When you find yourself deep in the shit...like...REAL deep...flung headfirst into the metaphorical pile of elephant-sized dung that is undoubtedly a shitty situation without warning, where your immediate reaction is to be confused, frightened, shocked even with the events happening around you...it's hard to remember where exactly things went wrong. And I can tell you right now...things had gone pret-ty wrong.
I had raised my hands reflexively, in a futile defense to save my self, though that in itself had served no purpose. My kinetic barriers deflected whatever slugs had been aimed in my general direction. And I didn't have much time to register or even enjoy the fact I was still alive however, as I quickly felt someone wrap their arms around my waist next. And then subsequently throw me to the ground.
An "Ow!" escaped my lips as my head collided hard with the cold metal floor. And upon hearing it, my savior politely responded "What the hell are you doing?!"
"Put on your frikkin' helmet!" she next yelled into my ear. But I unfortunately didn't have time to respond before Ashley had already popped back up from where she had tackled me. The ridiculously loud dakka-dakka-dakka sound coming from her assault rifle only added to the already raucous symphony of firing guns now resounding throughout the room.
Sch-womp.
Another flash of bright blue illuminated the office around us, and I looked up to see an ERCS guard sail over our heads.
"One down!" Kaidan shouted as he rushed by us, apparently having already gotten rid of Lorik's destroyed computer. And as he did, I finally processed what Williams had just told me. I quickly reached around to my back, and removed the helmet attached to my waist.
"Shepard watch out!" Liara yelled glowing blue, hurrying past Ashley and I next.
The sound of mass effect fields followed immediately after, happening in concert with more flashes of purple and violet lights. And I had to admit, mass effect fields made pretty baller light shows. But my attention really should have been elsewhere. I suddenly found that Ashley was crouching back down beside me once again, making good use of the potted plant we were hiding behind for cover. "You planning on joining us anytime soon?" she yelled, switching the smoking rifle in her hands for another on her back.
In response, I jammed the helmet over my head, hopped on my knees, and drew the lancer she had personally given me prior. "How many?!" I yelled at her next.
"A lot!" Ashley shouted back. Then she glanced around the corner. "Cover me!"
Oh fuck.
Before I could respond, she had already rolled out of cover, out into the open hallway of the office. Nutting up, I gritted my teeth, tightened the grip I had around my rifle, and popped out of cover to oblige her, shooting my gun at the first thing I saw move. Which turned out to be an armored marine with bright red hair, crimson red armor, and a noticeable Spectre insignia on her right arm. Oops.
Luckily, I had never fired an automatic weapon in my life, and the weapon's muzzle climb immediately overwhelmed my arms. Unfortunately, I was only able to stop firing once the entire clip had been emptied into the ceiling. Following that, I quickly ducked back down before Shepard realized that I was the one that had just hit her shields. And back behind cover, I reeled with what I had just done, assault rifle still hissing in my hands. I decided then and there that I should probably refrain from ever using that ever again. Who knew that you actually needed fire-arm training for one of these? Hyperventilating at this point, I quickly folded the rifle back over my shoulder, and swapped it out for the trusty Predator I had at my hip. The only gun I apparently knew how (or cared) to use. Bullets were still whizzing overhead as I took my time to cock it.
Because before I decided to do anything rash (again), I thought that my next best course of action was to actually evaluate what the hell was going on around me. I really didn't feel like open firing on one of the gang again. Upon reaffirming that would be the correct action to take, I quickly peeked out from the fern I was hiding behind. And the first thing I saw upon leaning out was that Ashley had made it to safety, which led me to of course sigh in relief. If she had taken a bullet due to my ineptitude...I don't know if I could have forgiven myself. It would have been sickening in fact. Shaking it off, I took note that she was now taking cover with Kaidan, behind a flipped table on the right side of the balcony before me. And I already knew from my last action that to their left, Shepard was hiding behind another potted plant with Liara. Luckily coinciding with the completion of my survey, I ducked back down behind my own as a biotic field was sent flying toward me.
"Kaidan, she has too much support! I need a lift on their position!"
"I can't get a target Commander! And they have more reinforcements coming up from below!"
