Disclaimer: BioWare owns Mass Effect. 20th Century Fox owns the Alien franchise. EA owns Dark Space.
Hades Nexus Cluster, February 23, 2177
A/N: Yes, that is a play on George R.R. Martin's 'Game of Thrones'. I first read the book in 1998. Never watched the show.
1st Lieutenant Jane Shepard returned to the Helm with no one the wiser of her absence as Asari Specter Tela Vasir waited for her at the Tram Station, the relief that flooded through their bond almost staggering as the Thessian saw Shepard in the Tram as it approached the Bridge Deck, the conveyance slowing down as the doors opened slowly. The Asari practically tacked Shepard as soon as possible, blue arms holding her tight as Shepard returned the gesture.
"Now I see what you mean about separating those in the early stages of je'dai." Shepard whispered to her lover, the flood of emotions almost overwhelming her, Tela's emotional state almost on overdrive. "I… didn't feel as panicky. Nothing like Bastila was like on Feros. Is something wrong with me?"
"No, my love." Tela replied instantly, holding the Human Specter in a way so she could looked at Shepard with her blue-violet eyes. "For some, it is easier than others, or it takes a longer period of time. Obviously, you can be without me for a short period of time, or perhaps you believed me to be away from danger, thus you weren't fearing for my safety as I was yours." That made sense, she hadn't thought the Asari in any particular danger on the Bridge Deck, unlike herself, who had traveled alone an a derelict ship with Xenomorphs aboard. "It is something you wouldn't want tested out. Everyone reacts differently; some become emotional wrecks, others into maniacs. Given your tendencies towards violence for solutions…"
"Did you just call me a thug?" Shepard teased, giving her lover as smile as she brought Tela closer, giving her a light kiss on the Thessian's forehead. "Besides, you should give me some credit; I'm damn hard to kill."
"Ah, the invincible Maiden who thinks she can conquer the galaxy as soon as she graduates Commando school." The Asari Specter smiled, shaking her head. "Come, Jane. We should return to the Helm so that no one thinks of our absence in any ill-light. We shall merely tell them we were scanning for movement on this Deck. No one shall think twice of it. Later… we will talk. I… want to tell you of things about me." The Thessian's face clouded darkly as Shepard felt the bond harden once more, the Asari blocking her thoughts from her human girlfriend. "Things you may not appreciate or understand, but you deserve to know. We are bonded, it is what you deserve."
"I understand." Shepard replied softly, letting her hand slip into Tela's and giving it a comforting squeeze. "I'll do the same, though I'll admit there aren't too many skeletons in my closet. Just a few things I've done as a reckless teenager that I'm not to proud to admit to. Considering what you species does as teenagers, though, you probably wouldn't think it that bad at all."
Tela was about to answer, her mouth opening to do so when, Shepard saw on her Kuwashii Visor a single point of contact appear on its radar, out at a distance of forty-seven meters. The Asari must have seen something on Shepard's face or felt something through their bond that paused her words as Shepard glared at the lone dot on the radar's field as it moved to forty-six meters… and had a friend accompany it, two contacts instead of one. Shepard's eyes were widened as she looked in the direction of the contact; up towards the bridge itself, a couple of levels higher than the Helm. Then there were three contacts. Four. Five. Forty-five meters… forty-three.
"Tela… we need to evacuate the Helm. Now."
"Godsdamn this infernal communications situation!" 1st Lieutenant Jane Shepard growled as she tried to raise anyone on-board the Ishimura; her Uncle Royce Mason, her Aunt Stacy Valentino, her Instructor Cavius Reminion, and even the CDF Spirit of Vengence just for prosperity's sake. All the Human Marine got was static over her Omnitool's communicator, unable to reach anyone else in the vicinity. "C'mon, people! Time to shake a leg and get the fuck outta dodge!"
Ten armed beings tactically ran for their lives.
