Before this starts up, words cannot even begin to say how sorry I am for making you all wait so long.
Many of you asked every the wait if I gave up on the Wildcard. The answer to that question is a big fat no. I already have so many plans for this story, and right now I am even sketching a cover for the story.
The Wildcard
Chapter 22
Two seconds, and Plague already could tell he was not going to get along well with the alleged Illusive Man.
First it was the cigarette. Those things smelled disgusting to him.
Thankfully he didn't have to with the man not even in the same room.
Cigarettes. He knew specifically how they killed someone from the inside out slowly do to his medical knowledge. Knowing this, he never smoked anything other than those who got in front of him with a flamer. That didn't stop him from selling all the cartons he could find for a decent amount of caps.
The cancer sticks sold for quite a bit actually. And they were light.
Next thing he did not like was that suit. It was too clean. Too suave.
Next on the list, and possibly the biggest thing, was the hair. Oh God, the hair. All slicked back.
He didn't know which was the Cerberus mastermind, the man, or the monstrosity on the formers head that must be controlling him like some mechanized form of hair transportation.
Next was his way of carrying himself. Like he expected everyone around him to worship the cigarette buts he, no doubt, throws on his earlier shits made of gold and incrusted diamonds.
Then there are those eyes. Clearly not real, and most likely were cybernetics. He was not saying he hated those who had to get new eyes do to an accident or something. It was the way he was being looked at.
Like he was some… commodity. Something like he slightly acknowledged its existence like you would an ant walking on a recently scrubbed tile floor.
None mutated ants. The ones Plague was used to were quite noticeable, with the fire and what not.
It was like this man expected him to hand over whatever he wanted.
"Hello, Mr. 101." he greeted politely, but still in a way that already pissed him off. "Or should I say, Adam?"
Plague's eyes narrowed instantly as his hands formed tight fists. How he knew the name didn't need to be asked. Sure he removed all the bugs from his room, but that didn't mean there was not a small one he missed around the ship.
"Strike one." he growled. "You don't ever say that name."
The man just raised an intrigued eyebrow at Plague's reaction.
"And why is that? To be named after the first man in the bible to be created by God." he nonchalantly explained. "This could be a sign of things to come, if you were to comply with what I have to say."
"I have to agree." Plague voiced hollowly. "To be named the first man, and giving a thrashing to those who killed a questionable number of people just because they didn't evolve from primates on earth, or did not agree with the way you saw the galaxy in the name of humanity, could be seen as a sign." he spoke with a glare. "And to answer your question, you don't ever say my name. You are not my buddy, and I will not tolerate it being said in that voice or anyone else's that I don't give permission to. Now I have a question. How is this communication even possible?"
"If you mean, how can a see you, then that can be explained easily." he sucked in more of that disgusting smoke before continuing. "Your image distorts the memory of the machinery that captures it. If left in a program, it could corrupt all existing data around it in a hard drive. I simply delete the recorded image as it is viewed." his features then started to appear a little annoyed. "You have no idea how many resources are being invested into this one conversation."
"Fascinating." the vault dweller faked interest. "I recommend you tell me why you wanted to talk in the first place before this "Conversation" bores me."
He saw Tim's eyes narrow in annoyance, but other than that, there was no change in his facial expression.
"Vary, well." he put out his cigarette in the ashtray built into his chair's armrest. "Being a man with a natural sense of curiosity, I have heard many questionable things that have been brought to my attention." he said, as he stood up. "One of these things involved your… unique origins." Plague's eyes narrowed again at those words. "You were born in a world unlike our own. No space travel. What I want to know is quite simple. Why?"
"Can you rephrase the question?" Plague asked as he tilted his head. One sidewise glance showed Miranda still standing next to him, listening intently to the conversation but trying to look like she was not. "Simply asking why is a little vague, by my standards."
"Not necessarily. The question actually fits your predicament rather well." he then turned away to look out that window… or screen, whatever the fuck it was. He must have just wanted to do that to appear deep. Who knows? Better yet, who cared? "Why are there so many differences between our Earths? Why the violence? Why are you here? And last but not least…" he turned around to make eye contact again. "I have heard how you did everything in your power, even things most would see as extreme, to rebuild your world, only to be betrayed by those you fought so hard to protect." he had to admit, those words hit home. "You have been given a second chance to save lives… Why do you not want your fellow man to advance? You could have done many things in the time you have been here. Sold those antiques, sold the designs of those armors and gain a large amount of respect from many weapon manufacturers."
"I have already talked with her about that." he answered as he nodded his head in Miranda's direction. "The situation has not changed. Your group's track sheet still looks bloody to me. I highly doubt I will change my mind no matter how many times you ask the same question." he could have sworn he saw the beginnings of a scowl on the man's face. "To repeat the same action and expect different results is the textbook definition of madness to most."
"Considering how you pass yourself off as a man of equal trade, it would appear you are a little hypocritical on this subject." he observed. "You have nothing to lose by assisting me. The political events and people here, in this reality, are not important to you."
"Don't jump to conclusions thinking I would take the easy way in a heartbeat. I have not been here long, but that does not mean I do not care what happens to those around me." He retorted. "Nothing you can offer me will make me hand over anything I have." Plague replied. This man was really starting to irritate him. "Do you think I am a fool? I had many contacts on Omega, and plenty of them have heard of some of the things you dabble in. Human and alien experimentation, blackmailing political individuals, killing hundreds to cover your tracks, the attack on the quarian Flotilla so you could get your grubby little hands on a child, framing innocent people for things you do, unleashing a thrasher on unsuspecting marines who thought they were helping people, assassinations. Do I need to continue?" he could tell Tim was surprised by how much he knew, but only furrowed his brow slightly. "This is only the tip of the iceberg. When you live in a shit hole like Omega, you tend to pick up a lot of things. Especially: if you almost have a perfect memory. And I am a quick study."
The seconds ticked by as they glared at each other until Tim sat back down in his chair.
"You say there is nothing I can offer you?" he asked Plague in a tone he did not like. It was just under the surface.
"There is nothing I want from you." He growled. He could feel his nails digging into his palms. If the fucker had been in the same room he would have kicked his ass already.
