Ch. 1 – (Another) New Beginning
Jane had really had enough of this. Really. The Geth were really getting annoying. They always used the same tactics and position...
"GET DOWN! SNIPER!" Kaiden's shout startled her out of her internal musings. Seems her thought's been answered.
Rushing into cover, she unfolded her own precision rifle and summoned a biotic barrier around herself. Peeking around her cover and through the scope, she looked for the approximate position of the Geth sharpshooter. Her guess was right, and soon another dead platform joined the dozens, they've already dispatched. Taking out her assault rifle, she joined Asley and Kaiden in blasting the Troopers that ambushed them. The synthetics' armor didn't stand long against the mass effect rounds and Jane's biotics, and soon 6 more carcasses were added to their kill count.
"Okay, the dig site should be right over this hill there" Ashley said after finishing off the last Geth.
"Well then, let's see it, shall we?" Shepard stated, dismissing the barrier "I think we've taken enough time to get there. We need to get the beacon soon, or it might be gone. I think the Geth might want it for themselves."
"But why would they be here of all places? Why Eden Prime? A Prothean beacon surely isn't that important?" asked Kaiden while raising his brow.
"They are pretty rare. And since this one's intact, it's really valuable" replied Jane.
"They might want the other stuff that's been dug up too, y' know." Ashley stated as they went over the hill, weapons at the ready.
"What other stuff?" Shepard glared at the Marine.
"Er… You know… The weird egg-thing… And a… big robot… I guess?" stuttered Ashley, flinching under the redhead's scrutinizing gaze.
"Wha-… who-… Why didn't you tell us earlier?!"
"I thought you already knew!" shot back Ashley "It's the thing that everyone talked about!"
"No matter…" sighed Jane "Let's keep going. We need to get to the dig site now. Before the Geth take whatever's there"
"Affirmative, commander." both the lieutenant and gunnery chief nodded.
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Jane had to admit, the mission sure stopped being boring. The dig site was literally swarming with all kinds of Geth platforms, be it Troopers, Destroyers, and even a single Armature. She also saw some weird, spider-looking unit that seemed to be prodding and tinkering with something in the ground. Shepard scanned the environment again. No sing of the beacon, which was bad. Even worse, the Geth here seemed insistent on guarding the whole area. And due to their numbers, they were being pretty smart about it. Irregular patrols, overlapping fields of fire and such. A sudden elbow from Kaiden woke her back from her musings.
"I think they've found something. It might be wha-" Kaiden didn't get to finish his statement when something happened.
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#SYSTEM INITIALIZED . . .
#EXTERNAL TAMPERING WITH PILOT POD DETECTED
#POWER SOURCE CHECK . . .
BATTERY 1: ||||||||||||||||||| 70% CHARGE
BATTERY 2: |||||||||||||| 53% CHARGE
BATTERY 3: ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 92% CHARGE
#POWER SUFFICIENT FOR 74 HOURS:
LOGGING FRESH BATTERIES FOR NEXT PHASE RESSUPLY
#MAINFRAME SYSTEM BOOT INITIATED . . . SYSTEM BOOT COMPLETE
#OCULAR SYSTEMS . . . RESTORED
#PILOT STASIS POD DEFROSTING: . . . COMPLETE
#ENGAGING ENEMY INFRANTRY . . .
PROTOCOL 3: PROTECT THE PILOT
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The weird Geth with spider legs was rummaging through the dirt around the 'egg', as Jane began calling it in her thoughts. One couldn't really call it anything else. It had an elongated, round shape and a metallic surface that was covered in dust and the remains of roots and dirt. The weird Geth kept messing around, when a nearby dirt mound shivered. Unexpectedly, a big silhouette rose from beneath the terrain. A bright blue dot lit up in its center, and it moved. Turns out, it was a big robot. It was at least 8 meters, and it's moves were eerily similar to a human. Dashing to the Geth 'spider', the machine stomped the synthetic, leaving a flat metal wreck behind. The giant mech then pulled a sword from its back, and began slashing all the Geth it could find. Then, the Armature fired it's Pulse Cannon, which the robot stopped with a weird shield made of freaking fire. I just hope it won't kill us Shepard thought, peeking from behind a rock. She shifted her gaze onto the 'egg', which suddenly began opening. The elliptic hatch on its front opened in a cloud of mist. The mist slowly moved away to reveal a figure emerging from inside.
The figure then promptly fell over face-first into dirt
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"Adam. Wake up, it's time."A soft, feminine voice broke through the haze of cryo-sleep. He groaned, just wishing to go back to sleep.
