HOLOCAUST
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE:
SILENT MINES PART ONE
August 7, 2186
1027 hours.
Element Zero Processing Plant, Mining Sector, Dark Zone, Omega.
Second War for Omega, Operation: Light Prophet.
Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Major Kaidan Alenko, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, EDI, Soldier Javik, Moses, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, General Nyreen Kandros.
His night vision already activated, Marcus found the darkness already peeling away, layer by layer, as he stood poised on the gangway. There was the signature rattle of support struts as his heavy, armoured body landed on the grating, rifle sweeping through the air to check for targets. The night vision function on his helmet highlighted every key aspect of the room in bright neon green. From what he could see, they had landed on a long, hundred meter long gangway of rusted but stable steel, held up by five inch thick cabling bolted into the ceiling just above them, and suspended above a large gap that bled into the abyss below. A banner was draped one support wire, it's logo undeniably that of Omega, torn and ripped, making it barely recognizable.
Nyreen was last in. Turning back around, he motioned up to the waiting turian that the area was clear, with no sign of any adjutants. In fact, the entire chamber was eerily silent...the drills could faintly be heard in the chambers ahead, but this chamber was as silent as the grave, stale, still air permeating the atmosphere whilst the metal beneath their boots creaked and groaned with the added pressure of fresh meat entering the sector. Lighting, aside from that of their own weapon flashlights, was non-existent. After all, Petrovsky had completely abandoned this area, having his men remotely control the drills from above. If one of them died, he likely gave up on it too: no sense risking personnel sending men to fix it if it fell silent.
The turian general quickly closed the hatch behind them and sealed it tight, before descending down the ladder, hands on the sides and sliding. She landed with a thud, head snapping around and holding still to listen for sound. Still nothing. Whatever reason the turian was looking for in terms of leaving did not rush out to greet her, so she steadily removed herself from the ladder, unholstered her Pugio pistol, and nodded to Marcus.
"Well, we're here," Aria stated, her loud voice breaking the silence of the chamber. Marcus' eyes found her immediately, glaring at the asari through the pitch dark, "Let's get moving. Plenty of adjutants down here, but those forcefields aren't going to-"
"Ssssshhhh!" Nyreen hissed, eyes darting around. Clearly annoyed at not being able to see properly, she reached down and slipped a helmet over her head, allowing her eyes to find Aria's, "We're not alone down here! Keep it quiet or I'll call this off!"
"Do it, Aria," Marcus reinforced, his voice a bare whisper, "I want silence. If you must speak, do so softly. We don't know where they are, and as far as we know, they don't know where we are. We whisper and it'll stay that way. I'd rather not have to fight these adjutants if I can help it. They'll just bog us down."
There was a sigh, followed by Aria speaking again, this time more quietly, "Fine. Is this better?" seeing they had nodded, she rolled her eyes, turning back around with her shotgun, "Good. Now, I checked the schematics, and there's an intersection at the end of this gangway. We keep going straight until we get into the third chamber. Should be one final intersection that will take us to the right and towards the reactor."
"Well, if we hang here, those things will find us. No amount of hushed talking will stop that," Nyreen stated, beginning to walk forward, past Aria and a few of his squad, "So...no point just standing here."
Marcus motioned for his squad to follow her, nodding to all of them, "Kandros has it right: you know the drill, standard op formation. Arrow formation, lights behind, heavies form a picket in front. Nyreen, you're the point. Aria, you're the tail. I'm form up center, see what I can spot. Stay frosty. I trust you guys know the rest, so I won't badger you on the details. Let's just get this over with so we can get out of this shit hole."
As they moved to form up, Moses' titanic form marching past him, a startling screech ate through the darkness, and everybody stopped in place, weapons up and grip tense. Nyreen notably had her weapon up first, whilst Aria cocked her shotgun: all the biotics made a note not to summon their abilities, as doing so would make them beacons for whatever was out there: a great blue flare that would practically beg for them to be found. Everybody remained frozen and silent, listening out for the screech. It was not one Marcus recognized, as it didn't belong to any husk he had fought before, but it was chilling enough that it was unmistakably some form of Reaper abomination. The screech came again, this time with two of them, but was further away...in another chamber.
By the third time, which was so distant as to be almost misheard, the squad had already lowered their weapons, returning to assuming their assigned positions. Marcus let out a low exhalation of breath, considering themselves lucky. Could have very easily been spotted. Then we'd be swarmed and we'd all die a gruesome, terrible death. In darkness. Barely past the finish line.
As the squad began to move forward and his unit fell into a rhythm of movement, he mulled over the proposed attack plan for finishing this war and bringing down Petrovsky's regime. Titled 'Operation: Iron Prophet', the assault was split into two sub-operations: Light and Dark Prophet. Light Prophet was their small raid on the reactor, and their current objective. Dark Prophet would follow Light, where the fall of the forcefields would result in all UGC assault forces launching simultaneous, immediate, unilateral strikes against key Cerberus strategic positions, overwhelming them, and then flooding into their command posts, all with the intend of overwhelming them with numbers and manpower so quickly and swiftly so as to overpower their ability to respond. With their command thrown into disarray, his forces would be able to steal a full day's march and turn it into an hour of chaos. With hope, Assault Group A would march to the west, seize the Gozu District, and destroy their air fields, capture their munitions depots and eliminate their armor, whilst also taking hold of their left flank. Cerberus would have to divert forces to focus on this flank, allowing Assault Group B to swarm from the east and smash their forward line, opening up the way to Afterlife. With these objectives secured, his squad would arrive, rush through the UGC's siege lines, infiltrate Afterlife, kill the guards, and capture the Cerberus high command. With Petrovsky in their hands dead or alive, Cerberus would be forced to either surrender or be wiped out. Or, at least, that was the hope.
Right now, all UGC forces were discreetly moving into position, feinting troop movements along the Tuhi district to keep Petrovsky's recon units and scouts occupied with false tactical readings. Petrovsky would continue to think Shepard's troops were probing his defenses for a weakness, while his actual forces began to steadily trickle out of the base, one by one, moving off to their different readiness zones. He also had aircraft running sorties to continue this illusion, bombing Cerberus patrols in the streets: anything that kept them from seeing the real threat that was forming...and so far, Petrovsky didn't even know that the real essence to sealing his campaign's doom was in the mining sector right now.
They had progressed several dozen meters down the gangway by now, their progress not slow, but not rapid either. They had to make sure they didn't cause any noise whilst moving as fast as they could, and the result was a sort of comical shuffle down the line: an awkward movement that caused them mobility but meant they were also ready for whatever came for them. It also meant they were more aware of what was going on around them, including the Cerberus squad they found waiting for them.
Well, the former squad.
"Woah, hold up," Keeling ordered, raising one fist before dropping to a crouch. Marcus, having noted that had stopped, nudged past Garrus to join the N7, who was now with Kaidan, Javik and James, next to a dead Cerberus assault trooper. He was left almost aghast by the sheer brutality of it: even with just his night vision, he could see that the entire lower half of the trooper's head was simply missing, with long, deep gashes along the top of his collarbone from claw marks indicating something massive had swiped at the trooper and not only scratched him, but taken half his face off in the process. A crimson towel of dried blood covered the entire front of the dead soldier, his rifle resting beside him, held there by a mangled, twisted arm.
"Holy fuck," James muttered cautiously, gingerly tapping the man's armor. He didn't move, as he was clearly dead, but it seemed the marine didn't want to take chances, especially after Aria's promise of what amounted to synthetic zombies. But this Cerberus soldier was definitely more dead than undead, "Did...did the adjutants do this?"
"It took half his face off," piped Aria, "It was definitely a fucking adjutant. I've seen them cleave mercs in half down their torso. From the looks of it, it nibbled at his arm too. Must have been hungry."
Tali crouched down and accessed her omni-tool, holding up the dead trooper's one remaining arm to get access to his own. As she hacked, the trooper's own omni-tool lit up, and in seconds, his quarian savant had broken the firewalls on the deceased's microcomputer, bringing up his last moments while checking through the rest of his omni-tool for anything important, "Lima Actual, this is White Cloak. Status on Morningstar, over."
Tali had the volume adjusted so as to not be too loud, and rerouted to the squad's comms. Soon, Marcus could hear the electronic voice of the trooper alive in his own ears, as if he was receiving the orders himself, "White Cloak, this is Wardog, we're tracking Morningstar now. Target is eratic, but has not detected us as yet. Please advise."
"This is a typical tag and bag op, Wardog," the Cerberus command base codename replied, sounding more human and less electronic, although the voice definitely didn't belong to Petrovsky, lacking his distinct Russian undertone, "Neutralize the subject however possible, just do not bring any permanent harm. Cannot advise beyond that, over."
Marcus frowned, as he noticed the rest of his squad doing, all of them equally as confused: they all knew what they were hearing, but they weren't quite sure why Cerberus were doing it. They sent a squad down here to capture an adjutant? What purpose would that serve? What does Petrovsky want with these creatures? Does the Illusive Man wish to reclaim them?
"Solid copy White Cloak, we'll...what? What is it?" the soldier suddenly cut himself off, disturbed by a trooper beside him. Then there was a loud screech over the comms, followed by several more joining it, "Fuck! Pull back, now! Everybody, retreat back to the hatch! Holy shit! There's dozens...hundreds of them! Pull back damn it! Fuck this, I'm getting out of-" The rest was simply screaming, intermingled with the sounds of tearing flesh, misguided gunfire and more adjutants joining the frey. Tali silenced the recording, knowing they had heard enough.
