I know my writing style is a bit lacking. My goal is to try to write like Asimov: to be clear and easily understood. But even Asimov has more detail than what I've been doing. So, I adjusted the last chapter. I probably won't do it for the previous ones, but hopefully the later chapters will be more like this.
The Beast Effect: Out of the Frying Pan (Redo)
The twin rings in the center of secondary relay orbiting Sharra Itu spun faster and faster. A moment later, the SSV Normandy appeared next to it, exiting the massless corridor back into real-space.
"We saved the galaxy, saved untold billions of lives, and the higher-ups reward us by having us clean up Geth?" asked Joker, as he activated the Normandy's mass effect drive. The experimental vessel had been ordered to the Omega Nebula to find any Geth hold-outs after the defeat of their leader Saren Arterius.
Six weeks have passed since the Battle of the Citadel; six weeks since all of known space came a hairs-width from oblivion; six weeks since these damn headaches started.
Shepard sighed and rubbed her forehead. She stood behind the pilot's chair, watching the stars turn blue and streak across the window. "It's no use complaining, Joker. Ours is not to question why, but to follow orders from on high. So this is Sharra Itu?"
"Yeah, the last active relay in the Omega Nebula. Resource poor, two gas giants, the fourth planet's a Garden World with a primitive intelligence. The Council gave special permission to come here; make sure the Geth don't disrupt their development."
"How long to scan the system?"
"Roughly two days. I'll keep you posted."
"Thanks, Joker. I'll be in my quarters."
"And the monkey flips the switch," she heard Joker say as she tuned and walked to the main part of the bridge. The holographic map of the galaxy dominated the deck, set near the rear of the room: a round, elevated structure with a long ramp running behind with control panels fixed onto handrails. Along the bulkheads the crew manned their stations, monitoring the ships systems.
The design departed from traditional Earth design, having the commander in the midst of the crew, working together. This was Turian design, having the commander watching over the crew and making sure they were doing their jobs properly. As an experiment, this design has worked well so far with a Human crew.
Reaching the elevator, set into the pillar facing the door to the meeting room, Shepard moved to push the button, but the doors opened, revealing two crew members: Navigator Charles Pressly and 2nd Lieutenant Richard L. Jenkins.
"Commander," they greeted, giving a salute.
"As you were."
They traded places, Shepard ordering the car to the crew deck. After what seemed like an eternity, the doors opened upon an empty mess hall that took up the center of the deck. A few off-duty crew members were enjoying a meal at the long tables. They greeted Shepard as she walked by. Her personal cabin was situated at the very front of the deck.
Entering, the fish in her tank ignored her. She sat at her desk and pulled out a bottle of aspirin. This whole mission has been a headache, reflected Shepard, swallowing two tablets. Ever since the incident on Eden Prime, headaches plagued her, both physical and metaphorical: the murder of Spectre Nihlius Kryik by fellow Spectre Saren Arterius; Saren's use of the Geth to attack a Human colony; the ancient artifact that wanted to split her head open with random images.
The Council didn't believe any of the accusations, due to lack of sufficient evidence. Luckily, Tali had a Geth recording, confirming Saren's betrayal and implicating beloved Asari Matriarch Benezia.
Ever since contact with the Prothean beacon, Shepard could see random images flashing through her minds-eye, but had no idea what they meant. Finding a way to translate them was a nightmare in and of itself: saving archaeologist and foremost Prothean expert Liara T'Soni, who had gotten herself trapped in a set of ruin she was studying; then tracking down Matriarch Benezia on Novaria.
Benezia's team of scientists managed to revive the insectoid Rachni, after finding the egg of a queen in deep space. They were trying to breed and control an army for some unknown purpose.
The esteemed Matriarch revealed that she wasn't herself as of late. She managed to explain that Saren had a way of enthralling people to his cause, using something beyond charisma. She wasn't strong enough to fight the Saren's control, and ended up losing her life.
The mission to Feros wasn't a picnic, either. The corporation running the Human colony of Zhu's Hope were studying a large, planet-spanning plant that managed to use spores to control people. After fighting an army of plant-men…Shepard closed her eyes for a moment.
The comm signal chirped. Shepard jerked awake, not realizing she drifted off. She looked at the clock embedded in her desk; an hour had passed. "Go ahead," she said.
"We have possible contacts," said Joker.
"Geth?"
"We can't tell yet; we're too far out. But there is something there."
"Alright. Activate stealth; I'm on my way."
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she made her way back to the bridge, by stairs this time. She reminded herself to have the elevator looked at when they return to base. Crew members were abuzz, trying to determine what the sensors were picking up, being limited by light speed.