And apparently Stirling was still alive, and still launching the occasional biotic field at us. She was bunkered down behind a crate guarding the stairwell leading back down to the first floor, where more ERCS guards were storming up from below to join her. Crouching anxiously behind my own receptacle of vegetation, I now looked back to see what the rest of the crew was doing, whereupon I found Tali, Garrus and Wrex still on the narrow walkway between Lorik's office and Synthetic Insight's main work space. All doing their best to work both arenas of battle. Their position was precarious, being able to draw fire from both the second AND first floor. But it was a pretty convenient location for them too, as they all seemed to be faring pretty well, getting up occasionally from their crouched positions to fire at both the ERCS below and across from us. They'd pop up, unleash a tech attack, take down a barrier, drop a guard (I assume), then pop back down. Or Garrus and Tali were at least.
Wrex just had his hump up against the walkway's parapet, refusing to follow the routine of the other two, seemingly grumbling to himself about something or other. In the middle of dismissing him, I was just about to return my attention to the firefight before I noticed the Krogan suddenly stand up and turn around to face the open office space below. His shields flared as they stopped a couple bullets from hitting his face, but they seemed to cease when they realized what was now staring them down. Then with a shout so loud that it seemed to silence the room, the alien bellowed "IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!" and immediately after, vaulted the waist-high wall, leaping what I could only imagine to be about fifteen feet, enveloped in a brilliant violet aura. I shit you not, Wilhelm screams broke out almost as soon as he did. Garrus and Tali just kinda sat where they were, obviously dumbfounded too, staring at where the Krogan had just been.
"GRENADE!"
Stirling's voice.
I peeled my eyes back off of Garrus and Tali, and returned my attention to the battle ahead of me on the second floor. I deduced that it was Ashley now who had just thrown a frag grenade beside Stirling's cover. Not a second passed before my jaw had already dropped in surprise when blue immediately enveloped it after. I couldn't even hear the grenade exploding over the gunfire, but even with the noise absent, I doubt I could have anyway. Stirling's mass effect field mitigated any real damage that the explosive could've done. And Ashley, who was peering around her cover when it happened, ended up just mouthing the word "shit."
"Get some suppressing fire on their left! And where's our Krogan?!"
"Negative on both those Commander! There's too much heat!"
This is going nowhere.
Garrus and Tali were taking the occasional potshot. Liara and Shepard were pinned, having the largest focus of enemy fire on their position. They'd activate a barrier, but it didn't last long enough for them to actually take a merc down. Or from what I could see in any case. And Kaidan and Ashley were able to fire back and kill one or two, sure, but most of their major plays were just deflected by Stirling's biotic abilities. The only person probably making any waves was Wrex down below. But one against however many there were on the first floor didn't exactly seem promising either.
No, like Shepard said...we didn't have any more time to waste.
"Hold back!" Shepard cried over the radio. "On me!"
Hold back? Hell Naw!
I wanted to get out of this damn place like thirty minutes ago. Instead, here we were, stuck in a crappy rendition of a western shootout. No...now was the time for action. Now was the time for drastic action. My helmet's HUD read that I had 11 shots currently left in my gun's clip, and that in addition, my shields were at 99%. Which meant that it was as good as it was going to get.
Gravy.
Only one more thing crept through my mind as I cocked my Predator and began to stand, leaving the safety of my potted plant. And that one thought I had going through my mind was how lucky I was to have my secret weapon. A super power really I began to realize as I voiced its name in my head.
Adrenaline Rush.
Out of cover, everything looking beige, being able to even seemingly track the bullets flying through the air, I decided to aim and shoot at the first ERCS merc I saw. The contorted look of surprise he had on his face as my bullets suddenly started pelting his shield was priceless. I'm pretty sure he was mostly startled by the fact that there was another soldier they hadn't noticed, but I guess the oncoming dread of being killed partly attributed to that too. Can't say a similar feeling wasn't rushing through my entire being as I did either. But it was do or die here. Regardless, I pulled my gun's trigger for a fourth time, whereupon his shields broke, sending the man staggering backwards. And I found myself smiling as he did, only being able to think:
DAMN THIS IS EASY-
DU. DU. DU. DU. DU.
