Tortured screams rang behind me, a choir of my fate should I fail. A quiet sob escaped at the squelch of someone being crushed or ripped apart several halls away. My stomach wanted to twist and buckle me to the ground, but the pain in my lungs was more than enough to counteract that. The halls blurred with my rattled vision, the once familiar halls now straight from a horror film. The flickering lights worsened any chance of navigating the halls with ease. A set of stairs curled down to the ground floor, but my body weakened from crashing twice into the ground, my knees crumbled on them. Falling in this suit, in this gravity, would be instant death. My hands made a mad grab for the railing, sparing me from crashing. The lights flickered off, an ominous red hue lighting the halls. The sound of my breathing deafened me, heightening my terror. Then the lights blinded me as the Saboteur was once more distracted. My hand flew over my eyes, shambling onwards. The sound of people pierced my shell of fear, a welcome sound to sore ears.
"Captain Shaik!" someone cried. My eyes pried open, gripping the wall as a young asari bobbed forward, eyes wide as the power fluttered again. "W-We received a message from one of the turians, something about a monster?" My eyes squeezed shut again, trembling. Goddam it man, you had one job!
"Outside. Everyone outside!" I barked, forcing myself towards the airlock. "On me, everyone, on me if you want to live!"
The airlock refused to equalise to the pressure, despite several attempts. With a nod, hands grabbed the door, pure muscle, determination and panic forcing the metal apart. All the while one thought stampeded through my mind; don't get cornered, don't get cornered, for God sake don't get cornered! Get cornered and you were dead, a worse death than what happened to Julian's soldiers. A warning hiss, a flaring siren that died and revived at random was all we got. Air rushed past us, threatening to tear us out the door as pressure fought to equalise. Only the heavy suits held us. When the air rush eased, we stumbled down the ramps towards the vast courtyard. A small army of people lined up on the ground, armed and ready to storm the building. Imperious was leading the front, pacing before them while barking orders. He turned when he heard the stampede of grav-suits.
"Shaik, where the hell have you been?" Imperious snapped. His fury paused, noticing my heaving breath and shambling legs. My hand waved the small group behind me to join the formation, they stamped past me at pace. "What's the situation?" he asked, frowning while my eyes studied the group of 80+ aliens.
"Shit, absolute fucking shit. Where's my crew?" I asked. The turian drew his plates together, clicking his mandibles a touch.
"Fighting has broken out all over the compound. Your crew are dealing with two of those outbreaks," Imperious said. My eyes squeezed shut, wishing nothing more than familiar backup.
"Indoctrinated servants. Fuck, I knew I was, forgetting something," I whined, heaving for breath put my hands on my hips. This was getting out of hand, no one here knew what was happening or how to counteract it. The Saboteur had to die and quickly, but then the indoctrinated servants would lose their minds. No, a minor problem unless people didn't shoot. My crew could handle the indoctrinated servants, but with a Tech Incap Saboteur, on a planet where we needed tech to survive…"I'm taking control,"
"I don't think so, Shaik. I have 40 years' experience in the military. No greenhorn is going take control of a hostage-" he rattled. Hostage? Jesus Christ, he didn't know what was going on! Even with my aching lungs, he was getting the lecture.
"I was fucking trained, to deal with these bastards! This is no hostage, situation and this is no ordinary, elcor! This thing, for it isn't a bloody elcor anymore, will disable your guns, suits, shields, omni-tools and implants. I watched her liquefy an asari, just 5 minutes ago using her own biotic, implants against her!" I roared with volus-like gasps for air. Or attempted to, my usual thunder dampened by pain. The turian stared, silent. "That thing has slammed me to the ground, when she disabled my suit, and disabled the artificial gravity in the, building and crushed me into the ground! Don't you dare sit there and tell me, that you have 40 years of experience dealing with these monsters," I hissed. Imperious blanked. "I am using my fucking Council given, power and assuming control of this situation! Do I make myself clear?!" Imperious waved his mandibles, studying my face through the visor.
"I understand, Captain Shaik. What is the first order of business?" he said, his tone shifting from sore, grumpy captain to a soldier awaiting orders. My shoulders sagged, relief weakening them before turning to the soldiers waiting for orders around me.