"Not even a way home?" the question made Plague mentally gape, but he refused to let his expression change.
"I highly doubt you are capable of doing anything like that." He fumed. The vault dweller really wanted to hit something. "You must be getting desperate. Promising what is most likely impossible."
"The fact that you are here proves that such a feet is indeed possible." He reassured with a calculating tone. "Neither you nor I are capable if disproving the theories of the other. But we will never know until you assist me." After his words the room went quiet. Plague's glare continued at full force.
"The answer is still no." he growled.
"I am sorry to hear that. I can see this business opportunity refuses to grow fruit." and with that the transmission was deactivated and Plague found himself in the conference room.
"That was not wise." Miranda commented as Plague turned to walk out of the room. Her voice did not sound angry, just disappointed. "You are not in a position to be making enemies. Let alone, with Cerberus."
"You are looking at this the wrong way." Plague corrected as he looked back at the woman. "It is Cerberus who shouldn't be making enemies." he then turned to step through the door and left one sentence with the woman before he was out of view. "Let alone, me."
Taylor Shepard POV
"We have a visual on the Collector ship, Commander." Joker informed as Shepard walked up behind him in her inferno armor and helmet under her arm.
"Very low emissions." EDI explained as the ship came into view. "Passive infrared temperatures suggest most systems are offline. Thrusters are cold."
Joker's hands flew all over the ship controls, but hesitated for a second so he could comment. "That thing's massive. How the hell did the turians take it out?"
She had to agree with him. "Good question. It looks bigger close up to."
That was true. The whole ground team saw their last Collector ship on the ground. "Have Tali and Zaeed meet me in the shuttle."
They were now next to the motionless behemoth. This had to be the best view of the enemy she had ever seen since the attack on the Citadel. It was not a reaper she was looking at, but a tool of theirs.
Outside parts looked as if someone grafted some kind of rock to the hull while metal frames poked out here and there to form some kind of ring.
"I change my mind about it looking like a hive." a new voice spoke up behind her. "It looks like, and I am sorry for my language, a giant turd."
Shepard rolled her eyes at Plague's immature comment as she thought she heard Joker snicker in his seat before going back to business.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him as he stood on the opposite side of Joker.
He scoffed at the question as he leaned forward to examine the ship.
"You say over the intercom that we are paying a visit to some bugs, and you think we are all going to twiddle our thumbs?"
"I guess you have a point." she surrounded.
She wanted to ask him how the talk with Tim went, but did not know if it would have been appropriate at the moment.
"Ladar scans do not detect any hull breaches on the side facing us." EDI made her presence known. "I detect no mass effect field distortions. It appears the drive core is offline."
"So, no oxygen." she declared to herself as she put on her helmet, the orange visor bathing everything in an orange color. She hated helmets ever since she was a little girl and had the bright idea to run around the house with her father's antique motorcycle helmet on her head and fell down a flight of stairs.
"Rendezvous in 30 seconds, Commander." said Joker as he interacted with the display in front of him. "Good luck."
She gave him a pat on the shoulder as she turned to walk through the CIC, and thought she was alone until something flashed brightly behind her.
"Where do you think you are going?" she inquired as she looked back to see Plague following her, now with his heavy set on. "I already have Tali and…"
"No offense to your command, Boss." Plague's altered voice interrupted her. The verbal action was unexpected. He had never done that before. "When you acquired my services, you did it specifically for this kind of situation. Anything Collector related, and I am in. Even, if you disagree."
She was taken aback by his response, but still leveled a small look mixed with irritation and worry. "I'm not even sure you should be walking around. Not to mention sneaking onto an enemy ship."
"I am ready whenever you need me to be." he stated as they entered the elevator. "I am going to make those insects scream." that last part sounded more like a growl then a statement. She then realized why. Horizon. Shepard thought he was over being electrocuted. Apparently, she was wrong. "You hired me for a job. Let me do it."
She had a feeling she wasn't going to win this fight so she remained silent until the doors opened.
The Kodiak had been lowered and she could see Tali climbing in. She followed behind her and saw the second member of the ground team already sitting down. Plague entered next and took a seat next to Tali.
When the man's head snapped towards Zaeed she raised an eyebrow before Plague voiced what was on his mind.
"What the fuck is on your head?" he so elegantly asked.
"It's a helmet." the merc shot back, clearly irritated by how the question was asked.
"No. this is a helmet." he said as he pointed at the power armor's helmet on his head. "That is a helmet." this time he pointed at Shepard who shot him a glare. "And that is a helmet." this time he pointed at Tali's mask and she jumped in her seat and froze because of the sudden attention, instantly becoming self-aware. "That…" he was now pointing at Zaeed, whose shoulders showed he was seething in that armor. "… Is a scorched orange slab with eye holes cut out."
"Enough." Shepard ordered before Zaeed could shout at the man. "We have a job to do."
Plague POV
"Fine." Plague surrendered with his hands in the air. 'Still think it is ugly though.'
The sudden rocking of the shuttle informed everyone that they were leaving the cargo hold.
Soon they will be on the Collector ship where he could shoot something. He really wanted off that ship. Don't get him wrong. He liked some of the people on it, mostly members of the ground team. (Aside from Miranda, but it was not completely her fault.)
Upon thinking of the ground team, he looked to Tali who held a shotgun in her hands with a pistol on her hip.
He never thought he would see a quarian on a battlefield, with the suits and all. Nothing against the quarian species. It was just a little strange, in his opinion, for someone who could get dangerously sick from a little exposure due to insufficient antibodies, to put themselves in a position that could cause a breach in the suit.
On a medical standpoint, the condition fascinated him since he met that quarian his first day on Omega.
Maybe if he asked nicely, when they are not on a mission, he could ask her for a sample of her blood to look at. He was sure Mordin wouldn't mind him using a small piece of that lab so that he could pursue a chance to attain some knowledge.
He wouldn't mind getting a sample from Garrus as well.
Hell. Might as well, should get one from the krogon while he was at it.
He managed to drag himself out of that section of his mind so he could look at Tali again.
Now that he got a chance to look at the mask, he had to agree that it did look a little like the helmet of his Chinese stealth suit. Her normal suit looked a little different though. Looked like, some small armor plating was attached to her stomach and waist area to provide more protection. That made a lot of sense.
