Mass Effect: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
Chapter IX: My Eyes are Ocean
"So how are the krogan kids?" Garrus asked as the Kodiak departed from the hangar of the Ishmael. He took a seat opposite of Venom Snake, and set his Viper between his legs comfortably.
"They're holding up." Big Boss said, looking out the window into the void of space.
He had visited the storage bay to see how their newest recruit was after the battle on Korsul.
When he entered, he saw the krogan unmasked for the first time.
The plate over his brow was murky green, and segmented, reminding him of old medical photographs of a child's still developing skull. His eyes fell on Snake in hues of midnight blue with a split of black in the middle, and his skin reflected off the florescent lights above in leathery yellow.
He stood by the tank, leaning close to it, whispering to the sleeping krogan within. When he saw Snake, he stepped away from the tank and approached him, "I am… trying to speak to him. The way father did with me." He said.
Snake looked into the tank with curiosity.
The krogan within did not move, with the exception of an odd twitch of his fingers or lips here and there.
"Any luck?" He asked.
The krogan shook his head. "I don't know. I speak, whisper into his ear, and I see only shadow of movement. Maybe it is because I am not father, and maybe he knows."
Snake looked to the monitor at the side of the tank, from what he could understand, everything appeared nominal.
EDI's voice filled the air, echoing from above. "Subject is stable, Big Boss. Integration with onboard systems was seamless. Current neural-patterns indicate minimal cognition. Barring ship-wide power loss, the nutrients in the tank could sustain him for over a year."
The krogan walked over to the front of the tank and took a seat at its base. "The voice from the walls says he is exceptional for krogan. Perfect." He gloomed.
EDI's voice chimed. "If I may say, you yourself are an excellent krogan specimen as well. Though Okeer's data imprinting may have failed, you are in excellent physical condition."
Snake nodded. "And you're alive." He said assuredly.
The krogan grunted affirmatively. "Many brothers died, and I live. Okeer died, and I live. I will survive. I will show I am perfect too. " He looked into the tank.
Snake followed his gaze. "Do you want to release him?"
The krogan shifted in his seat. "I… no. Not yet. I want to whisper to him. Tell him; do not be scared. To tell him he is perfect. I am his brother, born from glass-mother too. He is not alone."
The old veteran smiled a hidden smile. Brotherhood. He was pleased that it spanned over species.
He left the krogan then, telling him of the mission coming up, but to relax until his shoulder fared better before he joined them again, and to watch after the tank alongside EDI.
Garrus snickered. "Hopefully they don't go stir crazy in that storage bay. Krogan aren't exactly known for their love of confined spaces."
Goldstein helmed the shuttle through the red and orange clouds, until the colony came into view.
Snake looked out the window and saw an enormous structure or ship, the tallest he had ever seen. It was monstrous. The clouds above seemed to skirt around the shaft, and it glowed red in the evening sun, like a beacon of hell tasting the heavenly skies.
"I don't see any movement down there, Boss." Garrus said, peering out the window as well.
He saw it too, that the residences were bare and empty. The only movement he saw, were the swirling black swarms in the air, moving about like locusts at harvest.
He lifted his Mattock and switched it from Safety to Auto, and the rest of the crew did the same.
He had told Garrus to stay behind, given the mission they completed only hours ago, but the turian sniper objected, claiming that he knew Ashley Williams from serving on the Normandy with Commander Shepard, and that she was a good soldier, and a good person. He wanted to know why she and the Alliance were out in the Terminus systems.
The Kodiak found a clear patch of ground for a landing zone; a far distance from the towering ship, but near the closest settlement.
Goldstein leaned out from her seat. "We're groundside. Give 'em hell, Boss." She said.
When the doors opened, Snake, Miranda, Garrus, Mordin, and Kasumi planted their feet on the fertile soil beneath.
The blowing wind was warm against his face, carrying the sweet smell of summer with it, a scent he had almost forgotten completely.
He looked up above and watched one of the black swarms from the quarian Veetor's vids fly overhead.
Garrus stood beside him, following the seekers with his visor. "So Mordin, you're certain this armor upgrade is going to work? We aren't going to get probed by these swarms, are we?" He asked.
"Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms. In theory." Mordin's voice rang heartily.
"Well… so long as it's in theory, and not positively. We can't have everything go right." The turian mused.
"Um… Maybe I'll see you guys back on the Ishmael." Kasumi added, staring up at the massive structure not too far in the distance.
"Experimental technology. Only contact with seeker swarms will ensure positivity. Look forward to seeing if we survive." The salarian said.
Snake noted the optimism in the salarian scientist's voice, though he was not sure if it was in regard to their safety, or perhaps his desire to be scientifically correct. Perhaps it was a combination of the two.
"Form up, Garrus watch our six." He ordered, shoving the thought away as he led them toward the colony with the turian bringing up the rear.
The grass whistled below their feet as they approached the first complex, an eerie hush hung around them like a dark mist.
Miranda murmured, "This is a perfect place for an ambush, Boss."
Snake agreed. His soldier's sense whispered it in his ear, making his hair stand on the back of his neck. "Garrus, overwatch on that ridge. Miranda, cover him, Kasumi, Mordin, on me."
Operating as a team again… He had to admit, that he had missed it. When Quiet disappeared, and when DD had been turned into diamonds, and when Kaz was long gone, back in America, he had operated alone ever since, no support, and no one to rely on but himself. Being part of a team once more, it almost made him feel young again.
Once Garrus and Miranda were in position, Snake took point into the complex, his steps only a hushed crunch beneath his boots.
"Do you guys hear a weird buzzing sound?" Kasumi asked with a shallow breath.
Big Boss listened, and could hear it faintly in the wind.
"Boss, contact. It's the Collectors!" Garrus' voice chattered over the codec-radio.
