Mass Effect Project Renegade
Chapter 43: Diversion for the Prothean.
After reading the reports from Cerberus Command, Jack found it necessary to divert course to Eden Prime for the Relic that was discovered, bringing Liara for insight was also apart of the mission due to her expertise on the Prothean Empire. Jack, May, Liara, Leng, Jake, Garrus, Tali, and Kasumi were on the Kodiak waiting for the arrival on the surface.
"Eden Prime where it all began..." Liara said looking at the site.
"Yeah, Sovereign, Saren, and their Geth... attacked the colony." Jack said in a emotionless tone, hoping to avoid the memory of the attack that nearly went unpunished.
"I read the reports... you saved the colony Shepard, then I met you on the Citadel." Tali said hoping to get a reply from her boyfriend.
"If it wasn't for you Tali on that Geth data you found, the Galaxy would be flooded with Reapers..." Jack said causing Tali to smile under her face plate. "Happy to Help." Tali said with a smile.
"We should've been there for you Jack..." May confessed to her lover, leaving Leng and Jake to nod in agreement.
"Yeah even with you three we'd probably would've caught Saren a lot sooner, preventing their rampage across Citadel Space... but now with you guys here we'll bring a halt to the Reapers plan." Jack told Jake, May, and Leng.
The Cerberus Pilot signaled the occupants that the they have reached their destination. Moving out of the Kodiak the crew saw the livelihood of the colony.
"It's good to see that the colonists have recovered from the attack." Jack stated seeing the colonists thriving in this part of the colony.
Making their way through the colony, the ground team saw several Cerberus troopers guarding a lift which was being operated by several Cerberus Engineers. The Cerberus Centurion immediately took notice to Commander Shepard saluting him before shaking his hand.
"Commander Shepard, it's good to have you here." The Centurion said leading the group towards the lift.
"likewise, tell me what did Cerberus unearth?" Jack asked hoping to rush this along.
"You won't believe it, we unearthed a Prothean Life Pod... an active one." The Centurion responded, causing Liara to rush through the group approaching the lift that was rising.
"A what?! You found a working Life pod? " Liara asked with surprise an excitement.
The lift raised up to the platform showing the pod to the entire group.
"Well what are we waiting for lets pop this sucker open and say hello." Kasumi stated opening her Omni-tool.
"Stop! You can't force it open, it'll kill the subject inside it!" The Cerberus engineer said causing Kasumi to back off.
"Alright Engineer, how do we get this opened?" Jack asked, the engineer who was going through the data files.
"It needs a reactivation code from the data banks we unearthed, it's on that side of the complex, I'll contact our technicians and warn them to exp-"
A Mass velocity round passed through the Cerberus Engineer's helmet causing him to drop. Panic flooded the colony as Shadow Broker Mercenaries began to pour out through the hill firing at the Ground team and Cerberus personal.
"Goddess Damn the Shadow Broker! He's not getting the Prothean pod from us!" Liara yelled throwing a warp at a Mercenary.
"How the Hell did these guys get on Eden Prime?!" Garrus yelled firing off three shots at three separate mercenaries.
"The Shadow Broker has agents everywhere and we wouldn't even notice!" Liara Yelled back getting behind cover.
"Commander Shepard, we'll hold them off, get to the archives we uncovered and hall ass back here sir!" The Centurion yelled to Shepard who immediately began moving his team to the other side of the bridge.
Fearing that the Shadow Broker mercenaries might break through Jack ordered Leng to assist the Cerberus defensive line.
A Shadow Broker Gunship hovered in front of the ground team leaving Jack to activate his jet boots, jumping on the aircraft. with one swift stomp the nose of the gunship along with the controls fell off causing the gunship to spiral out of control, leaving Jack to jump off before it crashed into a colonial shelter.
Jack moved in to the shelter with the console regarding the information, his implants began to flare up accessing the Prothean data base. Tali outside of the building began to suppress a shadow broker mercenary. A Krogan out fitted with Shadow broker mercenary armor slammed Tali in to the building causing her drop her shotgun as the Krogan slammed her against the wall. May grabbed the Krogan yanking him off of Tali, the Krogan tried to grab May, but was out matched as May brought the Krogan to its knees before grabbing his helmet and with a strong push crushing the Krogan's head inside his body crushing his bones all together.
Tali was completely shocked of what May just did to the Krogan and what she did for her. Doing something she never thought of doing, Tali hugged May tightly catching her off guard as she slowly wrapped her arms around Tali.
"Thank you, Thank you..." Tali said leaving May to gently pat her back.
"You're most welcome... come on anty up we got a job to do remember?" May reminded Tali causing her to break off the hug as she grabbed her shotgun.
It took several seconds but Jack got the activation code for the pod, leaving the group to quickly retreat to the life pod across the bridge.
002: Shepard! Get back here quick Shadow Broker Mercenaries are setting up explosives to make sure we don't get the pod since they can't break through!
