Thunderstruck

SSV Normandy

Engineering Deck

Garage 

Orbiting Agebinium Drop Zone

Alex watched as the ground team prepared for tactical drop. Unlike his own method, which involved dropping separately from the Mako, Cole wanted to drop with the Mako.

Scratch that. Cole wanted to ride on top of the Mako while it dropped. IT was completely insane. The idea was that Cole could better direct the orbital drop by combining the Mako's vertically aligned mass effect fields with one of his advanced powers. Cole could use his kinetic pulse to telekinetically lift objects caught in the radius. The conduit typically used this things he levitated as makeshift projectiles, but this was different. He hoped that a kinetic pulse could reduce the necessary 100 meters of open area needed for a Mako drop. If it worked, the Mako could be dropped much closer to a destination. 

Of course, if it failed, they were going to be picking little pieces of Supernova out of Agebinium's thin atmosphere....

A loud stomp behind the virus informed him that wasn't alone. Ever since Cole had mentioned the nuclear payload the probe had been rigged with, Alex had been on edge, and Wrex had noticed. The krogan was obviously going to ask him why, and Alex was hesitant to answer. It didn't seem like Wrex would be giving him a choice in the matter though.

"You don't like nukes," the krogan battlemaster stated with a touch of amusement. "You wanna talk about it?"

Alex sighed. "Listen, Wrex. I know that Tuchanka was reduced to a radioactive wasteland when your own kind started nuking each other, but this is different." Wrex took on a curious stance, expecting an explanation. "The krogan can easily survive the radiation, but how many have survived the actual explosion?"

Wrex snorted. "None. That's why we loved using them. Our ancestors didn't see the problem with thermonuclear warfare until our planet was rubble. What's that have to do with-" Suddenly, the old krogan's gaze turned hard. "Alex Mercer, are you shitting me?"

"It was the closest I ever came to dying." Alex closed his eyes, remembering the moment perfectly. "The blast blew me apart. All that remained were a few bits of red viral goo. In the end, a crow came by, and when it tried to eat my remains ended up consuming the crow. It was unpleasant, but I rebuilt myself from the ground up using the biomass of a crow . I will never forget the pain and trauma that came from that day." He turned to look at the awestruck krogan and thought back on the Retronuke Earth job. "I've had more encounters since then, but compared to what that first one did to me, any other incident has been small time."

Wrex just stood there in shock. Finally, the battlemaster shook his head and laughed. "You've got a serious quad, Alex! What the hell am I supposed to say that tops that story?" A crackling of electricity from on top of  the Mako informed them that it was best to exit the garage now. Wrex nodded towards the elevator. "Some other time, I'll make you tell me why there was a nuke in the first place. But first, let's get out of this garage so those four can deploy."

Alex agreed. "Good idea. I'm not setting foot on that planet until the bomb is shut down."

As the elevator slowly crawled up to the Crew Deck, Wrex cocked his head at that last statement. "When did anyone say you were going down there at all?"

The hooded shapeshifter said nothing, but a psychotic grin stretched across his face, and it was easily the most terrifying thing that Wrex had seen in centuries.

============================================================

SSV Normandy 

Engineering Deck

Drive Core Room

Three minutes until drop

"Tali," Ryan began, choosing his words carefully. "Cole is about to surf the Mako down to the planet's surface. This is usually the part where you question our sanity. You okay?"

Tali looked up from her console, as if she just realized Ryan had been standing there. "Huh? Oh, hey Ryan. What were you saying?" Even without his knack for "speaking mask" (as Eleanor Lamb liked to call it), the Splicer King knew something was troubling his quarian engineer.

Frowning, Ryan crossed his arms and leaned against the railing. Constructing a minor fib, he said, "I have an easier time than most when it comes to reading people that wear masks and helmets. For instance, right now I can tell something is really bothering you." He held up a hand to prevent any kind of denial. "Now you're feeling flustered and a little bit defensive. You're feeling like your privacy is invaded. I can do this all day, but that's not the point. I can read body language and pick up subtle tells that even other quarians might not notice, but I'm not reading your mind." He pushed off the railing now and looked directly at Tali's eyes, now shining brightly behind her opaque helmet. "If I could do that, I wouldn't need to ask, would I?"

