//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Mass Effect: Salvage // by N00813 //------------------------------// Chapter 8 -- Hostages only work if your enemy cares that they live. – Commander Shepard, 2185 CE -- “The ship has a large antenna. If he has a signal up, I can get it, and we can home in on his location. But his omni-tool antenna is too small to pick up any of my transmissions. I can get us higher, but you’re piloting the shuttle back down.” Levin opened up the shuttle’s side door and went for the cockpit. “If not, I’ll have to rely on sight.” -- It was just as well that Sev had remembered to switch on his rescue signal as he saw the corvette rising slowly into the air on blue jets of fire. Flares had been made obsolete; they were finite and only lasted as long as the chemical in them. The rescue signal was a low-frequency radio wave that was specifically designed to override all commonly used channels on nearby passing spaceships in about 10,000 km radius, for as long as the omni-tool had power. And since power was provided by rotation of dynamos in the joints of the armor, as well as piezoelectric strips at the sole of the boot, it was not a problem to Sev. Finally, there was an incentive for rescuers to save an unlucky soul. As the signal blocked commerce channels, business in the area would be severely hampered. The faster the signal was off, the faster communications could resume. Of course, that function led to massive penalties for improper use. Sev guessed that being marooned on an alien planet, along with toxic air and plant matter, counted as an emergency. The omni-tool lit up briefly to confirm that the signal was being broadcasted. In seconds, it shimmered off again. The officer had noticed, and was tilting his head back as far as the grip around his neck would allow. They’d reached the middle part of the city by now. He could see the buildings change from one level to another – construction materials changed from marble and quartz to brickwork. The buildings around them started to close in, and the streets became rougher and narrower. Sev didn’t mind. Every pony on the streets tried to press themselves into the walls of the buildings adjacent to avoid the oncoming giant. Since there were more ponies here, that made for a sight similar to one at a Spanish bull run. He was reminded of the Earth favelas he’d seen in the vids. The unicorns in the chariots overhead, curiously, did not try to disembark; rather, they were just following him. Sev started to feel a slight tingle – the mercenary’s intuition, they called it. Few dared to ignore such a feeling. There was a trap somewhere, but he had no choice but to continue running forwards and down the city. He stopped temporarily at a railing. Downwards, he could see the road through the slums – a slalom with myriad tunnels and alleyways branching off on either side of the main road. To the direct left, a train-station lay. Honks and puffs of smoke wafted over to where he was. He looked upwards. The corvette hung lazily over the city, like a guardian angel. He could see a small speck separate from the ship, growing bigger and bigger as it moved downwards, circling the city. The shuttle. To the right, there was a clearing of some sort. An open fountain, with a statue of two ponies standing high, was in the center. He recognized one of them as the one in the forest – Celestia. Clear water spouted from her horn, down into a basin. Plumbing. Advanced for a medieval civilization. Green grass surrounded the fountain, and four well-groomed trees stood in a square around it. Most importantly, there was a clearing, and then a sheer cliff off the furthest side to him, blocked by a metal railing. The shuttle would be able to land there. Sev made his way over and waited with his back to the railing. -&- The general cursed. He should have seen this happening. Shining Armor should have been given a short period of R&R following that blasted wedding, as well as some therapy for his ordeal. He’d refused, saying that his duty overrode his personal health. He should have known Armor felt guilty about what had happened to his wife. That would have led to a desire to micromanage everything, protect everyone. And in the end, he had overreached. Now Equestria was going to pay for this lapse in judgment with the loss of one of their finest. The chariots clattered down in front of Harmony Park. It was a fairly small park, barely 2000 square feet, thanks to the limited space in Canterlot city. Already, the place was deserted; all civilians had run off, scared by the ‘monster’. That made his job easier. He wouldn’t have to worry about their safety. They’d all seen the alien vessel lift off. That meant that Frost and his squad had neglected their duty, or something made them neglect their duties. The general knew Frost. He was ambitious, but not stupid. He wouldn’t want to slack off – he valued the prestige of a higher rank. That meant the first reason was unlikely. The second made him shudder. The wheels of the chariot clattered as it struck the ground. The pegasi pair in front saluted, and as soon as he got off, they flapped their wings hard, shooting into the sky. Around him, a unicorn squadron stood at attention. They had been on the other chariot, which joined the first once everypony had been unloaded. They’d been instructed to wait – several unicorn squads had been called from the train