"Stupid fuckers," Aria hissed, shaking her head unsympathetically, "Tried tracking an adjutant, only to get spotted, for it to call its buddies, and then get ripped apart by a horde of adjutants. Petrovsky had some real fucking balls sending a squad down here like that," she reconsidered that statement, stroking her chin before waving a dismissive hand, "Scratch that. He was just being plain fucking stupid...and this coming from a supposedly brilliant strategist."
"No, Petrovsky had to have done this for a reason," Nyreen exclaimed, having now joined the group in crouching beside the dead, mangled trooper's corpse, "It just doesn't make any sense otherwise. No doubt these men were sent down here knowing they would sustain heavy casualties, but in the end would hopefully capture an adjutant. As for why...that I can't say."
"Knowing Cerberus, however," Tali piped up, deactivating her omni-tool in the process, shaking her head at Marcus to let him know that, once again, Cerberus firewalls and anti-intrusion software was just too good, and that she couldn't scrape off any good intel, before standing up, "It can't be anything good. They could be creating a super adjutant for all we know."
"Found the rest of his unit," Kaidan declared, causing everyone to snap their gazes to the soldier. He was standing a few more meters down the gangway, pacing back and forth, the flashlight on his M-9 Usurper illuminating the many more bodies he had found. Marcus stood up, signalling the others to do the same, and quietly and calmly, they approached the site Kaidan had discovered, using their own flashlights to examine the casualties.
It was a complete mess. Just like the other trooper, these corpses were mangled beyond recognition, limbs missing on some while others were bloodied to the point of looking more like rotting sacks of non-descript meat more than they did former humans. In addition to the dead assault trooper, Marcus found a single centurion lying on his front in the middle, his rifle tossed infront of him and dried blood coating the back of his helmet where he was likely impaled and killed instantly. Strewn about and around him were nine assault troopers in varying positions, one lying back against a severely bent and twisted railing, while others were either lying on the railings missing legs and arms, or were also lying across the railing. Finally, a single combat engineer, lay with a broken back and in a near fetal position on the gangway, visor cracked to reveal his cold, open dead eyes, and breastplate torn off, leaving bloody streaks in its place diagonally across his chest. Blood continued to drip through the grating into the abyss below, whilst on other bodies it was dried and crusted, indicating that the battle that occurred here was recent.
"This didn't happen too long ago," Kaidan verbally pointed out for Marcus, although he surmized the entire squad was thinking it at this point, "Blood is dried in some areas, whilst for this engineer," he kicked the corpse for emphasis, looking at it with a restrained discomfort, "His blood is fresh, still not dry. The adjutant that killed them could still be lurking nearby."
Liara appeared to grip her SMG more tightly, as did Kasumi, "We should tread carefully then. It could be watching us at this very moment."
"Are adjutants predatory?" Marcus flat out queried, turning to Aria and Nyreen for answers. I sure hope not. Last thing we need is adjutants stalking us without knowing it.
Nyreen shook her head, "Not from what I've seen. If they see you, they'll attack without a second thought...they're particularly stupid that way for some reason. Makes it easy to set traps...somewhat."
"So we haven't been spotted yet," Garrus dryly pointed out, mandibles twitching as he shook his head, subconsciously but noticably tightening the grip on his rifle ever so slightly, "That's reassuring. Let's just hope we don't get spotted...ever. Because these troopers were attacked by hundreds of them...unless of course he was exaggerating. Either way, I'd rather not tempt the horde."
"Organics are more likely to exaggerate reports when panicked or exihibiting other forms of fear," Moses analyzed, the gigantic geth standing silently nearby as it looked around, its own night vision at work as it searched the darkness for adjutants. It had toned down on its usual loud, electronic overtone, but it was still loud enough for Marcus to tense everytime he heard it, wondering if a screech would cut it off at any moment, "This gangway is too narrow for hundreds of adjutants to attack at once in such numbers...unless they can climb walls."
"Oh fuck that," James spat, not at all pleased with that idea as he backed up slightly, searching fruitlessly through the dark with his M-76 Revenant to find a target to unload lead into, "I sure hope these assholes can't climb walls. Zombies are bad enough...I don't need spider, monkey zombies in my life."
Nyreen practically marched right up to the captain, hand grabbing his shoulder and turning him away from the group, allowing for her to whisper to him without the others hearing, "You've seen what they can do...they overwhelmed this entire squad without a single casualty. Notice how there isn't a single adjutant corpse? This mission is suicide, and Aria is leading you and your men to your deaths."
You think I don't get that? Only reason we're here is because there is no other option. We need those forcefields fucking gone. "No, you and Aria are leading me and my men to our deaths. And I'm not leaving this sector without those forcefields down. This entire operation goes to shit if they stay up. And we need the element of surprise this brings. Petrovsky's forces will be in complete disarray with the fields deactivate, and our troops attack simultaneously. The forcefields remain up...and Petrovsky will repel every assault we make. We'll lose thousands in the process."
Nyreen nodded, followed by the nervous twitch of a mandible as she thought through what she said next, "I know what the stakes are. Aria drilled that to the point of absurdity. You drilled that to the point of conclusion. You're dead set on this plan, and I don't blame you: it's a good plan, if we survive. There is no guarantee we're going to get more than a kilometer in before an adjutant spots us. There are thousands upon thousands of them down here...we spotted once, just once, and we'll wish for a quick death. You saw what they did to that squad...you want the same for your squad?" Marcus shook his head, but before he could continue, Nyreen intervened, continuing, voice raising an octave, "Then pull out, while you still can! The hatch is just back there."
"There will be no retreat," Marcus gritted his teeth, shrugging off Nyreen's hand. He'd had enough of the turian's naysaying. Their morale was already low enough going into this sector without her to make it worse, "Now, you listen to me, because I will only say this once: there will be no turning back. We either march to victory or march to defeat, but we are committed. Forward, and only forward. Thousands of lives, both in our army and the station's citizens, are counting on us to make this happen. Our success here means success for the UGC. We can win this war by tomorrow, but that only counts if we make a move here. We turn back, all hope of that is lost. We could be bogged down in a ground war for months...possibly years. How long do you think I have to wait? The Reapers are demolishing everything we know and love, and I'm stuck on this shithole of a station trying to win it back for Aria so the UGC can get the resources it needs. I refuse to just give that up. I did not help cure the fucking genophage to just give up and go home. I did not retake Rannoch and make peace between archrivals just to turn back and go fucking home. I will not, cannot, abide anyone who tells me to turn back and go fucking home just because the going gets tough! We are at war! I did not turn back when Jacob died! I did not turn back when Mordin died! I did not turn back when Thane died! I did not turn back when Legion died! So I'm sorry Nyreen, but you can go fuck yourself if you think I'm just going to surrender and fuck off home over one setback."
Nyreen wasn't convinced, frowning as she poked a finger into his chest, "Heroics and bravado are all good and great, but don't mean shit in the face of a full adjutant horde. I lost an entire squad to those freaks...and it all meant nothing! Find another way to win this war!"
"I get it, you're scared," Marcus snapped, refusing to give in as he turned fully to face her. Their heated argument had attracted the attention of the entire squad now. This shook Nyreen, as she hadn't wanted an audience, but quite frankly, he had enough of her constant second guessing of his command, "I've seen fear. I've experienced it...hell, I experience it every day. The fear of who I'm going to lose next. Hell, my wife, who is standing right over there," he pointed to Tali, the quarian more than likely taking note of the fact she was mentioned, "Fears that I'll turn up in a body bag eventually, and I, her. That's the inevitability of war. Does that mean I stop her from going on missions? Does that mean I just drop my rifle and let everybody do the fighting for me? No! The Reapers don't fear me, but I fear them...I fear what they can do, what they're capable of, what they've done. You're a fucking idiot if you're not scared of them. But the bottom line is that if we don't face them here and now, there will be no one left to stop them. Same with these adjutants...we can't fear compromise who we are. That core principle is why me and the Illusive Man are now firmly enemies...because in one moment, just one, he asked me to sacrifice everything I stand for simply on the hope that one of his sick experiments will actually churn out some good. You're a soldier, Nyreen...be a soldier. Steel yourself. I'm not asking you to stop being afraid...only that you repress it. I need you to help my squad get to that reactor...doing so will end this war, I know it. The real question is...are you more afraid of the adjutants than you are determined to get Omega out of Petrovsky's control?"
He noticed the turian fall silent, unable to immediately refute his statement. She sighed, rubbing her temples as she finally nodded, "Yes, you're right. I am afraid, and for good reason...those adjutants are unlike any enemy I've faced before. I've fought batarian slavers, vorcha packs, a krogan battlemaster, asari mercenaries, Cerberus shock troopers...I thought I had fought every imaginable foe in the galaxy. But adjutants...they change the entire game, Shepard. Mindless, but intelligent. Seemingly invulnerable, but yet just killable. You lose men, whilst in the process they gain them. How do you stop something like that?"
Marcus just slapped her arm lightly, raising his rifle, "We keep shooting them until their dead...and when that fails, we look for a way to beat them. I've been doing this for three years...well, me and my squad...and its worked out for us. The geth are allies, the Collectors are wiped out and the Reapers have finally met a cycle that's holding its own against them. We don't work miracles...we just see something somebody has called impossible, and we do our best, subconsciously of course, to prove them wrong. I'm going to prove you wrong, Kandros...I'm going to lead this team through this adjutant infested sector, find that reactor, bring down the forcefields, and bring about the end of Petrovsky's brief reign on this station. All I ask is that you put aside your fear and work with us here...we can't do this without you."
"Right," Nyreen replied brusquely, looking slightly overwhelmed. The turian, for all her special forces training, looked as mentally disarmed as the average civvie: completely conflicted in what they should do next. In the end, with her pressure piling up, she gave a quick nod: ever so brief that one would miss it if they blinked, "I can do this. We can do this."
