A:N
Well, here we are again. Been wanting to expand the "Virmire-Week" seeing as there is simply not enough time to finish it up in one week. So, we get this one too. Also, to put wondering to rest: Master Chief will show up in the NEXT story. So, no need to ask me if he shows up in this one. He won't. Now, let's get down to business, shall we?
Actions unhead of
Serpent Nebular, the Citadel
Ambassador Donnel Udina's office.
17:22 (Citadel time)
Tap
tap tap
tap tap tap tapppetap
The finger went down harder and harder while the man tasked with managing humanity's relations to the rest of the galaxy, was reading through the latest report he had received from Oleg Petrovsky.
"Petrovsky... why, oh why do must you do this to me? Oh right, job and all that..." Udina mumbled, not feeling in one of his better moods. His day had started out somewhat acceptable, with reports coming in that Alliance ships had destroyed a battle group of the hostile ships known as the 'Reapers'. Then, Petrovsky had sent the report to him, and Hackett, that they were preparing the final phase of the attack.
It was only now though that Donnel Udina was informed of the plan involving a heavy bombardment of a Garden world.
The Council would have his ass for this.
The swoosh of the doors to his office opening made him aware that his solitude was ended, and looking up he saw David Anderson entering the room with a moody expression. Udina simply sighed, returning his attention to the report.
"From your more-so-than-usually annoyed expression, I'll wager a guess you're reading the report from Petrovsky?" Anderson said, sounding more tired than he usually did.
"This will be the end of every single lucrative deal we've struck with the Council since the "you don't shoot us, we join you" deal we all just labeled a happy ending to the war... plus the death of my political career." He muttered, growled more like.
Devil take Petrovsky! Why did he have to go and pull something like that? Udina had only ever expected something like that, a heavy bombardment of a garden world from people like Fisher. Now he had it on him that his closest partner in the military was guilty of a crime comparative to opening new relays.
"I agree, this is unexpected. Petrovsky might be in this for the same reason as us, but bombarding a Garden world...The Council is not going to like this." Anderson said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He had some dark lines under his eyes, bags that told of lacking sleep. At least he wasn't alone in it, Udina figured.
"That's the understatement of the month..." The south African ambassador mumbled, rubbing his forehead as he reread the report.
"...followed up with a heavy bombardment of Virmire's equatorial areas around the central ocean..." Yep, this was just going to kick Udina's career straight out the window, then hold it down and drown it in the Presidium lakes.
"Worst part is that the Council seems to have forgotten that it was a human that warned them of the Reapers... Sparatus already wants to impose sanctions on us for not sharing the new technology Fisher has her fingers on." He said, fighting to keep the growl out of his voice. Anderson nodded at that;
"I know. I'm having a meeting later tonight with Admiral Hackett. Admiral Fisher won't listen to me, but I know Hackett. And despite their different ways of operating, Fisher is his niece. He can reason with her. Still, it cannot be thát bad?" He said. Udina, having long since learned the importance of never asking for more trouble, palmed his forehead as the words left the captain's mouth.
"Anderson... we need to talk about your lack of sense for the way the Universe seems to be waiting for such..." He started, but was cut off when he received a new message. One that, had his expression not already been hard, would have set them as stone; "The Council wants to talk to us... Well, to me."
"Think it's about Virmire?"
"I cannot imagine it would be anything else. Valern might be dead, but his successor has at least the same type of clout as he did with the STG. Doubtless they know already... which means I am going to defend Petrovsky's actions to the Three Big." Udina said, his voice just as tired as he felt. Anderson offered a consenting nod, looking at Udina as the older man got to his feet, pushing out his chair.
"Nervous?"
"Annoyed, more like it." Udina said, shaking his head before he headed out the door. The former captain stood for a few moments, then sighed and followed. At the very least he could see to it that an old friend was not about to get overwhelmed if it came to military details.
"God, I hate politics..." He muttered as he walked the hallways.
Virmire, Hoc system
Point Rain, 6th Raiders
17:05
The sound of feet pounding through the sand alerted Jane to the final arrivals to the group. Kaidan looked somewhat busted up while Tequila looked... even more busted up, to be frank. The corporal was looking through the completely transparent glass of her visor while Kaidan seemed to be a little unstable on his feet. The result of a Medigel overdose probably.
Still, they were alive, on their feet and present.
"Alright people. The geth have us blocked from going through the pass up ahead. The 6th will keep shelling them, but honestly it isn't really working. So, we are going to take a fragment of the forces and go over the cliffs..." She said, gesturing at the five-hundred meter cliffs to her back; "And hit the enemy base while their main forces are cooped up at the pass here. With any luck we can get in, bust up the shield generator and then ex-fil again without anyone dying. A secondary objective will be to disable any and all anti-air weapons we come across, thus allowing our Wasps to enter the area and rain down death. Questions may be asked now."
"Captain... how will we get over, and how many people do we bring?" Tequila asked, holding her helmet while Williams was doing some field-repairs to it. From the looks of the thing, it had taken some damage.
"Those of us in the Bulwark armor have climbing-cables. We bring the rappelling-lines from your suits up to the top, hammer them in and wait for you to raise yourself up. The we repeat the same thing down the other side. As for how many we can bring? Around a sixty-seventy people. This is a high-risk and value mission, so it's pretty important we don't fuck it up."
"We have rappelling-lines?" Thomas asked from the side, holding his helmet under his arm. Of course, leave it to the youngster to ask the stupid questions. Jane had to resist the urge to slap her helmet's visor in annoyance. Fine, to be fair he had just taken a biotic tumble, so his jimmies might be a little rustled.
Still...
"Yes Fisher, we have lines. You have noticed we have magnetic soles too?" She said. The look of surprise on his face was all the answer she needed; "You know what? Never mind."
"Shepard... Captain. I have an idea." Thomas said.
"Well, spill it."
"I'm not really all in for going over the cliffs..." He said, sounding a little ashamed. Jane palmed her helmet, muttering a curse that would have sent her parents to their graves if they had ever existed here.
