2176 CE :: Armstrong Nebula - Tereshkova - Antibaar
"Do you even know where we're going?"
"Does it look like I can see?" a frustrated Tamsin shot back.
The cold wind howled across the arid land, so loud that even inside the environmentally-sealed M35 Mako the soldiers had to raise their voices to speak. Outside, nothing could be seen except the sheet of white constantly battering against the windscreen. While the Mako was cramped, it made up for its size in adaptability and firepower. The other drawback was the endless bumpy ride, so much so that others actually swore up and down that their bones had been shaken loose by simply being in the vehicle.
"Bloody hell! Damn Mako!" the third person of their party yelped as she bounced in her seat.
Gunnery Chief Ciara O'Breen huffed angrily as the metal hull of the vehicle groaned louder, seemingly in response to the name-calling. The British blonde had been selected alongside Lauren to receive their N7 classification, as well as hand-picked by the crew's new Lieutenant Lauren Lewis to replace her upon the SSV Trafalgar. The frigate was now Admiral Steven Hackett's go-to A-team for most missions, including this one on the frigid planet. People often joked that they were the three blonde harbingers of death and destruction, the poster girls for the Systems Alliance's wrath.
"Sorry!" Tamsin yelled back as she activated the micro-thrusters.
Lauren had been manning the mounted machine guns, but her senses were prickling. She did a cautious scan from the scope, knowing there was something dangerous about the planet, the constant howling of the wind and distinct lack of life unsettled her. Furthermore, the admiral was clear that they needed to find and destroy the geth base. It was unusual that the geth had settled outside Terminal space, but to find that they had a base here made Lauren squirm uncomfortably. Maybe it was just the pre-battle jitters she always got before a mission, especially one from the admiral.
An alarm beeped through the vehicle. Shit, Lauren cursed under her breath. She had spoken too soon.
"What's that?" Tamsin questioned from the front.
"Five - no, six - guided missiles heading our way," Ciara reported, shifting to the cannon. "Hostiles to the northwest. No heat signatures, so I guess they're the geth we're looking for."
Lauren chuckled at the old vid reference as she aimed for the Geth Colossus, holding down the trigger and feeling the gun shudder in her hands. The bullets simply glanced off the plated body, angering the monstrosity even more. It reared its photoreceptor head, all ready to fire a pulse beam at them. Ciara fired round after round through the mass accelerated cannon, cursing when she had missed the target.
"Tam, stop driving in bloody circles!" Lauren shouted over the noise.
"I'm sorry for trying to save our lives!" Tamsin barked back, swerving again to avoid the incoming missiles, earning a glare from the other two at the back of the cramped vehicle.
"Damn it! Get us closer, Tam! We're out of range!"
"I don't have a fucking death wish, Lo!"
"We'll die if we don't get out of this anyway!"
"Fine," the tall blonde grumbled, slamming down on the accelerator.
They skirted around the compound, missiles and pulse attacks hot on their tail. Tamsin expertly weaved in and out of the sharp, cyan beams falling all around them, each hit depleting the Mako's shield to a dangerous level. By the time they got back into range again, Tamsin let out a low growl as she continued dodging attacks. This could not continue for long. The geth would never get tired, hungry, or injured, neither would they run out of ammunition. The soldiers, on the other hand… They needed to do something. Lauren glanced over at Tamsin, puzzled by the sudden manic grin that appeared on the tall blonde's face.
"I know that look, babe, wha - "
"Hold on, ladies!" Tamsin roared as she sent the Mako flying off one of the nearby cliffs.
The horror in both Ciara and Lauren's eyes only seemed to make Tamsin laugh harder. They landed in the crater and were smack in the middle of the geth camp. The short moment of stunned silence was immediately bombarded by several alarms going off, notifying them of the damage that had been done to the vehicle and the hostile that surrounded them.
"Are you out of your fuc - " Lauren bellowed, reaching for her commander's collar.
Before she could finish, Tamsin cut in, "I'd suggest you get out and use those nifty marksman skills of yours before the Mako is damaged beyond repair."
