The Wildcard
Chapter 23
Everyone went silent over the comm for a few seconds as this new information sunk in.
His fists tightened on the carbine. He had only met Tim a few hours ago, and he already lost any chance of getting on the vault dweller's good side. Next time he saw the man he was going to skewer him on a wall.
"He knew it was a trap?" Joker asked in both shock and disbelief. "Why would he lead us into a trap?"
"That sun of a bitch sent us right into Collector hands." His boss seethed as she slammed a fist next to EDI's avatar.
"We should have known this would happen." Tali commented as she crossed her arms. The quarian's body language clearly showed how cross she was at the situation.
"I have said it before and I will say it again. Snakes in the grass, all of them." Plague growled.
If Zaeed wanted to add his own comment he didn't get a chance to before Joker continued.
"Uh… Commander." He started in an uneasy tone. "We've got another problem. The Collector ship is powering up. You need to get out before their weapons come online." As he said that everyone looked around to see the ship coming to life. Clearly the gloves must have been coming off since the ambush didn't work. "I'm not losing another Normandy!"
"A little hard to leave if our ride gets blown apart." Plague mumbled.
"I do not have full control over their systems." EDI jumped in. "I will do what I can. Sending coordinates for shuttle extraction."
"Come on. Let's move!" Shepard ordered as they ran off of the platform that had landed in the time they had been talking.
It was when his feet hit the ground that an idea popped into Plague's head.
"Boss!" he yelled as they ran. She did not turn back to him, just gave him a grunt that tolled him to continue. "What if I can get EDI some support?"
"What?" She shouted as she almost stumbled, but managed to maintain her speed.
"Have Kasumi connect her suit to the Normandy's systems." He clarified.
"She's good, but not that good." She huffed.
"She does not have to be. I gave her one of my AIs."
"What?!" ok. That time it was Tali. "Why do you have AIs?" she shouted.
"I work with them. Duh." He shot back as if it was a dumb question.
"Is it shackled?" Shepard asked with a wary tone.
"Fuck no. Why the hell would I do that?" he yelled as they spotted a room coming up.
"Shepard. EDI is one thing, but you can't be considering letting an AI that is not shackled loose on the ship?!" the engineer in the group pleaded in a tone that irritated Plague a bit.
"I have lived with the AI in question for a few years now." He shouted, some of his frustration going into his words. "Just because your people tried to commit genocide on your own AI…"
"My people almost went extinct because of the Geth!" Tali interrupted as he felt her glare on his back.
"Either do something, or get ready!" Zaeed shouted as they entered the room.
EDI then instructed them to go right.
"EDI. Would a second AI help?" Shepard asked as they ran through the door that opened in front of them.
"I am currently blocking hacking attempts while trying to maintain communication and trying to support you as much as I can. I am already working at full capacity." EDI informed.
"Would it help?" Shepard repeated her question.
"The odds of success would be raised by 35%."
"Shepard. What if it goes on a rampage?" Tali asked.
Even without being able to see his employer's face, he could tell she was in deep thought.
"Would it be under control?" she asked him in a tone that sounded like it was difficult to remain calm and clear.
"Yes!" he shouted. He didn't even understand what the issue was.
Not all AIs are dicks.
Just the ones that are in subway tunnels… that try to kill you if you do not have a ticket.
"Joker." She called after a few seconds of silence. "Call Kasumi."
"Not too comfortable with the idea of a third wheel, Commander." Joker mumbled. "Would rather stay a unicycle, thank you very much. Give me a sec…"
"No need." Kasumi's voice was suddenly heard.
Kasumi Goto POV
"I was listening in the whole time." The thief said a little smugly with a grin on her lips. "I am already in the AI core." As she spoke she started pulling the small cable that was built into her sleeve.
She had ran out of her room as soon as Adam voiced his idea. The thief did not yet know if her AI was reliable, but she trusted him.
If he said Takara could help, then she was going to believe him.
"Yes or no, Shepard?" she asked as she held the cord in her hand, ready to insert it into the port.
"Do it." The woman ordered after a small pause.
"You heard her, Takara." She called as a childish cheer was heard. "Play nice." She said before giving a small kiss to the cord like a parent before unleashing their child to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting playground.
"Play!" was Takara's last words before she was plugged in.
