The Helldivers
Chapter 1
[ 2184 CE – Terra Nova / Asgard System / Exodus Cluster ]
The calm, if tired, eyes of David Anderson surveyed the planet below, while behind him the various crew members of the dreadnought-class starship on which he was traveling passed information or continued to perform their duties. Reaching a hand to the collar of his suit, he tried to loosen it with a clear note of annoyance on his face.
Oh, how he hated that kind of clothes, perfect for the first human Councilor, according to his esteemed adviser Donnel Udina. After the third attempt, Anderson gave up with a sigh, wishing he could be wearing a military uniform now.
'Perhaps civilian clothes would have been better. I don't know how he will react to these clothes or how he would have reacted to the uniform.' thought Anderson, looking back at the planet when a soldier approached him, performing a perfect military salute.
"Councilor Anderson, the shuttle is ready. Whenever you want, you can go to the main hangar. Your escort is already ready for departure."
"Thank you, soldier." Anderson nodded at the young man in uniform, before motioning him to follow him to the elevator to go down a few levels. Once inside, Anderson set his destination and the elevator began to descend, but he immediately noticed how incredibly tense the soldier beside him was.
"You can relax, soldier. We're not here on a mission, and we're not in danger of being attacked by a Reaper or a rogue Spectre" said Anderson, surprising the young man who nodded at his words, slightly relaxing his posture.
"My apologies, Councilor. After the Battle of the Citadel and the disappearance of Commander Shepard, many soldiers are on edge." he looked at the elevator doors and then at Anderson, repeating the process a few times before speaking again "May I ask a question, Councilor?"
The older man nodded once with a small smile on his face "You may, soldier. Also, you can drop that Councilor thing and call me Captain, I prefer it anyway."
"Understood…Captain Anderson." the soldier remained silent for a few seconds to ponder his question carefully "What exactly are we doing here, Captain? There have been no reports of any attacks by batarian pirates in several weeks."
"It may seem strange to you, but this is simply a personal visit for me." admitted Anderson, surprising again the other man "I came here to speak to someone in person, and then I'll be back amid all the Citadel bureaucracy, much to my delight."
The soldier immediately sensed the sarcasm in the Councilor's voice but wisely decided not to say anything about it. The elevator stopped at that moment and Anderson walked into the starship's huge hangar, being greeted immediately by those close to him at the time. Nodding to them, he then walked towards a blue and gold painted drop shuttle, where there were ten fully armed soldiers, who did not hesitate for a second to arrange themselves in two rows for the military salute. Not far away, there were two other identical shuttles, on which twelve soldiers each were boarding.
Climbing onto the small spacecraft, Anderson settled into one of the seats inside and waited for everyone to board, after which the shuttle's engines came to life and the spacecraft left the hangar. The entry into Terra Nova's atmosphere took place after a few minutes but no one seemed disturbed by the slight turbulence, after which the pilot made himself heard "Successful entry into the atmosphere, ETA for arrival at Scott, three minutes."
Anderson nodded before activating his omni-tool, sending coordinates to the pilot "Head here. There should be a clearing big enough for the shuttle behind some buildings."
The co-pilot analyzed the coordinates and compared them with the map of the city now in sight, nodding shortly after "Roger that, Councilor. We will land in the set LZ, Eagle-2 will remain on the lookout while Eagle-3 will patrol a half-click perimeter."
After a few minutes, the shuttle on which Anderson was traveling began its vertical descent into a large square, attracting the attention of several boys who were playing basketball. As the shuttle doors opened, four soldiers stepped out with weapons drawn before lowering them after confirming that no hostiles were in sight. Anderson said nothing, knowing they were just doing their duty, after all, he was probably the most important human currently alive, being one of the four Councilors of the Citadel.
Walking with a calm and controlled step, he headed towards the main road and could only stop for a few seconds to admire the buildings around there, completely human and not at all exaggerated, being, in any case, one of the suburban areas of the capital. For a few seconds he remembered his beloved London but then he shook his head and walked towards a nearby pub, as passers-by stepped aside at the sight of his armed escort, though some dared to salute him and shout that he had their support.
Two soldiers entered before him and, when he was inside the pub, Anderson inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of cigarettes, alcohol, and wood he was so used to as a young man; spending so much time on the Citadel had made him forget little pleasures like that. Looking around, he saw that only a few tables were occupied and currently almost all the customers and the bartender were looking at him with eyes full of disbelief and surprise.
