STAR SYSTEM REDACTED
2185
CERBERUS FACILITY
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The lapis-blue star shining in front of his office was an amazing sight, even if he couldn't determine the reason for its continuous change in colors. Pockets of red were stubborn enough to hold out from consumption, but the brilliant blue of the star was close to swallowing up anything that resisted it. When he built his base of operations in the nameless system years ago, the star was an even mix of the two colors, constantly at war with each other. Only recently, probably since Shepard had been revived, had the blue began to show itself as the dominant. He hadn't paid any attention to it until now. Despite its apparent identity crisis, the star did provide the benefit of lighting his office in a way to his liking, negating the need for additional lights.
As he watched the star, contemplating the day's events, he heard a very familiar hologram warming up behind him. Waiting a few moments, he decided to return to the only item of furniture in the seemingly endless room, taking a seat and lighting yet another cigarette. He had important business to discuss, and not just things related to recent events on an isolated human colony.
"Shepard, good work on Horizon. You seem to be able to defy the odds time-after-time. Hopefully the Collectors will think again about attacking another human colony in the Terminus Systems."
"Don't get the champagne out yet, it wasn't a victory. Half of the colonists on that planet got taken by those damn bugs and I for one am not going to celebrate it. And you still need to find me a way to hit them for once. I'm sick of chasing them like their ghosts" Shepard replied.
"Despite your personal feelings on this mission's success, what you did was far better than anything else we have been able to accomplish. This is the first time we have even seen the Collectors, let alone able to stop them in their tracks. The data EDI recovered from their transmissions and salvaged equipment also proved to be extremely valuable. One thing we can be certain of is that the Collectors will be more careful, but I think we can find another way to lure them in" he replied.
"I had a bad feeling you had something to do with that attack. Ash said the Alliance got an anonymous tip about my dealings with Cerberus. You wouldn't happen to have any idea who sent that piece of rather timely information?"
The calm man simply took another long drag from his cigarette while studying the hologram of Shepard in front of him. Slowly exhaling the smoke from his lungs he replied "I may have released a select few carefully disguised rumors that you were alive and well, and working with Cerberus." He took another sip from the tumbler, slowly shaking the glass in his hands to swirl the ice and mystery drink. His blue synthetic eyes were staring at Shepard with little emotion or concern.
Shepard didn't enjoy the games one bit. His mysterious benefactor may have supplied him with a new Normandy and crew, hell he even set him up with a few old teammates. But the lies and deceit were getting old, fast. Shepard wanted a straight answer from his new boss more than anything the Illusive Man had already provided him.
"I see…what were you trying to prove? That the Alliance made a mistake giving up on me? Were you just trying to rub your ego into the brass? Or maybe you just wanted to throw some of the blame on me for abducting the colonists" he snapped back.
"Don't be so reckless or quick to judge, Commander. While you may never fully trust me, you have to at least see that everything I have done for you so far has worked out well. Most of it better than anyone could have expected. I suspected the Collectors were looking for you, or at least people that are connected to you. With Chief Williams on Horizon, now I know for certain. And that information will certainly help you too. It was a risk, but I couldn't just wait for them to take another colony. While you may be idealistic, I have no doubt you understand my actions now. Not to mention you did have the chance to see one of your former crew again, even if the reception was icy."
Shepard desperately held back a frown, slowly admitting to himself that the Illusive Man was right. Despite his methods of operation, he did get the job done. "Fine, but we have to ensure that no more colonies get hit like Horizon."
"I want the Collectors stopped for that very reason Shepard. You don't have to remind me of the stakes in this situation. That's why we're doing all this; why I am giving so much leeway on your mission. I'm devoting all available resources at my disposal to discover a way to safely travel through the Omega 4 relay. We have to hit the Collectors where they live."
The enigmatic man fidgeted in his chair, if only slightly. Taking another puff from his cigarette he continued his conversation with the man that so reluctantly worked with him.
"Your team is going to have to be strong Shepard. There won't be any looking back during this mission. You have to ensure their devotion to both the mission and you are unbreakable. The same also goes for you, commander. Is it safe for me to assume that you have put your past relationships behind you?"
