I noticed!" Kaidan hollered as he held an arm up, trying to shield his face from the acid this creeper was spewing all over him. With a growl, Kaidan summoned up his biotics and pushed the creeper off the ledge.
Ashley spit out curse words as a creeper's acid splashed against her shields. She turned towards the offending creature and pumped a few shotgun rounds into its chest, ending its onslaught.
"Garrus! Ashley! Fire on that bundle!" Kaidan yelled as he pointed at a nerve bundle. The two of them winked green as they switched to their assault rifles and opened fire. The neural node slowly turned from pink to black before a vessel full of green ichor burst, earning another shriek of pain from the Thorian.
"Yeah!" Ashley cheered. "Take that you mutant potato!"
Kaidan and his team suddenly heard moans. A LOT of moans. He and his team turned around and saw a huge horde of creepers rushing towards them. "Everyone line up!" Kaidan yelled. "I want overlapping fields of fire!"
...
"Liara! Singularity behind us!" Chief ordered. Liara winked green before spinning on her heels and summoning a singularity to suck in the pack of creepers behind them. "Wrex. N'tho. Light 'em up. Liara. You and me on this node."
While Liara and the Master Chief went to work on the neural node, Wrex and N'tho unloaded on the hapless creepers orbiting around the Asari's singularity. "Hey Wrex? I couldn't help but notice that you're not that much of a heavy lifter in the biotics department." N'tho shouted over the roar of spewing bullets and plasma.
"What?" Wrex replied.
"I'm just saying; Liara freezes people with her stasis and can make friggin' BLACK HOLES with her brain. Whereas all you do is give yourself the occasional shield boost and toss crap around. I think she's got you outclassed, dude!" N'tho argued.
Eventually, the singularity faded and the creepers fell to the floor, lifeless. "They all dead?" Wrex asked.
"Looks that way." N'tho said.
"Good." Wrex replied. He swiftly turned and headbutted the Sangheili.
"Sonnuvabitch!" the elite yelped as he fell to the ground, gripping his head in pain.
...
Kaidan and his team heard the Thorian cry out in pain again as they fought through ever more creepers. "Keelah Se'lai! We're on the right track!" Tali cheered.
"Hopefully that track ends soon!" Garrus yelled. "I don't know how much longer we-" The Turian's sentence was cut off when he suddenly flew through the air. He skidded across the floor, going over the edge. Only his grip on the edge saved him.
Kaidan turned around and saw that green Asari from earlier. How she survived a point blank shotgun blast to the chest followed by a long fall was beyond Kaidan, but that wasn't the issue right now. The issue was the fact was that she was surrounded by a biotic aura as well as a couple dozen angry creepers.
"Ashley! Get Garrus!" Kaidan ordered. "Tali, with me! Suppressive fire!"
As Kaidan and Tali tried to hold off the Asari and her minions, Ashley ran over to Garrus and tried to help him up. "Foxtrot..." she grunted with clenched teeth. "You're heavier than you look."
"Yeah, well, I bet you are too." Garrus said as he was pulled up on to the ledge.
"...Did you just call me fat?" Ashley asked. She heard a moaning behind her and turned around, seeing a creeper rushing up to her, preparing to vomit acid on the soldier. That is, up until it collapsed on to the ground, a neat bullet hole drilled into its skull. She turned back to Garrus, the Turian holding a smoking pistol.
"Oh look. That creeper died. And several more live ones are over there. Could we go deal with that? We'll continue this conversation never." Garrus said.
"Master Chief! This is Kaidan!" Kaidan keyed the Spartan over TEAMCOM. "That Asari's back somehow and she's got a whole bunch of creepers with her! We're getting pinned to the wall over here!"
...
"Copy, Kaidan. You said the Asari is alive?" Chief asked.
"Affirmative." the biotic on the other line answered. Chief looked across the chamber to spot Kaidan's group on the other side and, sure enough, there was that Asari leading a group of creepers to terrorize them.
"Your blood will feed the ground in a new growth!"
Chief turned and saw a green Asari leading an army of creepers towards his group.
Then he looked back at that same green Asari attacking Kaidan's group.
