Mass Effect Fanfic [Name is Pending]

Toxic

New member
First off, I know this is an MK site, but the forum says that we can post any writings we have. Don't like it? Too bad, I do.

EDIT: I have a name now: Lightning Strikes Twice. Awe-inspiring, right?

Spoiler:
Chapter 1:

She stumbled forward as the bullet ripped through her environmental suit, blasting straight through her leg. The temptation to give in, to accept death at the hands of the mercenaries pursuing her returned, stronger than ever, and she fell towards the unforgiving stone beneath her. Was this how it ended? Killed on her pilgrimage, in the dockyards of Illium, far away from her friends and family on the migrant fleet?

No, it can't end here. She put an arm beneath her, pushing her body off the ground. It doesn't end here. She got put one foot beneath her, then the other, as she shakily got to her feet. Pain shot through her whole leg as she limped forward, fighting against her with every step. She heard voices behind her, getting closer with every second. Suddenly, she felt the impact of something against the back of her helmet, her vision blurred, and the ground rushed towards her.

* * *

"I don't have to say a word to you, asari. You don't even have any warrants or anything."

"Council spectres don't need warrants. As long as the job gets done, we have the authority to do anything we want. You co-operate with me, and everyone's happy. If you make things difficult..." the asari began to say, pulling her pistol out of it's holster. "... I think that one civilian casualty is acceptable collateral damage."

"********! Even spectres can't go around shooting people."

"Oh, we definitely can," she said, pointing the gun at his head, "but it might hurt my reputation."

"Yeah, see? Now how 'bout you let me go, and we'll forget this ever happened, kay?"

The asari looked at him for a while, and then smiled. "There are other ways for people to die, besides bullet wounds. How high do you think this building is?" she asked him, shooting the glass out of a window high above. "Would anyone really care if a shady information broker jumped out a window?"

"Hah! Stupid asari *****! That window is four meters up, you'd need a krogan to throw someone that high."

She smiled again. "How about we make a bet?" she asked him, as shimmering blue veil began forming around her body, barely noticeable in the dark room they were standing in. "I throw you out that window, you give me the info I want."

"Yeah sure. When you fail horribly, I ge- wait... what?" The man looked down in shock as his feet lifted off the ground. He soon found himself floating in front of the shot out window, looking out at the ground, hundreds of meters below. "How? Are you... You're a biotic?"

"Right, now how about I ask you my question again. Where is that quarian?"

"Okay! All right! I'll tell you! Just put me down!"

"I don't think so. Now you tell me where she is, and I'll put you down. Hesitate, and I'll slam you into a wall."

"Okay, okay. I set up a meeting for her with one of the shadow brokers contacts."

"And that's where you're having those mercenaries kill her."

"What?" The man said, shock, suddenly evident in his voice. "There are mercenaries after her? Her contacts is my friend! You have to stop them!"

"You're saying you didn't set her up?"

"No, I didn't know anything about this! I don't even know what she wanted with the shadow broker!" He was gasping now, though whether it was from shock, or a fear of heights, she wasn't sure. "You've got to help them!"

"Then tell me where that god damn meeting place is!"

"It's down in the dockyards," the man said, his face pale now. "The western area of the dockyards."

She dropped the man back on the floor, just light enough to keep bones from breaking. "If I find out you're lying..." she said, as she sprinted for an elevator. "You'll wish I'd thrown you out that window

* * *

She woke up to a wave of searing pain. What happened? Where am I? She tilted her, head to the side, to get a better look at her surroundings when she noticed the long crack running through her visor. Suddenly, everything came back to her in a rush of memories. Seeing her contact dead, the fear of getting chased, the pain of the bullet going through her body, the shock of the blow to her head. I have to move, get away, she thought to herself as she started to push her body off the ground below.

The sound of a mercenaries voice froze her in place. "Going somewhere?"

How could I be so stupid! How do you forget about the people who shot you!

"We didn't chase you across these shipping yards for fun," he said, stepping in front of her prone form. "You have information regarding some very powerful people. Information that they would rather keep out of the hands of galactic authorities. I've been paid to make sure it stays out of those hands. You quarians are smart, I think you can figure out how I deal with people in possession of such information."