Shepard could barely recount the moments before, when she had first seen the moving contacts on her Kuwashii's HUD, the radar slowly populating with moving contacts, growing in numbers as the distance shrank. She didn't need to be reminded of what the Xenomorphs were capable of; her nightly nightmares did that for her well enough. Unfortunately, the Ishimura was a practical death-trap that went in the bugs' favor; dark, cramped, with many turns and recesses for a drone to hide and ambush from. Shepard knew her radar wouldn't pick one up if it stayed still, and the drones could and would lie in wait like a patient predator. She hated the fact that while she was probably the foremost expert on Xenomorphs working for the Counsel, she was sadly unknowledgeable on their full capabilities. Sadly, the true experts were working for Weyland-Yutani, and she doubted the conglomerated Corporation would help her fill in the blanks.
Shepard would do in this situation as all Humans did in such situations; she was just going to wing it.
The Lieutenant led her team through the dark corridors of the Ishimura, having bypassed the Tram Station for the Bridge Deck and opting to go lower, heading towards a maintenance shaft that would lead them to the Administration Section of the Bridge, where Shepard hoped their escape route would be available. No one was looking forward to her plan of escape, herself most of all, but as far as she was aware, Shepard had an escape plan that only they could enact.
They were going to take a walk outside.
"Vrataski? How are those contacts looking?" Shepard asked through her communicator, the Marine having put the N3 at the rear of the column that she led, Full Metal Bitch having activated her tracking program on her Omnitool. For some reason, none of the others seemed to possess the program, and it was to late to do a program download when they were being hunted, so Shepard had to resign herself into putting the expectant mother of her group on rear-guard. It didn't please her any, but what else could she do? Sergeant Rita Vrataski, at the very least, was a graduate of the Villa; she wasn't going to stupidly try to take on what appeared to be three dozen bugs by herself.
"Getting closer, Janey. Thirty-seven meters… about five turns back." The half-Japanese N3 replied, holding her N7 Saber Assault rifle in her right hand, her left arm out as she used the tracker program on her Omnitool to continuously detect just how close they were being followed. At least the Full Metal Bitch was leaving her signature sword strapped on her back. "Forty plus, easily."
"Hunting party. Got any presents we can give?" Shepard asked over her radio, thinking of the half-dozen grenades that she brought. Four were modded with high-explosives, and the others were thermal. She didn't doubt that Vrataski had her own supply of grenades, possibly more.
"I've got several prox grenades with hi-ex mods, and two boomers." That had the Lieutenant smile; a boomer grenade was military slang for a breaching shaped charge that would blast through even an iridium-reinforced steel door. If one wanted to go through an airlock or a hull, a boomer would do the trick. It was a nasty piece of equipment that wasn't very effective in the open, but when one put it against something, either a door or for the purpose of turning into an improvised claymore, it would do the trick.
"Get a hi-ex ready, Bitch. We're planting that son of a bitch right at the door." Shepard told the N3, leading the group of ten towards the air lock, finding the end of the maintenance shaft, where they would gain access to the Administration Section. She raised her Specter Gear Mark VII assault rifle as she punched the opening mechanism with her left elbow, prepared to fire upon anything that happened to be on the other side. Thankfully, she cleared the fatal funnel of the door as she bolted through the first three steps, turning left and right to make sure that the corners were cleared as well. Rahe'Tarram nar Sofis was next through the door, her Quarian Carbine Shotgun right next to Shepard's rifle as the Quarian Pilgrim scanned the room they had found themselves in, clearing the immediate vicinity. Her plated face looked over to the Human Specter, her silvery eyes giving her a short nod; everything seemed clear as the both of them walked forward, entering into an office-like environment dominated by desks, Haptic display computers, and servers. The room, while lit, was defunct of power going to the workstations, though the path towards the other end of the Section was clear of debris, even if there was evidence of a struggle in the Administration Section itself. Shepard looked at one bloody streak that seemed to lead towards a vent in the wall, and she hoped that whoever it was was dead before they reached the nest they were inevitably dragged to.
"Keep moving." Shepard ordered, moving forward, Rahe'Tarram right by her side as they tactically moved towards the next door, human and Quarian in tandem as their weapons continuously swept the room, checking each vent as they strode forward, the others behind them keeping the pace, even the short Volus Specter Recruit, Cur Dileed.
"We could make a stand here." The Turian Pilot Tibevius Victonius suggested, looking at the room with apprasing eyes. "Only one way in and out."