"Well then we're leaving you here. I can't have people jeopardize the mission because they fear heights." She said, keeping as much of the annoyance from her voice as possible. Thomas shook his head again, causing her to furrow her brows in equal annoyance and confusion.
"Shepard, how far from this side of the cliffs to the other side? From a bird-perspective I mean."
"Not much really... about thirty meters. Why?" If Jane had been able to see his face, she would have known Thomas was coming up with a way to avoid doing things he didn't like. Of course, Thomas being Thomas, that wasn't really a surprise.
"What if we went through the cliffs instead? I'm..." He started, then there was a pause of a few moments before he spoke again; "Pretty sure I can make a passage through them."
"...what? Through them?" She asked, for a moment not sure if she had heard right.
"My... biotics, can carve a path through the stone. We could take the men through instead of over?" Thomas said. Jane stopped herself from speaking, then scratched the side of her helmet while mulling it over. In theory it could work... in theory. She knew Thomas had some pretty strong powers, but strong enough to carve through a small mountain?
She sighed, looking to where Garrus sat, making some adjustments to his Mantis while his assault rifle was on his back. A more calm sigh. If there were any actual people she could stress out with and let off some steam on the ship, it were Garrus and Kaidan. Garrus when she needed to beat something up, and Kaidan for more in-depth conversations. That brought a small, hidden smile to her face.
"I suppose... that could work. Are you sure you can do that?" She asked. Thomas just shrugged.
"Hey if I can get away with blowing myself up, why not? Besides, this way I won't have to go over the cliffs."
"...because you're afraid of heights." She stated. He nodded, looking away.
"Roku says a field around five-by-five should be possible without rendering me completely dead in the water afterwards. More than enough to bring us through." He said, pointing at where he wanted to carve through the rocks. Jane looked, then nodded. In truth, it was a sound idea. Something odd, considering its source.
"I'll tell Tokev to send over the men we need." She said, tapping her comms; "Colonel, it's Shepard... yes, the human Shepard. Why... never mind. We are ready and assembled. You can send the men over. There's a change in plans though."
"There's been a complication here too, Captain. Five of the marines I had pegged for your operation were killed a minute ago. I can't spare you more than fifteen Bulwark-equipped men. What's the change then? "
"Instead of sending a major team over the cliffs, we're sending a team of sharpshooters up there. How many do you have of those?" Jane asked.
"Five. Wait, you can't... Captain, tell me what this new plan of yours is, because I'm not risking my men to a half-assed plan."
"While the sharpshooters lay down fire from the cliffs, the rest of us will cut through the cliffs. It's faster, and we can do it quietly. I can still use the men we agreed on before, but the cables are unnecessary now. How copy?"
"...Solid. I'll have the men sent over right away. Good luck." The transmission ended. Jane rolled her shoulders, trying to figure out just how she was going to explain that her corporal could carve through rocks like that. Tier 6 biotic maybe? That could work, but how would she explain the green colors?
"Alright, is Clarke going to get here soon or what?" She asked, wanting to make sure the N7 didn't get to back out. If she had to wait until they were done with Saren to reenlist in the program, she would be damned if she didn't make sure the current N7's were up to it.
"Sure am." A voice came from right next to her. With a clipped yelp she spun, almost punching the N7 in the helmet from where he had snuck up on her.
"Seriously! Don't fucking do that!" She snapped, and Jane spun to face Clarke as he was leaning against the cliff-side now, his three horizontal gabs in the helmet allowing her to see what looked like a smug grin; "Clarke! What in the hell was that supposed to be?" She sneered, stomping over to him.
"I just confirmed I was on. Didn't mean to startle you ma'am." He said with casual wave of his hand. Jane could feel her dislike for the man grow somewhat. Sure, he was young, maybe a year or so younger than her, but hell, even Fisher didn't sneak up on her, and he was the youngest person on the ship.
"Startled? Startled is when the abomination of a Turian and a Krogan jumps into my face in a closed facility. Startled, is when dragons emerge from fairy-tales only to be rotten and shooting laser at you. You..." She said, pointing a finger at him; "merely surprised me."
"Of course ma'am." He said in the same friendly, down-to-the-ground way. Before Jane could retaliate, the sound of heavier footsteps alerted her to the arrival of the fifteen Bulwark-wearing soldiers, followed by a loose group of forty soldiers with weapons out. The frontmost Bulwark, a soldier in a completely red-painted piece of armor stopped at Jane and saluted, followed by the rest.
"Lieutenant Lee Riley ma'am. My men and I are ready to move on your orders." The soldier, the woman said. Jane's scowl instantly became a smirk at the sight of more women than her armored up like walking tanks. And the fact that she was the superior but that Riley was a lieutenant meant that she would be commanding someone competent and professional... for a change.
The only actually professional soldiers on the ship aside from her were Kaidan and Williams. She returned the salute, then extended a hand towards the lieutenant, who grasped it. Again, Jane was surprised. This time it was the strength of the grip that did it.
"Glad to have you Riley. Ready to screw Saren over?" Jane instantly regretted that way of speaking, as most people in the army she had known would prefer to be professional about killing a madman.
"Hell yeah ma'am." Riley chuckled. Okay, so maybe Jane wouldn't have to regret it anyway. Riley then turned her eyes, maybe, since they were hidden behind a helmet, to Clarke who looked to be following the interaction with mild interest; "And you are Isaac Clarke, N7, master degree in hacking, reverse-engineering and Tier 5 biotic."
"Hmm, you seem well informed. You know of me?" Clarke said, sounding mildly impressed with the presentation. Probably because Riley had just done a better job of putting him in a good light than he had himself. Tier 5? Jane mulled over it for a few moments. She had always thought it was impossible to reach above Tire 6, so that must mean Clarke was pretty damn good. She herself was a 4, and Kaidan was a 4 too, from what she remembered. John? She didn't know how high John was. No one probably ever tested him.
"I tend to keep an eye on special people spending time on my ship. N7 classifies as 'special' in my eyes." Riley said, not putting any effort into sounding like the 'special' was an admiration.