Three insectoid figures began to descend into view, through the trees and across the way and landed on the far side of the compound. They inspected the area, as if searching for something that should not be there.
"Fan out. Don't get spotted." Snake ordered, finding cover behind a pillar nearby.
Kasumi disappeared beneath her cloak while Mordin ducked low and behind a wall.
He studied the way they moved moved. It was abnormal, as if without sentience, like they were marionettes on a stage. They were coordinated and precise, where one looked, another spied the other way. Their voices were low clicks and deep thrums that his translator could not decipher.
Miranda's voice crackled over the radio. "Boss, we can take them out quick and quiet."
The old veteran agreed— they had the advantage here.
"Fire on my mark." He whispered into his codec. He watched from behind the pillar, leaning out ever so slightly, and judged the synchronized movements of the aliens.
With a careful step out from cover, he aimed his rifle and used the pillar as a brace for its recoil.
He held in his breath, counted once and the rifle fired twice. The bullets collided with the Collector facing away from him, knocking its barrier down, and in the span of a millisecond, a second bullet blew through one of its four eyes, Garrus' Viper echoed across to the ridge beyond.
The other Collectors ducked and dove into cover as Snake's company opened fire on them.
He watched as Kasumi disappeared from view before one of the Collectors that hid away was kicked back into their sights, where Mordin and Garrus unleashed a barrage of rounds into it.
The last Collector fired up at the turian sniper, but the rounds were deflected as Miranda conjured a biotic barrier.
Snake stepped out and fired his Mattock continuously as he moved closer, pushing it back away from sight.
Kasumi appeared behind a planter, firing her Tempest in short bursts at the alien. It changed its line of fire, aiming its rifle at the newly appeared danger.
But Snake saw his opportunity and rushed in, the Mattock in his hands peppered it with heavy rounds until he saw its barrier dissipate as it spun to return fire.
The Collector let out a mouthless hiss as his and Kasumi's combined effort filled it with holes until it fell back into the grass, staining it with putrid red.
Stillness fell over the complex, and after some odd beats, Snake nodded to Garrus, who stood with Miranda and jumped down from their higher ground, announcing the all clear.
They converged on Snake, who regarded the Collector on the ground. He bent down and retrieved its weapon, giving it a once over. It was light and compact, fitting into his hand perfectly, despite its obvious worn grip, a symbol of persistent use. He slid the Collector rifle onto his back, locking it into the magnetic holster.
Mordin was the first to join him, observing the dead creature. "Most fascinating." He whispered, dropping himself to one knee and turning the aliens face over in his hand, inspecting its features.
"Notice anything strange?" Kasumi asked, her face scrunched at the sight of the salarian who looked over the dead creature without a thought.
"Curious shape. No mouth. Hard exoskeleton but weak against firearms. Biotic barriers. Plasma based weapons. Should bring one back with us, Boss. Can study it further." The salarian said, looking up at Snake.
Snake nodded. It would only benefit them to learn more of their adversaries.
"We'll have the shuttle recover one of the bodies." Miranda said, turning on her omni-tool and prepping the body for extraction.
"Form up. On me." Snake said, making sure his Mattock was loaded and ready.
He led the group out of the complex, passing abandoned trucks and many items left in their place.
"Boss…—tting all kinds of… —ference. We can't maintain…—" Joker's voice suddenly sounded over the radio, crackling and buzzing in and out.
"That ship is blocking our communications." Miranda said, pointing to the Collector vessel above.
"We're on our own now." Garrus said and sighed wistfully, "Just like old times."
Snake dropped down from the ledge into the next complex. A mess hall to his right revealed plates of empty food and cutlery scattered about.
It was bizarre to him. On this colony, it looked as if there was a scuffle or fight with the populous.
"Signs of struggle. Blood on floors and grass. Broken windows, readings of hacked doors to be locked. Colonists must have been aware of Seeker Swarms at time of attack." Mordin echoed his thoughts.
Another group of Collectors appeared, though there seemed to be something—
"Look out, Boss, husks!" Garrus shouted and aimed his rifle downrange. His Viper sent the charging humanoid creature reeling backward, falling down the staircase it barely climbed.
They engaged the Collectors and husks, exchanging gunfire until the last one fell into a picnic table behind it, dousing it in the foods left behind.
When all appeared clear, Snake reloaded his rifle, and the other converged on his location, in front of the original dead husk.
"These things look like the husks the geth used on Eden Prime." Miranda said, eying it.
Its eyes glowed an eerie blue, matching the segmented lines and spots the covered its body in seemingly random—yet precise locations.
"The geth got that technology from Sovereign." Garrus spoke, facing away from the husk.
Mordin hummed. "The Illusive Man's intel was correct; Collectors are working for Reapers." She said.
Kasumi judged the husk closer. "This thing used to be human, didn't it? Is it one of the colonists?" She asked with an almost gag.
Garrus shook his head. "The ones Shepard encountered on Eden Prime, the victims were impaled on giant spikes to turn them into husks. Dragon's Teeth, we called them. We haven't seen any on Horizon so far. The Collectors must've had these husks already. They must want the colonists alive for something else."
He bent low and turned its face over in his hand, examining its grotesque features.
Miranda observed with him. "These aren't the same ones from Eden Prime either. They're more advanced. Evolved." She said curiously.
Mordin touched his finger to his chin. "Bullets still effective."
Snake pushed away any questions he had that Anderson's intel would be able to answer. What was important right now were the colonists, they had to rescue them, before they were turned into these things, or worse.
He readied the Mattock in his hands and gestured for the others to follow him, leading them out of the recreational area. They rounded a corner, passing under a bridge above and into the next compound of apartments.
Numerous bioorganic cellular pods sat scattered about like empty coffins, but the Collectors were nowhere to be seen.
"This is creepy… Where'd they all go?" Kasumi whispered, looking into one of the empty pods.
