"Well, that bites." Now Azul had to come up with a plan for the second team. Then again, they knew what to expect and would adjust accordingly. 'Have to stop trying to control everything or I will sc rew everything up. But later, for now we get our Vorca back.'
Going over, he found the probe Tifa dropped near the shaft. It was in constant scan surrounding's mode. He grabbed it and connected to the Reaper Node to it.
'Bass, give me the coordinates, of the last location of my squad. Then give on any of the others who could have passed through her. Past footprints that are very recent.' After giving that order he turned to the colonists and waited.
Bass: Sending signal pulse now … location found and footprints collected. Uploading to map now. 3d rendering going to the party of shape and race of personnel. Trying to work through the interference. So far no luck. However, the Prothean stasis has not been found yet. Team two is en route and should arrive before the mercenaries take a second pass in the area. If projections are correct.
"What the hell is all this jumble? Hey, colonists send me any data of a map you have on your Omni-Tool's." Receiving the data he went to work with Bass. "Try to clean this up as best you can."
Bass: Of course, that should be too easy. Matching data now.
After two minutes a clear image was formed on the screen. 'Collapsed tunnels, burned-out lifts, but wait... what the hell is this corridor? Is it the same one as last time? No, it is different. The area was furthur away. What can it be? Just without the damage in the area over it? Bass, cross this with the memories I have. That should help to verify? Can you find anything matching in the Reaper Node?'
Bass: Tifa detected 2 miles below the current location. Her Omni-tool is sending out a damage signal. The distress signal has not been triggered. It is odd but expected. It would be best to assume hostiles in the area. The materials suggest it is an underground laboratory. Referencing with the Node... alarming news. The mercs are making their presence known. More than last time, much more. I will have to get back to you, NetOp.
'Shit! Is there any way to get info on the others? This is going south real fast. I hope they are ok. This is my fault, I relied too much on my history of this mission.' A blast of nausea hit him.
Massive amounts of negative biotic strands have been pouring into him. Azul almost fell to his knees grabbing at the wall. His hearts, both of them for that matter seized up. He forgot about that in his haste. Another mistake. He prepped but the changes were more than anticpated.
Alita: My User snap out of it! You are absorbing too many biotic strands from the colonists. It is clouding your judgment. There is too much depression for your current mental state. Focus on rescuing your team. Blame can be assigned later.
System: Willpower Check Auto Passed
With a shake of his head and burst of power, he had control again. For safe measure, he hit himself and the colonist with another dose of Mental cleansing. His Pather power covered more terrain than last time. Several teams had come to the planet before this one. Several times they had been cleaned up. Lots of remnant energy behind for his Pather power to hit agaist. Especially with him always training it to gain a better understanding. He received the emotion of a race down here he was not familiar with. One that existed before the Reapear's.
Reaper Node: Objective: Find out about the ?????? Failure: Genteics information drops to 0 Rewards: ?????, ????
'That is just great. It is question marks, so it cant be the Leviathons.'
Bass: Both teams have engaged the enemy. Geth are getting taken down quickly and fast. Mercs are getting into firefights as we speak. They are mindful of the Vorcha. Most have retreated when coming across them.
"Alright, people my team is in trouble. I can't' stay here anymore." AzuI said to them, as he looked at the map trying to figure something out. 'What is the fastest route as well as an escape method?' 'Bass, ideas go if you have none,' He paused at the screen waiting for something to pan out and make sense. "..I am just gonna chargeback."
Bass: That is not a good idea. However, I may be able to trace the signal back, as well as map out the area more if I upload myself into the drone and follow it back.
'Sounds like a plan. Do it! Wait what are the dangers? Your programming is massive. Can you even fit?' Azul checked at the closes merc group. 'Not to far off. Easy to deal with.'
Bass: There won't be any. Only a bit of fatigue when I return. Tifa upgraded the hell of most of her tech. More than enough room.
At that the little drone took flight. It turned and waved its little antenna at him to follow. AzuI did just that.
"Wait what about us?" Some of the colonists asked.
"Hmm." Azul gave pause. Alita what do you think? I think I can help but should I? Things have changed with our people. We come first and foremost.'