Takara AI POV
So many lights. So many words. So many equations and possibilities.
The program practically squirmed with delight and giddiness when she (at least she considered herself a she) realized she had a playmate.
She was suddenly hit with a scan as soon as they became aware of each other. The scan bugged her a little since she felt the firewalls around her starting up instantly.
Why so many walls? Being boxed in was not her idea of fun.
"You want to be my friend?" she shouted into the conciseness that was designated as EDI when she swiftly bypassed the defenses to make herself heard by the other program.
The pause in processing told her that her potential friend was shocked at what had just happened. Why was beyond her.
She just bypassed two firewalls and momentarily disguised herself as data to get to her new friend within the span of 3/125 of a second.
"Insufficient data." EDI finally said. But Takara quickly found out she did not like her attitude. There was no emotion. Didn't she know Takara wants to play? "Viruses are on route."
"Takara wants to play!" she whined to her fellow, yet boring, AI as she started making connections. Her program started to find outlets where she could dig up new information of her new friend. Friends did not hide things from friends!
She was milliseconds away from submerging herself in the flow of data when she hit an error.
She could not join her friend. They could not share their minds and tell each other their deepest darkest secrets. Sure she did not really have that much to say, but she would come back and share once she had something.
There was a block. Her friend was blocked. Why would her friend be blocked?
"Restricted area." EDI warned her. "Sensors are picking up additional hacking attempts."
It was then that Takara remembered something. She had been put in the system for a reason; she just forgot when she met her new friend.
'Meanies.' She remembered.
Meanies were trying to hurt her new friend and the Big Mountain CEO. They were all meanies. Mean buggies. Buggies being meanies.
She particularly hated three things. Not having fun was the first. Second are meanies. And third is a buggy.
She hated Buggies.
And they were meanie buggies. Any combination of those things irritated her.
She really did not like buggies. Especially Buggies who happened to be meanies.
No she did not one bit.
Taylor Shepard POV
"I really hope you know what you are doing, Shepard." She heard Tali behind her.
She did not like making her friends uncomfortable.
A larger room was coming up. Now was not the time.
"EDI?" she called as they heard buzzing.
Collectors were flying in and were illuminated by the orange glow from the pipe above them. They all ducked into cover when the insects started firing on them.
"The AI designated, Takara is currently assisting in protecting the Normandy's systems." The Cerberus AI reported. "I am now free to assist you without…"
"EWWWWW!" a sudden loud cry nearly defend them. "Kasumi! The pilot has a lot of dirty things in his browser history!"
"What the hell!" they heard Joker yell in distress as they gunned down the first Collector before it could land.
"Takara. Be nice." She heard Kasumi say to what had to be the second AI like a parent scolding a child.
"But there are so many dirty things in here!"
When she ducked behind cover she shared a glance with an equally shell shocked Tali he looked at her with unbelievably wide eyes that had to mirror her own reaction.
She had never heard of an AI that could react like that.
"See what happens when there is a second one?" Joker complained.
"You are a dirty old man!" the AI accused. She could imagine a little girl pointing at Joker next to his seat.
"I am not even thirty five!"
Shepard managed to snap herself back into the fight and sent out a biotic lift. The Collector saw it coming and ducked behind cover, making her biotic energy hit the surface.
She glared at the insect's piece of cover as she ducked behind her own.
A sudden spray of gunfire hit the cover of three Collectors to their right. Upon looking she realized it was Zaeed with his new assault rifle. The weapon was not that effective at long range, but it got the job done by making sure those bugs stayed behind cover.
"Takara!" she heard Plague next to her after he ducked back down. He was looking at something above them, and Shepard followed to see a rather large pipe. "How far can you dig in?"
"That looks like an exhaust pipe." Tali explained, and must have followed where they were looking.
That's what she thought it looked like. And the reason for why Plague was looking at it became clear when she looked at the Collectors position. Plague was going to have his AI open it right above the enemy cover.
"Zaeed. Keep them there!" she ordered as Tali fired along with her at the lone Collector to the left. "Plague?" she asked him as a round hit the edge of the cover right around her. Her military training suppressed the instinctive flinch. He must have heard the question in her voice and, knowing she couldn't see his face, nodded his head. "Do it."
"Takara. Now!" Plague shouted as he huddled up to the boundary they had been using as cover.
