A/N: Well Mass Effect 3 is finally out, and after finishing it I can safely say that there'd better be a damn alternate ending on the second playthrough as rumoured. My romantic side just isn't damn well happy, nor is my Karma, so tomorrow: 10hrs of gameplay.
At least that's my plan. All the same, this story is now ULTRA-AU so there. I do hope you enjoy it all the same - because this story is all fluffy at points. Keep R&R'ing!
"Jack, come on, get up."
A feeble moan met his insistent tone, and the arm that usually lay across his chest as they slept flailed about weakly for a couple of seconds before freezing. A rather menacing tone met his ears a moment later. The muffled nature of it ruined the overall effect. "Why aren't you butt-ass naked next to me, Fucker?"
"Mission," he explained as he poured some milk over her favorite cereal. "And since I promised you that next time I was going to face down a Reaper, knowingly at least, I'd bring you along, here we are." He walked over to her as she sat up and blearily rubbed at her eyes, and held out the tray with her breakfast on it. Her irritation lessened when she saw what he'd done, and she sent him a grateful smile before taking it and digging in.
"Thanks," she mumbled around a mouthful, "I wouldn't have put it past you to just leave me here."
"That's why I spiked your cereal with a mild paralysis agent." She froze and slowly looked up at him, and he managed to keep a straight face for five seconds before cracking a grin. "And you think I'm joking." This, of course, triggered a wide-eyed expression from the young woman, and a highly amused young man was treated to wild fluctuations of energy bursting across her skin as she attempted to purge her system of absolutely nothing. Several seconds later, and no paralysis, she slowed her panic and slowly looked up at him; her eyes burning with danger. "Do you know just how fucking hot you look when you're pissed?" he asked casually, and her violent outburst completely derailed in favor of a blush and a coy smile.
"Implying that I might just be a couple of seconds away from 'getting some'?"
"Ah... no, no, with the undertones of an upcoming Reaper battle I'd rather not," he commented airily, and she rolled her eyes with a small smile as she continued eating.
"So what's happening?"
"Hold on a sec," he said, and then tapped away at his Omni-tool. A couple of seconds later a rod in the corner of the room morphed into Izzy, who gave a beaming smile and bounced over to them before jumping on the bed and sitting next to Jack, who gave her a bemused look.
"Heya!" she greeted bubbly, and Jack just stared for a second before shrugging and returning to eating her breakfast. Shrugging herself Izzy turned to Andy with a smile. "What's happening?"
"You're coming on a mission," he explained with a small smile, "though I'm afraid you won't be looking like you during it. In a few minutes we should be arriving in the Bahak System... actually, you know what? Just access the recording of the vid-call between Admiral Hackett and Shepard."
"Ah," she said after barely a millisecond's pause, "so we're saving the Doctor then?"
He gave a small chuckle. "Well... maybe? I don't know. She's indoctrinated, you see, by a Reaper artifact that's in the base where she works. I'm not sure what happens to an indoctrinated person when the object of the indoctrination is destroyed... but we'll be finding out pretty soon. Once we've got her safely off-planet and restrained on board the Normandy you're going to transform into her and then we're going to go to the base. Because your body is completely resistant to indoctrination there won't be a problem, and both Jack and I are immune. The only weak-point is Shepard really, but he's a big boy and he's faced a bonafide Reaper before. When we get within range of the base hack their systems and watch any and all recordings of Kenson so you can properly mimic her personality."
Izzy nodded happily at the plan before a sudden question occurred to her. "Hey, if this body gets... well, killed I suppose, then what happens to me?"
Andy walked over to his personal armoury and flicked through the tubes before plucking the ones he wanted and pressing them to his wrists, whereupon his Morphic Armour immediately activated and spread over his body before seemingly absorbing them into its surface. "Nothing really. You're actually residing within my Omni-tool at the moment, as well as the body. All two, or one when the body isn't in use, are perfectly synchronized... though I thought about it and came to the conclusion that if you think like us... is a copy really you? So I went back through all the revisions and found out which one of you is the 'original'."
She looked almost tearful at his thoughtfulness and gave a small nod and a smile. "I do think like that a lot, actually... and I thought that maybe you wouldn't care because I'm an AI." She jerked forwards and put a hand over his mouth when he moved to speak and shook her head with an apologetic smile to him. "I feel very guilty for thinking that now, and thank you for treating me like... well, me."
He removed her hand and shook his head with a smile. "No problem, Izzy. You're a fantastic friend, which is why I modified your systems. You now reside on my Omni-tool singularly, and Jack's will now act as an extra processing point and data-storage unit should you require it. The body," she pointed to her, "is the interesting part. An avatar of you inhabits it, kind of like a shell so that it still has you appearance, and that 'shell' is bridged to you. The body is simply feeding you every sensation and making you feel as if you are there."
She looked at him for several seconds with a thoughtful look on her face before commenting. In reality, Andy knew, it took only a mere fraction of a nanosecond to process everything and come up with a suitable reply, but appreciated that she wasn't just firing things off as soon as he finished speaking. That could get a little... intense. "Why your Omni-tool? Not that I'm complaining or anything," she corrected before he could come to a wrong conclusion, and he gave her a small chuckle and a shake of his head.
"Fair question," he shot back, "and there's no reason not to tell you. You're on my Omni-tool because I'm selfish." That got an odd look, and he sent the red-head a small smile. "You're a fantastic friend Izzy, and I'd consider one of my best alongside Kar - which is really saying something. Jack's something far more, as you know, but Shepard and the rest are a bit below, including Liara, and that's just because we don't... gel. You; you're fantastically funny yet sensitive; smart; cunning... and great company. If something happens to me then I want you to be with me, just as I want Jack by my side... just in a less romantic way, you understand."
Izzy gave a small smile, and made to answer but was interrupted mid-opening mouth by Shepard's voice over the speakers in the room. "We're in position Andy."