He shook his head, before turning to rejoin his team, "It's not a case of can we do it, but that we have too. I meant what I said...march to victory or defeat, but we march forward. We will not, and cannot, turn back. They're relying on us to bring down those fields. We cannot let them down."
And even if they don't know it, the people of Omega are relying on us. The fate of this station effectively rests with us now.
Nyreen turned to join him just as he rejoined the squad awaiting near the dead Cerberus team. Aria rolled her eyes as she uncrossed her arms, bringing out her shotgun once more, "I'm guessing you convinced Nyreen to say with us?" the asari tossed a glare in the turian's direction, indicating she had heard every word and wasn't happy with her ex-girlfriend's perceived cowardice.
"Nyreen didn't need much convincing," he stated in her defense, "She knows the stakes."
"Oh, well that's fortunate," the asari pirate queen exclaimed cynically, raising her shotgun in preparation to continue, "Well, if we've had enough of all the fucking heroics and more of your outlandish speeches, then I suggest we get moving. Every minute we waste is a minute this station remains under a Cerberus banner. One should always seek medical treatment immediately upon knowing of an infection."
"That was poetic," Kasumi remarked over the comm quietly, Marcus turning to see her directly the statement to Garrus. She had deliberately switched to their special squad communications, one Aria nor Nyreen had access to, "Like, in the disturbing, 'I'm an authoritarian dictator', sort of way. You know, the kind people love to associate with."
"Yeah, I'm sure she's a real laugh at parties," the turian retorted.
"I'm just happy she's not the asari councilor," Liara added, "Imagine the casualties."
"Have you seen how Tevos bends over for Aria? She practically already is the asari councilor...at least when she visits the Citadel," Marcus pointed out, "Anyway, cut the chatter," he had noticed Aria frowning back at the group, obviously eager to get moving. Nyreen had joined her, rifle drawn and scanning the area ahead. Marcus simply raised his geth pulse rifle, motioning for his squad to do the same, before he continued the march onward, carefully moving past the dead beneath them.
The silence was deafening at this point. The drills were heavily muted by the thick walls of the chamber, making it so that all they could hear was their own footsteps on the metal grating, the groaning of the support struts taking up their weight, and the sound of their own breathing. Their night vision did wonders for their eyesight, and Marcus had even turned it off once or twice to measure the darkness...aside from the cones of light erupting from the flashlights of those around him, he couldn't even see his own hand right infront of his face. Suffice to say, he was sticking to the night vision. "How are you guys holding up?" he whispered.
"It's quiet enough that if I stop breathing people will take notice," Kasumi joked, although her voice was wavering and nervous, "Suffice to say, Shep, it's a bit terrifying."
"Tali?"
"Me? I'm fine. Quarians have natural night vision."
"Yes...but how are you feeling?"
"Oh...how would you put it? Ah. That's right: I'm scared shitless."
"Kaidan?"
"I feel like if I check my corners one more time I'm going to go insane. My arms ache from doing it so many times."
"James?"
"I've checked my belt for grenades about fifteen times in the past minute. Is that healthy, Loco? Should I be doing that?"
"Meh, we all have our lucky charms. Grenades just happen to be yours."
"I'll just pretend that's what it's for. Lucky charms. Got it, Loco."
"Is there currently anyone not scared right about now?"
"I am not currently experiencing the hyperactive and threatened organic disorder known as fear," Moses replied, "Or perhaps that is because I am a machine, not an organic. I do not fear death in the same way."
"Moses," Kasumi's voice piqued, "When the adjutants come running...I'm hiding behind you. Just giving fair warning."
"Him? What about me?" Garrus exclaimed, sounding offended.
"You're made of meat and bones. Moses is just a walking sheet of metal with a really big gun. Two guesses as to who I trust to turn tail and run."
"Turn tail and run? Gee, thanks Kasumi. Talk about demasculation."
"You were never masculine, Garbear!"
"Oh spirits, this again..."
"Would you shut up for a second!"
The squad came to a complete stop, Marcus turning to the source of the shout. It had been Aria, the asari dropped in a crouch, shotgun level with her shoulders. Nyreen was beside her, SMG in one hand and pistol in the other, duel wielding them as she looked around frantically. Marcus jogged up to them, crouching beside Aria, "What? What is it?"
"Nyreen heard something," the asari said, putting it as succintly as she could.
"I didn't just hear it. I saw it," Nyreen defended, now looking up and down the gangway, "I only saw it for a second, but it was huge, fast and was looking straight at me."
"Funny that I never saw it, Nyreen," Aria retorted, standing up, whilst lowering her shotgun, "You have a knack for jumping to conclusions. If there was an adjutant right here with us, it would have attacked by now. Should have."
"Perhaps so," the turian lowered her weapons, holstering her pistol but still keeping an eye on the area ahead of her, "But I wouldn't be taking any chances. My motion tracker definitely pinged with movement," she turned to Aria and Marcus, "What about yours?"
"Nothing," he replied, shrugging, "But I was out of range, so it's possible it didn't pick it up."
"Aria?"
"I've turned it off, so no."
"Turned it off? Are you insane? Who has no motion tracker in combat?"
Aria just chuckled, patting Nyreen's shoulder, "Because, my dear Nyreen, I'm used to the fuckers being right infront of me. You know, Cerberus and the people who want me dead...I don't need a motion tracker to tell me that I've got enemies around me...I can bloody see them. I just forgot to turn it on," the asari grumbled, reaching up her omni-tool and flicking a few buttons. For a brief moment, a holographic circle appeared above her arm, before vanishing, "There, it's on now, happy? Perhaps you'll stop giving me that fucking death glare."
"I wasn't glaring."
"Oh, do stop Nyreen. It may be dark, but I have night vision. I could see you glaring."
"Well, it was pretty stupid not to have a motion tracker."
"Yeah, we might encounter a Xenomorph."
The two women turned to look at him, frowning and confused. Aria was the one to speak though, "A Xeno-fucking-what?"
He sighed, shaking his head as he pushed past them, "Just another obscure human pop culture reference. Forget I mentioned it."
As the squad continued, they came across another butchered Cerberus squad, this time a slightly smaller unit, but far more diverse in terms of the combat classes presented. He came to a complete stop as he felt his foot not just brush, but fully bump into, the lower torso of a dead dragoon. His upper half was nowhere to found, but given the massive, thick blood trail and where it lead, it was likely tossed off the edge. A second dead dragoon lay against the railing with his dead missing, a bloody stump all that remained. Three phantoms, a nemesis and six assault troopers were also present, all of them equal parts dead, and obvious victims of an adjutant attack.
"More bodies," Marcus declared, raising a fist for the squad to tread carefully, "These don't look fresh. Considering how much further they got than the first team we encountered, it's possible this was an older team. Makes you wonder how long Petrovsky's been launching these futile attacks...and how many were successful."
"Successful?" Liara asked, "You believe some of these were fruitful?"
"Think about it," Marcus began to elaborate, pointing towards the carnage, "Do you honestly he would continue to waste resources and men throwing them at a problem that's yielding no results? He's still doing it because he's succeeded in the past, proving it can be done. Which makes me wonder how many times he's succeeded...how many adjutants has he captured, and for what purpose?"
Nyreen scoffed, "If he's smart, he's developing a counter-weapon so that he can kill these things and reclaim this part of the station."
"Doesn't seem enough like Cerberus," Garrus shot back, meaning it as a joke, but with an underlying truth to it. After all, Cerberus always looked at threats and saw potential weapons...it was sort of their motto at this point. Rachni? Let's try and control them. Geth? Project Overlord. Reapers? Let's try and control them too. Marcus wouldn't be surprised if Petrovsky was retrieving adjutants to learn how to control them.
Funnily enough though, the adjutants are previous Cerberus creations. After all, they aren't Reaper design...Cerberus birthed them. Then they got out of control, and now they're trying to reclaim them...to make them slaves to their will, just as they tried in the first place. But the true question is whether or not Petrovsky is doing this of his own volition, or if the Illusive Man ordered it. He does have an obsession with controlling the Reapers, and the adjutants scream 'Reaper' in every way it seems.
"Whatever the case, it won't mean anything for much longer," Aria declared, as if she had just now reached this conclusion. She stepped over the dragoon's body, moving forward whilst ignoring the sick array of death around her, "Just as long as our corpses don't join them."
"That's one way to put it," Keeling pointed out, moving to join her, coldly moving through the smorgasbord of cadavers. One by one, the squad continued their dangerous trek, and eventually passed the bodies altogether.
A few minutes later, just as they were getting ready to reach the intersection, a loud bang of something landing on the grating was heard behind them, several meters back. All of them spun around, weapons snapping to aim at the source of the noise. Marcus, having now moved towards the back, momentarily picked up a blink on his motion tracker, the angry ping dissipating after one alert. His flashlight illuminated that area, but landed on nothing but empty space. Through his night vision, he could see nothing, nor hear it. But the entire squad had heard it...it was impossible to miss given how loud it had been...but there was nothing there.
"These things are like fucking ghosts, Loco!" James exclaimed, unable to keep himself silent, "I heard it! I know everybody else heard it! But look, there's nothing!"
"I thought you said these adjutants don't stalk, Kandros," Marcus queried, weapon sweeping from right to left, ready in case it leapt from the darkness to attack them at any moment, "Yet this adjutant seems intent on doing just that. And it's definitely here. We all heard it."
"I wish it would come out and fight," Javik mused, the prothean looking increasingly frustrated with their situation, "If it were Reaper, it would. Reaper husks have no fear, and are too stupid to have a concept of real tactics. It is clear that this...adjutant...is smarter than we give it credit for."
