Chapter 9 – Sometimes More is Better
January 23rd, 2211, 2312 hours – Aboard the SSV Hippocrates, Deck 7, Bridge
6 hours and 12 minutes after Outbreak
"Val, we're making our towards the engine room now. We need to recouple the Drive Core and deal with some kind of issue in one of the Biology labs before we can arrange for an evac" Percival said into his comms. set.
"Roger that Spectre, you guys need anything? I still have two teams of Jaeger's standing by, they're feeling a bit restless, sir" replied Val.
"Negative Flight Lieutenant, keep them on standby in case we need a quick reaction force. Maintain a patrol path around the SSV Hippocrates and let us know if the sensor's pick up any craft on an approach vector. We have reason to believe that the saboteurs might be looking for a way off this ship and they're carrying sensitive data that we're looking to get back. How's the status of the Excalibur?"
"Copy. SSV Excalibur is green, we vented our emission sinks and re-stealthed after we dropped off the first batch of Jaegers. Engineering, comms and weapons are reading in the green. How's Operative Cloud? He still in one piece?" Val asked candidly over the open channel.
If I was capable of blushing, maybe I would have. Camilla grinned and playfully punched my shoulder while Cade had what looked to be a look of feigned hurt plastered over his face.
Percival looked over at me and smiled, "He's fine Val, still pretty. Would you like an update on Operative Kitiarian's status as well?"
"I'm good, sir. SSV Excalibur signing off, holler if you need anything" she finished.
"Wow, what did I ever do to her?" Cade shook his head sadly.
Percival shot him a look of absolute incredulity, "You seriously don't remember?"
"No" Cade shot back.
"First day aboard the ship, you took her hairbrush and used it to clean your armor. She almost knifed you in your sleep. I had to literally shield you from her." Percival began to list off.
"In my defense turians don't have hair. I had no idea what she else she might have used that brush for" Cade said apologetically. That was a good point, I thought.
"And the best part is, you didn't even wake up, not until she started screaming at you"
"I trusted you to watch my back" Cade shrugged.
Percival brushed Cade aside and relentlessly continued down his list. "Next, you tried to shoot and kill her pet hamster"
"turians and most of the galaxy at large kill rodents and pests, humans are quite literally the only species I know of that keep them as pets" Cade argued. That was a very, very good point.
Percival wrapped a big, armored arm around the slimmer turians shoulders and pulled him in close. "And finally," he began "you hit on her and all her female friends aboard the ship in what would have most definitely been a breach of fraternization regulations had you been in the Systems Alliance military" he finished dramatically.
Cade's eyes glinted mischievously, "ah, but I am not Systems Alliance military, am I?" he said.
Both Percival and Cade started laughing raucously. Camilla blew a strand of hair out of her face and rolled her eyes at the shameless turian.
"At the risk of sounding absolutely cliché, it sure sounds like you know how to treat a woman" she sighed.
"Green isn't your color, Camilla" I said wryly, prompting both Percival and Cade laughed even louder. They both wiped tears off of their faces then proceeded to poke fun at Camilla, questioning her suspicious indignation at having discovered Cade's propensity for wooing human females.
I ignored them and continued calibrating the borrowed N7 Valkyrie Battle Rifle I had borrowed from one of the Alliance Jaegers. With a set of finely-crafted screwdrivers and tools I kept in one of the utility pouches attached to my belt, I made small micro-adjustments to the inner mechanisms of the appropriated weapon.
Unlike Cade's M-15 Vindicator, the N7 Valkyrie fired in two, rather than three, round bursts. Satisfied that the inner mechanisms were all in working order, I began calibrating the sights on the weapon. The original owner, a grim, dour-faced corporal, had already added a silencer and a disrupter-round ammunition block. Although it lacked a specialized scope, it had an optional holographic sight that could be used for targets of moderate distance. It wasn't my M-15 Vindicator, but it would have to do for now.
Satisfied, I reassembled the weapon and powered it on, causing it to unfold with a whine into my hands. The dual-barrel build of the Valkyrie gave it a faster firing rate than the M-15 Vindicator, although the clip held only 16 bullets compared to the Vindicators 24.
Seeing that I was finished, both Percival and Cade ceased their teasing and immediately began sobering up. Cade double-checked the Tactical Cloak on his armor, flickering in and out of existence while making experimental movements while stealthed. His Infiltrator suit was no longer pristine as it had been when we had first boarded the ship—gouges, pockmarks, and plasma scarring where Camilla had almost fried him with her shotgun all marred the shell of his armor.
Percival booted up his omni-tool and activated his tech armor. Bright red armor seemingly made from light sprang up to hover mere centimeters above the big marine's chest, shoulders, forearms and legs. His N7 armor suit was likewise as dented and battered as mine and Cade's were. The menacing red tech armor artfully matched the single red stripe running down his red arm that identified him as one of the Systems Alliance's best and brightest. He powered on his Lancer and inspected his remaining Inferno Grenades before nodding to me.
