Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Gears of War/Mass Effect crossover.
Just so you know, this is going to be a short chapter just before the climax of this sub story-arc. If it seems abnormally short compared to the others, that's the reason why.
Either way, I greatly appreciate your feedback, and I hope to see you in future chapters.
As always, leave a review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gears of War or Mass Effect franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of BioWare, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, The Coalition, Microsoft Studios, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.
X57
Near Terra Nova
March 9th, 2183
With the first Fusion Torch disabled, the team knew that they had to quickly disable the other two fusion torches. As they loaded up into the Mako, Marcus asked, "Remind me what the plan is for the second fusion torch. From what I remember, it's not going to be easy getting to it."
"We're going to have to get out on foot and proceed to the fusion torches on foot," Shepard reminded him and the others. "It won't be easy; if we stray too close to one of the excavation charge's proximity sensors, then it's sayonara for the individual in question. In addition, I think there will be enemy personnel guarding the detonator."
"They might detonate the charges to get at us," Wrex frowned. "It's what I'd do if I was leading the guards."
"Then how do we get close enough to disarm the charges?" Tali asked, a hint of frustration in her voice.
"I've got an idea," Cole mused. "How about we sneak around the back so that we can catch the guards by surprise? That way, they won't see us coming and we can get close enough to the structure to avoid being blasted apart. They wouldn't wanna blow up their own building."
Shepard had to admit, it was an odd plan, but it made sense when he thought about it. You can't blow up what you can't see, and those guards are likely going to be looking out towards the front. Nodding to himself, he said, "Alright, that sounds like a good idea. Can JACK's Pulse detect mines?"
"Should be able to," Marcus confirmed. "Baird told me a little about the device inside of JACK. Any hazards that are in the area will be detected. I'd say that explosive mines are hazards."
"Then it's settled," Shepard decided. "We'll move around to the back of the structure, then we'll use JACK's pulse to tell us where the mines are, and the proximity limits for each one. That way, we can sneak up on the guards without blowing ourselves up." With that, he gunned the throttle and began driving.
It didn't take them long to get to the second fusion torch. Looking ahead, Shepard found that the area in front of the facility had a ring of orange lights that marked where he realized the excavation charges were located at. As soon as they were a little closer, the Normandy's VI said, "Warning: Ground Penetrating RADAR detects anti-vehicle munitions nearby. Proceed on foot."
Taking the warning in mind, Shepard continued to drive until he was directly behind the structure, while outside of the ring of explosives. Stopping the vehicle, he made sure his own helmet was sealed, along with the team's, before stepping outside. "Alright," he nodded. "Here we go. JACK, pulse."
There was an affirmative beep from JACK, then moments later, a brief flash traveled across his HUD. Moments later, Shepard watched as each of the explosive charges came up in an angry red color, with a translucent red circle around each one that marked the proximity limit. They're pretty close together, he frowned, but looks like there's a path through the explosives. We just have to be careful.
"So, what's up?" Marcus asked.
"We've got a path through," Shepard replied, "but it's a risky one. Watch your step, and keep your balance. I don't want to be blown up by someone tripping into the proximity limit for a mine." With that, they proceeded forwards, watching each step they took.
It was slow and tedious progress, as they had to make sure they weren't too close to the mines. More than once, they each had a few close calls, though ultimately, they made it to the building without major incident. After a certain radius, the mines stopped, confirming Cole's guess. "Whew!" Tali whistled. "That was too close."
"Tell me about it," Wrex agreed. "Thought I was going to see my ancestors."
"Quiet down," Marcus groused. "We're just fine."
"I agree," Shepard nodded. "We've got the drop on them now. All we have to do now is ambush the guards and then we can head inside." Moving along the side of the structure, the team made their way to the front. Stopping them, Shepard said, "On the count of three, we attack." Counting down with a few fingers, he made a fist and said, "Now!"
