MASS EFFECT: SURVIVAL

[DrPhil2501]

By the end of 2186, the Reaper War was ended with the activation of the crucible. Commander Shepard chose to control the Reapers, to rebuild the galaxy after the devastating war.

 

The energy fired by the Crucible caused damage to the Mass Relays galactic wide. Affected by the energy, a reconaissance team on board a light vessel The Trinity crash lands into a near-by planet: a lush world of Rogue's, Pirates and Warlords.

 

 

SURVIVAL

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

"Ken, what in the hell is happening!?" Tuhrop screamed, as he entered the cockpit.

 

Ken, pilot of the vessel designated as Trinity, was frantically pressing buttons on the holographic dashboard filled with control panels. The human pilot brought up a holoscreen of the ship's status.

 

"Some type of energy fluctuation, I cant say for sure... but whatever it is, its affecting our drive core."

 

Tuhrop watched the scene taking place outside the window of the cockpit. There was sometype of intense blue energy surrounding in space. It was hard to make out, but Tuhrop could see the shape and silhouette of a planet within that haze. "Energy fluctuations? Where is it coming from?"

 

"Not inside the ship, thats for sure! I think... I think its coming from the relay!" Ken announced.

 

Tuhrop stood beside him, bending over to observe the monitors. "Are there any Reaper vessels within the system?"

 

"None that I can see on the scanners..." said Ken, staring at a flashing and static filtered monitor.

 

Tuhrop and his crew had just escaped from a Reaper infested system within the Terminus Systems, salvaging what they could from a broken down vessel that was left to a grim fate with the enemy. The Reapers were very brutal - they did not offer a warm welcome to the Trinity when they arrived. As soon as they salvaged what they could, the Trinity raced towards the nearby mass relay before the Reapers could turn them into debris.

 

As soon as they escaped, they warped to a nearby star system. Then not long after they birthed from the Mass Relay, it was suddenly hit with a beam of mysterious blue energy. Then the rings from the relay suddenly dismantled, and the energy pulsated throughout the surrounding space. Hence the catastrophic event happening now.

 

"Ken, engage the emergency landing cycle. Steer us towards that planet." Tuhrop ordered.

 

"I think the E.L.C has been affected by the--"

 

"Just do it dammit!" Tuhrop barked. "I don't fancy a rough trip down to a rock I've never even heard of, but we'll have to make due!"

[Ninja Cyborg]

Chiron was walking around the ship, as the geth usually did when he could not find anything to do. Outside of combat purposes he wasn't really too useful on a ship. His original programming had been as a diplomat of his people, and things had taken a drastic turn. Over several years his skills with weaponry increased, and he became quite the killer. Luckily he had been saved and now was back to normal, and feeling smarter than before. The geth became suddenly curious at the flashing blue light and simply stared out one of the nearby windows.

 

Windows, a rather curious thing. Normally Chiron would say something along the lines of how useless such things are to geth, but he understood their importance to organics. Now he was quite fascinated by them, understanding the concept of looking through them to take in the view as the organics would say. So this sudden blue light was incredibly fascinating...until he could sense nearby panic. Chiron turned his head briefly to watch Captain Tuhrop head towards the cockpit, most likely to ask about this matter. He wouldn't follow, but he could only guess this was not good.

 

Something was wrong with the ship, that was certain. The geth started to move around as if he was looking for something. The likelihood of a crash was growing rapidly and he needed to prepare. Luckily the organics, specifically the humans had a phrase for situations like this. So the geth continued to search for the required item. Now he himself did not own it, but was certain one of the crew members wouldn't mind. Finally he found what he was looking for and grabbed a red cap from an open locker. Chiron proceeded to then place the hat on his head and placed both hands on top of his head. He was now officially holding onto his hat, as the humans would say. He wasn't sure how this would help with the ship, but he was certain it had to work. Why else say something like that, right?