Tali remained silent, shyly avoiding his gaze. He noticed her eyes briefly flicker over his shoulder, to where Ryan knew Ashley was waiting while the Mako got dropped. This told him that she didn't want to discuss the matter in public. He smirked. "Alright, Tali. You've got until the Mako is deployed to gather your thoughts, then I'm teleporting us up to the crew deck to talk in private." Ignoring the poor quarian's animated vocal complaints, Ryan activated his omni-tool and synced up with Joker's plotted trajectory.

There was a fairly good margin for error in the drop, but if this didn't work, a crash was the least of their worries.

The garage was opened to the outside world, and the Mako dropped. The last thing Ryan heard as the tank left their frigate was Cole yelling, but he couldn't make out the words. Turning to the quarian behind him, Ryan cracked a smile. "Time's up." He grabbing Tali, despite her protests, and teleported them both to the sleeper pod hallway on the floor above.

============================================================

Agebinium 

Upper Atmosphere

"Waaaaaahhhooooo!" Cole was having the time of his life surfing the Mako. He wasn't even wearing a helmet since an old upgrade to his powers allowed him to breathe in any kind of atmosphere. He made the addition to his arsenal immediately after a particularly nasty job on Retronuke Earth. Nobody would talk details, but whenever a Supernova complained about working with others, the Uniques simply reminded them of the "Sierra Madre Nightmare" and the whining stopped damn quick.

The technique was out of necessity; all of the usual methods for surviving in hazardous atmospheres either interfered with his powers or got fried by them. Deep space would still kill him, but Kessler taught Cole how to electrically change the chemistry of all air that entered his lungs. The waste ions produced from this kind of process would be toxic to a normal human, but Cole had long since learned that, for conduits like him, the same rules don't apply. The only problem with this technique was that it slowly drained his supply of electricity. Fortunately, the rate of drain was just small enough to be countered by his micro-generator implant for six hours before it began to eat into his normal power reserves.

It had come in handy plenty of times, especially at one job on Nar Shaddaa when an Exchange idiot, Visquis, tried to kill him with gases from the Jekk'Jekk Tarr. That didn't work out so well for anyone, and it only got worse when the oh-so-smug GOTO attempted to electrocute Cole. The rest was... explosive, to say the least.

"Tony Hawk's got nothing on this shit!"

From inside the Mako, Kaidan opened a comm. "You're referencing Tony Hawk? News flash! It's the twenty-second century, Cole!"

Cole ignored the lieutenant. The exhilarating feeling of riding on the top of the Mako was beyond description. He wasn't attached to the Mako by anything but a simple electric charge. At times his shoes weren't even touching the roof of the tank, but he was magnetized enough to stay with the vehicle.

The moment that the Chief engaged the micro-thrusters on the rover, Cole began to work his magic. Unleashing a kinetic pulse, he sharpened the angle of descent while adjusting the speed of the fall to keep the tank from getting pulverized when it landed. In other words, the Supernova was defying everything that Sir Isaac Newton, the deadliest son of a bitch in space, stood for.

And it was awesome.

The landing was just as remarkable. to prevent himself from crashing into the Mako, Cole waited until they were fifty meters from the ground before releasing the kinetic pulse and firing his own static thrusters to separate himself from the tank. The rover hit the ground perfectly, rolling a couple feet forward before coming to a stop. Cole carefully kept his static thrusters pointed against the force of momentum. Hitting the ground on his feet, he absorbed the remaining shock from the fall with no damage to his legs.

They had cut the Mako drop one hundred meters long down to fifty. The easy part was over. 

The hard part was finding an espionage probe rigged with nuclear ordnance before the surface of Agebinium became far more radioactive than it already was. Cole stepped inside the Mako as the Chief drove up to him. The hatch wasn't even closed and the supersoldier was already flooring it. Garrus was already mortified at how quickly the Spartan had undone his hours of tinkering back in the Normandy's garage. "Master Chief!" Garrus yelled. "If you keep driving like this, we're more likely to run over the probe than actually find it on purpose!"

With no trace of concern, Chief said something that threw them off balance more than the driving. "It's several dozen meters below the surface in an abandoned mine shaft. Should I slow down?"

