The twists of fate.
Disclaimer
Starcraft is the property of Blizzard entertainment.
Mass effect is the property of Bioware.
Any elements used in this story are used only in order to create a story for no monetary gain nor do I claim any ownership over them, beyond the names and characters unique to this story.
SSV Normandy - Orbit over Sharjila
Ashley Williams
Ashley's faith and spirit remained unchallenged.
The twists and turns of fate meant nothing to her.
The destiny of aliens upon some distant place meant nothing to her.
Her resolve wouldn't be broken so easily and her faith remained unaltered.
That's what she decided to be.
What Ashley Williams would incarnate for the whole of her existence, the unbroken spirit of a soldier.
"So the situation is as follows" Shepard told the members of his team that were present at that moment: Garrus, Tali, Kaidan, herself and to her surprise doctor T'soni "Navigator Pressley has informed me that the distress beacon that emanated from this system came most likely from pirates" This sounded like a trap to her. Why would a band of pirates send out a distress beacon for any vessel to pick it up. Only a monumental idiot would answer this call "So we are going to investigate it"
They would be those idiots.
In Shepard's defense they had remained within the system for well over an hour and had detected no vessel leaving the planet they meant to investigate and no pirate attack had come their way.
"Shepard. I still don't think this is a good idea" began Kaidan, as he voiced the worry the rest of the team was feeling "Aren't you the slightest bit worried that this might be a trap?" Shepard just smiled as he heard him say this.
"Of course I know this will be a trap" Shepard's words raised several eyebrows across the room, as none of them were pleased to know that the commande was aware of this fact and most likely planned to risk his team's skin"And I know there aren't that many of us…" the commander then began to rub his eyes "In my defense, I would have liked to send Wrex and Xiltar as well since they have proven themselves to be tough bastards… but we can't count on them now".
Everyone exchanged confused glances but they could all understand the commander's reasoning.
Once the group had arrived and the recordings had been recovered from the mako and Wrex's armor they were all surprised to see the fight that the two aliens had put against the massive beast.
Even Ashley had to admit that she was impressed by the spirit they all had displayed.
"Why not?" Tali asked Shepard as she was unaware of what had happened due to her missing the showing of what Ashley had fondly dubbed: Alien brats run for their lives, the motion picture.
Ashley smiled slightly at the memory of the engineering team carrying a limp quarian to the med bay since she had fallen unconscious as she was exploring the vents down in engineering.
"They just came from a near death experience and I wished to give them a moment of rest" Shepard began to explain "That is why they won't be joining…" But before Shepard could continue a loud voice interrupted him as it was accompanied by a storming march of steps.
"WHO SAYS WE CAN'T GO?" a voice boomed over the chamber and spooked the team as they turned to see an eager Wrex that was dragging a very tired looking Xiltar from the back while they came through the door.
Ashley could see that small burns from the acid still dotted the armor of the krogan. She then looked in confusion at the other alien as he was sitting on the floor while the krogan just dragged him with a grin on his face.
Silence lingered in the room for a moment as this bizarre sight left the whole group confused.
To her surprise, Garrus' mind remained as sharp as he had proven time and time again "So… I can assume the two of you were waiting behind the door for the perfect moment to enter" Ashley tried to hide a chuckle from the mental image of the krogan and the protoss waiting on the other side of the door while they waited for the perfect opportunity to enter.
Why it was that the marines on guard duty hadn't stopped them from entering was beyond her.
But Wrex just smirked at this.
"HA. You would be…" Wrex began before he was interrupted.
(Correct) Xiltar spoke as he managed to turn back with a tired expression.
Wrex glared at the protoss and his companion just shrugged.
The krogan stopped supporting the back of the alien and allowed him to fall to the ground with a loud thump.
The blatant betrayal got a chuckle out of Ashley and the rest of the squad.
"So…" Shepard began as he saw Xiltar began to pick himself up "Can I ask what happened to you?".
