Clark kept a calm face as he walked towards the conference room that held the Q.E.C, it seems the Illusive man wanted to speak to him about something. He had a feeling about what would warrant this conversation and he didn't like it, for now he could just hope this was about something else.
Walking through the doors of the conference room the large table in the middle of the room lowered into the ground and the holographic circle appeared, walking into it Clark watched as silver walls of the room disappeared and the admittedly well-designed office that TIM uses appeared. He might have to take some of this as inspiration for his quarters back on his own ship, it wasn't built yet so he could make changes.
Turning his head forward he saw the man himself sitting in his chair smoking a cigarette "Kent, I think we have them!" he wasted no time in saying "Horizon, one of our colonies in the Terminus systems, just went silent" he informed as an image of the planet appeared beside him "if it isn't under attack yet, it soon will be. This could be your chance to get evidence of the Reapers direct from the source, you've been doing well acquiring the right individuals to present the evidence to the different governments in the galaxy but I don't think it's enough, not yet" he added.
Clark nodded as he crossed his arms "it's not enough, no way to go around that but we can use this to our advantage" he stroked his chin.
"how so?" TIM asked as he took another puff.
"There was never much of a concern to get the Alliance to act to the Reapers, all I would have to do is show up and ask, that would have been enough" which was true, even in this day and age all he would have to do is come out of the shadows and tell everyone who would listen about the Reapers, that would have gotten enough heads turning, the Alliance wouldn't have a choice, they would be forced to act, especially when half of the Alliance heads already know about the threat.
"However, we can make this easier. If this is a Collector attack, then the counter measure for the Seeker swarms needs to be ready" his arms dropped and he looked at TIM "I want you to send word to the Alliance" he said.
A frown appeared on his face at the request that was very much not a request "I seriously doubt that the Alliance would believe what I tell them" he simply said back.
"agreed" Clark nodded "but we don't know what state the Colony will be in when we arrive, as well as the colonists themselves. Unless you want to do it yourself, they'll need some sort of outside relief effort. A squad of Alliance ships can do that, not to mention this will also help them see the Collectors as a threat" he explained.
"very true" TIM nodded "but that still doesn't explain how the Alliance will believe my word" he added.
"then give them something they will believe" he said back "have your contacts send out word to the Alliance that Cerberus is about to launch a full-scale attack on the colony. They'll have to launch a counterattack of some sort"
"and lower the reputation of Cerberus in the eyes of the Alliance even more" TIM argued back "not to mention lower the time we have to take any data that is found within the Collectors ship. I don't want them to prevent any Evidence being taken"
Clark smirked a small bit "don't worry about the data, I promise we'll get it all. The point is to spread the word about the Collectors as much as possible. Get the Alliance at the colony and I'll get the data. Who knows, maybe I'll start to believe in the Reapers existence myself" without another word Clark turned around and left the call. As he stepped out of the hologram he stayed in the room for a moment and thought about the situation, the counter measure wasn't ready yet. He would need to speed it up, or they will need to hurry it up 'wait, that could work' he thought to himself.
"EDI, tell Joker to get us to Horizon. As fast as possible, no delays, every short cut taken. And tell Mordin, Miranda and every crew member that knows about engineering to get in here ASAP" he ordered.
"yes Mr. Kent" EDI said.
Clark waited five minutes as the room filled up with members of the crew, it was good EDI was here as she was no doubt taking up the slack from all the posts that where empty. As he stood at the head of the table Clark looked around, he could see Miranda and Mordin but two others, if he placed the names correctly these were Gabriella Daniels and Kenneth Donnelly, the two who work within the engine "ok guys" Clark said as they all looked towards him "good news and bad news, the good news is that Cerberus thinks that the Collectors are currently attacking Horizen" he said.
"what?" Miranda said as she looked to her wrist and brought out her omni-tool and started to search for herself.
"well that's bloody fantastic aint it" Kennth said looked to Gabby who just seemed troubled looking down to the ground.
"yes, most concerning. Though doesn't explain why presents was requested" Mordin spoke.
"true" Gabby said turning to face Clark "no offence sir but why am I and Kenneth here?" she asked.
"because I have a plan" Clark added, causing Miranda to look back up at him "the bad news, is that the counter to the Seeker swarms isn't ready yet" he turned and looked at Mordin "we're close but not close enough, we need to speed up the process which is why you're all here" Clark activated his omni-tool and a device appeared, hovering over the table. It wasn't too big, around the same size as one of the containers they have in the cargo hold "this is a blueprint for what can used to disperse the counter measure across the colony"
Everyone present seemed to take the device in to doubt giving it a detailed looked, while Gabby and Kenneth started to talk about it in hushed tones to each other Miranda and Mordin seemed to be back on their omni-tools and Clark suspected they were trying to see if they have enough tech to use it "how will it work?" Miranda asked.