Only one, lone figure wasn't looking at him, sitting at the bar counter with their back to the entrance, intent on drinking the last of a long series of bottles of beer, all visible on the counter. Anderson spotted this person and went to sit at the counter as well, leaving an empty stool between them.
The bartender wiped the sweat from his brow and walked over to Anderson, still keeping a distance, seeing the soldiers who were currently scanning the entire room with their omni-tools "Councilor Anderson, it is an honor to have you here! Please forgive the state of this place, had I known that-!"
"It's all right, don't worry about that; places like this are much better than some gala balls on the Citadel." said Anderson, a smile on his face "May I have a London gin? Straight, please."
"Yes! Of course! Right away, Councilor Anderson!" the man got to work and in a few seconds placed a glass in front of Anderson. The Councilor took out his credit chit and swiped it on a nearby reader, activating his omni-tool and punching in a series of numbers before deactivating it. The bartender blinked in confusion, but when he went to read the transaction made, his eyes almost fell out of their sockets "Err…sir…t-this much is…"
"For the gin and the trouble." said Anderson with a single nod "I need a few minutes of privacy."
The bartender turned his gaze towards the soldiers who were inviting customers to leave the pub and nodded immediately "Yes. Yes, of course! Take all the time you need, Councilor!" he then placed the bottle of gin on the counter "I know it's not worth much after what you just did, but…this is on the house." and without adding anything else, he left the room while two soldiers went into the back shop.
"All clear." said a soldier with the rank of lieutenant before turning off his omni-tool. Anderson thanked him before looking at his glass in silence for several seconds, before drinking the liquor in one go, enjoying the taste of the gin, and placing the empty glass on the counter.
A snort was heard from his right "You've been Councilor for less than a year and you already want to get drunk in a godforsaken pub."
"Try spending that much time around Udina or the other Councilors and you'll end up like that too, especially after losing a dear friend." Anderson turned his gaze towards the young man sitting next to him, having however no way of seeing his face due to the hood of his black sweatshirt, pulled over his head which left only a few strands of gray hair free "Do you know why I'm here?"
"I'd like to say you want to get drunk on serious stuff and not that dirty water they serve at the Citadel, but your soldiers haven't asked me to leave yet." he took a swing of his beer "What do you want from me?"
"I assume you know about Commander Shepard."
A strange sound came up the hooded man's throat, which Anderson ventured to liken to an exasperated sigh "Hard not to know. Shepard is a hero, but to the inhabitants of this planet, she is also a legend. Knowing she died in action, a month after saving the Council's ass, was a big blow to the people here. What, you want to tell me that she's not dead and that it's all Udina's plan?"
Anderson sighed, before eyeing the bottle of gin "Unfortunately no, I'd even accept that man's unhealthy ideas if it meant having Shepard back with us." he then reached out and took the bottle, pouring himself another glass.
"Then we are back to my first question."
"I need your help, Ark." said Anderson, with a serious tone of voice "After Shepard's disappearance, things at the Citadel have worsened and, while humanity has benefited from it, on the other hand, it has suffered a lot and I fear that the worst is yet to come. Despite having dealt with a real Reaper, the Council does not want to take risks and increase the defense of the various systems, especially those close to the Terminus Systems."
"So what, you want to replace a K.I.A. with an M.I.A.? Not gonna work, I don't have Shepard's natural charm."
"You are M.I.A. just because you asked for it, remember that."
Ark took another swing of beer "Be that as it may, an N6 dropout would do no good to the Alliance's reputation, especially if Udina were to find out. I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate for a moment to gossip about me and again throw mud on my name and my…heritage."
Anderson shook his head "I have the final say, and I'm sure I could just call Admiral Hackett right now to get you back on duty, effective immediately. You were a fine soldier and I'm sure he remembers it well." he drank a third glass of gin before shaking his head and pushing the bottle away, after which he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of dog tags, placing them on the counter. Placing the now empty glass bottle next to the others, Ark turned his gaze towards the tags, and for the first time Anderson was able to see his face, whose pale complexion highlighted the brilliant vermilion eyes; however, the most important detail, that many might have missed were the small, almost invisible scales that lined his scalp.
"I'll leave these here, they are yours after all." said Anderson while getting up from the stool "I don't want you to just be on the front lines, the Alliance has a project on its hands that has finally reached its final stages, and I would like you to be a part of it. If you are interested, you know where to find me."
