Hi there! Void here with a new chapter update, for all you readers and whatnot. I'm most likely going to abandon the first story in favor to this one temporarily, until I can get things moving up to Eden Prime. So the Prologue Arc for Roland, partnered with Legion (Not that way either! 0/0), will mostly consist of him attempting to reach the Mass Effect universe, meet Shepard at one point to gain his/her trust to join his/her crew aboard the Normandy at a later point in time. And yes, it's been months since the previous update. Life is frustrating that way.

So with that squared away, let's begin!

En Taro Adun, Readers!

Mass Effect:

What Got Me In This Mess?

By:

Apathy of the Abyssal Void

Chapter 3:

The Chase Within Evergreen Roads (Part I):

An Unexpected Surprise


I rubbed my eyes, making sure I wasn't deluding myself into thinking that seeing Optimus Prime was an illusion of some kind. Seriously, why would he even be here? Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but it really doesn't make sense that he would be here right now. I was at least expecting the Red Vs Blue guys to be here, and I mean people like: Sarge, Tucker, Simmons, Caboose, Grif and Church. Anyway, shaking my head a bit, relieving myself of those notions of seeing those guys at all, and looked at Optimus with curiosity in my mind.

The Cybertronian's gaze was impenetrable, as though he were to be looking right through me, instead of my own curious eyes as he spoke, "While it is a pleasure to meet you Roland, I would prefer it to be under better circumstances than what is to happen to you." "Yeah, same here." I replied while nodding at his comment, as he continued, "However it is imperative that both you and Legion must leave this area before more humans come to this location and capture the both of you for questioning. I have a few allies, including Autobots, ready to guide us through the road without unwanted attention from other humans."

My curiosity getting the better of me, I ask Optimus, "Who else is supposed to guide us to our destination?"

"In a nearby location that is close to the mountain range, where we will be out of their range, there is a small group of warriors that excel at stealth and are capable of neutralizing any opposition from infantry units, while Ironhide and Sideswipe will deal with any vehicular difficulties." The Autobot leader replied, looking away from me and searching for any movements within the surrounding forests. I looked over at Legion, whom I surmised that was gazing at Optimus with great interest, as the living mech continued his search for enemy movements. I sighed before looking back at Optimus speaking, "Well, we should go now, they could catch us if we stand around here for too long." "You are correct Roland, we must hurry to our rendezvous point." Optimus replied before quickly transforming, his body shifting, folding and collapsing in numerous areas that changed from his original form to his vehicle mode that faced in the direction of the road crossing ours not too far ahead. His vehicle mode was rather impressive (a mack truck was it? I can't recall), considering its size compared to what the movies may have shown or in some sort of documentary.

I widened my eyes in realization at an idea I really should have considered beforehand: How am I supposed to defend myself if they shoot at us? I don't want to rely on them to protect me the entire way and I know it isn't something of pride, maybe it's because I don't want to feel useless if everyone decides to protect me without my consent. Although they would do it no matter what the cost, THAT much I know. Cutting myself from my musing, I looked over at Legion again, gesturing him to enter the large truck first in a "after you" sort of thing. Legion nodded, proceeding to enter the truck, taking step up into the passenger side and closed the door, while I held onto my tag-along bags, going around the front of Optimus, then entered the driver's side, closing the door behind me.

I turned to the house one last time, only to see Dad and ***** waving from the window like we always do whenever one of us leaves the house for a little while. I wave back at them as we leave the little street behind and we entered the road, heading northbound to our destination, with so little time left before Legion and leave this little ball of dirt for good. I know for a fact that all of this was rather sudden for me and my family, with me abruptly torn away from everything that I know and love, while they lose me forever, never knowing if I'll make it out of this crazy situation alive or not.

It's best not dwell so much on it, probably makes me feel like my old childhood self, going into some sort of depressive state that's obviously not like me for that to happen. Man, thinking positively almost seems like freaking mission in of itself, although I suppose it would be considered something like a pessimist, if not in a more depressing manner than simply stating every single negative possibility or outcome.

I slowly close my eyes, listening to the hypnotic sound of the vehicle moving. With the last of my thoughts drifting away, waiting until we arrive at where we need...*yawn* to be, *yawn* our...


