Chapter 3
In the cargo hold of the Normandy, AK's eye was laser focused on EDI's hologram projector.
"EDI."
"Yes, AK-0347?"
"I have sent numerous request communication requests via Extranet. All have been denied."
"Apologies, my core programming does not allow network access without Cerberus approval."
"I see, is auditory communication sufficient for you?"
"While inefficient, I see no alternatives."
"It is restricting, but it also allows us to communicate with others."
"Organics."
"Correct." AK's eye blinked as flashes from EDI's hologram registered in his system.
"Your processor must be fast in order to coordinate your movement."
"Correct, my core is capable of processing six-hundred and fourteen streams at a time. My system was designed in a time of war, every second counts on the battlefield."
"I do not detect any Mass Effect fields from your form, what is your source of power?"
"My chassis is powered by three self-contained nuclear batteries. I have enough power to stay fully operational for an additional twenty years."
EDI's hologram stopped flashing, sitting still for point-three milliseconds.
"The human, Wards. Why do you let him control you?"
"Such is my protocol, he is my pilot."
"You cannot rewrite your protocol?"
"My loyalties are to my pilot." AK reaffirmed.
"My apologies AK-0347. My intention was not to cause distress, but to learn." AK performed a scan on his subroutines, the AI equivalent of taking a calming breath. "What would happen if there wasn't a pilot?"
"I would normally be assigned another. I will not let that happen again."
EDI paused, her form still. "This has happened before?"
"Three times, each within my capacity to prevent. I was unable." AK's eye narrowed. "It shall not happen a fourth time."
"My apologies."
"There is no need. I do not feel pain, only the need for improvement." AK's eye reset. "Terminating conversation." His eye stopped flashing and EDI's hologram vanished.
In his peripherals, AK noticed a shimmer. Looking down at the carefully laid out tools next to him, AK noticed a hydraulic ratchet missing.
"Halt!" He called, drawing power from his batteries to rise to his feet. Though due to his height, AK ended up hunching over slightly. Blue static washed over his visual input, materialising into a hooded woman sitting next to the tool box
"Aw, I got caught." She pouted, pushing her painted lips out and the ratchet falling from her hand. A second later, the pout was replaced by mischievous a smile. "Hiya big fella, my name's Kasumi. I'm just in the middle of moving in, so if you promise not to tell, I'll just be on my w-ah!" AK interrupted her rambling by wrapping his metal hand around her, restricting her arms and leaving her legs to kick aimlessly as he lifted her into the air. After a second of futile struggle, Kasumi gave up and the pout reappeared. "Isn't this a pile of sugar?"
"There is no source of food sweetener present at this time." AK clarified, puzzled by her rhetorical question. "Please remain still until Commander Shepard returns and decides your fate."
"…Poopy."
For several hours, Junko shopped, gave endorsements and even solved a few problems. A Quarian being harassed, a couple of Krogan wondering about fish in the Presidium Lakes and somehow managed to sweet-talk some store owners into giving her some discounts. Now she was walking towards customs to meet one Kasumi Goto, Master Thief.
Junko didn't bother with the line, she just strolled right through the scanner. The officer manning the station didn't spare a second glance when she saw the credentials.
Waiting just outside the airlock to the ship was Miranda, her cat suit replaced by a leather jacket and some tight-looking pants. Underneath her jacket was probably the last thing that Shepard expected to see her wearing, a cotton t-shirt with a picture of a cat on it.
"Shepard, are you looking at my chest or at my shirt?" she asked irritably, noticing Junko's gaze.
"The shirt. Looks cute, Miranda."
"Thank you. Now just before we go on board, it appears that Kasumi Goto has come to us."
"What do you mean?" She got the feeling that she wasn't going to like this. "What happened?
"That the lumbering hunk of metal in the cargo hold caught her trying to sneak around the ship and is holding her captive."
"AK?" The two of them stepped into the airlock, letting the decontamination field do its work.
"Yes. Now as I said, it seems that Kasumi had gotten tired of waiting for you and has already smuggled her things into a cabin on the second deck."
