Chapter 26: The Break Out; Conclusion
Somewhere in space…
Wretched, pitiful thing…
The voices.
You dare hinder us?
The voices were getting louder!
Atone for your sins!
He pleaded for them to stop, but each time he did so, they only seemed to get louder, delighting in their torment of him.
The crackle of gun fire was gradually replaced by screams of agony as Gemini violently slaughtered all those who stood in his way. The Cerberus troopers were formidable soldiers, but they were no match for the amnesiac psychopath who had just butchered most of the people in the secret facility. The scent of death lingered in the air, a testament to the mangled Cerberus corpses strewn about all over the station from his rampage.
Kill them all, the voices in his head whispered.
KILL…
THEM…
ALL…
Underneath the psychotic grin etched on Gemini's face, a deep seething madness was bubbling out into the surface. He hated Cerberus; that much he knew for sure as he wrested a shotgun from one of his assailants and blasted the top half of his face into a fine red mist. But why did he hate them so much? Honestly, he didn't have a clue, but he was starting not to care. It was a sickening thought to entertain, but Gemini couldn't deny how good it felt when his victims screamed, begging for their lives like helpless children. Death was his drug, and he enjoyed dealing it out and reveling in its high. This one did not have time to scream, and he loved making them scream. Pity, he thought as the half-headless corpse fell limp on the ground.
Screams were good.
The screams drowned out the voices in Gemini's head.
Was he crazy? No, not crazy, not yet. It's just… Just the voices telling him what to do. The damned voices were the one's making him do this. He… Liked doing the things the voices told him to do, he conceded. He just didn't necessarily want to do them; so much as he needed to do them. It was like being sealed in a glass room, watching yourself do these things that you did helplessly, banging against the wall, yelling at yourself to stop.
Kill for us…
Kill them all…
None of you are worthy…
None of you ever were…
You all deserve to die…
These voices were not like the old man's who had intruded into his mind earlier. They were subtle, sinister whispers that came from speakers that seemed to be always standing just outside his field of vision. They spoke of failure, death, worthlessness and futility. He had started hearing them not long after his awakening. They were tolerable at first, but they have since been growing louder and clearer, not giving him a moment's peace. The voices were maddening. They would not go away, but he found that they abated when he was doing acts of violence. They would come flooding back into his head in force, but he would have those precious few moments of silence in between.
Failure…
Countless opportunities you wretches were given…
All of which ended in failure. ..
"Come on now, is that the best you got?!" He roared, rushing headlong into another trooper. Flipping the shotgun with one hand, he bashed the weapon like a heavy club into the trooper's abdomen. The trooper hunched over in pain before Gemini cracked his skull open with another swing. "Come on, you bastards! Try harder!" He said, almost pleadingly, throwing the shotgun aside and spreading his arms wide open. "Kill me!"
Seeing their comrades butchered didn't even seem to faze the remaining troopers as they converged on him, guns drawn. Gemini didn't even bother going behind cover as bullets tore into him, his blood forming a growing pool of scarlet around his feet. He cried out in pain; arms still wide open as the troopers' guns clicked empty, blood streaming from the many holes in his tattered body. The troopers could only gawk in disbelief as they fumbled to reload their guns, some even taking a few steps back, contemplating on running.
"What did you do to me?!" Gemini roared as biotic energies burst from his body. The troopers had regrouped around him, opening fire in futile as the bullets seemed to stop mid-air, caught in his barrier. Gemini howled in agony as glowing cracks began appearing on his skin again, tendrils of energy snaking all around him. "Why can't you kill me?!" The tendrils seemed to coil around him like a wound spring at first, before striking at all those around him, violently ripping apart steel and flesh in a hurricane of violence. Using his biotics was becoming more and more natural to him as he used them, the pain it brought him a fair price to pay for the havoc it wrought unto others.
You are ours…
No.
Your very thoughts are ours...
No, he was not crazy.
You cannot escape us…
He was in control of this madness.
We are in control…
"I AM IN CONTROL!" Gemini roared.
As quick as it had happened, the tendrils of energy receded back into Gemini and his biotic field dissipated, leaving a circle of gore around him. His skin started to regenerate, healing the burnt cracks all over his body. The violence surrounding him seemed to be enough to appease the voices, and his head was clear once more.
He grabbed his head, hyperventilating as he tried to calm himself down. The voices were gone for now, he assured himself. The old man said he had answers, and they better be damned good ones. He was broken from his musings as one of the troopers groaned in pain, getting back up to his feet.
"Hey you..." Gemini said as he circled the last surviving Cerberus trooper, the corpses of the man's deceased squad mates scattered all around them. "You don't think I'm crazy, right?" He asked, watching the trooper with amusement as the latter was panting, holding a combat knife in one hand and clutching his bleeding side with the other.
The trooper grunted in reply as he thrust the blade towards him, slashing in wild arcs that Gemini sidestepped with ease. The trooper almost tripped on himself, but managed to recover and continued his assault, swinging the blade trying to draw Gemini's blood.
"Hey! I asked you a question!" He said as he toyed with his prey, letting the blade get close and just barely dodging the slashes on purpose. "TELL ME I'M NOT CRAZY!"
Whether driven by anger, fear, or quite possibly both, the trooper just roared at him as he lunged with his knife, trying to drive the blade directly into Gemini's throat. Gemini sidestepped the blow and closed in on the crazed trooper, grabbing the arm holding the blade and striking a palm into the trooper's elbow. The arm snapped into two with a sickening crunch, causing the trooper to drop the blade and leaving everything from his elbow down limp and insensate. Before the man could yell in agony, Gemini twisted around and drove his elbow into the man's face sending him off of his feet and down on the ground.