"Why can't you make it easy? Oh, come on, get up."The same voice, though with a bit of an edge this time, reached his ears, after which a shock of electricity went through his spine. He, of course, tensed up, which made him hit his forehead on the hatch of the stasis pod.
It worked to wake him up, though.
"Avei. Why do you do this?" Adam weakly said, gingerly holding his head with both hands. Avei, one of his AI friends, made a sound that resembled a snort, and came up on the small holo-stand to his left.
"You always refuse to get up, so I just encourage you a tiny bit each time." she said with an innocent smile on her face. Her only reply was a disappointed look from her Pilot.
"It hurts." he stated, obviously still a bit pissed at the rude awakening.
"Oh stop whining, I'm opening the pod. Mind grabbing me along the way?"
"Acknowledged." he sighed, stepping out of the hatch while pulling the data chip from the stand and inserting it into his left forearm, which it slid into with a satisfying click. He reached with the neural link, wanting to contact his Titan, Cray.
Just then a flood of pain and information entered his mind, making him stumble and lose a step.
And fall face-first into the dirt below.
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Jane was a bit startled by the situation, to say the least. The figure turned out to be a male, looking to be in his twenties. The three figured as much after turning him onto his back, and looking at his face. She noticed that the man was absolutely massive. He looked to be over 2 meters tall, which was a bit unsettling to Jane. Another thing though, was the amount of scars on his face. Multiple lines ran in different directions on his cheeks and jaw, with some straying close to his eyes. One particularly big one ran from the bridge if his nose, under his left eye, and to his jaw. It might've looked bad, if not for the right side of his face. The skin there was crisscrossed with small and big lines, all running from his right temple, to his eye, cheek and forehead. It also had signs of burns, either from fire or chemicals.
"Damn. Looks like he caught a grenade to the face." Kaiden's remark earned him a stare from Shepard. She folded her rifle, and moved to check the man for wounds. "Why is he so big though?" the marine's question was left unanswered,
And then the big robot came up. The thundering footfall of the machine startled all three of them, and they all turned to see the mech's giant autocannon aimed at them.
Jane stood up, perplexed for a moment, then was even more confused when a silhouette started appearing in the air before the 10 meter tall mech.
When it formed, it occurred to her that it was a she. The glowing figure, which was pale violet, was about as tall as her and had a soft, yet stern look on her face. She spoke with a soft, yet commanding voice.
"Step away. Now." she ordered, gesturing to the cannon the robot was holding "Or you'll get blasted to bits."
Of course, that's when the scar covered man decided to move, which didn't serve to defuse the situation at all. The violet woman's form rushed over to him, as his eyes darted between her and the robot, finally settling on the three of them.
"You're lucky you didn't do anything to him" she seethed, following the unknown's gaze and looking Jane in the eye.
He spoke up, looking back at the glowing woman, a certain tiredness in his voice.
"Stand down. They're not hostile." The man's voice was deep, and rough. It grated on Jane's senses, making her subconsciously flinch.
"Who the hell are you?" Kaiden's quiet question broke the silence after the man's statement.
"Shut it, yo-"
"Avei." the man held up a hand to stop the scolding. The glowing woman glared at him, and, seeing as it wasn't bothering him in the slightest, mumbled something about a 'stupid, stubborn idiot'. She then, to the confusion of the Normandy's ground team, dissipated into pixels and light as the hardlight emitter on Cray's chassis shut down.
"Commander Shepard. Status is green, ready for combat." The man stated, saluting with his fist to his chest.
The mech meanwhile held up a 'thumbs up' to Ashley and Kaiden, who both slowly waved to the mech. He looked content, somehow, with the fact that it didn't have a face, and turned to the man, it's booming voice making Shepard jump.
"Pilot, I have eliminated all hostile infantry in the surrounding area. The site is secure."
Adam's only visible reply was a nod. The mech held up another thumbs-up in return, and bent down to them.
"Seven."
"What?" Jane's flabbergasted response was enough to earn her a snort from Ashley. She would've retorted, if not for the situation that they were in.
"You asked for my name. You can call me Seven for now." was the reply, another couple of words. Seems he doesn't talk much Jane thought.
Seeing that the three soldiers didn't inquire further, he mentally shrugged and went to embark Cray. As the Titan's cockpit opened and he reached for a handle, a question from Shepard stopped him.
"Why would you help us? We don't even know you." she said with a questioning look in her eyes.
