Valhalla - part 2

November 24th

Valhalla, Midgard system

Team three, Mako-D35

08:33

The Mako, going from weighing about one ton to twenty in the blink of an eye as the element Zero core was charged up, hit the ground hard. Or, it would have, if it had actually hit the ground. Instead, the vehicle loaded with battle-ready commandoes, a tech specialist, a former colonial marine and a part-time chef and heavy weapons user, crashed to the surface in a cascade of black and grey bodies. Instead of hitting the ground, the Mako had been landed right in the rear end of the horde of Husks currently pushing against the small team originally assigned to evacuate the colony's civilians. Of course, with the civilians now having been huskified, the second goal was to simply put them down.

Something that proved to be easier said than done.

"Fixer! What the fuck did you just land on!?" Nikolai Tengberg shouted, feeling it as if the entire Mako had just landed in living mud or an earthquake of local proportions. As the clone at the wheels gunned the engines, Boss got up from his seat at the front and took over weapons control from the VI.

"Ehm… the bad guys I think!" He called back. For a moment, the heavy gunner had no idea how to respond to that, then just shrugged and took a grip on his minigun, pointing it towards the hatch.

"Boss! How does it look from up there?" Nikolai asked, trying to gauge the commando for a reaction. While he didn't get a response right away, the heavy thudding of the machinegun hammering rounds down range was easily heard from inside the armored car.

"Seems like we are balls-deep in hostiles of unknown specification." He finally said, probably waiting for the guns to cool off. Tequila, having taken her pulse-rifle in a strong grip and pointed it at the door just sighed, trying to rid herself of the nerves building up. The last time she had made a drop, they had been forced to flee from a giant worm. This time, they were dropping on top of the bad guys.

"In other words, lots of bad guys?" The chef called back, his minigun unfolding itself as he had it lodged between his legs and pointed at the door. There existed, in all standard IFV's, a small pair of notches in the floor just beyond the hatch to the vehicle. Tequila had wondered why since she saw them the first time before the drop to the 'what's-it-called' planet with the big-ass worm. It didn't really matter to her what it was called when it was trying to kill her. Now, as the chef and far-too-eager auxiliary sat down on the floor, she suddenly found out.

"Oh man, I've been dying to try this out!" He almost sounded like someone who had just scored a jackpot, not someone about to fight a lot of people bent on his death. In a way, his eagerness brought a smile to her lips. Luckily for her, it was hidden behind her helmet. The Pfc. Positioned his minigun between his legs as he planted his feet in the notches in the floor. Then he pulled up a small bipod that was hidden in the floor as well. Tequila, despite not usually being one for the biggest guns, felt a smirk come to her face as she saw the guy fasten his gun on the bipod.

"Remind me to thank Garrus for this thing!" He called, seemingly to everyone and no-one at the same time. Tequila followed his actions for a few moments until she heard Boss call Fixer up.

"Alright Four-Oh, bring us to a stop just outside the crowd, with the back-end turned at the bad guys." Boss ordered, his voice calm and collected. At least, that was one point where he reminded her painfully much about Van Zandt. That is, before the Rookie was forced to blow the old guy's brains out to spare him the pain of 'giving birth'.

"Roger that sir. You ready back there Private?" Tequila's helmeted head swung left and right to follow the conversation as it evolved. She could hear a slightly nervous chuckle coming from the Greenlandic auxiliary on the floor, making her wonder just how much of his bravado he could get behind.

"Are you kidding? I've got a minigun in my hands, and you seriously ask if I wanna use it?" He called back, shaking his head as in disbelief. The corporal looked back at Boss, still firing the bigger guns from where he stood in the turret. She then looked to Fixer, the green-painted commando simply shrugging as he pulled the vehicle into a stop.

"I'll take that as a yes. Alright, dropping the hatch!" He shouted, activating a green light right next to the hatch. Readying her own rifle as well as she sighted it down above Tengberg's shoulder, the whirring sound of the six barrels spinning up brought her thoughts back to Noveria, the shitty excuse for a xeno-infested ice-ball of a planet. Although she doubted the young man next to her could use the minigun as a club like Wrex had done. Then the hatch opened up, revealing a literal sea of humanoid creatures trying to claw their way into the tank. Far ahead of them, she could see the first fireteam running to the side while bashing down dozens of the creatures in their path. The sound of moans and groaning from the freakish and borderline hellish creatures was drowned out as Tengberg pressed down the handle for the release-mechanism.

"SAY HELLo to …y li…ien…" He shouted, but the sound of his voice was drowned by the thunder of slugs the size of a grains as they poured from his weapon in a hellfire of death and destruction. The stream of accelerated tungsten poured against the Husks, tearing into the mass of grey and blue-shining bodies. The ones closest to the weapon were ripped apart to an almost molecular level, their bodies simply disappearing as the slugs tore through their bodies.

Tequila had to admit it: that got her blood rushing in a good way, seeing hordes of monsters cut down with a stream of lead. Technically, it wasn't lead, but 'hot lead' had always been what ammunition had been called. She repressed a savage grin as she watched how the private swung his weapon to the left, then to the right, sweeping the ground with long bursts of fire, only letting up when the counter in his helmet alerted him to the heat being critical. The moment he ceased firing, Scorch and Tequila dropped out from behind him, pouring shells and plasma only a few inches above his head. The suppressing fire worked just fine, keeping the horde from encroaching on then too fast.

