My eyes scanned the datapad with an update from Julian on Nyryntha's last known location, unease trickling through me. Val rounded up the combat team, all aliens attentive in the bridge while awaiting deployment. Rosmeni half smirk curled my toes as she learned against the port door. Nyryntha was 24 hours away, even using relays and FTL travel, so I had time to squeeze in this one mission. In the cameras above my head, a planet glowed. My jaw set, mind dragged itself to the mission. Mat'al's report said the STG had made some strange requests from the Salarian Union, strange enough for the Union to report to the Council and therefore, to us. My hand rubbed my chin as the Starquake entered orbit. Val's gaze captured my gaze. My head nodded. Val's voice thundered, the 10-man combat crew marching out of the bridge and towards the cargo hold and the shuttles. Rosmeni's smirk grew as she followed the team.
"Any advice, Mat'al?" I asked.
"The STG Eqcialer Base specialises in weapon developments for starships. I gave the brief to the biotics since the ezzo levels are high here. No one breeds close to that facility, unless they want biotics to appear. Which… has happened on occasion," Mat'al shook his head. "Be aware of biotic use, the air is like red sand. Also, some of the smaller, separate buildings will have explosives,"
"Fantastic," I sighed. "Alright, I'll see you later,"
"Stay safe. We'll monitor Nyryntha from here and warn you if something goes amiss," he said.
The trip down the cargo hold dropped me into the familiar routine. March to the armoury, pick up my guns, check the clips, pick up spares, check armour, jump into shuttle and wait. The shuttle hummed through my feet, my focus on the mission ahead. There was no reason for an STG weapons development plan to ask for 400 tons of chemical explosives, not for Starship weapons. Or well, according to Mat'al and Anthon who were my STG kings here. What would the explosives do? Well, there were colonies on this planet and the STG base was in 'the middle of nowhere' until you took the canyons and the rivers into account. If the base became unstable or the ezzo tanks erupted, the wind and river would flood the nearby colony. The environmental impacts alone would kill millions. Ezzo had similar effects to radioactive materials; no affect or cancer. In the concentrations at this base, terminal cancer on millions of salarians would be a good way to thin their numbers and ruin moral.
Once on the planet, the massive limestone canyons tore into the sky, fast flowing rivers ploughing down their gorges. Despite the abundance of water, only a sparse grassland coated the tops and lower angled slopes of the gorges. Small, slinky birds darted around us, clinging to the canyons of rivers. The empty landscape felt secluded and private. Light glinted on the corner of a metal building as the shuttle swerved around a corner in the canyon. The landscape shot upwards, clambering higher as the mountains built. The STG base sprawled up and down the gorge on both sides. White concrete blended in with the pale limestone beds. Water poured over a waterfall at the top of the gorge, a layer of buildings on the top of the gorge. Why would a Starship weapon development lab be in such a precarious location? Would they not want large warehouses to house all their equipment? Maybe they wanted the privacy of an underground base with the façade of a small base.
The radio chattered to life as their sensors followed us, the shuttle gliding above the misty valley. My foot tapped on the floor as a landing pad appeared, a flurry of radio chatter bursting out over the thought of us landing on the facility. My head shook as Rosmeni called her Spectre status to get us landing clearance on the site. All this despite notifying them of our impending arrival. My finger tapped the thigh plate of my armour, agitation setting in as the mission start drew closer. Time to kick ass. With Spectre permission, the shuttle landed on the pad without further disturbance, although a mess of salarians continued to scramble around the base, snipers taking positions on the roof in case of emergency. The door blew cold, dry air into the shuttle. The crew jumped free from the shuttle, forming lines while my eyes scanned the surrounding base. Rosmeni fell in beside me as a group of salarians rushed towards us. My arms folded as I stopped before my team.
"Are you the one in charge, ma'am?" the salarian asked.
"I am. Captain Endellion Shaik. We are here on Council business," I said.
"Council business? But this is an STG base-" he said. My eyebrows snapped down.
"I am aware. That is why they sent me here. You have some strange behaviour the Council wants to investigate,"
"Strange behaviour? W-Whatever do you mean? We are doing everything within the Salarian Union laws and the Council-" the salarian stammered.
"Really?" I asked. "You'll excuse me if I don't believe the first words out your mouth. Now. We would like a word with the CO of this base," The dark green salarian shuffled.