"I'll take that as a compliment. Now then, do we scale this thing or what?" He said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them like a gleeful child. Jane noticed Garrus and Nihlus share what would have to be the Turian equivalent of a "look".
"There's been a change of plans." Jane said, picking out the clearly different team of sharpshooters in the group. As opposed to the regular Phase-II armored marines, these ones wore the body armor of their peers, but the helmet was different. Instead of the T-shaped visor they two types of helmets. One was bare of any features except for a pair of ocular modules on the left side of their helmets, shining with weak, yellow lights. The other type was a regular marines helmet with the exception of being a visor instead of a mask. Where the T-shape would have been, these helmets had only a see-through surface that reflected no light whatsoever. Common to them all was the dull stripes and blots of sandstone and grass covering their bodies and heads. There seemed to be just about an equal amount of both types, and the soldiers adorned with the completely see-through masks were carrying a heavy, anti-material rifle over their backs. All in all they looked more than just professional. One of the men with the non-descript helmets with a pair of vertically positioned ocular modules, stepped up to Jane and saluted;
"Sergeant Prokhor Božidar, Spetsnaz 2th sniper-division." He said, not moving one inch from his salute while Jane returned it. The way those cold, mechanical modules stared at her, unnerved her a little. It was like the man behind was a machine of death, not a regular human being.
"Jane Shepard, Captain of the SSV Normandy. Sergeant, your mission is to scale the cliffs with marksman Vakarian..." She said, thumbing at the now surprised Turian who, clearly from his looks alone to be seen, had not expected this; "And from there lay down covering fire at given targets. You will hold fire when told to, open fire when told to, and retreat when told to. Understood?"
"Yes Captain."
"Sergeant. Your name, it isn't Russian, is it?" Jane asked, raising a brow at the thought.
"Czech." He answered. So, a man of few words. That was something which both annoyed and pleased Jane, that the man was impersonal, and that he was clearly a professional, in that order.
"The Spetsnaz kinda pulled a Foreign Legion a few decades back, so now the entirety of Eastern Europe can join in their ranks. Makes for more diversity, I suppose." Clarke said from the side. Prokhor seemed to be shooting the N7 a look, but due to the helmet, Jane had no idea as to what sort of look.
"Well, work with Vakarian, will you? He's the best sharpshooter on my ship and I'd like for him to live through the mission. You report to me, but if he gives and order, you follow it." Jane said, once more thumbing at the now at-the-ready Garrus who was in the process of preparing his kit. Jane then looked over the collection of Bulwark-armored figures; "I need... two marines with Bulwarks to carry the sharpshooters to the top of the cliff. Anyone?"
A few marines stepped forward, guns at the ready and held high while looking every bit as professional as Jane could have asked for. God, did it feel great to work with professionals again. Not that she would ever trade the Normandy-crew for anything, but there was a certain edge to actual soldiers, that hired guns, vigilantes and rookies just didn't have.
"You, you and... you, get them up there. Depending on the situation you either stay up there or rejoin the rest of us on the other side of the cliffs. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am." The three marines echoed as one. Jane nodded;
"Then set to it." She said. Instantly the Bulwarks went to the wall and fired their cables up the side. She briefly watched the sight before turning to her own troops. Now Fisher had better deliver. Speaking of which, said corporal was in the middle of
"Never figured you to be afraid of heights corporal." Tequila said, looking at Thomas with what could have been a smirk if the pain in her chest didn't cause her to flinch every other second. Thomas wondered why the kickass Hispanic corporal was even standing. With her injuries, he'd figure she should be resting. Of course, demigod-like powers or not, he still had the mind of what was called a civilian by his colleagues. Sure he could rip a geth apart... probably, but he still had some problems figuring out how people could go on fighting with a broken rib.
"Yeah well... bad memories gave me a fear of 'em... I think. Hell, I forget why I... I don't know. Just that I'm not in love with heights, let's put it that way..." He said
"Bad memories?" Ashley said, up to see him from where she was busy checking her equipment. Thomas hadn't done that once since they had landed, and he honestly didn't see the need for it. While his rifle and shotgun were still fully loaded, he had found that his handguns had come into use more than once. Firing a pair was a lot harder than the movies portrayed it as. First of all, the aiming was difficult enough with a single handgun. Now, firing two of them? Thát was difficult.
Of course, what had seen the most use was the sword. He had had the time to retrieve it after the battle had become a stalemate, and was now looking at the blade itself. While the handle was fine except for a few scratches where something had struck it, it was the metal edge that had taken a beating. There were several tiny notches in the otherwise pristine blade, and the tip, which had started out flat and sharp like the blade of an axe, was slightly dulled and coated in dried, white and stinking cooling-fluids from the geth it had been buried in.
Thomas sighed and looked around to see how the rest of the battle was going. Short version of what he saw, was that it wasn't going anywhere. Closing his eyes while batting some of the long strands of dark hair from them, he looked back at Ashley;
"Yeah... fell down one of the in-doors scaling walls once... went a few months before I could use the right leg again." He said, nodding at said leg. Of course, there was nothing wrong with it these days. With the augmentations to his legs' muscles that Emhart had made, they were stronger than ever. It would have been great if the weird doctor could have done the same to his right arm too, but in retrospect, he really ought to just be thankful. Ashley, in response to the revealing, winced slightly, pursing her lips as if to chase out a bad sight.
The battle was stopped, had been stopped. He figured that made some sense, as the geth seemed to be hell-bent on not letting them in. A slightly younger, far more naive Thomas might have offered that the geth were just bad hosts, then laughed it up. Thát, or he might have asked himself why the real geth hadn't stopped the Heretics. He remembered what Legion had said, back then. Or, was it in the future? He shook his head, wanting to end the annoying feeling of having a certain degree of knowledge of what would come, yet having no way of acting upon it as that just might fuck with the timeline even more. A timeline which, he figured, had been raped and changed enough that he could give it a rest.
Funny, how the pauses in fighting gave him that sort of epiphanies.