Lauren narrowed her eyes at her before leaping out of the Mako. They would be having a talk about this, but later. A missile whizzed by, barely missing her lithe form as she was pulled back by Ciara. Flashing a grateful grin, she took up position behind a nearby structure as Ciara ran the opposite direction, turning on her tactical cloak and disappearing.
Reaching for her sniper rifle, Lauren pressed her eye to the scope, tracing Ciara's movements. After watching her slip out of the cloak to take down two Geth Troopers with her omni-blade and another pair with her pistols, Lauren decided that the fairy queen could take care of herself. She took aim at the snipers that sat up in their metal perches, putting holes into their metal exteriors. The kickback from the sniper's recoil always lent her comfort. But that did not last long as she watched Tamsin join the fight, charging straight for the Geth Colossus.
"Lewis, cover fire," her mentor ordered.
In that moment, Lauren was appreciative that she had Tamsin on her side. The determination glinting in those green eyes as she ran from cover to cover was more than admirable. Lauren's body subconsciously drew in a sharp breath as she realized just how enormous the Geth Colossus was. The Mako, big enough to fit three soldiers, was dwarfed by the sheer size of the machine. It was at least a 30-storey skyscraper tall, its thick limbs and plated body was the width of several cars. Tamsin almost looked comical running towards it.
"Lewis!" Tamsin yelled.
Lauren cursed her momentary daze and snapped around to provide support, switching to her disruptor ammo and taking aim at the Colossus' giant photoreceptor. This gave Tamsin time to take out two Troopers and make her way even closer to the Colossus.
"Shit," Lauren hissed as a bullet slipped past her shields, tearing her armoured sleeve open.
She found the culprit in a matter of seconds, putting a well-aimed round through its head. Her wound had stopped bleeding the moment it started, thanks to medigel. The cool and soothing gel was beginning to mend the raw flesh, adding another scar to the dozen others she had on various parts of her body.
Shifting her focus back on Tamsin, she fired off a few more rounds to keep the Colossus' attention on her. With a yelp and a leap, she managed to dodge the beam of energy hurtling towards her. Dodging the hail of bullets raining in her wake, Lauren crashed painfully into the next barrier. Her body would definitely not forgive her for that later in the day, but at least she was not part of the smoking ruins that was once her cover.
Now that Lauren had a better vantage point, she was dealing much more damage. Her finger squeezed the trigger again, and another geth fell. Ciara seemed to have destroyed most of the ground troops, giving them all a chance to pay attention to the Colossus. The two of them advanced on the machine, distracting it as much as possible as Tamsin unloaded several payloads from her customized M-920 Cain. A low whine indicated that its shields were depleted and the time for an all-out attack had arrived.
Tamsin gave a subtle nod as the rest of the team began to focus-fire at the underside of the beast. Ciara took the opportunity that Lauren still was the centre of the Colossus' ire and ran dangerously close. Lauren wanted to worry but she knew the Gunnery Chief dealt more damage up close.
"Ciara!"
Lauren was not sure if she had screamed her friend's name or if it was Tamsin. But the next moment, Ciara was hitting the side of the geth base building and Tamsin was flying through the air like a ragdoll. The Colossus suddenly stopped firing, retracting its neck and legs back into its body like a turtle. Lauren ran to the closest one, her instinct taking over as she quickly examined the damage done to the fairy queen. She was unconscious but still breathing. Dragging her to a safe place, she started looking for Tamsin.
The snow and the rising smoke made it incredibly hard to see anything, let alone find a body in the middle of the debris of burning geth parts.
"Come on, come on," Lauren urged no one in particular.
She had picked up on the soft buzzing of recharging shields. No doubt the Colossus was self-repairing and would be more in shape for a gunfight than the squad.
"Goddamn it, valkyrie! Where are you!"
The buzzing was getting louder, and Lauren felt the fear creep up her spine. She was running out of bullets, energy, and time. And more importantly, she needed to get her squadmates back onto the ship, stat. If she could find them, that is.
The buzz turned into a whine and Lauren knew that the Colossus had completed the repair and was all ready to begin its second wave of assault.
No, no, no! Lauren thought in a panic. You can't be dead! You promised a life with me!
Lauren called out a couple more times, her voice cracking with her resolve. Just as all her efforts seem futile and she was about to turn back to defend the unconscious fairy queen, a shadow zipped up across the air, leaving a trail of dust.
