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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, Alpha Origins	By : Veyron722skyhook Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 6173 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or it's characters. They belong to Bioware and EA. No money/profit is made by me from this.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
Greetings, one and all! :)
Hope you've been having a good summer. Now, I should warn you now, this chapter is also a rather dark one. No torture this time, but it does contain some rather unsettling, and possibly scary scenes. After all, it is meant to be a horror chapter. Oh, and it does contain a sex scene at the beginning.
Interesting fact though. I wrote this chapter while on my second Holiday in Dartmouth and I visited the place where the Sherlock Holmes story, Hound of the Baskervilles is set, Dartmoor. So I did have a little bit of inspiration.
Big thanks also SpectreFanchin10 for his influence on certain scenes and also serving as beta reader and also thanks to Mastermind4892 for suggesting ideas for the sex scene.
Enjoy the chapter!
YEAR 6, Inner Demons
2178: 6 Years after the battle of Elysium
9 Years before the Battle of Arkadia
"The recovery for us was long, but we were soon in good enough condition to return to active duty. Little did we know however we were about to go on a mission unlike any other. We would explore the origins of our enemies, and face our greatest fears...
Chapter 20
The Krallus Colony
Alaara gently awoke from her sleep. It was still pretty early so there was no need to get up yet. Besides, it was hard to ignore the beautiful woman in her bed. She smiled as she watched the still sleeping form of Sandra.
All the bruises and injuries she'd suffered at the hands of the Commander were gone now. Only one that lingered was the one on her cheek were the Commander had cut her. That one had faded to a scar.
Alaara didn't mind though. It was one of many to add to the collection Sandra already had. The Asari also found Sandra's scars attractive. In her opinion they made her bondmate a lot more badass. And of course there was the fact that she loved to trace every single one of them with her tongue whenever they made love.
It was Alaara was trying to decide how to wake up her bondmate that she noticed something. It appeared that she had woken to one of those very rare mornings they had where their Union was still partially active. It lasted into sleep of course, but usually by the time they woke up the "enhance attributes" they had during the love making had already returned to normal.
In this case however, they were still active.
Alaara immediately felt herself getting wet as she looked at Sandra's enlarged breasts and she licked her lips as she fondled one of her own massive tits. This combined with some still lingering desires that the Asari had, made her desire another round. Right now it was all she could think about. Here and now, nothing else mattered but satisfying this lust to taste her bondmate's pussy again and make love to her like there was no tomorrow.
And it was not like she had to worry about Sandra not being in the mood. Over the past several months and years they'd been together their almost constant love making had made the both of them absolutely comfortable in their intimacy. In fact, both their personalities were starting to rub off on each other.
Alaara seemed to be developing a much tougher personality and a will to get physical (in more ways than one) and Sandra... well, more and more she seemed to be becoming more like Alaara. Merely just looking at the Asari from afar was enough to make her crave sex with this blue beauty. She was also developing more confidence in her body. With each intimate encounter they had she became less and less afraid of being naked or having sex anywhere. Hell, the number of times they privately had sex on missions was now becoming beyond count. Seemed now as if the both of them had a hunger for each that was more and more becoming impossible to satisfy.
Rather than wake Sandra up with a gentle pussy lick, or breast suckling, Alaara decided instead to just use what came naturally.
Taking care so as not to wake her love, Alaara gently straddled the still sleeping human until her Azure was positioned just above her head. Both the scent of her still aroused azure, and a little mental nudging through the still lingering Union, Sandra gently stirred from her sleep.
Alaara gently lowered her tingling Azure over Sandra's mouth. Already she could sense the desire starting to stir within both the human and herself as well as recognizing the familiar reactions they had to each other's bodies.
Sandra's eyes finally opened fully. When she saw the sight that greeted her, she simply smiled. She didn't say anything, nor did she need to. Feeling the slight head movement of the woman beneath her, Alaara leant her own head down between's Sandra legs into the very familiar 69 position, pressing her overly enlarged chest against Sandra's stomach, the mere touch of her bond mate's rock hard abs on her sensitive nipples causing her to shiver slightly in pleasure.
Naturally, Alaara went first. She extended out her tongue and began to lick. The movements of her tongue were gentle at first and slow. Sandra took the time to enjoy the sensation for a moment, letting the pleasure wake her up fully before she finally returned the favour and slipped her own tongue into Alarra's azure.
In the years that she had been bonded to this woman, Alaara had developed a bit more stamina to Sandra's lovemaking. Despite this however, it didn't seem to help her now. It still felt incredible to her that this human was able to give her more pleasure than she'd ever been used to over the centuries.
Within just two to three minutes, Alaara climaxed in an orgasm so powerful it was bound to be heard by the rest of Alpha (despite that Alaara and Sandra had soundproofed their room due to constant noise complaints from the others.
Alaara moaned deeply between Sandra's legs, all the while still trying to keep going on her lover's own core. It was then that Sandra's extraordinary ability to elect such powerful reactions in Alaara's body arose again as she gave Alaara another single lick.
Much to Alaara's immense surprise, and pleasure, the Asari immediately began feeling the need to orgasm again. What amazed her was that it was so soon after her last one.
A second lick was all it took and Alaara immediately felt on the verge. Then a third lick followed. Within barely the span of just fifteen seconds, Alaara came again, this time even stronger and more intense than before.
Still managing to keep going and determined to make her love feel at least part of how amazing she herself had experienced, Alaara continued to lap at Sandra's pussy, this time with renewed vigour while Sandra herself still kept going on her Azure.
The Asari's newfound aggressiveness came as a surprise to Sandra and caught her completely off guard. Despite her attempt to hold on in order to try and give her lover a challenge, Sandra ultimately lost to the Asari's experienced tongue. She screamed in pleasure as her own orgasm finally came. Seemed however, she got even with Alaara as the Asari still climaxed herself once again thanks to Sandra's mouth and tongue.
Finally satisfied, they felt their union subside at last along with a sight, but arousing, tingle as their breasts returned to their normal size. Still somewhat exhausted and panting from earlier, they affectionately cuddled one another.
"Good morning." Alaara smiled.
"How do you feel?" Sandra asked, plating a light kiss on the Asari's cheek.
"Horny. But I think everyone else is awake." Alaara replied.
"Didn't bother you last night." Sandra chuckled. "Sleep well?"
"With you, love... always."
"Thanks for the little wake up call." Said Sandra as she groped one of Alaara's breasts and tweaked her nipple with her thumb, causing the Asari to shudder slightly in arousal.
"Even after all the times we've had sex, it still blows my mind of how you're able to make me cum like that. Not to mention just now you made me cum three times in the time it took me to make you cum." Said Alaara. "You sure you're not cheating?"
"Why would I want to do that?" Sandra simply smiled.
Alaara smiled back and the two kissed
"I love you." Alaara said in-between their tongues intertwining.
"I love you too." Said Sandra.
"Want to go again?" Alaara asked, a naughty smile appearing on her face.
"You bet your beautiful ass I do." Sandra replied, giving her bondmate's behind a playful slap.
It had been over 6 months since Alpha had endured torture at the hands of the Commander. By now, all their injuries had healed, both physically and mentally. Even Dash had returned to his usual chatty self once his jaw had fully healed and he had done tons of running after his legs fixed themselves.
After an extended shore leave in order to fully relax and heal they were fully ready to return to active duty.
Between them and the Arkane council was a hologram of a building. More specifically a mental asylum.
"Lately we've long had a suspicion that this asylum may have a connection to Hellspawn. We have no idea how however and nor do we have proof. Just yesterday however all contact was lost with it." Tarnack explained.
"No disrespect, Council, but why pick us for this?" Austin asked.
"Because you have the most experience fighting Hellspawn." Spartan replied. "And anyway, this mission is simply a scouting and observation mission. We want you to go to the asylum, find out why contact has been lost, find out if there is any connection to Hellspawn, and if so to what extent, and call in reinforcements if necessary."
"Understood, Councillors." Austin nodded.
"Hey, Troy. Have you ever seen a James Bond film?" Alaara asked.
Thanks to Dash being gentle with the Hellraiser's throttle due to poor road conditions, the ride for the rest of the squad was relaxing enough for them to enjoy the ride for once.
"Nah. I don't really like those movies. Real spies are nothing like James Bond. It's pure fantasy." Troy replied.
"Troy, I don't think Shepard's gonna like hearing you say that." Said Telrass.
"And even though it's fiction, I can't help but comparing myself to Bond."
"What exactly don't you like about James Bond?" Austin asked in surprise. "I mean, is it the gadgets, the cars, the guns?"
"Shepard..." Troy sighed.
"Troy, don't you find the concept of a gun shaped like a pen cool?" Austin asked enthusiastically.
"What good is a pen gonna do me out in the field? I'd look ridiculous." Said Troy.
"Okay, then what about a gun shaped like the Eifel tower?" Austin suggested. "You could pretend it's a souvenir from home and then get a shot in on the enemy."
"No." said Troy, trying to ignore the laughter from everyone else.
"Oh I get it. You're worried about how to handle the ladies aren't you?" Austin asked.
"What?! No I'm not! I know perfectly well how to handle the ladies." Troy objected.
"And yet you're last girl ending up becoming a titless cyborg?" said Dash.
"Dash, shut up before I break your jaw again." Said Troy crossly.
"Maybe if you had the codename 00Troy." Austin suggested.
Some of the other squad members couldn't help but snigger.
"Okay, now you're being ridiculous." Troy sighed.
"007 is one of the best things to come out of Britain. It's no surprise they made more than 20 of those movies." Said Austin.
"In case you didn't know, Troy, Shepard's quite the James Bond fan." Said Telrass.
"You don't say." Troy sighed.
Finally after 15 minutes, Alpha arrived at the gate to their destination.
"Okay, we're here." Said Dash as he parked the Hellraiser nearby and out of sight.
"Well, lights are on. Somebody's home." Said Troy as he and the others disembarked.
When they entered, they found the place completely deserted. It looked as though there had been some kind of fight though judging by dozens of overturned furniture and doors broken down.
"Alright, we'll split into two and search the area. Alaara, you're in charge of team 2." Said Austin.
"Got it." Alaara nodded.
"Nothing. Not a god damn thing." Said Austin. "Alaara, what's your status?"
"We just finished our sweep. Nothing here." Alaara replied.
As Austin began contemplating about where all the staff had gone, Leena suddenly interrupted his thought.
"Shepard."
Austin walked up to the Quarian who had just accessed the schematics of the asylum which showed much lower levels.
"I guess we know now where we're going." He said.
The elevator taking them to the lower levels made all of Alpha uneasy for some reason.
"Down into the dark." Hawk sighed. "Why do we never go anywhere nice?"
"Don't be a baby, Hawk. How bad can it..." Kraan said, but he was interrupted when the doors opened revealing a rather horrifying sight. "...be?"
There was blood and bodies all over the place. Most of them were security, but some of them were undeniably doctors and staff.