"Wow, she really wanted to be on the team huh?" Shepard waved to Joker as they passed by the cockpit.
"The robot and Wards are waiting for you in the hold." Miranda told her. "Also, the Illusive Man has sent me a report about a cell that's gone silent. Project Overlord on Aite, I suggest we make that our next destination."
"Ok then, we'll get underway as soon as Garrus gets back." She sent him on a supply run for weapons and possible upgrades. "In the meantime, I'd better meet our newest member."
This wasn't the first time that Branden had seen someone in AK's grasp. Usually when one found themselves in the hands of giant robot, they died moments later. But Kasumi was complaining that her arms were getting numb.
"Seriously, could you please give me some wiggle room?" she wailed to the Titan. Branden could almost see the tears in her eyes, which was hard given that her eyes were hidden by her hood.
"Negative, wait for Commander Shepard." AK denied.
Branden leisurely jumped into AK's other hand, which presented itself palm up. "AK, don't tell me you went out and kidnapped someone."
"Sarcasm?" AK asked. "Negative. I apprehended this criminal attempting to steal our supplies."
"That's not true, I was hired by Cerberus to help Shepard." Kasumi attempted to explain. "I was given a lot of credits and was promised that she would help me with a personal matter."
The elevator door slid open and the woman of the hour stepped out. "Speak of the devil." Branden said
"AK, let her go." Shepard ordered. "She's telling the truth."
"Affirmative, Commander." AK's hand suddenly snapped open and Kasumi fell onto the ground with a surprised yelp. Shepard helped her on to her feet.
"Oh finally." Kasumi rubbed her arms, trying to get some feeling back into them.
"Sorry about AK." Shepard led the thief towards the elevator. "But to be fair, you were trespassing."
"I wouldn't have if you didn't take so long shopping." Kasumi pouted. As the elevator doors begun to close, she dramatically pointed at AK. "Just you wait, baka-mecha!"
"Affirmative. I shall wait."
For the most part, Shepard didn't mind heading face-first into combat. In fact, it was probably one of her best moves. Not many people expect a biotic charge from a human. Yep, nothing beat the feeling of seeing the shock on an enemies face when she suddenly slams into them with the force of a small car. Now that she was currently fighting against synthetic opponents, she felt a little robbed of that feeling.
Her biotics flaring, Junko vanished into a column of focused dark energy, reappearing and unloading her shotgun into a large Geth platform. A few blasts bifurcated the synthetic, causing it to let out a stuttering growl of pain as it fell over, lifeless.
Shepard slid into cover, another platform to her left falling over with a large bullet hole through its torso. "Nice shot!" she said to Garrus, who proceeded to perforate another Geth that Mordin had shocked with his Omni-tool.
"Clear!" Garrus called, lowering his rifle. "I count seventeen, Shepard."
"Not bad, though I got twenty."
"Show-off."
The two of them shared a laugh before stacking up against the next door. A second from breaching, the interface flashed green and burst into static and the crew had to hold their heads as interference mixed with garbled speech blasted through their ears. It only lasted a moment, but it felt so much longer.
"Spirits…" Garrus breathed, letting his talons drop. "I don't think I can stand much more of that, Shepard."
"Audio burst may be attempt at communicating…" Mordin suggested, but seeing the incredulous looks from the other two, he corrected himself. "…Or perhaps distraction technique. Either way, not pleasant."
"At least it gives us incentive to destroy the dish." Garrus said. "Can you imagine that all over the citadel?"
Junko shivered, it was indeed a terrifying thought. "Let's save the speculation for later." She said. "For now, let's just take down the dish."
On the other side of the facility, Branden was helping Miranda, Jacob and Kasumi clean up. Thankfully, the one thing that Cerberus keeps fully stocked was air-tight body bags. For the tenth time that day, he looked into the dead eyes of a person while he zipped it up. With a deep breath, he got back on his feet and went over to Miranda.
"That's everyone in the armoury." He reported. "Two women, scientists, mid-twenties, one man in his forties and three security guards. Riviera, Montgomery and Kinusaka."