"First things first. Do we have any mechanical, non-computerised or non-electrical weapons?" I asked.
"What is this, the 20th century?" someone muttered. The captain in me snapped free, growling at the unknown voice.
"Yes, yes it is. Because when that elcor finishes killing those 11 people, she's gunning for me, and none of your weapons will save you! Especially when your gun, shuts off and refuses to fire" I snapped. "Mechanical weapons! Are there any?!"
"Well… there's old cranes that use old combustion engines… nothing electrical in them apart from that. "This base was used to old military museum before they built the defence system. They are still moving all the heavy equipment," A pale asari voice near the back.
"I saw an old 2-ton mechanical harpoon gun in the back shed," a turian added.
"Get them warmed up and in, a position away from the main building! Load them with whatever can, crush or kill this thing and get that, harpoon gun set up! Go, go!" I ordered, flailing an arm. A group of about 20 tore off. "Radio won't work when this guy gets here, we need to communicate, without letting her know what we mean. They're monsters but they're fucking intelligent monsters," I said.
"We have a bunch of flares…" a turian shrugged.
"Grab them, mark the drop locations of the cranes with them. When you're ready, send someone to wave a flare at us. I'll lead her up," I ordered.
"Yes ma'am!" the turian saluted, running off with about 10 other turians. With each passing second, my lungs laboured more, my chest burning with pain. Please let this mission go well…
"Half of you grab your gear and, split yourself up into even groups of 6, go around all these outbursts of fighting and take, out who is going crazy, like not even talking crazy. They'll be attacking anything that moves. If you see any of my crew, you follow their orders. Go!" I snapped. A good chunk of the aliens tore off into the distance, their omni-tools lit up as they located the points of fighting. "Everyone else, grab you guns, get to the maximum distance you can away from the facility before you can't hit the fucker. If you are a sniper, grab it and go!" I ordered. The last aliens tore off in different directions, moving as far away as they could. Imperious remained where he was.
"Shaik, what the hell is going-" he began. He frowned at my scowl as my eyes flew past him, gaze scanning the area for any sign of the Saboteur.
"Imperious, we don't have time. We need to move! She'll be out here soon and I, need to figure out how to rip her spine out" I wheezed.
"Spine?" Imperious asked.
"Yes, spine, you know that thing in our backs? She's part machine. Rip the spine out and she'll, stop regenerating and it's the only thing we've, found that kills them," I said, stomach churning. The hiss behind my head, emanating from my suit was my only warning. Both Imperious and I crashed into the ground, our suits failing as the weight, gravity and surprise KO'd us. My body quivered, once again struggling to breathe. My lungs burned, and not just from the lack of oxygen. A pathetic whine squeaked free, the last of the air in my chest.
"Advocacy, you are proving to be more of an annoyance than I thought," Thapeli rumbled, stamping down the ramp. Blood of various colours stained her Reaper armour, cables twitching beside her like tentacles of a slow death. My throat tightened, fingers going numb. My breath came back in a rush with the sounding of gunfire. Flat on my face with nothing around to pick me up, everything hurt when trying to push myself up.
"What the fuck is that thing?" Imperious gasped, already on his knees to push himself up.
"My kind of monster," I coughed, gagging for breath.
"Knees, Shaik, knees. The knee joints are designed to pick you up if you fall," Imperious growled, eyes on the Saboteur as a small group of asari screamed, their weapons useless. Fear blocked me from looking at the poor women as their screeches tore new mental scars in my mind. My aching muscles complained, bones pleading for mercy as my body rolled onto my knees, getting a foot under me to push me up. The suit whined but heaved me up on weakened, shaken legs.
"We need to lure her, tech won't work on this fucker for long," I said, swallowing a dry lump. My shoulders turned, a light pulling my attention from behind. A waving flare greeted me, poking out from behind a large warehouse on the south side of the compound. It disappeared behind the building.
"Move up to the flare. If it is after you, it'll follow you up and we can use you as bait," he said, thumping towards a nearby vehicle, pulling out a grenade launcher. "Go, move towards the flare!" he ordered.