Nobody said anything. Nobody had too. This was an obvious trap, orchestrated by the same man they originally came here looking for. The nuke took priority of course, but one thing was clear in everyone's minds:

Elanos Haliat wasn't leaving this planet alive.

============================================================

SSV Normandy 

Crew Deck 

Sleeper pod hallway

Status: holding position until contacted by ground team

"You. Are. An. Absolute. Bosh'tet. Don't do that again, or I swear I'll quit." 

"Tali," Ryan smirked. "It was either that or the elevator, and I really hate that elevator. Teleportation was the quickest way to get you here without our wiseass pilot watching us on his web of security feeds, which I am going to block until we're done talking. I know for a fact something's upsetting you, and I made an educated guess that it was personal." He shrugged. "I've done all that I can to give you privacy. Whether you tell what's wrong or walk out the door is entirely up to you."

"Why does it matter so much to you?" Tali asked, eyes filled with suspicion.

Without missing a beat, Ryan explained. "Not too long ago, you were overflowing with energy and enthusiasm. Between then and now, you went through a close call on Therum, and that's about it. I want to know what's changed, both for pragmatic reasons and because I'm genuinely curious." She relaxed slightly at that statement. Ryan continued. "Since this is a personal matter, you're either in shock, you doubt your worth to the mission, or it's a completely unrelated issue." He saw the tension return to her shoulder after he voiced the third possibility. "Glad to see it's that last one because I've got enough problems blaming myself for Therum." The Splicer King brushed the matter aside. "But enough about me. Let's talk about you.

Realizing that she had no hope of getting out of this, Tali sighed and asked, "How do you sleep when it's so quiet?"

Ryan had come up with over a hundred possible scenarios that would causing grief for his quarian engineer. That had certainly not been one of them. He supposed he could relate though. The jobs he did for Unique Revan and Exile involved an old freighter called the Ebon Hawk. Ryan had sworn that the thing was being held together by spit, rust, and prayer sometimes. When the hyperdrive wasn't ticking, it meant T3-M4 had about a minute and half to fix it, or they were all going to die. Even before that, silence in Rapture was never a good thing. Not counting the way sound was amplified in the water, a moment of peace did not mean the splicers were gone. It just meant that Ryan couldn't see or hear them, and that was much worse.

Of course, since he couldn't say any of this, Ryan simply asked the quarian for clarification. Tali began to explain. "Back on the Flotilla, the last thing you'd want to hear was silence. It meant that an engine's died, or an air filter has shut off."

Ryan nodded. Considering the state of most quarian vessels, her reaction was understandable. But he could tell she wasn't done. "There's more isn't there?" When Tali looked at the floor in minor embarrassment, Ryan sighed, realizing what she needed to hear. "If you're worried I'll think less of you, then don't."

Tali looked up in shock. What was her commander saying? He seemed frustrated, but she wasn't very good at reading human facial expressions. He was getting upset, but it looked different than the angry racism she was accustomed too. Then he started talking again. "You joined us of your own free will. You have just told me that my ship's silence is causing you stress. Naturally, I'm concerned that you might want to go your own way, especially after we almost got you killed on Therum." Tali's throat went dry. Ryan was worried she might leave? He continued before she could explain comment. "I'm no slouch in the engineering department but you've definitely got me beat. What you've already done for this drive core is borderline miraculous, and unlike me, you can successfully hack the geth. I'd never deny you the right of free choice. If you choose to leave, I wouldn't stop you."

Tali was speechless at this. Rather than kick her off like any other ship captain would. Ryan had given her his express permission to stay only as long as she wanted. What was she supposed to say? "Ryan, I wasn't even planning to leave!"

He seemed pleased with this, but the slowly growing smirk on his face was worrisome. "Then will you tell me what's wrong? Or do we have to teleport again?"

"Keelah, no! I'll talk!" Tali put her hands up in a defensive posture, knowing full well it wouldn't do any good if he was serious. Luckily, Ryan was once again leaning against the sleeper pod. He made a gesture for her to speak, and speak she did. She began to explain how empty the Normandy sometimes felt. She told him how she missed her people back on the Flotilla.