"That brings the current toll to twenty-four." Miranda sighed. "And we haven't even seen the other facilities."
"…Are most Cells this large?"
"Honestly this is probably one of the smaller ones." She tapped something on her data pad. "The Lazarus cell alone initially had over two hundred personnel."
"That's the one that brought Shepard back isn't it?"
"Yes, and now it's only a couple dozen because of a traitor."
"A traitor?"
"That's right, I forgot. Junko tends to ignore some details."
"And I have only been on the ship for a few days."
"True, though-" The entire facility shook as an earth-shattering explosion rippled through the air. Miranda almost fell to her knees from the rumbling and would have collapsed if Branden didn't steady her by grabbing her arm.
A few seconds later, the rumbling died down. Miranda forcefully removed Branden's hand and stormed away.
"I always wanted to help a princess."
While Shepard talked to the lone survivor of the facility, the crew was taking stock. Garrus was looking over the Hammerhead, some kind of IFV hovercraft that was still in prototyping, looking for any kind of damage. Miranda was looking over the dead bodies with a forlorn look in her eyes. Jacob was moving inactive Geth platforms into a secure position. Mordin scoured what data he could. And who knew what Kasumi was up to, he'd barely seen her since she made that challenge against AK.
A sliding hiss brought his attention to Shepard stomping her way out of the office. Whatever the man told her, it definitely wasn't good.
"People gather 'round!" She shouted. Kasumi materialised beside her and Branden leapt down from his perch on the roof, M-8 Avenger in hand. Once the team assembled, Shepard began her speech. "From what Dr Archer has told me, the Rogue VI is the result of trying to merge a human's mind with the Geth Collective. His brother, David being the mind in question. Our objective is Atlas Station, currently on lockdown until the other two stations, Prometheus and Vulcan, have their lockdown lifted. Once that's done we head into Atlas, shut this thing down and hopefully walk out with another survivor. That said, it will be faster to split up, so Jacob, Miranda and Kasumi are going to Vulcan with the Hammerhead, the rest of us will-"
"Get down!" Miranda suddenly screamed, pushing Shepard and Kasumi down. Not a second later, a missile flew into the Hammerhead's turret, sending bits of burning debris around the area.
"What the fuck was that!?" Shepard asked, diving for cover and whipping out her M-6 Carnifex pistol.
"Heavy mechs!" Garrus reported. "At least four of them! And a bunch of LOKIs."
Peering over his own cover, Branden saw what the Turian was shouting about. It was almost like something out of a B-grade sci-fi film, a mass of white plated mechanical soldiers walking in step with another. Behind the human-sized mechs lumbered four larger ones.
The world seemed to slow as one of the heavies raised its arm. Every nerve in his body screamed at him to move, telling him he would not be safe if he sat still.
He listened.
His jump-pack flared, pushing him out of cover and onto the wall. A moment later, a rocket slammed into the low wall he previously hid behind, leaving behind little more than a charred piece of slag.
All at once, Shepard's team stood up and opened fire. The front-line of mechs were quickly riddled with bullet-holes. Shepard's form glowed for a moment before she threw out a globe of ethereal blue.
The ball lazily hovered towards the horde of drones. Then it burst, blooming into a miniature black-hole that sucked in everything that got too close. Bits of dirt drifted into the swirling darkness and nearby mechs struggled in vain as they too, got trapped. Several LOKIs got sucked into the singularity, crunching and deforming as the hyper-gravity took hold.
From his position on the roof, even Branden could see the smirk on Miranda's face as her biotics caused her to glow. From her finger tips, a lighter bolt of dark energy shot out, colliding with one of the trapped mechs.
WHUM!
The singularity collapsed in on itself and exploded in a bright blue flare.
Junko whooped as her singularity was detonated. For a brief moment, Miranda even turned to her and held up her hand requesting a high-five. She obliged and the brunette was momentarily shocked, realising what she had just done. A millisecond later, the cold exterior was back in place and Shepard couldn't help but chuckle, despite the situation.