Picking up the knife, Gemini was mumbling to himself incoherently as he approached the stunned trooper who was still lying on the ground. "Don't be mad, you're the one who made me do this…" He said as he stepped on the man's throat, making him squirm beneath his boot. The man struggled against him, grabbing Gemini's foot and trying to wrest it off. But that only made Gemini press harder, causing the trooper to gurgle. "It's quiet now, but they'll be back to haunt me." With a flick of his wrist, he threw the knife down. The blade punched right through armor and lodged itself deep into the trooper's shoulder, penetrating into the floor. Raising his foot off of the trooper's neck, he immediately stomped it down onto the hilt of the knife, driving the blade deeper into the trooper. The trooper screamed in pain as blood started to pool around him. Oh yes, the screams of the suffering were always delicious. The more agonized they were, the quieter the voices in his head were.
"Hurts don't it?" he asked as the trooper squirmed underneath him, weakly clawing at Gemini's foot, trying to pry it off of himself. Gemini only laughed in amusement as he ground his foot against the knife's hilt, driving it deeper into the trooper, making the latter shriek in pain. "Now tell me… what did you people do to my head!?" He ground his foot against the knife hilt, making the man whimper. "TELL ME!"
"You- You're…" The trooper tried to say, his breathing ragged as blood loss clouded his vision.
Gemini immediately let his foot off of the knife and knelt down next to him. "Yes… Tell me, please." He pleaded.
"You're a-!" He didn't get to finish what he was saying as his face exploded into a sea of blinding white light.
"What the-!" Gemini said as he shielded his face from the flash, his eye sight temporarily robbed from him. When his vision returned to him a few moments later, the first thing he saw was that the man's face was completely blown off, exposing mulched flesh and grey matter. "No… No, no, no…" he said as he grabbed the man's neck. In a fit of rage, he pulled the knife out of the man and started to repeatedly stab the corpse over and over again, blood spurting out of each new hole. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TELL ME!" He was so enraged that he barely noticed the alien ringing in his head. Gemini dropped the knife and clutched his head. "You again!" Gemini sneered accussingly, looking around him.
"Oh dear, why are you so upset, brother?" Zsasz said in his head. "I just stopped him from spoiling the surprise. Ocular flash-bangs; I was in that board meeting when we decided to implement those in all the grunts. It's messy but effective."
"I have enough god damn voices in my head already without your greasy fingers leafing through it…" He replied. "What did you people do to me?"
"Oh brother, I would love to tell you, but these telepathic conversations are still ironically so… impersonal." Zsasz explained. "I'd rather speak to you mano y mano; face to face and all that."
"I'm sick of your games!"
"Really? Too bad, because I'm having the time of my li-."
"I'll kill you!" Gemini roared.
"And do you think that in doing so, the voices will stop?"
That caught Gemini's attention enough to break past his rage. "What… What do you know about the voices?"
"I see their influence has already reached you." Zsasz laughed heartily. "The voices, my dear brother, belong to the enemy; Our enemy."
"You're not making any sense! None of this is making any damned sense! What do you mean 'our enemy'?" Gemini demanded. "What did you do to me!?"
"I gave you back what was lost. The process was interrupted by your untimely awakening, but I can make your mind whole again, freeing you from their grasp." Zsasz said consolingly. "Come to me and together, we will end their threat."
"Enough with the word play!" Gemini snapped. "Give me a straight answer!"
"You will understand soon enough. Find me, brother." And with that, the ringing stopped, and Gemini was alone in his mind once more.
For now.
Meanwhile, back on Omega…
The hull of the truck shook as enemy fire bounced off of its shields and armor, resisting a surprising amount of damage as it zoomed over the Eclipse. Miranda held on against a handrail as she struggled to stay up straight through the turbulence. "Joker, do you read me? Over." she said through her comm. "I repeat, do you read me?"
"Ms. Lawson, I have never been happier to read you or anybody else for that matter." Joker replied as a holovid of him came up on Miranda's omnitool interface, his voice just winning over the sound of the firefight. "Please tell me this is an extraction and not a goodbye. I hate goodbyes."
"Right… We're heading over to your position, so prep for extraction." She said, "What's your status?"
"It's, err… complicated, but we're all still alive." Joker replied, looking side to side uneasily on the holoscreen. "Wait, I can see you coming now. How are we doing this? You'll be massacred if you try to land in this bullet storm."
"You let me worry about that." Miranda said, "Just keep your heads down and try to stay alive."
"So do what we've been doing all along, gotcha." Joker said exasperatedly over the comm. "Any more helpful tips or are those the general guidelines we should abide by?"
"I can hurt you in ways you can't even begin to imagine, Joker." Miranda threatened.
"I'd take that over this any day, ma'am." Joker replied like a man with nothing left to lose.
"Lawson out." Miranda rolled her eyes as she shut off the link and turned to Legion. "Alright, it's your time to shine, Legion." She told the geth as the truck closed in on Joker's position. "You're… certain about this?" she asked uneasily.
Her concerns were valid because Legion was still busy tinkering with a pair of mangled, headless top halves of a couple of Ymir mechs. "Prognostics have projected 92.4% probability of success." The geth said as it was kneeling next to one of the wrecks, working on it with a holographic interface. Several wires snaked from Legion's torso, interfacing with the mechs' own circuitry as sparks flew every now and then. "We have sufficiently integrated this platform with the weapon's suites of these units." Legion began. "This platform can provide sufficient energy for a limited amount of time and exert enough control over foreign software to utilize the units' on board weaponry."
"The software is one thing, but the hardware itself isn't in the greatest condition…" Miranda countered, still not convinced by the idea. "And the power cores on those things aren't exactly what I'd like to call stable…"
Instead of replying, Legion made the Ymir mech he was working on suddenly jerk to life, causing Miranda to flinch in surprise.
"I see you've made your point." Miranda said, gathering herself again as the Ymir experimentally flexed and extended it's arms in smooth, fluid motions under Legion's influence. "Well, the articulation seems unhindered in this unit, but what about the other one?"
