Out For Karma: Mass Effect

[Book Two] Chapter 8: New horizons on Horizon

Chapter 8: New horizons on Horizon

Shepard had spent almost the four hours she had to spare training her control over her biotics. What she had found out was that she had a knack for it. It didn’t take her long to understand why Rick advised her to move her power in a certain pattern. The spiral for the Warp allowed her to give speed to its flow and to charge and increase the power without any straining on her hand. The back and forth for the Throw was actually giving a bit more of Oompfh when it hit the target. For the Pull she tried to think of something but came up empty handed. What interested her the most however were none of those but the curve throw training, she had put one of her torso parts from an armor she didn’t use to practice. That, hadn’t been easy. She missed more than anything, or rather she hit anything but her target. She didn’t get frustrated with her failure because each time she felt successful for the training of the skill she was practicing.

That’s really an excellent method of training.

When Joker warned her that they’d reach Horizon in half an hour she stopped what she was doing and geared up. She felt tired, which was expected but not that tired as the time in Freedom’s Progress. Showing that Rick had been right about the control aspect of biotics and his incidence on her stamina. On the colony they had been there for two hours and she had been completely winded, especially after the fight with the Ymir. Likewise on the Purgatory. Once dressed up appropriately, she went to the crew deck to eat. With one mission already done in the morning and her training she was famished and also in need of those calorie bars.

She found Rick and Miranda sitting across from each other. The latter was giving a murderous glare to the former who didn’t care one bit and kept eating a big plate of pasta.

 That’s a three person portion at least!

Sitting down next to the helmet man she tried to defuse the situation a bit, after all they were going to team up in less than half an hour.

“What is this about?”

“He hacked my terminal!”

“She tried to hack mine multiple times. She’s just salty that she failed and I succeeded. Her pride took a hit, not so perfect after all.”

“Rick, that last bit was uncalled for. Miranda you can’t expect to not be hacked back when you did it in the first place and started the whole thing.”

“There is sensitive information in this terminal, Shepard and…”

“And I’m sure there is plenty on Rick’s too. You don’t ask for respect Miranda, you earn it. Rick never hacked mine or anyone’s terminal on the ground team back on the original Normandy because we did earn his respect.”

“Neither did I hack Joker’s or Karin’s.” Rick clarified.

“Really? But I thought you saw Joker’s porn.” the redhead said, turning her head to look at him in surprise.

“I was joking, I would not be surprised if it’s true though.”

“Do. Not. Hack my terminal again.” Miranda interjected in a threatening tone as she stood up and left for her quarters.

“Don’t try to hack mine again and we’ll be good.” he yelled at her before returning to his food.

“Let’s be honest here, you would have done it anyway.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t need to know that.” he replied with a grin.

“Found anything interesting?” she inquired, taking a bite of her own food.

“Yes. Nothing incriminating on Cerberus, or relevant to the mission.”

“Anything on her?”

“... Yes but she earned enough slack from me to not talk about it.”

“Is it bad?”

“No. On the contrary it shows how good a person Bubble is. Now if she could only get a good lay…”

“Something doesn’t add up though.” She said pensively, ignoring his last words.

“What is?”

“You hacked the Alliance’s secure database without them knowing. Sure they were not searching for it but they never detected it but Miranda did caught you hacking her terminal yet she couldn’t hack yours?”

“That’s because I left a trail on purpose.”

“Why?”

“To see how she would react.”

“It was obvious she would be pissed.”

“Yes but it’s anger born out of fear, not out of irritation.”

“Fear of what?”

“It’s not a concern for now.”

“I expect you to tell me if it’s necessary or relevant.”

“Of course. Now did you train?”

With the change of topic Shepard was happy to report her progress to her friend.

____________________________________________________________

When they arrived on Horizon things seemed bleak. It was just like Freedom’s Progress, missing colonists everywhere. They had a lot to worry about, mainly the giant Collector cruiser on the horizon. Rick had been right as usual; anti–spacecraft turrets had been installed by the alliance but were not working, whether because the Collectors disabled them or because they were not ready for use yet was a mystery. Rick had asked EDI to scan the cruiser and get as much information on it as she could but it was a long stretch without anyone inside the cruiser to help with the scan.

