Chapter 6:
Authors note: Apologies for the wait. Stress, writer's block and several new games have absorbed my time. Just a fair warning that after this is released there may be a few months of silence. I will be moving soon and that's been stressful figuring out a date, method of transport and more, on top of a death in the family. With that out of the way on with the show.
Dragoon: I can attest to that as I was sucked into a game I wanted and it went on sale.
Reegar grit his teeth as he finished popping in a fresh clip. The Quarian grit his teeth as he hefted his assault rifle up and canted it at an angle. That mech that had shown up certainly gave him plenty of time to patch himself up from getting shot in the ass. The amount of firepower it had. Just as he peeked back around that damned Colossus reared back up.
"Vot. Why won't you stay dead? Damned repair system…" Reegar cursed before taking cover, only to watch as it targeted not his position but the building next to him. "Commander that you?" He asked while peeking back around the metal column that he was using for cover. A Geth trooper fired a burst at him in an effort to take him out. The Quarian cursed lightly as she took cover.
"Shit. Colossus. Garrus, Miranda, give me covering fire." A firm, female voice said. That must be Commander Shepard that he'd been on the comms with. "Chirico! Keep your head down." A brief whistling sound could be heard as the human frigate performed a fly by.
The last remainder of Geth holding out were formed in a defensive position. The colossus loomed from behind its cover as it riddled the bunker with small arms fire. Specks of metal and stone sparking under each impact as the quarian could hear a sort of whirring noise through his suits audio system. He instinctively took cover as a main cannon blast threaded the proverbial needle but not before a distorted thump was heard.
Light streaked out as a large projectile quickly raced across the open field and impacted the geth war machine; a large explosion followed by a secondary explosion could be heard one right after the other. Reinforced concrete and titanium alloy showering down as silence filled the void as the remainder of the Geth force picked themselves back up.
The nearby door opened up revealing two humans and a turian rushing down the ramparts. The Turian rushed past him to set up overwatch before opening fire. One of the humans wearing an 'N7' armor configuration stopped to kneel by him.
"Yea. It was me. How badly are you hurt Sergeant?" The woman asked while taking in his situation.
"My suit's ruptured, pain killers are doing their job and I'm swimming in antibiotics. Tali'Zorah's just across that gap. I would have warned you about the colossus but…" A metallic thud could be heard to emphasize his statement. "I doubt the Geth were expecting a mech and heavy infantry weapons. What was that anyway?"
"Experimental weapon." Shepard said simply before the sounds of that mech's guns started opening fire once more. "We'll move on ahead and secure the area. Keep your head down."
"Aye aye ma'am. Give 'em hell." Reegar nodded before Shepard looked at her team.
"Garrus, provide sniper support. Miranda, cover my six." The commander ordered while unslinging her rifle and rushing down the ramparts. The mop up only lasted about a minute between precision shots, heavy fire support and biotics.
Shepard sighed as she slung her rifle over her shoulder and magnetizing it into place. The human commando glanced at her two companions before putting a hand to her helmet.
"Tali, It's me. The area's clear." She said gently. The adrenaline rush was still falling as she rolled her shoulders. Thankfully the shade kept them safe from the sun. Soon enough the doors rolled open revealing Tali still working at a station.
"I'm glad you're here commander. We lost enough people on this mission as it is." The quarian said sadly.
"And what mission is that? I heard something about the star?"
"Haelstrom's star is in the midst of dying. But it's too young for that. All of our scans so far have revealed dark energy readings but nothing that should cause a star to die out like this. This used to be one of our colonies." Tali explained. "Then the geth attacked and killed everyone-"
"Not Everyone Ma'am. Your commander and her ally saved me and some of my Marines. She's every bit the soldier that you said she was. Geth never stood a chance." Reegar chuckled gently while holding his injured side.
"But why are you here Shepard? Aren't you investigating missing colonists?" Tali asked worriedly.
"I was in the neighborhood and we could really use your expertise now more than ever if we're going to beat the Collectors. That and…some unforeseen circumstances have come up that have given us more to think about." Shepard explained.
"With you Shepard, I'd be surprised if it wasn't Rachni again." The quarian woman joked.
"Actually it's an alternate reality of humanity. Wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't been there." Garrus chimed in. "But Shepard's right. We could really use you on the team, just like old times."