"See the broken vents? Xenos broke through them to get to the people here." Shepard told the Turian, both Ellen Ripley and Sergeant Vrataski voicing their agreement. "We stop them at the door, more will come out of the walls and swarm us. We need high ground, and this isn't it. We go outside where the environment is in our favor." Dr. Liara T'soni didn't look too pleased with the plan, gulping at the thought, but to her credit the Asari Protheanologist didn't say a word. "Airlock should be down this corridor. We helmet up and we step out. Then we leave the bugs a surprise." She mashed the next opening mechanism, the door opening to another hallway. Shepard waved the others through after she cleared the immediate vicinity, having Rahe'Tarram and Tela Vasir lead the way as she had the others pass her; Dr. Liara T'soni and Bastila Shan were first, followed by her grandmother Ellen Ripley and Tibevius Victonius, and then the Specter Recruits Porol Lamal and Cur Dileed. When Sergeant Rita Vrataski started to move forward, the N3 looked over to her, her dark eyes looking intensely into Shepard's face, obviously knowing what the Specter had in mind. Sighing, she simply handed the hi-ex grenade into Shepard's extended hand, shaking her head.
"Don't make Royce and Stacy rip my head off for this, Janey." The elite soldier told her in steely tones, moving past the Marine.
"Domo origato, samurai." Shepard replied in Japanese, thanking her with a nod of her head, finally figuring out why the N3 carried a sword. "Get them outside, Rita. And make sure Tela doesn't do something stupid, too."
"Because babysitting one stupid Specter is enough." Vrataski flipped her left hand at Shepard dismissively. "May your enemy die loud and in great numbers."
"That's the intent." The Specter smiled as the N3 moved down the corridor as Shepard went to the mechanism that would close the door behind them, pulling off the panel and ripping out a handful of wires, preventing the door from closing automatically. She looked back to see her team moving toward, Tela Vasir looking back at her with trepidation, obviously knowing that the Human Specter was up to something. The feelings of trepidation and despair echoed though their bond, and Shepard did her best to reassure Tela about her course of action. Do not worry, Tela. I am merely making sure that they take the bait.
By making yourself the bait. The Thessian replied bitterly, worry growing with their bond. Do not be so eager to make a widow of me so soon, Jane! The words had Shepard's heart twist as she watched the Asari Specter opening the inner airlock door, the team filing in as Ripper looked back as well, her face filled with anguish as well as her last remaining family remained behind.
And the airlock door closed behind them, leaving Lieutenant Jane Shepard behind with the growing tide of drones.
They numbered fifty-four.
"C'mon, you ugly motherfuckers, come get you some." 1st Lieutenant Jane Shepard whispered as she stood by the airlock door, the corridor long and narrow, without a vent or an access for an ambush to take place. It was the perfect defensive position; she had left the Administration Section door open, only one way towards her. She had left two proximity grenades by the door to buy her time to escape through the airlock, the hi-ex that Sergeant Rita Vrataski had given her planted by the Administrative Section door. Shepard took a knee at the airlock door, her Specter Gear HMWAR Mark VII Assault Rifle fully extended in her hands, ready for combat as she placed the put of the rifle into the hollow of her right shoulder, prepared to fire as she looked at the HUD of her Kuwashii Visor, seeing the contacts growing ever closer.
Sixty-three contacts. Thirty meters and closing.
"Visor? Two-shot burst, armor-piercing round, incendiary effect." Shepard called out, the Kuwashii Visor ringing in acceptance of her order as it sent it to first her Serrice Counsel armor that she dubbed Brynhildr, then to the weapon that was linked to both armor and visor. "Activate VISR, low-light conditions with high-luminosity filter gain, detail enemy outline in red." Again, the Visor beeped as her vision was half filled with the Virtual Intelligence System, Reconnaissance sight, highlighting movement, friendlies, and enemy, as well as a filter that wouldn't have her gunfire's flash destroying her natural night sight with the filter gain. There was no better position for her to be in, and she would make sure the bugs would pay for every step they took.
Seventy contacts. Fifteen meters and closing.
