Liara had her first kill.
Five Tyranid she slain in her personal survey on the planet of Eden and she also had taken down a dozen ancient malfunctioned security droids dwelling in the deep of Prothean ruins on Arhos and Marrica. Yet she couldn't claim those kills as the Republic couldn't claim a quarter of the galaxy for it was once the procession of the Empire of old. Droids weren't living creatures and Tyranid minions were less than animals for even their will to survive was dictated by a formless, nameless Hive mind.
This one was different.
He was or had been a living thing, capable of breathing, thinking and self-control till he was no longer be. His weathered face had wrinkles and pockmarks and when he died, liquid pouring from the nose and mouth matched the crimson of his hair and beard, the colour of the earthling's wine and also their blood.
She had no intention to kill him or anyone here in the slightest but somehow, in the middle of chaotic gunfire, this nameless man found her hiding behind a crumbling wall. He shot at her without warning, ignoring her surrender, hammering down her biotic shield with his relentless laser beam.
Liara couldn't remember exactly what happened next.
One moment she thought the shield was about to collapse and then a quarter of a second later, she found her hand reaching out, the handgun had left the holster on her thigh, the barrel smoking white and the man trying to kill her had a hole on his chest plate. He staggered for a few seconds, confusion written all over his face and then he fell on his back and died unceremonially.
When it's not an Asari, just imagine it's an animal that you have killed.
The lesson was from Obra, her personal trainer in the deadly art and the lesson was useless. Not in a lifetime could Liara see this man as an animal. He was an Asari as much as he was a human and she had killed him. The thought caused her blood to run cold like an icy river and paralyze her mind so that when she finally regained control, the fight was almost over. The rain had stopped. Gunshots slowly subsided till they were replaced with the moan of dying men, and the top of the walls and columns, glowing red was the colour of the stone. Dawn is breaking, she realized.
"Does anyone see Doctor T'soni?" She heard Thorsen shout, "Find Doctor T'soni! Find her!"
Emerging from the ruins, still shaking and covered in the blood of the man she killed, Liara limped her way through the clearing which was now littered with corpses, weapons and body parts. The smell of blood was thick in the air, human blood, Asari blood, Turian blood, Batarian blood.
So this was how it was supposed to look like back then, the thing I have been spared of due to my youth. The Great War.
Most of the dead belonged to the other side, dressed in green and tan, lying next to each other near the route they had come in. It was a slaughter no matter how one might perceive it. These men were out in the open, exposed from all sides without any cover as Thorsen had intended. The plan was too aggressive and undiplomatic for Liara's taste, especially when he had captured one of them for questioning and gained nothing out of it, but Thorsen wouldn't be moved.
"It would be safer this way," the cautious German explained, "When they realize they are surrounded, they will be more willing to throw down their arm. If they choose violence then we will destroy them."
And in a way, the Kommandant was right, but things had gone more smoothly than they anticipated before turning for the worse. The armed strangers threw down their arms willingly and actively sought a peace talk with them. Everything was so perfect until...until...
"We have done something wrong."
She concluded sadly as walking past the corpse of the Batarian named Gaz, the very first to fall in this encounter. Half of his head and his eyes had gone, burned and popped out of existence after a Lasgewehr shot had penetrated his shield and landed right on his face. The one who did the horrible deed was a short-stature dark-skinned man standing behind the so-called Sergeant Arvo and Corporal Josh, but from what Liara had seen, it was totally unplanned cause those two men were just as stunned as she was.
Did Gaz say something offensive to their ears?
The sly Batarian was not a pleasant person to be around and his words were often rotten like his teeth, but who would kill and die over a few mildly provocative words like that? She recalled they were quite distressed upon seeing Gaz which was no surprise here, but since the shooting only occurred after the terrible japes, the spark must lie somewhere in what he had said.
But besides the sergeant, none of them seem to speak German. How could they get offended by something they didn't understand?
The more Liara thought about it, the less sense it made. But it no longer mattered. She had learnt she came to learn and while she wished she could take all of these men to Citadel as witnesses, one might just be enough. I must be strong, she told herself, Sanaris has entrusted this to me before his death and if he is right all along then the lives of billions are in danger.
She then found Thorsen standing among the dead and the living, a nasty cut drew a red line from above his right eye to the back of his head, leaving a quarter of his ear missing. There was blood on the breastplate of his armour, neck and forearm but Liara couldn't tell whether it was his or someone else's. Around him, the Haunebu crew was busy checking the corpses, hoping for some loot or survivors or just simply finishing off those beyond help.
"I should have listened to you." He said upon seeing her approach, voice carrying the weariness of battle. His hand was holding a battered helmet of the soldier in green and tan which he then handed to Liara with an empty smile on his lips, "They are not lost children like you have suspected."