"That explains the strange mech that doesn't match any known schematics." Tali noted before looking at Reegar. "I still have to report back to the flotilla…"
"It's piloted too. Whoever it is, I owe them a drink." Reegar nodded. "And go on Ma'am. I can report back to the fleet just fine. You go and save the galaxy with the commander. And Shepard. See that she stays safe."
The female commander smirked as she nodded.
"And you keep yourself safe. I hope to see you again Sergeant." Shepard replied, offering out a hand to the Quarian marine.
"Thank you Reegar." Tali nodded as they all started making their way outside, joined by the mech while the Normandy idled nearby. It was a great sight to see given all of the chaos that just happened.
Once they were back onboard of The Normandy, Tali had to double take at the mechs eating up the cargo bay. It astounded her that the four meter tall mech that had accompanied them was among the smallest of the three.
"Kee'lah…What are those machines…I-I've never seen anything like them…" Tali Zorah exclaimed while observing the machine working its way back into the cargo bay. Once it was situated humans rushed to receive the pilot, all wearing normal suits. "Are those not your crew Shepard?"
"Nope. Still human. But a completely different world. That's one reason why I was in the neighborhood." Shepard nodded as they dismounted. The head of the SCOPEDOG popped up to reveal the pilot climbing out. "
"Any other surprises I should be aware of Shepard?" Tali asked as she watched the pilot disembarking from his unit.
"We have an AI on board. Not my call. She came with the ship. Oh and there's an immortal or two with us currently. And that crew may or may not switch out occasionally." Shepard listed off while she counted on her fingers.
"At least you're still in charge. I'll get myself situated, Commander. Talk to you later?" Tali nodded politely.
As the Shepard and her team approached the elevator and the cargo bay was once again closed, the elevator opened to reveal an Irate C.C shoving Lelouch out of the elevator. Yeoman Chambers was doing her very best to calm down the green haired woman.
"Now now. I know that you two are close…but you shouldn't resort to violence." The ginger haired woman said placatingly.
"Oh he's Immortal. He's already had his neck broken once. Stabbed in the heart too. He'll get better from a small trip into the vacuum -" C.C responded cooly. "I'm a reasonable woman after all."
"Do I even want to know?" Shepard asked with an exasperated sigh.
"Oh, Lelouch was simply sharing some intimate details after you took command." C.C said with a chilling smile.
"Hey, she's the one that commented about the tension between us." lelouch replied with a smug shrug. "I was simply elaborating on that statement." Although one hand was behind his back.
"You know what. Nevermind. Stow it for now. And you can talk about it like Adults." Shepard said authoritatively. "You want to have a lovers argument. You can do so with a relationship counselor. Not. On a warship. My mission is too important for such distractions."
Commander Shepard swapped places with C.C as Miranda looked at the pair suspiciously. The away team filed into the elevator as Chirico walked up, turning his helmet to Lelouch's pinned figure. Once the door closed Lelouch simply chuckled once Ms Chamber's was out of sight and revealed a collection of bugs, wiretaps and hidden camera dots.
"I do think the Commander will thank us once we're back onboard. For now these go in the garbage disposal. Chirico if you would disguise it with some spent casings please." Lelouch requested with a smile.
"You are going to get in big trouble one of these days if you're caught." Chirico sighed.
"And how do you think I successfully dominated the world?" Lelouch retorted casually. "It wasn't by chance. I'm playing the long game and disposing of trash is only right onboard a prospective ally's warship."
"Hnnn…" Chirico replied while waiting calmly for the elevator to show back up.
Commander Shepard sighed as Chambers and herself reached the CIC. The Commander of The Normandy moved to her email terminal to draft up the "Official" mission report to send to the Illusive man, leaving out any and all reports of mechs. The red head sighing in exasperation.
"Miss C.C and Lelouch seem to care very deeply for each other. Despite the violent acts it wasn't out of malevolence." Kelly Chambers spoke up.
"Uh-huh. And have there been any other interesting events that I'm not aware of?" Shepard asked rhetorically.
"Other than Dan Moroboshi being an alien…Nothing right now. They have things remarkably put together. I don't think they'll be a danger to the mission. The biggest thing I would advise is to be very cautious in your dealings with this 'Dreikruz' faction. It is a melding pot of cultures, mindsets and many other oddities that we do not understand. And Mister Lamperouge seems to have taken an interest in early human history."