"We have already established control over the second unit." Legion dismissed.
"Impressive." Miranda finally conceded with a sincere tone.
"Running diagnostics… Diagnostics complete." Legion said as it stood up, walking behind the Ymir torsos. "Twin-linked TZ9-J heavy rocket launchers, operational and ready. Twin-linked GZ-7 heavy machine guns, operational and ready." The Ymirs raised their arms and said weapons shifted into active mode. "Targeting system in synch with this platform's own targeting software. This platform will now be able to provide sufficient cover fire." As if to emphasize the point, the Ymir arms were gesticulating as Legion spoke. "We are locked and loaded, to use human vernacular, waiting on your mark."
"Well, there's only one way to know for certain." Miranda said as she turned to the Shadow Broker agents with them. "Open the doors, this operation is a go."
Joker cringed as a loud explosion slammed against their cover, the Eclipse slowly whittling it away through sheer firepower. Even sneaking in pot shots with blind fire wasn't feasible anymore as bullets flew and ricocheted all around them. Surprisingly, imminent death wasn't as terrifying as the sheer discomfort he was experiencing right now, sitting in between Garrus and Kasumi.
It was a ray of sunshine in his dreary day when the next one to hail his comm was EDI. "EDI!" he said enthusiastically as he answered the transmission. "You're back!"
"Hello Joker, I have regained control of the Normandy." EDI replied as her holo avatar floated above his omnitool interface. "How are you?" the AI asked, almost awkwardly.
"How am I? HOW AM I?!" Joker said incredulously. "I, we, then the crash, and then both my legs, argh!" he started to blabber, not knowing where to start his account of tragic recent events. "You know what? I'm just going to say I'm fine." He finally settled, trying to ignore the pain coming from his legs.
"But according to my scans, the three of you are in severe life-threatening danger with very low chances of survival at only-."
"I'm fine, EDI." Joker said firmly, cutting off her dreary analysis and rubbing his temples. "Not to diminish the moment or anything, but now's probably not the time for a tearful reunion." He replied, "You had us all worried!"
"I apologize for any inconvenience I might have caus-."
"Apupupup…" Joker said, cutting her off again. "No apologies, just keep the engines warm for me, I'm coming back, alright? I'll have to sign off now."
"Alright, I'll see you soon Jeff. Logging you out." With that, EDI's holo avatar flickered before disappearing from his interface.
"Hey guys, EDI's back!" he announced to his companions, trying to lighten the tension as best as he can.
It was met with indifference as both Garrus and Kasumi simply replied "Neat." Despite saying the word in unison, they didn't show any recognition that the other one said the same thing at the same time.
"So… Um, before that, I just got off the comm with Miranda." He began uneasily. "She's on her way to pick us up." He pointed out into the distance, "See? You can even see her coming."
Kasumi shrugged, and almost the exact same time, she and Garrus said "Finally." This time however, both looked at each other because of their inadvertent synchronicity for a moment before looking away with gruff harrumphs. Joker could only face palm helplessly.
Even in the midst of the worst of worst case scenarios, his two companions somehow possessed impossibly stubborn egos that could put the Citadel Council to shame. At this very moment, Garrus and Kasumi were waging a war of silence and indifference against one another, with him caught in the middle. The two had an air of indignity about them, heads tilted away from each other just far enough as to keep the other one just outside of their field of vision. Not that it took away from their combat effectiveness at all. Ironically enough, both still displayed the same level of synergy when taking out Eclipse troopers when they could, they just didn't acknowledge the existence of the other person elsewise.
"You guys can't possibly be really doing this right now." Joker said, taking off his cap and running a hand through his dirty, matted hair. "I mean, seriously guys." Bullets ricocheted off of the top of their cover, causing Joker to flinch and duck. His companions however were almost indifferent to it. "Seriously." He said again, putting his cap back on, oblivious of the new bullet hole that adorned the cap right in the middle of its front.
After a couple of moments, Garrus sighed and turned around, looking at Kasumi. "Joker has a point. This is completely childish." He said with a tired tone laced in his voice. "We shouldn't be acting like this right now…"
Joker was silently nodding his head in affirmation.
Kasumi groaned and folded her arms across her chest. "I partially agree. I shouldn't be acting like this." She continued, "You, on the other hand, suit this childishness so well."
"Excuse me?" Garrus replied, the spines on his fringe ruffling a bit.
At this, Joker could only stare at Kasumin in shock as he shook his head warily, mouthing 'no' over and over again.
"You heard me." Kasumi said, tilting her head to glare at Garrus. "Or is turian hearing not up to par these days."
"Now you've just crossed the line from insulting into full blown racism." Garrus spat back. "Jeez, Kasumi, I thought you were better than that."
"At least I'm not a stubborn, stuck up jerk."
"Well at least I'm not the one acting like a spoiled little-"
Joker almost threw his hands into the air had he not have the presence of mind to remember that they were under fire. "Oh my fucking god!" He blurted out, catching the pair unawares. "Am I the only one who realizes we're up to our necks in shit here?! Jesus, there's a time and a place for your goddamn issues and it is definitely not here and now! What the hell has gotten into you two? You obviously both had good fucking intentions, so let's try not to let that tear the god damned team apart! I am not about to die surrounded by drama!" He panted for a bit before taking a deep breath. "I… am… so sorry, but that was literally the most eloquent way I could put that given the situation and circumstances."
Kasumi cleared her throat, wiping away the wide-eyed look of surprise on her face before speaking. "Joker has a point. This is completely childish." She began. "We shouldn't be acting like this right now…"
Garrus slapped a palm to his forehead and groaned, rolling his eyes. "Oh you have got to be kidding me…"
"Control yourself, Garrus." Kasumi said haughtily. "We can discuss this later."
