Sarah looked around at the colony. Beyond a few large spots of strangely loose soil, it appeared as if nothing had happened. Seeing a slight shift in one of the spots, she pulled her rifle from her back, and said, "I saw movement."
"You think it's a thresher?" A corporal asked.
"I would bet on it."
Miranda looked at it, and said, "Just the dirt settling. Too small to be a thresher. If it was there would either be more dirt shifting, or dirt shifting in more than one patch."
Sarah laughed, and said, "I could check. You know, hop on the patch, and see if a thresher bursts up and tries to eat me."
"You sure it would fail, Shepard?" Jack shouted from across the courtyard.
"Pretty sure. There are a lot of things that I can do that most people would be stunned to see someone do."
"I'm pretty sure the Cheerleader isn't a lot of things."
Miranda shook her head, and lifted Jack into the air. Then Sarah said, "Alright, enough you two! We've got a job to do!" as the ground began to shake.
Miranda dropped Jack on her feet, and pulled out her rifle. Wrex pulled out a shotgun, while Jack flared her biotics. Sarah looked at the convict, and said, "Jack, no. Biotics will draw their attention."
The con nodded, as a thresher maw burst from the ground behind the commander.
The veteran soldier turned around in a split second, and opened fire, hitting the long, glowing tongue. The thresher roared in pain, and spat acid at her. In response she dove to the side, and threw a grenade towards it, only for the ground under her feet to disappear, and a second creature sent her flying into the air.
As she rose higher into the sky, rotating at a rapid speed, the threshers turned their attention to the other marines and began tearing through them. At the few glances Sarah got before her rotation moved them out of her line of sight, it looked like it was tearing through the unit.
Miranda looked up at the flying hero, and said, "Jack, we need to bring her down!"
"What do you want me to do, Cheerleader? It's not like I know how to make someone quit flying up into the air!"
"Just cover me while I pull her back in!"
"Why should I risk my neck for yours?"
"It's not for mine, Jack, it's for Shepard! I seriously thought we'd have gotten past this!"
"You're still working for those fuckers!"
"This isn't a good place to have this conversation." Jacob said as he rolled into cover beside Miranda. "Just do what she says, Jack. Do you want to have to answer to Shepard if something happens to Lawson?"
"Fine! I'll get moving." Jack grumbled, sprinting away from them, throwing warps and throws at the thresher maws.
Miranda nodded at Jacob before pulling Sarah closer. The Commander nodded at her, as she landed on the ground. "What do we do to take these things out?"
"We wait. We've still got three who are supposed to die up."
"How did you get out of this last time?"
"What I did was at this time I finished off one, before having to run the fuck away. After a few days out here I was able to contact the Alliance, and they killed the other two."
Miranda nodded, and said, "If you want there could be some friendly fire, end it quicker."
"No. We've got to make it believable that they were killed by the thresher maws. Just keep a low profile."
"Wasn't there a third maw?"
"Yes, it should show up right about... now." Sarah said, as it burst out of the ground in front of them, and stabbed at Jacob with its 'tongue'.
Sarah reached out with her hand and caught it before it connected, and growled, "Not today, motherfucker." Before pushing the thresher back.
It roared in fury, but turned its attention elsewhere. Sarah nodded at them, and motioned for Jack and Wrex to get closer. They complied, as Jennifer slid up beside her. "So, Shep, any bright ideas?"
"Yeah, keep your head down." she replied, pushing Jennifer's head down, as a ball of thresher maw acid flew overhead. "Once the other two are dead, I'll kill one in a flashy enough manner to get the others attention, but still be believable by Alliance HQ."
"You sure about this?"
"I got through this once when I was a normal person, Jennifer. I don't think I'll have any difficulty doing it again now that I'm not."
"Do you think Alliance Command will believe you?"
"I know how to play them like a guitar."
"I always had you marked as a violin player for some reason."
"Don't know why." Sarah replied as she saw the last survivor get speared and pulled up by a thresher.
"If you're going to do anything, now would be the time, Babe." Miranda said, as the three threshers turned to their location.
Sarah nodded, and said, "The way I killed the one last time was I tricked it into swallowing a grenade. I'm going to take that idea and alter it slightly."
"You're going to teleport an explosive inside it?"