station and the slums to their location. Their trap had failed to spring. The alien had gone in a completely illogical direction – into a dead end. It was like it was waiting for them… The general looked around at his squad. Many of them were amongst the ones that had been locked in the interrogation room – they hungered for vengeance, yet were tempered by fear. Amongst them, the Element of Magic, Twilight, stood. She’d refused to be left behind; it was her brother at stake. Besides, the general could sense her magical potential. She would be a valuable asset, but lacking any training, she’d have to be heavily protected. A glint caught the general’s eye, and he looked upwards. It was a white dot in the sky. He could sense the magical power emanating from it. Celestia. He smiled. Two more chariots rattled to a stop behind the group, signifying the arrival of more unicorn squadrons. Only one of the scouts remained – the other two had flown off to retrieve the Pegasus Guard. The newly-arrived unicorns groaned as they disembarked, rolling their legs and hips. The chariots weren’t designed to carry more than 2 ponies at a time, and even with the cargo extension, it had been a tight fit. Shadows erupted from the ground alongside the sound of wing-beats. The Pegasus Guard was here. The general arranged his squads around the entrance of the park. It wasn’t that large, really. The alien stood in the middle of the clearing, behind the fountain, holding Armor in a stranglehold. The general glanced upwards. The white speck had grown bigger – enough for him to see that it was not actually his Princess, but an odd, cuboid object that also emitted blue flame… He cursed again. Charging his horn, he attempted to throw it off course. He missed. This was a problem. That flying object was a wild-card; he knew nothing about it. It was not natural, for sure. Everything needed flapping wings to move – this one could do so with fire. A hot air balloon? He was sure it wasn't any of theirs... The faster the Princesses got here, the better. -&- Levin swore. Riana had stayed with the ship, making sure it hovered exactly where it did. They’d found Sev in a city built on the slopes of a mountain – by the looks of it, it was a large one. The corvette’s VI was a black market military version he’d bought off Omega’s stores, but even then the most delicate operations required a brain to pull off. He’d almost caught some anti-air fire – a blue ball had rushed past the back of the shuttle, barely 10 meters from the hull. By the looks of it, it was a biotic ‘throw’ projectile. Just as well that it didn’t hit. If it did, he’d be flung around like a rag doll thanks to the lowered mass of the shuttle. He could see a cloud of shapes in the air, closing with the shuttle. Sunlight glinted off them, revealing their golden armor. Guards. They wouldn’t be able to penetrate the shuttle’s hull armor – but they could knock it around. Levin doubled the mass, and as the shuttle lurched suddenly, he redirected the excess energy into the thrusters. Sev stood at a small clearing near the edge of the cliff. Levin could see him through the tinted frontal window. On the other side, a collection of golden forms stood facing Sev – likely troops and guards. A thump sounded from the cargo hold, but the craft didn’t even flinch. Levin made the turian approximation of a smile, pulling back the skin underneath his plates. This had the unintentional effect of flicking his mandibles outwards against the helmet he wore, making a clack. The thumps started to increase in frequency. Levin ignored them and focused on landing the shuttle. He was about twenty meters away from the cliff edge, and now he began the task of inching the shuttle closer to Sev. He landed square in the middle of the clearing, the jets of flame kicking up little clouds of dust and soil. Levin shifted in the cockpit seat until he could reach the Avenger hanging on the back of the cockpit door. “Sev, you look like you need help.” “Extraction, yes. The soldiers, no.” Judging by the tone of his voice, Sev didn’t feel any fear at all. In fact, he seemed… bored. Levin collected the rifle, stalked out of the cockpit door and took position to the side of the cargo-bay door. He tapped out an order on his omni-tool, and the door split into two parts, sliding to reveal a standoff between a lone krogan and a veritable army of pony soldiers. Levin’s VI alerted him to the large concentration of biotics amongst those troops. Judging by before, their abilities were not artificially amplified, which meant that he couldn’t hack their amps to disable their powers. He’d have to distract them, or throw off their aim somehow. Sev had heard the shuttle’s approach through his headset, although just barely. Blood and adrenaline pounded through his ears, distorting every word and every sound. Truth be told, he hated fighting biotics. They were the most annoying of enemies – capable of disabling him, at least temporarily, single-handedly. He’d always prioritized them ahead of other enemies. Levin looked at Sev. He wasn’t holding a weapon in his massive hands, but rather, a hostage. This one in particular looked important. He wore clothes that were trimmed with gold, and had all sorts of frill on it. Levin was reminded of some of the older turian uniforms during the turian Industrial Era. They prized status over camouflage or protection. “Where’s your gun?” Levin