Hi guys. Ok so I'm off to Japan next week for 15 days. I cannot promise that I'll update any stories but I will see if I can. After that, I'm sorry, but I need to send my laptop in the shop and it will be gone for 3 weeks for major repairs. Anyway enjoy.
It had been four days since the raid and Miranda was starting to get worried. Sonja had been mostly silent ever since she saw the map. Outside of directing and some orders, she didn't say much but just stared at it as if she wanted the answer to come jumping out at her. But whatever it was, she was keeping silent about it. It worried Miranda about what this meant for them and Ark.
If Sonja was worried then so was, she. The commander knew this place better than any other person and had seem to have adapted with ease. But that's just the way she was adaptable. She adapted to the loss of her family, she adapted to life in the military, she adapted to being a Spectre and now, she adapted to living in a technologically stagnant feudal world filled with dinosaurs. Not for the first time Miranda looked at the commander in awe of her strength of will and just pure determination to survive.
She took a glance at Jack and wondered, not for the first time, what subject Zero could have been if not for Cerberus. Jack and the commander were somewhat alike, the only difference was that Jack was forced to survive while the commander and a choice and could adapt with ease. The former Cerberus agent sighed continuing to wonder what was going on.
They were a day out from rock city when night fell and the crew set up camp. It didn't take long to set up the small tents and set a fire. They began cooking some Dodo meat and a stew when Sonja decided to rejoin them. She sat on the only free space, a flat rock and took one of the skewers of seasoned meat.
"This just isn't making any sense," she said as she took a bite and placed the map on the floor placing rocks at the corners to prevent it from folding. "Have a look,"
The crew leaned in and looked. The map was of a local area that they didn't recognise. But they didn't need to as they could see that something was wrong. While most of the map was set out like any other with details of hills, towns, mountains and so on, there was one part that was blank with a skull placed in the middle and arrows pointing inwards at an opening.
"The Forbidden Zone you mentioned," Mordin said earning a nod from the Amazon.
"Why are they Forbidden?" Grunt asked. "They sound like fun,"
Sonja licked her lips, considering what to say before speaking. "The name is a bit of a misnomer. They aren't forbidden because we cannot go inside, they are forbidden because no one has ever come out alive. In the past, when the residents of Ark didn't know what was out there, they sent out rangers to map the areas around them. However, they never came back from certain areas which became known as the 'Forbidden Zones'. That's not to say people didn't try. Several nations sent Rangers even entire armour and Rex battalions into the areas. Not one has come back,"
The crew looked at each other with concern. While they had gone through the Omega-4 relay, they had something that allowed them to survive the trip. Even Wrex looked concerned. While his kind lived for the thrill of battle and fighting, even places on Tuchanka you wouldn't go as it was almost impossible to get out alive. You couldn't be honoured if no one heard about your deeds.
"And that's not the best part," Sonja continued. "People who live around these area's swear that they've seen things like dragons and wyverns flying around,"
The humans of the crew looked at the Commander dumbfounded while the non-humans looked confused.
"Dragons? Seriously?" Ashley asked with the Commander nodding.
"Wait," Garrus butted in waving his hand. "I'm not the best source for human culture, but what's a Dragon? I mean I've heard the name, but never understood what it referred to,"
"A Dragon is a mythological creature that comes from several human cultures, mostly from the areas known as Europe and Asia," Morin spoke up. "European Dragons are depicted as evil big fire-breathing lizards with a love of goal while Asian dragons are depicted as snake-like spiritual guides who breathe water," he looked around at the looks he got. "Yes?"
Sonja shook her head. "How do you know what?"
"Was bored one day so decided to look up human mythology. Very varied, very interesting," he shrugged.
"Well, in this it's European Dragons. But the thing is, we have no evidence for them," Sonja shrugged.
"Wait what about that guy who's after you for his harem? In your diary, you said he had a sword made from dragon bones," Miranda spoke up.
If looks could have killed, Miranda would have been nothing but particles floating in the air. She gulped at the look Sonja gave her with her one good eye before the Commander sighed.
