"If I activate this machine, it's all finally over. The nightmare that's been plaguing us for years finally comes to an end. Ellie, I know you won't like it. And I know you're going to try to find your way back to me. But please - don't. Get back to Earth. I'm not just doin' this for the world, I'm doin' this for you. So you can have a tomorrow, even if I lose mine. I love you."
The broadcast stopped. Just before they split up, he swore to her he had his plan of escape. Another ship, and he and Carver would join her in the planet's atmosphere in time to escape the destruction of the planet and the Brother Moon that was left behind. Knowing Ellie, she would've come to his rescue. She wasn't the kind to let him sacrifice himself, or leave him stranded. But this time, she had no choice. Without warning, he delivered his final message and it was too late. As angry as she was with his forceful decision to have her escape while he stays behind, the tears wouldn't stop. Tears that ran down her cheeks, and dripped from her chin to her lap as she gripped the controls of her ship, "Isaac?" She called out, her voice croaky and breaking apart, "... Damn you, Isaac, respond!" She cried out. Upon attempting to communicate with his RIG, there was only static and scrambled audio before it went completely dead.
RIG COMMUNICATION WITH – ISAAC CLARKE – UNAVAILABLE.
"You son of a bitch, Isaac…" She sobbed, quickly wiping the tears that freely fell from her cheeks with a bloodied wrist. Before her - the massive destruction of Tau Volantis, and the Brother Moon crashing soon to crash into it, obliterating itself, the planet and anything still alive on it. She already lost Isaac without being given a chance to even say anything. To watch the rest of this unfold? She didn't need to see that. Through watery eyes, she began to steer the ship to face away from the planet, punching in coordinates for Earth Space. At the least, Isaac's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. With the markers destroyed, and the Brother Moon dead, it was time for this entire system to start over. She'd take the opportunity he presented to her, and create a better tomorrow. Not only for herself, but everyone. Especially those that had to live through the nightmarish hellscape Markers and Unitologists put everyone through. Once her ship entered it's FTL jump, she was gone from Tau Volantis' system, leaving everything behind.
In the dead of space, a transmission, garbled, reaching out but not reaching anyone.
"Ellie? … Ellie." His final words echoed in the vastness of space, never to be heard.
"We just found him, sir, just - floating out in the middle of space. Any longer drifting in this direction and he would've been pulled into our planet's gravitational pull." A voice began to echo in his head, sudden flashing lights in the midst of darkness, "He doesn't have any ID on him, nothing that would tell us where the hell he's from."
"Let me see," A gruffer, older voice came forward suddenly, "Just a lone human drifting? Anything near him? A ship, maybe? Some debris?"
"Nothing. He was just-.. Out there."
"What's this?"
"Looks like some sort of weapon he had on him, sir. Maybe he was a merc?"
"Teminus Systems sure are crawling with them wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Get the helmet off him."
"Wh-.. What…?" Isaac moved his hand up, weakly raising it above his head but he couldn't see it yet, "... Where am I …? Who's there?" He asked, attempting to roll off of the table he was wheeled in on.
"Keep him still! And get a gun on him. Drifter or not, I don't trust him."
"Yes, sir, right away!"
Isaac suddenly felt arms clamping him down. Instantly - his fight of flight response began to kick in. He'd been manhandled by both Earth Gov and Unitologists, strapped to tables, and locked up enough to immediately fight the moment he felt himself restrained by unknown people, "Get off me, get the fuck off me!" He realized something as he attempted to shout - his voice was incredibly hoarse. Parched from thirst, weak, any attempt to resist the people keeping him down was futile.
"Stand down, damn it! You're not going anywhere!" The helmet was forcibly removed, Isaac was blinded by the overhead lights. Letting out a pained groan and shutting his eyes, he looked away, gritting his teeth.
"Who the fuck are you people!? Where the hell am I!?" He coughed out, ".. Water," He moaned out, "... Water."
"Get him some water. And keep that gun on him. We'll give you water, but you're not going anywhere until you answer our questions." After a moment, he heard rushing footsteps and then felt the feeling of something metallic touching against his lips. Then, the rush of cold water. He eagerly drank it down, nearly choking from how quickly he gulped down the drops of water they were offering to him. Once they felt he'd had just enough to talk, they took it away, letting him cough and compose himself before pressing him again, "Can you open your eyes yet?"
Carefully, he began to open his eyes. His vision was blurred and the intensity of the overhead lights were maddening. Finally, though, his eyes began to adjust, and he saw the faces of the people around him. From the left side of the room, to the right, men from youthful to old. They looked like little more than civilians and some security personnel. No Unitology symbols, no EarthGov.
"My name is Jeth Morrison, I'm the security chief here on Freedom's Progress. We found you stranded and drifting out in space and brought you back. If you give us any reason, any reason at all, to make us think you're trouble, or could bring trouble, we'll exile you from our colony." The security chief spoke with a harsh and stern tone. But Isaac didn't peg him for some hard ass, he was probably just worried about his people.
"Freedom's…?" Isaac shook his head, definitely an Earth colony he'd never heard of, "Wait- wait.. Are we in Earth Space?"
"Earth Space?" One of the men asked, clearly puzzled, "Do you mean like, Alliance Space?"
Isaac still seemed lost, "... I don't know what you're talking about. I just - I just woke up. I don't know what the hell is going on but I swear to you - I'm not gonna bring you any trouble."
"What's your name?" Jeth asked him, motioning for his men to lower their guns on him.
"Isaac Clarke," Isaac introduced himself.
"So you remember who you are, at least." The security chief grabbed a nearby seat, pulling it over and sitting to face Isaac, "I'm no doctor, and we'll get you over to medical in a moment. I think you need to be evaluated. Might've hit your head on something. Either you grew up in the Terminus Systems without a damn clue about the rest of the galaxy, or you're suffering from some kind of amnesia."
