Mass Effect

Journal of an Adventure through Space

Kane Corr

Alliance Marine / Black Ops Division

Log: 6

Day Seven

Junthor

Our destination was the equator.

Back on Earth, that meant heading into tropical weather. Here on Junthor, it simply meant nothing. So, where to begin? Let's start with when I last updated this thing. I think it was yesterday. We were waiting to hear about our team assignments.

I was nervous.

When LT called us over, I was probably the last to make it there. I'd blame it on writing in my journal, but honestly, I'd never equate blame with writing.

So, I hustled over and listened as he read the names off his Omni-Tool.

"Vasquez, Carver, Diaz, Rivera, Santos."

Ray turned to Diaz, and in unison they shouted, "The Spic Squad!" Then they went off speaking Spanish to each other.

LT kept reading the names from the list.

"Carlson, O'Malley, Tavish, Gleeson, Tripp."

That left only one possibility…

"Corr, Liberty, Brent, Maguire, and Briggs."

He briefed us on the specifics, and then he ushered us into the hangar bay. From there, we lined up in vertical rows and waited for our drop points. I was at the front of my line. Ray and Carlson were at the front of theirs. We were the squad leaders for this mission.

Eventually, while standing there like a hapless drone in my line, I looked over to Ray. Eerily enough, there he was—smiling and motioning for me to look at what was behind me. Like a fool, I turned around and came face to face with Lex. She was staring ahead. So—me facing her naturally meant that we were now looking into each other's eyes.

Talk about awkward.

"What?" she asked, "Is something wrong?"

I shook my head, "No, just…checking to see if everyone's ready."

(That was obviously a lie)

She nodded and gave the thumbs up sign, "We're all set."

I turned back around and felt like such an idiot. I glanced over at Ray. He had the biggest grin plastered onto his face. I could tell he was laughing because his shoulders were practically bouncing up and down. What a tool. After that, I kept my gaze forward and waited for LT to send us off.

Soon after, the bay doors opened.

A gust of wind came swirling inside the hangar, carrying with it some dirt from the outside world. I heard the familiar sub-tone emanate within my helmet—then a synthesized voice filled my ears.

"Drop point one…ETA sixty seconds."

That was for Ray's squad.

LT tuned into the communications channel and barked a couple of orders at us.

"Just a friendly reminder," he said, "Don't do anything stupid. Stay within your means. Calculate, assess, and avoid death. Sound good, maggots?"

Everyone responded with a loud, "Hooah!"

I peered into the distance. We had our helmets on, because the atmosphere on Junthor was composed of chlorine and carbon dioxide—not exactly fit for human lungs. Even with my protective visor pulled down, I could see out for miles. Our codex report had labeled Junthor as abundant in aluminum and nickel. As you can imagine, the planet was similar to a wasteland. Stretches of desert and charcoal rock formations could be viewed for miles in every direction.

I don't want to exaggerate when I say that the surface was void of life—because it really was. But the arcologies and megastructures located three clicks north of us were stunning. Unlike anything I had ever seen before. Like monuments built as tributes to a god. Whichever alien species occupied this world before—they certainly took the time to build impressive constructs.

Someone behind me gasped as they saw it too.

"Okay, squad one!" Ray shouted over the sound of the wind.

Our ship was nearly fifteen feet off the ground at this point, which meant we had arrived at the first drop point. Ray motioned forward with an open hand and yelled, "Go, go, go!"

He and the rest of the 'Spic Squad' sprinted onto the ramp, and then they jumped off—landing safely on the rocky ground below. I held onto one of the rails overhead as we started to rise. I could see Ray address his squad right before the ship eventually turned and left their drop point for the next one.

The synthesized voice returned again, "Drop point two…ETA three minutes."

That gave us some time to breathe. But the attitude was totally different at this point. I looked to my right and saw Carlson—his eyes directed outside the bay doors. He was in a trance, unable to tear his sight away from Junthor's surface.

"Hey, Kane!" I turned around and saw Maguire tinkering with his Omni-Tool.

"What is it, Maguire?" I asked.

He swiped his hand over some kind of built-in interface and then he shot me a worried look.

"I read somewhere that this place is cursed."

"Cursed?"