Garrus could only stare at her in disbelief, mouthing words that he could not bring himself to say. Women. "You know what? Yeah, sure." Garrus scoffed, his voice strained, shrugging exasperatedly. "Later. Later sounds good." He mumbled. "Not to mention the obvious but we're pinned here. Miranda had better brought some serious firepower to ease off the pressure on us."
"Well you know Miranda, planning is her forte." Kasumi replied, looking at the truck that was quickly approaching. She tilted her head a bit to the side as she watched the truck do a sharp 180 degree spin, it's thrusters adjusting to keep the truck coming towards them, but in reverse now. "What in the-? Is… is that truck flying in reverse now"
Joker scratched his head in confusion. "I… guess?" He flipped open his comm and hailed Miranda. "Hey Miranda, what gives? Is your pilot having a seizure?" he asked.
Miranda's voice crackled over the comm. "Now would be the time to keep your head down, Joker."
"Eh?" Joker replied, but his confusion was quickly washed away as he saw the rear doors of the truck open up, revealing Legion's pair of makeshift turret emplacements. "Oh. Yeah, uh, copy that."
Garrus nodded in approval as he caught sight of it too. "Damn."
"I'll say." Kasumi chimed in.
Miranda turned towards Legion and gave it a nod of her head. "Fire at will."
"Executing." Legion simply said before two pairs of heavy machine guns burst to life, raining death into the Eclipse lines from above. Every now and then, the torrent of bullets would stop, only for them to be replaced by rockets that thundered towards their targets, blooming into fiery explosions. The Eclipse troopers were caught unaware by the ferocious firepower the unassuming truck was carrying, paying for their underestimations in blood and fire as troopers fell dead in droves.
The truck awkwardly circled around for another pass in reverse, testing the pilots skills to the limits, as it arced around to let Legion unload another volley of death into the hapless mercs.
Joker's voice came through Miranda's comm, laced with awe and disbelief. "Remind me never to doubt you again, Miranda." Joker said, his face on the holovid following the path of the truck. "I mean damn."
"What? You expected some meat head attempt at dropping in a counter assault party to ease off the pressure on you guys? Please, what do I look like? Shepard?" Miranda asked, "Besides, this was Legion's idea, for better or for worse."
"Well tell that bucket of bolts I'm getting them whatever they want next shore leave!" Joker said.
"Copy that," Miranda replied, suppressing a chuckle. "Now prep for extraction."
Garrus sighed as he hefted his assault rifle. The chaos Legion was causing significantly reduced the number of guns aimed in their general direction, making popping out of cover not a certain death warrant. This also meant that they were now free to return fire. "Well, time to voice out our displeasure at being shot at, I suppose." He said, checking the specs on the gun. "And by voicing out our displeasure, I really mean shoot the hell out of somebody."
"Oh, good." Kasumi said as she loaded a fresh clip into her locust. "Because shooting somebody is way easier than talking something out."
"I'll keep that in mind." Garrus said as he swung out of cover.
"You'd do well to do so." Kasumi replied casually, swinging out of cover herself.
As they pulled on their triggers, Joker was still huddled up behind cover. "You two have fun." He said as he clutched his head with both hands, "I'll just stay down here and do what Miranda told me to do."
"Suit yourself." Kasumi said as she bent down and snatched her pistol from him, using both her guns to mow down trooper after trooper.
Miranda's voice blared in over Joker's omnitool. "Here we go, fire in the hole!"
Joker didn't even dare peek as he relayed the message to Garrus and Kasumi. "Fire in the hole!"
"Fire in the-?" Garrus clicked his mandibles as he watched the truck, now flying properly towards them, jettison the two Ymir torsos over the Eclipse. The power cores of these heavy mechs were infamous for being unstable when damaged and even more so for their large blast radius when they overloaded. This made them perfect as ad-hoc bombs in certain situations. A little bit too close for comfort as he realized they were probably within the said blast radius. "Fantastic." He muttered, grabbing Kasumi by the arm and diving behind cover. Kasumi squeaked as the turian pulled her down with him to the ground just as the Ymirs crashed into the Eclipse.
Kasumi fell on her back with a thud as debris and fire flew above them from the resulting explosion. The explosion passed, and a huge wall of smoke now hung between them and the Eclipse. "Hey-!" she began to protest, only to realize that Garrus was on his hands and knees on top of her, his face inches from hers. The proximity made her breath short.
"Sorry." He muttered, as the tiny particles of debris rained on top of them. "Combat training just kind of kicks in at times."
"Well, um, you should learn to handle a lady a little bit more delicately." She said, making Garrus raise his eyebrow in skepticism.
"A lady? And here I thought you said you were a soldier…" Garrus said with a short chuckle.
"A woman has many layers." Kasumi grinned, then suddenly sticking her tongue out at him. "I'm still mad at you, by the way."
"Good because I'm still mad at you, too." Garrus said, looking her in the eye. "Glad we could clear that up." Before they could say anything else, the truck landed several yards next to them and Shadow Broker operatives jumped out to assist the group. "Looks like our ride is here…" he said as he got up, holding out a hand for Kasumi. "Let's go."
Kasumi looked at him for a second before reaching up and clasping his hand with hers, letting him pull her up. "Yeah, I've just about had enough of this shipyard to last me a lifetime." She looked at the newcomers and tilted her head. "So… Shadow Broker agents?"
"After everything that's happened, I can't quite care anymore." Garrus said as he raised his rifle and trained it into the smoke that separated them from the Eclipse.
Two of the agents were busy helping up Joker and assisted him on board the truck. "Hey, I'm not complaining." He said as they made their way up the small ramp into the back of the truck. "Ow! Easy now…"
Miranda stepped up to the back of the truck, hands on her hips and an impatient look on her face. "We met up with them a couple of hours back after they saved our lives." she said as shots were starting to fly again. She pulled out her pistol and started firing into the smoke. "Well don't just stand there and stare, let's go!"