It did however, give him a grim question as well. Something he was afraid to answer because he had no idea what would happen. The Collectors, since they most likely did exist despite his presence, were the source of his worries.
On one hand, if the Normandy was destroyed and Shepard, either of them, was allowed to die, he figured, no knew, that not only would he feel like shit for having known and not warned them about it, but also because he would spill it at some point after, and Tali would be likely to spend the rest of her life finding a way to kill or hurt him for it. That was even if Cerberus, or anyone really, revived Shepard and brought them all back together. Once more, that would probably exclude him.
It was not really a secret that he knew the future up to about two years from now. He had told them that he knew the future to some extent, and if they did ask him if he had known... He didn't doubt he was going to break.
Thomas was good at a lot of things... lying just wasn't one of them.
"So... nobody's curious about anything anyone might know about this new sort of robot?" Tequila asked, causing him to look from the cliff to where she was standing behind him. Her helmet, probably nothing but a hardened hat at this point, was see-through at the moment, the transparent material which he had no idea as to what was, made her smirk all the easier to see. Of course, now that she was asking a question, the smirk wasn't there anymore.
"Not really..." He offered, shrugging. When you had a reality-defying spirit in your head, physics-defying stuff was not all that shocking. Besides, this was the Normandy's mission. Sort of. When the Normandy was around, weird stuff tended to happen.
"Hey, at this point I'm surprised I haven't seen... I don't know, something impossible, like a dancing Krogan." Kaidan said, rolling his shoulders in the armor; "I mean, we aren't exactly the crew to berate the galaxy on something being 'normal' or 'possible', if you catch my drift."
"Don't tempt fate Kaidan. I'm pretty sure Wrex here already owes me dancing around in a pink skirt." Thomas replied, grinning while looking at the old Krogan. Having put down his minigun, Wrex was in the process of, for a wonder, doing some reading on his Omnitool.
"Hey, that was if the Genophage was cured in my lifetime. Besides, pink is a warrior-color. It's the dress that would kill me." Wrex chuckled, not taking his eyes from his Omnitool.
"Aww, but you'll outlive everyone except for Liara." Tequila complained, in the process of placing fresh shells in the half-way empty magazine. That was one of the shortcomings of old-fashioned ammunition.
"Yeah well, you'll just have to cure the Genophage in your own lifetimes then. Besides, if Saren wins this, I doubt any of us will live past the next Four hundred and ten days."
"Why four hundred and ten?" Ashley asked, having finished whatever maintenance her gear required.
"Tuchanka's years are four hundred and ten days. We top it off with the Feast of Kalros, then start a new one." Wrex said, closing his tool since it was obvious he wasn't going to get anymore reading done.
"The Feast of... what?" Thomas asked, not recognizing the last word.
"Kalros. It's ah... how to explain it... remember back when you jumped us with the whole Spirit-thing? The first time?" Wrex said, looking at Thomas from under his helmet. Thomas looked away for a moment, feeling a little embarrassed about that memory in particular.
"Yeah... why?" He said, remembering how Wrex had, aside from flapping his jaw a few times, been pretty calm about the whole thing.
"See, Kalros, she is kinda our... hmm, you'd say our God, in a way. She is the biggest Thresher Maw to have ever lived, and the legends tell of the power she gave my ancestors, those who had a quad anyway. Don't know what kind, but apparently it was big enough that we still venerate her hundreds of generations later."
"You worship a giant worm?" Ashley asked, looking mildly baffled. Of course, having never received much aside from the basic education in alien cultures, basic being the cultures of the Asari, Turians and Salarians, there were a great many things which surprised her, but she rarely let it show.
"And you worship a biotic who walked on water. Beliefs are strange like that." He said, shrugging before picking up his shotgun and checking it for damage.
"Wh- Jesus? He... was not a biotic, he just... he was the son of God." She exclaimed. Thomas put his helmet back on, if nothing but for his groaning expression to be hidden. Religious debates always annoyed the hell out of him because they had a way of escalating.
"Mm hmm, alright. I'm not getting mixed up in human beliefs, you do that just fine yourselves. Besides, Tuchanka had one single religion, and we didn't come out for the better because of it." Wrex said, a small chuckle escaping his filters.
"Are you saying Tuchanka was nuked because of your beliefs?" Thomas asked, sitting down on a rock close to where Wrex sat. The old Krogan looked at him, taking a few moments to answer;
"Not... exactly. Well, in a way, yes, because only those with the biggest quads were worthy of her blessings. And how do you prove you have a quad?" Wrex asked, urging his comrades to come up with an explanation.
"You go to war." Ashley said, noticing from the corner of her eye that Jane was marching to their position.
"You go to war, yeah. Then we invented gunpowder, and then we invented the atomic bombs. Shitty reason to nuke the place, but there it is." He said, sounding bitter over the fact.
"So... Tuchanka was bombed to placate a Thresher Maw?" Kaidan asked, looking at the Krogan in disbelief.
"I guess it does sound crazy when you put it like that. Still, if there was one bonus to the end of Krogan civilization, it was that we lost the ability to make nuclear bombs. Bet the Turians..." He said, turning his head ever so little towards where Nihlus was in a conversation with John; "Just loved that. Hell, I bet they are just waiting for us to kill ourselves so they don't have to waste manpower on it."
"But why not just cure the Genophage then? Or ask some medicinal firm to do it?" Ashley asked.
"When was the last time you ever saw a Krogan scientist?" Wrex countered.
"Point. But how about asking, I dunno, Sirta Foundation to cure it? I mean, they are the biggest players on the market."
"Some people from Clan Gatatog tried." Wrex muttered.
"Since you are saying "tried" I'm guessing they were turned down." Thomas asked, rubbing his neck.
"Yeah... then they went pissed and trashed the place. Took the people on the Presidium two weeks to repair everything."
"So... is that why Krogan aren't welcome on the Presidium anymore?" Kaidan asked.