They landed at the border of the colony, and began to make their way to its center. The countermeasure Mordin had created was working perfectly well. They quickly encountered their first group of Collectors who came from the sky, using some kind of retractable wings to fly around. The fight has been difficult, with their barriers and armors being sturdy but they dealt with them nonetheless. Three biotics in the team had been the right choice as the barrier fell and with three snipers on the team their armor were pierced in no time. Really, the only difficulty was the barriers. Shepard didn’t try a curve throw a single time as she knew she would miss her target, so she just ‘punched’ it straight, besides, Rick was there to hit any Collectors behind a cover so everything was fine. One thing surprised her however; the collectors bodies disintegrated when they died. Rick believed it was to not let anyone study them and their technology. That made sense to her.

Going forward they found the body of a husk but this one was more advanced that the one they had fought to years priors on Eden Prime and during some missions Hackett had given them. That was valuable information indicating that the Collectors may be working for the Reapers, confirming Rick’s idea, which brought on more questions about the former. When they found pods around the area and some colonists in stasis, they knew they might not be too late to save them. Hurrying a bit more, they killed every enemy on their way until one of them began to rise in the air and glow.

“ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL”

The now apparently controlled Collector looked like it had light or lava coursing through his body. Had the change been limited to that, that would have been fine, alas it wasn’t. This Collector was stronger, faster, using some kind of biotics and most of all, focused on Shepard alone. That was a bad thing for her but overall a good thing for the team as Garrus, Miranda and Rick concentrated everything they had on him. Rick thought about charging at him but with how thought the enemy was it would have probably been useless. It took them a good two minutes to put it down as Shepard went from cover to cover to escape him.

“What the hell was that?!” She asked no one in particular.

“I don’t know but he was a tough son of a bitch.” Garrus replied coming down from the prefab he camped in to snipe the Collectors.

“He said ‘assuming direct control’.” noted Miranda.

“Perhaps their leader can take possession of them? They seem like insectoïds so those soldiers who we killed may just be mindless grunts? In any case if we see another one rising in the air and begin to glow, we should take him down immediately before he’s… taken over.”

“I agree. I don’t really want to fight another one.” the brunette said.

“Let’s do that but do not forget to be careful when some of his friends are around.”

The rest of the team nodded at that and reached a closed section of the colony. Opening the heavy door they met with a mechanic who hid there. Questioning him a bit they learned more about the attack itself. The colony’s defenses were not yet operational as the targeting system had not yet been calibrated. To no one's surprise the man blamed the Alliance for the Collectors’ presence, prompting Rick to get right in his face and grabbing him by the collar.

“Listen up, you cowardly little shit! The Collectors are attacking human colonies all across the galaxy, specifically only the ones where there is NO Alliance’s presence. That’s why the Alliance sends a team to a shithole like yours to be properly equipped to defend themselves. It’s mighty generous of them to do so when you and your kind of people were quite clear you didn’t want anything to do with them. You want someone to blame? Blame yourself for being greedy and going to a dangerous place to make money.”

He dropped the man on the floor and went to the other side of the room to another door, leading further into the colony. The rest of the team followed him and it was Mirand that spoke up first.

“I’m surprised you defended the Alliance. From the reports you’re not a fan of them, just like those colonists.”

“Is it because of Ash?”Shepard asked tentatively.

“No, she’s a big girl, she knows how to take care of herself. But those people… they disgust me. They’re parasites. Leaching on others and blaming them for their own problems that they created to begin with and expecting others to fix them. Entitled little shits, that’s what they are, with no loyalty but to themselves. At least the colonies in Terminus have courage. They chose their way of life and used their own power for that. Honestly, if we didn’t need to know more about the Collectors I’d say we let them be taken or put them down ourselves.”

“That’s harsh to your own people.” commented Garrus.

“Harsh but not untrue.” Miranda nuanced.

Shepard didn’t take part in the conversation but was thinking.

While he’s not wrong to think that, rounding them up like this is unlike his usual thinking. He’s always advocating that hating a group as a whole is fine but that not all members of the group are a representation of it. Yet he just did… He’s acting like… mom. This is so weird.

After defeating a few more groups of Collectors they got the hang of it. This included dealing quickly with the special one that popped from time to time or tried as they put him down before he was ready. In fact they dealt with him so fast during their last fight that he tried to appear thrice. At that point it may have been a game.

They finally reached a very big area with lots of covers. That was a godsend as Rick could now fight as he usually would. They located the antenna for the turrets instantly as it was right in the middle of the zone. Unfortunately a good number of husks came out of nowhere along with two new enemies they had never seen before. They were hideous, and pretty disturbing. It was like three husks had been fused together to create an abomination that could use biotics. Fortunately they were very slow and the big blue deformity behind their back looking like a hump was a weakness.