The commander sighed at this, and for a moment, Tali was afraid that he actually did think less of her for worrying over something so trivial. Then he said something she would never forget. "Tali, let me tell you something. I have no blood relatives, and my 'rite of passage' was killing without being killed, like the krogan. From what I can gather though, this Pilgrimage of yours isn't just about bringing something back to the Flotilla. It's also about going back to the Flotilla. It seems like you're supposed to learn to appreciate the life you had before you left. So what you're feeling right now is natural. I can't say for sure, but I'll assume you have family waiting for you when you get back." Tali nodded, unwilling to give any details about her father. "Then keep that family in mind. Everything you do here is going to either keep them safe, make them proud, or both." He became somber. "That's more motivation than I can ever claim to have."

Tali thought about this. Perhaps that truly was the point of the Pilgrimage, and Ryan seemed to be sharing very personal information with her. "Thanks Ryan. That means a lot." The commander smiled warmly at her, and it made Tali very glad that her mask was concealing her face - and her blush.

She was snapped back to reality when he suddenly grabbed her by the arm and teleported them both down to the armory. "You bosh'tet! Why did you do that?"

"Holy crap!" Ashley screamed. "Commander, need remind you that I'm maintaining the weapons over here. No teleporting near the girl with the guns!"

"Ashley." Tali said. "Why don't you just shorten that to 'no teleporting' period?"

Ryan laughed, but otherwise ignored them both. He walked over to his armor locker, pulled out his Firestorm and tossed it to the Gunnery Chief. "Tali is no longer depressed, and I've got you two not only speaking, but united against me. My job is officially done." Ashley turned slightly red at this. "Yes, Chief Williams. I knew all along you had a mild xenophobic streak. It hasn't caused any problems, aside from minor unwarranted suspicion. As a punishment, you and Tali are going to work together to get that shotgun in working order again. Good day, ladies." He gave them the trademark "Rapture Smile" that melted (most) women's hearts, and vanished from sight.

Ashley flushed a darker red, and turned to Tali. "This is awkward. While we work on this, I think I owe you an explanation." 

Tali nodded, "I'd like that, Ashley."

Over in the far corner of the room, an invisible Ryan smiled. He hadn't recovered from the previous teleport yet, so of course he was still there. This was what Cole probably meant.

This was how a team should behave.

============================================================

Agebinium 

Sub-Surface

Abandoned mineshaft

Cole looked to make sure that Chief and Kaidan were covering the entrance before proceeding forward. The probe was definitely sitting inside the room ahead, but the lack of life signs meant Haliat was already gone. Still, the bomb was priority one, so Cole and Garrus moved forward into the small chamber. Cole was about to give the all clear, but he detected an electric signal being sent along the walls of the room. "Get down!"

BOOM

The walls exploded behind Cole and his turian associate, sealing them in with the nuclear device. Cortana instantly went about tracking the signal, but there was too much interference from the ore in the mine. Her job became much easier, however, when Haliat actually contacted them via hologram. She attempted to lock onto his position while they all listened to the warlord chat with Cole.

"Cole MacGrath, the 'Storm of Elysium'. We meet at last." The imposing image sounded impossibly smug. He had no idea what kind of hell he had brought upon himself.

Cole, to his credit, didn't even seem impressed. He had almost anticipated this. "Elanos Haliat. You're owner of Haliat Armory, but more importantly, the turian bastard that caused the Skyllian Blitz. You had to know I would find you eventually."

The maniac laughed. "That's where you're wrong boy. I brought you here to make sure you actually died. You can't hope to outrun the blast, especially since we've taken your tank. And you can't signal for help because the rocks in this place are all laced with heavy metals."

At this revelation, Cortana stopped her trace. Any reading she took would hardly be reliable from down here. "Chief, we need to get back outside. I can find them by comm.  chatter and by tracking the Mako's signal."

Unaware of the AI's private discussion, Haliat continued with what had to have been a prepared speech. "I was the one that took the blame for the failure at Elysium. That failure was caused by you and your kind! But all that I've lost can be reclaimed, and everyone in the Terminus systems will rally behind me. And then, who knows? Alex Mercer may have Aria's blessing now, but let's see how long that lasts after-"

"And now you're ranting," Cole said in a completely bored voice. He walked forward and disabled the probe by draining all energy from it. Now, there was nothing that could possibly set it off unless somebody actually shot the damn thing. He turned toward the two soldiers on the other side of the rubble. "Get outside and get a fix on him! We'll find a way out form here!" The Chief was across the chamber and out the mine in seconds.