"What that? No, we weren't welcome there since the end of the Krogan Rebellions." Wrex said. What anyone were about to say was cut off when Jane stepped into their group;
"Alright, the sniper-team is away. Fisher, time for you to make good on your promise." She said, looking at Thomas who, suddenly, felt a little too much in focus. Nevertheless he stood and flexed his hands. Jane leaned a bit closer in towards him; "If anyone asks, you're a Tier six biotic. They are pretty rare, so most would accept your abilities as being overpowered biotics."
Thomas nodded, then went sheeted the massive blade over his back before walking towards the cliffs;
"Where'd you want the tunnel?" He asked, looking at Jane through his visor. The red-head opened her Omnitool and brought up a satellite view of the place, seen from one of the probes hanging in orbit around the place.
"Right about... well, just somewhere over there really." She said, closing the window in her tool while pointing at the solid rock towering above them. Thomas followed her directions to the cliff, placing a hesitant hand on the face of the rock.
"You up for this?" He asked Roku
"Please, I could give you a force-field the size of the Cheops, if it wouldn't leave you a drooling vegetable and me without a job."
"Wow, that was... a pretty grim thought. So, how do I do this?" He asked, trying to focus the dormant energy into his hands.
"The energy is within. Just... let it flow. Also, when we get back from this mission, I'm hauling your ass through some meditation. I can't believe you still crawl to me like a baby to his mother." Roku exclaimed, sounding rather annoyed. Thomas did what Roku said, focusing on the perceived energy lying in wait in his body. The almost instant rumbling of electricity and fire from within caused him to blink a few times.
"Well okay... here we go I guess." Thomas said, forcing the energy the last piece of the way before it surfaced. Gasps of surprise from the waiting marines could be heard when Thomas suddenly erupted into green flames. The intensity was like it had been when he was carving through the walls on Pragia, but not as widespread as when he had been fighting on Valhalla. The flames started licking around his form, not harming the armor in the least this time. Then they started expanding, growing away from just coating him to stand more than a meter to each side. While not a five-by-five, it was better than what he had managed earlier.
He plunged his hands, curled into fists, into the face of the cliff, causing the granite to boil away at his touch. The air around him combusted and became warm enough to glass the sand under his feet. His form now a humanoid, green flame, he forced himself forward, into the rock as it sizzled, boiled and melted away like fat too hot. He went more inwards, more forcefully, pressing into the rock as it gave way for him, like it feared being boiled away. The flames around him caused the rock around and above to follow, albeit a little slower while he pressed straight ahead.
This was an other-worldly sensation, to feel as the bones of the planet gave way to him, allowing him to press first one, then three, then five meters into the rock. The flames were hot enough to turn the rock that wasn't boiled away, into a smooth, glassy surface, yet they didn't even make him sweat. They also made no noise at all, silently licking up and down his body as he progressed with carving a tunnel by sheer willpower.
"Fisher, can you hear me in there?" The voice of Captain Jane Shepard came through. He didn't stop, but he did turn his head a little, just enough to see the rest waiting at the opening of the tunnel.
"Yeah I hear you Captain. Why are you still standing there?" He asked, letting the fires on his body eat away at compressed limestone.
"It's hot as a furnace in there. We'll have to wait until it cools down. Are you okay?" Jane called back. Thomas was a little surprised to suddenly notice that he had carved more than ten meters in already.
"I'm fine. So, do I just keep this up then you all come though when it's cooled down?" He asked. Looking back again, he could just see that the marines behind Jane and Ashley had dropped their guns, probably out of sheer surprise. Dammit, it wasn't exactly because what he was doing looked much like biotics, no matter the level... or Tier, as Jane had called it.
"Yes, then wait for us on the other side. I'll tell Garrus and the snipers to start putting some pressure on the geth. Yell if something attacks you." She said. Thomas nodded, then kept going. One definite advantage this kind of tunneling had over the regular kind was that there was little to no risk of getting hit by the collapsing rock when you crystallized the tunnel behind you. He then leaned his shoulder into the massive rock and pressed, boiling the rock away as he went. It was progressing rather well actually, him being capable of almost walking a natural pace inside the mountain. Mountain or cliffs, there was little difference when one was in the process of carving through it.
"You know, this is something we couldn't have done with the Mako." He said to Roku.
"But with the Mako you could have just dropped in behind enemy lines and driven straight to Saren's base while shooting endless waves of geth who just waited for you."
"Yeah right, as if that one would have ever worked."
"You'd be surprised as to what Hudson went through in his time here." Roku said, very as a matter of fact-ish. Thomas would have shrugged, if it wasn't because his shoulder was barred against the weight of a mountain being burned away by the heat of his power. Defying physics did have a few perks here and there.
"Roku, a question, since we are alone." Thomas said, not caring if his voice was heard since they were alone in the tunnel.
"What Kalros is?" Roku asked, catching Thomas off guard. Then the soldier remembered that Roku apparently knew his every thought the moment he did himself.
"Yeah... why would the Krogan worship it? Her... I mean, is Kalros a god...ess?"
"Hardly, but she is the manifestation of the Krogan soul in a way. Long or short version?" Roku said. Thomas looked around, then huffed;
"Long, we still have a way to go."
"Fair enough. When the universes were created, each one was imbued with great powers and guardians. Each galaxy then had some of these guardians positioned in different places, and the guardians took form after what their first encounters with intelligent life looked like."
"But... didn't Wrex say Kalros-"
"Is a Thresher Maw? Yes, and it is. Once, the Thresher Maws were the dominant race on Tuchanka, but that was multiple cycles ago. Now they are huge, mindless beasts. Kalros however, is not. She is still the spirit who took form and resides along the feral maws of Tuchanka."
"So...so... let me get this straight: The Thresher Maws used to be smart?" Thomas asked, stopping his carving for a moment as the thoughts sunk in.
"Smart yes, and only twice the size of Elcor. They had grand cities and advanced science. However, when the Reapers came, they took a radical route to escape death..."
"They made themselves stupid?" Thomas concluded, having a hard time comprehending it still.
"In short? Yes." Roku said as Thomas resumed the tunneling.