The man turned to look at her, a tired expression on his face
"But I know you. And I think you'll need help soon enough." After giving the cryptic answer, Adam sat in the cockpit seat, willing his helmet and armor into place. His helmet, one of the few remains of his past on Reach and on the MCS James MacAllan, was an amalgamation of ONI and Militia tech, along with some trinkets from DRG's R&D department. Though it looked similar to an ODST helmet, the visor had multiple glowing dots on it, similar to a A-Wall pilot's lenses. The headwear's visor lit up, staring right at Jane. The man nodded, before the hatch of the mech closed. It rose from its knees, taking the gun from it's back.
"Titan CR-0207 ready for combat. Taking point." Adam's voice sounded from Cray's speakers, his mind already in 'battle-mode', as Avei called it.
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Nihlus had reached the train station. He was about to leave for the spaceport, when he heard whimpering from behind a stack of crates. Looking around for the source of the sound, the Spectre found a hiding human dock worker. The man was utterly terrified, and just when Nihlus was about to approach him, a shot rang out. Striking the man's head, it killed him instantly. The confused Turian turned around, and saw another of his kind.
"Saren? What are you doing?! Why did you-"
"It does not matter, Nihlus. The Council sent me here. They thought you could use some backup." The barefaced Spectre walked up. "You don't even know what's at stake" he said, walking further, leaving Nihlus to stare at the body of the human worker. He then pointed a pistol at Nihlus' head. Just as he pulled the trigger, the thundering boom of heavy weapons sounded around the train station, with the chatter of Geth comms coming into his ear. He frowned. Another problem. A heavy mech, one capable of decimating his forces. At least that's what the Geth were telling him. He ran to the train. The time window he had to use the relic was begging to close fast.
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The cold, calculating nature of combat was nothing new to Adam. After many years and multiple lifetimes of wars and struggle, it was the only thing he was familiar with. And this calculating side of him told him that this new enemy wasn't remotely as dangerous as the hordes of the Covenant, the scores of IMC's Titan's, or even the swarms of Glyphids he faced when thrown down onto Hoxxes. These strange looking robots, apparently called Geth, thought that their puny kinetic barriers could hold against the 20mm chaingun that Cray used. He was happy to prove them wrong. At least as happy as he could be. He ran a systems check with the help of Avei. His EPG-1 and R-101 were on his back, with a silenced P2016 and a Smart Pistol Mk 6 in holsters on his right thigh and chest respectively. His hands found the handles of his data knife on his shoulder and a small pickaxe on his left hip, mag-locked to the thigh armor plate. He then looked at the battlefield before his eyes.
Time for another pilot's gauntlet. Let's show these locals how we do it. The female AI's comment sounded a bit smug. One couldn't really blame her though: she was in the head of an augmented super-soldier with equipment that would make many kill to get their hands on it.
Adam didn't reply, ordering Cray to pop the hatch and cover Shepard and her team, while he went about killing any foes dumb enough to stand before him.
He felt, rather than heard another remark from the AI in his head. Time to teach them a lesson.
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Jane was a bit worried when they found the tall man in the dig site. That worry grew to a tinge of fear in the back of her mind after she saw him command the giant robot around, and seeing two AIs. That fear was now a prominent feeling in her conscious. As to why, the slaughter of Geth that Adam was now performing was more than a suitable reason.
He moved with impossible speed. Not only was he incredibly fast while throwing slices and crushing strikes at the Geth with what looked like a pickaxe and knife, but with the equipment he used…
He was flying around the battlefield. Literally. The small thrusters on his back propelled him along walls, through the air… She even saw him jump mid-air with it. Not to mention the grappling hook he started using. And he seemed to disregard any shots that managed to hit him. For good reason, probably, since any that did find their mark were stopped by a golden veil that enveloped him like a kinetic barrier when he took fire. The fear was starting to nag at her mind. She sat there, behind cover, and started wondering if it was a good idea to let the man go ahead and do whatever he wanted.
She didn't get to think for long however, as Kaiden shook her arm. "Hey! Commander! We need to move! This guy's been destroying the Geth, but we need to pull up!"
"Commander Shepard, take cover behind my chassis." The booming sound of the 10 meter behemoth reached her ears, as it's thundering footfall announced it had moved ahead. Nodding to the two marines with her, she moved in behind the mech. Any incoming fire that was directed their way was either stopped by what looked to be shields of the robot, or caught by a circular blue vortex that emanated when it raised its left arm. The blue vortex seemed capable of returning any projectiles to their owners, decimating any Geth brave enough to open fir at the hulking machine. Add to that the hail of bullets that Jane, Kaiden and Ashley sent forth from behind the mech's legs, and the synthetics were shredded very quick when out of cover.