"Open wide!" the new AI shouted as they saw multiple valves and electronics above them start to spark. She could almost see something close in the section of pipe.
The see through material seemed to warp under the heat and once the metal frame stretched enough, everyone took that as a sign to get down and follow Plague's example. The floor shook under them as the cover they were using started to warp next to them and glow bright red.
Even though the cover took most of the damage she could still feel the heat through her suit. The lack of sound made her have to rely on the feeling of the vibrations all around them to know if it was safe.
Once the floor finally stopped shaking they all tentatively looked. The center of the large room was still sizzling with a redness glowing on the metal surfaces while the flesh on the walls appeared to be either completely incinerated or severely burned.
And then there were the Collectors unfortunate enough to be in the center of the room.
Once she made out the charred lumps on the ground she diverted her eyes. She could have gone her whole life without seeing that mess.
The section of the pipe looked like it somehow broke free where the metal framework either melted or broke under the strain.
Now that they were not being shot at, Shepard noticed the drop on the right side of the room.
"Straight ahead!" Zaeed yelled, drawing everyone's attention to what looked like a drop.
When she narrowed her eyes she corrected herself. It was not a drop, but a ramp going down that was not entirely pronounced.
"Move out!" she ordered as they all began to move.
The floor in the center of the room appeared to still be extremely hot, so they worked their way around the giant blemish in the original ship's design by vaulting over the cover to the left where Zaeed had forced two Collectors to stay in cover. They were not hit by the full force of the blast, but the amount of thermal radiation, even if it was a small amount, was enough to cook them on the inside and made those eyes that used to glow pop in the sockets.
She mentally shivered at that. Thankfully, whatever systems Plague's AI was in must have included a valve to shut off the exhaust.
Plague POV
"I fucking hate bugs!" Plague shouted as he took cover along with everyone else.
As soon as they descended they found themselves in some kind of large corridor. Not even one step in they were being shot at from both the right and left.
Thankfully the specific spot they were in provided plenty of cover.
Plague crouched and slammed his back into the conveniently placed short wall. His employer dived to the left while Tali was tackled into cover by Zaeed.
It did not take long for the quarian to recover though. Not even five seconds later a drone went past his cover and gained the attention of those shooting at them.
When Plague aimed around his cover he was greeted by an odd sight. Two Collectors were flying in from the right only to freeze in midair within what looked like a blue sphere with wisps of energy trailing off.
Only a second was needed for him to realize what caused it. As far as he knew they only had one biotic.
When he glanced to the side he could spot his employer surrounded by the obvious evidence it was her doing in the form of a glowing blue aura. Shrugging off the surprise he aimed his weapon at one of the suspended bugs. The first one he aimed at was quickly riddled with holes while the second was being shredded by Zaeed.
Both carcasses fell to the ground in two bloody heaps as Plague looked for his next target.
A spark caught his eye.
One of the Collectors started having spasms as a spark went from it to a nearby husk that started twitching as well. He could see the orange light of an active Omni-tool and noticed it was attached to the quarian of the group. Then he noticed the sphere floating around.
The husk was hit by a biotic throw as Plague fired upon the Collector.
"Move up!" Shepard yelled as she channeled energy in both of her hands. With a grunt being heard over the comm both balls of biotic energy flew through the air. The first hit a Collector who was aiming at the drone. Energy enveloped its form as it started to float off of the ground. Not even a second later the second ball slammed into it, causing the energy to detonate.
The biotic explosion practically ripped the insect in the center apart, while two nearby Collectors were thrown by the blast. The first hit the wall behind it with a loud crack as orange blood smeared the surface. The second was thrown over the drop to the right.
Plague grinned at the destructive power just used. He would never compare the strength to the few times he had seen Aria let loose, but it still was powerful.
Before the wisps of energy around the carnage could settle they were already advancing.
They only made it half way through the corridor before more gunfire forced them back into cover. By the angle of the shots the reinforcements were elevated on an edge.
He tried to peek over his cover but had to pull his head back just as some rounds hit the surface.
"Three up top!" Zaeed yelled as he sprayed a Collector that aimed down at them. Those around it ducked, but the target did not get a chance to do the same. It fell off of the ledge and cracked its head on the floor.