"Fixer! Forward, forward, FORWARD!" Tequila could suddenly hear the voice of Boss as he shouted into the comms, causing the driver to gun the engines with no questions asked. Tequila felt herself being almost thrown from the interior of the IFV as a hand grabbed her arm and stopped her from exiting as they sped forward with 100kph. As she was about to ask just why the hell they had started driving, she looked back out the hatch, seeing an enormous flying creature impact on the ground, kicking up dirt and bodies as it took off again, its shrill and chilling screams filling the air as it flew towards them, gaining on them as the Mako left the colony behind and drove across the plains. She then turned to face the driver's section of the Mako;

"Step on it Fixer! I said fucking STEP ON IT!" She screamed, causing Tali to jump in her harness as she looked at the scene and, more importantly, the creature following them in the air. Then it started shooting at them, large bolts of red plasma impacting on the ground just behind the Mako. Next to her, Tengberg let loose with the minigun, pouring fire in the direction of the flying monster.

"Stop driving like a fucking shit Fixer! I can't hit the fucker!" He shouted.

"You just pull that trigger! I am trying to avoid dying here!"

"Then stop trying to get us killed with your insane swaying and sharp turns!"

"Shut up!" The commando shouted back, sending the Mako into a series of wild evasive maneuvers that left the enraged and horrified private to try and hit the pursuer while the tank constantly shifted left and right.

….

Valhalla, Midgard system

Valhalla facility, Team Baker

08:45

I swear… this place is just creepy.

I mean, it would be alright if we at least found some enemies, but so far all we have come across is… well, bodies. Lots and lots of bodies. And Husks… even when they are dead, those synthetic freaks are probably the most nauseating things I have ever seen. The worst thing about them, not counting in the shreds of clothing still hanging on their bodies, is the fact that I know these used to be human. Innocent women and children, butchered and mutilated.

And my head is well on its way to pulling a Hiroshima.

My eyesight constantly turns blurry as we walk through the corridors, the sharp pain thundering against the inside of my skull like a hydraulic piston. My nerves are shot and my skin is soaked in sweat. The migraines I used to call 'terrible' back in the days, are nothing compared to this hellish neurological nightmare. Feeling my mind spin around in a haze of agony, I stumble, falling against the wall as my legs turn to gel.

"Thomas? Are you okay?" Ash asks. I can hear her somewhat fine, but my vision is dancing around my mind, causing my eyes to behave like balls in... something that spins really fast. Fuck... I can't even think anymore, just lie here, back against the wall as I tear off my helmet to clench at my head, temples included.

"No...not exactly... Fuuuuuck... my head really hurts!" I mutter, speaking through lips strained and curled up in a pained snarl. My skull feels like it's on the verge of blowing up, and even my best attempts to massage and tear it away fails, leaving me with a white-hot iron in my brain.

"Commencing neurological repairs... just give me a second."

"Repairs?" Even my mental voice is strained and pissed.

"Significant but temporary mental and neurological damage was inflicted when you used my powers to thát degree. Hence the severely decreased ability to judge distance and environments."

"Fuck..."

"Damn... must be the power-trip he just went on." Wrex says, his deep and rumbling voice cutting through the mental noise like a sledgehammer through cardboard. I weakly turn my head towards his voice as something sharp stabs into my thigh. Looking down, I notice Ash pulling a stim from my right arm, in between the joints of the armor. Instantly, I can feel weird sensations of pain and clarity well through me, washing over the nauseating sensations of migraine and dizziness.

"Ow..."

"This might sting a bit." she says, a slight frown on her lips. At least I think so, can't see it without the helmet. And her own head is encased in P-steel and duraplast, not making it any easier to gauge her facial expressions.

"Aren't you supposed to say that before you plug a needle in my arm?" I ask, a sour tone in my voice. it is, of course, caused by the throbbing pain in my head. And maybe the fact that she just stuck a needle in me. I fucking hate needles.

"Yeah well, I figured you'd freak out like last time if you knew. Feeling better?" Her soft tone somewhat soothes my frustration, though it doesn't have the fairy-tale effect of making the pain go away with a snap. My vision slowly turns less blurry, letting me examine the surrounding five meters as they slowly expand outwards. I can at least see the female form of Ash's body in her armor, as well as her eyes, shown in the now transparent visor.

"Aside from the feeling of Vulcan taking a piss in my head? Yeah... I'm alright. At least I can see straight now." I mutter, getting to a stand with some help from her, supporting me while I stand straight.

"Fisher, I don't know if I'm comfortable with your power-surges when this is the result." Jane says, clear frustration in her voice. I suppose I can understand why, with one quarter of her squad going down after a fight. It must be pretty... annoying. Which is also what her voice is right now, a bother to my ears. Gingerly taking my helmet back on, I look at the slowly sharpening-up image of the captain as she stands a little distance away, her rifle hanging from her elbow towards her knees.

"Yeah... I kinda share that sentiment..." I mutter, then allow a small grin to spread behind the helmet; "But you have to admit, that was kinda awesome." I say, rolling my shoulders as I begin to be capable of identifying the opposite wall from here. Jane and Ash looks at each other for a brief moment, but it is Wrex who answers the question.

"He... yeah it was. Thanks for saving my hump Fisher, it looked good when you tore into the Harvester like that." He says, his more brawny tone shining through his otherwise more serious voice. I pick my gun back up, checking the Lancer for any flaws or lack of ammo. Even if it has a practically infinite supply of ammunition, checking is always a good idea. The block is still intact, no scratches aside from the two small notches in the surface.

"No problem Wrex... well, it was a problem, but it was pretty fun. In the insane I'm-gonna-die kind of fun." I smirk, taking the stock of the gun back to my shoulder in a relaxed posture, but one that will let me whip it up for a shot if need be. Still reeling from the effects of the migraine, now slightly numbed and soothed by the injection Ash gave me, despite me not knowing what it was.