Like Cade I also ran a check on my stealth systems, ensuring that the coverage was impenetrable and in fine working order. Unlike my two fellow Spectres, my armor was sleeker and much less bulkier than the sets that they had chosen to wear. I lacked armor plates on both my upper arms and my rear thighs and the armor plates I did have weren't all that thick, even compared to Percival's N7 set. I liked to rely more on my strong kinetic shields and my biotic barriers for protection. The armor was mostly there to prevent me from getting bruises or scratches, and to make myself look damn cool.
Camilla checked her Plasma shotgun, armor and omni-tool as well, flashing us a thumbs-up once she was satisfied that it was all in working order.
Finished, we all marched over to meet up with the rest of the team. Accer nodded in greeting, while the large Alliance Jaeger, Gunnery Chief Sean Teewin, saluted Percival.
Rake and his men stood beside them, Lancers held across their chests and eyes glued on me. Our two turian marines, Mardinus and Verus, both stood rigidly at attention a few feet away from them. Dr. Jaelen Veers and Dr. Rentea T'lana had both appropriated a pair of kinetic shield generators from fallen bridge officers. Both were clad in nothing more than their science uniforms. I sighed, those shield generators might stop a stray bullet or two, but would by absolutely useless against the close quarters capabilities of the Corpsers. I could only hope that the asari medical officer was proficient in the use of barriers.
"Alright everyone" Percival began. "Before we proceed with the mission, there is one thing that I want to make absolutely clear. Out there, you do exactly what we say, when we say it. There's no room for doubt or hesitation, there is no margin for error. I don't want any of you to die and I will do my best to guarantee all your safeties, but in order for me to do that I need you to place your trust in me, I need you to trust that my orders are in your best interests. Can you do that? Are we in agreement?" he questioned the group.
"We're with you all the way, Spectre" Jaelen responded cheerfully.
Percival nodded. "Good, thank you. Assignments are as follows" he continued.
"Gunnery Chief Rakiharu Kinzo, Specialist Sophia Croft, Corporal Jaypaul Gaffke and Corpsman Vonderrius Flyssander will form the rear guard" Percival ordered. The four marines saluted sharply at the Spectre. "Dr. Veers, T'lana and Camilla will be in the center of the group, about a meter ahead of them"
The three civilian specialists nodded soberly at Percival. As much as they might want to fight, this mission would be over if any of them were to be killed before we got to the engine room. I was especially concerned about Dr. Veers. As much as I liked Camilla, if push came to shove we could probably figure out how to recouple the Drive Core ourselves. Jaelen's scientific knowledge concerning these creatures, however, was much more invaluable to us in the long run.
"Second Lieutenant Accerrimus Burton and Gunnery Chief Sean Teewin will have the right flank, Sergeant Vidanor Mardinus and Private Galen Verus will take the left, and us Spectre's will take point. Cover your designated firing lanes and trust your comrades to have your back. I'll call for specialized fire support and targets as the need arises" Percival finally finished.
I was glad to have the marine at my side. Unlike Cade and I, Percival had almost half a decade of experience commanding men. While all three of us could direct and lead squad and fireteam-level operations with extreme proficiency, only Percival had any experience commanding anything more than that. He had been thrust into the Slaver Fringe Wars as a freshly-minted Second Lieutenant right out of the Systems Alliance Officer Candidate School. He had made Lieutenant-Commander within two years after being decorated with commendations after the Battle of Bahak and had then been accepted into the prestigious N7 Program. He served with further distinction for another three years before being asked by the human councilor to be Humanity's 6th human Spectre.
Percival then turned to the surviving crew on the Bridge "Command of the survivors falls on Lieutenant-Commander Syriah Barthilus while were away, with command of overall defense falling to Captain Elias Murgen" he further ordered. The two officers nodded and saluted.
"We'll keep them safe" Barthilus promised.
Although Captain Murgen technically outranked Lieutenant-Commander Barthilus, the turian bridge officer was much better known to the survivors and the crew and had thus far demonstrated a considerable talent for diplomacy and level-headed thinking in the face of a crisis. Both Percival and I had realized this and had decided to give Barthilus overall command in light of these characteristics, something that Murgen had cheerfully agreed to. The Alliance Jaeger was more than happy to leave the care of the survivors in hands far more capable than his own, preferring to stick to commanding his marines and the ragtag survivors of the ship's security personnel.
"What about Captain Farragut?" Camilla asked.
"Had to give him a second dose, should come to in about a half hour" Jaelen winked conspiratorially. Cade laughed but both Percival and I exchanged a worried look. Needless to say, when Farragut came about and found that he had been relieved of command, chances are he wouldn't take that sitting down.
