//------------------------------// // Begin // Story: Wolves and the Shepard // by Chemtest //------------------------------// The Void, a dark place for any not accustomed to it. It is lucky, then, that the only beings that survive going through are. The Void has been called a place of growth in the darkness, and of corruption. Such is true for the few that inhabit it. ”M̻̯̝͈̜y̟̩͙ͅ ͍p͏o̵͔͔͙̲̝̼w͏͙͇̟̟̲̖̳e̖͈͉͉̼̠r̡̳̱̜͚͍͔ ҉͖̞g͙̫̣ŕ͙̫o̢̲̖̠̺̩͓w͚̣̟͚̘͙̦s ͚t͖͔̟ͅo͡o̸ ̝͖̝s̼̬l͡ọ̠̱̕w̝͖̩͎̞l̗̺͞y͓̰̣̘.͓̩̰̗̲͔ ̨͙̞͙̣̥Á̮̰ṱ͙̰ ̡̟͕͙̹ṭ̶͉̫h̢̗̗̺i̼̻̗͔̕s̞ ̶̭r͖̭̺̩͔̱ḁ̤͕͖̝t̺̘̀è͙,̘̺͚ ̹̹̱̦̝̣̭i̡͚̣̖̪̬̼t̲͙̼͔̫̜̮ ̺͈̰̮̱͙͟ẃ͕̟̱̪i̢͕̗͔l̮̳̱̤̞͕̦l̫͚͉̗̕ ͉̱̺̼̮̳͇b̠̰̩͈͕e̳̦͓̖̤̗ ̢̹g̳e̙ṉ̱͎͕̳e͇͓̰̩̺̠̻͠rạ̙t̹͓i̪̬̹͖͚o̲̱̗̬͡n̤̘̱̝̪͖̮s̷̰͇͈͇̮ ͉̘̣͓̣o͓̫̟͍͔ͅf̀ ҉̳w̴̹̠̝ͅa͚̣͍̠̘̗i̟̫̟͇͡t̮i̝̞̭͢ǹ̪̣̗͉̼̲g͔͍̱ ̖̹͖̱̲̲̀b̢ȩ͔̳̹̩f̗̜͉͝o̦͔͉̰̯ͅṛ͡e͈͔̪ ̵̯͇͖̤̝I̼̰̫͈ ̶͔̼̦c̮a̸͖̻n͉̤̰͖͇͠ ̫̼͈͎̱͖ͅm̹o̷v̖̬̦̖̠̣͢e̮̠̞͇!̨̭̹͍̠̥ ̺͇̭̩͙M͎̫̯͡y̭͇͕̩͉͍ ̕o̭̹̞̱̺͘t̩̕h̠̟e̴r͇̲̲ ͎̲̤͢a҉͍ͅg̕e͇̜̲n̶͔̻͖̖t҉̭ś̥̯̖͈ ̖̕àr̺e̛͇̪̦ ͓͖a̞̩̝͕͠ct̟̮͎u͓̯̯ͅa͔͠l̺̟͎͟l̩̳̝̦̺y̶͍̪̻͚ ̧̤d͉̮̩̖o̖i͚̺͚͞n̤̪̹̣̜͎g̺̟̰̠̠͜ ͈̳̯̬̮͞t̨͓̥̠͈͇͚ͅḥ͞ę̰͖͓i̸r̷̭͇̱ ̲͜j̤͖͖̜͙̺͜o̪͠b̯͉̦̻̭̙̬,̧̠͙ ̸̰s̘̫̮̮̻o͇͍̯͍͇̹ ̬̬w̸͉̖ḩ͎̪͓̺̠̯a̘̲̖̮̘̫̕ͅt̳̥̠̳̭̗͓͡ ̤͇͎̬d̟̦o͔̫̩͎̩͖̹͠ ̡̮̲̤͈̟y̭͕̩̯o̟͈̲̳̜͇u ̫͇t͙͈h̩͖͓͇͉͢i̤ṇ̱̟̳͓͉͎k̸̲͎ ̱͓̳y̳̪͓̣ͅo͓̩͕̪̲͇͎u ̵̗̯͓̗̭̠̫t̨̙͖̼̲͓̠ͅh̷ṛ̙̼̳e̜̤̘̘e ̜̬͖͓̠̺͢a̡̮̺̣̟͚̳r̘̘̣͎̗e ̥do̻̫i͔̪͈̣n̛̩̪̻͇̣̮g̡̬?͈̯̺̼͘” The three beings all jump at the annoyed voice of their master. One of the alicorns, Blueblood, immediately bows, “I- I have been coming up with ideas and growing my power, my lord!” The other two look over at his groveling, and take pity upon the creature called Blueblood. Neither of them particularly liked the Element of Greed, and liked to look at his rotting alicorn form even less. The other alicorn, who is about two times bigger than Blueblood, turns to face their master. Ordirus sticks with his same expressionless face, “I have been restoring my physical form to fight once more. Not my idea to allow Nerazîbûnê so much time before ascending him, or I would be back already. I have, though, been experimenting with something I call Element Zero within machines.” The final member shakes his head, he never liked the Element of Order, but merely tolerated his presence. He could be very ruthless, but never showed joy in the killing. Khorn slowly faces his master, standing side by side with Ordirus even if bipedal, “I have been planning the best way to make blood flow.” Blueblood raises, and faces Khorn with barely hidden disgust. It is no secret that he hated getting anywhere near Khorn. Always covered in blood, as to be expected from the Element of Blood. But, getting blood of the innocent in the skin of Blueblood is never a good time. Blueblood hated the senseless violence from him, always preferring to have some outcome or reason to order hunts. Blueblood faces his master, dwarfed by his company, “We have all forged an idea. We are going to need a fleet if we are to win in the quickest way.” Khorn smiles, “We devised a weapon-“ Ordirus interrupts, “A program that can be used for weaponry. Installed into a flotilla of ships, it could be devastating. We could, in fact, target a universe to create a cycle of destruction to power you. By only targeting one, the Creators won’t suspect a thing, and the cycle is sure to be endless with the weaponry and AI in charge. We have targeted a certain universe, one with a large central galaxy.” Blueblood smiles, “I can work my magic into the heads of the beings living there. The so called Leviathans shall make the AI itself, so it seems like part of the universe instead of something from us, to the Creators.” Khorn nods, “I can implant ideas for weaponry and efficacy within Blueblood’s manipulation.” Ordirus ignites his magic, holding up a blue rock, “I can give the AI ideas for Element Zero based technology so they may exterminate as quick as possible.” Their master stares at each of them with a different head, ”T̤h͙͉͙e͚͙͍̲͚̝̖̕ ҉̱̪͖n̫̠̪a͙̥̻̳̝m̷̭͚͈̟̬̖̪ḙ̩̳̤ ̙̖͎̥̜͝o̭̖̲̬̞̲͕f͖ ̡t̡̟͍̺̝̻̫̹h̬i̦͘s͈̱̮ ̺̣̣͎͈̞ͅA̠̦͓̹͙̖I̸̝͈̖̜?