"Must have finished taking the colonists from this area. Need to hurry." Mordin's omni-tool glowed in the summer sun as he scanned one of the pods.
They moved into the apartments, just as more Collectors revealed themselves.
Through the gunfire and past their enemies, Snake could see the figures of humans, being placed in pods and carried away, toward the giant structure in the sky.
He pushed forward with Mordin and Miranda at his heel, while Kasumi and Garrus flanked around the alien squadron until they were finally put down.
With the complex finally cleared, the moved forward, passing over a loading deck to the next area.
"Boss, colonists!" Miranda exclaimed.
There were two of them, locked in place while exuding a peculiar black mist. One lay on the platform at the bottom of a staircase, while the other gripped her hand tight in an effort to lift her up. They looked as if they were in a photograph, stilled for a thousand years.
Mordin rushed over with Miranda and began to inspect the frozen pair.
"Hmm… Stuck in some sort of stasis, but appear to be fully aware. Eye response to light. Muscle and joint locked due to seeker toxin. Unsure what black mist might be…" The salarian scientist concluded.
"It could be some sort of manufactured biotic field. Engineered to mix with the seeker toxin. Look." Miranda pointed to a hole in the neck of the woman, "It's strongest around the injection point."
Mordin nodded. "Don't have cure. Have to wait for toxin to wear off. Must save more colonist first."
He leaned forward to the man forced to stand. "Everything will be alright." He soothed, and stood back with a smile.
They rejoined Snake who nodded and motioned for Garrus to take point. The turian tapped his shoulder as he passed him and led them forward, to the giant structure above.
They rounded another corner until they came to a docking pad and a large hangar door on the far side.
"Boss, look." Kasumi shouted, gesturing to one of the pods. "There's more colonists, and better yet…" She hefted a large weapon, strange in design like the other Collector weapon he found.
Mordin inspected it curiously. "Looks like particle beam weapon. Outlawed research. Not surprised Collectors manufacture it."
"What's it do?" Kasumi asked.
"Uses beam of high-energy subatomic particles to disrupt molecular structure of target. Incredibly dangerous, very unforgiving."
The thief snickered and slung it onto her back. "Nice."
"Come on." Snake said, tapping Garrus' shoulder and taking point this time. He led them into the open loading bay.
More Collectors appeared through the trees.
"Contact!" Garrus shouted.
Snake fired his Mattock, striking the closest Collector he could see. "Spread out!" He shouted to the others.
The group fanned out, finding cover behind fallen pillars, shipping crates and the empty Collector pods. Hot plasma fired above their heads, striking the buildings behind them, searing into its metal.
Snake leaned out, and fired his rifle, disabling its barrier and knocking it to the ground with a volley of bullets to its cranium.
He shifted his point of aim to another, as three more Collectors appeared from behind the far wall. He glimpsed Garrus to his far left, using the apartment entrance as an elevated sniping position.
A fiery sight caught the corner of his eye, as one of the Collector's burst into mighty flames and for a moment, he saw a man of fire, tall and monstrous; his eyes bright like glowing embers.
Snake could feel the fires against his face, melting his skin, and burning him with hellish revenge. He could feel the sweat on his brow evaporate in the flames of fury. The Man on Fire groaned with agony and rage, taking slow, dead steps toward him, leaving scorched earth in his wake.
A force pushed him down to the ground, keeping him pinned as he struggled to break free against it.
He had to stop him. He had to stop the Man on Fire from burning him. He had to put Colonel Volgin to rest for good.
"Boss! Snap out of it!" Miranda barked at him, looking down, deep into his icy eye. She was on top of him, his face cradled tightly in the palm of her hands.
The world around returned to him, and his mind snapped back into reality.
He breathed and nodded to her, and she moved off of him, taking cover beside.
"One of the Collectors went through some kind of metamorphosis!" She shouted.
He peered over the shipping crate to see the burning figure, its eyes a glowing spot in the light of the setting sun.
A disembodied voice filled the air, almost echoing around them.
"WE ARE THE HARBINGER OF YOUR ASCENDANCE."
Snake dipped low as the burning Collector launched a ball of black fire directed at him. It seared into the crate he and Miranda hid behind, melting the side of it into a gooey mess of oily sludge.
"YOUR PERSON IS UNKNOWN TO US."
Its voice boomed at them as it launched another dark ball of molten flame.
The Collector buckled as a bullet connected with its barrier, turning its attention to the shooter.
"TURIAN; YOU ARE CONSIDERED, TOO PRIMITIVE FOR ASCENSION." It said and turned, launching another ball of fire at Garrus.
"Uh oh." The sniper whispered as he dove back into the apartment when the blast connected with the wall he once stood behind.
"Boss! All Collectors accounted for. Only metamorphosed Collector remains!" Mordin's voice sounded over the Codec-radio in a realm of static.
Snake leaned out from the pod and fired the Mattock at the Collector's exposed back. The rounds bounced off its barrier like they were stones skipping over water.
It turned its attention back to Big Boss, preparing another attack.
Kasumi appeared from behind, and fired her Tempest point blank into the back of its head, before disappearing in an instant when it swung back to strike her.
Miranda seized the opportunity next, by lifting one of the shipping crates and whipping it at the Collector, smashing it so hard that it reeled into the loading dock behind.
The glowing purple aura around it dissipated, and it retaliated by picking up the container in its hand and hurling it at Snake and Miranda's position.
They dove over to the Collector pod beside them as the container crashed into their previous location, obliterating the weakened pod into nothing.
"Will use a Cyro Blast. Use Incinerate immediately after. Should weaken metamorphosed Collector's carapace!" Mordin's voice relayed over the radio.
A blast of glowing white danced through the air like a shooting star, and struck the Collector with an icy shatter, ensnaring it in a frozen gel.
Snake primed his Incinerate on his omni-tool, and threw it at the frozen Collector.