A sudden jolt from Optimus woke me up, as I rapidly looked around to see if we arrived, only to see we were still traveling, on a long winding road with no other vehicles passing by us at all on either side of the road. Hm, that's rather odd, there should be at least one other vehicle passing by on the other side of the road. I looked over at Legion hazily, who happened to have taken over my previous position, while I was lying down with my head on top of my larger bag and my smaller bag right below me in front of the seat. I sat upright, gently moving my bag next to my smaller bag, and then proceeded to stretch my arms and legs, groaning rather loudly while I stretched outwardly.

I look outside to see that it was mostly dark still; it's possible that only thirty minutes or an hour had passed since I fell asleep. I grumbled a bit, realizing that I fell asleep in a vehicle yet again. That'll be a major problem if I keep passing out every time I ride in a vehicle, despite the size and type of vehicle that I ride in. I mean seriously, every time I get in a car or a truck or something, it takes roughly ten minutes on the road for me to fall asleep, and it's really irritating too. Shaking my head, I turn to see Legion gazing at the trees surrounding us, as we are going through multiple turns on the road. I yawned a bit while I asked, " Do you know how close we are to our destination?"

"Affirmative. We are approximately 359 meters from the rendezvous point, Civilian-Roland." Legion replied, facing the seemingly endless road ahead of us.

"Thanks, *yawn* Legion."

Now fully awake, I straightened myself up in the seat, trying to readjust myself until I see something ahead of us. I turned to Legion quizzically then turn back to the road a few times, until we came to a complete stop about 30 yards from the apparent obstruction ahead of us. I turned to Legion one last time, with him facing me, both nodding to each other to signify that I would check it out. I jump outside to see the source of the problem, not before quietly telling Optimus, "Stay alert, we may need to run if this is what I think it is." Optimus, in his vehicle mode, could only hum in affirmation as he slightly rolled back, just in case if the government's pet mooks were nearby, ready to do something. Something incredibly stupid, I bet.

I walked over to see that our obstacle happened to be a group of highway patrolmen that set up a barricade on both sides of the road, with the officers with their weapons at the ready, searching for something. And I'm gonna find out exactly what they're searching for, I thought as I strode over to the barricade, ready to be the initiator of the impending conversation.

"Hello officer, do you happen to know what's going on here?" I asked politely as best as I could for now until he replied, " I'm sorry sir, but I need you to take your truck and go back wherever it is you came from, the road is closed so I need you to leave and find another route to take." Huh, didn't think I'd get shut out like that, time for another tactic now.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, I just got done transporting my last load for the day and I need to take this route back to my boss, or else he'll have my hide if I don't return his truck safely." I told him in false nervousness, attempting to convince the officer to let me pass.

"Boss? Son, you look really young to be driving that thing around. I need to see your license and registration, if you don't mind." He spoke with a heavy amount of surprise and disbelief at my appearance, not knowing how old I actually am.

Ah, I shaved earlier today, that must have been the reason he thought I was too young to drive something like that. But that doesn't make sense, the state should obviously have a minimum age limit on driving, either in general or for specific vehicles. I wonder if the state and country-wide limit are the same...Wait a sec, that was stupid to think like that! Obviously they shouldn't, since each state should have its own age limit...CA was roughly 16, although I don't know Wash's minimum age limit...crap. Looks like it's time for a little improvisation... My thoughts ending, I move slightly towards Optimus, indirectly showing that I'm heading back to retrieve my "license".

"Sure thing, I'll be right back!" I spoke cheerfully although it was somewhat forced, not liking the situation I've been saddled with at the moment. I know that I have no driver's license, especially the kind needed to drive a vehicle not unlike what Optimus looks like in vehicle mode. I jogged a bit back towards the "truck", as they viewed it to be, hopped right up to the door on Legion's side, only to see Legion contorted in such a way that from the outside, no one should see him at all, yet inside he's shaped himself like an interior mold. I tried so hard not to laugh at the position Legion placed himself in, by The Log, it was too hard to resist laughing at him.

Calming myself down, I asked the Geth platform, "What are you doing?"

"Consensus states that hiding from the armed organics was vital to our operation. Hiding in this formation was the most suitable option."