"What the-" Chief turned back to 'his' green Asari, only to get hit with a biotic push for his trouble. Chief flew through the air until he smacked into a wall and then hit the ground hard.
"Chief, we need supporting fire!" Kaidan said over TEAMCOM. "Can any of you hit this Asari from over there?"
"We've got our hands full ourselves, Alenko." Chief said as he got up and joined the rest of his team in pouring assault rifle fire into the approaching creepers.
"I can go over and relieve them!" Wrex shouted over the gunfire.
"How? They're on the other side of the chamber!" N'tho shouted back.
"Just watch!" Wrex said as he trotted over to the edge of the level, his whole body wrapped in a biotic aura. He rolled his shoulders and his neck, working out all the kinks. He crouched low as his biotic aura intensified. Then, he leapt off the ledge.
And vanished.
In a flash of blue, Wrex appeared on Kaidan's side of the chamber and went to work, alternating between gunning down creepers and throwing them around with biotics. "You're all gonna wanna hide behind something!" Wrex shouted as he whipped out a spike grenade. As Kaidan's team took cover, Wrex primed the grenade and threw it. It embedded itself into the Asari's chest cavity.
Wrex then leapt off the ledge and disappeared again in a blue flash as the grenade detonated, spikes flying and impaling countless creepers. One of the spikes flew right into one of the Thorian's neural nodes, earning yet another screech from the enormous creature. Wrex then re-appeared on Chief's side of the chamber, 'ramming' the other green Asari as he did so. He then unloaded six shotgun rounds into the Asari before she collapsed on the floor in a puddle of green goo. The Krogan Battlemaster then turned to N'tho as he pumped his shotgun.
"...I'm not impressed." N'tho said. "If I had biotics, I could do that too."
"Last nerve bundle dead ahead, Chief." Cortana reported as she highlighted it on the Spartan's heads-up display.
"Pass it on to N'tho's HUD." Chief said.
"Can do." the AI replied as she did this.
"There's the last nerve bundle, N'tho." Chief said over TEAMCOM. "You're our pathfinder. The rest of us will watch your back. Kaidan, take your team and rendezvous with ours."
"On our way." Kaidan replied.
"Alrighty then!" N'tho said as he unfurled his plasma mini-gun. "Clear the way! Sangheili with a big gun coming through!"
The elite marched towards the last nerve bundle, mowing down any creeper that got in his way with snarling plasma while the rest of the team watched his six. After a few minutes, they reached the last Thorian neural node. "Fire." Chief ordered. The squad opened fire on the node, turning it black until green goo burst out.
Then, the nerve bundle suddenly snapped from the wall, whipping back to the Thorian like a taught cable that reached its limit. The creature shrieked and groaned as more and more of its roots seemed to snap. With so many nerve bundles dead, its tentacles were weaker, unable to support its weight. After a few seconds, the roots could support its mass no more. They gave way, and the Thorian tumbled down the black, yawning pit, shrieking the whole way down until a colossal thud was heard.
"I think the Thorian's dead, sir." Kaidan reported over TEAMCOM.
Chief sighed. "That's bad."
"Why?"
"If the Thorian's dead, then so is the knowledge Saren came here for." Chief grimly pointed out in turn. "He's a step ahead of us now."
This was indeed a heavy loss. Chief was hoping that taking out these nerve bundles would merely subdue the Thorian, not kill it outright. He still needed whatever information the Thorian told Saren. Eventually, Kaidan's team trotted over, linking back up with the Spartan.
"Perhaps it is still alive?" Liara suggested. "We could repel down the pit on a rope or-"
"Movement!" Wrex reported, pointing his shotgun at a bulbous sac on the far wall. It was churning and moving, like there was something inside it.
"Be ready." Chief ordered as he withdrew his own weapon and pointed it at the sac, the rest of the squad doing the same. The sac continued to move more rapidly until it ruptured. Another Asari tumbled out along with a gush of green fluid.
"...Mazel Tov. It's a girl." N'tho commented.