Not like she could change into some armor.
She looked like she was examining the thermal clip port before inserting the clip.
"You have much experience with that?" he asked as she was looking said weapon over before the mission started. The woman looked at him instantly while he barely was able to make out a small sigh come from Shepard.
"I know how to defend myself." she answered with a tone that said she didn't like the question.
"Did not say you couldn't." he defended. "Don't get me wrong, but a quarian going into what could possibly be a firefight seems a little ill-advised."
He couldn't see her face through that visor, but he could see the narrowing of her eyes and change in body language.
"My people are stronger then you might think." she almost growled at him.
He raised an eyebrow at that and saw how her thumb started tapping on the safety switch of the weapon in her arms.
"Sorry if that came out wrong." he started. "Once you think about it, you are the second quarian I have been in a conversation with. Your illness is just facin…"
"My people are not ill!" she shot back. She did not yell. Just sounded… irritated?
'Now what did I do?' Plague asked himself.
Before he could find a way to remedy the situation, the pilot of the shuttle informed the team they were about to land.
"We should talk this out later." he said as he looked through his pip-boy, even though she could be ignoring him.
When the door opened they saw their first, and hopefully last, view of the inside of a Collector ship. The interior appeared dark, and was only partially illuminated by an orange glow around the corner ahead of them.
Shepard and Tali stepped out first, followed by the merc with the ugly helmet, and then Plague himself. When his feet landed on the ground he landed on something he would not have doubted would make a squishy sound as the surface he stood on gave a little.
Looking down with the light on his helmet turning on, he saw he had landed on a fleshy substance that appeared to be a tan color covering the metal structure underneath.
His first thought was how disgusting it looked. It reminded him a little of the matter you could find in a sewer a mirelurk had used as a nest. Such thoughts sent chills down his spine.
Those walking crabs were freaky as hell. Their shells were strong enough to deflect normal rounds.
"Homey…" he mentioned sarcastically before looking back to the void where he could see the Normandy staying close. "Why are we not being sucked out into space?"
"Joker extended the Normandy's kinetic barrier to a small section of the ship." Shepard explained as she looked at the flesh covered walls.
"Right." he shrugged as his assault carbine materialized in his hands. Either way he had foreseen such a thing as fighting in space back on Omega. Most of his guns just looked like his older arsenal. What he was holding now was a weapon he had modified to work in the vacuum of space. All of his suits had been modified as well. He even built in a rebreather. It was much like the one he made near the New Vegas Strip so he could help retrieve an old bomber from the bottom of a lake. "I'll just sum it up to "Space Magic," I guess." he said that last part with an air quotation with his free hand.
"It looks like a giant insect hive." Tali commented as she looked around her with her shotgun, not getting involved in the small conversation.
"Penetrating scans have detected an access node to uplink with Collector databanks." EDI informed through the COM. "Marking location to your hardsuit computer."
"Roger that." Shepard acknowledged as they started to move.
As they walked, Plague noticed a liquid dripping from parts of the low ceiling. If he took off his helmet he would have heard numerous dripping wet sounds all around him. The sounds would escalate how creepy the ship was.
Walking around a corner, they saw what had been illuminating the section they were in. best way he could describe it was some kind of netting holding up orange glowing orbs above them that also had a liquid dripping.
He only gave it a two second glance as he followed the others who had done the same.
"Shepard. I have compared the ship's EM signature to known Collector profiles." EDI spoke up again. "It is the vessel you encountered on Horizon."
That made everyone pause a step for a second as everyone looked at each other as if asking if what they heard was accurate.
"Maybe the defense towers softened it for the turians." Shepard reasoned as they started walking again.
"Might see some of those colonists." Zaeed said as his ugly hat shined radiantly in the orange glow.
"Does not hurt to cross your fingers." 101 agreed, but then looked over to Tali as he realized something. "Can quarians cross fingers?" the engineer ignored his question, but still let out an irritated sounding breath of air. "It has to be an odd number of crosses though to make it good luck, so I think you are alright… that looks familiar."
Everyone followed his gaze and saw the pods ahead of where they were walking.
Shepard and Tali kneeled down to inspect one of them as Plague looked at another.
They all looked empty at the moment, which could either be taken as a good or a bad sign, depending on how you looked at it.
"It must have been horrible." Tali said sadly as Plague watched what looked like steam seeping out of the opening. He reached into one and when he pulled his hand back his gauntlet's fingertips had some kind of grey pasty substance on two fingers. "Trapped in these pods. Completely at the mercy of the Collectors."
He knew the feeling. When he went into that machine to save his father, there was a delay before it activated, making him think for a few seconds that he became trapped in the egg shaped seat.
Looking back now, he could see just how inpatient he was all those years ago. He mentally smirked at the memory as he reached out to remove the substance on Zaeed's shoulder pad, making the old man turn and most likely glare in disgust and anger.
Taylor Shepard POV
The pods reminded her of the nightmare she had the night before. The fear that must have been going through those people as they were carried around without consent must have been maddening.
Knowing that the ship they were on was the same one they saw a few days ago made her feel a sense of anger and regret.
The sight of what was around the next corner did not help.
To their right was a drop off that must have went throughout the hull of the ship and a tunnel to their left. What she was looking at in front of her constricted her throat as her heart stopped.
Before them was a pile of bodies. Most were misshapen and ripped apart. If you tried to identify where one body started and another one ended, you would never have been able to tell where to start looking.
Shepard had been on a battlefield before. She saw limbs be blown off of soldiers by grenades. She saw a varren rip open a man's ribcage as he screamed for someone to kill him.
Out of the mass of flesh and bone it was the less desecrated victims that hit her.
She saw the frozen facial expressions of fear and pain as empty eyes looked off into the void. One looked like a teenager with a missing arm. Hair had been ripped out of her scalp as incisions were visibly shown on her exposed form.
The way she was on the pile made it look like she was looking right at Shepard as her face was frozen in a way that told her she was screaming for them to stop. Screaming for someone to save her from the nightmarish hell she was dragged into where she must have seen others killed the same way. Her eyes were nowhere near ready to see what had happened before her.