[DrPhil2501]

Mahla K'than felt the entire ship rumble. She was beginning to think that they hadn't fled the Reapers after escaping the system and came out through the relay into another ambush. Though as strange as it felt the very moment, she was relieved to hear that her fears did not become a reality. Entering the cockpit, she could see through the window a beautiful sunset sky filled with clouds. The ship continued rumbling with turbulance.

 

"Emergency Landing Cycle initiated." Ken announced, looking up and down from the holographic computer console. As sophisticated as the Trinity was, it was one of the few vessels to not be installed with Emergency Escape Pods. Instead it only came with one shuttle to fit the whole crew in the loading bay, and even that was broken - it was intended to be fixed the next time they visit Citadel Space. Aside from the broken shuttle; it came with a distress beacon, a wardrobe of spacesuits and parachutes in case they enter an atmosphere.

 

"Embrace yourselves." Captain Tuhrop opened the intercom. "This is the Captain speaking. We are about to make an emergency landing, people! Strap yourselves in, tighten your harnesses and await further instructions!"

 

Ken strapped the safety buckles from his seat around his body, preparing the ship for descent. Tuhrop and Mahla raced through bridge to the Main Hold. They both sat in their own chair, surrounding the circular room with the Holographic Projector in the centre, and strapped themselves in. Mahla silently prayed to the goddess...

 

((waiting for the others to reply))

[Master_Archon]

(( Work, work stinks!!!! I promise I'll be replying, I pwomise!!! Wait.....Did you say embrace yourself? You want our characters to hug themselves??))

[MsFicwriter]

((Ninja Cyborg, LOLOLOLOLOL!))

 

"Embrace yourselves." Captain Tuhrop opened the intercom. "This is the Captain speaking. We are about to make an emergency landing, people! Strap yourselves in, tighten your harnesses and await further instructions!"

 

Yeru Per'talan, First Medic aboard the Trinity, quirked an eyebrow before realizing a hard truth: I'd better kiss my Ardat-Yakshi arse goodbye. This could be a fatal crash, safety buckles or no. With that, she gave herself a quick hug before strapping herself tightly into the upright harness in medbay. If we survive, everyone's going to need a doctor - even me, the doctor!

 

The asari slipped into a meditative trance to calm herself. As she did so, the tiny lace-like fissures cris-crossing her scalp began to glow brighter.

[Ninja Cyborg]

"Embrace yourselves." Captain Tuhrop opened the intercom. "This is the Captain speaking. We are about to make an emergency landing, people! Strap yourselves in, tighten your harnesses and await further instructions!"

 

Chiron was confused, wondering why hanging on to this cap did not work. Well humans were...humans. Maybe he didn't have the right cap, or perhaps he hadn't heard the phrase correctly. He started to walk towards the medbay as it was the nearest area on the ship from his current location. There he spotted Yeru, the medical facilitator aboard the ship and gave a wave. The geth then strapped himself into another harness, red cap still resting on top of his head.

 

"Greetings Asari:Yeru...Dr. Yeru," Chiron corrected. Before his advancement in intellect and self awareness, he used to classify people by race then name. As a result he would address other races like this out loud. Now he had to train himself not to speak like that knowing it to be odd to say. He kept the title of Dr. though as a sign of respect for the First Medic.

 

"Are you strapped in tightly? The likelihood of a crash is incredibly probable. I would tell you to hold onto your hat, but this one seems to not be functioning properly. A shame," he said.

[DrPhil2501]

The ship continued to soar down into the atmosphere. Areas of Land and islands surrounded by oceans were growing in the distance.

 

"Engaging Thrusters!" Ken yelled.

 

The turbulence was growing stronger and stronger, Tuhrop and Mahla were hanging onto the straps of their harnesses.

 

"By the goddess, I never thought it would end like this!" said Mahla amongst the chaos. Tuhrop stared back at her.

 

"Quit thinking like that! We've been through worse, and you know it!"

