Chapter 4 – Citadel Shenanigans
#SYSTEM CHECK:
ELECTRIC SMOKE CHARGES . . .
/ARMED, READY
DASH BOOSTERS . . .
/ARMED, READY
VORTEX SHIELD . . .
/READY
FLAME SHIELD . . .
/READY
/ARMAMENTS . . .
XO16A2 CHAINGUN . . .
/ARMED, READY
/SECONDARY WEAPON SYSTEMS . . .
ACOLYTE PODS . . .
/ARMED, READY
LASER SHOT MODULE . . .
/ARMED, READY
ENERGY SIPHON MODULE . . .
/ARMED, READY
/SECONDARY ARMAMENTS: READY
REENTRY SHIELDING . . .
/ONLINE
#SYSTEM CHECK . . . COMPLETE.
/CONCLUSION: UNIT READY FOR COMBAT
#PILOT IN JEOPARDY:
/COMMENCE PROTOCOL 3 . . .
#STANBY FOR TITANFALL
Motors in his legs whined, unheard in the vacuum of space, as he dashed off the ramp of the Normandy's hold. Gravity took hold of his chassis, pulling it down towards the planet surface.
Entering atmosphere, the downward shields kicked in, stopping the raging fireball of reentry just a meter short of the titanium alloy legs of the Vanguard.
His audio sensors finally registered the roar that the burning air caused. Aiming his visual sensors down, he noticed the cloud cover rapidly approaching.
Breaking through the clouds, an immediate scan of the battlefield identified his Pilot's and the Commander's position. He hit the ground with a loud thud, reading the chaingun.
Following protocol, the Electric Smoke charges on his hull blew one after another, covering 20 meters of space around him in smoke crackling with Arc Energy.
A single ping went through the neural link to his Pilot.
Ready for combat.
He saw Cray plummet through the clouds above them and impact the arid soil of Therum.
Vaulting the rock he was taking cover behind, he sprinted across the battlefield to the Titan. It had already began pelting one of the Armatures with short bursts of the 20mm chaingun, which allowed him to slingshot himself with the grapple in Cray's direction without coming under heavy fire.
Nonetheless, the Geth Troopers, and now Primes and Juggernauts, were taking potshots at him as he streaked by.
Landing, he kept the momentum, sliding and kicking off another rock, to land in Cray's extended hand, and slip into the cockpit. Ports in his armor's back opened, and he was connected to his Titan with both the neural link and his UNSC neural lace.
He moved the mech's joints, as he had done hundreds of times by now. System checks returned green, and he dashed through the now dispersing plumes of white smoke, trampling any Geth infantry platforms under Cray's metal chassis. The XO16 now spewed a stream of lead, drilling into the shields enveloping the closest Armature. The Geth turned to them with a shrill, charging its plasma cannon.
It wasn't allowed to fire, however, when the Energy Siphon fired its blue beam, and the Armature lost most of its power, which collapsed its shields.
Now, the Arc-charged 20mm rounds slammed into the white armor plates of the machine's 'neck' and main body, pieces falling off under the barrage. Finally, one struck home, shrapnel shredding the Geth's insides, leaving it a wreck.
The other heavy platform wasn't idle, however, firing its plasma cannon Cray's back, draining most of the Titan's shield. Seven wouldn't give it the chance to do so again, however. Dashing closer to the quadruped machine, he used the bulky chaingun as a club, smacking it into the Armature's 'head' with enough force to topple the Geth.
Screeching, it tried to get up again, but was not allowed to, when Cray's fist struck the platform, smashing through its armor and insides, and crushing the power core, leaving another lifeless heap of metal on the rocky landscape.
For now, the area was clear, and he steered his Titan to rendezvous with the rest of the team. As he approached, they stepped out of their cover one by one, Shepard being the first to walk up to the Titan.
"Hey, Seven, you there? We've called Joker for pickup, he'll be here in 2 minutes."
Opening the hatch, he answered with a nod. "Affirmative, Commander."
"Hey, does anybody else hear an engine or something?" Garrus asked, clicking his mandibles.
"Nope, I do too. There is a Geth Dropship inbound to our location. ETA is 30 seconds."Just as Avei spoke those words, Cray's cockpit was already sealed, and the Titan moved to cover the team.
The Dropship was hardened target, requiring concentrated firepower, or overwhelming force. Algorithms mulled over the possibilities for a good second, before reaching consensus.
The Acolyte Pods extended, and the Core deep inside the Titan spooled up, the low hum revibrating inside the Vanguard's cockpit.
Then, engines roaring, the Geth Dropship flew over the crest of a rocky hill, another two Armatures ready for drop under the craft's fuselage.
The team would not last under that kind of firepower by themselves, and while the OS estimated defeat to be unlikely, he didn't wish to fight again.
So, with a thought, he commanded Cray to open fire. The Titan complied, and its booming voice was heard for but a second before being drowned by the shriek of missiles.
"Salvo Core online."
The two box-like launchers erupted with flame as dozens of rockets were launched up into the air, streaking through the dust-filled atmosphere. Smashing into the Dropship's shields, their contact fuses detonated, obscuring the Geth craft behind fireballs and dark smoke.
The salvo lasted 10 seconds, with Cray using the equivalent of three standard Core charges, which tripled the amount of munitions the replicators of the Acolyte Pods could make. In the last second of the barrage, the ship's fuselage cracked in a mighty blast, crumpling down to the ground.
Folding the Acolyte Pods and holstering the XO16 on Cray's back, Seven managed to turn the Titan around to face Shepard.
Using so much Core charge took its toll, both on his Titan's energy reserves, and on himself. Add to that the fact that he hadn't taken in nutrients, and had not replenished his own energy reserves, and Seven nearly fell on his face when stepping/falling out of the Vanguard's chassis when the Titan fell to its knees.
He tried speaking, but the small reactor of the MJOLNIR was barely running, and the team radio was flicking on and off as he tried to speak, even the modulator that supplemented his burned out vocal cords was giving out without power from his body's own power supply.
"Com- n-er." He stuttered, on his knees, barely keeping himself from hitting the ground.
"Seven, what's wrong? You hit?" the redhead came over, stowing back her rifle, and grabbed the super-soldier by his shoulders.
"N- eg- ive." He managed to blurt out, the modulator still staticky with the MJOLNIR reactor out, and his inner power unit strained beyond its limits.
Avei, her crystal chip stuck in his forearm, spoke as loud as the miniscule device allowed her, her voice muffled by the bodysuit and armor plate.
"Using this much Core charge almost depleted Cray's reactor and batteries. Him, meanwhile, is barely conscious, and will stop being so if doesn't seek energy or nutrient intake. And no, he's not wounded. Somehow."
Now that her worry was slightly assuaged, Shepard straightened, barking orders for the team to make a perimeter around the wheezing Spartan and kneeling Titan.
Just then, Joker's voice came through the now clear comms, thanks to most Geth jamming the signal being piles of scrap.
"Commander, good to see you're all alive. Jeez, what kind of party was this? Why wasn't I invited?"
T'Soni was, to be frank, not thrilled with the Normandy's helmsman's dry joke.
"We were nearly killed, and the pilot is joking?" she questioned, grimacing all the while.