As my initial target began to dive back down to the ground with his shields gone, his comrades now directed their fire in my direction. And instead of hitting the floor, I could only turn my eyes to my assailants in shock. Three other guards had popped up from behind the cover, and were all focusing their fire entirely on me.
81%. 72%. 59%. 22%.
The numbers changed every time they flashed, and it wouldn't take a genius to know that my shields were draining. Fast. I gritted my teeth as I continued to stand where I was, trying not to recoil at their fire, scared out of my fucking mind that my lifeline was actually going to sputter out any second. I turned to aim my pistol half-assed in their general direction, trying to return fire, make them back down...but time was slowed for me, how I imagined someone moving at the speed of sound might see. My main assumption during this exchange was that I could fire faster than they could. Take down their shields before mine. Kill them before they killed me. But I think the real truth however was that I was rather just instinctively reacting out of fear, realizing that even now, with my ungodly fast reflexes, I still couldn't duck back down before they did the same thing I did to their buddy.
This was the moment I was going to find out if I had one ups in this world, though the palpable dread in my body seemed to tell me that-
"NOOOOW!" Shepard shouted in slow-mo.
BOOM.
Before my original target had ducked fully undercover, his head suddenly exploded in a unnecessarily protracted display. It was like watching a watermelon that was dropped from a balcony explode upon hitting the ground, and gruesomely, I was able to track every piece that split off upon impact. Horrifying really, and I could immediately feel my lunch creep back upon witnessing it.
"Sccrrraaaatchhh oooone!" Garrus' voice sluggardly followed.
9%.
One instant they were all in cover, and the next, I could feel that the Normandy's eclectic eight were out in the open once again, all standing up, all returning fire, all of them putting down the men across from us. And as they did, my vision returned to normal, the deafening sound of regular-paced gunfire immediately hitting my ears not a moment later. And unfortunately for them, the enemy side lit up in blue as all their shields dissipated at once.
Sch-WOMP went another guard as Kaidan lifted them up in the air. That guard was riddled with bullets by Ashley.
3%.
Sch-WOMP went two more as Liara threw down a singularity. Those two were done in by carnage shots from Shepard and Tali.
And badda-bing, badda-boom, just like that, we had just cleared the second floor of hostiles. And just in time too I believe, as my shields currently sat at 1.5%. Oh scratch that. Literally 1%. I let out a nervous laugh, as that was a little too close to zero for my taste.
SCH-WOMP.
I was thrown backward with the blast, back onto my butt that is, as the biotic missile annihilated my remaining shield.
Ow.
And of course she was still alive. Sterling threw that warp at me with a fire in her eyes. Her entire team killed, her only objective failed, and now she was left completely outmanned, completely outgunned, and completely outplayed. Most people, sane people, would call it quits with the odds stacked so against them, escape to live and fight another day. Not her. The ERCS sergeant was caught up in the moment, the thrill of the fight, shooting her shotgun at anything that moved in the chaos, following up each shot with a biotic field launched in one of our general directions. Stirling was born a fighter. And now she would die as one. She didn't even notice Wrex as he walked up behind her, and thus, could do nothing when he pulled his gun's trigger. The shotgun blast that echoed throughout the room had the sergeant's eyes grow wide with shock. As the shot staggered her forward, coughing up blood, it wasn't a surprise when she took one last gasp for air and shortly after, slumped lifeless over the crate in front of her. As I pushed myself off the floor, hot with sweat, heart about to claw its way out of my chest, reeling from being literally a couple bullets away from death, I took one more look at the office before me. And from that look, I found the whole scene resembling something out of a Tarantino film. A truly sickening sight to see. Blood spatter everywhere, bodies slumped over the carpets and the furniture, one guy with his head missing...gruesome stuff. It almost made me heave. Again. I was glad as hell I was wearing a helmet because I could only imagine the horrible smell the room must have now too.
Whrrrrrrp went my shields as they reset themselves.
"Hope that paycheck was worth it," Wrex growled over the dead body. Then the Krogan looked back up to us. "You ladies ready to leave yet?"
We were all leaving cover as Wrex said it, knowing he had already cleared out whatever mercs had been on the first floor too. And as I got up to approach the group gathering around the stairs, the one named Shepard turned around to look at me harshly in particular.