"Alright. I'll keep that in mind. Next time we meet up with Captain Mitsuba I'll try and talk to her." Shepard said while walking her way up to the flight bridge. She mulled through the rather dramatic scene from earlier too. Just another thing to talk to Lelouch about enroute to the Citadel.
Her pilot, Joker, turned around happily in his flight chair.
"I'm glad we have Tali back on board Commander. But One thing. Can we not do any more 'emergency resupply maneuvers'?" The pilot asked while air quoting the emergency resupply. "I mean. I'm the best damn pilot in the Alliance but. Come on. At least PAY me to do that."
"Why not take that up with Chirico directly next time then Joker?" Shepard retorted with a smirk.
"Hey. I like my brain inside my skull." Joker snarked back. "I've seen enough slasher films to recognize those eyes."
"Noted. Set a course for the Citadel. I need to make a report to the council in person."
"Aye aye skipper." Joker confirmed while guiding The Normandy away from Haelstrom.
Omega Station -
2 days after The Normandy's operation at Haelstrom
Seprak growled softly as he ran over the list that his mechanics gave him. The battarian's prosthetic arm gripping the data slate tightly as he snarled. Two carriers worth of fighters sacrificed. The Carriers were basically space ornaments right now. The Renegade Dreadnought commander sighed heavily as he waited in the Airlock to go onto the space station.
"Logged. The commanding Officer is ashore. XO Karos has the deck." Seprak both was and wasn't surprised at the two Batarian Enforcers waiting for him. The Officer frowned as he unholstered his shotgun out of instinct. The two Enforcers drawing their own pistols and taking aim at him.
"Seprak. Did you really think you could Commandeer that dreadnought and get away with it?!" The lead enforcer asked with a sadistic chuckle.
"I thought I had a little bit more time to at least resupply before the Hegemony's mutts would find their way to this shit hole." Seprak retorted. "Better to enjoy the main meal of technological progress. Then to feed on the scraps of a dead species' tech."
"That's just an old Sailor's tale. This is about stolen Military Assets. Not decisions that could Improve the Hegemony." The second enforcer retorted while clicking off the safety of his firearm.
"Either way. You're not getting this Dreadnought. You're going to walk away and pretend we never met. I have information that could prove more useful than even that supposed tale." Seprak chortled before keeping his weapon pointed in the direction of both Enforcers. "Now are you going to step aside or am I going to have to explain to Aria why Batarian guts are splattered all over her space station?"
"There's two of us and one of you. Besides, we don't need you ali-" The Sadistic Batarian chuckled before Seprak nonchalantly pulled the trigger on his shotgun, blowing the first enforcer back several meters as he walked forward. His Biotic barriers flaring as the second enforcer opened fire several times.
"You talk too much." Seprak sighed as he stalked over to the other enforcer while pumping his shotgun and taking aim. "You never saw me. The Seprak was lost with all hands after an attack by an unidentified human fleet. And you just happened to kill your compatriot for high treason against the hegemony. And If I even so much as Smell the Hegemony coming after me. I will open fire. Are. We. Clear?" Seprak asked.
"And how much of this 'report' is actually true?" The more serious enforcer asked while keeping his weapon trained on Seprak.
"Enough if you show them the following video." The Dreadnought Captain huffed said before shifting his firing hand to tap on his omnitool. The Enforcer glanced at his Omni-tool before looking back to Seprak.
"This footage real?"
"Much more believable than The Leviathan of Dis. Now get out of here. I have logistics to run and mercenaries to hire." Seprak said fiercely while shouldering past the Enforcer. At least until one of Aria's own enforcers simply looked at him.
"Afterlife. Now." The turian said flatly while looking past him to the dead Hegemony Enforcer. "I need a janitor at Dock 27 for 'clean up'."
The rogue captain sighed as he made his way further into Omega, past the airlocks. He passed by Batarian refugee's as he noted that security around Blue Suns territory had lightened up. That plague must have been cured. A lot fewer mercenaries around as a whole though. Still he needed to check with Aria anyway so he made his way to Afterlife. The bustling nightclub of Omega was still bristling with mercenaries, drug dealers, smugglers and people seeking to be away from council space buzzed about the cantina floor.