"No-.. No, no amnesia. I can tell you everything about myself. I know where I'm from and I'm sure as hell not from the Terminus Systems or whatever. I was born on Earth." Isaac fought back against their line of thinking. He hadn't realized it yet, but he was extra defensive about any psychological examination that they'd want to do on him. No more needles, pills and endless therapy. Even if he was the kind of broken man that desperately needed it, there wasn't a thing in the universe that could possibly alleviate him of the trauma he'd been through. Isaac, above everything else, just wanted to be left alone.
"Then tell us, Isaac," The security chief crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat as he narrowed his gaze on him, "If you remember everything, tell us how you got here. Tell us why you were floating out in the middle of space, near our planet. Are you a mercenary? A slaver? Or some poor soul with a lot of bad luck?"
He remembered. Not for one second would he forget everything he'd been through that led up to this moment. The only real gap was… He was dead, wasn't he? On Tau Volantis, he should be dead. Not wherever here is. If he somehow was flung across the galaxy, or transported somewhere entirely different, he had no memory of it. Now, should he regale these strangers with stories of alien zombies, markers and destroying giant killer moons? Or should he play it safe, find answers and book the first flight back to Earth?
"... I don't know," He told them, "I have no idea how I got here. And I don't know anything about Alliance Space, or the Terminus Systems or anything. I have no idea where the hell I am, or how the fuck I got here. I'm-.. I guess I really am one unlucky asshole."
The security chief nodded, "Isaac, please understand. This colony - it's small and isolated away from any major military power that could protect us. We watch after ourselves out here. We aren't exactly keen on taking in space drifting stragglers, especially those armed with a weapon. In the Terminus Systems, there's all kinds of danger to watch out for. You could be a merc with a big bounty on your head, and hunters who'd love to come rip our colony apart to find you. Or an escaped slave that's going to lead Batarian slavers right to our door. Or worse. You're unknown, and so far, unpredictable and your lack of answers is frightening to us. We'd feel much safer cuffing you, taking you to our clinic, getting you checked out but throwing you into a holding cell until we figure out who you are and why you're here. I hope you understand. And I would rather do this without hurting you. Can you agree, Isaac?"
There wasn't any kind of maliciousness, nor did he get the sense he was being lied to. After being manipulated by all manner of deceitful, backstabbing people that wanted to do terrible things to him, or use him in one way or another, he'd grown quite good at telling apart those who were genuine and those who were anything but, "... Yeah, yeah I agree."
Jeth nodded, "Good. Put the cuffs on him, and lead him to the clinic. Bring him to our holding cells after, we'll continue to talk to him after he's been fed and rested. I trust you so far, Isaac. A very, very small amount of trust. Please don't give me a reason not to. I'm not afraid to make the tough decisions here to keep my people safe. Don't forget that."
Isaac said nothing, only offered a simple nod of his head before he was picked up onto his feet and immediately cuffed. No matter where he went, it seemed he couldn't catch a break. Soom after, he was brought to the colony's clinic. There, he was examined by a medical professional. He had cuts, some deep that needed stitching. He had bruises and marks all over his body, but being treated for these with strange, new, medical technology he'd never seen before didn't even come close to being the kind of stressful the next thing they had in mind for him was. Once he was in his cell, he was given a meal and a supervised interrogation and analysis of his mental state was done.
During, he barely ate, bothered by the amount of questions. The poking, prodding, attempting to figure out if he was lying, amnesiatic or worse. Unstable. He answered questions quietly, feeling like he was right back in a straight jacket. During the analysis, he often moved his wrist, fingers and arms to remind himself he was no longer restrained. And that these people weren't going to hurt him. Finally, it was over. Jeth was told by the clinic staff that he seemed more afraid and untrusting, which was reasonable for his situation and was possibly suffering from short-term amnesia, giving him a lapse in his memory of the last 24 hours. Isaac had made things up about what he'd been doing prior, mostly calling back to memories of his time while he was attempting to re-integrate into normal society to keep from having to explain the Marker fiasco. For some reason, he felt like they wouldn't have a single clue what he was talking about. If they barely knew anything about the things he spoke of, and he barely knew about them, perhaps he was such a distance away from Earth Space, he'd managed to reach colonists completely disconnected from the Markers and Unitology.
Once it was finally over, he was given a change of clothes to get out of the arctic armor he'd been in. However, they weren't keen on letting him out of his cell just yet. They wanted to wait a few days, see if anything happened. If any visitors, such as mercs, slavers, bounty hunters or anyone else was coming for him. However, nobody came. Three days and three nights later, it was deemed that Isaac could be trusted. He exhibited no violent urges, simply ate, responded to any questions, and slowly regained his strength and energy. Jeth released him from his cell one day, but had a few more words for him, "All right, Isaac. Here's the deal. So far, you've given us no reason to believe you're a danger. We're willing to let you out, see the colony. Give you a chance to stretch your legs. Only question is - where do you plan to go from here?"
Not even a second passed before Isaac answered him, "I need to get back to Earth." He'd practically blurted it out. But as he recalled, the last thing he'd asked Ellie to do was to go back to Earth. If he was still alive and hadn't died on Tau Volantis, then there was a chance to see her again. He needed to reunite with her. As of now, that was his first priority.
"Earth, huh? I'll warn you now, it's a long stretch away. Terminus Systems puts you at quite a distance. But tell you what, Isaac – there's a cargo shuttle that comes here, drops off some resources we need, does a little trading and gets itself back to a space station called Omega. Could hitch a ride, then find a ride back to Council or Alliance Space from there. But you're gonna need money. If you wanna stay here on the colony for a while, work, make some credits, and use 'em to get yourself home, we'll be more than happy to find something for you to do."
It was unexpected and welcome, but Isaac wasn't sure if that was the right move or not. How long would it take him to build up enough credits to leave? What if that shuttle came and he missed his chance, trying to buy his way onboard?
"Isn't there a shuttle here on the colony? Someone that could fly me there personally?" Isaac asked, hoping to cut his time here a lot shorter.