Someone her age should have been at home, worrying about boys and fashion as she talked to her friends on her Omni-tool through the night. Instead she was violated by whatever implements had been used to make her final moments the worst moments of her life.
It felt like someone was squeezing her heart. Was that girl on Horizon, or some other colony?
"What happened here?" Tali asked, her voice making her sound shocked to the core at what she saw.
"Why would the Collectors just leave a pile of bodies lying around?" the oldest of them asked the rest of the group.
"They got what they wanted from them." Plague answered Zaeed's question. "They took what was not theirs to begin with and tossed them to the side like a filthy rag."
Plague's voice sounded angry as she saw him tighten his grip on the weapon. She had seen how he was concerning the topic of rape. This was even worse. These people were experimented on mercilessly while awake.
"They didn't deserve this." Shepard voiced sadly.
"Few get what they deserve. Fewer deserve what they get." he said back as she heard him turn away and walk a few feet.
"I'm sorry." she apologized in a whisper to the girl before her. Her throat felt like it was depraved of water as she forced out another apology. She felt her eyes begin to water at her failure to save them.
She then felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back to see Tali looking at her with worried eyes that were hard to see through that visor. Her friend was informed on what happened back on Horizon, and Garrus must have told her how she reacted after talking to Ash.
She placed her hand on the one belonging to the closest thing she had to a little sister.
"I'm fine, Tali." she lied.
The quarian hesitated a moment before giving her a small nod and walking off to the two men a little farther up.
When the two women walked into the next corridor they saw Plague checking the pulse of two intact bodies in a corner. One was a man, while another was a woman, both did not look like they were cut open.
"They must have ran." Zaeed commented to Plague. They must have been in their own conversation.
"Makes the most sense." he agreed. "The woman has burns here, in the stomach. Must have, been hit with one of those laser things before falling."
"What do you got?" she asked as she walked up to them with Tali at her side.
"These two must have escaped experimentation." Plague explained as he rolled the man and woman on their backs. "Both have a matching ring. So I am guessing the husband grabbed his wife's wrist here, and ran." as he spoke he pointed to a small mark where the man must have grabbed her too hard. "The woman, being dragged behind, was shot first and fell. The man must have stopped to try and pick her up before he was shot in the neck."
The story seemed to sadden Plague, but Shepard could still hear the anger hidden under the surface.
"They are better off." the merc stated as he looked up ahead.
She agreed. To spend you're last few moments with the love of your life vs. watching each other in intense pain.
The answer was easy.
Plague closed the two pairs of eyes as he placed them side by side and moved the closer hands together, allowing the man and woman's hands to then hold the other when Plague closed the stiff fingers easily with his suit. She had not seen this side of Plague, and she could have sworn she heard him mumble something before walking away.
In a part of her mind she wanted to know if they knew they were doomed. If they knew they could not escape the ship? Another wanted to know if they shared one last kiss before dying?
She forced herself to stop thinking of such and started walking with the others shortly following.
This was not just a place for their enemies. It was a place where hope came to die.
Shortly, they entered a room that looked different compared to the others.
In front of them was a row of devices and beds shaped like the pods they saw earlier. What grabbed her attention was what was inside of one of them.
A dead Collector.
"That's a Collector." Tali voiced their thoughts. "Were they experimenting on one of their own?" she asked out loud.
Plague walked up to the corpse to get a better look while Zaeed covered the way they came.
"EDI, I'm uploading the data from this terminal." Shepard explained her actions as her Omni-tool lit up. "See if you can figure out what they were up to."
"Data received. Analyzing." said the AI followed by a short silence as Shepard walked closer to the opposite side of the corpse as Plague. "The Collectors were running genetic comparisons between their species and humanity."
"Are they looking for similarities?" she asked as she looked into white eyes that used to be a bright orange like the Collector's brethren.
"I have no hypothesis on their motivations." she answered. "All I have are the pulmonary results. They reveal something remarkable." if there was any sign of excitement in EDI's voice, it was lost in her monotone way of speaking. "A quad-strand genetic structure, identical to traces collected from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: the Protheans."
All sound seemed to be silenced in the wake of what the ground team just heard. Tali and Zaeed's heads shot up while Plague tilted his head at them.
Shepard's eyes were wide as her heart almost stopped.
Before them was a member of an ancient race. The race that all known civilization to this day built their technology off of. This both amazed and overwhelmed her.
Liara had dedicated her life to learning about the race. What would she say if Shepard ever told her what they were doing?
"My God." she voiced shakily as she took a step back from the body. "The Protheans didn't vanish. They're just working for the Reapers now."
"These are no longer Protheans, Shepard. Their genes show distinct signs of extensive genetic rewrite." EDI explained. "The Reapers have repurposed them to suit their needs."
"The Reapers didn't wipe out the Protheans." Shepard spoke her mind. "They turned them into monsters and enslaved them. Still, they're working for the reapers now, and we have to stop them." that last part was directed to the three with her.
"Damn straight! They're not doing that shit to us." Zaeed voiced loudly.
Tali nodded her head to her as Plague looked like he didn't even move. "Let's find what we need before the Collectors come to salvage this vessel. Move out." she ordered.
"First time in a while I had to do mercy killings." she heard Plague say as he started walking. "But until then… guns."
She looked over to him as he walked to a pile of weapons. The Collectors must have confiscated them and threw them to the side. Most looked unsalvageable, but three stuck out and looked in good condition.
A Revenant Machine Gun. The assault rifle was famous in the weapons manufacturing world. Most could not even afford it. Its raw firepower could riddle a man full of holes in seconds, but the range of it was a large drawback.
Next was the Claymore Heavy Shotgun. It was heavy and commonly used by krogon.
Last was an M-98 Widow, of all things. The anti-material rifle was used by sniper teams against the heavy plating of a vehicle and both the armor worn by krogons and the thick hide underneath. One shot could easily punch through barriers and shields, but the recoil could shatter the bones in a human arm.
Same went for the Claymore, now that she thought about it.
"Hello, my lovelies." Plague commented as he lifted the rifle and shotgun in each hand.
"What are you doing?" she asked him as she took the sight of a human lifting two weapons that only a large krogon could lift in a single hand comfortably.