"Javik has something nice to say about our cycle?" Garrus asked, sounding genuinely surprised. After the moment of silence that the turian took for an answer of yes, he turned to Liara, giddy, "Take a note of that one, Liara. 'Likes adjutants.' Perhaps we can make him an adjutant birthday cake, or get him one for his birthday."
"I would prefer a dead Reaper," Javik surprisingly joked in return. It appeared their attitude was beginning to rub off on even the cold prothean soldier, "It is larger, more likely to be dead, and would help satiate my need for dead Reapers."
There was another bang, this time in front of them. Again, their reaction was instantaneous, but by the time their weapons were aimed at that spot, the adjutant was gone. However, there was one other sound none of them could miss.
A low growl. Nobody could tell where the sound came from due to how disembodied it was and how it echoed across the chamber, but everybody took it as confirmation that they were being watched.
Marcus reacted immediately, "Everybody, form up! Tight formation, get in a circle!" His squad, like a well oiled machine, did just that without question, huddling together with their weapons firmly raised and fingers tapping their respective triggers. Marcus took up the side facing behind them, while Aria and Nyreen took the sides. In a tight circle, they were able to see every side, with Moses in the middle, allowing them a full 360 view of the entire chamber: this would allow them to see the adjutants when they came.
Not a sound could be heard...until there was that low growl again.
"Okay, now it's just playing with us," Kasumi complained, "I think I'd prefer if it just straight up tried to kill us."
"I'd prefer if it didn't attack us at all," Liara added, the asari sounding more nervous than her usual, confident self would usually portray.
EDI, who had been silent the entire time regarding their predicament, spoke up, "We could ask it politely to drop dead, if you wish."
"A joke?" Marcus asked.
She smiled, looking proud of herself, "Am I getting better?"
Marcus raised an eyebrow, but given how the AI likely couldn't even see it, he just shook his head, "A little bit. You need to work on your timing."
"I see," EDI, to her credit, didn't sound dejected, simply taking it as she normally did: with calm non-chalance, simply acknowledging his response like a scientist would a mistake, "I shall consult with Jeff back on the Normandy."
Another growl, this one further away, but still loud enough to be heard by all. This silenced the entire group, who were now more tense than ever before, all of them watching their designated zones like hawks...if the adjutant so much as flinched in their direction, they would tear it apart...although, given Nyreen's description of the creatures as nearly invincible, Marcus wasn't sure such an action would do them much good...especially if the sound of gunfire drew in more of the damn creatures.
"I take back what I said," Javik grumbled, the prothean sounding beyond irritated, "This creature will soon see the end of my patience."
"Like I said," their resident thief reiterated, "I wish it would just try and kill us already. This adjutant is giving me a run for my money in the stealth department. I didn't think a husk could be so quiet and evasive."
"Yeah, well the fucker better show himself soon, or I'm going to rip it a new asshole," Aria spat in her usual colorful manner, "Piece of shit keeps growling like a dog. I hate dogs."
"Didn't know that you even knew what a dog was," Kaidan commented.
"I've seen a few of them in my time. They're just a poor man's varren."
"Except cuter. And more cuddly."
"And fucking useless. A varren would tear one of them apart."
"They're a...well, a human's best friend?"
"Then humans have really shit taste."
"Knock it off, both of you," Nyreen snapped, "Your arguing will attract more adjutants. We're just dealing with one at the moment, and we should aim to keep it that way. Shepard...any suggestions on how to proceed?"
Stay here and wait for it to come to us...but if we do that, it could call for reinforcements. So that's not an option. We move forward...only forward. "Yeah, I do. We stick to this formation and we push on. We've got to reach that reactor. If the adjutant continues to stalk us, so be it, just be on your guard. When it attacks, and we know it eventually will, we empty everything we have into it until its dead. And yes, I know you said its basically invulnerable to bullets, but until we find a proper way to kill it, it's all we've got. Aria, lead the way."
And so the squad continued into the darkness, the adjutant still stalking them the entire way, whilst they made for the intersection, following Aria's instructions. The thing was, the squad didn't know where the adjutant that was stalking them even was, and what worried them more, was how long it would take for it to call for its friends...
...because if it did, the fate of that Cerberus squad is what awaited them.
{Loading...}
August 7, 2186
1120 hours.
Medical Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Deliverance, Dyuko Dock, Dyuko District, Omega.
Second War for Omega.
Captain Armistan Banes, Major Randall Ezno, Chief Medical Officer Walter Waycross.
"Spare me the details, doctor. Will he live or not?"
Doctor Walter Waycross, the chief medical officer on the Deliverance, sighed and glared at his captain as he was so rudely interrupted. The man was short for a man of his age, barely averaging the height of the average 20-year-old male, despite being in his late fifties. He possessed a bit of a beer gut, although it was modestly enclosed in his favourite, bright white jacket, with so many pockets you could probably fit seven bandoliers worth of thermal clips into them and still have room for more. He had brown eyes, dark skin, a rather large nose, small lips, and was bald to the point of hairlessness. He didn't even have a beard, as what little hair he had was dedicated to a rather pathetic goatee on his small, pointed chin. He had meek shoulders, but stood tall with the pride of a medical professional. And he was one of the best medical experts in Cerberus, having devised many of the medical breakthroughs in Cerberus' bioweapons division. The man was a genius, even if he was lacking in sheer stature.
"Yes," he drew out the word with annoyance, as if to make sure Banes knew he was not pleased at being cut off. He motioned to the bed containing the patient in question, doing so exhaustively and with enough carelessness to weigh in with his demeanour. Even if the man was intelligent, he addressed his work like that of a man who had grown bored with his profession, "His wounds would have killed any other man, but his cybernetics are what's saving him. I patched up what I can, but we have to give his implants time to do the rest...which shouldn't be long."
Banes clasped his hands behind his back, ignoring Randall behind him, who stood silently on his left like a bodyguard, "How long? Petrovsky will need him field deployable soon, no doubt."
Waycross shrugged, eyes looking up at the ceiling as he ran the maths in his head, "A day. If the injures are really that bad, maybe two at the maximum."
Banes nodded, "That's acceptable. I shall inform General Petrovsky that our ever-so-loved assassin will live to see another day...unfortunately."
Waycross frowned, looking ever so slightly disturbed by the comment, "Sir, this is an agent of-"
"-the Illusive Man, yes, yes," the captain replied curtly, thoroughly disinterested. Everybody here is an agent of the Illusive Man. Competence is what I factor, not allegiance. "However, Leng is notoriously...difficult...to work with, not to mention that for a former special forces operative, he's exceptionally stupid, as well as incompetent."
"Built to kill, with little else to his name," Randall piped up, ending his silence. Banes turned to see him regarding Leng's unconscious form, the assassin under a powerful anaesthetic to keep him from trying to leave before his injuries had properly healed, "I've said it before. He's a simpleton, and dangerous. Of course, our failure to end Shepard was hardly his fault."
"We can discuss that liberal interpretation of whatever the fuck happened out there, later," Banes shot back, silencing the operative. Unlike Leng, who would likely snap back with some asinine remark that would dig him into a further pit of trouble, Randall simply raised an eyebrow at the captain, before nodding and falling silent once more. It appeared Randall represented the brains of the duo, if that's what Leng and Randall could be called.
An alliance of inconvenience, would be more appropriate. Dynamic duo, even...haha, ironically of course. I can't think of any progress to put to their name...they can't even kill one man while isolated from his peers, even if that man is Shepard. He turned back to Waycross, who had been almost forgotten. The man's quite the complex of a mouse, the motivation of a sloth, coupled with the intelligence of a machine. What a...ludicrous...combination of qualities. "Ensure that Agent Leng remains indisposed until he's ready to actually leave. You'll be doing the crew of this ship a favor, not to mention myself. After all, I get to have a full day without hearing his gibberish and rhetoric about Shepard." How blissful that would be. I don't need to hear every five seconds about how Shepard is an irritating mosquito. He makes that apparent enough.
Waycross nodded meekly, turning to return to his desk, "I'll make sure to do just that."
"Good," he stated simply, twisting on the spot as he left the medbay. Randall was not far behind, the operative matching his captain step for step, remaining silent the entire time as they moved through the mess hall, past the crew corridor, and summoned the elevator. Not a single word was exchanged with the other until the elevator arrived, they stepped inside, and he hit the button for the CIC deck.
"Before you berate me regarding the failure of our mission to kill Shepard, I'll remind you that there is only so much two cybernetically enhanced supersoldiers can do against biotic opponents."
"Oh, so you can read minds now, Major?" Banes quipped, clenching his jaw, "Your failure to kill Shepard does not anger me. It's the fact you tried it to begin with."
He noticed Randall frown at that, "We were under orders. General Petrovsky ordered the attack himself. He gave an order, and I followed it."
He inwardly sighed. Randall, such a fucking dutifiul one. Always loyal, and always following orders to the letter...to hell with the consequences. For a man who is so intelligent, he is so...blind. "And you didn't think to advise our good general against it? The attack was a waste of time and manpower. Manpower better spent helping our dwindling forces push back the UGC."
"The entire assault was a waste of time and manpower. Any intervention on our part wouldn't have changed the outcome. It's quite possible we'd just add to the casualties," Randall replied, regarding Banes like an idiot who needed everything spelled out for him, "The attempt on Shepard's life had merit. He was completely cut off from his squad and forces, I had a combat engineer blocking any calls for help, and he was against not one, but two, cybernetically enhanced soldiers of similar kill to himself, all without guns. Miss T'Loak and General Kandros got lucky...otherwise, we would have presented Shepard's head to the Illusive Man by now."
Banes just smiled bitterly, licking his lips with some amusement, "And yet his head remains on his shoulders, Leng has been effectively hospitalized and you're one combat engineer short," he leaned in to emphasize his last statement, "That's a failure in my book."