"What the HELL is wrong with you?!" she said angrily in my direction.
Little did she know, now that I was no longer distracted by people shooting at me, I had the time to become as equally pissed. "What the hell is wrong with ME? What the hell is wrong with YOU?!" I said pointing a finger in her direction. "She was about to leave without any trouble! I almost had her! Why the HELL did you attack them!?"
The comment actually had her flinch. But the look she had on her face conveyed that it was only out of disbelief. "You're on this mission with ME! You follow MY lead when we're on the ground, not the other way around, you hear me?" she yelled back crazy-eyed. "Unless I tell you to, you don't open your damn mouth in front of enemy combatants. And I swear, if you block my shot one more time, I'll treat you like the one that should be on its receiving end!" She looked back to the squad around her. "To the rest of you who actually did your duty, good work. But we still need to catch Benezia before she can leave Peak 15! Move out!" Wrex went down the stairwell first, followed by Shepard, Kaidan, Ashley and Liara. As I was left standing where I was, clenching my fist, Tali timidly hurried past to follow. The only one who commented on what had just happened was Garrus, who saddled up beside me with destroyed computer in hands.
"You shouldn't be angry with her," he said under his breath. "She saved your life."
At that comment, I turned to give him a callous look, eyes narrowed in outrage. "Garrus." I brought up my index finger and thumb in front of him, holding them an inch apart from one another. "She was this close to walking away. She was JUST about to-"
"-about to lift you in the air with her biotics."
"What."
He nodded toward the stairs and started walking. I reluctantly decided to follow. "I've seen plenty of biotics fight during my time at C-Sec. The way she had her palm drawn back, how her arm was cocked...it was definitely you she was aiming for. She was going to lift you in the air, where you would have been helpless. And then those guards behind her would have finished the job."
I tried not to look at the body as we passed it, beginning our descent down the stairwell. "I had shields," I muttered back. "She wouldn't have been able to. And you don't know that. You don't know that for sure."
"The merc behind her had an overload primed, Shield. It's a common tactic. Overload shields and then biotic fields. And Shepard's an experienced marine. She saw what was about to happen, and stopped it."
I stopped before the last step. "Well...then Shepard should have let her."
"What?" he replied, stopping too, turning around to face me.
"You don't know if she actually was or not! You don't know that she was-"
"But what if she did?" he replied cutting me off angrily. "You'd have been in the air and shot dead before we could have reacted. Instead of eight, it would be seven of us coming back down here right now. Sometimes Shield, it's safer to shoot first and ask questions later."
"How about none of the time," I replied angry. "Those were actual people we just killed. Not robots. Not intergalactic terrorists. Just regular people doing their jobs-"
"They were criminals. You saw them. They tried to kill us first chance they got. Even the ones that got the chance to leave came back in!"
"Because we attacked them First!" I replied angrily. "You shouldn't kill someone just because there's a chance that they could-"
"What the hell's taking you two so long!?" Shepard yelled around the corner, probably waiting in the elevator already with everyone else.
I looked at Garrus once more before briskly walking ahead. This conversation would be shelved for later. Instead, I now prepared myself for one awkward elevator ride back down to Port Hanshan.
Gianna confronted us as soon as we left the elevator, and like Shepard, I wasn't in the mood to waste anymore time. I sped up the conversation so we didn't have to meet her all the way back in the hotel lobby, and in the process, 'persuaded' Shepard to help her take down Anoleis as well. When we met back up with Qui'in at the bar, he was content with the smoking pile of scrap we showed him. In addition, Shepard was also able to convince him in testifying.
Ten minutes later in the Administrator's office, and boom, we were watching Gianna drag the Salarian across the room in omni-cuffs. In the few seconds I met him, Anoleis immediately came across as a butt munch. Kicking around, throwing insults, yelling about lawsuits. Real turd. As she escorted him out, Gianna even had a witty one-liner and mentioned that she owed us all a beer. Cool gal. Definitely wished I was currently working with her instead.
And so, with its corruption rectified, a key pass obtained, and Anoleis gone, Port Hanshan was soon to be in our rear view mirror. Operation: Leave this dump was a semi-success.