Jane shrugged, looking on as the stealth frigate circled around and opened its cargo bay door.
The ship's small marine complement's guns were sticking out on the sides of the hold's entrance, seeking anything foolish enough to attack their commander, and make Swiss cheese of it before they could.
Just then, a deep rumble shook the earth, and gouts of lava began spewing from cracks in the rocky hillside.
"Shepard, the volcano! It's erupting!" Liara shouted, as she tried, and, ultimately failed, to keep her balance.
The commander dragged the Asari after her, pushing the blue-skinned woman toward the ship, as everyone clambered on the ramp of the Normandy's hold, which was a good meter off the ground, some with more grace and ease than others.
Now, the only ones still on the ground were her and Seven with his mech. The Spartan got off the ground and Shepard, with some difficulty, began to help him to the ship. His Titan followed suit, its footfall much heavier and slower than before. It too swayed side to side as it walked, though not as much as its pilot.
Finally, everyone was onboard, and he N7 peeled her eyes from the armored figures of her stumbling into the Normandy, and looked back at the reddish-brown rock of Therum, now crisscrossed with bright orange lines of molten rock.
She very much hoped she wouldn't have to be here ever again.
Shortly after boarding the Normandy, Seven was ordered by Shepard to go see Dr. Chakwas. He did not understand the purpose of such meeting, as he was not injured during the engagements planetside.
But orders were orders, and he would never be one to question them, whether of his own volition or not.
He stood for the long ride on the ship's elevator, standing still as a statue. Though he could not tell, his senses omitted by implants and subroutines inside them, he was only standing thanks to the rigidness of his armor. What was left of his original body was quite literally running on fumes, adrenaline, and Stim, administered by his armor and modules located in his abdomen.
On his face, which he of course couldn't see, were first signs of malnutrition and obvious effects of fatigue.
He did notice the sluggishness of his movement, but could do nothing about it, as his decision making was impaired by the numerous implants and cybernetics engraved onto and into his body.
And those would not tell him to seek energy intake, due to a glitch in one of the subroutines responsible for monitoring the power levels in his body, caused by the interaction with the beacon.
The charge attempt was planned by the OS before the Prothean construct tampered with his already fragile mind, and the energy sourced back then did not last for long.
It was in this sorry state that Seven stumbled his way form the now open elevator and to the door the Chakwas' little kingdom aboard the frigate.
The door opened with a hiss, and the Normandy's chief medical officer was gifted the sight of the 2,2 meter, titanium covered super-soldier leaning on the doorframe, the lights on his helmet flickering on and off without the armor's power, the suit's plates singed, scratched and chipped from enemy fire, covered in Therum's dust and dirt.
"What brings you here, my dear?" the aging doctor asked calmly, getting up from her desk.
Seven tried speaking, but all that escaped his mouth was garbled and fragmented, only serving to confuse the Normandy's medical expert.
The two guards stationed outside the medbay's door gave her equally confused looks, just in the dark as her.
Then, a chime sounded from the terminal on her desk, a call from Shepard.
"Chakwas, I sent Seven up to see you. Check him over, he's been acting like drunk and wounded since the mission."
Turning back to the aforementioned man, she saw him stumble forward, and, barely standing upright, salute weakly.
"Alright, young man, no need to salute me. Now, how do we get you out of this armor?"
Sighing in joy after her shower, Jane walked out of her cabin, now in a black hoodie with red stripes on its sleeves and the N7 imprinted on its front, and went to the small area on the Normandy's middle deck dedicated to preparing meals.
After the mission, she had to, as most biotics, eat a hearty meal, to compensate for the immense energy requirement of using her abilities.
So, now she sat down at a table, using the chemical heaters inside of the simple container to warm her dinner. It was late in the ship's day cycle, most crew now in the mess, in sleeper pods, or in bunks stuffed in little rooms sprinkled throughout the frigate.
The ground team had now – mostly - went to sleep, and only she was at the table, chewing on some vegetable, not knowing or caring what it was.
She was brought back to reality when Tali quietly sat down opposite of her, a dextro nutrient paste tube in her hands.
A pang of guilt stroke Jane. They probably should've provided some normal dextro food for Garrus and Tali, now that she thought about it.
Another thing to take care of once they got back to the Citadel.
"Shepard." Tali began, looking up from her hands as she crumpled the now empty tube.
"There's… Something I found when we were down on Therum. When Seven fell out of the mech. I…" the Quarian paused, wringing her hands, before continuing.
"I have a VI set up on my Omnitool that passively seeks out open systems and connects to them. Makes it easier to sabotage and overload Geth shields and weapons. And when Seven fell out of this robot, the VI connected to… something. Take a look."
An orange holo-display lit up around the small woman's forearm, as she tilted it for Shepard to see.
There, a position under the name of 'A07'. There were a couple words next to it, 'Special Unit Alpha-07'. The conclusion was obvious.
"So, you're somehow connected your Omni to Seven?"
Nodding tiredly, Tali confirmed. "It's odd, but I think it might be his armor, or the AI that is with him. I'll try some things, but that is, by all accounts, the most logical option. Because how could an Omnitool connect to a human?"
The last sentence caused Jane's hearts to skip a beat and her face to go stone cold. Omnitools could not connect with normal humans, true. But there were things that could. Like control implants. Used by slavers.
The word, even unspoken left a bad taste in her mouth. Most slavers were Batarians, and she still held a grudge for the entire species.
'Cultural heritage' my ass, she thought, damn Batarians bastards should've been put in their place long ago.
"Shepard?" the quiet question knocked her from her dark thoughts, as the Quarian prodded gently at the Commander's bare hand.
"Yes?"
"Nothing… You just froze for good 5 seconds… Is everything okay?" Tali questioning worriedly.
"Oh, I am perfectly fine, just a bit tired." Jane said, stretching and yawning. She got up, and went to throw her now empty tray to a recycling chute.
"You know what, though? Let's go and see how Seven is doing in the medbay. I ordered him to go see Chakwas after the mission. He said he wasn't wounded. Moved like he was drunk though." She continued speaking over her arm, as Tali followed the N7 to the medbay door.
They went in and were greeted by the sight of the behemoth of a man sitting on the floor in a corner of the room, covered by a blanket and sleeping peacefully. An IV hung overhead, its line going under the blanket's folds, and presumably into one of the man's veins.
The lights were dimmed, and Chakwas sat at her desk, engaged in a quiet conversation with Avei, while the AI's violet avatar, now no taller than 30 centimeters, paced around the woman's desk.
The doctor's head turned to the two women the moment they stepped foot in her domain, eyes narrowing as she pondered whether kicking them out would be worth the commotion it would cause.
It seemed that the conclusion was a negative, and both Shepard and Tali were allowed to approach the medical officer's desk.
Jane also noticed the characteristic grey-blue armor laying in parts off to the side, along with the skin-tight suit she remembered from the recording Chakwas showed her and Anderson before he was forced to hand the redhead command of the Normandy.
"So, what brings you here, Commander?" the older woman asked, her treading the line between whisper and normal speech.
"Just checking up on Seven." Jane replied. The N7 engaged in a hushed conversation with Chakwas, leaving Tali to look around the room once more. Her eyes lingered on the slouched form of the Spartan in the corner, as he lay there, motionless, only the steady rising and falling of the man's wide shoulders signaling he was alive.
