Beacon'd And the Beacon Of Sues
John used to be a Special Forces operative in the US Army. „Used to be", was the keyword here. He was a big fan of video games, so he noticed immediately, that something was very wrong when there was a batarian waving a gun at his face, yelling obscenities no doubt.
Things got even weirder, when a red-haired woman swooped in and saved his sorry ass, and told him she was an „N7 Operative".
It had been years since that day, and now John was slowly moving towards Eden Prime's spaceport alongside Jane Shepard, knowing what they would find.
„I still can't believe Jenkins lived up to his name," John said.
„Yeah, if he hadn't died, I would've laughed my ass off," Jane answered with her mouth curved up in a smile.
Kaidan and Ashley only raised their eyebrows at the exchange.
„Hey, anyone else see the smoke on that hill ahead?" Kaidan asked after some time had passed.
„That's where the research camp is. Maybe someone's still alive?"
Seeing Ashley's hopeful expression, John quickly said: „It'd be best, if you don't get your hopes up. You look pretty beat up about the death of your own unit as it is."
Ashley scowled and was about to say something, when Shepard cut them off. „Eyes forward, people. Could be friendlies, could be hostiles up there."
When they got closer to the camp, Kaidan decided to point out: „Be careful. Look like a good place for an ambush."
„Good, eyes, Alenko," Shepard replied.
Then Kaidan noticed something else. „Hey, look at that. More impaled people. They look... Different... Wait, are those even human?!"
Then the spikes lowered themselves, as if knowing something living was nearby, and then the creatures stood up.
The entire team stood still, horrified at the sight as the „humans" were lumbering closer accompanied by moans slowly rising in volume.
John, already knowing what those are, snapped out of it first, and started shooting.
„Don't bother taking cover, and aim for the legs first!"
That spurred the whole team into action, as they all started firing at the small crowd of husks.
In already five seconds, half of the husks had to crawl, and the other half were hopelessly clawing at air as Kaidan lifted them up.
It took the squad another few seconds to turn the husks into mush.
After a minute of silence, Ashley asked, „How did you know to go for the legs, sir?"
John shrugged. „I guess it's video game experience. And those tubes didn't really look like they would be able to hold them up without all the meat surrounding them."
Jane patted him on the shoulder. „Good thinking, soldier."
They were about to check the buildings for survivors, when the radio beeped.
„Shepard here."
„Nihlus here. Change of plans. Spotted a spaceport just ahead. I'm going to check it out. It won't be long."
„Got it. Shepard out."
Not soon after, the team found a found a locked building. They hacked into it, and encountered two fidgeting humans.
Shepard noticed John looking at her almost expectantly. Almost as if he's waiting for her to make some sort of decision.
She raised her eyebrow at him slightly, and turned to address the survivors with a smile.
„Hello there. I'm Commander Jane Shepard, N7 Operative. I presume you two are scientists?"
One of the two, a woman, spoke up.
„Yes, I am Doctor Warren, and my assistant here is Manuel."
They all looked at him, who was still looking very nervous.
„What's wrong with him?" Shepard asked.
„Oh, don't mind Manuel. You see, madness and genius have always been two sides of the same coin, and he hasn't gotten his medication today. The attack also completely unhinged him, I think."
Then Manuel spoke. „Mad? Mad?! I am the only sane one left! No one else can see the destruction heading towards us!"
Doctor Warren only shrugged helplessly.
„Is he going to be a danger to anyone?" Shepard asked, while looking at the crazy scientist warily.
„Oh no, he just needs to lie down for a bit, and wait for the medications to take effect! I promise, he won't harm anyone!"
The team was skeptical of her reassurances.
John spared a quick glance at Shepard, and then sighed.
„I can only see two ways this can go down... Night-night, Manuel."
„The truth cannot be silenced! Death and destru..." Manuel wasn't able to finish his sentence due to a sudden, and unfortunate fist-to-the-face syndrome.
„Oh my god, what have you done?!" the other scientist screams.