The two-head Imperial Eagle spread its wings proudly on the front of the helmet but Liara didn't recognise this design and the same could be said about these strange letters and markings. This was not a product of the Reichwehr or any German military force known to the Galaxy, but even now, with all the evidence literally lying around, she was still dreaded by the prospect of explaining its origin to a man like Thorsen. Would he believe her now or just simply laugh it off like many did before? Couldn't blame him for doing the latter nor could she blame anyone, herself included. The explanation sometimes felt too bizarre that her main audiences might come down to Vorchas, given that half of their species had already believed the universe was just the stomach of a giant worm.
No, now was not the time for that. She must return to Asari space as soon as possible.
"Don't blame yourselves, Kommandant." Said Liara with a sympathetic voice, "Even I couldn't know something like this would happen."
"Really? It seems to me you know a lot more than you claim. It seems to me that you were absolutely certain that these people weren't lost children even though you had never seen a lost child before. How come?"
Liara didn't like where this conversation was leading, "I...we can talk about it later, Kommandant. I got what I came for. We must leave this planet before..."
"No one going anywhere until I have my answer, Dr. T'soni." He growled and turned to her. There was a cold anger in his voice and eyes, " I have just lost at least 5 men here. Good men. Some of them were closer to me than my actual family and now they are all DEAD" He stressed the word in an accusing way, "Dead after you told us to get rich by doing the simplest job we ever know, without risking our necks, without shooting a bullet." He then reached for the bloody wound on his head, face wincing at the pain, "The owner of that helmet gave me this parting gift with his bayonet. He came at me yelling ' ave impostor' or some shit like that, even though I had blown up one of his hands and half of his jaw."
'Ave Imperator', Liara reflected, or 'Long live the Emperor' in German. In one of the notes Sanaris left behind, he mentioned the humans in the other dimension spoke Latin, an ancient language from Earth. The why of it still troubled Liara but it mattered not now. Her attempt to communicate with the prisoner in the same language had ended up in failure. He either didn't understand her at best or at worst, misinterpreted what she said into something horrible, given how quickly he lost control of his bowl.
"Kommandant, i..."
"I have never seen anything like it before, I tell you that. No kinetic shield, no cover, no hope and still they refused to surrender. They just stood there, dying on their spots or charged right at us and fell in the attempt. Even the Tyranid knew when to run but these men are..." The German struggled to find an appropriate word for this madness. " Who are they T'soni? Where did they come from? There are no other humans in this region besides those on Baxenfurt and for all I know, they don't talk, act or fight like this! "
"Not from the Galaxy we know," Liara replied, immediately feeling like an idiot. She wanted to clarify that but the impatient German cut her off :
"I do not have time for laugh and gag, Asari. If you don't give me an answer now, I will..."
"Thorsen!"
Called a familiar voice and as they turned around, Suna was taking her time to stroll to where they stood, a fainted smile broke on her face and not a scratch could be found on her Thorax. Behind her, to Liara's surprise, were two prisoners limping their way through the battleground at gunpoints whose faces she didn't expect to see again.
Corporal Josh and Sergeant Arvo.
Both of them looked like they had just been caught up in a storm with tattered clothes, battered armour and wounds all over their bodies. But unlike his brother-in-arms who dropped to his knees before them with the last of his strength evaporated like a puff of smoke, Sergeant Arvo remained strong, stone-faced and unmoved.
This one is different, Liara thought, not only to the Corporal but also to Thorsen. On the surface, the two Germans might look alike - dirty blonde hair, high cheekbones, blue eyes, tight jaw, witnessing so many battles that sullenness became the face they wear every day- yet deep inside, there was something very unnatural, very unsettling about the man who called himself Arvo. Liara guessed Thorsen also had the same thought, judging from the way he gazed down at his prisoner.
"I hope their survival can be explained without 'killing one of our crew in self-defend'." Thorsen bristled.
"What do you take me for?" Replied Suna with a cocky smile before turning to the scarred purple-skinned Asari standing behind Arvo with a Drakan rifle. Agura was her name, a maiden younger than Liara yet the typical hard life of Terminus Zone had shaped her into a feared and ruthless gun for hire. "We have enough prisoners for questioning. Knife for the rest. At the liver if you please. We need to send a warning to those who dare to cross us."
This is their way. I have made my bed and now I must sleep on it. No one dared to venture this far into Terminus Zone except smugglers, slavers and pirates and since Liara despised the second and distrusted the third, all of her hope was put into former Asari Huntress who was said to remember her oath and honour still. So far that was not just talk, so far Liara had yet been betrayed and sold to a random pirate lord offering the highest price, but that didn't mean the Haunebu Captain shinned away from other unsavoury parts of criminal life.
"Now, you two here may be spared of that horrible end if I'm to be pleased with what you have to say." Suna said to them darkly, "Who are you? Where do you come from? What are you here for?"
Arvo muttered something to Josh in a hushed tone before answering: " I told you before. I'm..."
"Sergeant Arvo and Corporal Josh of the Third Parius reconnaissance group of the Imperial Army, yes we all heard you loud and clear." Suna cut him off, "I just had my liaison officer run a check and guess what? There is no Third Parius reconnaissance group in the Imperial Military Record nor is there a place called Parius to begin with."