"So... you're just going to... kill me?" She said, fear evident in her voice.

"Actually, I was going to let Andrews over there..." he began, pointing to another mercenary, this one missing an arm, "...interrogate you until we get the information we need. You took his arm off when you pulled that stunt with the shipping containers. I think he deserves some payback."

"You mean... torture?" she asked, in a voice barely more than a whisper.

"You quarians are smart. Did you figure that out own? Or did the knife he's holding tip you off? Andrews, if you would."

"My pleasure boss, always wanted to hear a quarian scream."

She watched as the one armed mercenary, approached her, knife in hand. Why was this happening? Death was one thing, but torture?" Why? What had she done to deserve this? The merc was on top of her now, holding the knife over her arm.

* * *

The meeting place is just behind this corner, she thought to herself, pulling out her assault rifle. I'll just tell her that she's got mercs after her, and get her to... Oh.

A single corpse greeted her at the meeting place. Looks like her contact. Single shot to the head, looks like it came from a pistol. Probably fired from behind those crates. Poor bastard never saw it coming.

"Obviously he wasn't working with the mercs," she said, speaking to herself aloud, "but how am I going to find them now that their go- Crash! A small explosion shook the dockyards. That was close by! They must still be after her! She took off in a dash, using her biotics to speed up her movement.

* * *

"Why don't we start here?" the merc said with a sadistic grin, still holding the knife over her arm. "Arm for an arm, eh? This knife is specially designed to rip through armour. Doubt that suit of yours will protect you long."

This couldn't be happening to her. She knew that pilgrimages were dangerous, but no one had ever told her she'd be tortured by mercenaries! She wasn't going through this. She'd give them the data, and let death come painlessly. "Wait! Stop!"

The first merc who had spoken to her made a quick hand gesture, and the one he called Andrews put the knife away. "You going to give us what we want already? The fun hasn't even started yet."

"The data's in my omni-tool." She brought up the holographic device, pressed a few buttons, and showed the mercs the document. "See? Can you just kill me now? I... I... Death... Death is bad enough! But I... I don't want to go through torture! I gave you your information! Can't you just kill me now?"

"We'll have to make sure it's the real thing, and that you don't have copies stored anywhere else. Andrews, check it, is that the only one? Is it legit?"

"Yep, it's the real deal boss, and as far as I can tell, she doesn't have any other copies stored anywhere."

"Good, carry on then."

"Wait! But you said..."

"I didn't say anything. You gave us the info. I didn't say it would change anything."

"But... No... You can't! Why?"

"Entertainment," the merc said, with the coldest voice she'd ever heard.

Desperate, she looked up at the merc hovering over her. "Please..." she said, her voice weak with terror.

He looked at her, and then looked back at the first mercenary. "Boss, am I gettin' paid extra for this?"

"Does it matter?"

The merc looked at the stump where his arm used to be. "Nope."

She closed her eyes, and waited for the pain to start. The fear was so intense that her mind barely registered the loud crack of a sniper rifle that rang throughout the dock yard.

End Chapter One


Please leave lots of feedback. What did you like? What didn't you like? Pick out the smallest details, grammar errors, spelling errors, phrasing errors, I really don't care. I just want my work to become as good as possible, and every piece of (constructive) criticism helps me achieve that goal.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Chapter 2 is done now! Tell me what you liked, tell me what you didn't like. Be nit-picky. Every bit of (constructive) criticism helps.

Enjoy!

Spoiler:

When she reached the site of the explosion, she was greeted by a wall of toppled shipping crates, as well as a few dead mercenaries. She dropped the shipping crates on them. Resourceful. Using her biotics, she lifted herself over the wall of the debris , expecting to see the quarian, or at least the mercs who were after her, but was instead greeted by a maze of crates and canisters.

Well that’s just perfect. How am I supposed to track them through all th- (sound of gunfire) the distinct clatter of nearby gunfire answered her question. If they’re shooting, then they haven’t caught her yet, she thought to herself, as she sprinted of in the direction of the noise. It also means she doesn’t have much time left. She heard another burst of fire, and then a cry of pain echoed across the yards. They must have hit her! It sounded close though. I might still be able to get there in time.

