Sam jumped awake and looked around the room as she panted. All was the same.
With a sigh she slowly rubbed her forehead. Another dream about Mindior…
Her omni-tool blinked, bringing her out of her thoughts. She pressed it and read the alert, her shift was up.
She got up and began walking out of the room, sealing the door behind her, and going into the mess hall.
It was eerily quiet even though it was about morning right now. Judging by the time the sun should just be on the horizon now.
. . . .
The moment she got outside Sam winced against the intensity of the sun. It was an eclipse today.
"Don't hurt yourself Human." She heard the snort from her right. When she turned she saw it was the elder of the colony.
"Ah, hey listen I know our Captain's a bit…assholish but he's just trying his hardest to keep this place safe, he just has a back asswards way of showing it." Same shrugged but made sure the Captain wasn't in earshot, he'd of had her shot for saying that.
The Turian stared at her for a long moment before his plates shifted and his mandibles relaxed.
"Thank you Human I…am glad you cleared that up. You see none of us have even seen a Human since the first contact war…its left it's marks on us all." He noted as he looked out at the Turians walking around the colony, all of which glared at the Humans.
"Same for the Captain, ever since then he's…cautious of other species'. I think he just needs time." Sam said with a shrug. The Turian studied her for a moment before nodding.
"We all need time to recover from our scars…then again some never heal, that is why they're scars." Sam grimly nodded then held out her hand. The Turian looked at her hand then back up at her.
"Gunnery Chief Sam Johnson." She said with a nod. Catching on the Turian grabbed her hand and shook it replying with, "Arvus." He nodded.
"Can you tell me anything about this colony?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. Arvus nodded and motioned for her to follow him.
As they walked through the colony all the Turians looked to her then at Arvus with confusion but proceeded about their day.
"This colony is separate from the Hierarchy. We broke off, all having our reasons but mainly because we don't like having our every move be dictated by someone else." Sam looked up at him in confusion.
"Don't all Turians serve the Hierarchy happily?" Arvus frowned for a moment but then softened his expression.
"Don't all Humans hate Turians?" He asked looking at her with a Turian equivalent for a smile, at least that's what she assumed.
"So what about the church you talked about before? What do you worship?" She asked looking up at him. He stopped and looked at the bright sky but careful to avoid the sun.
"Freedom…the very essence of it. While you may not understand it Hum…Sam…It's something we don't take lightly. We understand how truly wonderful a gift freedom is. Every day free is a gift. We make sure all know this. Thank you for your questions Sam but I must attend to my duties." He said with a nod and went off.
She watched him walk off for a moment before it hit her she was supposed to be at her post. She took off running towards the church.
. . . .
"O'Malley!" Sam yelled as she ran toward the tower. There was only silence that greeted her.
She cursed to herself and walked inside. I know I'm late but c'mon!
She took two steps inside before her eyes shot wide open and she took cover against a nearby wall.
Two well armored men stood looking over a body on the floor.
Sam peeked back around the corner and got a good look at their armor. Their faces were completely covered but she recognized that white and yellow pattern…
"Cerberus…" She whispered quietly.
She peeked once more and looked at the body on the floor, Turian.
She looked to her left where the ladder to the tower was, hidden from view of the troopers.
She slowly and quietly climbed it, holding her breath the whole way up. When she finally reached the top she froze midway up.
O'Malley's wide empty eyes stared right at her as he lay on the ground, his neck wide open from a blade.
Son of a bitch! Because I wasn't at my post! Rage boiled inside her as she shook her head. I'm not letting Mindior happen again!
She climbed back down the ladder and took cover by the same wall. She reached back and slowly pulled out her M-8 Avenger and unfolded it in her hands. She took in a deep slow breath and exhaled.
Adrenaline pumped through her as she jumped from behind the wall. The troopers had enough time to just look up before four shots; two each, dug into their skulls and dropped them.
She exhaled and scanned the area. Hostiles eliminated.
She turned and cautious exited the church. The moment she'd turned she felt a blade against her throat, freezing her in her tracks.
"Hostile located, downed two men orders?" The woman's voice sounded electronic, obviously filtered by a mask.
"Rodger eliminating." Sam held her breath and shut her eyes tightly.
. . . .
Ivea groaned as his omni-tool beeped repeatedly. "I know I know!" He pressed it with a growl, "Bosh'tet."
But what he heard from the video feed chilled him to the bone, "Hostile located, downed two men orders?"
Ivea blinked and jumped up. He looked at his omni-tool's video feed of Sam's visor and saw a blade was against her throat. "Bosh'tet!" Ivea yelled as he brought up his holo-board and began to type away frivolously.
He was running a search program for the nearest computer by her. Luckily he found the enemy in moments. When he brought up their screen he came upon one of the strangest and most complicated firewalls he'd ever seen.