Thorsen jerked the helmet from Liara's hand and threw it down in front of him, "This is not the equipment of Reichswehr. Your marking, rank and insignia are all incorrect." He then pointed at frightened Josh, "And this one doesn't even speak German."
"He is not from Krieg."
The Kommandant snorted "You keep saying that. What's Krieg? A planet? Who in the right mind names their planet Krieg?"
Someone who only knows war since the day they come into the world. From notes Sanaris left behind, it was obvious that the professor leaned toward a human empire which was even more militaristic than the Germans before went on suggesting an idea he described as ' A nation in a constant state of warfare and decay for several millenniums, always one step away from total annihilation, corrupted from within and besieged on all sides'. No need to say Liara took the whole concept with a grain of salt for there was no way a nation as such could exist in reality. The Asari Warring States period lasted for 3000 years and the Empire before that wasn't known for its pacifism, yet there had been peace, prosperity and poetry and never once the Asari saw themselves on the brink of total destruction. The biggest war the Germans fought was the Great War which almost cost them an empire, and despite checking all the boxes, in their long history of violence, the Krogan barely had anything resembling a funcionable government, let alone an empire.
"You are... from the Imperium of Men, are you not?" Liara asked, feeling like treading on thin ice, " In service of a man you called the Emperor of Mankind?"
Thorsen looked stunned but Suna was more amused than surprised, " So this is what you come for." She said flatly, "Not the beacon, not the map, not the Maho but living and breathing specimens."
"Not in this condition." To that the young archaeologist was honest, despite leaving out the part where she had to explain what the more preferable condition was. Suna probably assumed the Eye of Fire was their final destination. Still, even in the wildest imagination, she couldn't expect Liara to take the leap of faith and seek human civilization on the other side on her own. I would have been tied up and sent back to Thessia in a bag if she had found out, It was unnecessary, of course, for her lady mother wouldn't shed a tear at her demise, but how was Suna supposed to know? "Be patient and be wise, my honourable huntress," She suddenly found herself speaking with Benezia's voice, " What you hear may challenge your belief, but it would be worth your time."
Suna gave Liara an uncertain look but kept most of her thoughts to herself. Quietly, the Haunebu Captain turned to Arvo, eyes narrowing "The lady just asked you a question."
The man's face was written in a language she didn't understand. Arvo, by no means, was intimidated by the Asari Huntress, yet none couldn't tell what he was really thinking.
"You should leave this place," He said to her and to all of them, strangely sounding more like friendly advice than a threat. "The Inquisitor is here."
Confusing looks were exchanged among the gang members before all attention fell on Liara, "What is Inquisitor?" Thorsen asked, "Doesn't sound like someone's name to me."
"A title was given to some human priests and religious officials during a time called the Medieval period on planet Earth." Replied Liara wearily. For some reason, the sound of that word made her uneasy, "It is equivalent to the Inspector General of the Reich or Asari Justicar."
"So you are saying there are more of you here?" Suna smirked, "Come now, if you have to lie, please choose something more convincing, would ya?."
"Captain, I don't think it's wise to dismiss ..."
"Thorsen, be kind and explain to Lady T'soni here. She isn't too familiar with military conduct."
The grumpy German released a sigh, "They approached the ruin without air reconnaissance and fire support and instead of waiting for reinforcement to deal with us, they chose surrender and negotiation. Our radar detects no ship anchoring on the orbit and recon probes didn't see anything within a 100-kilometer radius. All the sights are pointing to they came here alone. Either by choice or forced by circumstances."
"There is an encampment 120 km northwest from here." Said Arvo. "I can only say as much as my oath allows me to. Please leave."
Thorsen grunted, "You would rather have me believe your 'Inquisitor' send his recon platoon to a distance where he has no means to support it? Don't lie to me, Arvo. If you actually had someone to call upon, you would have retreated and called for them after I captured one of your men."
"I'm not authorized to call reinforcement." Their prisoner admitted, "Nor could we go back where we came. Most of my men have suffered malnutrition for many months and they were not equipped to survive harsh weather conditions."
The realization struck like a Batarian whip, sudden and cruel. She wondered what had stopped her from noticing the difference before. Except for Arvo, under those bulky chest plates and shoulder pads, the soldiers of Imperium looked even less impressive with skinny shoulders, spindly arms and haggard faces. Thorsen was like a giant compared to them and Thorsen was far from the biggest German Liara had met. This contradiction was rather confusing to put it lightly. On the one hand, she didn't think Arvo was lying and yet on the other hand, if what he said was true then she had to believe this..' Inquisitor' was sending a group of under-equipped, ill-trained, exhausted men to their deaths while achieving nothing. An empire that is more militaristic than the Germans can't afford to be such inefficient, Liara reflected and assumed something had been misinterpreted in the process but the chance was slim. Sanaris' writing was plain and honest and the same could be said about Arvo's words.