Randall remained unflinching, as he always did. The man was practically unfazed by anything: he took no offense, he took defeat in stride and victory with a shrug, he was silently loyal and deafeningly lethal, and despite all of that, he had the demeanour of a robot. Sometimes he even wondered if Randall was one of those geth infiltrators C-Sec liked to harp on about during the interim era, "I never claimed otherwise. However, as I said, T'Loak and Kandros got lucky...there was nothing wrong with our mission plan. The plan was to lure the UGC closer and closer into the courtyard, keeping them distracted with our remaining forces so that Leng and myself could sneak away, lure Shepard into closed confines, and then cut the head off the snake."
Banes just scoffed, "Petrovsky sacrificed two regiments for that foolish stunt? The man is beginning to test the legend. By legend, I mean his supposed tactical brilliance. He's made many blunders so far." Petrovsky this, Petrovsky that...he's the greatest general the Alliance ever had! What a joke...although I guess we can't expect much from the remnant of a dying Russia...always think too highly of themselves those fucking Russos.
"As have you, last I checked," Randall fired back, causing Banes to freeze momentarily, "The Deliverance was defeated, again, by the Normandy. The Illusive Man may just start questioning your competence. Petrovsky has plans that hold merit, and are simply thwarted due to the fallibility of his ground commanders. You'll also remember that the operation in the Tuhi District was overseen by Colonel Amish, not the General. As for you...well, that failure is entirely your fault."
It couldn't be helped. The Normandy held superior weapons and cloaking. What was I supposed to do in that situation other than withdraw? Before Banes could reply, the elevator arrived at their destination, and the door slid open. Tossing a quick salute in the direction of Yeoman Nicholas. She gave the laziest of salutes in return, before returning to leaning over her console, chatting away with another CIC deck crew member. Banes paid them no mind, simply walking around the main galaxy map and heading up the flight deck, Randall no further than a few paces behind him.
Reaching the steps to the flight deck, he rounded on the operative, grabbing him by his front neckpiece and pulling him forward so their faces were inches apart, "I could have you transferred in a heartbeat: do not test my patience."
Randall shrugged once more, hand shooting up to grab Banes', clenching tightly. The captain winced slightly as his unprotected hand was slowly crushed in the grip of the former corsair's armoured gauntlet, "Then transfer me. I serve Cerberus, not you. Not the Illusive Man. Not Petrovsky. Only Cerberus, only humanity's interests. However, you won't transfer me, because you need me. I am on this ship for a reason...and you will not circumvent those principles. You need me more than Leng, and I don't see you getting rid of Leng anytime soon."
Banes found himself losing the battle of attrition with the operative, although he also inwardly acknowledged that Randall was correct. He did indeed the manhunter more than Leng, as the man exhibited more professionalism than the unpredictable, rabid assassin...and there was no way in hell the Illusive Man would let Banes get rid of a powerful asset. Banes was stuck with the manhunter, and he had to accept that.
He finally removed his grip on the man's armor, pulling his hand back and clasping it behind his back so as to not show that the man's grip had affected him, leaving a red, bruised skin behind. He nodded, gritted his teeth and silently walked up the flight deck, Randall wordlessly following him. Neither side exchanged any further conversation, passed the cockpit (where Flores was absent, likely in the mess hall), and into the airlock. They waited for the decontamination process to end, before exiting the ship, heading down the empty docking bay as they proceeded to Afterlife.
"I'm sure you're aware that Petrovsky has summoned us," Banes announced, breaking the silence between the two of them. The General had indeed summoned them, although for what purpose was left unclear. Following the tactical withdrawal from the Rubicon quadrant, the Cerberus general had been mobilizing his troops in preparation for a fresh new assault. How this assault would play out was kept secret, likely to prevent the information falling into enemy hands...whatever it was though, it was massive. Petrovsky was pooling every available resource: every available aircraft, every piece of armor, every single trooper at his disposal.
Randall nodded, "Yes. It did not seem urgent, but he urged us to come anyway."
As Banes opened his mouth to reply, the door ahead of them (which had been added by Cerberus when they knocked the wall down to add a few extra rooms for an armoury) opened, and two assault troopers walked out, checking their mattock rifles. They turned and rounded the corner, heading in the same direction as Banes and Randall, although not even acknowledging the two senior officers, "If he wanted to reprimand us, he would have done it over QEC. Instead he wanted to do this personally...makes me wonder what he has in store for us." He specifically requested both of us, and only us. Seems Leng was especially left out of the meeting...a pity for him, a gift for us. Obviously what he wants us for is extremely important, even if not urgent.
Turning the corner, Banes and Randall walked straight through the already open door, the two troopers having just walked through it. They emerged into the central Dyuko District, with New Order HQ directly across from them. Banes could immediately see that the fortification of the area had been completed, with machine gun nests placed in the makeshift, hexagonal pillboxes that lined the perimeter facing the barracks: in total, two pillboxes covered each flank, each with a Steelhead sentry turret placed ontop. Mortar teams stood at the ready, each surrounded by sandbags and barbed wire to keep them from being easily overrun. Several armoured vehicles had been moved into position, including a Megalodon tank. Two M45 Goblins sat at the very back, readied to provide close range artillery fire support. Remotely detonated mines were placed along the twin paths leading from the barracks, placed there following the slaughter of their forces at Tuhi by rachni troops...those mines should thin their ranks considerably, allowing their machine guns and heavy turrets to slice through what remained. Anti-aircraft emplacements lined the area overlooking the cityscape, ensuring their bombers and gunships could attack their ground emplacements with impunity. And Farland had at least a full regiment worth of troops prepped to man the fort.
Thus far, the area was impregnable. Just as Petrovsky likely needed it.
"Looks like Petrovsky is ready for a last stand, if necessary," Banes noted out loud, "Although we should hope it will never come to that."
"We still significantly outnumber Shepard and Aria's forces. Losing four thousand men has done nothing to impede our army," Randall complimented Banes' statement, although not too confidently, "Regardless, this set up is wise. If the UGC manages to break through our lines and make a beeline for the HQ, we shall be ready...again, let us hope it never comes to that."
"Hope is all we can wish for," came the familiar voice to their immediate left.
Banes twisted on the spot to see Petrovsky on his left, having just emerged from the door there. He had two assault troopers accompanying him, but these soldiers wore jet black armor with gold stripes as opposed to the usual white and gold, with their usually 'fat' armor being much thinner around the waist, and a backpack. They both carried custom painted M-99 Saber rifles, with M-11 suppressors for sidearms. The usual red optics of their helmets were a dim, subtle blue, and in addition to the usual shock baton, they wielded sharp looking blades, all of them sheathed upside down on their breastplate. It didn't take Banes long to recognize them as the elite special forces of Cerberus, known as Shadow Force. He had never actually seen them in combat, but from what he had heard, they had a nigh unbeatable success rate, completing 9 missions of 10. When the Illusive Man desperately wanted someone gone, a place destroyed or a position held...Shadow Force was his go-to unit. And it just so happened that Petrovsky had an entire company at his command.
Banes snapped a salute, as did Randall behind him, before lowering his arm, "We were just coming to see you, General. You summoned us quite unexpectedly and with little urgency."
Petrovsky nodded, stepping back as he motioned them towards the door he emerged from. The two troopers wordlessly stepped out of the way, somehow doing so in complete silence: no words were spoken, no nod of the head, not a single creak of armor or the sound of boots impacting the ground. He had heard rumors that members inducted into Shadow Force swore an oath of silence, and that those deemed incapable of fullfilling that oath had their tongues removed...they relied solely on hand signals. Banes imagined this would have made teamwork exceptionally difficult, but given how effectively they operated, they obviously had a work around. A new form of implant, perhaps?
They were an imposing sight nonetheless...even as Banes walked past, he felt himself suddenly belittled by the two soldiers, even if they were lower in rank than him. Randall had no such qualms marching right past the two troopers with a calm ease, having no doubt worked with them before. Banes increased his pace to keep up with him, and he noted that Petrovsky was now following behind them as well.
Still confused as to the purpose of this venture, he turned to the General, frowning, "Tell me General, what exactly is this about? I understand the need for secrecy, but we are face-to-face now, so surely it wouldn't hurt to tell us what this is all about?"
Petrovsky nodded, walking past both of them with his guards in tow as they reached a nearby elevator. The guards on duty, these ones standard troopers, stepped out of the way and saluted, they too looking intimidated by the Shadow troopers. Banes and Randall simply followed, stepping into the elevator with the General and watching as he selected the floor seven stories below, the door closing and the elevator quickly making its descent.
Finally, Petrovsky gave an explanation, however vague, "The Illusive Man, as you know, has many projects under his wing...some of them involve intelligence, others involve espionage. Most popular however is research into controlling the Reapers, as you may well know. And whilst I don't agree with all of them, they are all equally important. What I'm about to show you normally requires the highest levels of clearance...that means a Level 9 Security Clearance card, which only a total of one hundred personnel in Cerberus have access to, including myself and the Illusive Man. Under no circumstances, you'd be executed for even looking in the direction of these labs, hence their obscurity."
"I thought the seventh storey of this building was sealed off due to maintenance issues," Banes asked, arms crossed, "But I'm guessing that was just a cover up isn't it? Why only now show us this? What exactly are they doing down there that even we, those without clearance, are now allowed to see it? Does the Illusive Man know of this?"
The General gave an ever so brief nod, "He does. We have spoken at length, and eventually concluded it was necessary for you to know. That is why I did not extend the same courtesy to Leng...we agreed that the assassin is unreliable at best, and not to be trusted with such sensitive military information."
