Sarah stepped into the facility, where five batarians were guarding what looked suspiciously like a fusion bomb from the late twenty-first century. She hit a key on her omni-tool to signal to Jason to provide a distraction.
Then, fifteen seconds later, music started blaring throughout the facility. The batarians said, "Something's wrong." as Sarah opened fire on them with her assault rifle, one dove behind cover as his comrades took bullets for him.
Then, the batarian said, "Who are you?"
"Just the woman who's going to kill all of you fucking batarians!" Sarah shouted back at him, as she stepped around the corner, and started walking slowly towards him.
He looked up for a second, and nearly lost his life for it. So, he raised his weapon above the cover, and held down the trigger.
Each round from his machine gun missed their mark, and when Sarah ripped the gun out of the alien's hand, he looked as if he was about to run away, when the soldier lifted him into the air with a slight movement of her right wrist, and said, "Where is Balak?"
"How do you know of Balak?" the floating batarian asked.
"I know that he is the one who killed my family. I want revenge. So, you're going to tell me where he is."
"I don't know! I'm just here to guard the bomb!"
"What are they planning to do with it?"
"Hit one of your colonies! I don't know which!"
"Alright. Now, where might I find Balak in this facility?"
"His office or the barracks are your best bet!"
"Excellent." Sarah said, "You've been most helpful. Unfortunately, I'm going to wipe your race from the face of the galaxy for what you've done soooo... you're dead." before breaking his neck.
-=0=-
Anderson sighed, and said, "Shepard, come in."
"What is it, Anderson?" Sarah asked.
"We've checked both Balak's office and the barracks, there's no sign of him. It looks like he got away."
"It doesn't matter."
"We lost one of the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy. How does that not matter?"
"Because, I'm one step ahead of him."
"What are you planning?"
"You don't want to know."
"Shepard, are you planning to use that bomb against the batarians?" Anderson said.
"No. It's human tech. If I were going to do an act of terror like that it wouldn't be something that they could track back to us."
"What are you going to use to wipe them out?"
"I have a very untraceable weapon called the Reapers." Sarah replied.
"The Reapers? You mean the stuff some crazy people say wiped out the protheans?" Jason asked.
"They aren't as crazy as you'd think." the soldier replied as she stepped into the room. "The Reapers are real, and they'll be coming to kill us all after Sovereign fails at his job."
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"She's messing with you." Jennifer replied, "I've been told she does that a lot."
"I do." Sarah replied, "So, we've done the mission, right? Found the corpses of the other team, killed all the batarians and secured any weapons here, and have full access to their files. Can we go now?"
"Be a bit more patient, Sarah." Anderson said, "We have to wait for the full team to show up and take over the sight. It'll be three days."
"Alright. But, you better make this quick. I've got a lot I need to do and a very limited amount of time in which to do it."
"You didn't think this through a lot, did you?" he asked.
"There wasn't really a chance to plan every single day out." Sarah replied.
"What are you people talking about?" Jason asked.
"None of your damn business." Sarah said, "So, three days. Hmm... the trail will have gone cold by then. But, I don't see any reason that will be a problem."
"What trail?"
"The paper trail tying a certain individual to some very illegal activities."
Anderson laughed, and said, "You really plan on just getting your girlfriend's father convicted of every crime you can, don't you?"
"It'll make our lives a lot easier."
"You do realize that you're a soldier, right?" Jason asked, "And that sometimes duty will get in the way of you doing your own stuff?"
"Yes, Jason. I'm not a fucking idiot. And, you are making me wonder why I ever wished you weren't dead."
"What?"
"I'm messing with you again." Sarah said.
"You three should set up. Make sure that we have sufficient automated defenses to survive a potential counter-attack."
"Got it." Sarah said.
-=0=-
Thirty minutes later, Sarah said, "Alright, you guys have fun with setting up those gun turrets and anti-air batteries. I've got work to do."
"What are you talking about? This is our job." Jason argued.
"Your job, I have someone who really needs to die following me."
"Who are you talking about?"
"A motherfucker called Halthas." Sarah said, turning to walk down the corridor, before vanishing.
"HOLY SHIT!" Jason said, "Did Shepard just teleport?"
"It would look that way." Jennifer replied.
"We need to report this."
"I think she'd kill us if we tried."
"You aren't bothered by the fact that one of our coworkers can fucking teleport?"
"No, it's awesome! Now if we stick with Shepard we don't have to worry about being late for a meeting again."
-=0=-
Sarah said, "Why are you following me, Halthas? Do you want to die?"
He shook his head, and said, "No. I came to ask you why you are so determined to fight the wave of the future? The change which will bring an end to all conflict."
"Because I value my freedom."
"Is freedom truly desirable if it causes this conflict? Billions dying in galactic wars caused by differing ideals. Differences that your precious freedom is the cause."
"Halthas, how would you like it if someone took away your freedom? How would you feel if someone demanded that you kill yourself so they could enslave those you love?"
"That love you speak of is a weakness. It serves no purpose. You cannot reproduce with Miranda, so why would you have relations with her?"
Sarah growled, "It isn't all about reproduction. Are you saying that in your 'ideal' world the infertile would be put down because they cannot reproduce? That you would ban love because it does not have any logical benefit? Would you not let parents raise their children if they could not raise them to do a very specific task?"
"In an instant."
"You don't care about what would make people happy, do you?"
"Happiness is irrelevant. Life is what matters." Halthas replied.
"What you're talking about isn't life, Halthas." Sarah said, "It's survival. And, everyone has to die sometime."