Its icy prison began to crack as it tried to break free, but was thrusted backward when Snake's own sphere of burning gel crashed into its chest, erupting in an explosion that forced the Collector back again into the loading dock.
Its chest oozed and bled with black goo, dripping onto the summer grass below.
"Light it up!" Garrus shouted, his sniper rifle set aside, replaced with his M-15 Vindicator.
They rained hell into the Collector, firing their weapons into the open cavity of its chest. The fiery segmented lines that spread over its body dimed like the light of a candle at the end of its wick, and it looked up from the black mass of its chest, and at Snake, just as its body began to fall apart and carry itself away in the wind as dust.
"YOU HAVE ONLY DELAYED THE INEVITABLE, HUMAN. WE ARE YOUR DESTINY."
The Collector's form was gone, diminished only to a smoking pile of ash where it once stood.
With the battle over, Snake stood as the area appeared clear.
The group joined him at the base of where the Collector once stood. They peered down into the remnants of what was left of it.
"Took a lot to bring him down." Kasumi said from beneath her hood.
Snake agreed. If there were more such as that one, they were in for a rough ride. But what it had said was what really caught his attention, and he hoped their omni-tools recorded the battle.
"Was anyone else a little offended when he called me primitive?" Garrus slipped his Vindicator onto his back and cradled his Viper in his hands once again. "I was a little offended."
"What did it mean by Ascension?" Asked Miranda.
Mordin drew his omni-tool and inspected the dust, but scrunched his face in disappointment. "Unsure. Maybe Collectors intend to conscript human race into ranks. Maybe not. Won't know until concrete evidence is found."
Big Boss stepped away from the ashes, and instead inspected one of the Collector pods, peering into the glass front. Inside, he saw the petrified face of one of the colonists, a woman. Her eyes danced on his, and he could see the faint lines of tear strewn eye makeup.
He looked around, and noticed most of the pods around them were full of colonists.
They weren't too late after all… there were still some survivors left. He looked over to the large processing bay door ahead that would lead to the next area, closer to the ship.
"Stack up on the door." He said, making sure his thermal clip was loaded.
They moved to the large door, and Kasumi got to work on hacking it open.
"We managed to save these colonists." Garrus said, looking back into the loading area, at the various Collector pods filled with humans.
"Not all of them though." Miranda said.
"Some, better than none." Mordin interjected, his arms crossed with a finger on his chin, watching Kasumi work away.
The hooded thief exclaimed pleasantly when the door went from red to green, and the team readied themselves for what lay on the other side.
Snake took point, leading the way with his Mattock.
A clatter on the far side of the room drew their attention, their rifles trained on the location.
When nothing else happened, Snake called into the shadows. "Come on out."
A man's face shuffled into view, before he stepped out into the open apprehensively. "You… you're human! What are you doing out here?! You'll lead 'em right here!"
The group lowered their weapons, and Kasumi and Garrus walked over to the door on the far side to get it open.
"Had to have heard them trying to get in. Difficult to hide from Collectors." Said Mordin, scratching his chin.
The man's face read terrified all over it. "Those things are Collectors? You mean… they're real?" He ran a hand over his face in disbelief. "I thought they were just made up. You know—propaganda. To keep us in Alliance Space. They got Lilith… I saw her go down. Sten, too. They got damn near everybody!" He panicked.
Miranda went onto her omni-tool. "What's your name? What do you do here?" She asked.
"Name's Delan. Mechanic. I came down to check on the main grid after we lost our comm signals. Then I heard screaming. I looked outside and there was… swarms of bugs. Everyone they touched just froze. I sealed the doors."
He spun around, with a face of rage now. "Damn it— it's the Alliance's fault! They stationed that Chief Williams here and built those defense towers. It made us a target!"
Garrus' turned to face him this time. "What happened to Williams, is she alive?"
Delan shook his head. "Can't say, after the doors were sealed, I hid myself in the storage closet."
"What was she doing here?"
"Supposed to be helpin' us get the defense towers up and running. Some sorta outreach program the Alliance was doing. I got the feeling she was here for something else. Spying on us, maybe."
"What are the defense towers?" Snake asked.
"A gift from the Alliance. High-powered GARDIAN laser cannons. Supposed to keep hostile ships from landing near the colony. Had to build a massive underground generator just to give it enough juice. Only we couldn't get the targeting systems online!"
He scoffed. "The Alliance gave us a giant gun that can't shoot straight. Stupid sons of bitches."
"We could use those towers to take out that Collector ship, Boss." Miranda suggested, walking over to the door to join Garrus and Kasumi.
"You'd need to calibrate the targeting systems first. It's never worked right." Delan countered.
Kasumi stood as the door flashed to green, ready to go. "Pft, please. Just give us the location." She said with a flair of confidence.
"Head for the main transmitter, past the cargo inspection building. Pretty hard to miss. The targeting controls are at the base."
Snake nodded. "Let's go. Lock the door behind us." Snake said, stepping away from the mechanic.
If he stayed here, he would be safe, and if Snake were to be honest, he was growing weary of his Alliance revulsion.
"You don't gotta tell me twice." Delan said.
The group moved into the inspection compound, and the door slammed close behind them.
The air was still, the building ahead bare of life, not a soul, nor sole were seen. It was empty like the colonies on Freedom's Progress had been. Which told Venom Snake that the Collectors had already cleared this area, maybe even further ahead. Even the Seeker swarms above were gone, adding to the foreboding realization.
"Not much time left. Must hurry." Mordin said from behind his omni-tool.
They moved over to the other side of the sector, their footsteps on the alloy floors an eerie echo in the complex.
After Kasumi hacked the door, it opened to a massive shipping yard. Containers and crates sat askew, transporter vehicles were left unattended, one of them left idling, and in the center was the main transmitter Delan had spoken of, tall and jutting.
There were no Collector pods, no Collectors, no Seeker swarms and no husks.