Shepard cleared her throat to get back the Quarian's attention.
"Hey, Tali. You still with us?"
The lavender-suited woman nodded frantically.
"Good. Now, what were you saying, Chakwas?" Jane turned back to the grey-haired doctor.
"You remember when I took a blood sample from you, yes Tali?" getting a slow nod in lieu of a worded answer, Chakwas continued with a small smile on her lips.
"Now, don't you find anything odd in terms of your health lately?"
When the Quarian stood silent for some time, the aging woman's smile grew by a tiny bit, before she answered herself.
"You've been wounded on the Citadel, haven't you, dear? And the wound was left open for some time. And microbes have doubtless gotten into your system. And have you felt sick lately?"
Now the realization dawned on Tali. Yes, she had been shot in the leg. She could not patch the suit breach while running, and so the bullet hole was closed only when she was found by Seven.
For any Quarian, contact with the outside for this long would have been fatal.
And yet, here she was, alive and well.
Seeing the confusion of the young Quarian woman, Chakwas smiled again, and beckoned her to the desk.
"I think I may have an idea of what might be the cause of that."
A few key presses later, and recording showing many circles and dots, most whizzing about appeared on the desk's terminal.
Tali quickly recognized the image as a microscopic image of a Quarian's blood.
Surprisingly similar to a human's blood, she was told. She sadly noted the complete lack of immune cells. Tali had never seen new footage of one, only recordings from centuries prior allowing the Quarians to remember that part of their biology.
One detail caught her attention, however.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing to one of the multiple black-grey dots moving about the screen.
"Those are nanomachines, I believe." Chakwas answered, giving Tali a sidelong glance
"And they're the thing that has been keeping you alive. Look here." The doctor said, pointing to a bacteria being ripped apart by a group of them.
"And I think I know where you got them from." Another key press, and the image changed. Now Jane too was interested, looking over Chakwas' shoulder to get a better look.
It was still blood, but the blood cells were… different. She was about to question the displayed image, when Shepard spoke first.
"That's human blood. Though it's got those dots too. Nanomachines, you say?" Jane looked at the Normandy's medical specialist.
"It's Seven's blood sample. You should have seen her face when she broke two needles when trying to get it." Avei said, startling both the Commander and Tali, the two women almost jumping away from the desk.
"Keelah, why does it do this?"
"I am a she, thank you very much. Anyhow, that's a microscopic image of his blood." The AI continued, sticking back a thumb at the still asleep man.
"Chakwas took the blood sample, gave him some sedative and set him to sleep. His blood is absolutely chock-full of those nanites, and the stuff he gave on the Citadel to help with the wound had, along with some stimulants, some nanomachines to help with tissue regeneration."
"Why the IV though?" Shepard asked, having recovered from the AI's jumpscare.
"He does need to take in nutrients and/or energy form time to time in order to function. Using this energy, his body can synthesize anything it needs. But it needs that power from somewhere. Usually, the reactor in his armor or Cray can provide it, but on Therum the strain was so great that the whole system just collapsed. Add to that a glitch in one of the subroutines, making him unaware that he needed either power or food and water, and we've got him almost passing out from exhaustion and lack of food."
During the short lecture, Shepard's eyes went between the violet avatar, Chakwas, and the collapsed, blanketed form in the corner of the room. Tali was looking at the floor, wringing her hands, her glowing eyes unmoving.
"And this is where you come in." at the AI's words, Tali perked up to see the three others in the room (except for Seven, who was still fast asleep on the floor) staring at her.
"That connection your Omnitool found? That's him. Well, that blasted computer inside him. It's the thing that keeps him under wraps and makes him so machine-like. It has near total control over him. You know how he listens to everything you tell him to do?" Getting nods, Avei continued.
"Yeah, it's because of that damn computer. It's got you all classified as 'handlers' and forces him to listen to everything you tell him. And because of it he did things he shouldn't have done."
The AI paused for a moment, the first time Jane has seen it do so. That moment was over quickly, however, and Avei continued her explanation.
"You remember how he shot those two civilians in Chora's Den?" Shepard's face twisted in a scowl so bad even Aveis hologram backed off a bit.
"Yeah, that was because of one of the system's protocols. You see, it designates individuals as either hostiles, neutrals, allies and handlers. Hostiles are basically executed almost immediately, civilians are ignored or pacified, and allies are helped. Most of the time." At the last part, the violet avatar winced slightly.
Before the three standing over it could ask questions, she went on with her explanation.
"As I said, you're all designated as 'handlers'. It basically means 'commanding officer'. So, he will carry out any orders issued without complaint, if they do not breach any protocol. Not military protocol, mind you, but the one inside his head. There are three, from what I've managed to gather. I only know the third one: Protect handler. That's why he shot those two men back there. They were armed, and the system decided they were a threat, and designated them as targets to neutralize."
"Fine, but why would you need me?" Tali asked once the lecture was over "You're an AI, you're better at hacking than me, aren't you?"
"Yes, but the system locks me out of everything. And I can't access it from the outside, for obvious reasons. But now that you've managed to connect with that blasted computer, we might be able to turn off for good."
"Won't it realize what you're trying to do and just shut down or something?" Jane asked, uncertain. She was a marine and a biotic, for God's sake, she wasn't good with tech.
"If we tried now, or when he wakes up, then yes, it would most likely force a disconnect." The AI grinned, folding her purple arms over her chest.
"But if we impair its effectiveness somehow, then we'll be free to do what we please."
The grin only grew wider as Avei continued.
"I say we get him shit-faced drunk."
Spooling up, the power core in Seven's stomach thrummed, as it slowly began to pick apart atoms for energy. The slow drip-feeding of nutrients into his veins had given him enough for the system to start again.
Twitching, his metal limbs came to life once more, nanites coursing in his blood whizzing around with renewed purpose. He slowly came to, and blinked as his enhanced eyes readjusted for the low-light environment he now found himself in.
For but a moment, he could not remember where he had found himself. Just then, the memory banks came online.
It seemed that there was an issue with the internal sensor. Consensus: employ more thorough system checks and scans in the future.
Current objective: Find equipment.
His armor lay in parts, on the floor, ship-grade titanium alloy plates mixed with metal-ceramic low friction pads. The MJOLNIR's bodysuit was thrown next to it haphazardly.
Only now his hearing cleared, and he noticed that, despite the apparently late hour in the ship's day-night cycle, Shepard was conversing with Chakwas, their whispers barely above the ship's quiet thrum in FTL transit.
Blinking again to adjust his eyes' lenses and low-light networks. His irises glowed with a faint blue, only noticeable in this dimmed lighting.
Clink
His left hand braced against the cold, metal flooring as he rose fully. Plucking the IV's needle from his skin, he ever-so-silently moved to the Commander.
"Commander."
A curse not befitting a battle-hardened N7 filled the air as Shepard whipped around, her fist flying forward, hitting Seven's chest with a dull thud.
Jane recoiled, tenderly holding her now aching hand and wrist.
"Ouch." looking up, she noticed the blue glowing eyes boring into her own. Like small flashlights, they shut off when Seven blinked. The circuit-like lines she noticed on his face beforehand now shimmered lightly too, as if they were fluorescent paint.