"She'll just cancel out the electronics, it won't fire," I cried, shuffling my heavy feet regardless. He was more experienced…
"Her tech disablement looks targeted, she has to choose where to direct it, if she focuses on one person, maybe we can jog it between us and get her into position. Go, I've got you covered!" Imperious ran further ahead, a slow jog in the heavy gravity. The suit held against the forces that would otherwise destroy anything else. My hand grabbed the corner of the warehouse, looking around the corner, spotting an asari with the flare.
"Everything's in position, Captain," the asari said. She pointed out the flare on the ground behind her, a wide open area surrounded by large warehouses. Old equipment dotted the area, a wave of nostalgia bubbling at the ancient cranes and weapons. The flare burned about 250m away under one such crane. Others burned as well, but the first one held me. My eyes looked up, to see what they loaded onto the cranes but in the dark with no real light, there was just darkness. A low rumbling shook the air, the engines working overtime after so long without use. Imperious' darkened form trudged through the gloomy shadows, moving away from me towards the other side of the open space. A massive harpoon gun sat in the back, between the cranes and sides of a warehouse. We'd funnel her up while protecting the massive weapon from being spotted. Unless Saboteurs could see in the dark.
"Good, get into a safe position," I said, turning back to the Saboteur as she crushed an asari skull into the ground with her knuckle. My damaged lungs dragged as much air as they could muster, struggling to ignore the purple blood pooling around the Saboteur's hands.
"Thapeli, you asshole! Why don't you stop picking on them and come at a real threat!" I roared.
My heart drop to my toes as she turned to face me, the massive monster against the tiny, squishy human. A second later, my feet threw me behind the warehouse, breaking line of sight before trudging towards the first set of cranes, forever thankful a warehouse stood between us. Did Saboteurs even need line of sight to stop- 10 steps, my feet managed 10 steps before the hiss sounded. My eyes squeezed shut, preparing for the inevitable. No, she didn't' need line of sight. A weak scream sounded before dying as my body crashed into the ground like a lead weight. My lungs couldn't hold enough air to stop me asphyxiating. Muscles twitched, colour vanishing once more as blood sucked away from my vital organs, eyes wide. A rhythmic thump thundered behind me as she approached. There was no air, no way to breathe, a slow, painful death crept closer and closer. The pain was beyond words, beyond anything any creature should go through. Nyryntha rumbled, content with my rising fear as robotic growls crawled closer. An explosion rattled the air above me, snapping air back into my lungs like a punch. My lungs could breathe… just worse than before. They couldn't hold as much as this morning and they weren't getting what was in there to my desperate body.
"Oi, freak, let's see you try and stop this!" Imperious cried, a welcome distraction.
Thapeli snarled in rage, her target altering as she diverted to deal with the turian. She knew injury weakened me, knew there was little I could do in my current state. She didn't fear me, she could tear me apart or disable me with ease. It took everything my body had to push myself on my knees, my vision swimming as oxygen struggled to reach my brain. The suit whined, the response time lagging as the constant smashes into the ground damaged parts of the servos. My body staggered up, stumbling forward as Imperious managed a short squeak before he crumbled onto the deck. My hips ached, more damaged than my chest at this moment, struggling to keep my eyelids open as my breaths became shorter and shallower.
"Alarmed. Tamrud, what is going on?" A voice said. My heart stopped, wheeling around in horror, Elder Savirx, dragged out by the noise and chaos, stepped from the gloom behind some buildings. Thapeli turned her attention to the elder elcor. Savirx assessed the situation, saw the blackened plates coating the female Saboteur and the bullets in the distance pinging off her. He put two and two together. My gut knew what was about to happen.
"RUN!" I screeched, ignoring the internal warning alarms from the suit and stumbled into a run towards the elcor, my lungs cursing me for screaming.