"Ah, w-well, if that is what you require," he said, a slow trail of words as he scanned the asari Spectre beside me. "Rear Admiral Supona is near the command hub,"
With reluctance, the salarian led my team away from the landing pad, the snipers standing down on the roofs around us. With the station calming from our 'surprise' visit, the hum of the daily routine continued. My eyes scanned the clean walls of the base, my skin tingling. Biotic sparks zipped over our biotic members, only a slight glow that didn't seem to bother them. A second and the biotics vanished. The ezzo concentrations dotted the area at random. Either that or stores of underground ezzo passed under our feet. A thousand possibilities, a thousand unknowns. We walked in a den of lions. With that thought in mind and Val on my flank, my eyes focused ahead as the salarian led us to an elevator a short distance away. With the sights of the limestone gorge stolen from me, my crew turned for instructions. They didn't get an answer while the unknown salarian stood beside us. Until we learned whether the Saboteur was on this planet, my mind wouldn't wander. My sensitivity to the Saboteurs was too delicate a matter to forgo.
On a lower level of the base, the salarian led us down a long corridor, glass on one side of the corridor leading towards labs and manufacturing systems. A barrel of a cannon squealed as the crane carted it over the room, jamming it in a mess of metal. My head shook, eyes returning ahead as the salarian tapped a hologram on a door. A lab decked in holograms appeared before us. Through the bodies of salarians stalking the room, one salarian towered over them on a raised floor, stroking her muted mint green chin as she studied a screen before her. The salarian leading us coughed just before the stairs. The navy eyed female glanced down, lavender staining her crown. Her eyes rose to catch sight of the aliens waiting behind him. A small frown flitted her lips before she secured her hands behind her back and descended the stairs.
"Lieutenant, who are these people and why are they here?" she asked. The male salarian shuffled under her words.
"A-A Spectre and a-a Council team. They wished to speak to you," he said. Her eyes scanned over us, blinking once.
"Good, dismissed," she said. The salarian saluted before dancing away. The female returned her gaze to us. "I am Rear Admiral Yirski Supona, I am the CO for this base. How may we be of assistance to a Spectre and a Council team of investigators?" she asked.
"I am Captain Endellion Shaik, the Council has sent me here to investigate some… strange purchases the base has made within the past month," I said. Yirski blinked, a slow frown forming.
"Do you have identification, Captain?" she asked. My omni-tool lit up, tapping away to pass over the documents. Yirski studied her own, flicking through both my and Rosmeni's credentials. After a moment, she sighed. "My apologies, Captain. One cannot be too careful. We have had several unforeseen incidents that has taken place. I presume that the purchase you are here to investigate is the explosives, isn't it?" she asked. My head nodded, a frown growing. "Knew it. I apologise for the scare, Captain. My Lieutenant-Commander suggested stocking up would benefit us in the long term,"
"Explain," I said.
"We study weapon development for starship armaments here. Anything from lasers to bombs and even radio disruptors. Anything to give us an edge in space warfare. We have researched the use of explosives in the past and found them to be useful for taking out large swathes of areas in a short period of time, in particular when used as a single shell and small delivery cartridges," Yirski said.
"Cluster bombs," I said. "Illegal weaponry, Rear Admiral," Yirski shuffled.
"We know of the Council Laws of War. Be at ease that these are not cluster bombs. These are not random sprays of explosive pellets, rather we drop each individual bullet has a homing device on it. No chance of casualties in most circumstances. It is more akin to turrets than to cluster bombs," Yirski explained. "However, if this is not to your satisfaction, we can show you what remains of the stocks. The testing has… drained the cache somewhat,"
"A month and you have piled through several hundred tons of explosives?" I asked.
"We are an experimental facility, Captain. The controlled space turrets are not the only project that requires them. I will admit, the buy is larger than normal, but the with the live testing of so many projects falling on the same date… we can show you the developments and the remaining cache. As per STG rules, we record all munitions. You can study our records if that will please the Council," Yirski said.
"That would be welcome, thank you, Captain," I said.
