Mass Effect: Genesis

[Tysyacha]

UNDERWORLD CANTINA, OMEGA

 

Even though Quirinius V'tala was a skilled fighter as well as a diplomat, having learned the art of war from her father and the art of peace from her mother, she did not know upon which art to rely at this very moment. Should she let her krogan blood rage within her and go down with guns blazing or allow her coolly-calculating asari tact and intelligence to hold sway? Instinctively, her hand reached for something in her belt--a single dose of liquid tranquilizer.

 

This mixture's potent. It would take a trained medic, and nothing less, to know that I've just dosed myself with the most powerful black-market sedative known to our kind. Two hours, and I'll be safe or truly dead.

 

She felt the long needle puncture her right thigh. Quiri tumbled to the far wall, letting her pursuers rush on by in their haste to trample one another.

[CommanderQ]

Frank's eyes widened as weapons discharged, sending all types of rounds into the air. He spied several members of the Eclipse Mercenary Group sprinting through the club's doors...and in return the club's patron's were getting violent themselves.

 

Frank focused on the crewmembers of the Valkrie, more specifically the human and Turian...and the Asari who had just made a run for it. He needed them alive to accomplish this part of the mission, which left him only a few options.

 

He unzipped his jacket and withdrew what looked like a small tube. Frank pressed a button on the side that extended a stock a loaded a fully armed grenade into the chamber of his launcher.

 

The Spec Ops commando stood from his table, sticking the butt of the rifle into his shoulder, and taking aim at a cluster of Eclipse soldiers that were coming through the doors.

 

"Alright, time to show my hand...."

 

He pulled the trigger, blowing the Eclipse commandoes and a few of the club patrons into the air.

[DrPhil2501]

Thiyan knealt beside Ulrich behind the bar, where they were protected by the gunfire. "Tuhrop?

 

Ulrich shrugged. "I dont think so now..." he stood up briefly to fire a few rounds at the mercs. "I thought it was... its a little hard to tell, but he kind of looks a little young to be the old geezer."

 

Ulrich went to pop up again, but this time saw a majority of the Eclispe Mercenaries get blown into the air from an explosion. Only one mercenary remained, but he fled the scene of the battle. Ulrich stared across the room to see an aged man with a walrus moustache wielding what appeared to be a compact grenade launcher. Ulrich lowered his weapon, to show no hostility.

 

"...hello..." he added simply.

[Alkonium]

Vegrull started to make his way out of the club, still managing to take some shots at the escaping mercs with his rifle. It's not like I've made any new enemies. I was never too popular around here anyway. He thought to himself, launching an overload at the nearest power conduit. Where'd that asari get to?

[Salzella]

Thiyan emerged from behind the bar, brushing smoke from the large explosion aside, examining the human with the odd hair above his mouth. He looked more weathered than most humans he had encountered, less soft than most of that species.

 

"We need to get back to the Valkyrie" he said bluntly in his reptilian baritone. "I will protect you from the shadows." With that enigmatic statement, he slunk off, loading his Viper sniper rifle as he went.

 

The others watching him as he went, then regrouped to discuss their plan, and who was fighting for who...

[CommanderQ]

"...hello..."

 

Frank switched focus from the fleeing mercenary to one of the Valkrie's crewmembers.

 

He noticed the crewmember lower his weapon, probably in a sign of good grace...not that that left Frank any less suspicious, but it kept him from reloading the launcher and forcing a response.

 

Taking a step forward, Frank searched his memory for the files he had memorized, and matched the crewmembers face with the name Tom Ulrich.

 

"Hello...it seems you and your lads got yourselves into a tight spot....not a good habit on Omega. I felt a need to help a fellow off-worlder."

 

He slung the grenade launcher over a shoulder, retracting it to its small tubular shape.

[DrPhil2501]

"Hello...it seems you and your lads got yourselves into a tight spot....not a good habit on Omega. I felt a need to help a fellow off-worlder."

 

Tom watched as the Turian left the scene. He expressed an annoyance; they did save his ass afterall. "Your welcome!" he muttered sternly.

