The winner for the question last chapter was GIRLIKESTACOS.
it was the Bear Trap fist from the From the Sierra Madre DLC
Hey guys. wow another quick chapter. hope you all like it.
Chapter 8 Crash Course
The Wildcard
Part 8
"So Commander." Joker started as he looked over his shoulder. "Hear we have a real nutcase downstairs? And I'm not just saying nutcase downstairs for a laugh."
Shepard rubbed her temples as she stood behind the pilot's seat. She was wearing her black caption's jacket and pants.
They had recruited Plague earlier that day. Word had spread fast around the ship. Especially when Miranda had lost her cool.
"Understatement of the year, joker." she answered.
She didn't quite know that much about him, but what she did however earned the new member of the ground teams to be watched. She didn't know much about his cannibalistic side and hoped that it was only do to a harsh environment. He seemed alright around the crew so far, so she just had to cross her fingers and request every member of the crew to report anything strange since said member can't be seen on camera.
Thankfully she hadn't heard anything yet.
Finding a place for him to set up was difficult though. She wanted him to not be too close to the crew of the ship incase his true nature was hostile.
Remembering her deal, she put him in storage where they kept their extra resources down on Deck 4: Engineering.
Plague POV
"Damnit!" the wastelander shouted in his new dwelling.
He had been working on some repairs to one of his power armor sets. Long ago he found a way to use specific parts of the suits without having to wear the whole set. But he had to admit that even though the armors were bulky, they served their purpose.
He only changed sets when necessary. He could wear one of the armors gauntlets and improve his grip, he could wear the full arm and receive its strength. So why wear the whole thing.
He only wore the whole thing depending on the conditions. An explosion, an imminent impact, a need for more brute strength.
At the moment Plague's pipboy was empty. All of his weapons lining or hanging on the walls of the small storage room given to him. Four large two foot high ammo cases in the middle to act as a table. His armors set up in a nice and organized display, standing side by side in a row of four.
Many parts needed to be readjusted. At the moment he was working on an arm of his Tesla armor. It was slightly more unique then his other sets. It had black armor, red eyes on the helmet, the power coils on the shoulders would ark with raw red power when active. It was mostly good for defending against energy weapon damage. With the thing's looks he renamed it the "Scare the fuck out of everyone" set.
He gave a slight chuckle when he remembered the first time he used it at night and scared a raider enough that he actually shitted himself.
As he was laughing he almost didn't notice the door to his room open
Taylor Shepard POV
"What's the joke…" Shepard started and then was cut off by how full the room was. "…Where the hell did all this come from?"
"Don't worry Ma'am. There won't be any clutter. I carry everything with me when I leave the room." Plague said as he stopped laughing at his inside joke.
"did you have all this in your pipboy?" she asked as she started walking through the storage room turned armory.
"Yes Ma'am." Plague answered as he got off of his bunk, with what Shepard thought was a robot arm.
She watched in silence as 101 attached the arm to a creepy looking black and red suit of armor.
As she looked through the room she noted all of the weapons at her latest member's disposal.
All of the shelves were full. Large melee weapons leaned against the wall, from a simple wooden baseball bat to a rather large sword made from an old car bumper.
"My God, I recruited a mad man." she voiced in a joking tone.
That disserved a chuckle from Plague as he picked up a golf club of all things.
"Keep in mind it's not the gun in the boy's hand that makes him the man. Even without my arsenal, I could come out of a death match and come back for more." he said as he did a few practice swings on the other side of the room.
Shepard kept that in mind as she looked through the organized rows of weapons.
"How much can your pipboy carry anyway?" she asked as she picked up a large knife connected to a gas tank by a hose.
"Whenever I atomize an item, it doesn't just disappear." he started to explain as he switched the club for a machete. "It's mass is added to my own. You may not see it, but I gain it's weight."
That made Shepard look at him as she put the knife down.
"How is that possible?" the former Spectre asked with wide eyes.
The idea of such technology was impossible. Sure she had heard of atom research and such from science fiction movies, but to have that technology right in front of her was shocking.
"Well…how to explain this?" Plague asked himself as he gave the weapon in his hand a few test swings. "When I atomize an object, it's matter is stored within my pipboy. The mass however is added to mine. As long as I can carry the items that are atomized, I am not fatigued." to make his point he bounces a little with his fists in the air like a boxer. Then he quickly makes a few quick jabs. "But I can get slowed down. I just can't feel it, and it can't crush Me." he looks around the room and atomizes a sludge hammer among his weapons. "Now, I only have one item weighing me down." he then goes back to his boxing stance, as Shepard notices his bounces and jabs are a little slower, but still quite fast. "I can get slowed down to the point that you won't be able to see me move. Don't worry though; I always make sure I can carry my workload by wearing some parts of power armor."