Haliat was incredulous. "Impossible!" The holographic image faced away from them. "Get us back there! I'll finish him myself!" Turning back towards Cole, Haliat's flanging voice rumbled. "Your time is up, MacGrath. Now I'll show you the extent of my wrath!"

"I'm quaking in terror." Cole retorted, rolling his eyes before shorting out the hologram with a bolt of lightning. He stepped past Garrus and walked out of the room, only to see that cave-in had them trapped. Even the other door was blocked off, which was a shame. The schematics showed that it led to high ground, and that would come in handy. It was at this moment that the conduit remembered Haliat's words:

Cole grinned. "Garrus, stay behind me. Kaidan, back the hell away from those rocks."

The lieutenant did as he was told, but remained skeptical. "Cole, isn't this kind of, um, thing... Garrus, help me out here."

Garrus cocked his head slyly. Whether the situation involved assaulting a gentleman's club or being trapped in an abandoned mine, Garrus somehow always looked like was doing it with style. "I think he's trying to say that you lack Alex Mercer's ability to shatter rock with a slight nudge. I know you're good, but I don't see how lightning bolts can move all this."

Cole never stopped grinning. "Garrus, you're the detective. What did Haliat say about these rocks?"

The turian clicked his mandibles in thought. "The rocks were laced with... heavy metals!"

Cole turned back towards the wall of debris, the grin widening further. "And metal conducts electricity."

Kaidan crouched low, raised a biotic barrier, and screamed, "Fire in the hole!"

Charging a massive current down both shoulders, along his arms, and into his hands, Cole launched a huge electromagnetic blast into the rocks at point blank range.

CRACK

If it had been normal stone, this would have needed at least another blast to clear a path. Because of the metal ore, however, the entire mountain of rubble was blown apart, sending rocks everywhere.

Now reunited with Kaidan, Cole turned to the left and repeated the process, and the door to the exit got blown open by some of the larger boulders in the process. The trio raced for the top of the shaft.

It was finally time to kill Elanos Haliat.

============================================================

Agebinium

Surface

Open terrain

Spartan 117 was running at insane speeds, not to reach Haliat, but to find something that passed for cover before the warlord's Grizzly could open fire. Even with MJOLNIR armor, there was no surviving a direct hit from those cannons, unless...

Changing his course, the Chief now began to run directly at the pair of tanks. Cortana became very worried. "Chief... What are you doing?" 

"Rule Number One of the Spartans" John recited as the barrels of the two Grizzlies took aim. "Adapt or die." Just before there fired, the Spartan slammed his fist into the ground, locking his armor. The impacts were brutal, but his over-clocked shields held, and the Chief was instantly running again. 

Every single member of Haliat's private army was too stunned to move. Not only had this armored warrior reached their base from the mine in less than five minutes, but he just withstood two Grizzly shots at once! His timing had been perfect, since Grizzlies had a fairly lengthy cooldown between firing. He had already taken cover behind a small outcropping of rock and was beginning to fire on their position. It wasn't until one of them had died that they remember to shoot back. On the plus side, they now had him cornered, and they could flank him with his own Mako. A pirate captain signaled for the stolen vehicle's new driver to put the green giant down for good.

Chief heard the Mako before he saw it and swore. He had hoped that Cole and the others would have found a way out by now, but now he would have to defend against three vehicles and an army. He couldn't exactly destroy the Normandy's own vehicle, so he needed to hijack it without getting blown to bits by Grizzly fire. "Cortana, any chance you can hack the Mako's gun when they come to flank us?"

"I can, but it would take days of calibrations to fix the thing later."

"It's not like Garrus has anything else to do on the ship," Chief muttered. "Do it."

At that moment, the Mako came by from the left, aimed, and.... nothing. The rover's VI was completely convinced that all weapons systems were permanently overheated. Frustrated, the driver tried to run the Chief over, which required him to go behind the rock outcropping and away from the protection of the Grizzlies.