"Anybody else getting that prickly feeling on the back of their neck?" Garrus asked aloud, as he inspected around a corner for any sign of activity.
Snake felt it too. The yard was an open gallery, but provided a high number of cover and chokepoints. They could mount a sizeable defensive position if ambushed.
"Let's get that transmitter up and running." Said Miranda, and they moved into the yard carefully.
When they arrived at the base of the antenna, Kasumi got to work on hacking the computer. Once the lock was lifted, their codec radios sprang back to life, and a flurry of transmissions cycled through the static until Snake heard Joker on the other side.
"Boss, is that you? Come in," The pilot's voice was a warm welcome, telling them that the Ishmael was still there, safe and sound, waiting for them to come back.
"Joker, we're alive. We're going to use the GARDIAN towers to hit the Collector ship. EDI, can you get the towers online?" Miranda informed first.
Snake stepped away from the computer, and looked in direction of the ship.
It did not feel right, the way the air clung to his skin, the tranquillity of the trees and grass. His eye searched and his gut knotted.
Garrus joined him at his side. "They're gonna come pouring over that wall. I can feel it. Now that we have comms back online." The turian said.
Snake nodded. "We'll set up a defensive perimeter. Make sure they can't flank us."
EDI's voice vibrated in his ear next, "Errors in calibration software are easily rectified, but it will take time to bring the towers to full power."
Mordin waved his hand in Snake's direction, before pointing down into a storage container he had opened. "Thermal clips, Boss. Should prepare for the worst."
"I recommend a defensive posture immediately. Once the towers are online, I will not be able to mask the increased generator output."
The group prepared themselves, loading up on thermal clips and finding their positions around the yard.
"Any other helpful tips, EDI?" Kasumi asked jokingly from behind her Tempest.
"Just one: Collector reinforcements are closing in. I suggest you ready weapons."
The far wall was quickly a river of falling bodies as husks began to pour over and into the shipping yard.
"Engaging!" Garrus shouted, hoisting his Viper from atop one of the trucks, firing the weapon and erupting heads into bloody paste.
The team rained hell fire on the husks, some as soon as they appeared over the edge of the wall, others that hit the ground, never had a chance to rise from the place they landed.
"Above us! Nine o'clock!" Miranda shouted, aiming her Locust upward to the left of the yard.
Collectors flew in over the barriers, their wings a dreaded beat in the wind.
Garrus shifted his focus, joining Miranda in destroying their barriers and gunning them down as they appeared.
Snake continued to fire his Mattock at the husks that continued to charge at them.
He pushed away the thought that these were once humans, turned into these shells of that acted like cannon fodder for their rifles. Death was peace, there was no alternative, and the dead should remain as such.
"Bypassing failsafes and attempting emergency power-up. Please hold the defense tower, Big Boss."
"To our right!" Mordin shouted, changing his aim of fire as husks and Collectors began to climb down the wall on the right side of the shipping yard.
Snake switched his point of fire, dropping the husks who came closest. They were going to be overrun at this velocity. As they killed Collectors and husks, more and more of them appeared to take their places.
An idea floated through his head as he scanned the shipping yard to the idling truck at their right. He moved to where Miranda ducked low behind a crate, reloading her Locust.
She looked at him with a quirked brow.
"How do we blow up that freight loader?" He asked between firing his Mattock, and gestured his head to it.
The woman crooked a smile. "We could ignite the solid-fuel tank. That should light a big enough fuse to destroy the eezo core, and cause an explosion. We'd have to get under it." She informed, locked and loaded.
"Can you push it over?"
She hesitated before nodding. "I can."
Snake squinted at her. The brief expression on her face betrayed a sense of worry. "It won't be too much?"
"I'll push the transporter over, hit it with an Incinerate at the thruster fuel tank under the bed of the truck." She said, with no room for question.
It was his moment to hesitate before he nodded and put a hand on her shoulder, moving back to his cover from before.
"Mordin, cover Miranda." He shouted into his radio.
The salarian scientist pointed his Carnifex in Miranda's direction, dropping the husk nearest her with deathly efficiency.
She stood tall and pushed her arms forward at the freight loader. A blue aura swam around her, twisting in the breeze as the transporter began to move. She felt a swelling in her head, and her brain threatened to burst out of her skull. She pushed harder, and the transporter keeled over onto its side with a crunching metal sound.
She fell to the ground with a huff, pushing herself back against the crate she hid behind, "Now, Boss!" She shouted through gritted teeth.
Snake adjusted his omni-tool and launched the Incinerate at the truck. It struck the fuel tank, sparking a river of flame before a large explosion erupted from its underside.
Collectors and husks flew through the air as their bodies were ripped and torn apart from the unbalanced mass effect field that burst forth from the damaged eezo core.
Their numbers were now in half, and dropping rapidly as Garrus, Kasumi, Mordin began to cut them down with hellfire.
"Sequential power up initiated. GARDIAN anti-ship batteries at 60%. Syncing targeting protocols to the Ishmael's system. Continue to protect the tower."
It was not long before the shipping yard was a battlefield of corpses and smoke and fire.
Venom Snake walked over to Miranda, who stood also, and gripped her head lightly.
"I'm fine, Boss." She said before he even asked. When she saw his face, rife with worry, she smiled with assurance. "Trust me."
He sighed inwardly and nodded, turning to the others as they grouped on him. "Everyone else?"
"Couple shots to the armor, face looks like hell. Nothing to worry about." Garrus informed, picking up more thermal clips from the crate nearby.
"Same here, only a few scrapes and bruises." Kasumi chimed.
"Incoming hostile!" Mordin shouted, and pointed his Carnifex to the north wall.
Snake followed his direction and pointed the Mattock at the incoming enemy.