Thapeli charged at Savirx. She was faster and closer. Every footstep, my knees and hips roared in pain, the thundering bump jarring every joint until they threatened to break. My lungs were sacks of pain as my body fought to get between the Saboteur and the elderly elcor. It was like trying to run through tar, like those nightmares where you cannot run, or seem to run on the spot. Thapeli smashed into the elcor in seconds. The raw, animalistic sounds torn from terrified, confused Savirx tore my heart apart. The bullets became a hailstorm, but the Reaper plates deflected everything thrown at her. My vision tunnelled on Thapeli, on the cables throwing the older elcor around. My mind blocked what injuries Savirx suffered, not the sounds as they scene edged closer and closer. Nothing by the sound of my struggling breath and pounding heart. A metre from Thapeli, omni-blade burst free. The Saboteur raised both front limbs together into the air, eyes shifting towards me. The whole thing was a trap, pulling me closer with my own heartstrings. There was no sound, no scream as the arms swung down, pounding into my torso and hurling me away, despite the gravity and the suit weight. My back crashed into the ground, gagging for relief halfway between the Saboteur and the harpoon gun. It was still 100m away, but desperation and fight or flight kicked in. My legs couldn't hold weight, my chest a sea of pain, a ringing in my ears drowning out the sound. My arms dragged me across the ground, towards the remnants of the burnt out flare. Every breath dragged less oxygen than the previous, one eye now a husk, refusing to register even the smallest hint of light. The gunfire pinged like whispers of wind.
The flare brushed past my arm, pushing ever onwards. Whatever happened behind me, it didn't matter. Killing this Saboteur before she killed more was too important. Closer, closer still, the damn harpoon gun was still 30m away, still too far. My chest felt the ground vibrate as Thapeli crept closer. My eyes squeezed, fighting to pull myself faster but without success. The robotic rumble sent shivers down my spine, but nothing helped pushed me on faster. The thumping felt like it was just behind me, just seconds away from crushing me into the ground. She didn't even bother trying to disable my suit, at the rate I was crawling at, she caught me up in no time. A huge bang snapped my eyes open, Thapeli's roar ringing over my head. The force threw her backwards, the heavy chain crashing into the ground beside me. Imperious, God bless that turian, snapped orders. While my muffed hearing couldn't hear what he said, something grabbed me, hauling me away from the area. A fireball surrounded the Saboteur, the grenade launcher back at work. Before Thapeli could crush him with Tech Incap, another explosion rocked behind her, driving her back further as the harpoon in her chest wriggled with her cables trying to rip the hook out. She stumbled over the burnt out flare.
"DROP IT!" Imperious barked.
A loud thunk above me stilled my pain, startling me as my hearing faded. A wall of spikes, as long as I was tall, crashed down on top of Thapeli, crushing the beast to the ground. Imperious dropped me beside a wall, thundering back towards the crane operator. The harpoon reel tugged on the beast, the monstrous bed of terraforming spikes – I think – refusing to budge against the strain. Something had to give, either the spikes, the harpoon or the soft, fleshy Reaper. It ended up as Thapeli. Through the blurry vision, my body froze as the harpoon pulled out flesh and bits of Reaper flesh free. Machine and muscle strewn and dragged along the path of the harpoon like a bloodied rock. Only part of the lower half of the body remaining on the metal spear. The spine clung on, clinging to the upper body for dear life, pieces of flesh and cable still clinging to it. It also still had a touch of brain on it still. My jaw tightened, shambling onto legs that were one breeze away from giving. Standing spun my vision. One step and my eyes stared at the texture of the ground face to the ground. My ears didn't even hear the crash, the pain now so great my lungs were beyond caring now. Darkness settled over me, a warm blanket that promised release.
"Shaik!" Someone cry, a muddied summon. My eyes fluttered, but they saw nothing, strength gone. Someone crouched down beside me, grabbing my shoulders. "Shaik?"
"Rip… spine… free. Pack… spine… and… b-body, i-in… different… box… please," I managed. "Can't… breathe," I added.
"Hang in there, Shaik. Don't die on me yet," The voice rumbled, it sounded like Imperious. "Oi! Rip that spine out and back it in a crate before that thing comes back!" Everything faded into darkness, singing its soft lullaby, rocking me in gentle arms. My body lost all tension, walking towards the darkness. There was no resistance.