Alita: Tell them you will try. I believe that you don't want to generate any additional missions right now. If you offer them assistance directly, I will not be able to hold the generated missions back. The difficulty level will skyrocket. Good news, Jane is on her way with a detached team. This place feels wrong. I suggest getting out of there as soon as possible. What you have pulled in has shown something more down below.
'Damn that is quick. How in the heck is she almost here?' AzuI looked back to the colonists. 'Time to give some bad news.'
"Look there are Krogan mercs here. I have no idea how many there are, or what they are here for. But what I can summarize, it has to do with the Genophage. You'll all should know how they react towards that subject. It is up to you. What do you want to do next?"
Alita: Your team cleaned out a lot in that area. Shepard apparently took Jane's advice. She was able to lead a team away from everything to explore thats between this facility and the one they are in. From what I have gotten from Maldova, the plan has gone well. A bomb went off forcing Shepard, Kaiden, and Liara to leave Benezia behind. The Rachni Queen is on her way out with the package.
'Fat chance it is this easy!' Azul retorted angrily. 'Not mad at you but I think something will happen. Tell them to be careful if you can.' After saying that, AzuI sprinted to catch up with the drone. In one minute he caught up with it. In three we came across a firefight.
A squad of Krogan were firing at his people. He used Observe to see what he was dealing with as he approached closer. The colonists were furthur back. Moving slowly.
Observe: Krogan Warband Warlord Wraka Lvl 20
Specialty: Vanguard
Main Title: Krogan Purist
Relations: ????, ???
Status: Healthy, Excited
Observe: Krogan Warband x3 Lvl 15
Specialty: Soldier
Main Title: Purist Grunt
Relations: ????
Status: Healthy, Excited
Tifa was pinned behind rocks. Hotshot was laying covering fire with her Shotgun. From the looks of it that was the only thing keeping them from getting overrun. Slipp was doing her best to get an old door opened. The one that leads to the new Prothean chamber. Several bodies laid blown apart between both groups. The dead geth was facing away from the team. A few lights were still lit up. They were trying to fix themselves maybe?
System Check: Willpower Check Auto Fail
Reaper Node: All colonist to participate in a firefight. Bonus: Protect Colonists. Renegade Kill all the Krogan. Paragon Find out the objective of the Krogan. Rewards Vary.
Azul's biotics kicked up a notch. 'What the everliving hell?' "Shit! Why for the ever-living hell why the Krogan?" Azul snapped out loud. A slip of the tongue. 'The Genophage is really important so yeah, makes sense. Stupid me.'
"Are you ok?" One of the colonists asked.
"No, I am not. This place is having a weird effect on me." AzuI said as he unclipped his heavy pistol.
He felt a weird throbbing at the base of his neck. It overrode his judgment to call out to them. To talk it out. Before he knew what came over him, a large power boost came from his Dragon. A power that forced him to protect the Herd. He had enough sense to fire as he moved. He could feel Alita purring through the link. She was excitied.
One of them caught sight of Azul easily. "Who the hell are you?!" A Krogan across from him yelled. "You think you will interfere? Die!" The Krogan yelled as he fired his shotgun at him."
"Koom"
"Koom"
"Koom."
Shield -42%
The blasts of fire tore into his armor shields. AzuI sent out a wave a biotic energy to disrupt him and the rest of his mercenaries. It wouldn't last long but would give him some breathing room. If he would have went for the kill it would be a different story.
Me and a Krogan started bashing each other in hand to hand. Due to his flexibility, He was able to move around easily. Took every chance he had to fire at one of the other mercenaries. Each shot pinning them down blasting a good bit of their armor away.
A flicker caught his attention. He also noticed something else with Tifa's movements. She was manipulating a biotic shield covering Hotshot and Slipp. She was using healing in it.
System Check: Perception Check 27 Pass
"He is our Boss you overgrown lizard!" Tifa yelled through gritted teeth. She fired a shot then got back down and focused on healing the injured.
Azul's went into a blood haze. He felt a strange connection to the spear the Emperor gave him. Which was weird since it was in Tactics currently. His Adrenaline Rush activated more powerful than ever before.
"Pow!" She caught a Krogan right by the side of his face.
"Not by himself he won't. Good thing he has a backup." Jane's voice came out as she came across from nowhere that he could see at first. A few of the mercenaries looked around to try to determine where the voice came from. "Up top boys!"