001: Fuck this brings back Memories! EDI!
EDI: Yes Jack?
001: are these explosives remote detonation or timed?
EDI: One Moment... Timed Explosives, 1:30 before detonation Jack.
001: Thanks EDI!
EDI: Signing out.
Jack rushed to the first bomb quickly disabling it, May moved in to get one in the shelter quickly dispatching mercenaries guarding the second bomb. Jake was the last one to disable the bomb by the landing site. With all bombs deactivated, Cerberus and Alliance forces zeroed in on the ground team location securing the area of remnant Shadow Broker forces.
Alliance forces began to do a clean sweep of the dig site hoping that there were no more hostiles posing a threat to the colonists still in mid panic. The ground team approached the lifepod sending the activation code, the pod started to respond sending out a signal to prepare to unseal the pressure cooling the subject.
The Pod opened up revealing the Prothean dressed in a red armor, sleeping soundly as the effects of the life pod was slowly wearing off on the Prothean.
"By the Goddess..." Liara said looking at the Prothean in the pod.
"Shepard... is it just me or does the Prothean look like the collectors?" Tali asked Jack who had to agree with her, there were some resemblances.
The Prothean began to open it's eyes observing his surroundings, from what he could tell he wasn't surrounded by his comrades from the bunkers but Primitives. Panicking the Prothean threw up a biotic shock wave throwing, the crew off their feet with the exception of Jack, Leng, May, and Jake who's implants flared up throwing it's defense disintegrating the biotic field around them.
The Prothean fell out of his pod stumbling to the ground, trying to cope with what was going on. He froze seeing the entire plain of the Prothean colony, it was different not on fire and had no Reapers on it. Jack approached the Prothean who was just looking at the view.
"Shepard be careful with him he's confused! Remember it's been 50,000 years for us, but for him it's been only a few minutes!" Liara yelled at Jack, as he approached the Prothean putting his hand on his shoulder.
Jack saw through the Prothean's memory seeing the situation unfold, the Prothean plan failed, there was no rebirth of the Prothean Empire now.
"How many others?" The Prothean asked the Commander, hoping for a hopeful answer.
"Just you..." Jack responded to the Prothean, who seemed reasonably calm for the link the two just shared that put the Prothean on his knees.
"You can understand me?" Jack asked knowing that his implants detected an anomaly entering his system.
"Yes, now that I read your physiology, your nervous system... enough to understand your language." The Prothean said getting up from the ground.
"You were reading me while I was viewing-" "Our failure, our last chance..." The Prothean interrupted seeing all that he was trained up to do, was one giant failure after another.
"I saw what you're people went through, they fought to the last Man, Woman, and Child... they never surrendered... but believe me, when I say this your people aren't dead..." Jack told the Prothean who caught not only the Prothean's eyes, but Liara's.
"More of my people survived?" Javik asked with a sense of hope.
"No... but the Organization I work for... we're close to reviving the corpses of the Protheans."
"…. What? Shepard, all this time Cerberus has been working on a project of that magnitude and you didn't mention to tell me?... For Goddess sakes, I'm a Prothean expert-." Liara said with a shocked tone in her voice.
"With Known ties to the Asari Republic, with a former Matriarch Parent, Liara... Cerberus stated that this was to remain on the down low until further notice." Jack interrupted Liara stating the reasons for the secrecy.
Jack's comm link went active with Sarah on the line.
"Commander whatever you did down there made the Shadow Broker's troops swarm around your location, you better get out before more arrive." Sarah said operating the electronic warfare.
"Roger, send a Kodiak to our location ASAP..."
The Prothean looked at the approaching ground team, studying them.
"Asari, Humans, Turian, Quarian?... I'm surrounded by primitives..." The Prothean said with a hint of disgust.
"Listen it's not safe here, will you join us?" Jack asked the Prothean, who was still recovering.
"You fight the Reapers?" The Prothean asked, leaving Jack to immediately reply yes. "Then we will see..." The Prothean stated as Jack showed him the way to the Kodiak.
Accommodations were made on the Normandy, Grunt was moved to the Cargo Bay of the ship, giving him more room to wander and train, while the Prothean was given Grunt's former room.
Jack was talking to the Illusive Man while the final renovations were being made.
The Illusive man shifted in his chair putting down his glass of bourbon. "A living Prothean?"
"That's correct sir, though... he's not what we expected..." Jack said with a uneasy tone.
"Perhaps some Prothean incite on the Reaper threat will give us a better understanding on how to combat them, or maybe the Prothean will know how to combat the Collectors, …... Shepard although this diversion from the mission was historical, I don't think I need to remind you of the Collector threat still affecting our Colonists, get the Prothean to work for you Commander whatever the cost."
"Understood..." Jack said giving a quick salute.
"Shepard, I need you down in the Port Cargo... it's about our new guest." Liara said with a immediate and nervous tone, over the comm.
"I'm on my way..." Jack said as he made his way in the elevator.