"That's none of your damn business! While they may not be perfect, I am well aware that emotions need to be held in check for any mission to succeed. Stay out of my personal life. I don't bug you about the company you keep." He was becoming increasingly agitated, and now didn't mind showing it to the Illusive Man one bit.
"If it's going to affect the mission, I will remind you that it should be left behind. Once we find a way through the Omega 4 relay, we have no guarantee that you, or anyone else on the Normandy, will be able to return safely. You'll be sent to the Collector homeworld, and you all may well be killed before you can realize what's happening. The entire team will need to be committed to have any hope of survival. Even with that, chances are still slim."
"My team will be ready, that's one thing you don't have to worry about. We'll hit the Collectors with the best team this galaxy has ever seen. You talk about my lack of trust with you every time we speak, but you sure as hell don't seem to have any in me. And I'm the one you spent billions of credits to bring back from the dead. Who should really be concerned here?"
Shepard allowed a barely visible grin to become visible on his face with that last little tirade.
"I do trust in your abilities, and that you know what you're doing on this mission. I just want to be up front with your odds, something you seem to have had a history of ignoring, despite value to the mission." His voice became uncharacteristically concerned with the last statement. "I'm still working on the next set of dossiers, but I do have a mission for you, one that I can assure you has no meddling on my part."
"Alright, if you're being honest with me this time. What sort of mission do you have for us?" We're still orbiting Horizon so it may be a while before we can reach whatever destination you have in mind."
"That won't be a problem Shepard, the location of this is in the Dirada System, part of the Pylos Nebula. It's only one mass relay jump from the system you're in to the. The Dirada System is only a few hours out from the mass relay there so it shouldn't be any trouble. You'll need to land on the planet Canalus and search the site. EDI already has the coordinates needed."
"You still need to tell me what we're looking for. Or don't you know?"
"By now you should realize I don't jump into a situation I am unfamiliar. But for once your arrogance is actually right. About one hour ago an Alliance patrol detected an unusual energy spike on the planet's surface. The patrol ship itself doesn't have any orbital vehicle so they had to mark the area for another craft to investigate. It will still be six hours before the frigate assigned to the location will arrive."
"The energy spike on the surface was far too large for any random pirate or mercenary activity. The planet of Canalus itself doesn't have any significant amounts of element zero to make any natural occurrence either."
"So why are you so concerned with this? I don't think it can be anything terribly interesting, especially when we're supposed to be hitting the Collectors."
"I normally would have agreed with you Shepard, but this is the part that concerns me: the amount of energy and area of discharge can only point to an element zero source. The only thing is, is that the energy readings were of a power source that we can't even analyze. We only detected the spike. I want you and a team to land at the site and see if you can find anything noticeable."
With that said, Shepard nodded politely, if only because his years in the military trained him to, and began to leave the hologram.
"Shepard, one more thing. This is even more of an unknown than the Collectors. You may be surprised to hear any concern from me, but be careful."
Before Shepard could respond, the Illusive Man hit a switch on his chair's control panel and cut the feed. He turned around to stare at the blue star bubbling with activity in front of his open office. For the first time in years, the man was genuinely puzzled.
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"EDI, tell Garrus, Grunt, and Mordin to meet me in the cockpit. I want to go over this new mission we have to deal with. And tell them to be quiet about it" the Spectre asked his ship's AI.
"Very well, commander. Would you like to notify anyone else? Perhaps Operative Lawson should be informed of the operation?"
"That won't be necessary, but thank you. I want her on the ship in case we have any problems on the ground with this one. Just tell the others I mentioned to meet me quickly." He decided he did need to tell one more member of the crew. "Joker? Do you have the location for our newest destination?"
"Aye aye sir, EDI forwarded the info to me. I set a course in before you were finished talking with the boss. Also, Canalus seems to have a lot of volcanic activity."
"What's your point Joker?"
"Well last time we were on a planet with volcanic activity, you and the ground team were running for your lives and I had to save your asses. And what did I get in return? You saying I had bad jokes! My jokes are always great commander!"
"Laugh it up Joker. Because you're gonna have to do the same thing again if we find ourselves in another suddenly-active volcano" chuckled Shepard. "Get us to Canalus quickly and quietly, and I'll make sure you get that heated seat upgrade you've been bitching about for the past month. I don't want the Alliance to know we're even close."