"Give us ten Shepard," Andy interrupted, "in the middle of something pretty important here."
"Rodger, see you down in the Cargo Bay in fifteen then; we're getting a shuttle down."
"Got it Shep."
He turned back to Izzy and nodded encouragingly and she gave a small sigh before looking at him imploringly. "You know I really care for you, right?" He nodded, and she gave another sigh. "What you did, with the original me... that was really sweet, but, well, this kind of ruins it. You didn't ask me what I wanted, and... well Andy, I've found somebody. If you go somewhere... if something happens to you... just like you want Jack..." she trailed off, a slightly pained look on her face, though that froze when she saw the cheeky grin on her creator's face.
"I was wondering how long it was going to be before you told us," he admitted, and she turned to see Jack giving her the same cheeky look. "Jack and I noticed your body-rod disappearing pretty quickly... and many a time it was at the very same time EDI's was gone as well. A little bit of snooping over the video cameras uncovered you and her in the middle of kissing underneath the Engineering Deck," Izzy blushed a bright red, "and so we knew." He saw her extreme embarrassment and leaned over before tapping her knee to get her attention. She looked up, and was surprised but overjoyed to see an accepting and encouraging smile on his lips, as well as Jack's. "You're not an AI, Izzy, you're a person. You've found love, and neither Jack nor I care that it's with another woman. Now that you can physically express it you want to share yourself with EDI - and Jack and I can understand the want and need to be physically close. I knew what you wanted without asking... but I'll ask you now if you approve. I've already grilled EDI on the matter, and she's agreed, but I refuse to do anything in a final capacity without your say so. EDI's original is hosted on Jack's Omni-tool, just as you are on mine. If there's ever a situation where something happens to me, Jack will be by my side, and by extension EDI will be by yours." Izzy's eyes had started glistening, and a moment later she was engulfed in a hug by the recently-solidified EDI. The redhead quickly broke down into happy tears, and EDI looked up at the two from the couch with a wide smile filled with thanks and happiness.
"Thank you," she mouthed silently, and both sent the Asian woman a smile and a nod before Jack joined her boyfriend in standing; both heading for the door after a moment.
Turning his head over his shoulder he waved Izzy down when she made to stand. "We'll call you when we arrive back here with the good Doctor. Until then celebrate with your loves." Both blushed at the address, but dual smiles of happiness met his statement. He would never forget the image that was burned into his mind as the doors closed behind them to give the two... lovers some privacy. Both had their foreheads pressed against the other, and tear-tracks rolled down their cheeks. Their smiles were radiant, and EDI's crimson eyes burned passionately into Izzy's amber with an emotion that could never be mistaken for anything else than what it truly was; utter, completely devoted love.
It was one of the most beautiful things either Jack or Andrew had ever seen.
As they walked towards the airlock Jack turned to him and shook her head with a small smile. "Do I look like that when we're together?"
He gave a small chuckle and nodded. "Yeah, you do. Like that time a week ago... I wish I'd had that captured on my Omni-tool. I have no doubt that I would've found it even more beautiful than what we just saw."
"I-" she paused and then took in a deep breath before letting it shakily out as the doors of the elevator closed and Andy punched the button for the Cargo Hold. For once she was happy it travelled so slowly. "I know you've said I'm beautiful... and when you look at me I know that I see love and desire... but am I really as beautiful as people like, I don't know, Miranda? Or even Kelly?"
He turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Truthfully, no, you're not." He saw her face fall and he pulled her into a hug before giving a smile. "Of course I'm going by general standards here, not my own. Most people, Jack, would say that your tattoos are a serious turn off, that your scars are ugly, and that your attitude is coarse, unfriendly, and very unfeminine. That and they'd say that your breasts are too small." He kissed the top of her head and quickly halted the doors of the elevator before they could open and reveal their intimate position to the Cargo Bay. "But really, come on, look at me." She reluctantly me his eyes and found herself unable to break away. "You're perfect, absolutely perfect, or at the very least as close as can be in this messed up universe. Your tattoos all have a story; your scars show the hardships you've fought through and survived; and your attitude is refreshingly unhesitant; and damn it, you're one of the most feminine women I've ever seen when you want to be. To be honest, I'm glad you're rough around the edges - because I know that I don't have to look over my shoulder ever couple of seconds to make sure you're safe. I know you can look after yourself... and that's something I really want in a woman. You don't take shit either; if you disagree with something I say then I damn well know about it." A small smile flashed over her face, and he pulled back before pressing a gentle kiss to her lips and smiling at her. "I hope it's enough, Jack, but you're beautiful, infinitely more so than Miranda or Kelly... or anybody else I've ever met - even more than that girl back in my time. I wouldn't trade what we have for anything, Jack... and your breasts," both of them blushed but he still continued. "they're perfect too. They fit in my hands as if they were made for me." She blushed a bright red and he sent her a nervous smile. "I hope I wasn't being too forward or anything Jack, but I wanted you to know exactly what I thought. You may not be perfect to most people, Jack, but does it really matter? You're perfect to me."
Her blush had lessened, and a warm smile spread over her face, though it was tentative, and more than a little shy. "Are you sure?"
He kissed her again, and it quickly morphed to something far more than what either of them had ever felt before. When they finally broke away from each other's lips both had glazed expressions and wide smiles on their faces. Andy gave a nod after a moment and rested his head against his forehead. He knew that if he was a third person looking in on the feelings that were literally swarming around each other he'd be entranced. 'Scratch that,' he thought as he looked into her beautiful brown eyes, 'I'm still entranced.' "Yeah, I'm sure Jack." She beamed up at him and planted a firm, almost desperate kiss on his lips, and he returned it with equal fervor. She broke away with an almost apologetic smile, but it was filled with hope and wonder. "Soon, Andy... I know it's taken years, but I'll be ready soon."