Ashley had her weapon up and aimed at John in an instant, while Kaidan was trying his best to calm her down.
Jane was glaring at John. „What the hell was that?!"
He looked at everyone for a second, and then shrugged. „He was obviously insane, and quite possibly a danger. This was the best choice."
„That still doesn't mean you can go around, whacking civilians over their heads!" Jane replied while giving him a death glare. Doctor Warren was holding Manuel's head in her arms, and nodded frantically, obviously agreeing with Shepard.
John sighed theatrically. „Drama-queens..." Then he waved at the general direction of the door.
„Shouldn't we be going to the spaceport Nihlus mentioned?"
They were well out of the research camp and on top of a hill, when they heard a loud bang.
„What was that? I think it came from the spaceport. You think Nihlus shot someone?" Kaidan asked.
„I don't know. You'd think there would be more geth at a spaceport than just one trooper guarding the crates or something," John replied.
Jane chuckled. „That would be a sight." Then she did her best police officer impression. „Hold right there, turian scum! I can see you rummaging through Eden Prime's finest beer collection! Pay your fine, or do your time!"
John and Kaidan started chuckling along, and even Ashley cracked a smile. Everyone liked the image of a geth trooper with the Sheriff's star-shaped badge on it's chest and a cowboy hat on it's head.
They were at the edges of the spaceport, when a bunch of patrolling geth troopers suddenly showed up from behind some crates and started shooting at them, sending husks like attack dogs their way.
Shepard's team was hiding behind some rocks.
„Goddammit, where the hell did those clowns come from?! I didn't even hear any of them!" John yelled over the sound of constant gunfire.
„Just shut up, and keep shooting!" Ashley yelled back, while rising from cover, and shot a leg off a dangerously close husk.
John took the advice, and finished off that same husk a few seconds later.
„Kaidan, lift up that damn trooper!" Jane yelled with a commanding tone.
Kaidan simply rose up from cover, and lifted said trooper, allowing the rest of the team to finish it off.
Suddenly, a husk jumped over Jane's cover and started clawing at her helmet. Others were startled by this turn of events, but couldn't get a clear shot at it due to the two trashing about, trying to gain an advantage over the other.
Suddenly, Shepard grabbed it's hands, and pulled the husk over her head. Then she pinned it down with her knee, and caved it's head in with her fist.
Soon after, their enemies were all down, and they were making their way slowly towards the spaceport.
When they arrived there, Shepard noticed something disconcerting. A certain dead turian.
John saw it, too, and simply stated, „That's Nihlus, isn't it."
Shepard could only nod morbidly.
Meanwhile, up in the Normandy, Anderson was writing up his report on the events that had happened so far.
He was startled, when the radio beeped.
„Anderson? Shepard here. We have a development here."
Not liking the sound of that, he asked quickly: „What sort of development?"
„We just found Nihlus sir. He's... Dead. Shot clean through the back of his head. Whoever did this, he didn't see them coming."
Anderson knew, that something that could sneak up on a Spectre was bad news. The only thing he could do, was sigh, and rub his forehead.
„Alright... The Beacon is still your top priority. Anything else to report?"
„Nothing else, sir."
Anderson was about to turn off the radio, when suddenly he heard John talk.
„Wait. Shepard! Something behind the crates."
„What is it?"
„Only one way to find out... GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE CRATES NOW OR I'LL DRAG YOU OUT!"
Now Anderson was frowning.
„Don't shoot me, I'm human!"
„What's your name, pal?"
„My name's Powell! And can you please stop pointing that gun at me?"
„You don't get to ask me anything, much less make requests right now! For all we know, YOU could have organised this entire thing!"
„Wait... What?! Why would I..."
„Don't lie to me! I bet your boss did something to piss you off, huh?! A lowly dockworker like you couldn't possibly stand up to anyone! So you decided to call in the geth!"
„WHAT?! That's absolutely insane!"
„Then prove me wrong!"
Anderson was increasingly confused.
„Shepard, what the hell is going on down there?" She didn't seem to hear him, because the questioning went on.