The alien just answered by scratching the back of his heck and speaking once again (Have you ever had the experience of cramming as much knowledge as you can into your memory in under a night?).
Ashely shuddered at the memory of all those late night study sessions she was subjected too.
"I am acutely aware" replied Shepard with a grin on his face "Late nate study?".
(Yes) answered the protoss as he looked at the group with tired eyes. Ashley could even see that he had the desire to yawn despite having no mouth.
This just got a chuckle out of Shepard and a scof out of Ashley.
"Since our resident madmen have volunteered for this operation, then I think it appropriate that we finally have a family excursion" Liara raised her hand as if she was asking for permission to speak "Liara?" Shepard gave her the word.
"Umm… I wasn't aware that I would be joining any kind of family structure during this mission" Shepard sighed.
"That was a joke, Liara" Shepard informed her, the asari blushed as the embarrassment began to consume her.
"Don't worry, professor" began Ashley "Should our commander step out of line like that I will be sure to punish him for that" this was as much of a joke as well as a real threat. Shepard began to sweat slightly.
"Hmh… So… when are we going?" Garrus asked as he wanted to change the topic for his friend.
"Meet me in the cargo bay in ten" he moved his lips saying 'thanks garrus' then stood from his seat "So if nobody has anything else to…" he began but was interrupted.
"I have something to say" it was Tali who spoke in a sweet tender tone that masked her true intentions. She stood up, approached the commander… "This is for my punishment" he punched Shepard straight in the gut, he kneeled over from the pain.
"I deserved that" Shepard said as he recovered from the punch "You have a mean punch, Tali"
"Thank you" she made her way to the door and left.
Ashley began to like Tali more and more.
Fifteen minutes later.
This time the commander proved that he could drive like a normal person should the situation require it.
That is after he almost got his squad flattened once again.
To her surprise this drop only mirrored the previous deployment in two ways:
One, Tali had somehow fallen unconscious again. Poor girl.
Two, Ashley was livid with the commander for not warning them in advance.
But to her surprise what seemed odd was that Doctor T'soni had somehow managed to not make a sound while… ah, she is unconscious too.
"I swear Shepard. If you do that one more time I will…" Ashley was interrupted by Wrex.
"But that was fun, human" the old Krogan chirped as if he wanted to do that again "Learn to enjoy the simple things in life".
But before Ashely could retort, the Mako began to make its trek towards a small base that had been identified.
The road was rough, the two unconscious maidens managed to wake up during the trip. After a little bit over an hour they managed to reach the place.
Shepard spoke to his team through the intercom "Okay team, this planet has a hazardous atmosphere for most life. Wait. Xiltar, can you survive in such an environment?"
(Yes, commander. My shield will protect me) the Protoss answered. Why couldn't we get shields that did such a thing?
He began to glare at Ashley.
"Right. The rest of you, get your masks on" he made his way to the back of the Mako along with Alenko. Once he made sure that everyone had their breathing equipment on, he opened the side door that led to the planet.
The place was deserted. Several shuttles dotted the area around a small prefab building. This would most likely be a mobile hub, allowing the crew to relocate their headquarters should any authority get a lead on them.
Clever.
"This place is a graveyard" Wrex began to say "there's no way a crew this big would leave so much equipment otherwise" his experience as a mercenary certainly gave him an edge when it came to these things.
"I agree. There's no way they wouldn't have made for the shuttles if they were under attack. But the fact that they let us get this far means that the distress call was genuine" Shephard's observation made the entire group uneasy "Let's investigate the building for any clues that could tell us what happened here".
They followed his orders and made their way to the building. The entrance was sealed but their quarian engineer managed to abort the security lockdown.
What welcomed them was horrifying.
Before they could get inside the main structure they found themselves in some kind of reception lobby that would usually be empty.
Not this time.
They were welcomed by some haphazardly deployed defenses in the form of hastily laid sandbags and now defunct turrets.