Without adding anything else, the Councilor left the pub together with the soldiers and after a few seconds, the bartender and the other customers returned; many of them cast curious glances at Ark but he didn't notice and kept his gaze fixed on the dog tags. He stood in that position for five minutes before reaching over and grabbing the bits of metal, stuffing them roughly into his pocket, before pulling out his credit chit and handing it to the bartender, who nonetheless raised his hands and shook his head "Councilor Anderson has already paid for your beers as well, he mentioned this in a message to me when he paid for his gin."
Ark frowned at him but said nothing and stood up, leaving the pub shortly after. The albino stood on the sidewalk for a while, pulling out his dog tags, then raised a hand and hailed an oncoming cab.
Unceremoniously, he got in the back and when the cab driver asked him where he wanted to go, he simply said "To the spaceport."
[ 2184 CE – The Citadel / Widow System / Serpent Nebula ]
Anderson was busy filling out some paperwork when his intercom went off "Councilor Anderson, there is a man here who wishes to see you. He says he owes you a few beers. Should I call security to have him escorted away from embassies?"
A small amused smile crept across Anderson's face before he pressed a button on the intercom "No, send him in."
Less than a minute later, his office door opened with a soft hiss and Ark entered, momentarily looking around before walking over to Anderson's desk; the Councilor, on the other hand, observed the young man who was only in his thirties, noting with satisfaction how the years of inactivity had not deteriorated his muscular body, given that the sweatshirt he wore was rather snug on his arms and chest. Ark paid no attention to his gaze and sat down without even asking on one of the two chairs placed across the desk.
"I take it I've piqued your curiosity?" asked Anderson with a grin.
Ark rolled his eyes "Just talk. What is this project and why on earth would it need someone like me when you have several N7 soldiers out there ready to do anything for the Alliance."
"Because I know what kind of person you are. You are a good soldier but I also know that you have no problem getting your hands dirty or acting against your orders." Anderson raised a hand when Ark tried to speak "What happened in your last mission has nothing to do with it and you know it. The point is that with Shepard gone, the Council has reduced its support for the Alliance. Of course, they are still our allies, but if before there was room for improvement, now they are back to thinking for themselves while our systems are constantly threatened by pirates, slavers, and more."
"All you need is a bigger fleet. Agreeing to the Treaty of Farixen was a mistake and now you pay the price." replied Ark, crossing his arms "Or you could just give up on those in the Terminus Systems."
"You know as well as I do that we can't do this." Anderson shook his head "Going back to the project I told you about, the Alliance wants to try and emulate the Specter system used by the Council."
"You're not talking about the corsairs, are you?" an eyebrow raised, highlighting Ark's distrust of that project "Too much bureaucracy and zero results if I remember correctly."
A long sigh escaped Anderson's lips "Can't argue with that, there are currently maybe ten or fewer corsairs crews still active but they will most likely be reinstated into the standard navy." he then looked back at Ark "No, what we had in mind was a fully autonomous unit, completely unbound by the laws of the Alliance, no ranks, no uniform. Complete independence in exchange for completing some missions or solving some thorny situations."
Ark scoffed at his words "Excellent proposal for bloodthirsty people, but you forget that the Specters have the support of the Council: access to all systems, independence from local laws, freedom of action…" he then gestured to a building being repaired on another arm of the Citadel, perfectly visible from Anderson's office "And we've all seen how that played out when a Specter decided to go rogue."
Anderson grimaced at the memory of Saren and all the harm he'd caused "I know, but the Prime Minister has decided to take a risk anyway given the danger we are in. Unlike many, he thinks what happened on the Citadel was just the beginning of something much worse."
"And how could such a team solve the situation? You'd have better luck with a second human Spectre."
"Believe it or not, Udina has already proposed this on a couple of occasions." said Anderson, smirking upon seeing the younger man's wrinkled face; the fact that he had had the same idea as that man did not suit him well "But back to us, such a team could more easily find information about possible threats and neutralize them in complete autonomy, while still receiving compensation, materials, supplies and more from the Alliance."
Ark was silent for a few seconds, pondering the idea of such a team "And why did you think of me? I don't think it's just because I'm a good soldier."