"Fisher, we continue this back on the ship. Right now we still need to scour this place for hostiles." Jane says, resuming the role as leader I know she was pretty much made for.

"Roger that ma'am." I say, raising the rifle to be ready to fire at a moment's notice as we continue walking through the halls. The lights are dimming the further in we go, suggesting that more than one power-junction has been wrecked havoc on by the Harvesters and what else is in here. To be honest, I'm torn between wishing they are all dead, the bad guys that is, and a wish for something to actually attack us. This calm before the storm is starting to get on my nerves.

The hallways are all the same. Around five meters wide and taller than that. I can't really find a chair or something to stand on, so it's purely guessing. Bullet marks are decorating walls and the floor, often in long series like when someone fires a machinegun at the walls in one long burst. Blood is everywhere, black and red intermixing when the puddles formed around dead humans and Husks came too close to each other.

Bodies are spread all over the floors, mostly husks and human soldiers. There's something else as well though. Some new kind of creature. Jane is the first to spot it, as she walks at the front, her own assault rifle pointing at the corners of each new room or corridor. I almost walk into her as my eyes are on the walls, examining the multiple scorch- and bullet marks. a dead human in thick green armor, the same type as the Delta's use, is slumped against the wall, his torso riddles with holes while his left arm and right leg are both missing at the joints. The darkened flow of blood that has gathered underneath him is making me sick, watching as his armor is cracked in several places, a long gash going through the shoulder of the missing arm. it almost looks like someone pounded the shit out of him with a giant sledgehammer.

"Hold up team. This is a new type of husk... any guesses as to what it used to be?" She asks, rolling over the bloated and brown corpse of something that looks like a walking... something. To be honest, I have no idea how to properly describe this thing. It has a large gaping mouth in the middle of its body, two legs appearing to be far too thin to support the weight, as well as a weapon fused to its right arm, looking like a mixture of organic and synthetic parts. Two pairs of dead eyes are seated above the mouth, bringing the thoughts to a Batarian. But something is just plainly wrong about this thing. It looks nothing like someone stuck it on a Dragon tooth, but the amount of blue wires going all over its body is easily the same kind as with the husks.

"Hell... look at the face... faces..." I mutter. Actually, this thing even has faces on its shoulders, as disgusting as it might be. Following my gaze, Wrex prods it with his shotgun, the minigun having been wrecked when he was shot. I guess that's the best one can hope for in that case, with Wrex still being alive and all.

"Yeah... looks like a Batarian with serious fuck-up in his diet..." He mutters, the Claymore bursting a large sack of fluid as it touches the huskified Batarian, the blade at the end of his gun penetrating the skin. Reeking fluids pour out, causing Wrex to back away in disgust; "Damn it stinks..."

"Glad I'm wearing a helmet then... but who or what... what happened to this Batarian, if I may ask?" Ash says, not looking at the Batarian but at the dead soldier slumped against the walls instead. I have a feeling this is bringing back some nasty memories for her, seeing Husks overrun a colony, soldiers dying and humans turned into this shit.

"Beats me, I'm just glad I haven't seen what would happen if someone impaled a Krogan on the spikes from Eden Prime... Humans are hard enough like this, but a Krogan? No thank you sire." I comment, looking at the hallways ahead of us. The entire place is pretty much the same: Corpses, bullet-marks and blood. They could at least throw in some variety in the scenery.

As if the universe then feels the need to flip me off with both hands, a long guttural roar fills the hallway we are standing in, sounding like a pissed off five-ton pack of hellish shit. Or maybe just a T-rex, either way we're boned.

"Did you hear that?" Ash asks, her rifle already aiming at the direction of the roar, a small red icon on the side of her rifle revealing her to have stocked up on flame-bullets. Dammit, I really need to get some of those for my guns as well. Shooting fire is a bit more effective than being on fire when your enemy is far away.

"Uh huh... sounded big... and pissed." Wrex says, his shotgun raised in the same manner as mine and Ash's. Jane is already glowing a deep purple, a thick barrier encasing her form. Her own rifle is whipped out as well, aiming straight down the hallway. And of course the hallway is without lights. Because otherwise it would just be too easy.

"Alright, move forward. Williams, watch our six, Wrex on the right, Fisher on the left. Weapons primed for close encounter. Move it." Jane whispers, her voice carrying clearly through the comms. As one, we start moving forward, Ash halfway walking backwards as her rifle is pointed at the space behind us. Wrex is walking next to me and Jane, shotgun at the ready.

We walk for what feels like hours, but in reality it's probably just a few minutes. We then come across a cross-section in the corridors, corpses at all sides, as well as breached barricades with dead humans hanging over, some torn limp from limp while others look like they were stomped on by an elephant.

"Mara... what's been through here?"

"Don't know... keep moving." Jane says, pointing her gun at the intersection where a lot of the wall's panels have been torn down by something tall enough to scratch at the ceiling. Said ceiling being seven meters above us. Briefly forgetting that I'm on the team's channel, I mutter in stupefied awe.

"Fuuuuuuuuck..."

"Shut it Fisher." Jane growls, her finger dancing over the trigger to her gun. Damn I'm glad I'm not trying to piss her off. she was scary enough unarmed when we had Jacob in the brig. With a gun? If anyone asks, I love her like my own sister. Just not like Anna, because she is into some siiiiiick things. I mean Jesus on a stick, 'cutting the balls off people'? Who the hell does that? Except for the Nazis that is.