"What the…" Kaidan began as he made his way towards the defenses in order to examine it. He saw something behind the sandbags that spooked him and made him recoil back "FUCK!"
"What is it, Kaidan?" Shepard asked but he did not answer and only pointed to what he had seen. They made their way towards the pile and saw that behind it were the remains of… Ashley wasn't sure what it used to be.
A mangled pile of flesh, bone and organs laid atop a pool of now dried up blood. A collective sense of dread and disgust washed across the group…
Ashley could see that the whole group had been unnerved by the sight of the managed corpse, with some even thinking of removing their helmets due to the nausea, but she could still see that all of them were disgusted by what they saw.
All save for Xiltar.
While the group recoiled from the horror of what they were seeing, he carefully approached the pile and began to reach for something.
"Xiltar what are you…" as Shepard was asking why did he decide to roam through the refuse he saw as he grabbed something and raised it for the group to see…
Was that a needle?
(No) the word escaped the mind of the alien and Ashley could sense that something was wrong by the way in which he said it.
"What is it?" Shepard asked as he approached the protoss.
(...) Xiltar grunted as he stood up while still holding the needle in his hands (You should return to your vehicle, Commander) as he said this, he dropped the needle.
"You know what's in there?" Shepard asked but the alien did not reply "Xiltar?" No response from this either "Xiltar!".
The commander had to grab the taller creature and force him to turn around.
…
The alien had only shown any outward emotion when he was either distressed or angered by what was occuring around him.
He had shown these emotions after events of great personal importance or if he felt insulted in any way.
Ashley was well aware of this as she had been called out for her bigotry when he was explaining to them his story.
She did not fully believe that this creature was from another dimension but she begrudgingly accepted that this was the alien's understanding.
But now she was begging to believe that there may be some truth in his words.
As the protoss turned around and faced the still shaken group she could make out the feeling that was plastered in what little features were on his face.
Fear.
She could see that his glowing eyes were shaking and showed a feeling of dread unlike before.
"Xiltar… what do you…" Shepard began but was interrupted by the protoss as he placed a hand on his shoudler.
(Please leave…) Xiltar began as he quivered slightly (I know not what lies beyond… but it will be for the better if you allow me to go…) he then turned to the pile of flesh and looked at it with pity (Alone).
Ashley wished to go and see what the hell had happened or what was inside that could even leave a person in such a state…
But above it all she wished to know what the hell was scarring the alien so much.
Shepard on his part didn't look so eager to abandon one of his own to an unknown element such as this.
"Can we at least know what it is?" Shepard asked "Can you sense anybody inside?".
Xiltar just looked down and removed his hand from the commander's shoulder and ignited his blade (If I am right… it is an enemy that would threaten to overwhelm us).
"There's eight of us. How could any enemy overwhelm us?" Wrex began to move to the door but was stopped by the hand of Xiltar.
(And that wouldn't be enough) he began to explain (The only hope that you will get to uncover what happened here and live is to let me investigate this place) he turned his gaze towards the floor where he dropped the needle.
"What's in there?" Ashley asked wary of the alien's answer.
Smoke began to gather at his feet (Something beyond madness) Xiltar disappeared completely.
Shepard turned to his squad and ordered them to wait outside.
Ashley hoped that they would find the truth.
Xiltar
_Current objective: Investigate the facility, uncover the truth_
In his mind there was no doubt as to what he was about to face.
He was meant to face an endless hunger that would have drowned the stars in a tide of blood.
They now somehow managed to threaten his kind once again.
The zerg lived.
The species that would be twisted along his own into the shapes of the parodied gods: the hybrid.
But he would have died a thousand deaths before he allowed these creatures to consume any more innocents.
Aiur would be avenged.
The spirits of the lost would be put to rest after these abominations were gone.
…
Xiltar entered the pirate's base as he made sure that his companions wouldn't follow him.
As he entered the place he thanked his kind for not having anything similar to what other species would call a sense of smell.