Sidestepping at the last second, Master Chief grabbed onto the side of the Mako facing away from Haliat's forces. While he used the Mako as a shield, Cortana overrode the lock on the door. The Chief swung in, snapped the driver's neck, and tossed the body out in one fluid motion. Now with possession of the Mako, the Chief recognized friendly signatures on radar. He smirked to himself before swerving dangerously to the left, making sure that Haliat's army kept their full attention on him.

============================================================

Agebinium

Surface

Elevated terrain

"I'm on high ground with a sniper rifle," Garrus whispered. "It doesn't get any better than this." 

"Holy hell," Kaidan murmured. "Is the Chief always this ballsy?"

Cole chuckled quietly. "No. Sometimes he does something really insane." The conduit got to his feet and began to crackle with lightning. "Kaidan, be ready to lay down a barrier. Garrus, let's see who can drop more of these scumbags."

Garrus snickered. "No offense Cole, but I think I've got the advantage this-"

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! 

In the span of a second, Cole used his time-dilating precision bolts to fry three of the unsuspecting pirates. Not one to be shown up, the turain agent fired into the pirate horde. Each pull of the trigger resulted in a headshot. "Scoped and dropped!" Garrus yelled.

The Grizzlies slowly rotated their turrets to face the dueling snipers, but their shots were blocked as Kaidan biotically lifted a group of crates in front of the giant guns. Cole stopped attacking the pirates and focused on the tanks. 

Ageninium had the wrong atmosphere for a lightning storm, but that wasn't a problem. Cole could make it happen anyway. Raising his arms above his head, the conduit of lightning brought his wrath down on the pair of tanks, completely obliterating them with punishing torrents of lightning from the sky. Not stopping there, he directed the lightning storm at the scattering mercs as well, frying them by the dozens. Soon, Cole was utterly exhausted now, but it didn't matter. In all the choas, Garrus was still scoring headshots, Kaidan was wreaking havox with his biotics, and the Chief drove up, jumped out of the Mako and unleashed hell on Haliat's remaining forces.

When the shooting finally stopped, only Haliat remained alive, albeit with a broken leg from Cole's devastation. He was raving and ranting, but otherwise harmless. Cole staggered away from the instigator of the Blitz and radioed the Normandy. 

Five minutes later, their ship arrived to pick up the Mako and drop off Alex Mercer. Before doing anything, he yelled,  "Is the probe disabled?" They all nodded, and the virus grinned sadistically. "Good."

Without another word, the ultimate predator walked over to Haliat, picked him up off the ground, and punched a hole in the warlord's chest, consuming the owner of Haliat Armory. Cole looked at him expectantly, and Alex gave him the thumbs up.

============================================================

SSV Normandy

CIC

Comm. Room

Leaving Agebinium

In the form of Elanos Haliat, Alex Mercer had opened up a secure line with the turian's account managers. He gave them the necessary account information, so he was clear to do as he pleased with all the money, resources, and assets at Haliat's disposal.

The volus on the other end was stunned for a moment. "Forgive me, Mr. Haliat. But you would like to withdraw how much?"

In the form of a turian, all Alex could do was flare his mandibles, but inside, he was grinning like a maniac. "All of it." 

============================================================

Here is a sneak peak of a chapter in the sequel. 

============================================================

2173, Alchera

Surface team

Fifteen days since destruction of the Normandy

The dozen mercenaries slowly but surely traversed the icy surface of Alchera. This was  probably the easiest job they'd ever get, and it was going to make them bloody rich. The Shadow Broker had hired them all to recover the corpse of the infamous Commander Ryan from the Normandy's crash site. They didn't know what anyone wanted with the freak's dead body, but they didn't care. They were motivated by money and the desire to mock the remains of the legendary Torfan Tactician who had been a thorn in their side since day one. 

"Aket, you copy?" one of the greener mercs radioed in.

Aket, the captain of this group, rolled his four eyes. "What is it human?"

"I saw something move."

Aket sighed. He didn't have time for this. "I'm not holding your hand, so if you see it again, just shoot it." Stupid humans.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, and they reached the corpse with no trouble. There was only one problem:

It was encased in ice and any parts of the body that hadn't been wrecked in the crash were perfectly preserved.