"Call the man what you wish, General," Randall began, surprising Banes' with his defense of the assassin, "A moron, yes. A fool, definitely. But the man's loyalty is undeniable. He is as dedicated to our cause as you and me, even if his methods of conveying that differ."
"His loyalty is not in doubt. However, his ability to withhold information is. He has proven to be of a loud mouth, and if he were to let slip these details to the wrong trooper or, perhaps even Shepard during combat, then the entire operation would be compromised...and the contents of this project would force the UGC to take rather aggressive action."
The elevator finally arrived at the mysterious seventh level, and the door shot open. They were immediately greeted by what looked like an observation center, with a door to the far right. A control terminal stretched a few meters across the opposite side, with an observation window directly infront of it, and several chairs for shift workers to sit on. Only one was currently seated: an assault trooper with his helmet removed and seated on top of the terminal. Upon seeing the General, he shot up and saluted, remaining still until Petrovsky returned it and motioned to the door. The trooper immediately understood his meaning.
Reaching into one of the pockets on his armor, he pulled out a blank, white card and headed for the right side of the door, where a blue, holographic interface appeared. Petrovsky walked to the left and produced his own version of the card, and together, in perfect sync, they lined up their cards with the respective interfaces. Once that was done, Petrovsky put his card away and spoke into the interface, "Petrovsky, Oleg. Serial Number: OP-771-259-876-001. Security Clearance: 9. Personal password: Loyal'nost' navsegda."
The VI seemed to take that as acceptable, "Welcome General Petrovsky."
The guard resumed his seat at the terminal, whilst the door, after a few seconds, shot open, the orange field behind it also dissipating. Turning to Banes and Randall, he motioned for them to enter the lab, before doing so himself, his two guards following suit in their usual silent fashion. Banes, remaining cautious, wondered if this was a test of somekind, but eventually shrugged it off and walked inside. The security here is tight...a secret level, physical cards instead of omni-tool credentials to avoid hacks, a voice recognition that only recognizes a certain tone, not to mention a personal password and serial number, and ontop of that, a forcefield. All of that, for one door.
The chamber itself was quite large. There were two levels to the lab itself, with a balcony making up the entirety of the second level. On both levels, several, self-contained rooms were seperated by thick bulkheads, each with their own levels of sub-clearance. Along the walls were numerous sleeper pods, all of them much larger than the ones on the Deliverance, and looking more suited to fitting a yahg more than a human. All of the pods were tinted, which hid the contents within them, but all of them were active, and clearly housing inhabitants. The lighting was bright, and as Banes turned, he could see the observation window in the observation center was one-sided, meaning he couldn't see into the center, and the center couldn't see into the lab...not only that, but it looked to be bulletproof. Each pod lit up bright purple, humming rhythmically, like that of a ship's engines but much more muted.
The room wasn't quite packed, but it definitely had its fair share of people. At least a dozen or so scientists occupied the lower level, milling about in their Cerberus uniforms whilst several RAMPART mechs guarded the corners, protecting against intruders. Some of them carried datapads, others used their omni-tools. One looked to be typing away at a terminal beside the sleeper pod in the center of the room, which looked to have been brought down via crane from the upper storey. A massive golden hexagon was painted along the main wall, making up the entirety of the two stories in size.
Petrovsky, waiting for him beside the central sleeper pod, spoke as Banes and Randall finally stopped infront of him, "Welcome to Project Adversity, the Illusive Man's latest, and possibly most important, project. You'll soon understand the need for such secrecy." With that, the General turned to the scientist behind him and gave a simple nod. The woman seemed to understand this, as she simply tapped a single command onto the terminal before stepping back and clasping her hands behind her back. Petrovsky signalled for his two Shadow troopers to stand back and take aim with their rifles at the pod. They did so without question, stepping back several paces whilst the clicks of their rifles sounded to demonstrate the safeties had been switched off.
Banes frowned, turning to look up at the pod as it decompressed, air bursting out as they popped the tinted glass lid on the pod. The glass on it looked to be bulletproof too, proving to the captain that whatever was inside was not only big, but extremely dangerous. He too took a step back for caution's sake, whilst Randall remained in place, looking up with some curiosity. Petrovsky did the same, although it was only now that Banes noticed he had a carnifex sidearm attached to his hip.
He's usually never armed. What the fuck is in that pod?
Finally, the lid was fully lifted, and the thick clouds of green gas that was inside cleared out, spiralling up into the air where it dissipated.
Upon seeing what was inside, Banes found himself subconsciously backing up very quickly, reaching to his side for a pistol that wasn't there. Randall looked just as startled, pulling out his rifle and quickly taking aim at the creature inside.
But the adjutant did not move. It didn't even flinch. It wasn't even awake.
Petrovsky's hand shot up and grabbed the top of Randall's rifle, pushing it downwards, "Hold your fire, major. Simply watch."
Banes' relief at the adjutant being sleep quickly disappeared once he realized the gas was likely what had been keeping it in that state. Soon, those evil, purple glowing eyes began to sneak open, the adjutant stirring from its slumber. Banes stiffened again, and he could see that Randall, despite all his instincts telling him to assume a battle posture, was struggling to follow Petrovsky's orders and remain on standby. Even Banes found himself reluctantly staying put, whilst secretly wanting to run for the nearest exit. No man wanted to be in the same room as an adjutant, let alone without armament. Even with Shadow Force troopers behind him and half a dozen RAMPARTs, no man should feel safe around an adjutant.
Is the General that much of a fool that he's brought an adjutant up from the abandoned levels? What if it escapes!? What then!? We'll have another uncontrollable outbreak, right in the middle of a war with the UGC! I'm seriously losing it with this man's judgement!
The adjutant finished waking up, its comparatively small arms pushing it up and out of the pod, where it landed with a loud thud. The scientist backed away, but only slightly, as if completely unfazed by the beast before her. He should be shitting himself. The adjutant paid her no mind however, its legs pushing it up until it stood towering over them, its glowing 'brain' radiating an immense glow across the room. It made that hidious gurgling sound as it looked at all of them, the puny creatures that they were compared to it, the tendrils protruding from where its mouth should be dripping with black liquid. It's clawed, five-fingered hands scraped at the deck, the creature on all fours as it sniffed and growled.
But, to Banes' confusion, the adjutant made no move to attack them. The reports he read had stated that the adjutants were utterly primal in their actions, and that if they so much as sniffed an organic, they would attack and rip them apart. But this one simply stood there, looking at them, as if wandering who to infect first.
"Subject Ten," Petrovsky spoke, his voice loud and assertive.
The adjutant's head snapped to look at him, but still made no motion to attack, barely lifting a finger to the General. Seemingly confident that he was safe, Petrovsky, to his befuddlement and shock, approached the husk until he was inches from it. Reaching up a hand, he flattened his palm and pressed it against the adjutant's chest.
Banes thought for a moment that it might swipe at the General, bissecting him and transforming him. Instead, it simply looked down at him, looking more curious than it did aggressive. Still confused, all he could do was watch as Petrovsky stepped back, and waved his hand back and forth. The adjutant, like a well trained dog, tracked the hand movement as it swung back and forth. Finished with that, the General lowered his hand, once again raising his voice as he spoke, "Subject Ten..." he turned to the nearest RAMPART mech, and pointed to it, "Destroy that mech."
Without an once of hesitation, the adjutant twisted on the spot, and leapt. The RAMPART, being nothing more than a machine, simply stood still and watched as the adjutant landed upon it, claws slashing and tearing apart bits of armor plating and circuits with it. Within seconds, the mech had been completely gutted and torn asunder, leaving nothing but a mess of metal and ruined circuits and chasis, as well as a lone shotgun.
"Good, now return to me," Petrovsky ordered. Again, without a single bit of reluctance, the adjutant turned and leapt back to where it was before, and remained there, not moving an inch or raising a single finger to harm anyone else. The General turned to Banes, before nodding to the scientist. Looking back up at Subject Ten, he motioned for the pod, "Ten, return to your pen. Sleep now."
The adjutant returned to the pod as ordered, fitting itself into the position it had assumed previously before closing its eyes as the lid closed back over it, gas filling the chamber to ensure it remained asleep. The demonstration over, the General's Shadow troopers stood down, lowering their rifles completely, but remaining in place. Randall too holstered his weapon once he saw there was no danger.
"What you just saw Captain Banes was the fruit of Project Adversity," Petrovsky declared, pointing to the pod, "Finishing what Project Avernus started: adjutants under our control, bending to our will. The first line of Reaper-inspired, huskified shock troops under Cerberus guidance and control."
"It's rather impressive," Randall admitted, "I never would have believed it had you of told me beforehand, General. Now that I've seen it with my own eyes...it cannot be denied. Adversity was a success."
The General nodded, but did not smile. He never seemed to smile at all, "Indeed, but that is only the first step to the project: now we must build up an army. So far Subject Ten, Fourteen, Twenty-One and Twenty-Two are the only adjutants we've acquired that successfully passed testing: they're ready for field deployment, but the other six will take sometime to implement. Acquiring these adjutants has also taken a toll on our forces. I've had to sacrifice numerous squads just to capture one. No doubt I've sent many men to their deaths to acquire these specimens, so we should be glad this project was as successful as it was."
Banes nodded, shaking his head to get rid of the anxiety he had felt moments before. He finally stood up straighter, realizing he had been a position of ready escape the entire time. Straightening his uniform, he tried to regain some measure of professionalism, "I can see why this was kept secret. If Shepard learnt of this...it's likely the UGC would have thrown everything at this lab in an attempt to destroy it and the research here."
"Too true," Petrovsky stated, "I, myself, was not convinced on Adversity's necessity, but the Illusive Man disagrees, and I must believe he knows what is best. Once the other six have finished implementation, I will begin field deployment of all ten of the converted adjutants within our armies. Together, they'll finish the job two regiments couldn't. We may even save lives...on our side, of course."