"Is that what those are?" Shepard asked, pointing to the robotic like armors.
As she looked over she noticed one of the sets were much smaller and had Plague's helmet. The rest of the suit looked like it was made of rubber and form fitting and quite compact.
"Correct. Those are my babies. Used to have five though. Had to activate it's self-destruct. I'm going to miss that piece of slag." he said with no emotion. "Anyway, I'm guessing you wanted to talk about something? Can't be many other people down here besides the engineers around."
"Actually there is a mercenary in the next room, and a krogan across from his." she corrected.
She smirked as she watched the man's eyebrow raise.
"Really now? He isn't much trouble is he?" Plague asked.
Shepard thought the question was understandable. She had watched him kill what she guessed was his first krogan on that video feed.
"He's a little hard headed, but he won't just attack you without a reason. That is unless you got in his way. His names Grunt. The mercenary is Zaeed Massani." she informed. "The reason I came down here was to see how you are setting up." she then took another glance around the room. "I'm guessing you are doing well?"
"I think I am doing 'well' so far. It's nice having a place to drop my supplies. Feels like the weight of the world has been lifted. Thanks for asking Ma'am." he then did another bounce.
"Good to hear. Will you be ready when I call you for the ground team?" she asked as she started looking at his weapons again.
"Always Ma'am." then the full suit connected to his helmet atomized and then appeared on him. With an altered voice he spoke. "Though, I am curries as to how you will use my skills."
That made a question appear in Shepard's head. How would she use him? She had seen him demolish a krogan, and also had to chase him through Omega's market district. He had taken a direct hit by Miranda, and is still walking around. Other then all that, she didn't know anything about him. She looked around the room at all the weapons around her.
"I should have asked this earlier…but where could I put you?"
Having known someone who usually wears a full body suit, she noticed Plague's slight body movement that showed he was just as surprised as her.
"I…I hadn't thought of that Ma'am." after a pause he picked up an old model sniper rifle with some beautiful designs engraved on it, and then disappeared. "I guess I could play many roles on the battlefield. This armor is my stealth set." he then reappeared next to Shepard earning him a slightly alarmed look from said woman. "It has a built in cloaking device, allowing me to move around the field unnoticed, while at the same time flexible. It can adjust itself to the wearer's form. The suit could fit almost any human frame. Thus both male and female genders could where it. Maybe even an asari, although I haven't experimented with the idea."
"So, with that armor you are an infiltrator class?" she waited for him to nod his answer before asking her next question. "Are you effective with a sniper rifle?"
In response he raised the rifle so he could aim at the wall on the other side of the small room.
"This is my modified reservist's rifle. With it I can shoot down a target from more then a mile away depending on the wind conditions. Each magazine carries five .308 caliber rounds that are each capable of piercing armor and shields." he then lowered the weapon and looked at her. "Yes Ma'am, I am "effective" with said sniper rifle." he answered as if the question was a small insult towards his abilities.
'Garrus, now him. Two snipers so far.' Shepard thought to herself.
The man was practically an N7 Infiltration team.
Plague then looked at a heavier looking armor set and then atomized it onto his person. Once the armor was on him Shepard took a step back.
Plague had become almost a foot taller with a mask that had what looked like an old gasmask filter and two eyes and a small scope above it. The shoulder guards seamed to stick out more. The torso was a little angular around the chest.
"This is my prototype medic power armor. It has a built in computer system, and can directly treat wounds on the wearer." 101 explained. "with this suit a can treat almost any injuries that either I, or a member of the ground team could receive during a mission. And like my other power armors, it can boost my strength."
With a little shock Shepard asked her next question. "So you can heal others? Don't you need some medical training?"
In response the armor wearer chuckled.
"I don't do anything. The suit does. When I want it to operate on a patient, I tell it what I want it to do and it goes on autopilot."
"Sounds more like a mech to me. Can it work without you having to pilot it?" the Commander asked.
"There has to be someone inside, yes. Although, I should get the systems upgraded so that it can treat none human patients. Dam thing was built with only humans in mind." Plague informed as he checked part of his arm.
A smile appeared on Shepard's face at the thought of a sniper and medic rolled into one. It was as if someone fused Mordin and Garrus. The thought almost made her laugh.