 

He switched back to the myserious man. "Sorry... We thought he was our captain... He's a Turian, you see and well... its kind of hard to tell them apart in dim light." he looked all over the scene where the dead bodies of the mercenaries lay. Ulrich felt a satisfaction. Eclispe were pure scum; just like the Blood Pack - the mercenary band that attacked him and his fellow crew members on board an alliance vessel.

 

"Thanks for helping us out. I didnt catch your name... I'm Tom."

[Cyborg Ninja]

The files weren't stored anywhere electronically, nor were they hidden somewhere in the cargo bay. This meant someone aboard the Valkyrie had the files. Rogue had a 45.6% chance of finding the files somewhere on this ship. If not, than a new COA would have to be developed.

 

Rogue located the crew's quarters and opened up the first door he saw. The room was clean, by organic standards. It had a large bed, which specified this particular organic was krogan.

 

A krogan with a clean room...how odd

 

Rogue found some medical certificates, which was very interesting. He found a picture of the krogan himself, with a few others crewmates. While this was all nice, it still didn't help Rogue as there were no files. Rogue left the room just has he had entered it.

 

The next room wasn't as clean as the krogan's. The bed hadn't been made, and there were things thrown on the floor. Rogue saw a desk with magazines and schematics on it. Given the fact that there was a tool box next to the desk, Rogue analyzed that organic that slept here was an engineer. Rogue looked through this room as well, but got the same results as last time.

 

Rogue exited this room and moved across the hall to another. Rogue started with a shelf that contained weapons. What was odd was how ancient these weapons were. Rogue spotted an assault rifle that was used in the 21st century. Rogue eyed a broadsword and picked the weapon up. It wasn't very heavy, especially for a synthetic such as Rogue. Rogue was impressed by how effective these primitive weapons were. It placed the sword back and was about to leave, when something caught its eye; a bible.

 

Rogue walked over to the nightstand where it saw the bible. It picked the bible up and stared at it for a few seconds. In the matter of a second Rogue had completed an argument with itself that would have taken two organics a few minutes. The argument was whether Project Genesis, had anything to do with the bible. Rogue came to the conclusion that this was just a coincidence and put the book down.

[Tysyacha]

UNDERWORLD CANTINA, OMEGA

 

Fortunately for Quirinius V'tala, everyone who still remained within the acrid, wrecked remains of the Underworld Cantina on Omega thought she was dead. Quite unfortunately for Quirinius V'tala, the same was also true for Mnull and Dorgan, the two krogan bouncers that the organizer of the chess tournament had summoned to deal with the situation of her preliminary loss and penalty.

 

They had both spotted her "corpse", which was actually merely sedated...

 

"Boss!" Mnull signaled over to the organizer. "Dead as any narthak who meets me." Unceremoniously, he hoisted Quirinius' limp form over his shoulder. "What should we do with her, and with all the other stiffs in this pathetic joint?"

 

"Give her to me," said the salarian organizer, wounded by the skirmish that had so suddenly taken place. "I'll see if she's truly dead or not. Sometimes mercs and spies use sedatives to 'take themselves out' until the danger passes. However, I don't think that this asari has used...any...wait." His amphibious, slimy brow furrowed. "She's not breathing. No pulse. If she'd dead, fine. That would be the only logical conclusion, other than if she used atropixenine...Yes. Atropine xenon hydrochloride. She's still alive, grunts."

 

"What'd she use?" asked Dorgan. Mnull clocked him one right in the skull.

 

"Slee-ping me-di-cine, you idiot," he grumbled. "Nice try on her part..."

[Salzella]

Thiyan made his way back through Omega, keeping an eye out for any further disturbances on the route back to the Valkyrie. All seemed to be quiet... but he kept the Viper loaded anyway. With Omega you never knew.

 

It took about ten more minutes to reach the docked ship. He went up to the dock bay controls, and checked the logs and security cameras. All seemed well, and it looked as if the ship had been untampered with in the time they had been negotiating the chaos of the station.

 

Except...