"You look ridiculous. Also, your consensus is partially wrong for hiding like that, no one is willing to believe hiding like that would prevent others from seeing you. It is even less likely that even if you were to hide in a cardboard box, someone would be able to see you eventually. Especially if you were able to use a box in the firstplace."

"We do not understand the reference in which this "cardboard box" would be suitable for cover or disguise."

"That's alright; I would be extremely disturbed if you did, along with any of the info that correlates to the box itself. Now, would you kindly help me find anything that could resemble a driver's license, I really need to find it."

"Acknowledged." Legion responded, having to move slowly in order not to alert the patrolmen ahead of us.

Heh, obviously anyone that would have been able to hear that bit of conversation would know what I had just referenced. I'll just chalk up that Legion didn't quite look deeply enough into it. Hm, he should have been able to make the connection right away from that tidbit. After all, he quickly understood his namesake, so that makes me wonder why he didn't point out the reference, unless...

"Legion, stop what you're doing right now," I quickly told him, realizing that something wasn't right about this situation. Legion stopped moving, having noticed my distress at what just occurred between us. I quickly got inside, closed the door behind me and rapidly began searching for what I just asked Legion not too long ago. I opened the glove box that was near Legion's head, and scoured its contents, hoping to find something important. Right when I pulled my hand out, a small package fell out, roughly the size of an average shoebox, lightly bouncing on the geth platform's head and slid off from his topside.

My eyebrow raised at the sight of the box that just fell out of the compartment. Okay, that doesn't look right, there's no reason that a shoebox should be able to fit in that compartment at all. Grabbing the box slowly, I looked all around it, checking to see if it was safe to open it without damaging its contents. I opened the box very carefully, making sure that I didn't set off some sort of trap that may have been placed in it, then I peered inside the box, only to see a strange device next to what appears to be a driver's license and a driver's id card for Washington State. "How convenient that TIM got me exactly what I needed for that particular problem." I muttered to myself, although I have no clue what that device is for, despite the fact that it came with my license.

The device had the appearance of a long black glove, with some gray wire-like lines running across both sides of the glove, with multifaceted translucent hard plating covering it, making it look rather futuristic and white concentric circle placed where the palm would be. If this is supposed to be some sort of omni-tool, then whoever built it is insane. I've played Mass Effect well enough to know that I've never recalled seeing some sort of unique looking glove with that exact purpose in mind. Whenever I try replacing old omni-tools with new and better ones in the game, it only showed the hologram surrounding the character's entire forearm, not its exact appearance in terms of design, mind you.

"How odd. Legion, what do you think this is?" I asked the geth, curious to see if that really is an omni-tool.

[[Scanning...Analysis complete.]] "Well?" I asked impatiently, wanting to get out of our predicament as soon as possible.

"Our scanners indicate that it is a prototype device that behaves similarly to an omni-tool, possibly designed for Civilian-Roland in mind. Further research shows that the device was created from individual parts not of this Earth," Legion replied, although he has more to say about the omni-tool snow clone. I nodded and he continued, "The properties of the device are unknown until further testing. However, this device will self-destruct should another organic or a synthetic attempt to use it."

Great, I thought, Now I have no choice but to use this thing...the game makes it look so easy to use, but now it just feels odd wearing this thing, especially if I don't have a another glove for my other hand an-hello, what's this?

I lifted the glove-like device up to see a folded piece of paper that had been placed underneath it. I slowly grasped the paper, gently removing it from its former position, slowly out of the box and set the box aside; wanting to know what is written on this thing. Picking up the paper, I carefully opened it, only to see that it has no words in it.

Really? Nothing written at all? Why would there be a piece of paper in the box, but no writing in it? I was hoping for some kind of instruction manual or an actual note from TIM. Man, what a letdown that was. I thought in annoyance, as I glared at the offending blank piece of paper, wanting to simply burn it with my gaze.