"if it works as it's built to, it will release a heavily modified EMP burst that I designed a while ago that will target organics instead of synthetics" he added casually, though as he suspected they all turned to face him.
"what?" Miranda asked.
"why would you make something like that?" Gabby added with a slightly confused tone.
All Clark did was shrug "I was board and had nothing better to do" was all he said "point being we're going to use this to deal with the seekers"
Mordin started to pace slightly as he starred at the design "hhmm. Possible, probable even but how would it distinguish from all organic tissue?" Mordin asked.
"we use this" Clark said as he worked on his omni-tool another image appeared next to the EMP machine, though this one wasn't another machine or even an object, to someone with the average every deal intelligence, they would have no idea what they would be looking at but everyone here was smarter than that "seem familiar?" he asked looking over to Mordin.
The scientist was silent for a moment as he looked at the moment but his eyes soon lit up with recognition "plague that was released onto Omaga, believed to be Collector in design and origin" somehow is eyes seemed to light up even more "ah I see, we use plague as template to key device to Collector genetic tissue. Hhmm, problematic, will take time"
"not to me" Clark simply added "and you need to worry about your own work. Miranda" he said looking to the second in command who's back straightened "there's a list of everything that the device needs to be built, it's your job to find the components from within the ship without damaging it too much. You two" he said looking over to Gabby and Kenneth "I need you to build this as fast as you can and place it within the Cargo Hold" he turned to face Mordin "I need you to code the device to the Collectors while I feed you the data on them. EDI, you're gonna need to pick up the slack in engineering now that these two are gonna be busy"
"wait, why can't you just use this to take out the Collector ship entirely" Miranda asked.
Clark winced slightly before responding "because it only does something to those that have little protection. The ship and the soldiers which most likely wear Armor, it'll be too much to have any effect. The Seekers on the other hand. Have nothing to safe them from this" he explained.
Before anyone could ask any questions Clark start to move around the table and towards the door "fast as you can, we're on the clock" and then he blurred out of the room, only a small gust of wind left in his wake.
And just like that, he was gone. The occupants that remain in the room only remained motionless for a moment, still trying to process what they were just told "miss Lawson, I have a list of the necessary components ready for you" at the A.I words, all present where able to snap out of their daze and start working on the tasks that were assigned to them.
If a regular person was standing within the lab on the Normandy then they would be at a complete loss, no regular person not even EDI's sensors would be able to see what was happening. All they would be able to see is a visible gust of wind that was zooming across the room and everything inside the room is moving around as if it was a stop motion picture, test tubes, computer, screens, equipment.
Everything was moving, being placed in one place and then being moved again. It's like the whole room was evolving. But to someone who could move as quickly as Clark, it was pretty average. Normally he would like to take his time and even multitask with something else but now he was didn't have that luxury, he needed to act as fast as he could. Which has what led him too what he's doing now, using a fraction of his power to speed up the process, not his full speed of course as that would cause the wind that his body would generate to literary rip the room apart. With every single percent of data that he was able to acquire on the parameters that the EMP would use to wipe out the Collectors, at least those that would be in the blast radius.
Thankfully after Clark did the math, he was able to figure out that they would finish in time, though this was mainly due to the first fifty percent of the process already being known to him as that entailed the base code that was the foundation of the blast which made it so organic tissue would be targeted instead of electronics. It was the rest that was taking time as Clark needed to not only go through thousands of pages of data on the Collector plague but also take certain pieces of data that would provide the needed baseline that would tell him all he needs to know of the Collector DNA that would help him program the blast.
And with every single percent of data being completed is then immediately sent down to Mordin who is doing his own work. It wouldn't be ideal and is going to take a lot longer for him then the others but that wasn't something he could change, he just needed to buckle down and get it done as fast as possible.
She couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh as she walked across the green grass of the colony, she's been here for nearly six months now and she was at the edge of her rope with these people. The last two years seemed to just come and go for Ashely and it was a lot of different then she thought it would be.
When the Normandy went down by a ship she still to this day didn't what it was. The team that was brought together broke apart pretty quickly, which still to this day brought sadness to her and no-one was more surprised by that then her. Out of all the Normandy crew, Ashely was the most against the aliens on board, but it seemed that without her even meaning to she grew to really care about all members of the crew, even the aliens.