"To Omega? I wouldn't risk my own people for that. We're simple colonists, Isaac. And we avoid places like Omega. It's dangerous. But it's probably one of your only options if you wanna get back to Earth. And don't ask about a straight shot trip to Earth either - we don't have the credits, fuel or resources to take you that far. Nor the interest. We left Alliance Space long behind for a reason." Jeth answered him, "You can try your luck in a few days when the trading shuttle arrives, see if they'll take you for cheap or free. But if you're denied, you can always build enough money working here. So, what do you say?"
Ellie was waiting.
His Plasma Cutter.
If he got it.. Maybe he could..
No.
He wasn't that desperate.
"Yeah-.. Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. And for everything else you've done for me so far too. I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for this colony. I might as well pay you back by working. I've got engineering skills, if you need that. But I can do manual labor, if you need me to." It seemed only fair to work for them in return.
Jeth smiled, moving his hands forward to offer Isaac a firm grip, "Good. Glad to hear it. An engineer's always useful, Isaac. Come, I'll show you around the colony. Even got a Quarian fella here. So these days are always getting more and more interesting, I guess."
"Quarian?" Isaac asked him, clearly perplexed by the word. He'd never heard of such a thing before.
"That'd be Veetor. You'll come across him. Hard guy to miss, even with how meek he is." Jeth beckoned Isaac to follow, leading him out of the holding area.
A Quarian. What the hell was a Quarian?
During the next few days, Isaac worked during the day on whatever project he could get his hands on. Regardless of whatever his skill background was, he sought to make himself useful wherever it was needed. He did, however, begin to piece together just how distant he was. A Quarian was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. The man only had three fingers on each hand, bent legs and wore a strange suit that concealed his face. Though he'd only seen him in passing, and avoided asking questions for the moment, a Quarian was clearly alien to humans. Whatever Veetor was, it wasn't anything Isaac would have encountered 'back home.' Wherever that was. It put a pit in Isaac's stomach at night the more he thought about it. Was his Earth the same as the Earth these people spoke about? Would Ellie be there? He needed to get back to her. Everything else was completely secondary to that.
Today was the day the cargo shuttle would be arriving. Though Isaac had felt good about the last three days here, the most normal he'd felt in a long time, he had to be on his way. Since he was heading to Omega, and possibly leaving, Jeth offered him his Plasma Cutter back, telling him he'd need it. To Jeth, it was a strange, funny-looking pistol. It might as well have been one. It'd cut through a person as good as a bullet would penetrate someone's body. As he waited with his bag of belongings, containing his armor from Tau Volantis, and an extra change of clothes, Isaac waited near the landing pad with Jeth.
"I don't know why, but I get the feeling you're a hell of a stranger to these parts, Isaac. In every possible way. All I can say is - watch your back and keep your wits about you. The Terminus Systems aren't friendly to navigate, and Omega is as dangerous as they come. I don't know where you're from. I don't know if you lie so well, if your memory is zapped or something else - but you don't know a lot about anything. So, here. Got you this."
Isaac was handed a small, pocket-sized book. It read, 'A Space Traveler's Guide to The Galaxy.'
"It's got a lot of information on it you might want to read. Whenever you've got downtime. Just watch yourself. If they don't let you on the shuttle, or you change your mind, come back to Freedom's Progress. We take care of our own out here, Isaac." Jeth extended his hand out again for a shake.
Isaac met it, offering him a firm grip, "Thanks again. I'll come back if I have to." There was a slight temptation to stay. If the Marker threat was still apparent, Isaac would've stayed here. He wasn't a Marker Killer, or the heroic man to stand against Brethren Moon. He was just a man trying to live his life in peace. Freedom's Progress could've offered him that. But with the Marker threat gone, a chance at a normal and stable life with Ellie could be had. They still loved each other. And after coldly making her leave him behind, he needed to make it up to her.
"So long for now, Isaac." Jeth offered him a final nod before stepping away, and leaving Isaac to stand near the landing pad.
Ten minutes later, the shuttle was coming in. All he had to do was ask for a ride, offer what few credits he had, or get back to work here on Freedom's Progress. As the cargo shuttle was beginning to descend for a landing, a sudden bolt was shot through it, causing an explosion that sent the shuttle in two different directions as it split in half, "Shit!" Isaac quickly ran back, avoiding the falling debris as the two different parts of the shuttle collapsed onto the colony. Smoke and fire rose into the air, but that wasn't all. A massive ship - one bigger than anything he'd ever seen before - spiraled in from seemingly out of nowhere, releasing a buzzing swarm into the air. Hauling his bag over his shoulder, he sprinted away, immediately being flooded with flashbacks from The Sprawl. This wasn't the same, right…? No, no-.. Necromorphs didn't fly ships, Markers didn't fly ships. They couldn't be here for him. Jeth had said the Terminus Systems were a dangerous place, maybe it had something to do with some kind slaver group? Either way, he wasn't standing around to find out just how dangerous this was. Running past others, Isaac sought out to find Jeth. He might've known what to do here. As he turned around to look in the directions of shrieks and wails from people, he saw them suddenly freezing, as if put under the stasis effect. Nasty, swarming insects were descending down onto other colonists and freezing them in place.
Isaac ran through one of the buildings, moving right through, narrowly avoiding the swarms as they injected everyone else. His heart was racing - and during his sprint, all he could think was, "Why, why, why, why me? Why now? Why again?" Why couldn't he ever just relax, take in peace and freedom away from nightmarish creatures? Was he doomed to live in a constant cycle of fear, anxiety and fighting for his life? Turning a corner, it seemed finding Jeth would be pointless. In the wreckage of the shuttle, there were several cargo boxes spread out. Running through smoke, Isaac attempted to pry the lid off of one of the larger crates. When his strength failed him, he pointed his plasma cutter, taking aim and using it to blast the lid off. Inside, a bunch of fruit. Throwing himself inside, he grabbed the lid and shut it back over his head, listening to the screams of the other colonists as they attempted to run from an unstoppable enemy.