He cracked his neck and smiled. I love a challenge.
"Rodger eliminating." The woman replied to her operator. Ivea's tongue stuck out as he bit it lightly in concentration. He saw the blade pressed against Sam's throat and slid a centimeter before Ivea cracked the firewall and seized up the enemy's suit.
"Bingo." He smirked.
. . . .
Sam opened one eye, nothing.
She looked down and saw the sword was frozen in place.
"Hello there Sam, this is most certainly not Ivea who hacked this bushtit's suit and froze her out of her own systems." In a single moment Sam almost but out laughing out of sheer relief.
"Now if you'll please slide out from under that blade." She did as he said and turned to look at the woman. Her face was covered as with the other troops but she looked different, she had a blade which was more like a sword with Cerberus logos all over her.
"Now you should definitely not cut the cords on her back leading from the helmet to suit." Ivea's voice came from the helmet of the woman. Sam smiled as she went around the back and looked at the cords he spoke of. Sure enough they were there.
As Sam brought her omni-tool up she activated the omni-blade program she had saved which slid a blade out and locked it in place.
"And to think everyone told me to delete this program." Sam said to herself with a chuckle as she slashed the cords. Almost immediately the woman simply fell over, whether unconscious or dead Sam didn't care, either was good enough for her.
She ran outside and skidded to a halt. She heard shooting and screams but not anyone shooting back. They must've hit the Marines first! Damn it!
"I'm looking at it all now via satellites…it's looking bad. The Captain caught wind of the attack and charged out there. I'd suggest finding him in all of that chaos. Good luck Sam, I'll be monitoring everything." Ivea informed her via her suit's comms.
With a small nod she ran off toward the chaos.
. . . .
Ivea ran a hand over his visor with a sigh and shook his head.
How could I've missed this? It's a full scale invasion force!
He shook his head and began typing on his omni-tool. After a moment he brought up a live feed from another satellite that was passing overhead at the moment.
Zooming in he saw the fires and shooting that were taking place throughout the colony and there wasn't a damned thing he could do.
He looked over on the bed at his pistol with a frown. I can do something about this.
Grabbing it quickly he then ran out of his door and through the ship. I'm going to help this colony!
. . . .
After unleashing a burst from her rifle Sam continued to run through the colony. Shit shit shit! She yelled in her head as a few shots barely missed her head.
Purely on instinct she slid into cover behind one of the buildings and peeked out for a moment then went back behind it.
Two Cerberus troopers. She thought to herself, mentally noting their positions. She breathed in a deep breath and released it slowly then jumped out from her cover.
In a flash the two soldiers fell to the ground as smoke rose from the barrel of Sam's rifle. Gotta find the Captain.
She continued running once more. The sound of screams echoed throughout the colony as well as gunshots. Men, woman, children, all being mowed down.
As she turned a corner Sam spotted the Captain who was unleashing a spray of shots at a group of Cerberus troops who were behind cover. The Captain retreated back into cover behind a waist high crate that was sitting out in the street.
The Cerberus troopers popped out and sprayed the crate full of shots. They were dead locked.
Sam latched her rifle on her back and pulled out her sniper rifle. She took another deep breath and aimed down the scope.
The three troopers were steadily advancing toward the Captain…right in a horizontal line.
A single shot rang out, shaking Sam's eardrums and nearly bruising her shoulder even through her armor. Three bodies hit the ground as Sam ejected her spent thermal clip. "Bam." She whispered with a smirk.
She ran over to the Captain who slowly got out from behind his cover.
"Damn fine shot soldier. Report." He ordered causing Sam to stand straight and nod.
"Colony's under attack sir, Cerberus. I'm not sure what they want but they're mowing down civilians." The Captain nodded, undoubtedly he already knew all this.
"So you know as much as me then, damn it." He growled as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Alright, come with me and we'll head out there and find the rest of our men." Sam gave a stiff nod and followed him.
. . . .
Ivea only managed to get to the mess hall before his visor picked up a cloaked heat signature.
Cursing silently he kneeled down behind an overturned table. Two men had tried to fight the unknown and failed. Ivea grimaced at the two bodies around him.
He peeked over the table and saw that the unknown person had their back to him.
Wasting no time he got out and quietly began to walk over toward them with his pistol in hand.
He got right behind them and leveled the pistol straight at their head. He smiled and pulled the trigger.
Rather than a loud bam there was a hiss as heat shot out the side of his pistol accompanied with a beeping. His eyes shot open wide as the cloaked person turned and swung their weapon at him. He rolled back just in time and looked down at the pistol.
"Bosh'tet!" He screamed as he slapped the side of it. It always did have a problem loading thermal clips but he'd thought he'd repaired it!
He looked back up and gasped as the figure uncloaked and slashed at him with a sword.