Garrus was someone she could respect as a team-mate and surpassingly someone she could connect with, especially when it came to her feelings on aliens because it was something he claimed to understand and apart from Shepard was a big part of getting her out of her anti-alien shell. He was just a nice guy that wanted to do good work.
Which is what led her to talking more openly with the other aliens on board and as much as she hated to admit it. They were alright, even Wrex, the Krogan, was a pretty ok guy. Sure, he had his own issues, but he wasn't that bad and she would forever want a Krogan on her team if the option became available.
Then there was the Asari, Liara. Yeah they never had a strong friendship, which was mainly due to her being a man steeling bitch or at least attempting to be. Though even then she couldn't help but feel bad for her given what happened to her mother. Ashley didn't know what she would do if she not only saw her mother die but had to be the one to do it.
Then came her favorite alien, Tali. That kid had somehow made herself as a little sister in her eyes and god-damn if Ashely didn't care about her like one. They still spoke with messages sometimes and she had to admit that timid Quarian had come a long way. Now she was leading teams, doing missions, seems she learnt a lot. The last she heard from Tali, it was after a mission she led to one of the human colonies that had been attacked by what they assume was Cerberus but as her team was attacked, they had a savior. Ashely still wasn't sure whether or not she was right. It couldn't be him, it was impossible but who else could do as Tali described. Expect maybe Shepard.
She stopped walking and looked down to the ground, ever since Shepard died, which still caused her heartache, but he had gotten pretty far in her grieving for the man she had loved. In fact she was confident that after two years she might be ready to move on if the right guy came along but he would have a tough hole to fill, Shepard was something else, even going down like a real captain as he went down with the ship he commanded.
But it seemed that he was the only one holding the team together, without him. It all just fell apart, the team went their separate way. Hell, Tali was the only one who she knew where they were. She has completely lost contact with everyone else.
Shaking her head and continuing to walk forward towards the one he was looking for "Lilith!" she said approaching the colonist "we've got a problem" she said as she fell in step beside her.
"still can't calibrate the targeting matrix?" she correctly guessed.
"Those defense towers are useless if we don't figure it out" she argued.
"sorry chief but getting are comm systems back online take the priority" she explained.
Oh, and hadn't that been a bitch to find out about. The comm systems went out a few hours ago and no-one has been able to explain how that happened, she sighed "yeah. Okay. Surprised people haven't tried to blame that one on me, too"
Lilith gave her a sympathetic look "people out here don't trust the alliance, it's not personal" Ashely was about to open her mouth to replay when a loud bang of thunder interrupted her.
They both turned their heads to the sight of a dark cloud seeming to appear out of nowhere. Feeling dread in her gut Ashely took out her rifle and aimed directly at it, that was when her eyes widen as she saw what was pocking out of the storm "run" she said quietly as the people who stood around her just starred at the same thing "RUN!" she shouted "go now, I'll cover you" she fried the weapon at the approaching... 'where those bugs?' she thought to herself as she and everyone else seemed to be swarmed by those things. Hell she didn't even know if she hit one before she felt the bite in her neck "AAGH" she grunted as she pulled it feel and crushed it in her hand. But before she could raise her weapon again, she was frozen, unable to move.
All she could do is watch as she saw everyone run away but it seemed that they won't going to fare any better than she did.
Clark kept his face calm as he rode the elevator down to the cargo hold, they were minutes away from exiting the Mass Relay. From there he could come up with the best way to deal with the threat. When the doors opened he saw the device in the middle of the hold, he had to admit, Daniels and Donnelly worked well under pressure. It was around six feet tall with a large cylinder structure with a large base full of computer circuits. It was plugged into a dozen computer terminals.
Which is where Solus was typing furiously, Miranda standing by his side typing on her own. Daniels and Donnelly were standing by the device, still working on it in different places. Garrus, Grunt, Kasumi and Jacob where off to the side checking their weapons and armour. Clark knew he was taking a risk when it came to the Krogan but he also knew that it wasn't fair to not give him a chance to prove himself.