After about five minutes of running, she came to a corner, and froze at the sound of human voice. Must be one of the mercs, she thought to herself. She peaked around the edge of a shipping canister, and caught a glimpse of two mercs, one missing an arm. She peaked out again. Just the two of them. The one missing the arm had a knife out, and was standing over a prone form. The quarian!

She pulled out her sniper rifle, and zeroed in on the head of the merc. It was unlikely he had kinetic barriers up, and at this range, her sniper would rip through them anyway. She steadied her rifle, and was about to fire when she heard a familiar voice. The other merc was speaking now. She looked over, and gasped. By the goddess! It’s Jeremiah himself! That info must be important, if that bastard’s got Jeremiah dealing with it. She looked back to the other merc. He was grinning now, and had the knife pressed against the quarians arm. She looked back at Jeremiah, and then back to the one with the knife again.

Save the quarian, or take out the most sadistic bastard in the galaxy. Why do I always have to make choices like these? She picked her target, and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Why hasn’t the pain started yet? Why hasn’t he started yet? Unless, was that a gun shot? did they just decide to kill me? No, that can’t be right, If they shot me I’d be dead. What’s going on? She opened her eyes, expecting to see the cold grinning face of the merc called Andrews. Instead, she saw the darkness of the night sky. She rolled over on to her side, ignoring the pain in her leg. What happened? Where’d that merc g- Oh.

She felt like throwing up. Andrews’ body was lying on the ground next to her, in a deepening pool of blood. The blood was bad enough. It was the fragments of Andrews’ head, scattered across the cement, that made her want to run away. She was still staring at the decapitated corpse of the man who would’ve tortured her when a thought occurred to her. Who shot the merc? She started to look around frantically, until a voice from behind interrupted her. but, it wasn’t the cold voice of the first mercenary, it was calming, soothing almost.

“Don’t worry, it’s all right.”

She looked up to the face of an armour clad asari.

“Are you okay, did they hurt you?”

“One... One of them shot me. In the leg.”

“Wait, they shot you?” The asari looked over at the one-armed mercs corpse, and the still widening pool of blood, a look of worry on her face. “We’ve got to get you out of here, before that wound gets more contaminated then it already is. I’ll use some medi-gel, to keep you from losing too much blood, but we’re going to need to get you to a proper medical facility to deal with any infections.” The asari picked her up and slung her limp frame over her shoulder. “My name’s Alestya, by the way, Alestya D’nyrl.”

“Th... Thanks for saving me... Alestya. Wh... What happened to the oth... other merc?”

“He went invisible. Tactical cloak, couldn’t get a shot on him. Don’t worry though, you’re safe with me.” She pulled out a data pad with her free hand. There’s an open area just ahead here. I’ll have someone bring my personal shuttle down here.” She activated her omni-tool, “(pilots name), get my shuttle down here now, and make sure it’s sterile. I’m sending you the co-ordinates now.”

“Did you ge-”

Alestya cut her off. “Just get my shuttle down here. Now!”

“Shuttles on it’s way down ma’am. Anything else?”

“That’s all, just make sure that shuttle gets down here as fast as possible. I have wounded with me.”

“Roger that ma’am, (pilots name) over an out.”

“Is... Is your ship coming?”

“It’ll be here in a few minutes,” Alestya said, stepping into the landing area. “All we have to do is wait. Just stay with me.”

* * *

“Jeremiah, I sent you because I wanted results. Instead, I lose a team of my best mercenaries, and that quarian is still alive. I would have though that someone like you, could have at least managed to kill an alien.”

“I was going to let Andrews have some knife training with her, y’know, before we killed her.”

“That doesn’t help explain why you didn’t kill her, or get my data back.”

“A sniper showed up. I have no idea how they found about the quarian, let alone our plans. Look, I’ll finish the job, but it’s gonna be harder now. Some sort of military group's probably got a hold of her by now. I’ll need a team of your best troops. And a ship too. Something that can hold its own in a fight against military vessels.”

