-Chapter 8-
The darkness that enveloped him began to fade. Voices echoed around the room he was in. In time, the voices became sharper and more coherent. Harry found himself lying down as two people were leering over him, jotting down notes and speaking to him, asking him questions. Questions of his health, how he was feeling. Questions you would expect from a medical check-up.
Overcoming the feeling of grogginess, Harry spoke in kind. " I think I'm fine. " Harry rubbed his eyes as he tried to sit up. " Feel like I just woke up at 5 am " To his amazement his spine refused to cooperate with him. " Why can't I move ?" he asked.
Harry could now see that these two were doctors. " Your mind is still getting acquainted with it's new body. It may take a few minutes before you can crawl out of bed. " answered one as he caught Harry trying to get up. " Take it easy there Harry, you were out for about 2 hours. We were worried that you joined with God when we transferred your conciseness. The Lord was kind enough to return you to us. You're lucky, most didn't wake up. "
What ? A new body ? I'm... lucky ? "Whats going on doc ?" asked Harry, a little nervous.
" You don't remember ?" The doctor chuckled, " You've been training for months now under the watchful eye of the Lord. Does the word ' Capsuleer ' ring a bell ?" he asked.
Capsuleer ? Harry shook his head, " I'm afraid not doctor, but I'm sure that the good Lord will help me remember. " he answered. His memory was slowly coming back to him.
" I'm sure he will son. Like a shepherd and his sheep, he watches over and cares for us all. Our prayers go out to you Harry. Be well. " And with that the two doctors left him to tend to another patient. Probably in the same situation as Harry was.
While he was lying there with nothing but his trousers on, Harry took this opportunity to gather his bearings. He was lying on a bed, with two statues of angels to his left and right. Between them was a holographic monitor that displayed data about Harry's vital signs. The large room he was in housed many other patients. Some were lying still in their beds, either dead or sleeping. Others were walking about, getting comfortable within their new bodies. And then there were the rest that lied in body bags. Monks surrounded the bags, communing psalms to the dead wishing them peace and a safe journey back to Heaven. The surfaces of the room were decorated with colors of dark brown, tan and glistening gold. Some of the walls even had engravings of holy figures from millennium's past. In the distance Harry could hear hymns being preached constantly. They soothed his mind, as he tried to remember how he got here.
His spine and the rest of his body finally started to cooperate with him and he was able to sit up. He turned his body to the left and attempted to stand, but after his legs gave out he figured sitting was a good idea. And as he sat down, his memory hit him like a freight train.
His faction, the Amarr Empire, was looking for volunteer civilians to help them test out new capsuleer technology that they believed would tip the balance of the empyrean wars to their favor. They dressed the experiment up as the " Next Reclaiming " and told the volunteers that by participating they would become the vanguards of the Next Reclaiming and earn the lord's favor. It was all a bunch of crap really. Capsuleers are immortal so long as they pay for their medical clones. The volunteers would never reach heaven, and with unlimited amount of lives to live you're bound to commit a sin or two. Besides, It's common knowledge that if one Empire makes a technological breakthrough, pretty soon the rest will make that same breakthrough to even the odds. What suckered Harry into this deal though was the rumors that the Next Reclaiming may be within their grasps, with these upgraded capsuleer bodies, capable of commanding larger starships without the need of a crew. And now he was here, with the word ' capsuleer ' ringing a lot of bells and stuck in a body that doesn't cooperate with him out-right.
He tried standing up again, and was amused that his legs supported his weight this time. He grabbed and slipped on a robe that was conveniently placed to his left. He preferred to wear a uniform but he'll make an exception, since this robe was the only article of clothing he could find. He was in the process of adjusting the robe when a thought occurred to him.
Wait a minute... I've been here before. He thought to himself. Many years ago. After some thought he continued, Yes this was where I completed my capsuleer training at a training station out in the middle of no-where in the Pasha solar system. About a year from now I will defect because of moral standings and run off with a new body and one of their cruisers and begin working closely with the Gallente Federation and the Minmitar Republics to repel the oppressive nature of the Amarr Empire. A faction I once was so proud to be a part of.