Shoving the blank piece of paper into my left pants pocket, I neatly folded the necessary papers, and then placed them to the side momentarily. I grabbed my new driver's id card, placed it in my wallet, closing the box afterward. I then reinserted the box into the glove compartment gently, making sure that the glove, as well as the box, doesn't get damaged. I sighed dejectedly, hoping that I could find a simple solution out of this frustrating situation, but alas, I cannot right now. I sit upright, scratching the back of my head of confusion and holding the papers in my other hand, before exiting again, leaving the two –- er robots, to their own devices.

I jog right back to the officer that was being unusually patient, during my little mishap with Legion. Thinking back, something about this situation is really bizarre, like these guys aren't meant to prevent us from going in, but to keep something from coming out. I mentally shake my head at the utterly ridiculous idea and how cliché it would be to have... I don't know a parasitic race hell-bent on consuming all organic life or some unexplained paranormal phenomena that likes to feast upon the souls of sinners.

I shook my head, ridding myself of those morbid thoughts I had, as basic as they could be. I faced the officer warily, half-expecting the man to surprise me by actually being a government agent in disguise, handing him my "papers" for him to inspect. While waiting for him to finish, I glance around to see the other police officers focusing their attention on me, just waiting for me to make a wrong move as an excuse to shoot me. I chuckled at the thought of this being a charade, making my situation seem more comical, but no less perilous. The officer looks up at me, his expression was a 'what-the-hell-is-so-funny' on his face, and I shrugged noncommittally before he resumed reading the papers.

"Okay, it looks like you're all squared away, Mr. Cain. Have a nice evening." He spoke, looking up at me with a smile while turning to the others shouting, "Alright, let 'em through." I sighed in relief as he returned the papers to me, quietly stating "thank you", then proceeded to enter the vehicle yet again. Before I 'started' the vehicle, I checked the papers that I handed to the officer earlier. Hm, let's see... Cain, Cain, where was that section for the name? Ah, here we go, Cain... Ciaphas Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!) The hell was that about? I don't see anyone, so where did that come from?

Shoving my thoughts aside, I grabbed the false documents, then immediately placed them inside the glove box on top of the 'secret weapon container', closing it tightly to prevent anything from falling out. I allow Optimus to start up again, placing my hands on the wheel, I 'drove' through the open barricade at a decent speed to maintain my persona and avoid doing anything that would have them suspect something from me. I continued to drive a little ways until we were out of range, in which Legion collapsed from his position on top of me, losing my grip on the wheel and fell over. Optimus naturally took over quickly as our fumble ensued for the duration. "Um, Legion?" I asked, wondering why the hell he fell directly on me while I had my hands on the wheel, despite the fact that Optimus would normally drive anyway. "It was best to return to our previous position once we were away from the other organics." Legion replied, slightly unfazed by the fact that he fell on me, regardless of the idea that had Optimus not taken over, we would be in trouble relatively quickly.

"Yeah well, try to let me know the next time you do something that stupid, alright?"

"Affirmative."

I managed to push Legion off my back and scooted over to the passenger side, during which he turned his torso and his right arm, making me feel a little freaked out by the sudden movements that Legion made that were just too close for comfort, before settling down in my seat.

Whew...At any rate, things seem to go smoothly so far right now. Hm, now that I think about, it's going a little too smoothly. That's not a good sign. I usually tend to feel paranoid whenever things tend to go too smoothly for me, and that happens a lot, especially now. I check the area around us: nothing but blurs of green and hints of brown right now. Still, I can't help but worry that something big is gonna happen soon. I really have no clue when it'll happen, but if it does: I need to be ready for it. Or else all sentient life will vanish by the Reapers' hand. It's weird how things happen like that. Still feeling tense, I decided to let Optimus know what to do now. "I don't like this. We need to hide. Now!" I shouted my last word as Optimus immediately veered off the road and *cue Transforming sequence here* he proceeds to take the three of us into the wooded terrain. Not long after, a small group of military helicopters fly right over us.

"Fantastic." I muttered, seeing the helicopters flying overhead and away from our hiding spot. "How are we gonna get through if they have eyes in the sky?" I wondered, if there was ever a time for assistance, now would be a good time. "Sh. We need to remain quiet if any human foot patrols appear." Optimus whispers to us smaller folks; well, as much as he could anyway. I lower my head to view the current surroundings, which happens to be more trees as per usual. Sheesh, I'm too lazy to even consider describing how tense our situation is right now, and that's saying something.