"Oh great. Now we're in a horror film." Said Dash. "Although in fairness, the author did say this chapter would be horror themed."
"Shut up, Dash." Everyone said, with annoyance.
"Hold up." Sandra suddenly said, causing everyone to stop. "Life signs."
"How many?" Austin asked.
"Hundreds... but they're acting very... odd."
There was nothing but silence as the realization came to everyone.
"Set to stun." Austin ordered.
Everyone took a deep breath as the next door opened very slowly.
The sight that greeted them was a sight that would be burned into their minds forever. The massive room was filled with hundreds upon hundreds of cells, each one with a critically insane inmate inside of them. Every single one of them was dressed in varying degrees of broken restraint, with many having only the merest remnants of it still on them. Some wore straitjackets, some had broken free of them and some didn't even have any at all. The necessities of extreme high security confinement had left them all looking bald, hunched over and skinny with their insanity-driven strength that compensated for their lack of bulk.
Some of them were walking around in circles in their cells, some were literally hanging off the ceiling, some were trying to reach out of the bars at Alpha, some were cowering in corners and some were kneeling down as if in prayer.
The entire block was filled with the constant sounds of screams, howls and growls of madness. This sickness of the mind was not a pleasant sight.
"Oh god." Dash said in shock.
"Yeah, this lot actually make you look sane." Said Kraan.
After some time continuing through the cell block, at the end of the room they spotted something. It was a drawing of some kind of demonic figure on the wall. Surprisingly, it resembled similar drawings that all the lunatics had made in their cells as well.
"What do you make of this?" Austin asked.
"It's the same as what all the inmates have in their cells." Said Sandra. "You don't really think it's..."
"I can't imagine how. She's an Arkadian legend." Said Alaara.
"Sorry, who are we talking about?" Dash asked in confusion.
"That drawing. It looks a lot like Shagowroth." Said Sandra.
"Who the hell is Shagowroth?"
"Have you not heard the story?"
"Can't say I have."
"Unbelievable."
"Well..."
"Alright, but promise you're not gonna make a big deal about it. It's an old ghost story."
"Please. I don't even believe in ghosts."
"DASH, THERE'S A GHOST BEHIND YOU!" Troy yelled in alarm.
Dash immediately screamed and whirled around with both his pistols raised. It was as he noticed there was nothing there and heard the chuckling from everyone else however that he realized it had just been a joke.
"Hey! That wasn't funny." He said crossly.
The Curse of Shagowroth
Long ago there lived a human woman on a far off colony who had a relationship with an alien. The relationship alone was greatly frowned upon by the inhabitants of the colony, and it soon got worse when they had a child.
Disgusted by this half breed, the colonists took action. They burst into the woman's home in the dead of night, slaughtered her husband and child and beat her savagely. To finish they cut off both her legs, and burned her alive.
Within days of this all happening children began to disappear one by one. The colonists eventually went looking for them, but found nothing. When they returned home to the colony however they found them all. Only they were all dead, eyes gouged out, jaws torn off, teeth broken out by force, fingers and toes cut off, and all completely torn open and hanging from their homes by nothing but the innards of their own stomachs.
On the floor there was a message in the children's blood. It said "Will never forget. Will never forgive."
Then the colonists saw something. There was a figure slowly crawling out of the fog. At first it appeared to be a young girl. But when the colonists ran up to help her, they were frozen with fear. What they saw was no child.
It was a woman clad in black rags. She looked so thin and her skin so pale that she looked almost as though she was on the verge of death. Her hands were not hands, but claws stained with blood, and it looked fresh. Her blood shot eyes constantly bled black and red blood, her jaw practically hung from her face like it had been dislocated, her teeth were like fangs and they too were stained with still fresh blood. As she dragged herself along the floor the colonists also noticed she had no legs. It was if she had an upper body, but after it all disappeared into her rags, her body just seemed to end.
Slowly the woman raised her head to look at them. To their horror, the colonists saw the face of the woman they had killed staring right back at them. But she was no human anymore. This was a demon.
And then she let out a scream, a scream said to be so loud, and so terrifying that it could've woken the dead... and it did.
The colonists all became surrounded as the dead children cut themselves down from where they'd been hanging and advanced towards the colonists as the colony itself burst into flame.
Only one got away. One young man who had not been part of the killing that started all this. He got away, and the demon did not pursue him. Eventually he was picked up by a tea of Helldivers and relayed this same tale to them.
When the Helldivers went back to investigate they claimed to have found the all the colonists alright, but they had suffered the same fight as their children. They had been strung up from their homes with the innards of their own torn open stomachs with their eyes gouged out, fingers and toes cut off, and teeth and jaw missing.
Unlike their children however, they were still alive. This was clearly torture they had endured and were being left to suffer.
What happened afterwards however is a complete mystery. The Helldivers returned with the boy alive, but they had no recollection whatsoever about what happened after they found the bodies.
Attempts were made for years after to investigate the colony again, but they never returned. There was one party that had one survivor, but he didn't last long before eventually dying. Before he did however, he gave a detailed description of a demonic figure he'd seen. The description matched that of the demon from the original story.
The true cause is unknown, but some believe that if the story of the curse is true, it's believed that the demon wishes for the colony to forever remain undisturbed so that bodies of those who wronged her would forever remained undisturbed so that they would forever suffer.
Though the Arkanes are not believers in the supernatural, they continue to use this tale as a ghost story to warn both their own people and others against discrimination. And it was they who gave both this tale and the demon in it a name:
The Scream of Death, or as the phrase is known in the Arkane language... Shagowroth.
"Creepy, I must admit." said Dash, unable to hold back a slight shiver.
"So you think this is her?" Alaara asked.
"I don't think it's her. I know it is." Austin replied. "It's too much like Shagowroth to be coincidence."
"Not only that. Look at the way this all arranged. It looks like... they were worshiping her." Said Austin, observing how there were candles and symbols laid out near to the drawing of Shagowroth.
"That doesn't make sense. It's just a ghost story to frighten racists." Said Leena.
"They're insane. It's to be expected." Said Ventra.
"No. There's something more to this." Said Austin. "They all have drawings of her carved into their cells. All of them. Coincidence? I doubt it."
Suddenly a voice could be heard all over the cell block. It appeared to be coming out of the loud speakers.
"Smart... very smart. Yes..."
"Who said that?!" Austin said as everyone raised their guns defensively.
"They don't know who we are..."
Another voice joined as well. It sounded almost the same as the other one, just with a lower pitch.
"They've never seen us before." the deeper one said.
"Why listen to me?"
"Because they must."
"We talk, they listen?"
"Yes, that's how this works."
"They need to hear this."
"Where's that coming from?" Austin asked.
"Control room." Sandra replied, scanning the area.
When Alpha got up to the control room, it appeared to be deserted. Only person that was in there was the body of a security guard.
"Dead. Neck broken." Said Austin as he respectively closed the dead guard's eyes. "Who could've done this?"
"BOO!"
Suddenly a figure leapt out of the shadow and latched onto Austin's back. The Helldiver immediately reacted and tried to throw the man off. Dash ran up to try and help, causing the inmate to try and kick him away. The kick though was unsuccessful and simply bounced off of Dash's helmet, causing the inmate to lose his grip on Austin and fall onto his back.
Now able to get a proper look at their attacker, Alpha could see that he was a lunatic inmate like the others. He too was in a straitjacket which was still holding together, despite that he'd clearly tried to break loose. His feet were bloodied and he did appear to have a black eye.
"Not inmates. Not security guards. Nononononononoono. Helldivers? Yes! People we want to see. People we want to talk to. Mustn't hurt them. Mustn't attack."
His voice kept going back and forth between normal and the much deeper raspy voice. It seemed both had come from him. He'd even turn his head in different direction when doing each voice.
It certainly seemed like he was suffering from a split personality disorder. He looked like he'd had an overdose of coffee due to how hyperactive he appeared to be. He was panting heavily, his eyes were wide open and he was sweating all over. Not to mention his mad grin and partial drooling.
"Who the hell are you?" Austin asked.
"Us? Who are we? Hmmm, what is our name? Are we friend? Are we foe? Keep guessing. Part of the fun. Not want game to end... Riddles. Questions. Must think of answer." the inmate replied, still continuing his split personality talk.
"You better start making sense or I'm just gonna knock you and your… friend, out." Austin threatened as he picked the man up by the scruff of the neck and forced him against the wall.
"One of you! Yes. Used to be one of you. Wore armour. Metal plates. Shiny!" the inmate said.
"You were a Helldiver?" Dash asked, not believing the inmate's words for a minute.
"Hell. Not go there! Not be punished! Not go back to him."
"Him? You mean the Commander?" Austin asked.
"Figure in flames! Burning! Trying to make us scared! Put worms in our head! They wiggle. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. Not let will break!"
"I've had enough of this." Austin said in annoyance
Using the butt of his pistol, he hit the inmate hard enough on the head to knock him out. Rather to everyone's surprise however, the inmate stayed awake and rubbed the back of his head.
"That... hurt." He said.
Austin was a bit surprised that hadn't worked.
"Either talk sense, or don't talk at all." Said Austin.
"Why? Did we not make sense before? Nasty Helldiver hurt us! They were just scared. That's no fucking excuse! They think we're insane. No we're fucking not! Yes, you're quite right. Yet we're in an asylum and wearing a straitjacket. Killed that guard with nothing but our feet. Wrong place at the wrong time. So what the fuck are we doing here?! I really don't know, we don't even usually swear. But that's how fucking annoyed we are!"
"Are you playing with us?!" Austin asked forcefully, raising his gun. "Who are you?"
"We had a name, didn't we? Yes we did. Don't tell me we've forgotten. We never forget. They want to know. None of their fucking business! No need to be so rude. Who gives a fuck?! Samuel Dawkins. Lieutenant of Beta Squad. Or was it Delta squad?"
"Point is though, you were a Helldiver?" Sandra asked.
"Was. Not one anymore. Armour taken from us. Thrown in this shithole!"
"What happened?" Austin asked.
"He happened. Got captured by Hellspawn. Stripped of armour. Had to endure all kinds of torture at his hands. We'll fucking kill him for that someday!"
"We know what that's like." Said Sandra sympathetically.
"But got something out of it. Learned things. Learned about him.
"What did you learn?" Alaara asked.
"Everything. Who he is. Where he came from." Samuel replied. "Krallus, wasn't it? Krallus Colony."
"Please tell me you're joking." Austin said in surprise
"No jokes. No tricks."
"What's wrong with that?" Dash asked.
"The Krallus Colony is said to be the colony where the Curse of Shagowroth originated from." Sandra explained. "Years ago a Helldiver team went there to answer a supposed distress call. They only found one survivor, a boy who..."
Everyone cast each other looks as the realization came to them.
This was interrupted however when they started to hear a faint laughter that slowly got louder. It was coming from Samuel.