The Asari stood up. While she was dressed the same as all those green Asari, her skin was a shade of blue, as was more typical for her species. She blinked a bit and struggled to compose herself, as if in a daze. "I'm...I'm free?" she asked of no one in particular. Once she had her bearings, she turned to the Spartan. "I...I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."
"Who are you?" Chief asked, weapon still pointed at the Asari.
"My name is Shiala. I serve-" she paused. "...Served Matriarch Benezia." she corrected herself. "When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. Benezia foresaw the influence he would have, and joined him to guide him down a gentler path. But Saren is compelling. Benezia lost her way."
"Uh-huh." Chief said, not buying what this Asari was selling.
"Benezia underestimated Saren as I did." Shiala went on. "We came to believe in his cause and his goals. The strength of his influence is troubling."
"Asari matriarchs are among the oldest and wisest beings in the galaxy." Chief said. "And now you're telling me one of them just fell under 'Saren's influence' just like that? How?"
"Saren has a vessel." Shiala explained. "An enormous warship unlike any I've seen. He calls it the Sovereign. It can dominate the minds of his followers. They become indoctrinated to Saren's will. The process is subtle. It can take days. Weeks. But in the end, it is absolute."
"...So let me get this straight. Saren has a warship that brainwashes people?"
"It's more subtle than brainwashing but...yes. That is one way of summarizing it." Shiala said.
"How does it work?"
"I...I do not know."
"AH-CHOO!" Ashley blurted out. "Oh, sorry about that. I'm allergic to bullshit."
"Hold on a minute." Kaidan said. "Shiala, what exactly does the Sovereign look like?"
"Huge. Three kilometers from bow to stern. Hull as black as night. It faintly resembles an aquatic creature with tentacles." Shiala described.
"Sounds like the Geth mothership we saw on Eden Prime." Kaidan said. "It must've been the Sovereign. Guess it's Saren's flagship."
"Correct." Shiala said with a nod.
"I still don't buy your brainwashing excuse." Chief said point blank.
"I don't expect you to." the Asari replied. "To be honest, I hardly believe it myself. Looking back, it all seemed like a very surreal dream...or more appropriately, a nightmare. But regardless of whether you believe me or not, I can still give you the Cipher."
"The what?" Chief asked.
"The Cipher. It's what Saren came here for." Shiala elaborated. "Saren brought me to this world so he could use my biotics to communicate with the Thorian; to learn its secrets. He offered me in trade. I was sacrificed to secure an alliance between Saren and the Thorian."
"And once Saren got what he wanted, he tried to terminate that alliance." Garrus stated.
"Yes." Shiala replied. "After he had what he wanted, he ordered the Geth to destroy all evidence of the Thorian's existence." she turned to the Spartan. "Saren knows you are looking for the Conduit, Master Chief. He knows you are following his steps. He attacked the Thorian so you could not gain the Cipher."
"Which is?" Chief pressed, eager to get to the point.
"The beacon on Eden Prime gave you visions." Shiala began. "But the visions were unclear, confusing. They were meant for a Prothean mind. To truly comprehend them, you must think like a Prothean. You must understand their culture, their history, their very existence."
She gestured to the hole the Thorian fell down. "The Thorian was here long before the Protheans built this city. It watched and studied them. When they died, it consumed them. They became a part of it."
"...That's all very interesting, but you still haven't told me just what exactly the Cipher is." Chief reminded the Asari. "Kinda eager to hear that part."
"The Cipher is..." Shiala paused, as if trying to think of a way to answer the Spartan's question. "...The very essence of being a Prothean."
"...Mind being more specific?" Chief said.
"I'm sorry, but I can't." Shiala said with a helpless shrug. "It can not be described or explained. It would be like describing color to a creature without eyes. To understand, you must have access to endemic ancestral memory. A viewpoint spanning thousands of Prothean generations. I sensed this ancestral memory, the Cipher, when I melded with the Thorian. Our identities merged. Our minds intertwined. Such knowledge can not be taught. It simply exists."
"...Well then, fat lotta good you are." Wrex said. "I say we shoot her."
"Hold on a second." Chief said. "Shiala. You gave this knowledge to Saren, didn't you?"