All Isaac could do was wait, mutter reassurances to himself, "Calm-.. Calm down, you're gonna make it. You always make it. It's nothing - it's not them - it's something else. You're gonna make it, you'll be fine, just wait it out, wait it out.." He muttered, staying quiet as…
Everything else went silent too. Isaac realized all he heard was the sound of his own breathing and heart beating. No screaming, no cries, no bullets… Nothing. The colony had gone completely silent. Not yet feeling safe enough to exit, he remained hidden. And soon, he heard something else. Footsteps - heavy and ominous. Whoever was out there, they weren't saying anything. He heard the footsteps stop near his crate - putting a hand over his mouth to silence himself from breathing loudly. After a minute, the footsteps retreated away from him. Isaac felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest from the intensity of it… Nothing would allow him to leave this crate. Nothing…
It felt like days had passed that he was in the crate, eating the fruit beneath him, and just… Waiting. For some kind of sign of life just outside - an all-clear, anything to tell him that if he left this crate, he wouldn't be met with immediate death. But there was nothing. Not a single soul outside. Finally, he cracked the lid yet again, carefully moving his head up. The wreckage had been completely left alone, and the fires had been put out. Whatever was attacking this place, they weren't interested in supplies. Looking all-around, he didn't see anyone left. Nobody… A shuttle suddenly entered the sky, zooming overhead and landing somewhere else on the colony. Perhaps help had arrived? Grabbing his bag out of the crate, he opened it up and fetched his armor. It was still in rough shape - but some armor was better than no armor. Slipping into it, he placed the helmet onto his head, readying his plasma cutter and ventured out onto the colony.
As he passed through the homes, the streets, the platforms, he realized something, "... No bullets. No blood. Nothing." He muttered to himself, investigating around to find any clues of any survivors, "... What the hell happened to everyone?" He wondered aloud, slowly moving along before hearing gunshots being fired in the distance. Alert, he readied his weapon, keeping it aimed in the direction of the shots. Even if his fight with Untilogists had him accustomed to shooting at people, and killing necromorphs got him well used to his weapons and combat, he never felt prepared for it. All of his survival had been so instinctive. Surviving by relying on his will, not overwhelming military training or a cool, steady temper. As he headed in the direction of the shots, it quieted back down again. Ahead of him, a door needed to be opened for he continued forward. It was quite large, sealing off another area of the colony. Opening it up, he was met with what appeared to be another unfamiliar ship that had arrived. Out of all the doors marked as locked, only one seemed open. Isaac moved over, keeping a careful eye out, approaching the door and opening it up.
Immediately, he was met with several curious masked faces staring back at him.
"A scavenger already waiting to pick the remains here, no doubt." Isaac recognized them. They appeared to be Quarians, just like Veetor. They all aimed their weapons at him as the aggressive male Quarian barked an order, "Throw down your weapon and raise your arms up, scavenger!"
Isaac dropped his plasma cutter, "Don't shoot! I'm friendly!"
"Stand down, Prazza!" A female Quarian stepped into view, forcibly lowering the submachine gun aimed at Isaac from the other Quarian's hands, "He could be a survivor, not a scavenger. I don't know what happened here, but I don't think possibly waving guns in the faces of those who live here is a good idea." The female Quarian turned to look at Isaac, motioning for the others to lower their weapons, "My name is Tali'Zorah vas Neema, I'm with the Quarian Fleet here looking for one of our people. Are you a colonist from Freedom's Progress?" She asked him.
"No, but I've been staying here the last few days. Isaac – Isaac Clarke. This colony was just helping me out when I ran into some shit. I can barely tell you what happened - it happened in an instant. But I know who you're looking for," Slowly lowering his hands down, he spoke up again, "Veetor, right? I saw him. But I don't know if he's alive. Everyone's gone."
"Veetor is alive, Isaac. We've scanned the colony and found Veetor's Omni-Tool's link on the far side of the colony. Based on the readings, we do know he is wounded. Combine that with a tear to his suit, and he's likely delirious from an infection. We want to reach him and extract him from here. Isaac, could you tell us anything about what happened here? Anything at all?"
Isaac looked like he didn't even know where to start. Retracting his helmet, he let out a sigh as he thought about what had happened days ago, "... I don't even know. I was waiting to get off this planet, when a massive ship showed up and decimated a cargo shuttle. Right after, bam. These-.. Bugs - swarmed the place. Started freezing everyone they came across. I hid but I didn't come out in time to see what they did with everyone. I don't even know who "they" are."
"I see. Thank you for telling us what you know, Isaac. If you are hurt or need medical attention, I can leave you here with some personnel from my team. But our top priority is reaching Veetor before his infection gets worse. As you can see, a couple of us are wounded thanks to the security defenses that Veetor put up. He seems to have made them hostile for any signs of life. We have no way of communicating with him, the signal to his comm-link is jammed. His drones or mechs may attack you, but please, don't blame him. He's probably terrified, wherever he's hiding." Tali explained, seeming quite desperate to find Veetor. Clearly, she cared about her people in the same passionate way as Jeth did.
"I can help," Isaac stepped up, "I have a weapon, armor, and I know how to shoot."
"You'd really offer to?" Tali didn't seem to expect Isaac to make such a bold decision, "Well-... If you come along with us, and help us get Veetor, I promise to get you onto a shuttle anywhere within reason when we make it back to the Flotilla. I don't think you want to be stranded here, anyway.
Isaac lowered himself carefully, reaching for his plasma cutter, "That sounds good. I'll help you get Veetor back in exchange for a ride."
Tali looked to a couple of her teammates, "Stay with the wounded and treat them. We'll move ahead and try to finish this as quickly as possible. Any problems, radio in. Everyone else, we move out now. Veetor's waiting for us."
Prazza's gaze lingered onto Isaac for longer than he'd felt comfortable for, before they all moved out. Isaac got the feeling he wasn't particularly trusting of humans, perhaps. As the group moved ahead, the first test came into view. Several security mechs walked in formation, activating and aiming their rifles. Isaac quickly got into cover as Tali and her team followed suit, "Take down those mechs now!"