 

He frowned at one of the replays, rewound it by ten seconds and watched it again. Nothing. Then a second later, a flicker, nothing more than that. He froze the frame and stared. It was indistinct, a vaguely upright shape that looked little more than a glitch or shadow. He played the rest of the replay forward frame by frame. It appeared again 5 seconds later, right in the shadows of the entrance to the ship. If there had been one 'glitch' it could have been dismissed as an anomaly. Two meant that something had entered the ship. Something using a very advanced cloaking field. And if it had altered the logs, then it had exceptional hacking skills. Thiyan's head scales rippled, the equivalent of hairs rising on a human's neck.

 

He examined the rest of the footage minutely. It did not re-appear. It must still be on the ship. He took out his communicator.

 

"Thiyan Al'Taru to all Valkyrie crewmembers. There is something aboard the ship, I repeat, someone or something has boarded the Valkyrie and is still in there. Assume hostilities."

 

He took several steps back, and activated his combat visor which, amongst other things, contained a very complex and efficient tracking and decoding system. He trained his rifle at the entrance...

 

Inside the Valkyrie, something beeped as the rogue presence was alerted to activity outside the ship...

[Cyborg Ninja]

Rogue took one last look around the room before stepping back into the hallway. Rogue turned to face the next room when a distinct noise was heard. Something just beeped, similar to that of a door opening. Rogue however had not yet opened the door. It took its pulse rifle from its back and began to move down the hallway.

 

Rogue didn't know how many crew members were back, but it did know that they were back. It needed to get off this ship as quickly as possible. Rogue was nearing the ship's entrance. The camo still needed to recharge, so stealth was not an option. This meant Rogue would have to fight its way out. Something it didn't want to do, but would do if need be.

 

Rogue rounded a corner and hit someone carrying a large metal crate. Rogue bounced back, but did not fall from the force of the hit. Quickly, Rogue rolled backwards and found cover.

[Rexraptor2000]

John had decided to refrain from going to the chess tournament. Among his other duties beyond just being the merchant and hired gun, he also picked up picked up the rations for Valkyrie's voyages. The trip to the grocer had been uneventful in itself, his armor and size doing more than enough to intimidate any scavengers. Some gang members might eye him up occasionally, fantasizing on how to kill him, but one look at his weaponry was enough to convince them otherwise. The trip back met with similar results.

 

John noticed the ship's boarding ramp lowered as he rounded a corner with a massive ration crate in his arms.

 

“Selia must've gotten back early.” John muttered to himself as he shifted arms to get a better grip of the crate. He was blind the rest of the way, but the crowd was dieing down and he could easily make his way to the ship. He started to walk up the ramp when something suddenly smashed into him, causing him to drop the crate and jump back. He did a double take as the crate hit the ground and a geth bounced back, running for the covering the one of the inner cargo crates. John unslung his rifle and dove out of the way of the bay entrance as pulse rifle rounds shot past him.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Rogue reloaded its pulse rifle as the organic returned fire. The file was a single shot, too powerful to be a pistol and too many rounds fired to be a sniper. It had to me a Mattock Rifle, which was just as powerful as its pulse rifle. Rogue popped out of cover to fire a few more shots at the organic. What the geth saw was a sight to see.

 

The organic was heavily armored, but had the structure of a turian or quarian. Rogue quickly put its head down to avoid being shot. Though it did notice the Claymore shotgun. Rogue would have to keep this organic at a distance if it wanted to win this firefight.

[Salzella]

Thiyan was still camped outside when he heard gunshots from inside, muffled but obviously from heavy weaponry. He cursed, shouldered his Viper - it would useless in the cramped confines of the ship - and pulled out his Locust, also activated his second shield - just in case.

 

He ran through the airlock, and down the first corridor, following the gunfire left. Turning into the next corridor, near the mess hall, he saw John crouch behind a pile of crates, his heavy Mattock rifle cradled in his arms. Thiyan jumped round the corner and got into cover of his own just across the hallway from the heavily-armed soldier. He inched his head around cover, and got a glimpse of the silhouette and the distinctive flashbulb head of their opponent before a pulse charge slammed into his cover, forcing him to duck back.