She grinned. This was getting too easy. With the support of the mysterious soldier, they were near unstoppable. She liked it.
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Adam was tired. Of everything. The new enemies that he was facing now were even more tiring. They weren't exactly a danger to him, since his energy shields soaked up most of the fire directed his way. But they were so annoying. They took cover, sat back and kept him in a crossfire, and were overall trying their best to kill him. Not that they could realistically do it, of course.
The miniature flame and vortex shields that were integrated into his left forearm were an incredible addition to his arsenal though. The flame shield was especially useful. Right now he confirmed it by melting a Geth Trooper that thought it could engage him hand-to-hand. Another one that came too close had it's torso sheared in half by the axe side of his pick, a remnant from his time on Hoxxes.
In milliseconds, he dashed to the next Geth, before ripping it's torso in half vertically. Unsheathing his knife, he ran up to a group of synthetics and Husks, and began slashing them to bits. A jab of his knife found the head of a Husk, his pick tore another through its waistline, and a kick caught a Geth in the chest, leaving it a crushed wreck.
He then proceeded to launch a rocket that he caught with the vortex shield back at the Rocket Trooper which fired it. Having dealt with any Geth close by, he sheathed both his melee weapons. Turning back and dashing with his jump pack, he ran up to the commander. They all congregated around the dead Spectre.
"Affirmative." was the one-word reply.
"Shit. We might have to break radio silence." Jane frowned "Normandy, this is ground team. Normandy, come in."
"Ground team, this is Normandy, solid copy."
"This is Shepard. We've found Nihlus… He's been shot. In the head, from behind. We'll mark the place for the pickup of his remains. Over." the quiet wait for the response was broken by Seven's voice.
"Whoever killed him got away on that train. We can get them." the silence in which the man approached her from behind was eerie at best, and frightening at worst. The electronic warble of his filtered voice didn't help either.
"Ok. Everyone green?" Jane asked, glancing at Seven "You took some hits. Are you good?"
"Affirmative." The man was looking to be less talkative with every exchange.
"Received, Normandy ground team. We'll pick you up when you secure the objective. After that, we'll secure Nihlus' remains." Anderson's voice came in after good ten seconds. Shepard quickly confirmed that the message was received, and closed the comm, returning to radio silence.
She looked back at her team. Kaiden and Ashley stood together, with Seven scanning their surroundings a few meters off to the side. Looming over them, Seven's mech looked at her, it's blue 'eye' fixated on her.
Speaking up, she barked out orders. "Seven, take point, Kaiden, Ashley, cover the sides, I'll take the tail."
Her little speech was stopped when Seven spoke up: "Cray will cover our six too." The mech walked closer, the automatic weapon in its grasp shimmering out of existence, changing into an even bigger gun. It locked a giant ammo box in place, readying the giant rifle.
The four-man squad moved to the train station with the intention of using the rail to get to the spaceport.
Coming up to the control panel for the train, the team waited patiently as Shepard tried to override the lockdown of the train. At least most were patient, as Avei's annoyed voice sounded in his head.
Let me do it! Adam! It'll be faster! I can activate it in a couple of seconds. Just let me at it! The AI whining in his head was getting annoying, so he stepped closer to Shepard as she, yet again, tried and failed to get through the barriers the Geth set up in the system.
"Commander." Jane jumped, obviously not expecting him to be behind her "I believe Avei can get it to work."
Shepard looked into the gray visor, as if pondering something. She then sighed, and stepped to the side.
"Sure, do your magic. Just get it moving"
Seven nodded, taking out his data knife. He could've used his cybernetic left arm, but he decided to keep it hidden for now. Besides, hacking terminals with his mind was tiring, and he expected he'd have to fight soon. So, he jammed the knife into the circuitry, letting Avei into the system. She made quick work of all the firewalls, which he felt through the knife and his cybernetics. He sheathed the data knife, and closed the panel.
They were off to get the beacon.
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Jane was leading them to the spaceport, where the beacon supposedly was. Then Seven froze, looking at the city. Cray too froze, his booming voice once again catching her off guard
"Commander, my sensors have detected multiple spikes in ambient radiation. They are characteristic of nuclear warheads."
Right after, Seven blurted out something along the lines of 'I'm gonna go' and sprinted off between the buildings. Shepard shot a puzzled look at the 10 meter robot and got a response from the other AI, Avei, in her earpiece.
"He's gone ahead and went to the furthest bomb. He said, as always, that 'he's faster alone' and ran off. Avei said with more than a hint of annoyance in her voice "He does that a lot. Now, you three better get moving. Cray will help you."