"39 kilograms." he whistled as he looked at the sniper rifle. "29.72 kilograms." this time he was looking at the shotgun. He seemed to be trying to make a choice as his arms went up and down like a scale. "Anyone want anything?" he asked them over his shoulder.
"Toss me that Revenant." Zaeed ordered as he attached the Motock he was using on his back. "The red one!" he almost shouted at Plague looking through the pile, trying to find out what he was talking about.
"You know how to use that?" Shepard asked out of curiosity as the weapon was tossed to him.
"It's a Revenant, Shepard. Not a damn Hydra Missile." he shot back as if those words were all that needed to be said. "Not a lot is better at short to medium range."
He had a point. A lot of those who used the weapon treated it more like a shotgun than anything else.
"I'm good with what I've got." Tali informed a little awkwardly as she looked at how Plague was lifting the weapons with wide eyes.
When he looked at Shepard she declined.
"I don't like rifles much, and hardly use a shotgun as it is." she explained as she walked a little ahead.
The flash behind her said he made a choice, and not even five seconds later he walked next to her, Widow in hand.
As they continued walking down the next corridor they passed more pods. The atmosphere seemed to have everyone on edge. And the fact no one could hear anything outside of their helmets did not help much. You would not be able to hear anything coming up behind you until it was too late.
Shepard took the lead with Plague following next to her while Tali and Zaeed took up the rear in case something tried to sneak up from behind.
"Heads up." Plague instructed when they entered a slightly larger section.
Zaeed and Tali aimed high, but Shepard heard the lack of urgency in the man's voice.
When she looked in the direction specified she could see what had caught the man's eye.
Above them were more pods that went throughout a tunnel that lead out from the one they were in. There were dozens of them. Maybe even more.
When she looked to her right, where they would have to walk since they lacked wings, she saw even more containers.
"Must be hundreds." she heard Zaeed speak out as his weapon was lowered. "Wonder how many have people in them."
"Too many." she almost growled.
Being on Horizon hit her hard. It was the third time in her life she was forced to witness a raid on a colony. Her home, Eden Prime, Horizon. Knowing that every human in those pods were rounded up and forced onto the ship they were on was making her blood heat up.
Once they get what they came here for they should work as fast as they could to save as many as they can before more Collectors come.
"I detect no signs of life in the pods, Shepard." EDI reported.
Plague POV
"This is disgusting." Plague voiced with malice in his words.
He wanted to hit something. Shoot something. Gut something!
He did not know how that little piece of information affected everyone else, but he was fuming. It was even worse since he could actually mathematically calculate how many pods could be within a fucking ship this size.
Those numbers did not even stop anywhere near the million mark! It went way farther.
Billions!
"It is probable the victims inside died when the ship lost primary power."
That bit of news made everyone quiet, either out of shock or anger.
No one even said a word as Shepard started walking. Plague had to admit she looked tense.
The silence was not broken until they made it up a steep incline path. They were walking up to some machines. What they did? Hell if he knew.
"Tali. See what you can get from those." Shepard ordered to the other girl.
With a lack of hesitation a military general would be proud of, Tali followed the order. The way she acted around Shepard reminded him a bit of how Garrus responds to her as well.
No questions. No talking back. No hesitation.
It was as if they had worked together for years.
How much the two trusted her decisions showed in their actions. He had seen Shepard talk to the two aliens before, and all three of them always had something to talk about. They smiled at each other when one of the three walked into the same room.
Well, he assumed Garrus and Tali were smiling. At least with Tali he could read body language.
All in all, the way they acted reminded him of all those he had traveled with.
"It is a coolant system." Tali read off of her Omni-tool. She sounded exhilarated, as if someone did not kick her puppy, but dipped it in gold instead. Now that he heard that last phrase in his head he realized how fucked up that was. What kind of ass would dip a cute puppy in hot melted metal? "What they are doing shouldn't even be possible!"
"Can you salvage anything from it?" Shepard asked as she walked up to her friend. Her voice was a little livelier when she saw the engineer's reaction, but the sadness from seeing those pods was still there.
You can't use a poker face on 101.
Did he just think of himself in the third person? Weird…
"I think so." it did not take long for her to copy the design before her. "Got it." she declared with a nod as she put her Omni-tool away and got her shotgun out again.
"Commander." Joker called over the radio as Plague started to feel tempted to shoot one of those orb things giving off a glow. He really wanted to know if they would explode or not, but thought better of it when he considered how much Shepard would probably ride his ass.
Taylor Shepard POV
"What do you got?" she asked while scanning the hall they were in with her Phlanix pistol, the blue targeting beam piercing through the shadows like a knife, but not anywhere near capable to push the shadows back.
"On a hunch, I asked EDI to run an analysis on this ship." he continued and let EDI explain.
"I compared the EM profile against data recorded by the original Normandy two years ago." her head could not have perked up any faster than it had just done at the AI's words. "They are an exact match."
"You better not be messing with me!" she rasped as her hand tightened around the weapon in her hand. She could feel her biotics display its blue glow as her heart started beating faster in her chest.
"The match is 99.7%, Shepard." EDI reassured.
She could hear the adrenaline pumping through her. She started grinding her teeth.
It was this ship that took her away from her friends, her contacts in the Alliance, her life.
They took her away from Liara... They took her away from the one person that made her feel alive!
On impulse, her biotics flared brightly while she aimed her weapon at the wall next to her and started firing.
Each shot pierced the fleshy substance covering the wall, making some barbaric part of her mind think she was actually doing some damage. She fired again, and again, and again until the heat sink ejected, but she kept pulling the trigger.
"Shepard." Plague called as he walked up.
"Taylor?" Tali was not far behind, and actually made it to her first and placed a hand on her shoulder. She shivered as she realized her eyes had started to tear up. "Are you alright?"
"No, Tali." she hissed as she pulled her shoulder out of her grasp. "I am not alright!"
"Calm down." said Plague, making her turn to him, where he could clearly see her face through the visor. He worried about her condition. Not as much as Tali did, but in a way where he still cared for her wellbeing.
"Is everything ok in there?" Joker asked in some panic.
"Everything is fine." Plague responded without looking away from her. Even though she could not see his eyes she felt some kind of pressure around her stomach.