"I have made the medic set able to use medi gel, but for the worst case scenario of an extreme emergency, I should do some research. Although in some cases if time is an issue, I can directly give the medic armor to the injured human member for treatment. Human for obvious reasons."
The idea made Shepard nod a little in thought. If what Plague said was true, then almost any member on her team could become a field medic on the fly.
"You should speak with Mordin Solus up in the tech lab. He could help you with the research." she offered. "He's our scientist."
After a short pause, Plague nodded at the idea. "Will do Ma'am."
She was looking to the last sets of armor as Plague changed back to his jumpsuit with a flash of light.
"What about that one?" Shepard asked as she pointed to a slightly more bulky armor with more shielding.
A smile worked its way onto 101's face when he looked at the armor in question.
"That Ma'am is the T-51b power armor, and it is fitted with a back-mounted TX-28 MicroFusion Pack which generates an output power of 60,000 Watts to power the HiFlo hydraulic systems built into the frame of the suit. It's made of a poly-laminate composite; the outer shell is lightweight and capable of absorbing over 2500 Joules of kinetic impact. The 10-micron-thick silver ablative coating can reflect laser and other radiation emissions without damage to the composite subsurface, and the eye slits for the helmet are made of bullet proof glass to protect the wearer from any projectiles" he answered as if reading a textbook. "All in all it is the heaviest of my sets. You can call it my heavy set. I usefully wear it's left arm along with the medic power armor's right gauntlet." he then got a playful smile as he touched the top of a strange and large weapon on the wall next to it. "I like to add some nice mini-gun action with that set, maybe a flamethrower."
He then stood before the black and red set of armor and knocked on the helmet.
"This is a Tesla power armor. It was designed to amplify an energy weapon's output. Since I sadly don't use, nor am I any good with energy weapons, I have modified it to create an electronic shield sphere around the wearer." he then paused as he looked at her and then shook his head.
"What?" the Commander asked in response to her quick and unexpected examination.
"Just had an idea." he started as he rubbed the back of his head. "Like I said, it's meant to amplify an energy weapon's output. So the idea of a biotic wearing it popped into my head."
Shepard was taken aback at that.
"W…what? You mean I could get a biotic boost from it?" she asked at the concept of wearing such powerful armor.
101 then crossed his arms and tilted his head in thought.
"Well if you want I could teach you how to use power armor. You can't just put it on and expect to be the strongest being around. If you are not prepared, you could injure yourself severely. And I mean severe. Once I saw a man's arm bend back on its own and snap the bones of the arm into pieces. The reason I brought up putting the medic armor on someone other than myself, was because it would be on autopilot." he warned.
"How long would the process take?" she asked as she thought about such a thing happening to her.
Plague then tilted his head back and looked like he was doing some calculations.
"It took me almost a week, so maybe three hours of lessons a day. I would have to be wearing another set and keep close watch on you in case you lose control." once he finished speaking, his medic and infiltrator sets reappeared where they had been against the wall. "I'll give you some time to think about it. But if you are all for it, let me know Ma'am."
As he walked back to his bunk Shepard looked around the room and noticed a power armor helmet hanging on the wall.
It had yellow eyes, a dome like forehead, a unique mask, and two black hoses in the lower back along with two hornlike things.
"What about that?" she asked as she took it off the wall to test its weight.
Plague instantly got off his bunk with an extremely agitated look on his face, as he stormed towards her. She took a step back as he snatched it from her hands and held the helmet in a death grip.
"That…is my quarry." he almost shouted as the helmet was slammed on a shelf with a lot more force than necessary. "Enclave filth."
"I didn't mean to upset you." Shepard said with an apologetic look on her face. "What's an Enclave?"
"Like I said." he started as he calmed down. "Filth."
101 then walked back to his bunk and sat down. "Don't worry, you didn't offend me. The damage was done long ago."
Plague POV the next day.
Plague slowly opened his eyelids in response to his pipboy's alarm clock.
He looked at the piece of vault tech with a feeling of distaste. The wastelander's awakening mind groggily searched for the password to shut it up. As he sat up on his bunk he scratched his head.
"Shut the fuck up!" he almost yelled and was surprised when the thing went quiet. "I have a strange sense of humor."
The previous night was spent cleaning the tools of his trade.
The room was filled with light as all of his weapons and armor atomized while he walked to the door. The only thing left in his room was the bunk he had slept on, and the metal shelves.