"Nonsense!" Thorsen exclaimed, obviously irritated "What you're describing is tantamount to suicide. No one would deploy his men in that manner."
"Apparently, someone has seen fit to do so," Suna said flatly and dropped to one knee. Her gaze was softened as she looked Arvo in the eyes, "The more you talk the less sense it makes. And yet...and yet you almost have me believe a brave and honest man you are, " A half smile broke on her face, "I don't know anything about this Imperium nor have I ever heard of your Emperor, so you must forgive me for my suspicion. It's a rare thing for soldiers to go out of their way to help their enemy like you do."
"You are not my enemy."
"Then perhaps it was Thorsen trying to cut his face in half," She argued. "Your men shot at us without any provocation."
"A misunderstanding. They thought that Xe..." He hesitated, "...Your companion was a servant of Khrone which in fact, he wasn't."
The German raised an eyebrow, "Gaz was once a member of a Blood Pack company, paid by the Imperial Crown to guard Reichswehr's supply depots in Terminus Zone."
Of course, Thorsen failed to understand it. Liara couldn't say she was surprised here. Since German was widely spoken and taught among civilized species due to its simplicity, Reichswehr's soldiers barely knew the difficulty in communicating with someone who didn't speak their tongue.
"I think possibly it was a lost in translation, Kommandant." Liara interjected then turned to Arvo, "Does the word ' Crown' have a negative meaning to you and your men? Something taboo? A sworn enemy of your Imperium and the Emperor?" All Liara got back was just a simple nod so she quickly understood that the man wished to speak no more on the matter, " I have another question, Arvo. This Inquisitor of your...What does he look like? 3 meters tall, cladding in heavy armour from head to toe?"
She could see Thorsen and Suna's uneasiness without looking. The prospect of fighting an enemy like that indeed wasn't encouraging, to say the least, given how badly this fight had gone.
"I have never seen him." Arvo shook his head, "I'm just told an Inquisitor is currently present on the planet and we are under his command."
Thorsen was about to rebuke that but Suna wisely cut him off. They were just wasting time here :
"Gather the men and be ready to depart in 10 minutes. Whether what he says is true or not, we should be cautious nonetheless." Suna's glance was on the blood dripping down from Arvo's chin. His wounds were not lethal but there were plenty of them. The right side of his face and the right arm where the sleeves had been torn off were decorated with fresh bloody scratches and tiny dots as if he had gone through a traffic accident. A frag grenade, Liara could guess as much but his bruised eye and swollen lips required a different explanation. Suna was sure they didn't kill any of her men and by the look of it, she didn't gain that knowledge through talking. "Have someone tend to his wound if you please." She then takes a look at Josh who also stared at her with eyes so big and white as if Suna was about to eat him alive, "And a smoke for this one. If he keeps looking at me like that, people may think we are in love."
Josh at first flinched at the sight of the needle and injector that Liara brought out of her waist pack. However, after receiving a cigarette from Throsen and witnessing his sergeant taking the medi-gel injection with grace, he accepted it hesitantly. Silently, they watched Suna walk to the middle of the clearing. The Haunebu lowered altitude at her command, its disk shape cast a great shadow on the ground, turning the green beneath her feet into a shade of dark. The captain wore a set of dark purple Thorax which sparkled generously as the '' Sky Well' opened, lifted her up into the air and sucked her into the spacecraft in a bright white beam of light. A series of emotions respectively flashed across Josh and Arvo's faces - astonishment, suspicion, fear.
"What is that thing?" Gloomy Arvo asked when Liara picked pieces of shrapnel out of his arm with a pin, "A Xenos heretical tech?"
Curious terminology indeed. Liara wondered what would be orthodox to him. "No, it's a German invention. We called it Haunebu or flying saucer because..."
"It has the shape of a saucer." He concluded in a very Germanic way, bluntly without attempting to deliver it as a punchline, "What is German?"
Nine out of ten people being asked would laugh at his face while the remaining one would contact the authorities and send him to a mental hospital, "The language we are speaking right now is called German," Liara wasn't sure if she was murking the water or making it clearer here, "The Germans are a branch of humanity hailing from a planet called Earth. Their empire spreads from the southern parts of the Galaxy to Core World."
He then shot a glance at Thorsen who was ten meters away from them, yelling something at his crew in a bastardized Asari dialect "He is a German?"
"Yes, he is."
"Then why does he have to obey your Captain?"
It took her a moment to understand what he meant by that, " The saucer was bought and paid by Suna and since Thorsen is working under contract, he has to obey her as...an employee, " A dutiful lover more like, but Liara decided Arvo didn't need to know that, "And I paid her to bring me to this planet so technically, it's me whom he obeys. Is it not normal for a human to work under a...Xenos in your Imperium?"
"It's forbidden," He tried hard to hide the disdain, "The punishment is death."