"So... why do the Krogan... can we get back to why and what Kalros is and why the Krogan worship her... it?" Thomas asked, trying to wipe some sweat from his brow, the realizing that his helmet was in the way and gave it up.
"Kalros was found by the Krogan to grant immense power. You see, just like I am, Kalros is under the guidance and power of the Master."
"The... who?"
"The one being who controls all there is and ever will be. Doesn't mean it wants to stop the Reapers though, don't know why, but you humans always say that your God works in mysterious ways. Consider this the same thing. Now, as to why the Krogans venerate Kalros, and I find the coincidence funny considering my form when I'm visible." Roku said, almost starting to chuckle when he reached the end. Rare as it was to hear, Thomas was unsure as to whether he should be worried or glad.
"Why is it funny?"
"Remember who I looked like to the Council?"
"Avatar Roku from the cartoons?" Thomas tried. Honestly, it had scared him a little too, seeing Roku like that.
"Correct. Now, let's play a game of wits. I say there is a funny coincidence between the gifts Kalros gave and taught the Krogans. Then I now also tell you that the Salarians needed them to chase the Rachni from their tunnels, the only ones who could, and you tell me: What is the funny coincidence?" Roku said, his voice somewhere between a smug remark and a laugh, while also sounding proud for some reason.
"...Kalros taught them to... dig?" Thomas tried. Still, it didn't make sense if there had to be a coincidence with Roku's name and form. Thomas could then practically feel the facepalming carried out by the spirit.
"Honestly?"
"What? I tried."
"Really... you think a giant Thresher Maw taught the Krogan to use a shovel?"
"Well... no?"
"By the Master...how you were ever chosen for this... beats me. Never mind though, we're almost through." Roku muttered. Thomas still wanted to know, but the sudden beam of light shining in through the wall told him that the spirit was right, and that he had reached the end. Leaning back from the shoulder-push, Thomas then gathered his hands in a single palm-thrust before hammering the green flaming hands into the wall.
"Haaaadoken!" He shouted, then his hands impacted on the rock, sending the last barrier outwards in an explosion of rock and stone, most of it reduced to molten lumps of shiny baubles and glass from the intense heat of the impact.
"...Really?" Roku said, sounding less than approving.
"Sorry, couldn't help it." Thomas replied with a huge grin on his face. To be honest, he had been waiting for a chance to say that sentence with some actual meaning ever since he was seven.
"Gods...wait, I'm a... never mind..." Roku mumbled. As the rocks stopped sizzling and glowing red where veins of strange ore had been touched, the green flames retreated from Thomas's frame and disappeared back into his body, leaving only a mounting headache in its place. Fumbling with his armor, Thomas found the option to start the dispersion of painkillers. While not as effective as a direct shot with one of the syringes, it would take lot more to get him to even touch one of those willingly.
Feeling the painkillers starting to flow through his body, he turned and looked back into the tunnel where the rest of the group was starting to make their way through, the environment-systems in their armor making it less than deadly to be in the tunnel of still glowing rock. Above it all, Thomas could pick up the occasional sound of a heavy rifle going off, rising above the noise of the battle. When the group came out, he expected a renewed assault on how he should be more careful with his powers. Jane came marching out first, looking around the tunnel with what could be wide eyes, hidden behind a helmet.
She let out a long, low whistle;
"Damn. I gotta say, you keep being more and more handy having around Fisher." She said, her voice not able to hide the grin in her voice. Thomas took his helmet off, venting some of the heat his body had been building up from the exercise. Hair, long and dark, fell into his eyes with wet impacts, causing him to furrow his brows and wipe the annoying strands back behind his head. He really needed a haircut.
"Just doing my job ma'am." He said, smiling despite the, now numbed, headache pulsating through his skull. He shifted his eyes from Jane to Ashley as she walked out next, more visibly baffled, if her walking was any indication.
"Amazing. Your..." She started, then noticed that the rest of the group, impressed marines included, was starting to file out behind her; "...biotics really come in handy Thomas." She said, giving him a light punch in the shoulder. He smiled and shook his head, glad for her mere presence. Light punching and nagging was how they went when public affection was out of the question.
"Yeah, they give me some great stamina as well." He replied, his tone just altered enough that she caught on to his meaning. As a reward, she punched him again on the shoulder, then leaned in little closer; "You'll have to prove that later." She said with a sultry voice, causing his hair to stand and his skin to shiver in delight.
There was something about how she could get him all worked up no matter the situation, that just made her a gift from whatever divine was watching over his love life.
"So, the rumors were true? Can't say I believed them, but I'm not so stupid as to ignore what I see. Fisher, was it? Yeah, I thought I recognized the name. You're Admiral Anna Cologne's nephew, aren't you?" A voice suddenly cut in from behind, causing the both of them to hump on the spot. Turning so fast he could feel a few tendons receiving a whiplash, Thomas saw the armored figure of the N7, Isaac Clarke, stand right behind them.
"Clarke! Stop scarring my soldiers!" Jane called from the side. He offered her a nod, then looked back to where Thomas was silently growling to find out why Roku hadn't warned him about the man's approach.
"So, very impressive biotics, corporal. Tier six, am I right?" Clarke said. Thomas found himself wondering about the odd design of Clarke's helmet, as it looked nothing like what the rest of them were wearing.
"Yeah, why?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Tier six biotics are rare, you know. How come you're only a corporal? Most biotics in the military get officer-training right away. We're too few to be wasted as regular soldiers, especially ones so powerful as Tier six." Clarke shrugged, but kept his eyes on Thomas. The odd thing was, that Thomas could see through the man's visors, the green gabs seemingly being see-through, unlike his own. Still, he could only pick out the nose and the eyes, the horizontal visors making it difficult to see more without outright staring.
"Never got the offer." Which was a truth by lie of omission. It was a little difficult getting offered training in use of biotics when a) he wasn't a biotic, and b) he had only been there for a few months.
"Well, I'm sure someone will recognize your talent and extend the offer."
