Chapter 8
The Citadel faded away behind him as he held his ring hand out in front of him, causing a bright streak of green energy to form behind him. Kale could only smile as he was propelled faster than any ship he had ever been in. He quickly made it to the Mass Relay and the ring automatically transferred the coordinates for the Local system. Kale dove into the energy of the Relay and instantly reappeared, basking in the dim glow of a far off yellow star.
"Commander Shepard located. He is staying in an Alliance facility."
Kale kept his focus and continued to fly towards the star at the center of the system. He had never been to the human home system before, but had heard enough about it. He marveled at the large planets that circled the star and finally arched over the Earth's only moon, Luna.
He veered towards Earth, aiming in on the northern hemisphere. "Mark the facility" Kale stated, entering the atmosphere.
"Alliance Command Center highlighted on visuals. Incoming communications"
Kale then noticed overtop his eyes he could see the facility highlighted in green down below him. He narrowed in on the location and opened his comms on all channels.
"Repeat; unidentified craft, respond. You are in restricted airspace. Turn around now or you will be removed" sounded off the human on the other end. Kale smiled and continued his descent.
"Figure if I am already labeled as a fugitive, might as well live it up" Kale mused to himself, now noticing incoming fighters. They continued to try to communicate with him, but he never responded. They then opened fire on him, as he weaved through their volleys and dove in between the fighters.
"This will be real quick, guys!" Kale finally answered as he accelerated and dove past the swirling fighters. He saw the Alliance facility and honed in on where Shepard was, which turned was a decent size military apartment. Kale teetered off moving parallel to the ground as he kept his ring hand forward.
He spotted a balcony that became belonged to the room Shepard was in and slowed down to gently land upon it. Kale saw the fighters fly overhead, probably regrouping or waiting for additional orders. He kept his aura up as he cautiously moved in through the open balcony door.
"Hello? Shepard?" he called out. He was about the let the ring do a scan of the room when from behind a wall Shepard veered around, pistol drawn and aimed at Kale.
"Who are you, what are you doing here?!" the soldier shouted. He was wearing casual clothes, which struck Kale as weird; as anytime he had seen a picture of him he was always wearing a uniform or armor. Now he was wearing blue denim pants with a black leather jacket with his N7 rank displayed on its front.
"Whoa whoa, calm down" Kale responded, holding his hands up, "I just want to talk, I swear."
"You fly in through the window with nothing but a green glow around you after setting the entire base on full alert and you just want to talk?" asked Shepard never taking his weapon off target.
"Please, it's about the Collectors and Reapers" Kale sighed, dropping his hands, "You're the last person I trust. Please." Shepard studied the turian, squinting his eyes, looking him up and down.
"Fine, but you probably have only a minute or two before someone comes bursting through that door" Shepard agreed, holstering his weapon.
"Well I need more time than that." Kale then slowly walked around Shepard and lifted his ring hand up sending out a small beam of green light that struck the main door and extended over top all the walls and floors. The emerald glow formed over the ceiling as well until it covered the entire room. "Now we're safe. It's also soundproof" smiled Kale, facing Shepard once more.
Shepard was still looking at the now green walls and floors in confusion, "So who are you supposed to be?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Look I'm only here because I'm out of options and I believe you can help me. My name is Kale Raynor, I am….was a Colonel in the Taetrus Air Battalion. A couple days ago now, I was part of the air raids on Taetrus quelling the rising separatists under the Facinus. I was shot down and captured a day before the bombardments were supposed to start." Kale saw that Shepard was still listening, so he continued.
"I escaped once the bombings began and I found this in the upturned rubble of the planet." Kale raised his hand, showing the green ring, "Or maybe it found me, I'm not sure yet." Kale noticed Shepard raise an eyebrow.
"As far as I can tell it's some sort of super computer that responds to the will of the user. It's a weapon from another age that can create hard light constructs and do pretty much whatever I want it to" Kale shrugged, trying not to sound excited.
"Okay, moving past the ancient alien weapon that lets you do anything, what does this have to do with the Reapers?" Shepard asked, taking a seat now.
"Whoever made this ring was wiped out along with the rest of its species by the Reapers, Spirits know how long ago. Whoever they were made sure this one ring survived and sent it out to be found by someone who may be able to stop the Reapers. So now I have it."
"And the Collectors?" Shepard asked.