While he was revisiting old memories, the hymns stopped and Harry suddenly noticed everyone was missing. Searching the room, he called out to see if anyone was with him. There was no response. He also noticed that the engravings along the walls have changed, now depicting the metallic squid statues he saw earlier. A capsule not too far from where he stood opened up and grabbed Harry's attention. Pacing over to the capsule to get a closer look, Harry noticed a dim flashing red light inside the capsule, along with a figure casting a shadow across the floor. As Harry got closer, the dim light got brighter, the whispers in the back of his mind became louder, and there was a body inside the capsule that hasn't been dumped out yet. Once he got close enough he was shocked at what he discovered, and the whisperings were silenced.
The body in the capsule was his own.
How could this happen ? This wasn't part of my history. The pulsing red light ceased to blink and after some time the body twitched in place. What the...
The body lurched forward and swiveled it's head to look at Harry right in the eye, breaking through the pod-goo container with such force, stopping only a few inches from Harry's face as it's wrists and ankles were bound to the capsule. Red light flooded the room and blinded Harry's eyes as the corpse let out a feral scream. The very scream he heard from the metallic squid statues.
Harry Woke Up.
Jolting upright, in a cold sweat, and breathing heavily, Harry began to recover from his nightmare. Once he was calm, Harry took in his surroundings.
The bridge of the Normandy SR9 was in complete disarray. Sections of walls and ceiling have collapsed and the pieces were strewn about the floor, exposing the cables, pipes, and electronics tucked underneath. Several monitors were showing static, while others were shattered. Whatever hit him must've hit those monitors as well. Over at the stern viewpoint window Harry could see an emergency bulkhead clamped down just outside the window, still holding firm. Sparks would occasionally fly as damaged cables would make contact with one another. A red light was also pulsing, flooding the bridge in a red glow. Other than that the bridge was pitch black and Harry had difficulty seeing without the pulsing red light.
Grunting as he stood up, Harry called for Aura. He didn't get a response. " Aura, are you there ?" he called again. Sparks violently flew and Harry shielded his eyes from the flash. He then heard a deep voice that soon rapidly increased in pitch as power was being routed to the bridge speakers.
"It is good to se-se-see you alllllllive Pilot. " answered Aura.
Harry noticed Aura glitching with her response, " Aura, what's wrong ?" he asked.
" I I I have detected several malfun-fun-fun-functions thouououghout the ship. " reported Aura.
" Give me a damage report then. Lets see if we can fix them. " Commanded Harry.
" Acknowl- " There was a small, distant explosion that interrupted Aura. Suddenly the AI cried, " CRITICAL ERRRR- " and with another white flash from exposed cables she was gone.
" Aura... Aura !" Harry cried out, but he never got another response. Shit, Its never a good sign when the Ship-board AI shuts down.
The Omni-tool lit up as Harry raised his left arm. The soft pulsing of the red light gave way to bright, circular white cone as he switched the omni-tool to flashlight mode. Lets see if I can clear up one of these monitors. He thought as Harry navigated through the fallen rubble until he was at the panel behind the monitor bench. From there, he proceeded to rip the panel off to expose the circuitry and wires inside. To his amazement, the majority of the circuits and wires were intact. However, the main data input cable was partially frayed. Harry went ahead and unplugged the data cable to safely mend the damage. While he was fusing the severed wires together with his omni-tool's mini fabricator, he wondered if this was like piloting a rusty-bucket-of-bolts Minmatar ship. He chuckled as he further considered the thought. Maybe its the Matarian duct-tape they use to patch their ships. What I wouldn't give for some of that tape though. Once finished, Harry plugged the cable back in and light broke through the remaining monitors as the data flowed into them. Swinging back around the bench, Harry worked in front of the monitors to activate a backup virtual intelligence. He installed one for... you know,... when Aura goes off-line. It never hurts to have a backup plan.