"But not all life."
"What are you talking about?"
"There is a buildup of dark energy. It will push the universe apart, destroy stars, and end life in the universe. Only through an extreme act will any life be able to survive it. It is inevitable. And, the Lucis Entia are behind it. That is why I turned against them. They wish to see 'life' destroyed so they are all that remains."
Sarah laughed, and said, "You really don't understand your own kind, do you?"
"They are not my kind anymore. I turned against them and their 'King' long ago."
"Yes, you betrayed them because you wanted more power for yourself. You do realize that if synthesis occurs, you will die, right?"
"Yes, it will reverse the Lucis Entia adding to the dark energy in the universe and all life will be saved. The question is, Shepard, are you willing to sacrifice yourself to save all that is?"
"You're insane. Yes, dark energy can act really fucking weird, but you don't see what destabilized Haestrom's star?"
"The Lucis Entia."
"No. A machine." Sarah growled. "A machine created by the Leviathans."
"And you continue to accuse the victims." Halthas said.
"They aren't victims. They are slavers. They deserve nothing short of extinction."
"You would eradicate them because of their nature?"
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings, Halthas. The Leviathans would deny others that right."
"Freedom is a burden, it weakens society. Puts it in danger."
"Some things are worth the risk."
"You see nothing wrong with what you suggest? With saying that we should sacrifice the greater good to satisfy individual greed?"
"The greater good is to preserve the freedom of the many."
"What you suggest is madness. Freedom only leads to war."
"As does slavery. If a group of people is oppressed for long enough they will rise up against their oppressors. War will break out either way. The difference is in the quality of life of the people. Peace cannot be achieved through tyrany."
"You would destroy an entire species to preserve the 'freedom' of the others?"
"Of course. When people ask me a question like that I tend to quote an old human sci-fi movie. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
Halthas laughed, and said, "So you would sacrifice your own life to save others?"
"I've done it before."
"Yet you will not let the universe achieve the final step in evolution?"
"What you suggested wasn't evolution. It would be, at best, genetic engineering. At worst, it would be the greatest war crime to ever be committed by anyone to ever live. So, no, I don't think I'll ever let that happen. I'd sooner destroy my body and essence utterly without causing it than let it happen."
"Are you sure that it is not your own greed?"
"Quit trying to make me question my own motives. I've been around long enough to not let it bother me."
"You are young. Have you seen the eons go by? Countless civilizations be integrated into the flawed perfection of the Reapers? Imagine an even purer perfection caused by synthesis."
"What you call flawed perfection I call monstrous. Where you see numbers, or maybe just pawns on a board, I see living people. Minds of their own. All of that was destroyed by you and your cuttlefish friends thinking that the way of the future is some horrific mesh of organic and synthetic."
"When you return are you not such a horrific mesh?"
"There's a difference, Halthas. When I have my implants, they aren't forcibly integrated into me while I'm wide awake."
"But are they not forced on you? How is that you do not mind what Lawson did to your body, but do object to synthesis?"
"Because, Halthas, I was dead. A corpse. There was no life, no mind, left in that body. I was a cadaver. Nothing in me that could say. 'No, I don't want this.' Synthesis people can object. They can express their displeasure. And, Halthas, they won't have the ability to push it out. To prevent it. Your synthesis virus would infect everything down to the very core of every planet, every star, every asteroid, and every comet. There would be nowhere to escape it. No way to prevent the change. It would be total and irrevocable.
"And, you forget one other thing, Halthas. My implants didn't kill off an entire group of individuals who are just trying to see that the galaxy has a future where there is freedom. Instead of the nightmare world you and your friends want to create."
Halthas shook his head, and said, "I had hoped to convince you that Synthesis was the future. The only one this galaxy, or any other galaxy, has. But, I see you are too Indoctrinated by the Lucis Entia."
"Not Indoctrinated, I just don't believe a word that comes out of your mouth. And even if I did, after what you did to Miranda, I wouldn't help you. But, I'm also not going to let you just walk away. You die here and now."
"Perhaps if you reverse time again. But for now, that will not be the case." Halthas said pinning her to a tree with a sword in each of her legs and both of her shoulders.
She glared at him, as he vanished, and a second later, so did the blades. She looked around for a moment, before returning to where the others were.
-=0=-
A/N: Thanks for reading the latest chapter. I have come to an executive decision to instead of doing my regular 5k word chapters, I'm gonna do 2k word ones for this just because I can only get inspired to put around 2000 to a chapter before the inspiration quits to flow. I figure more frequent, shorter chapters is better than a greater gap for longer chapters.
Also if you review and have Titanfall on PC, I would love to play with you. Unless you are a Smart Pistol fan. If you are, I am deeply ashamed of you. I hate the Smart Pistol as much as I hate Mass Effect 3. Which means I think it is the antithesis of good game design.(or in ME3's case, good storytelling.) I mean, seriously. WHO THE FUCK AT RESPAWN THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO MAKE AN OFFICIAL AIMBOT FOR THE GAME!? If it's in Titanfall 2, I probably won't spend a cent on the game. Because, FUCK THE SMART PISTOL IT'S NOTHING OTHER THAN AN AIMBOT FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BAD AT VIDEO GAMES! And, in all honesty, it was a stupid idea. The primary tactic for a weapon should not be frolic around like a little bitch. Yes, mobility is a key part of the game. But, the last time I checked, AIMING was also an important part of an FPS. if almost HALF YOUR FUCKING SCREEN is your target reticle where if you can keep the other player in it they'll die, SOMETHING IS WRONG!