Yasuke moved fast, swinging his sword cutting down one of the shadow creatures with ease while using his pistol to finish it off. It vanished in a puff of smoke, only to be replaced with two more coming at him. But he didn't back down. Taking a deep breath, he moved in fast cutting down the creatures before they could respond with an attack. One tried to sneak up on him but that was rewarded with him moving his sword and thrusting it behind him. The armour did block it, but not my much. He cursed in annoyance as he withdrew the weapon and kicked the creature off before turning and slashed at the weak spots to take it down.
His training was drilled into him at a young age at the Imperial academy on Onimaru. The high gravity world gave him increased his strength and raspatory system. While originally it was only for special forces, the training was given to all soldiers of the Terran Empire. The benefit greatly outweighs the expense of not having such strength. With this battle he wasn't even tired. Glancing at the others, who were panting, he wondered if they had the same training he did. If they didn't, he'd make sure they did.
John moved in to kick one of the creatures before following up with a slash from his omni-blade. But the blade did little as it faded before it met the creature's shuddering form. He caused as he moved in to slammed his fist into the creature sending it staggering.
"Shit, this is why I said they should use knifes," he said as he drew a pair 18 inch knifes. "Good thing I have them as backup," he said before moving to cut the show down to size.
A couple more advanced on him which he delt with with several bursts from is pistol with a quick follow up from his blade.
Shion fired her pistols in rapid succession she moved through the creatures. Part of her training including dance moves and how to incorporate them into ones fighting style. She did this with ease that she when she was in combat, it was hard for her not to sing to herself while doing do. In her mind the battlefield was a concert, she being one of the singers in a melody of death and destruction. But she would have prefeed it if she still had her sonic weapons.
She cursed Saren's name for the millionth time and regretted not having a backup pair of speakers. As she deflected an attack by one of the Shadows, John moved in to help her counter another Shadow which tried to attack her from a blind spot. It dissipated and vanished into the wind. With that no more came allowing the three of them to finish the rest of them off. Once the last one fell, they panted smiling at each other.
John grabbed his water flask and took a gulp before handing it to the other two. Took it gratefully before Jacob and Miranda walked in with the demon Ashley in. They had applied bandages to the demon's arm stump. The group helped her into a corner while Shion looked for her arm.
"Are you ok?" Yasuke asked.
"I let my guard down," the demoness said holding onto her stump. "Master would not be pleased,"
"We applied medi-gel," Miranda said. "The wound has stopped bleeding, but we need to find her arm,"
"Found it… but… ewwwwww…." Shion called out as she picked up am arm with two fingers. "I'm not a doctor, but even I know arms aren't supposed to be like this… yet," the arm she held was decayed and necrotised with juices dropping from it and bone showing.
The others looked on horrified as well, but the demon just chuckled. "That's a trait of my heritage. I was turned into a demon before I died. My body is kept alive with magic and technology. But when a part of me is severed… then natural process takes over,"
"Ah," Shion muttered as she dropped the arm. "Right,"
"So, you are combat ineffective?" Yasuke asked, his tone showing the sympathy he had for her.
"My mission was to help you, in preparation for my master's arrival. I cannot do that with one arm," she sighed. "I failed,"
John shook his head. "No, you haven't," he said looking up at Yasuke. "Remember Aleko and Mordin?"
The samurai nodded looking at the engineer. "You think you can replicate it?"
John shrugged as Shion rejoined them. "Maybe, I'd have to see how it works and the plans. I think one us…" he indicated to himself, Shion and Yasuke. "Is a cyborg. So, he may be able to give me plans for his cybernetics,"
"Sounds good, but I have a question," Shion spoke up. "How is your Saren still alive? I mean I assumed that you killed him when the Reapers were about to appear," she indicated to John and Yasuke, like us, right?" the two nodded.
"Saren, or Lord Marshal Saren did die two years ago at the hand of my master. However, he was resurrected in a similar manner to me," Ashley explained. "I was resurrected with black magic; he was brought back with light. The difference being the source. Masters magic comes from dark matter while the light comes from the suns,"
"Ok, I was not expecting that," John muttered. "Can he still be killed?"
"Yes, he is not immortal. But the rebirth grants him… special powers," she said unsure how to explain. "One of his powers include rapid healing. So, he may not be dead yet,"
"Kuso," Yasuke moaned. "So, we need to behead him,"
"Either that or nuke the fucker," John added shrug. "Either way, that should kill him,"
"Let's hope so," Jacob said as he stood looking upwards. "We still need to inject the cure into the atmosphere generator. So, what's the plan?"
Yasuke looked to his two 'siblings' then to the demoness. "As much as I hate to admit it, we need to leave you three here," he said. "Better chance at survival. Me and my… other selves, we inject the cure,"
"Sir, is that really such a good idea?" Miranda asked as she stood. "We can help, and…"
Yasuke raised his hand. "It's not that," he said indicating to John and Shion. "We're just better skilled for this,"
She opened her mouth before closing it and nodded. "Very well, but I wish to state my objections,"
"Noted," he said before looking to the other two Shepards. "Let's go," he said and the three Shepards made their way up.