"I won't lie to you, this team may face missions few would dare to take on, and they may even be considered as mercenaries or cutthroats by others. There aren't many marines willing to do that; defend the Alliance yes, but by drawing a line beyond which they would never go." Anderson looked him straight in the eye, as firmly and seriously as he could muster "Even missions from which you may never return, in which you will literally have to go through hell. You're a good soldier, and I know you wouldn't stop at that line if it meant you could protect the Alliance or finish the mission."
"You sure know how to convince people, it is no coincidence that you are a Councilor. Nothing like telling someone they could face certain death." replied Ark with sarcasm dripping like blood from his words.
Anderson grinned at him "I'm more of a motivational speech person, preferably before a mission."
"Just tell me where to go."
The Councilor looked at him with surprise "Are you willing to accept?"
"I won't be rejoining the Alliance, just helping the project, nothing more." said Ark while waving his hand "A mission here and there might even come in handy. Who will be the commander?"
"As I told you, there are no ranks or uniforms, so there is no real commander, but you will manage the team, as well as be my direct contact for some missions." Anderson opened a drawer in his desk and took out a datapad which he handed to Ark "This is your current crew roster, but be aware that there will be many mechs, especially modified LOKI mechs, as part of your crew."
Ark didn't seem to agree with the idea of leading that team but he took the datapad anyway and started reading a few lines, stopping almost immediately after reading the project name: Helldivers.
"Anderson."
"Yes?"
"There is only one person on this list, the pilot."
"Yes."
Ark pinched the bridge of his nose "You don't expect me to do it all myself, so tell me...where's the rest of the team?"
"There's no team yet." said Anderson with a little shrug "I also mentioned when I spoke to the Prime Minister that it would be difficult for you to integrate with a team of our choice, and it would also be difficult to maintain a team entirely made up of mercenaries. Your first assignment, if you want to call it that, is to find someone to go with you. You have carte blanche as long as your choices do not jeopardize the Alliance or the Citadel. You will also have a large amount of credits to use for what you deem necessary."
Shaking his head, Ark passed the small amount of information from the datapad to his omni-tool, including where he had to go to board his new ship, while Anderson transferred various permissions, credits, and more in turn, whereupon they both rose to their feet "I already know that I will regret it."
"Ark." Anderson took a deep breath "Thank you. After everything that's happened, I'm glad you're still willing to help us. What was written during the court martial is just a bunch of bullshit as far as I'm concerned."
What he got in response was just a shrug before Ark made his way to the door "No more snooty officers or wake-up calls at inhuman times; I still consider it a win. I'll let you know when I leave." he was near the door when it opened by itself and a dark-skinned man entered the room, visibly annoyed.
"Anderson, what is this story that you went alone-!" he stopped in front of Ark, looking at him with shock and surprise in his eyes, but after a few moments, those emotions turned into anger and contempt "You...what are you doing here?!"
Ark glared at the man in front of him "None of your business, advisor Udina."
"You shouldn't be here! I should call all the C-Sec agents and have you thrown in jail until the end of your days!" shouted Udina, getting closer to Ark, only to take a step back when the other man's pupils momentarily became reptilian-like.
"That would be your last mistake, I can assure you that." growled Ark, clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles cracked.
"Enough!" Anderson walked quickly towards them "He's only here to recover some personal items, Udina. You have no right to have him arrested."
"Have you gone insane, Councilor?" Udina looked at Anderson with shocked eyes "This thing nearly killed two naval officers!"
"That matter has already been filed, Udina." replied Anderson, staring him down. Udina scowled at Ark before stepping aside with a frown on his face. The young man didn't wait even a second before leaving, causing Anderson to sigh.
'I can only hope I haven't sent another good soldier to certain death…' he returned to his desk, ignoring Udina's questions 'God only knows what he's going to face out there…'
Keeping his head bowed, Ark walked away from the embassies, trying to keep his angry face hidden from view of the others, though he still had to look up to stare at the asari secretary who, slightly intimidated by his glare, wasted no time in returning his M-5 Phalanx to him, as he could not enter the Councilor's office carrying weapons.
Securing his weapon on his left flank, Ark then walked away from that area of the Citadel. When he was far enough away, he leaned back against a rail and looked at the giant statue of a krogan before him, then activated his omni-tool and looked for a starship bound for Earth.
'Of course, this mysterious ship had to be on Earth.' thought Ark with a frown on his face 'The first ship to the Sol System is leaving in two hours. Might as well go get something to eat before leaving. If I'm not mistaken, there was a ramen restaurant around here.'
