Chapter 7
I do not own Mass Effect
Or any game, movie, franchise mentioned
Story Start
I just realized I messed up with my earlier Mass Effect story with the transport times. The relays allow nearly instant travel from that location to wherever you want (near the relay). But back to that relay takes much longer, case in point from exiting the relay it took 40minutes? At most to get to Eden Prime but it took 15 hours? To get back to the Citadel so I'll have to work out some rough time frames for travel
In an animation we see that the Mako can fit 8 people with a lot of space, I'm going to change that to 8 people and not much space left, finally there's also the salary Callum is getting from the Alliance, I've had a quick look online Privates get around 4900 dollars a year so I'm just going to assume as a Private and with a rough knowlege of food prices Callum could earn 700-1,200 credits a week. I've decided to go with the lower estimation, any mass effect fans out there who have a better understanding of credits who think it's off review and I'll change in. If you also have a good guess or know a sight that goes into detail about how far the relays are from the planets also send in a review.
Azai Jin, I've taken your advice about which Star Wars to start at Episode 1
Also, I've made another change and I think a lot of people will like to use it and this will be the last full chapter for a bit, me and my wife are going on holiday to see the fam so I can't promise anything
Story Start
With my purchase in hand, I walked to the nearest fast transport location and hailed a taxi which headed to the nearest drop off point which was C-Sec academy. On the way there I transferred 4000 credits to Dr Bryson's omni-tool, with my gun paid for and the 113 credits for ammo I only had 907 credits remaining plus my original savings of 1264 credits from working as a farmer. Regardless though I had to be careful how I spent my remaining funds until I got more. Either from my job which would get me 700-850 credits a week, which wasn't bad but not enough to buy any weapons or gear in the short term or until I finished writing my Star Wars script. After that I'll decide what to do with the extra credits.
Speaking of Star Wars, I've decided to do them chronologically. I was doing this for a number of reasons such as starting the story at the start and not halfway through, I was also hoping some people will see the similarities in the movie and what's been happening recently. Giant ship and robot army attacking a planet, giant ship and robot attacking a planet. Galactic government doing nothing to help, Citadel Council doing nothing to help, etc. There had nothing actually connecting them together but people wouldn't see it that way and if they did make the comparison then it would embarrass the Council and make them look incompetent and the more chances I had to do that the better. Another possibility I hoped for was to get people to wonder 'why do only three species/individuals have all the power?' Either way the more people I had questioning the Council and looking elsewhere for leadership.
Entering coming out of the elevator I arrived at the Normandy with time to spare. When I arrived the only ones outside the Normandy were Kaiden, Shepard, Udina and Anderson. The last three looking like they just finished a conversation.
"Callum, good you...what is that?" asked Kaiden suddenly pointing at the small enclosure I was holding in my left hand, my duffle bag in my right.
"This? Well since the Commander just became the first human spectre I thought a gift was needed." I said
"And you thought a hamster would be a good idea?" asked Kaiden putting his hand inside the enclosure only to get bitten "Oww fuck! You little bastard!"
"Hey leave him alone!" protested Shepard, pushing Kaiden away before putting her own hand in and scooping the hamster up with no problem "is Kaiden being a big meany? Yes, yes he is isn't he?"
"squeak"
"You can't be serious." said Kaiden
"What? I had a hamster growing up, it's a great gift thank you." said Shepard
"hmph hmph." said Udina clearing his throat
"I gift that I would normally return but since we about to depart I am forced to accept." said Shepard, acting unbelievably bad
"Hmm I'm sure." said Udina "Anyway we told you everything we know so good luck." said Udina before moving to leave with Anderson
"Excuse me Ambassador?" I ask before he could go anywhere
"Yes Private?" asked Udina
"I was wondering when or if further excavations will be done on Eden Prime?" I asked
"With what's happening and how Eden Prime was just attacked it could be a long time before the dig site is resumed, why?" asked Udina
"Prothean Beacons are incredibly rare, especially partially working ones like the one that was found. Most Prothean runes were ransacked and destroyed long ago, yet there was a beacon found on Eden Prime. Who knows what else could be in that area or around it. I'm not saying that there could be another beacon there but there might be something that will help with the human relations that were damaged from the beacon's destruction. It wasn't humanity's fault but until we bring in Saren people are going to think it is, but if you could find something to replace it..." I said trailing off.