"Orders, Commander?" the tall man said, tilting his head to the side.
"Oh, shut it. What are you even made of?" Jane snarled, as Chakwas took her hand with a small smile.
"Just so you know, your wrist is fine, Shepard."
"Yeah, thanks." Jane deadpanned. "And you-" she continued tiredly, pointing an accusing finger at Seven.
"Get some clothes on you, will ya?" she said flatly.
Nodding, he turned back to the pile of metal in a corner that was his armor, and began the arduous process of putting it on. He donned the MJOLNIR undersuit, letting it seal itself to his skin.
He began attaching the plates one by one, screwing the toghether with one of his combat knives he had phased in.
The system demanded that he put the MJOLNIR plates manually, allowing for proper calibration as they went online one by one.
After a couple of minutes, the entire armor suit was in place, sans the two metal shells making up the chest piece and his battered ODST helmet.
He stood still for a second, with both halves in hand, as the subroutines churned over the options available.
They arrived at consensus after a good minute, during which Seven stood in place, looking over the two titanium-A armor plates.
Turning back, he spoke, once again startling Shepard.
"Commander, I believe I require assistance."
"Say what?" Jane shouted, her head snapping right to see Seven with the armor's parts in hand.
"I cannot manually put on the remaining Mk. V MJOLNIR armor plates by myself, Commander. I will require assistance from another, and you are the closest suitable individual."
"Well then." the N7 grinned, walking up to the Spartan. "Fancy armor. Will us regulars get toys like that too?"
Seeing Seven tilt his head in the corner of her eye, Shepard dismissed his confusion with a wave. She was about to ask how exactly would they put on the clam-like breastplate, when the scar-covered man spoke.
"I believe manufacture of MJOLNIR suit for the ground team would be feasible, provided the possession of sufficient materiel and resources."
Jane's face lit up like a child's on a Christmas evening. "Really?"
"Usage of such armor without augmentations and a UNSC neural interface would be ill-advised however, as it would lead to great bodily harm and, most likely, death."
Deciding to switch topics, Shepard, motioned to the armor pieces Seven still held. "Okay, forget about that. How do we do this then? Do I just take it and put it on your back?"
"I believe so. Be advised, the mass of this armor plate exceeds sixty kilograms."
Huffing under the unexpected weight, Jane muttered a string of curses. "Ya could've told me earlier, y'know?"
"Noted, Commander. Please hold the backplate in its intended position." Kneeling to let Shepard move the MJOLNIR part into place easier, Seven held the front plate to the bodysuit, where it clicked, held temporarily in place by magnets. As Jane moved the other metal part closer to form the clam-like chest part of the armor, it too was pulled into place by magnets.
Huffing from effort, Jane stepped back, resting her hands on her hips.
"Okay, I think I can forgo lifting weights today."
In a flash of blue light, the Normandy finished her journey to the Citadel, flying away from the Relay.
Jane was going out to the Presidium to meet Ambassador Udina, though begrudgingly. She would at least meet Anderson, so there was that. She had grown to like the grizzled Captain during her relatively short service under him on the Normandy.
Most of the ground team stood with her near Joker's seat, making the, admittedly, small space rather cramped. The only one absent was Seven, down in the frigate's hold.
A dull thud revibrating through the vessel announced the successful conclusion of the docking procedure, along with Joker throwing a hand up, and stating the obvious to everyone present.
"Welcome to the Citadel, ladies and gentlemen."
Flashing the pilot a small smile over her shoulder, Jane went into the airlock, which, thankfully, didn't run through the entire decontamination procedure.
At the end of the dock's ramp, the team split into small groups.
Jane was going to the Presidium to meet the Council, as irritating as it would be.
Ashley was dragging most of the group to the Flux casino, while Wrex was going off by himself. The grizzled mercenary said he needed to 'get some things done'.
I sure hope he doesn't kill somebody.
Seven was staying in the hold, at least for now.
One less possible trigger-happy person she would need to babysit.
Now, where could she get enough ryncol to get a 2 meter cyborg drunk?
Seven sat cross-legged, fiddling with a piece of his Titan. The shield generator, specifically.
It had begun to show signs of wear after Therum, and procedures would not allow malfunctioning equipment to be used when upholding protocol.
So, he took it apart, not dematerializing the parts to inspect them closely himself. By now, most of the device was laying in pieces around him, with only the casing and the main projector still together in his hands. He was cleaning the projector's array when he heard the elevator doors slide open. The person was identified as Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, and marked on both his HUD and motion tracker. The woman's steps echoed in the empty ship's interior, as she went in the direction of the team's lockers.
Seven ignored the her, wiping away the remaining dust particles on the shield projector, and atomizing them with the cloth he used to do it.
With maintenance of the Vanguard's module complete, he began the process of reassembly, quickly sliding and screwing all the parts into place with precise and memorized movements. Once the module was in one piece again, the Spartan hefted it up, and slid it into its place inside Cray's chassis. Certain that it was connected and secured, he shut the panel it was behind.
The objective was now complete. The consensus that all subroutines came to was to enter power saving mode and await further orders. So, Seven sat down, leaning on Cray's leg, and powered down his armor's systems.
Now, still as a statue, he remained, quiet and unmoving.
The 'nap' lasted a full half-minute before Ashley approached his position. Both the HUD and motion tracker were off, with only the marine's shadow letting the Pilot know she was standing over him.
"Hey? You sleepin', big guy?" the woman's speech was slightly slurred, most likely from alcohol intake, and muffled by his helmet, with the audio sensors off.
As he was unable to respond, Seven only closed his eyes, letting Avei take over the conversation. The AI happily reached out to Cray to use his chassis' speakers. With a whine, the Titan exited its powered down state, and lights blinked on throughout its hull.
The Vanguard's main 'eye' flashed blue as it came online, the three flaps squinting as the Titan analyzed its surroundings.
"Gunnery Chief Williams, the Pilot has powered down his armor and is unable to respond to questions. What is your inquiry?"
"Jesus Christ, don't do that again!"
"Noted."
Silence came over the hold for a moment, as Cray stayed unmoving, and Ashley tried to work out if she should speak or wait for the mech to continue.
She ultimately didn't have to decide, as her Omnitool buzzed, an incoming call causing it to flash orange around the Gunnery Chief's forearm.
Accepting it with a press of a button, Williams was met with Shepard's voice.
"Ashley, where are you? It's been half an hour. You okay?"
"Yeah, I found the cards. Found our big man too. He looks like he's asleep. You want me to wake him up?"
"If it helps, he's not asleep. He's just conserving power for the armor. And he can hear you. You just need to tell him to do something, and he'll get up." Avei threw in between the two's conversation, having easily connected to the call.
"Well then, get him up and over here. I'll be waiting for you at the entrance to the Alliance quarters." Jane said.
"Got it, skipper." After Ashley ended the call, her omnitool turned off, the bright orange glow now gone, leaving the hangar illuminated by scarce lighting, with most off while the crew was on shore leave. In fact, Ashley and Seven were among the last members of the Normandy's crew still onboard. The only ones left were the few Marines on guard duty, and the two located inside the hold.
"Hey, big man, get up. We're going."