Had the Goddess intervened and sent these men here to me? Liara grimaced at the thought. She would unlikely survive if her original plans had gone smoothly. For years, she had assumed the German Reich and its counterpart were like cousins in a big family, different yet alike, an illusion that began to shatter when she first laid eyes on Arvo and his men. It was true that the Germans weren't that fond of strangers and pretty far from a friendly race. Yet shooting alien visitors on sight was also a step too far for them, a notion that perhaps only existed in the Batarian early attempts of slandering the Reich after the first contact.
But these men will certainly do it. No matter what I say, no matter how I beg and plead, they will kill me nonetheless.
She wanted to know more but then decided to call it a day. No need to press questions on him now cause they would have plenty of time on the journey back to the civilized worlds and surely Arvo's desire to satisfy someone's curiosity with one bleeding arm was just as much as hers. A few minutes went by unnoticed before Thorsen called for them to board the Haunebu through the Sky Well. The clearing wasn't big enough for a landing he told her but Liara assumed it had something to do with the fact that the German couldn't wait to get his feet off this planet. With how Arvo spoke of that 'Inquisitor', no one can blame him for wishing so.
"The wounded will go up first then you can escort our prisoners to their cells." He said in a hush then stared at her hostler and pistol with disagreement, "I hope your hands are quick enough when you need them, Doctor."
Liara sighed, "Unnecessary aggressiveness only encourages more violence, Kommandant."
"Suit yourselves then. But don't come to me crying when they break your fingernails."
The Haunebu then crept forward and loomed over them like a weird-looking wide-brimmed hat, causing Josh to shrink in fear while his Sergeant braced himself with defiance. It had never occurred to Liara how scary this machine could be in first-hand experience... well until now. Silently and ominously, It moved around like a ghost and bore the shape of something coming straight out of fever dreams. Perhaps that was why not many people took an interest in Saucer technology besides the Germans who were always short on Eezo. The Salarians, as usual, disliked anything they didn't invent whereas the Turian and Asari populace got sick at the sight of these spacecraft after suffering too many Haunebu Raids during the war.
"The humans say you should not judge a book by its cover," Said Liara with a smile, "They have cold beer on board. Never tried it myself but the German crew told me it was worth being served in a restaurant."
Arvo cocked his head to the side, "A restaurant?"
You have to be kidding me. "It's a place where you..."
It was a place where you sometimes paid money for the service and the experience rather than the food, she wanted to say but never had the chance. A long, thin streak of white smoke appeared in the eastern sky, where the sun was rising, soon followed by other long, thin streaks of white smoke. It took her a few seconds to realise there were diamond-shaped objects with fiery tails at the end of them, burning and shrieking as they tore their way to the clearing. By then, she knew what she was dealing with.
Missiles!
She wanted to cry out, to warn Thorsen of the incoming danger but before words escaped her lips, the missiles had already rammed right into the Haunebu's dome, evoking a series of explosions that staggered and engulfed half of the Saucer in flame. Everything was so sudden, so fast it was like a door slammed in their faces and thus all they could do was stand dead on their feet, staring helplessly as whatever was left of the Saucer fell down from the sky.
"SUUUUNNNNA! NOOOOOO!"
Thorsen cried like half of his soul had been ripped off. The Haunebu's dome was where the control room and Captain's cabin were located. None could survive that fiery grave. Not his crew members, not his captain, not his muse. A blast came after an ear-deafening sound of metal bending, twisting and breaking, so strong it threw Liara off her feet and blackened her eyes with a storm of dust. When she got up, either Arvo, Josh or Thorsen could be found. She saw nothing but a wall of glowing orange smoke, smelled nothing but a strong metallic smell that attacked her nose and her throat viciously. The smell was thick in the air and soon Liara found her tongue dull and felt an irresistible urge to puke.
The radiation!
The core was melting, leaking from the burning wreckage, she realized, and if it wasn't for the bio enhancement inside her system, she would have collapsed.
"Thorse..sen..Cough! Cough! Arvo..?" She called with a burning throat. "Where... Cough! Cough!... Where are you?"
"HERE!" A voice answered in the smoke but it didn't belong to anyone she knew. "SPIRIT HAS MERCY, HELP ME! I CAN'T MOVE."
A wounded Turian, Liara thought as she came to the rescue but someone had already reached him first, making her effort futile. A gloomy and doomy figure was standing over the Turian when she arrived, wearing a grey trench coat and a gas mask with eye sockets so large and dark she briefly assumed he was of an insectoid species. Silence was the man himself and silence was what he had given to his victim. A sharp wicked knife was on his right hand, slimy with bright green fluid, Turian blood. Liara took a step back, her breath was shallow and hot. Her hand immediately went for the gun but like Thorsen had warned before, she wasn't quick enough.
With incredible speed, the masked opponent rushed forward and launched a furious thrust, giving Liara no choice but to deflect it with her gun hand. It was a close call. The blade barely missed her throat, leaving a mark on her chin where drops of purple fell down the white breastplate.
I can use Biotic Fist at this distance.