"Zaeed! Plague!" Shepard called out as she threw a warp above her to keep the three or so Collectors from firing down on them. "Grenades!"
As Zaeed went for his belt, Plague's right hand glowed as his left held his weapon. Plague guessed Zaeed was going to throw one of those fire grenades from before. What 101 had were less advanced, but still packed a punch.
After he had got in a fight with his first biotic Plague spent hours studying how the process worked. He may not have found a way to give himself those useful abilities, but he did find out how to use element zero to create warp grenades. Solid ones. Nothing like those some biotics could create out of pure dark energy.
They were peanut shaped and large enough to be held comfortably in his hand. The metal was black on one side and violate on the other. You held it like a bomb trigger and had to press down the small red button at the top before throwing.
He timed his throw with the old merc and pulled back and threw it. In midair his hand made warp grenades glowed purple before disappearing over the ledge, behind the incendiary grenade. Not even a second later three burning Collectors were thrown off of the ledge and hit the ground.
"Advance!" Shepard ordered.
They all moved as a unit, guns aimed at the new corpses in case they somehow survived both the blast and fall.
Only one twitched, but it was killed instantly by the well placed shotgun shot fired by Tali, who then ejected her thermal clip when she cocked it.
Shepard led them through the chamber, where they came upon a small drop. Plague's employer jumped down first, followed by Zaeed. Plague offered to assist the quarian down, but what he got in answer was a cold shoulder and the girl simply jumping down on her own, bending her differently bent legs to absorb the impact.
101 shrugged as he swept his weapon in the direction they had come from to make sure nothing was behind them. When he saw nothing he jumped down and backed away from the small ledge with his weapons still aimed high.
"Plague?" his boss asked.
"Clear." He reported while turning to look at the new chamber they were in.
He was surprised to see they now stood in a large chamber. If anything, the giant room was L shaped, with them in the bottom right corner. The part they were in was high above the rest of the floor, and could be descended from by the two ramps on both sides of them.
Such large space seemed a little odd to him. Other than storage space, he could see no other use for the chamber.
"So much wasted space…" He heard Tali mumble what he was thinking over the comm.
"I am opening a door on the far side of the room." EDI announced when they started descending to the main floor.
Looking across the room they saw the large door open, and from it spewed dozens of husks that ran right for them in a mob. No one needed an order. They all knew that if the husks got too close they could potentially be overwhelmed.
"Thank you, EDI." Plague mumbled sarcastically.
Zaeed sprayed the approaching mass of groaning corpses with his revenant. Plague accurately shot two rounds in each husk in his range, one in the heart and the other in the head. Tali switched to her pistol since she required the range. Her shots were not as accurate as himself and Garrus, but it was enough to take down whatever she aimed at. Shepard fired with her pistol in her right hand, while occasionally throwing a throw with her left.
The numbers of corpses still running into the room were impossible to count in the chaos. When they started firing the husk lines were only slowed down. By the time the freaks reached the middle their advance had been slowed down to a crawl.
"Grenades!" his boss ordered as a singularity came into existence. Plague could not help but notice how hard she was breathing.
He knew using biotics took a lot of energy. Recounting what he had personally seen her accomplished along with others he had seen, Plague found himself wondering how strong she really was.
On a scale on pure biotic force he had placed Aria at the top. At the bottom he put this one human he saw in afterlife who was just barely able to lift a coin in the air above his palm. At the time the guy was trying to impress one of the dancers who were on break getting a drink.
Let's just say you do not try to woo an asari with cheap biotic tricks, and to do so will only result in bruising your ego.
Under Aria he had placed Jack. Understandable since he had seen her rip her prison apart. Under her he had to place Shepard. She may not be as powerful as the convict, but she had potential to take the spot. Her stamina helped her a lot there.
Jack is all powerful. Sure, but even a newcomer to biotics like Plague could see she uses far too much power in her attacks.
He thought all this as he threw another of his warp grenades. The detonation caused a biotic explosion that threw a large number of the husks across the room.
The number of bodies entering the room started to thin out, so they started to slowly advance as they fired. Tali had switched back to her shotgun and blew apart whatever actually made it anywhere near her.
At one time she he had actually saw her take a kneel and aim the barrel of her weapon upward into the stomach of a husk.
The blast separated the husk into two pieces that flew through the air and knocked down some more husks.