" EMERGENCY VIRTUAL INTELLIGENCE ONLINE. " blared the bridge's loudspeakers. " EXECUTING STARTUP SCRIPT... ANALYZING AI CORE. "
After some time, the VI reported it's findings. " ERROR ! ... AI CORE CANNOT BE REACHED... MANUAL REPAIR REQUIRED... DIAGNOSTIC COMPLETE ! AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS... "
The ship's internal network must've been damaged if the VI can't communicate with the AI core. Harry thought, Unless...
" Computer, Can you run diagnostic reports on all systems within this ship ?" asked Harry.
" ... ERROR ! INPUT DATA NOT VALID. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. " responded the VI.
Hand palm... to forehead. I've forgotten how much of an idiot the VI is, Harry thought as he slid his hand down his face.
" Computer, Run diagnostic scans. "
"SPECIFY SUBSYSTEMS "
"All subsystems on Local Vessel "
"COMMAND RECEIVED... EXECUTING DIAGNOSTICS ON ALL SUBSYSTEMS WITHIN LOCAL VESSEL... "
"Finally... " Harry exclaimed, He didn't enjoy dumbing himself down to a machine. Now, it's probably a good idea not to put too much stress on the Normandy SR9 until the VI completes it's diagnostic reports. Harry thought as he used the flashlight on the Omni-tool to further assess the state of the bridge. The good news is the ship still has power, but it's shoddy at best... I wonder if the doors still work. As he thought that he walked over to the main door to the bridge and attempted to open it. To his dismay, the door didn't budge. Scowling, harry thought, well we must be running on a dead battery then. Either that or the VI is taking up all the available power to do it's job. I'll have to re-route power on the fly as I'm repairing this ship then... after the VI finishes.
While the VI was running, Harry took the time to assess the situation. He was stranded, alone, on a heavily damaged cruiser known as the Normandy SR9. Much of the ship's subsystems are presumably off-line due to the lack of enough power to run even a few lights. He knew that he was in Citadel space, but without the propulsion systems on-line his ship could have drifted for many kilometers. For all he knew his ship could still be drifting if propulsion failed before Aura could safely decelerate the ship. His ship had almost no defenses left thanks to those squid statues, meaning that if anyone even considered firing on his ship he was toast. Then the thought of the life-support systems flashed through Harry's mind. Ok, first priority is to check the life-support systems after the VI is finished. He thought, Then I need to find help... fast.
" DIAGNOSTIC SCANS COMPLETE. REPORT SAVED ON LOCAL FILE... AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. " reported the VI.
Right on cue, Harry thought as he went over to the monitor bench to pull up the diagnostic report.
His assumptions were proven correct. Almost all of the Normandy SR9 ' s subsystems were off-line due to a lack of power. There were also reports on the shield systems and the Capacitor Regeneration Unit but Harry ignored those reports. He already knew those two were damaged, one of them being beyond repair. He scanned through the report to find that the Life-support systems were listed as malfunctioning.
" Computer, Analyze Life-support Subsystem. " commanded Harry.
" ANALYZING... WARNING ! LIFE-SUPPORT SUBSYSTEM MALFUNCTIONING. " reported the VI.
You should know this since you wrote the report ! Harry mentally grumbled, " Identify Malfunction. " commanded Harry again.
" PROCESSOR LS-47A INOPERABLE. PROCESSOR LS-47A IS CRITICAL FOR SUBSYSTEM OPERATION. RECOMEND REPLACEMENT. " replied the VI.
I can probably replace that processor with one from one of my drones. Harry contemplated, The drone processor isn't designed for that kind of work, but it should work if low voltage power was provided to the subsystem. The air would be stale, but at least I won't suffocate.
" ALERT ! ... LOW OXYGEN LEVELS DETECTED " cried the VI.
Well this is unsettling, thought Harry. " How long until oxygen depletion ?"
"ESTIMATED 2 HOURS UNTILL OXYGEN DEPLETION " replied the VI.
Well i'd better hurry then, Harry thought to himself. He then gave the VI the shutdown command.