"Really commander? Wow, you know I'm actually excited about this one. You've got yourself a deal sir!"
.
The inside of the Kodiak drop shuttle was noticeably uncomfortable. The small craft may be an effective way to get soldiers to and from the field of combat, but its designers didn't give a second thought to the occupant's comfort.
'With all the technological jumps humanity's made over the past 50 years, couldn't some engineers at least make a drop ship with some reclining seats?' Shepard thought to himself.
He silently looked around the troop compartment of the Kodiak. Directly in front of the commander sat Grunt, the tank-bred Krogan they found on Korlus. After his "father" was killed by those Blue Suns scumbags, Shepard and company decided to take the inactive Krogan pod onto the ship for future use. And it sure as hell paid off. Despite the restlessness of the young Krogan, Grunt certainly knew his way around a fight. When the bullets started flying, Shepard couldn't ask for a better walking tank.
'I doubt anyone besides Wrex is tougher than this Krogan.'
Or so he thought.
Next to Shepard sat his old friend, the Turian Garrus Vakarian. He was busy fiddling with the scope of his sniper rifle, his second most favorite pastime behind calibrating the Normandy's weapon systems. Garrus was too involved with his rifle now to notice the commander looking him over. The damage from their encounter on Omega was still clearly evident; Garrus had endured some serious physical and emotional trauma while they attempted to flee from entire platoons of three separate mercenary bands. The significant damage to the Turian's armor was more than enough to remind Shepard how close Garrus had come to leaving the world of the living. But, of course, that wasn't enough for the scum of Omega. Cybernetics and modest skin graphing on the right side of his face showed how determined the mercs were at taking Archangel down. Fortunately, Garrus is tougher than most Krogan can even claim to be, and the scarred vigilante didn't even let it faze him for a second. That is, until he inevitably decided to spend some time at Flux on the Citadel and prowl for some beautiful females…
Sitting next to the window was a Salarian, looking significantly more aged than any other he had come across. Despite outward appearances, the scientist rambled on any topic as if he were a teenage girl that drank far too many energy drinks. This time, fortunately, the Salarian decided to go over data readings on his omni-tool, keeping quiet so far during the shuttle ride. While it would undoubtedly be short lived, the rest of the team appreciated the silence for a few minutes.
And how quickly those precious few minutes went by…..
"Shepard! Readings from anomaly astounding! Power signatures suggest massive element zero source. Only known supply to generate amount in given area. Lack of element zero readings prove very interesting. Excited to see what we find." The professor hadn't even bothered to look up from his omni-tool while speaking to Shepard; he was far too interested in the possibilities of what they could find. "Suggests new form of energy, could be harnessed. Or could kill us all. Outcome unknown."
"Relax Mordin, it's been several hours since the Illusive Man intercepted the Alliance patrol data, and no new activity has been read since then. Whatever this was, it likely occurred as a single event and has since cooled down. If all goes well, we land, do some walking around, and find nothing but some useless anomaly we don't have to look twice at" Shepard answered firmly.
"Ugh, I hate this 'walking around' you small aliens seem to enjoy so much. We are a powerful team and we waste out time visiting worthless planets and doing the Illusive Man's bidding. Find us a worthy enemy to destroy Shepard." The team's Krogan companion was less-than excited about the current mission, unhesitant to voice his annoyed opinion to the others. Grunt smashed his fists together to accentuate his point, producing a quick thump.
"Relax, big guy. We just left Horizon and you already want more enemies to kill? I sure wouldn't want to get on your bad side" Garrus casually threw in his own opinion. He turned his gaze from the window to notice that Grunt didn't care one bit for his thoughts. But that never stopped Garrus in the past. "Don't worry; we'll have plenty more Collectors to kill as the mission progresses. And who knows with this planet we're heading down to. It's relatively uncharted, aside from a few companies scanning it for useful resources. Maybe we'll run into a Thresher Maw. I'm sure that would satisfy you."
The thought of having to deal with one of those monstrosities was more than enough to grab Shepard's attention to Garrus' latest pessimistic comment. Before he could chime in, however, the Kodiak began abruptly shaking and he found himself listening to the shuttle's local VI.