On our way back to the garage however, as we walked past the elevator for Synthetic Insight's office again, I found the outcome in that office still perturbed me. Even after how everything turned out. Or how everything turned out downstairs anyway. Thirteen people shot dead. Bodies just left where they lay. Lorik Qui'in assuredly having more than just bloodstains to worry about. And I thought about why.
Sure they were corrupt, tried to kill us...nearly killed me but...oh my god...was it because they were Human?
I tried hard to think back, on the fire fights I've been thrust into so far. There was Eden Prime, Therum, Asteroid 57...and the Citadel alleyway and Nepheron.
...I really haven't killed a Human before. I shot at Cerberus on Nepheron but I didn't kill any of them...did I? ...No...I didn't. Is that really why I feel so sick about it? Because they weren't aliens? Because Humans are realer to me than a Turian or Batarian? Or...
Or is it rather because I subconsciously worry about just repeating the events of the game, simply sitting along for the ride, not actually contributing to anything as we land at each world, and while Shepard solves problems; resign all the people, all the victims in the game, to still meet their horrid, meaningless predetermined fates even though I have the power to change them?
...woah. Probably that. My problem was definitely that. Where did that come from?
"I'm sorry, access to the garage is restricted," the ERCS guard told Shepard, holding up a hand. After our last encounter, everyone seemed to immediately put their claws on their weapons, ready for another fight.
"I have authorization," Shepard said, holding out the pass. As the guard looked down, she walked past her, adding a curt "Excuse me."
"Oh, that looks genuine," the woman said as we all started to pass her too. "Drive safely! The weather's supposed to be pretty bad in the Aleutsk Valley."
"Thanks!" I replied for everyone as the last to pass and actually acknowledge her. And now that we were in the garage, I realized too little too late it was time for more action. Not a minute after entering, a Geth hopper jumped onto the ceiling above us. Its laser downed Wrex's shields before anyone had a chance to react.
"GETH!"
"So that's what the Asari had in those crates," Wrex added before launching a carnage shot at the Geth in return.
"We've got more company!" Kaidan shouted next. "Big company!"
Which, of course, referred to the giant Geth Prime charging in at us.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Shepard shouted, as she started sprinting to the left side of the room. Which basically meant 'split up gang!'
As everyone divided up to find their own cover, I decided to follow the closest person to me, which happened to be Liara. I rolled into cover beside her, which happened to be behind one of the large vehicles in the room.
"Garrus, Tali, I need those shields dropped!"
"Read you loud and clear!"
"Ashley, come with me! We're flanking them!"
"I'm with you Commander!"
"Wrex! Kaidan! Hit them with some lifts once they're down!"
"On it!"
"Don't need to tell me twice!"
Unhampered by the conditions and layout of the cramped office, the squad got to work. Divide and conquer, shock and awe, cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war. The garage had enough space for each member of the squad to do their own unique thang, take part in their own particular style of combat without interfering with one another. And the result from that was chaos. Geth shields blowing out left and right, biotic fields flying all across the room, gunfire being unleashed from every corner. I popped up a few times and was able to bag a Geth myself, but clearly, Shepard was the main reason why we were able to make any progress at all. Her orders helped us clear the room of the synthetic scum not long after it started, giving some semblance of teamwork to the mayhem. The whole battle though definitely turned out much shorter than the one upstairs.
I stood back up, lowering my pistol, as Ashley yelled the one thing that I always liked to hear.
"Clear!"
Then additional yelling also occurred.
"What did you do here Commander?!"
Shepard obnoxiously took her time in turning around and sauntering over to the entrance to answer the Captain's question. "Nothing out of my job description."
"There were Geth waiting for us in your garage," Kaidan elaborated.
"And you might not want to act so surprised," Shepard added, seeing the alarm on the Captain's face. "You may be seeing a lot more of these things pretty soon."
With that comment, Matsuo now attempted to process this new information. "For three centuries, everyone has said, 'the Geth don't leave the veil.' What is happening out there Commander?"
"You know the expression 'need-to-know basis?' " Shepard asked. "You don't need to know."