It could be a fatal blow and the face of the dying man briefly crossed her mind. But this time, the decision came quickly and easily. A blue flame punch was delivered at the man's left side, tearing a hole in his coat, and sending a shock wave to his chest. She heard a low grunt from beneath the gas mask as she felt his bone shatter beneath her fist, piercing his lungs but...but, in her horror, it didn't stop his hand from gripping her neck or his leg from tackling hers. The masked man pinned Liara down or more precisely, fell on her with the rapid wheezing of a man trying to drink the river through a straw.
How? She thought as his finger held tight, squeezing the life out of her and the knife raised high, ready for the finishing strike. He can no longer breathe!
But Liara might never know. The Kriegsmesser thermal blade was like a blur when it cut off the masked man's knife hand. Without a scream or any reaction appropriate for a man who had just lost his limb, he turned around to face the attacker, but the second swing put an end to that effort His head fell sideways from his shoulder, blood gushed out from the headless neck like small streams of red, some of it splashed on Liara's face, temporarily blinding her.
"GET UP, T'SONI!" Liara heard Thorsen shouting before feeling his hand gripping her collar and yanking her up, "RUN! TO THE MONOLITH! RUN!"
And run she did, run like hell as hurried footsteps and laser beams chased after her, kicking off dust left and right. Many humanoid shadows were lurking behind, too many for her liking. Thorsen first answered them with rapid shots of pistol but he soon found how useless it was. For every shadow fell and faded away, two more would take its place. Unlike their previous foes, exhausted and ill-prepared and only engaged in combat due to desperation, these men were ready, fresh and unafraid to die.
"COVER YOUR EARS!"
Thorsen shouted, hand removing the pin on the flashbang and dropping it on the ground. The explosion made her head ring like a bell but the trick worked nonetheless. Their pursuers seemed to hesitate and slowed down their paces and hence Thorsen and Liara managed to reach the ruin beneath the black monolith almost unscratched. Breathlessly, she leaned against a broken wall, eyes scanning the surroundings and found they were not alone. Most of the Haunebu crew were on the ground when it came crashing down and a dozen had managed to survive. A middle-aged human medic immediately crouched to Liara with a medical scan and a dusty face. He looked rather weary at the stage of her but after realizing the colour of the blood on her armour, he breathed easily.
"I guess the bastard has paid for what he did." He said while checking the wound on her chin. "Just a scratch. It will heal nicely."
Only if I live long enough. "Why are we still not moving?" She asked, "We can't stay here."
"To where my lady? Our only means of transport is a burning wreckage and the enemies are on our asses." He sighed heavily, "Here at least we still have a strong position. Besides...well, good luck talking Thorsen out of this. There nothing more relentless than a vengeful man."
Telesaka had burned down an entire system after Tanila, mentor and lover, was slain in combat and Justicar Seria abandoned all of her codes to go after her spouse's killer so nothing less could be expected from Thorsen Kogler. Love was the sweetest wine and the ruin of reason, a truth applied in all ages and to all species.
"Agura, I need your Asari to the right. The bastards may try to flank us" Thorsen ordered in a booming voice, "Cacor, bring the MG and ammo up here quick. Shoot any fucker coming out of that smoke."
"Galus is still out there!" A brown-haired man cried in objection. She didn't know his name but she thought she had come across him in the shuttle bay, "We just have heard him call for help."
"He's gone. I saw the body. Those...fucking things got him before I arrived. Stay sharp Folke or they will do the same to you."
''Things'' he called them for whatever almost had me killed couldn't be men. Liara shivered at the thought of her attacker, of the insectoid gas mask, of the knife and the way his fingers wrapped around her throat, cold, emotionless and inhuman. It felt like she was fighting a corpse and it couldn't even be truer after she crushed his lungs. No one could fight on in that condition, not even the Krogans no matter how many times they bragged about having four lungs and two hearts made you unkillable.
Is this how terrible that Inquisitor can be? Is this why Arvo wanted us to leave this place? She didn't doubt he was telling the truth but she did think he made some exaggeration when it came to his superior. Once again, she was proven wrong.
"Here, use this." Thorsen handed Liara one of his Sturmgewehr before sinking to one knee beside her, eyes narrowing between the gaps in the wall. The rifle was one of the Rango series with the barrel cut short for confined space but it wasn't just simply a weapon. It was someone's possession and Liara knew right after she put the stock against her shoulder; The barrel was reinforced with well-heated treat titanium; the hand grip was custom-made, coated with a layer of Purple Heart wood, and there was something written in Asari on the stock.
True as your aim. True as your heart.
The tenth principle of the Huntress Code. This thing belonged to Suna.
"I'm...I'm sorry for your loss, Thorsen." Liara said, "I've just known Suna for a short time but she seemed to be a nice and honourable person. She could break the contract, betray me whenever she wanted but she didn't."
His mouth tightened as he took a long deep breath and Liara knew she had made a mistake. At this point, even mentioning her name was too much for him. However, Thorsen was a soldier, a Kommandant and above all, a German so he knew how to hold himself together in a situation like this one.