"With all stories, there are exceptions," she explained. "Lord Astroth is a decedent of a man who claimed to have gone into the Forbidden Zone and fought a dragon. The problem is that was millennia ago and we just don't have the tech to check if it is dragon bones or the evidence. But the one thing that seems to back up the claim is that… well… the bones have never been broken. It's a bit minor but during the war two years ago, Astroth was in a fight with a usurper. During that fight, Astroth used the sword to block a power strike and the bone didn't shatter. He was facing a Krogan,"
"If the bones were that tough…" Wrex muttered.
"It may be possible they are dragon bones," Kasumi said. "I can try and steal it,"
To her surprise, Sonja let out a laugh. "Good luck. The last time someone did that, and managed it, they were hunted and fed to baby t-rexs. It's one of the most protected items on Ark. Not to mention the Iron Sting Clan is very martial. Almost everyone is trained. Even Astroth's harem are trained and skilled fighters," she continued to laugh, but that laugh slowly died. "Even then what could we do with it?"
"It would solve one of Ark's mysteries," Samara offered. "If we can show these dragons exist, then it would mean that something is going on in these Forbidden Zones,"
"It would also explain as to why this group are trying to get in," Ashely offered. "Dragons tamed or otherwise, will create a major problem for anyone,"
"And give them a hand up in any war," Sonja growled tubbing her temple knowing where the conversation was going.
She inhaled deeply before looking at her crew, she could see in their eyes that they weren't going to let this go and inwardly she smiled. Despite everything they went through during the Saren hunt and from little she knew about the Collector attacks, they still wanted to fight back. A part of her just wanted to walk away, but the rest of her was dying for another fight, another adventure. It only took a moment for her to decide what she wanted to do.
She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "If we do this, we are painting a bigger target on our backs. We still need to go to Rok City for a report. But… I think we can pull something like this off," her smile made the other smile as well as they began discussing tactics.
OOOOO Location Unknown
Oriana awoke with a start only to find herself in a cage with her neck chained to a wall behind her and her hands locked behind her. At least she still held some modesty as he was still dressed in a tube wrap and loincloth. A gag was also fitted into her mouth preventing her from talking she stood and tried to pull at the chain, but it was of little use. The chain was nailed to a wall, s she couldn't pull it without major strength.
"Bugger," she muttered as she looked around getting a feeling for her surroundings.
Other than the metal bars and chains, she was in a wooden basement with cells along the calls. She sighed in relief as she spotted her companions in the other cells. It seemed whoever was here wanted to keep them here for whatever reason. To her surprise, despite the classical look of the place, electronic lights hung from the ceiling. She hadn't expected to see technology here. But there it was. Where in the hell was she?
A groan came from the side of her and she noticed Sarah Williams wake up. "Ugg where are we?"
"Not sure," Oriana replied. "A dungeon that's for sure,"
"A bit obvious," Abby said as she stood looking around. "Electricity? I thought this place was primitive,"
"Could be that they have access to low-level tech," Oriana said with a shrug. "But that doesn't explain where we are,"
The sound of chains clattering soon echoed and the group turned to the Drell standing in his cell rubbing his wrists. He looked at them with a confused look.
"What? My dad was an assassin. He taught me a couple of things," he said before moving up to the door and opening it. "I guess they think that our chains would hold us,"
"Whatever just come and get us out of here," James as indicating he awoke.
Kolyat nodded and moved from cell to cell unlocking the chains of the prisoners. He unlocked Lynn first, as she was the closest and the second middle child of the Williams daughters moved to the entrance to keep an eye out. She was quickly joined by James. It was hard for her not to take a glance at his muscular figure before her discipline and military training kicked in.
Out of the 8 survivors, only Kal was still asleep. No one was sure why, but Sarah and Oriana helped him up onto their arms before the 8 grouped up.
"So, what's the plan?" Abby asked. "Aside from getting out, obviously,"
"We need to keep a low profile," Kolyat said. "We don't have weapons or the numbers to get out by force,"
"Agreed," James and Abby said before the two looked at each other with a smile.