"Actually, Admiral Fisher herself offered Thomas a spot in the Ascension Project." Ashley said, cutting in before Thomas said or did something stupid. As much as it annoyed him, he had to admit it was becoming a streak for him to mess things up if he wasn't stopped from it.
"Usually I'd call that one out on Nepotism, but from what I've just seen, I'd say that was a smart move. If you're good now, the Project will make you better." He said.
"Personal experience?" Ashley asked, looking to the top of the cliffs where she could just see the occasional streak of light flying from some hidden position to the entrenched geth further down the valley between the mountain-like cliffs. The sand was now replaced with loose dirt, sandy but with grassy growth covering the ground.
"Afraid not. I was in BAaT, suffering under some of the less pleasant training humanity gave the first biotics. Unfortunately it wasn't until a year after I left that the lieutenant there" He said, gesturing at Kaidan; "Killed a certain sadistic Turian. So, I think I got through the worst of it no worse for wear."
The worst of it... Clarke obviously hadn't been through the living Hell Cerberus had dragged Jennifer Nilsdottir through. That the little girl had so quickly become the bundle of joy and adorableness that Thomas had borderline fallen in love with was, to put it lightly, an impressive feat. These days, Thomas only hoped Jenny was able to return to a normal life, without the mental scarring Cerberus no doubt gave the other version of her, the one who was never saved but who had to kill her way out. Instead, Thomas did the killing and Jennifer could be a normal person. And Thomas and Ashley had been made her godparents.
Godparents... a strange notion, now that he thought about it. True, he had no complaints to make on it, but that he had been given a position like that, just like that, had been a little overwhelmed. Still was.
"Alright people, breaks over. We move for the base via the paths in the cliffs, circumventing the majority of the enemy forces, taking down any hidden Anti-Air emplacements along the way and infiltrate the base. Questions?" Jane asked. Thomas looked to the rest of the group, finding John in the middle of studying a holographic map. Odd, how the transition between those two had gone so smooth. One week John was in charge, the next month, they shared all power and responsibilities, the month after that, Jane was in charge.
Thomas saw that as his cue to end the conversation with the a bit too outgoing man, and turned to follow Jane and John. The rest of the group did so as well, moving along a ridge that would keep them wet to a knee-level, but hidden from whatever geth that might be on over watch. This was one of the times he wished he had painted his armor dark and green, like the military did, and not blazing white with blue stripes.
Still, the concern was not for his own life, but for those around him. Being practically invulnerable to the weapons deployed against infantry had that effect. The entire group of forty-or-so marines trudged through the sandy and wet muck, walking in single-file to reduce the chance of being spotted. Only problem was, if a single geth saw you, it didn't matter whether or not you killed it straight away, the programs would still report you in.
Serpent Nebular, the Citadel
Citadel Council chambers
17:51
Donnel Udina felt like he was on the way to a berating like some juvenile schoolboy. It was annoying and frustrating, being under the thumb of the Three Big, simply because they said so. Humanity had already done more for the galaxy, saved more alien lives at the cost of human ones, than the council had done so far for any race not their own. They'd even started out with a feat, in his eyes, worthy of a seat in the Council, namely the invention and introduction of Medigel, but leave it to the Asari to make it sound like you should be grateful to share it with the rest of the galaxy.
Even the full education from the Mandela University of Law was hard pressed to stand against the kind of firepower the Council usually employed.
And now, those three councilors were looking at him as he walked what felt like the plank of a ship, ending up at the podium where he would have to make humanity's case for the millionth time.
"Ambassador Donnel Udina. We have called you here to get some answers to a most... disturbing news." Tevos said, her most politically emphatically perfect smile on full power. Good Lord, it was like she was the incarnation of his mother-in-law.
"Apparently you humans have transgressed upon another law, as if your research in AI's wasn't enough." Sparatus said, visibly fuming; "The bombing of a Garden world cannot be excused, under no circumstances can it be excused!"
"But Saren is there! We need to take him down!" Udina said, silently thanking Anderson for the small pep-talk the military man had given him prior to this.
"Then you send in an invasion-force. Establish an orbital superiority and make sure no ships can get in or out, then you send in soldiers to secure the area." Sparatus said. Of course, leave it to Turians to berate humans on the proper conduct of warfare. With the exception of Shanxi, humanity had been the one swinging the stick most of the time in 2154. Of course, Tevos had been quick to paint it like Humanity needed their protection in this dangerous, dangerous galaxy.
Udina, having been in school back then, had called it out on its bullshit, but being a child, no one had listened to him. Now he had power, but couldn't call it out on bullshit because it would undermine his own work. At least, not yet.
"Councilors... have your forces ever actually fought the geth? Ever? Have your navies ever engaged Saren's Reapers in battle? Have your soldiers ever faced down the abominations they threw at us on Valhalla?" Udina said, starting out politely but ending up with the voice of outrage he had been using far too often lately.
"The capabilities of the Citadel forces is not the topic for this session, ambassador." Tevos said. There it was, Donnel Udina thought, silently fuming. Tevos was the uncrowned queen of the Council, and she loved reminding others of their positions.
"It should be, considering the fact that you are content with letting human lives pay for the safety of your planets." He said, opening his Omnitool and bringing one of his few hidden aces up. It was a large program that held more than a megabyte of data. On one subject alone.
"Be that as it may, ambassador, your fleets have bombed a Garden world. Virmire has the potential for habitation, but when you deploy kinetic strikes on it, you diminish its value." Councilor Esheel said. Udina turned his attention to the newest addition to the Council. Esheel, he didn't yet have an opinion on. She was too new for him to know where to press, and yet she was a seasoned enough politician that she knew when to kick and when kiss an ass.
"Well I would like to bring you to the subject on why you are in no positions to tell us how to conduct warfare. This" He said, pointing at a part of the interface with less than ten lines on it; "is the list over how many from the Council Races have died fighting the geth, the Reapers or the Reaper ground units." He said. The list was arguably short, holding most names on Turian pilots who had been killed while refueling on Valhalla, plus a few Salarians who had died on Feros.