Yirski struck off, leading us deeper into the facility. Through the corridors, we paused by doors with windows spying into the rooms beyond. Large warehouses containing semi or complete turrets, cannons or ammunition. While none were firing, Yirski supplied all the needed documentation regarding the weapons. The time taken to plan, the resources used to build and maintain the weaponry or ammo and what the gun used as ammunition or what the artillery shell contained. Few of them required explosive material, but the reasoning behind their use was a mixture of stress-testing, explosive-to-other resource testing for maximum punishment with minimal damage to the weapon and other such considerations. Staring at the numbers, watching each gram of explosive vanish over the past month as 4 weapons and 8 shell types neared completion at the same time… had we got it wrong? Sure, it seemed suspicious, but everything is in order. Had we just wasted our time, what little time we had ahead of Nyryntha?
"Thank you, Rear Admiral, I appreciate you taking the time to show me around and explain the situation. I urge you to speak with the Salarian Union well before the next order of such an abnormal batch of resources. It will reduce the chance of another visit from us," I said.
"Of course, Captain. I apologise for the inconvenience. We have access to everything we require, we did not see that an unusual request may spur suspicion from our superiors. I hope that our records explain our reasoning," Yirski said. Val frowned from the corner of my eye while I nodded.
"They do. Good day, Rear Admiral," I said, saluting as we turned away to return to the shuttle deck. Val clicked his mandibles.
"Something smells wrong," he murmured. My eyes stayed ahead.
"How so?" I asked.
"When they showed us the warehouse with the explosives in it… Dell, there is no way you would get 500 tons of explosives in there. The room isn't even designed for explosives. No absorbing panels, no triple sealing doors, they located the explosive cache right next to the facility rather than at a safe distance away. Dammit, Dell, something is wrong," he said, a growl rumbling in his throat.
"So what do you suggest then?" I asked.
"Retreat for now, inform the Council that something is off. It's better to let the Saboteur think they've won time until they fuck up. Also, the volume of testing they did to require those volumes of explosives… no, they're up to something. Either those crates were not explosives or they have moved them in there to hide what was there," he sighed. "We need to come back with a more rigorous team and search the place hard," he said.
"Fine. Dammit, I don't know if I'm annoyed or relieved not to be facing a Saboteur," I muttered.
"No real stress relief, but you aren't getting fucked," Val grinned.
"True that," I sighed.
Before another word could escape, sirens blared. Every hair jumped to attention, hand dropping to the Paladin at my hip. Salarians poured out of the labs, guns in hand as they rushed deeper into the facility. A frown formed, flicking my eyes to Val as he assessed the situation. He snapped his mandibles, eyes drifting to the landing pad several hundred metres away. My own nerves wished to return to the shuttle, afraid of what awaited us below. A plan hatched by the Saboteur? The timing felt too convenient. Before we could decide whether escaping the base before shit hit the fan was a good idea, claws clambered up the sides of the building. My fingers tightened on the Paladin as blue veined, green skinned creatures emerged, twisted, lithe shapes with large scythes growing from their hands on delicate looking limbs. Cables twisted over the crown, cables running from the neck and head sinking under the skin to delve to one of two brilliant blue circles in the chest, the other over the stomach. My group backed away as the creatures stalked us, trailing us like clawed salamanders. An array of cables and cyan veins danced over the creature. One screeched, leaping towards us with claws extended. Shotguns roared beside us, blasting the creature away as the others joined the hunt. My Paladin quivered with each shot as we retreated to the elevator. A growing swarm of the creatures gathered, clambering on the walls like geckos as they slithered around us, seeking an easy target. The speedy bastards drove us inside the elevator, even tried to jam their claws in the doors as they slammed shut. Phentos sliced the claws off, sending the creatures screaming back. The blades clattered like metal on the floor. The elevator lowered. Eyes turned.
"Where those… salarian-" I asked.
"Please don't say it," Laegan whimpered, the yellow salarian shuffling. Iona snorted.
"Get over it, Laegan. Those were husks, salarian husks!" she snapped.
"And where there's husks..." Cathleen murmured.
"There's Reapers," I said, staring at the numbers changing on the elevator. "Something doesn't feel right, why would they Saboteur release the husks now, why wait until we were almost out?"
"Who the fuck knows," Val growled. "All I know is that something doesn't sit well with me. We need to get out of here."
"Agreed, this smells like a trap," Rosmeni said, a frown creasing the young asari's face.
"Fine, we get the fuck out of dodge. First shuttle we find, we're out," I said. Guns clicked as the elevator dinged.