Upon hearing the last sentence, Jane turned on her heels and looked at the Titan. It didn't respond, just hefted its cannon up, and moved forward.
She grinned. It was going to be easy with this kind of support.
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Adam, or as Shepard&Co knew him, Seven, had defused two warheads in mere minutes after leaving Cray with the N7's team. He was now in the process of running back to the beacon, their agreed-upon rendezvous point.
He was making use of the EPG-1 this time, blasting any grouped up Geth with superheated plasma. The blue orbs of white-hot matter left nothing more of the synthetics than smoldering wrecks. He moved erratically, utilizing any walls that were around to boost himself into the air and above the Geth. Even though the androids were unnaturally fast, even they couldn't track targets fast enough to catch him. He flew from another wall, firing on another group of synthetics. Stowing the EPG-1 on his back, he noticed a Geth Juggernaut taking aim on him. Taking his pickaxe out, he activated the phase shift module on his armor. Ripping free from normal reality, he sailed through black and white smoke and fumes, before reemerging right before the Juggernaut. The platform, utterly confused, couldn't react in time, and got its weapon sheared in half by an overhead strike of Sevens pickaxe. The now unarmed Geth screeched, and charged right at the Pilot. He in turn, charged back. Synthetic arms tried to smash into his from, only to pass right through, dissipating the hologram. Seven decloaked behind the Geth, beheading it with a horizontal swing of his pick. The blind synthetic thrashed around aimlessly, until it got knocked over by a kick to the chest. Seven then calmly walked up to it, and stomped on it, spilling white hydraulic fluid on the flat concrete. He looked up, scanning his surroundings. Another Juggernaut, a Rocket Trooper and two normal platforms. He calmly reloaded his EPG-1. Taking aim, he loosed three projectiles of blue, superheated plasma. The first shattered the shields of the Rocket Trooper and two Troopers, while weaking the Juggernauts barrier. The second flash-fried the Rocket Trooper, blasted the Troopers to bits, and cracked the last Geth's shield. The third… Missed. A small frown splayed across his face. He did not miss. The Geth, it seems, were more perceptive than humans, if they could dodge the, admittedly, slow-moving projectile. Stowing the plasma weapon on his back, he rushed into melee as to not give the Juggernaut a chance to open fire. He started throwing punches at the torso of the machine. The first few dented its plating. Another broke it free. The following two smashed the insides of the Geth. Readying a Firestar, he launched himself off the robot with a kick. The throw was one of his best yet: the little object wedged itself into the crumpled machine intestines, and exploded with a shower of thermite. The screeching stopped after 5 seconds: a remarkably long time.
Looking around, he saw that the area was now cleared by the returning Shepard and her two-man team. Nodding to the commander, he walked up to the beacon. Seeing nothing of note in proximity, he stepped back, and took place behind Jane, scanning the line of buildings that surrounded the space. Ashley and Kaiden wandered closer to the beacon, while Shepard called the Normandy.
"Normandy, this is Shepard. The objective is secured. There's a spot for you to land here. We'll be waiting for pickup."
"Roger that, commander, ETA 2 minutes."
Jane's shoulders visibly slacked, relieved from the pressure as the mission neared its end. She then immediately tensed up when she stumbled into Sevens armored form when turning around. If she didn't notice before, she now got a good look at the man. Specifically, how big he was. She wasn't exactly tall, but not that short. This guy, however, absolutely dwarfed her. She was around 1,7 meters, and he looked at least over 2 meters in height. Looking up into somebody's eyes was something she last did as a child. Now she had to stomach having to crane her neck to see a soulless, grey visor stare into her eyes. At least the glowing dots and lines on it made for eyes and other facial features. It felt strange, though. Her eyes went down and up again, looking the man's armor and equipment over. One thing caught her eye, one she hadn't noticed before: around his neck, Seven had a faded, tattered scarf. It's color was muted and it had gone through a lot. It was still, however, distinctly blue. Seven's favorite color, perhaps, since a lot of his armor had blue accents, and the mech he used was painted blue in some places too. Throughout the entire ordeal, Seven's posture didn't even flinch, his gaze locked with the commander's own.