After asking a hanar for information (always easy to ask those aliens in particular), Ark reached the levels dedicated to shops and restaurants, but while he was looking for that particular stand, some voices reached his ears.
"Did you want to rob me? I saw how you eyed my omni-tool!"
"Well the fact that you saw seems almost obvious to me since you have four eyes, however, I wasn't looking at your omni-tool, but at your shotgun. Interesting model."
"Are you mocking me, you shitty suit rat?!"
Looking in that direction, Ark saw a batarian face to face with a quarian. While the four-eyed alien was visibly pissed, the hooded alien was trying to calm him down but it was clear that there was no way to do it, not with good manners at least. The quarian seemed to agree, and when the batarian tried to grab him by the throat, a soft blue glow enveloped the hands of the masked alien who unleashed a controlled kinetic blast against the batarian's leg, and he immediately lost his balance, tipping forward. The quarian stepped aside at the last second and the four-eyed alien slammed his face against the metal wall.
Ignoring the batarian's curses in his native tongue, the quarian turned to Ark, having noticed him watching them. Shrugging, he pointed at the alien on the ground "He tripped."
"Of course." Ark replied with a smirk on his face, he liked that quarian already "He must be drunk." as the quarian approached him, he whispered, "A quarian with biotic capabilities, very rare."
The quarian turned to look at him, and Ark could see his eyes narrow behind his gray visor "What next? Will you tell me that I'm physically weak and that my race is good at fixing stuff? You know, to point out the obvious."
"Perhaps." Ark looked down and noticed that the quarian's armor parts had several scratches and dents, while the pitch-black fabric that made up his suit was patched in some places. What interested him, however, were the two weapons the alien carried with him, a heavy pistol M-3 Predator, and a shotgun M-27 Scimitar.
"A biotic, and a mercenary as well." Ark locked his gaze with the quarian's "Something tells me you're not on a pilgrimage."
"And something tells me that you're not your usual racist human, although I can't say for sure. I don't have four eyes like our friend." he said, nodding toward the batarian, who was slowly getting up.
Saying nothing, the quarian crossed his arms and cocked his head, wondering what he was going to do. It was obvious that the batarian wanted to try to attack him again, but then he saw a couple of C-Sec agents nearby, and he had to give up the idea.
"This isn't over!" and glaring at both the quarian and Ark, he left.
"Batarian...all eyes and not bite." chuckled the quarian before looking back at Ark "I didn't catch your name, human."
"Just call me Ark."
"Easy enough to remember, way better than some human names. On the other hand, you can call me Kan."
Ark arched an eyebrow "No clan name? No vas or nar something?"
"Three letters for three letters, seems like a fair exchange to me." replied Kan and the human was sure that the masked alien was grinning under his visor. Though he was slightly shorter and less muscular than Ark, he didn't seem intimidated by the slight glare that was directed at him.
Deciding to change the subject, Ark leaned against the wall "Are you under contract?"
Kan shook his head "I just collected a bounty on a red sand dealer. Why, are you so desperate that you need even a weak quarian for a job?"
The hooded human snorted "I couldn't care less about your race. Well-maintained weapons, biotics, and armor that has seen better days, you certainly know your stuff. I'm putting together a team, and I need people who can fight."
"And I bet when you saw me you thought, 'Hey a quarian, maybe I've found my tech/slave/engineer!', right?"
"No, I thought that maybe I need a fish tank and your visor would look great with your skull as background after removing what little gray matter is inside." replied Ark, now with a scowl on his face.
"AH! Better than the answers I usually hear, but how about I implode your skull and see if there's gray matter in it?" chuckled Kan, coming face to face with Ark and staring him straight in the eye for several seconds. Finally, as neither of them seemed willing to look away, Kan took a step back and when he spoke again, Ark could hear the grin in his voice "I might as well listen to your offer for that, since you don't look so bad as a human. I have to warn you though, depending on the assignment it could cost you quite a few credits."
"How many credits to take the job and know the details later?"
Kan raised both eyebrows, it wasn't the first time someone had offered him such a contract but it was still rare to hear those words "Five hundred thousand credits and I don't intend to lower-"
"Deal."
"...what?"
"It's a deal." nodded Ark, not at all bothered by the price "Half now and half at the end of the contract, is that okay?"