Disbelief clung onto him as he saw a creature, large and monstrous, fly toward them from above. Its eyes glowed, much like the husks they had gunned down, expect there were a dozen eyes on them, from the heads of screaming husks in its underbelly.
"Spread out!" He shouted, and the four of them broke off from each other. There were no more husks or Collectors appearing, only this last one.
Their bullets bounced off its glowing barrier, doing nothing to slow its descent.
From its largest eyes, they sparkled devilishly at its head before two surging beams launched in Snake's direction.
"Down, boss! Particle beams! One blast could cut you in half!" Mordin cried. Snake ducked low behind the wreck of the smoking truck, and moved away from the beam as it pierced through the metal, disintegrating it in its fiery path.
He had it distracted, its aim solely on him. If he could keep is attention away from his team, they could attack it from behind and drop its barrier.
The particle beams chased him, as he dove from behind the charred transporter to the shipping crate.
It was closer now, only so many feet away from him. He watched as crates and junk were launched at it from Miranda, barely even making a shift in its course toward him.
Garrus' and Mordin's explosive rounds bounced off its barrier, not even displaying a dent in its power.
Snake rolled from the crate he hid behind as the particle beams disintegrated it, leaving only melted alloy behind.
It was too close now, the husk heads that sat in its pouch shrieked as the beams ceased. He stood and fired the Mattock off at its exposed head, his bullets only ricocheted away.
Its sharp claws opened at its side, and violently slammed into the ground in front of him.
He was reeling through the air. He felt his body threaten to shrink beneath gravity, but also rip itself apart. He did not know how it happened, or what sent him rocketing through the air, he only saw black in the next instant.
Miranda watched as his body slammed into one of the shipping containers and dropped to the ground. Big Boss' body did not rise after, his figure lumped on the ground.
If he was dead, she could not tell. Worry and dread consumed her as she watched the Collector construct march its way toward him.
"Its biotic barrier is down!" Mordin shouted.
"Concentrate fire on the big bastard! Don't let it get Big Boss!" Garrus ordered as he switched from his Vindicator to his Viper, smacking it clear of its spent thermal clip and began to unload its high velocity rounds.
"GARDIAN anti-ship batteries at 100%. I have control." EDI's voice echoed.
"Light it up!" Garrus shouted.
"Firing anti-ship batteries at Collector vessel."
The large cannons that stood outside the north wall revved to life, spinning their barrels and adjusting the direction before firing up at the Collector ship beyond, hitting it with heavy tungsten shells in short and controlled bursts.
Mordin fired off a Cyro Blast as Kasumi appeared from the top of the transmitter, raining gunfire down at the stalking behemoth with her Tempest.
Miranda lifted her hands and slammed them down, the Collector dropped to the ground in that instant, before turning its head around, staring at Miranda with its hollow eyes.
It began to rise again, as its purple aura encased it again, surrounding it in its protective barrier.
"It's on you Miranda! Move!" The turian shouted.
Miranda turned and dove over the nearest crate, ducking low as its particle beams fired over her head. She peered around the crate at Big Boss, his body unmoving still.
"Need a plan guys!" She shouted and rolled to the next crate as the one she was behind fell apart beneath the power of the beams.
"Biotic explosion is barrier pulse!" Mordin shouted from behind his pillar as he reloaded his Carnifex.
"It'll need time to cool down." Replied the turian sniper. "You still got that particle cannon, Kasumi?"
The master thief's voice sounded over the radio. "You bet."
Miranda dove over to another container, running and crawling from the particle beams that traced after her. "I'll get it to drop its barrier, then you guys put it down!" She shouted over the radio.
"Copy!" Garrus said and dropped from his perch, moving to get a better vantage point.
Kasumi did the same, swan diving into a roll from the top of the transmitter and vanishing in a flash.
"Multiple impacts. Collector vessel taking damage." EDI's voice resonated.
Miranda watched as the Collector construct floated toward her, before it stopped once close enough, and the clawed spines of its arms opened up.
"Get ready!" She shouted. Its purple glow grew stronger, and almost quicker than she could see, the construct shot down into the ground, and its barrier pulsed outward.
Miranda dropped to one knee and pushed her hands out, her biotics danced off her in silky tones of blue before a sphere encased her.
The Collectors own barrier shattered hers, but only managed to knock her down and onto her back. She felt her brain swell, pushing against her skull painfully, and her bones and muscles weighed down and weak. "Now!" She shouted through gritted teeth, as she began to crawl back, away from the Collector.
Garrus fired his Vindicator first, his shots bounced off its armor.
"Aim for husks in pouch! Must be acting as power conduit for construct!" Mordin shouted, firing his Carnifex into the screaming heads of the husks beneath the Collector.
The heads began to explode under the construct and it began to buckled, its legs locking, stuttering, and its arms swatted at the ground beneath it.
Kasumi appeared in front of Miranda, on one knee with the Particle Cannon in her hands. She squeezed the trigger and the weapon roared to life. The strength of the beam hit the screeching husks, cutting and burning and melting their faces into a black ooze that smoked into a heap on the ground.
The construct twitched and seized, before falling to the ground when the husks screamed no more. It began to burn away, and its body turned to ash that disappeared in the wind, coating the grass in black soot.
Miranda rose to her feet quickly, slipping once in the dirt before she ran over to Big Boss, with Mordin behind her.
He had not moved, and she feared the worse. She dropped to her knees and carefully pushed him onto his back, inspecting his form to see if there was any outside damage she could see.
She knelt down and hung her ear over his nose and lips and listened.
He exhaled, slow and hitched.
"He's alive." She said, as Mordin joined her at her side.
"Conscious?" He asked, opening his omni-tool.
She delicately lifted Big Boss' eyelid, and shone a light into his vision. His pupils dilated, and his eye forced itself shut before he groaned.
"Yes." She smiled as his head moved to the side, a pained expression on his face.