"Adverse atmospheric conditions detected. Shuttle occupants are encouraged to remain seated during descent. Advisory: Planet scanning has determined surface is more hospitable to organic individuals than current location. At current rate of descent, shuttle will arrive to preset location in roughly 312 seconds."
"Well at least it's looking out for us" Garrus stated bitterly.
"Warning: radar scans detect hostile ground forces in proximity to landing site. Enemy emplacements have anti-air weaponry. This shuttle will attempt evasive maneuvers. Occupants are advised to secure themselves."
"Dammit! Everybody hang on! Suit up now, we may get a hull breach!" Shepard yelled as he was already in the process of putting his helmet on. The other three team members were quick to comply; they had no reason to find out if decompression was painful.
Just as soon as Mordin had been the last person to seal his suit, the shuttle began to scream with warning lights and alarms and violently threw its passengers into the portside of the troop compartment. The sound of emergency thrusters activating alleviated any of the team members who worried they had already been hit with enemy fire.
"Hah! Looks like we'll get to kill something after all today. These vermin better be as skilled fighters as they are ambushers!" Grunt chimed in, making it clear he was the only one enjoying the rough ride.
"That's assuming we get down without falling Grunt! I want everyone weapons ready as soon as that door opens up! Unload ASAP and find some cover. We'll analyze the situation after we assure ourselves some short-term survival!" Shepard was less-than pleased at how quickly a scientific discovery has turned into a battlefield. Shaking the though off, readied his assault rifle to answer whoever decided to ruin his day. Just as he saw the landing zone through the shuttle's window, he saw a trail of smoke quickly curving towards the Kodiak. "Missile! Everyone hold on to something!"
Just as soon as he yelled the last word, the craft shook painfully as the sound of an explosion was followed by screeching metal. Even more warning lights flickered on as the shuttle dropped far too fast towards its target.
"Warning: enemy projectile has damaged the element zero core. Unsafe deceleration may occur upon landing."
The red sand and rocks of Canalus were quickly poured into the craft as they hit the ground, coming to an abrupt halt. Mordin was thrown into the door, and Grunt made a small dent into the front of the troop compartment with his face. Garrus and Shepard had managed to stay seated, and forced the door open, only to be greeted with small arms fire from several mercenaries. Mercenaries that looked all too familiar to the team
'Blue Suns. Dammit, why couldn't it at least have been some random merc band that would quit before half their team was even dealt with?' the Turian thought to himself.
The first two out of the downed shuttle opened fire with their Mattock rifles on the enemy positions, startling them enough to force them back behind cover. Grunt charged out next, moving much closer to the mercenaries and slid behind a few shipping crates. Mordin was the last out, activating an incineration blast on one unfortunate merc before crouching next to Garrus.
"Need to deal with Blue Suns! Numbers seems to be eight, plus two mechs!" Mordin fired a cryo blast a moment later, immediately followed by Grunt's shotgun blasting the now-frozen Batarian and shattering him into hundreds of pieces. "Correction, seven mercenaries!"
Garrus peeked around the crate that was saving his life and sighted down his rifle, finding a Turian at the end of it. Firing the trigger, he was rewarded with a cloudy mess of blue helmet and blood. "Looks like they're pulling back into that mine behind them!" We better chase after them before they get any ideas for traps and ambushes!"
Shepard nodded at his friend "Absolutely, but we need to take a quick look around to see if we can get some insight into what we're dealing with. Search those mercs for any holopads and I'll cover the door into the mine so they don't decide to come back out so quickly." Garrus answered with a nod, while Mordin and Grunt acknowledged with green winks on Shepard's HUD. As he made his way to the mine, he couldn't help but notice how familiar it looked like the one he found Liara in while hunting Saren on Therum. Scanning the rest of the area, it was clear to him how hastily the mercs had set up shop here. Looks they might have intercepted the Alliance patrol report too, but he doubted it. Even some of the most well-equipped Blue Suns outposts and bases had a great deal of trouble cracking Alliance codes.
'Someone on that patrol must have sold it out for some quick credits. The Shadow Broker probably got his hands on it, and notified the Blue Suns of a significant find. For the right price, of course.'