"ok everyone?" Clark said as they all turned to face him "we're about the enter the systems so let's go over a plan" he stopped in front of the device as everyone gathered around him "alright, so the overall objective is to protect the colony and get evidence of the Reapers existence. We'll be mostly separated from each other in order to do that" he started to walk back and forth "once we entered the atmosphere, you'll all use the shuttle to get down to the surface while I deploy the device. Miranda, I'm leaving you in charge this time, you need to help organize a resistance with local colonists to help repel the Collector ground forces"
"err..." Kasumi said rising her hand as if she were in school "I thought I made myself clear when I said I wouldn't be doing any front lines fighting"
"I'm not surprised" Grunt suddenly spoke "you're so small and skinny, you're too weak to fight"
Instead of being offended Kasumi simply nodded "see, he agrees with me"
"there's more to strength then power Grunt. However, you're both right" he said "Kasumi you're going to wait in a secure area until the device is deployed, then I'll go and make sure that the ship can't get away. That's when I go get you and take you to the Collector ship" he turned to look at the thief "Your job is to find the bridge of ship and create a link for EDI to use as she'll start to take as much data as she can"
"and in order to best prepare myself, I have triple checked my firewalls and am diverting additional power and attention to them in order to prevent any hostile hacking attempts" EDI's voice said through the com system.
"Which is why you two" he turned to the two engineers "will need to pick up the slack since EDI will be busier than usual"
"ya got it" Kenneth said while Gabby nodded.
"once Kasumi's in position, will you be joining us?" Miranda asked placing a hand on her hip.
Clark shook his head "no, I'll be dealing with the bulk of their forces. They'll be a lot in a ship that size" he didn't explain the details of how he would achieve this and nobody asked.
"captain" Joker's voice said through the com "we've just entered the system and EDI's detecting an energy signature, she says it matches the one that was detected when the first Normandy was attacked"
Clark nodded "take us in Joker" he ordered.
Grunt smiled and slammed his fists together "yes, finally. The chance to fight a real foe"
Clark watched him for a moment before he walked over to the Krogan "Grunt" he said getting the tank breds attention "come" he added as he walked over to the corner of the cargo hold. Not the most respectful words but that wasn't something Grunt cared about "I know you are ready for battle but do not forget the mission, you need to protect the people" he said.
Grunt looked like he was about snap back but quickly stopped himself "I... I don't understand Battle Master" he added respectfully "if they are weak enough to be captured then why are they even worth our time?" he asked.
"There is more than one type of strength Grunt. Yes, there is prowess and skill in battle but there is so much more than that. You can ask any seasoned warrior and they will tell you that they would be useless without the others behind them. Those that build their weapons, make their armour, heal their wounds, feed them and so on and so on" he stopped for a moment as Grunt seemed to think about what he was being told. He could be difficult for anyone to understand that Grunt was for all intense and purposes was an infant.
Sure, he might be educated and given training, but he hasn't had the chance to learn for himself yet "and while Miranda might be small and fragile in comparison to you, she is strong in other ways" Grunt didn't replay but did look over to the XO "she knows a hundred different ways to kill all of you and she has the training to do it. She will lead you victory"
Grunt remained quite before he turned to Clark "as you say Battle Master" Clark nodded and made his way over to the device while everyone seemed to finish up.
"stealth systems are engaged, entering the atmosphere now" Joker said through the com.
Clark nodded as he started to unplug the device from the terminals Miranda and Mordin were working on "ok everyone, get in the shuttle" he said as he held the device over his shoulder and walked towards the primary door.
"Ready for deployment in three... two... one" Joker said before the door opened, and Clark had his first look at the colony. He had to admit, it was good looking. In fact, it remained him of home, well it would have done.
If it wasn't for the massive ship off in the distance and the millions of insects flying around and the large bug people walking around carrying frozen bodies of the colonists.
Without another word Clark stepped off the edge of the ramp and started to fall to the ground only to stop halfway. As he hovered in the air, he saw the shuttle leave the Normandy and the frigate shifted in direction and made it's way back up into space 'better hurry up' Clark thought to himself Now that the team didn't have any protection from the swarms. He flew up into the sky until he was about in the centre of the colony just over the Collectors ship so all of their forces should be spread out equally around him. Bringing the device in front of him Clark used the small touch screen to switch it on, it started to hum and Clark could feel it shaking in his hands. He waited for a moment before he knew it was ready, then he simply dropped it.
Miranda took a deep breath as she looked out the window of the drop ship. The burning red glow of the heat that came from entering the atmosphere faded away and was replaced by the green fields of the colony. Turning her head, she looked to the inside of the shuttle to see the team she was going to be leading. She was thankful for the chance.
It irked her more then she would like to admit that she wasn't placed in command the last time they had a mission to retrieve warlord Okeer but the more they thought about it she had to admit the method of using Garrus wasn't the worst, he did have leadership experience and the other aliens would feel better taking orders from another alien instead of her. A human woman who was a member of a human supremacist's group.