Once they disappeared, Miranda looked to the hinging bodies with a sigh. "Let's get them down and give them some respect,"
OOOOO
"Fuck, fuck, fuck with a cherry on top!" Josephine said as she manipulated the controls of the Normandy, weaving and avoiding fire from several unidentified ships and avoiding the spires of Omega.
It was alike a game of cat and mouse. The ships that chanced her were doing their best to try and force her into a kill zone of their making, but she managed to avoid those tricks. But it wasn't easy. The pilots of the fighters were skilled, very skilled. But they didn't have her talent for reading her ship and able to, for lack of a better word, feel the flow of spaceships and where they would go. She would like to turn and open fire on the ships, but the fact that she was weaving in between Omega's spires and that there were about 30 fighter craft on her weren't good odds.
Frigates weren't meant as fighter units. They were scout and escort units, so they didn't have the weapons of cruisers and battleships that could take on this number of fighters. She could take out about 7 maybe 10 if she planned her attack pattern right but the others would be on her in seconds. They were the pack hunters and she was the prey, but that didn't mean that she would give them a good meal. As she flew the ship in a curve, she cursed at seeing several ships waiting for her.
"Oh fuck," she muttered as she moved the ship into a dive before they could fire. "Oh, this is just fantastic, I know I'm cute but I have no time for stalkers," She levelled out the ship and continued to weave around the spires. "ED-I suggestions?"
"I've been calculating their patterns, but I'm not seeing any opportunity for an attack," a male voice said. "They move in groups that outnumber the ship's ability to counter them effectively,"
"Of course they are," she muttered. "They have to be guys, no one likes my ass this much," she then sighed. "Any word from the ground force?"
"Negative, I keep trying to raise them with no luck," ED-I replied.
"This just keeps getting…" she tired to say but the AI interrupted her.
"I'm detecting additional contacts," he said.
Almost immediately, three frigates appeared in front of her with the same sliver and sleek design as the fighters chasing her. Reacting quickly, Josie pulled the Normandy up and over at speed before missing a disk of one of the spires. Cursing like a sailor, she readjusted herself and reorientated the map in her head to figure out what to do. At least this time she had large targets to focus on. Unlike the fighters, which were too quick and hard to target, frigates were bigger targets which she could outmatch with ease. After all, the Normandy was the fastest ship humanity ever built. She could outmatch any and all frigates. Maybe not in a three, but if she could pick them off, she should be fine.
A smile crawled across her face as a plan formed in her mind. "Ok, ED-I I need you to…" she began but was cut off.
"Detecting additional contacts," he interrupted.
That made her heart sink. Her finely crafted plan melted away in her mind while she cursed in anger. She hated things like this. While she enjoyed challenges, sometimes it was too much and she would have to admit defeat. But that was something she'd never do. Looking at the controls she figured that going out in a blaze of glory would be better than running all the time. She readied herself at the controls when ED-I dropped another bombshell.
"IFF reads as… Normandy," he said in a confused tone.
Josie blinked. "Is it a glitch?" she asked.
"Negative, IFF reads both ships as the Normandy SR-2," he said with his confusion even more evident. "I'm receiving a transmission,"
As second later two screens showed up before her of two men with a beard and baseball cap that read 'SR-2'. They looked almost the same, they only difference being the background of their ships and uniforms. One wore what seemed to be a black and white shirt with a round sleek interior behind him while the other wore what looked like to be a gi or kimono with his background being Asian inspired.
"Who are you?" the one in the kimono asked.
"I'm Josephine 'Harlequin' Moreau," she said indignantly. "Who are you?"
"Jeff 'Joker' Moreau," the one in the white uniform said.
"My name is the same, but they call me 'Jester'," the one in the kimono added.
"Seems like we're all getting versions of ourselves," Joker said. "My Shepard had a copy appear not too long ago. Should have figured that copies of others would appear," he shrugged.
"I would ask more, but now is not the best time," Harlequin said. "I've got stalkers on me, and they have no interest in backing off,"
"Maybe we can help," Jester said with a smile. "After all, isn't that what brothers do?"
"Indeed, it is," Joker said as the three Normandy's moved into formation. "Let's teach these bastards it's not ok to pick on a lady,"
"Ahh, your sweet," Harlequin replied.
"I was talking about the ship," Joker shot back.
"Asshole," she smiled as she sent them a battle plan and the three moved off.
OOOOO
"What the fuck are these things?" one of the troopers asked as groups of shadows with armour on moved towards them.