Javick was found on Eden Prime. I didn't know exactly where but I was guessing that it wasn't that far away from the beacon, finding him was the easiest not to mention the safest way to prove the existence of the reapers. The others was the vi on Illos which could be impossible or too corrupted to be any use, the others were the Leviathon of Dis which the Batarians were hiding, the dead reaper that was floating around a planet which I still couldn't remember but those would only be good to prove that Sovereign wasn't a once-off or a geth dreadnaught...(which reminds me, I needed to make sure the quarians didn't destroy the geth super-dreadnought) it was also dangerous as it would expose various people to indoctrination just like the Leviathon of Dis was doing right now and I doubt I could make anyone use only probes or drones to investigate it. There was also the asari beacon but I didn't know which city on Thessia it was on and I'm sure they're plenty of temples to Arthain all over the planet, I was also certain that I would trigger some sort of security protocol from repeatedly looking for a specific temple. And Liara's mother knew about the beacon and if they find out that someone's looking for a specific temple and been in contact with Benzia's daughter well... an asari commando hit squad would be coming for me and Liara at the very least.
"Hmmm, you have a point. I'll look into it and see if I can get the dig resumed sooner rather than later." said Udina before leaving
'Oh well, worst comes to worst I'll see if Liara knows anyone that would do some digging on Eden Prime and I'll fund them behind the scenes just like I'm doing with Dr Bryson. Best case scenario they find Javik within the next year and everyone will know and prepare for the Reapers. Worst case scenario he comes later and convinces those dragging their feet like the asari will no doubt be doing.'
"Seriously how did you know I was a hamster person?" asked Shepard, her hamster perched on her shoulder after Udina and Anderson left
"...you just seemed to be the type." I answered
"Thanks, anyway we're headed for a remote dig sight where we'll be looking for Benesia's daughter, that's the voice of the second person in the audio file. I want you to gear up as you'll be coming with me,Ashley, Solana and Garrus. Ashley will help you get your armour on." said Shepard before beaming "Now I need to get this cutie in his new home."
Entering the Normandy I go to unpack my gear in my locker, as expected the clerk lied when he said the duffel bag was standard army size as while I had a bit of extra room if I had filled the bag I would have had no chance fitting it all in. 30 minutes later I feel a slight shift as the Normandy backed out of the docking bay
"Alright everyone, you know why we're here...We're here because less than a day ago Eden Prime was attacked by Saren and an army of geth, but Saren won't stop there! With an army of geth and a dreadnought of unknown design at his side, there's no telling the amount of damage he could do. Eden Prime was merely the start, his next target could be anyone, any colony or planet whether it be human, turian, or asari, home to any of our friends or family. Which is why we need to stop him now! Why we need to work together to take him out, because for every day we don't a father could die, a mother, sister, brother...or even child. Which is why we should, no why we need to give it our all! I know there will be tough times ahead, the council has already shown us the amount of support and thanks we can expect from them, but we're not doing it for the council are we? No! We're doing it for everyone else, those who will actually feel the consequences. So let's work together to make the universe a better and safer place, not for those in their ivory towers but the everyday person...Shepard out."
It was a good speech, realistic, but still effective. I know I felt more eager to help. After the speech I headed down to the cargo bay where I saw Wrex who must have been recruited after Shepard became a spectre, Ash who was working on weapon maintenance, Garrus who was looking over the Mako and Solana was just off to the side. Since Shepard told me to head to Ash to get my armour and as I got close she turned to face me.
"Alright shirt and pants off." instructed Ash
"...what?" I ask
"You're here for armour right? Armour comes in two layers, an outer hard layer which is what you wore on Eden Prime and a flexible yet protective underlayer under that. To get the best fit you'll need to take your pants and shirt off." said Ash "Normally you would get changed in a shower stall but with the elevator that would take too long."