"I… we are okay, Joker…" she mumbled as she put her next thermal clip into her pistol. It was hard for her to put her emotions under control, and even harder to make sure her voice was level. "Let's move out."
"Be careful, Commander. Something does not feel right." Joker advised before the line was dropped.
"Great." Plague sighed as he started walking himself. "He just had to say that."
Plague POV
'He just had to say It.' he mentally repeated as they walked into a large section of the ship.
Everyone looked awestruck as they looked around. The large chamber was cylindrical shaped. And he did not mean it was a little bigger. Oh, no. When he says big room he means BIG room.
It must take up most of the space within the ship!
And that was not the most shocking part.
"Keela…" Tali quietly gasped as she looked at the same thing he was.
Everyone looked around and for a moment a feeling of both awe and horror washed over them. On the wall of the cylindrical room were pods. Perhaps billions. Sure, Plague ran the numbers in his head, but he hoped he was wrong. He was speechless.
A sickening feeling appeared in his gut as he gritted his teeth.
"They could take every human in the Terminus Systems, and still have pods left over." said Zaeed as he took in the sight.
Plague could picture everyone, aside from Tali, with their jaws dropped.
'Where would they get that many humans…?' his head then turned quickly to Shepard with breakneck speed as the answer clicked. 'Again: with the clicking?'
"Earth."
That one word made Shepard turn to face him, and he could see the look of horror and disgust on her face through that orange visor.
"Not if we stop them." she said back as she started walking again.
Looking around, Plague realized they were standing on some kind of long platform. He was half tempted to start shouting to see if he could hear an echo, but thought against it. Would not be able to hear it anyway… with the vacuum of space.
"What's that light ever there?" Plague asked the group as he looked far ahead of them. It was some kind of creepy bright orange glow that was both in front and behind them.
"I'm not sure." Tali confessed as she looked at the glow behind them. "It can't be a power source…"
"Could be like those orb things." Zaeed mentioned off handedly, clearly not caring.
"That would make sense." the quarian agreed. "A form of lighting, maybe?"
"Either way, don't get used to it." his boss replied over her shoulder.
"There- on the platform." Tali spoke up as she pointed ahead. "Looks like some kind of control panel."
Well… not much else it could be.
The platform was six sided with small waist high borders on the outside of the platform, and two similar borders on the inside with a green hologram displaying between them.
It was an odd shape, but the fact that not a bit of that flesh was covering the dark metal made him feel uneasy.
"Something doesn't smell right." Zaeed announced as the team's weapons looked over the platform and the surrounding area. The tone of his voice conveyed how suspicious and irritated he felt. "There are no Collectors around, living or dead."
Plague had to agree. Something was just wrong with this whole situation. If there were Collectors they would have seen them already. If they had died they would have been floating until the Normandy expanded the barriers.
Although there was the possibility the corpses could have all fell to the bottom of the ship.
But- the same thing throughout the ship? That was extremely unlikely. They had already found plenty of human corpses that threw that theory in the grinder.
They all tensed up a little more.
Plague followed the others begrudgingly onto the platform. He only slightly acknowledged the change from his feet sinking an inch with each step to him actually walking on hard metal.
Walking on something solid was only a miner relief.
"EDI?" Shepard called as she glided her hand over the green glowing interface. "I'm setting up a bridge between you and the Collector ship. See if you can get anything useful out of the databanks."
As they waited Plague zoomed in on the pods in the far distance with his helm. Upon seeing, or maybe lack of being able to see, all of the pods he could not help but reflect on some things. His earth would not even be able to fill a quarter of this ship.
For some reason he snickered at that just quiet enough for the others not to hear.
He did not know why that was humorous. Maybe it had something to do with his wanting his enemies to never get what they want. To deny those who wanted what was no right to be theirs.
"Data-mining in progress, Shepard." EDI reported.
"So now we play the waiting game." Plague said to himself with a small hint of annoyance. "Nobody wins."
Thankfully they did not have to wait more than a few seconds.
"Uh… that can't be good."
Everyone perked up at the same time at Joker's words. They all showed some sign of confusion. Zaeed looked at Plague, who was the closest with what can most likely be a "Did you hear what I heard?" look. Tali's eyes widened a little as she looked to Shepard. His employer's eyes widened as well through that orange visor with her mouth starting to make an o shape.
They all turned to see mechanisms within the cylinders move as a sudden jolt was felt under them.
"What the hell just happened?" his boss asked over the radio.
"Major power serge" was the pilot's answer. He sounded a little stressed on his end. "Everything went dark, but we're back up now."
"I managed to divert the majority of the overload to non-critical systems." The AI explained. "Shepard, it was not a malfunction. It was a trap."
After watching all of their reactions within the spans of half a second he suddenly felt both tired and annoyed.
"Fuck me…" his comment was interrupted by the floor suddenly shaking under them.
The surprise motion threw everyone off. Shepard fell forward and stopped her fall by grabbing the terminal while Tali grabbed one of her shoulders for support.
As they ascended they rotated until it suddenly stopped. Plague fell back and was stopped from falling over by the small wall behind him.
And even when the ship was coming to life he watched Zaeed fall on his ass and try to get up like a trapped turtle.
"Break a hip, old man?" Plague asked as he walked to the man when the platform was stable.
"Shut it and make yourself useful!" the merc growled as he gave Plague his hand.
It was after he helped him up that the vault dweller noticed something that was off. The platform was rising.
They were standing on a floating platform high above the drop to sudden death bellow.
"We need a little help here, EDI…" shepard said as she looked like she was trying to find a way to lower them on the holographic display.
"I am having trouble maintaining connection. There is someone else in the system."
"Incoming hostiles!" Tali shouted, drawing everyone's attention to a second platform floating towards them.
"Great." Plague cheered sarcastically as he shouldered his new Widow and peered through the scope.
On the platform like the one they were on, Plague quickly spotted four Collectors arming themselves as well. He also saw other platforms farther away. He noticed none of them were at the controls of the platform, so that told him they either already set the route to intercept them, or someone else was in control.
Either way did not matter to him. He was the first to fire and he felt the kick of the weapon hit his shoulder. He smiled when the side of a bug's head exploded, making the other four duck for cover. He liked the rifle a little bit. It actually had a lot of kick, unlike the small shaving shooters everyone else used.