The world was bright and grey, when he finally opened his eye. Snake could only see the blurred faces of Miranda and Mordin above him. He could hear the sound of billowing cannon fire in the distance. Things returned into focus, and sound started to fill his ears.
"Are you alright, Boss?" Miranda asked.
He blinked before nodding, and shifted to hoist himself up. Everything spun around him, and his stomach turned, threatening to make him gag.
"Easy, Boss." Mordin said, dismissing his omni-tool. "You appear fine. No fractures, bruised ribs at most. Most likely a concussion."
"What happened to the Collector?" Snake asked, his voice like gravel in his throat.
"Tough son of a bitch, but we brought it down after it knocked you out." Miranda replied.
"The ship's leaving!" Kasumi shouted, drawing the attention of the others.
The Collector ship ignited, its rocket sending it skyward, shaking the very earth, its roar deafening until it faded from the atmosphere.
"Most of the colonists are on board. Damn it. They got what they came for." Garrus said, as he and the others watched the ship disappear through the clouds.
Delan came running into view, pointing up at the Collector ship, "No! Don't let'em get away!"
"Half the colony's in there! They took Egan and Sam and—and Lilith! Do something!" He cried hysterically.
Venom Snake began to hoist himself up again, and when Miranda began to protest, he raised a hand, shushing any word she might say.
He stood slowly on shaky legs, using the container that he had once used as a landing pad as support. He ignored the nausea and splitting headache that quaked in his brain. He nearly fell down again, but Mordin looped Snake's arm behind his neck, helping him stand.
Kasumi appeared beside Delan, looking up into the sky also. "Could be a lot worse, buddy. If it wasn't for us, you'd all be on that ship."
A new woman came walking into view, "That was mighty fine shooting Vakarian." She sounded, and Garrus pointed his rifle in its direction, before seeing who it was.
"Ash?"
The mechanic shook his head. "All the good people we lost, and you get left behind. Figures." He began to leave the way he came, shaking his head as he angrily mumbled something about being done with Alliance types.
Garrus approached the armored woman, nodding in greeting. "Ash. Damn it's good to see a friendly face."
She offered a hand, and he shook it with a firm grip. "Likewise, but I have to ask, what're you doing here? Last I heard, you fell off the galactic map."
His mandibles flicked in a smirk, "You know, saving lives, killing mercs, saving the galaxy, the usual. Helps to have Cerberus pushing us though. A lot less—"
The woman took a step back with a raised brow, "Cerberus? How are you… why…?"
She looked at him angrily, as a mother would scold her child, "You know what they've done right? What they're capable of? You saw it, when we were with Shep…" She cut herself off, casting a pained glance at the ground.
"They're the enemy, Garrus. They talk about putting humans first, but at what cost?"
Garrus shook his head in irritation, "I remember. But they're the only ones looking into the missing colonies. Thousands of them are missing, and no one is doing a damn thing about it."
She glared at him. "What if they're behind it? What if Cerberus are the ones working with the Collectors?" She retorted.
Miranda clucked her tongue against her teeth in annoyance as she approached. "Typical Alliance response." She said.
"You're letting how you feel about their history get in the way of the facts, Ash. People—are—dying. Look around you." Garrus reiterated, gesturing to the colony.
The woman refused, her brows anchored in fury. "It doesn't add up, Garrus! Do you feel like you owe them or something? Maybe you're being used by them! They're the enemy! You can't seriously—"
"Damn it, Williams!" Garrus shouted, shaking his head. "You're so focused on Cerberus that you're ignoring the real threat!"
"Doesn't matter… I still know where my loyalties lie. I'm an Alliance soldier. It's in my blood." She shot back before taking another step back.
"I'm reporting back to the Citadel. I'll let them decide if they believe you or not." She turned to leave.
Garrus huffed. "Anderson knows we're out here."
She stopped, dead in her tracks for a second before spinning to face the turian. "What?"
"We met him on the Citadel. He gave us everything he had on the Reapers. That's who the Collectors are working for."
Williams froze, looking between him and his motley crew. "…Why?"
"Because, he sees the bigger picture. Bureaucracy won't save these colonists. He knows it's the Reapers."
He breathe out. "Just like he knew that they killed Shepard. Not the geth. But the Reapers."
There was a silence around them, sifting through the air. Ashley Williams face was clouded by obscured emotions, unsure of what to say.
"Open your eyes, you'll see it too." Garrus finished before turning to Big Boss who approached beside Mordin. "Mission's over, Boss."
Snake nodded, albeit painfully. He regarded the woman Garrus was speaking to as she walked back to where she appeared from before looking to Miranda.
"Joker, send the shuttle to pick us up. We're done here." She said, understanding his gesture.
It was shortly thereafter that they were back on the Ishmael, tired and exhausted, but in good spirits at the relative success of their mission.
Snake sat on one of the beds in the medbay, as Dr. Michel bustled to-and-fro with medical equipment.
He suffered from a mild concussion, and a few bruised ribs and vertebras. But he had otherwise come out unscathed. He was continuing to grow more and impressed by the technologies and evolutions in medicine of the future. Where instead of having to rest for a week, a neurological scan and a light bone weaving session would make it only a matter of a few days before he was cleared for the field again.
The bulkhead to the bay opened and Miranda stepped in with a tray of food in her hands.
"How are you feeling, Boss?" She asked as she came near.
He looked up and offered a curt, careful nod in response.
"He has only a small concussion. Bruising on spine and ribs will require bit longer to recover, but thankfully, nothing broken." Dr. Michel said from behind her datapad.
"Good. Hopefully something like that doesn't happen again." Miranda silently offered the food tray to him. The man began to protest, but she forced the tray into his hands.
"Shut up and eat." She said with a flair of tease.
Snake smirked lightly before taking and looking into the tray. A mix of fruits, vegetables, cheese and sushi rolls were neatly separated. It was only then that he realized how hungry he was as he began to eat.
