Heaven's Castle
Date: March 3rd, 2183
System: Petra Nebula / Vetus System
Planet: Elysium / Illyria
"Why would any species want to settle on a planet this cold." Her voice transmitted through her helmet's radio. It was too cold for Velpia's liking; ever since they landed on the planet, she sealed off her suit and wore her helmet to keep the cold out. It worsened for her once they left the city and started into the mountains.
"It's not too bad; my ancestors thrived in these conditions." Martin didn't have the same reservations. He wore his hoodie over his armor with his combat vest. Eventually, he pulled his hood over his head to block the howling wind. His earpiece communication unit hung from his left ear and a microphone extended to the front of his face. "It has been a while since I've climbed a mountain, though."
The wind traveled forcibly at them, adding to the difficulty of their trip. Small bits of snow mixed with the wind blowing into Martin's face. Their path was snow-covered and rocky. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the snow was too bright, making it almost impossible to see without risking damage to their eyes. Velpia's helmet was perfect for dimming the light, but Martin had to rely on a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses he purchased at a store in lIllyria, which she thought were ridiculous. Martin was leading, but only by a few feet; he paced himself not to tire out his partner. His genetic enhancements made it difficult to judge her stamina. "Humans are insane," she paused as she struggled with the deepening snow, "Who even likes this stuff?"
"Vee, how much further?" Velpia stopped to check her readings, "We are at three thousand meters. The last radio transmission was only about another one-hundred-fifty meters away from our position."
Martin looked up the mountain. There were only another thousand meters left until they reached the top. Whatever sent the radio signal had to be close.
"There's an outcropping off the side about ninety-three meters up." They headed toward the rocky area fighting against the wind and snow, climbed to the outcropping, and peeked around the corner.
"Looks like we got a cave entrance," she said as they set down their camping gear.
Martin was rushed by warm air coming from deeper within.
"There's something in here generating heat." He said while drawing his prized pistol.
The cave was ill-lit; he thought it was carved out with machinery. The walls and ceiling were too smooth to have been formed naturally. They rounded a bend and came to a door. Martin readied himself on the left side while Velpia took to the right. The large cavern room was empty except for some lighting equipment left behind.
"Don't tell me we came all this way for nothing." Velpia snipped while looking at the lights hanging from the ceiling. Martin removed his sunglasses then, tucked them away in his vest pocket, and walked the wall perimeter, taking note of any irregularities.
Velpia walked over to a large stone on the floor and sat down. The climb had tired her; if they weren't going anywhere soon, she would rest. She watched as he took out a flashlight and ran it across the wall as he walked, intently staring as he went.
"You've been unusually quiet since we came here." She shifted herself on the stone to follow his movement around the room. He didn't respond right away. He felt awkward being on Elysium, as if he didn't belong there. "It's been a while since I've been around so many other humans."
"I thought you'd be thrilled to be back among your people." Martin cracked a small smile hidden by the darkness of the cave. "How would you feel about going back to Palaven?" She dropped her head in silence. "That's what I thought."
He continued down the wall until he noticed a small water stream leaking from the ceiling. He followed the water using his flashlight down the wall to spot where the water sprayed toward him. He stopped and put his hand over the area, "Vee," He looked back, "I think I found -" A section of rock disappeared - a hologram - revealing a door opening.
Martin turned around, standing face-to-chest with the most enormous creature he had ever seen. He looked up at the seven-foot-tall monster, wholly focused on its sizeable broad face and the armored plate on the top of its head. It was almost two humans wide and looked to have an armored hump directly behind its head.
The two stared at each other, neither expecting the other. "Krogan!" Velpia jumped from her stone and retrieved her Avenger rifle. The beast powered forward, grabbing and lifting him off his feet and body slamming into the ground with a thunderous thump as he hit.
The Krogan turned its attention to Velpia, running at her as she raised her rifle and let loose a small burst. She tucked and side-stepped out of his path as it reached out its arms to grab her. She turned back around and again sprayed the beast with gunfire. The rounds hit, but the Krogan was unaffected.
The Krogan pushed off the wall and continued its chase, Velpia frantically dodging and shooting, hoping to put the crazed Krogan down. From the ground, Martin lay dazed but heard the sounds of gunfire and the loud thumps of the Krogan. His world was coming back to him slowly. His chest was trying to regain the air expelled from his lungs and his mind from the whiplash. He turned his head to see the Krogan finally corner Velpia and smack her rifle away. The Krogan thrust his hands onto her throat and pinned her to the cavern's wall.
She frantically swung her limbs around in a panic, striking the arms of the Krogan with her forearms. It had a firm grip, quickly becoming tighter. *Bang.* The Krogans jaw evaporated, spraying blood and bone over Velpia's helmet. The sight of the gore, of what remained, the flesh and blood that dangled from the Krogan's face would likely imprint in her memory forever.
The beast released its grip, screaming in pain and shock as it turned away from her and stumbled. It squirmed and stomped around as it attempted to put its face back together or at least stop the pain. She was frozen against the wall; the sight and sounds of the Krogan frightened her into paralysis.