"Overload their systems!" One of the Quarians called out, moving their arm out and sending a shocking blast at one of the mechs, causing it to malfunction and combust. The explosion impacted another nearby mech into breaking apart and exploding as well. While they fought the mechs, security drones suddenly flew into view, raining down on the Quarians in cover. To help alleviate them of their high-ground enemies, Isaac pulled his plasma cutter up and began to fire at the drones. The plasma cutter's slicing shots tore through the metallic frames with ease, splitting the drones apart so the Quarians could focus their attention on the ground mechs. Once they were taken care of, they began to move again.
"I've never seen a weapon quite like yours, Isaac," Tali mentioned, taking lead and guiding her team down the path to Veetor, "But it's quite efficient at taking down synthetics." She said, with interest.
It was capable of slicing through most metal and steel. Though Isaac had primarily started to use it for other means in the last few years… "It's a handy tool," He told her. As they continued to move through, another shuttle entered the sky and landed a distance away from where they were.
"You saw those markings right, Tali?" Prazza walked right up to her, "A Cerberus shuttle. Figures." Prazza pointed his weapon at Isaac yet again, "So he's not a scavenger, but a Ceberus scout calling for help. Thought you'd stab us in the back, didn't you?" He spoke at Isaac with a threatening and accusatory tone.
"I don't even know what the fuck Cerberus is. I told you - I was on the colony before everything went down. Consider me a traveler. But is now really the time to get worried about something like this? We got a bunch of angry mechs, and you still need to find your missing man. I'm willing to help you, is that not enough?"
Prazza scoffed.
"Prazza, please. Your distrust of Cerberus is shared amongst us all, but you're going to be causing more problems with your temper. Problems we don't need right now. Isaac is right, we have more important things to worry about. If we make contact with Cerberus, you WILL let me do the talking before you get us into an unnecessary firefight. Got it?" Tali spoke to Prazza sternly. She was a good leader to her squad, but seemed to find it difficult to keep Prazza in control. Isaac noted their passions, but they went in opposite mindsets.
"Fine, have it your way. Let Cerberus come and blow us all up. They'll probably blame us for what happened here on the colony. And when they inevitably turn on us again, I'll shoot him first." Prazza moved ahead, taking along a couple others who seemed a little more trusting and loyal to him than Tali.
Isaac walked up to Tali, watching her shake her head and mutter under her breath, "Bosh'tet…"
"Why's he so aggressive? What'd these Cerberus people do to you guys?" Isaac asked, attempting to get a better feel for everyone's feelings so far.
"It's a long story." Tali looked at him, "Be careful, Isaac. I'm attempting to keep control of this team, but Prazza is becoming increasingly more unpredictable. I'll reign him in and watch him, just keep an eye out for yourself too. Sorry to put you in this position, and thank you again for offering your help. Not many humans would be willing to help Quarians."
Seemed there was a lot more to the Quarian and Human dynamic than Isaac had thought. But those were questions best left for another time, "... Well, right now, let's just worry about Veetor. I'll watch your back."
"Right," Tali motioned for her squadron to move out yet again. As they traversed down one of the main living centers of the colony, they were met with another patrol of mechs guarding the area, along with more drones flying overhead. Once more, they all managed to get into cover, firing off shots at the mechs and drones. Isaac cut one of the drones in half with his plasma cutter, then used his Kinesis module to slam the severed body into another drone mid-flight, causing it to crash down onto one of the walking mechs on the ground. The rest were quickly taken care of before everyone moved ahead, taking refuge in one of the colonist's homes.
"We're getting closer to Veetor's Omni-Tool signal. My guess?" Tali stepped over to the window, tapping her finger against it to show a warehouse not far away, "In there. Looks like there's some kind of security room that he might be holed up in, controlling the mechs. We need to reach that site if we're to get to Veetor."
Prazza stepped forward, "What're we waiting for? We should get going now, give Cerberus less time to catch up with its scout."
"No, it's too dangerous," Tali shook her head, turning back around to face her team, "Towards Veetor, we still have mechs waiting for us. Behind us - an approaching Cerberus team and we don't know what they want yet. I don't want to be caught in the middle."
"Then what do you suggest?" Prazza asked, readying his weapon, "If we hole up here and wait for them, Veetor could get into trouble. If we move now, we'll have a better chance of saving him. Leave the human behind. He can explain to Cerberus what's happening - even if he's not with them, he's a human. Cerberus will be much more trusting of him for that alone."
Isaac didn't seem particularly keen on being left alone with an approaching team of people the Quarians clearly didn't like. But then again… "Maybe Prazza's right, Tali. I don't know Cerberus, but I know you need to find Veetor. If you need to move on ahead, I can explain to them what you're doing here so they don't interfere."
Tali looked to the warehouse, then back to Isaac, "... Are-... Are you sure that's what you want to do, Isaac? They may be more trusting of you due to you being a human, but I consider Cerberus unpredictable and dangerous."
"Go on ahead. I'll talk to them. You find Veetor." Isaac retracted his helmet again, "It's the least I can do for someone offering me to get me out of here. Just be careful, all of you." Isaac even looked at Prazza, for a moment, when he said that.
Tali nodded, "Everyone, move out. We need to find Veetor and fast." Before she left, she turned to look back, "Thank you, Isaac. This is a very selfless thing to do for strangers. I will keep my end of the deal to you as well. Be careful, too."
Isaac nodded, "I will."
Tali and the others left, leaving Isaac alone to deal with Cerberus. In just a few short minutes, the doors opened and he found himself being greeted by three guns aimed at him, "Whoa, whoa! Easy-.. I'm just one of the survivors here. I don't want any trouble." More humans. It wasn't unexpected, given what Tali and the others said about them.
"Do you need medical attention?" One of the men asked, lowering his weapon.
"No, no, I'm fine. But there's some people ahead looking for one of their own. Non-hostiles. But they were too afraid to meet you, so they left me here to talk to you." Isaac explained, "I don't know anything about Cerberus, but I hope you're not enemies with Quarians."
"Quarians? Guess that explains that," One of the other men put his gun away, "Relax, we're not here to hurt anyone. Name's Jacob Taylor, I'm here with Miranda Lawson and Commander Shepard to investigate what happened to the colonists on Freedom's Progress. Colony's been mute for days now."