"Shih... I see something up... ahead... Christ almighty." Ash mutters, somehow having spotted what we didn't. Why isn't she up front, again? Oh right, the 'heavy hitters'. As for the moment, I think I couldn't even beat up a Volus. It takes enough effort to just walk straight, not to mention lifting a gun.

"Right... I'll have to drag you through some training if this is going to work."

"Why, dare I ask, haven't you said that before I'm a fucking walking case of diegraine?"

"Could be that you seemed more interested in sexual intercourse with Ashley Williams. Just a suggestion though, it's probably wrong."

"Roku... go into some desert, find a cactus, then proceed to-"

"I'll be damned. Someone actually has a sicker sense of practicality than me, and I once used a Jorgal's skull-plate to wipe my ass... still, this is a shitty show if I've ever seen one." Wrex exclaims, drawing me from my thoughts as I was about to tell Roku what he could go and do.

I am, however, quickly forced to forget about the whole discussion when I spot what the others are so worked up about. In front of us, only about twenty meters to our front, a veritable wall of dead things is blocking the hallway, looking like something from Three Hundred. Arms and legs, heads and half-broken bodies are piled on top of each other in a small mountain, purely grey and brown up on the top, with only one or two regular humans visible at the bottom. A cruel and heavy clanging of steel against concrete is sounding in the not-so-far distance, coupled with the same guttural roaring.

"Jesus Christ can fuck me sideways... what the fuck killed all those things? A minigun with infinite ammo?" Jane asks, her rifle slowly pointing downwards at the sheer insanity of the scene.

Then we suddenly hear shooting.

It's the telltale sound of someone firing an Avenger Assault rifle, and from what I can hear, it's on full auto. Jane doesn't even have to order us to do anything, as we all set into motion in unison, rifles leveled at the pile of bodies as we near it. That's when we find something to have torn its way through the bodies, split-in-half corpses and limps scattered everywhere on the ground. A husk is lying on the ground, everything below the sternum missing. Well, that and a leg I suspect of belonging to it, but the only giveaway is that the Husk is clinging on to it, actively still able to move. Before any of us can say anything, Jane has curb stomped its head in, a slightly disturbing satisfied grin coming from her end of the comms. Deciding not to say anything, I keep moving, climbing through the massive hole or gap made in the bodies, like someone just parted the Red Sea of dead bodies. I wonder if even the Mako could do that.

"Everyone keep quiet. If whatever did thát is hostile, I don't want it knowing we're coming."

"Ehm Jane? Just... how are we going to-" I start, but for some reason I can suddenly hear not-so silent voices from the hallway, on the other end of the wall. it's back the way we came, but I don't remember seeing anyone else on our way here, unless one of the bodies decided for a round two.

"Biff, all these people are dead too." A high-pitched, and not so quiet voice says, making me curl my toes in frustration. How the fu- wait, survivors? In the blink of an eye, I have turned around, being the last one in aside from Ash, still covering our six.

"Guys, I think we're about to have company." she says, her own rifle aiming at where the noise is coming from.

"Danson, I swear to God, shut up! The aliens are gonna hear you!" The other guy sounds pissed... as well as uncomfortably familiar. Oh God, please don't be a new jumper, please don't be a new jumper, please don't be a new jumper. Please, God almighty, please don't be anything or anyone I know, I can't handle any more of this shit. This universe is already so fucked up that I'm surprised Stephen Hawking hasn't rolled in with his theories of black holes.

"Oh God, I'm really gonna die!"

"Danson, if you don't shut up, I'll make sure you do indeed fall down a long set of stairs, and then Alpha Twelve can go..." The voice is cut off as our group step out in front of the people talking, both being suicidal when yelling like that. We all aim our guns at them, despite they being dressed the same way as us. Jane and Ash instantly lower their guns, all the while the sound of gunfire and roars in the background is keeping on as if on a timer.

"Guns down guys, they're Alliance." She says, and Wrex and me obey, albeit me still keeping a very sharp eye on the soldier fiddling with... You have got to be shitting me! Either we found out overnight how to make plasma rifles and blasters, or we're in for a world of hurt. and I'll make damn sure those two are as well. My nerves are already on the verge of killing me at the moment, and if there's one thing I can't handle right now, it's more inter-dimensional people joining up; "But you two really need to shut the hell up. We're in the dark here, hostiles can be anywhere. Who are you two anyways?" Jane says, causing me to bite my lip, hoping for something like Adam Hanks or something really regular, and then how he has lived here all his life and not being anything out of the ordinary.

"Hey Biff... do we have female clones now too?" OH GODS! No, no no no no, someone tell me this isn't true! If these two are clones from Star Wars, I'm going to lie down and cry in a fetal position. I'm actually all in for simply gunning them down at the moment, my nerves are thát shot to shit.

"Danson, I don't think she's a clone, and that big one definitely isn't a clone either."

"Oh... well, then I don't have to die for the Republic?" The one asks, causing his friend to smack his helmet. He then turns his head to look at the one named Danson, and for the life of me, I swear I know these two from somewhere before.

"... No, Danson, I don't think you do. I don't even know if we're still IN the Republic. Shepard didn't sound like someone from-"

"What didn't I sound like?" Jane says, causing the guy to almost jump on the spot.

"Like... a man? Honestly, you really sounded like a man over the radio, no offence." He says, and my mind is screaming that I know these two from somewhere, and now I'm more and more certain that they are from Star Wars. The 'Republic' doesn't really qualify for anything else besides Thessia anyway.

"I haven't been on the comms with you soldier. Identify yourself." Jane says, sounding about as pissed as I'm feeling. Calm down, calm down... don't go kill anyone. Still, doesn't change the fact that my fingers are dancing over the trigger, already pointing at the foremost of the guys' knees.