"You have to be joking." I said hopefully. If I needed to I would, I understood that privacy in the military or navy could be less than some would like but I would honestly rather not.
"No...but yes." said Ash with a grin "You should have seen your face, the underlayer adjusts to the wearer's size but if your wearing a jacket or dress uniform it doesn't get a proper fit, the uniform your wearing is thin enough that it shouldn't a problem though. The standard everyday uniform was made that way so marines could armour up as quickly as possible. However, most try to wear as little under the underlayer as possible due to sweating, chaffing etc. Anyway put this on." said Ash handing me an undersuit
It was a single piece but in order to put it on there was a flap from the left shoulder to the waist, when I put it closed that flap though it blended in so seamlessly you couldn't tell. Also after I closed the flap I could feel it shift around me, adapting itself to my frame and build for the perfect fit.
"Okay now for the outside armour. You want to start on the legs, all you need to do is place the pieces on and they'll snap onto the undersuit." said Ash, pressing my knee guard against my knee, sure enough it snapped on. Under Ash's guidance I proceeded to put the rest of my leg armour, then my chest, back and stomach armour which was all one piece which went over my head. After that all that was left was my arms and shoulder.
"It will take some time but eventually you'll learn how to do this quicker and easier, also this is standard Onyx medium armour IV. It's not the best or prettiest but it will do, its also got an increased shield recovery mod, we thought with your bow you'd appreciate quickly recovering shields the most." said Ash
As we went over everything making sure it was all fitted properly and working the elevator opened and Shepard came out with two marines, one happened to be Tristan, the other was a woman I didn't recognize.
"Alright is everyone ready?" asked Shepard
"We just finished armouring up Callum." said Ash
"Good, grab your gear and let's go." said Shepard, heading to the left side of the Mako where a hatch opened up
"Alright here is your gear, your own bow, a lancer III assault rifle and a kessler V pistol." said Ash "The pistol is a bit more than the regular private would have been given but wait...where did you get that?" asked Ash as she saw me attach my pistol, a pistol which I hearby name fat bastard, due to it being fat and a mix of heat sinks and thermo clips
"It's a gun I had custom made." I answered
"How on earth did you afford that? I thought you were just a farmer?" asked Ash lo.
"Promise you won't laugh? ...well I'd been writing a movie script and used the money to have a gun made." I said
"Phsst, you wrote a vid script? What the hell was it about?" snorted Ash "Please tell me it wasn't some B-rated vid involving a young asari and old, calloused human."
"Illegal car racing and hijacking." I answersed
"Phhhh, sorry but I don't think that's going to get a lot of downloads." said Ash "Anyway let's join up with the commander
"Okay." I said following her into the mako
The interior or the mako was rather plain, there was two sets of controls at the front, as those were the only controls in here I gathered that one controlled the gun and the other controlled the torrent, those were also the only two good seats. The rest were simply a bench type seats, the side opposite to the hatch had room for three people while the side with the hatch could only fit two.
The opposite side was already taken by Garrus, Tristen and the other female marine so I took a seat right next to Solana.
"...so come here often?" I ask before I could stop myself
"...isn't that a human pick up line?" asked Solana after blinking a few times
"Yeah, sorry I'm just nervous." I replied
"Don't worry Callum, this mako has four female badasses to keep you delicate males safe." joked Shepard from the front seat as she flicked switches and presses buttons before getting serious "It's okay to have mission jitters, it keeps you on your toes just try not to fire off your gun when a pijak jumps out of the dark."
"I'm sure once the Normandy lands and we drive out you'll start to feel better." said Solana quietly
"..."
"...what?" asked Solana, confused with look I was giving her
"I don't think we're going to be landing." I said
"What! Of course we are, commander we're going to be landing right?" asked/begged Solana
"Huh? No this a mako M35 we're going to be dropping in from lower orbit why?"