"Four on the incoming platform. Two more coming from behind. One has a scion." He reported as he slid into cover behind the terminal with everyone else.
"Connection reestablished. I need to finish the download before I can override any systems." EDI's voice said over the radio.
"Then you better get it done fast, EDI." Shepered then turned to her team. "Plague, Zaeed. Try to pick of the oncoming platforms if you can. Tali. Give tech support and hit the Collectors that get too close."
Zaeed switched his new assault rifle for his sniper. Plague didn't know what it was called, but he had a feeling his new sniper rifle had more of a punch.
Before the closest platform connected with the one they were on, the collectors were already shooting out of cover, making everyone duck low. Most of the weapons fire was on him, to his annoyance. They must have been either trying to avenge the one he took out at the start, or saw him as the greater threat at the moment.
His shields shimmered in its rusty red color for a second before he got down.
"Deploying combat drone!" shouted the quarian in the group before her Omni-tool lit up and produced the floating ball that made a beeline for the enemy platform.
The vault dweller never understood how engineers made those little things, but he was not complaining as the drone in question went around the enemy cover and zapped one of the Collectors shooting at him. This created a small pause on the enemy's side of the firefight when they realized one of their friends was in the middle of being lit up like a sign in New Vegas.
When they turned to their twitching friend they did not give anything that looked anything like an emotional reaction. The bugs just simply turned, accessed the problem, and opened fire on the drone before it could get into cover. The way they moved reminded him of a machine.
It was shredded in an instant, but its sacrifice was not in vain when his employer took advantage of the distraction to stand and send a singularity that pulled in two Collectors and the still twitching one.
Tali had switched to a pistol and started taking potshots of the vulnerable insects while Plague was finally able to aim out of cover.
I bug on the second platform suddenly was missing a large chunk of its head as one next to it was hit in the chest. The second shot was from Zaeed. His first shot got rid of the shield and left it wide open for the next shot aimed at the center of the chest.
"Nice." Plague whistled before aiming, but being forced to get behind his cover as something like a biotic shockwave hit the other side with enough force that his teeth actually felt like they rattled.
He didn't need to look over his cover to know what it was. The slight chill he felt for a second was a dead giveaway.
"Scion, in range!" Plague yelled but realized how unnecessary the warning was since everyone was already in cover around him.
"It's coming around!" Shepard yelled when the platform the large husk was on went to the side suddenly.
The platform moved so quickly that they found it behind them within seconds of its actions being spoken.
"Jump over!" Zaeed shouted.
They all vaulted over the cover so that when the husk launched its next attack it hit where they were, instead of where they are now. Everyone aimed out of cover to shoot the abomination. Shepard fired a warp while Tali used an overload. Zaeed had what looked like a grenade in his hand but could not aim since the platform was moving too much.
Plague tried to fire only to see a red hot heat sink pop out of his weapon.
With an irritated grunt leaving his mouth he collapsed the weapon and put it on his back where it became attached thanks to the magnetic strips he installed. He didn't carry many thermal clips with him, and the ones he did have he intended to use with his new grenade launcher.
Shepard had switched to her new heavy weapon and fired the beam. Plague watched while his carbine materialized in his arms. He shouldered the weapon and added his gunfire to everyone else's and aimed where the beam of energy burned both flesh and circuitry.
Soon they wore it down. The blue mass stumbled back when it was hit with another warp and fell off of the platform to a death bellow.
"I hate those things..." he heard his employer mumble to herself.
"Another platform." Tali warned.
When the next platform arrived they went back to the other side of the cover as the bugs started to go to other connecting platforms and aimed after spreading out.
Shaperd quickly threw a pull and a collector started floating up. Everyone riddled that collector with holes.
"Plague." Shepard called. "We are going to cover you. Run to the right platform!"
When he heard this his armor flashed and was switched with his stealth suit while the sniper on his back was gone.
"Go!" she yelled and she started peppering the collector cover with her SMG while everyone else joined in.
By this time, Plague had already rolled over the cover and went off in a sprint. The platform he was now on had one lone collector that did not see him coming until Plague grabbed the bug and pulled it over the wall. He slammed it on its back and raised his hands in the air where they were engulfed in light.
When his hands came down one held a simple combat knife, while in the other was his ripper, roaring over the battlefield. Both were in a reverse grip and stabbing into the collector viciously as a grin formed on 101's face under his helmet.
Stab. Twist. Stab. Twist. Stab. Twist. Stab. Twist. Stab. Twist. Twist. Stab. Twist. Stab. Stab. Stab. Stab. Stab. Stab.
The bug flailed on the ground as it was being ripped apart. The ripper was digging into the torso as Plague continued his routine and stabbing and then twisting before repeating the process.
Orange blood sprayed past his head while some landed on his chest.
His mind quickly found something entertaining from the sight of the bloody mess that was now lifeless. Small chuckles started leaving his lips as an idea came to mind.
Since the bug was missing quite a bit of mass he stabbed the knife and ripper in and heaved it over his head. With maniacal laughter he threw the lifeless carcass at the next platform and managing to hit a collector before it could realize what he was doing.
He mildly started snickering to himself as he went back into cover. His hands were covered in orange liquid now. It was funny. So fucking funny! The stuff was everywhere. On the ground around him, his suit, his visor.
So fucking hilarious. And Funny. So Funny!
He was used to red, but this?
"Plague!" he heard someone yell over the gunfire. He looked away from his hands covered in the funny liquid.
He heard the person again and peaked over cover, not even flinching when a shot hit his cover and almost scratched his helmet.
'It's, the Boss.' he told himself.
She was a nice boss. Not a bossy boss who bosses him around.
She is funny.
He snickered again as his knife and ripper were replaced by his carbine.
The bugs. He has to kill bugs.
'Stop it!' he froze.
It was that voice. The voice. His voice.
Reason…
Again, he heard a click. How he heard it over the battlefield was beyond him. But it was there. The click.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
He aimed at a Collector that started to glow and opened fire as it started to change. The rounds did not appear to be doing much damage, so he went back into cover and atomized his weapon.
"Assuming direct control"
He paused when he heard that voice. A chill went down his spine.