The armored figure didn't move, and the slightly annoyed and tipsy Gunnery Chief kicked its heavy metal leg, at which Seven's entire two-meter frame twitched, with the MJOLNIR booting back up.
A mere second after being kicked, Seven was on his feet, a Sangheili's Energy Sword in one hand, and a Jackal Shield on the other.
He looked around for another second, blinking in confusion. The round shield dissipated with a crackle and an electric-blue spark, the Sword following suit, as the Spartan bent over, ripping off his helmet.
Gasping for air, he fell to one knee, the Energy Sword falling from his hand, turned off. Now with his helmet off and on the floor, the limited HUD in his pupils tried to pick up where the helmet's left, but it glitched, clouding his vision, and throwing him off-balance.
"Hey, you good?" Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Seven looked left to be met with a concerned face of the Alliance Marine.
As Ashley looked, she noticed odd details with the eyes of the kneeling man. His pupils were, shrinking and expanding erratically, independent of each other. Faint pulses of light coursed through the circuitry lines in his eyes, with some of his facial muscles and both eyelids twitched violently.
"A- A- Affirmati- ti- ve." stated Seven, despite even the partly drunk Gunnery Chief knowing damn well it was false. He did not and could not care, as he scooped up his discarded helmet, putting it on. Its pressure seal engaged, and locked with a quiet hiss.
"Re-eady for departure."
As the two left the Normandy's hangar, the taller dutifully following the shorter Marine, they were followed by a single blue eye.
At the same time, the two-point network between the hulking Vanguard chassis and the MJOLNIR Mk. V was abuzz with the traffic of a conversation taking place.
#CR-0207 : Are you certain this is the correct course of action?
#AVI-1902-07: It's the best option we've got. The programming is wearing down. You've seen his behavior? The glitches are getting more frequent.
#CR-0207 : I am aware of the Pilot's erratic behavior lately. If the plan you have suggested beforehand is truly the only option, then I concur.
#AVI-1902-07: Good. I'll tell Shepard to be ready in case a more severe glitch happens. Wish me luck.
#AVI-1902-07 disconnected.
As Shepard stood leaning next to the main entrance to the Alliance's personnel barracks on the Citadel, she mulled over the warning given to her by Seven's AI. Like most of the galaxy, she was skeptical when it came to AIs. Even though humanity was never present for the Geth uprising, it was made aware of its effect: no AIs, period.
But now that she has met and worked with two AIs, both different in their own way, and not intent on killing her and her crew… She was not so sure. And now, with Seven blurring the line between man and machine, the topic got even more complicated.
Nonetheless, Seven was now part of her crew now. And she took care of her men.
So, she decided to carry out the plan proposed by Avei, with Tali's help, of all people. Being a Quarian, Tali had all the right to be the one most uncomfortable working with an AI. Now that Shepard thought about it, the small woman had agreed to help Avei with her plan astoundingly quickly.
The N7's time for thought was over however, as she noticed Ashley, walking somewhat straight, approach the apartment complex tailed by the grey-armored figure of her tallest squadmate.
"Good to know you didn't get lost, Ashley." Jane said with a smile, opening the glass door for both of them to enter.
"Yeah, I brought our big man, skipper!" Williams responded happily, words slurred, if only a bit, from the amount of beer the Gunnery Chief had.
"Yeah, I've noticed." Walking through the building's lobby and to one of its elevators Shepard glanced behind her, as Seven went through the glass doorway. His heavy footfall echoed throughout the lobby, the titanium alloy boots impacting the marble-like tiles with a heavy thud, each step nearly cracking the floor.
As they all got into an elevator, it sagged under the weight of a Spartan in 'almost' full armor, and the metal doors closed with a quiet ding.
Shepard stayed silent, going over the plan laid out once more in her head.
Now, she too saw the nearly unnoticeable twitches and spasms of Seven's limbs. It was just as Avei said.
The programming of the computer in Seven's head was deteriorating. They needed to act fast.
God knows what could happen if they didn't.
On a roof, hidden in the shadows of vents and air conditioners, sat a lone man.
His raven-black, shoulder length hair flowed in the light gusts of the Citadel's atmosphere, as he hefted a long, scoped rifle in his hands.
Checking the chronometer on his wrist, the man went prone, crawling around sheet metal air ducts and vents.
Once he reached his chosen position, he set down the odd-looking rifle on its bipod, and peered through its high-powered optic.
It was an unusual weapon, but not one he could not use effectively.
N7 training was comprehensive, after all.
The sniper rifle was a combination weapon, made specifically for this mission. Below the normal mass accelerator barrel, there was a tube-looking launcher of higher caliber. In it, a single dart-like projectile, designed specifically for task such as this one.
As he peered through it, the scope gave the pale-skinned man a detailed look of his target.
A mixed group of humans, a Turian, an Asari, and a Quarian, sitting together in a moderately-sized hotel room, spending time on shore leave. A quite common sight on the Citadel, with it being the de-facto capital of galactic society.
For several minutes, the man waited patiently for an opening to strike.
Though he wished to blow the aliens' heads clean off, he had a mission to accomplish. And it required patience and restraint.
Out of the group, only a single individual was his target. A tall man, towering over even the Turian. He was fully armored, forcing the operative to hold fire until the opportunity presented itself.
He watched for some time, as the group shared some drinks, talked, laughed. His target stayed off to the side, though drinking ryncol of all things, at the behest of the group's apparent leader.
After 30 minutes of waiting, the operative watched as most left the room, most likely going to their own rooms.
The 'leader', a redhead woman, had finally convinced his target to take off their armor as well.
A sadistic grin split the operative's lips.
In one, even motion, he trained the scope's reticle on his target's neck, and pulled the trigger.
In a pre-programmed sequence, the rifle fired its underbarrel launcher, propelling the dart inside at relatively slow speeds. It flew through the artificial air of the Citadel, keeping straight despite the light wind.
After a set timer, the rifle portion of the weapon fired, and a thin slice of tungsten, forged from an ammunition block bought off one of the many vendors in the Lower Wards through three middlemen, was sent careening through the same recycled air the dart flew mere moments before, the built-in suppressor keeping the discharge quiet.
The round impacted the glass pane separating the operative from his target, shattering a large part of it. It had been weakened by biotic Warps mere hours before, allowing the metal pellet to make a path for the dart, and the small metal shaving disintegrated itself from the impact.
This dart, which only now had made it, had a clear path to its target.
Embedding itself in the side of the man's neck, the impact not fazing him in the slightest due to the dart's low velocity, it opened its shell, and released its payload.
Activating his cloak and folding his weapon, Kai Leng smiled to himself.
Objective complete.
A singular purpose.
That was all there was to the dozen of grain-sized machines as they left the small projectile used as their delivery system.
They spread, each searching for a CPU among body tissue and nanites.
Quickly, one found its objective, latching on to it, releasing its payload, fulfilling its only purpose, and shutting down along with the other eleven, to be broken apart and used by the nanites it passed mere second before.
The CPU that was the objective registered nothing more than an update to its parameters.
To ensure smooth operation, it reviewed the now changed list.