"Yes." Shiala said. "I transferred the knowledge from my mind to Saren's. I can do the same for you, Master Chief."
"Do it." the Spartan said as he lowered his weapon and walked up to the Asari. "If she tries anything, then you can shoot her." he silently added over TEAMCOM where Shiala couldn't hear. The squad winked green. Wrex winked green twice.
"Try to relax, Master Chief." Shiala said in a soothing tone. "Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us."
She slowly approached the Spartan. "One to another. Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit."
She stopped in front of him and put both her hands on his shoulders. Despite his reflexes telling him to fight her off, he shoved those instincts into a dark corner of his mind as he relaxed. He tried focusing on just the sound of the Asari's voice and trancing himself into a zen-like state. It's what Linda did back in the Human-Covenant War, and it seemed to help with her sniping capabilities.
"We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe, Master Chief."
Shiala reared her head back and closed her eyes.
She thrust her head back to its original position and opened her eyes, suddenly wells of black.
"Embrace eternity!"
...
There were strange-looking people, aliens maybe, suffering.
Metal being welded to flesh.
Minds being tormented.
Blood splattering on the ground.
Screeching of the damned.
Eyes that spoke eons of malice.
A star.
A planet.
A light in the darkness.
A monster.
A roar.
"We are your salvation through destruction."
Go.
Before it's too late.
...
As suddenly as it began, the vision stopped. Shiala took a few steps back. The Master Chief's vision was blurry for a minute. He had to blink it back into focus, but other than that, he felt well enough.
"I have given you the Cipher. Just as it was given to Saren." Shiala stated. "The ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now."
"Are you alright, Master Chief?" Ashley asked in a concerned tone. "What did she do?"
"Vitals pinged KIA for a second." Kaidan added.
"I'm alright." Chief assured. "As for the vision...there was some new stuff, but it still didn't make any sense."
"You've been given a great gift. The experience of an entire people." Shiala pointed out. "It will take time for your mind to process this information."
Ashley walked up closer to the Spartan. "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine." Chief resolutely repeated. "I can have Chakwas take a look at me if anything comes up."
"I'm sorry if you did suffer, but there was no other way." Shiala apologetically said. "You need the Cipher. In time, it will help you understand the vision from the beacon."
In time. Chief hated that phrase. It usually meant more waiting. "I don't suppose you know what the Conduit is?" Chief tried.
"No. I'm sorry." the Asari replied. "All I know is that Saren believes it is the key to the Prothean extinction."
"What about Saren himself?" Chief pressed.
"There is little I could tell you that you do not already know." Shiala answered. "He is powerful, charismatic, and dangerous. He is leading the galaxy into an age of darkness and suffering. I pray you find the Conduit before he does."
"I don't think we're getting anything else out of her." Chief announced over TEAMCOM.
"So, what do we do with her?" Garrus asked.
Chief switched off TEAMCOM and stared down the Asari. "Shiala, you were an accomplice to a war criminal. I can't let you walk."
"Your suspicions are understandable. But you freed me from the Thorian and from Saren. I am on your side now." Shiala replied. "If you allow it, I would like to stay here with the colonists. They have suffered greatly and I have played a role in their suffering. I would like to make amends."
Chief set his jaw. As he had said, she was a willing accomplice to a war criminal. Something as light as community service wasn't going to fly. Still, she was a POW. One with possibly valuable insight into Saren's plans, or at least the inner workings of his army. She could still be useful in the future.
"Wrex. You still got one of those neural inhibitor collars?" Chief said as he turned to the Krogan. Wrex nodded before tossing such a collar to the Master Chief. The Spartan caught it in mid-air and turned to Shiala. "Here's what going to happen. I'll be turning you over to the colonists, who'll hold you under arrest until an Alliance fleet gets here. Once they do, you'll be brought in for questioning, and I do not suggest withholding anything from them. You can plead your case to them and, if they buy your story, they can let you stay and help the colonists under close supervision. No promises, though."
"So be it. I will not resist." Shiala said as she got down on her knees and put her hands behind her head. True to her words, she put up no fight as the Spartan clamped the collar around her neck. Her body went limp. Chief turned to N'tho and nodded to Shiala.