"What's so funny?" Leena asked.
"Goddess calls to us. They must never find the weapon hidden there."
"What weapon?" Austin asked cautiously.
"Kill. Stop you. For the Shagowroth!"
Samuel immediately lunged at Austin again. Once again, he went right for the Helldiver's neck. The others tried to help, but Samuel's strength was driven by his madness and the fact that he was a former Helldiver who retained his original strength.
"Samuel, stop!" Austin choked.
Managing to grab hold of Samuel's legs, he managed to force them off his neck and kicked Samuel off him, causing the inmate to land against a nearby console. Samuel then tackled Austin right through the window overlooking the cell block.
"SHEPARD!"
Austin hit the ground first, cushioning the fall for Samuel who still continued to try and strangle him.
"Get... off me!"
Austin kicked hard and knocked Samuel right off him. The inmate however simply rolled back onto his feet.
"Kettle. In the kettle! Two mice. Squeaky! Squeaky!"
In desperation Dash ran up to the nearby console and started randomly pushing buttons in hopes to somehow help Austin.
"Gotta have some kind of contingency plan for this. Oh wait, what does this button do?"
It was at this moment Dash realized… he fucked up. Every single other cell opened and their occupants slowly stepped out, some laughing like crazy, some growling, and some with a literally insane look on their faces. Now Austin was facing an entire small army of these lunatics.
"Dash, you bastard!" Austin swore.
"Errrr… oops?"
The rest of Alpha quickly jumped down to join their leader. This did at least make Austin feel less nervous about facing all these insane lunatics.
"Don't worry, Shep. We've got your back." Said Alaara.
"Don't kill them. Knock them out only." Said Austin.
"Finally, some excitement." Kraan grinned.
The inmates all charged, separating Alpha.
While sot of Alpha were broken apart and fighting several inmates each on their own, Alaara was able to stay back to back with Sandra.
"You as turned on as I am right now?"she asked, smashing another inmate into the floor.
"Oh, hell yes."Sandra replied.
"That's my girl." Said Alaara, smiling under helmet.
"You wanna have sex in the middle of a fight with crazy inmates?!" Sandra asked in confusion, punching another inmate in the face and countering the punch of a second.
"No! I wanna make love." Alaara replied.
"You're cute when you talk dirty to me." Said Sandra, tossing another inmate to Alaara who then used her biotics to punch him to the ground, knocking him out cold.
Austin meanwhile was engaged 4 to 1, but he quickly evened it down. With an almost lightning like speed he took down the first one to his right, then the one to his left and then the third in front of him in just a few seconds.
The fourth one however had a knife. Austin only just managed to duck under a swipe from the inmate who then followed this with a lunge. Austin however moved his head to the side, causing the knife to go right past him.
Reacting quickly to this, Austin then pinned the inmate's arm against his shoulder and flung the inmate right into the air before then smashing him down into the floor.
Dash meanwhile charged an inmate and tackled him to the floor and hitting his head hard on the floor in the process.
Ventra who had some non lethal arrow tips in his arsenal was putting them to good use. No particular arrow he shot at one the nearby cell doors. With the arrow grappled onto the door Ventra wrenched it right off and threw it at several inmates. Most threw themselves out of the way, but a fair few inmates were hit by the cell door.
Similar to Austin, Leena was also outnumbered 4 to 1, but she held her ground. Due to all the inmates attacking her using knives, the Quarian was using her tomahawk and own knife to counter each attack. Sparks flew as metal clashed against metal from all sides.
Elbowing an inmate from behind, Leena countered a thrust from another inmate and locked his arm against hers with her blade. Another inmate attempted another swipe, but Leena kicked him right in the knee. It was any wonder the force of the kick from her large legs didn't break the inmate's leg. She then literally broke the arm of the inmate she'd had pinned earlier, causing him to fall to the floor clutching his broken arm.
Another inmate swung, but Leena blocked that one too with her forearm. She then immediately grabbed the inmate's arm and used it to block the attack from another inmate. Before the inmate had time to attack again, Leena immediately kicked him. She then forced the knife of inmate she'd been holding earlier right into his leg, causing him to stagger back clutching his leg.
Two more attempted to attack, but Leena punched them hard in the face, knocking them down. She then turned back to the inmate earlier who'd been stabbed in the leg with his knife. She swung a wide punch right at the inmate's face so hard that it knocked his head right into the floor.
An inmate tried to charge Kraan, but the Krogan managed to grab him and threw him to the floor. He managed several punches before another inmate suddenly struck with his knife, sparks flying as the blade made contact with Kraan's helmet. The Krogan abandoned his earlier beating and focused his attention on the new inmate who managed to cut his helmet again. One the third attempt, Kraan managed to grab the inmate's arm. He then swung his leg into both the inmate's, tripping him up. As the human hit the floor, Kraan gave the inmate's arm a violent twist. There was a loud snap and the inmate screamed as his arm broke.
As Austin countered the attack from another inmate and threw him over his head, he failed to react in time to Samuel suddenly running up to him and charging him with such force that it actually managed to knock the Helldiver back enough that second inmate then managed to pull him down onto his back.
Austin tried to get back up, but the constant attacks from Samuel and second inmate forced him to have to keep blocking their knives with the ones on his forearms. When Samuel attacked again Austin managed this time to block his attack with one hand and return a punch with the other, but he failed to react fast enough to block a kick from the second inmate which knocked him back down.
Samuel was quick to seize his chance and brought with knife right down with enough precision that it got in-between the plates of armour and cut right through Austin's suit mesh, stabbing right in the left shoulder, causing the Helldiver to emit a painful groan through gritted teeth.
As the second inmate went in for a strike of his own, Austin managed to land a kick not he inmate's legs, tripping him up. With that one dealt with, Austin was able to turn his attention to Samuel. He swung his right leg, kicking Samuel right in the face, causing him to lose grip of his knife which was still embedded in the Helldiver's shoulder.
Finally getting back onto his feet, Austin tripped the second inmate up again, causing his face to hit the floor. As the Helldiver stood up, he pulled the knife out of his shoulder. He then grabbed Samuel bay the neck and forced him against the wall. He then used the knife to stab Samuel in the same place, pinning the inmate in place.
Austin was interrupted however by a knock on his back. He turned to find the second inmate from earlier hadn't stayed down. The Helldiver however didn't give the second inmate time to attack again however. He delivered a swift punch to the inmate's face, grabbed him by the hair and then threw him into the floor again. To ensure this time the inmate stayed down though, Austin then grabbed the inmate again and this time threw him into a nearby wall with such force that it actually caused a dent.
Austin finally turned his attention back to Samuel was trying in vain to unpin himself from the wall, but it was little use. For a moment, the two stared at each other, not saying a word. Eventually though, the long silence was broken as Austin punched Samuel hard enough in the face that he knocked him out.
With that, the prison block finally fell silent. The last of the inmates had been dealt with. Unconscious body upon unconscious body littered the floor.
"Are you alright?" said Leena.
"I'm fine. Just a flesh wound." Austin groaned as he applied medi gel to his wound.
Alaara and Sandra meanwhile had chosen to celebrate this victory with a kiss, which was causing a look of both confusion and embarrassment from everyone.
"You two…" Austin sighed.
"Like the sight of a woman and an Asari kissing doesn't turn you on." Said Alaara, finally breaking the kiss.
"Still…"
"Next time we'll wait until the mission itself is over. Promise." Said Sandra.
"Aw. Look at these two. How come I never get any of that from anyone?" Dash asked.
"Buy us a drink first." Said Troy.
"You're such hard work."
"But worth it."
"This is for your own good, Samuel. And don't think you'll escape this time." Said Austin as he slammed the cell shut and locked it. "If the Commander has a weapon hidden in that colony, we're gonna find it, and destroy it."
With the next destination now known, and with the situation know dealt with, Alpha walked away. They'd already informed the Council of what had happened and a cleanup crew was already en route, along with a security team to re-establish control.
"THEY CAN'T FIGHT THE SCREAM OF DEATH! SHE'LL FIND THEM! MAKE THEM SUFFER!" Samuel yelled, forcing himself right up close to the bars as he watched Alpha leave.
"I never understood him back when I worked for him. How can one person have so much hate for every species in the galaxy except for humans?" Troy questioned.
"Maybe it's one of the universes greatest mysteries," Shepard guessed.
"Everyone and everything has a past. Especially this man."
"Maybe. Maybe not," said Alaara. "But sometimes, maybe it's best we don't know some of the details."
"All these years, I never knew who he was before he turned into the monster we're fighting today." Troy said.
"Are you sure of that?" Sandra asked groggily as she tried to hold back her travel sickness yet again due to the turbulence from the gunship.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm saying we shouldn't underestimate him."
The gunship hovered down low enough and Alpha all jumped out.
"Be careful down there, Alpha." Alex said as the gunship pulled away and returned to operational height.
Due to a surprisingly large build up of both fog and mist in the area, they'd been unable to land directly at the colony. They'd been forced instead to land on the outskirts where it was clear enough. They'd walk the rest of the way. Normally they'd use the Hellraiser, but once again the fog and mist made it too risky. Not to mention also it was somehow disrupting their instruments too.
15 minutes passed without any incident. However something about the general atmosphere felt a little different. None of Alpha could explain it, but they all felt a little uneasy. Austin also noticed Dash seemed to be rubbing his helmet a little.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, just a bit of headache." Dash replied.
"You too, huh?" Ventra asked.
"Do you need a drink?" Austin asked.
"We should be alright, Shep." Alaara replied.
"If you say so."
Alpha continued on for another 5 minutes before Dash then asked something.
"I don't want to sound like a coward, but is anyone else feeling like they want to turn back?" he asked.
There was a painfully long moment of silence before someone finally replied.
"Won't lie, Dash, I'm actually feeling that as well." Kraan admitted.
"Something about this place doesn't fell right." Said Hawk.
"We can't leave yet. Not until we've found this weapon. Keep going." Said Troy.
After 10 more minutes, thing didn't improve at all. If anything they got worse. All of Alpha's headaches were worse than before to the point where it felt like their skulls were being crushed. Worse still, the feeling they'd had before to turn back was stronger too. Their will too ultimately to prioritize their mission though overrode that constantly nagging desire.
It was as they reached ¾ part of their walk however that things went from bad to worse.
"Alpha... losing your signal..."
After that, everything went static.
"Telrass... Telrass! Oh for fuck's sake. Not again!" Austin swore."Sandra?"
"I'm still trying." Said Sandra.
Despite her best efforts though, the radio continued remaining static.
When Sandra attempted to make another adjustment however, something suddenly came through. But it wasn't Telrass' voice.
"Turn back."
It was very quick and very brief, as though it had been taken out of context from another radio channel. But it was understandable.
"Is it just me, or did that sound like "turn back?" Dash asked, sounding a little nervous.
More then followed.
"Make you..."