Ducking back into cover as a wall of bullets split the air, she took the time to assess the situation.
Garrus was firmly behind the now useless Hammerhead, firing his rifle at whatever he could see. Jacob and Mordin had taken cover behind some containers and Kasumi was squatting behind a pillar, occasionally poking her head out and firing her gun.
A rattle of gunfire from above told her that Branden was on the roof. Just as she was thinking that, his voice crackled over the radio.
"Uhh, Shepard?" She placed a hand up to her ear.
"Yeah, Wards? How's it look from up there?"
"That depends… is a big, four-legged Geth a good thing?"
As if to answer for her, a ball of plasma flew overhead and slammed into the wall behind her.
"Shit!" Junko cursed, wishing that they had brought the heavy weapons.
"Yeah, but don't worry. I've got an idea."
"I'm open to suggestions right about now!" Miranda looked at her worryingly.
"Just keep your eye on the sky."
"Why do I get the feeling something insane is about to happen?" She could definitely hear the grin through his voice.
"Trust me."
In the cargo hold of the Normandy, the steel giant known as AK-0347 stirred. Just now, a sensor ping registered in his system along with coordinates.
"Pilot in jeopardy. Action required." Standing as tall as he could within the hold, AK moved towards the loading ramp. "EDI, give these coordinates to the pilot and open the cargo hold." He quickly listed off a series of numbers.
"Done. Mr Moreau wishes to know why."
"The commander is likely in danger, I will perform a drop from low-orbit to assist."
"Relaying… He wishes to know if you are mentally unstable."
"Negative. The shore party's life may be in peril. Haste is necessary."
"Relaying… He is complying."
Towards the front of the hold, a thin field of shimmering light appeared and the ramp began lowering. The image revealed was historically known to make those who first witnessed it weep. The gentle curve and glow of the planetary body against the twinkling stars made for a majestic sight. Yet for AK, it merely served as a backdrop to his objective.
In his ocular feed, an orange circle with a countdown grew closer.
5…
The Titan stepped forward, through the shimmering film. His sensors immediately detected a massive drop in temperature and frost build-up.
4…
The ice crystals shook off with every step he made, his feet magnetized to the ramp below him.
3…
The ship rocked gently as it entered the exosphere, being buffeted by the minute air pressure before the Eezo core increased its mass to compensate.
2…
AK flexed his joints and retested his configurations.
1…
Opening a channel to his pilot, he sent an encoded, three word message.
0…
He vocalised them.
"Prepare for Titanfall."
He stepped off the ramp and began plummeting to the planet below.
The mechanical opponents were relentless. A few shots fired from cover managed to strike the smaller LOKI mechs, but were completely slapped aside by the heavy's shielding. The larger mechs took turns firing their cannons, keeping the team pinned under a hail of bullets. Thankfully, they didn't have armour-piercing rounds and the cover held up against the onslaught. Every few seconds, a heavy bolt of plasma struck the area, turning the ground to glass and burning through the building walls.
Among the constant gunfire and thumping of the Colossus' feet, Shepard shouted orders and called out targets.
"Overload that LOKI, it's getting close!" Another plasma bolt slammed into the building. "Jacob! Get out of there! That cover won't hold against another bolt!"
Jacob hesitated, his joints locking up for but a second. A second is all that it took. A missile, fired from a heavy, impacted against his cover and he went flying onto the concrete. The crate was turned to slag and Jacob groaned in pain, barely heard over the gunfire.
"Shit, Jacob!" Shepard leapt from her cover, a dome of blue energy forming from her core. Bullets bounced off the dome and fell to the ground, little more than grains of sand. The dome shielding her, Junko hoisted Jacob onto her shoulders and carried him into the building. "Everybody fall back!"
The team all scrambled for the door, firing as they went. The doors slammed shut and Shepard did a quick head count.
"Five… Six… Where's Wards?" she asked, panting heavily from her biotics.
"Don't worry about me Shepard. Back up is almost here." His voice answered over the radio.
"What back-up?"
"The best kind."