"Take care of the Warlord!" Williams yelled.
"Pow!" Jane had one hand on a rappel as she descended and fired. Williams and Wrex descending down with her on other lines. "Kachak, kachak," both firing out with shotguns.
"Rah," Azul punched the Krogan Warlord in the gut. The Warlord only grimaced as his shields were broken through. He grinned at Azul for a second. Eyes going wide when a fist came towards his face. "Crack," the enforced bones in the Krogan's face actually cracked.
"Kuh, not bad for a.." The Warlord said. Azul fist came again and punched him in the face. "Ugh, pft," he was forced to spit to the side. A small amount of blood. He was no pushover, the Warlord reached for his weapon. Pointing his shotgun right at Azul, he fired. "You will have to better than that runt."
Shield -73%
"Kachak," tore right into the shields. Azul did not move as he brought another fist down. "Wham," a left sent the Warlord's face to the side. "Wham," another right to the snout. He didnt stop as he bashed it another time for a few more rounds.
"Ughh," the Warlord groaned. His vision blurring just a bit. "What are you doing?" He was surprised when Azul picked him up by the head. His vision blocked. "Ahhh," he yelled out in shame. Azul headbutted him.
"Never.." Azul snarled as he came down again. The front plating on the Warlord's head broke apart. Azul headbutted him again. "..ever.." he came back down again. "and I mean never.." Azul's biotics activated his Flame Fist. It wrapped around his head and body ".. touch my people again!" His hold coming undone from the force. He dropped the Krogan and mounted him. He started wailing on him just punching his face. "Do you hear me?! Answer me damn it!?" For the next few seconds he just kept punching down.
"Ping, ping," Azul had mashed the Warlord's face in and was punching at the metal underneath. He ignored the damage to his hands as he kept going.
Hotshot moved up behind him slowly. She just stood and watched holding onto her side. The injury already healing thanks to Tifa. A strong energy radiated off of Azul to her. 'I am healing the closer I get to him. So many changes.' Erecting a barrier around herself she started firing at the other Krogan. 'Hopefully, he comes to soon.. huh?' She was surprised the moment she thought it, he came to. 'He is already in control? Is he just that pissed?'
"Tifa stun grenade!" Azul yelled. He, however, sent a message to Jane for one. 'Drop me a stun grenade. Need these blasted lizards alive.' With some of the mercenaries looking that way on instinct, Jane dropped a flash grenade. He made sure to drop it at the Krogan's feet who was charging over.
"Ding!!" The grenade was a sonic grenade instead. It disrupted the fighting Krogan and gave Azul a serious headache.
"Raaah!" The Krogan yelled moving frantically. Wrex and Williams jumped off the rappels and smacked down onto the down Krogan's. With the butt of their guns and the grenade's effect, they were able to knock them out.
"You ok?" Tifa asked walking up with Slipp. Hotshot went to secure the Krogan with cuffs. She was quiet but had a small smirk on her face. "Azul you alright?" Tifa asked again. She was surprised when she felt the flames travel from him to her and saw her shields fully restore. 'That is definitely new. My body's energy is restoring as well.'
"My gunshot has closed up?!" Slipp look down amazed. "The experimentation you received.. how much are you different than others?" She walked over and stopped when she saw redlines all across his face. It was his veins, they were pronounced and red under his skin. His eyes glowed pink/red with biotic energy. "You.." She stopped when he looked at her. A small shiver down her spine.
"Ha!" Azul exhaled as his body untensed. He looked back at Tifa. "Yeah, I am ok. How is everyone else?" He looked at the screen and was happy to see the vital rise on the team. "Glad it worked. More kinks to work out with my biotics." He rubbed his knuckles as he looked at Slipp. Her expression made him thoughtful. "Did I scare you?"
"Hell yeah!" Slipp yelled. Her face gained a slight tint as she was embarrassed. "I mean no."
"Heh, ok." Azul looked at Jane and her team. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem. Do you really think it was smart to do that?" Jane asked as she kicked the corpse of the Krogan leader. "Damn you went into him. Glad you were in control. You differentiate between allies right?"
"You specifically, yes. Everyone else I have no idea. Are they friendly or no?" Azul rewrapped his Flame Fist around his hands. "It would be a shame to fight them two."