"Commander on deck," announced Navigator Pressly.
"Report," ordered Shepard, taking her place at the galaxy map, changing the display to real-time ship status.
"We picked up a series of blips on the edge of sensor range. Calculations show a trajectory heading for the fourth planet," said Presley.
"Do we know who they are? Geth? Slavers?"
"Unknown. Images don't match anything in the Citadel records."
"Any overt movements? Any signals intercepted?"
"Negative.
"A possible First Contact situation," observed Shepard. "Joker, increase speed by a quarter, but keep stealth active."
"Aye-aye."
The Normandy slid through the darkness, closing the distance to the fourth planet. Sensor data improved as the light speed lag decreased, giving a clearer look of the unknown ships. Shepard adjusted the display, the ships coming into sharper focus: two dreadnaught-sized ships shaped like an arrowhead with a triangular fixture on their bottom, surrounded by a swarm of rounded H-shaped fighter-type craft. All the ships were a uniform red-tinged black.
"A rather odd fleet arrangement," observed Pressly. "Sending two heavies with no support craft, and no apparent carrier for all those fighters."
"Could be a scouting party," said Shepard, though doubt filled her mind.
"Some scouting party," said Pressly.
"Commander, we cannot detect any Element Zero aboard those vessels," said a scanner technician.
Shepard brought up a holographic pane with raw sensor data. Sure enough, there were no traces of Element Zero, or eezo, used by every known race for various ship functions.
"Something doesn't feel right," observed Shepard.
"Commander, another ship entering sensor range," said a technician to her right. "Approximately one million kilometers aft on the exact same course; trajectory calculated to intercept the unknown vessels."
"Friendlies?" hoped Shepard.
"Unknown configuration, but it's not the same as the ones ahead."
"Did they follow us? Stealth is active, right?" asked Shepard.
"Stealth systems are active", confirmed Presley.
"Begin evasive maneuvers. If stealth has been breached…"
"Sir, the first unknown is changing course, moving towards the second unknown."
"Commander, the second ship is right on top of us," said another.
The second ship flew over the top of the Normandy, sensors revealing it to be substantially larger than an average dreadnaught: a roughly tube-shaped mass of rock and metal, as if several asteroids were welded together with metal segments.
"Energy build-up detected," said a third technician. "Second ship firing."
The mystery ship released a lance of yellow energy, striking one of the black ships. At the same time, the ship released a swarm of fighter-sized spheres. The spheres flew ahead of the ship, engaging the black fighter-craft.
The closest red-black ship answered with strings of orange pulses, most of which slammed into the rock exterior. The swarm of spheres engaged the fighters, both dancing around each other, exchanging orange pulses and red beams.
"Commander, the second unknown released more of those spheres. They're closing in on our position."
"How many?"
"Fifteen."
"Engage Gardian system. Joker, get us out of here!"
The mighty engines of the Normandy roared, turning the ship about. The anti-fighter defense system--pinpoint lasers studding the hull--came to life. Thin blue lines converged on the closest sphere. Each shot by itself wasn't enough to destroy enemy craft, but multiple shots converging on the same point would significantly damage the target, forcing it to break off.
The spheres refused to break off, intent on following Normandy wherever she went, hitting her with their heavy red beams. Some of the beams dissipated against the kinetic barrier, but the energy passed through, burning the hull. Several orbs converged their beams on one spot near the back of the ship, while others attacked the engines. The hull glowed red, then white, until the hull material evaporated.
"Hull breach in the cargo bay; atmospheric shield in place," said Pressley.
"Port engine number 2 down," said Joker. "Trying to compensate."
"Launch disruptor torpedoes," ordered Shepard. "Program them to detonate near the closest grouping, take out as many as you can. Joker, can we go FTL?"
"We're still in the planets gravity well," he observed.
"Torpedoes away," announced the weapons specialist. From behind the ship, two cylinders made their way to different groupings of the sphere. At the appropriate distance, they detonated. A short lived mass effect field twisted space-time into knots, tearing many of the enemy vessels into so much scrap metal. The surviving spheres kept up the attack.
"Six enemies remaining," said the specialist. "Readying second volley."
"Kinetic barriers weakening around the cargo bay."
"Intruder alert!" cried a voice from below decks. "Something made its way through the breach!" Gunshots sounded before the line burst into static.
"Torpedoes away."
The ship shook as starboard engine number one failed. Frustration filled Shepard as her ship was being picked apart little by little.