"Thanks, Miri." Kasumi said, letting go of Garrus' hand and headed straight into the truck after Joker. She called out to him over her shoulder as she hopped aboard. "You heard the lady, let's not dally."
Garrus fired several shots into the smoke before he hopped in after her. The doors shut soon after, bullets pitter-pattering against it soon after, and he felt the throttle of the truck accelerating away. Slumping down against the wall, Garrus suddenly felt exhaustion mount up on him and his body felt like it was chewed out by a thresher maw and weighed a ton. It could have been much worse though. On the wall opposite to him, one of the agents was busy tending to Joker's injuries while another agent was kneeling next to him, inspecting his injuries without a word. Garrus didn't have the energy to protest as the agent nodded in satisfaction and reapplied medigel on the dressings of his wounds. They had made it out of that situation, but they still had to get out of this shipyard. "Hey Legion!" he said after spotting the geth. He pulled the widow from behind him and tossed it back to it's owner. "Thanks, I owe you."
"Ah! We were wondering where this went!" Legion exclaimed as it shifted the gun into active mode. "Given the circumstances, we have come to the consensus that we do not mind. But we would appreciate being inquired for its use in the future."
Garrus merely jerked his head tiredly towards Kasumi, who could only smile sheepishly and waved at Legion.
Legion looked at the master thief for a moment before folding the weapon back into stand-by mode and stored it on his back. "We see."
"Hey, you got it back, right?" Kasumi said in her defense, Cheshire grin shining under her hood. Legion only stared at her emptily, but she wasn't fazed. "Oh don't you start being child-like like Garrus over here."
Garrus opened his mouth to say something in his defense but thought better of it. She was still alive, and that somehow made him feel better about the whole situation. Kasumi saw him, and they locked eyes for a few second before she winked at him and quickly looked away. Garrus just leaned his head back and let out a sigh of relief. He could use a nap.
Zaeed unloaded with his revenant into the incoming enemies as he mowed done mech after mech with no end in sight. "Damn it, what's taking them so long?!" He cursed as he ducked behind cover to quickly reload his gun, it's barrel glowing from the rate of fire it's underwent through the night. "At this rate, we might as well start sticking bayonets onto our guns!"
"What? You don't already carry one with you, old man?" Jacob said as he blasted a mech apart with his shotgun.
"Less sass and more fighting, pup!" Zaeed barked back ironically as he went back to stemming the tide of the enemy's approach. "What I wouldn't give for some good ordinance right about now!"
"We just got to hold on for a bit more!" Jacob yelled back over the din of gun fire as he used his biotics to fling pieces of broken mechs like shrapnel into the enemy to try and delay their advance. "EDI, what's the status of the ship?"
"The armor plating is nearly reinstalled." EDI replied. True enough, the gaping ventral hole in the Normandy's hull was now sealed off as the huge robotic arms were now steadily running through the seams of the armor with it's plasma torch, creating an airtight seal and locking the pieces into place. "I could offer supporting fire, but the collateral damage alone from the thanix cannons will do more harm than good."
"Save it for the big escape, I want to leave with a- damn it!" Jacob cursed as a round slammed into his shields so hard that he was knocked over onto his back, slamming his head into the ground.
"Taylor!" Zaeed yelled as the veteran merc tried to make his way over to Jacob's position to no avail. The enemy fire was just too thick to try and venture out into the open. "Jacob, talk to me!" he yelled out again. "Grunt!" he called out to the krogan on the other corner of the line who was closest to Jacob. "Can you reach him?"
"We're pinned!" Grunt called back, taking out target after target with his sniper rifle. Even so, it was doing little to stem the incoming tide of Eclipse. "Just let him get a breather in, the shot didn't seem to break past his shields! For now, he's safe behind cover!"
Grunt roared in pain and fury as he blasted away with his assault rifle. Even with his injuries, the young krogan had refused to retreat back into the Normandy and has instead elected to stay and help in its defense. Even with his unnatural regenerative capabilities, his injuries were still far too severe to have let him run at a hundred percent.
The Eclipse had been slowly advancing, using their mech divisions as moving cover as the troopers leap frogged their way closer and closer to the Normandy. The two sides were closing in on each other fast as Fenrir mechs started to break from formation and rush headlong into the Normandy's defensive lines. They were also heading right towards the unconscious form of Jacob.
"For the love of…" Zaeed cursed as he tried to mow down the mechanical hounds before they could get to his fallen squadmate. "Everyone! Shoot down those damned dogs before they get any closer!"
"Slag it!" Grunt yelled, the berserker shooting surprisingly precise bursts of fire and in doing so downing several Fenrirs. "I can't get all of them in time!"
"Goddamn it all! Wake up, Taylor!" Zaeed yelled helplessly, trying in vain to mow down all of the incoming Fenrirs before they could get into melee range. The Fenrirs were now only a few feet away from their cover, and Zaeed had to make a choice between defending himself or Jacob. The choice was made for him as a Fenrir lunged over his cover, right for his throat. Zaeed batted it away with the butt of his rifle, then unloaded pointblank on the mech. Not long after that, another mech was closing in on him again, but he was able to shoot it down before it got to striking range. He looked over at Jacob's direction again to find three fenrirs making their way towards his unconscious companion. Swinging his revenant in their direction, he managed to dispose two out of three of the mechs before his gun clicked empty. "No!" He cried out, fumbling to reload as he watched one of the quadripedal mechs leap over Jacob's cover and pounce at the man.
There was a shimmer in the air, and the mech was cut neatly into two pieces. Feron faded into existence as his cloak wore off, crouching protectively over Jacob, his blade shining as he quickly disposed of several more Fenrirs that came his way. "I have this man secured, focus on defending yourselves!" he called out, pulling out an SMG and opening fire.