"We will talk about it later." Said the man cooly, "Now just keep your mind on taking down the enemy and getting out of here alive."
"You can't be serious about fighting them! There are too many..."
"Less than 200 armed with Lasgewehr on two Junker-sized airships. I saw them dropping bodies at another clearing one hundred meters from here, but it seemed they didn't bring any vehicles or heavy weapons for support." The German smiled dangerously, "That's our chance. In a direct firefight, we will have some advantages. Our machine guns and personal arms are more than enough to suppress them which will allow Agura to give them a nasty flaking attack. Those bastards may come from a different dimension as you have said but they are still made of flesh and bone as far as i know. Hit them hard enough and they will fall like the rest."
It was true to some extent but the question was what would be considered 'hard'? A Biotic Fist against an unarmored opponent was one step below the death sentence and yet...
"Hold your fire until you actually see them," Thorsen whispered on the com. "Let their scouts advance first."
On the opposing side, in the orange smoke, their enemy stirred and moved between the fallen stones like a snake, quiet, cautious yet decisive and intimidating nonetheless. Liara couldn't see them but she could hear their soft footsteps, the clanking of equipment clapping into each other and felt their presence which was like a rope that strangled her heart. Re-adjusting the sight and switching her rifle to automatic mode, she waited for a glimpse of a grey coat stepping out from the smoke, a shadow, anything but nothing came. Suddenly, all the sound ceased to exist. No more footsteps, no more clanking, even the smoke seemed to stand still.
"What are they doing?" Liara asked, confused, "Did they retreat?"
"No," Thorsen answered in a low impatient voice before putting his finger on the earpiece, " Give them some encouragement, Agura. Single shot. Everyone else hold your fire."
After a loud gunshot, a bullet tore its way into the smoke in a cold blue beam. It found a target. They all heard the lead ball contact something else besides stone and dirt out there which was soon followed by the thudding sound of a body falling onto the ground. They held their breath, waiting for the enemy to respond with furious orders, screaming and laser beams but nothing came. Only silence.
"Impossible,"
Liara muttered in disbelief. The enemy this time would be much more of a challenge than the last she had no doubt but this determination, this valour was unexpected. No military unit besides the Geth could display such discipline. Yet these were men made of flesh and bone, not machines. The metallic stink on her face was enough proof of it.
"You want to play tough? Let's play tough!" Growled Thorsen, "Agura, another..."
A strange eerie sound cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter, adding more confusion to their already confusing minds. It was a whistle, distant and ghostly, and the meaning of it was completely lost to her and perhaps to Thorsen too. Somewhere in the history book, the usage of fire, drum, trumpet flags and whistles on the battlefield as means of communication had been a thing, but as time went by and every soldier had their own coms, they slowly became accessories of ceremony and parade. The second whistle was longer than the first and after the third, they heard a voice barking orders on the other side, too young for a commander and too soft for a man.
"Men, get ready to advance." Rang the voice in a strange unfamiliar accent, "For the Emperor."
And then they came. In loose formation, charging out of the smoke with wicked blades attached to their Lasgewehr. More than a hundred gas masks threw themselves at their certain death with a determination unmatched. The earth seemed to tremble by their footsteps but none could hear anything coming from their mouth. No battle cry, no bloodlust madness, nothing. Just like the way that man absorbed her Biotic fist, just like how they stood there and died, the silence was so absolute it killed before any laser beam left the barrel.
"OPEN FIRE!"
Thorsen shouted and two dozen enemies were mowed down by a storm of bullets. Liara contributed some to the carnage. Aiming at the centre mass, she made a man look like he was struck by lightning, falling on his back, and dying unceremoniously. Without even a look, a fellow soldier proceeded to jump over his dead body and continued the charge with a head ducked down. She killed that one too with a short burst.
Liara managed to drop two more targets before realizing Thorsen's plan was about to fall apart. The enemy clearly had no intention to engage them in prolonged gunfire, they were willing to take casualties and there were more of them than the German assumed. Slowly, the line of corpses crept closer and closer to their position and when their machine gunner, a Batarian called Cacor fell to three precise Lasgewehr shots, all hell broke loose. The first gas mask entering the breach was shot dead by Thorsen but that was just after he managed to open a hole in their medic's chest. Grenades were thrown from both sides. Yellow explosive flashes intertwined with blue biotic flashes, too many screams and curses in too many tongues Liara lost track.
She lost track of what she was doing too.
In one moment, she killed an enemy soldier who tried to throw a stick grenade at her, causing a blast that took down three more. But in another moment, she found herself slamming the butt of her rifle onto a large masked man's head who had Thorsen pinned under his big strong arms. She shot left and right, at every grey trench coat when she turned her head. Someone stabbed her in the hip, and another punched her in the face. The defensive position was completely overrun by that point. The enemy was like a flood of grey swallowing everything in its path, a force so powerful that Liara soon had to surrender to. A curious object flashed in the corner of her eye, too fast for her to know what it looked like but she definitely felt the shape of it as it rammed into her right cheek.