"Guess who, motherfuckers!" Cole shouted as he opened fire on one of the guards, blasting apart the Batarian. The others, caught off guard, didn't have time to react before they were gunned down. Within seconds, all of the hostile guards were down. "Hah!" he smirked. "This shit never gets old!"
"Tali?" Shepard asked.
"Working on it," Tali replied as she hacked the lock. "Got it. We're in." With that, they proceeded inside.
A minute later, they were inside, and had moved into the main room in the fusion torch facility. The internal layout was similar, but the cargo inside was quite different. Marcus could see a movable ramp that provided access over a series of cargo containers, as well as a route that led through some more to the left. Then he heard it: the tell-tale whirring sound of a drone's small thrusters. "Drones," he told Shepard.
"I heard it too," Shepard nodded. "Tali?"
"Ready," Tali replied, omni-tool glowing.
"Wrex?"
"I'm good, Shepard."
"Cole?"
"Ready to go, Shepard."
"Alright. Cole, Wrex, you're with me. Marcus, Tali, you two will flank the enemy and provide cover fire."
"You got it," Wrex nodded. As they moved into position, Marcus had an idea come to him. Pulling out one of his bolo grenades, he quickly calculated how far and how high he needed to throw the grenade in order to get it to where the enemy likely was. With that in mind, he swung the grenade a few times, then let it go, pulling the pin as he did so.
The grenade arced over the cargo containers and through the gap between them and the ceiling. It disappeared out of sight, though Marcus knew he'd guessed right when he heard panicked shouting from the other side. A moment later, the entire place shook slightly as a loud BOOM echoed in the building.
With that, he moved up with Tali and over the ramp leading to the other side. True enough, his grenade had gotten results, with three Batarians lying dead on the ground, their bodies ripped apart by the resulting blast wave and shrapnel. A fourth was holding on to life, as he was screaming loudly, while holding his intestines in his hands. Three more Batarians, seeing what had happened to their compatriots, had ducked into cover to avoid the blast.
Taking cover, Marcus waited for one to pop out before he fired, shredding that one's barriers, while Tali fired off an overload, breaking the barriers of the other two. Once the first one fell, he turned his rifle's fury on the other two, shredding them as well. A loud shout drew his attention to a fourth Batarian that snuck up on him.
Blocking the bayonet stabbed towards him, Marcus kicked the Batarian back, before firing up the chainsaw bayonet. Blood erupted from the Batarian, who screamed as the chainsaw bayonet tore into his shoulder, before migrating through his chest and out his side. Marcus wrinkled his nose as the smell reached it. "Ugh, that's smelly," he frowned as he moved to the next target.
On the left, Shepard and Wrex, taking advantage of the grenade's explosion, fired from cover. Another batarian was gunned down, though one hurled a biotic stasis at Shepard. Before he could react, he was frozen in place, unable to move even as much as a finger if he tried. "Damnit!" Wrex shouted. "Enemy biotic!"
"I've got him!" Tali shouted, firing off a Dampening attack. She must've scored a direct hit, as she heard a frustrated shout from where the terrorists were at. "I'll handle the drones," she told Marcus and Cole. "Take those bosh'tets out!"
"You got it!" Marcus nodded. Spotting the biotic that had frozen Shepard in place, Marcus took his revolver out and fired. While the first two rounds hit the barriers, the third tore through, cutting into the alien's armor like a knife through hot butter. A moment later, the enemy biotic collapsed, dead on the spot.
Shepard was released at that moment, whereupon he really began to go to town. Wrex, on a signal from him, hurled a biotic shockwave out towards the Batarians. Two of them were sent flying through the air, while the rest ducked down before it could reach them. Just then, a few bullets tore through Wrex's barriers, gouging small trenches of blood on his neck and part of his face.
That was the last straw for Wrex. Both of his eyes pupils went as narrow as they could go, while his upper lip quivered. A moment later, a loud bellow of rage flooded the room as Wrex roared. In a few seconds, the wounds on his body were gone, replaced by healthy Krogan flesh, while his biotics flared, creating an incredibly strong barrier.