 

"I haven't been on board your ship long enough to make that claim, Capt--!"

 

The whole ship jerked as it made sudden impact. Loud crashes and bangs could be heard in the background that sent tremors everywhere. Wires and support structures holding parts of the ceiling popped out. Broken pieces of metal flung nearly everywhere, it was a miracle that they missed Tuhrop or the rest of the crew strapped in.

 

There was a long delay of moaning creaks that came within the broken ship. Sparks from the shattered machinery flew everywhere. Then there was silence. The lights flickered.

 

It was safe to assume the worst part was over. Tuhrop unstrapped himself, and carefully slid off the seat. His ribs, shoulders and elbows were aching from the impact. Mahla soon followed.

 

"Status report, Ken!" Tuhrop yelled. There was no answer.

 

The bridge to the cockpit was dark. And the reflections of water danced around the nearby illuminated ceiling.

[Master_Archon]

Shaking, shuddering - running, panting, unsteady feet carrying down one of the ship's corridors as the tremulous turbulence continued to grow more and more violent.

 

Kallic and a small group of others were making their way toward the main hold, but running only made the going that much more difficult, swaying and colliding with the walls, occasionally tripping, stumbling, even falling. Kallic, a Salarian STG Captain, was somewhat more surefooted than the others, but was slowed as he made every effort to urge the others on and help them.

 

'Krrroommmm', was the loud reverberating sound that traveled through the ship as it came to a sudden and volatile stop, paneling hurtling from the walls, floor buckling, metal and hard plastic shrapnel flying everywhere!

 

'Thunk!'

 

Blackness. Muffled - whirring, sputtering, sparking, a groan, a slow shake of the head, a blurred object coming into view, a.....Face. Asari, crew, eyes wide open, unblinking, flesh torn and shredded, flayed off her very face, shards of metal and industrial polymers protruding from her visage. Kallic paused, his lips thinned to a flat line, letting out a quick exhale through his olfactory organs.

 

Ponderously Kallic pushed himself up, finally standing, he searched for the others. Down a ways he found one of them, crew, laying on his side up against a wall. Kallic's brows furrowed, the common round taper of the human head was replaced by that of a sudden flat shear at the back. Kallic was thankful, however, that at his vantage he couldn't see the actual indention, simply a silhouette, blood pooling underneath his face.

 

A tap, on the head, his thoughts interrupted, another. Kallic stepped back, looking up, his lips slowly creasing downward. And there was the last, a member of the recon team, turian, female, unlike Kallic, still in armor - dangling, no more than a fraction of a space beside her was an indentation. Slammed into the ceiling and brought hurtling back down to the floor, Kallic, by some miracle, had avoided being impaled on protruding superstructure.

 

Looking forward, his face set in stone, he exhaled once more.

 

____________________

 

"Status report, Ken!" Kallic stumbled in to the main hold, hearing the Captain gave Kallic some internal relief.

 

"Captain," Kallic steadied himself, arm wrapped around his midsection, holding to his side, giving a surprisingly solid salute before moving towards him and giving Qui'in a more familiar, but still quite out-of-character, pat on the side of the shoulder. Looking over at Mahla, Kallic's lips thinned, brow slowly furrowing, a flash of memory - at least if he concentrated enough he saw flesh on her face. He nodded at her in affirmation, looking back over at Qui'in.

 

"Three, fatalities, two crew, one recon, was Fhaleen'a....Know you were infatuated by her. Sorry, Captain," Kallic reported evenly and professionally. Whether that last fact was true or not was entirely unknown.

 

((If nobody else posts I'll edit in Pen'Lei's intro, which will be good cause I can get everything set up properly without things getting too far ahead. As for right now, I'm tired, so a break I shall take.))

[DrPhil2501]

Tuhrop hung his head as he heard the news from Kallic.