Lieutenant Shepard saw the first of the Xenomorphs entering into the Administration Section, crossing horizontally into the main room, obviously from one of the vents; a scout on reconnaissance. She remembered the siege of Hadley's Hope, how they would send one forward to search for prey, to keep the main body from being attacked by a hostile; an effective strategy for one who hadn't studied them through an attempted assault. The sights of her Mark VII were zeroed in on the Xenomorph, the reticle's Aiming Assistance Software tracking the movement of the bug, linked to her Visor upon the identified foe through the IFF Program loaded in her Specter-issued Savant VII Omnitool. She held her finger ready on the trigger of her Mark VII, yet held off firing until there were more to fire upon; for now, she held the element of surprise.
The drone lifted its body and head, and let off a screech.
Shepard waited as she stayed in the crouched position, her weapon at the ready as several more bugs entered into the Administrative Section of the Ishimura, her Visor tracking seven in the middle of the room, with almost a hundred waiting. Another scouting effort? Perhaps a RAT attack? The Reconnaissance Assault Team was a tactic used by the Alliance to send a few members in to soften an enemy while having a majority held in reserve to hammer a foe when their disposition was truly discovered. The seven alien drones stood there, moving slowly, seemingly in search mode, and it was then that Shepard understood what they were and what they were doing; bloodhounds on the hunt. They couldn't see, so they were sniffing out their quarry, like coursing. Those seven drones were the hounds to flush out a rabbit, the rest to flank and attack.
Unfortunately for them, the rabbit that was Lieutenant Jane Shepard wasn't easy prey.
Shepard's finger squeezed the trigger of her HMWAR, putting a two round burst into one of the center Xenos, blasting it in its chest off as she tracked for center shots, the alien's cranium narrow enough not to ensure a successful shot, as oppose to the more likely guarantee of a chest shot. The double-tap of armor-piercing shot with incendiary effect did its job well, both rounds punching through the chest of the creature, knocking it to the floor to its untimely demise, the burning properties of the rounds searing the wound shut to limit the amount of its deadly molecular acidic blood from splattering. The creature died a quick death, exterminated before hit the floor of the Administrative Section of the Ishimura, not even given a chance for a death cry. The drones next to its dead brother froze in surprise, obviously unsure what had just happened, but probably unable to sense its now-dead companion. Shepard's finger squeezed the trigger again and again, her sight aligning with each shot, quick and lethal, bringing down a bug with each successive trigger squeeze. All seven were dead in a matter of seconds as the Xenos tried to figure out where the attack was coming from, most of them dying before they realized they were being shot from. The last two had finally turned to the direction in which Shepard was in, moving a few steps before she shot them dead.
The rest of the ninety-two contacts registered upon her Visor's HUD began moving forward at once.
"Visor? Full auto." Shepard called out, hearing the answering chime as the first bug began to appear in her sights, a mass of black, teeth, and claws clambering to get to her, vicious and lethal. Humanity's First Specter simply squeezed the trigger of her Specter Assault Rifle, controlling the weapon as she sprayed death upon the rapidly encroaching Xenomorphs, whittling down their numbers as they attempted to make their way towards the narrow door to get to the woman that was killing them. The Visor's contact readout was dropping as Shepard killed several more, pulsing her HMWAR to keep that heat build-up from getting too high, the fluted barrel releasing some of the trapped heat in the weapons' high-grade frictionless heat sink, the high-caliber barrel feeding excess heat through the flutes to bleed the build-up of heat that would render the weapon useless until she rocked back the weapon's bolt and directly dispensed the heat outward. This highly engineered weapon with its high-end mods and premium materials gave it around seventy constant shots before reaching its maximum capacity of heat, more if the user could keep firing efficiently by either pulsing their fire, or keeping their shots into bursts. In Lieutenant Shepard's case, she was engaging an enemy that possessed no barriers, shields, or armor, meaning that every shot was effective. It also mean that she didn't have to concentrate on a singular opponent, able to sweep her rifle back and forth, giving her the ability to volumize her effectiveness.
The bugs were going down fast and hard.