"Shepard, found holojournal on dead Blue Sun. Should watch before moving." Mordin made his way over to Shepard and the other two followed suit. Mordin synced the data with his omni-tool, allowing it to be viewed easily by the others. Holding his hand out, the projection appeared in his palm and they all watched in interest. A Batarian in basic Blue Suns armor appeared, boredom and annoyance in his tone.
Entry One:
'What a mess. Captain Anneius made us scramble to get here within hours from our outpost to investigate some strange energy spike. I don't even know how he found out about it. The only thing I do know is that there's nothing but red dirt on this entire planet. What a waste of time. We only got a team of 10 together, plus those two mechs. They don't help much besides drawing enemy fire.'
Entry Two:
'Looks like this place isn't so worthless after all. After we made our way into the mine, we found the source of the energy spike: a human. Not just any human, though. This guy has to be close to seven feet tall, and is wearing some sort of armor none of us have ever seen. The captain wants the area secure before we attempt to move him to our ship.
Entry Three:
'Shit, looks like we've got some company coming to pay us a visit. Our scanners didn't pick up any ship in orbit, but we just discovered a Kodiak drop shuttle inbound directly to out location. The IFF pings it as Cerberus, so I doubt it's friendly. Those human scum don't deserve any more than what we are gonna give 'em. We're gonna try and shoot it down; hopefully we won't even need to draw our personal weapons.'
"Hmmm. Sounds like the energy spike was a human. Maybe that armor the journal was talking about is what caused the anomaly. I wonder what he was doing out here alone…?" Garrus couldn't think of much else to say.
Shepard nodded in agreement, not forming any better opinions. "There were nine of them outside to greet us when we landed, and the two mechs. Looks like we'll be meeting this 'Captain Anneius' when we go into the mine. Keep your eyes open and alert, and we should take care of these fools before they can realize what hit them. If any of them decide they aren't paid enough to get killed on random planets and give up, incapacitate them with some concussive rounds. We don't need to turn this into a slaughter…. that means you too Grunt." Shepard looked at his Krogan team member with his last statement, making it clear he was serious about the order. Grunt simply huffed in return, grudgingly following the command. "Don't get too worked up, you can take point. Mordin, follow right behind him and incinerate anyone who loses their shields. That should be enough to scare the rest of the group for a few moments. Garrus, stay behind us and use your sniper rifle; any targets of opportunity, their yours. Let's move, we don't want the Blue Suns to get lonely, do we?"
The three others all smiled behind their helmets and began moving down the mine shaft, Grunt leading the way. Moving about 300 feet down the first tunnel, the team came into a small antechamber, with a sealed door to the left of them. It most likely was separating them from the remaining mercenaries, and the four stacked up to the wall by the door. Grunt held up all his fingers, making him able to count to three the way so many humans liked to. When he closed the last finger, he slapped the holographic door controls and they burst into the room, dropping an off-guard merc standing on the other side of the doorway. They were once again greeted by the sound of bullets impacting against their kinetic barriers, forcing them behind a set of crates only a few yards from the door they so hastily pilled through only seconds ago.
"Damn, these guys sure don't want us to get to our mystery man. Are you sure they didn't just set a trap for you, Archangel?" Shepard jokingly threw at his Turian companion.
"Well if they did, they sure as hell didn't do a very good job. I took out entire squads on Omega like this with just one of my teammates. I'm sure they learned their lesson by now Shepard!"
Shepard just chuckled at Garrus, always so quick to laugh at a situation that could just as quickly kill them. The flicker of assault rifle rounds on his shields got him to remember the fight they were in, and he threw a grenade disk into a group of Batarians on the other end of the room. The smell of incendiary paste in the grenade mixed with melting armor and flesh was Shepard's swift reward as three of the mercs fell to the floor. Yet another Turian found his end from a round of Garrus' Volkov rifle, accurately hitting the mercenary in the neck. He didn't even have the chance to grasp his throat after the round severed his spinal cord.