"Ma'am, with no due respect, I don't think this place is safe before the Republic sends support. We are still in the Republic right? Also, I'm Biff Gamma Nine. That's Danson Delta-forty... he never got the combat simulations, so-" This is where I can't keep it down anymore. I whip my rifle up to aim the guy straight in the visor. Hilarious series or not, I CANNOT FUCKING TAKE ANYMORE!

"Stand down Fisher!" Jane bellows, probably loud enough for that thing back there to hear her. I don't care, and neither do I follow Jane's orders. At least not instantly. The other guy, the one who's helmet I can perforate with bullets at this very instant, reels backwards, clearly not expecting this.

"Oh God! Now I'm really gonna die!"

"Fuck that Jane, I fucking know these two ass-hats! And I bet both Tequila and Nick do as well." I reply, glaring death at Biff. If I had the power, I would send them both straight back to whenever in the series they saw it fit to cross over to my galaxy. A moment of silence passes before Jane seems to get my meaning;

"Oh God... not more of those?" She exclaims, frustration clear in her voice. I don't take my eyes from the clone though, my rifle instead just pressing against his helmet. As he moves to bring up his blaster, I just dance my finger over the trigger, slowly shaking my head.

"Not exactly the welcome I hoped for... then again, you haven't shot us yet, so it's still better than Dantoine." Why can't he get the fact that he needs to shut the fuck up? My head is starting to act up again, and my skin feels like it's burning. Great, I already have the next migraine coming my way!

"Biff and Danson... Lazy bastard and pacifistic coward of an untrained soldier... how the fuck did you get here?" I ask. Well, asking might be the wrong word. It is more of a growl coupled with a demand and a sneer. I know, not the most sympathetic first impression, but I really can't handle any more distortions of reality.

"Well... glad to see my reputation precedes me. As for your question? I have no idea as to how we got here, where ever here is. Anyway, we were actually going to help some guy named Adrian when we bumped into you people. He said he was 'Adrian Shepard', which is why-"

"No! No, no no no no no no Kel su fack det nede! I can't handle this shit anymore! One Shepard I can handle, two is straining it, but three? Go. Fuck- what was that?" The sound of moaning and some sort of infernal wailing suddenly fills the corridor.

Before anyone can answer me, Husks start Danson. He's just hiding behind Wrex, cowering. Jesus Christ it's actually extremely annoying when you are in the real life, not watching his story through a screen. Instead of trying to shout at him though, I'm forced to send a rain of slugs into the closest Husk. The head explodes when the bullets impact, spreading goo and black matter backwards from its head.

"Fisher! Go find Adrian. We need someone who knows this place. Go!" Jane shouts, blasting the head off a Husk that got a little too close, then a stream of red bullets impact on her shields, causing her to wince back as we both look at who gave the Husks a gun. Fuck, more of those!

"Move corporal! We can handle- gaaah! Die you bloated piece of shit!" She shouts, almost kicking me off in the direction of the wall of corpses. Looking back one last time, I spot Ash beating a Husk to death with the butt of her rifle. She then kicks it into the husk behind it, sending a stream of bullets through both of them plus another Husk behind them. All three fall to the ground, writhing before they lie still. Curling my fists up in frustration, I start off for the sound of gunfire and inhuman roars.

...

Valhalla, Midgard system

Adrian Shepard

09:11

He pulled the trigger again, spraying the creature with fire as it swung for him, the haymaker smashing through a wall as the metallic claw was sent through any obstacles in its way. Somehow Adrian doubted his body would prove as resistant as the walls. He jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the claw slamming down on him from above, then rolled beneath a table before kicking said table at the monster. it simply slammed down on the table as well, obliterating it with a single blow before smashing it to the side, focusing on its prey. Strafing to the side, Adrian opened fire again, the anti-armor punching against the steel-like hide of the creature.

It vaguely resembled a Turian, with the headspikes, but so many things were off. First of all, the size alone made it bigger than an Elcor, and bigger than a Turian with certainty. Second, there was the fact that its head was on a long and curved neck, resembling most of all a torn-out spine with the top-most of the skull mounted on top of it, no face of mouth, just the face-plates and the spikes making up the Turian part of the head.

The bullets hammered against the creature, seemingly doing no real damage to speak off, only serving to piss it off even further. He fired the rest of the heat sink at the creature, aiming for the head and neck. He only succeeded in making it recoil slightly, the way it retracted its head reminding him of a coiled snake.

"Just Die already!" He shouted, pulling the trigger until his rifle started glowing white-hot in the heat sink display. "Ah fuck!" He swore, waving the gun around as if to cool it faster. The creature seemingly found it curious to watch, if only for a second. Then it seemed to shrug it off, bellowing a new war-cry before it slammed down a large meaty fist where the corporal had just been the previous instant. Currently, the soldier's abundant genetic augments and synthetically enhanced muscles allowed him to roll out of the way faster than a normal human could have blinked. True, the initial augments had been painful, but he had seen their value early on. For the time being, he knew he would be long dead if not for his augments. If asked though, he would insist that he had survived due to his skills as a soldier. For the moment though, he would have to focus on staying alive in the first place. Something that was made increasingly difficult by the second. His rifle declared itself ready to fire once more, and after having slipped over a large metallic desk, he turn and sprayed the creature with Devastator rounds, each slug enhanced with microscopic amounts of explosive materials in the tips, used for penetrating light armor and heavy infantry armor as well. Currently, the brutish creature seemed to fit the definition of 'vehicle' rather than infantry.