"Right," Kale sighed beginning to pace the room, "As soon as I put this thing on, the ship I was on was attacked by a Collector vessel, one different than the one you destroyed, a new one. I managed to distract them and gain access to their vessel's network. I downloaded all I could; I mean battle plans, weapon specifications, biology logs, the works."
Shepard now leaned forward, "I was inside the main Collector base and not even EDI could not hack their network and you're saying you did?"
"It did" Kale corrected, again holding up his ring, "I am now a wanted fugitive to my own people and Citadel space. They think the ring is influencing me and that it can't be trusted."
"And you think it can?"
"It's not sentient, it's a tool!" Kale said louder than he wanted to, tired of everyone assuming otherwise, "Yes. I think this ring is one of the best weapons we have in our arsenal right now to fight the Reapers that you know are coming."
Shepard nodded, "I agree with. But look, I can't help you as much as you think I can. If I aid you in whatever it is you are doing now, it would have the Alliance aiding a current criminal of the Turian Hierarchy." Kale looked down to the floor, he knew what he was asking of Shepard and understood. "Now I have a powerful ally who literally just contacted me telling me she knows the location of the Shadow Broker. I am about to rendezvous with her now and I know that with access to his files, I can properly help you. I'm sorry, you are on your own, but that is just the way it needs to be for now."
"I know and I appreciate it, but I just don't know what to do, knowing what I know, having this thing" Kale gestured to his ring, truthfully seeking the veteran soldier's advice.
"Honestly? Prepare. Prepare all you can. Because they are coming and we are not ready, not by a long shot. You have a weapon no one else does, so use it. If your people think you're a fugitive, then so be it, but just do what you feel is right, no matter what" Shepard said as he stood up and faced the turian.
Outside the room there was a muffled blast, no doubt authorities trying to breach his barrier. Kale nodded to Shepard and stuck out his right hand in a gesture he knew was common among humans. Shepard nodded back and grabbed the aliens hand with his own, shaking it.
"Want a lift to your ship?" laughed Kale, letting go of the soldier's hand.
"Thanks, but I'll manage. Good luck out there" Shepard said stepping away from the turian. Kale let in a quick breath and let the barrier disappear, letting in a group of armed soldiers into the apartment.
"Don't worry guys, just needed a quick word with him. I'm all set" Kale turned to face the balcony he came in from and then quickly turned once more, "Oh and when asked who flew by all your defenses, just tell them it was the Green Lantern, Kale Raynor. Thanks." He then shot out of the apartment and twisted off into the sky, leaving a faint green trail behind him.
Shepard had his arms crossed as a smile formed on his face, watching the turian fly off. But the smile quickly faded, realizing now more than ever that the Reapers are still coming and even with new allies, it may not be enough.
Kale could see in the distance fighters were beginning to follow him, but he accelerated faster than what they were capable of, quickly losing them in upper atmosphere. He felt a renewed vigor after talking with Shepard, even if he could not help him as much as he wanted to. But at least he knew what he had to do now. He would have to convince people the Reapers are coming and help everyone prepare as much as he could, no matter what they thought of him.
Nearing the Charon Mass Relay, Kale began to form a plan about how he would begin such an endeavor when in the corner of his eye he caught sight of a green glow. He was near the Mass Relay, but not enough to activate it when he stopped to look more closely at the glow in the distance. As he looked at it, he rubbed his eyes.
"Ring, what is that glow over there?" he asked, already beginning to float in its direction. A slight pain in his head arose the closer he got to it.
"Oan energy detected."
"What? Another ring?" asked Kale, speeding up towards the glow, his vision starting to blur.
"Negative. No other Oan rings detected."
"Then what-" Kale was then cut off by two strange looking armored figures that somehow snuck up on him and now held both of this arms in place. "Hey, get off!" he struggled, trying to construct armor over top of him or weapons to fend them off, but nothing happened. All the ring did was kept his aura over himself.
"Energy siphon commencing" Kale heard directly in his head as the metal being holding his ring hand let its face retract, showing a bright energy source within. It glowed with the same hue as his ring and he managed to see power from his ring be drained directly into the androids face unit. Kale could feel himself losing his will and in a last ditch effort, he imagined a spike forming directly out of his ring and into the robots head.
The spike sliced through the robot's cranium, sending small bits of machinery floating. The attack temporarily stopped the energy drain, giving Kale a second to recuperate. He broke free of both of their grips and swung himself over them to get a better look.