The sight that greeted was a wall of a fire, a screech ringing over the crackling and smoke as gunfire popped around us. The more salarian husks poured out of the thick smoke at us, screeching monsters with sharpened limbs reaching for us, Gunfire burst around me, the screeching monsters collapsing into the flames. We pressed on, seeking a vehicle to escape this place. Traversing through the flaming room, our eyes squinted through the smoke for any foes. Alder screamed when one leapt on him, tearing at his armour. Shaul snatched the writhing husk and threw it to the ground, blasting the head clean off with a point-blank shotgun blast. Val kept a shoulder between me and the outer section of our ring, eyes on all sides. Light burned before us, a breeze of fresh air fanning the flames. Searte and Zeedra raised the biotic field to push us through the flames and into the open air. We coughed, unsoiled air flooding our lungs. More husks rose from the smoke. Their screams died within seconds as bullets tore into them. My eyes locked onto a sea of salarians, pumping bullets into the creatures that emerged. The biotic shield protected us. We pushed back, the salarians parting to allow us access through their front lines. The asari dropped the biotic shield as Rear Admiral Yirski stopped beside us, a red salarian at her heel.
"Captain, are you alright?" she asked.
"Fine, what the fuck happened?" I asked. Yirski frowned as she turned to the salarian husks pouring from the burning building.
"No idea, they just crawled up from the canyon. I've seen nothing like this," she growled as one husk broke through the bullets and slaughtered a salarian before the blades put it down. "They just keep coming!"
"Yeah, I did not sign up for this shit," I grumbled. "We need to evacuate, where are the shuttles?"
"Shuttle storage is up on the waterfall crest," Yirski pointed towards the building straddling the waterfall. "Assuming it isn't overrun,"
"Rear Admiral, it's suicide, we stand a better chance retreating on foot," the red salarian said. Yirski frowned.
"But it could take a day for help to arrive otherwise," she said. My teeth set on edge.
"I am not staying here for a day, we need those damn shuttles!" I snapped. "Call the Starquake, we need to get out of here. This is way over our heads,"
"Agreed, calling it in," Val said, raising a finger to his ear.
"You are abandoning us?" the red salarian balked. My eyes narrowed.
"Problem?" I asked.
"We need all the help we can get," he said.
"Then help us get to the shuttles so we can get the fuck out of this hellhole!" I ordered. The salarian narrowed his eyes.
"But our resear-" he started.
"What is more important; your research or your life?" I asked. The salarian grit his teeth. "We need to get to the shuttles,"
"This way," Yirski said, nodding her head to a doorway.
Our team followed the purple crowned green salarian, the screeches of the husks behind us sending chills down my spine. Even away from the where the fire consumed part of the base, the husks kept coming, clambering up the walls of the facility. We sprinted down hallways with husks pouring from the vents and smashing through the windows. As we drew nearer the shuttles, the numbers only increased. Despite the biotics, the shields strained against the numbers of the creatures. Rosmeni roared as her biotics flared, husks soaring through the air away from us. The husks hissed, scrambling up the walls to safety as we pushed on. We burst outside, a staircase away from the shuttles. Another swarm of husks sprinted towards us. Once again, Rosmeni let her biotics flare as she snarled at the beasts. My eye caught it too late. Several husks had small cylinders on their backs. The explosive artillery shells. The biotic field upset the material within. Explosions blinded me, the force knocking the wind from my lungs and my feet from under me. Falling dragging my stomach up popped my eyes open as a floor 15m drop flashed before me. My body couldn't even position itself before it crashed into the concrete below. My lungs gagged, struggling to find air. Eyes spun in my head as pain erupted from every point, legs refusing to work. As my hearing returned, screams of pain pulled me back from the brink.
My arm stretched across me, rolling me onto my stomach, feet twitching back under me. My head shook, eyes scanning the 20m drop above me. The explosion ripped me from the shuttle bay onto the floors below. All my progress for naught. Around me, a few salarians shook themselves off, cast off the edge like me. Yirski scrambled to her feet, pistol scanning the area around us. The husks remained yet. My hand snatched my pistol from the ground, knees forced to take my weight. The Paladin roared with each bullet. As the salarians recovered, the husks fell one by one. My eyes turned to Yirski, nursing an arm.
"This way, we can work our way up," she grunted, staggering along the walkway, With the threat of more husks bearing down on me, I followed her, the mist of the waterfall dampening my skin as we passed under the crashing water.