"Any word on the UGC force?" Randall asked, "Any further assaults?"
The General shook his head, motioning for them to head for the exit, but not before giving the female scientist a nod of appreciation as they left, "No, they've been suspiciously quiet. Although given what happened yesterday, they are likely licking their wounds as much as we are. They'll be ready for another assault within a week, give or take...by then, our naval reinforcements will have arrived. This war will soon turn in our favor, and I predict it will be over by next week."
Banes raised his eyebrows at that, "So soon?"
Petrovsky nodded, "With the adjutants deployed and our reinforcements chasing off their fleet, we'll have Shepard trapped. And with the plan I'm devising to finish him off, there's no reason to believe this war will last any longer than a few more days. As I said, I'll give it until next week before I'll declare total victory. Cerberus will hold Omega," reaching the door, they walked through, the guard on duty reenabling all the security checks from before as they entered the elevator, making their return to the Dyuko District, "As for Adversity, the scientists will be transferring what they've learnt to Operation Keyhold, to aid with whatever research they are doing. And before you ask, I do not know what Keyhold is, nor would I be at liberty to say. It seems Keyhold is even more classified than Adversity...so much so that even I'm not privy to such information."
"I've heard of Keyhold before," Randall announced, "All the major projects seem to link back to it. Whatever Keyhold is, it must be the quintessential project. All the research seems to lead directly to it."
Banes just shrugged, uncaring, "It's not up to us to question it. If Keyhold is that important, than it obviously holds a purpose...one that will be revealed to us in good time. Until then, we should steer clear of such questions: wouldn't want anyone to think we're getting too curious. No doubt you've made such people disappear in the past, Ezno."
"Too true."
As the elevator continued to rise, Petrovsky remained silent, having not participated in the conversation whatsoever. Banes couldn't pretend to know what was going through the General's mind, but he had a feeling he might have something to do with Petrovsky's previous...questions...regarding the Illusive Man's intentions. He had simply waved them off as moments of nervousness, but having now reconsidered that perspective, it seemed more and more likely he was simply disillusioned with their cause. One could be forgiven for questioning his loyalty, no matter how calm and collected he was.
Still, he didn't think it mattered much now. With Adversity recently revealed to them, and naval reinforcements on the way, the UGC invasion would soon be crushed, and Shepard hopefully captured. Then Leng could kill him, and Cerberus would prevail. The idea of their certain victory made Banes smile.
He was going to enjoy seeing Shepard try and work his way out of this one. He wouldn't see what hit him until it was too late.
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The room was small, discreet. Out of sight and out of mind of the others. The rest of the UGC forces were recovering from the recent Cerberus assault whilst celebrating their victory as well...and what a victory it was. Cerberus had lost several gunships, numerous fighters and bomber aircraft, just over a dozen D-09 Atlases, hundreds of thousands of credits worth of equipment and weapons, and to top it all off, a devastating 4,000 casualties. Sure, compared to the 40,000 (or, as it was now, around 36,000) Petrovsky has at its command, it was a small price to pay. Nonetheless, a crushing victory for the invaders...or liberators, as Aria would have her people believing.
Of course, the victory wouldn't have been possible without the timely arrival of the Talons. She had arranged for six squads to be deployed to the courtyard to help the UGC, and now they were here for the long run, contributing to the war effort. Aria had an entire room set up aside for them...although not without her prodding. Now they were all crammed into this tiny space, waiting for what fantastic plan came next. She had seen Shepard just before...spoken her mind, and he is. She liked to think the two reached a mutual agreement, and if not, at least some sort of respect for the other. He was a man of principle. More than could be said for Aria.
One of her chief lieutenants, a gruff human Talon veteran by the name of Walter Pike, summoned her men to the center of the room when she ordered it. He was decidingly loyal now, although he hadn't always been that way...before the change in Talon MO, Pike was a criminal just like the rest of them, and one of Derius' chief enforcers. Nyreen had been assigned under his command when she joined, and although it took a while, she managed to transform Pike from the man he once was, to the man he now was. He still possessed some of the rough demeanour and ruthless approaches that he had under Derius, but now he used them for good...as a resistance fighter, not a cartel thug.
He wasn't particularly handsome, although Nyreen reasoned that was largely her own fault. Pike once had gelled brown hair combed to the side, with a thick jaw, wide eyes, aged but smooth brown skin and a rounded nose. And then Nyreen happened...once she thought she was in a position to overthrow Derius, she had rallied what loyalists she had...unfortunately, Pike still wasn't convinced, so he challenged her to combat. Her loyalists subdued his own, and Nyreen and Pike battled one on one...he didn't go down easy, and he gave her a few scars she'll forever remember, including a deep cut along the scruff of her neck, and third-degree burns along her side from where he had almost hit her with an omni-blade, but the proximity had been enough to singe the skin badly. In the end, she gave him worse: now, he was bald due to her having used her own omni-blade to slice the top of his hair off, leaving him with a ridiculous looking bald spot...one he just decided to remove permanently, going bald. One eye was a discoloured red due to her having damaged it beyond repair, and he now wore a white, hockey-like mask to hide the permanent scarring that destroyed his facial features. She had apologized for it every occassion she got, but the man simply didn't seem to care, and was now entirely loyal to her.
She still remembered the day Derius tried to kill her in her quarters, and Pike had stepped in to defend her. She could even recall the mixture of horror and disgust on Derius' pace when he ripped Pike's mask off. To do this day, she still doesn't know what his face truly looks like, as Pike refuses to show anyone. But if Derius' face was anything to go by...
Once all her men had been gathered, she began, arms crossed, and Pike standing to her right, "Okay men, you haven't heard about it yet, but I'm about to give you the heads up before Aria announces it. As of now, the final preparations to end this war are underway. Shepard will be taking his squad and venturing into the dark zone."
One of the Talons, a salarian, spoke up, all jittery and nervous, "That's suicide! Who thought this was a good idea? Why is it even being attempted?"
"Silence," Pike snapped, "the General is speaking." His voice was ice, his tone devoid of any real emotion. Nobody dared question him, and she knew that. The salarian's mouth clamped shut, visibly put off by the imposing figure of her top lieutenant.
"Their mission is simple: the reactor is powering all the forcefields across the station, and they will bring them down, allowing our forces to flood every Cerberus controlled sector and overwhelm them, piece by piece. Whilst there, purging the adjutants will be made a secondary objective...after all, downing the forcefields will mean letting them free as well, and that is unacceptable."
"How can Shepard be trusted?" another questioned, this one a turian sergeant, "I trust Aria even less so. You told us we were supposed to be fighting against her, but now we're helping her? Why? She's no better than Petrovsky!"
"We don't fight for Aria," she shot back, "We fight for Omega: there is a difference. As for Shepard...I question his goal to put Aria back in charge, but that does not make him a loyal pet: he despises Aria just as much as we do. He's only doing this because he sees no other option, but in the end, he fights to liberate Omega."
"And yet he still helps her!" A batarian grumbled. She sighed, but before she could speak, the batarian continued, "I don't care about Bahak. I don't care about Torfan. The Hegemony can kiss my ass...that's why I'm here!" a gurgle, followed by him spitting on the ground, "I piss on the Regent, and I piss on Aria! I'm here because I fight for you, not some dictator I hate! You promised us a better Omega! Now you would help them put Aria back in control! It cannot happen! I will not have it!"
"Silence," the word was much stronger this time, promising death to the person who next spoke out of turn. He didn't so much as budge, but Nyreen knew from experience that he didn't need a gun to kill you from afar.
Once total quiet was achieved, she spoke again, "Shepard wouldn't help her if he saw another way. Unfortunately, he doesn't. Aria's the best chance he's got at securing Omega for the war with the Reapers, and he first needs Cerberus out of the picture. Which is why we are helping him. However, helping people doesn't necessarily mean helping them achieve their objectives...we will not have Aria in control. Not again. Omega has had enough of her kind."
"Are you suggesting Shepard would just betray Aria?" another Talon shouted. She couldn't pick out who said in the crowd, except that the voice was female.
She shook her head. "No, he's too smart for that. However, he would denounce support for her claim...if we provided another candidate. Right now, Aria has a monopolized claim...but if we offer a second choice, a better option, do you think the people would choose her then?"
There were a few murmurs, most of them of agreement, if not all. The batarian smiled, the turian sergeant looked content, and the salarian whispered in the ear of his asari compatriot, who nodded eagerly. Finally, the batarian spoke once more, stepping forward as he unholstered his rifle, holding up in the air in one hand: the Talon salute, "I know who I'd pledge my allegiance to...the only one I'd ever let rule over Omega! General, you are the one option."
"I concur," the turian sergeant replied, repeating the batarian's gesture, "I'd fight for that."
Seeing where the tide was turning, Nyreen decided to put the nail in that coffin. "No."
The room fell silent just as they prepared to cheer her name. Smiles died, claps muted. After a moment of shocked silence, the salarian stepped forward, head cocked, "I'm sorry General, but...did we mishear you? No?"
"I believe the General spoke clearly and succintly," Pike stated simply.
"But...the whole..." the batarian stuttered. The man beside him, a krogan, stomped up to where he stood, pushing him aside.
He pointed an accusing finger at her, "You made us what we are. You've fought for Omega's freedom from tyranny. It was you who fought for Omega when Aria ran away...you, and you alone would have led us to victory! You still can! There can be no better leader!"
She gulped, her mind made up. She knew the perfect candidate, and they were in plain sight the whole time, but nobody saw it. She was no leader, but the candidate was, "There can," she began, straightening her posture, "And there is."