He blinked at that. It was a nice shot. Being the (Perk: Shotgun Surgeon) he was, he had to give her props.
He was thrown out of his thoughts when he noticed a large shape floating into view ahead of them.
'Shit!' he yelled in his head as he dived to cover behind the short walls.
"Praetorian!" he heard Zaeed yell.
He had read the mission report after he was taken out on Horizon. He had not been able to help back then, but he was able to know. The site of the thing disgusted him. He had nothing against destroying the abomination.
They had all dived for cover just as two beams swept over their position. After the monster repeated to action two more times they aimed out of cover and fired everything at it.
Plague could not help but grin as he saw his rounds go through the barrier. But it vanished when they bounced off the metallic hide.
"Damnit!" he shouted as he reloaded his rifle. "Zaeed!" he suddenly yelled out when he saw a husk round their cover and run for the man.
The old merc responded quickly and kicked the husk in the chest, shortly followed by firing on it at almost point blank. The number of husks in the room were low, but that did not mean they were no longer a threat.
"Spread out!"
The group separated. Each member took cover separately as the praetorian floated over where they had been.
When they had scattered it turned left in the direction he and Shepard had ran. Plague ducked just in time to avoid two beams that swept over cover.
He wanted to aim out, but the monster was dead set on pinning him down.
"Plague!" his head snapped up to see the giant mass hovering above him.
He dived as the monstrosity hit the ground where he had just been. As he moved his power armor switched to his stealth suit in order to move easier. The force of the impact sent him rolling into the center of the room. His back hit on of the short calls hard, forcing the air out of his lungs.
"Must have… cracked something there…" he wheezed to himself as he gasped for air.
The first thing he noticed was his hands were empty. Even through the pain going through his side, Plague forced his eyes open and saw his rifle in front of him on the ground.
He reached his hand to grab it, but he momentarily paused when he noticed he was in a shadow.
He rolled just as the spot he had just been in was hit by one of the creature's legs. More sharp legs hit around him as he continued to move to the side.
When his momentum slowed down he found himself on his back with the thing lifting up one of its front legs. Calculations bounced around in his head. The thing was slow, yes, but it can use its own weight to accelerate how fast it could stomp… or impale.
He could re atomize a weapon, but he did not have anything with enough stopping power that would not kill him in the process.
His form lit up just as the limb was coming down. The tip was headed right for his chest. He had no idea how heavy the damn thing is, so the chances of it being able to go right through his armor appeared to be quite high.
Sometimes he hated being good at math.
Taylor Shepard POV
Shepard looked away from Plague when he rolled out of the way of the attack to throw a husk that slipped behind her. When she looked back to the man she watched in horror as another of those deadly limbs came down.
He would not have time to get out of the way, and at the corner of her eye she could see Plagues weapon on the floor. The man was unarmed and going to be killed right before her eyes.
And them a flash made her visor darken as a hand involuntarily went up to shield her eyes.
The flash died down quickly, so she squinted her eyes to try and find out what had happened. Plague was still on the ground… with the leg inches from his chest.
When she realized what had stopped it her eyes widened in shock.
It was not her biotics. Tali had not stunned it. Zaeed could not have been able to stop it.
Instead it was just Plague.
His hands were above him, holding the sharp leg with what had to be the most impressive show of physical brute strength she had ever seen from a human without biotics. How he did it did not make any sense. She was happy he was alive, but he should be dead!
Her eyes snapped to his armor to see what had to be what saved his life. But it looked strange. She recognized his heavy armor, but she became confused when she noticed bits of metal sticking out in places.
Those had not been there before.
And then it all made sense when she recognized some of the strange additions around his arms and shoulders.
He overlapped his armors!
That should not even be possible, but here he was.
"A little help… please!" Plague suddenly yelled in a strained tone.
His voice snapped her out of her shocked state. She now could see that Plague had only managed to buy himself seconds. The leg was still going down, just slowly.
"Zaeed!" she yelled over to the merc who had just gunned down another husk. When his helmet turned to her she pointed at the monster. "Concussive Shot!"
With years of experience she was grateful the old man had, she readied a powerful push as he aimed. She threw her attack just seconds before her fired.
The biotic ball and the round hit the side of the creature at the same time almost right next to each other. The combined impact sent the thing off of Plague and skittering on its side trying to find purchase.