"Don't take shit from him, Lieutenant-Commander. Consider that an order" I told Barthilus.
"Far be it from me to disobey a Spectre" he chuckled.
I smiled and gave Murgen a knowing look. He nodded back at me and I suddenly felt much better about the situation. I could trust Murgen to handle a shitty bridge officer if Barthilus wasn't up to the task. I really didn't want to come back and find a bunch of survivors dead just because Farragut decided to throw his weight around.
Percival made a hand gesture and immediately two of the Alliance Jaegers moved to deactivate the mass effect fields that acted as our make-shift barricade. They turned off with a hum, leaving the area beyond the bridge bathed in darkness.
Immediately the noise on the bridge died down as if a giant hand had suddenly turned a massive dial. I could sense how unsettled the survivors suddenly became – their breathing suddenly became more hard and labored, a few were deathly silent and I could hear more than one survivor whimpering behind me. Camilla swallowed nervously while Cade's fingers began to tap nervously against the trigger of his Vindicator.
I moved up first. With a flick I activated the flashlight attachment on my Valkyrie, the beam of light that it emitted cutting into the darkness beyond and guiding my way. I stepped out past the barriers and looked around, ready and alert. Eventually my eyes began to adjust to the lack of light. I began to make out the details of the hall beyond the bridge, could spot thin strips of emergency lights somewhere further down.
Humans had this wonderful ability to adjust and adapt regardless of the situation. It had ensured our survival over countless millennia as we evolved to become the dominant species on Earth, and it propelled us now into a future where faster-than-light travel, massive superstructures, and a galactic presence was reality rather than science fiction.
In times like these, our fight-or-flight instincts would kick on. Adrenaline would flood our systems, constructing our blood vessels and increasing our blood pressure, expand our airways and dilate our pupils. Fear turned to anger, anger made us brave, made us strong. If there were monsters out there, hiding in the dark, well they were probably hiding from me.
"What are you all waiting for, a goddamn invitation? Move it!" I called out behind me.
January 23rd, 2211, 2343 hours – Aboard the SSV Hippocrates, Deck 7, Pedestrian Corridor 9F – Exit B
6 hours and 43 minutes after Outbreak
I stifled a yawn and shook my head to clear it. Crouched to my right was Cade, flanking the other side of a pair of doors that opened up into the ship's main central passageway. Beyond the door was a cacophony of guttural moans and ghastly howls coming from the twisted throats of what had been the ship's crew. I peeked my head out past the door, making a note of the rough position and mentally counting each hostile.
"At least 54 of them, plus what looks like a fucking Krogan Changer. That thing is nearly 12 feet tall" I whispered to Cade.
"And that's just within visual range. The main central passageway runs for almost 800 meters, there's bound to be more" Cade replied.
For the first time since this whole fiasco had started, both Cade and I were wearing our full-faced helmets. We generally only wore them for missions involving compromised atmospheres where airborne toxins or radiation was involved, although we always kept them with us just in case. Unlike Percival, both of us disliked the way helmets restricted our mobility, narrowed our fields of vision and blocked out certain smells and sounds. As advanced as armor technology was in the 24th century, there was no substitute for the situational awareness that not wearing a helmet provided.
But on the plus side, we could talk in relatively normal volumes without being overheard by homicidal, shambling mechanical zombies. Why we didn't wear our helmets more often I would never know.
Dull, heavy thumps suddenly drew closer and closer to where Cade and I crouched hidden. Immediately the two of us pressed our backs tight into our respective corners, ceasing all chatter and staying completely and utterly still.
The Krogan Changer- the first we had ever seen- walked by. A mass of tentacles sprouted from its left arm, dragging behind it, but otherwise it was visually similar to its Corpser brethren, albeit more armor-plated and much, much larger. Also unlike its smaller brethren, it didn't make a single sound—it didn't moan, didn't howl, didn't so much as make a peep.
It passed within a foot of our hiding spot. Although the both of us were completely still, something made the large Changer pause in place and raise its head rhythmically, almost as if it was sniffing the air. Cade and I tensed up as the hulking behemoth swung its head back and forth, as if it knew something was nearby but couldn't quite see where. Its massive metal and flesh torso shifted and the deck underneath its feet creaked in protest under the weight of the massive creature.
Eventually it moved on, prompting both Cade and I to let out a quiet sigh of relief. Had our tactical cloaks not been active, chances are it would have seen us and proceeded to try and ruin our night.
"That was a bit too close for comfort" Cade radioed to me.
"You're telling me. That thing must have weighed at least three tons" I replied.
"Think we could have taken it?" he asked.
I paused to consider. Chances are we probably would have to fight that thing if we wanted to proceed to the engine room. After we had left the Bridge, we had taken a pedestrian corridor that should have taken us directly to an elevator that would take us up to deck 12. Unfortunately, a pair of doors had been sealed shut and none of us could open it without using heavy explosives that would likely attract every hostile on this ship to our location.