"They are good. Especially Williams here." Jane leaned into him and sent she wanted to talk privately. Giving her a nod they walked away to the side. "Wrex try to play nice."
"Grr, sure. The human has defintely earned that. To bad for these guys. Losing their Warlord like that in disgrace." Wrex grunted and smiled. 'Hmm, I think this guy is more Krogan than human. What kind of experiments has he gone under?"
"What is up Jane?" Azul asked. He was hit by two things. Jane's biotic strands and her giving him a hug. "Woah you ok?"
"Yes," Jane said letting him go. She put her hand on his wrist and opened a telepathic link with his permission. 'Just had to thank you again. For everything. I have done way better here this time around. I had a few surprises though. Back in the other time, I had made Wrex and Tali my followers. Soon as I fully awakened here, the bonds kicked in with the two. Wrex is extremely protective of me since then.' Azul tilted his head a little at that. 'We are lovers. Were lovers. I had him then Joker. Anyway.. Williams piggybacked with my soul piece somehow. She wants to travel with you. Especially since I heard you are rejoining the Alliance. Something happen to her when you crashed to the surface of the planet. She was hurting and changed in some way. That is what the System informed me.'
'Hah, right makes sense.' Azul took a mental breath. 'Glad everything is going ok for you.' His voice had a little pain that Jane caught easily.
'Want to talk about it?' Jane was really interested. 'I enjoyed our Alliance last time. It is even better this time. I have mended some fences with my few friends.'
'Yes. But not now. Glad your still a friend. We have that blasted meeting to go to in a few days. We can talk about it after. Think about it best we finish here.' Azul was wanting to get her opinion but stopped when Bass sent him a notification. More enemies were coming. 'We have incoming. Talk later.' He broke the link after seeing her nod. Running back he saw Tifa working on the door. Williams right next to her helping. Slipp had pulled the Geth over into a pile.
"Pow!" A heavy pistol shot went through the air.
Azul sprinted to Slipp. She heard the shot and took off. Hotshot had lifted the Krogan and ran them to the door.
"Get fragged!" Wrex threw a flash and fire grenade into the first grouping. It landed right where Slipp was previously standing.
The flash grenade went off a little before the fire grenade. Thanks to the group's previous eye upgrades there was only a 2-second delay before they readjusted to normal vision.
Jane rushed into the fire. At least Azul thought it was her. He only saw a few glimpses of her at first. She was moving stupid fast. In her right hand was a heavy pistol but it had the marks of the Imperial Aquila. Each shot was precise. The shots blasted chunks out of legs or kneecaps. With each flinch or buckle of the legs, the Omni-Hammer in her arms took out a chest with each swing.
"Tunk"
"Tunk"
"Tunk"
"Tunk"
"Tunk"
A loud set of rounds went out in succession. A head disappeared with every shot. Hotshot had already dropped the Krogan captives by throwing them to the door. She had switched to a sniper rifle laying down fire. The colonists were shooting pop shots from the door.
Azul was getting ready to turn and fire but was stopped by the System.
System: Follow the previous scenario to receive bonus rewards to Paragon. Life pods inside will receive an increase to power levels.
'Dang blasted!' Azul yelled in his mind.
Zelda: I am back. Just do it. The Prothean Technology can help us significantly. That door is opening. Jane and her crew along with the Krogan captives will go inside. Slipp has agreed to become a follower. She has been given an Auxiliary quest dealing with the Geth. You and the rest will go on ahead leading the mercenaries away.
'Tch, alright fine!' Azul grunted and watched as everyone gave him a nod. They sprinted off into the door and his team minus Slipp went into the door here. "We gotta move fast and buy time for.. actually I have no idea."
"Dont worry we will take care of any problem inside." Jane moved in quickly.
"Kachak!" A shot went off from a sniper round. It grazed Tifa. Azul wrapped her in biotics and flung her into the door with Jana's crew. "Kachak!" Another round passed were she was running. It would have caused some serious damage if it would have hit.
"What the hell!" Tifa yelled. Her eyes went wide when she saw the damage to the wall. Turning she saw a Turian with a sniper rifle advancing. "I am gonnd kick your..." Her voice was cut off as the door closed.