"Leave here..."
Alpha cast concerned looks at one another. Their comm channels weren't known to do this.
"Get out!"
"Get you!"
"Every... person leave."
"Too late."
"Make you... kill."
After that, the channel went completely dead.
"Damn it! It's no good, sir. I've lost all contact." Sandra sighed.
"What do you think happened to 'em?" Hawk asked.
"Nothing's "happened to 'em", Dash. Probably some interference. Right, Shepard?" said Kraan.
"If Telrass can re-establish comms, she will. In the meantime, we've got a weapon to find." Said Austin.
"What's the matter?" Alaara asked worriedly, noticing how Sandra seemed in pain.
"This headache's somehow gotten worse. Really hurts now." Sandra replied.
"Mine too." Austin groaned.
Dash suddenly whirled round with one of his pistols raised. He looked around for a minute, but there was nothing there. Just more mist and fog.
"Stop. Stop a minute." He said. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Ventra. As he fell silent however, he and Alpha suddenly heard it too. "What the... sounds almost like a church bell constantly ringing."
It did indeed sound like how Ventra had just described. It was a rather haunting sound which only added to the already unsettling atmosphere.
"My head... I feel so dizzy." Hawk groaned.
"Shepard, maybe we should stop for a bit. There's something not right here." Said Troy, trying to fight his own headache.
"I think you may be right." Said Austin.
Leena suddenly looked up in alarm, her hand reaching for her shotgun.
"What is it?"
"Thought I just heard a laugh of some kind." Leena said tensely.
"We're the only ones here." Said Kraan.
"I don't like this place. Something about it feels evil." Said Dash.
"No kidding." Said Hawk.
Several minutes that almost felt like hours passed, and finally Alpha saw it.
Out of the fog and mist they saw the unmistakable shape of buildings. Every single one was damaged in wrecked in some fashion due to both un-mended storm damage and old age. Debris, broken off pieces and a combination of dust, sand and cobwebs covered the entire colony. It really was like exploring a ghost town.
Unlike usual ghost towns that simply felt empty, this ghost town felt different. It felt like something bad had happened here.
It was as Alpha explored further however they soon came across a way more horrifying sight. Dozens upon dozens of dead skeletons from various different species littered the entire colony.
Some were strung up from the wreckage of buildings, some littered the streets, some had their skulls impaled on spikes and their bones laid out almost like a warning, some looked as they'd died from fire, some looked as though they'd bled out due to dried up blood stains on the ground, some had bones smashed indicating torture and some were simply laid out next to each as they they'd been placed there after death in order to be buried only for a burial to never take place.
"Wow. This is creepy as shit." Said Dash, clearly shuddering slightly from the sight.
Austin also was rather unnerved by this, but he didn't show it. Trying to put aside the fact that many years ago this had been the sight of both a mass slaughter, torture and other horrible acts of suffering and death, he ordered Alpha to spread out and search the colony for any sign that something had been hid here.
Alpha did their best to be respectful to the environment and the dead bodies, but they were ultimately forced to move some of them in order to search certain areas.
The ones that really stood out were the ones that did appear to be strung up from the buildings. It was bad enough to think that someone had actually done that to them, but what made it worse was the skeletons were undeniably the skeletons of children. It made Alaara almost want to cry.
There was one particular building that caught Austin's eye. It seemed a little bit more remote than the others, but still shared the same old and worn down look. It looked also like it had been on fire at some point due to scorch marks and black spots here and there, along with a ceiling that definitely looked like it fallen apart due to damage.
When Austin tried to open the door however, it didn't budge.
"Why is this one locked?" he said. He tried again but it still didn't open. "How can it be locked?! This place has been abandoned for decades."
Right as he raised his rifle to smash the door in however he was stepped by something that made all of Alpha jump. Austin even jumped back almost in fright and nearly fell over as he heard the unmistakable sound of two gentle knocks from inside the building.
"FUCK!"
"It fucking knocked!" said Dash in alarm.
"There's no way anyone could be in there! It's impossible." Said Troy, trying to hide how nervous he was feeling.
Austin raised his rifle. Much as he tried to deny it, his hands were shaking inside his suit.
"Whoever did that, come out! Now!" he ordered.
There was no response.
"Last chance! Come out, or we'll break the door down!"
Still nothing.
With that, Austin swung his rifle and smashed the door open.
Nothing whatsoever. The only thing there was inside the building was more remains.
The ceiling of the building had indeed fallen apart due to fire damage. One particular large beam had fallen away and by the looks of things had fallen onto one of the skeletons.
"Nothing. Just bodies." Said Austin, sighing slightly with relief.
Both he and Sandra went up to the two bodies and examined them more closely. There was something about these two skeletons that seemed different. Austin particularly noted the fact that the one that appeared to simply be lying against the wall had no head and as far as he could tell, it was nowhere to be seen.
"This one's missing its head." he observed.
As Sandra began examine the other corpse she immediately noticed something that was both odd and at the same time a little frightening.
"Shepard, look at this." She said.
Austin walked up to Sandra and knelt beside her. Sure enough, he saw it too.
"That's... This corpse must be just as old as the others, but yet it looks as if it's still... decomposing." Austin said in confusion.
Parts of flesh still clung to the bones of the corpse. It had still been definitely dead for years, but even so...
Beside the corpse also were what looked like scratch marks on the floor. When Sandra shone her light near the marks she also noted how close they were to the corpse's hands.
"These marks..." she said. "Fingernails. This woman died struggling. By the looks of the area around her, my guess is she was set on fire."
"Horrible way to die." Austin sighed.
"Especially while you're pinned in place by a beam. Look at the legs." Said Sandra. Pointing to the corpse's legs. "Broken right where the beam is. Looks like it fell on her and broke her legs."
A sudden distant, but very clear, noise suddenly startled them, causing them all to jump slightly again.
"Fucking hell! That was like a...moan or something!" said Dash.
"What the hell is going on?!" said Hawk, reaching cautiously for his sniper rifle.
It was everyone else joined him they also noticed something horrible.
"Where'd all the skeletons go?"
"Look sharp, people." Said Austin drawing his weapon, causing everyone to do the same thing.
Everyone kept themselves tensed, ready to act. All around they could hear running footsteps, but they couldn't see anyone.
"Errrr, guys? I feel like there's someone behind me." Said Dash nervously.
"Dash this isn't the time to be joking." Said Austin.
"No, I'm being serious, Shepard. I feel like they're actually is someone behind me." Said Dash.
"Who's touching my shoulder?" Kraan asked.
This caused everyone to freeze. Kraan never played along with Dash's jokes. And it was now they felt it too. The feeling that people got when a person was behind them.
Alpha very slowly turned their heads to look behind.
They caught the very briefest look at something swipe at their helmets... but then everything black...
Austin slowly opened his eyes. He groaned as he picked himself back up. His head hurt from the knock earlier. Whatever had hit him and the others had certainly hit them hard.
He looked around to find himself in exact same spot where he had been earlier. The corpses were still all gone and everything else was the same. What was missing however was everyone else. The rest of Alpha was nowhere to be seen.
Austin looked around, trying to hide his panic. It was as he looked around he suddenly noticed the area around him. He was literally kneeling in a pool of blood. The entire ground around him was stained with all kinds of different blood.
Austin's worry grew and his heart rate sped up. His mind filled with questions. Was this Alpha's blood? Where they still alive? How bad where they wounded? What had happened? Why was he unscathed?
He noticed that there was a trail heading away from the pool. Cautiously, Austin got back onto his feet and slowly followed the blood. It continued on for a few minutes before he then started seeing what he recognized immediately as parts of Helldiver armour
Austin's worry only increased with this sight. The pieces undeniably looked like they'd ripped off by force. Some were stained with blood as well.
Austin quickened his pace and continued following the blood trail.
More and more pieces appeared in Austin's view... and then the most horrifying sight of all greeted his eyes. A sight that would forever haunt him for the rest of his life.
All of Alpha was laid out in a pile, each one with such vicious injuries that they were literally torn open. Austin didn't need to be a medical expert to know that they were already dead. Only two were exceptions.
Sandra was laid against a rock, covered in blood and clearly on the verge of death. In her arms was Dash, who worst of all had been quite literally torn in two. His upper body was torn apart from his lower which was a metre or two away from him. The only thing still connecting the two was his intestines.
"Just hold on." Sandra whimpered. "We survived."
Dash took his last breath and went limp in Sandra's arms.
Sandra slowly looked up, the mere movement clearly causing her pain.
Austin almost felt sick at the sight. Sandra's face had so much skin missing it was any wonder how she was still alive. Her right eye had been gouged out and her entire left cheek was torn open.
"Shepard?" she croaked, coughing blood slightly.
"What... what happened?" Austin managed to say.
The sheer shock of this was almost overwhelming. So much so that he fell to his knees.
"Without you... we had no chance." Sandra replied, tears running from her remaining eye. "My love... is dead because you left us."
"Sandra, I didn't..."
"You let us die!" Sandra yelled, coughing up more blood after speaking.
With that, it ended up being her final words before the life left her and her head fell.
Austin could only look at the dead bodies, unimaginable amounts of survivor's guilt, sadness, depression and hopelessness ran through him. It made him almost want to scream in sorrow.
Why had he been spared? Why him, and not them? He would've given his one life it meant that the eight of them would've lived.
It was as he took several breaths to calm himself down and regain his composure however he suddenly noticed something.
The lower part of Dash that had been torn off looked like it was moving. At first Austin thought it was just his eyes playing tricks on him. But he soon saw it wasn't. The lower half actually was moving.
The intestines that were still connecting the two halves had tightened and were slowly pulling the two back together. Austin then saw more movement out of the corner of his eyes. He turned to see to his horror the rest of Alpha slowly rising as though they'd been possessed by some evil spirit.
As they all rose around Austin, who also got back up so he was prepared for an unexpected attack, which he had a feeling was coming.
"You let us die." They all said, as if in sync with one another.
Only Dash was an exception. He seemed to be almost chanting a series of numbers, almost like he was chanting some strange spell.
"204863." He said emotionlessly.
"YOU LET US DIE!"
All of them attacked. Austin quickly reacted and managed to duck under the attack and retreated enough that Alpha no longer surrounded him. However they continued limping towards him, still continuing to yell "YOU LET US DIE!"
"Guys, please..." he said desperately.
But Alpha didn't listen. They continued advancing, they continued chanting "YOU LET US DIE!" and they continued trying to attack.
If there was a Hell, Austin felt like he was in it.
Troy groaned as he picked himself up, rubbing the back of his head. He still felt a little dazed, but he could see clearly enough.
What the hell had hit him earlier? Where were the others? His questions however were suddenly interrupted when he heard a female voice call his name. He whirled round.
To his shock, out of the mist emerged a figure, a figure that he recognized immediately. However he didn't believe what he saw. How could she possibly be here? What's more... how as she human again?