The androids were colored in red and purple plated armor, with two legs and arms. Their faces had eyes and mouths that seemed frozen in a permanent scowl. Kale now knew that their faces could retract to start a siphon of his power. He focused and pointed his ring towards them and let two identical beams shoot from it towards the two bots. To his surprise, both of the androids retracted theirs faces and completely absorbed the two beams coming at them respectively.
"Shit" was all Kale could say to himself as he rethought his strategy.
The two androids wasted no time as they rocketed forward once again pinning his arms and dragging him through space. He felt disoriented, as though something was interfering with his thoughts, but Kale struggled on, trying to form constructs to help him. Before he could form a solid object, the two robots twisted him around so that he could see a third android flying directly towards him. Kale braced himself, as the bot planted its knee into his stomach, causing him to let out the air in his lungs.
"Bring him to the surface" Kale again heard seemingly from the robots as the two holding him suddenly accelerated, bringing him closer to one of the large moons surrounding the Mass Relay at the edge of the Local System. The three androids threw him onto desolate surface of the moon, where there was no atmosphere of any kind. Kale was able to keep his aura up, allowing him to breathe and listen to the androids as they approached him.
"Ring-Bearer, Kale Raynor of Taetrus. We are the M'an Hunters.Our time to rise has come.With your death, we will be ascended once more."
Kale knew that name, the M'an Hunters, he heard it when he first put the ring on. The Guardian that had sent the ring away, Ganthet, mentioned that they were the enforcers of justice before the creation of the Corps. But something went wrong and they were exiled before being rediscovered by a traitorous Guardian and used to nearly wipe out the Corps. "Cleary they have survived all these years and must want me dead to show the Reapers they are still useful" Kale considered to himself.
"Maybe you guys have the wrong person" joked Kale, slowly getting to his feet.
"We do not. Energy drain commencing." The Hunters retracted their faces and began to approach Kale. He struggled to stay upright, guessing they hunters were deploying a sort of neural interference so that he could not form complete thoughts.
Out of ideas, he leapt forward, tackling one of the hunters to the ground and jumping over top of it. He quickly thought of a simple crane construct and dug of chuck of the surface up and flung it at the other two hunters. They let their faces return to normal as the dirt and stone fell onto them, causing them to fall.
He still found it hard to focus, but Kale could form very simple thoughts if he pushed himself. Kale then let spiked bracers form over his hands as he charged towards the still standing Hunter. As his fist approached, the Hunter's eyes glowed green and caused the bracers to disappear, being drained inside of it. Kale's bare hand then smashed into the Hunter cheek, only causing it to move slightly to the right. Pain raced up his arm as Kale backed off, holding his hand. He turned around to try to flee, when five more Hunters landed in front of him, faces retracted.
"No one escapes the M'an Hunters" they all said in unison. They once again started to absorb the energy of his ring and he felt his aura beginning to fade. Kale dropped to his knees, taking short breaths, with his vision blurring. He glanced down to the ring on his finger, seeing the light drain from it as everything else around him swirled into blackness.
After everything went dark, Kale was not sure if he was dreaming or already dead. But the next thing he felt was the ground shake, enough he thought to break the small moon apart. Kale was drifting in and out of consciousness and thought he opened his eyes at one point, enough to see a red and blue blur dashing between the M'an Hunters. He then blacked out again and suddenly felt warm against the cold of space.
After what seemed like a days worth of sleeping, Kale's eyes shot open and he took in a deep intake of fresh air. He saw that he was in a medical bed, wearing a gown and no longer had the shimmering green aura over him. Kale was taking in long breaths and suddenly became aware of the tall human figure standing to his left wearing red and blue with an 'S' printed on his chest.
Kale immediately knew who it was, everyone knew who it was and yet he could not bring himself to open his mouth. Luckily, he did not have to; Superman beat him to it.
"How are you feeling, Kale?"
*Author's note*
I had to change certain points in this chapter to match up with the timeline. I'm sort of a stickler when it comes to adhering to the timeline and with the way it was written before, Shepard was already detained after the Bahak Mass relay incident, which took place at the very end of Mass Effect 2. The Vallum Blast happened well over 6 months before that event, so I had to change it around so that Kale was meeting Shepard right before he goes off with Liara to confront the Shadow Broker. This makes more sense in terms of the timeline.
I also realize that I am probably the only one that saw this mistake and the only one that really cares, but I figure if I am going to do it, I might as well do it right. So, sorry for the revision and if anyone out there is still reading, I hope to put more out very soon.
Thanks.