He jumped back but fell over, slipping on the MRE one of the two men must've dropped in surprise when this person showed up.
The person who Ivea now saw was a woman stood over him with the sword in hand.
"Located a Quarian, orders?" The woman asked holding her free hand up to the comm. unit on her helmet.
In that moment Ivea made a decision, he could either wait and die or he could do something. He chose the latter. In a split second he brought up one of his legs and slammed it into her chest, launching her across the room.
Normally he suspected she'd be able to withstand that but Ivea had his suit assisted his kick and amplify the power.
He stood up and loaded a clip into the chamber of his pistol as he walked toward the woman on the ground who was rubbing her head which she'd hit on the corner of a table.
Standing just out of reach of her sword he leveled his pistol at her head once more. The way she did nothing and simply stared at him told him she knew it was over.
"Why are you here?" He demanded. She said nothing. He growled and tightened his grip on the pistol.
"Final chance." He warned, she still did nothing.
"Please don't make me do this…" He pleaded with a frown. He really didn't want to have to kill someone let alone an unarmed woman.
The woman replied by lowering he head and looking at the ground, there was only one way for this to end. With a sigh he shook his head and squeezed the trigger. This time the pistol jerked up and would've deafened him if he didn't have his helmet on.
Her head practically exploded and painted the wall behind her red.
Ivea discharged his clip and loaded another. It didn't have to end that way.
. . . .
Sam stood beside the Captain who was panting heavily. On the way here they'd engaged the enemy in three fights but luckily got out of all of them. The only problem was they'd seen no sign of their troops and from the sounds of the shots in the distance it was a one sided battle.
"Captain?" Sam asked looking over. He stood upright and nodded.
"I'm fine…what's up ahead?" Sam stood there a moment before peeking around the corner.
Two soldiers standing before a single Turian who was on his knees with his hands bound behind his back. He stared bitterly at the ground. Almost immediately Sam knew that it was Arvus.
"Damn it Arvus." Sam hissed as she latched her assault rifle on her back and brought out her sniper rifle.
She carefully took aim through the scope and lined up the heads of both the troopers. She held her breath and held her arm steady.
She slowly began to squeeze the trigger when suddenly a single shot rang out through the air. Then silence. Sam was frozen in place.
Arvus dropped to the ground as blood pooled around the hole in his head.
"Phase one complete, all troops head back to your shuttles." The soldier who shot Arvus reported into his helmet.
Before the soldier could draw another breath a single shot ripped through his skull and fried his brains, that same shot ripped through his companions' skull as well.
Sam let the sniper rifle fall to the ground as she sprinted toward the Turian who lay on the ground bleeding.
She skidded to a halt and fell to her knees before him. His eyes were glassy as they stared straight ahead and his mouth lay open. Sam hissed in rage as she squeezed her eyes shut and leaned over Arvus.
Tears trailed down her cheeks as she punched the ground in anger.
"Damn it! I tried to save you Arvus! I…I tried to…I'm sorry…" She whispered as she held her eyes shut.
"Gunnery…Chief…" She heard the Captain whisper from down the road.
Sam turned and saw the Captain laying face first on the ground. Her eyes went wide as she sprinted over and kneeled down beside him. When she turned him over she saw he had a giant pool of red just below his stomach and to the right.
"Captain! Why didn't you tell me you were hurt? I have medi-gel maybe-" Sam tried to apply it but he pushed her arm away.
"Damn it…no time already…bled too much. Listen…this mission was…more than a simple attack. Cerberus…destroying alien colonies…flattening them...Sent here to find out why…" Sam frowned as she leaned in closer. His voice become quieter and quieter.
"Chief…Sam…I'm not…going to…live…I…ergh! Damn…I'm giving…the ship to…you…consider it…a field promotion…take this datapad to…Councilor Anderson…he'll…he'll know what to…do…Sam…won't be…survivors…bridge sealed…password is…alpha November nine…twenty…I…you're a damn…a damn good soldier…" He whispered as his eyes slowly slid shut and he laid back on the ground.
She sat there a moment simply staring at the body of her old Captain. Lifeless. Sam slowly stood up as she shook her head. So many have died and I did nothing!
Sam looked toward the ship and frowned. Ivea! She took off in a sprint toward the ship as fast as he could.
. . . .
Ivea frowned as he pounded against the bridge door.
"It's alright it's just me out here!" He yelled to the scared men on the other side but to no avail.
"For all we know you betrayed us and helped them damn suit!" The man on the other side yelled back.
Ivea growled as he clenched his hands into fists. I could hack this door open if I really wanted to Bosh'tets! You're just lucky I don't want to hurt any of you!
Before Ivea could so much as smile at the thought Sam was beside him panting. He looked over and opened his mouth but she cut him off.