He walked past the bar towards the overhanging balcony that everyone knew was Aria's perch. He was briefly stopped by one of the guards who held up a hand to his ear.
"Aria. Saprak is here." The turian said calmly and loudly to be heard over the din of the music. "Go on in." Saprak huffed as he walked in, clenching his prosthetic arm to calm his nerves.
He laid eyes on Aria T'loak, and would have checked her out more, if he didn't know who she was and what she was capable of.
"Saprak. You bring quite the damaged ship to my little station. A squadron no less. What brings you to Omega that even the Hegemony wants your head?" Aria asked with a curious humm to her voice as she looked Saprak then to either exit.
"They took exception with me borrowing their experimental dreadnought that they were building in secret." Saprak shrugged. "What about Omega? Merc population has plummeted."
"A veritable hurricane passed through. A lot of mercs who got in her way ended up dead. A plague cured. And just quickly as it arrived, it left. But she'll be back again. Just like you Saprak." The Ruler of Omega explained vaguely. "So what is it you need?"
"Supplies, fuel, repairs, arms, armor, ammunition. And reckless bastards with their own ships. There's trouble coming but a prize to be had if it can be captured. Me? I fought them once. But I'd need a larger fleet to do any real damage." Saprak elaborated. "If your engineers are freaked out about the damage. Trust me it's a long story and I don't believe it myself."
"Oh? Do tell. Does this have to do with the batarian pirates that went missing near the perseus Veil? You know Geth space is dangerous." Aria reminded the Batarrian who shrugged.
"I wish it was the Geth. We would have stood more of a chance. And yes. It does have to do with those pirates. My brother was one of the ones killed. But whoever it was sounded human but their ships were nothing like the Alliance." He reached up to his omnitool and gave it a few taps a stilled image of a batarian frigate cored through and through from stem to stern. A brilliant purple beam in the process of leaving a melted hole in its wake. "That was the fate of all the frigates I brought along. Some more damaged than others. Most were rendered space hulks in a couple of shots."
The pirate queen leaned forward to look intently at that image. What sort of weapon could cause such devastation. The collectors out of anyone would have the closest thing to that sort of tech.
"You're sure it was a human? Did you mistakenly come across The Collectors?" Aria asked.
"I've seen the news feeds. The Collectors have been targeting human colonies." Saprak shook his head. "No. These were Humans. However I doubt the Alliance or even Cerberus would have stuff like that in just two years."
"Interesting. And these humans. Did you try with guns blazing or diplomacy first?" The Asari scoffed while leaning back.
"Guns blazing. I was after revenge. Still am. They are just humans. Sure some are decent. Commander Shepard for instance. Sure she took my arm at Elysium. But she wasn't The Butcher of Torfan."
"The fact you got away means you were smart enough to realize you were outmatched." Aria noted while only glancing at the Battarian with her eyes and a slight turn of her head. Saprak simply sighed in slight irritation. "Ah. So you would be wanting crew and volunteers to try again?" She guessed while fixing him with a star.
"Yes. But not from your ranks. I'm not stupid enough to cross you Aria. I'll be checking out the mercs. I doubt they'll be going anywhere for at least a week. So I have time to properly prepare my crew." The Battarian said simply. "Any word about that cerberus vessel traveling the terminus systems? Is it really The Normandy? I thought it blew up."
"It is indeed. And Commander Shepard is every inch the woman they say she is." Aria confirmed. "Now go, recruit and resupply. Just don't make a mess of my station." The batarian nodded as he stood up to leave and do just that. He had volunteers to recruit.
_
Dreikruz location, near the perseus veil. 3 days later…
Az Sainklaus sighed as she departed her Huckbein as she thought about all that had happened so far. After that last attack, some of their crew had gone on board with The Normandy. She really wanted to be more helpful to the Dreisstrager, and help get them home. But right now she was aboard the mothership staring at her cabin wall. The blue haired girl let out a frustrated sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair and standing up, she started making her way to Mitsuba's quarters.
"How's the Silverbullet Suppressor's arm count?" Az heard Mitsuba asked.
"Low. We can't have it use the beam magnum more than twelve more times until we can secure a reliable source of replacement parts. I would advise that we switch to using a Jegan's beam rifle as per its original specs." Came Commander Noa's voice from just beyond the door with the sound of boots clicking along the floor.