After he had cleaned up in the ships restroom on deck 3, he was welcomed by the smell of cooking food. Following the smell, he found himself in the ships mess hall.
Some of the crew sat at a table, along with Garrus.
Not one to skip a chance for free food, Plague grabbed a tray and walked to the older man behind the counter who was serving the meals. The man seemed to be almost completely bold, along with brown eyes that gave Plague a questioning look.
"You must be the new guy?" he started as he reached over the counter to shake hands. "I'm Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner. You can just call me Gardner."
"Plague." 101 introduced himself as he shook the hand presented to him. "Mess Sergeant?"
"I'm the ship's cook, and custodian." the man answered with a sense of pride that Plague would have thought laughable if he hadn't just woken up.
"So…the janitor…cooks our meals?" Plague asked.
"Custodian." Gardner reminded Plague. "But if you don't want any food…"
"As long as you properly wash your hands between duties, I'll live. You're talking to a man who has eaten cooked mutated insects." Plague said earning a raised eyebrow.
"Well…alright then." Gardner said as he scooped some powdered eggs, some pieces of bacon, biscuit and dark grayish gravy along with a piece of buttered toast onto Plague's tray. "Enjoy."
Giving the cook a quick nod, Plague walked over to an empty seat away from the rest of the crew.
As he sat down, Plague noticed some glances from those on the other side of the table. He saw an array of questioning, intrigued, and wary looks from both men and women.
Shrugging he picked up a piece of bacon and chomped down on the cooked pork. As he ate he noticed some movement next to him and was surprised to see Garrus setting his tray down as he sat in the next seat.
"So…what's the story?" the turian asked as he scooped some kind of green eyeball like thing into his mouth that smelled like rancid meat.
"Let me answer that with another question. What the hell is that?" Plague threw back, not caring what the first question was.
The turian looked at his tray and stabbed another eyeball to eat with his fork.
"It's Sclent. A delicacy back on Palaven." he answered as he ate another scoop.
"Eyeballs."
"It's a vegetable." he defended.
That just raised even more questions, but Plague put them all aside as he scooped some eggs into his mouth. He was surprised that the food actually tasted alright.
(Understandable considering the average wastelander's diet of cooked mutant animals and vegetation.)
After some more scoops Garrus nudged his shoulder and pointed to some of the crew on the other side of the table.
Some of them had a defeated look on their face and handed some credits to the few with a look of triumph.
"You just helped some people win a few bets." Garrus said as he fought a chuckle.
"How?" Plague asked honestly confused.
With a raised "eyebrow" the turian answered. "Gardner's cooking's terrible I hear."
That statement received a look of disagreement.
"It's the best I've had in a while actually. I was going to go up for seconds."
(Some of the crew in the mess hall could hear Gardner silently shout in victory, as he pumped his fist in the air when he barely heard the compliment.)
"Anyway. Back to my question?" Garrus then pointed to Plague's two robotic fingers on his right hand.
After the few seconds it took for Plague to chew and swallow, he answered with no emotion and a straight face. "Never give a sliding door the finger."
Taylor Shepard POV
"Really?" Shepard asked as she looked at the skin tight seemingly half rubber half latex suit in Plague's hands. "I'm not wearing that."
Shepard and Plague were in the hanger bay of the Normandy. She accepted Plague's offer to teach her how to use power armor, but she didn't expect to have to wear the garment presented to her.
Plague was in his medic set in case something happened during the lesson.
"I highly recommend you wear it." Plague insisted as he tossed it to her. "The suit helps you control the armor. It will tell your armor your status, and keep track of your health." Plague lectured. "Also, it will tell your suit to deactivate if something goes wrong. Think of it as a safety harness. I always wear one under my clothing."
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed the garment and walked off into the next room. "Fine, I'll be back."
A few minutes later she went back into the hanger. As she walked up to Plague, she caught a glimpse of Kasumi standing next to him. They had been having a conversation about Plagues power armor until they both noticed her walking to them.
"Wow Shepard…Just…wow" Kasumi said as she looked Shepard up and down.
The suit was skintight and fitted itself to all of the curves of her body. She also looked like she had on latex gloves along with stockings. To put it on she had to stretch the opening at the head and put it on like you would a glove as Plague had instructed her earlier. Once it was on, the opening shrunk down around her lower neck. All in all, it had no zipper and could give anyone who saw her a good idea of how she looked without it.
That thought made her face completely red as she moved her arms in a way that could cover some of her shame.