At any rate, the only shot we have at making this stretch is to travel by foot in the forest, even though that isn't the best choice we have right now. I turn my head to Legion, seeing him with his weapon out at the ready. "Psst. Legion!" I whispered to the geth, not wanting to be left defenseless while the two deadly robots do all the work for me, which really doesn't make me feel any better in the slightest. He turns his head to me, wondering what I wanted from him, "Yes?" he inquires me. "Toss me your pistol would you?" I whispered back to him, desperately hoping he'd say yes...maybe. He nods, quickly grabbing the holstered weapon and tossed it to me, albeit slowly to make sure the trajectory was steady enough for me to catch it. Seeing it head right towards me, I frantically try to grab it, hoping that I wouldn't drop it.

As I steadied myself, I hear a noise not far from us within the immediate area. I quickly turn my head around, scanning to see where it came from. Huh, I don't see anything. Oh well. Must've been my-

*WHACK*

The sound of the impact left my mind (and face) rather blank for a few seconds... Only for it catch up to me rather instantaneously.

OW. That frickin' hurt!

I managed to catch the pistol...with my face. My face. Seriously, that's not funny, being struck in the face by a flying pistol tossed by a geth that knew exactly where it would land. As I held the weapon in my right hand rather loosely by my side, I rubbed the impact area with the opposing hand, trying to soothe the pain the gun brought upon me. I turn back to Legion rather irritated that his gun hit me in the head. "What was that about? All I did was momentarily turn my head away from the pistol. So why did it have to hit me like that?" I complained rather loudly, unbeknownst to either of us that Optimus had been viewing the situation with amusement and a barely hidden smile.

To my whiny rants Legion replies," There had been a high probability that you would be able to catch it. Consensus was unable to determine how you would react upon catching it. There was no data available nor any consensus achieved on how you would catch it."

Rolling my eyes, I lift the pistol upwards to practice my aiming by pointing the gun at random objects without shooting only because I didn't want to risk us being discovered by accidentally firing this gun or end up shooting either of the two friendlies here. Alright, I see nothing wrong right now but I'm not gonna lower my weapon just because I don't see anything right now. Feeling a little bored, I decide to start a conversation to ease our worries.

"So Optimus, are we clear for movement?"

"Not yet."

"Okay, just checking. How about you Legion?"

"Negative."

"Nothing, huh? Fantastic. Might as well sit it out until they leave the area, unless they know we're here and they're waiting for us to make a move. That doesn't sound like fun at all."

"Settle down now, it'll be over shortly."

"If you say so." I shrugged noncommittally as I sat down with the pistol at my side, bored somewhat. Optimus spoke after seeing the patrols leave the area,"Alright. We can move but quietly. We cannot alert them to our presence." Legion and I nodded in understanding, so we moved together as he suggested through the dense forest.


Meanwhile, an unusual robotic bird landed on a rather high tree branch about several trees south of the trio currently making their way through. "Do you see the target?" a mysterious voice asked it."I see the boy. Permission to take him out?" it asks in response. "Negative. Prime is with them, that will only make them wary of the ambush. Pursue, but do not engage them." "Understood." it replies before it continues to follow the group. It quickly hid itself before the boy had the chance to see it. It moved out of hiding as soon as he turned his head away and continued its pursuit.


Crap, I just realized that I don't have armor. What am I going to do if I get shot? Obviously I would rely on cover more than they would, since I'm more vulnerable than the other two. Ah well, it's not like we'll run into any danger for awhile right? Right? I probably just doomed us by saying that too.

Let's see, we're surrounded by trees, lots of cover to hide behind, and I don't have enough experience to properly use a gun. Oh joy, I'm sure we'll get through this soon. Who knows, we may get help if we get closer to our destination. As I was following my companions, I felt the barrel of a gun touch the back of my skull. "Don't move and don't even think about turning around." I slowly nodded and stood still, while my companions moved further ahead of me, not realizing I had been somewhat captured by an unknown enemy.