"Alright, lady. Let's go." N'tho said as he grabbed the Asari and threw her over his shoulder rather unceremoniously.
...
When the squad emerged back onto the surface of Zhu's Hope, the colonists had come to. In addition, the ExoGeni employees arrived as well, the skyway now clear of Geth. Doctors from the ExoGeni building were treating the any colonists who had suffered injuries during the siege. Even Ian, the crazy man from the tunnels, was rescued and was now undergoing treatment. He should make a full recovery in time, along with all the other surviving colonists.
According to Julianna, the remaining Yanme'e soldiers were currently out doing aerial sweeps of Zhu's Hope, the ExoGeni building, and the skyway in between. They were searching for Geth stragglers as well as any other Humans or Yanme'e who might've survived the invasion.
Meanwhile, Ethan Jeong had come to and managed to babble out an excuse to ExoGeni HQ; how the Geth killed the Thorian, not the Master Chief. It seemed to be a good enough excuse for them, but that still left the financial future of the colony uncertain. With the planet's most unique treasure gone, it seemed doubtful that ExoGeni would keep investing in this place. Hopefully, there were enough survivors for the colony to make a full recovery.
The Master Chief handed Shiala over to the Yanme'e, who have assumed the role of Zhu's Hope colonial defense force, at least until additional support from the Alliance arrived. He gave them very specific orders not to harm her until the Alliance arrives to interrogate her. The Yanme'e didn't like it; they would've very much liked to have ripped the Asari limb from limb for indirectly playing a role in the deaths of so many of their sisters. However, orders were orders, and the buggers knew that as well as anyone. So they reluctantly agreed.
The Chief heard that Fai Dan was conscious as well now, and decided to pay him a visit in the freighter's medical room. The colonial leader was sitting on a bed, rubbing his shoulder. A scar had formed where the Chief grazed him. His head turned to the Spartan as he entered.
"How are you holding up?" Chief asked.
"Doctor says I'll make a full recovery." Fai Dan replied. "Never thought I'd say this to anyone in my life, but, thanks for shooting me."
"If anyone asks, a Geth did it." Chief said.
Fai Dan chuckled at that. "I'll be sure to tell them that. But in all seriousness, thank you. If you hadn't shot me when you did..."
"Just glad I could help." Chief said.
Fai Dan sighed with weariness. "I was supposed to protect these people. I was their leader. I thought I was protecting the colony but, in the end, I was just protecting my...my slave-master. I should've listened to Ian. I should've realized that there was something messing with our heads instead of just writing off all those headaches as battlefield stress. Some leader I turned out to be."
"You don't give yourself enough credit." Chief said. "Back there, you were literally willing to give your life so that I could kill the Thorian and save the colony from it. That kind of loyalty to your people is a good trait for a leader to have."
Dan smiled. "High praise, coming from you. Thank you, Master Chief. For everything."
"Normandy to Master Chief. You there?" Joker's voice came through the Spartan's COM's.
"Master Chief here. Go ahead." Chief replied.
"The Council is on the other line sir." Joker began. "They just received the mission report and want to talk to you ASAP."
"I'll be right over." Chief said before cutting the signal. He turned to Fai Dan. "Council needs to talk to me. Spectre business."
"Duty calls. I understand." Fai Dan said with a nod. "Thank you again for saving us all."
...
"Master Chief." Councillor Tevos greeted. "ExoGeni should've told us about the Thorian. It would've made your job much easier."
"And you might've been able to capture it for study instead of destroying it." Valern added.
"That was actually my original intent, Councillor Valern." Chief said. "However, the circumstances of the engagement forced me to use lethal force. In any case, we got what we came for. I have the Cipher now. Just like Saren."
"Ah yes, 'The Cipher.' An amalgamation of the ancestral memories of the entire Prothean race." Sparatus said, sarcasm liberally spread over each word. He even used exaggerated finger quotations to get his 'I'm not buying it' point across. "Between the vision, the Reapers, and now this, I'm starting to wonder just how much of your investigation is based on factual evidence, Master Chief."