The man in the middle, Commander Shepard, spoke up, "What's your name?"
"Isaac Clarke."
"Isaac, can you tell us anything about what happened here? Where is everyone? Whole colony seems like a ghost town, and no evidence of deadly force save for the fights against the security mechs." Shepard asked him.
"Yeah… But not much. A few days ago, some massive ship showed up and this big swarm of bugs or something just went nuts. Anyone they came into contact with ended up in some kind of stasis field. I managed to hide in a crate, so I never saw who or what was responsible. Just the colony going absolutely quiet." Isaac explained, having to relive the horror of it again and again to explain himself.
"That would explain why there was no sign of deadly force," Miranda spoke up next, "Commander, it could be possible that the colonists weren't killed but abducted from Freedom's Progress, as we've been suspecting so far."
"I'm thinking that too," Shepard looked back to Isaac, "You mentioned Quarians being here looking for one of their own? Any idea what a Quarian was doing here on a human colony to begin with?"
Isaac shook his head, "No, no, sorry. No idea. I'm not really a colonist from here. I was just a straggler they helped out of a bind. Look, I don't know if you guys are enemies with the Quarians or not, but they didn't seem to trust you for a second. They were afraid of getting shot in the back. Their leader, Tali'Zorah, says that –"
"Wait," Shepard raised a hand up, "Tali'Zorah? She's here?"
"Uh, yeah, know 'er?" Isaac asked.
"She's an old friend. Even if she wasn't here, the Quarians would have nothing to be afraid of. I may be working with Cerberus for the time being, but I am not following any pro-human ideals they have. We're all in this galaxy together, Quarians included. Isaac, which way did they go? I'd like to provide support for Tali and her team as quickly as possible." Shepard explained, readying up his weapon.
"Just ahead. They're going to a warehouse, you can see it just out the window. Apparently, they think Veetor's holed up there. But let me come too. I told Tali I'd help her, I got a promise to keep." Isaac readied his weapon as well.
"We really shouldn't, Commander," Miranda explained, "His mysterious appearance as a non-colonist here brings up a lot of questions. I don't think it'd be safe to bring him along anywhere and we don't have the time for an interrogation, we still need to find out exactly what happened here."
Shepard looked to think about it for a moment before shaking his head, "I don't see him as someone we should be wary of. I doubt word of this colony going quiet has spread fast enough for looters to start taking whatever was left behind. Isaac, I'm putting trust in you, despite what my second-in-command has to say."
Isaac looked rather determined now, "Look, I just wanna help everyone. What happened here was fucked and nobody deserved it. I've got your back," Isaac would tag along with Shepard in his team, but in the back of his mind, he had plenty more reasons for doing this. If he aided Shepard and his squad, or the Quarians, they might have enough trust to listen to him about his story, answer any questions he had, and figure out what was happening. Somewhere out there, Ellie was waiting. And he needed to know how to get to his Earth, if their Earth was different. And the more time he spent in this confusing world, the more likely it seemed that their Earths were, in fact, not one in the same. A terrifying concept, but a question that needed an answer. Shepard and his crew moved through the rest of the colony, Isaac following behind. Fortunatrely for them, the main brunt of the security mech team had been taken care of by the Quarians. Eventually, however, as they came across the scattered remains of mech parts, Shepard stopped his team, "Hold up, we got someone here!" Rushing over, Jacob covered them while Shepard and Miranda lowered down to investigate the body of a Quarian, presumably part of Tali's crew.
"She's dead, Commander," Miranda slowly stood back up, "We're better prepared than Quarian civilians. They would've been better off staying behind and waiting for us to get this job done. A shame, but this was their own fault."
"Kind of cold to say, don't you think?" Isaac chimed in, stepping closer to see the body.
A dead corpse.
He'd grown so used to them.
And used to them coming back, too.
He felt a pit in his stomach at the sight, forcing himself to look away, "Shouldn't we be moving? If they got one Quarian, they could get the rest. We need to help."
"Careful, Isaac," Shepard called out, "I know you're worried, but rushing ahead and slamming ourselves into an unknown situation could wind up with one of us killed. Seeing as you don't have the armor or the guns to take on mech forces by yourself, I suggest you stick with us. We'll quicken our pace, but don't rush off. Guts'll only take you so far."
Shepard was right, but Isaac's bravado came from more than wanting to help Tali or just feeling like it was the morally just thing to do. But after everything that's happened? An alien invasion, hiding for days, seeing a dead body - old feelings he'd buried away were crawling back into his mind. Worse, the events of Tau Volantis were fresh in Isaac's mind, even if he'd spent a few days in a cell here, it would take more than a little less than a week to overpower everything he was thinking about. Death, danger, killing, dying, regret, anxiousness, and intense anxieties coming back to grip his head and heart. He needed to look away from the body - a constant reminder that death had been following him since the Ishimura, "Heard, Commander." He replied, simply.
Nearing the warehouse, the sounds of an intense firefight could be heard and no sign of other mech forces or drones nearby. Shepard ordered his team to double-time it, sprinting in the direction of the fight and coming to an opening where the main warehouse yard was waiting for them. Littered with crates and machinery, a giant Heavy Mech was pulverizing what was left of the able-bodied members of Tali's team. Three more Quarians, ripped to shreds on the ground, while the mech's thumping, heavy footsteps encroached on the cover of a lone survivor.
"Quick, get its attention and take cover!" Shepard ordered his team, "Isaac, keep yourself protected! We'll handle this!" Shepard and Miranda took to the side of the mech, staying in cover and peppering shots while Jacob ran for the flank, ready to overload the mech's systems to start blitzing its shield. Isaac ran to a spot near some crates, gripping his plasma cutter and peeking over the edge to see the bodies… He recognized them. Prazza, some of those that were more onboard with his line of thinking.. Not everyone was dead, but most importantly, he didn't see Tali. As he moved around, staying out of sight and going around the corners, he saw Tali keeping cover behind a sizable crate that was full of bullet holes from the Heavy Mech. At the moment, its attention was turned away from Tali's position as Shepard and his crew took on a much more offensive approach to save any survivors.