We had backtracked and sealed ourselves up in a medium-sized storage room. We checked the schematics and found that the only way up to the engine room was to make our way into the main central passageway, move down the ship for a few dozen meters, and enter another corridor that led to an elevator that would hopefully be accessible. Percival had asked Cade and I to stealth and scout out the passageway and here we were, meters away from what could possibly be hundreds of those synthetic freaks and hiding like a pair of rabbits.
"Probably, especially if we had fire support from the marines" I answered. "It's big, but it doesn't look like anything a dozen grenades couldn't solve. But that's only if were just dealing with the Changer. If it had auxiliary support—well, that's a different story."
"Agreed. Maybe we can bypass it somehow without pissing it off" Cade said hopefully.
I chuckled to myself, "you're joking, right? You've seen the ship schematics, you know exactly what Percival is going to ask us to do" I told the optimistic turian.
Cade sighed through the channel, "Yeah, sometimes I really, really hate my job"
I chuckled again, "shut up, you know you love it"
Cade moved back a meter away from the door while I stayed in place and kept careful watch. The Krogan Corpser had moved further down the passageway towards the bridge. Although the massive blast door between the passageway and the bridge entryway remained sealed, I had no idea if it would hold against an attack from that behemoth. Speaking of, if that thing managed to get through, there was a snowball's chance in hell that the mass effect barricades that the Jaegers erected would keep that thing out.
"Percival? It's Cade. Enemy presence is heavy in the main central passageway…" Cade reported, "I recommend finding an alternative route" he added hopefully.
Percival's voice came up on both our private channel. "Negative, Cade. We can't waste any more time. Both of you fall back to our position, we're going to discuss our plan of attack"
Cade sighed again, "Roger that, we'll be back in ten" he told the N7.
"Affirmative, Percival out."
The groan that Cade let out after Percival closed the channel was so loud that for a moment I feared that those creatures had heard it. I looked to back to where my friend was crouched, stealthed. Although I couldn't see him right now, I knew that his face was likely buried in his hands and his eyes were screwed shut.
"It was worth a shot" I told him.
"Eat shit" he simply replied.
I laughed quietly before trying to assuage some of his pain, "you know, if we don't kill that thing it might end up attacking the bridge, and you know as well as I do that—"
"—that the mass-effect barricades won't do a thing against it, I know" Cade shot back.
I struggled to keep a straight face as I goaded the pissed-off turian, "And if it attacks the bridge, not only would it bring its friends and the survivors would likely all die, but we'd—"
"—We'd have to probably fight it anyways after we recoupled the drive core, because we need to initiate the self-destruct from the Bridge, I know!" Cade vehemently replied, louder this time.
I looked around in alarm, there was a good chance that something had definitely heard him, even though we had our helmets on, "quiet dude! And if—"
"I KNOW" Cade screamed at me over our channel. Not that he even needed the channel. This time he had responded so loudly that I could most definitely hear him through his helmet. This time I could also hear the heavy, plodding footsteps of the 3000-pound, synthetic-organic killing machine as it made its way back towards us, likely intent on investigating what had made the noise and stomping us into nonexistence. Totally worth it though.
A huge, deformed head suddenly shoved its way past the door and into the hallway where I was hiding, mere inches from my own head. The krogan had originally possessed a green headplate. Synethetic cables erupted from parts of the plate to dig haphazardly into other parts, large metal teeth cut angry red lines into what was left of its lip, causing them to bleed profusely and giving it an awful slavering appearance. It sniffed loudly, once again trying to pinpoint my location.
"I should just hit you with this overload, de-cloak you and watch it tear you apart" Cade whispered vindictively.
I didn't respond, instead choosing to hold my breath and exercise every ounce of my considerable will to keep every strand of muscle in my body as still as possible. The Changer turned its head my way and stared directly into my faceplate, maybe less than three inches away now. I couldn't help but notice that it didn't fog up my visor, meaning that it probably didn't require oxygen. That confirmed the hypothesis I'd developed upon seeing the lungs on that human Corpser that Jaelen had showed me back at the Bridge. I couldn't wait to share it with him.
"Look at its teeth! By the spirits, Krogan teeth are supposed to be tiny, almost cute. Those metal fangs are the length of a small child's arms" he continued to goad.
Cade was most definitely enjoying himself, enjoying himself a bit too much I should say. No one in their right mind would be making idiotic comments like that when an enormous homicidal abomination was inches away from devouring or disemboweling their best friend. Poor guy, the pressure was probably getting to him. I'd have to take him out to bowling or something, get the guy some downtime, maybe by him a lap dance. If we made it off the ship that is.
"Sure you'd probably die, and Val would be in tears for days, possibly weeks. But then good old Cade will be there, a strong shoulder for the lovely, grieving flight lieutenant."