„Then tell me everything you know about the attack, and the turian!"
„Alright, alright! Well, at first, that damn ship arrived! It made this screaming sound, woke me right up. Then the geth arrived, and shot up the entire place, killing everything that moved! Not soon after, that turian came here. Then another turian came here, and shot him the back of the head! That's all I know, I swear!"
Anderson, slightly frustrated at the lack of any answer, heard Ashley's voice suddenly.
„Wait, it woke you up?"
„Erm... Well... You see, sometimes, the days are long, and I go behind the crates and grab 40 winks."
Then it went back to John.
„Wait, you survived because you were LAZY? You PRICK!"
„Look, I'm sorry, I never thought any of this would happen!"
„Oh, you don't know the meaning of sorry, yet..."
„Oh god! Okay, please, take this gun mod I have, it should help you against the geth!"
„Are you sure this is all you have"?
„What... What do you mean?"
„Give us EVERYTHING you have, or I will blow you."
„Wait, WHAT are you talking about?!"
„I will do it! You know what they say. In space, no one can hear you cream."
„What?! Oh god, get away from me! Help me, he's insane!"
Then the radio exploded in activity.
„John, what the..."
„Oh god, is he gonna do what I think..."
„Oh, this is too good to pass..."
„Get away from me, frea..."
„You will give us EVERYTHING..."
Anderson wanted answers, and he wanted them now.
„Shepard, report now! What is going on down there?!"
„Alright, ALRIGHT, I have this grenade, take it, please! Just don't do anything to me!"
The man named Powell seemed to be on the verge of tears by now.
„Well, thank you. Wasn't so hard, was it, now? You can go have fun sleeping now. We'll be on our way."
„Shepard, dammit!" Anderson was furious now.
Finally, she responded. „yes, sir?"
„What just happened"? It's been a long time since he's been this confused over anything.
„Oh, nothing special. We just got to witness John's... Unique... Interrogation techniques. Everything is fine, sir. Sorry, sir, I didn't realize the radio was still on. Didn't mean to startle you."
Then Joker's voice came on the intercom.
„Sir, you should see their helmet cams, because that was hilarious. Don't worry, I saved the videos. We can all enjoy them over snacks together later."
They were on the tram.
Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley were still quietly chuckling, while sending glances toward John.
He returned the looks with an 'innocent puppy' face.
Not too soon after, they were running around, defusing bombs, and fending off the occasional geth attack.
Meanwhile, the giant-ass ship in the middle of the colony had left.
They were at their last bomb, while a bunch of geth troopers and a destroyer were slowly moving towards them from cover to cover.
„Bomb defused!" John yelled.
„I hope the good days when you could simply slap omni-gel on everything never ends!" Jane happily responded.
John got up from the bomb and lobbed a grenade at the geth while getting to cover.
Fortunately for them, the limited intelligence of the current squad of geth had meant that they were all bunched up, and the grenade instantly riddled half of them with shrapnel, and blew a couple of limbs off. The survivors were quickly gunned down when they stumbled out of cover. Only the scorched destroyer was left.
It charged towards them, believing it to be the best tactic. But then Kaidan lifted the lone geth up, and inertia carried it forward. The team stepped out of it's way, and put it out of it's misery after the destroyer had slammed into a wall in mid-air.
Now they were hiding behind a series of crates as they were watching two strange people next to the beacon.
John noted, that one was a female. She had ridiculous body proportions. As in, perfect skin, curves, a giant rack, and so on. Everything she had was perfect. The woman was also glowing and crackling with biotics. The other was a male, also with the „perfect" body. They seemed to be bickering over something.
Shepard looked at her team, and asked: „Suggestions?"
„I say we keep observing. See what happens," Ashley answered.
Kaidan and John nodded in agreement.
Shepard took the advice. „Observing it is, then."
Soon, the bickering grew loud enough for them to hear.
„I would be more important to Shepard than you ever could! I can kill shit with my mind!"
„Oh yeah? That shit ain't gonna be useful when you dont have any sort of combat skill to speak of! You're literally useless on the battlefield!"