"Oh that's right I nearly forgot, Solana has had a fear of falling ever since..." started Garrus
"Don't you dare!" exclaimed Solana "It's fine Commander, I just don't like falling, it will be fine." repeated Solana
"Okay if you're sure." replied Shepard, not sounding convinced as she started to drive forward
"Just promise you'll warn me before we leave the ship." said Solana
"Huh, well this is awkward." said Shepard
"Why?" asked Solana only to freeze as she looked up at Shepard and the view screen in front of her
"Because we've already left." answered Shepard
There, on the viewscreen was the rapidly approaching surface of a planet. Instantly Solana grabbed the nearest thing to reassure herself, that thing turned out to my hand
"Spirits you're crazy, all you humans are crazy." said Solana to herself
As the ground got closer and closer Shepard activated the mass effect fields to lower the weight of the Mako and the boosters underneath the mako. Skidding a couple of times the mako comes to a stop.
"Alright systems check...okay, everything seems to be working." said Shepard going over the controls
"You okay?" I ask Solana who was still gripping my hand
"What?" responded Solana before realising what she was doing and letting go "Y-yeah I'm okay thanks." finished Solana, giving the turian equivalent of a blush
"Okay everyone, intel has it that our target Liara T'soni is working at a dig site funded by some university or other. Point is we know where the dig site is and we're assuming that she's going to be their or nearby and considering that this place his half volcanic it's a good assumption. We don't know what she knows her mother's been up to, she might be innocent and know nothing or she could be apart of it all, don't make assumptions and remember we need her alive." said Shepard before driving forward
"By the way, Tristen I was wondering why you and...?" I asked
"Alice." offered the female marine
"Why are you and Alice here? I thought the ground team was only me, Ash, Garrus, Solana and Shepard?" I asked, in the reality where this was just a game only three people could fit in the mako.
"Someone has to keep the Mako safe and warm for us." answered Shepard from the front "Whenever we exit the Mako they'll take over and if need to take out threats and drive the Mako back onto the Normandy if we end up needed two pickups or we become separated and the mako is no longer needed or in a position to help. There's usually a gunner, driver and coms but the last one can easily be done by the driver in most cases so I decided to use the extra seat for another ground crew."
'Huh, well that explains a few things, how they keep getting the mako onboard without Shepard or someone going back for it.' I thought to myself
As Shepard starts driving forward Joker calls over the coms
"Hey commander we're picking up some strange readings, like really strange and off the damn charts." said Joker
"What else do we know?" asked Shepard
"Hold on, I'll transfer you to on of the support staff." said Joker
"Hello commander how can I help?" asked a female voice
"This energy signature, what can you tell me about it?" asked Shepard
"Not much I'm afraid commander, the origin of the signal is coming from near where the dig site is located and it's pumping a high about of energy at a stable frequency."
said the voice
'She must be talking about the energy field that Liara's stuck in.' I thought to myself as we continued to long journey to the Liara's dig site, passing uncomfortably close to the larva at times
Sometime later the womans voice again spoke up over the comms
"Hold on commander I'm picking something else up...shit, commander! These a geth ship approaching your location!"
Almost moments later a geth ship flew overhead dropping of two armatures? Up in front of us.
"Commander, engaging first target." said Ash before opening the guns
"Got it, evading returning fire." answered Shepard as she continued forward
"..."
"..."
"First target down, moving on to second target...Commander slow down or I won't be able to take it out before we reach it, Commander...Commander!" exclaimed Ash, the only response from Shepard was an insane grin.
Activating the thrusters Shepard propelled the Mako forward, seconds before they would run into the armature Shepard activated the boosters and the Mako collided directly with the face of the armurture coursing a loud crounch underneath the mako.
"I love my job." said Shepard with a grin "Also, Callum looks like you were right about the geth having tanks."
"..."
"..."
"Commander...you do have a license to drive a mako don't you?" asked Garrus
"What? Of course I do, the instructor said he's never seen driving quite like mine." said Shepard obvious to the shared lookes in the back of the mako. "Hold on I'm picking up more hostiles in front of us. Support can you tell me what's ahead?"