"Captain! We need t- -et yo- -sh-," the radio chattered in my ear before the white noise drowned out the words.
"Lanster? Repeat, Lanster, your signal failed," I called. White noise greeted me. Dread formed in my stomach. On the other side of the waterfall, a staircase winding up appeared. We mounted the stairs, reaching the base towering above the crest of the waterfall. My eyes trailed to the landscape behind the building, the open prairie of grass before something caught my eye. My eyes turned skywards.
A Reaper descended towards the ground. My heart stopped, panic setting in. My legs turned to flee, a scream of terror rising in my throat. They failed, a numbness stealing sensation from me. Helpless, my eyes watched the ground rear up towards me, the scream frozen in my throat. With my body numbed, the pain never surfaced. My eyes darted, wild. A foot fell across my vision. Yirski frowned above me as husks swarmed around us.
"Delay them for as long as possible. I must deliver the Advocacy. There is no time to waste," she said. The husks tore off away from us. Yirski bent down, grabbing my arm and hoisting me over her shoulders. A whine escaped. "Stop fighting, Advocacy. You could never have run forever. With your crew distracted, they cannot save you," she turned towards the approaching Reaper, the ground shuddering as the Reaper stepped ever closer.
My mind melted, unable to connect the dots. My body couldn't move but there was no pain. Sensory Overload that only hit my sense of touch? No, no, no. This wasn't right. Nyryntha was a day away, she was hours away, how could she get here so fast!? A dark metal foot slammed into the ground beside us. An explosion rattled the air, Yirski spinning to face the sky. A glimpse of the Starquake glinted in the sun. Yirski growled before sprinting behind the leg for cover. Nyryntha growled, a red laser bursting free to chase after the ship. A salarian husk stopped beside us. Yirski grabbed the shoulder, clinging on as the husk clambered up the leg towards a hatch opening in the back. No, no, this couldn't be happening. No, this couldn't be happening! The husk erupted in an explosion of green, their pair of us falling. Yirski grabbed hold of another husk, continuing upwards as she hoisted me over her shoulder to shield herself. The husk scuttled inside the Reaper, Yirski jogging deeper into the Reaper. In the darkness, glints of blue rose, a sea of husks awaited, built like the Hulk with horns twisting out their heads and wide, elephant like feet supporting their weight. They growled as Yirski pressed deeper inside the Reaper. The deep abyss, the narrow walkways and the harsh angles swirled my fragile mind. It no longer wished to function. Fear had taken hold. I was helpless. I couldn't move.
"Move with swiftness, Atanase. They have followed with a shuttle," Nyryntha said.
"Then why did you not close the hatch after I entered? The husks are distracting them," Yirski asked.
"I did. The shuttle exited from the frigate, not from the ground," Nyryntha rumbled. Yirski growled.
"They are more annoying than the Enforcer," she said, bursting into a large room with fog building on either end. A brilliant blue light blinded me.
"The Enforcer will fall. The failed Martyrs ends now," Nyryntha said.
"Good. Now, deal with your Shell. I shall deal with your guests," Yirski said.
Her shoulder left me, my eyes catching glimpses of cables reaching out over the abyss towards me from a cascade of cables dropping from the brilliant core above. My heart seized, desperate to move a muscle, to move anything. Only once Yirski left the room did my muscle control return. My hands reached for the cables, omni-blade bursting free. A cable snapped around my wrist, holding me as I thrashed against the hold. My screeches of terror, of defiance thundered down the empty room. Nyryntha rumbled as the cascade of cables approached, more cables securing my limbs, stretching me out. Held taught, my body couldn't thrash. My hand tried to Overload, but the cables splayed my fingers, rendering my omni-tool useless.
"Now is the end, Shell," Nyryntha said, a weave of cables snaking around my neck. Air snagged in my throat, the will to survive blinding me. "You have fought well, but your demise was always near," a screamed ripped from my throat as something buried into the back of my skull, pain blinding me. "Farewell, Shell. Know the cycle will continue and your efforts were for naught,"
Images flashed before my eyes as a sea of pain stilled the air in my lungs, heart rupturing in my chest. Family, friends, cherished moments, my parents, painful losses, Gideon, the ship, my home, Val, Earth. All flashed in an instant. Darkness descended, stealing the pain, joy and images from me.
The Timeline and Galaxy Map have been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.