Kan blinked twice "Wait are you for real?"
"Yes." Ark activated his omni-tool and transferred two hundred and fifty thousand credits to Kan's omni-tool, making his eyes widen beyond belief "Now follow me, we need to reach Earth to get a ship."
"Wait wait wait! What the hell are we supposed to do?" while not immediately receiving an answer, Kan followed Ark as the latter moved towards the restaurant section "Do we have to kill someone?"
"Possibly."
"How many?"
Ark shrugged after a moment "Hell if I know. Consider yourself lucky if you don't have to constantly maintain your guns."
"So what are we, a death squad?"
"Sounds about right, but we won't always do that. Once we get to Earth I will explain everything to you."
"So I have to take a few hours' trip with a 'Mr. Sympathy' like you?"
Ark glared back at him "I'm almost tempted to take my credits back and not hire you."
"And I'm almost tempted to give them back!"
[ 2184 CE – Earth / Sol System / Local Cluster ]
"Your homeworld is too cold for my liking." said Kan while extending the arms above his head to stretch. All around him, he saw humans, many of whom were watching him with curious or surprised eyes, with the occasional asari in between "I thought your world was more 'mixed' after all this time, but it doesn't seem like there are many aliens."
"To access the Earth you need some special permits. Mercenaries and merchants cannot land and must carry out their business on orbital stations." said Ark while typing something on a terminal used to rent cars; after a few seconds, a flying car identical to those used on the Citadel came out of the nearby garage and the two climbed aboard before taking off.
"And you have those permissions? Because I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let a quarian come here without first putting him under quarantine, third-degree, and maybe a few days in jail."
"Speaking from experience?"
"Turians know how to make themselves hated when they want."
Ark did not comment on it and steered the aircar towards the military base in the distance, located close to the sea and surrounded by high walls of reinforced concrete, barbed wire, lasers, and automatic turrets. Descending to an optimal altitude, he then lined up with the road that would take him to the entrance to the Alliance military base, then came to a complete stop near the gate as four turrets aimed at the aircar along with six soldiers stationed outside. Leaving the car, he approached the soldiers with his hands raised "I'm here on behalf of Councilor Anderson. I have the necessary permissions for authentication on my omni-tool, both for me and for the quarian."
Three soldiers stepped forward, while the others kept their rifles aimed at the aircar. One of the three who had approached activated his omni-tool together with Ark and after a few interminable minutes he seemed satisfied "The permits are authentic and we have already received orders to let you through. However, the rental aircar must remain outside, it will be delivered to the garage where you rented it."
Ark nodded and motioned for Kan to come to him. When the quarian was at his side, they were escorted to the entrance and placed in a completely sealed van. One of the soldiers waved them inside "Sorry but you will be escorted directly to hangar G-4, as you are not a member of the Alliance you cannot see the rest of the base."
"Sure, because we absolutely couldn't look at it from above from a safe distance." noted Kan with a grin on his face, before being pushed inside by two soldiers. Ark simply sighed before walking in alone and letting them close the doors behind him.
"You humans can't take a joke."
"And you don't know when to shut up."
"If you were more prone to talk, maybe I shouldn't be the only one talking. You know, that's normally how conversations work."
"Don't you have any mods to make to your weapons or omni-tool?"
"And here we are again with the prejudices about quarians."
Rolling his eyes, Ark chose not to answer and remained silent for the rest of the short journey, until the van stopped and the back doors opened in front of a sealed iron door. Stepping out of the van, Ark tapped the access panel and when prompted for access codes, he had to enter them from his omni-tool to get the door to open. Once the two had entered, the door closed behind them automatically but neither the human nor the quarian paid any attention, too busy observing the huge ship that occupied most of the hangar.
Completely black with some gray stripes and details along the side, the main body immediately brought to mind the famous Normandy SR-1 but there was no aileron at the end while the four thrusters were arranged in an X pattern, and from the two lower ones extended two 'legs' used for landing together with a third-placed in the center of the body, in the lower part; finally the two arms/wings were arranged parallel to the side walls of the ship, and Ark could glimpse the end of a large barrel, belonging to some type of cannon, hidden between one arm and the ship.
"You are late."
Both shifted their attention to the one who had just spoken and saw a girl in her twenties, with long black hair tied in a braid, sitting on some crates while she was reading a datapad. She was wearing what could pass for an Alliance military uniform but without any insignia, badly worn, and with several oil stains on her legs.