̵̺͚̯̹̮̯” Blueblood smiles at the name he came up with, “Reapers.” ——— An escape pod flies into the distance, away from the flaming wreckage of the Normandy. Two sit on this pod. A krogan in red armor sits in the seats, as a turian in blue armor flies the pod. He speaks into the comms, “This is Garrus, does anyone have Shepard?” A male voice responds, Joker, “No, he sacrificed himself to save me. He was in the ship when it was hit last. He... he is probably dead by now.” The comms speak right after him, a female voice this time, Liara, “Wrong, Joker. Garrus, I see him out near the wreckage. His biotic signature seems to be fading quickly though!” Garrus stops his piloting as he hears of the news, putting his head in his hands and lamenting over the decision he might have to make. He is stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turns around to face Wrex, who simply gives him a nod. Garrus nods bad, and puts on his helmet, “Wrex and I are going after Shepard!” Joker then cuts back in, “Don’t risk it. There is a very high chance of you both dying! Is this what Shepard would want?” Garrus and Wrex both think over their long careers. The battles fought alongside one another with Shepard leading them along, the decisions he made. The armor... the Doctor. Garrus responds, “He would sacrifice himself for any of us. Only right for us to do the same.” Wrex even cuts in on his own, “He is a warrior the galaxy needs. We would gladly fight for him, and we will gladly die for him.” Garrus turns the pod back towards the destroyed ship, still being shot at by their attackers. He puts the acceleration to maximum, and races through fields of debris towards the figure in grey armor. Wrex takes a tether cable, and attaches it to his armor. He stands at the back door of the pod, ready to go. Wrex looks back at Garrus as they race towards Shepard. He smiles, something that would never usually be seen on the krogan, even with his helmet on, “You know, Garrus, don’t think I ever said it. You’re good, for a turian. I think you would have made a great krogan.” Garrus looks back at Wrex with minor shock, before quickly returning to dodging rubble, “That’s unexpected of you to say, Wrex. You are also pretty good for a krogan. You’d make a great turian.” Wrex turns back to the door, “Now, let us save Shepard.” Garrus turns the ship around all of a sudden, as they reach the floating body. He shares a nod with Wrex, and opens the door of the pod. The vacuum of space would’ve immediately sucked Wrex out, if not for the tether and his armor. He takes a gentle jump out of the ship, allowing his momentum to lead him to Shepard. He grabs the body, and pulls a return lever on the tether. He is slowly pulled back to the ship. He eventually gets back in, and sets Shepard in one of the seats, and takes a seat in another. Garrus closes the doors, before looking back through the window. He sees the enemy ship take aim towards them, and has to think quickly. He eventually brings up his omni-tool and turns to Wrex, “Hold on, I’m going to try something!” Wrex immediately doesn’t like it when Garrus isn’t blunt, “What?” Garrus turns back to the enemy ship as it prepares to fire, “FTL travel on a pod!” Wrex doesn’t have any time to react before Garrus presses a final button. The pod listens to commands, and zooms off at speeds never before heard of. ——— Equestrian night is one of the most beautiful and peaceful things in all the universe. The races of Equestia are the only one to experience it, though. The Milky Way nearby had never advanced far enough to reach them. Ponies in the city of Canterlot sleep peacefully through the night, just like every other night. Those that aren’t enjoy their time at nightclubs and bars. Guards roam the street, and Luna watches over the darkened city with care. One thing that was not planned by the Night Goddess, though, was a meteor shower. Imagine her shock when she saw a bright, brurning object start falling from the sky. Ponies all over Equestria look into the sky at the odd object as it descends, one object not supposed to be there. The object crashes into the middle of Canterlot Square, waking everypony in the city with the bang it made. Luna herself flies over to it, only to see a metallic pod of some sort. Until a bang sounds from it, and the metal starts to bend. Then another, then another. On the fourth bang, the metal at one end of it flies off. A huge creature emerges from within. A reptilian-ish face covered in blood and scars, armor the color of blood, towering over even the Princess herself. It carries two similarly bipedal creatures on each shoulder, and walks away from the wreckage. He takes ten steps away from the pod and toward the Princess, until his injured catch up with him. He passes out on the spot, allowing him and the two other creatures to collapse to the ground. Luna immediately calls guards to get the best doctors in Canterlot, and to carry them to the infirmary.