"According to intel some sort of refinery." answered the voice "There's two entrances on your side. However be careful, I'm just going over what paperwork we have on them and they have a B-grade defence permit for attacks against pirates. You'll likely be looking at thick walls and a number of turrets placed defensively if the get were able to take them over."
"Thanks for the heads up support." said Shepard "Okay it's likely that the geth have either destroyed or taken over the turrets. If that's not the case they should recognize us and not open fire."
"I don't think that's likely commander." said Ash
"True, alright I'm going to stick our nose out and see if anything bites." said Shepard, five seconds later red lights started flashing "Shit, they're locking on to us."
Flooring the Mako Shepard manages to avoid a couple of rockets.
"Commander we have three turrets up ahead." said Ash
"Got it, lets look for that second entry point." responded Shepard
It didn't take long to find the second entrance and with its single turret it was much easier to deal with. After the turret was delt we continued on and we, well Ash took out the geth inside the refinery. Doing a good amount of damage to the surroundings in the process, when that was done we parked the mako and disembarked.
"Alright we need to find the controls to the second door and if we can find the override controls for the three turrets out front that will be good too." said Shepard
As we approached the first building I switch to my pistol and put the dial to medium, semi-automatic fire giving me 12 to 18 of shots. Once there Shepard has a quick look inside.
"Okay there's too little space for us all to go it, we'd be tripping over each other. Callum, Garrus you two wait here while me, Ash and Solana clear the building but be ready for when I call you. As the three go in Solana and Shepard in front with shotguns, while Ash was slighlty behind them with an assualt rifle. Garrus and I wait just outside the doorway and it wasn't long before the sound of gunfire went off. The sounds of the shotguns in particular were quite loud in the enclosed space.
"Garrus, Callum now!" called Shepard over the comms
Entiring first I immediatley crouched to the side to give Garrus a clear line of sight at the geth shooting at the crate Shepard and Solana were hidden behind while Ash was hidden behind a console much closer to us. Not expecting 2 new combatants the geth could respond quick enough and switch targets and went down with little issue, joining the other 2 geth already on the floor.
"Building's clear, are these the controls for the turrets?" asked Shepard to Ash who was already going over the control console
"Afraid not, this is just the controls to the front door and the refinery itself." replied Ash
"Let's check the other buildings. If we can't find the reset then we'll just leave it, we're not here to make sure this place is safe after all."
As we left the building we saw the mako open fire at the building furthest from us.
"And that's why you never leave the mako unattended." said Shepard "Lets move on to the second building."
When we reached the second season building we repeated what we did with the previous building, Shepard, Solana and Ash went in first with Garrus and I following a short time later. After dealing with the geth Ash found the controls to manually reset the outside turrets, the last building was the easiest to clear. Entering the destroyed door we faced only a single geth with nonfuntioning legs, opening the door we climbed back in the mako and on our way.
Dealing with ocational geth on our way to Liara, I could only think of one thing.
"Just how far away did we land?"
"Quite far, that was the only spot nearby that didn't come with a chance of landing in larva or was already built on. As is we have half-an hour left before we reach our destination." answered Shepard from the front
Omake how it should have gone when Shepard woke up in Cerberus lab
Shepard was PISSED, she just woke up on a slap, in a base under attack, that was half on fire and half going to be on fire soon with a voice shouting at her and being a real bitch and not letting her know what was going on. Twenty seconds that's all that would have been needed to have a rough idea what was going on, she could have even used the time it took for her to get changed but no. Speaking of changing, she noticed a couple while she was getting dressed. Now as a soldier and an N7 she was familiar with arguments and gene mods and had used them/applied them in the past but when she got her hands on the person that decided those needed enhasing what she would do to them would make death himself wince.
Joining up later with Jacob and him telling her the base was Cerberus didn't exactly improve her mood but thanks to him she was now face to face with her target, the orign of her anger, an anger that she wasn't exactly wanting to hold back
"So you're Miranda?" asked Shepard
"That's right." came the reply, an Australian accent prevalent
"The one that's been working on me?"