Shepard let out a warcry as she continued to fire, the recoil of the Specter Gear Rifle continuously rocking her shoulder, trying to push her back as she kept firing into the depths of the Xenomorphs. What had been ninety-two was now down to fifty-five as Shepard saw on her Visor that her weapon's heat capacity was at 95%, almost at overheat. She slapped the weapon on her chest as she pulled out her Specter Gear HMWP Mark X Pistol and began firing fast and loose, going for totality instead of effectiveness as the first surviving Xenomorph walked over one of the Specters' proximity grenades, ending its life with a catastrophic blast, bring down three more of its brethren as Humanity's First Specter continued to fire her pistol, twenty shots in all before her Mark X rang with its heat sink filled to capacity. Shepard slapped the pistol onto her left thigh and pulled out her Mark VII Assault Rifle, seeing that she had about 50% remaining shots left. She expended them quickly, firing upon the bugs with extreme prejudice as she brought down another twenty-two bugs, leaving only eighteen left. The second prox grenade went off, and Shepard rose to her feet as she walked backwards towards the outer airlock door, ready to enact the final act of her plan. Eighteen contacts left… eight meters away.
Lieutenant Shepard mashed the emergency override switch for the airlock door after slapping her helmet on.
The door opened quickly, and the Human Specter felt herself being blown out the airlock as the ship's atmosphere rushed out into the stark void of space, blasting her out with its force. Panic seized her heart as she tumbled end over end, her motions uncontrollable as the lack of friction and gravity had her floating away from the opened portal with speed. A blast of blue light struck her as she felt herself being pulled towards the ship's hull, her stomach doing lazy flip-flops as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, connecting her to a surface. The mag-boots on her Serrice Counsel armor activated, holding her to the iridium-reinforced steel plating of the Ishimura's hull. Shepard looked to see a helmet looking at her, the visor showing blue-violet eyes looking into her own.
"I got you, Maiden." The voice of Tela Vasir came through her communicator, the relief in her voice evident as it trickled through her bond. "Are Humans always so insane?"
"I'm a special case." Shepard replied ruefully, feeling Tela's admonishment ringing through their bond. "They would keep hunting us wherever we'd go. I had to stop them, find a way to keep them from getting to us."
"Well, you got most of them." Ellen Ripley's voice came over as Shepard saw that every team member had pulled out a weapon and was aiming at the airlock she had just violently left. She looked to see that while most of the remaining Xenomorphs were now floating away in space, several had clung on.
Much to her surprise, they were advancing on her team of ten. In space.
"Fuck." Shepard breathed out, shocked by what she was seeing. "They can survive in space?" The thought boggled her mind; zero pressure, zero gravity, zero heat, and yet the Xenomorphs were clamoring towards them, though she noted how slow they were. They could survive space, but it wasn't an environment they were effective in. "Team Valkyrie, execute them."
The remaining seven drones fell to a blistering tirade of mass accelerated metal, shots being fired from no less than eleven guns; Specter Recruit Cur Dileed had both of his M-4 Shruiken sub-machine guns in both hands, firing two three-shot bursts at the bugs to make up for his lack of proficiency with weapons in general. The Xenos didn't even last seconds as their bodies were withered by the onslaught of gunfire, acidic blood spraying from their wounds as the floated from the hull, dead. Shepard watched for a moment, looking at the airlock that stood open and silent. Bugs could still come out.
"Priority message, tag Royce, Stacy, and Cavius. Encountered ninety-nine bugs, evacuated Helm. Currently outside. Bugs can survive space but at limited effectiveness. Blood is instantly crystalized. Unknown length of time. Moving out to another section of ship." Shepard told her red Omnitool, sending a burst text to the team leaders of Team Dingo, Cowboy, and Ghost. She switched her Omnitool off as she looked to the helmeted group of Team Valkyrie, standing in space. "Alright, let's find ourselves an access point to get back inside before we run out of air. SHODAN? What's the nearest access airlock?"
"The-the-the nearest AIRLOCK to your (your) location issssszzzzz…. Is six-hundred forty me-me-meters away, towards enginEERING."
"Guess we're walking."
A/N: I don't remember if any of the Alien books mentioned that the Xenomorph was actually space-survivable, but a few failed Aliens 3 screenplays did have this fact as a part of the plot. Making them mostly ineffective just makes sense, but I wanted them to be dangerous in other ways.
Domo origato - So my Japanese spelling may suck, but this translates to 'thank you very much'.
Samurai - While we know this today as the sword-wielding warriors of Japan, it actually means 'servant of nobility', in which they did just that with the Shogun and the Emperor. Usually with swords.