Eventually the Krogan Changer lost interest and withdrew its head from the hallway, departing back down the main central passageway. I let out a heavy sigh of relief as the heavy footsteps faded away. I
"Unlike you, I usually don't like it when they get that close on a first date" I joked.
We both moved back down the hallway and into the pedestrian corridor that led to the storage room the others were hiding in. Once we were satisfied that there were no hostiles in our immediate vicinity, we shut off our tactical cloaks and increased our pace. Leaving our cloaks on tended to drain energy from our suits, resulting in weaker kinetic shields, taxed environmental regulations, and sometimes slight glitches in our omni-tool.
"I don't get you man, 40% of the time you're a surly bastard who can barely string five words together even with a gun held to your head, the other 40% you're pissed off and either killing something or yelling at someone for doing something incredibly stupid, and the other 20% you think you're a spirits-damned comedian." Cade complained to me.
I shrugged, I really didn't know what to say in response to his claim.
"Like that time you pushed that salarian terrorist out the window after he asked us if we knew how far he'd go to have us hunted down" he recalled.
You pushed him out the damn window. Remember what you said afterwards?" Cade asked me. I did.
Cade's voice went suddenly monotone and inflectionless. "At least 15 stories, looks like", Cade said in his best imitation of my voice.
I didn't sound like that.
"Percival nearly wet his pants afterwards." He chuckled.
I smiled at that memory. Sur'kesh was great, a bit wet and humid but it was kind of like Peru back on Earth. Food was terrible though.
"Well pardon me for not being a two-dimensional character" I grunted.
Cade laughed and slapped me on the back. "You crack me up sometimes. Easily in my top 5 favourite human in the galaxy. Don't tell Percival though, he barely made the top 10."
"Thanks buddy"
January 23rd, 2211, 2359 hours – Aboard the SSV Hippocrates, Deck 7, Pedestrian Corridor 9F, Storage Room 12H
6 hours and 59 minutes after Outbreak
"—At least one Krogan Changer, and perhaps fifty to sixty Corpsers within 80 yards of the passageway entrance with the possibility of more somewhere further down" Cade finished reporting.
I stifled yet another yawn and blinked to clear my eyes. A slight chime coming from my omni-tool caught my attention. I wearily glanced down at it. A bright orange timer indicated that it was now roughly 12:00AM galactic standard time. It was the start of a brand new day.
Percival rubbed his chin and carefully considered Cade's report. The rest of the group stood in a semi-circle behind him. Mardinus and Verus had one shoulder pressed against either side of the entrance to the storage room, keeping careful watch of the corridor beyond. Jaelen tapped one long finger repeatedly against the side of his pantsuit while Rentea wringed her hands anxiously.
Eventually Percival let out a sigh. "We can't handle that many, especially without fortifications or at the very least a viable choke-point where nothing can come at us from the rear. You two are the only ones with tactical cloaks so stealth isn't on the table. That only leaves one viable option."
Rake raised his hand. "Sir, permission for my team to be the diversion" he immediately asked. Beside him Jay and Fly both nodded, shouldering their Lancers.
"Permission denied" Percival instantly responded. Rake and his team looked downcast but otherwise respected the Spectre's decision without complaint.
Percival sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry Gunnery Chief, that was disrespectful of me. I appreciate the gesture but I can't in good conscience let your team be the diversion, I'd be sending you to your deaths. You yourself just took a bad hit from a Chimera a few hours ago and your armor doesn't give you many options if you run into trouble" he said apologetically. "Besides, believe it or not you and your team probably have the most experience with VIP protection out of all of us. We also can't afford to lose Specialist Croft's technical skills"
The marines nodded respectfully, likely amazed that Percival hadn't accepted their offer. Too many alliance officers viewed their men as expendable, were all too willing to trade the lives of their men for their own all in the name of "strategy" and I'm glad that Percival was never one of them. It was sometimes tempting to expend your weakest assets in order to protect your strongest, but in my opinion if you were strong, you had a duty to be the first into the fire.
"We understand, Sir. We won't let you down" Rake promised. "If I may, who do you propose we send instead?"
I stepped forward and hefted my rifle onto my shoulder dramatically. Cade turned and tried his best to get me to see his piteously, pleading look but I refused to meet his eyes. After a few moments he sighed and stepped forwards too, loading a fresh heatsink into his Vindicator and angrily glaring at Percival, who looked sheepishly at the two of us.
"Spectre operatives Cloud and Kitiarian will run interference" he said. Percival took a moment to nod gratefully to us before opening up the ship schematics on his omni-tool and continuing with his explanation. "The rest of us will wait until they've initiated the diversion, then we'll make our way to this pedestrian corridor entrance about 60 meters south of here. We'll take the lift at the end of the hall up to deck twelve and hold up here, in this lounge, while we wait for them to rendezvous with us. Afterwards we'll proceed as a group to the main engine room.