 

"Three, fatalities, two crew, one recon, was Fhaleen'a....Know you were infatuated by her. Sorry, Captain,"

 

It was the first time he did not want to hear that name, especially considering the circumstances. He approached Fhaleen'a's corpse. He placed

the palm of his hand on her cheek and cradled her face. He was lost for words. Though they only spent the night together, he wished he spent more time with her. Tuhrop wished none of this would have happened.

 

Mahla returned Kallic's affirmation and nodded back. She walked down the tilted bridge towards the shore of water that flooded the cockpit. She took a deep breath, and submerged herself in the water. Using her omni-tool flash light, she illuminated the dark depths underwater and navigated straight towards the submerged cockpit.

 

There Ken sat, strapped to his chair all limp and lifeless. The cockpit was somewhat intact, but the impact must have somehow punctured the exterior of the ship that somehow allowed sea water to come rushing in. Sure, the Trinity wasn't has hardshelled as the SSV Normandy - but what was hard enough to puncture a hole through the metal hulls of the ship was a mystery... not until they investigated the area once they escape the shipwreck that is.

 

Mahla unstrapped the lifeless Ken from his seat, and pulled him along as she swam back to the surface. She dragged his body into the open air. She pressed her fingers on his throat. No pulse. He opened his mouth and tried resusitating him. Long minutes go by, as Mahla tried to force Ken to breath again. But there was too much seawater in his lungs. Eventually she gave up on mouth-to-mouth, and began hitting his chest. She continuously beat his ribcage, over and over again. It was no use. Ken was long gone.

 

Tuhrop knealt down beside her. "You did the best you could..."

 

Mahla didn't stare back at him. She just continued staring at Ken's body. "My best wasn't good enough."

 

"We've got to get out of here." Tuhrop stood up and climbed the tilted walkway and towards the ship's cargo hold where the shutter door was located. The cargo hold was the least damaged part, presumably because it was upright during the crash as the ship dove nose first. Using his omni tool, he gave the control panel of the cargo shutter door a jolt of electricity. He pressed the button on the control panel, and the door slowly opened. A sudden flash of sunlight filled the cargo hold, it took Tuhrop's eyes a while to adjust. They had landed on a rocky shore of a beach, with huge crashing waves in the background and a lush jungle surrounding the area. Parts of the ship lay torn across the sand.

 

"Kallic." said Tuhrop. "Help me gather the survivors. Also bring out any intact supplies and equipment; we're going to need to set up camp."

[MsFicwriter]

In the middle of all the wreckage lay Yeru Per'talan, just now regaining consciousness. The first thing she noticed was that her blood fissures, once the muted glow of dying embers, were now forge-red and blazing. Still, she felt no pain at all - even though she was supposed to. She had Doctor Chloe Michel, of the Citadel space station, to thank. It had been her ticket out of hell.

 

Of course, she thought, wiping her eyes, this could be a new one...

 

As quickly as she could, she unharnessed herself from the tangled web of straps that was covering her lower body. Spotting Kallic, Mahla and Tuhrop, the medic clambered over toward them. It wasn't easy dodging all the debris - not at all.

 

"Captain," she said crisply, saluting, "Medic Yeru reporting for duty. Are you injured?" She glanced toward her fellow asari and the salarian. "Any of you?"

[DrPhil2501]

Captain Tuhrop glanced back at Yeru.

 

"Save for a few bumps, aches and scratches, I'm perfectly fine." he rubbed the back of his neck.

 

"We've had a few casualties." said Mahla. "Some didn't survive the crash. Ken included."

 

Mahla stared back at the ship. The cargo door was facing the beach, while the rest of the ship pointed downwards. The front end was completely submerged under the sea water.

 

"I did what I could to save him, but it was already too late."

 

Tuhrop examined the beach. They would need to setup camp soon, preferably before dark. The ship was in no condition to be a proper shelter. He walked back towards the cargo bay and begun collecting equipment and supplies.