He nodded with a small smile and then shook his head. "However long it takes Jack, and I know this sounds like a bad line out of a romance movie, I'll be waiting." He reactivated the lift and they headed down towards the Cargo Hold with matching smiles of acceptance and renewed love. Andy thought it sounded like the most clichéd and cheesy line he'd ever heard, and yet that fact made it no less true. Just before the doors opened, for once both considered wonderfully slowly, they shared one last passionate kiss filled with promise and expectation before Jack leant her head against Andrew's and smiled lightly. The doors opened, and Shepard saw them both in their intimate position; blushing and turning away, feeling as if he was intruding upon a private moment.
He was.
"Don't die."
Andy smiled and rubbed his nose affectionately against hers. "You too Jack." They both broke apart, albeit reluctantly, to see Shepard looking away blushing in embarrassment, and Andy broke the ice by grinning and walking towards the nervous man. "What, haven't you seen two lovers together before," he teased, "I thought your experiences with Liara would have you accustomed to the sight."
"It's different," he argued vehemently as he walked slowly towards the shuttle, "what you two share... it's beyond what any of us can comprehend. It's as if you know what the other is thinking all the time; know when to push and when to hold back... nobody, from what I've heard, has that."
"We have out arguments," Andy argued back, and Shepard shook his head with a grin before closing the door behind them.
"Really? I bet yours only last minutes after you learned to drop your protections around each other." Their silence was his answer, and he gave a small shake of his head with a smile accompanying it. "Nobody has what you two have, which makes every moment you spend together seem... well, almost sexual, or at least on the same level. It's why a lot of us feel embarrassed around you two; you share something almost as intimate as sex... and that's just when you're around each other normally. It's unnerving for most of us," he frowned, "although it doesn't make us like you any less," he added before they could come up with a different conclusion, and they both smiled before shaking their heads, although Jack noticeably more shyly than her lover.
"I... we never really talked about it," she admitted as the shuttle lifted off, "until the elevator. I think we know that we share something that other's don't... but I..."
Shepard interrupted her before she could reveal any more and shook his head. "It's between you two," he explained, "and all of us realize that you share a connection we can't fathom. It sounds odd, weird, whatever else you want to call it, but it's true. You don't need to explain to us."
Jack looked slightly sheepish while Andy sent Shepard a warm and friendly smile. "Thanks."
The Spectre gave a small nod of acceptance. "Not a problem." The three looked out the window to peer at the approaching planet and John raised an eyebrow. "Any plans?"
"Stealth," Andy said without pause, "is the best option in this case. The Batarians are pretty communicative, so if we nail one then the others'll know something's wrong pretty quickly. We should set a number of traps just in case they try to stop us though." Jack and Shepard nodded in agreement, and they all turned their heads back towards the rapidly approaching planet. "Kinda pretty, but the whole Batarian army base thing kinda detracts from that a little bit." He stared at the atmosphere for several seconds before speaking again. "Now I'm not a xenophobe, and there's probably some Batarians that don't agree with slavery... but I really fucking hate the bastards."
"Seconded," threw in Shepard, and Andy turned his head over his shoulder in surprise. "Batarian Blitz," he explained with a venomous expression on his face, and Andy's lips formed into an O-shape.
"Ah, yeah... I can see why that'd make you hate them."
Jack simply stayed quiet; it was silently accepted that she agreed with Andy as she hadn't voiced her opinion. "Coming up to the landing site," the flight AI affirmed, "AA weaponry online, initiating stealth countermeasures."
"Visual as well, thank you Sandy," Andy said with a small smile, and the voice that came back had a small warmth to it.
He was sure the AI was smiling herself. "Aye Creator Andrew, initiating all countermeasures."
He waved the voice off with a grin, "Ah, forget the formalities; we're all friends here."
Jack just shook her head with a small smile. "Never change, Andy."
"That's my line," complained Shepard before turning to Andy looking for support; his eyebrows raised. "Right? Tell her, that's totally my line."
"Shep?" The man leant forward looking expectant and somewhat triumphant, and Andy shook his head ruefully. "Grow up."
As Jack chuckled, Shepard sulked, and Andy rolled his eyes, the latter was comparing the Commander to a child. "Kid in a big boy's body," he muttered under his breath, though Jack caught his comment and held in a snort of laughter. As they approached the landing zone however, they all sobered up and upon landing quickly departed the nearly invisible UT-47 before ducking into cover; their armour providing adaptive camouflage by projecting the image behind them to their fronts; essentially making them seem transparent. When they were still they were essentially invisible. Andy quickly accessed all their suits and set them to stealth, and then watched as a series of icons appeared on his HUD as his armour linked to Jack and Shepard's. They were seeing exactly what he was at that moment, and a whistle of appreciation came from the Commander himself, at least until Jack punched him on the shoulder and hissed a baleful "SHHHHHHH!" at him. Andy gave a chuckle and spoke at normal volume, despite the fact that there was a Batarian guard right above them on a landing. "It's alright; the suits are isolating sounds. You could scream bloody murder and they wouldn't hear you, so despite the fact that this is a stealth mission, don't worry about sneezing and giving us away, or stubbing your toe and swearing... because the only ones that are going to hear that is us."
He peered out from underneath the stairs and took a look around; to everybody but Andy and Jack a simple blur to the air appearing... had anybody been present to see. "Likewise," he commented, "we can all see each other fine; however the guards will be catching our active camouflage. Now despite the fact that it would be oh-so-lovely running around and killing Batarians, as these are the ones that I fucking hate, slaving bastards, we need to do this quickly, which means stealthily and using the fastest route possible."
Both Shepard and Jack shuddered at the cheeky look on the blonde's face, and several minutes later knew why it had been there in the first place. Shepard especially was bent over at the waist; his hands on his knees as he heaved in deep breaths. "That... you... you're bloody insane!"