"Who then?" the krogan threw his arms up, "Shepard? The man has a war to fight! And I doubt he cares little for the likes of us!"
"No, not Shepard. Not Aria. Not me," she decided it was time. They needed to know, "No, it must be my daughter. Sata."
The room decided to take that in for a moment. There were grumbles of discontent, the odd mumble of curiosity. In the end, it took a full moment before anyone responded, this time being Pike of all people, "General, this is unexpected. With all due respect, we hardly know your daughter, or her intentions...and you'll remember she has been under the yolk of Aria, not you...no doubt she has taken after her mother."
Nyreen shook her head, "That's where you're wrong, Lieutenant. I've spoken with her...she's, not what I expected. She despises her mother, thinks her a fiend. She is young, and she still has much to learn, but I believe she is truly the best candidate. Aria is a monster. I'm a soldier. Shepard has a war to fight, it is true. In the end, my daughter, Sata, holds the best hope for a better Omega. She is a fighter, but would promote a Republic, much like that of Thessia, on which she would lead the people. It's not what you wanted, I know, and I appreciate your loyalty and faith in me, and I ask you that you keep faith...respect my decision, and at least try and see what I see in her. You've trusted me with leading this rebellion...now trust me with deciding how it will end. Have I ever failed you before?"
Pike shook his head without hesitation, "You never have. Your decision is mine. I've already made my loyalty clear. Whatever decision you make...I will back it, one hundred percent."
Nyreen nodded, before turning to the rest of the room, "Please understand that I did not plan this. This is simply how it is. We cannot win this war alone, and Shepard is a good man. He will declare for Sata the moment he sees what she represents, I know he will. Then, we will have the entire UGC supporting us. Aria cannot hope to stand against that. If you cannot see Sata for what she is, then at least give her the benefit of the doubt, as I have. She truly is not her mother."
The batarian responded immediately, arms crossed, "If she is like her father...then perhaps I can back her. If you believe in her, so shall I. You gave this group purpose, allowed the Talons to mean something. And at this point...anything is better than Petrovsky and Aria. We'll do it your way."
"Agreed," the turian sergeant replied.
Eventually, the entire room rose up in agreement, arms rising their weapons in salute. Their cheers likely broke through the walls and spilled into the loading bay, where the UGC troops could hear them. They cheered her name and Sata's, almost as if they were once again swearing allegiance to her. Pike remained silent through it all, his loyalty already proven to her. Nyreen knew what she was doing could never be forgiven...not by Aria. It was effectively a coup de'tat. But she knew Aria...the woman she once loved was still the same woman she had fallen for, and that was the problem. Nyreen hadn't truly loved her...no, she had loved what she represented. She had been a wondering soul, someone looking for a purpose...Aria simply gave her strength. She would thank her for that. Without her, Nyreen wouldn't be where she was now. But in the end, Nyreen could never serve Aria again. She was too toxic, too dangerous.
She had to be stopped. She could not rule Omega, not again. And Nyreen would see to that.
Afterwards, she pulled Pike aside, whispering in his ear the words whose implications troubled her, but of which she had prepared for. How could she not? "I won't tell Shepard until after the war is over. We need to focus on defeating Cerberus before we usurp Aria. But...if I die before that can happen, you continue the fight. Even if you must let Aria take control, play along. Do as she wants. But whatever you do, you keep fighting. Put my daughter in that couch. If you must fight a war to do it, so be it. Whatever it takes. Whatever sacrifice must be made. She is the best hope for this station. Promise me you will do me this favour, Pike."
There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in his response. He looked ready to respond before she even finished, "If Sata must lead, then I will do what I must. I will serve Sata as loyally as I served you. The Talons will remember, and the Talons will not forget," he grabbed her shoulder, tightening it, "But you will not die. You cannot."
She smiled, thanking him with a silent nod. He understood it.
As she left, the cheers of her men ringed in her ears even after she left for the dark zone.
August 7, 2186
1035 hours.
Element Zero Processing Plant, Mining Sector, Dark Zone, Omega.
Second War for Omega, Operation: Light Prophet.
Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Major Kaidan Alenko, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, EDI, Soldier Javik, Moses, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, General Nyreen Kandros.
Her thoughts drifted back to reality as she examined the corpse of a dead Cerberus soldier...member of the sixth massacred unit they'd found so far. Looking up, her eyes met the back of Shepard's head, who was checking the passage behind them with his rifle, ensuring the adjutant didn't sneak up on them. Standing up, she rejoined their circle so they could continue, milling over what she had discussed with her men.
Nyreen had always known she would die. Doesn't every soldier? She had serious doubts that Shepard did not know his death would come. It was the nature of soldiers to accept that reality, as how could they become soldiers without that acceptance? If she was going to die, she would do so fighting a noble cause...and she would not die serving Aria. The woman she looked up to was a lie, a facade...she couldn't die a lie, she wouldn't allow it. But deposing Cerberus and giving the people the freedom they deserved...that was something worth dying for, that much was certain.
She gave Shepard one last look. He's a good man. One mention of Sata taking control over Aria, and I have no doubt he'd join me in a heartbeat...the rest of the UGC forces here are loyal to him, not Aria. That would just her men...and the UGC alone, let alone the Talon backing, would be enough to put down any attempts she made of holding her regime. But if she herself resists...
That truly troubled Nyreen. Could she kill Aria if the time came? The single bullet to the skull...
Deep down, she doubted it.
I never loved her...I envied her, and confused that for love! The only good thing that came out of that relationship with Sata...and even she is the antithesis of everything that pirate queen represents. She's a monster, a murderer and a ruthless bitch: she would sacrifice the lives of every person on this station if she could have Omega back. She must die.
So don't do it yourself...have Shepard do it! He has no love for the woman, and no reason to hesitate.
"Area ahead is clear," Nyreen announced, finally rejoining their formation, "Intersection is directly ahead. No sign of that adjutant that's been trailing us." Damn it, focus. The coup comes later...right now, we've got to focus on just getting out of this damn chamber alive. Adjutants everywhere...spirits, we don't even know where they are...they could be watching us right now and we wouldn't know it...
"Let's move," Shepard ordered. Aria was beside Nyreen at this point, but hardly paid the turian any mind, and the turian reciprocated this. In their circle, they inched forward, past the dead sixth squad, and towards the intersection she had spotted several meters away.
Why didn't the adjutants transform the corpses? They were infamous for not leaving bodies...they converted everything. Why leave the soldiers intact? Is it to send a message? Are they intellectually capable of that? Why would they even bother?
It wasn't long before she was reliving it all over again. Even without her eyes closed, she could hear their voices...so long ago, yet so fresh in her mind, like it happened yesterday, instead of several months ago...
"I don't like this."
"It's too dark."
"Anyone else hear this...scratching sound?"
"Knock it off," Nyreen spat, "Focus. We're hunting Cerberus. Alniers, where are they now?"
"A level below us, center right. I count a sniper and several troopers, with five centurions in support. Looks like they're packed to bear."
"Good. Knewman, on point. Paint them with thermals and let's see what they've got for us."
"Got it, General."
"The rest of you, form up on me. Keep quiet, and don't shoot unless fired upon."
"General, forgive me for asking, but didn't intel report Cerberus squads disappearing down here? I heard the term adjutant was used."
"Nothing we can confirm. Petrovsky sealed them down here and there's no reason to think they're still alive. We need to focus on what is alive down here, and it's us and a Cerberus team. Stay focused."
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what, Knewman?"
"Nothing. Thought I heard a growl. Must be hea-"
That was the last time she ever heard Knewman speak. The last use of his voice was to scream as he was ripped apart by an adjutant. Before she knew it, they were surrounded, adjutants swarming from all sides, tearing into her men. They fired back, but it did little to nothing, and in that moment, Nyreen ordered a retreat. By the time she got back to the hatch though...
...she was all that was left.
Returning to the present, Nyreen felt a chill creep up her spine, as she always did when she thought back to that horrid event. Her first face-to-face encounter with an adjutant, and she resolved to never go down to the dark zone again...until this moment. She couldn't tear the image of glowing purple eyes, dripping black fluid, the steady gurgle and growl of its disembodied tone and its gigantic form that would force a krogan to crane their head. It terrified her to her core, and she would be a fool to deny it: anyone would be. Petrovsky kept them locked down here, and for good reason.
And now Nyreen had broken her mental promise, and once again walked amongst the dead. She was quick to note that the corpses of her men were nowhere to be seen, knowing full well they were more than likely amongst the adjutant population now. All of them, gone. Knewman, Alniers, Caper, Jessy, Retnus, Phalnak...the list goes on. It could be one of them stalking us right now.
Come to remind me of my failure to save you? No need. I lament on it everyday...
Nyreen knew that all she could do was hope the adjutants didn't spot them, and that they reached the reactor safely before the horde amassed. Because of it did, they wouldn't make it a meter before being ripped to shreds...it simply wouldn't be possible. But she also knew that this could be their last hope to win the war, and that the risk was worth it. Shepard understood this, as did Aria apparently. The entire squad did, otherwise they wouldn't be here.
All they could do was soldier on, hoping that their silence was enough to tame the horde.
Somehow, deep down, Nyreen doubted it.
They were being watched. And they were being studied.
A/N:
Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Had a lot of assessments to complete, and haven't had proper time to write. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it, and please don't forget to leave a review so that I know you're still here! After all, I did cancel this series only to revive it...some may have taken the cancellation to heart and gotten the hell out of Dodge...
Part 2 will be next, and then begins the endgame for the Omega arc. I know it's been a long one, but we're finally on the right track, and you'll soon get the finale, before we move onto a few more interim chapters.
Until then,
Keelah Re'lai, troopers!