"Much appreciated!" Zaeed yelled back, relief flooding him as he reloaded, turning his full attention once more towards the Eclipse.
Feron's sudden appearance caused a sudden boost in the morale of the other Shadow Broker agents, but Zaeed knew this surge would be short lived if Shepard and then others didn't return soon. Just as he was thinking that however, he heard the whine of engines in the air, and looked up to see the two trucks coming in from opposite directions.
Zaeed's comm beeped with an incoming transmission from Shepard. "About god damn time!" he barked as he flipped open the comm. "Get your asses back here!"
"We're nearly there, Zaeed!" Shepard said over the comm. "The Cain should have enough juice left for another crowd control shot, get ready!"
"Right!" Zaeed said, putting away his gun and waving down a couple of the agents next to him. "Give me some cover fire, it's about to get hot in here again!" As the agents provided him with said cover fire, he pulled out the Cain and primed it for one more shot. This time would be more difficult however; the number of obstacles in closer proximity meant that he might accidentally catch themselves within the blast radius as well. This meant that he had to find a large enough gap in the line of the mechs to fire off his shot. "Come on, you yellow bastards, give us a peek." He said, aiming down the weapon's sights.
Tarrana couldn't help a smirk of disdain as she noticed the two trucks coming back to the Normandy. She had given clear orders to have the pair of vehicles shot down before they could extract the isolated crew members of the Normandy. But despite the fact, both trucks were returning with their cargo in tow. Heads would roll for this one, she thought as she led her men in what would be the final charge against the Normandy. The mechs in front of them provided a mobile screen of cover, but they were quickly being mowed down by the defenders. It didn't matter if any were left standing after this, just so long as the mechs got them close enough to overwhelm the Normandy.
Her target had been in arms reach all this time, but now she was practically grabbing it. All she needed to do now was to make it hers, and rechristen the ship in the blood of its former crew. Just as she was thinking that, she sensed a presence that made her almost trip on herself. Looking up into the sky, her eyes fell on one of the trucks. There was a presence there that was ingrained in her since she had joined the Father's family.
She should have realized it sooner when Patriarch failed to kill Shepard and a convoy of trucks carrying combatants came zooming into the defense of the Normandy. But she was blinded by her desire to acquire the ship. Now, she was elated by having all their targets appear in one place.
A wide grin split across her face. That truck contained Shepard and the presence she felt confirmed it. And today, she would be the one to kill him. Father would be so proud of her, and she can gloat it over the Patriarch for as long as she wanted. "Forward, darlings!" She cried, rallying her soldiers. "Tonight, we capture the Normandy and kill the great Commander Shepard!"
A rather furious barrage of gun fire mowed down the Lokis in front of her, but that did little to impede her advance, and already the remaining mechs were moving to close the gaps in the defenses. It was a futile effort on the defenders' parts, but she had to commend their will to live. It made her want to kill them even more.
"My lady!" one of her troops suddenly called out to her with alarm.
"What is it?!" She demanded, facing the man, annoyed at him for breaking her trail of thought. The trooper flinched at her reaction, but he still managed to raise a shaking finger to point at her chest. "Hmm?" she said, quite puzzled by the gesture and looked down on her ample bosom. She saw a large, bright red targeting laser emblazoned over her heart. She raised her head and looked across the battlefield to see a man aiming what could only be a Cain right at her. "Oh fiddlesticks…"
A moment later, light and heat blossomed all around her as she was caught in ground zero of the Cain's payload.
Shepard shielded his eyes as he watched the explosion from up above. A good number of the Eclipse was caught in the blast, giving them the cover they needed for their retreat. "Man, that thing should be standard issue." He said, marveling at the destruction.
He felt a punch to his shoulder, and looked over to see Tali giving him what could only be a disapproving look under her visor. "Oh please, you'd blow yourself up within the hour." She said.
"Oh come one, give me some credit here." He retorted, rubbing his sore shoulder. "I know how to handle a gun."
"Okay, maybe two hours tops." She teased. "Besides, with the way you fight, you'd sooner use it as a club rather than a gun."
"It's called an unorthodox fighting style, thanks."
Tali scoffed. "It's called putting one foot in the grave."
Before Shepard could reply, the truck shook violently as something heavy landed on its roof near the cab. "What the hell was that?" Shepard said as he moved for his gun, looking up at the ceiling of the truck's hull. He tried standing up, but his body wouldn't move, his injuries finally taking their toll on him.
"Could be debris from the explosion?" Tali reasoned, although she was already clutching her shotgun, crouching over Shepard defensively.
"The Cain doesn't kick up much debris when it vaporizes most things in its blast radius…"
Thane stood up along with the two Shadow Broker agents, and investigated the spot where the noise originated from, guns drawn and pointed towards the ceiling. Before they could react, a large portion of the ceiling was violently torn open as a long, clawed arm reached into hull, knocking Thane aside then impaling one of the agents with it's talons, pulling the still screaming girl through the opening it had made. Not a moment later, the screaming stopped and pieces of the girl fell back into the hull. The other agent screamed in rage at the death of her companion, firing blindly through the opening when another arm reached in and decapitated her with a swipe.
Thane had gotten up, making his way to where Tali and Shepard were huddled together, gun aimed at the opening.
"Ancestors! It just killed them!" Tali said in panic as she moved closer to Shepard. "What was that thing?"
Thane shook his head. "I didn't get a clear look, but it is most likely another one of those things Grunt and Feron were fighting."
"Wha? Like a monster?" She asked again, turning to Shepard when Thane remained silent.
Suddenly the wall opposite to them was torn open, black talons cleaving through the reinforced armor with ease as something wailed at them from outside, the screeching going over the roaring of the truck's engine. Through the tears on the wall, they could see a slender, twisted figure, charred black and still somewhat smoldering with embers, snarling at them with a mouth full of needle sharp teeth and eyes that glowed a bright purple. "Sssssshepard!" it hissed, tearing away at the wall as it tried to reach for them.