Now their little staring contest was cut short as a shout came from Kaiden. She didn't even get to turn around as Seven dashed in the beacon's direction. A yelp escaped Kaiden's lips as he was yanked away by a grapple coming from Seven's arm. Jane didn't even see when he got there He planted his boots in the ground and threw the marine to safety. He wanted to do the same with Ashley, but she was tackled away by Shepard. The Prothean construct didn't discriminate, and began to pull the N7 up, splaying her in the air. Seven quickly closed the distance, and fired his grapple again. Pulling with all his might, all he got was the strained whine of the mechanism. Since he was out of other options, he ran to Shepard, grabbed her hand, and tried to pry her from the relic's grasp. He was unsuccessful. Cray tried to intervene, but he told him to stay back. For all he knew, this device could mess up Cray's systems. And seeing as the Titan had an injured onboard, a failure of life support was unacceptable. So he steeled himself, reading a phase shift to spare the commander any injuries that could occur. But no such thing came. Instead, he felt his mind flooded with images and memories. The feeling was familiar, yet one he dreaded. His muscles stiffened, as he neared a panic attack.
Not again. Please, please not again. Not now, not when he remembered. Not when he had finally started to recall everything.
Not again.
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Shepard had experience with headaches. Hangovers were expected with the amount of times she got plastered in bars and pubs, just to forget the pain after Akuze. The headache she was having right now easily topped all of that. It felt like searing hot pins driving through her eyes. She then saw things.
Metal sewn into flesh.
Torment without end.
Bodies being pulled apart.
Minds ravaged by pain.
It continued, clouding her mind, repeating, winding into itself. The message, though unclear, conveyed one thing: ungodly, unimaginable amounts of suffering. Then oddly, she felt someone close, sensing a mind near hers. She felt the pain in the odd vision. She felt, surprisingly, panic and fear radiating from the consciousness close to her. Jane racked her brain for who could this be. It the clicked: it was Seven, trying to pry the commander away from the beacon. It appeared he was unsuccessful, however, as she still felt the grip of the beacon through the haze and pain. Suddenly, a thundering sound reached her senses. She could feel herself getting pulled away by a giant hand, being gently laid in a seat. Then it all went dark. As she got her bearings, a screen lit up before her. It displayed a view of the area and the beacon. She was looking around the place she was now locked in when Cray's voice sounded in what turned out to be a sort of pilot's cabin.
"Commander Shepard. I was ordered to place you in my cockpit by my Pilot. Please disembark when you deem it safe."
"Pilot? Wait… Your Pilot is Seven?"
"Affirmative. He ordered me to secure you, commander, instead of himself. He is still suspended by the 'beacon'. Protocol 3 dictates that I help him, however he has forbidden me from doing so in order to keep you safe, commander."
Jane looked perplexed at the screen on front if her, showing Seven still suspended in the air by the Prothean beacon.
"What?! No, goddamnit, get him out of there!"
"Affirmative, commander. Proceeding." Jane saw giant metal hands of the mech move up to grasp the man. She felt the metal chassis tremble and shake around her with the machine's rhythmic footfalls. Just when Cray went to grab Seven, the beacon blew in a cloud of smoke and sparks. The armored hand snapped up to catch him before he smashed into the concrete below. It gently lowered him to the ground, allowing Ashley and Kaiden to approach Seven's unconscious body. Jane decided that enough is enough, and told Cray to let her out. The mech didn't respond. Instead, the screen in front of her shut down, and split in half, swiveling out to let her step out of the seat she was in. She did so, and found herself on one of the mech's hands. It kneeled over, and let her down to her squad. She joined Kaiden and Ashley over Seven, trying to get the man's helmet off. A transmission from the Normandy made her get up from him, allowing Avei's hardlight avatar to rush in in her place. Jane reached for her earpiece, answering the call.
"Shepard, how is the beacon? Our ETA is thirty seconds."
"Captain, the beacon has… Self-terminated."
"What?"
"It blew up. I don't know why, but it tried to pick up Kaiden. It felt similar to a biotic singularity." Hearing the Normandy approach the landing zone, she quickly switched topics.
"Anderson, one thing. We've got a friend here. He's got a big mech. Don't open fire on it, or it'll fire back. Tell Chakwas she'll have work soon, we've got a man down. A human. I think."
"Just what did you start now, Shepard?" Anderson's tired voice came back into her ear. She sighed as the Normandy came around and landed before them. The cargo bay door opened, and the ship's marine complement filed out. Chakwas almost ran out behind them, and stopped at the sight of the 10 meter robot. The marines all trained their rifles at the machine. It in turn raised the cannon it pulled of off its back. Shepard stepped in front, raising her hands to stop both sides from killing each other, though she had a hunch that any firefight would end with the slaughter of Normandy's marines. Raising her voice over the panicked soldiers' shouts, Jane ordered them to stand down. Surprisingly, Cray listened too, stowing his weapon and kneeling in front of Jane. Anderson came over, warily glancing at the Titan.