 

"Go treat the other crewmembers, Yeru. Once you're done, we'll help you set up a med-station here on the beach. We gotta move quickly before the sun goes down."

[MsFicwriter]

"Aye, aye," the medic replied, saluting again. "But first I'll check us all for any sign of a concussion. Crashes of the kind we just survived are never gentle." Using her glowing omni-tool, Yeru made a quick diagnostic scan of the captain and her fellow asari. After being assured that they were, indeed, not in danger of brain damage, she went to do the same for the rest of the crew.

[DrPhil2501]

((gotta get this RP up and running))

 

Tuhrop let Yeru scan him for any concussions or injuries. All seemed to be okay. Then Yeru scanned Mahla.

 

Despite her beauty and innocence, Mahla knew about Yeru's condition. She could not understand how Yeru could live a life as a succubus of her people... or let alone resist temptation. Perhaps her resilience had something to do with those thread fissures laced across her skull. Mahla shrugged off her brief attraction and curiosity, and Yeru continued scanning her. All clean.

 

Tuhrop stepped back inside the cargo bay, filled with the crew members collecting the equipment. As Tuhrop bent down to pick up a crate, he glanced up to see the mysterious container they had picked up. Nothing much was known about it, other than what the files told them. "Emergency Asset!"

 

Tuhrop wondered if the situation they were in was an emergency worthy enough to open the container. He was curious what was inside: a weapon, bomb... a stash of Turian Ale. Once they get the distress beacon working, he'll open the container. Whether it was for better or worse. ((he'll open the container very soon, Archon ))

 

Hours had passed, and the sun was beginning to set along the beach. By that time, the base camp had been set up. Tents for each of the crewmen were lined up along the beach. The medical station for Yeru was set up and operational. It was time to set up the distress beacon.

 

Tuhrop hauled the crate from the cargo bay and onto the rocky shore. He stared up at the rocky cliffs, about a hundred meters away from the beach. An ideal spot to set up the beacon. Tuhrop went to his tent and grabbed his modified Armax Arsenal Punisher IX Sniper Rifle, and M-77 Paladin Heavy Pistol (just don't ask how he got it). He clipped his weapons to his armor, and strode back to the crate with the Beacon inside.

 

"I'm going to need volunteers to help me set this up. We're heading for the cliffs, so gear up if you're coming."

[Master_Archon]

((Indeed. I'll be posting soon, don't worry. Last week was....Occupying. Ah man PK! Don't go taking away the only two viable LI's Kallic would even be remotely attracted to now, man! Lol!))

[MsFicwriter]

"If you please, Captain, I'd like to remain here at base camp. I'm not much good with electronics, except for those directly related to medical treatment." With a shrug and slightly sheepish smile, Yeru turned to inspect her workstation again.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Mahla. If only...No. Yeru knew that her fellow asari was well aware of her status as an Ardat-Yakshi - a genetic freak. Not only was she an anomaly among her own species, but an aberration. Due to the composition of her genome, she would inevitably kill those who attempted to meld minds with her. She'd already claimed one victim.

 

Vesinius, I loved you. I didn't mean to. Back then, I didn't know at all...

 

The recurring vortex of her guilt was interrupted by the sound of shuffling feet. A centipede-type insect, fully the size of her thigh, was charging toward her with its pincers raised. With barely a thought, she concentrated upon it.

 

The blood fissures on her skull flared brightly red, and the centipede thrashed and fell. Within seconds, it was dead of neural shock. That was close.

[MsFicwriter]

((Um, did everybody die?))

[Ninja Cyborg]

"What...what is that thing?" an alarmed voice asked.

 

"This is the err thing is going with us on our mission," another said.