/Handler list . . . Update
/Entries . . . high to low priority:
# [NEW ENTRY] # Jack Harper – full authority
# [NEW ENTRY] # Miranda Lawson – authority 1
# [AUTHORITY REDUCED] # Jane Margareth Shepard – authority 1
# UNSC Smart AI AVI-1902-07 – authority 2
# Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko – authority 3
# Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams – authority 3
# Garrus Vakarian – authority 3
# Tali'Zorah nar Rayya – authority 3
# Liara T'Soni – authority 3
# Urdnot Wrex – authority 3
/Handler list update . . . Complete
/Saving . . . Done
Tali's hand was flying over the haptic interface of her omnitool, working her way through firewalls with the help of the UNSC AI plugged into her 'tool. Providing the Quarian with instructions and authorization codes, Avei did all she could to stall the runtimes of Seven's implants, keeping them occupied and moving most to steer the nanites to break down the alcohol that was now in Seven's blood, thanks to all the ryncol Shepard ordered the Spartan to drink.
Not that it affected him that much. Nerve pathways made mostly of optical fiber weren't impaired by alcohol nearly as much as normal neurons. Who would have thought.
As Tali and the AI worked, they failed to notice, just as the nanites roaming Seven's bloodstream, the dozen of tiny probes the dart shot by Leng now making their way through those same blood vessels.
The bang of breaking glass now reached their ears, Tali freezing in place and Shepard throwing herself down on the ground, covering her head.
This all happened in slow-motion to Seven, who had entered cybernetically enhanced Spartan Time, thinking and moving faster than any being was capable of.
His augmented eyes noticed the shimmer of active camouflage on the roof of the opposite building. Dashing back, he grabbed Tali by the Quarian's shoulder, dragging the woman to cover, away from the shattered window. We noticed the Commander prone behind the bed of the room, save from the sniper.
"Commander." He called out.
"What is it?!" Jane shouted back, heart pumping adrenaline in response to the sniper shot and mind working overdrive to figure out a response.
"I believe the shooter has relocated from their previous position using active camouflage. Request permission to engage."
"Fine, just use your armor." Shepard shouted back, kicking herself for not keeping a carry-on pistol with her on leave.
Nodding, Seven called upon Avei to help him phase the MJOLNIR onto the bodysuit. One by one, the superdense Titanium-A plates shimmered into place in quick succession. Both the Spartan and AI knew mobility was more important than protection now, so the heavy metal boots and shin pieces didn't appear, instead replaced by heavy-duty boots and thinner ceramic pads, similar to those SRS Pilots wore in heavy combat.
The bulky ODST shoulder pads were replaced by slimer Recon armor pieces, the UA and CNM attachments from his ODST helmet disappeared too, lessening the headwear's bulk. His chest piece lost the pouches, leaving only the Smart Pistol and Data Knife in their holsters, which were moved to his right hip and over his left collarbone respectively.
His tattered blue scarf vanished too, deemed too much of a hinderance by the algorithm. The conclusion was to discard it, but Avei managed to take initiative and store it in hammerspace.
Now, his jump kit flared, and the Spartan rounded the corner he pushed Tali behind, and sprinted to the tall, nearly wall-spanning window of the room. Stim coursed through his veins, with additional adrenaline released thanks to his augmentations and prosthetics.
Shattering the remains of the glass panes, Seven lunged from the window, his jump carrying him almost halfway across the gap between the two buildings. With a flash of blue exhaust, the jump kit on his back pushed him up again, propelling him just a couple of meters short of the roof's edge.
His pickaxe materialized in his hand as he fell, smashing into the glass and metal of the apartment complex's wall.
Gripping it in both hands, he brought the weapon down, wedging it into an exposed metal girder. Firing his grapple, Seven was yanked upwards, vaulting over the concrete lip that surrounded the flat rooftop.
Only now did the system phase in a weapon for him to use. An Alternator SMG, with a suppressor made to fit both barrels.
Drawing a Pulse Blade with his left hand, he paused to scan the area with the VISR of his helmet. Seeing nothing, he also threw the kunai-shaped knife, watching as the orange wave spread through the air ducts and filters dotting the square roof.
He got a glimpse of a figure dropping off the side of the short building, and ran after it, sending a notification to Shepard. Stopping on the edge, Seven looked to the alley below, seeing a shimmer in the air, moving into the sparse crowd flowing through the larger street the small avenue exited into.
Deeming pursuit pointless, he turned back, securing the Alternator to the lower part of his chestplate. Keeping in line with Protocol, he keyed the squad channel, and called Shepard.
"Commander, the individual that is presumed to be the shooter escaped. They possessed active camouflage, though it was imperfect. Returning to your position." Seven switched the communicator off before Shepard could answer, jogging in the direction of the Alliance quarters.
Near the edge of the roof, he picked up his pace, and used his grapple to slingshot himself over the said edge.
Landing with a thud that shook the entire room, Seven walked up to the N7, saluting the redhead.
"Okay, first off, get that helmet off when we talk." Jane stated, getting off the floor where she had been taking cover from the supposed sniper.
Obediently, the man took the headgear off, blinking as the implants in his eyes took over from the helmet's HUD, small glitches still present in their display.
Now, with his face bare, he spoke. "Commander, the shooter escaped. Pursuit was deemed unwarranted, as the individual managed to blend in a crowd. To uphold Protocol 3, this unit pulled back to rendezvous."
"Mhm." Jane grunted, picking Tali off the floor. "I'll call Anderson, we'll go meet him. In the meantime, you go rest, -" She said, gesturing to Tali " - And you, come with me." A finger pointed at Seven.
As Shepard led Tali down the hallway, and gathered the team into a single room to keep watch over each other, Seven allowed the algorithms to reconfigure his armor.
Now that protection of a VIP was the main concern, bigger, more bulky armor plates took place of the ones used mere minutes before in his dash to the flat-top block on the other side of the street.
The titanium-A clamshell around his chest got thicker and more bulky, transformed into the Up-Armored Grenadier chestplate with an additional collar. On his shoulders, the Recon pauldrons fizzled out, to allow space for much thicker and bulkier CQC armor plates.
His helmet, though still gone into hammerspace, was deemed inappropriate in terms of protection. So, when a helmet materialized in his hands, it wasn't his well-worn ODST helm. Instead, it was the much more durable GUNGIR helmet, with additional CBRN filters and a Hardened Uplink module, intended to allow Shepard's comms to piggyback their way to the Normandy's dock and the ship's ground team.
On both his wrists, additional armor was installed too, while his lower legs returned to the standard MJOLNIR titanium-A plating. On his left thigh, the UA/CHOBHAM armor was attached in place of the soft case that was there usually, adding to the almost impenetrable wall of armor his left side had become.
The venerable Leadstorm powered minigun went onto his back, with a multiple A-Wall emitters ready for use. The Energy Shields 'liberated' from Jackals were snuck under all the plating on his left shoulder and forearm, giving the Spartan-II even more protection.
On his right thigh, the Boomstick, found near the remains of a Scout in the bowels of Hoxxes, one barrel loaded with buckshot, the other with a heavy slug. Big for a sidearm, but it would do.
The jump kit, though now unable to let him run on walls and jump in the air, was kept to keep his mobility relatively high.