queried, genuinely surprised. Mercenaries treated their weapons like babies – thanks to constant use, many developed sentimental attachments to the older guns. The fact that he was missing his weapon suggested that he’d lost it unwillingly – which suggested that Sev’s escape had been quick and brutal. He certainly didn’t have the time to search his place of capture for his gun. “Bastards have it,” Sev spat, ignoring the offended and confused looks that the ponies gave him. Evidently he hadn’t switched off the suit speakers. The both of them swore in tandem as they spotted a white, winged shape pop out from behind the corner of a nearby building, behind the army of ponies. Celestia was flanked by another winged, horned pony – but this new one was a darker shade, and had a mane that was mostly dark blue. Following them was another winged, horned pony – a garishly pink one. The three all possessed massive biotic power, according to his armor's onboard microcomputers, although the pink one was comparatively weaker than the other two. All looked apprehensive, but determined. Oh, this isn’t good. It’s Relay 314 all over again, Levin thought. His people and the humans had almost started a massive, full-scale war stemming from a misunderstanding. Only the timely intervention of the asari diplomats could stop the fighting. History doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme. Three of the pegasus guards were still kicking the top side of the shuttle. They hovered in the air, periodically kicking out with their rear hooves, sounding dull thumps on contact. Levin rolled his eyes. Evidently, these ones were persistent, although stupid. He glanced upwards. “Bugger off.” The guards above the shuttle whirled around to face his voice, finding a smooth helmet with a tinted frontal faceplate. All three jerked backwards unconsciously, but recovered, drawing spears from their nearby holsters. Levin had been drawing the rifle from his back the whole time. The muzzle of his rifle met the point of the guard’s spear. Both sides stared down the other. “Bugger off,” Levin repeated, growling. He tapped the rifle’s muzzle against the spear for emphasis. The three jumped off the shuttle’s roof as one, and flew around until they faced him on the ground, between Sev and himself. The spears stayed up. Well, at least that infernal noise has stopped. He diverted attention back to the standoff developing between Sev and the ponies. Celestia and her two companions had moved to the forefront of the enemy line. Blue looked worried, but Pink even more so; her mouth was hanging open and tears were starting to leak out of the corners of her eyes. A purple unicorn by Pink’s side had the same expression as well. Levin suspected that both of them were related to the hostage… “Release your prisoner!” Celestia spat. Coming from the mouth of a herbivore, that was an odd sight indeed. “Give me my equipment back,” Sev replied, eerily calm. If Levin had his eyes closed, Sev could have been speaking to a store clerk, and he wouldn’t know any different. Celestia gritted her teeth. She was powerless at this point. Magic spells would come too close to Armor to be completely zero-risk, and with Cadance nearby, she didn’t want to make her niece suffer any more. The easiest solution would be to acquiesce to this alien’s demands – all he wanted was his equipment, which they were planning to return anyways – but this could set a precedent for future hostage takers… Cadance whimpered, trying to hold back her tears and failing obviously. Luna nudged her sister. “I will retrieve the being’s possessions. This isn’t worth the risk anymore.” And with that, she leapt into the sky towards the castle. When Blue left, Levin released a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding. He knew the remaining biotics would be more than capable of dispatching the both of them, so he kept himself behind the cover of the shuttle’s doorjamb. Direct biotic attacks needed line of sight to work, he remembered – as long as he remained behind cover, he should be relatively safe. The next five minutes reminded Sev of his time spent in mercenary work. Contrary to popular belief, mercenaries were usually just glorified security guards; most of their time was spent in tense boredom, standing guard over…something. It didn’t really matter. Sometimes they’d be called to eliminate someone, but mostly those jobs went to state-sponsored assassins. In fact, this job was the most exciting one he’d been on in a while. The pony soldiers remained stock still – Levin had to admire their discipline – whilst Celestia glared at Sev, her face an expression of fury. “So, where’s Riana?” Sev asked, out of the blue. The ponies looked at him oddly. “She’s in the ship,” Levin replied, shrugging. The weight of the assault rifle was an assurance. The tense atmosphere was getting to him as well. “Got any guns on it?” “No,” Levin snapped. “The hull was weaponless. And I spent most of the money on the engines.” Sev grunted. He’d hoped to be able to call in a strike. Just in case, of course. The ponies glanced at the two of them like they had gone mad. For all they knew, both of the aliens appeared to be conversing with themselves. Celestia glowered. “You attacked my ponies, and you expect to escape that easily?” Sev sighed. “Your guard attacked me first – wait, your ponies? You own them?” Several of the guards snarled, but several