She looked wounded, holding her side and her leg seemed shot too. There was blood underneath her, and a trail that had started near another corpse. More than likely, Tali had attempted to save someone in her crew before being shot and being forced to take cover. Shepard and his team had made it here only barely on time. With the mech distracted, Isaac began to motion to Tali, "... Hey! … Hey!" He tried to call out to her, not too loudly, waving a hand. Once she perked up to see him, he beckoned her over, "This way!"
Tali peered from around her cover, seeing the mech distracted. The crate she was behind wasn't in an ideal positon - should the heavy mech feel the need to blast through it, or tear it out of the way, there was no other nearby cover. Either she made a run for it now, and hid somewhere safer, or counted on the other people here to finish it off quickly enough not to regain interest in her. Looking back to Isaac, she tried to move, before grunting, hands clasping the bullet wound in her leg, "I-.. Can't run!" She cried out, in a hushed tone.
"Just-..!" Isaac looked back, seeing all manner of blasts and firepower being unloaded into a heavy mech that was still very much alive, "Come this way, quick! I'll protect you, I promise!" Leaving his cover, trying to stay in the mech's blindspot, he motioned for her to start coming his way, 'I've got you, we need to get you out of here."
Hesitating, concerned the Heavy Mech would suddenly turn on her, she had to make a decision. Leaving her spot of minor safety, she began to limp towards Isaac, who rushed over to her. Putting her arm over his shoulders, he started helping her get to a safer spot. In the midst of this, one of the grenade launcher blasts from Shepard's weapon caused the mech to stagger, pushed to look in the direction of Isaac and Tali. Loading up a missile, it had a prime shot to take them both out.
"Watch out!" Tali shouted, before being shoved away, in to the safety of the crates. As the missile was shot towards him, Isaac activated his kinesis module, and in the blink of an eye, managed to grab the missile just long enough to barely skew its direction to the side, avoiding him, but striking behind him. The force of the shockwave sent him forward, face planting onto the ground and being knocked nearly unconscious.
With its shields lowered, and armor on the brink of being completely shredded by firepower, another overload shock was sent into the mech's systems. Stunned, it began to fall forward but wasn't out for the count just yet. In a moment, it would regain control from the overload and begin firing again. But Shepard was finished dealing with, "Unload everything now!" He shouted, prepping his grenade launcher yet again and firing off to blasts at the mech. The first sent it collapsing to the side, and the second blasted right through it. The mech burst in an explosion, mechanical parts going everywhere as it finally fell defeated.
"Isaac! Are you all right?" He could heard Tali calling out to him, gripping her leg in an attempt to stop the bleeding. His ears were ringing, and his body felt like it'd just been slammed by a tuck, but he managed to groan out a response.
"Yeah-.. I'm fine. You-.. Need help," He strained, clambering to his feet, "... Is it over?"
Shepard and his team ran over, "Hang in there, Tali, I've got some medi-gel for you!" Crouching beside her, he quickly began to apply medi-gel on her wounds. They wouldn't completely help her, but they'd minimize the pain, injury and hopefully prevent serious infection since they'd punctured her suit.
"Shepard…?" She looked up at him with a weary look, confused how a dead man was among the living again, "But-.."
"I'll explain everything later, Tali. You need medical attention and you need it now. Does your ship have any medical stations suitable for Quarians?" Shepardd asked her, beginning to help her up.
"Y-.. Yes, some of my team, other wounded and some medics on the ship are here. I need to get to them fast… Veetor's just inside the warehouse security station. Shepard, I don't know what you're doing with Cerberus, and I have too many questions. But my priority is getting Veetor back to our people. Please, get him to our ship as soon as you can. And be careful with him, he's wounded and nervous." Tali spoke desperately. As concerned as she was with her wounds, Veetor's protection came first. She needed to make sure he would be okay. There seemed no time to dell on Shepard, Cerberus, or her injuries as much as making sure Veetor got out alive.
"He'll be relinquished to your team before you go off-planet, you have my word, Tali. I promise I will explain everything later. Isaac, can you make sure Tali gets onto her ship safely?" Shepard looked to him, "My team and I still need to get to Veetor. Can I trust you?"
Isaac's head stopped spinning - focusing up, he delivered a firm nod to Shepard, ".. Uh, yes, Commander, I can help her." Looking to Tali, he took her arm once again, "Come on, we gotta get you looked at."
Isaac began to lead Tali away, heading in the direction of a building her wounded had taken refuge in, "Thank you, Isaac… What you did for me was quite noble. I could've been killed. You could've been killed. You nearly took a missile to the face.. It's not like mechs to miss. I swear I saw it change trajectories mid-flight.. How did you do it?"
"Just a little quick thinking, that's all. And don't mention it. I couldn't leave someone behind." Not again. Hopefully, never again. The few people he'd come to know on the colony were already gone. And there were too many people in the past he wasn't fast enough to save, either. If he could do anything to keep more misery and tragedy from happening, he would. By this point, Isaac was a tired, restless soul. And his patience for others or taking the moral high ground had grown thin over time, but… Ellie wouldn't have wanted him to stay a jaded cynic that just wanted to isolate himself. When he found her again, he'd tell her all about the people he managed to save. Hopefully, he'd find Ellie before that list grew too long.