"What the…?"
Lauren could not believe her eyes when she looked. Tamsin! Tamsin had grown… wings? The tall blonde leapt into the air, allowing her new additions to carry her higher. She threw a confident smirk at the doctor, sending a silent message that Lauren could not yet decode. But Tamsin did not wait for a confirmation, instead she summoned a ball of blue energy in her hands, throwing a singularity at the Colossus, engulfing it in a dense, violet haze. She brought up her other hand, another sphere of energy cracking and sizzling, this time a warp field left her hand, shredding the plated armour.
"Now!" her mentor motioned for her to take fire.
Oh, Lauren realized, lifting the sniper rifle and held her breath as she aligned the crosshairs with the glowing bulb. The next moment, she was thrown back a few feet and the Colossus had disappeared, grey clouds of smoke and burning embers taking its place.
"Nice shot, Lewis," Tamsin landed beside her, her wings in the process of folding themselves away neatly.
"You have - "
"Yes, wings. Neat little things," the valkyrie smirked, patting her shoulders.
"But I couldn't fin - "
"Needed to zip back to Valhalla for a bit, sorry 'bout that."
"Y-You were - "
"Dead? Sorry to disappoint," Tamsin shrugged.
"What?"
"Odin just yelled at me for a bit and sent me back. Something about not paying attention or something. Anyway, time moves differently there, much faster. It's just a slap on th - "
"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!" Lauren roared, her hands making contact with her mentor's lapels.
For a moment, the green eyes betrayed their owner. The look of pure surprise and disbelief made Lauren's heart break. How did the beautiful blonde not realize just how important she was to Lauren? Tamsin gave her a small smile and soft lips followed the rivulet of tears Lauren did not realize were escaping her eyes.
"Fine, fine. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for interrupting you while you were speaking. I know how much you hate that," the taller blonde whispered into her ear, voice laced with mirth. "You're so dramatic."
"And you're too damn selfless."
"The reason we're not dead."
Lauren glared at the woman.
"Too soon?" came Tamsin's innocent reply before she reached over to comfort her girlfriend. "I'm alive, Lauren. It's okay, I'm right here."
"J-Just… don't do that again," the doctor repeated without cursing, before continuing in a soft mumble, "I can't stand the thought of losing you."
"You won't, I promise. I'll always be right here with you."
To: Commander Tamsin Sigrún
Re: Debrief of Mission [21761807-ANTBR]
Thank you for your efforts on the planet Antibaar, the geth have been eliminated and our efforts to continue terraforming the planet will continue.
2176 CE :: Serpent Nebula - Citadel :: Bachjret Ward
"How about this?"
"No! You want to cause an explosion?" Lauren hurriedly grabbed at the small bottle of liquid.
"What?"
"Baking soda and vinegar?" Lauren gaped. "Do you remember nothing from Elder Kyrrh's chemistry class?"
Tamsin grumbled, "Sour pancakes tasted interesting in my head."
The valkyrie made a face as she absently ran her fingers over the many little plastic boxes that contained kitchen herbs. Lauren watched her closely as she adjusted the heat on their stove, placing a little butter into the round pan.
"I don't get why you insist on doing this when that damn droid could make us breakfast in bed!" Tamsin lamented, jumping up to sit on the island counter.
"Cooking is a delicate science!"
"Not again!"
Lauren continued as if she did had not heard, "By mixing the chemicals around and creating something out of nothing is worth it. And also it's oddly therapeutic. "
"Yeah, and only you could make it sound so damn geeky," Tamsin shot her a lopsided smile.
"And for that, you're getting a bunny one!"
Lauren whirled around to grab the big bowl of pancake mix. Pouring a circle carefully first, she dripped more of the thick mix into the sizzling pan, extending from the half-cooked dough to make a rabbit's ears. Tamsin quickly hopped off the counter to protest, only to earn a smack from her ladle-wielding girlfriend.
"I want a shield!"
"You mean a circle? Like a normal pancake?" Lauren teased.
The realization came to Tamsin pretty fast, and Lauren could swear the valkyrie almost looked embarrassed before muttering, "Whatever."