 

Chiron stared at the group of humans on the Cerberus dropship. His red eye looked towards the the one that first spoke up. What was once curiosity was now gone, the geth did not like the one that had spoken. Perhaps he should kill this human, but those were not his orders. Chiron followed orders now, and his orders were to exterminate this Turian. The geth held an assault rifle in his hands and he knew it made the humans around him quite uncomfortable, but this did not stop him from holding the weapon. His programming would not allow him to harm any of these soldiers. A shame, organic life like them should not be given such privileges

 

Darkness was all Chiron could see for a moment before the geth's visuals kicked in. He must have taken quite a hit from the crash...had he been knocked out? Odd, he only thought that was an organic quality, but things were changing within him. When he spoke with I he genuinely meant that now, and he was started to feel emotions. He felt a surge of what was considered excitement for a moment. Now his vision was failing him as he started to see darkness once more.

 

The group of soldiers surrounded the Turian leader and forced him to surrender. The leader stepped forward and contacted HQ to let them know they had gotten him. The team was ready to celebrate when Chrion stepped forward, pistol raised. He fired three shots, shooting three turians in the head.

 

"What are you doing!?!?" one of the soldiers shouted as the raised their rifles at Chiron.

 

"Following orders," Chiron answered in a deep metallic tone. "There can be no survivors."

 

Chiron got to his feet, but not before placing a hand to his head. This data...no, these memories now...why had they entered into his mind? He could think about that later, what matter now was locating the others. He stepped out of the ship, only to see a body on the ground. He recognized this human, she spoke with him a few times. He turned back to locate the red cap he had worn before the crash and gently picked it up. He went back to the human and crouched down before placing the hat on her head. Death was part of the job, but it did bring out a small amount of sadness to the geth.

 

The geth's head almost seemed to swivel at the speed in which it turned. He detected some kind of noise...it sounded hostile. The geth started to move, but it did not need to go too far. He looked to find a dead creature, and one of his fellow crew members. The geth relaxed as he saw they had managed to set up camp. How long had he been out? He turned once more to see Tuhrop armed with a sniper and a pistol. He quickly concluded they were stranded given the issue with their ship.

 

"Captain Tuhrop," the geth said. It was still odd to him that he had been saying their names incorrectly. Who knew people didn't classify one another as he did? "I can assist you with setting up the beacon."

[MsFicwriter]

Yeru jumped at a sudden sound of synthetic speech. She had been so absorbed in organizing her medical workstation that she had lost track of time already.

 

"Captain Tuhrop," she heard the geth say. As for herself? She wished she were a bit more skilled at examining synthetic life for injuries - if one could call them that. She knew it was more than likely that Chiron had suffered damage during the crash. If none of the humans had survived without a scratch, then why would a geth's exoskeleton or internal parts be flawless now?

 

"Don't jump to conclusions, Yeru," she mumbled to herself. "Just keep working."

[DrPhil2501]

"Captain Tuhrop," The Geth unit approached Tuhrop, Mahla and the rest of the squad. "I can assist you with setting up the beacon."

 

"We could use your tech skills here, Chiron." Tuhrop concurred. "Come on, lets get a move on."

 

Tuhrop lifted one handle of the crate, while Mahla grabbed the other from her side. They both lifted the crate, and marched away from the beach. "Chiron, I need you and the rest to cover us."

 

The Turian wanted to set this beacon up before nightfall. He wanted to get off this planet. They had food and supplies to last for months, but if they didn't receive any help soon - they would need to resort to eating the local food. Assuming its not toxic, he didn't want a repeat of the MSV Hugo Gernsback incident.

 

"What do you supposed happened?" said Mahla, after a long silence. "How did we end up on this planet? Even after the Reaper encounter, our systems were still functional... until that energy fluctuation hit us..."

 

Tuhrop had wondered about that all day. "Maybe the Reapers caught up to us? Disabled our systems, and left us stranded here..."

 

"Its been hours... you'd think Reaper forces would have arrived by now to slaughter us!"

 

The squad continued with hauling the beacon away from the beach, towards the cliffs. Tuhrop wanted to set up there, so the beacon would have a stronger signal. Mahla's biotics could come in handy for lifting the crate up there.