Isaac brought Tali to her people. From there, he escorted the wounded back to their ship, where the medical doctor onboard asked Isaac to wait outside. In their very small medical clinic, they said he could've brought in any kind of contaminants, and he would be a health risk above all else, even if decontaminated. Simply, they wanted to play it safe. And he couldn't blame them. Walking away from the ship, he sat down just nearby, removing his helmet and letting the breeze smoothly slide along his face, pushing past his hair and beard. Moments like this, alone, allowed him to just… Be with himself. And think of the previous events. It was rather daunting as much as it was peaceful, to be completely alone with himself. Sometimes, it brought bliss. No other issues, no voices, no worries, just him. No one is trying to betray him, use him, no one to throw him into another nightmare, no heartache. But other times - when he was by himself - all the confrontation with his inner demons came spiraling out into the open. The things he's done, his regrets, what kind of man he was. His relationships, his failures. So much to unpack and too little time to sift through it. Not to mention, it was too painful and too cumbersome for him. He was weary of such things now… His mind. One of his biggest enemies in recent years. Tricks and wicked imaginings - sometimes, he was afraid all those hallucinations would come back. The dead, the loved, and more. But so far, nothing was plaguing him. Without a Marker around to influence his thinking, there was only one demon to confront. Himself.
After a while, Isaac approached, Veetor following behind. The Quarian they'd been looking for. He was indeed quite nervous and afraid, looking to his left and his right, as if someone was going to come down and yank him up from nowhere. Isaac stood as they approached, Shepard nodding his head, "They're waiting for you aboard, Veetor. Tali and the others will see that you're treated and taken back to the Flotilla. Go inside, we'll be out here."
"Oh.. Oh, yes-.. Thank you.." Veetor limped into the ship, leaving Isaac and Shepard alone with each other.
Shepard stepped up to him, "You said you were a survivor of what happened here, right? But not from the colony."
"Yeah, exactly. I'm not really from here at all," Isaac admitted. But if Shepard prompted him for more, he wouldn't even know where to start or how to explain himself without sounding like a lunatic.
"Isaac, I'm not going to ask you what your business in the Terminus Systems is or pry into your history. I wanted to commend you. You were of help, you kept your cool, and you helped to rescue Tali and ensure this mission went off successfully. There were some casualties, but they weren't on anyone's head. It was a difficult and chaotic situation down here. Tali's a close personal friend of mine. She helped me stop Saren when he was conducting Geth attacks on human colonies. For that, I have to extend my thanks to you."
"Well, you're welcome, I guess. Sorry, Commander. I'm-.. Just completely lost. I have no idea where I am, what's going on or who or what anyone is. I'm just stranded. I helped Tali because it was right, but she also promised me a way to a spaceport that could help me get back to Earth. Someone might be waiting for me there, so… Kinda where I need to be."
Shepard seemed to understand, "Well, if it costs anything, just tell her to bill it to me. I'll help you get back to Earth. After what you've done here today, you've more than earned it."
Isaac seemed grateful to hear this. After all, the quicker he got to Earth, the better, "Yeah, I can handle myself. Thank you, Commander. It's appreciated." Isaac shook Shepard's hand, the ship door behind them opening up as Tali descended down.
"Thank you for returning Veetor to us, Commander. And thank you again, Isaac, for helping. But now I have to ask - How the hell are you alive and why're you working with Cerberus? They're a pro-human, anti-alien group, Shepard. And my people have had a horrible run-in with them we won't be forgetting anytime soon. I've been having my wounds treated with a horrible feeling in my stomach that you've somehow turned on everyone. Please, please, tell me otherwise." Tali pleaded, concerned Shepard was somehow lost to Cerberus.
"Don't worry, Tali. Like you said, I'm working with them. Not for them. Cerberus is the only organization looking into these missing colony cases - the Alliance has completely given up on them. They brought me back, asked me to help, gave me a ship and a crew to help humanity. Not to backstab other aliens. I am not the enemy, Tali, and I'll rid myself of Cerberus forever if they intended to make me do anything harmful to anyone that wasn't related to the Reaper threat. I'm looking for answers and trying to help everyone, not just my people. I promise you that." Shepard seemed sincere, and careful with his words. Clearly, Shepard cared about how his companions viewed him. Especially his close friends, as Isaac recalled, "I know that's summarizing things a bit too quickly. But you're still hurt and I know you need to be treated on the Flotilla. The quicker you go, the better. But listen, Tali. I'm building a team - and I need the best and most capable. I need you. When you're done being treated on the Flotilla, will you join us?" Tali seemed… Conflicted. One one hand, she wanted to help Shepard. On the other hand, she didn't trust Cerberus a single iota, even with Shepard in charge, "It's… Something I have to think about. I'll give it some thought while I'm on the Flotilla, Shepard. Besides, I have to organize a transport for Isaac. I promised to get him to a spaceport if he helped me get Veetor back. I owe him for that."
"Then I'll leave Isaac in your care and hope to see you onboard the Normandy soon. Tali, Isaac." Shepard nodded at them both, "Good luck," With that, their meeting was concluded and Shepard began to return to his shuttle.
Tali looked to Isaac, letting out a sigh, "I'm glad he's back. He was a close friend and a good leader. But Cerberus?" She shook her head, "... I hope he's right. You'll be coming back to the Flotilla with me, Isaac. I'm afraid to say you may not find it very comfortable, but it'll be a very short and temporary stay while I arrange a transport for you. I hope that you won't mind. The Flotilla is an amazing place, but you must be in your suit at all times and some of the civilians onboard may find you a bit… Uncomfortable. We're all wary of strangers, especially humans, since Cerberus happened. But I will personally vouch for you. You've more than earned your stay aboard the Flotilla."
"Thanks, Tali. I'm sure I won't find it all that bad. Can't be worse than other places I've been to. How're your wounds?" He asked, still concerned for her wellbeing, following her onboard the ship.
"I'll be fine. But I need special medical care that I can only receive back home. If you can't already tell, us Quarians require special.. Accommodations. I'd be happy to tell you more sometime, for the moment… Keelah, my whole body is killing me…" She muttered.
"Guess we better get there fast, then."
Next stop, the Flotilla. Isaac hadn't a clue what lied in store for him. This whole thing just felt like one long, strange dream he seemed unable to wake up from. And the longer he was in it, the more tired he felt. It was a guilty thought, especially as it would admit to never seeing Ellie again, but there was an odd comfort thinking this was a complete alternate world - where Markers never happened.. Nobody would bother him, no creatures or monsters that took over bodies. No nightmares. Maybe it would be a chance for a new beginning.
But not without her.