 

The Geth? Thiyan had rarely heard of Geth outside the veil, especially since the failed attack on the Citadel. But he had never heard of a Geth operating solo before, apart from the odd rumour you heard. It seemed to be functioning as efficiently, if not more so, than the most highly trained shock trooper as well. If the Geth were producing this sort of unit en masse it could spell trouble for the rest of the galaxy. And if it was acting of it's own volition... then that just deepened the mystery.

 

More fire pattered into the two crewmember's covered, and Thiyan returned fire. But after a few seconds of return fire from the machine, the gun silenced. Thiyan peered over his cover, and saw the Geth had disappeared. He looked across at John.

 

"Where the hell did it go?"

 

John shrugged and replied "Wherever it went, we need to find it. Who knows what it's taken from the ship while we've been gone?"

 

Thiyan nodded, reloaded his Locust and stalked off towards the mess hall, with John heading the other way, deeper into the bowels of the Valkyrie.

[CommanderQ]

"Thanks for helping us out. I didnt catch your name... I'm Tom."

 

Frank nodded and offered a hand for shaking.

 

"Tom....my name's Frank, Frank Mcdowell...I'm a..."

 

His mind drifted for a split second, as he remembered one of his past aliases that would help him here.

 

"....an information broker...business has been slow though, Omega does that sometimes. So...if you don't mind my asking, what brings you here to Omega?"

[DrPhil2501]

"Tom....my name's Frank, Frank Mcdowell...I'm a..." there was a slight pause in between sentences."....an information broker...business has been slow though, Omega does that sometimes. So...if you don't mind my asking, what brings you here to Omega?"

 

Tom gazed at the man. An Information Broker who carries around a Rocket Launcher underneath his jacket. Quite peculiar indeed... but wasnt the proper time to speculate.

 

"Well... Its kind of a long story. Quick version: we're trying to sell salvaged goods, amongst other things..." Tom referencing in within his head of the encounter with the derelict cerberus vessel. "I'll explain later. We should leave, before more mercs show up. You can probably help us with something..."

 

He walked with Frank back up to the previous level where the entrance resided. Some of the commotion seemed to have calmed down abit. Some of the bouncers seemed to have kept things in order. But something caught Tom's eye: that Asari girl that bumped into him earlier, was lying on the floor up against the wall.

 

After one of the Krogan Body Guards picked her up, and overhearing the conversation between them and the Salarian Tournament Organiser, he looked at Frank. Normally on Omega, Tom prefered to avoid trouble that endangered either him or his crew members. But some level of sympathy drove him to once again pull his gun out. If Tom were in a similar sitation: dead or alive, he would rather not be left in the vermin hands of Mercenary Scum Bags.

 

Ulrich activated his Omni-Tool, and paged Chiron. "I need you here. Underworld Cantina, near the entrance. He switched it off, pointed the gun, and pressed the tip of the barrel to the back of the Salarians skull. He glared at the Krogan Body Guards. "Salarians live short lives. Yours is about to end in less then 5 seconds, if you dont put her down."

[Tysyacha]

UNDERWORLD CANTINA, OMEGA

 

It was true that salarians lived short lives. Most did not live past the age of 40, even if their high metabolism graced them with such a brief span of years. The organizer of the chess tournament at the Underworld Cantina was not one to receive such grace, and he resented it immensely. Even at twenty years old, salarian middle age, he exhibited all the telltale signs of an elderly, nearly senile member of his species. It was why his chess tournament had such bizarre and lethal rules. It was his tournament, and no one else's. No younger, fitter minds were going to tell him how to run it.

 

"Agreed," the salarian said quickly, dropping Quirinius V'tala like a load of hot coals. She landed on the floor with a sickening thud. The arm bones and muscles of her slimy captor had not been the strongest, whereas his mind...When he was lucid, and not in the throes of forgetting, repeating, or obsessing over something, he was a recognized genius among his peers.

 

Immediately after he had let Quirinius fall, he stammered, "All right. I have complied with your request. Please remove your pistol from my occipital lobe." He was visibly sweating, and his skin shone red in Omega's firelight glow.

[DrPhil2501]

Ulrich watched as they put her down on the ground. The Salarian began sweating. "All right. I have complied with your request. Please remove your pistol from my occipital lobe."