“You’ll get what you need.”

“Oh, and I should probably mention, I charge extra for missions involving military targets.”

“You come back to me, without the data, with my men dead, and you ask for more money to get the same job done?”

“Do you know anyone else who could get the job done?”

“Very well, you’ll get your raise. But if you fail me again... I would suggest you find a nice tall bridge to jump off. If I let all my men think it was okay to return a failure, my organization would fall apart. As such, I need to make... examples... of those that fail me. Do you understand?”

Jeremiah nodded, refusing to be intimidated by the shadowy figure before him. “I always finish my jobs.”

“Good. I’ll have a team of my best troops, and a military grade starship waiting for you in spacedock 3. Do not fail me again.” The man walked off without another word.

“I’m gonna make that quarian ***** pay. I’ll teach her that Jeremiah does not like being humiliated.”

* * *

“Captain, I’m doing the best I can, but anti-biotics and medi-gel only go so far. This ship doesn’t have the facilities to treat quarian patients.”

“I understand that Seryna, I just want a status update.”

“I’ve got her stable, and I don’t think any infections from her leg wound are spreading. Look ma’am, I don’t know much about quarian biology or physiology. I’ve got her in a sterile room, that should keep her safe from any more infections, and I’ve given her anti-biotics and medi-gel. That’s the best I can do. Once she’s rested a bit we can take her to a med-clinic in Illium. The doctors there probably know more about treating quarians then I do.”

“Do you know when she’ll be ready to move around? Or at least talk?”

“She’ll probably be able to mover around pretty soon. As for talking, I think she’s up now. Just head on in. There’s a decontamination chamber between the two rooms. It’ll make sure you’re clean.”

“Thanks doc,” Alestya said, as she stepped into the decontamination chamber.

* * *

She sat up when she saw the door to the med-bay slide open. “You’re Alestya right?” she asked the asari who walked in.

Alestya smiled, “That’s right. You had a pretty rough time down there. You did well to hold them off as long as you did.”

“Science is a better weapon then some might think,” the quarian said, a hint of pride in her voice, “but it didn’t make much of a difference," she remarked, looking down now. "They still got me. I don’t want to think about... about what would've happened if you hadn’t saved me.”

“Don’t worry about it. They didn’t get you. You’re still alive. The mercenaries... Most of the mercenaries are not. It’s never a good idea to dwell on the past. You know, I don’t think I ever got your name.”

“Nyra. Nyra’Val la Preeza,” the quarian replied.

“Well Nyra, since your this far away from the Flotilla, I think it’s safe to assume that you’re on your pilgrimage.”

“Yes. I was hoping to sell the data that those mercenaries wanted to the shadow broker. I thought it would be worth a lot of money, and I figured I could use that money to find something valuable.”

“To show your new captain that you wouldn’t be a burden?” Alestya asked.

“Right. Anyway, I had the data stored in my omni... My omni-tool!” Nyra exclaimed. “They took it!”

“Relax, I’ve got it right here, ”Alestya said, handing the device over to the panicking quarian. “I picked it up off the merc I shot.”

“Oh... I guess that’s one more thing I have to thank you for. I wouldn’t get anywhere without that device. Anway, so I had the data stored in my omni-tool,” she began again, bringing up the holographic device, “but it’s heavily encrypted. Even I can’t decrypt it. But from what I heard...”

“Wait,” Alestya said, cutting her off, “From what you heard?”

“Yeah. I guess I should probably tell you how I got a hold of the data.”

“Please do, it might explain why you have the most sadistic, cold-hearted bastard this side of the galaxy on your tail.”


Oh, and words in brackets are just things that I haven't come up with a sound or name for.
 
This isn't getting as much attention as I hoped it would, and it take some time to put the italics and everything in (because when I copy paste her it removes them) so I'm just going to put a link to the story on fanfiction.net, and leave a notification when a new chapter is up. I'm not breaking the forum rules, am I?

Link to story on Fanfiction.net
 
It would entertain me more if I played Mass Effect, but still as a stand alone short story its pretty good. But I'm still waiting for more The Island.
 
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