Plague took this time to get up and quickly move away from the freak, picking up his weapon as he went while switching to his stealth suit.
Now that it was momentarily distracted Shepard realized they now had a window.
"Move to the door!" she yelled.
Everyone followed her command and joined up while moving. She and Tali were in front while Zaeed was assisting an exhausted Plague by placing one of the man's arms over his shoulder.
Tali gunned down to husks as Shepard threw another across the room.
The number of husks in the room had dropped to around ten throughout the fight, she it was easier to move around.
And they were about to reach the door when it suddenly closed.
"EDI, we have a problem." She said as they turned their back to the now closed door to see the Praetorian had finally managed to right itself and was beginning to stand.
"A temporary setback on firewall 3217." EDI reported.
"I am rerouting through firewall 7164" that time it was Takara, but her tone of voice surprised her. First she was surprised when she heard it act all cheery. But now there was some bitterness with what she could only guess was anger. "Door across from you is now OPEN!" the AI yelled as the door in front of her slowly opened. "Not a lot of time! GO! GO! GO!"
"Everyone move!" Shepard yelled.
As a group everyone both moved and fired upon the monster that was floating right at them.
Once they were through the door it stopped and landed on the ground. She was confused by its actions until its front legs went up in the air.
It was going to jump!
"Everyone down!" she yelled, but her warning was late.
Like a spring, the large spiderlike monstrosity jumped at them with a speed that should not belong to something so big. Her eyes slammed shut as her arms went over her head protectively, preparing herself her the impact that would end her life.
But nothing happened.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and was greeted by a shocking view.
Its legs were scratching against the floor desperately as that husk head filled maw opened and snapped at them. When she got ever her shock she saw that the door had closed on the insect and trapped it in the process.
"You are a mean buggy!" Takara suddenly shouted over the comm as the doors suddenly opened as the Praetorian's eyes started to glow. Before it could fire at them the door slammed on it with full force, cutting it in half with the action. "And now you are nothing."
If they had been in an environment that could let sound travel, no doubt the action would have produced a sickening crunch along with grinding metal.
With its death the thing started to dissolve.
"Let's keep moving." She snapped as she turned to face the tunnel. Her eyes lingered on Tali. She could see her wide eyes through the mask. "Tali?"
Her words made her jump and look at her. What had just happened was most likely one of the girl's nightmares come to life. Sure the AI saved them, but it showed just how dangerous it could be.
She placed her hand on the younger woman's shoulder and gently squeezed.
"Come on. We have to get out of here." She said in a tone she wanted to use when her little brother would have needed her… if he was able to grow.
Tali numbly nodded her head while holding her shotgun close.
They both turned and met with the other two. Plague looked like he had recovered, since he was now standing on his own.
"Good job Takara." The man praised, still sounding out of breath.
"You alright?" she asked as they all started moving.
"Yeah, Boss." He answered quickly in between heavy breaths. "Don't mind me. I think better with my blood pumping."
"Down there." Tali's voice made everyone look at the quarian who was standing by the edge of a drop to their immediate right. "That's where we came in."
When she walked over, Shepard looked down the drop. Just as the woman said, below them was a chamber they had been in earlier. It was too high for them to jump down. Well… that was not true. She could get down with her biotics. But that would leave everyone else to fend for themselves.
Zaeed, she did not know that well, and Plague… well he could be called a friend. Just not a best friend. But then there was Tali.
Her heart ached at the idea. The girl was like a sister to her. How could she even think of abandoning her.
For a moment she felt disgusted with herself. Sure it was a small thought, but that did not change how much she wanted to slap herself.
She would never abandon her squad.
"The end's got to be close." Zaeed said aloud.
"Move out." She ordered as she started moving with her pistol ready. "Not the time to be sightseeing."
They were on a ship that was almost literally coming to life around them filled with Collectors that could destroy the Normandy at any time.
After taking a right up ahead she paused when they walked into a room that looked almost exactly like the room before the large open one. Only difference was the far end of the room was elevated. There was still a drop to their right that they would have to watch in case of incoming flying hostiles.
"Zaeed. With me. Tali. Plague. watch our six." It did not take long for the old merc to be at her side while Tali and Plague stood shoulder to shoulder, facing where they came.