"Sonya?"
Sonya's human appearance bore no resemblance whatsoever to her cyborg body. She was an astonishingly beautiful woman. Most noticeable of all was that she was African, so her skin black skinned. She had black hair tied in a pony tail and green eyes. Despite being African she spoke with only a very faint African accent.
She was wearing a tank top that exposed her arms and midsection, dark jeans and a short sleeve black jacket.
She had a black tattoo pattern that ran all the way up her right arm all the way to the start of her neck where it stopped. There was also a tattoo of an eye around her belly button.
From what Troy remembered, while she had indeed been a highly skilled hacker, at the same time she'd been a street thug in her teenage years which was where the tattoos came from
"Troy? Why did you leave?" she asked.
This question caused Troy to fall silent. He didn't have an answer for that. That question immediately brought to the surface the guilt he felt at what had happened to Sonya. That him leaving Hellspawn had been what had led to her becoming a cyborg.
"Why did you leave me, Troy?" she asked again.
"Sonya, I..."
"Do you have any idea... what I've become?!"
To Troy's horror, Sonya's skin began to decay at an alarming rate. As it rotted, it began to fall away, slowly revealing what lay underneath... none other than Sonya's cyborg form. As the face of Troy's former girlfriend rotted away, the expressionless mask of Trojan emerged.
Troy only had a moment to process this before Trojan then lunged at him, her cold metal hands closing around his throat. At the same time, Trojan kept replaying the same recording over and over again.
"Why did you leave? Why did you leave? Why did you leave?"
Sandra's eyes opened. She immediately took note of the throbbing at the back of her head and groaned as she picked herself up. She immediately noticed the absence of the others. Her heart rate increased as she became worried for where Alaara was, and what had happened to her.
"Alaara?" she called nervously.
"Alaara can't hear you right now." Said a terrifyingly familiar voice.
Sandra immediately whirled round.
There stood the Commander, his bloodstained sword in one hand... and Alaara's severed head in the other.
"No... NO!"
The Commander carelessly threw the head at Sandra's feet and she watched it roll, the shock freezing her in place.
Her sorrow and sadness was quickly replaced with anger and rage and Sandra immediately drew her Sais and charged.
Both blades clashed violently against each other, sparks flying with each of Sandra's strikes being fuelled by her anger. The Commander managed to counter each of her attacks, but he was slowly starting to struggle to keep up.
A sudden strike from both sides caused the two opponents to lose grip of their weapons. The Commander made the first made and grabbed Sandra by the throat, hoisting her up with ease. Sandra however grabbed onto the Commander's arm and managed to swing her leg right into the Commander's helmet, knocking him enough that it disoriented him and caused him to lose his grip and drop Sandra.
Seizing her chance, Sandra ran right up to the Commander and jumped into a punch so hard that it actually smashed the Commander's helmet right off.
The Commander staggered back dazed, his hands covering his face as his helmet hit the ground. Sandra was about to attack again when the commander turned back to face her.
She froze in shock as instead of the Commander's burnt and disfigured face, there was none other than her own face staring right back at her with eyes as black as the void itself.
"No! NO!"
The figure took advantage of Sandra's shock and then grabbed her by the neck with both hands, tripping her up in the process.
"YOU CAN NEVER ESCAPE ME! I AM YOUR FUTURE! I AM YOUR DESTINY!" the figure said in Sandra's own voice sounding more like the Commander's own demonic like voice.
Sandra struggled against the figure's grip but she felt as though all her strength had left her. Her love was dead and she was facing her terrible future.
As she once again looked at the figure, to her horror she noticed its face, her face, was on fire. The figure didn't seem to be affected by this and showed no sign of pain whatsoever. Sandra watched as her face slowly burnt away until it looked exactly like her father's, except with more of her features.
Sandra had never felt so terrified and helpless in all her life.
Alaara expected to find Sandra by her side as she woke up. It was as she became aware of her surroundings however that she suddenly realized that she wasn't at home in bed. Last thing she remembered was something taking a swipe at them.
"Sandra?" she called.
No immediate reply.
Alaara was about to start looking when she suddenly heard something. It sounded like a slight groan.
Alaara's head cautiously turned in the direction.
"Hello?"
"Alaara!"
Alaara recognized the voice immediately. She'd know the voice of her bondmate anywhere. There was something about it though that sounded different. It sounded dry hoarse, as though it was being spoken by someone who hadn't eat, drank or slept for years.
Alaara quickened her step and ran in the direction of the voice.
Within second she found a familiar body lying on the floor.
"Sandra!"
Alaara ran up to Sandra and gently picked her up. When she saw the human's face it made her want to cry. Sandra was so pale there was barely any colour on her face whatsoever. All the muscle had melted from her body and her hair looked like it hadn't been cut for years.
When she saw Alaara, her eyes opened wide as though she hadn't seen her love forever.
"I waited..." she said weakly, as though she was clinging onto what life she had left. "I waited for you!"
Alaara was then forced to watch in horror as Sandra started to age a rapid rate. Her skin wrinkled, her eyes went white with blindness, her hair went white and eventually her skin began to decay and rot as she coughed one last time and died during the aging.
Alaara immediately burst into tears. Words couldn't possibly describe how she felt right now. This was hardly the first time she's had a bondmate die, but to see it happen like that so quickly and so unexpected... it was just horrible. Not to mention that she considered Sandra the bondmate that she had loved more than any other, and not just because she was the best sex she'd ever had.
She let out a scream of despair and sorrow as tears streaked down her face from inside her helmet.
Suddenly Alaara felt something grab at her. She looked down to find none other than the dead body of Sandra actually moving. With unimaginable strength she literally tore all of Alaara's armour right off, leaving her in just her suit mesh, which the zombie figure of Sandra was quick to also tear off.
The shear shock of this caused the Alaara to fall on her back. She rolled onto her front to try and get back up but the dead Sandra pinned her in place by the neck
"I'm going to die! And you'll be there when it happens!" it yelled.
As the zombie spoke, its free hand began to slowly creep down Alaara's body reaching lower and lower.
It didn't take Alaara long to realize what was about to happen and her eyes widened in worry.
"No..."
Kraan gave an angry groan as he regained consciousness. If he found out this was another one of Dash's increasingly irritating tricks, he was not going to bother trying to retrain his temper this time.
As he looked around and saw no one in sight however, he was forced to admit that this time it was not Dash's doing. After a few seconds he almost started to wish it had been, almost...
It was as he started looking around for the others he became aware also that all his weapons and armour had been taken. This began to make Kraan nervous. True he was a Krogan who was still more than capable of putting up a fight, but having seen how unnaturally strong the Commander was when he lifted Kraan by just one hand with ease... these days he didn't feel as safe or strong as he used to.
He was suddenly surprised when he saw all of Alpha somehow appear out of nowhere in front of him, almost making him jump.
He was about to say something when all the others spoke before him.
"Weak!" They all said in sync.
Kraan tried to speak again, but the others once again spoke before him.
"Always hungry!"
Kraan could not deny his temper was starting to rise. Why were they doing this? Why taunt him in this way?
"So tiny!"
Kraan tried to walk away, but the second he tried, he found his path blocked by Dash, who somehow pushed him with such force that it knocked him off his feet.
Kraan's anger grew to almost breaking point. Smashing his fist into the ground, Kraan forced himself back onto his feet and swung a punch at Dash that was so hard it could almost certainly have taken his head clean off.
To Kraan's astonishment however, his fist hit Dash with a light thump as though he were only hitting a piece of flesh with the barest amount of force.
He then felt himself seized by hands from behind and pulled right back onto his back.
"WEAK!"
Kraan tried to get back up, but they kept pushing him back down. He felt his strength leave him completely. He'd never felt so helpless.
Ventra's first instinct was to make sure he had his bow. As a hunter, it was a thing he felt he had to have. He quickly became concerned when he found it was nowhere on him. He became even more concerned when he found his squad mates were nowhere to be seen.
It was as he worked on getting up however, he suddenly felt his feet kick something buried in the sand. He immediately worked on clearing the sand and found it was his bow. This did at least provide some relief.
However it still didn't answer his question of where the others were.
As he looked around however, suddenly out of nowhere he saw several Hellspawn troopers.
He found himself in the middle of a battle between the troopers and the rest of Alpha. As if reacting on instinct, Ventra immediately took an arrow for each trooper, aimed and fired.
It was as if he fired the last one that he suddenly noticed to his horror, that every single arrow had missed their mark... and had hit Alpha instead.
Ventra did not notice that the Hellspawn troopers had mysteriously disappeared due to the fact that his sole focus right now was that he had actually shot arrows into all f his team mates.
Everyone except Leena had already fallen and died. Ventra could only watch, frozen in place, as the huge Quarian fell to her knees. She clutched at the arrow in her chest in pain.
"You were supposed to be a good shot." She coughed, clearly choking on her own blood. "This is all your fault!"
Ventra tried to speak, but his words just seemed to stick in his throat.
He hung his head in sorrow as Leena drew her last breath and died. His moment of mourning however was suddenly interrupted when he found all of Alpha slowly rising back up.
Ventra's keen eye immediately noticed that they were all different. They looked as though they'd been dead for weeks. If anything, they looked more like zombies.
Ventra immediately reached for another arrow and fired it at one of the zombie Alpha's head. Thanks to living and working with humans for many years, he knew that the head was the part to aim for.
The arrow however did not hit its target. Instead, it flew right past.
Ventra looked at his bow for a moment in disbelief.
He missed. How the hell could he have missed? He'd got the aim just right, he'd kept his arm steady, and he'd even held his breath while taking aim and firing.
The zombies of Alpha began to slowly advance on him from all sides.
"You missed! And now you'll always miss! We died because you missed!" Said the zombie of Austin.
Ventra fired another shot, this time actually waiting and making absolutely sure that the arrow was aimed right at the head of the zombie of Kraan.
He fired... and it missed again...
Leena checked that there weren't any ruptures in her suit and that nothing had been done to tamper with it.
Reassured that there was nothing out of the ordinary, Leena began looking around for the others.
She became concerned upon not finding the other. That however was pushed to the back of her mind when she saw a completely different figure emerge.
At first she thought it was another Helldiver. But when the figure got closer and clearer, she realized to her surprise that it was a Quarian.
But not just any Quarian. She recognized the figure very quickly.
"No. Nononono. You're dead. You died years ago." She said.
It was none other than the lover she had left the Migrant fleet to be with, only to later discover that he had died.
"It was your fault, you know." The phantom said. "And look what it's left you with... a body that no one could possibly love."
Leena was hurt by this. The muscle that she had worked so hard to obtain mattered a great deal to her. In made her feel stronger and more self confident. But to hear her lover talk this way about her like that...
"No man in their right mind could love some freak of nature like you."
Lenna then began to hear dozen of voices whispering all kinds of mean words directed at her appearance. At the same time she felt as if she was being overcrowded. Some kind of shadow was slowly growing from the phantom of her lover and slowly closing around her.