The woman just sighed in return. "Alright. Then I must report to the Executive Board. If word gets out about loose Geth, there may be an investor panic," Matsuo remarked with concern, holding a hand against her forehead. Then she suddenly looked back up at Shepard. "There was also a break-in at Synthetic Insights' office. Several of my officers were found dead. Killed. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Her dark brown eyes stared intensely into Shepard's.
"Nope."
She frowned. "I do not believe you are being honest with me. But in the absence of proof, I believe I must take your word for it...if you excuse me," she now finished, making a motion to the entourage behind her. She took one more look over her shoulder before leaving the garage.
Shepard now turned back around to address us. Before she could however, Tali asked, "So where do we go from here Shepard? The Mako is still in the Normandy. And the shuttles are still grounded. We don't have transportation to take-"
"Actually," Shepard replied, "I think we do." She turned to look at the vehicle Liara and I had used for cover during the fight.
"M29 Grizzly. Haven't seen one of those in use for a while," Kaidan said aloud to no one in particular. "Really think they'd be alright with us taking one?"
"Who said anything about one?" Shepard asked, now looking at the other one further ahead.
Wrex and Ashley now had stupid grins across their faces. Liara and Tali seemed to have the opposite. Or so I guessed, with how Tali was postured anyway.
Shepard, Wrex, Ashley and Liara went into the first, and therefore, were also the first ones to exit the garage and enter the flurry. Kaidan, Garrus, Tali, and I trailed behind in the other. I found that the lighting inside the Grizzly was dark. Very dark in fact, much darker than the Mako. And I noticed that it couldn't seat as many as the Mako, having five seats in the back, and only one in the front, where Kaidan currently sat. The seats were cushioned however, which was a plus. Another difference I found between the Grizzly and the Mako too however was that the Grizzly's driver also happened to be its gunner. That disappointed Garrus but...oh well, that's life. I slipped on my seat belt as soon as I felt the vehicle lurch forward out into the valley of snow.
And maybe because it was closer to the ground, or maybe because it was designed for private use, but boy did the Grizzly have better suspension than the Mako. It was almost weird to not have my head constantly banging against the wall behind me. Closer to Kaidan, Tali and Garrus sat across from each other, theorizing about what Benezia might be looking for. Could have joined in on the fun but...I decided to just keep to myself for now. Enjoy the peaceful ride.
Which I meant to be a sardonic remark. But...NOPE. I honestly thought that Geth would be launching thousands of rockets at us any second. But lo and behold, ten minutes passed driving down the snowy highway, without Kaidan having to fire the Grizzly's gun even once. To be honest, that actually had me a little alarmed.
Like...does that mean the Geth are grouping all their forces at 15? Does...are there going to be like five Geth armatures just lined up at the entrance?! ...Oh Jesus...Oh dear god I hope not. Where the hell are they?!
"Hey Kaidan," I piped up.
"What is it Shield?" he replied.
"Has Shepard seen any Geth ahead of us? Doesn't it seem a little weird that-"
Then the vehicle's radio started beeping. "Hold on Shield," he said before answering it. "Commander?"
"Kaidan, check your radar. I think we've got a bogey coming up ahead."
I couldn't see it all the way from the back, but I assumed Kaidan was already looking at said radar. "...Okay, yeah, I see it. Is it big on your end too?"
"Yeah...looks like a colossus sized unit."
Welp...you got what you asked for. I hope you're happy.
"We seem to be coming up on it pretty fast," Kaidan relayed.
"We should have it in view," we heard Shepard reply. "But this damn blizzard makes visibility practically nil."
The vehicle became silent again. Until Shepard spoke back up several moments later. "My radar's telling me its right in front of us now but...I still don't see anything."
Kaidan spoke warily now too. "Are you...did you just pass over it?"
"Yeah. Think it might have just been a metal deposit messing with the sensors. Got some actual bogeys ahead though. Guarantee these are actual Geth too. Prime the accelerator and get ready for a fight."
"Roger that Commander. I should be in range of them soon too. Just passing the depHRK-"
His comment was suddenly cut short by the vehicle's new direction. Up.