Ark took a few steps towards her "I assume you are Cassandra 'Cassy' Thompson, our pilot."
Her green eyes, one of which was blatantly prosthetic, didn't leave him and she didn't say anything, continuing to chew on a chewing gum until a bubble burst on her lips; she finally looked away "Yeah, that's me, and now that you're here we can finally get out of this shitty place. The mechs finished resupplying my little girl a few hours ago."
Kan tilted his head to the side "Your…little girl?"
"I tested her yesterday and I can say that she has no faults for a ship completely assembled by machinery, with little human intervention. You may have noticed the resemblance to the legendary Normandy, well there are a few little things installed on this little gem that weren't installed on that starship." said Cassandra, ignoring his question "She's a frigate and you don't have to worry about someone attributing her design to the Alliance, the schematics of the Normandy have been leaked from various sources it seems."
"Assembled by machinery huh? I see secrecy was the watchword." noted Ark, looking back at his new ship "What's her name?"
She popped another bubble of chewing gum "She doesn't need a name as far as I'm concerned. The Nameless will do just fine."
"...isn't that a name?"
She didn't glare at him but stared at him with such intensity that he couldn't help but look away.
"And after 'Mr. Sympathy' I get 'Mrs. Sympathy' too. Oh, the joy…"
Cassandra looked at Ark with emotionless eyes "Just so you know, I won't let him make any modifications or repairs to my little girl's engine."
"Splendid! More prejudices about quarians!"
"I don't like him."
Ark pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand 'I think I will regret this assignment sooner than expected…'
"So, ready to tell us why you need to assemble a team? And I want to point out that you haven't done a very good job so far, as it's just the three of us and a lot of mechs." asked Kan, while looking at the galaxy map in the CIC. From what he understood, the interior of the Nameless was very similar to that of the Normandy, but with fewer stations since some mechs were permanently connected to the ship's systems to supervise tasks that would have required twice as many humans. Cassandra was sitting on a console (thankfully turned off) and playing a game called Space Invaders on her datapad; apparently, she was a vintage lover.
"Simply put, we are a mix of Council Specters and Alliance corsairs. We have freedom of autonomy and action, no bureaucracy, a good flow of supplies and funds, and in return, we have to carry out the occasional mission for the Alliance."
Kan stared at him in silence for several seconds "Maybe I asked for too little compensation considering that I could die doing something for you humans. By the way why did you hire me, a quarian, if it's an Alliance project?"
Ark shrugged "I couldn't care less that it's an Alliance project. If I believe that an alien could be a good element for the team, nothing prevents me from hiring someone who is not human."
The quarian hummed for a few seconds before moving his gaze to the pilot "Hey Cassy, how much do they pay you to fly such a ship while looking for life-threatening missions and extreme situations?"
"They don't pay me. By piloting this ship they deduct years of my sentence that I should have served in prison for aircar races, theft of starships, and some fatal accident I caused a few years ago."
The quarian looked at Ark "Since we put our lives in the hands of such a…decorated pilot, does that mean you and I are the current field team?"
"Yes."
"We could be called Arkan, sounds good doesn't it?"
"Cassandra, take us away from this base…"
"Aye aye captain." without taking her eyes off the datapad, Cassandra made her way to the cockpit.
"You know…" Ark looked back at Kan, who was half-glaring at him "I hope you'll recruit someone vaguely sociable. At least I can talk to someone!"
Shaking his head, Ark made his way to the cockpit with the Quarian just in time to see Cassandra activate the ship's engines. The starship shuddered as it lifted off the ground as the landing gear retracted into the main body. The two watched in silence as she made several checks before being able to completely take off the ship, when Kan noticed a cable that, from the chair, connected to the base of the girl's neck, under the braid "What's that cable?"
"An electronic link between the ship and me, integrated into my artificial eye. With this I can look outside through external cameras as well as have a virtual HUD for systems down and stuff like that." explained Cassandra, before activating a particular mechanism "Primary systems active, engine flux stable, deploying Camouflage System."
Kan blinked at that "Camouflage System?"
Without giving him an actual answer, Cassandra pointed to a screen to the side and the two watched from the outside as the ship became completely invisible as the gigantic hangar door opened before them.