Miranda sat on the bed opposite him, folding one leg over the other. "The Collectors escaped with approximately one third of Horizon's population. The Illusive Man has a front corporation to funnel supplies, monetary aid and bodies to help the remaining colonists." She informed him as he began to shovel food into his mouth.
"We managed to beat the Collectors back, and saved some lives in the process."
Snake nodded. The mission was a success. It was a pity that they could not save everyone. Though, he learned a long time ago, that it was impossible to save everyone, and it only served to weigh him deep into the ocean of regret, better some, than none.
"Our intel teams also recovered a number of Collector resources. The pods, weapons, artifacts… We're beginning dissections of the bodies left behind. Mordin has one in the science-bay, leading his own dissection."
He swallowed down the rest of the tray, and nodded a silent thanks to her.
"Anything on why they're taking colonists?" He asked.
Miranda shook her head. "Not yet. But I imagine we'll find out soon enough. The Illusive Man has his eyes watching for Collector activity now. In the meantime, you should rest and recover. We need you, Big Boss." She said and hopped down from the bed, taking the empty tray from him.
"The Illusive Man would also like a report, but I suggested he wait till you are better." She added as she began to leave the medbay.
He pushed himself off the bed delicately, his head throbbed and vertigo still played with him. "I'm fine." He protested.
She frowned, but did not argue.
"One minute, Big Boss." Dr. Michel spoke, her voice sweet in his ears. Her accent was a surprising welcome to him, reminding him that this was reality, where humanity was diverse, and still as foreign as it was in his time, reminding him of a century he once called home.
She offered to him a dixie cup with two translucent pills in it, and a plastic cup of water. "One will ease your headache, the other to keep you awake. You will need to stay away for the next several hours." She said.
He swallowed the pills and drank them down with the water. "Thank you." He said, his voice betraying his shyness.
She was a beautiful woman, and her accent only amplified it.
She smiled and gestured that it was okay for him to leave, and he did so with a timid aversion of his eye, exiting the medbay.
The dog had been waiting for him, barking happily as he entered the Mess Hall. He bent down, slowly as his head ached when he moved too quickly, and scratched her head.
She seemed to read his read his character, as she was gentle, and sweet, burying her face in his hand lovingly before running into the Mess Hall when the chef— Junji Ito, whistled, and set a tray down on the floor for her.
Snake followed the dog, giving a curt bow of his head to the chef, as well as Kenneth and Gabby, who stood and offered a salute.
"Boss. Great job on saving those colonists." Donnelly said.
"Yes, it feels great to actually be doing something out here." Daniels added.
He nodded for them return to at ease, and they sat back down. And when he got himself a bottle of water from the fridge, he joined them, feeling relief in his bones as he sat down and relaxed.
"How was it down there? Fighting the Collectors?" Donnelly asked.
He opened his water and took a drink, its coolness a refreshing elixir.
"It was a tough fight." He said.
Daniels nodded. "We can only imagine. As far as I know, no one has fought against Collectors before. Or lived to tell the tale anyway."
"Garrus said there were husks down there as well." Kenneth interjected.
Snake nodded.
"Then Commander Shepard was right all along. It's the Reapers." He said, with great enthusiasm and pride.
Gabby leaned back in her seat, "After Sovereign, she said there were going to be more like it, and they were out in dark space, on their way here. But the council denounced her claims. Saying Sovereign was a geth ship, manned by Saren—"
"It was bullshit. She died, and they said it was geth that shot down the Normandy, when geth sightings hadn't been in that cluster in weeks. They're jus' too stupid to see the bigger picture." Kenneth said, his face contorted with anger.
Snake watched Daniels glance at Kenneth, a curious look. He could not tell if it was pity, resentment, love or forlorn in her eyes, maybe it was all of the above.
"At least with Cerberus, we're actually making a difference here. Shepard won't have died for nothin'." Gabby said, before adding with a sweet grin, "And who knew it'd be an old vet' from over a hundred years in the past that'd be leading us to avenge her?"
Snake smirked and he finished his water before a sudden thought occurred to him.
Most everyone on this ship was here because of Commander Shepard, and the example she led by. She was a beacon to them, a defender of their home, taken too soon. She was an inspiration to them. But most of them had never met her, only seen her in vids, or heard stories about her.
"Where did the Normandy go down?" He asked.
"The Amada System, in the Omega Nebula." Kenneth answered.
He nodded, and stood. "We'll go see her. Give her one last send off. A soldier's farewell. Be ready to suit up."
Kenneth's mouth hung open, and his eyes looked sad and happy at the same time. "I… Yes, Boss. Thank you." He said and stood with a salute. Gabby joined him too.
The others in the Mess Hall stood and saluted as well; Matthews, Gardner, Goldstein and Patel, and even their statue-esque security advisor, Rolston... they had all admired the woman, Commander Shepard.
Snake activated his omni-tool, "Joker. Plot a course for the Amada System, in the Omega Nebula." He said into the ship-wide intercom.
There was a silence, before the pilot spoke. "Why… Why there?"
"To find the Normandy."
Joker did not reply. Only the static of the radio played at the crew in the Mess Hall.
The ship vibrated loudly in response, the sign that she was on the move, tingling the soles of Snake's feet.
He nodded to the crew, who returned to what they were doing, and turned to leave.
The dog belched loudly, and Junji smirked, bending down and retrieving the tray. "Go on now, dog." He said to her.
She barked in response and ran after Snake, joining him in the elevator.
Boom. What a beast of a chapter to put out. I hope you enjoyed it! I've decided that I'm going to start a second story that will have all the companion missions, as well as some oneshots on the crew of the Ishmael that'll be from the crew POV. That way it doesn't interrupt the flow of this story/novelization, and we'll get to see what the crew think of our doppelganger heading the ship. Thanks for reading! —AThousandSuns