"Mmm. As I understand it the Unicorn is under lock and key at the moment as a powersource. If we had access to that we wouldn't have to limit his offensive capabilities." Mitsuba sighed. "And we still don't know how this council will react to our situation. Our psychoframes alone may be violating some intergalactic laws." Mitsuba voiced with a tone of frustration.
"I know what you mean. There's a group of girls that I certainly hope they're doing better. I heard of them after I reached earth during the one year war. They joined up with the AEUG during the Gryps conflict. And stayed on afterwards as a part of Londo Bell. Them along with the Midnight Fenrir teams are two teams I would really enjoy having with us right now." Noa replied as Az knocked politely.
"Enter." Mitsuba's voice ordered. So Az did exactly that. "Sorry. I just can't stand being idle. They've been gone for days now."
"I know what you mean but we're kind of stuck here. You're playing a valuable role Az. Just please keep supporting us. We're all in this together." Mitsuba requested while giving her an apologetic look.
"Mitsuba is right. Everyone is out of their element right now. Even that Commander Shepard." Bright Noa hummed while looking between the two. "All we can do right now is hurry up and wait. And I don't think we should unlock our unique 'friend' unless it's absolutely necessary." Az and Mitsuba both frowned as they understood who he meant. Orchidacea, Simultaneously the AOS system that ran The Dreisstrager. And an ancient being that tried to subjugate them.
"Personally I wouldn't mind if we didn't have to rely on her at all." Az said, crossing her arms beneath her chest with a huff.
"I understand what you mean. I'd rather not have her try to subjugate the ship again. We've got the anti-subjugation device at least as a backup plan." MItsuba nodded. The blonde Captain hummed thoughtfully as she thought about the next move.
"A credit for your thoughts Captain Mitsuba?" Bright asked with his right index finger extended.
"Just thinking about how Commander Shepard introduced herself." Just before Mitsuba could finish that thought though her console beeped before Mayvy's voice could be heard.
"Sorry to interrupt Captain. But something is trying to contact Orchidacea. Unsuccessfully so far. But we may have visitors sooner than we would like."
Jack Harper sighed heavily as he looked over the combat report from Shepard's latest operation. While it would undoubtedly be good to see how the Commander's methods yield considerable results, Diplomacy was great when it worked. The more comfortable he could have Shepard, the more likely it was to benefit Cerberus and Humanity in the long run.
However he was concerned by the increasing number of bugs being located and taken offline aboard The Normandy. Someone very skilled at espionage was on board. Could Shepards previous mission have compromised The SR 2? If it were anyone but Shepard he'd conceive of that option. For now he'd monitor the situation.
The Illusive man put a cigarillo into his mouth and lit it before looking at the data package he had ready to help Shepard and Liara T'soni. The location of The Shadow Broker.
Omake:
Tali'Zorah Vas Neema was getting herself acquainted with the new Normandy's engines. It was odd to see those mechs in the hangar bay. The quarian was taking everything in and she didn't mind Ken and Abigail Donnely being in the engine bay with her. However what puzzled her while she was working was a very quiet and melodic humming. It had a very…human school anthem theme to it which was even more odd to her. It wasn't surprising the others with her didn't hear it thanks to the humm of the mass effect core.
"What is going on down here…?" Tali asked as she got on her knees and moved to take off the duct paneling where the noise was coming from. The Quarian flicking her head flashlight on and having a jump scare in the form of a human being inside of the air duct. "Keelah!"
"Wah?!" A brief dull thud later indicated that the youth had smacked his head. "D'ow. Damn it…"
"Tali? What's going on?" Ken asked while looking over and peeking towards what was going on.
"Hang on. Is that Lelouch in there? Whatcha doing in the duct's Lulu?" Abigail chimed in before they noticed the object in his hand.
"You never saw me and there was never anyone inside the ducts." Lelouch intoned seriously. His eyes flaring up with a symbol framing his pupils.
"Of course I saw you. But what are you doing with a-" Tali exclaimed.
"Nope. no one was there. Back to work." Ken hummed before returning to work at his station. Tali blinked along with the young man in the air duct as they stared each other down.
"Sooooo…about that bug." Tali said awkwardly.
"Please don't tell Shepard." Lelouch requested with a small smile.