" SHUTDOWN COMMAND RECEIVED. SHUTTING DOWN " replied the VI. And with that the main door to the bridge slid open. So the VI was hogging all the available power. Harry thought as he walked briskly through the door.
Getting to the drone bay took longer than expected. The main route was blocked by bulkheads that clamped shut when the corridors de-pressurized. Harry didn't even attempt to re-pressurize the corridors. Given the state of the bridge, Harry assumed that some corridors wouldn't be able to re-pressurize due to a probable exposure to vacuum. He instead found an alternate route that got him to the same destination. When Harry tried to enter, the door refused to open for him. After checking the near-by console, he discovered that the room was de-pressurized as well. The forcefield used to contain an atmospheric environment within the drone bay was put off-line to conserve power. I wonder if running the Emergency VI caused this... Harry pondered as he re-activated the forcefield and re-pressurized the room. Once that was complete, the door opened and Harry briskly proceeded inside. He didn't know how much power was available to him but there might not be enough to keep the forcefield active indefinitely. If this was true, Harry didn't want to spend too much time in the drone-bay in case the forcefield collapsed.
He cursed under his breath. Harry realized that there were 5 of his 20 drones missing. These were the Electronic Countermeasure drones he left behind while he was escaping the statues. Now instead of pulling the replacement processor from one of these drones, he has to pull the processor from one of his combat drones. He had three sources that he could pull this processor from; a Hobgobblin class Gallente light drone, a Hammerhead class Gallente medium drone, or a Warrior class Minmatar light drone. Not trusting the reliability of Matarian tech, Harry eliminated the 'Warriors' as a possibility. Besides, he would need them if the Hammerheads can't hit their target. He couldn't sacrifice a Hammerhead drone since it was one of his available drones that outputted the highest damage of the three. Although his decision seemed to have been made, Harry was still at an im-pass. He also took into account whether he would need this drone later. The Hobgobblin drone also dealt thermal type damage, which proved very effective against the shielding technology of these galactic occupants. Because of this, the drone would have a higher value than one of the Minmatar drones. In the end though, Harry ended up choosing the Hobgobblin drone since these people haven't been attacked by Matari tech before. It was a trick he has yet to show.
His brisk jog over to a Hobgobblin drone triggered the proximity sensor on the drone and woke it up. The drone rose slightly as it began to hover in place as it watched Harry approach. Harry slowed himself from a jog to a walk as he noticed the drone's actions. He got the feeling the drone was questioning the purpose of his presence. The drone tracked him as he tried to approach one of the drone's side panels. Noticing this, Harry stopped and told the drone, "Stand still." The drone gave a whirring noise in response and froze in place. Harry then cautiously approached the side panel and opened it. In response the drone assumed Harry was going to perform maintenance work and shut itself down as a safety procedure. Harry relaxed a little, he couldn't afford an angry drone firing on him right now. After crawling around inside the drone, Harry eventually found the LS-47A processor he needed. Before he pulled it, he patted the drone and said, "Forgive me." With that he yanked the processor out. Harry was tossed around inside the drone as it rose up and 'yelped', then fell to the floor and was silenced forever. Harry crawled out with a few new bruises on his body and paused beside the drone. It's actions scared the crap out of Harry and he needed some time to recover. Sympathetically, he turned to the drone and apologized to it. "I'm sorry," he said, "but it had to be done." With the processor in his hand, he walked away from the drone to finish the plan that he started. He walked with guilt as he thought about what he had done.
About an hour later, the Life-Support subsystem was humming as it ran once again. It wasn't running at full capacity, but having it run at all is better than the alternative. Harry breathed a sigh of relief on the bridge when he re-activated the life support systems. At least now I won't suffocate, He thought to himself. He was about ready to start basic repairs of the ship-wide network, but he had one more task he had to complete. At the monitor bench, Harry gave all available power to the drone control unit. There was only enough juice for the computer to operate one drone, which would be enough. Harry programmed his ship's computer to activate a Warrior drone and use it as a distress beacon. If the Normandy SR9 was drifting Harry hoped that someone would find the drone before it went out of control range. After the computer was programmed, Harry watched as one of the Minmatar drones left the drone bay, and began broadcasting a distress signal. While the drone was outside the drone bay, Harry used this opportunity to use the drones camera to see the damage that was inflicted on the Normandy SR9. Harry was stunned as he witnessed how badly damaged his ship was.