"Alpha November nine twenty, open it up now!" Sam ordered with a voice of steel. There was silence for a moment which told Ivea that they'd been just as confused as him for a moment until the door hissed open.
There were four men with pistols trained at the door, all bridge crew. They froze when they saw it was just him and Sam behind the door.
"I…sorry ma'am couldn't be too-" The man who'd been yelling before attempted to apologize but Sam cut him off and ordered him sternly, "Save it, get us airborne now!"
For a moment no one moved. Everyone simply stood there watching her until the same man managed to work up the courage to ask, "What about everyone else ma'am?"
Sam shook her head.
"There is no one else, it's only us. Now move!" She ordered. This time everyone rushed to their stations as Ivea looked over at Sam who stood where she'd been the whole time, simply staring straight ahead.
"Sam…where's the Captain?" Ivea asked facing her fully. Everyone else was hard at work sealing the sections of the ship so to make sure no one else could get on board.
"He got hit and…didn't make it…" She whispered as she clenched her jaw. It was all too obvious to Ivea she was trying to hold her emotions in with all her power.
Ivea reached up and gently put his hand on her shoulder.
"Sam, I just-"
She looked over and shook her head.
"Not in front of the crew." She whispered.
Ivea looked over at the busy men then nodded and looked at his hand. As he removed it he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
A few weeks ago that would've been a sign of intimacy and would've embarrassed Ivea to no end but now…it hadn't even fazed him.
Sam slowly walked over to the Captain's chair and slid into the seat. She sat stiffly upright and stared out of the viewport at the fires raging outside.
At last the ship began to lift off the ground and slowly climb higher and higher as they began to fly away from the burning colony when Ivea frowned and stepped forward.
"Hang on." He muttered as he narrowed his eyes. At first the men paid him no mind but Sam repeated the order to which they obeyed this time.
He stared out the viewport and used his visor's zoom feature which revealed the shuttles that dropped the men off now taking off and encircling the colony.
Suddenly the side door on one of the shuttles opened up and turned to face the colony.
Ivea stepped forward again and barely managed to make out a figure standing in the shuttle on the edge. It was a human female, bald, wearing all white. Other than that Ivea couldn't see.
A purple flash blinded the crew, even Ivea whose visor didn't have time to dim the light, as the ship was shoved back and knocking Ivea to the ground.
He grunted in pain as his vision swam and his head pulsated. I think I cracked a rib! He hissed in pain as he slowly lifted himself up and looked out at where the colony once was but the scene before them caused everyone on the bridge to fall silent.
Where the colony was there was a giant hole in the ground, not just a hole a crater. No fires burned, no buildings stood, no bodies were laying on the ground. It was simply a crater.
Ivea zoomed back in on the shuttle and saw the bald female was glowing the same blue that had blinded them before.
"That blast…those were biotics!" Ivea exclaimed in disbelief. The rest of the crew was just as skeptical.
"That's impossible! Anything near that magnitude would've killed a person!" One of the men yelled out. No one answered him though, everyone simply stared at the wasteland that was a thriving colony only hours ago.
"We…need to go report this to Anderson…all of this." Sam finally said getting her wits back once more. The crew followed not even a moment after.
The ship soared off into the sky leaving the destruction behind them as the Cerberus shuttles flew off their own way.
. . . .
Smoke flowed out of his nostrils as The Illusive Man exhaled and rubbed his eyes wearily. He began to get less and less sleep as the days went on. His attention went to the glass of alcohol sitting on his armrest. He sighed quietly and downed the remainder of the glass.
It wasn't just alcohol, it was also a mixture of crucial vitamins and necesseties in life. This job…this mission of leading Cerberus and in turn human dominance was draining and time consuming. So much so he couldn't even find the time to eat anymore.
A holo-pad appeared on the right side of his chair, drawing him out of his thoughts. He hit accept, ready for the report.
"The colony's been effectively wiped out." A smile crossed his lips. He didn't expect any different but it was still good to hear. "But…there were survivors." His smile immediately disappeared.
"Colonists?" He asked with a deadpan voice.
"Alliance, they were there waiting for us. We got the jump on them but a handful of them survived and escaped."
The Illusive Man closed his eyes and took a long long drag of his cigarette as he thought to himself.
"Very well. I'll deal with that later, but the test was successful?" He asked and slowly exhaled the smoke out of his nostrils.
"Yes sir, although after affects include the usual nose bleed and ocular bleeding as well the results have been the same if not better."
That was already too heavy a risk. He frowned then nodded.
"I see. Mission accomplished await further orders." He said and ended the call, without wasting a moment he dialed another.
Without waiting for a greeting The Illusive man gave a simple, "You've been granted more funds, do what it takes." Then ended the call.
He sat back in his chair with a deep breath. Survivors? Interesting…