"Ambassador, I fail to see your point in this. We know and grieve for the lives lost, especially when they were so far from their own species." Tevos said. Udina's hidden scowl just got bigger. He then highlighted the other list, one consisting of thousands upon thousands of lines.
"And this is the amount of human lives lost so far against Reapers and geth. Do. You. Notice the difference in numbers? While you are content with fortifying your Citadel and Homeworlds, you in particular Sparatus, humanity is actively fighting the enemy of all organic life! We bleed while you sit here, happy with condemning our actions! Where are the mighty Turian fleets now? They are all guarding Palavan and the Citadel. Where are the powerful Asari fleets? Guarding Thessia! Where's the technologically superior Salarian fleets? Guarding forests and facilities forbidden by Citadel law. And, where is humanity's fleets? Those weak fleets with a fraction of your strength?" He demanded, feeling his head starting to hurt with all the repressed emotions screaming for an outlet.
For almost the entire duration of their time with the Citadel, Humanity had been attacked over and over again. Either in military fashion by Batarian slavers, or legally, when the Council imposed yet another law on them.
All advancement had stopped when the Council had shoved the technology of the Protheans into the faces of the Scientific community, demanding that the Salarians be the ones to carry out scientific advances.
Humanity had been on the verge of successfully developing artificial intelligences when the Council showed them just how evil AI's were, all based on how the Quarians had messed it up.
Ships classifying as dreadnoughts had been demanded scrapped and scuttled, only because the Turians didn't like competition.
The forced introduction of the Credit had almost bankrupted several nations, undoing the European Union and rendering the Dollar on the same level as the Czech koruna.
And to top it all off, all of humanity's technology had been demanded given to the Council, some of it far superior to what they got in return. Where Humanity gave them the Medigel, the Council gave them holographic optics that had been around since the twenty-first century on Earth. When Humanity delivered the technology to construct effective combat mechs, the Council had given them flowers and pretty words.
And when Humanity, after Mindoir, had cried out for vengeance, for help from the Council, they were backhanded, slapped over the wrist for having the audacity to make demands of the Council. A little client-race had no rights demanding of the Council. Of course, how had he been silly. Udina could still taste Sparatus's asshole from when he'd been made politically kiss it.
So it was little wonder to those near him that Udina was fuming and scowling beneath the normally so calm and collected exterior.
"Your fleets are performing admirably. And the Council has only the greatest respect for your efforts in securing the lives of innocents. We all need to do what we can to combat the threat Saren and his Reaper ships pose." Tevos said. Ah, and there it was again. Gratitude and respect, that was what he could give the parents, sons, daughters and husbands and wife's of those human soldiers who had died, were dying to save the galaxy. Respect.
"Councilor..." He said, keeping his voice so calm that even the guards at the door could hear it was faked; "I'm afraid I didn't get to finish before. You want to know where the armies and fleets of Humanity are? Right there." With thát, he pointed at the panel, letting the thousands of names slowly scroll down. Tevos looked saddened, Sparatus just nodded, and Esheel remained seemingly unfazed by it.
"Ambassador, I know how much it hurts to see the lives lost, but we cannot do more than we are. If we send ships from our Homeworlds, those planets with their civilians will be made targets. We just do not have the manpower." Tevos said.
"I see..." Udina said, finally letting his scowl be visible. With those two words, he turned on his heel and left the podium, left the room, left the tower.
And with leaving the Council before he was dismissed, he left three baffled Councilors too.
Codex Entry: Biotic Tiers
Biotic abilities come in many different degrees of intensity. Some can barely lift a football, while others can hurl a car with their little finger.
Tier 1 Biotics are usually the weakest, and are classified as such upon the end of their training. They are rarely used in the military as biotics, and if they are, it's as workers, not soldiers.
Tier 2 Biotics are better than Tier 1 on multiple levels, and as a result they are often employed in the militaries for their biotics. Capable of deploying forces with up to 700 Newtons of force, they are often used as lighter infantry or to provide covering barrages for the actual killers.
Tier 3 Biotics are the regular biotics, and is the most common type. Capable of hurling gravimetric disturbances of up to 1400 Newtons, they are used directly as soldiersn classified a Vanguards. Used for both barriers, support and heavy engagements, they can turn a battle into a rout with a well-timed biotic attack.
Tier 4 Biotics are more rare, and therefore more valued biotics than the rest. Often shipped from their training facilities straight to officer-schools, they are valued for strength as well as mental capacities. Most deploy gravimetric fields strong enough to flatten a bunker of solid steel with enough well-placed points of force, they are also the lowest level capable of using the commonly named "Warp", allowing them to rip matter apart with gravity.
Tier 5 Biotics are rare, thus extremely valuable, and most who join the miltary soon see themselves sent to train for induction into the N7 program, more or less willingly. Capable of deploying all known forms of biotic force, they are feared warriors when first deployed, and one N7-trained Tier 5 biotic can turn an impossible battle if used correctly. When referred to by others, they are often called 'Adepts', as they are the most proefficient class seen on the battlefield.
Tier 6 biotics are, with less than twenty ever recorded amongst humans, the rarest of the biotic classes. Amongst those found, all are sent to the Ascension Project, run out of Grissom Academy. So far only two have left the place again, both prospective candidates as the first human Spectres.
Well, that was fun.
Now, many of you might be thinking: "The hell? That's not what Isaac is like at all!"
Well, try thinking of it this way. He and Nicole are together, there is no Ishimura yet, no catastrophe yet, no Necromorphs yet, and from the occasional and rare hints of humor we saw in the games, it would seem Isaac used to be a light-hearted man who could crack a few jokes here and there. So, his rather juvenile behavior is fully intended. If you want a more "Isaac-ish" Isaac, go read "Project Persephone".
Biotic Tiers are a real thing in Mass Effect, however they aren't really explored, and most biotics are graded by their modules. Hence I had pretty free hands to make up my own list.
Also, do give me your guesses as to what the whole "Kalros-thing" is about. I'd love to see if you can figure it out with the hints given so far :)
See ya