Mass Effect: The Black Cult

BUNKER BENEATH

Bunker below the Trident Sea-

Councilor Pac-kun Zuzen took a long wheeze from the breathalyzer attached to his pressure suit, "I'm growing tiresome, boys. Give me the package like we agreed."

The councilor gestured toward the large container behind the group of pirates he was doing business with. Well not them per say, but their pirate boss. Or Captain. Whatever they call themselves.

I can't believe I'm dealing with idiots. Again

Regardless, the captain was late and his men was insistent that the deal couldn't take place until he arrived. This was so unprofessional.

Never dealing with pirates after this shit.

Pac-kun paced. He needed that case. He had come a long way from the Citadel on just hear-say. At least they had the smarts to show him that the egg was indeed inside of said case.

"We aren't giving you shit until we get the go ahead," said the Krogan in front. He turned to one of his cohorts, a Batarian enhanced with cybernetics. "Jaco, has the boss responded?"

"No," Jaco responded. "And I've scanned for the signal several times. It isn't the comms and it isn't oceanic interference. I think we've been jammed."

"Oh you must be kidding me. You lot aren't going to make decisions for yourselves, obviously. I've brought a lot of money for that egg and I don't care who I have to give it too to get it." Pac-kun said as he brandished his locked case full of credits. "So, who is it going to be?"

The pirates looked at one another. Clearly they were considering taking the money and cutting their captain out of the deal.

Finally found their common sense.

"Hold up. How do we know you aren't up to something? You could of brought more goons with you. Or maybe that case is empty, eh?" the Krogan said.

"I assure you, these are all I brought. They are enough." Pac-kun said, standing between his trio of Turian bodyguards.

"That a threat?" the Krogan spat back, brandishing his rifle in the turians faces.

"No, but this is!" said a voice from the back of the room.

Helen, the Asari N7, pointed her advanced assault rifle at the pirate group. "Your deal is off. I'm taking that egg back to where it belongs-"

The pirates and the Turians pulled their weapons to face her. She didn't care, she could handle them. But what gave her real pause he was the sight of Pac-kun Zuzen.

"Councilor?"

Apparently, her intel wasn't as good as command said it was.

"Oh-" Pac-kun took in a big breath from his suit, "-dear. This was not supposed to go this way."

"You're the buyer... but sir. You do know what that is don't you?" Helen said, keeping her composure and sights locked on the rest of the pirates.

"I'm simply... protecting the Council's interests. I'm doing my duty... as a Councilor and Volus," Pac-kun wheezed through his suit.

"What did you do with our Captain!?" Jaco asked Helen.

"Your captain didn't make it. Unless you want to share his coffin, put your weapons down. Be smart," Helen said.

The blaster fire started. Helen wasn't sure which pirate fired first, but she dropped two of them before any of the bullets even pierced her biotic bubble. She rolled to the side and chose her
fire carefully. She didn't want to damage the package and the room wasn't very big. Her maneuverability was limited but N7 training had prepared her for this kind of combat.

That being said, she was going to kick their asses.

Pac-kun was quick to hide behind his turian guards and bark orders. "Grab the case you idiots. We are leaving." The turians followed their employers orders, two of them firing at Helen and the pirates while moving forward to obtain the encased egg. They escorted Pac-kun toward the hatched door behind them. They only made it a few steps before Pathos, Helen's Salarian counterpart, revealed himself by slicing the turian in two at the waste.

"Flesh less volatile than rigged mechs. Happy happenstance," Pathos said as he weaved his blade through the air, standing in the way of Pac-kun's escape.

"I... you can't hurt me-" Pac-kun inhaled heavily, "I'm a councilor. I have-" wheeze "-a seat on the Citadel. I've got connections-" the volus took another panicked breath as Pathos kicked him into the wall and left him there to join Helen.

Meanwhile, Helen continued to avoid blaster fire while sending some of her own. She knicked the Batarian first and then focused on the Krogan. Understandably frustrated, he charged her head on.

"Die you piece of asari trash!" he yelled.

Helen considered dodging, or even leaping over him. But it wasn't often she fought with a Krogan. And fighting Krogan is one of the best ways to demonstrate, or practice, your abilities she thought.

She flared her biotic aura, pushing her muscles and body to the point of intense stress then releasing it in a powerful biotic charge. She clashed with the Krogan head-on, which by all standards would mean death for anybody, but not her. With as much energy behind her, she expected to topple the Krogan.