I have a lot of work to do. Harry concluded.
The door whisked open as Shepard left the Life Support room. He just got done talking with a Drell by the name of Thane Krios and was prioritizing which errands needed done. Quite frankly ever since they salvaged some tech from a disabled Collector ship, and narrowly escaped it's trap, a lot of his crew members were asking favors from him. Recent events have shown how close to death they all were and his crew wanted to finish up a few things. There was a good chance that this mission would be a one way trip and they wanted some closure before it ends. This latest addition to the list was about saving Thane's son from a life of crime. Shepard wanted to help Thane. He wanted to stay on friendly terms with him, but Thane was just one of many people he wanted to keep on friendly terms. Grumbling and rubbing his head as he headed to the elevator, Shepard considered where they should all go next. He wanted to head back to the Citadel to help Garrus follow up on a lead, but when Tali was accused of treason by her own people, Her problem became Shepard's top priority. Tali has done a lot for the original crew of the Normandy and she was a good friend to him, he wanted to return the favor in kind. Now that that was taken care of, He can head to the Citadel and help Garrus. Besides, Thane seemed to believe that his son was there as well. At least I can kill two birds with one stone. He thought.
They were about to dock with the Citadel when Joker called Shepard over the intercom. "Hey Commander, you may want to come up here. EDI found something interesting."
Reaching the cockpit, Shepard asked, "What did you find EDI?"
"I am picking up a distress signal on our long range scanners." reported EDI.
Well this is great. Grumbled Shepard, "How bad is it?"
"I don't know, but the signal is unique in that it doesn't match any other known signatures... Also the signal is being broadcasted on all known frequencies." reported EDI.
"So I guess we have another damsel in distress huh Commander?" Joker jokingly commented.
Hah... wouldn't that be nice, Shepard thought. "Well lets take a look since we're here." Sorry Garrus, but you may have to wait a little longer. He hated letting his good friend down like this.
Soon the Normandy SR2 reached the distress beacon.
Joker was the first to speak up, "Alright so here's the beacon, but where's the ship?"
Just then EDI chirped up, "The distress beacon is now sending us another signal... The signal contains only two words... 'Follow Me'".
"Follow Me?" questioned Shepard.
At that moment the beacon swiveled around and shot off in a direction. "Did that thing just jump into FTL?" asked Joker, with shock in his voice.
"I don't know... but that was damn fast." answered Shepard. "Can we follow it?"
"I'm afraid not, we have lost the signal... correction... The beacon is coming back." reported EDI.
The beacon popped back into visual range and sent the 'Follow Me' signal again, then turned around and started moving at a slower speed.
"Lets not lose it this time!" commanded Shepard.
"Aye Aye." responded Joker and he piloted the Normandy SR2 in pursuit.
After some time, the beacon finally reached it's owner. Joker and Shepard were the first to witness the smoldering mess that was before them.
"Damn... That doesn't look good." spoke Joker
"Yeah it looks bad, but maybe there are survivors." spoke Shepard, being optimistic.
"I have detected another signal, this one has audio and is originating from the vessel." reported EDI.
"Lets hear it then." commanded Shepard.
"At once" responded EDI as she routed the signal to the cockpit speakers.
At first there was static but eventually the audio came through. "Mayday! Mayday! This is Harry Namarr, Pilot of the Normandy SR9. Hull integrity is critical. Requesting assistance in transport to the Citadel or repair of hull. This message will repeat every 15 minutes until someone responds."
The room fell silent after that, but both Joker and Shepard were wondering the same thing.
The Normandy SR9?