"Kinda." Sarah said, vaulting over the cover and marching towards the three threshers. She looked at them and shouted, "You stay the fuck away from them! If you want something to hunt, hunt me!" as she fired on all three. As they turned towards her, the rifle overheated, and she tossed it to the ground, and whispered. "If you think you're going to hurt my friends, you've got another fucking story coming. At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall fall."
She sprinted towards the creatures, with each step the ground shaking beneath her feet, and then she leaped into the air, and streams of red-hot magma burst from the ground and flew towards her.
Looking at it, Miranda said, "How does she think that will not make the Alliance suspicious?"
"She's using it as a distraction, dumbass." Jack said, "She's got their attention, so we need to move the fuck out of here!"
"The crazy tattoo'd chick is right." Jennifer said, "Let's move."
"I'm not leaving Sarah behind!"
"You'll not get shit done, she's doing this in a way to let us get away because we're less capable of surviving than we are, Miranda." Jacob said, "You've seen what she can do. You know those things only live because she allows it."
"Quit talking like a bloody reaper." Miranda sighed, as she turned to walk away.
-=0=-
Halthas stepped forward, an arrogant smirk on his face, "Did you think that you would get away, Shepard?"
She looked at him, and said, "So you finally showed your face, Halthas. It's been a few years. I had hoepd you'd managed to get yourself killed being an idiot."
"You can dream, Shepard." he said. "You have no choice but to give in, or your friends will die. The magma has encased you, and it will no longer interest them."
"You used it as a way to hide the black hole you used to bend space/time around me to move me here. Clever. But you underestimate that team. If need be, they can kill those thing. I suspected you might try something like this, that's why I brought them."
He laughed, and said, "I know that they are skilled. But they like the numbers. They lack the strength. Give in to my demands, or you will return when they are dead. Devoured by thresher maws."
"Nope." Sarah said, "I'm not going to give in to your madness. Because, despite what you think, they'll be fine."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I'm not just some idiot who just shoots where she's told. I always have had an ace in the hole. Something that would ensure this didn't go in your favor."
"And what would that be?"
"Why give away the surprise?" Sarah asked, "So, you've got to make a choice, Halthas. Do you let me go, or do we have to have the final battle here and now?"
"I am curious to see what your ace is, the battle can wait." Halthas said, leaning back against a tree, as a display came live in the corner. It showed the battle.
"Live stream of the battle. Or a hole in reality showing what's going on?"
"The stream showing a hole. That way you do not get any bright ideas."
"I see." Sarah said, distancing herself from Halthas, and keeping one eye on him, and the other on the screen.
-=0=-
Miranda started sprinting away, as the magma leading up to Sarah solidified and the threshers turned towards them. She felt ones acid hit her in the back, and she fell to the ground, it melting rapidly through her armor, and starting to burn her skin. The Operative rolled onto her back, rubbing the acid off on the dirt.
She turned towards the massive creature, as it loomed over her. It dove towardds her, when a large hole appeared in its head. Miranda looked around, but only felt herself being pulled onto her feet, and pushed away from the threshers.
"What's going on?" the Operative asked.
"Halthas has made his move. Leave now. I shall handle these beasts."
"Who are you?"
"That is not important now. Run, I shall see to it that these creatures do not slay you."
"Where is Sarah?"
"She will be fine, Halthas wants to convert her to his cause, not kill her."
"Where is she!"
"She will be fine. Do not worry, we are already working on getting her out of the location that Halthas has moved her to."
"What are you talking about?"
"It is unimportant. All that you need to know is that you two shall be reunited again soon. Now run, before these animals focus on you."
"I better get some bloody answers soon!" Miranda growled, as she continued running.
"You will see in time." he replied.
-=0=-
Sarah said, "See?"
"Bryce, why not John?"
"If you're as smart as you claim to be, you should know." Sarah replied, walking away. "It was fun chatting, Halthas, but I've gotta go."
"What?" he said, as a hole appeared in the wall, and Sarah walked out.
"Damn tenebris..." Halthas sighed, as the hole closed.
-=0=-
Miranda looked around, as Sarah walked up, looking a bit battered, and said, "I think we've got a convincing story."
"What happened? Who was that guy who showed up!"
"It was Bryce."
"Why didn't he show his face, it isn't like I haven't encountered him before!"
"I asked him to keep minimal presence. Best to make any lies we have to tell as believable as possible." "Do you think it'll be easy to explain to them what put a giant gap in a thresher maw's head?"