Grunt armed his shotgun and lowered his head as he charged into two humans foolish enough to try and bring down the angry Krogan. One was thrown to the other end of the room from impact, a sickening crack from more than one part of his body silencing him forever. The second rolled out of the path of Grunt's charge, only to find himself at the end of an Eviscerator and shredder rounds. Expanding eyes were the only defense he could muster as the gun's mass effect generator activated, sending serrated metal edges impacting his chest. After Mordin easily dispatched the two mechs with his SMG, a lone Turian raised his arms up higher than most of his species were capable, the rest of him shivering from fear.
This certainly wasn't the most disciplined group of mercenaries the team had encountered…
"Don't shoot, I give up already! Just let me out of here alive and I'll tell you everything I know!" Captain Anneius shouted as the four comfortable strolled over to him, surrounding him.
"Talk fast mercenary, we don't have the patience for hired guns today. Especially ones that try to kill us before bothering to open a communications channel with an unarmed shuttle." Shepard was happy they didn't kill everyone, but he would've been happier if they hadn't had this trouble in the first place.
"Unarmed? You Cerberus dirt bags never come into a situation wanting peace! I was doing the galaxy a favor by shooting at you!" The captain quickly sunk down after he realized he was insulting the ones who were now holding his life with a trigger finger.
"How did you find this place so quickly? What do you know about the human you found?"
"He's…ugh…big. Like seven feet tall big. He's wearing some sort of weird armor I've never seen before. Looks cutting edge. We didn't try and move him yet, so you four can have the privilege of doing that. I got a tip from the Shadow Broker. Called me up and said there was an anomaly in the area; our base is on one of the moons of Vioressa. We set up a staging ground for hit-and-run operations on merchant ships from Citadel space, moving trade resources with the Terminus Systems."
The captain's openness was very surprising to the team, but not unwelcome.
"When we got here, I didn't even know what to find. But I forked out half a million creds to the Shadow Broker, so I figured it was something big. And it was. This guy down here is something special. But he's all yours, if you just let me out of here alive."
The team looked at each other quickly, all nodding that they might as well let him live. No reason to let him go, though.
"Fine, captain. We'll let you live. But you aren't walking out of here." Shepard turned to Mordin an instant later. "Mordin, give him a sedative, and then we'll take him back on the Normandy and bring him to the Citadel. We can hand him over to Citadel Security for processing. We can give Councilor Anderson the location of that base, too. "
"What! You can't arrest me here! We aren't in Citadel…." He couldn't even finish his outburst before Mordin's sedative flowed into his system, knocking the Turian out cold. The team was rewarded by a thud of his head hitting the mine's floor, which looked quite painful; that was enough to cheer them up. With the surviving Blue Sun dealt with, the team decided to move through the last doorway between them and the target.
The next room opened up into a large cavern, a rough circle with a 100-foot diameter. A few pieces of scanning equipment with the Blue Suns' logo on them were hastily strewn about the room, around a small crater in the center. Shepard led the squad over to get a first-hand look at the single thing they just went through so much trouble to acquire. What they found genuinely shocked them, even after the descriptions they had already heard.
The human before them was roughly seven feet tall, probably just an inch under that. The armor her wore covered his entire body; grey metal in thickness usually reserved for shock troopers. The entire layer underneath the plating was a black, rubbery looking substance. The entire suit of armor appeared to be vacuum-sealed. The helmet had a large golden visor, allowing much more vision than the typical Alliance helmet. No weapons were around the soldier; perhaps they had already been taken by the Blue Suns. This didn't look like a guy who travels around unarmed…
"Fascinating. Above-average sized human. Appears to be male, based on body shape. Armor indeed far more advanced than anything currently used in Citadel space." Mordin stated this as he scanned the man with his omni-tool. "Hmmm. No element zero power sources detected. Possible stealth system? No, suit too small to conceal even trace amount. Not possible. Appears to have hybrid of fusion-plasma power cells. Very advanced indeed."
"Wait, that armor he's got on has a fusion cell? The smallest fusion cell the Normandy has is the size of Grunt. How the hell does this guy have one in his armor?" Garrus had no intentions of holding his skepticism back. However, to the entire team, it was warranted.
Mordin simply ignored the Turian, continuing to scan the motionless mass of metal before them.