"We are slower, no FTL, no weapons, but we are one hundred percent invisible. Only heat sensors calibrated to the micrograde could detect us. This system can also handle the entry and exit from the atmosphere, and thanks to the special ailerons of the thrusters, even any light produced by them is hidden from view unless someone is directly behind us and making direct eye contact." strange as it might seem, Cassandra sounded proud of what the Nameless was capable of. The new starship went outside without anyone being able to see it, hearing it only for both the noise and the movement of the air, but no soldier could say they knew what it was like.
Kan whistled impressed "It must be said, you humans may have arrived recently but you know how to build a good ship." he then looked at Ark "And where do we go now, captain?"
Ark watched the stars grow sharper and clearer as the Nameless cleared Earth's atmosphere and returned to full visibility. He honestly had no idea what to do now that he had a ship for himself, even if having found Kan right away could be considered a stroke of luck. Closing his eyes to reflect, he opened them again after a few seconds "Head to the Charon Relay. Destination: Sahrabarik system."
Cassandra did not respond to her order but did as requested and within moments, the Nameless made an FTL jump, instantly vanishing from Earth's orbit.
"Sahrabarik system?" repeated Kan with a raised eyebrow "But in that system there is…"
"One of the best places to look for people ready to do anything to earn some credits: Omega."
And right from Omega, their incredible journey would begin.
TO BE CONTINUED…
I'm really, really, really sorry about this…I recently finished (for the second time) Mass Effect Legendary Edition and I'm already on my third run, so this idea started buzzing around in my head until I wrote it and decided to publish it, and for that I'm really sorry as I have other stories to continue.
Now, onto the story: I want to start off by saying that this won't be a crossover story with the Helldivers video game (which I loved) but it's simply the name of the team in this story. The plot will cover several events narrated in the Mass Effect timeline but left aside during the three games, but of course there will also be encounters with our beloved Shepard and all the others!
If you're interested in submitting an OC for this story, you'll find below some rules for the OC and some info from this story (similar to what you'd find at the beginning of ME2 and ME3, a summary of Shepard's actions); you can also read them on my bio. If after reading them you are still interested, tell me via review or PM and I will send you the OC form to fill out; moreover, while the main OCs will be those who will take the field (such as Garrus, Jack, Grunt, etc ...) there is also the possibility of sending support characters who will remain on board the Nameless (such as Joker, Kelly, etc...), obviously specify it when you want the OC form.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story! Have a good day / evening!
RULES:
1) Delete the contents in brackets;
2) No OP characters. I won't accept OCs who are good at everything, immune to the Reaper indoctrination, who know the true identity of the Shadow Broker, have already found a cure for genophage, etc…;
3) Your OC can NOT be a relative of canon characters. They may have met various canon characters and all, but they can't be related to them;
4) You can ask for the love story with canon characters, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it can be implemented;
5) I am not inside your head so I don't know how you want your OC to be portrayed. If it's good or not good how I describe or use him/her, please let me know;
6.a) When you send me your OCs, PM them to me on with the subject "Mass Effect + character-name";
6.b) Don't send me several new messages with new subjects for each part of the character, keep it all within a single series of messages, so I can find everything easily;
7) I will enlist about ten OCs (number yet to be defined) but unlike my other two syoc fics, I will set a deadline to send the OC and only then will I decide which OCs to accept;
8) The deadline to send the OC is September 30th;
9) You can also send two or more OCs if you want, but it is difficult for all to be accepted;
10) Your OC could die. The moment you send it to me and it is accepted, I will have free will as to what to do with them. If you do not accept this point, do not send the OC as I will not compromise on this point;
11) If you have questions about anything, feel free to ask me via or Discord (you can also find the link to my server on my bio);
INFO:
1) The story will take place in the context of Mass Effect 2 and 3 (no Andromeda);
2) Weapons have already been modified to use thermal clips;
3) Shepard info: Jane Shepard / Spacer / War Hero / Soldier;
4) Wrex survived Virmire;
5) Kaidan Alenko died on Virmire;
6) The Council was saved during the attack on the Citadel;
7) David Anderson has been appointed as Councilor;
8) The Rachni Queen was spared on Noveria;
9) All the colonists of Zhu's Hope on Feros survived;
OC LIST:
Ark (by: SoImAWriterSoWhat)
Cassandra 'Cassy' Thompson (by: SoImAWriterSoWhat)
Kan (by: TheDapperCat)