 

Ulrich lowered his gun. He motioned his weapon, to shoo off the scum. "Go on, get out of here." He glared at the Krogan Body Guards.

 

He knealt down beside the lifeless Asari. If what the Salarian theorised was correct, and she was drugged, then hopefully Chiron would arive and find a means of reversing the effects. He should be arriving shortly, other wise Ulrich considered taking her to a near-by clinic and later rendevous with his crew.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

Tuhrop exited the elevator, and entered the docking bay. He began coughing up blood. Although he escaped with his life from the broker's office, the Sniper had managed to sneak in another round before the Turian Captain could reach for the elevator across the crowded area of the markets.

 

Tuhrop saw his ship close by. Hopefully the Sniper didnt have the time to pursue him. He held onto his waste, where it was stained with his blood. He limped towards it - not before he could hear the sound of gunfire.

 

The ship was under lockdown; as expected. He input the code to bypass it, and entered the Valkyrie. He limped to the mess hall, where he pulled out his M-6 Carnifex, and hid behind the crates. He glanced at John.

 

"I take it we are in abit of a situation here?" he added.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Chiron's Omni-tool began to flash. The krogan stopped walking in order to check it. He shook his head as he read the message. The Underworld always meant trouble, and hopefully Tom wasn't in any.

 

"My apologies Selia, but it appears Tom requires my assistance. You can come with me if you wish," he said to her.

 

Chiron located the nearest elevator, and took it down to the Underworld. He walked around for a bit until he reached his destination. He spotted Tom...next to what appeared to be a dead asari.

 

"So what mess have you gotten me into this time?" Chiron asked.

_______________________________________________________

 

Rogue had taken advantage to escape during the firefight, sadly the only way it could go was back into the ship. It planned on entering the mess hall and then looping back around to the entrance. The plan worked so far until the heavily armed quarian entered in.

 

A simple recalculation and Rogue was ready to continue when a turian entered into the mess hall as well. It would only be a matter of time before the drell arrived as well. That was a three on one fight.

 

By Rogue's calculations, it had a 21.3% chance of winning the fight. Those were incredibly terrible odds. It did the math over and over again, each outcome proving the same. Its camo was running dangerously low, and soon it would disappear.

 

Then Rogue came up with a theory. Rogue only shot at the quarian, because there was an 89.5% chance the quarian would do so. The quarian only shot because it was an armed geth. If it were unarmed however. Rogue's camo wore off and it was exposed.

 

The chances of its survival now, with the theory showed an increase. If it went with the theory it had a 43.6% chance. Rogue dropped its pulse rifle and slowly raised both its arms in the air; the organic sign of surrender.

[DrPhil2501]

"So what mess have you gotten me into this time?"

 

Tom was glad to see Chiron arrive. The krogan approached and stared at the body of the Asari.

 

"We think she has been sedated, her bodily functions being haltered as part of her comatose state." he pressed two fingers on her neck to find a pulse.

 

He stared up at Chiron. "Can you give her something to revive her? Or are your supplies back at the ship?"

 

_______________________________________________________________

 

The Turian watched behind the crates. Amongst the fire, the Geth stood up and held both arms in the air. He held John's rifle down. "Hold your fire!"

 

Tuhrop stood up, and motioned Thiyan to do the same. He watched the Geth from across the room. Why was it surrendering? Was it surrendering? Not many people have interacted with Geth before; atleast not with bullets.

 

Tuhrop limped towards it, keeping a good distance away from it. There was a long silence. Minutes have passed. Tuhrop just gased into the flashlight head of the Geth Infiltrator.

 

"Can you understand us?"

[Cyborg Ninja]

Rogue stared at the Turian as he popped out of cover. The turian must have recognized what Rogue was doing as the turian ordered the other two to stop not shoot. Rogue kept its arms up, even though it seemed the plan had worked.

 

This turian had some type of authority over the other two, this made him the best candidate to speak with. It was not until the Turian moved over to Rogue that it put its arms down.

 

"Can you understand us?"

 

Rogue stared at the turian for a few seconds. It looked over at the drell, then to the quarian, and finally back to the turian.

 

"Yes."

______________________________________

 

Chiron looked down at the asari as he listened to Tom.