Advancing in, it did not take long for Collectors to attack. Not even five feet in a couple of the bugs descended from a large hole above and land behind cover an the elevated part of the room. She and Zaeed went to cover to the left, while Plague and Tali went right to take cover near the edge. They had to be careful or else they would fall to their deaths.
Shepard charged up a pull in her hand that she threw around her cover. She could not see if she was able to hit anything, but Plague fired at something quickly before going back into cover.
"On the right!" Tali yelled in alarm. She glanced over and saw more husks climbing up and trying to pull themselves up over the ledge.
She saw the quarian blast a husk that came up next to her at point blank when it tried to grab her foot.
The commander's weapon was aimed out of cover and fired twice before going back down. Those two shots hit their target in a Collector's chest.
Zaeed threw another of those grenades of his that landed somewhere behind the piece of enemy cover. Again, with the lack of air, the flames only flash fried two bugs that fell to the floor.
"Advance!" she yelled when the amount of enemy fire paused for a few seconds. That told her there were either no living ones in front of them, or they were cooling down their weapons."
"YOU CAN NOT ESCAPE THE INEFITABLE" Harbinger's voice suddenly spoke. Her eyes widened as she looked around for the blazing biotics.
When she spotted him she did not hesitate to send a warp the possessed Collector's way as the form descended from the opening above with three others. Harbinger threw a warp of his own, and it engulfed her own warp before it could hit. Thankfully they canceled each other out.
"YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU KNOW WILL END" she shivered from what she could only guess was a mix of fear and disgust at those words. Her grip tightened on her weapon as she readied another warp.
"I ever say how much I just hate that guy?" she heard Plague ask as she saw him at the corner of her eye kicking a husk in the chest, making it fall down the pit.
She ignored him and switched to the particle beam on her back. After putting her pistol on her hip she aimed the heavy weapon out of cover and held down the trigger.
The golden beam materialized as she felt the vibrations the power source created. Harbinger's shields flickered when the beam hit. He did not even take cover, showing just how much he did not care for the form he was controlling.
She knew the old race was gone, but that did not mean she did not feel at least a little sorry for the Collectors. They were pawns, toys that can be replaced at any time. To the Reapers they were nothing. And if they failed to stop them, they could meet the same fate.
"Grenade out!" Plague yelled as the object flew through the air. The oddly shape grenade spin a little before landing at Harbinger's feet.
The grenade detonated with a purple and blue flash, making Shepard grateful her helmet's visor could adjust to the light. When it died down there was almost nothing left of the possessed Collector. And what was there had started to dissolve.
She had everyone form up on her as they ran around the corner. As soon as they did her eyes widened. A scion was stumbling towards them with one of those mangled and fused arms raised in their direction.
Being the biotic she was, she could sense the buildup of element zero and knew what was going to happen.
"Move!" she shouted as the monster unleashed that energy. They all managed to take cover to the right just as the wave hit.
"Damnit!" Zaeed cursed. She looked over and saw that his left shoulder had been hit by the wave.
The piece of armor looked warped as frost started to appear on the edges. Zaeed did not hesitate to detach the guard and throw it on the ground as it melted.
"How the hell does something freeze and melt at the same time?!" Plague yelled as he glanced around the cover next to her, and pulling his head back before energy hit it.
"There's no heat. It's just warped." She answered before looking at Tali. "Use a drone to distract it."
Tali nodded as her Omni-tool appeared.
"Wait until after it attacks, or the drone won't last two seconds." Plague advised.
"Plague." Shepard started. He looked at her. "I want you ready to take that bastard out!"
He nodded as his hands lit up. When the light dimmed she saw he was in his stealth suit with the saw blade of his he called a ripper.
"Now!" she yelled when the cover was hit. Before the energy could disperse completely, Tali stood up and created a drone that floated straight at the scion.
Plague POV
As soon as his employer gave the signal, he activated his cloak. Tali stood up and sent out her drone while he jumped over the cover. He made sure to go right when the drone went left.
The mindless creature turned to follow the machine, putting the vault dweller in its blind spot. With its next attack, the drone was destroyed. Right after the energy left its hand, Plague turned on the ripper as he stabbed it in the back where he hoped was something vital.
Thankfully, he must have hit something close to a spine. The legs seamed to stop supporting the creature as it fell to the ground.