A shovel?
The thought almost made her laugh while falling down. She might pass out for a few minutes or an hour but there was no way to be sure. She hadn't died yet, it was clear enough, for this untrimmed grass was too ugly for any Asari Paradise. They half-carried and half-dragged the archaeologist across the clearing before forcing her to her knees. She looked around and saw Agura and Thorsen were there too and in the same condition as her. Wounded, kneeling, surrounded by enemies.
No, it can not end like this.
Liara shivered as her mind drifted to what she had read in 'Adventure to Nanyu' but...What are they waiting for? There was a masked man standing behind Agura with both hands behind his back, looking fearsome in a rather antic-looking armour, a black cape. A cavalry sabre dangling on his hip, the eagle's head hilt made of gold and silver shining under the weak Winden's sun. It was obvious that he was the leader of these people and for a moment, Liara mistook him for the Inquisitor. But then she recognized his voice immediately.
"Tell the Inquisitor the area has been secured," The supposed-to-be-Inquisitor said to the subordinates, his voice too young for a commander and too soft for a man. "He can now question the prisoners."
The man of the main event was a surprise and not a surprise at the same time. He was tall but not as tall as the Space Marine or Titan Liara had in mind. He dressed simply, all in black, yet he had the smell of fortune, power and nobility. Under the nicely trimmed golden hair was the handsome face of a middle-aged human, but no matter how bright the smile was, there was something vicious and dangerous leaking out of him.
"So which one of you is the commander?" Asked the Inquisitor after observing each one of them with the amusement of a man choosing a brand-new car. " It's custom for the highest rank to accept the Emperor's mercy."
"Bugger your Emperor and his mercy!" Thorsen replied and spat blood onto the grass, " If you want to kill us then be done with it."
The Inquisitor threw him a glance, choking back rage. He then waved his hand and called: "Come forward, Arvo."
The grey line of masked soldiers was slipped in half, making way for their former prisoner. How quickly the table had turned. They probably were kneeling where Arvo had knelt and there he stood with shadow loomed over her and his wounds healing nicely. The Inquisitor seemed to take note of that improvement as well.
"Impressive, indeed." The man in black commented, pointing at the large cut on his arm where the bleeding had stopped, "Are you sure all of this comes from a single injection? Not even the best medicine I know had this immediate effect."
" That's a correct assessment, Lord Karter." He then glanced at Liara, "Doctor T'soni provided me nothing else besides an injection and basic first-aid."
"A healer? This one?" His green eyes sparkled with joy, "Emperor's blessing. Wonderful, wonderful."
That was totally incorrect and his excitement rubbed Liara the wrong way. However, she knew she better keep her mouth shut at this point.
"And how about this fierce individual?" Lord Karter then pointed at Thorsen, smiling, " My experience tells me he must be the commander."
"Thorsen is second-in-command. Their leader was a blue Xenos named Suna who was confirmed boarding the thing they called 'Saucer' before your arrival."
Without warning, Thorsen flung himself at Arvo but failed even to touch him. The Kommandant was wounded and bleeding while his captors were strong and numerous. Very quickly, they managed to overwhelm and pin him down.
"Ungrateful bastard! I should have you killed!" Thorsen roared before a kick silenced him.
"You should." The man replied calmly, "But it would change nothing."
"Apparently you two have a history that I would like to learn. I must admit today contains more surprises than I have expected. Xenos saving the lives of the Emperor's servants. Human serving Xenos overlord as her lieutenant. I take the bold to assume this scarred one has something worth mentioning too. Tell me, what is the role of this creature in their group?"
No. Don't say anything Arvo. Please. He never struck her as a grudge-holding vicious type. But he was an honest man and by the Goddess, honest men had killed as much as liars.
"One of the crew, my lord. Suna entrusted her to kill our wounded after they had enough prisoners to question."
"Ah, that's a real pity." The so-called Lord Karter said with a shrug and a sad smile, "It seems we too have enough prisoners for questioning today. Gunther, the honour is yours."
When the masked man now known as Gunther unsheathed his sword from the scabbard, Liara realized it was not simply a decoration or a weapon. The steel which was smoky and dark and glowing in pale blue had an ancient touch to it. Lines ran across the edge and the blade itself was covered with strange letters and religious symbols that strangely reminded Liara of an architectural style the Germans called Romanques. Liara didn't understand what she was witnessing as Gunther thrust the sword downward, right below Agura's neck. It was no thermal sword and yet it was sharp, so sharp that three layers of Thorax armour was pierced like papers.
The Asari fell forward, purple blood gutted out of the wound, life slowly drained out of her eyes.
"And that's also the first lesson you need to learn, you heathen savage." The Inquisitor told Thorsen darkly, cold green eyes looking down at him like looking at a bug, "The next time I hear you open that blasphemous mouth against the Emperor, death will be something you beg for."