 

"I've heard of mercenaries doing a similar thing. They take a drug that makes them appear dead. She should be fine on her own, but I can give her something back at the ship if you'd like."

[Tysyacha]

UNDERWORLD CANTINA, OMEGA

 

Mnull and Dorgan, the two krogan, snapped to attention and did exactly as they were commanded by one Tom Ulrich. The salarian followed suit. As for Quirinius V'tala, she lay heavily sedated by the atropixenine. She was not breathing, and her pulse was almost nonexistent. The only thing that was keeping her alive was, oddly enough, the xenon in the medicine which was keeping the carbon dioxide in her blood at bay. However, all was not well...

 

Atropixenine, being illegal on almost all planets that the Citadel Council controlled, was not a regulated medicine. Dosages of such a potent sedative could and often were tainted by other chemicals because the ingredients were so expensive. The most common culprit was a lethal and cheap muscle relaxant that was used to kill--not sedate--large predatory or rogue animals. The solution that Quirinius had bought from an irreputable volus dealer, unbeknownst to her, was 50% cheap muscicide and 40% atropine. Bad news.

 

Her bluish-purple skin was becoming more pale by the second. She was dying.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Chiron looked down at the asari once more. Regardless of Tom's decision, this was no place for anyone to be. He gently picked the asari up. He brought the asari closer to his face and looked at her skin. This was suppose to be a harmless sedative, it shouldn't be affecting her skin color. Chiron's eyes widened in fear.

 

"Tom, get my box of supplies on the ground there. We need to get her back to the Valkyrie's med bay."

[CommanderQ]

Frank watched cautiously from behind as the situation unfolded. The quickness of Tom's ability to diffuse the crisis and save the Asari was impressive...most wouldn't be able to convince even the most base of criminals into giving up on their revenge...then again, he'd used tactics Frank was familiar with. And, the crew of the Valkrie was far from normal, he'd almost completely forgotten about the Krogan that was listed on the crew.

 

Frank remained silent as the Krogan examined the Asari....which was another object of surprise as you really never see a Krogan doctor.

 

"Tom, get my box of supplies on the ground there. We need to get her back to the Valkyrie's med bay."

 

Seeing the Asari's skin pale before his eyes gave Frank a distinct chill. He'd seen that happen. He'd see that happen alot, in his line of work. More or less, he was often the one who'd instigated such slow way of death.

 

He stepped forward and broke his silence.

 

"I recognize this..."

 

He needed to check for some place where the 'toxin,' so to say, had entered her body. Giving the Krogan reasonable space, Frank checked the Asari, until finding a small puncture wound on her thigh. He now had a vague idea of what was in her system.

 

"Krogan, you must work fast...if this puncture wound is what I think it is...then she has virtually killed herself....unless we help her within the next...well...I suppose, the next few minutes."

[DrPhil2501]

Tuhrop was very suprised to hear vocal speech from a geth. There had to be atleast a few people in the galaxy, aside from the Krogan, that interacted with a Geth to this much detail. Afterall, it was widely known that they only communicate through beeping and static noises.

 

Tuhrop lowered his weapon. He continued gazing at the Geth.

 

"Why have you come here?"

 

____________________________________________________

 

Tom knealt down and reached for Chirons box of medical supplies. He opened it and fumbled around the mess of bandages and medigel. He pulled out a tube what was labelled "Epinephrim" - artificial adrenilin.

 

"Will this work?" Tom knew very little about medicine.

 

"Krogan, you must work fast...if this puncture wound is what I think it is...then she has virtually killed herself....unless we help her within the next...well...I suppose, the next few minutes."

 

Tom looked abit sheepish. "Chiron, this is Frank. Frank, this is Chiron. We'll get acqainted later..."

 

Tom was facing a major dillemna - they knew nothing about this girl. All they knew is that she was on the run from Eclyspe Mercenaries and Chess Tournament Organisers - strange combination. Was bringing a stranger aboard the ship a good idea.

 

"Tuhrop is going to kill me..." he sighed. "We'll do what we can now, and get her to the Valkyrie's medical bay. I dont think now is the time to find a near by clinic."