It was at that moment the door opened. A man wearing leather armour stood carrying a bucket of something. The man's eyes widened and was about to yell before Abby tackled him to the ground grabbing his neck. The guard tried to struggle, but James came up and punched the guy so hard in the face, it caved the guard's face in.
"Ewww…" Sarah winced as she came up and noticed the look.
"Squeamish?" Sam asked as she walked past the youngest of the William sisters.
"She's never liked the sight of blood, or combat," Lynn said as she got down to look at the body.
The guard was topless, outside of the leather armour vest and wore a pair of brown trousers. Leather armour was strapped to his forearms and lower legs. Upon looking at them loosely, Lynn pulled back and turned green.
"I… it's human skin," she blanched causing the others to go green, except the drell, as well.
"H… w…. are these people cannibals?" Traynor asked.
James gulped and moved in to pick up the jagged sword and revolver pistol. He opened the pistol up and frowned.
"Gunpower," he muttered. "Odd, that's like… over a century out of date,"
"Maybe it's the only thing they have access to?" Sarah offered.
"Good point," Oriana agreed. "We haven't seen any tech. Even pirates and bandits use pre-fab units and tech that one can easily get access to. Stuff that you can buy at a shop, starport or salvage. If they don't have tech like that… ummm," she cupped her chin. "Could it be that something is interfering with mass effect tech?"
"Maybe," Traynor agreed as she got down and dug into one of the pouches, despite the icky feeling she got.
She pulled out a box of ammo which contained 24 extra rounds. She handed it to James but refused to take it and looked at the group.
"Who's a good sniper?" Lynn raised her hand.
"I'm a trained combat sniper," she offered.
James nodded and handed her the pistol followed by Traynor handing her the spare ammo. She took them and slid the box into her loincloth before checking the weapon. After a quick check and nod, she indicated for James to take the lead. The large muscular man nodded and moved forward with the others close behind him. They kept it slow but steady, mostly due to Reeger who was still unconscious.
Despite the place seeming to be large, it wasn't very populated but what they did find out was that the place was either build into a mountain or underground. This was largely based on the stone walls which the wooden panelling was set up against. It made sense as caves could be easily heated and kept at that same temperature and they were easily defensible. So, whoever these cannibals were, they did have good tactical sense. But they questioned why it was so empty.
It didn't take long until they found out why. They reached a balcony section that overlooked a large chamber with a few hundred people, mostly human, batarians and asari, on their knees bowing to a tower at the far end. A tower, to the group's shock, that was made from skulls. Upon closer inspection, the people gathered also had skulls at their wrists and parts of their clothing that seemed to be made from bones.
In front of the tower stood a frame with a hole at the bottom
The cannibals began to sing as metal cages with people inside were pushed to the far end and then to the sides so that they could see the tower. Inside were people who were screaming and yelling in panic and horror but not one of the cannibals responded outside of lip licking. Once reaching the other end, the group watched as one of the bigger cannibals reached in and pulled out a human before dragging them to a metal frame in front of the tower.
The frame was lowered, but the group didn't see how, letting the cannibals tie the victim to the frame before it was righted, with the victim being upside down. A man in a raptor skill and long black cloak then walked out saying something in a language, that the translators didn't translate, he brought out a curved blade and moved behind the victim. Crouching down, he then placed his hand on the victim's head before using the knife to cleanly cut the victim's head off.
The crowd cheered as the man held up the severed head before proceeding to remove the skin and muscle. While this happened, two cannibals took the body off the frame before using a metal pole to spit the body and cook it over a fire. Once the man had removed all of the flesh from the head, he then placed it onto a stone table in front of the tower of skills.
"This is…" Sarah said turning away.
"I can take that guy out, just say the word," Lynn said as she aimed the pistol.