This feeling was quickly pushed to the side.
The bugs were going to scream.
And it was going to be funny.
Tali'Zorah POV
The sounds coming from Plague's comm spooked her a little. At first she had thought he might have been hurt.
That was before she saw him throw a Collector corpse at another drone.
She did not know if she should have felt relieved, or disturbed. This was the first time she had ever been in a firefight with the man on the team. The engineer had no way of knowing if that was normal.
"Tali!" she snapped out of her thoughts when her name was called. "We need a drone." Shepard ordered as she unleashed another shockwave.
The quarian would have to worry about her teammate's mental stability later. Right now she was needed.
"Go get them, Chikita!" she shouted as her Omni-tool came to life again and produced her drone again.
It started heading to the enemy platform. On its way she felt something at the edge of her mind that made her breath hitch.
"Assuming direct control" a chilling voice was somehow heard over the vacuum of space.
She had watched video feeds from Shepard's first encounter with the Collectors and hoped she would not ever have to see what was looking at them in person.
With an uneasy feeling in her gut, she commanded her drone to attack the being controlled by Harbinger. It did not make it far. The glowing Collector fired what looked like fire at the machine and melted it quickly.
It was hard for her to pull her eyes away from the scene and see Plague's head looking over cover before he vanished. She did not know he had a tactical cloak so her eyes were wide until she suddenly saw a familiar white flash from the enemy cover, where the glowing Collector had been firing blasts at them.
She saw Plague, again back in his heavy armor with a fist pulled back behind Harbinger.
She heard the laughter again that made everyone behind cover stop firing since Plague was now in the way.
The man then hit the glowing target HARD. A blue energy was seen from the point of impact that was in the shape of a halo.
Since it was hit from behind, the head slammed into the cover it had been standing behind with enough force that orange liquid remained when it turned to see its attacker.
The other two were doing the same. Before Harbinger could turn completely he was hit again, making its head snap in the opposite direction at on odd angle and disintegrated.
As the Collector to Plague's right raised its weapon, the man punched with his left. There was no halo like before, but the large head imploded from the impact as the weapon was grabbed when the corpse tightened its grip on the trigger. The human aimed the weapon at the remaining Collector. The rounds hit the torso three times before the weapon was released as the body fell.
The wounded Collector started to glow, but was interrupted as Plague's left hand glowed. The fist slammed into the chest and she could faintly see what looked like metal teeth digging in.
Time seemed to slow down as the man pulled back his right hand and delivered a punch that rendered the head of his target nonexistent before he planted his boot in the torso and dislodged his left hand from the mangled chest cavity.
Taylor Shepard POV
The Spectre did not really know how to take what she just saw. On one side, Plague found an opening and took out the closest hostiles to the rest of the squad. On the other, he risked being shot by friendly fire and being grabbed by Harbinger again.
In the near future she needed to have a talk with the man. But until then, there was another platform on the way.
"Zaeed. Tali. Move up!" she shouted over the gunfire.
There were two platforms separating the two sides.
"84%" EDI announced as the group went behind cover with Plague.
"EDI. Get us out of here!" she yelled as she sent out another shockwave.
The wave made one Collector fall out of cover and was quickly fired upon by the others.
"Grenade out!" Zaeed yelled as he tossed the cylinder.
It was not a disk grenade. So that told her it had a larger payload.
Her guess was proved correct when the remaining Collectors were engulfed in flames. The incendiary grenade's flames did not last long without oxygen, but the job was done.
The remaining husks were burned alive and not moving.
"Shepard, you must manually reestablish my link to the command console."
"You heard her." Shepard said as they all went in formation. Plague now had his carbine in his hands again as he followed along. "Cover me."
Everyone was tense throughout the walk to the first platform, and once they were there the ground team formed around her as she activated her Omni-tool.
With a few buttons the familiar blue sphere that was EDI's avatar appeared above the console. "I have regained control of the platform, Shapard."
"You did a great job, EDI." She smiled with relief as she turned off her Omni-tool and went back to looking around her surroundings like the others in case more Collectors showed up.
"I always work at optimal capacity." If she did not know any better she would have thought she heard some smugness in the AI's voice before vanishing.
Such thoughts were pushed away as her hand went to the side of her helmet. "Did you get what we needed?"
She heard her answer as the platform started to move.
"I found data that could help us successfully navigate the Omega 4 Relay."
"Let's kill the fuckers then." She heard Plague mumble to himself.
She shared his thoughts. The spectre wanted revenge for all those who were taken, and for her.
But they were not ready.
They still needed to finish building the team, and the Normandy was not ready to go up against a Collector ship.
"I have also found the turian distress call that served as the lure for this trap. The Collectors were the source. It is unusual." EDI informed.
"What part is unusual?" Tali asked before she could.
"Using the distress call as bait? Makes sense to me." Plague shrugged at the corner of her eye after he said that.
"No, it is unusual because turian emergency channels have secondary encryptions. It is corrupted in the message." As she spoke, a display appeared showing to different strands of data. Not being a techie, Shepard did not understand it and had to guess it was the encryptions in question. But she had to admit that even a drunk vorcha would be able to see the resemblance. "It is not possible that the Illusive Man would believe the distress call was genuine."
"How are you so sure?" the Commander asked, not yet seeing where this was going.
"I found the anomaly with Cerberus detection protocols." EDI explained. "He wrote them."
Muwahahahaha! My first cliffhanger of DOOM!
Again, I am sorry for the long wait.
I have a quick question first before I go. My little sister has started getting into self inserts, and she asked me if I can ask you all a quick question.
Do any of you know of any Naruto Self Inserts that are not crap? Please let me know if you do.
One small thing, if anyone is writing a story either Bleach or Mass Effect related and need OCs feel free to use the ones I have. But if you do please tell me so I can read it. I like to see how everyone makes my OCs do things.
On a side note I have noticed there is a big lack of Far Cry crossovers and stories. I remember playing that game on the xbox and loved ripping the bad guys a new one with nothing but my characters bare hands.
Would be interesting as well if someone actually gained the abilities from For Cry and were thrown in to the Mass Effect universe, along with the animalistic traits that come along with the package.
Some one Please do this. That would be just awsome.