She wanted to fight back, but the constant whispers and voices just made her feel so small and insignificantly weak.
Dash found it somewhat annoying that the author had written that he and the others had gotten knocked out. Especially when things had started to get quite scary.
"You've already read the paragraphs for the others, so I'll just skip right to it, readers." He said.
However the desired effect did not happen. Instead, a voice suddenly echoed around him.
"Dash..."
Dash looked around. All he could see was darkness and shadow. The atmosphere felt very cold and something about it made him feel very lonely.
"Daaaaaaash..."
Dash reached for his pistols cautiously, but found they were gone. His heart began beating faster as he braced himself for an imminent. He'd seen dozens of horror films to be familiar with this sort of situation. That still didn't help how nervous he was though being in this situation.
"Dash..."
"Show yourself!" the scout yelled.
He then saw it. Some kind of shadowy figure crawling on a rock just a few feet away from him.
The figure looked about his size with an unbelievably skinny frame, burning red eyes and nothing but shadow and darkness masking the fact that it had no clothes on.
"Dash hates me. Yes!" the figure said.
It then suddenly lunged at Dash and pinned him to the ground. Dash tried to fight, but the figure's strength was immense.
"Dash doesn't play with me anymore. Dash thinks he's not worthy."
The figure then threw Dash into the nearby rock.
"I don't recognize you." Dash groaned as he picked himself up.
"Do you not see what is inside yourself?" said the figure, crawling along the ground like some kind of animal.
It was now that Dash began to realize who this figure was. The figure seemed to notice this too.
"Samuel showed you a brief glimpse of the future. You know exactly what is going to happen to us." It said. "Our madness will consume us. Our friends will turn on us and they'll lock us up. You know it's going to happen. Why fight against your imminent madness?"
"I choose not to give you power." Said Dash defiantly.
"And yet you spend your days as a soldier. Always fighting, in the decadence of war, and with that I grow stronger inside you. Know your true self. Face me now... or I will consume you." The figure growled.
Hawk shook his head as he regained consciousness and blinked several times until he could see enough.
He looked around to see that there was no sign of the others. All that he saw around him was a pile of bones. Hawk just assumed that this was what had happened to the skeletons of the colonies inhabitants.
He was concerned however with what had happened to the others. It was as he picked himself up and began to look for the others however that he suddenly heard something.
It was very faint, but it seemed to be a constant rattling sound. It was it got louder however Hawk suddenly froze.
He'd heard that sound before. A part of his mind was still in denial and he kept trying to tell himself that he didn't know for certain that it was what he feared it was. That moment of denial however was short lived when another sound joined the rattling. An unmistakable hissing sound.
Hawk immediately felt that he was shaking inside his suit with terror. Already his eyes kept scanning the area at a fast rate, hoping and praying to catch an early warning glimpse before it was too late.
The hissing and the rattling grew louder and was getting undeniably closer. Hawk was so tempted to run, but at the same time he feared he could run right into it. The fog and mist didn't help either.
Hawk was an Ophidiophobe. He was terrified of snakes, particularly Cobras and rattlesnakes. He'd never told Alpha this at all, but at the same time he'd never tried to keep it a secret.
People would normally think that would hardly be the greatest fear of a soldier, but sadly this was a childhood fear that Hawk had never gotten over, despite his best attempts. He'd been bitten once by a King Cobra when he was very little. Naturally though he had survived since he was still here, but it had been a very lucky escape. He'd only just been cured in time before the venom killed him.
To make matters worse he'd been bitten again by another Cobra several years later. Once again he was cured in time, but he suffered greatly. For almost a month he kept having nightmares about a giant demonic monster cobra and eventually he became terrified of snakes in general. In fact, rattlesnakes terrified him just as much. There mere sound of the rattle they made was enough to make him freeze in horror.
Sure enough, to Hawk's utter horror, out of the darkness rose a huge mass. Two burning red eyes slowly opened and the mass eventually cleared, revealing it to literally be a gigantic demonic cobra. This was then followed by a second mass which soon turned into a demonic rattlesnake.
Hawk tried to run but quickly found himself surrounded by the body and tail of the cobra.
The two snakes opened their mouths wide and bared their fangs, which were dripping with venom, and hissed loudly as they eyed him hungrily.
Hawk felt like a child again. Helpless, little and defenceless against these monsters and there was no mother or father to come and save him...
Austin managed to dodge under another swipe from one of the zombies of Alpha and finally managed to get out of the circle they'd formed around him. In desperation, he tried to look for something to use to defend himself.
By some stroke of luck, he noticed a shield of some kind that had been partially buried in the sand.
Without any hesitation, he snatched the shield up and began using it. The zombies attack, but he managed to use the shield to block their attacks and at the same used the shield to whack them away.
Sadly it only seemed to disorient them at the best and they were quick to recover and resume their attack.
This continued for several minute before Austin finally seemed to tire. The zombies just weren't staying down.
Finally, Austin felt he would just have to accept it.
Panting, and almost out of breath, he fell to his knees as the zombies continued advancing on him, still continuing to change. "YOU LET US DIE!"
"You're right." He said. "Maybe it is my fault. Maybe it was because of me that you died and there's nothing I can do t stop that. But as long as I'm still breathing, I'm not going to let it stop me. I'm never going to give up on you."
To his complete surprise, the zombies suddenly stopped. They then started to convulse in pain as though they'd been suddenly hit with an unimaginable amount of pain.
Within just a few seconds they seemed to suddenly melt into nothing. The mist and fog around Austin then started to get stronger, as though he'd suddenly ended up inside a hurricane...
Troy was constantly fighting off attacks from Trojan as she swung metal punch after metal punch at the Helldiver.
A mistimed counter caused one of Trojan's fists to hit his helmet with a loud clang, causing him to fall flat on his back.
Trojan then seized him by the neck and brought her other fist back, ready to deliver the final blow.
It was at this point that Troy gave in. He accepted the truth at long last.
"You're not real, Sonya. You're just an illusion of the past I regret. I left for the right reasons that even you didn't want to come with me. If you were in my position, you would do the same damn thing. You chose to stay with him for whatever reason you had for becoming inhuman. I swore to the Council that I would bring down Hellspawn. Even if it would involve...killing you. I'm not just a spy who worked for the Commander, I'm a spy who loved a genius hacker he turned into cyborg, a traitor to Hellspawn. Not his puppet. I'm better than all of it. I know what you became. You've made your choice...and I've made mine. I accept that now. If I want to take down the Commander and his terrorist group, I have to let you go."
He turned his back.
"Goodbye, Sonya."
He heard a scream as Trojan dissolved into nothing.
He then noticed how the fog and mist was starting to swirl around him. He could only hope that whatever was going to happen next was a good thing...
Alaara struggled against the zombie Sandra as it's hand crept down to her lower regions. It was impossible to deny that it intended to rape her.
Alaara made one desperate attempt to somehow stop this. She concentrated as much as she could and spoke with her mind.
"Sandra... please... don't!"
Sandra struggled against her evil clone's vice like grip. It was as she almost about to give in that she suddenly heard something in her mind.
"Sandra... please... don't!"
Somehow, as if knowing what to do, Sandra replied in her head.
"Alaara?"
Alaara's gaze lingered on the zombie of Sandra as she heard the reply. Its expression remained unchanged, as though it had just been completely oblivious to the telepathic exchange.
"I thought you were dead." She heard Sandra's voice say.
"Please... don't rape me." Said Alaara, ignoring Sandra's earlier reply.
Sandra was puzzled by this. Why would her love be begging her not to rape her? She would never do that to Alaara.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, managing to find some strength to resist her clone's grip. "Right now I'm getting strangled by an evil twin of myself wearing my father's armour. And where are you anyway? I saw your severed head earlier?"
Alaara was surprised by this. She cast another look at the figure and quickly thought of a way to provide herself with proof.
"Move your arm."
"What?"
"Move your right arm. Because right now I'm looking at a demonic version of you that's about to try and rape me."
Sandra wanted to inquire about this, but given how it definitely sounded like her love was in danger, she didn't hesitate. She waved her right arm several times much to the confusion of her clone.
"I just waved my arm several times." She said. "Did the demon of me do it?"
Alaara hadn't blinked... and the demons arm hadn't done anything of the sort. That was all the proof Alaara needed.
"You're not her." She said.
The demon froze... just as its hand had been about to enter her.
"You're not my bondmate! You're an illusion, nothing more!"
The demon roared at her, but she surprisingly punched it right in the face with a biotic punch.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe I will outlive Sandra. But that's not going to change anything. I love her, and as long as I do I'm going to cherish every second I have with her. An if you think you can terrify me with this... then you can go fuck yourself!" she yelled.
The demon screamed as if in pain as she seemed to dissolve into nothing.
Almost immediately, the fog and mist began to swirl around her. Knowing that she didn't have much time, she immediately spoke to Sandra again in her mind.
"It's not real! Its just an illusion!"
It was all she managed.
Sandra heard those last words very clearly.
Her full attention turned back to her clone. Something felt different now. She didn't feel helpless anymore. She felt as though her strength had somehow returned. With newfound confidence, she grabbed both her clone's arms and actually forced them off.
The clone was taken completely aback by this and tried to recoil almost in shock. Sandra released the arms, but she didn't give the clone anytime to react. With a mighty lunge, she thrust her fist forward and punched right through the clone's heart.
The clone fell to its knees and pain, looking helplessly at Sandra, who know stood over it.
"The future it not set in stone." The Helldiver said. "I don't care if it's my destiny or not. I control my future, and as long as I do I will never become you. You're not my future. You're just my fear... and you don't control my future.
With that, she pulled her fist out, tearing the clone's heart out of its chest in the process. The clone screamed in pain as it dissolved into nothing and disappeared.
As the fog and mist began to circle around her, Sandra braced herself for what was to come. She made sure that she kept thinking of Alaara as it happened. Long as her love was safe, she didn't care what happened next.
Kraan continued to struggle against the shadow figures of Alpha who kept pushing him around.
Eventually, he gave in. He never thought he'd admit this.
"You're right." He said.
For some reason, the shadows all stopped.
"I am weak. Maybe I never will be the strongest there is. But I'm not gonna let that stop me. If I die, I only ever die fighting." Said Kraan.
He then stood up confidently, causing the shadow t back away as if in fright.
"So go on then. Push me around as much as you want. I can take it. You may think me weak, and perhaps I am physically... but not in mind." He said.
To his astonishment, they all vanished as he found himself surrounded by more mist and fog swirling around him, the speed constantly increasing.
He didn't feel afraid though. Something about this told the Krogan it was a good sign.
Ventra kept trying to fire, but his arrow continued to miss. Eventually an epiphany came to him. An epiphany that allowed him fight his fear.
"You think I'm always gonna miss? Fine." He said.