Helen's expectations weren't met.

The clash sent biotic waves through the room, knocking over everyone else along with the metal case containing the egg.

The aftermath put Helen on her ass and the Krogan was on his knees. She wore him out, but she clearly got the blunt of the charge. A dislocated shoulder for sure, bruised ribs and one massive headache. She was dazed but still managed to scan for her rifle. It was just within her reach so she got to her feet as quickly as her body would allow.

The waves had done a favor for Pathos however, who had caught up to the distracted turian guards. They were firing at the pirates when the biotic waves hit, sending them backward and into him. He instinctively caught the turian with his sword in the back and used the body to avoid the blow-back. It was over as fast as it occurred and Pathos only had to deal with the last turian who had fallen over from the shock.

With little effort, Pathos picked up the turian with biotic energy and sent him careening into the metal wall. Killing him with a snap of this neck.

The two pirates left recovered quicker than the turians. The Batarian man aimed his weapon for Helen as she scrambled for her gun. Pathos mentally groaned, pulled his Salarian pistol and popped the pirate in the head without him taking a single shot.

"The Krogan is yours. You've made that bed I would say," Pathos said to Helen as he returned to tend to the councilor on the floor.

Helen wanted to tell him to fuck off, but she needed to focus. There was still one hostile. She picked up the rifle and went for the Krogan, but he was already on his feet and had closed the gap. He swatted her gun away and slammed her up against the wall.

"I'm going to enjoy crushing your bones!" the Krogan yelled in her face. Helen couldn't move, the Krogan was overbearing her and putting too much pressure on hurt ribs. She needed a break, a moment to catch her breath.

Helen squirmed, but couldn't get out of the Krogan's hold. He stared laughing and for just a second, she thought she lost consciousness. That was until blood splatted against her face.

A sword was jutting out of the Krogan's open mouth. The pressure released and Helen's feet returned to floor. The Krogan fell at her feet and behind stood Pathos with a blood soaked sword.

"I told you to deal with him, Captain. He nearly crushed your anatomy," Pathos said.

Helen cut her partner a look as she regained her composure. She reset her shoulder and retrieved her gun, "I had it covered. Totally in control of the situation. How'd you do?"

Pathos turned his head toward the rest of the room. The tiny room was full of carnage, bodies and blood. Pac-kun laid on the floor near the door, arms bound. "My job was adequate."

"Right-" Helen said slowly as she took it all in. "Just keep up the good work. Wouldn't want you to get sloppy."

The two took the chance to go to the encased egg and inspect it. The container had fallen over, but when they opened it up, the large egg was un-compromised.

"Oh my-" Pathos said when he laid his visored eyes on the egg itself. "It is much more... grand in person."

He wasn't wrong, Helen thought. The egg did have an allure to it. Much bigger than any she'd ever seen, it was at least four feet tall and a radius of five. The markings were unique and the shell looked... old. Like brick or stone that had been worn by the ocean currents. Helen just hoped it was undamaged on the inside. The Leviathan would be very upset if it were.

"Give it a bio-scan. I want to confirm that this is it and that it's still viable," Helen said to Pathos. "I'll go have a word with the volus."

Pathos went to work as she approached the volus man. To her delight, he was conscious. Meaning the minute she was in ear shot, he began to defend himself. "When the council hears of this you'll be finished! I'm an official representative of the-"

Helen cut him off, "Hold that thought, sir. I want to make sure I've got all of this." She activated her Omni-tool and brought up a holo-vid. It was a record of the meeting just before Helen had interrupted. "Now would you look at that Pac-kun, I managed to get all of it on record. Hm. Doesn't look very official to me though. I wonder what the rest of the council is going to say when they hear you tried to illegally buy a Leviathan Egg."

Pac-kun began to huff and wheeze. He couldn't even finish a sentence.

Pathos then said, "Bio-scan confirms the package, Captain. It's genuine and viable."

Helen gave a nod to her Salarian partner as he sealed the egg back up.

"I'll make it easy, Pac-kun." Helen said. "I'm taking you back to the Citadel and I'm going to let the council decide what to do with you." Helen grabbed the volus and got him to his feet. "Maybe you'll be
lucky and they'll just lock you up for stupidity."

Helen escorted the councilor out of the bunker as Pathos activated the case's turbo-lift and followed them in tow.