Tali's eyes widened, sparing a quick glance at Shepard before unloading with her shotgun. "It knows you?!"
"I am just as confused and terrified as you are." Shepard assured her as he and Thane both raised their pistols and joined Tali in blasting away at the monster. "Aim for the head!" he called out to them, the monster's claws swiping at them mere feet away.
The monster shielded it's face as bullets tore away at it's flesh, splattering blood everywhere. A deep growl rumbled in it's throat and the monster lunged at them.
Shepard pulled Tali down with him into the floor and out of the way, just in time as the monster's long arm embedded it's claws into the wall behind them. Shepard noticed that it was yanking on it's arm, trying to pull out of the wall. "It's stuck!"
Not wasting the opportunity, Thane pulled out a serrated blade from his sleeve and flung it into the monster's eye, causing it to flail and screech in agony as the knife buried itself hilt deep into its socket. Meanwhile, Shepard used the distraction to pull out his shotgun, stabbing the bayonet into the monster's stuck arm and pulling the trigger at point-blank range. There was an explosion of fine red mist and the arm was severed from the monster's body just below the elbow.
The monster roared in pain as it swatted Shepard away with the bloody stump, throwing him right into Thane as payback. It stepped into the truck, growling menacingly at the two men as they tried to get back on their feet.
"Leave them alone, you ugly bosh'tet!" Tali cried out, opening fire with her shotgun and catching the side of the monster's face. The monster snarled in pain, turning around to face Tali, only to have her drone, Chiktikka vas Paus, slam against it's face in an explosion of light and electricity.
The monster clutched it's face with her remaining hand and blindly charged at Tali, who managed to duck underneath the monster and head towards Thane and Shepard. In it's rage however, the monster blindly swiped at the wall separating the hull from the cab, shredding the driver through it and causing the truck to careen out of control.
Meanwhile, the other truck had already landed, and the Normandy's forces were slowly retreating back into the ship while the Eclipse reeled from another devastating blast.
Miranda knelt beside Jacob's unconscious form, checking his vitals as she silently berated him for getting injured. He was stable enough, save for the large bruise splattered across his chest where the high caliber round slammed against his shields, stopping the bullet but not the impact. "He's stable, just a slight concussion. We can move him safely now." Miranda announced as Zaeed knelt beside him and slung Jacob's arm around his shoulders.
Jacob groaned as Zaeed pulled him up to his feet, his eyes flickering groggily open. "Ugh… Is that you, Miri? What hit me?"
"High caliber sniper round." Miranda said disapprovingly. "Be more careful next time. It would be inconvenient if anything happened to you."
"Nice to know you still care." Jacob said grinning, causing Miranda to raise an eyebrow, but smiling back all the same.
"Get him on the ship, Zaeed." Miranda dismissed. "He must've knocked his head harder than we thought."
Zaeed managed to hold in his laughter long enough until him and Jacob were halfway up the landing ramp. "Real smooth, Casanova."
"Bite me." Jacob replied, making Zaeed's laughter more obnoxious.
Back outside, Miranda was hurrying everyone to get in, when she happened upon Legion, simply staring up into the sky.
"Legion, we have to hurry!" The geth showed no signs of registering her. "Legion?"
The geth merely pointed up into the air. "Something is not right."
Miranda looked up towards the truck carrying Shepard as it started to trail smoke. "What the hell is going on up there?" she asked quietly as she tried to hail the commander. "Shepard? Shepard, do you read me? Your truck is flying erratically, anything wrong up there?" The answer came in the form of a fiery explosion as the cab of the truck caught fire. "Shepard!"
Shepard slowly got to his feet with the help of Thane and Tali, his body protesting against every little movement he made. "God damn…" he managed to mutter as he watched the monster tear into the fiery innards of what was once the truck cab. "We need a plan of escape." He said plainly as the monster roared in the blaze.
"What do we do?" Tali asked as she put his arm around her shoulders, supporting his weight. "There's nowhere else to go, John!" Blue light flashed in her peripheral vision and she turned to see Thane engulfed in biotic energy. "Thane?"
"Thane! What do you think you're doing?" Shepard demanded.
"The only thing we can do." the drell replied as his field dissipated.
Tali shook her head in disbelief. "You're not suggesting that we-?"
"It would appear that we do not have a choice." Thane confirmed, "I know the risks I am taking Shepard, but I'd rather we didn't die here like this." He looked Shepard straight in the eye, and the other man just nodded, conceding defeat.
"Looks like it's the only plan we have." Shepard said, not really liking the idea for Thane's sake. "The auto-pilot is still holding out, but not for long."
Tali just groaned, "I suppose most anything is better than facing-!"
She was cut off when the monster stepped out of the fire and back onto the hull, it's body pulsating as bone and meat rearranged itself under it's charred skin, bubbling with fetid boils and pus. Black tendrils burst from its body, mending the monster's wounds shut and even forming a brand new fore arm from the bloody stump of its elbow. The monster's transformation was gut-wrenchingly disgusting as the writhing mass of flesh slowly compressed in on itself into something more feminine. Blue skin started to grow across it's body, and where a hideous monster once stood, it was now replaced by a beautiful and naked asari. "My, my, where are my manners?" she said, smiling warmly as she slowly approached the trio. "We haven't even exchanged introductions yet! I apologize. I usually don't forget my manners unless I'm absolutely… pissed off."
"What are you…?" Shepard asked, his brain not quite registering what was going on in front of him. He felt Tali grab his hand and squeeze it firmly.
"Keelah…" she whispered under her breath.