Shepard, spotting what was going on, realized what was happening. "GET BACK!" he shouted. "WREX HAS ENTERED A BLOOD RAGE!"
"SHIT!" Cole shouted. "You done pissed off the wrong Krogan, fools!" At that moment Wrex, fully giving in to his primeval instincts, charged at the Batarians.
While they had taken cover, and couldn't see what happened, the team could hear was was going on. Screams of terror and agony erupted in the air as Wrex began dismembering the Batarians one limb at a time. Blood splattered the walls, and Marcus though he saw a head flying through the air, along with some intestines and the like. When the screaming stopped, the team tentatively advanced forwards.
Wrex was perfectly alright, though he was in the middle of his blood rage still. The Batarians, however, had been ripped to shreds. One Batarian was bisected, while his head was missing, while another had both arms ripped off. Blood pooled on the ground as though it was water from a water hose that had been left unattended. The air stank of the stench of death.
Approaching Wrex, Shepard carefully laid a hand on the Krogan. Wrex immediately whirled around, eyes still filled with rage, but it was here that a part of him recognized who he was looking at, as he didn't attack. Instead, he stared at Shepard until the fire in his eyes died down. A moment later, Wrex sighed, before swaying slightly. "That… was… tiring," he said, his voice slightly slurred.
"You OK?" Shepard asked.
"I… I'll be… fine," Wrex replied, his breaths coming in fast and deep. "I… I had a blood rage moment. I just… need to… sit down…" A moment later, he trudged over to a crate and sat down, his weight causing it to sag slightly. Once there, he began to breath in and out rhythmically, likely in a form of battle meditation in order to get his focus back.
"Shit," Cole remarked. "He tore into those Batarians like he was a Berserker. Remind me never to piss a Krogan off."
"Good idea," Marcus nodded. While he'd seen all kinds of death and destruction, this made his stomach churn slightly. Probably shouldn't make a Krogan angry enough that this happens, he decided as they moved up the stairs.
Just as they shut down the second fusion torch, the radio inside crackled to life. "Are you there?" Bowman asked. "You've got to hurry. You've really pissed them off. Their leader's setting charges all around the facility. I think he's going to blow -"
"Bowman, off the radio, now!" Marcus immediately interrupted, cutting off Kate's words, while doing the same for Shepard's reply.
Unfortunately, it did Kate little good, as he heard a deeper, more resonant voice, speak up. "Get away from there!" the voice ordered.
. . .
On the other end, Kate Bowman was starting to tremble with fear as she realized the gravity of her mistake. Damnit! I should've listened to whoever was on the other end, she thought as she stared down the barrel of a handgun. I just had to be dumb and try to contact them again! Damnit!
Looking at the Batarian holding the handgun, she watched as the one armored in red walked over to her brother, Aaron. Before the man could react, the Batarian pistol whipped him, knocking him to the ground before aiming his handgun at him. "Who's disabling the fusion torches?" he asked in a voice that left no room for a refusal.
Kate, however, was made of similarly stern stuff. No, she decided. I won't tell them who's disabling the torches! I won't! Instead of replying, she turned around. It wasn't because she was afraid to look at the Batarian in question; it was because she felt that he didn't deserve the attention.
"I won't ask again," the Batarian growled out. Kate didn't reply, which made what happened heart breaking. Moments later, she heard a gunshot.
No, she thought, her heart nearly stopping with grief. My brother… they've killed my brother!
She didn't have time to mourn what happened, as she heard the Batarian order, "Charn, Find out who's shutting the torches down and deal with them. As for these people, get them out of there!" Kate felt tears stream down her eyes, even as she was roughly pulled along, her feet dragging as she looked at her brother's motionless body.
. . .
"Damnit!" Marcus growled with frustration as he kicked at the console, denting the metal. "Why did she do that? We ordered her to keep quiet!"