Aket yelled in frustration. "Get the airship down here. We brought digging equipment, right? We'll just have to carve the bastard out of the ice."

Twenty minutes later, their airship arrived loaded with excavation gear. Aket barked orders and the mercs approached the frozen corpse with their tools. The closest one was inches from digging into the ice when the ground began to quake and a sharp noise split the sky.

EEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIAH!

The sound came from almost everywhere at once, so nobody knew where to aim. Naturally, they formed a defensive ring around their location, covering all directions at the cost of focusing on a single one.

The human merc from earlier was flipping out. "Shit! I told you. I told you I heard something. I told you and you didn't believe me!" Aket was about to shoot him, but he never got the chance. The ice beneath the human's feet split wide open swallowing the poor bastard, along with two more veteran mercs on the squad.

Aket backed away from the crevice and screamed to the airship. "Take off, dammit! We need a view from the sky now!"

THUNK! THUNK!

Two more of his men were now dead, both with massive shards of ice lodged in their abdomens. Whatever this was, it played for keeps. The pilot alerted them to movement on the right, which then was replaced with a sighting on the left, then sixty yards back... then nothing anywhere. 

"Are you on red sand up there?" One of the turian mercs yelled. "Either you saw movement or you didn't, but nothing vanishes into thin-aahhg!"

The merc never got to finish, as he was interrupted by a deadly ball of fire. In Alchera's atmosphere of methane and ammonia, fire was nobody's friend. The same fate awaited three more of the mercs, each miniature inferno coming from a completely different angle. Were they surrounded? Something about this reminded Aket of the rumors of Commander Ryan. But that was impossible, Ryan was right there, frozen in ice"

Aket signaled for the airship to get the three surviving mercs an evac. This wasn't worth dying over. Their ride had barely descended twenty meters when lithe figure dressed in strange exo-suit materialized right on top of it. Aket saw a sinister rod on their aggressor's left arm shatter the airship's front window, killing the pilot. Now out of control, the airship spiraled down into the remnants of his squad.

Aket pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the frozen remains of Commander Ryan. "You're protecting this guy's corpse, aint't you?" he shouted, looking around because he couldn't see the hostile anywhere. "Well, what'll you do now? Let me live, or I swear I'll pull the trigger!" For thirty seconds, nothing happened, so Aket tried again. "I can't make a deal with someone who won't talk. I'm here for Ryan, but I ain't dying over a corpse. Tell me what's so important about the broken body of a hero!"

Aket caught a flash of purple in his peripheral  vision, but it wasn't enough to save him. The gun was ripped from his hand, and he was lifted off the ground. He thought that the purple flash had been biotics, but when he looked at the source of all his current problems he didn't see the telltale glow. Instead he saw something much worse.

Standing before him with its right hand outstretched was a slender figure that vaguely resembled a human. But the exo-suit it was wearing was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It alternated between white fabric and grey metal. Up and down the legs were countless straps and belts, for what purpose, Aket couldn't begin to imagine. There were hooks along the back of the right arm. Attached to the left arm was that sinister rod, only at this range, it looked more like a giant needle. The worst part about this.... thing's outfit was the helmet.

Instead of staring at a mask, Aket was met with the unforgiving glare of a spherical grey helmet with a single red light shining from inside. 

A woman's voice resonated from within that crazy helmet. "I'm not here for the corpse of a hero. I'm here for the corpse of my foster brother!"

That was the thing Aket heard before she raised the giant needle and rammed it through his head. 

While Rapture had turned both of them into brutal fighters, Eleanor Lamb was always the more patient one. While news of her "brother's" death had come as a complete shock, she knew that his death was likely an easy fix. She also knew that Ryan had encased himself in ice during his final moments alive just for this reason.

Thus, Eleanor would continue to guard over his preserved remains until an opportunity presented itself. In Rapture, she had orchestrated the rebirth of her "father" Subject Delta, and that was all from the confines of Persephone. Here, she would do the same thing for her brother.

Alex Mercer and Cole MacGrath would find what she needed. Of that, Eleanor was quite sure.

Read, comment, and follow!