"Yeah, an Asari recon team surveyed some of the ruins years ago and found something weird."

Suddenly—and to my surprise—Fenix chimed in.

"There's no such thing as a cursed planet you idiot. The Asari found etchings in stone. From what they gathered, it told the story of an alien race that imploded. They lost their minds. Nothing more."

Then, Lex offered her opinion, "It might not be so much a fact as it is a work of fiction. I mean, think about it…how often do we like to draw on walls?"

She made a good point.

(Besides, as it stands—I don't believe in curses anyways)

I turned to face Carlson.

"What do you think?" I asked him, "You afraid of any alien curses?"

He shook his head, "Not afraid of curses. But Thresher Maws on the other hand…"

I stared out the bay doors again. To be honest, I hadn't even thought about Thresher Maws. Those hideous, worm-like monstrosities. They'd tear a Mako apart without even trying.

"Shit Carlson, now you've got me all worked up," I replied.

He laughed, "Sorry."

"Drop point two…ETA thirty seconds."

"That was fast," someone called out.

Carlson turned to face the rest of his squad, "Ready up people! Time to explore."

Soon, we swooped in low, hovering over a plateau that was nestled just outside the dead city. I could see from here that we were much closer to the towering skyscrapers and structures. But we were still far from all the action.

And by action, I mean towering skyscrapers and structures.

Like I said before—this place was empty.

"Go, go, go!" Carlson waved forward, commanding his team to take the plunge.

Right before we departed from the second drop point, I heard a 'ping' go off in my helmet. It was an alert message.

A three-tone alert followed.

That meant something was wrong.

"Alert…storm warning. Stage four. Seek shelter."

I heard someone laugh behind me. It might have been Briggs. He's a fairly quiet guy—but every once in a while he gets vocal.

"What a load of shit…" he said.

I shook my head, "Better safe than sorry."

"Drop point three…ETA two minutes."

"Ah, looks like the Smith twins are speeding things along!" Fenix shouted, "It's about time!"

I gripped the rail tighter and focused ahead. The ground became a blur of dull colors. The sound of the ships engine roared above the wind. Everything was moving so quickly—I hardly had time to process it all.

Suddenly, the ship lurched forward, causing some of us to stumble unexpectedly in the bay.

'Minor turbulence,' one of the Smith twins claimed. I think it was Jaden. He had a hint of mockery lining his tone.

"Asshole!" Maguire said, to no one in particular, "How about you warn us next time!"

The following minute was spent in silence until we made it to the next drop point. Once we exited the ship, I turned to look back and watched as it sped off. Then, I performed the routine diagnostics procedure.

Status—check.

Rundown of mission parameters—check.

Questions and concerns—check.

After that was done, we were good to go.

I peered into the horizon—my eyes met the ruins of what was once a great city. We were closer than the other two groups, though we were also much farther away from them, having been dropped off in the northernmost sector.

I took a deep breath, and then marched confidently toward our intended target.

We needed to be in and out before the storm hit.

A two hour trek would land us in what I called the 'downtown' area. And let me tell you something…this place gave 'ruins' a whole other meaning. I don't know how to explain this without sounding like a lunatic, but it looked like it was demolished ten times over—having suffered from what appeared to be earthquakes, mudslides, hurricane's—and whatever else nature was capable of. Our codex said that Junthor was barren for over a million years—yet these ruins and the destruction that resulted said otherwise.

We set up camp within an abandoned skyscraper. Once inside, we installed a local sat-com and hooked up a real-time surveillance kit. Our long range scanners back on the ship indicated some activity within the vicinity of the northern city—but on the surface, there wasn't much happening. It could have been another false alarm. Eventually, we picked up a faint source of movement.

There was only one problem…it came from below.

Which meant we had some digging to do.

I'm not gonna get into it right now, because I'm really tired and need to get some sleep. But what I can say is that I'm writing this about a click underneath the surface. Unfortunately, we had to retreat to the skyscrapers' sub level because of the storm. It swept through the area much faster than anticipated. LT contacted each team and told us to hunker down for at least twenty-four hours.

It sucks, but I'm not complaining.

Okay, time for some shut-eye. I'll update this when I wake up. Because a lot has happened since we got here.

Sleep tight.

Kane out…