You know when you suddenly find yourself in a horrible, horrible, horrible accident, and as everything just goes wrong around you, you find that time slows down? Like slows down a lot? When, what in reality is a second, rather ends up feeling like an eternity? And even with everything slowed down (painfully slowed down), you still find that you're helpless to do anything about it? Like put your arms in front of you to cushion the blow, or you know, just scream in horror? Just frozen stiff, letting the terrifying situation unfurl before you? And this whole sensation just causes you to end up experiencing the whole catastrophe even longer than you would like? Like what happens in a car crash? I was experiencing exactly that now. A car crash that is. And the experience was nothing at all like my ol' reliable 'adrenaline rush'.
As our vehicle was thrusted off the ground, it started to turn. In fact, our vehicle was jerked so hard that it basically started to somersault through the air, spinning around and around and around and around...causing me to desperately fight with all my might not to puke. The force railing against my body as our Grizzly sailed through Noveria's sky almost had me pass out too. Not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.
But like all parabolic motions, what goes up, must come down. So...then the vehicle began to fall back to the ground. The interior of the vehicle attained zero g, and I use the term zero g here, even though I don't really know the true definition for it, because it still seems like it would be a pretty apt descriptor for what was going on. Body feeling weightless and all that. And I barely had time to enjoy it before we next hit the ground. I thought I might have broken my neck with how it snapped during the landing. It hurt like a bitch. And then of course, after we collide with it, we rolled, and then rolled some more...eventually coming to a stop after, say, the fourth roll. Which was fortunate.
Only we were upside-down. Which was unfortunate.
The Grizzly's interior was dark, but little red lights inside suddenly came on to help illuminate it.
K-THUNK.
Garrus fell onto the floor (technically ceiling) of the vehicle, with all the grace of a gawky newborn giraffe, having just undone his seat belt. He slumped there, groaning.
K-THUNK.
Tali followed suit, not hitting the floor quite as loud, but still groaning all the same.
K-THUNK.
I undid my own seat belt and let gravity take me down as well. And as I ended up sprawled on the floor (technically ceiling) of the Grizzly, all I could do in my attempt to still not hurl was appreciate how great the seat belts had worked. Whoever patented them needed a pat on the back. Or a god-damn solar system. Dude saved our lives.
K-THUNK.
God almighty, without them...every bone in my body would...would probably be snapped in half.
Cautiously shaking my head, attempting to overcome the shock of what just happened, I started to wonder what the hell did just happen. Then a small white circle appeared next to my left hand. And I stared at it. I stared at it good and long. Because I swear, every time I blinked, it seemed to get larger. And larger. And larger. It baffled me why the lights of the vehicle were just starting to come on now.
"Kai-*krrsshh*" came over my suit's radio.
Then, as I noticed a snowflake slowly descend onto my hand from above, I realized that no, the circle wasn't a light, it was actually just a hole in the ceiling (technically floor) of the vehicle. Then I heard a groan. Looking to my right, I found Kaidan still strapped into the driver's seat, only upside down. Then I realized that there were four K-THUNKs. The sound of four bodies hitting the floor.
"*krrssh*AR-*krrsssh*-right-*krssssh*"
I counted again.
Garrus.
Tali.
Me.
And.
And.
Then my attention was grabbed by a glob of green that had just dripped on my hand. The fingers of my hand, if you want to be more precise. Hearing louder groaning, I looked back toward the others, finding Garrus and Tali now just getting back on their feet, still trying to recover from our accident. Then came the pain.
As I looked back to my hand with a grimace on my face, believing that I was just now finding out that I broke my fingers, my face contorted into an even worse expression upon actually seeing them.
The green goo that had landed on them had created a hole in my armored glove. And that seemed to be said source of my pain. More globs of green started to drip down around the circle of white light, which was still growing bigger.
What the fuuuuuuuck-
As I was still trying to grasp the situation, caught between a sense of complete disbelief and utter horror, my ears suddenly picked up a sound. A shrill cry. A shriek if you will. A sharp-pitched sound that made my blood run cold and every hair stand on end. My head began to swim. My mouth became dry. I couldn't even feel my extremities anymore. As I looked up to the hole, which was still dropping green goo (although on the bright side, the hole itself had stopped growing), I figured that some of these symptoms were probably just due to the cold now entering the vehicle through it.