But now that there was a full threat to a colony that would require the whole team present, she was being placed in charge and she wasn't going to disappoint their leader. Clark had instructed her to keep these people safe, Superman had asked her to do this and she wasn't going to fail "we're going to landing in forty-five seconds" she said to everyone "we're touching down in front of the Malita barracks, we'll use that as a base of operations and cover point for any civilians that we find" she instructed "Grunt and Jacob will take the front entrance. Mordin, you'll be with me inside using the com channels available in order to best order all survivors back to the building. Garrus, I want you on the roof calling out incoming forces. Kasumi, you stay with him until Clark comes to get you. Everyone understood?" she asked.
There was no grand 'Yes Ma'am' but even she knew that was just wishful thinking but she did get a couple of nods and 'yes's' so that was something "UNKOWN PLUSE INCOMING!" the voice of the pilot shouted out from the cockpit. Miranda and a handful of others looked out the window, they barely got a glance at the approaching ground before a wave of white, web like energy rush past them.
There was a small jolt that hit the shuttle that caused everyone to stumble slightly but before anyone could complain or ask what happened the shuttle door opened and Miranda jumped out causing everyone to do the same. The first thing she noticed was the squishing she felt on her foot and looking down she frowned when she saw the seeker she stepped on. Not to mention what must be thousands falling from the sky's "CONTACT!" Garrus shouted as he a shot flew over Miranda's shoulder.
Her eyes saw the target as soon as Garrus shouted and she, along with everyone else raised their weapons. The body of the Collector hit the ground with a bleeding hole in its head "forward, take the building" she ordered as everyone moved forward.
Never before has Ashley felt so angry and so scared at the same time. Here she was, unable to do anything but look at everything around her. She was frozen in place, standing strong in an attack stance, her hand still on her sidearm but she all she could do was stand and watch as these... things walk around and start to drag people away.
'what the hell are these things?' he thought to herself as she watched the horrified face of one of the colonists as it was frozen in place while she was being dragged across the ground towards what she could only guess was a drop ship of some kind based on the sounds she was hearing but because it was happening behind her.
This is where the fear was coming from, she feared death just as much as everyone else but she never let it get to her. She did that by making her believe that she could give her life for a better cause, that her death would be a part of a greater purpose but this, even now as her body struggled to move. Just her arm, that was all she was trying to do, just raise her arm so she could shoot one of those ugly fuckers in front of her.
She knew it was only a matter of time before they would take her as well and they would do god knows what to her. That was what she feared, dying doing nothing more than being a thing or some alien to experiment on. If she was going to die, then at least let her die taking one of those fuckers with her. She was a fighter, a warrior, a soldier. At the very least god could let her die like one. Gritting her teeth, or at least trying to. Very hard considering she couldn't move but she used all her strength to try and lift her arm.
That was when she saw it, at the corner of her eye there was a bright white light. If she could have squinted, she would have but that wasn't an option, the best she could do was look in the opposite direction. When she did she saw two of those fucking bug things looking over her towards the light. They were both raising their weapons, like that was going to do something.
Before they could do anything however the light seemed to engulf her, without even planning anything, instead she acted on pure instinct. Her hand rose and she aimed her pistol at her targets and the weapon sang.
It took a couple of shots, but both hit the ground, dead. She only had time to catch her breath before she felt something hit the top of her head. Quickly recoiling at the sensation, she reached up to grab whatever it was and pull it off. Looking to her hand she saw a massive fly that seemed to have some wires running around across its body, she couldn't even wince in disgust before she saw another hit the ground beside her.
Ashely looked up and her jaw dropped as she saw the sky was full of what can only be described as a rainfall of alien insects. She only had a moment to react before she heard footsteps from behind her, quickly turning around she was met with three more of the aliens. Reacting quickly she fired two shots before immediately diving for cover just before their own weapons fired. She took a crouching stance behind a couple of containers.
Just as she was about to stand up and return fire, her omni-tool started to beep "attention all colonists of Horizen, this is Miranda Lawson. You are all ordered to make your way to the militia Headquarters to help with the defense" the distinct female voice said.
Ashely took a moment in order to gain her thoughts, but she didn't have a choice right now. Quickly standing up from her cover she fired her weapon and was able to find her targets, their bodies quickly falling to the ground. Not wanting to rush in quickly she activated her omni-tool and entered the com channel "Miranda Lawson. This is Gunnery Chief Ashely Williams of the Alliance. Now forgive my lack of decorum BUT WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" she shouted that last part, drawing the attention of more of the aliens. Which she started to shoot at.
"I'm the executive officer of the Normandy SR-2. We have the building secure and... wait did you say 'Ashely Williams'?" the voice asked with a confused voice.
