Alright guys
For people who haven't read this story in a long time and just got a notification thinking 'what the hell is this?' 'This' is a re-write of a story you once followed, with the up and down being I'm going to redo this story with updated English so that it's somewhat more legible and fix the story so that it's more believable, and finally I'm going to close small niggling plot holes. This is Ch2 of the updated version.
If you don't want to stick around, I don't blame you, thanks for liking this way back when I first started it!
Review Response
HyperionATLAS
I plan updates once a month. If work dies down to a manageable level I might get more up. Cheers for the review!
Let us get to it then, shall we?
/.../
When left alone in her room Teor checked the time on her omni-tool to find the holographic display read 1930, and she realises she has not yet set her omni-tool to station hours, after making sure her clocks are synchronised with the stations she turned her attention to her bags.
The young Asari spent the next hour or so setting up her room to her liking and unpacking her bags, and when she felt like her room is her own personal home away from home, only then did she even think about laying down on the bed to try and catch some sleep eye, however, sleep proved to be most elusive.
With an annoyed sigh at not being able to enter the dream world the Asari powered up her omni-tool, and after a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the light emitted from the holographic display she connected to the station's mainframe, which contains all the collected information on the species she is here to study.
Gaining access to the mainframe Teor spluttered at seeing numerous petabytes of data, but is relieved to see that all the information has been somewhat organised into multiple different files, allowing for easy browsing of all the gathered data.
The first file is simply called, 'Earth' [CD_E561_SCZX1_G41089]. A quick synopsis attached to this file header concluded that the archive contains all known information regarding the planet Earth, from what resources it provides to theories on its geological past and possible future, primarily it contains all the research made on the rock Humans call Earth.
The next file is regarding E561 wildlife, excluding Humans, and while she is most intrigued by what weird, wacky and wonderful life forms have evolved on the planet down below, she is more interested in the humans she is here to study. Fortunately for Teor, the next file in the list is Anthropology, in laymen terms Anthropology is the study of humans.
Entering the file, Teor is greeted by yet another set of files, more than she can count without spending a considerable amount of time to the cause or a console script to count them for her. Not bothering to count the number of files the Asari scrolled through the various virtual archives until she found something that jumped out at her.
Eventually, Teor settled on human history, and she spent numerous hours reading all about the different civilisations that had risen and fallen throughout time, she started with the earliest known human culture, Lower Mesopotamia 3500BCE, and before she knew it, she was reading about the Roman empire and her conquests. The thing that struck Teor from her readings is how quickly the human species advance, in 6000 years they had unlocked various technologies that took her people ten's of thousands of years, but she suspected this is not because the humans are any more intelligent than Asari, just that her species had rarely waged war against one another quite on the same scale Humans do. Thinking about it, she knew the Turians advanced in the same way as humans, with warring nations pushing the development of ever more destructive and advanced technology. The Krogan species had also partaken in this aggressive developement phase, but unlike the Humans and the Turians, they were too aggressive with one another and this ultimately led to their downfall.
As her own species, the Salarians and Volus have shown the galaxy, the apparent disadvantage of this aggressive development through war is the lack of improvement in social constructs and economy. She had no doubts in her mind that if Humans survive their destructive ways for long enough then when they join the intergalactic community, they will struggle with the slow paced and peaceful way of life that the rest of the galaxy abides by, much like the Batarians and their Turian counterparts had in the years immediately after first contact.
With time pushing on Teor eventually put her omni-tool down and caught some sleep, but it is not long till she is awoken by her terminal.
/.../
"Surely this is beyond what is required?" " Asked Teor as she looked over the 'ground' suit she is to wear to Earth, instead of the suit being something that looks like a typical airtight environmental suit, the kit looks more like clunky and heavy armour designed by Turians, with polymer plates over critical areas and some servos attached to joints inorder to reduce muscle fatigue during extended wear.
"No," Responded Teor's supervisor, an Asari named Lowil. "Despite humans being pre-relay, it does not mean they are not dangerous on the ground. If on the off chance we are confronted, we will be in grave danger." Teor blanched a little at this news, prompting Lowil to say, "Do not worry, it has never happened before."
Teor just raised her brows in a questioning manner before finding her own kit neatly hanging up in a locker which she is to wear when down on Earth, but as she pulled the underlayers on she couldn't help but think of what would happen if such an event did occur. "Then it is only a matter of time till it does happen, and if we are confronted, what would you recommend?"
Lowil clenched her fists slightly, "Just because something has not happened previously it does not mean it is bound by fate to happen, but in the hypothetical situation where it does, let me or Ui talk. With our suits and helmets on the humans should not be able to tell we are extra-terrestrial, and we should all going well be able to talk our way out of the situation."
"And what if they discover our shuttles?"