Just as he was to choose a pistol to keep in a holster on his hip, Shepard came out of the hotel room she stuffed the team in. When she noticed just how much armor Seven now had on him, she stopped mid-step, eyes wide as saucers.
"Why do you look more armored than the Mako?" she asked, looking the grey-blue MJOLNIR over.
"Additional protection was deemed more important than mobility to uphold Protocol 3." the blocky GUGNIR helmet turned to Shepard, scratches and dents all over the metal surface.
"Seven, why do you look like a Mako now?" Jane said, sighing tiredly.
"I can't take you to the Presidium looking like, or C-Sec might grab you for trying to assault the embassies." Shepard continued, her eyes going up and down Seven's more than bulky armor. "Take it off, put some normal clothes on." she said, going in the direction of the elevator.
"Query: define 'normal' clothing." At the deadpanned question, Jane stopped mid-step, and whipped around to face the man, her fire red mane of hair splaying out because of the motion.
"Don't you have like a t-shirt or something?" she asked, her hope for a quick solution dwindling even quicker.
"I am not in possession of any articles of clothing that could be described as 't-shirts', Commander."
"So you don't have any clothes except your armor?" Jane dragged her hands over her face.
"Negative, Commander."
With a sigh, Shepard walked to the elevator, waving Seven to come after her.
"Alright, we'll try to find you something." As the metal doors closed, she mused. "Maybe the req officer might have something that'll fit you."
It turned out, the officer did not, in fact, have anything that fit Seven's bulky frame.
Both the Alliance officer and Shepard watched as Seven's armor, along with the bodysuit, disappeared in a cloud of glowing blue particles, and he tried to pull the grey t-shirt and cargo pants on.
The Alliance attire was stretched to its limits, and yet the Spartan could not pull the clothes on.
The heavy boots he'd been given by the requisitions officer did not fit either.
They were, of course, the biggest size available.
When the man stood up to his full height before Jane, his body bare for both Shepard and the officer to see.
While the Normandy's requisitions officer looked away, going back to his cargo manifests, Shepard watched, her eyes darting up and down to satiate her curiosity. The amount of scars marring Seven's biological parts made for a stomach-churning sight that she was quick to look away from.
Yet her emerald-green eyes stopped on the man's hands. Specifically, the left one.
It was eerily similar to a normal human hand, made of matte, navy-blue metal, some parts grey, others glowing blue. The fingers and knuckles were covered with small plates, making it similar to a mosaic.
The right hand, while still resembling her own, had the same dark blue metal jutting out on its knuckles. It was an odd sight, but nothing compared to the rest of Seven's limbs.
However, the Commander's keen eye spotted the same dark blue color in lines, which wound around the whole palm and streaked up onto the forearm, stopping only near the elbow.
"Comma-a-ande-er?" the man that the hand belonged to spoke, stopping Jane from looking over all his limbs.
His voice was starting to spazz out even more now.
That was not good at all.
Should she leave him here?
No, Seven was a part of her team, she took care of…
But the rest could take care of him, wouldn't they?
Yeah…
She would leave the man with her team, to allow Tali to continue working on freeing him from his shackles.
What could go wrong?
Walking into the human embassy, Shepard smiled.
"Anderson!"
Looking up from the paperwork cluttering his desk, the dark-skinned man smiled tiredly.
"Shepard, good to see you again. How's the Normandy doing?"
"You were right, the ship's perfect for a Spectre. Though it's a shame you're not the Captain anymore. Could've used your experience." Shaking hands, the two Alliance officers exchanged smiles again.
"Still a shame you got pulled away by politics."
Waving his hand dismissively, the Normandy's former captain went down to a whisper. "This might not be the right place and time to say that." Raising his voice, the Anderson continued.
"Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?"
"Someone tried to take the head off either me, Seven or Tali through a window with a sniper shot. I think the glass stopped it. I don't know who, or why, since they escaped before he could catch the shooter."
Putting a hand on his chin, Anderson stayed silent for a moment, clearly in deep thought.
"I'll see if I can get C-Sec to investigate. It probably won't do much, but it's all we can do."
"Yeah, didn't expect much more since we couldn't catch the fucker." Jane nodded.
"Well, good talk. See you soon." Waving him farewell, Shepard walked out of the embassy and onto the greenery-filled plaza beneath the Citadel Tower.
The woman stopped for a moment to take in the sight that the well-trimmed trees and gleaming fountains provided. After a second, she brought up her omnitool to call in an aircar to fly her back. She was about to close the device, only to be stopped when a call notification sprung up on the orange haptic interface.
Williams.
Shit.
Accepting the call, Jane ran to the transport terminal, her heart already pumping adrenaline, as she hastily got into her cab.
Finally, the call connected, filling the vehicle's interior with the sounds of battle.
"Shepard! We're under attack! Where are you Commander?!"
Standing tall, Seven held down the trigger of the Leadstorm in his hands, letting a flurry of lead and depleted uranium shred the half-dozen Geth Troopers in his way. The weapon's roar echoed up and down the building's hallways, making everyone's teeth rattle.
Except for his, that is.
MJOLNIR had its advantages.
A couple of mass accelerator rounds sparked against the Covenant-style shields embedded in the armor on his left arm, draining them by a third. The data was saved for later engagements, as he holstered the minigun on his back, its barrels smoking.
Seven sprinted down the hallway, now with the Boomstick in his hand, determined to get the team a clear way to the Normandy. The ship was the safest place for them, and would allow Cray and the ship's marines to help them. That was the plan Kaiden presented the team. Everyone agreed, and they went off the punch a way through to the frigate's dock.
As he rounded a corner, Alenko in tow, he spotted two Troopers guarding the elevators.
Before the two platforms could raise their weapons, the double-barrel was already trained on one's head.
With one trigger pull, Seven fired the shotgun's left barrel, an 8-gauge lead slug smashing into the Geth's barriers and overwhelming them.
The booming discharge of the second barrel sent forth 12 pellets, each ripping into the Trooper's torso, leaving nothing but smashed metal and electronics. Before he could reach for his Smart Pistol, Seven saw the other synthetic become enveloped in a blue aura, and then thrown into a near wall, at which the machine crumpled like a puppet with cut strings.
The rest of the team had now caught up to them, most unarmed, with only Vakarian and Ashley carrying pistols, along with the biotic at the Spartan's side.
He reloaded the in his hand shotgun, two shells already in his hand, summoned from hammerspace. Two were ejected from the Boomstick and both clattered on the hotel's floor.
The man then stood, silent, as he listened to the orders given out by the Lieutenant next to him.
"Ok, we split. One biotic per elevator. Tali, stay behind Seven, use tech attacks. Garrus, Ashley, Liara, you're toghether. I'll go with Seven and Tali.
With confirmations from the whole group, they all moved to the elevators, opening them and stepping inside.
Before closing the doors, Kaiden spoke again.
"We'll go first, draw their fire, then you step in and surprise them. Got it?"
"Will do." answered Garrus, the Turian's warbly voice slightly muted by the walls. They did not use team comms, in fear of them being intercepted by the Geth, so speaking was the only option.
They only allowed themselves a single call to Shepard, to inform the N7 of the attack.