A second shot blasted the left side of the Krogan's face as it crashed into the ground. The cavern became still and quiet for a moment; Velpia tried to clear blood off her helmet's visor to see, taking deep breaths and trying to regain her sanity. She then tried to shake the gorey image from her mind, gagging slightly from the thought.
Martin rolled onto his side and made a pained noise as he got onto his feet. After Velpia composed herself, she recovered her rifle from the ground and walked toward him. She brushed the dirt off his back, "Work faster next time." He stood there momentarily, not knowing if she was joking, "Next time? I'll try not to get bulldozed by a murder turtle."
Velpia peeked through the passage. It was another corridor leading further into the cave complex. "I want to know what the hell a Krogan was doing on a human colony. You'd think that would be something someone would've noticed."
The pain of the slam finally started to fade as he stretched his shoulders out. "Maybe they put a wig on it and snuck him in." She giggled at the thought of this Krogan, as proud as they usually were, wearing a blonde human wig, then she looked back at the dead Krogan on the ground, the image of the butchery still floating around in her mind. "You can go first; I want to be behind the blood spatter this time."
They traveled through the twisty, poorly illuminated corridor sticking close together as they went, Martin leading the way. Eventually, they heard voices as the hall began to straighten. The faint light from further ahead illuminated the path. They slowed their pace, wanting to avoid running into what might be in front of them, especially if it was another Krogan. Martin raised his arm at a ninety-degree angle, signaling Velpia to halt. He knelt and crept forward into the light, hoping to keep out of sight.
"When's the next shipment going out?" One of the humans asked. "Not for another ten hours." another responded. Martin signaled back to Velpia and readied his Viper rifle. They inched closer to get the complete picture of the room.
Velpia turned off her helmet's vocalizer to keep her voice from traveling. "Remember, don't hit the containers; if you breathe in that stuff, you're not gonna have a fun time."
He nodded in affirmation. Martin couldn't speak without being detected; his voice would carry too well between the stone walls. He readied his rifle against his shoulder, and she gave the nod.
They rushed forward with all the violence of force; the enemy was utterly unprepared, scrambling to gather their weapons and get behind cover. The pair moved like water through the room; they followed parallel, with the left wall firing as they flowed.
Target after target fell. This was a symphony of blood and gore. A choir of screams and commands filled the air in competition with the instrumentals of the gunfire. This was Martin's stage, no doubt, entirely focused on each target. Calm, steady, even as the hail of gunfire rained towards him. Each firefight was his test of fate, and the rush was exhilarating; each trigger pull was another dose of dopamine and adrenaline, and Velpia was the tagalong for this ride.
She stuck close to him, about two meters behind him, hunched down, firing off his right side. Focused but fearful, he wasn't taking cover. The hail of fire became too much for her to handle calmly; she knelt behind cover and continued shooting and ducking. Martin followed suit and continued engaging before swapping to his pistol when his rifle overheated.
She glanced to see Martin appearing to have the time of his life, smiling and laughing as he continued firing. She couldn't focus on that now; it would have to be dealt with later. The enemies were pushed back, retreating through the bright corridor leading to the outside. Martin quickly put on his sunglasses and stood up.
"Come on, we can't let them all get away!" he yelled.
He rushed to the door, leaping over the dead bodies that littered the floor like children jumping over rain puddles. She stood up to follow and noticed everything around her as she approached the door. The disfigured lifeless bodies strewn across the ground and his enjoyment of it all. He had never acted like this, maybe a little combat high, but never during a firefight.
She pushed the thoughts out of her mind; she had to focus and ensure Martin didn't do anything stupid. She joined in the doorway, covering each side of the wall and firing at the fleeing enemy boarding a shuttle. The last few poor souls unable to make it to the shuttle, jumping off the landing pad to the cliff below.
He jogged to the platform's edge, breathing heavily, his rifle in his left hand. Viciously looking at those that had jumped, their bodies unmoving. She watched as his stance changed; his smile faded.
Velpia approached him and touched his shoulder, "You alright? You went a bit crazy there." Her thought rolled back to the job on Omega when they had to retrieve the scientists. The thought she didn't enjoy, but she wanted to ask him gently.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and steadied his breathing. "Yeah, I'm fine." Knowing what she was thinking, he picked up on her worry and turned to face her, "It's still me; I just got a little carried away." He paused as the cold wind blew through his brown but greying medium-length hair. "Sorry." He quickly dropped his head and moved back towards the cave.
Martin had reentered the cave, searching through the lifeless bodies hoping to identify them.
Their task was to eliminate the red sand operation and find those responsible for its distribution. The local authorities believed that it was a human gang from Mars. There was nothing noteworthy about the group from the dossier other than it was a pro-human gang that distributed red sand to aliens.
Red Sand distribution was causing tension between humanity and the rest of the Galaxy.
It was initially produced on Mars, still primarily made there, but it has since spread out to the galaxy. The Alliance has tried to suppress its distribution to create space between them for years but has failed to succeed.
Some pro-human groups have been intentionally pushing the drug on Aliens to "weaken" them, even though it doesn't affect Batarians or Asari.
Martin removed the sealed helmet from one of the dead men, a Batarian.
"Vee, something's not right here."