This seemed to make the zombie Alpha stop suddenly.
"I may say "one shot, one kill" but I'm not gonna let my fear of missing control me." Ventra continued.
Without even thinking about it, he then drew another arrow from his back and fired it. He didn't even wait. He just fired on instinct. To also add to that, he instead tried to miss.
The arrow hit one of the zombies right in the head.
"Nobody's perfect... but I'm a survivor... I'm a hunter... and I am not afraid of you!" he yelled as he did the same for every single one of the zombies until only he remained standing.
He kept another arrow ready as the fog and mist began to swirl around him. Having overcome his fear, he was not afraid of this at all.
Leena took several deep breaths as the voices around her continued.
Finally, she opened her eyes. Although they couldn't be seen from behind her helmet and face mask, they were calm and focused.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe I have made myself into something that no one will ever love. But so what? I'm not looking for peace. I'm a soldier. I'm a Helldiver. This strength is who I am, and if it means there's something I can't have... then so be it. No pain, no gain as they say." She said.
"You can't shut me out, Leena!" the phantom yelled.
"Watch me." Said Leena, turning her back. "You're dead, and nothing is going to bring you back. The past... is the past."
With that, she grabbed the locket she'd always kept around her neck and ripped it off.
She heard the unmistakable sound of the phantom vanishing behind her. At the same time, the voices also stopped.
As Leena watched the fog and mist start to surround her she braced herself. She was unable to resist a slight shake in order to loosen her muscles up a little.
Dash tried to get a strike in, but his mad shadow clone kept grabbing and throwing him before he even got a chance.
"You are not a part of me." Dash groaned as he once again smashed into a nearby rock.
"I AM a part of you!" the clone yelled. "Why do you hate what you are?"
As the clone readied to attack again however, Dash looked up at him with a new look.
"You are the madness within me..." he said. "I accept you... but you do not control me."
He then grabbed the clone by the head with both hands. The clone screamed as though Dash's touch was burning it. Sure enough the clone seemed to glow red where Dash was touching it and then literally exploded into nothing.
"Now what?" Dash asked as he noticed how the fog and mist was starting to swirl around him.
Hawk for a moment closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. But then a sudden thought hit him.
This was not how he wanted to die. If he was going to die because of these snakes, he would not die cowering or frightened like a little child.
To the surprise of the demonic cobra and rattlesnake, Hawk slowly got back up onto his feet and seemed to actually stand up to them.
"Come on then! Bite me! I dare you! I double dare you!" Hawk yelled.
The two massive snakes looked rather confused, and almost frightened at this sudden outburst.
"If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die fighting! So do it. Do it!" Hawk continued yelling. "COME ON! KILL ME! I'M HERE! DO IT NOW! KILL ME! KILL ME!"
To Hawk's complete surprise, both giant snakes seem to suddenly writhe violently as though they were pain and seemed to literally rot into shadow until they'd completely disappeared.
Hawk felt somewhat relieved as the fog and mist began to swirl around him. He just hoped however that there wouldn't be any more snakes.
Everyone awoke with a start. They immediately looked around to find each there by their sides. Alaara and Sandra especially flung their arms around each other so tightly it was any wonder they didn't crush their armour.
"Everyone alright?" Austin asked with relief as he and the others got back on their feet.
"I think so." Hawk replied. "What the hell was all that?"
"A hallucination." Said Sandra. "It all makes sense now. That's the Commander's weapon... Fear.
"Well at least it's all over now." Dash panted with relief.
It was as the Scout took a few steps back however he suddenly felt himself knock into something. Expecting it just be a pillar he turned around casually. What he saw however made him jump out of his skin.
Stood in front of him was a massively tall figure with black hair, unnaturally long claw like fingers and burning red eyes.
Dash practically screamed as he found himself looking face to face when none other than a very real Shagowroth.
Everyone else jumped back in alarm as they turned and noticed the ghostly figure standing in front of them. Before they even had a chance to reach for their weapons, the demonic ghost lunged at them, hitting every single one of them with her claws so hard that it knocked them all down. This time they weren't knocked out, but it still hurt. By the time Alpha managed to get back up, she appeared to have vanished from sight.
"Jesus Christ! She's real?!" Dash said in fright.
The air suddenly became filled with a terrifying scream, so loud and so terrifying... it could've woken the dead.
"Please tell me that wasn't..."
But before Troy could finish, Alpha suddenly noticed something burst out of the ground a few metres away from them followed by several more bursts around them. It was as the sand cleared they suddenly noticed what the things that had burst out of the ground were. They were hands!
Sure enough, arms followed, then a body and a head. Until literally, an entire army of zombies rose out of the ground, growling and snarling loudly.
"OH FUCK ME, NO!" said Dash. "First a demonic chick, now fucking zombies! Why is it always us?"
At the same time, a massive ring of fire seemed to suddenly ignite around the entire colony, essentially trapping them. The sky also took on a dark and almost hell like look.
As Alpha drew their weapons and readied for a fight, they spotted Shagowroth as she crawled up on top of a nearby rock.
"You are not gonna like what comes next." She said with a multitude of different demonic feminine voices.
"Stand your ground!" Austin ordered. "If we beat her mind tricks, we can beat her army!"
The zombies attacked first. They tried to separate Alpha, but the squad stood their ground, they cut, chopped and shot at every single one that came close enough.
Surprisingly, it all seemed to be over in less than a minute.
With the dead army supposedly dealt with, Alpha turned their attention to Shagowroth who was still observing from a nearby rock.
The demon snarled at them and then disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
Everyone kept alert in case she should suddenly try and sneak up on them again.
Sure enough, Shagowroth suddenly appeared right in the middle of their circle. This time they were ready for it, but it still didn't stop the demon from managing to hit Kraan so hard that he was sent flying and in the process knocked Hawk down as well.
The others quickly engaged. Shagowroth seemed to use some kind of levitation power to float in the air in order to compensate for her lack of legs and used her claws to both block Alpha's attack and return with her own attacks.
Swinging low, one of Shagowroth's left claws caught Alaara's leg and tripped her up. A mistimed block from Dash also caused Shagowroth to hit him in the helmet, knocking him on his back.
Austin attempted a swipe at Shagowroth with his sword but the demon ducked under at, swiping at Ventra's feet as she did so and tripping up the Turian.
How as the demon rose back up she failed to react in time to Leena who swung with both her tomahawk and knife. Shagowroth however disappeared once again in a cloud of black smoke just as the blades touched her.
Everyone quickly got back up onto their feet and braced for another attack. Now more familiar with Shagowroth's fighting style and attack, they were better prepared this time. Though that didn't stop their fast heart beats as they waited for the demon to appear again.
"Where'd she go?" Troy asked.
His answer quickly came as Shagowroth appeared once again and lunged at Hawk.
"Hawk, look out!" Austin yelled.
Hawk just in time managed to bring up his axe and blocked the demon's attack.
The battle resumed with Shagowroth pressing the attack first before Alpha eventually turned the tables and all attacked at once. Shagowroth only just managed to keep up and block all the attacks. Alpha was also a lot more coordinated this time rather than attacking desperately.
Hawk managed to block several of Shagowroth's attacks before he took an opening and actually managed to hi the demon with a punch which knocked her back a tiny bit. As she was knocked back she attempted a swipe at Sandra but the Helldiver managed to lean back enough that she avoided it.
Shagowroth quickly resumed her attack on Hawk. The sniper was unprepared for this and he ended up once again being knocked back, this time colliding with a nearby large rock.
With Hawk dealt with, Shagowroth focused her attack on the others. With a quick lunge from her left hand she managed to grab Ventra by the neck and threw him to the ground. Dash in the process backed away into another nearby rock. Dash only just managed to duck down in time as Shagowroth swiped with hands, her claws cutting right through the rock.
At the same time, Kraan had finally come to after being knocked down earlier and was slowly getting back up, observing the fight as he did so.
As Shagowroth's claws clashed with Austin's blade, Dash managed to land a hit on her from behind. He regretted that however as the demon swiftly turned to face him, her eyes burning as they glared at him angrily.
"Sorry." Dash said embarrassingly.
Shagowroth hit Dash with a hard punch which knocked him back and onto his front.
Troy managed to counter most of the demon's attacks, but the last one caught his leg and he fell to his knees. With a clear opening, Shagowroth swung her right hand down.
"Troy!"
Just in time, Hawk skidding in-between the two and blocked Shagowroth's claws with his axe.
Austin then pressed the attack, striking Shagowroth's claws multiple times with his sword. The demon blocked every one before finally attacking and managing to knock Austin to the floor.
Hoping to stop Shagowroth from finishing Austin off while he was down, Lena threw her tomahawk. As it hit Shagowroth however, she once again disappeared.
Leena looked around nervously. Sure enough, she managed to spot Shagowroth just as she appeared again above her. The demon lunged at her and pinned her to the ground.
Alaara tried to fire at her with his pistols, but the bullets didn't seem to hurt her whatsoever. The demon didn't even seem to acknowledge this. Instead she just continued to push down on Leena, her claws getting closer and closer to the Quarian's helmet.
Right as it looked like the claws were going to touch her though, something suddenly grabbed at Shagowroth's rags and pulled her right off Leena. The Quarian immediately rolled back onto her feet as Kraan stood over the demon. Before Shagowroth had a chance to get back up, Kraan grabbed her again. He then threw her with such force that she was sent flying.
Just as it looked like Shagowroth was about to vanish again however she was suddenly impaled in the shoulder by Sandra, who had plunged one of her Sais right in. The demon screamed in agony as the wound seemed to glow a bright gold.
With an angry roar of pain, Shagowroth hit Sandra in the face, causing her to stagger back and the sai to fall out. After that, Shagowroth immediately disappeared again.
Sandra and the rest of Alpha were left a little surprised at this. Previous times when the demon had taken a hit she'd instantly vanished. But the impalement from the sai had actually injured her.
And then it hit them. Sandra gaze fell to her Sais. Austin also looked at his own sword. Both weapons were made from pure Kartalrium. That metal could injure the demon... maybe even...
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Austin asked.
"We sure are." Alaara nodded.
Shagowroth quickly appeared again, ready for another fight, her wound still glowing. She looked even more angry than she had before.
"Hey, ugly!"
Shagowroth turned to face Sandra.
"I'm standing right here! Take me!"
Shagowroth didn't hesitate and lunged at Sandra, pinning her to the ground.
"You see my face, your life is done!" the demon roared, opening her mouth wide as if preparing to devour.
Sandra seized her chance and with almost lighting speed plunged both her Sais into Shagowroth's hands, pinning the demon in place. Shagowroth screamed and struggled violently as she tried to free herself, but was unable to overcome the Kartalrium. Sandra quickly moved her head to the side as she saw Austin leap onto Shagowroth and he plunged Excalibur right through her chest. The demon was struck with both shock and pain and spat out what seemed like a litre of blood. Austin then pulled the sword upwards, slicing Shagowroth's head completely in half.