Then, moving my gaze back down from the hole to my left hand, still in a state of limbo, confused by what was going on around me, my eyes peeled themselves open. As wide as they could. I gagged. And then, I tried my best to not scream like a little bitch when I realized that my fingers had just dropped off.
Tried being the key word.
Codex Entry:
Noveria Peak 8 - Rented by Sirta Foundation
Exchange recorded (15:57) between Arun Patel and Kaapo Okafor
AR: DOCTOR! DOCTOR!
KO: Arun, I know. I know. Doctor Kormun already informed me.
AR: *Panting from strenuous activity* I...the hot labs...it..
KO: No longer is of our concern.
AR: But...shouldn't we...*pauses to catch breath*..shouldn't we call for code omega-
KO: Shut your mouth Arun. There's no need for it.
AR: But the specimen-
KO: Has already escaped the Hot Labs and escaped into the tunnels below. Code Omega would do nothing to slow or stop it now. It would only condemn our research here and have the possibility of resulting in our terminations. Permanent terminations.
AR: So we're just going to-
KO: Go on as we have, yes. I've already sent for another specimen to be shipped here by corporate. We now know that coated meta-aramids still react with the creature's...discharge. I believe the pressure induced to break the material by its bio-waste's temperature is the cause. We'll rebuild the new containment structure with its coating supplemented this time by aliphatic polyamides. They should be key in that-
AR: Should we not even put out a warning or-
KO: That's ENOUGH from you Arun. I'll hear no more of this...Now, fetch me the reagents Bayer used in his most recent trials. I want to resume testing on-
End of exchange. Listening device short-circuited by the facility's VI.
Inform agent of device's failure. Plant another with the following suggestions made attached to script.
Author's Notes:
First thing- Several chapters ago, I wrote that Parasini told us to find Lorik Qui'in in Noveria's hotel bar. Mistake! That meant, Port Hanshan had a hotel bar. Which ifto facto, meant that it also had an actual hotel. So last chapter, I was kind of like oops, too late, just have to go with it. Oh well. But then, surprise! I learned later in another ingame line from Parasini that it actually was a hotel bar! So continuity kept intact. Crisis averted. And we all learn that Port Hanshan has an actual hotel on its premise. Checkmate suckers.
Also, for the curious, Shield's Official Kill Count is: 6 Geth, 1 Husk, 1 Turian, 2 Attack drones, and 1 Batarian. No Cerberus goons. No ERCS guards. Didn't kill any of the Humans trying to extort Dr. Michel's Clinic. So he is correct, he's only taken down robots and two living creatures so far.
Also, I have finals next week. So expect 0 updates. God have mercy on my soul. And I'll pray for yours too (for those reading this in late April-May).
Also, reviews I suppose:
Hachiko - Fair enough. Shield's a pretty ordinary guy, stuck in a pretty extraordinary world. Will it force him to grow into a more unique character as time goes on? Maybe. And will the plot eventually get unique? May be something that happens in the future (hopefully near). I understand that this story isn't for everyone, and I really do appreciate your insight on why that might not be. I do try to add some crack/humor/shenanigans/absurdity/irony/satire and misc. when I can but I'll be sure to work more on that too. Thanks for the compliment on my writing though!
Guest - Thank you.
Nate - I do love cliffhangers.
LordGhostBuster - Yo, you're right, Shield really is being a whiny bitch at the moment. Dude needs to start going hard in the motherfuckin' paint ASAP. Fuck the ERCS! Damn Pigs. YOLO.
Son of House Spicer, Ally to the Westerlings - Yeah...Shepard's also being a turd. But you gotta keep in mind, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. But of course, you also have to remember, you catch more honeys being fly.
DragonRider - I really DO love cliffhangers.
Lan Trexler - And I don't know what April Fools joke you're talking about brah. If I did, I could only imagine that it was probably done in very, very, very poor taste.
Thanks for the reviews gang!
Also, Shoutout to Nate for being my Beta Buddy.
In the Next Chapter: Snow. Snow. It rhymes with [insert rhyme here].
Tune in next time on Mass Effective: A Hero Made!