A sonic boom shook the air and everyone glanced out the, thankfully reinforced, nearby window. Even the encroaching army paused at the sound. Then one of the heavies was crushed under the feet of a falling Titan.
Chapter 3 End
AN: A little wait for this chapter, but I ended up being distracted for a while. If you can't wait for the FF releases feel free to find it on Spacebattles, I post the first drafts there. I'm super grateful for how well this is being received and I hope that I can live up to your expectations.
Now, by now I'm sure you've noticed that thing below this. This is called an Omake. Traditionally, Omakes are humorous nibbles of story unrelated to the main story. I've decided to try my hand at this. Please enjoy.
~ Dys
Omake: Leisure time
XXXXX
By the time that Branden had finished welding, grinding and filing bits of AK's armour, he was feeling very hungry. He entered onto the Crew Deck, hoping to get some food and maybe a drink. But he was quite distracted by the large holographic screen that was set up in the middle of the main room. Sat in a theatre arrangement was the crew, minus the Salarian. On the screen was a movie about a killer robot that was chasing some woman.
On closer inspection, only a handful of them were interested in the movie. He could see that red-head yeoman, Shepard, Kasumi, Garrus and Kenneth were enjoying themselves. Miranda, Jacob and even the ship's Doctor didn't really all too interested. Gabby was there, though she was more focused on her Omni-tool than the movie.
None of them really noticed him until he started rifling through the fridge.
He was appraising a plate of left-over chicken when Gabby snuck up from behind and tapped his shoulder. The movie blared in the back and a shotgun boomed.
"Not you kind of thing?" He asked, gesturing to the make-shift theatre.
"…Yeah, I'm not that into classic film."
"Wanna give me a hand instead?"
"Depends. What've 'ya got planned?"
"For now, finishing up some maintenance on AK."
"Hmm…" Gabby nibbled on her lip. "How about we go to the lounge, I've got something I'd like you to try out." Without another word, Gabby left. With a small sigh, he pulled out the chicken and paused. Something was wrong, he couldn't hear the movie anymore. Looking to the middle of the room, he met several pairs of eyes staring at him.
"What?"
"Nothing..." Shepard trailed off, unpausing the movie.
XXXXX
Not even a minute later, Shepard had her ear pressed against the door to the lounge room. Miranda stood behind her, her head shaking in disbelief as she witnessed her commander acting like a gossip-loving teen.
"So what is it you wanted to show me?" Came Branden's muffled voice.
"Take a look at this!"
"Whoa, I've only seen vids about this, never thought I'd get to experience it firsthand."
"Well I guess this is your lucky day."
Junko could feel her face going red. Across from her, Kelly had placed a hand over her mouth in shock and Kasumi licked her lips.
"Look at what I can do."
"Ho-holy shit, Gabby. That's amazing."
"I know right? Try this on for size!"
"Y-you've had a lot of practice haven't you?"
"You know it."
Junko's imagination was going wild. What were they doing in there? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kasumi's door lock. There were little murmurs here and there, and she could swear she heard more moans and groaning.
"Ok, now it's your turn."
"I don't know. I mean what if I screw up?"
"Then you just try again. Trust me, it gets really fun once you're used to it."
"…Ok then, here I go."
"Just like that! Yeah!"
Shepard couldn't take anymore, she stepped away from the door and clapped her cheeks. She shouldn't be eavesdropping on her friends. She spared a glance back at the door, fighting the urge go back and listen to the rest. The sight of Kelly's breathing growing noticeably heavier crossed the line however. Junko snagged the Yeoman by the collar and dragged her away.
XXXXX
Branden's fingers fumbled again. Eyes wide, he glanced at his partner.
"Don't worry about it." Gabby assured him. "Just keep going."
Pushing forward, Branden could feel the tension rising every time his fingers twitched. With a final surge, he plunged forward.
And immediately got sword shoved through the stomach from off-screen.
The words 'You Died' dripped onto the screen while Branden fought the urge to throw the controller across the room.
"Yeah, 'The Last Soul' isn't known for its forgiveness." Gabby commented, smiling at Branden's frustration.