"I swear Kasumi, if a find a holo of this anywhere…"
"No need for one. Photographic memory." Plague said earning him a glare as he chuckled. "Anyway, come sit over here." he said as he pointed to a small crate.
Not breaking her glare, she walked over and sat down. She thought of throwing him around the room with her biotics, but decided against it since he was wearing his armor.
She was surprised to be blinded by a bright light as the Tesla power armor appeared on the floor before her.
"First lesson." Plague started. "How to put it on."
Half an hour went by as Plague picked up each piece of the armor and explained it's parts and how to put it on. They started with the torso and then went to the legs and arms starting from the forearms and thighs, and then the rest of the limbs.
Next was the shoulders with the power coils. Each separated into two parts that closed around the shoulder of the wearer.
"How are you doing so far?" Kasumi asked as she watched in anticipation. "Looks really…toasty in there."
She hadn't noticed as she put the parts on, but the black garment under the armor seemed to be keeping a cool temperature around her. It felt kind of refreshing in a way.
"Happy I made you wear it now?" Plague asked, seeming to be able to read her mind.
She was barely able to lift her hands when she picked up the helmet which was the last piece of the set. After a few failed attempts to lift it over her head, Plague grabbed it and helped place it where it had to go, making her vision turn a shade of red.
"To put it on you have to get used to the weight." 101 told her. "Can you hear me in there?"
"I hear you." she almost had to shout in the inactivated suit.
"Good. Second lesson. I am going to make the suit move. I want you to get familiar with the feeling of its movements and relax. Understand Ma'am?"
"Understood." Shepard answered.
"Remember. Relax." he said as he leaned in to talk into the suit's hearing receptors. "Tesla armor activation code Alpha and Omega."
Instantly the displays in the suit lit up as she heard a few clicks and humming around her head.
"TESLA POWER ARMOR UNIT 425 ONLINE." said an automated male voice that took both women by surprise. "AWAITING CAMAND."
"What was that?" Shepard almost shouted and was surprised that her voice was broadcasted outside of the suit.
"that is the Tesla armor's CPU." Plague answered. "It's not as good as my medic set's computer, but it can still help you operate the armor. If you want, you could change the voice later. Now, activate power armor tutorial, level 1."
In response, and to Shepard's surprise, the suit moved and made her stand up.
She felt a little dizzy at having realized she was now almost a foot and a half taller. Remembering Plague's instructions, she relaxed her muscles and let the suit take control.
"Tesla armor, walk around the perimeter." Plague ordered as the armor started walking.
Shepard felt the powerful movements of the suit as it followed the hanger walls. The movements felt fluid and precise. She could feel the impact of the suits boots on the metal floor. Her sense of hearing was sharper. She could feel the black garment move around her, and adjust its temperature depending on where she needed it to adjust.
As the suit walked, she scanned to display before her. She could see the armor's power output along with it's shields integrity. It also showed a small image of her suit that was filled in with a lime green which she assumed meant good.
"How are you doing in there?" Kasumi asked as she walked beside her.
She tried to turn her head, but found the suit was still in full control.
"Fine Kasumi." she answered. "This feels weird though."
"I bet it does." she said back in a cheerful voice. "What's it feel like?"
"I can only feel the suit's movements." she started to explain. "And the…garment…is constantly changing temperature. It's like a second skin."
"Tesla armor." Plague shouted from across the hanger. "End tutorial. Return to final destination."
Like a trained soldier, the suit turned and marched back to Plague and then sat back down exactly where it was before the tutorial, and sat down.
"Power down."
Shepard felt the pieces become heavier as they seemed to go dement.
Suddenly, Shepard was engulfed in a bright light as the suit atomized leaving her in the black garment.
Realizing this she covered herself almost instantly.
"Are you trying to get a good view of me?" she shouted earning a laugh from both Plague and Kasumi.
"Sorry Ma'am." he started to apologies. "I wanted to save you some time. "Although I really should have warned you beforehand."
"You should have!" she shouted as she marched off to change.
"Ma'am, I recommend you wear the nerve suit under your own clothing to help you get used to it." he shouted behind her making her stop dead in her tracks.
"You've got to be kidding me."
What will happen now that Plague is teaching Shepard how to use the Tesla armor? Is Gardner's food any good? Is sclent really a vegetable or is Garrus just hiding his appetite for eyes? all these questions and more will be answered next time...ok ...maybe not that last one...
next quiz.
What is the name of the Golf Club in New Vegas?