"And how will they get to our location?" Jay asked.
Percival tapped on another point on the schematic, enhancing it for all to see. "There's another entrance about 80 meters south of here on the starboard side of the main central passageway. It should lead them to another elevator. Once they're up on deck 12, there should be a corridor that will take them directly to us" he explained.
He tapped a few buttons and uploaded the route to our own omni-tools. A bright-blue line snaked its way through the ship schematics currently displayed on my screen. Cade and I both studied it, memorizing the path, then nodded at Percival.
Accer stepped up and shot his hand up into the air. "Sir, there's no doubt in my mind that Spectre's Cloud and Kitiarian could single-handedly kill every last son-of-a-bitch on this ship with their bare hands given enough time, but I'd like to request that Teewin and I accompany them nonetheless. A few biotic detonations and suppressive fire could go a long way in case things go south, sir"
I grinned at the biotic Alliance Jaeger and he grinned back. Gunnery Chief Sean Teewin voiced his agreement and powered up his massive M-76 Revenant, causing it to hum angrily to life.
"Give me something to shoot at, Lieutenant-Commander Percival. Feeling kind of inadequate here next to all these big-wigs" he begged.
"Alright, you and Lieutenant Burton can go with them. Don't do anything rash or bite off any more than you can chew, we need all four of you for the engine room. Consider combat to be optional, hell, I'd even prefer for you four to just run and sing pop songs. Either way, be safe." Percival ordered us.
"Don't worry slaps, we will" Cade scoffed.
"Good, we'll give you guys a 10 minute headstart, after which I'll lead the rest of the group to the elevators. Best of luck" Percival finished.
The four of us shared a bunch of shit-eating grins and then quickly hid them beneath our helmets. Before we departed I noticed that Camilla had grabbed Cade's hand in a wordless gesture of farewell. She looked at him with her big, brown eyes, halting him in his tracks. Cade momentarily glanced back at us as if to see if we were watching. Once he was satisfied that we were not, he squeezed her hand in both of his and leaned down to whisper something in her ear. Whatever he said must have satisfied her, because the look of worry disappeared from her face and she shot him a quick smile.
Holding back a laugh, I quickly linked the two Alliance Jaegers to our private communications channel and typed a quick message into the chat pane.
[SpectreOp.1C] [00:06]: Someone has a crush on Cade.
[AJaeg. ST] [00:07]: El Oh El.
[AJaeg. AB] [00:07]: Girl's a rocket, good for him.
[AJaeg. ST] [00:07]: I'd do him.
[SpectreOp. CK] [00:08]: I will end you all, starting with the ugliest one.
[AJaeg. AB] [00:08]: So you first then
[AJaeg. ST] [00:08]: So you first then?
[SpectreOp.1C] [00:08]: So you first then, right?
[SpectreOp. CK] [00:09]: You are all just jealous.
Cade sighed and we all laughed quietly at him. I sincerely hoped that we would all live to get another chance to do so.
January 24th, 2211, 0016 hours – Aboard the SSV Hippocrates, Deck 7, Pedestrian Corridor 9F – Exit B
7 hours and 16 minutes after Outbreak
"It's the start of a new day, boys, who is up for some breakfast?" Cade radioed to the rest of us.
We all crouched hidden behind the door that Cade and I had been stealthed behind not half an hour ago. The door led into the main central passageway where a massive, 12 foot-tall, 3000-pound krogan Changer was currently camped a few meters away, surrounded by around a dozen of the smaller Corpsers. The rest of the Corpsers were spread around the width of the passageway immediately past these doors.
"It's technically midnight, man" Teewin chided him.
"Yeah come on guy, get your shit together" Accer berated him.
"By the Spirits, I didn't know the Alliance Jaegers were a bunch of comedians" Cade sighed.
The main central passageway was almost 50 meters wide and a kilometer long if the specs were at all accurate. Percival and his group were aiming for a small corridor entrance about 60 meters south on the starboard side of the passage while we would enact our diversion then hightail it to a corridor entrance a bit further down on the port side. Afterwards, both groups would take their respective elevators up to deck 12 and link up.
"Hey, Cloud. I know Percival said we didn't have to fight, just cause a distraction, but we're not actually going to listen to him, right?" Accer asked me.
"We can't have that thing loose on this ship, it might make its way to the Bridge" I answered him.
"Oh, hell yeah" Teewin whispered in joy.
"This be the good shit, fam. I told you, these Spectres are gonna take us to all the best places" Accer said gleefully to his fellow squadmate.
"What's the plan?" Accer asked.
I turned my helmeted head to look directly at the young biotic, adding a dash of drama to the whole situation. Cade scoffed over the radio but otherwise didn't comment on how much of a prat I was choosing to be.