"Shepard. What happened? Nihlus is dead, the beacon is destroyed, and now we've got… what exactly is this?" His answer was the booming voice coming from Cray's chassis.
"I am Charlie-Romeo-0-2-0-7, an prototype Vanguard-class Titan assigned to Pilot Noble Seven, first lieutenant of the Militia SRS, Marauder Corp."
"Well then." Anderson was clearly not satisfied with the answer. Jane's curiosity, however, was piqued.
"Militia? That's not a name I've heard before." She would've inquired further, but she was interrupted by a commotion around Seven. Chakwas, with the help of five marines, was trying to hold down the giant man. He was thrashing around, his helmetless face for all to see. His eyes were alight with a blue glow, arcs same in color jumping around his arms. Despite half a dozen marines trying to keep him in place, and more joining in, Seven was still shaking them off. When Cray came closer to the gathering, Avei materialized her avatar next to Chakwas, who was standing off to the side. There was a concerned look on the good doctors' face, when the AI touched her shoulder, her voice with a touch of worry.
"Doctor Chakwas. He can't be held down for long. Do you have any sedatives?" when the doctor nodded, she continued "Good. Give him a quadruple dose. I can get him still enough for an injection."
The doctor hesitated when readying the vial, but obliged, going after the violet avatar. The marines moved, allowing Avei to kneel over Seven, his eyes locking with hers. Two sets of irises, ones real, the others not. Hers light purple, as her entire form, his a steely blue, circuit lines visible inside. His, however, were now wild, unseeing, as if he saw things others around him didn't. Avei was the first to look away, over her shoulder, at Chakwas. With a flick of her hand, Seven's joints and muscles momentarily locked up, as a cleansing routine ran through the system grafted onto his being. Taking this as her mark, Chakwas quickly kneeled, sticking the injector in her hand to the laying man's neck. She activated it, the liquid sedative flowing into his veins in quantities that would kill a normal man twice over. For him, it was just enough to send him into a daze. A daze was all that Chakwas needed, though, motioning the marines around her to pick the man up and carry him to the onboard medbay. As the procession passed Captain Anderson, the doctor nodded to him. He nodded back, ordering everyone back onboard. Including the giant robot.
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Metal sewn into flesh.
Torment without end.
Bodies being pulled apart.
Minds ravaged by pain.
It was the same sequence of images, replaying in her head, over and over. She didn't understand, and each time she tried to do so. Instead, it just brought more pain, her headache getting worse by the minute.
"Screw it" tired and frustrated, Jane gave up on trying to grasp the vision. It was muddled, unreadable. Perhaps in time it'd get clearer. She stood up, reaching for the holographic lock on her cabin's door. Her hand stopped halfway, however. Where would she go? She didn't have any tasks assigned onboard, since none were given to her after her 4 month leave on Earth. She had literally nothing to do. She pondered going to Chakwas and checking how Seven was doing, but she dismissed the idea. The man was unconscious after another dose of sedatives, and was expected to stay that way for another hour or so. Walking into the elevator, she got an idea. Closing the elevator's door, her finger ghosted over the interface. Shrugging to herself, she chose the bottom deck, her destination chosen: the cargo bay. And the 10 meter robot inside of it.
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Avei and Cray were getting restless. At least by their standards: Cray's chassis was unmoving as always, however his 'eye' was constantly twitching and moving, signifying he was in deep thought. For Avei, her symptoms wouldn't be seen by anyone, she was inside the Titan's systems, after all. Her frantic scouring of the extranet was interrupted by a ping from Cray. She dropped what she was doing, and peered into the Titan's sensors. There, coming out of the elevator, was Commander Jane Shepard. The redhead looked around the hold. After a curt nod to the requisitions officer, her gaze locked on the mech. Avei in turn activated the hardlight emitter embedded in Cray's chassis, and materialized her avatar in front of the commander.
"Fancy seeing you here, ma'am." The sudden entrance of the second AI stopped Shepard for a moment, before she regained her composure, retorting for the tease that was the introduction.
"I could say the same. This ain't your place, is it?"
Strangely, the purple avatar's shoulders sagged a little. "Don't get me started." she said with a sigh "Anyway, I've got a favor to ask.
"Oh?"
"Come." Avei waved the woman over, underneath Cray's bulky metal hull. "Ok, big guy. Give it to me." A small slot opened in one of the metal containers mounted around Cray's main hatch. What floated out into Avei's see-through hands was a small cylinder, with two blue circles on one side. The avatar took the object, and gently pushed it into Jane's hands. It hovered there for a bit, before dropping into her grip. Shepard looked the thing over, and gave Avei a curious glance.