"Yes." Sarah said, pulling a small tube. "This thing has a huge controlled blast. I'll say this thing was swallowed by it. The acid will then set it off, and bam, explanation."
"C15?"
"Exactly." Sarah said, placing a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. "Trust me, I've got this under control."
Miranda nodded, and said, "Why Bryce, and not your father?"
"Because I had another job for him to do in this eventuality."
"Get you out of trouble?"
"Precisely. And this will hopefully make Bryce trust me more, if I give him trust with what matters most to me."
"I wouldn't count on Dad doing that." A red-haired woman in scaley armor said as she approached.
"You're Bryce's daughter?" Sarah asked.
"You can call me Samantha if I can call you Sarah." the woman said, as she extended her hand.
Sarah shook it and said, "Fair enough. What brings you here?"
"Since you're going to be here for a bit to preserve the timeline, Dad insisted that I bring you a supply package that will be completely untraceable by your Systems Alliance and Halthas. That way you don't have to live off the land, but can still keep the whole thing a secret."
Sarah nodded, and said, "Well, it was a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise, Sarah." the Warden said, with a small smile. "Now I should head back home. The King knows what Morrigan will do to me if I'm late for our kid's birthday party. Probably turn me into a regular sized spider."
Sarah laughed, and asked, "How could you even do that? From what Bryce has told me about the place you come from, they don't exactly have the tech to make it work."
"Don't tell any templars, but Morrigan used some crazy blood magic. I'm still not sure how it worked."
"Right... magic's real where you come from... I swear things get weirder day by day."
"Tell me about it. Six years ago I was a noblewoman who's main worry was which woman she was going to bed that night. Then my parents were murdered and I had to become a warrior who's main job was to sacrifice herself to save the world. Before I became a full member met this crazy hot witch, and then ended up having a kid with her. Life's crazy."
Sarah just nodded, and said, "Go back to your family. We'll be fine."
"Sounds good." Samantha said as she disappeared.
"What just happened?" Miranda asked.
"I think Revan put it best when I met her. Interdimensional bullshit." Sarah said, squeezing Miranda's shoulder, as the others showed up.
-=0=-
A/N: So, it's been a while. My apologies. Got distracted by other things that I shouldn't have. Nothing really important. But, anyways, I suppose I shall use this as a chance for some updates on things.
First off, once I finish one of my three current projects, I will be doing a Dragon Age Origins story. Because it looks like Dragon Age III will not support my save which has a FemWarden/Morrigan romance. This has me, in my opinion justifiably, pissed. If things are how they look, don't expect me to give you any content based on any Bioware properties released in the future. Because if it is, that will be the final nail in Bioware's coffin, to me at least.
First, was SWTOR, fucking with Revan's story like KotORII did. Then there was Dragon Age II sucking donkey dick. Then there was the utter fiasco of ME3(except for MP.) And now this. That is four failures. Most companies I don't give that much benefit. If I hadn't loved KotOR, ME1/ME2 and DA:O so goddamn much, they'd have been dead to me after just ONE of those fiascos. But now this, it's too much for me.
Second, I will as soon as I finish it be releasing a smutty one-shot of a Female Revan and Bastila. If you want to find it just click on my account and look for Beyond the Darkness. It's nearly done with its first draft, and I'm a fast reader, so editing won't take too long. Assuming I don't find any massive issues.
Third and last: After extensive consideration, I've decided to include a bonus to reviewers of this story and Meus Mundus. If you have Mass Effect 3 on the PC I will be doing Mass Effect 3 multiplayer with said reviewers if they want to. I'm figuring that would be a good option, since most people reading a Mass Effect fanfic probably have Mass Effect 3. I would do it on the console except I don't have Xbox Live Gold, or Mass Effect 3 for PS3. So, if you want to play a game with me, review! I'm a friendly person, I promise.(though I do tend to have a habit of ranting about how the things I love are getting fucked up by their creators. What can I say, I get angry when people fuck up things I really care about. It's one of my many flaws.) And I do play games at a fairly high level. You won't be stuck with some noob scrub who doesn't know how to play the game. (With a team of four I can pretty easily do platinum no box-trick. I can solo gold with a few specific classes. And can solo silver and bronze as pretty much any class. Though some stupid loadouts I can't make that work beyond bronze. (I did make a Sentinel only using the explosion tech armor makes when you disable it as its only real means of doing damage work on solo bronze.)
So yeah, please review and thank you for reading the latest chapter.