I whispered quietly to my captor, "Okay. Not moving an inch. So, why are you holding me hostage?" "Shut up. I ask the questions, not you. First question: Who are you?" I froze when the question came up. After all, I was never good at standing my ground when being asked like that. I usually get stuck not able to say anything until the person left me alone. I get the feeling I could die if I don't answer. "Ciaphas Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!)" With that title spoken out loud, startling my captor as well as alert my companions, I grab the person's arm and held my gun up, only to see an unusual person in front of me. Well what do you know, this person might be familiar. Hmm... a SPARTAN armor set, yet some parts are different. A...Scout helmet? Or was it Rogue helmet...Hm, the entire armor color is teal. I don't recognize anyone with the armor design.

"Now that I've said my part, I'll ask you the same question: Who are you?" I spoke calmly, despite my nervousness in the middle of an intense situation and the possibility of this person kicking my ass all over the place. "I'm not obligated to answer that, kid." the mysterious person responded casually. I raised my eyebrow as I stated, "Are you sure you want to do that? 'Cause I find it hard to believe that you would have control of the situation right now." "Oh really? What makes you think that?" "Well~" I stated, dragging the word out a little bit before continuing, "I'd think that they would like to say something about it." "Who's they?" the captor asks with his/her head tilted, curious at my implication.

"That would be us, young human." a deep voice responds to the mysterious SPARTAN, if that's what that person really is. I turn my head a little to see Optimus walking from behind me, while Legion was off to the left side of the clearing with his signature sniper rifle, ready to shoot this person. "Hey there guys, I see you've met my new friend here. Who is currently holding me at gunpoint." I spoke nonchalantly before I turned my head back. "Ah that's right, I never did get your name. So, who are you?" Backing off and letting me go while holding the gun, the person said, "Well this isn't how things were supposed to go. It was supposed to me asking all the questions and find a way back to Command." "Command? Why does that sound familiar? And why the hell haven't you answered my question?" "I'll get to that kid. Do you know anything about Freelancers?"

I was taken aback when the question was asked. Freelancers? "Wait? Do you mean Project Freelancer?" I blurted out, realizing that indeed, there was someone from the RVB universe that arrived. It was a Freelancer, but not one I knew of. At least, not until Season 9 started, which means this person really could've killed me a hell of a lot sooner had he/she wanted to. The person nodded and replied, "Yep. One in the same. Say, how do you know about them?" Uh-oh, I don't know how to answer that. "Uh Legion? Can you explain the multi-verse theory? I'm not very good at explanations. Summarizing would be preferable." "Acknowledged. Searching...Multiple data entries conflicting are with each other, some are biblical, others are scientific. The simplest explanation is that for a single multi-verse contains an indefinite amount of parallel universes that is comprised of everything that does and can exist: all of space, time, matter and energy. It also includes the physical laws and constants that describe them." The Freelancer nods and replies, "I understand all of that, but it doesn't explain how you know about the Project."

I shrug slightly and stated, "The theory itself may or may not be true as multiple people from a wide range of specific professions would argue both ways. Unfortunately, it applies to this universe, considering how all three of you are here at this very moment. As to how I know of the Project, you should ask the main members Rooster Teeth: the creators of Red vs. Blue, as well as the origin of Project Freelancer, which happened to be the upcoming Season 9." I'm not telling this person that Legion is the one who knows about it. I know that certain things would happen Season 9, or at least what led to the events of the main Red vs Blue storyline. I don't want to fuck it up by mentioning anyone from the Project that died and that is if the Freelancer was able to go back.

"So you're saying everything I've done in the Project has been nothing but a TV series?" the Freelancer asked in disbelief, surprised that a bunch of people were the ones responsible for everything that's happened. I nod slowly and responded, "Well in this universe: yes, all the adventures that's happened is part of a series. No, it's not television, but a web series. The first series to be called machinima, as well as the creators of the new sub-genre. I won't bore you with the details, but back then it was a big deal for everyone." The Freelancer shook his/her head replying, "I can't believe it. There's no way that everything that I've worked so hard for was nothing but a big lie orchestrated by a bunch of...a bunch of nerds!"