Jack was faring far better, having used a lighter version of the exercise and training regime that Andy did, but was still panting with effort; beads of sweat running down the back of her neck before quickly being absorbed by the suit for energy, and to prevent any discomfort. The two quickly cooled down as the suits vented the excess heat, and Andy shook his head with a small smile. "I'm not insane Shepard; I'm just damn good." Ignoring the deadpan expression on the man's face he turned to the building in front of them and then nodded when he saw his HUD suddenly show a recognized match on Doctor Kenson via the airborne nanobots he'd sent out. "She's in there, but we're not getting in easy. Seems that they've beefed up security; guards at every doorway and patrolling the corridors. Knives, I think, would be appropriate."
He flicked his wrist, bringing the tube to bear, and within a mere fraction of a second a brutal looking blade rested in his hand. Andy saw the look of jealousy on Jack's face and gave a chuckle before throwing her a second cylinder, which, upon her touch, quickly transformed into a blade identical to his. She beamed at him and blew a kiss, and he gave a chuckle before raising his eyebrow at Shepard and wiggling a third cylinder between his fingers. Shepard shook his head and flicked his own wrist, a smaller blade quickly making an appearance. "I'm used to this one," he explained, "and it's served me well."
Andy shrugged and the metallic tube sunk back into his suit. "Fair enough. Track knives for squad."
Both Jack and John's eyes widened when all their blades suddenly lit up a bright blue - nowhere near blinding, but still highly visible, and Andy begun walking into the complex as he explained. "Only we can see that," he assured them, "it's just so we always know where each other's arch of attack is and don't end up walking into a nice, friendly stab." A Batarian suddenly walked around the corner and froze; his eyes widening in shock when it saw the distortions, and Andy quickly broke into a sprint before running up the wall, landing behind the soldier, and then slicing his throat before jerking forwards and stabbing the guard's partner dead-center in the forehead with a fluid motion. Pulling his blade free he turned back to Jack and Shepard and gave a small grin. "Well come on then."
Shepard, in the following ten minutes, tried valiantly to outshine Andy's earlier attack.
The closest he got was misjudging the distance to a ledge, jumping, and then falling down a storey where he landed right on top of a Batarian and accidently stabbed him in the neck. It would have been awesome had it been planned, but the, "Oh shit!" as he fell and the, "Ouch! Goddamn, man I'm glad that Batarian stopped my fall... a Batar- HEY DID YOU SEE HOW AWESOME THAT SHIT WAS?" made doubly sure that the only two people that cared knew very well that it was a pure accident. They finally happened upon the cell in which Doctor Kenson was being interrogated, though there was no... thing coming towards her face as it had been in the game. 'Must be early', Andy mused as he disabled the guards outside of the small room. "Iz?"
A moment later a small terminal opened up on the upper right of his HUD and a smiling Izzy and EDI were waving at him. "What'd ya need?"
"If I hook you into the local systems do you reckon you can corrupt the alarm system? I'd rather forego a firefight if the little bastard in there manages to get finger to button."
Izzy just gave a roll of her eyes. "Does the pope shit in the woods?"
She got a small glower from EDI for that. "Language, Iz."
The redhead lowered her head in embarrassment before murmuring a small, "Sorry," and Andy gave a chuckle before jacking into the local systems. Less than a second later EDI gave a nod and came out of her glazed expression before sending him a small smile. "Done, you're safe."
He nodded thankfully to the dark-haired woman and closed the connection, and was about to walk in when he froze and turned to Jack with a raised eyebrow. "Would you like to do the honors?" Her eyes lit up and Andy grinned before turning to Shepard. "You mind if she has her fun?"
Raising his hands and giving a chuckle John shook his head. "By all means, go for it."
"He'll be able to see you," Andy warned, motioning to the guard grilling the Doctor inside, "I've had to disable all the noticeably advanced tech just in case Kenson has an implant or something that can transmit information."
Jack just gave a wide, bloodthirsty grin and cracked her knuckles. "Perfect."
Three minutes later, with Shepard wincing every few seconds and Andy looking on with small chuckles, Jack had reduced the Batarian interrogator to tears; both his legs broken, and two of his eyes missing for, "staring at me funny" as Jack had put it. Andy had felt really bad about laughing at the following line of, "Well it's not like you can't see any more, is it? God, if your, what, fifty nostrils, are anything to go by I could pluck out ten more and still have some to go 'round," but after hearing the soldier admit to 'using' the 'product' that came through every once in a while he actually felt quite happy with the arrangement. This bastard was one of the men that not only supported the slaving on humans, but also raped women. He had considered Jack to be quite merciful leaving him alive, at least until he saw that she'd injected some nanobots into his bloodstream through one of her punches and had set them to electrocute. Of course electrocution needed copious amounts of energy, however by breaking down the Batarian's body the tech could quite easily sustain such a thing. Being eaten alive to fuel your torture... brutal, but in Andy's mind no less than the bastard deserved. Although Shepard looked slightly queasy, his approving nod and small smile told both Jack and Andy that he agreed with the punishment just as much as they did.
Doctor Kenson, on the other hand, had been sick, and was looking at Jack like she was the devil itself. Apparently being indoctrinated didn't stop one from feeling fear from another source. Andy and Shepard moved into the room to join Jack when the Batarian had stopped twitching and screaming, and watched with slight interest as the body seemed to shrink, just like an ice cube, though without any leftover residue. Andy was the only one that noticed Jack's gloves become thicker and more solid as the body disintegrated and the nanobots returned to her suit. "Doctor Kenson?"
Her head snapped away from the morbidly atomizing body and locked onto Shepard, and her eyes widened when she recognized him. "Commander Shepard... Hackett sent you?" She received a nod in return and she let out a nervous laugh as Jack stepped away from her victim to stand at Andy's side. "Interesting company you keep, Commander."
"That supposed to mean anything?" Andy questioned lightly, though everybody could hear the threat veiled thinly in his tone.