With a ding, the elevator's doors closed, and Seven felt the tremors of the mechanism going up through his heavy boots, as he mag-locked the shotgun to his thigh, and spun the Leadstorm's barrels, satisfied to hear the sharp clicks of the gun's inner workings.
"I'll put up a barrier and will find some cover with Tali." Kaiden spoke up, as their cabin started to slow down.
"Once the barrier is down, you can open fire."
"VISR pings detect a grouping of Troopers in the lobby. No special units, so I think you can take them." Avei spoke over the MJOLNIR external speakers, her voice calm, if tense. For an AI, that is.
Nodding slowly, Seven shifted the heavy weapon in his hands, to let the two slip by him when the time came. "Affirmative, Lieutenant."
The floor beneath them shuddered as they came to a stop, the metal door before them opening with a cheerful ding.
Then bullets started flying.
Garrus shifted his grip on his pistol. The weapon felt hopelessly inadequate for the amount of Geth they would most likely be facing.
Nevertheless, flexing his three fingers, the Turian steadied his breath, preparing himself for the pandemonium that would soon ensue.
Barely 5 seconds before the doors opened, he heard the sound of assault rifle fire, before, just as their doors started opening, the rapid cracks of Geth weaponry was overshadowed by the great thunder of Seven's own gun.
Spirits.
Liara threw her hands up, and a shimmering blue barrier materialized itself before the three, and almost immediately bullet impacts sent ripples across the translucent field.
Both Garrus and Ashley raised their pistols, their eyes scanning the open lobby before them.
It was a battlefield, not a firefight or shootout he'd seen during his service. Back then, any engagement was just a small-scale fight with a mercenary group, or a band of pirates.
Now, Geth Platforms, moving as a trained military unit, filled the spacious room, all firing short, accurate bursts at either them, or to their left.
The rest of their team.
Liara stepped out of the elevator, both he and the Alliance marine beside him swinging around, the pistols in their hands going off to the side, scanning their flanks for any synthetics.
Finding none, Garrus gestured to a wide planter, filled with now hole-riddled plants, promising them safe cover.
"There! Go!" Garrus pointed on of his talons to the safe space. Williams, seeing what he meant in but a second, dashed to the planter, smacking her shoulder into it, and opening up with her pistol from her newfound firing position.
Garrus, taking advantage of the lull in enemy fire coming his and Liara's way, dragger the Asari after him, crouching low to find a reprieve from bullets whizzing past his head.
"How in the Spirit's name did Geth get on the Citadel?!" Garrus yelled over the gunfire, barely getting through because of the ever-present roar of Seven's minigun.
"Hell if I know." sighed Williams, ducking back into safety to vent her pistol. The small pistols were nothing more than self-defense weapons, more of a reassurance than a real threat to anyone with kinetic barriers.
Now, though, most of the Geth's barriers were down, either from Seven's incessant fire, Kaiden's or Liara's biotics, or Tali throwing tech attacks left and right.
So, both Garrus and Ashley popped out of cover, and started doming Geth Troopers one after another, staggering their shots to avoid overheating their flimsy armament.
At last, the final synthetic fell, though not before launching its own Overload at its last target.
Which was Seven.
When Shepard rushed into the hotel lobby, a heavy pistol in her hand, and fury in her eyes, she saw the team huddled toghether near one of the massive planters that dotted the space.
Shepard noticed Tali hunched over a figure on the floor, only its legs sticking out from behind the heavy concrete planter. Fearing the worst, Jane ran into her team's direction, forgoing safety just to get there as fast as possible.
Her shoes skidded on the white tiles, as she slid to a stop next to Ashley, and confirmed her suspicion.
The man Jane had found on Eden Prime was now lying motionless, his helmet discarded again, while Tali typed furiously on her omnitool. With each button press, Seven twitched slightly, and his AI's voice, though staticky, sounded from Tali's orange-glowing forearm.
"So, here's the key for this one, and the encryption key for those files." Shepard heard the AI rattle on, as the Quarian worked her magic on the omnitool
"What happened?" the Commander questioned, worry heard in her voice, and Kaiden answered.
"He got hit with an Overload just when we cleared the room. Froze and then collapsed on the floor." The lieutenant explained. "We barely managed to drag him here. Took the three of us." he said, gesturing to himself, Ashley and Garrus.
"I don't understand just how he moves in that armor. He weighs like half a ton or something!" Williams exclaimed.
"Shit." Jane swore. She knew from Avei that the programs keeping Seven under wraps were breaking down, and an Overload would surely not help in that case.
"Can you get him standing soon?" the N7 voiced her worry, prodding at Tali's arm to get the woman's attention.
"I… believe so… I am just… about… and done!" Tali cheered for herself as she pressed the last key on her omni, and got up from her knees.
"The AI said we can use the Overload's effects to take down the Operating System." she said, gesturing to the man slowly coming to life on the floor. Seven blinked wildly as he stirred, coming up to a sitting position.
"Commander?" he said, uncertain. This time, there was at least some emotion in his voice, and his face was not as motionless as the mask he bore usually.
"Hey, you're up. That control program they stuck in your head is finally disabled." Avei's voice sounded from the speakers of his armor, a certain softness in it that Shepard heard only once before.
"Avei?... Where are we this time?" he asked, his hand slowly reaching for the Smart Pistol in its holster. Jane noticed this, and took a slow step forward, showing her empty hands.
"Hey, Seven, calm down. We're not going to attack you, so you can leave the gun alone."
His hand stopped abruptly, and he looked at it, blinking. "Apologies, Commander. Force of habit."
With nary a sound, Seven got up, scooping up his helmet from the floor. He dissolved it, bringing back his ODST helmet, while his armor morphed back into standard configuration. When he placed the headwear on, the MJOLNIR suit sealed with a hiss.
The team stood still even after the man stood at the ready, waiting for Shepard to reply. A tilt of his helmet told the woman there would a another question coming.
"Commander, I suggest we go somewhere wo won't be fired upon."
Just as Jane was about to nod and suggest they go to the Normandy, the N7 heard a loud crash, followed by a roar of an angry Krogan.
"Why is it that I am the one to miss a fight!" Wrex bellowed.
[][][]
Wowie, I never thought anyone would ready this. Big thanks to all of you. As I said before, you're the main reason I keep writing. If not for you all, I probably would've given up long ago.
For me, this story feels like my only accomplishment, the one and only thing of value I have made. So, your appreciation has kept me afloat recently, mentally speaking.
Now, reviews:
peanutbutter6996: Well, I sure hope I answered you first question this time. And for the second… That would be spoilers if I wrote about it now, wouldn't it? ;) Though if you really want to know, send me a PM. Fair warning however, I still have no clue as to where this little story might go. So, anything I might tell you mey just be scrapped.
TheJSmooth: Apologies. Sorry if this did not do for your daily dose of Titan combat. Don't worry, I'll try to include more Titanfall stuff in general.
Scholasticknyght: YEAH, ROCK AND STONE!
raven2327: You're welcome. And also, thanks!
Now, there's this one thing that might slow the writing down: school. Though, I have a surprisingly small amount of classes for high school. Anyhow, I might try to redo the first chapter now. I just now noticed how shit it is.
Like, damn, a chapter stitched together from the remains of another really isn't that good, huh?
Anyhow…
Fare thy well, and
ROCK AND STONE!