"Yeah, I've got a Turian over here too." She replied from the other side of the cavern.
He knelt by the body, trying to comprehend what was happening.
"So a Krogan, Batarian, and a Turian join a Human-only gang."
"Sounds like the setup of a bad joke." She quipped back.
He stood up and walked over to her rummaging through the pockets of the Turian. She pulled out a set of tags and a few other small items.
"Former Turian military; looks like he's from Palaven."
"Is that strange?" He asked.
"Other than him being here? No, Most Turians are former Military."
"Well, that would explain how well you fight" she shook her head in disagreement.
"I never joined."
The two searched the other bodies but found nothing to lead them to their next target.
"This is pointless; we should probably talk to the locals and see if they can't track that shuttle."
She quickly agreed because she was getting queasy from all the blood and gore.
They returned to the cavern's entrance and descended the mountain.
"We really should have stolen their shuttle." She panted as she stepped.
"Yeah Well, you talked me out of the skis."
"Turians don't ski."
They made it halfway down the mountain before having to stop, the sun was starting to go down, and they needed to set up their tent so they could sleep.
They didn't need to do much to set up a camp. They shared a reasonably large two-person tent. Fairly standard civilian model, the design had stayed the same for almost a century, thin metal curved frame with nylon-like fabric.
Velpia removed her helmet, the first time he had seen her face since arriving on the planet. She was unwrapping a food packet and immediately started complaining about the cold.
She had complained about the temperature the moment they touched down. "Turians don't do cold," he remembered as he snacked on his food.
"We never got to finish our conversation earlier," she pointed out.
"What one?" He replied with his mouth full.
She fixed herself on her sleeping pad before responding.
"Why don't you like to be around other humans?"
Martin swallowed what he was chewing while a few faint flashes whispered in his head.
"Why don't you tell me why you wince whenever I mention Palaven?" He pointed to her.
"You're dodging again."
Martin smiled in defeat and dropped his head, staring at the food in his hands.
"You aren't gonna let these questions end, are you?"
She slurped down some of her drink from her canteen. "As per our agreement."
He took a deep breath, almost regretting he had made the agreement to always answer her questions when asked. She needed him to be transparent if she was to trust him.
After their fight with Dallas and Madz, they decided to reconcile and work together again. They needed to leave Omega after their truce with the Blue Suns expired. She wanted them to be upfront with everything if they were going to work together.
"It's hard to explain," he paused, grabbing a water bottle from his pack.
"I don't have anything in common with these people. I'm a dinosaur compared to them. They would barely know what I had to go through to get here." He took a drink from his bottle.
"They never had to survive the kinds of stuff I saw, see their homes burned by their own." He paused again, fiddling around with a small stone he picked up.
"It's different when you witness the worse your species can do to itself."
She didn't respond and quietly sat, thinking about how to get off the subject.
Martin did that for her. He reached into his bag, pulled out his helmet, and placed it on his head. He sealed it off. Martin cleaned up his area, laying down on his mat to sleep.
Velpia soon followed his example and laid down after putting on her helmet. She stared at the top of the tent, watching it as the wind blew it.
She thought about what Martin had said. It made sense to her; she felt similar towards her own kind, but for different reasons.
The following day they packed up the tent and headed back to Illyria, the capital city of Elysium. They checked in with the local authorities to see if they could track the shuttle. After wasting four hours, they were redirected to the Alliance military outpost.
They mounted their four-wheel buggy and drove to the Alliance base. They asked to see their identification; Velpia had an old one. Martin didn't have anything to provide the guard. They were detained and told not to move as they sat in their buggy. They sat at the gate for an hour, under guard the entire time.
"Why are they holding us here? Didn't the city's administration office clear us?" Velpia questioned. Martin heard her through his radio earpiece.
"I don't know, but I have a funny feeling." He responded quietly, trying not to let the guard hear their conversation.
"What's going on?" Velpia tried to get him to answer; He was fixated on the man walking towards them behind the gate.
"I'm not entirely sure, but If anything happens, I'll try to contact you." This man walking towards them concerned him. He could tell by how he carried himself that he was an officer; Martin couldn't tell the rank; the Alliance's ranking symbols differed from what he was familiar with.
Martin's response did little to calm her; he noticed when she started fidgeting. "It's going to be alright; they probably just want to ask me some questions."
The man approached the buggy and stopped next to the guards. "I'm First Lieutenant Hathaway of the 78th Marine Division; state your intentions."
Martin quickly replied, "Martin Winters, We're independent contractors; we've been called in to deal with your Red Sand issue."
The Lieutenant gave a small smile. "Yes, we've been told to expect you. However, we cannot permit the both of you on the base at this time."
"Why's that?" Velpia replied.
"Because we are detaining Mr. Winters for questioning." The LT shifted his stance back towards Martin. "If you resist we have orders to shoot on site."
"I hate it when you're right." She commented.
Martin took in the moment, he wanted to flee, but the guards had surrounded the buggy. Even if he had time to start it, the guards and the watch towers flanking him would probably end him before he got far. He didn't have many choices; he disarmed himself and left his gear with Velpia in the buggy. She was asked to leave the base while The LT took Martin to the detention area.