"It's an emitter. Like the one here" she said, tapping the side if the Titan "Place it in the medbay, close to Seven. I'll need to keep him from freaking out and ripping the ship apart."
Jane looked for any signs of a joke, and finding none distressed her a bit. The AI was dead serious. Her thoughts on the tall man were getting more mixed by the minute. Though she had to swing by Chakwas for a checkup anyway, so she nodded, leaving for the elevator. As the doors closed, the AI's avatar waved a her with a smile, disappearing in a flurry of light.
Stepping out of the oh-so-slow elevator, Shepard made her way into the medbay. There, she saw two people: Chakwas, with a cup of tea in hand, sitting at her desk, and Seven, the cause of the whole ruckus. He was laying motionless on a cot that could barely hold him, both in size and weight. Most of his armor was still on, with only his helmet gone. Thankfully, the man's arsenal of weapons was not on his person, courtesy of the two AIs in the hold. Flashing a smile to the aging doctor, Jane set down the cylinder on her desk.
"Hi, how are we doing?" she said, jokingly mimicking Chakwas' characteristic tone.
"Good to see that you're fine after the mission, Shepard. If you don't mind me asking, what's this?" a gesture at the metal object on the desk.
Before Shepard could come up with an answer, a quiet whine sounded from the object. When it subsided, the characteristic purple pixels started materializing in the air before Jane. Eventually, they formed into Avei's avatar, she flashing a smile to Chakwas.
"Good to meet you again, doctor." it was rare that one saw Chakwas utterly flabbergasted, and on that day, Commander Shepard was one of the few that did.
"I think it's time we got acquainted properly. I am Avei, and I am stuck babysitting this guy here." she stuck her thumb back at the unconscious Seven on a cot. "Luckily I've got Cray to help me."
At this point, the chief medical officer gathered her thoughts enough to speak. A series of question followed, the standard 'who are you?', "are you an AI?' and such. The questioning was stopped by Avei.
"I know you've still got plenty to ask, but hang on for a sec." The desk's terminal chimed. "That's general data regarding his health. He should be waking in a couple of minutes, so wish me luck."
"What would you need luck for?" Jane asked, albeit she already had an idea from their earlier talk in the hold.
"To stop him from killing you all" her deadpan tone worked to unsettle both her and the ship's doctor, Shepard feeling sweat going down her spine. It struck her as odd, that she wasn't this nervous when first watching Seven wake up, back on Eden Prime. Now though, she could not shake off the primal fear that began welling up inside her. A glance at Chakwas told her that she was feeling similarly. Avei hovered over the man's blank face, her eyes now soft, as a mother looking over their child.
Seven stirred, a scowl twisting his face. His limbs started twitching, barely noticeable at first, with spasms overtaking his entire body soon thereafter. The translucent woman extended a hand, reaching for the base of Seven's neck. Seconds ticked by, and the idea of calling for guards was becoming more and more appealing to Jane. Just as she was open her omni, the spasms that he was going through seized. Avei let go of his neck, stepping back.
Seven's eyes flickered open, as woke with a start, sitting up on the medbay's cot. He clutched his head, a quiet mutter coming from his mouth. Looking up, the scar-covered face turned every which way, taking in the room he was in. He finally noticed the two women standing some distance away from the cot. Jane's eyes locked with his. They weren't unseeing as down on Eden Prime, the blue-grey irises with weariness in them. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't. Seven looked down on his hands, clenching them into fists. Standing up to his full height, towering over all.
"Good to see you're awake. Now go grab the projector and get to Cray. He's been bothering me about your state, and frankly, he is just as stubborn as you." The hologram of Avei, with a smirk on her lips and a small wave of her hand, was the first to speak. Seven kept silent, doing as told, only stopping to materialize his helmet and put it back on. The visor lit up once again, and with machine-like movements, Seven went for the door, with his destination being the hold and his Titan within.
"Hey."
No reaction.
"Seven."
Not even a twitch.
"Stop."
Over 2 meters of flesh and bone, clad in titanium alloys, brought to a halt in a blink of an eye. Still as a statue, Seven turned to the commander, and stood there, his head leveled on them, shoulders squared and back ramrod straight. Jane approached, slowly at first, as if not wanting to scare him off. When she was within arm's reach, she stopped, taking in the details of the man's armor. Flashing a smile, an offer was made.
"Better lead you down there. Some of the crew might mistake you for a mech."
Or an order disguised as one. Not that he would've complained. Or could. Orders were orders, afterall.
A nod was all Jane got.