"Follow our lead" I whispered.
I suddenly grabbed a pair of frag grenades off the young biotic's belt, primed them and tossed them at the Corpsers accompanying the krogan Changer. They detonated with two loud bangs that would definitely attract every hostile currently wandering around the main central passageway, tearing the howling Corpsers and their Crawler parasites to metal chunks and ribbons of rotted flesh. The Changer lost chunks of its torso from the dual explosions but otherwise remained intact. It didn't howl, didn't scream, it simply tilted its head towards us to stare at us menacingly with its bright red eyes.
Cade immediately sprinted out from where he had been crouched behind the door. He immediately slid into a slide and triggered the booster jets on his armor, propelling him beneath the massive behemoth's tree-like legs and out the other side, darting past the creature's scything arms. Once safely behind him, Cade rolled to his feet and opened fire with his Vindicator onto the back of the Changer, causing it to stumble forwards ever so slightly from the barrage of gunfire.
The Changer began to turn ponderously to face Cade. It finished its turn just as Cade's heatsink overheated and began to stomp towards him.
"Cover me" I told the two Alliance Jaegers. They nodded and immediately entered the main central passageway, Teewin firing his Revenant and Accer firing his Hurricane at a couple of Corpsers moving in to investigate.
I sprinted forwards and using the hinge of the Changer's legs and its sharp metal spines as purchase, scurried my way up its massive, metal-plated back. I produced a sticky grenade from my belt, primed it, and attached it to the back of its neck before bracing both my feet against its back and using it as a springboard to somersault myself away from the grenade.
I landed deftly on my feet just as it exploded, tearing off huge chunks of its armor and blowing off part of its headplate in a violent blue detonation. It began to turn to face me but a volley of gunfire from Cade caused it to turn its attention towards him once more.
I ripped my Predator from my holster and emptied all twelve rounds into the back of its head, blowing out what was left of its brain through its shattered headplate. With barely a groan, the massive Changer buckled to its knees and dropped onto the deck with a heavy thud. Behind me the two Jaegers whooped in victory. Cade pumped one more burst into the fallen Changer, ensuring that it was indeed dead, before turning his attention to the Corpsers that the Accer and Teewin were currently engaging.
I heard moaning coming from behind us, further up the passageway in the direction of the Bridge, and knew that we were soon going to be overstaying our welcome.
"Percival, you better haul ass before you're cut off by hostiles incoming from the north" I barked into my radio.
"Roger that, and its 'incoming from the bow' by the way. I take it you boys went loud?" He responded.
I glanced back to where the Changer lay sprawled on the floor. Ahead of me were the bullet-ridden remains of almost a dozen Corpsers.
"We're writing a goddamn symphony over here, Perc." I told him.
He chuckled over the radio. "Affirmative, punch us a hole, Spectre."
I made a gesture to Cade, signaling that we should prepare to charge, then opened a channel up to the two Jaegers.
"Accer, Teewin, on my count we run. We need to draw as much of them from this entrance as possible" I told them.
"Where should we go?" Teewin asked between bursts from his M-76 Revenant.
"Through" I said simply.
"What?"
"NOW!" I roared.
A jolt started from the back of my neck and wound its way down my arm. My amp hissed angrily as blue fire raced towards my left hand. I brought it up in a gripping gesture, firing a massive stasis bubble and rooting a whole pack of Corpsers in place. We immediately began sprinting into the group of temporarily frozen creatures. Accer and Teewin dropped another pair of frag grenades as we weaved through them, blowing them to bloody bits and buying a bit more breathing room for the rest of our group.
Another pack of Corpsers appeared ahead. This time Cade stepped up, raising his omni-tool and unleashing a devastating Overload charge right in the middle of the snarling group. Lightning arc around their bodies as the shock kept them rooted firmly in place.
I shot a pair in the head as I dashed by while Accer decapitated one with his omni-blade and Teewin dropped another with a sustained burst from his rifle. Eventually the shock wore off and the Corpsers turned to pursue us. I took a moment to steal a quick glance behind us. Two dozen Corpsers of various former species pursued us relentlessly, claws slashing wildly in the air and torn mouths wide open, looking like a sea of flashing steel and blue lights.
Way beyond them I could see Mardinus and Verus train their rifles at the back of the group while the marines led Jaelen, Rentea and Camilla down the left side of the massive passageway, with Percival in the rear. They stayed close to the wall and crept as quietly as possible, well out of the visual range of our pursuers. It didn't look like the Corpsers had noticed, none of them having broken off to engage the other team. It was about time something went our way.
"Cloud! The damn door is sealed!" Cade screamed.