On the engineer deck, Jack saw two Cerberus troopers guarding the outside of the Prothean's door armed with Heavy Duty Mattocks. The two let the Commander inside the room which was no better as Centurions and Troopers surrounded the Prothean waiting for him to make a funny move. Jack stepped in front of the Prothean observing him meditating in the newly renovated room that suits the Prothean's needs.
"At Ease men... I don't think our guest is going to cause problems... will he?" Jack asked with a threatening tone, letting the Prothean know his status on the ship.
"That Depends on you..."
In an instant the Prothean rushed towards the Commander placing his hands on Jack's arms, reading his thoughts, while the guards just raised their weapons.
"I sense... Confidence in you, calm patterns, steady thoughts... you believe you are winning? … wait something's off about your physiology... you are unnatural... modified, I can read Prothean signatures from your body... and something else..." The Prothean commented on Jack, through reading his thoughts.
Jack removed his helmet to show the Prothean the Project scars on his face.
"Yes, I along with 99 others were created in a facility to be unique from our species."
The Prothean didn't know what to make of it, he just ignored the information, while pressing for the real question.
"Where are the Reapers?" The Prothean asked Jack, who signaled the guards to vacate the room.
"Delayed, Three years ago we stopped the invasion buying us time to formulate a plan, while raising forces to end the Reapers... We found your warning, however there is a problem."
"Problem?" The Prothean asked with worry behind his voice.
"The Government currently in control of the citadel refuses to acknowledge the existence of the Reapers, my government however is building fleets and amassing armies to prepare for the coming arrival." Jack informed the Prothean of the preparation of the Reapers.
"Yes... I read your memories the Asari, Turians, and Salarians... We nurtured their worlds placing technology to help them progress their worlds quickly... however now I see that was a mistake on our part, we should've left them alone. Their 'Citadel Leadership' is indoctrinated, their voices must be silenced or they'll doom their species to the Reapers." The Prothean stated.
"I agree, but we have more pressing matters to deal with..." Jack said pulling out a data pad, which caused the Prothean to become skeptical of this new threat that Jack mentioned.
"What could be more important than the Reapers?" The Prothean asked with a semi hostile tone.
Jack accessed the data pad handing it to the Prothean, showing him the Collectors.
"The Indoctrinated... The Remnants of my people... The Reapers transformed them to suit their needs." The Prothean thought that the Reapers would've destroyed them after they helped obliterate the Prothean Empire.
"Well they're doing the Reaper's bidding still, they're harvesting my people and doing God knows what to them."
"Do the Indoctrinated have a place of gathering?" The Prothean asked Shepard.
"Yes the system that's only accessible by the Omega Relay, where we'll be planning our attack, to stop their abductions."
The Prothean just turned around to face the table holding the temperate water.
"Then Commander I will, pledge my support in ending the abominations that once were my people. Then the Reapers will pay for the destruction of my Empire."
"Thank you...Javik"
"Interesting, you used sensory to scan my memories as well." Javik commented on.
"There are some Prothean techniques we're capable of, but I can imagine you need to adapt to your surroundings... We'll let give you some space, before pitching you in to the fight."
Javik just made a sigh, turning back to his water table, letting the room to be vacated. The Next few hours the ship was preparing for the two separate missions, the shadow broker and the Collector ship.
Jack, Leng, May, Tali, Grunt, and Zoey would take the Collector ship, while Liara, Jake, Nick, Garrus, and Bethora, would take on the Shadow Broker head on.
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In the cockpit of the Normandy, Joker and Sarah were discussing on the split mission, the Normandy couldn't be in two places at once, so that left Sarah, to pilot the Kodiak and link up with Cerberus Carrier as soon as the mission against the Shadow Broker was complete.
"Why can't missions be a one step process... but nooooo our enemy has to be clever about it, leaving clues to find them so they can give us their evil monolog, of why they did it and that kind of Shit." Joker complained as he was remembering the mission against Saren.
"My poor Joker can't take on a task without complaining, how will we ever survive the Reapers?" Sarah teased Joker as she was checking her equipment for the flight mission.
"Hey give me a shot of Thessian Red and I'm good, but this mission is complete Bull Shit with the Shadow Broker." Joker complained as he spun his chair around.
Sarah stopped his chair from spinning, leaning over his chair behind him.
"Tell you what, if you can get done with Collector ship before, we get done with the Shadow Broker's base, I'll treat you to some Thessian Red, along with dinner."
"Does that deal include a massage too?" Joker asked with high hopes for having a realaxing night with Sarah.
"Hmmm... okay, but if I beat you, you have to do the same things that I just offered..." Sarah said with a devious smile.
"Ohoho you are on!" Joker said accepting the challenge.
Score!
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Okay Updating this one too, hope you're enjoying the deviation from Mass Effect 2 with Javik, anyways it helps if you'd leave a Review about the chapter, or story. Check out my other stories, PM and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.