Everyone went into action. Garrus found a good spot to snipe the abominations while Miranda supported him with her biotics. Shepard was helping them and at the same time keeping an eye on Rick who, now that he was free to fight properly, tore the husks apart. Charging in the middle of a group obliterating on impact his target then simultaneously shooting one’s head with his shotgun in one hand while using a Throw with his other hand to send flying another. The effectiveness and usefulness of his fast reloading system showed itself perfectly. The husks defeated so fast allowed him to pick up his pistol and shoot at the big husks hump. Without any undesirable bothering them the new enemies kicked the bucket.

They regrouped at the antenna and Rick began to finish the job on the console next to it.

“Anything you can do?” the commander asked.

“Yes but I should let EDI do it.” the tech expert replied.

“Why?”

“Because EDI won’t be bothered by Collectors shooting at her.” he said, picking up his rifle and signaling the coming aliens from the sky.

“EDI, can you take over the target calibration, please?” he said as he crouched behind a truck.

“Yes, but it would take some time.”

“That’s alright.” he replied to the AI.

A group of Half a dozen Collectors landed and began to fire at them. Why didn’t they shoot from the sky and have better maneuverability? Rick didn’t know but was glad they didn’t think of it.

The team coordinated well and never was in real danger even when reinforcements came, nor when one of the collectors got possessed as he was dealt with properly. The danger came when no enemies were left. Some kind of giant bug construct fell down on the ground and began shooting power lasers from his four eyes right at Shepard who ducked behind some cover.

“Fuck! Why is it only me?!” she yelled.

“Because you’re his greatest competition in the galactic contest of the ugliest face ever!” Screamed Rick from the other side of the field, shooting with his sniper rifle at the thing.

“Then why is it not shooting at you! You’re always hiding your face! Must be worse than mine!” she answered back trying to find another cover as the flying enemy was slowly getting close to her. That would make her cover useless if it was above it.

“I’m awesome! You’re not!”

“CAN WE FOCUS ?!” Miranda yelled from her hiding spot.

“I’m with Miranda on that one. That thing’s barrier is as hard as diamond and I’m almost out of ammo!” Garrus screamed from his position, now firing with his assault rifle.

“Me too!” warned Shepard.

“IT’S NOT AMMO!” protested Rick.

“WHO CARES?!”

“YOU NEED TO GET LAID MORE, BUBBLE! YOU’RE TOO TENSE, AND I GOT IT COVERED!”

“WHAT?!”

“NOT YOU!”

At this instant powerful and fast lasers impacted the construct from Rick’s direction. The enemy seemed to feel it as it stopped shooting his own lasers and fell to the ground. Shepard didn’t waste the opportunity and retreated toward a better and farther cover. Meanwhile Garrus ran towards some clips on the ground he had seen and found a new spot to shoot from.

“WHAT THE HELL, RICK?!” yelled the commander.

“COLLECTOR HEAVY WEAPON!”

“WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?!” inquired Miranda.

“COLLECTORS!”

“I SWEAR IF THAT THING DOESN’T KILL YOU I WILL!”

They had damaged the construct armor pretty badly but he put his barrier back up and rose again in the air. Once again Shepard was mercilessly targeted.

“OUT OF SHOTS!” Rick yelled, throwing a Warp.

“AMMO!” Garrus screamed.

“FUCK YOU!”

Shepard had no choice but to use her biotic behind her cover as she only had one thermal clip left. Meaning she would have to make a curve shot. Making flow her power to her hand like Rick had taught her she put everything she could in it. Taking a quick look at her target position before going back to her hiding spot, she swept the air with her right hand and at the perfect moment flicked her wrist. The Warp cut through the air in a beautiful horizontal arc and hit the thing dead on. Thankfully it was very big and the Warp completely destroyed what was left of his barrier making it fall again. Rick, out of nowhere, charged at the thing and unloaded his shotgun on it, destroying what was left of the armor and killing it. It was at that time that EDI finished calibrating the target and the turrets began firing at the Collectors cruiser which immediately departed.

“Damn!... Hardest… fight… in my life.” said Shepard panting with a killing headache. She sat down on the ground to catch her breath and took from one of her pockets an energy bar. She had given her all in that one Warp.