The woman hissed at the man like a cat.
John thought that this was extremely weird.
But then he slowly started to think more intensely about it when their arguing slowly got more heated.
Then the realization hit him like a brick.
'Holy shit, these are Sues!' He had figured he wasn't alone in this whole „get-dumped-in-the-Mass Effect-universe" thing, but to find actual Sues arguing over their importance for Shepard?
For once, he figured the the ensuing fight would prove priceless. But then he thought about the destruction such egomaniacal, admittedly super-powerful people could cause.
Now, he was just tensely waiting for the inevitable shit to hit the fan.
And then it did, when the woman suddenly slammed the other Sue into a wall with her biotics.
Now Shepard's team watched in awe, as both of the bickering humans were dishing out unbelievable amounts of damage to each other. The female was attacking the male with a series of Warps, Throws, and whatever else she could come up with, while the man was dodging her attacks and constantly delivering devastating punches. Shepard could swear she heard a crack when the woman received a hay-maker to the jaw.
Soon after though, the woman had had enough, and released all her power into a devastating blast, launching crates and vehicles dozens of meters, and tearing down whatever walls were standing. Even the beacon nearly tipped over.
But when Shepard saw that, she made a decision.
Before anyone could stop her, she went down the walkway.
The Sues instantly recognized her, and the female said: „Shepard, finally you're here! This asshole was trying to..."
She didn't get to finish her sentence because Shepard suddenly whipped out her pistol and shot the female point-blank in the face.
The man was shocked, and also received a bullet to the face before he could react.
The rest of the team came down the ramp slowly, watching in pure awe. John was the only one who knew the extent of Sue powers, and thought that Shepard was absolutely bat-shit crazy.
When John approached her, he could hear her simply say: „What a bunch of fucking retards."
The team checked to see if the Sues were truly dead, and noted that they were, but also saw the surprising lack of injuries. Only a few bruises here and there.
"Good God, who were those guys?" Ashley asked, awe and fear evident in her voice
John only shrugged, knowing all too well who they were.
After they had secured the Beacon, and the surrounding area, they were staring at the geth flagship's landing spot.
Ashley was the first to speak up.
„Holy shit. That ship must've had a lot of power to pull off a landing like this with it's size."
The rest only nodded in agreement.
Then John nudged Jane.
„Hey, should we check out the Beacon? Make sure there's no damage to it, and whatnot?"
Jane looked at him for a second, remembering the two bickering idiots who were here previously and then looked towards the beacon.
„Yep. That's a good idea. Let's go."
What Shepard didn't know, was that John knowingly lured her to the Beacon.
He waited a bit farther back and watched as Shepard approached the Beacon.
Suddenly, it lit up, and lifted her up into the air.
John saw his chance to gain the Beacon's visions for himself, too, and ran.
He grabbed Jane's foot.
What he didn't know, was that the Beacon wasn't designed for this, and the sudden appearance of another being threw it off slightly. Jane was unaffected, and continued to receive the stream of images from the ancient relic, while John's brain was fried, instantly killing him.
Kaidan and Ashley noticed it, after they saw him flop to the ground.
Shepard was still in the influence of the Beacon.
Ashley looked at her, then John, and then turned to Kaidan uncertainly.
„How should we... Uh... Inform Shepard of this later?"
Kaidan was scared at the thought of Shepard going on a rampage demanding to know why John made such a dumb move.
„I simply do not know."
They both stood there, uncomfortably for a while. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Kaidan activated ground-to-ship communications.
„Sir. We uh... Have a development here."
Whew! This was the longest chapter I've written so far. Came out good, too, I think.
Now, the credits:
Chaszcz - SI get's killed by the Beacon.
Triggs - 2 SI-s fighting over their importance to Shepard.
I combined the two ideas into one chapter to see how this would turn out. I truly hope you two got the story you wanted!
Oh, and the part with Powell? There are no typos there. Just in case you were confused ;)
Don't forget to review, and I'll see you in the next Chapter!