"Normandy SR-2?" she said back out loud "what do you mean Normandy SR-2?" She asked back into the com.
However, instead of the woman's voice coming back from the com. Instead it was a voice she hasn't heard in a long time "Williams? Is that you?" a very recognizable voice said.
"Garrus?" she couldn't help but shout "what the fuck are you doing here?" she asked as she started to make her way towards the building that had been marked on her omni-tool.
"Oh, lots of things. Sitting on a roof, shooting some collectors, watching peoples back, trying to figure out how Clark's going to bring down that admittedly scary ship" he explained "are you coming or what?" he asked.
Ashley was silent for a moment, her face contorted in concentration as she thought about what was said "who the hell is Clark?" she asked, honestly she didn't even mean to say that out loud.
But as if God himself heard what she said, the sound of the sky being torn open hit her ears. She looked up to see a bur fly over the horizon before stopping in the sky, hovering in place. Unable stop herself, Ashely's jaw dropped and it would've hit the floor if it wasn't attached to her face. All she could make out was white skin, dark hair and the edges of a black coat swaying in the wind "by god" was all she was able to say before the sky lit up with a red light and two beams the size of the Mass Effect round from a dreadnought flew across the sky and hit the bottom of the massive ship.
If that ship had barriers, then they might as well not exist. Ashley had never seen anything like it before. Not even Sovereigns weapons went through the Alliance ships as fast as those beams did. They went through the hull of that ship like a hot knife through butter, they hit the bottom where the engines are and if the ship was any closer Ashely would think that the explosion would have taken the colony along with it 'Tali was right' she couldn't help but think "I'm on my way Garrus" was all she said before she turned around and started to jog towards the Milita HQ building.
Clark kept his face stoic as he saw the massive ship's engines burst into flame as it started to fall to the side. He rolled his eyes, right on top of the main settlement of the colony. Flying forward with incredible speed Clark raised both his hands and this was a shockwave as he collided with the ship, the only effect he had to give is not finding the strength to move the ship but instead to not go through it, he needed to get a good grip of the outer hull in order to move it out of the way.
With a small tug, he looked both his hands and his fingers dug into the metal/organic hybrid that seemed to make up the outer hull. Cracking around his fingers as they were dug in, he slowly rose his arms, taking the weight of the ship as he did so. Knowing that the area he was facing was mostly farmland with little housing, Clark knew it would be the best choice. He brought his arms towards his chest slightly before he gave the ship a simple shove.
The colossal ship flew through the air, the sound of the wind being pushed out of the way as it did so. It was almost as if he could hear the ground protest against the added weight as the large ship landed sideways against the crop fields.
Knowing that they were still on a timetable, he headed back to the area where the ground team was. Which didn't take long to find considering all the shooting. He quickly landed on the roof where Garrus was crouched against an air system with his weapon ready to fire again. Kasumi was sitting next to him, though she did look a little more worried about the whole situation. Not that surprising considering she was after all just a thief, a very good thief that's seen some fighting, but she wasn't a soldier. This kind of fighting wasn't something she would go anywhere near.
When Clark's heat hit the roof of the building, they both turned to face him. He expected the combined looks of horror, awe, fear, etc, on their faces. It wasn't really a surprising, there were always those looks when he showed what he could do "Clark... sir" Garrus stuttered, trying to decide if he should be more respectful or not "that... I" he tried.
But before he could try and talk Clark zoomed to his side and placed his hand at the side of his face, blocking the shot that was about to hit him "Garrus, get your head on straight" the was weirdly enough for him to get back into it. He didn't say anything else, he turned around and fired his weapon at the collector targets "Kasumi" he turned to the thief as she simply looked up at him with her weapon in hand "are you ready?" he asked softly.
She didn't answer straight away, not that he could blame her. It was easy to tell she was scared. She shook her head "as I'll ever be" she said standing up and Clark quickly moved beside her to help shield her from some stray fire.
"I AM KROGAN!" they heard Grunt yell from the front of the building as he fought off some of the Collectors from the ground level.
"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe" he said as he placed a hand on the back of her head.
"what are you doing?" Kasumi asked.
"oh" Garrus said as he crouched back behind cover and reloaded his weapon "I hope you had a light lunch" he added before Kasumi and Clark disappeared in with a gust of wind.
Clark kept a firm hold of Kasumi as the two flew through the air towards the down Collector ship. Going further over the ship away from the burning engines and towards the top of the ship. He slowed them down and they both gently stepped on the hull, once he let go of the thief she couldn't help but wobble in place before being forced onto her knees "you alright?" he asked.