Shepard had no answers, like the rest of the team. He decided they should focus on something more urgent to them at the moment. "Mordin, can you get a scan on this guy's vitals? I want to know if he has any injuries before we try and move him." Shepard jumped in, while still looking in awe at the intimidating human.
"Unlikely. Suit has vital-masking devices. Also local AI…proving impossible to bypass. No damage visible on armor. Assume he is fine. Oh, of course besides unconscious."
Shepard was taken aback by the professor's comment.
"Hold on professor. The fusion-plasma cells were enough of a stretch, but now you tell me he has an AI in there just for his combat armor? Are you sure you're readings are accurate? Maybe it's just a VI….?" Shepard had a hard time believing him, even if he knew the Salarian didn't make mistakes like this.
"Please Shepard, not an apprentice technician. Computer interactions and behavior can only lead to AI. Not hostile, however. Simply denying any access to armor systems. No hacking attempt on my own system. Perhaps it is aware of its odd situation, wants help? Seems like logical conclusion."
The team simply stared at the man lying in front of them, unable to form any more words. Even Grunt had been unable to think of something derogatory to say about the new human. The only sounds they heard were Mordin's fingers rapidly typing at his omni-tool, gathering any information he could.
"Alright everyone, no sense standing around any longer. If nothing else, the sedative on our Blue Suns friend in the room behind us is going to wear off eventually. We need to get this guy back on the Normandy and get out of here. If the Blue Suns were so quick on the scene, I don't want to run into whoever's next." Shepard looked at the unique human one more time. "Garrus, grab this guy and let's get out of here. Shepard to Normandy, everyone is fine, but we have two additions to….Garrus let's go!"
"Ugh, having some trouble here Shepard. I can't get this guy to budge." Garrus was surprised he couldn't move the human.
"Garrus, we don't have time to play games, let's get out of here! I don't think he's welded to the floor."
"I'm not playing any games Shepard, this guy has got to weigh a ton!"
Shepard was about to yell at the Turian once again, when he noticed the look in his eye behind his helmet; Garrus wasn't exaggerating, not even a little. Puzzled, Shepard walked over to the human and tried picking him up. Even with the extensive cybernetics Cerberus had installed in him, he could barely budge the unidentified man. After a few more panting struggles, he turned back to Mordin.
"Mordin, scan the armor's metal and density; and check the impressions on the soil. Give me an idea of how much this guy weighs."
"Certainly, will only take a moment." Mordin's wrist lit up with an orange glow one more time, waving around the human for a few seconds. "Very interesting indeed. Appears to be made of an alloy of various metals. Extremely dense. Suspect it is very durable. Weight of entire system and occupant seems to be 1,000 pounds."
Garrus didn't even have time to drop his jaw before Shepard spoke.
"Did you say 1,000? There has got to be something special about this guy. I don't know any human who could even stand with a set of armor that weighs so much…" Shepard was once again completely taken aback, unable to decide what to think. "It doesn't matter. Grunt, grab him and let's get the hell out of here!"
"Hmph. You humans and Turians are small and weak. Perhaps this one will be stronger, if what Mordin says is true" Grunt responded, eager to meet a human who was as tough as him.
Shepard watched as Grunt picked the human up and threw him over his shoulders. He was surprised to see that even Grunt had to think twice while picking him up. "Shepard to Normandy, we have the package and are returning to the shuttle. Have a technician team meet us in the loading bay, the Kodiak took some fire on the way down and I doubt the VI has completely fixed all the problems by now. We should rendezvous in 30 minutes. And alert Doctor Chakwas that was have a…unique patient that will be under her care soon."
"Roger that commander. Canalus' atmosphere has been interfering with a lot of your transmissions but I got a good look at some of the video feeds of your helmets. What the hell did you guys find down there?" Joker was both fascinated and concerned with his question.
Shepard didn't answer the Normandy's pilot. What could he even answer with?
Author's Note
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Well, chapter one is out of the way. I hope every one reading found it interesting. As always, I am more than happy to have any type of feedback on the story. Please leave any comments on the review page, or simply message me. Technical comments regarding universe technologies, backstories, etc are also greatly appreciated. I am always happy to revise chapters to imrpove the story.
Thanks for reading, I'll try to get the next chapter up by the end of next week!