I turned to look back in front of me. Teewin was currently hammering heavy kicks into a sealed door while Accer and Cade covered him. A mass of Corpsers were moving closer and closer, forming an ever- tightening ring around our little group. I brushed Teewin aside and looked at the door. Something had fried the keypad leaving it unable to be electronically opened. It seemed too thick for me to kick biotically but nonetheless I wrapped my armored leg in blue flames and gave it a few good tries. No dice.
"Well boys, we had a good run" Cade said wearily as he put a pair of bursts from his Vindicator through the open mouth of a Corpser.
I threw a Singularity that tore a trio of nearby Corpsers that were a bit too close for comfort off of their feet, leaving them dangling three meters in the air. Accer followed up with a Warp explosion that tore them to shreds and knocked a few of the nearby Corpsers to their knees. It bought us some breathing room but before long the hole that we had punched was filled with more of the snarling monstrosities. We threw together another combination while Cade fired a homing grenade into the oncoming horde but it didn't seem to make a dent in their numbers.
"this is a little bit anti-climactic. You guys suck." Accer complained as he sprayed his N7 Hurricane at the knees of a wave of incoming Corpsers, dropping them to the ground. They were only about four or five meters away now.
I grunted but otherwise kept firing at the Corpsers he had knocked to the ground, putting well-aimed bursts through their heads, buying as much time for my amp to cooldown so that I could resume my biotic assault.
Just then when I thought that maybe we were truly, utterly fucked, our channel crackled to life and an unfamiliar, flanging voice came on.
"Twenty meters down, there's a stack of crates that will take you up to the catwalk on the next deck, be prepared to move" the voice said.
"Is that Galen?" mused Cade.
Gunfire hammered in from the side into the Corpser's directly infront of us. A trio of detonations blew more than a dozen of them to small, charred chunks, buying us a gap through the horde. As one, the mass of Corpsers turned towards where the gunfire had came from, distracting them from us and giving us an opening.
"Move, now!" I ordered to my team. We sprinted past their grisly remains and out towards the stack of crates that Private Galen Verus had pointed out.
The gruff, flanging voice of the veteran turian Sergeant came on next. "Hurry, Spectre. We'll buy you as much time as we can. The rest of the group is already through" he said.
Off to my left I saw three figures standing outside the doorway that Percival had led his group through. Two of them were the turians Private Verus and Mardinus while the third looked to be Jay judging from the height of the marine. All three of them were causing as much damage as possible. Mardinus took a knee and pumped burst after burst from his Avenger into any incoming Corpser that came within his gunsights while Jay took out knee-joints.
Private Galen was most impressive. I watched as the young turian marine ducked under the claws of a human Corpser, spinning around it and firing a burst into the back of its head. An asari Corpser leapt at him but he pivoted and gunned it down with a long, sustained burst before it could reach him.
"Kid's got promise" Cade pointed out.
"Shut up and run" I told him.
Cade put on one last burst of speed, inching past me. He leapt up onto the first crate with a single bound and then triggered his booster jets, propelling him the rest of the way up onto the catwalk above us. Once he was well out of reach of the Corpser's beneath, he shouldered his Vindicator and began covering the rest of us as we started climbing the stack of crates.
I stayed to cover Accer and Teewin as they made their way up to the catwalk. Mardinus, Jay and Private Verus had already retreated back into their corridor and sealed the doors. Once the two Alliance Jaegers were up on the catwalk with Cade and safely out of harms way, I leapt up onto the first, then pulled myself up to the second crate and quickly onto the third, and from there let out a powerful leap that allowed me to grab onto the catwalk. I swiftly pulled myself up onto the safety of the catwalk and let out a sigh.
Below us was a crowd of maybe a hundred Corpsers, all of them snarling and howling indignantly at the prey that was only mere meters out of their deadly reach. Off in the distance I could see another Changer slowly making its way towards us surrounded by another pack of Corpsers. Accer and Teewin also both let out a sigh and stopped firing their weapons to give their heatsinks a chance to cool off. Cade held out a hand which I took and pulled myself to my feet.
"Come on, we can still reach the elevator from here" he said.
We made our way down the catwalk towards a door off to the side. The horde of Corpsers below us followed hungrily, not caring that we were well above their grasp.
"Man, those things really creep me out" Accer shuddered.
"I've been a Jaeger for almost five years and I've never seen anything like them" Teewin added. The big marine stowed his Revenant onto his back and pulled out a silenced N7 Hurricane identical to the one Accer was holding. It would be better suited for the narrow corridors that we were about to enter.
"Welcome to the team, boys" Cade grinned.
We made our way to the elevator. Cade immediately shot past me and tapped the elevator call button. The indicator lit up, notifying us that the elevator was only two decks away.
"Rule number one is to never let Cloud touch any elevator buttons" he told them.
The two Jaegers cocked their eyebrows in confusion at Cade. "Why?" asked Accer.
Cade looked at me and shot me a shit-eating grin. "It's a long story" I sighed.
Fucking Korlus.