others shifted a bit. Celestia reared her head back a bit. “I would never presume such a thing! I represent the nation as a whole.” Sev let out a noncommittal rumble. He’d heard of such governments forming in turian and human civilization. Monarchies. People run by a ruler that placed himself into power via birthright. They’d always said something similar. The lack of such a governmental structure in the galaxy nowadays spoke volumes about its success. “So your guard’s wrongs are your wrongs, then. You should be the one apologizing.” At that, the ponies all gasped – some of the soldiers advanced, only to be stopped by the cry of pain Armor emitted as Sev squeezed his neck. Cadance blubbered and fell to the ground, sobbing. She’d only felt this powerless once before, and this situation brought back painful memories… Twilight galloped over, forcing a smile on her face despite the tears in her own eyes. She nuzzled Cadance’s neck. Levin caught his own breath as he saw the display of affection, and he let the Avenger hang a bit looser in his arms. Suddenly, violence didn’t seem as much of an acceptable means to an end as before. He shook his head. This was not the time to lose conviction, especially when the enemy would not. Celestia closed her eyes. This was too much. “I will let you have your equipment, for the safe return of your hostage.” Sev nodded. “Agreed.” Blue returned, holding Sev’s Striker rifle in her mouth. She was gripping the gun around the top carry handle, and Levin winced as he saw beads of saliva drip off her lower jaw onto the metal. She dropped the gun onto the ground carefully. “There. Now, release your prisoner.” “Kick it over here,” Sev said evenly. If they wanted to trap him, they were doing a poor job of it. Any youngling could see through that ploy. Blue complied. Pink hadn’t stopped wailing, and the noise was starting to annoy Sev, although he kept a lid on his temper. The gun lay at his feet. Slowly, Sev kneeled and scooped up the gun. From the weight and the feel, it was the real thing. He let the officer fall onto the ground, gasping, though to his credit he tried to charge up his biotics. Sev booted him with a foot. “Don’t try it.” His gun had been against his shoulder the whole time, muzzle facing the crowd of ponies. None of them approached. He backed off, and instantly Pink and Twilight moved forwards, along with Celestia. Sev hoped they’d focus on the officer rather than him. He hadn’t faced such a crowd of biotics before, and definitely not ones of such power. His boots made a clanging noise as they hit metal, and he realized he was in the shuttle. Levin was right next to him, still pressed next to the open doorway. Upon seeing Sev, he immediately returned to the cockpit, leaving Sev to buckle himself into a nearby seat. “Keep the side door open,” Sev said. Levin acknowledged. As the shuttle’s mass effect core powered up with a gentle, deep thrum, and the shuttle’s thrusters roared, Sev could see the ponies converging on their fallen colleague. Only two did not – Celestia and her blue companion. Both had their horns glowing with a biotic field. Biotics gave several noticeable indicators when they intended to attack. The most obvious was glowing skin, caused by activation of the eezo nodules in their nervous system. Sev acted on instinct. His rifle was still in his arms, still aiming at the crowd. He nudged the gun up and to the right a notch, until the crosshairs lined up with Celestia’s chest. There was no time to think about what would happen later – there may not be a later if he hesitated. The rifle roared, expelling three rounds. Firing sideways from a sitting position meant that the recoil of the gun wasn’t as easily controlled, and two of the rounds whistled harmlessly past the right side of Celestia’s neck. The first round embedded itself into her chest, stunning her and dispelling the glow around her horn. She gasped, and Blue turned to look at Celestia – and the bullet exploded. There hadn’t even been any time for blood to drip out of the wound. A geyser of fire erupted out of the wound, at the same time Celestia fell to the ground. She could feel every little piece of metal that the explosion had sunk deep into her body, and compounded with the searing heat, she was finding it very difficult to concentrate. She just wanted to sleep. Let this all be over. No more fighting. She didn’t notice the swarm of ponies around her, trying to staunch the blood leaking out of the fist-sized hole the explosion had left behind. Sev grinned savagely as his opponent dropped onto the grass. He’d taken out two birds with one stone, as the humans said, and with the injuries their ruler sustained, no one would have the time to block their escape. Levin could still hear the gunshots even through the cockpit’s airtight door. He sighed. Every misunderstanding seemed to spiral down into a larger mistake, and so on. By now, they’d definitely antagonized the country they were supposed to be digging in. A country full of powerful biotics. By the end of it, he reasoned, they’d be lucky if they didn’t end up dead. If they wanted to stay and continue to salvage, they'd have to try diplomacy, before their actions started the downward spiral of violence. Hell, it probably had already. The computers could sense the biotic flare from outside the shuttle, even through the drive core's interference. There was going to be hell to pay.