Her reply was an almost violent shaking head. "No, no, nothing like that," she hurriedly lied through her teeth, "just commenting on the... interesting way your squad mate dealt with the threat. I've never seen anything like it before."
"No, I doubt you have," Jack shot back, and got a small glare in return before the woman was cowed by the return glare that made her want to run away in fear. Once again it was one of the things both Andy and Jack could do by vaguely simulating the senses of others via their biotics. It could be used to divert attention, give trust, harbor aggression... or in this case, scare an offensive, indoctrinated woman positively senseless. Shepard gave the two a mild glare, but the two met it easily. The message was clear: we don't let each other get insulted. Shepard gave after a moment and had the thought that if the two were in the Alliance they'd have been dishonorably discharged for insubordination the second they stepped on deck.
"Doctor Kenson, we need to get you out of here and back to your base of operations."
They grey-haired woman gave a sharp nod of agreement, and Andy watched carefully as a glassy look passed through her eyes - just for a moment mind, but it was definitely there. "Of course, then let's get on our way."
Thirty minutes later the doctor was regretting seeming so eager to get back to her base, because she was dripping with sweat and very nearly dead on her feet. The reason was that Andy had decided that the best way out was the way they had come in, and while Shepard and Jack were okay as they'd been travelling at a reduced pace... it was apparent that Kenson wasn't used to strenuous activity. Andy had sent some of his suit's nanobots to cover the Doctor's eyes so that she could see the Drop Shuttle when it arrived and wouldn't think anything amiss, and quickly communicated with Sandy who projected a false image onto the windows that made it seem as though they were on course towards the Arrival Project. Although Shepard already knew about what was happening he still grilled Amanda on what was going on, and Andy fell into a small daydream as she said things that he already knew. They finally arrived in the Cargo Bay of the Normandy, and Andy stood up before cracking the hilt of his knife into their prisoner's head. She fell to the ground unconscious and Shepard sent Andy a raised eyebrow as he moved to take her arms, and Jack her feet. "Was that really necessary?"
"I didn't punch her for her condescending tone towards Jack before, so that was my chance. Retribution taken."
Jack obviously appreciated the gesture because she smiled and leant over the unconscious body to kiss him. Shepard just shook his head in despair as the side door opened and the pair carried the Doctor to... the Doctor. Chakwas met them by the elevator, as did Izzy and EDI, and looked her new charge over, frowning when she saw the rapidly raising lump on her forehead. She didn't even need to guess just who'd done that, and so turned her eyes to Andy, who was whistling a jaunty tune whilst looking eagerly around the Cargo Hold as if he'd never seen it before. She rolled her eyes and rolled the unconscious woman onto the stretcher she'd brought down, and then left the five standing alone. Izzy gave a chaste kiss to EDI's lips before morphing into a mirror-perfect image of Doctor Kenson, and Andy gave her a smile. "Top work. You got the voice patterns from the conversation we had with her on the way?"
"I did," she confirmed, sounding precisely like the woman in question, and Jack gave a small shudder.
"That's fuckin' weird, you being able to do that."
The grey-haired woman turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Just like it's weird that you can crush starships with your mind?"
Jack was silent for a moment before shrugging and walking back to the Kodiak. "Fair point."
Rolling her eyes Izzy gave one last smile to her girlfriend before joining Andy and Shepard in walking to their ship. Several seconds later they were floating back out into space, and with a small jerk were headed quickly towards the Arrival Project to make up for lost time, as Kenson had contacted her team before they had knocked her out. The new thrusters easily got them there within the limited time they had to not arouse suspicion, and the second they stepped out of the shuttle Izzy stilled for precisely four seconds as she analyzed all the video files she was mining from the Project's systems. Immediately her posture changed to reflect the Kenson she was seeing in the footage, and then she turned back to her three companions before smiling tersely. If Andy hadn't known it, he wouldn't think the woman in front of him was anybody other than the genuine article. "We'd best hurry; we need to get the project online."
They progressed through the station much as in the game, albeit getting noticeably indoctrinated expressions from many of the workers; something too minute for Bioware to have thought of, and Andy started tensing as he felt pressure building against his mental shields. He looked over to Jack and got a small nod in return, silently telling him that she was feeling the same, and Shepard had an odd look on his face - one of distaste and annoyance. He seemed to be battling off the influence well enough. Andy leant close to 'Kenson' and whispered lowly, "Send out a message to all colonies in the Bahak System right now with an evacuate order. Make it seem like it came from the Hegemony to avoid any suspicion on their part. Say something along the lines of an asteroid is inevitably going to impact into the Mass Relay and all people are ordered to evacuate immediately without any attempts to attack the asteroid, as they don't want to accidentally speed it up or something."
The disguised Izzy gave a sharp nod and closed her eyes for a moment, and without looking at him she gave a small nod; silently telling him that the communication was successful. They came to the room holding Object Rho and Shepard's eyes widened before looking at her with wide eyes. "That's not good Kenson, that's really not good."
She gave him a small smile. "See for yourself the message it sends," she encouraged, and Shepard took a step forwards, at least until Andy held him back with a shake of his head. "You don't want to see that," he whispered before silently giving a small nod to Kenson who quickly turned to all the waiting workers with a glassy smile as she held her arms out.
"The arrival is coming, my friends. Evacuate this base and I will make sure that this asteroid is directed well away from the Alpha Relay."
The imposters all held their breaths in wait of the indoctrinated followers' reactions, and breathed out in relief when they all nodded dazedly and headed out of the massive room in which the thrumming, alien Reaper artifact pulsed with dark energy - presumably to the escape pods. "Well that was nerve wracking," Shepard murmured after a moment, swiping his hand over his brow, and his three companions nodded before turning back to look at their enemy, and then to the countdown which clearly stated 06:14:48:11. "That's... well that's longer than I suspected."