It followed him in hot pursuit, large claws smashing down on the metallic desk, causing the metal to curl up like a piece of wet clay, the metal bending in on itself enough to almost curling around the claw of the creature. He then watched as it seemingly found the table to obstruct its opening of the claw. He was then shot down, in the sense of the emotional feeling of losing an argument, when the creature simply bobbed its head before opening the claw, tearing the table apart and spreading the shrapnel-like parts around the room with the speed of an exploding grenade. Adrian then skidded around it, deciding to fire on its backside while it was focused on its front. As he came around, he saw that its back was a large array of ribs forced open, almost as if the body had revolted against itself. He could see long blue wires and tubes running in the center of the back.

He raised his rifle again, aiming at the supposed weak-spot on the creature.

"Just die already!" He shouted, overheating the rifle in the long lines of blue light running up and down the creature's backside. If the thing could feel pain, that would be what it was currently shrieking in as the rounds punched through its hide, cutting into the wires and synthetic joints on its backside.

"Yeah? Didn't like thát did ya?" He shouted, pulling up his sidearm as his rifle vented heat. The Raikou, he knew, wasn't meant to have any effect on creatures thís large, but he still opened fire at it; "Well come on then you bloody bogey! Come and get me!" He shouted, the handgun punching rounds down range as he aimed at the head of the large creature. He had, unknowingly, gotten into a position where he had the creature between him and the door he had used to get in there. It was also the only door in the room, if one didn't count in the locker in the corner.

He jumped out of the way as the creature swung at him again, feeling the displaced air as the claw came inches from cutting of his cheek, and most of his head for that matter. The overly acrobatic maneuver might have seemed excessive at some time, but at the moment he knew he had no chance of beating the creature with brute force. He had to be agile, and he had to avoid being clipped or clawed... or whatever it was called. Where the hell was that Biff and his friend? What was taking them as long as to make sure he was dead before they showed up anyway? The Stasis labs weren't that far from where he was, and currently Adrian felt as if he had been abandoned. For all he knew, aside from those two he was the only man alive in the facility.

As he landed on the floor again, he aimed the Raikou at the creature's backside, having jumped to its side far enough to aim where it was vulnerable. He started squeezing off shots, jumping back as the claw attempted to skewer him. What he didn't manage to avoid was the meaty fist that suddenly connected with his chest plate, cracking it with the force similar to a warp of Matriarch level. At least, that was how it felt when he was slammed backwards, flying through the air as he impacted on the locker, making a huge dent in it before he slumped down on the floor. He was spent. He was spent and he was battered and broken from taking out dozens of the creatures since the start of the day. Despite the fact that it hadn't been more than five hours since the start of the fighting, he felt every single bone and tendon in his body scream out in agony. His chest burned with each breath, and he could feel multiple ribs having cracked and broken. He would be lucky if he didn't start coughing up blood. Then again, given the fact that he couldn't move a muscle, maybe the lungs didn't matter that much in the end.

Adrian could only stare at the creature in defiance as it sauntered towards him, almost as if it had glee in those cold, glowing eyes of its. He tried gripping his pistol but found that it was lying on the floor where he had been pummeled, around six meters away. The monster was only three and closing. He then tried reaching for his rifle, but stopped when he noticed the pieces of an Avenger Rifle, scattered all over the floor. His Avenger rifle, to be more precise. He then coughed, feeling the dreaded wet fluid that suddenly sprayed over the interior of his helmet. A few droplets of red hit his visor.

"Ghhh... Fuck." He muttered, not having the needed air for an actual exclamation. He then just laid back, watching as the creature reached for him with the meaty fist, three large fingers closing around him with surprising care not to crush him. Great, time for cat and mouse, I guess...

When he was on eyelevel with the creature, he thought he could see a snarl on its non-existing face. If he had had the strength left for it, as well as no helmet covering his face, he would have spat at it. A small gesture of final defiance, as futile as it might be. His vision started to darken, tendrils of blackness edging their way into the corners of his vision.

Then a hand closed itself around the long neck of the creature.

Adrian's eyes shot open as he looked on in startled surprise, not knowing how to react when a helmet suddenly emerged from the back of the creature, fastened upon the shoulders of a soldier armored in the same style as Adrian, only clad in white and blue, not white and green, as Adrian was. What startled him even more was the fact that the soldier seemed to be on fire, green transparent flames licking his form and his hand. Oddly enough the soldier didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that he was on fire.

Then the flaming fist closed tighter around the long spinal neck, causing the creature to scream in what sounded like deep pain and agony. Apparently the backside wasn't the only weak point in the creature's hulking form. The howls of panic and agony increased in intensity as the soldier closed his other hand around the spinal neck as well, looking like he was trying to tear it out with his bare hands. Of course, that would be impossible since not even a rifle on full auto could do anything but ping off of it.

"Hey ass-hat? Your ass is mine!" The soldier shouted. His voice was... distorted, as if he had shouted through a speaker that lowered his voice with several octaves. The green fire coating him went even brighter and denser than it had been before, and Adrian could see a pair of green lights behind the visor. This was doubly disturbing because the visor was polarized to the degree where it was like looking at dull plastic, no transparency at all from the outside.

Adrian had half a mind to try opening his mouth to tell him that it wasn't possible, despite the fact that he couldn't move his jaw, and that his lungs were hard pressed for air as the cracked ribs pressed down on the organs. It could, in retrospect, have been the same. The burning soldier chose that very moment to rip the spine out from the back of the creature, briefly holding the now limp appendix in his hands, the head dangling like a rock at the end of a macabre rope. Then the creature fell backwards, its body tumbling in a heap over a broken table. when it crashed down, it happened with surprisingly little noise, unlike the thundering crash Adrian had imagined. The soldier, now dimming in glow but still retaining a 'healthy green shimmering' stood where he had simply jumped off the creature, the neck and head still in his hands before he discarded it like it was trash, and not a trophy. That was not what Adrian had expected at all, though to be frank, he had expected to be dead right now, so he couldn't really speak for the fact that he was surprised. Also he was pretty sure he might have wet himself at some point that morning, but the armor had taken care of it, so it was more a fact than an issue.