She didn't answer at first, though she did look up. After a few seconds she was able to pick herself up and look at him "I'm good" she said though it was more of a whisper.
"good" Clark said as he took a couple of steps backwards and quickly slammed his hand directly into the hull of a ship. As his hand remained inside, he closed it into a fist and pulled and chunk of the hull away leading to a small vent "Ok Kasumi" he spoke kneeling down at the edge of the hole "the ship's bridge is about two hundred meters down this vent" he informed.
"wait" the thief said "if you know where the bridge is then why don't you go down and hack into it?" she asked with an annoyed expression.
"Because they could have anything down there, if I try to start hacking into it while everyone is shooting at me, they could delete their hard-drives, initiate a self-destruct or anything" he explained "but you can do it because I'll be busy fucking literarily everything up for them. They won't even notice you" he said "speaking of" he said as he stood up and flew up into the air.
"GARRUS!" Ashely shouted as she crouched beside the Turian on the roof of the Milita building "HOW THE HELL DID YOU MEET SUPERMAN!?" she asked as the two old crewmates fired at the Collectors.
"I DIDN'T, HE FOUND ME!" he said back as he used his sniper to pick up some off some of the husks "I was in Omega when he got me out of a fight, told me that Cerberus are after the Reapers" he said as crouched back down behind the air-con unit and reloaded.
"Are you kidding me?" she said back "Superman is working for Cerberus?" she asked.
"NO!" Garrus shouted over the sound of a grenade going off nearby. Looking down over the edge of the roof he saw a collection of two dozen different men and woman spread out around cover firing in all different directions that seem to be under the command of Jacob "it's more of a 'working with' situation but being honest after seeing that" he gestured to the giant crashed ship that was still exploding in different places "I've got a feeling that he could do this on his own"
"of course, he could" Ashely said as she crouched next to him, it didn't take long to find him. When she did she immediately made her way to the roof of the building to cover him just in case anyone got to close for his sinper "he's fucking Superman. Jesus Christ, I thought he was dead. I should let Tali know" she added.
"You've been speaking to Tali?" Garrus asked with a surprised voice "I haven't spoken to her in nearly a year, how's she been?" he added as he peaked up over his cover and fired again.
Before she could answer a voice came in through the com "all defenders, be advised we have incoming hostiles coming from the downed ship, possible troop transport or heavy units. Be prepared" Miranda's said through the com.
"YES, BRING MORE!" Grunt shouted from the front line as he stomped down on the head of a Collector as he tried to crawl away and unloaded a round in its head.
"Understood Lawson" Garrus said back as he turned and looked in the direction of the ship, raising his weapon he looked down the scope and almost did a double take at what he saw "eyes on hostiles" he said out loud but also through the com so all could hear "I count seven-teen. Looks like heavy infantry. Can only guess on weapon capabilities" he added.
"Gurney Chief Williams are you prepared for a solo mission" Miranda spoke.
Ashely couldn't help but grit her teeth, it was taking a lot of self-control in order to stop herself from going down there and making it very clear with her fists that she wouldn't be taking orders from Cerberus "what mission?" was all she said.
"Mr. Sampson is here and has made it clear that the weapons that we're using now are all the ones we have. We need more firepower. I need you take someone and go to the defense tower control and get them working again" she said.
Ashley couldn't help but roll her eyes, James Sampson was the unofficial leader of the militia, an ex-alliance solider, veteran of the first contact war and a well decorated solider but for reasons she still didn't know, something happened, and he lost faith in the Alliance which is what led to him living here "are you out of your mind?" she couldn't help but say "it would take days to recalibrate those guns" she argued.
Miranda didn't say anything at first but then there was a beeping coming from the Omni-tool "we've uploaded a program to your Omni-tool, it will be able to complete the calibrations within a few minutes. You have to hurry; we'll be overrun if you don't" she added before the com cut out.
All Ashely could do is stay quiet for a moment before she rolled her eyes "Damit" she muttered before standing and worked her way down to the ground level "Grunt!" she shouted to the large Krogan, silently thankful Garrus told her all the names "come with me!" she added "we're going further in" she stopped walking and stood beside him and pointed forward towards where all the bug things were coming from and exactly where the tower was.
Grunt didn't say anything, but he did make a sound "hehehehe"
Clark didn't even feel the explosion that had engulfed him, all he did was raise into the air as the army of Collectors moved towards him, all of them firing with surprisingly good accuracy. He was half a mile in the air just in from a large hull breach at the side of the ship, it seemed that countless Collectors where flooding towards him. The green grass underneath him was starting to stain back from the blood that was being spilled, he couldn't help but sigh at that, he never did like it was an environment was damaged.