"She probably wanted to get us more information," Shepard inferred. "Instead, she was captured by the terrorists." He frowned as he said this.
"Then it's all the more imperative that we shut down the fusion torches," Wrex added. "They won't care if we try to parlay for their release. They're deeply intent on getting their mission done."
"Agreed," Shepard decided. "Let's move out. The sooner we disable the fusion torches, the sooner we can get to the main facility and rescue them. Let's go."
. . .
Finding the facility in question wasn't hard, and neither was dealing with the turrets. Once they were inside, the hostile forces were much like those that had been present in the first facility: a mixture of soldiers, Varren warbeasts, and the occasional automated drone. Aside from that, the only glaring difference was the rather garish blue and red lighting inside.
"And that marks the last one," Tali reported. "This fusion torch has been disabled."
"Uh, Shepard, we've got company," Marcus reported.
"How many?"
"Three Batarians, and a couple of Varren."
"Copy, we're on our way." Closing the comm, he said, "Got some company coming. You ready, Wrex?"
"Yes," Wrex nodded, grasping his shotgun menacingly. With that, they moved down the steps and entered the main area. True to Marcus' report, there were three Batarians and a couple Varren.
What was surprising was that, instead of immediately attacking, the lead Batarian said, "Don't come any closer. We can do this the hard way, or we can end this peacefully."
"I didn't think you Batarians even knew the meaning of the word 'peace,'" Shepard growled, his hand resting on his handgun.
"Look, I'm just doing my job," the Batarian, Charn if his voice identified him correctly, replied. "Hijacking this rock wasn't my idea. I signed on to make a little profit. A quick slave grab. Nothing more."
"You really thing that justifies what's going on?" Marcus asked. "You capture innocent civilians, then force this asteroid on a collision. What you're doing is more than enslaving people; you're destroying an entire colony just to make a political point, you sick asshole." The air seemed to become colder from the calm and collected tone of voice he spoke with.
Charn, to his credit, was calm, though it was clear he was disgruntled on the inside. "Don't you think I don't know that?!" he growled in reply. "I'm just following orders. If it were up to me. we'd have left already."
"Well, it's not too late," Shepard suggested. "You can still leave."
"You think this cold hearted bastard really deserves to leave?" Marcus growled.
"I don't think so," Charn replied, ignoring Marcus' question. "Balak would skin me alive and sell my hide out of spite." Shaking his head, he said, "Crazy bastard… This mission's gone to hell and I'm gonna pay for it!"
"So, why do you listen to him?" Shepard asked.
"Good question," Charn admitted. "I had a bad feeling about this the moment we landed. Now Balak wants you dead, and what Balak wants, Balak gets. I can't change that."
"Do you always want to be second in command?" Shepard asked. "Get out of here, and I'll take care of Balak. Then you can start giving the orders."
"An, uh, interesting proposal. It certainly has benefits over the current situation." Turning to the others, Charn ordered, "Shut it down. It's Balak's problem now." Turning back to Shepard, he said, "I hope you're as quick with your gun as your promises, for both our sakes."
"Balak will get what's coming to him," Shepard nodded. "And so will you if I ever catch you in Human territory ever again. You understand me?"
"Perfectly." Pulling out what looked like a high-tech security card, Charn handed it over and said, "Balak's holed up in the main facility. You'll need this to get in. Don't underestimate him. He's a mean bastard." Turning to his men, he said, "Let's go. We're getting off this rock." With that, Charn and his men quickly left.
"And I thought I had a silver tongue," Cole remarked as the hostiles left. "Nice one, Shepard."
"Don't know if letting him go was a good idea, Shepard," Marcus added, "but I'll follow your lead on this one."
"Same here," Shepard agreed. "It might bite us in the ass, might not. What matters, however, is that we can now get to the main facility and rescue Kate and the others. Now let's go. We've got an asteroid and a terrorist to stop."
(Author's Q&A)
Just a Crazy-Man: Thank you.
edboy4926: Thank you.