"Hey, you alright?" The soldier asked him, his voice completely normal now, save for the filtered voice coming from his helmet. Before Adrian could either speak or nod, the man took off his helmet. He looks... young... Was what his mind said. And the man... boy... guy... the soldier, seemed to be no older than twenty-five at most. He had a short-cropped hair that formed a modes Mohawk of black hair, and a small amount of stubbles on his face as well. Over his right... no, left eye, a long vertical scar crossed from the start of his forehead, going down over his eye and then curved slightly off towards the cheek. He also had a few smaller scars that looked like they were from burns. His eyes were no longer beaming green, they were a sharp iridescent blue with a green tint to them. The eye beneath the scar was completely blue though. He had a slightly casual attitude towards the dead monster currently filling up the floor next to him. But there was anger as well, or at least traces of it.

Adrian sagged for a moment, his ribs not allowing him to move beyond what it took him to breathe. He then grit his teeth, knowing full well of the medical crisis he was currently in.

"Me..medic..." He forced out, his lungs killing him with each exhale of breath his word demanded. That at least seemed to get the soldier to change his mood, as his jaw became set and he stood as if he didn't know what to do.

He could feel the tendrils of darkness encroach on him again, realizing with dread that if he fell asleep as he was now, there was a good chance he wouldn't wake back up. Then he could hear the clatter of boots in the near distance, rapidly closing in on their position. Before long, a woman with ran into the room, a shotgun cocked and ready in her hands;

"Fisher! I swear to God, when we... What on... Christo, what is that?" She said, pointing at the huge creature before she spotted him.

...

"Fisher! I ... What on... Christo, what is that?" Jane shouts, sounding more than just regularly pissed at me. I know, I was out of line earlier, and I shouldn't have pointed a gun at Biff's forehead... well, his visor, but it was still his forehead. On the other hand though, if I been here, this guy would probably have been mashed potatoes by now. Ten Kroner says this guy is Adrian. With a small sigh, I turn to look at the captain as she, Ash and Wrex storm through the door, weapons at the ready;

"Thank the Divines you're all alive" I exclaim, seeing Wrex walk through the door with several bleeding wounds in his hide. He walks as if it was nothing though, and I let him pass, setting up a private channel with Ash. I don't get to do much more with it than see her eyes look into mine though, as Jane calls for my attention.

"Good job Corporal... " She says, then turns to look at the downed soldier at the locker. With a simple gesture, Ash is sent to check on him, medi-gel already at the ready to be used. Wait, that's it? 'Good job Fisher, you just took down a fucking abomination big enough to eat Wrex in one bite'? How about a 'Damn Fisher, you deserve a promotion'? No? Just me thinking this big piece of shit warrants more than a pat on the back? Seriously, a shotgun or a rifle to the face obviously couldn't do jack-shit to it, but when I tear out its spine like a fucking Predator, I get a 'good job'?

"Captain, he's alive... barely." Ash says. Her brows are furrowed with worry as she looks over the guy on the floor. Now that I look more closely, his entire front-piece of the armor is cracked and dented inwards. He took a punch from that thing and lived?

"Give him the full treatment then. Aside from those two..." She says, thumbing backwards at the two clones entering the room as well; "He's the only survivor we've found so far."

"I think... I'm glad I didn't meet that thing." Biff says. Wrex just looks at him before stepping up to the dead creature, kicking it with his foot before glancing around.

"Where's the head of this thing?" He asks. With a smug smile, I bow down, fishing up the spinal cord with the head attached to it. Talos! This thing is fucking disgusting... Maybe I should prank the shit out of Joker with it?

"You seem to be in a better mood." Roku says while I'm holding the head in my hands. The thing looks like Garrus's face minus the head and mouth, the spine etched and lined with dead blue lights.

"Yeah well... sorry for that scene earlier..."

"I am incapable of bearing a grudge."

"Here you go Wrex" I say, handing him the 'trophy' from the creature. With a grin, he takes it, holding up the neck so as to let the head dangle down.

"Heh Heh, you just keep making me look bad Fisher. You know, one day you should come to Tuchanka, and hunt big game. Let's see you smile like that when a Thresher is trying to eat you." He says, a chuckle in his voice as draws out his shotgun before placing the head on the floor and blasting it close-up. Aside from pellets being bounced off of the skull, nothing happens to it.

"Wrex! What was that for?" Jane demands, causing the old Krogan to look at her with an annoyed glance before tossing the trophy back to me; "Keep that thing kid, might come in handy. Fucking thing seems to be bulletproof." I then just stand with the thing, the dead eyes staring at me, almost as if it's trying to scare me. Well, it's working then.

"Captain, I've got him stabilized, but he needs medical attention from an actual doctor." Ash says, drawing my mind and gaze back to where she is sitting hunched over the bare-chested man, several black and purple bruises and spots already forming where a few odd bone-like forms are close to sticking out of his skin.

"Gotha. Wrex, take She... take this guy back to the Normandy."

"Me? Hmph, and why is that?" He seems more obsessed about fighting despite the fact that he is pretty much doing it in his underwear. Krogan nipples... not good for your eyes. And wait, weren't they reptiles?