Oriana nodded, followed by the others. Lynn slowed her breath and steadied her hand as she lined up the shot. But before she could pull the trigger, the area shook. Panic filled the cannibals below and an alarm sounded. Almost immediately, the cannibals moved out of the room through an entrance they couldn't see. They were even followed by the skull-wearing man and his guards leaving the victims there.
"Should we help them?" Kolyat asked, but James shook his head.
"These cannibals, they are under attack. Releasing anyone else will only put them in greater danger," he explained and Lynn and Abby nodded.
"Yeah, not a good…." Abby tried to say but the area shook again. "I suggest we move,"
There was no objection as the group moved fast, following the wooden and stone halls in the complex trying to find a way out.
The group found a balcony that overlooked the main courtyard. It was large with a central statue in the middle in a similar style to what they saw in the chamber and what seemed to be a bloodied wooden block in front of it. Evidently, it was used for executions or sacrifices or both. But the group's attention was drawn to the combatants fighting in the compound. The cannibal cultists were fighting against a better-equipped and organised force.
While the cultists used leather and bone, the group they faced against a force that wore a dull forest green metal armour with fur around some of the edges. They also had green stripe-like marks on any exposed skin like their face, legs and arms that seemed to act like a form of camo. The weapons they wielded also had a look of being well made, unlike the cultist weapons who wielded things like jagged blades and single-shot rifles. By comparison, the green armoured soldiers used machine guns and swords that looks like katanas and machetes.
But not only that, but their fighting style was also very refined with clean swift movements while the cultist fought like brawlers. No refinement, just strength over technique. While that did take some down, it was planned in comparison by the green armoured soldiers. As the group watched, their eyes were drawn to one green armoured soldier in particular. She had similar armour to the other green soldiers but hers looked more like she had a bodysuit underneath. Whether that was a choice or uniform, they couldn't tell but it was her hair and actions that caught their attention.
Her hair was short at the sides and a long stripe at the top. She also had a long thin ponytail that waved with each movement. Her bronze skin shone in the light and glistened with sweat as she moved like a well-trained athlete at the cultist cannibals. But it wasn't the way she fought that caught their eyes, it was her look that caught their attention.
"Is that…" Abby trailed off trying to place the familiar face.
"It can't be she died, years ago," James muttered. "Her body was never found,"
As they watched, the woman spun around with her sword bisecting a cultist who was coming up behind her before following up with a burst from her machine pistol. A bit overkill, but it didn't seem like she cared as she severed the head of another cultist and unloaded a magazine into another. The fighting died down and the green armoured soldiers moved inside the main compound.
The group found their way down into the main courtyard. As soon as they entered one of the soldiers walked up.
"Hey, are you guys, ok?" he asked.
"Yeah, we're good," Sarah said, before remembering the Quarrian. "Errr maybe not…"
The soldier moved up and gave Reeger a check over before smiling and nodding. "He's fine, just suit withdrawal,"
"Never heard of it," Oriana muttered.
"It's a common symptom to Quarrian wavers," the white-haired amazon said as she walked up. "Gideon, you're the runner. Go report what happened,"
The soldier saluted before running off and the white-haired amazon looked to the others. "What?" she asked noticing their stares.
"It's just…" Sarah began but James interrupted.
"You look like someone we know," he said.
"Oh," the woman gave them a coy smile. "Who would that be?"
"Sonja Shepard," Sarah answered but to their surprise instead of shock, anger filled the woman's look.
"Sonja Shepard is dead," she said flatly. "She died on Mindoir when the evacuation centre fell on her. I saw it with my own eyes,"
"But that's just it, she survived," Sarah said eyes widening and the coin dropping "Your sister survived," all eyes turned to her. "You're Lilith Shepard, right? You were born one year after Sonja and the pair of you were born out of wedlock. You both had a favourite stuffed animal, hers was a bunny yours was a lion. When you were three, she broke her leg and you had to carry her two miles to get back home,"
Lilith said nothing as she approached the youngest of the Williams daughters. "And how do you know that?"
"Because my sister was on her ship, she told me the stories," Sarah paused before deciding to add a guess. "And if I'm right, Sonja Shepard is here too,"