"YEAH!" Dash cheered in triumph.
As the dead body of Shagowroth fell to the floor it seemed to explode into black fog of some kind which as it exploded outward seemed to be tearing at the environment like someone brushing dust off an old relic.
When it finally subsided it revealed a rather shocking sight. The colony was as it had been before, but this time there were hundreds more dead skeletons and bodies than there had been before. Some of them even looked only weeks old judging from their various different states of decay.
"What just happened?" Alaara asked in confusion.
"These must be all the other unfortunate souls who got too close to this place and couldn't fight back. Killed by their own minds." Sandra sighed sadly.
At that moment, all their comms finally buzzed back into life and they heard the welcome voice of both Telrass and Alexa.
"Dammit, Alexa! If I don't hear anything from them in the next five minutes I'm going in after them!" said Telrass.
Austin quickly reactivated his comms. After all they'd been through, it was good to hear Telrass' voice again.
"Telrass, this is Shepard."
There was a momentary pause before a reply finally came. Though it did make Alpha wish they'd turned the volume down.
"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Telrass practically shouted. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED YOU'VE MADE US?! WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO CONTACT YOU FOR AN HOUR! WHAT HAPPENED?!"
"We were exposed to a powerful hallucinogen of some kind." Austin replied.
Telrass' anger quickly disappeared and was replaced with concern.
"Hallucinogen? Is everyone alright?" she asked a little worriedly.
"Everyone's fine. We're just... shaken up." Dash panted.
"Did you find the weapon?"
"Yeah. We'll explain everything once we're back onboard." Austin replied.
Alpha relayed the entire story to Telrass and Alexa once they were back on board. The Turian and pilot looked almost ready to faint once they'd finished.
"I've heard of many powerful hallucinogens in my time, but this..." said Telrass.
"Fear is a great motivator." Said Troy. "Rodriguez used to say that a lot. Never thought he'd take it that far though."
"This isn't your fault, Troy." Said Alexa. "He made this thing. Him alone. And I have a feeling it was even before you worked for him."
Troy looked up and smiled at Alexa, who in turn smiled back.
"So what happens now?" Dash asked.
"We inform the council and let them know to mark this planet as hazardous." Said Austin.
"Speaking of which..." Telrass quickly interjected. "The council tried to contact you not too long after we lost contact. After you left the asylum they sent a squad to re-establish control. Per your recommendations, they had Samuel transferred to Arkadia. It took some time, but they got some interesting things out of him. You're going to want to hear this."
She walked up to her control panel and played back a recording. Samuel's voice echoed throughout the gunship.
Many years ago, a Batarian slave party stumbled upon a human colony. One of the Batarians took particular interest in a human woman. He raped her… and he unintentionally impregnated her. Despite the dangers to the child from cross species DNA outside of an Asari union, the mother could not find it in her heart to abort the child. At first, all appeared well and she had a very healthy human child. Over time however, things began to change. Though the boy was healthy and very smart, she could tell there was something about him. He never cried and showed very little emotion. Dogs would always bark at him, before then fleeing in fear of the child's willingness to kill them if they didn't stop. He never even said the phrase "I love you" towards her and would sometimes disappear for days before suddenly reappearing again. It was when Rodriguez was ten however that the damage truly began to show. While playing with many of the other children on the colony, a Turian child attempted to bully him. Bounty however turned the tables on the Turian and broke his spine. No one else had seen what happened, and since the Turian was left traumatized by the event it was assumed that he fell from a climbing frame. Bounty's mother however became suspicious when her son showed no emotion or concern to the Turian's accident. She was even more shocked when he said that he deserved it for being where he didn't belong. From that day, Bounty's hatred for anything not human began to show. He refused to make friends with any of the aliens living on the colony with him and often got into fights if ever one of them insulted or dared to try and pick on him. When Bounty had just turned 13 however, that was when things truly changed forever. The colony was invaded again by Batarian salvers, including the boy's father. Recognizing the woman, the Batarian bragged about their last time together, not knowing that the son he had unintentionally fathered was nearby. Disgusted and infuriated to learn of his true parentage, Bounty burst into the room and snatched his father's gun from him. He then shot the Batarian in both legs and arms and made him suffer from blood loss before finally smashing his father's head in. Bounty expected that his mother would simply thank him for saving her, but he was wrong. She had seen how he enjoyed the torture and she could now truly see the monster she had once thought was her son. Frightened and angry, she attempted to kill him. The boy however stopped her. In defence, he crushed her legs with a large pillar… which was on fire. He simply watched as his mother was burned alive, finding enjoyment in her screams. Just before she succumbed, he told her how much he hated her for not telling him what he was and that he would have rather died than live knowing he was the son of an alien, something he was disgusted by. However, Bounty no longer desired to end his own life. He had finally found something he enjoyed in life. His hatred for aliens also manifested as a desire that humanity had never come in contact with other races in the first place. When the other Batarian's arrived and saw the dead body of their leader, they prepared to kill the child. Once again however, Bounty turned the tables and killed them all, letting them all suffer by his hand and dying slow painful deaths. The rest of the remaining colonists witnessed this. While at first glad to see the salver's dead, they saw how much Bounty had enjoyed making them suffer. Leaving no witnesses, Bounty wiped out the colonists, giving only the human ones quick and painless deaths. The aliens, he tortured for days, finding new ways to prolong their suffering. When a Helldiver team finally arrived and saw Bounty as the only living one left, they believed he was the only survivor. They later offered him a home on Arkadia and a chance to join the Helldivers when he was old enough.
Rather than stay on Arkadia until coming of age like other orphans would do when they desired to join, the by instead went to earth. He spent the next few years living a quiet and mostly solitary life in Transylvania. It was here that he discovered a long lost secret. Through his mother, he was a long lost descendant of Vlad the Impaler. As a tribute to both his bloodline and his ancestor, he changed his middle name to Vlad.
When the time finally came, Rodriguez joined the Helldiver. For a few years he found peace within their ranks due to working with a human only squad. As he rose through the ranks all the way to Lieutenant he eventually developed a desire to reach the rank of Commander. During his time as a Helldiver he also became acquainted with two particular individuals who would play an important part in future events, a hacker and a Spy.
One day, Rodriguez and the Spy conceived the idea of a spy network. A network able to do what even the Arkane's best spies would be unable to.
What happened after though, you already know. What happened after however... now that is a different story.
After finally being stabilized following the incident which burned his face, the Commander sent out a call to his former allies who had aided him in the spy network. The Hacker and most other answered the call. Only one, the Spy, did not.
The Commander returned to Earth. Having used the wealth he once had, he had bought and rebuilt the fortress his ancestor once ruled in Transylvania. There he made his vow. He would transform the spy network into an organization that would rival the one his ancestor once possessed and would use it to exact revenge on the Helldivers. Thus Hellspawn was born, and the fallen Helldiver who had become its Supreme Leader chose the name Commander, the rank he had so desired.
It was as Hellspawn grew however, the Commander came to realize his fortress was not ideal for hiding such a large army and any attempt to expand its size would attract too much attention. So he relocated to a different planet, a planet where the dark fortress Vermithrax was built.
There was a long silence before someone finally spoke.
"All that stuff he says about being anti alien... and yet he himself is only half human." Said Sandra.
"I always knew there was something wrong about him, but half Batarian..." said Troy.
"And the Curse of Shagowroth..." said Dash.
"All his creation." Said Austin. "Fear and superstition from other people did the rest."
"I don't know about you guys, but... after all that, I'm now wanting more than ever to put a bullet in that monster's head." Said Hawk.
"With you on that, Hawk." Said Dash.
"Well, in the meantime I recommend you all get some rest. You've earned it." Said Alexa, returning the gunship's cockpit.
Everyone couldn't agree more and laid down on the seats, all letting out relaxing sighs as they did.
"When I get home, I am gonna get so drunk." Said Sandra.
"Me too." Said Alaara.
"You got that right." Telrass smiled.
Only Troy did not relax. His gaze was lingering on the entrance to the cockpit where Alexa was sat. He finally made his mind up and went over, leaning his face in through the doorway.
"Hey. Do you mind if I sit up here? Hard to sleep with Kraan's snoring." He asked.
To be fair, that wasn't a lie. Kraan had already fallen asleep and actually was snoring, quite loudly. Having lived with him for so long, the others had managed to get used to it. Troy though...
"Make yourself at home." Alexa simply smiled.
"Merci."
Troy sat down in the seat opposite Alexa's and stretched out.
From the other side, Alexa was trying to keep her eyes on the controls. Wasn't proving easy though. Mind you, it wasn't hard for her to guess why Troy was really here. She decided she'd make the first move.
"Do you blame yourself..." she asked. "...for what happened to her?"
"Yes." Troy replied, looking out to the stars.
This answer disappointed Alexa.
"Or at least I used to." Said Troy. "What I saw today... it opened my eyes. I can't change what she's become. She made her choice, just as I've made mine. I will mourn the woman she was, not that machine she's become."
Alexa kept her eyes on the controls, but she was finding all the more difficult to continue doing so.
"It's time I moved on, and instead focused on the person I care about most." Troy continued, his gaze falling on Alexa.
Alexa looked at Troy. Her expression was calm, but there was a hint of surprise on her face. Had Troy really just said that? Had he really just called her "the person he cared about most"?
"I've known for a while now. I've seen the stares, the attempts at conversation, the support... I've caught the hints." He said.
Alexa's expression remained unchanged, making it hard for Troy to know how she was feeling right now. Still remaining calm, Alexa put the gunship on auto pilot and removed her flight helmet. She then turned her seat and slowly got up. For a moment, Troy became a little worried that she was going to walk out and leave him alone.
"I'm just sorry it took so long for..."
What happened next however caught the spy completely off guard. To his utter surprise, Alexa walked up to him, grabbed his face and pulled him right into a kiss. Troy at first had no idea how to react to this, but his shock quickly subsided and he returned the kiss.
The two were so engrossed that they didn't notice the door to the cockpit close.
"Oh come on!" Dash moaned.
"Make any attempt to open that door and I promise you'll have a black eye for months." Said Telrass.
"Fine." Dash sighed as he lay back down.
"Gotta admit, I certainly didn't see that one coming." Said Austin.
"No. You wouldn't. Women are often ahead of men when it comes to romance." Said Alaara.
Everyone else simply smiled, particularly Hawk who put his hands behind his head as he settled back into his seat.
"You know, after all we've been through... do you think we'll ever have a normal, quiet mission again?" he asked.
Everyone simply chuckled and all replied at once.
"No."
Well the good news at least is the next chapter won't be as dark. Normal service will be resumed.
In fact, the next one will be a fairly significant one in Alpha's life, especially since its mentioned on countless occasions throughout the original trilogy.
Until next time! :)
Keep leaving reviews. I always enjoy reading them.
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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, Alpha Origins