I narrowed my eyes a little when I heard the Freelancer's voice crack a bit, sounding more female than male. I pondered a little as the teal clad warrior kept ranting while walking back and forth, spouting how she wasn't able to understand how things went wrong and the like. I coughed a little to get her attention, and sure enough, she turned to me asking, "What do you want! Can't you see how frustrated I am?" "If you're done, I'd like to say something." Sighing in resignation, she nodded and cooled down a bit from her tirade. "While I don't doubt how incredibly pissed you are," She then gave me a "No duh" look but I continued "Acting like that won't help any of us at all. Normally I would consider leaving you here and have the local authorities find, which I highly doubt they could stop you from following us." She snorted, amused at that comment, glad to know that I wouldn't doubt her skill. "I think it would be better that you came with us, in case if we found a way back to you're universe. Who knows, maybe you'd like the idea of saving an entire galaxy from an egotistical race of space squids."

"Space squids? You're saving the entire Milky Way Galaxy from a bunch of Space squids? That doesn't make any sense whatsoever." "Trust me," I said with a smile on my face, happy to see her feeling better, "I've seen weirder things other than that. The space squids. And by space squids I mean 'Reapers'," I air quoted briefly before continuing, " and they have been around for tens (or was it hundreds?) of thousands of years, exterminating space faring civilizations once they are at optimum levels every 50k years before retreating to dark space. They usually harvest the inhabitants for their genetic material in order to become stronger. Most likely by creating new Reapers with the very same genetic material. That's all I know of them, there might be more information once the third Mass Effect game gets released." "Whoa hold on. The Reapers? That sounds a lot more intimidating than space squids. Anyway, have they ever abducted humans before? Please tell me they didn't." I look at her silently for a moment then replied, "I'm afraid so. They used a subservient race known as the Collectors to abduct human colonies on various worlds for that same purpose. A good amount of them were liquified to help create a Human-Reaper. At the time of its discovery, it was in the embryonic stage, but it was still deadly regardless. In fact, it was Commander Shepard that destroyed it during the original Mass Effect storyline, or more accurately Mass Effect 2."

The female Freelancer had listened so intently throughout our conversations, it was almost surreal. She replied shortly after I had finished speaking, all the while curious of the Mass Effect verse, "Well its a good thing that its gone. So what happened at the end of the sequel?" "The Reapers began their invasion upon the galaxy. That's more or less it. There's a lot of information I could tell you, but I think we've had enough revelations for one day, don't you think?" She shrugged a little and replied, "Sure, I was getting bored anyway." I rolled my eyes at her statement, knowing that she wanted to know more despite what she had said.

Man, she still didn't tell me her name during our whole conversation. I know she's a Freelancer agent, there wasn't a whole lot mentioned in the previous RvB seasons. I wonder if she was mentioned before. If that's the case, she definitely won't tell me her name. She thinks I already know, doesn't she? Well, time to see what'll happen if I say otherwise. "Hey Freelancer lady, mind if I call you that? After all, I need to figure out what to call you by. There's only so many designations that are given. Maybe I should call you Agent Florida. That sounds funny." she angrily retorts, "I'm not Florida." I raised my eyebrow at her response before I answered with my own, "Oh? Then what's your name then? I'll just refer you as Florida until you tell me." "Fine, if you're dying know..." Uh-oh. She isn't kill me is she? Maybe the Florida thing was a little too much.

She slowly reached for helmet with both hands, and I'm watching with rapt attention, eager to see what she really looked like underneath it. I've never seen anyone from RvB without their helmets off. Maybe they started doing that sometime during Season 9. Gah! No distractions, gotta focus. Once she had her hands on the helmet, a hissing noise came from it as she removed it and held it at her side with one arm. Wow, she looks rather attractive. Hm, sleek red hair. Fairly tanned face, maybe the same goes for the rest of the body inside the armor. It's rather hard to tell what color the eyes are though. "Hello? You there?" she asks with her free hand waving in front of my face, bringing me back into focus again. Must've zoned out while looking at her, that's not good.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that." I replied sheepishly, to which she shook her head in amusement before I reached for her hand as she did for my own, both meeting and grasping each other. We shook rather firmly and I spoke cheerfully, "Well since we're reintroducing ourselves, I'm Ciaphas Cain. And you are miss?" She responds with a beautiful smile adorned on her face, "Carolina. Agent Carolina."