Andy felt a twinge in the energy around them and gave a frown as he stared at the object in front of them. "Yeah, but I don't want to risk anything - I want this relay dead as fast as possible. The Alpha Relay gives the Reapers unfettered access to virtually all the other relays... and that's not good. We're a ways out from the Relay, so if we start the project now then the asteroid should hit it in around four hours; plenty of time to data-mine all the systems and take a look around while the system gets evacuated."
Looking around at his teammates and lover he received agreeable nods and a shrug from Shepard. "Sounds good to me." Izzy, who had already accessed the systems, quickly activated the project once all the personnel had evacuated and were thus unable to stop them, and they all stumbled slightly as the huge booster rockets attached to the rock activated and blasted them towards the Mass Relay. Andy and Jack had the shared thought that the followers of Rho must be freaking the fuck out right at that moment, as it was quite clear that their trajectory was not away from the Relay as 'Kenson' had promised. Izzy quickly reformed back into her real form and the four made their way to the upper story whilst conversing pleasantly as she data-mined the complex; sharing some drinks and a couple of old war stories... at least until Jack twitched and Andy launched to his feet around six hours after their arrival - no pun intended. The blonde had a dark and worried look on his face, and Shepard followed his eyes to look at the approaching relay... that was now a dark red in color. Shepard pointed to it and cocked his head. "That's... that's not normal, is it?"
"No," Andy muttered as he made a beeline for the route out to the communication's tower; his HUD providing arrows along the floor to guide him, "it most certainly isn't. Come on, we need to get outside right now."
Izzy, who was just finishing locking all the interfaces and causing overloads to independent systems to prevent any change of course, quickly hurried behind the group as they jogged to the doors that would lead them out to the Communications Tower. All of their suits shot up over their heads to protect them from the harsh vacuum that waited outside the airlock, and with a hiss they opened and the four ventured out into the eerie silence of space; the only sounds being each other's breathing over the comms channel. The two rotating circles inside the Mass Relay were speeding up, and Andy turned his head over his shoulder for a moment to make sure he had their attention as they ran towards the flat deck that surrounded and gave aerial access to the tower. "If I'm right in what I'm thinking, and I think I am, a Reaper's about to come through that thing. I don't know why the hell it's come through early, but it is. You two," he motioned to Shepard and Izzy, "stay right beside Jack and me. If this thing's a scout then if it manages to get a message off to its brethren then Jack and I will not only have to destroy it, but we'll need to blast this Asteroid with our biotics to pull it faster towards the Mass Relay. That, unfortunately, means that we'll be free-floating in space and you'll be relying on Jack and I to protect you from a blast with the power to wipe out an entire solar system."
Shepard's face paled, and Izzy looked unwell. Andy looked to his lover who was in-step beside him, and received a small, sharp nod in return to his unasked question. "We can fucking do this Andy. With these amps we can do it."
She was referring to the amps they now possessed instead of their implants; the amps that the Protheans had created for unleashed biotics like him and her. They were hidden at the base of their skulls, and although it had required an entire rewrite of the operating systems governing their Omni-tools, and other enhancements, simply the latent power thresholds were more than enough to justify the work needed to get them operational and able to work with the rest of their equipment. They weren't completely finished, but the young merc hoped they would do. Andy didn't break her stare for several seconds, but finally gave a nod and a small smile as they came to stand on the landing. Their view of the Alpha Relay was unhindered, and daunting. The sheer energy coming off the construct was overwhelming, and they watched the two concentric circles spin faster and faster until, with a visible shockwave of energy, its traveller emerged. Despite the distance the ship was from them it was scarily huge. It made straight for their position the moment it appeared, and Jack and Andrew faced forwards towards it; Shepard and Izzy crouched down behind the pair with matching looks of worry. Turning to her lover Jack gave a nod of readiness, and Andy took in a deep breath before gently rousing his biotics to the surface. The second Jack felt the waves of energy she released her own, and it took mere milliseconds for the two sources to synchronize and accept working together as if it was completely natural, despite the fact that such a thing was theoretically impossible. Waves of blue spread out from the pair before darkening into a dark navy and then a violent maelstrom of black, and Shepard and Izzy's eyes widened at the power they were feeling thrumming around them. They knew full well that if they weren't engulfed in the protective envelope of the biotics they would have been ripped to shreds, and as it was the edges of the corona of energy showed the effects of the dark matter. Wisps of pure elemental dust washed over the dome-like wall of black; sparking occasionally as the objects of its destruction were torn apart into smaller and smaller units of mass; right down to their basic forms.
As the Reaper neared the energy grew stronger, and both Izzy and Shepard could see the slight strain on the two biotics' faces as they poured more and more energy into the charging orb of energy. Andy saw the gaps between the segments of armour slowly begin charging with their own energy, and his eyes widened before he whipped his head to look at Jack. "It's preparing to transmit," he yelled over the din of their biotics swirling around them, despite the aural protections of their suits, "we need to kill it before it gets the message off!"
She nodded grimly and pushed harder, just as he was, and both could feel the sweat pouring off them as they prepared for the inevitable action their biotics would take. They didn't need to speak to coordinate their actions; the thrumming power of each other's biotics and the complete unity between them allowed their messages to be passed along wordlessly. The ball of energy slowly shrank around the group until it was condensed to an almost a ten meter thick dome around them; the walls of black energy nearly touching their bodies. Izzy was recording the entire scene with wide eyes and a slightly slack jaw as arching bolts or pure black power ripped off the surface of the shield; tearing across the vacuum of space in an attempt to wreak destruction upon the machine of galactic genocide. The two faced down across the void, and then suddenly a huge bolt of the black lightning burst forth from their protective dome; easily as thick as the entire Communications Tower. It surged towards its target and hit with an almost anti-climatical result. A small flicker of darkness surged over the armour of the great starship, and then nothing for several seconds. Everything seemed to still, waiting for the climax, and it came as suddenly as the bolt of lightning had appeared. A film of darkness surged over the Reaper with unrelenting speed, and then seemed to ripple before sinking inwards; crushing the harbinger of cycles past. The huge construct seemed to convulse underneath the pressure, and had air been around them both Shepard and Izzy were sure that the huge machine would have been screeching in anger and protest - just as it had done on Omega. "COME ON!" Andy roared with fire lit in his eyes, "JUST DIE!"