"Then you want to avoid a firearm fight and hand to hand combat as much as possible, also use your biotics extensively as it should give them pause and buy us vital time to evac."
Teor understood why it is preferable to avoid such activities, but how Lowil spoke made the Asari think there is more to it, "You make it sound like the humans would outmatch us."
Lowil once more blinked, "Humans obviously don't conform with council law meaning their weapons are not something you want to play with, and they fight like Turians."
"Are human weapons are more dangerous than our own?"
The older Asari give Teor a confirming blink as she made sure a wrist strap on a sleeve is pulled tight to stop the sleeve from moving up her arms when she pulls on the heavy outer layer of the enviromental suit. "I do not find the idea of being irradiated appealing, and nor should you."
"No."
Just before boarding the shuttle that would take them to E561 Lowil turned to Teor, "Here." She said as she passed a small blue capsule over.
Teor took the capsule and looked at it with a deep frown, "What is this?" She asked curiously.
Before replying Lowil swallowed her own blue capsule and give a husky growl with a grim face, the tablet tasted and smelled like chemicals one would wash their toilet with. With the pill and resulting after-taste swallowed Lowil responded, "Steroids for your immune system, and what we call bleach to scrub your blood clean of any contaminants."
Teor looked over her environment suit which when completed with a helmet would be completely air tight. "Why do I need this?"
"The last thing we need is another Zanussi on our hands, that pill will hopefully prevent that."
"Zanussi?" Asked Teor, unfamiliar to the event lowil is referring.
"Ah," The older Asari replied after a moment in thought, "You are too young to remember that. A few hundred years ago we had an instance where we accidentally caused a major species extinction level event on a planet we were studying, all because someone cut themselves and a native came into contact with their blood. This blood caused an alien infection to spread through the local communities. Obviously, with the bacteria spreading being of extraterrestrial origin the natives had no defence for it and it proved to be virtually 100% lethal. Before we knew what the cause of the infection was the damage had already been done and it was too late to help the species. There is only a few left now, but we suspect they will soon vanish from the light due to a lack of genetic diversity."
"Which species is this?" Asked Teor, appalled by what she had just heard.
"A one that never existed, except in some data logs buried deep in a dark vault on the citadel." Replied Lowil with a tap to her nose. "And you didn't learn that from me."
"Athame." Replied Teor sadly. "How advanced were they?"
"Steam Age, bordering industrial."
"Goddess, it is appalling that this has been suppressed."
Lowil shrugged her shoulders, yes she found it awful such information had been suppressed from the general public, but she somewhat backed the reason why it had been kept quiet. "Indeed, but imagine the outcry that would happen should it be discovered we are still opening relays to discover new systems, despite the supposed ban? And then imagine the outcry over the fact the council is directly responsible for causing an entire intelligent species to go extinct. Athame just look at the outcry over the Krogan Genophage, and they killed tens of millions of us during their supposed uprising."
Teor pursed her lips in disgruntled agreement before asking, "So this pill will help stop a repeat of Zanussi?"
"Hopefully, yeah." Blinked Lowil. "But like everything else in life, nothing is 100% guaranteed, and besides, the humans should, in theory, be advanced enough to develop a cure should we pass anything on."
"That is somewhat comforting to know."
/.../
Pebble sighed heavily as she pushed a furry snout out of her face, "Yeah yeah bud." She then commented but her attempts to pacify her dog is a futile waste of energy and she knows it, because soon the year old Alsation is back licking her face in an attempt to wake her. After pushing the dog away for the fifth or so time Pebble sits up and swing her legs over the side of her bed. Looking down at her heavily scarred legs she grimaces, life as a high ranking Cerberus operative had not been kind; she has been shot countless times, stabbed, and even tortured, and that was by her own people. Reaching over to the bedside table she grabs a small glass vase that is half full with a dark liquid, and a needle contained in a vacuum sealed pack. After removing the needle from its packaging she pulled some of the opaque liquid out of the vase and into the needles container, only to injected it directly into a vein in her leg moments after, the moves well practised.
After tossing the needle aside safely so her dog wouldn't find it, Pebble spent a few minutes of rubbing her right knee, her most damaged body part, with the false hope the dark liquid and her light massaging would mask the constant pain. Eventually, the liquid she injected started to work and she stood up, the pain in her limb not forgotten, just dulled to a manageable level.
Once she had showered and dressed for the day Pebble found her way into her kitchen and is greeted by a false Artifical Intelligence that is responsible for almost everything in her home, from the heating to the lights. "Good-morning Pebble, another early one today?"
"Yeah." The operative grumbled in response as she made her way to the fridge and opened the door. "Damn dog demanding its walk as per."
"Why does this not surprise me? Would you like your general update?"