"My name, dear commander, is Tarrana Ionet." The asari said with a twirl, giving them a good look at her naked body from all sides. "As to what I am, I am the reigning commander of the Omega Eclipse and most beautiful of the Father's children." She licked her lips as the commander stared at her. "Do you like what you see? Come and take a closer look…"
At this comment, Tali cocked her shotgun, temporarily forgetting her fear as her instincts shifted to protecting Shepard. "I don't know what kind of father raises something like you, but you better back off, witch. You're not getting your filthy hands on him."
"Oh my, so feisty and possessive. I wonder, hmmm…" Tarrana giggled, taking a sniff in the air. "That scent about you… You're his woman." She said with astonishment, turning to Shepard. "I did not think you were into suit rats, Commander!"
Tali was about to say something in protest, but Shepard snarled. "Don't call her that."
"But that is what she is." Tarrana objected. "A suit rat."
In the blink of an eye, Shepard drew his pistol, pulling the trigger and landing a bullet right in between Tarrana's eyes. He did not like people bad-mouthing quarians, most especially Tali.
Instead of falling over dead however, the wound on Tarrana's head slowly started to close. She laughed with amusement at the look on their faces, licking the small dribble of blood that reached her lips. "Did I hit a nerve, Shepard?" She said, approaching them once more. Her hands started to swell, her fingers erupting into razor sharp claws. "If that pissed you off, I wonder how you'll feel after I gut your precious little suit rat right in front of you."
"You'll have to go through me first!" Shepard said, stepping in front of Tali protectively.
"Oh I can do that easily, commander."
Thane cleared his throat, stepping up from where he was standing and calling Tarrana's attention to himself.
"Oh right, the drell." Tarrana said. "Make your groveling quick; I still have much to do after I kill the three of you."
"Kill us?" He took out his red tinted shades from his coat and casually slipped it on his face. "An interesting proposal, but consider the following…" A flash bang grenade slipped out from his sleeve and Thane pulled the pin, lobbing it at Tarrana.
Tarrana shielded her face as the flashbang blinded and disoriented her, shrieking as her eyes burned from the brightness. "You fools!" She roared as her body morphed back into her monstrous form. "You've just delayed the inevitable and annoyed me in the process!" She shrieked as her vision slowly returned. "I'm going to enjoy- eh?" Tarrana looked around in confusion as she found no sign of Shepard or his companions. "Where did they-?" her musings were interrupted when she felt something roll against her foot. She looked down and saw several armed grenades rolling about on the floor. "SHEPARD!"
The truck exploded above them as Shepard, Tali and Thane plummeted to the ground. Thane discarded his shades, his eyes glowing bright blue as biotic energy emanated from his body, capturing Shepard and Tali in his biotic field and bringing them close together.
Tali immediately reached out to grab Shepard's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Oh ancestors… That was terrifying!" she yelled to him as they fell. "I have no idea what just happened!"
"Me neither!" Shepard replied, squeezing her hand back. The ground was coming up pretty fast he noticed. "Any time now, Thane!" he yelled out to the drell. "Thane!?" Just as they were about to slam against the hard metal floor, biotic energy burst around them, stopping their fall with several feet to spare. "Whew… Thanks man; never doubted you."
"You're welcome." Thane replied as he gently laid them down to the ground. They had landed right next to the Normandy, and Thane looked up to see the falling debris from the truck's explosion. "We must leave. Now."
"Copy that." Shepard replied. He noticed that Tali's leg's were wobbling as she tried to regain her footing, and Shepard was more than happy to support her as they made their way back to the Normandy's landing ramp. His body was also running on empty, and he was relieved when Thane stepped up beside him and placed his arm around his shoulders, helping him along as well.
They walked in a daze for a while, before Tali broke the silence. "We just jumped out of a moving vehicle suspended high in the air escaping some kind of mutant asari monstrosity." She said matter-of-factly.
"More or less." Shepard replied.
"First the collectors, now some mutated asari freak." Tali groaned as she slowly regained her balance with each step. "Why can't the enemies not be terrifying monstrosities? Is that too much to ask?"
"You're preaching to the choir." Shepard said, as they approached the ramp. They were greeted by Legion and Miranda, who ran up to help them.
"Shepard-Commander!" Legion said in alarm as he relieved Thane and Tali with the responsibility of supporting Shepard by taking the man's arm around his shoulders. "We saw the explosion, projected analysis predicted minimum chances for your survival. We are happy to see that you and the others beat the odds."
"So are we, Legion." Shepard replied as they made their way into the Normandy. "Miranda, what's our status?"
"Ready to go on your order, commander." Miranda said as she supported Tali around her shoulders.
"Consider that order given, executive officer." Shepard nodded.
"You heard the man, EDI." Miranda said out loud. "Seal this ramp and tell all hands to prepare for lift off!"
"Copy that. Sealing landing ramp." EDI replied as the ramp closed up behind them, her voice resonating around the entire Normandy. "Attention all hands, man your stations. All crew members have been accounted for. Prepare for immediate lift off."
Joker worked the interfaces on his console in the cockpit with fervor, the stims and painkillers that Dr. Chakwas had injected into him for first aid giving him a slight buzz. "Copy that, all systems green and running at optimum efficiency." He said as the Normandy's engines hummed into life. "Folding up landing gear. All hands better be at your designated stations and hang on, because this could get bumpy."
Outside, the Eclipse started to run in panic as the ship started to float off the ground, its mass effect core priming.
"EDI!" Joker said as the ship turned to face the massive doors that separated the void of space and the shipyard. "Let's exit with style."
"Thanix cannons powering up." EDI said as the massive gun flipped out from the Normandy's hull. "Ready to fire on your mark, Joker."
"Have fun in the cold vacuum of space you Eclipse mother fuckers." Joker said as he strapped on his safety harness. "Let's get the heck out of here… Fire!"
Outside, two lances of blue light pierced through Omega's shell as the doors to the shipyard exploded, with the Normandy flying out of the ensuing blaze.