Jack's arms were taught as they were held out in front of her, and their Morphic Armour had receded back to mid-arm so as not to be decimated by the forces forming and releasing from their fingertips; the black-energy sheathing present over their skin easily preventing the harsh vacuum of space from tearing at its comanders' arms. Both fell to their knees at the same time as the effort pulled more energy, and with a jerk the Old Machine seemed to crunch in on itself, but not before pulsing once and releasing a jet of fluorescent purple energy out of it. Andy let out a yell of frustration as he saw the Scout get off its message to the rest of its kind, and with a burst of anger crushed it absolutely; reducing it to the size of a mere pin-head, which quickly imploded upon itself as all the atoms' nuclei were forced to merge together. A shockwave quickly burst forth, and washed over the Asteroid on which they stood; tearing the facility apart and ripping up chunks of rock the size of the Normandy before flinging them off into space.
But Jack and Andy weren't yet done, and with a dual roar of exertion blasted off the surface of the asteroid. The force with which they did so was indescribable, and as they rocketed off into the void, the asteroid gained momentum in the exact opposite direction; right into the path of the Mass Relay. Panting with exertion the pair held the still-ten meter thick dome of energy around them; the very fabric of reality dilating around it and preventing the sudden increase from zero kilometers per hour to something approaching one hundred thousand from splattering them all over the inside of their shield. They all watched the rapidly shrinking asteroid crash into the Mass Relay, and then winced away when, after several seconds of stillness, a light as bright as a hundred suns blasted throughout the entire system. Their suits immediately sealed off their visuals, and so Andrew and Jack waited; their biotics strengthened to the utmost they could manage against the inevitable collision between them and the wave of destruction wrought by the death of the Relay. When it hit over five meters of their protections were immediately sheared off the outer shell of the dome, and Andy nearly vomited at the backlash the ripping into his energies provided. Jack collapsed into his side for support as she let out a whimper of pain, but they held firm against the onslaught of the explosion that was atomizing an entire star system.
Their dome was riding the fringe of the explosion and both of the biotics felt their consciousnesses slipping away. "No," Jack murmured before jabbing her lover forcefully in the ribs, and he groaned in pain but grasped quickly onto the sharpness it provided him. He quickly returned the favor, cracking a rib he was sure with the force of it, but the yelp of very aware pain reassured him that she was alert once more. They held onto their shield with as much energy as they could muster, occasionally injuring the other when they noticed the fatigue about to take its toll and render them unconscious, and were buffeted by the destruction as they rode the crest of it. Izzy had transmitted their location as soon as they had cleared the lethal field of light; nearly two and a half billion kilometers away from where they had been when they had begun their flight from the ball of destruction just over two hours ago, and hurriedly told the two biotics what she had done. They nodded and tiredly slowed their momentum so that they were floating stagnant in space, and then dropped the barrier; allowing their suits to take over the protections against the vacuum. Andy gave a small chuckle and gently hugged Jack to his side as they floated softly; mindful of her injuries due to him, and his due to her, and slowly allowed blackness to engulf his vision.
The Universe was safe again, if only for a small margin of time.
"Mmmm..."
Andrew White gave a groan as consciousness slowly came back to him; like swimming up from the murky depths of a lake. When he finally opened his eyes he was surprised, but happy to see that a light wasn't getting itself intimately acquainted with his corneas; only a cool dim greyness meeting his eyes. Turning his head he looked to the side and gave a small smile when he saw Jack sleeping soundly next to him on their bed.
"You've been out for a while."
Andy gave a chuckle as he turned his head over to his other side and looked into the amused, but slightly relieved face of John Shepard. He'd sensed the man even before he'd spoken. "I'm not surprised; not every day I get to kill a Reaper, destroy a Mass Relay, and then ride the crest of the resulting explosion for a couple of hours." Shepard had to give him that. Andy quickly cycled through his Omni-tool with muttered voice commands so he didn't disturb Jack's slumber with movement, and after a couple of minutes' quick reading was caught up on events and times. "Nearly two whole days... man, I've really got to get our Amps calibrated right." He froze after a moment and turned his head over to Shepard - his eyebrow raised. "Did I just sound like Garrus?"
Shaking his head with a small smile Shepard gave a chuckle. "We're making our way to a derelict Reaper to get-"
"The IFF. I'm aware. Unfortunately it'll probably not be needed, because the Collectors are going to be pissed because the Reapers are pissed. That's three of their number that we've killed now, well you and your team killed one before I came along, but that's beside the point. They see us as a huge threat right now, so I think they'll come to us." Shepard looked perturbed. "But we still need to go to the Reaper. Hopefully, if my meddling in the timeline hasn't screwed everything to complete buggery, we have another crew member to recruit there."
That got a look of interest. "I was unaware we would be recruiting anymore."
"Well you wouldn't," Andy grinned back, "considering the Illusive Man hates our guts right now and wouldn't send any more dossiers, but even if we weren't estranged he wouldn't know about this one. It's a Geth, if you can believe it, and before you go on about how I'm mental it's different. All the Geth you've been shooting up are a faction of their race called the Heretics. The Geth we'll be meeting and bringing aboard is part of the faction that wasn't indoctrinated by the Reapers... and they're a little more intelligent-seeming, as well as on our side. From what I can gather, at least."
"That hardly fills me with confidence."