The entire complex was filled with the bodies from all manner of species, all mangled and torn to bits in a savage display that disgusted the protoss.
Across the floor rested small openings to tunnels that would surely take him to wherever the beasts had originally come from.
Or in a worse case, where more zerg would come to assault him.
He also saw that among the bodies rested the dead corpses of some zerg bioforms: zerglings as he remembered.
As he examined the now charred beast he saw as the primitive weapons of this civilization were somewhat effective against these creatures.
Good.
There might have been wisdom in bringing his companions, but he did not wish for them to come into harm's way because of his people's failure.
As he continued to analyze the zerg he made two startling discoveries:
These bioforms were malformed.
Where a hardened carapace had been observed by his people's observers here laid a more underdeveloped outer shell. Where they once had two strong scythes growing out of its back here they were nothing but a pale parody of the ones he had faced.
The second thing he managed to observe was the existence of cybernetic components that perforated into the creature's skull. If his conjectures were correct then something or someone had been trying to usurp the zerg's hive mind through this crude means.
He reached into his back and retrieved the artifact.
Xiltar had remained awake the past night for the sole purpose of discovering every function and every piece of data that this artifact held.
Amongst the data that had been passed on to him there was the explanation of how he had come to this realm in the first place while the why of it remained obscured from him.
It would seem that the Xel'naga that hid her name behind the moniker of Nebula had used the keystone as an anchor to the void while she expended one of her people's relics in the process of saving the IHan-rii warrior and his people.
Xiltar activated the artifact and after a moment it began to levitate in front of him while shining its white hologram towards the protoss.
(Construct…) the orb directed its attention to him (Can you tell me the purpose of this device?) the orb began to analyze the components with a beam of light.
The machine approached the remains of the zergling and began to analyze it with a holographic beam.
-Analyzing device, processing… Analysis complete. Components indicate that the device had the purpose of emulating a psionic connection once used by subject: zerg - it then proceeded to analyze the rest of the body - Genetic markers indicate premature specimen of zergling strain as primary test subject-.
(Elaborate) Xiltar commanded.
The orb began to analyze the corpse this time and took another moment before it came up with an answer -Subject presents clear signs of rapid development. Genetic instability within its DNA structure indicates a 65% decrease of its gestation period at the cost of subjecting the subject to rapid cellular deterioration- the orb explained before it stopped analyzing the corpse -This was a sloppy work-.
That last comment stunned the protoss.
(Sloppy?) Xiltar asked with an inquisitive stare that the orb would likely see through the veil of void that hid him.
-Observation originated within this vessel's personalized subroutines. Compensating…- the orb said before it spinned a little - Critical error detected. Personality matrix at risk of total corruption should any action be taken. Actual disposition is tolerable, bad luck-.
Xiltar groaned inwardly.
He had perceived that this object had a certain quirk that was beginning to get on his nerves quite heavily.
It thought it had a sense of humor.
(You will continue to act in this manner?) Xiltar asked in desperation as this would certainly get annoying if it continued for long.
It took a moment to answer again -I don't think this will be a problem- It would be, but he couldn't be picky at the moment.
(Regardless of that…) he changed the topic (Does any presence of this altered zerg remain?) he wished to know if he wasn't alone.
-Processing request- it began to move its beam across the room as he analyzed the surroundings -No zerg signals detected. A moment…- Xiltar turned to the machine -Alien live signature detected. Subject: Asari- its beamed pointed to the upper floor.
Xiltar began to make his way there.
Once in the top floor he was welcomed by the sight of more mangled bodies and several zerg carcas. Whoever had managed to defend the last stretch to the only room in the second floor had managed to do so with extreme ferocity.
He began to pick up the signal of a mind on the other side of the door. It was growing fainter as life began to leave its grasp. He opened the door and readied himself as the mind reacted with aggression and began to shoot its gun towards the door "COME AT ME YOU MONSTERS!" a female voice echoed from within the room.