"Because A) I say so, B) your armor is non-existent at this point, and don't give me the crap about barriers Wrex, I'm a biotic, I know how things work. Finally, C) and you take those two guys with you. If nothing else for the entertainment value. Now hoof it Urdnot." She says, and I can almost hear the smug grin under her helmet. I wonder how she got along with Wrex before she ended up here. Did she shoot him on Virmire or were they best pals?

"Right, right..." He says, his voice more that of a sour old man than a pissed off merc. With surprising gentleness, he picks up the soldier, carrying him in his arms. Much the same way I carried Ash while she was drunk as fuck actually. He then stops by Biff and Danson who, despite wearing a helmet, looks terrified of the large alien. Damn, I remember him being scared of a Jawa on Tatooine, so him being afraid of Wrex? Should have seen that one coming.

"Come on you Pyjaks... I've dealt with C-Sec braver than you, and better shots than you."

"Still, we cannot afford to have him on the ship. His combat-prowess is less than yours when you arrived on Eden Prime, and he is a genetic coward and pacifist. I say dump him and Biff on the Citadel,, maybe get them jobs in C-Sec... just get them off the ship."

"Why do I get the sense you aren't really a fan of comedy?"

"Oh but I am. I just don't like having cowards and incompetent soldiers around when something important is going on. I do enjoy Ace Ventura, just so that you know." Huh... Never took him for a Jim Carrey lover. Still, can't argue with that. Ace Ventura WAS an epic film. Especially when he crawled out the rhino's ass. Gods did I laugh at that one...

"Alright squad, lock and load. We still have a facility to secure." Jane says, snapping me back from my small conversation in my head. It really gets weird at times, how I just shut everything else out like that. With a small grunt, still annoyed that I only got a 'good job' for killing a Reaperised Shrek, I pull out my shotgun, deciding to give the rifle a rest, as well as the fact that the ammo-block in that thing is probably somewhat strained.

...

November 24th

Illium, Nos Astra

"Everything is ready ma'am." A Turian Sun said, actually saluting Tara as Magus stood a bit away, watching with confusing feelings coursing through him. First of all, he was now a Blue Suns. Not a freelancer, not a slave or a servant... he was actually a Blue Suns member, just like that. The armor itself felt quite comfortable actually, and it was a welcomed familiar feeling of even wearing armor in the first place. Still, he was a merc now, a person who would kill for money, no matter what the reason for the kill was. That was something he had never liked doing. At least in the Alliance he knew why he killed the people he did. Because they were Batarians, or just bad people... but especially if they were Batarians.

"Good. No point in staying here then. Give the word to Commander Desorus. We're on our way to the meet-up." She said, her voice raspy and clear, fully fitting her role as a leader of the group of twenty people standing around. Magnus felt an urge to pinch the bridge of his nose as he watched Tara stroll around in Blue Suns armor. It just seemed... wrong, for some reason. True, he had know about her true intentions for about a week, but it just hit him harder when she walked around in a combat exoskeleton made for Quarians, painted with the colors and symbols of the Suns.

"Yes ma'am." The Turian said, saluting again before walking down the ramp at a brisk pace. Tara then turned to look around her, seemingly a little surprised to find Magnus looking at her like he was.

"What?" She asked, her more professional tone shining through instead of the 'innocent girl' act she had used to put on when he was around.

"Nothing... Just never thought I would find myself in... well, in this." He muttered, gesturing at his armor. While it wasn't the same grade as his old Onyx hard-suit had been, it was on par with standard Alliance protection. Tara seemed to gain a softer attitude at that. Or maybe it was because she simply had too much difficulty being professional around him. Either way it was more pleasant than her 'I can kill you with a snap of my fingers.' kind off tone.

"I know. A lot happened that I didn't plan on either..." She muttered, standing as near him as she dared without any of her men spotting the lethal and venomous assassin going soft with an FNG.

"I bet I belong somewhere in that category, right?" He asked with small chuckle, looking down at her smaller form. It was true that she really did have the body of a Northern goddess, but in his mind, Magnus could still see Jane sobbing over his body. The pain she had radiated would haunt him forever, he just knew that.

"True... are you ready for this?" She asked, looking up to his face. She only just reached his nose with the top of her head, so it was something of a difference when they looked at each other.

"Maybe... maybe not. It really doesn't matter, we just have to kill one son of a whore to make the galaxy a brighter place. Doesn't sound all that hard." He shrugged, starting to walk towards the bridge. They passed through the mess, a small room with a table suited for eight people in total, along with a fridge and a sink. A man in blue armor was already packing down the last of the supplies including, to Magnus's great delight, pork.

"Well, him and the Suns loyal to him. I'm guessing Batarians, lot's of Batarians. Ready for those?" She asked with a hidden, she thought, coy smile. Magnus cracked his knuckles at that, the rolled his shoulders before looking back at the Quarian;

"Hell, it was practically a hobby back in my days. Just give me a gun that works and POW, the four-eyes will be five eyes." He smirked, oblivious to the confused face Tara put up.

"There aren't any races with five eyes Magnus."He palmed his forehead at that, letting the fingers slowly glide across his face before he responded;

"It was a joke... You know, they have four eyes, I shoot them in the face. A new hole means five eyes. Get it?" He tried, gesturing wildly as he explained. In the end though, the Quarian just sighed;

"I don't get human humor at all..."

There... managed a long chapter despite a writer's block (coupled with my new keyboard acting like a bitch)

Well, I figured we needed to see how the secondary protagonists were doing, despite it being a short section. Also, I am really happy when I find that my story has reached 350 reviews. Might not seem much to some people, but to me it is pure fuckingh awesome.

Well, see you later :D