"That's how Shiala described it, Councillor." Chief said. "It added to my vision, which should hopefully be of some help later on. Dr. Liara T'soni, who is now my Prothean expert, tells me that Prothean beacons transmit data directly into the minds of the user. She assures me that the fact that I had a vision on Eden Prime means that the beacon was doing exactly what it was supposed to be doing. The vision would've been clearer if the beacon was in better condition and if my mind was more compatable with it."
Sparatus simply grunted. "Untested science from the daughter of a traitor. Oh yes, I'm very assured."
"At least the colony was saved." Tevos interjected, apparently hoping to diffuse the ugly direction this debriefing was taking.
Sparatus rolled his eyes. "Of course it was saved. The Master Chief will go to any lengths to save a Human colony."
"As I would with any other world belonging to a Citadel race, Councillor Sparatus." Chief curtly replied.
"Well then, unless there are any more details in this report that we need to go over, let's move on to the next mission, shall we?" Valern suggested.
"Your Alliance's observation satellites have been tracking the movements of Saren's fleet within the Attican Beta cluster." Tevos began. "They have triangulated where his fleet makes berth in the cluster; the Hercules system. Specifically, the planet Eletania."
"STG feelers have confirmed this." Valern added. "There is most certainly a lot of Geth activity both on the planet's surface and in its low orbit. Eletania was most likely a staging ground for the Feros invasion. But by far the most crucial detail is that there is currently a ship in orbit above the planet that fits Shiala's description of Saren's flagship, the Sovereign, perfectly. I think you know what that might mean."
"Saren's on Eletania." Chief concluded. His fists clenched.
"This is our chance to bring him in, Master Chief. We can end this once and for all. No telling when, or even if, we'll get another chance like it." Sparatus said. "Your new objective is to go to Eletania. You must apprehend, or failing that, eliminate Saren Arterius."
"In addition, it is possible that Saren is looking for Prothean secrets on Eletania. We know that planet has a few Prothean structures on it. Stopping Saren from getting those secrets should be your secondary objective." Valern added.
"Eletania is not far from Feros." Tevos said. "If you leave right now, you'll easily be there by tomorrow morning."
"I'll prepare the Normandy for departure immediately." Chief said.
"Good luck, Master Chief." Tevos said with a smile. "Remember. We're all counting on you." And with that, the Council's images faded from existence.
"Pressly. Chart a course for Eletania; Hercules system. Negulesco; recall any and all crew members ashore. I want this boat moving again, ASAP." Chief crisply ordered.
The Spartan was filled with renewed purpose. Saren Arterius, a madman who tried to start a war with Humanity, was in the Master Chief's sights now.
Saren.
Your species needs to learn its place, John.
The rogue Spectre couldn't have been more wrong. John-117 knew exactly where his place was. It was right between Saren and Earth. With a rifle aimed right at the Turian's head. Saren had incurred John's wrath by spitting on his species and his name. The Master Chief was now going to teach him the same lesson he taught to the Covenant.
Angering a Spartan is an unwise thing to do.
...
Remember Eletania way back Mass Effect 1? How it was just a side mission planet with space monkeys and a cool little Prothean ruin easter egg? Yeah, in this story, Eletania's gonna have a lot more than monkeys and eggs.
Sorry again for this one taking so long. I was originally supposed to have this out a few days ago, but I've been doing some traveling over the weekend; currently in horrendously humid Maryland visiting family. My goal is to have the next chapter out within the next 2-3 weeks, which shouldn't be hard as it'll be a shorter one.
Also, does Zhu's Hope still get continued support from ExoGeni if you intimidated Jeong rather than charm him? I don't play many renegade sheps (I know. I'm a softy), so I wasn't sure. I left the colony's financial future ambiguous and uncertain just to make sure. If EXG does continue to support Zhu's Hope regardless of how you convinced Jeong, then I guess I could say that the colony pulled a surprise come-from-behind financial recovery or something like that.
...Also, is the Flood technically a fungus? I know it was a throw-away line but I don't want to add anything to the "did not do the research" entry of this fanfic's tropes page if I can help it