They moved like regular troopers, moving in a formation and operating with tactics. But the fact that the gaps between the armour made the sight uncomfortable for the NSS team. It was weird for them to see something like a shadow wear armour similar to their own. But didn't stop them from engaging. Kadian wasn't sure what to make of it. The change in targets meant something was going on, but what that was he wasn't sure. What he was sure about was that the oxygen levels were starting to decline.
As soon as they did, he had ordered his men to get their helmets on and use their suits oxygen to give the people inside the clinic more of a chance to survive. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best he could do. He was ordered to protect them and that is what he would to do the bitter end.
Gunfire erupted along the barricade as he walked along it, seeing what the situation was like. The shadows were moving in for another strike. But the main gunner was keeping them at bay and with their heads down. However, something seemed off with their movements. He wasn't what, but they seemed to be more mechanical then biological. Humans, and other non-humans, had a smoothness about their movements even when in armour. But mechs and drones had a jerkiness to them due the motors and joins not being the same when compared to biologicals.
These shadows seemed to be like that, drones or mechs. One of the machine gunners on the wall targeted them, doing his best to keep them back. But the feeling of wrongness never left his bones as he looked one. That's when the shadows, somehow, became mechs which more them coming down the street at them. He didn't need to bark orders as the NSS troopers began to open fire, but he did anyway as a matter of course. NSS troopers were trained to respond to threats even when they didn't have access to command.
Their threat responses kicked in and they began to engage the machines as they advanced. They went down easily but kept on coming, and coming and coming. Kaidan began to wonder if they had enough heat-syncs to deal with the problem. That's when he noticed that the ones that they took down vanished and replaced with more mechs.
"Oh hell," he muttered as he continued to fire.
But all of a sudden, the machines stopped advancing, turned around and ran. The gunfire stopped and the soldiers to looked to each other in confusion. But they didn't move from their posts. They did, however, reposition themselves to get more comfortable. Time seemed to slow as an expectation of another attack filled the air. Kadian slowed his breathing, waiting, eyes focused on the street in front of him. He moved his fingers along the grip to regain some feeling in them and to keep him alert.
The ground shook. Not violently or like an earthquake, but there was a slight tremble with the floor that he felt. That they all felt. Not moving their heads, the soldiers looked to each other in a 'Can you feel that?' look. The shaking increased and something in the distance came into view. Kadian blood ran cold as he spotted a large mech advancing on them. It was similar to a YMIR mech but angular, blockier, hunched and had two chain gun cannons on one arm. It was slow but that was likely due to a ton of armour. As it approached, the chain guns began to spin up.
"TAKE COVER!" Kadian yelled as the machine began to fire.
Three of his soldiers didn't make it down in time and were torn to pieces by the heavy calibre weapon. All that was left was smoking piles of meat. Kadian cursed at the sight of them. He didn't have the weapons needed to take this thing down, nor did the clinic. But as it turned out he didn't need heavy weapons as a tuck came in from one of the side streets and slammed into the mech braking one of its arms.
The machine didn't move though. It just turned its head ominously towards the truck and began to spool up its chain guns again. As it did so, a woman wearing black armour got out of the top of the hatch and moved towards the machine. She jumped landing on it and fired several shotgun rounds into its 'head'. She didn't destroy it, but he did damage it enough to get it to back up. With that done, she pulled out a grenade and slid it into a gap on the machine before jumping away using biotics.
A second later the machine exploded but it was still active. Using its gun arm, it pushed the truck out of the way before using some kind of secondary tracking sensors to track the woman who attacked it. It fired but the woman moved quickly out of the way using a combination of biotics and fast movements. But her barrier was impacted by some of the fire and nearly popped before she found cover in time. Once in cover she pulled out a pistil and began to fire shock rounds at it.
It did little as it turned to face the truck and readied to fire. As it did so, the occupants pulled themselves out before they got killed. All nine of the occupants got out, but one of them, a turrian from the look of his armour, got his foot stuck in the hatch. He tried to pull himself out with little success. One of the dark-skinned men and turians moved to help as the mech destroyed the truck with a burst of gunfire.
"GARRUS! JACOB!" someone yelled.
Kadian blinked at that but shook his head. "Fire support!" he yelled and fired on the mech in the hope that he could bring it towards them.
It worked. The mech turned to face them and advanced, spooling up its chain guns against before a shot from somewhere, Kadian didn't see, but it prevented the barrels from moving. That's when a blonde- and raven-haired women moved up with fully charged biotics and slammed into the machine before pulling away.
"Troopers, grenades," a familiar voice yelled.
While there was some looking at each other, the troopers responded quickly pulling out, arming and throwing their last explosives. They all landed close to or on the mech before exploding and taking out the war machine. Kadian's men cheered but the woman in black armour and the others weren't as cheerful. They moved back into the burning wreck to pull out three people. Two turrian and one human.
Kadian moved over to join them and was surprised to come face to face with three Garrus' and two Jacobs. "Oh, hi," he said as they turned to see him with equal amounts of shock and surprise.