A numbness tricked through, an uncomfortable sensation that pulled me out from the comforting darkness. The fingers flicked, a twitch as sensation returned, the pins and needles easing. But as they eased the first twinges of pain sunk in. My chest whined the loudest, but the hips were not far behind. Breathing tore a sharp gasp from me, a pained whimper drowning out common sense. My strength gone, pained breaths short and rapid, desperate. My eyelids fluttered, prying open, wondering if I was dead and death was just as painful as life. A tiled ceiling greeted me, a small room, beige like the rest of this damn place. My back pressed into ripped chair cushions on a board with some oxygen tanks on the floor beside me, a stretcher between me and the cushions. It only ached all the muscles there. On a bench in the tiny room, more like a closet with a window, Mat'al dozed, propped up against the wall. My lungs couldn't find the air to speak.
"Ma… Ma… Sassy?" I said. The T refused to form, despite how hard my tongue tried. My body just felt too weak to do anything.
"Don't you start calling me that, young lady," Mat'al threatened, opening his eyes. "Otherwise I may have to shoot you more often," A weak, half smile spread on my sore face. Desperate to escape the discomfort aching my back, my hips shuffled. The salarian launched to his feet, moving to my side. "Do not move, Dell. Trust me on that one," A frown twitched onto my face, confused.
"Am I bad?" I asked. Mat'al snorted.
"You have a lovely pair of collapsed lungs, Dell," Mat'al said. Collapsed... "You have a tube in your chest to drain the air out, you're also on oxygen to keep your oxygen levels up, your body is struggling to circulate it. We're waiting for a pressurised transport unit to come and take you back to the Valiant. You need more specialist treatment at the Citadel," A groan escaped.
"How the fuck am I going to keep this from Julian…?" I asked. Mat'al chuckled.
"Easy, don't tell him," Mat'al smirked. A scowl formed. "You'll be back up on your feet soon, as soon as they examine the damaged lungs. You'll be out in a week or so,"
"Great. W-What about Thapeli? And Savirx?" I asked.
"Elder Savirx… didn't make it. The Saboteur ripped him apart and crushed him. When elcor fall on Dekuuna, it is hard for them to get back up. Between that and his injuries... The Saboteur was not kind. Valérien is overseeing the Saboteur remains as we speak. The spine and body are in separate crates, a shuttle it taking the body towards the sun to destroy it. We've shielded the spine on the Valiant so we should be safe from indoctrination on that front," his said, eyes narrowed, pinning me in place until my heart fluttered. "You knew about this,"
"About the body being packed up?" I asked.
"No, the Saboteur," Mat'al said, his chirpy tone lined with swords. A moan escaped, unwilling to deal with this right now.
"Mat'al, there was a fine line to walk. If people knew why we were actually here, instead of trying to help repair the systems, the Saboteur would never have shown herself. Indira said it would be best to hide it from everyone for now and see if we could lure it out, seeing either an easy target or deciding it couldn't handle any more meddling. I had to make it look like the Council forced us here through desperation," I wheezed. God, why did my lungs feel like they cramping all the time?
"I see… well, I hope in the future that you will tell me of these plans," he said, tone frozen. A tried, apologetic smile lifted
"Not that I didn't trust you, Mat'al, I just didn't trust people not to eavesdrop," I said.
"A wise reason to distrust," Mat'al agreed, although he still sounded displeased. He turned when the door opened. My eyes shifted, peering over my chest to watch Imperious, enter. He smiled a touch, more relaxed than when we first met.
"Commander, the pressure chamber has arrived. We're ready to mobilise," he said. Mat'al smile froze, a chill cooling the air.
"Thank you, Captain. We'll have Captain Shaik loaded shortly," he said.
"Now, I'm afraid. The Valiant must return to Palaven, we need to drop you off in the Citadel ASAP," Imperious said, tone tight. Mat'al breathed.
"Oh, stop bickering," I moaned. What happened between losing consciousness and waking up that caused these two to spat like this? No, it didn't matter, there is only so much a girl can handle, in my current state I wasn't in the mood for BS. Mat'al's cold stare chilled my face as he turned his glower towards me. "I want off this planet so I don't have to worry about being crushed again,"
A metal… coffin for a lack of a better word, slid in through the door, carried by two turians of unknown names. My muscles tightened, burning my lungs. The turians held the coffin stretcher so Imperious could part the doors. My breathing stuttered, forcing myself calm. Mat'al and Imperious eased me off the makeshift bed and onto the padded base. My back cried in relief, the earlier pain easing. The metal clangs of the straps and clips throbbed my head.