"It wasn't supposed to. I only knew so far into the future and then things cut off. The way things were going you'd get the IFF, go through the Relay, destroy the Collector Base, which is housing a Human Reaper by the way - don't even go into that," he warned before Shepard could ask his questions, "you probably don't want to know, and then depending on your actions you'd break from Cerberus. Then, presuming everybody survived, you'd be grounded because of your involvement with the Arrival Project - where you wouldn't have had the time to evacuate the System - and stuck on Earth pending an enquiry. And then the Reapers would attack." By this point Shepard's eyes were wide with shock and stunned horror, and Andy shrugged with an uneasy chuckle. "Yeah... but you see now we've got bigger problems, to an extent. We've broken from Cerberus early... in a rather volatile manner, my fault I confess; the Collectors will be coming damn soon... all of them; and the Reapers, because that fucking tin can got a message off before we managed to destroy it, will be coming early too. And they know that Jack and I can crush them singlehandedly."
"Damn fucking right." Andy turned his head, looked across at his slowly rousing bedmate, and smiled. She gave a small groan, just as he had upon wakening, and then shuffled closer to his side and hugged him across the chest; simply lying there in that position - her head resting on his shoulder. "What's going on? I caught the last bit but not the rest." Andy quickly brought her up to speed and by the end of it she was very much alert. "Well fuck... that kinda sucks. How long before everybody's ready?"
"A month, maybe a little bit more," the blonde confessed uneasily. "I still have to get in contact with the Council to provide them with the evidence they need about the Reapers, and then get it through their thick skulls that letting their fleets be retrofitted with technology I, and by extension you and Shepard, have penultimate control over is a good idea and the only way to survive this attack."
"Good luck with that," chirped the Savior of the Citadel helpfully, and Andy shot him a glare.
"Yeah, fuck you too John, God, like a fucking child I swear!"
The pout received in response did very little to raise the biotic's opinion of the man.
Shaking his head after a moment and muttering, "This is why we can't have nice things," Andy called up Izzy, who popped up above his arm with EDI at her side - both with beaming smiles upon seeing their faces. "Andy! Jack! Hey, you're finally awake! How're ya feeling?"
Jack gave the hologram a small smile. "Feel pretty good right now, but I know that as soon as I fucking move I'm gonna feel like shit. Fucker here being my pillow's my only saving grace otherwise I'd be walking around the ship chewing the fuck out of anybody I saw."
Izzy sent the biotic a simpering smile. "I see you're back to normal."
"Fuck you."
EDI chose that moment to step in in order to stop the children's spat that was about to blow out. "And you Andy? How are you feeling?"
He shrugged, and then gave a small wince as he felt some taught muscles complain. "I would've said fine before I did that... but I have a feeling I'll be needing to execute a few massage programs on my Morphic Armour before the end of the day. I hope we didn't worry you too much EDI; I kinda forgot your original is housed on Jack's Omni-tool."
The Asian woman shook her head with a small smile. "I was right where I wanted to be. If Iz died there then I'd die too." That got an understanding look from Andy, Jack, and Shepard, while Izzy looked a little bit teary eyed and hugged her tighter. "And I decided to change my name to Ellie Norman by the way. It makes me feel... less like a machine. I know Izzy has the last name Kronos, after you; the man that created her, so I kinda did the same."
The response was all three of them smiling, and Shepard stood up. "As I said before Ellie, I approve of the change. You're not an AI anymore; you're a person, and the crew, mostly, respect that. I know all of the ground team does." Before he left he turned to the pair snuggled in bed and smiled. "Enjoy that," he motioned to their position, "because in three days we're going to get that IFF, and then see if this Geth needs something done before the reckoning. If they do then we're getting that out of the way as soon as possible, so it'll be busy."
Not waiting for a reply he walked out of the room; the doors hissing shut and locking behind him, and Jack turned to Andy with a small smile that quickly morphed into one of hunger. "I can think of a few things I'd like to do in our... free time."
Andy didn't even have time to reply before her lips came crashing down upon his. Despite the fact that he knew such a hurried action would never lead to sex, his mind wasn't inclined to care at that moment. He had a half-naked, beautiful woman whom he loved straddling his chest and kissing him with those exquisite, full lips of hers. Throwing all the cares to the back of his mind he buried his hands in her grey hair and pulled her closer whilst massaging her scalp - eliciting a vibrating moan from deep in her throat.
At that moment he didn't care that within seventy two hours they'd be running through the innards of a Reaper and be facing abominations. He didn't care that the Reapers were on their way, or that the Collectors were likely tooling up for battle. He didn't care that he'd eventually have to put up with the Council's shenanigans.
At that moment, however sappy it sounded, all he cared about was her, and he knew that the feeling was mutually returned.
And that feeling made him feel on top of the world.
A/N: Just a little something I found... so stupid about the Arrival DLC was the graphic Shepard watched as the Mass Relay explosion engulfed the solar system. That happened in like... five, maybe ten seconds as he pulled his sad face and then walked away... which means that (if the Bahak System was around half the dimensions of our one) the explosion was travelling at approximately 800 times the speed of light...
Where's my Tui advertisement?
So I didn't like that, because despite it being a Mass Relay it's properties were destroyed in its destruction and thus light, as the ball that engulfs the Bahak System exhibited it was, should travel, logically, at the speed of light. So really Shepard should've been staring at that galaxy map for like... 2.218 hours with that sad face plastered on his dial. If you want to check my logic here're my calculations: -
Distance from Sol to Pluto= 4.786x10^9 (essentially radius of our Solar System)
Distance to travel that distance in a vacuum at speed of light = 4.435 hours
Half that (as Bahak System should logically be around half radius of our own, as it holds only 5 planets in comparison to our 9)= 2.2175 hours
So there's my bitching done... though I can see why Bioware made it only ten seconds; I would've been mighty pissed seeing Shepard staring forlornly at an inching representation of a disintegrating Solar System for that long. Also, it is sci-fi, so I'm sure that many arguments could be made out of my argument... but it's my fic, so that explosion travelled at the speed of light.