"The one that brought you back yes." answered Miranda
"Then tell me." said Shepard raising her pistol "Why the fuck are my boobs bigger!"
"..."
"...commander surely this can wait the base could and explode and this doesn't exactly seem immortatn." spoke up Jacob
For the rest his life Jacob would swear he heard the Commanders neck creak as she turned to look at him.
Hours later
"I can assure you, the only changes made were updating the augments you already had as well as from my understanding muscle growth hormones." said the Illusive man, brushing off cigar ash "The point of this was bringing you back exactly as you were, or as close as we could."
"And that's the only changes?" asked Shepard
"Yes, perhaps if you let me know what your after I'd be able to give a better answer."
"..."
"Very well, I've read your report the only question I have is how Jacobs got wounded, it wasn't listed." enquired the Illusive man
"His weapon misfired." answered Shepard much to the confusion of the Illusive man
"That seems hard to believe, not only is Jacob a highly trained soldier but neither the angle or grain match his weapon."
"His weapon...misfired." repeated Shepard, an edge to her voice
"...very well." answered the Illlusive Man "We have have high hopes for you Commander, don't let us down."
After the call ended the Illusive man made another call
"Double the surveillance on the man who tried to plant cameras in Shepard's and the women's bathroom. If we missed one Shepard will need a target to direct her ire away from us."
"Done sir, does this mean you wish to cancel the sex tape?" asked the secretary
"Yes, we'll find other ways to recover the money spent on reviving Shepard. Also, scrub the backup." answered the Illusive man
"Affirmative, Project Red Wig is cancelled." came the reply
Red and Blue Effect
A stressed out Shepard entered Captain Anderson's, now her quarters and turned on a diffuser. Soon the sweet relaxing smell of lavender filled the room as she dropped onto the bed, the Normandy was on it's way to try to find Matriach Benezia's daughter and while normally they would be planet side within 30 minutes after exiting the relay she ordered Joker to drop out much sooner so the trip would take close to three hours on the pretense of observing any activity before they reached the planet and for greater stealth as one of the few times that the Normandy is as loud as any other ship is when it enters or exits FTL. The real reason however was that she just needed a break from them. But they couldn't bother her here, the door was locked and
"Commander we have a problem." came Jokers voice over the comms
"Oh fuck me with a cricket bat!" swore Shepard loudly "What is it now!?"
"...problem in the cargo bay ma'am.'' came Joker's answer
"Fuck my life." said Shepard as she gets up "I bet the Butcher of Torfan doesn't have to put up with this shit."
Getting in the elevator she made the long...slow trip down. Exiting the elevator it was clear some sort of scuffle had happened, boxes where all over the place and the red one, Sarge had his arse stuck through a crate, legs in the air and looked like some sort of hermit crab while the other idiots where trying to pull him out, if she wasn't so pissed off she would have found it funny. All heads turned to her when she stepped out.
"What happened?" asked Shepard
Thankfully before any of the idiots could answer Ash did.
"Sarge challenged Wrex for his shotgun, that challenged took to form of who could headbutt the other the hardest."
"And all this happened from a couple of headbutts?"
"Actually its more like 20 now, Sarge can be quite stubborn and he really wants that shotgun." said Griff
"This isn't the first time I've had to win by using my head. By the way, is anyone going to get rid of those floating unicorns? There's too many in here and they remind me of Donout."
"By the way, who's the new red guy? He looks like he could lift a lot." said Griff's sister suggestively
"Not happening!" said Griff "Though she does have a point, who's the new guy?"
"Wrex? Well he's a freelancer..." started Shepard only to surprised by the sound of multiple clicks echoing in the cargo bay as every idiot pointed their weapons at Wrex who almost looked amused, mostly at Sarge who was still stuck
"Ahh, can you repeat that?" asked Griff
"He's a freelancer, you know mercenary? He's going to working with us." clarified Shepard
"Oh that's okay then." said Griff as everyone clicks their safeties back on