Meanwhile...

"Church, are we there yet?"

"No! And for the last time, stop asking! You're the one that's driving so shut it."

"Dude, admit it. We're lost and we haven't found this guy we're supposed to pick up."

"Well maybe if we hadn't brought the tank, it would've been easier to move around!"

"Not my fault Church. Caboose insisted on driving it the entire time. We could've taken the Red's jeep, but Sarge was repairing it when we left the gulch."

"Man this fucking sucks."

"Quit you're bitching Church. At least Caboose hasn't killed anyone while driving, thank god."

"Hey Church, what did that Illusion Guy say the person's name was?"

"I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. What about you Tucker?"

"Dude, if you weren't paying attention...Fuck now I'm the one who remembers. First things first Caboose, it's the Illusive Man not Illusion Guy. And second, the guy's name was something Cain."

"Hey, you don't remember all of it either asshole!"

"At least I knew more than you did."

"Yeah, well you're still an ass anyway."

"At least I look like a fucking saint compared to you Church."

"Oh fuck you Tucker."

"Hey guys..."

"What!"

"I wanted to say that I found Mr. Cain. He's over there with the pretty lady."

"Wait you found him? How the hell could you find him, and what pretty lady?"

"Oh now you're interested Tucker. You weren't interested in this mission before."

"Fuck yeah I wasn't interested. That's because we're paid for this bullshit. I didn't have to give a shit. Since Caboose found them, I say he gets first dibs on saying hi."

"Since when did we agree on that anyway?"

"Since now."

"Wait a second, that girl. Isn't she..."

"You know her? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Hi there Mr. Cain and Pretty Lady!"

"I didn't realize it until Caboose said something."

Firing Main Cannon

"Uh-oh."

"Dammit Caboose! Stop it before you kill them!"

"Dude, doesn't this remind you of something?"

The tank's cannon exploded, releasing the incredibly powerful ballistic projectile screaming towards the unintended firing zone. The more intelligent members of Blue Team hoped that the two would be alright from Caboose's mistake.


Back with our doomed hero...

I heard a loud rumbling not far from us, causing Legion And Optimus to hide a little ways off in their respective directions. "I don't like the sound of this Carolina. What do you think it is?" Before she could respond, a few trees fell down to reveal...A Scorpion tank? Why the hell is there a tank here? Not to mention there's a couple of guys riding the tank and one driving it. Wait their voices. They sound familiar to me. Wait a damn second. Isn't that Blue Team? Caboose must be driving then. I don't think the other two would've done so well.

"Hi Mr. Cain and Pretty Lady!"

"What the hell?" Carolina asks, surprised that other people with similar armor found them here.

Yep, that's Caboose alright. Still, I don't feel comfortable with him pointing the tank barrel at us like that.

Firing Main Cannon

Hey that sounds like Sheila too. That seems ni- Wait.

"Oh hell." Carolina, run. Run as fast as you can out of the way. Caboose just unintentionally fired at us. I look over at her, who was still dumbfounded. Damn it all, this wasn't how I wanted to die! I immediately shove her aside as hard as I possibly could, especially with all that armor on, out of the way so she wouldn't get killed. The blast from the impact with the ground in front of me sent me flying back into a tree. Fortunately or unfortunately, the blast itself knocked me out before I impacted with anything. The last thoughts I had were not about my well being or the safety of Carolina's but: If I live through this, I'm so gonna kick Caboose's ass for this. I don't care if he's mentally unstable. He fucking killed me. Idiot.


And that is all for this chapter. Man, this was a hard one to write out, considering all of the recent updates in the various 'verses. I'm going to have a hard time with characterization once Season 10 rolls around. If anyone's gonna ask, yes I made Carolina a bit different from her Season 9 incarnation, not to mention that all three Blue Team members are more like their BGC incarnations than the Recollection series or Season 9. Feel free to ask questions in the reviews, should you be willing to do so. At any rate, I'm gonna work on Chapter 4 soon. As you can tell, not everything goes according to plan. So trying to creatively picture what an alien home world looked like wasn't the best of ideas. Man, I've got a headache from all of this. I'll catch you all later!

En Taro Adun!

En Taro Tassadar!