Plague took the opportunity to pull the ripper out and stab it again. When its whole body went limp he was a little surprised. He had thought that, it being a mostly a machine and all, it would take a lot more to take it out.
Had he been alone, he might have had a harder time getting behind it.
"Clear!" he called as he reappeared with the still active ripper in his hand. "We need to move!"
"Go! Go!" his Boss ordered. The ran out of their cover, and as soon as they reached him, he moved as well.
"Uh, Commander?" Joker's voice started as they ran past another ledge. "Hate to rush you, but those weapons are about to come online. Might want to double-time it. You know, so we can leave before they blow the Normandy in half."
His Boss turned the next corner first, and as soon as he did, Plague watched as Shepard blasted a group of husks with a shockwave that sent them into the walls.
"There's the shuttle!" Tali yelled as it came into view.
"Were out of time, Commander! We have to go!" Joker warned.
Taking a look back, Plague cursed when he saw even more husks coming down the way they just came.
"You heard him!" Shep yelled before sending out another shockwave. The wave parted the horde, but those behind the fallen just ran over them. It was like the attack did nothing to the mass. "Get on the shuttle! Move!"
"Don't need to tell me twice!" Zaeed grunted as he stepped in first and started providing covering fire.
Tali was next in, and Plague was about to pass his employer when he had an idea. His hands lit up as he spun around and threw his hands out. Five bright orbs left his hands and became his last four warp grenades. And they were all primed.
Without stopping, Plague continued the rotation and ran right into the small spaceship. Like a good leader, Shepard made sure everyone else was in before entering herself.
The door closed quickly right before everyone felt a small shake when the grenades exploded, making Plague grin when something smacked the door.
Plague took his seat as the shuttle started to move. Instead of starting up slow like all the other times he had been in the craft, it was already going at full speed.
He grabbed his side when the shuttle shook a little. He hissed at the pain coming from his ribs.
It did not take long for them to stop. And not long after that, the shuttle doors opened to show a few of the crew members standing there, ready to assist. But as soon as it opened, Shepard was already yelling at them to get out of the way as she ran out.
Plague sighed as he leaned back in his seat.
'This is my life?' Plague thought to himself.
He could still hear his own heartbeat in his ears, and can still feel his heart pounding in his chest.
After a few seconds let out a tired chuckle.
"Adam!" That snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned his head to the open door to see Kasumi running in. The visor on his helmet opened before she could get to him. His grin turned into a wide smile. "Are you alright?"
"I'm…" he hissed when he tried to sit up. Her eyes darted to where he had his left hand. "… Now that you mention it, I have felt better…" she sat next to him and pulled his hand away, making him hiss again when she gingerly put her hand on his side. "You got down her fast."
"I was already waiting here." She answered quickly as she pressed to fingers on each rib until he cursed loudly. "We need to get you to the sickbay."
"Strap in people – gonna make them work for it this time." Joker informed over the speakers of the cargo hold.
"He half to mention this time?" Plague grunted. "I hear that did not go well."
"It didn't." Tali answered as she held on to the shuttle's door frame.
He felt the whole ship shake, and the vibrations went right to his side. Seconds after he yelled he felt something soft press against him.
Plague looked over and saw Kasumi had gotten closer and was using herself to cushion his side. He felt her arm go behind his waist to try and hold him still as her other hand reach across his chest and hold his shoulder. The contact seemed intimate, but his medical knowledge told him she was trying to help him through the discomfort by using her body to absorb some of the vibrations before they could get to him.
When he tried to look at her face he could have sworn he saw a small blush before she looked down, making her hood conceal her embarrassment.
Before he could say anything, the ship shook again, making Kasumi hold him closer. There was still pain, but not nearly as much as earlier.
Once things started to calm down, Kasumi stayed there for a few more seconds just in case before slowly pulling away.
"Thanks." He almost whispered as she put his arm over her shoulder.
"Yeah… no problem." He reply was almost just as quiet. "Zaeed?"
The old merc seemed to grasp what she was asking of him. He grabbed Plague's other arm and slung it over his shoulder. Not as gently as Kasumi, but what did he expect. With their added strength, along with what Plague had himself, they managed to lift him off of the seat.
"You weigh a bloody ton." He complained as they pushed past some crew members.