Grabbing some milk from inside the fridges door and a box of basic tasteless cereal the operative sat at a bare wooden table. "Yes."
"Very well, there is nothing to report regarding the Southern front since your last update at 2230 hours, the eastern front has suffered 18,200 casualties overnight in an unspecified offensive. The outcome of the battle is as of yet unknown. Locally, Bláskógabyggða has heavy traffic, with delays expected up to 15 minutes."
"No update means the offensive failed to meet expectations." Pebble grumbled knowingly while checking her wristwatch for the time, "And what is possibly causing a delay at this time?"
"A reported vehicle accident, Ma'am."
"Figures." With her food consumed with the efficiency of a well-trained soldier, the ex-operative grabbed a hunting rifle and found herself in the woods that surrounds her relatively small two bedroom home. Despite appearing to live in the middle of absolutely nowhere this notion is false, as a 1-mile hike would find her in a small town that can provide her with all the supplements required for life.
With little to no light this early in the morning Pebble found herself almost blindly following her dog, Russel, with her only intervention being to direct it away from town. After an hour or so of walking, Pebble got the shock of her life when an all too familiar crack boomed from behind her and just as she turned to discover the booms source a ball of flames passed over her head. Being very intimate with the types of aircraft used by all three major fractions she tried to evaluate who the craft in the ball of flames may belong to, but the answer eluded her, the design new to her.
Knowing that the pilot and crew may have survived, and that help will not arrive for hours if not ever, something that is more than lethal this far north during the winter months, the woman dropped a few rabbits she had killed for her dinner in a memorable location and started to follow the craft as it headed for Earth. Pebble knew it would be a distance before the craft lands, but what else can she do?
/.../
1 Hour later
The vessel is very odd to Pebble, featuring text she can not recognise and no identifiable propulsion system. Despite not knowing the text Pebble knows only two nations are likely to have designed the craft, her own, the Western Alliance, and her nation's largest opposition the East Alliance, and the East alliance would not give this type of craft to their regular forces. No, if this ship belongs to anyone it would be the Elite N Forces. With this in mind Pebble approached carefully, just like herself operatives of the N program are enhanced with the splitting edge of technology to allow for superior soldiers, and in her weakened state Pebble knew she would be no match for an unharmed operative, and a peaceful outcome is not likely due to the fierce rivalry between the two elite programs.
With her hunting rifle in hand the retired cerberus operative rounded the craft till she found what appeared to be a latch, approaching the latch cautiously she took a protective stance and flicked the latch, causing a large dark blue door to slide and judder open in a manner that suggested the door's opening mechanics have been critically damaged. With the door half opened and seemingly stuck in place, the woman stuck her head through the door and checked her corners, with no one jumping out at her she took her first step in the craft.
Feeling her hairs on the back of her neck raise as she looks around the inside Pebble got a horrifying feeling like the craft did not belong to either of the three nations that dominate the earth, as a thick blue liquid that looks suspiciously like blood is splattered across the crafts inside, and an orange holographic display is barking in some odd language. On top of this, the occupants are wearing strange armour that is too 'light' for traditional combat - a human unit with this ship would be in heavy armour and there would be a range of weapons strapped to every available location.
Using the glow of the holographic display to light the inside of the ship Pebble found her first occupant of the weird ship in a contorted shape and facing downward, Pebble kneeled down and turned them over to reel backwards at what she witnessed. After taking a moment to absorb the fact there is a blue alien infront of her she moved forward and slapped the alien across the face, she knew that it is probably a waste of time to check for human vital signs, so went with the traditional slap to try and wake the thing before her. After slapping hard Pebble waited for a second with her breath held and her finger ready to pull the trigger on her rifle should the need arise, but nothing happened. Not knowing whether to feel relieved or saddened by this Pebble moved on to a second alien. Once more she turned the body over to face her and she slapped the face, but yet again nothing happened.
Taking a bit of breath to gather her thoughts Pebble stood from her kneeled position and made her way slowly forward through the small craft so as to not bump anything in the dark, and to what she guessed is the cockpit. In the cockpite she found two more aliens infront of some holographic displays and a large window that appeared far larger than it should, almost as if the entire front of the craft is constructed of glass. Not thinking about the glass window she checked the first alien to her right, yet again like the two prior alien's there is no response.
Turning to the fourth and final alien with not much expectation she gives yet another slap, but this time something happened that caused the human's breath to hitch, "Did that thing's hand just move?" She asked herself silently. Reaching tentatively forward Pebble shook the shoulder of the alien, and the thing seemed to stir, but Pebble didn't let it open its eyes; instead she whacked it over the head with the butt of her gun with enough force to safely knock a human out, and then some. "SHIT!" She then cursed, a thousand things running through her mind.
Cheers, see ya next chap, hopefully.