Xiltar blinked inside the room where the figure could not get him with a stray shot. Once he managed to reach the dying figure he took the weapon from her grasp and tossed it to the other side of the room. He saw that the sole survivor was an asari, she wore some primitive form of armor that held out against an assault from a zergling. The dying figure lay defeated as her weapon had been taken.
Xiltar would offer no pity to her. A life of barbarism and slaughter showed in the permanent markings plastered across her face.
He reached into her fading mind and began to extract as much as he could.
This woman's crew had been lured to this spot in order to act as guinea pigs. She knew this since the informant that had told her of this 'secure location' contacted her and thanked her for 'the contribution towards furthering the cause of mankind'. Shortly after this, tremors began to be felt across the mobile facility.
The Zerg emerged and slaughtered them before they could even react. No bioforms other than zerglings were present during the attack. The defenses this group had placed in the entrance as a way to deter intruders proved to be meaningless as the attackers came from below.
As the woman began to die he looked into her past. A name and information came at the forefront of it all.
Dantius.
And after a moment, it was done.
The asari perished and would find rest along with her ancestors.
Xiltar made his way to the personal terminal of the pirate "Construct. Gather whatever information you can on these bandits" the orb approached the terminal. The display began to quickly show all pertinent information as the machine downloaded it.
A sudden noise from outside the room got the protoss' attention. With his cloak still active he made his way towards the room filled with the corpses.
There he saw it.
From on the holes in the ground began to emerge a long alien figure.
A worm like beast that was all too similar in size and pose as the offspring of the thresher maw they had faced upon that waste of a world.
A zerg hydralisk.
Like the zerglings before, this variant of the zerg wasn't one he knew of. Its long arms that used to end in several elongated nails now only showed one.
Where its form should have been more slender he found that the zerg was bulkier than the one he had faced.
Realization struck him.
The day he awoke from stasis he found that the records from their observers had compiled the events of what his cousins in Aiur called: the first great war. In those records were images and references of the zerg first encountered by executor Tassadar.
This zerg he had found where those primitive variants.
Less refined and by that extension less of a threat compared to their later ill begotten kin.
Xiltar didn't waste any more time.
He launched himself over the railing on the second floor and as he fell to the ground with a loud thud he ran towards the creature, the beast was blind to his attack as he quickly severed one its arms. As it screeched in pain it swung its remaining arm towards the protoss, becoming irritated by the proximity of his psionic presence. He ducked as the arm arched over him and missed him.
He struck from below and cutted the other arm at the elbow. It screeched once again and launched its face forward in order to try and bite at him.
He finished it by striking directly at the head of the creature ending its existence once and for all.
Xiltar rested as the creature now laid dead at his feet. He noticed a strange device on the side of its face and the protoss moved it's skull with his boot.
It shined with a red light for some brief moments before it stopped blinking.
The artifact finally approached his guardian and began to speak with the protoss -Advanced bioform detected. Conjecture confirmed-
(Explain) Xiltar demanded an answer to the machine's words.
-Presence of Zergling strain provided the possibility of only its bioform being replicated through its stagnant DNA. The presence of another bioform proves that the origin of both entities comes from the existence of a major zerg presence- the orb explained.
(Someone is growing a hive) before his synthetic companion could answer, Xiltar felt as more tremors began to appear and he also sensed the hive minded thought patterns of more feral zerg. As he peered into the mind of the creatures that were fast approaching he noticed that some small bioforms were diverting their way towards the exterior of the base.
They would attack his companions.
(Machine. Listen) the orb began to follow his orders (Go to John Shepard and warn him of the threat that approaches him. Ensure that the group survives) the orb departed after this.
Xiltar would face the swarm that coiled beneath his feet.
Alone.
Afterword.
By all that is good, I emerged from my week of tests in victory.
- You deserve death, fleshbag. /º\
I missed u to buddy
Addendum: Today wasn't a good day. My one solace is that at least I may entertain somebody this day.
Thank you.
Edit - Almost there boios and boietes