Glancing downwards Clark could easily make out two hundred Collector soldiers, not even looking for cover but just standing up firing at him. He had to admit, he was learning a lot about them just by watching. The most important thing right now was that they weren't talking to each other, at least in no way Clark could see 'a hive mind then?' he asked himself.
Knowing that he's waited long enough, Clark's eyes glowed red and much like before he unleashed a large blast of solar energy but this one was different. While the last one was a large, this one was more focused. It was just as powerful but instead of a large round blast, this one was more equal to that of a flat beam. It hit the ground just in front of the ground forces but as Clark tilted his head backwards slightly the beam moved upwards and ingulfed there forces.
Once those on the ground where dealt with Clark moved through the air at quick speeds and pulled his arms back and punched one of the flying drones that moved towards him. It had multiple thin legs with a large head like body with a mouth that looked like it was full of...skulls? He guessed. It didn't matter, he tore through them like he did everything else.
"Assuming direct control" an unnatural voice hit Clarks ears and he quickly turned to face where the voice came from. When he did, his eyes narrowed as he saw one of the surveying Collectors thrashes around as it stood before it floated into the air and its body began to contort and yellow cracks began to form around it's body.
It started falling to the ground but before it's feet could reach it; Clark flew forward and punched it in the chest. It only had a small increase in resistance compared to all the others. As it lay on its back Clark dropped to the ground and walked forward until he stood right in front of its body. He almost did a double take when it started to move, that punch was enough to kill it but it was still somehow moving. Like something else was controlling it.
"Kryptonian" the voice said again causing Clark to frown "your presence changes nothing. This galaxy has the attention of those who are infinitely your greater" he spoke.
"So" Clark started as he walked around the down body before he kneeled down near the head "you are real after all" he said calmly "I had hoped that he was wrong" he added thinking about Commander Shepard "how long until the rest of the Reapers arrive?" he asked, thinking there was no harm in trying to get some more information.
"your ignorance is insulting. That which you know as Reapers are your salvation to destruction, this delay is pointless. The harvest will continue" he said back, the bright yellow eyes starring back at him.
"You have to know I would never allow that" he said back calmly.
"your intervention was unexpected but pointless. The cycle will not be broken. We are infinite, we are eternal, we are the Harbingers of your perfection. Releasing control" that seemed to be the end of the conversation as the yellow light faded from the body before it seemed to fizzle out, dying from the injury Clark gave it before.
He was quite for a moment as he thought about the conversation 'Damit' he couldn't help but say to himself. The odds of that being a lie or type of fabrication were just too much, so the Reapers were real 'what the hell am I supposed to do about that?' he thought to himself.
Clark was so deep in thought that he almost didn't notice someone calling him over the com "Captain, it's Joker. Just wanted to let you know that it looks like the whole alliance third fleet just appeared in the system" he was told over the com.
"I understand Joker" Clark said "tell the shuttle pilot to make their way to the L.Z" he ordered before he changed the channel and contacted Miranda "Miranda, I need you to get Mordin, Garrus, Jacob and Grunt then make quietly make your way to the L.Z. the alliance just showed up and I can't be bothered to deal with them right now, our times up"
"understood sir" Miranda said back quickly.
"Kasumi, are you in yet?" he asked the thief.
"all...most... there, I'm in" she said.
"good, leave the connection open and make your way back to the vent" Clark ordered as he floated into the air above the ship. There were more of those flying drones but just before Clark was about to blast one before it was blown out of the sky. He turned around and saw the ground defenses which seemed to be working.
"I have successfully recalibrated the anti-air defence systems. I will begin the hacking of the Collector ship" Edi said over the com.
"good, Joker while EDI's doing that I want you to bring the ship in closer and get a flight path ready to get out of the system quick" he ordered.
"copy that" the pilot said before Clark flew down to the vent Kasumi went into and only had to wait a couple of minutes before the thief made herself known.
"are you ok?" he asked.
Kasumi doubled over and took a couple of long deep breaths before she straightened up "yeah, I'm ok. But if we're going flying again. Please just take it slow or I swear I will throw-up on you" she warned, and Clark just gave a chuckle.
Taking her words to heart Clark decided too instead be more friendly this time around. Before she could protest Clark bent down and picked her up bridal style "oh my" Kasumi couldn't help but say with a dramatic voice "but Mr. Kent, we work together. This is too unprofessional"
"Ha" Clark laughed as he took off into the air, heading towards the L.Z.
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