"All marines to the cargo bay entrance," ordered the commander. "Joker, get us to the relay. Pressly, you have the bridge." Shepard made her way to the stairs.
"Commander--" objected Pressley, ready to site regulations.
"Objection noted," she interrupted. They're not taking my ship or my crew without a fight she thought.
While making her way to the bottom deck, the two torpedoes, in combination with the Gardian lasers, managed to destroy and disable the remaining craft. When Shepard arrived, heavily armed soldiers waited outside the entrance, waiting for their order. This was a battle-tested group: fighting the Geth on assorted worlds while looking for Saren; fighting Saren's cloned Korgen horde on Vermire, even participating in the battle with Sovereign on the Citadel. Shepard had complete faith in her crew.
Lieutenant Jenkins handed Shepard an assault rifle, a helmet, and a flak jacket.
"Just like Vermire, eh Commander?"
"Something like that." Jenkins had a tendency to get himself into nasty situations without trying. He followed orders like a model soldier, but it was as if the Universe was playing a joke on him, making him work to survive. He definitely earned his rank on Vermire that day.
"Alright, men, don't take any unnecessary risks. Find cover first, then wait for my signal. On three."
The marines readied their weapons, getting into the proper stance. "Three!"
The group burst through the door, going left and right, finding cover behind crates, weapons lockers, and the Mako ground vehicle. The four-meter sphere hovered in the middle of the bay, looking like a mechanical eyeball, all but ignoring the soldiers. Three spike-like protrusions faced forward equidistant from around the main body, presumably kinetic launchers. A clear iris showed noting but black inside. It turned about, scanning everything it looked at with a thin red laser.
From the back of the Mako, Shepard could see the body of the requisitions officer on the floor, shot up pretty badly, lying in a pool of blood. Shepard closed her eyes for a moment. She would have to mourn him later.
Opening her eyes, she counted down with her hand. 3...2...1...
The troops opened fire. An assortment of rounds filled the air: high velocity, armor piercing, explosive, acidic, thermal. If one round was ineffective, another round would take up the slack.
The sphere turned its attention to the attacking soldiers, launching a spray of shots from the spikes. Two marines got hit, their armor dissipating most of the impacts.
"Aim for the lens!" called Shepard.
The soldiers aimed at the same spot, a cacophony filling the small bay. The biotic warriors launched their powers at the enemy: Stasis to keep the intruder in place; Singularity to generate small distortions in the very fabric of space-time.
It stopped firing kinetic rounds. The lens started glowing red, the orb charging its beam. A moment later, lightning and sparks started crackling around its body, the damage brought upon it nearing the breaking point. Shepard left the cover of the Mako, continuing to fire near-infinite rounds, the assault rifle nearing overheating. She wanted to make sure this bastard died for what it and its brethren did.
"Commander!" cried Jenkins.
The orb exploded, shrapnel and fire flying in the enclosed space. The breach grew larger, taking out most of the rear wall. The atmospheric barrier compensated, preventing explosive decompression.
The blast caught Shepard, picking her up and slamming her into the bulkhead above the door. She hit the deck like a rag doll. Jenkins ran to her, checking for a pulse at her neck. Her helmet was cracked, pieces of metal piercing her flak jacket and various parts of her body, blood pooling on the floor.
"Get her to Chakwas!" said Jenkins.
Joker managed to activate the mass effect field, taking the Normandy back to the relay.
* * *
The patchwork ship waded into the fray, flying between the two black-red dreadnaughts. Orange light lanced out on either side, sliding along the enemy hulls. No visible damage appeared. The orbs were taking care of the fighter craft. After being defeated, each vessel exploded in a flat red-tinged whirlwind of radiation. No debris remained.
The dreadnaughts returned fire with yellow pulses, mostly bypassing the kinetic barriers, chipping away at its asteroid hull. Previous encounters determined that prolonged fire at the engines was the most effective way of dispatching the larger Encroacher vessels.
Speeding up, the piecemeal vessel slid between both ships, quickly turning around and focusing all three orange beams at one point on the engines. After several moments of sustained fire, the ship erupted in a burst of radiation, leaving no trace of its existence. The other ship kept firing yellow pulses, leaving large gouges in the hull. A lucky shot managed to disable the engines.
At an awkward angle, the three beams managed to converge on the black engines, dispatching the Encroacher, while at the same time the orbs destroyed the last of the fighters.
While effecting repairs on the engine, one of the surviving orbs sent a message: the human had gotten away.
The captain gulped. Having no choice, it relayed the message to its masters. A long moment later, the captain's eyes glowed.
[We are not pleased] said a voice in his head.