"You're not claustrophobic are you?" Imperious asked as the straps secured over me. A nervous snort sounded.
"No," I said. The turian chuckled as the massive doors shut over me, giving me about 2 or 3 inches in front of me before my nose hit glass. It… was a tight fit. Tighter than expected.
"Let's load her up, we've got another mission to get done," Imperious ordered.
My eyes closed, content to enjoy the swaying motion, almost like a cradle, as the turian carted me out of the tiny room and down the halls. There was something therapeutic about this, relaxing my muscles and letting me breath a bit better. A hiss sounded around me, the pressure building in the box as we waited in the airlock. My eyes fluttered, wishing to open but afraid of panicking at the smallest thing. The doors parted and the bouncing restarted. Warmth pierced the container, tingling my skin enough to pry an eye open. The morning sun burned over the horizon, chasing away the darkness and the pin points of lights in the sky. All the while, the moon clung on, desperate the stay in the sky. The group approached the cars, but they put me in a specialised transporter for the military, not the fancy ones with the coloured tarp over the chairs. Military green clung to the sides as the pressurised chamber slide along the floor of the vehicle with seats on both sides, facing towards each other. Bodies piled in. Familiar faces.
"Cosy?" Sitoln asked, grinning. A frown stretched, wishing he was further down inside the 'truck'. Val smirked over my head.
"How's our little test tube baby then?" Val chuckled. That earned a fiery glare.
"I will make you run alongside the car if you keep this up," I threatened. Val coughed, rubbing his grav-suit. With Val put in his place, a smile spread, enjoying the smooth ride back to space port.
While the sun didn't pierce the truck to warm me, the humid air was at least kept at bay. Somewhat. My muscles relaxed, more pain rising in places that hadn't before. I did it, the Saboteur Julian had struggled to defeat for so long had fallen– with a lot of help. Without Imperious and his soldiers, there was no doubt I would have been a stain on the concrete. It fluttered my confidence but it faded, confident that people would have my back. But my mind drifted to the new threat; SIC-TI, or Saboteur Induced Capability-Tech Incapacitation to most people. Dammit, that name was too long, should be shortened to SS-TI, Saboteur Specialisation… yeah, that was a good idea!... Oh Dell, stop getting distracted! Tech Incap was too dangerous and unpleasant to think about; no biotics, no guns, no shields, no omni-tools … did we need to pack mechanical guns? While Val was here, that reminded me…
"Hey Val, do me a favour," I said.
"Uh… sure, what's up, Dell?" he blinked, surprised.
"Don't go near a Tech Incap Saboteur. I've seen what they can do to biotics… I'd rather not see you have your organs liquefied. Despite how much you piss me off," I said. My eyes opened to see his expression. A burst of laugher erupted, but the pain in my chest killed it seconds later. Val's jaw dropped, mandibles sagging, eyes the side of mini planets. It was mean to laugh, because of the current state of my lungs and because it was a horrific death but… it was still a picture.
"They… liquefy…" he gawked. A small smile lifted my lips, wondering if he would have nightmares now. He may have trembled. He leaned back on the chair, eyes to the rear of the vehicle as we sped towards the docks, quiet and mortified.
After 20 minutes, the convoy reached the cruiser dock, rumbling up the hill to reduce the carry time for whatever poor soul heaved my fat ass inside. Phentos and Cathleen slid my stretcher off the car, carrying me towards the airlock. Val and Mat'al walked by my head, Mat'al chasing the Spectre to the front. In the safe hands of my crew, the last remnants of tension escape. Something about having your own crew look after you made me more comfortable. Maybe because I knew them. The faceless pair of turians who carried me did a fantastic job, no doubt about it but still. The huge ship glinted past before the airlock stole the rest the Valiant. My crew carried me straight to the medical wing, easing me out of the pressurised stretcher to rest on a proper bed and let the turian doctor do the once over. A small window beside me let me watch planet fade as the cruiser sped away from Dekuuna. Joy overwhelmed me, relieved to be out of the bloody pressurised coffin!
The Saboteur Sheet has been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.