“Nice shot, Gingey.” Rick said, regrouping on her position along with Garrus and Miranda.

“How did you do that?” the brunette asked.

“I focused everything I had in that Warp and just threw it.”

“Not that. I meant curving its movement.”

“Aahh, that? Trade secret.” she replied with a knowing grin while sparing a glance at Rick.

“I hope there aren’t any more of those, because we are not properly equipped to deal with them.” Garrus said.

“I’m working on that already but I don’t really want to do it without my favorite quarian.”

“You’re kidding right?” Miranda said in a very tired but also done tone.

“Half and half.”

“What was that collector heavy weapon anyway?” Shepard asked.

“Don’t know, but it’s powerful. I found it near my position, probably a drop from one of them who died before using it. I’ll take a look back on the ship with EDI.”

Their rest was interrupted when the man they had met earlier during their progression showed up yelling at the sky as the collector Ship flew away with parts of the colonists. When he began to blame them, Shepard had to restrain Rick’s arm otherwise he would have just shot the man. The man’s rant was stopped by a familiar voice.

“You’re speaking to the hero of the Citadel, show some respect.”

““Ash! / Bombshell!”” 

The redhead went to hug Ashely when the man recognizing Shepard ranted even more until he finally took a bullet to the head. Surprisingly it was the former of the women who said something.

“Rick!”

“Yeah, I’m not apologizing for this one.” he said as he harshly pulled away the commander, who did not reproach him one bit for his action, from his former lover and hugged her tightly. A hug she gave back.

“It’s good to see you, Ash.”

“And you too, commander, especially since I saw you die with my own two eyes.”

“Miranda took two years to fix me.” Shepard said, pointing to the brunette a dozen feet away. Ashley’s tone changed when she noticed the Cerberus logo on the side of her suit.

“Cerberus? Of all people, Shepard?!”

“I know… But they are the only ones actually doing something. Both the Alliance and the council refuse to get involved.”

“It’s Cerberus!” the Gunnery chief then turned towards her lover.

“And you?!”

“You were the one supposed to write to me if that’s what you’re talking about. If it’s my involvement with Cerberus, I'll stop you right there. I'm cutting ties once we’re done with the Collectors.”

“Me too, Ash. This collaboration is out of necessity, nothing more. In fact I’d like you to join but… You won’t, right?”

“I won’t and can’t. I’m sorry. To the both of you but…” She shook her head negatively, wished them good luck and left.

Rick caught up to her and grabbed her hand firmly and dragged her into one of the empty prefabs for some privacy.

“Really? You’re leaving just like that?” he said looking at her in her eyes.

“I had nothing else to say.”

“Not even a goodbye kiss?”

“It’s been two years.”

“Two years or twenty won’t change the fact that you’re my friend and I love you.” he said, gently putting his hands on her hips.

“Things changed.”

“Not single anymore? I hope he or she…”

“No! I’m still single but… After two years I see you again, with an alive Shepard in tow being part of Cerberus. What was I supposed to think?”

“Plenty of things, I admit. I know the first thing I thought was ‘ Damn, why did she get back to her hideous pink armor?’.”

That made her smile and chuckled a little. Since she wasn’t part of Shepard’s crew anymore, she wasn’t allowed to wear anything else than the standard armor with her rank. She had been unfortunate that the armor she got was the same model she had on Eden Prime, though this one was more advanced and actually good.

Rick removed her helmet and opened the jaw port of his. She didn’t stop him and instead waited for what he was about to do with trepidation.

“Want to know what my second thought was?” he asked his lips so close to hers that she could feel his hot breath.

“Yes?”

“That I miss, feeling my Bombshell’s skin on mine.”

He kissed her with passion and she didn’t hesitate to reciprocate in kind. When he grabbed her legs with his hands, she put hers around his neck and let him pick her up against the wall. Her thighs locked his waist in place forbidding any escape from his part. Breaking the kiss they rested forehead against helmet.

“You ruined me. Didn’t have a good lay since you.” she confessed.

“It’s been two years for any kind of lay for me.” 

“Really?”

“Yes. Ever since news of Red's death. Way too busy or just not interested.”

“Is she… really her?”

“Yes. I checked. She knew things that only the real one could know.”

“Cerberus may have done something to her.”

“I know and I’m staying vigilant. For now… Well she’s herself. If that  changes…” he didn’t outright say it but the implication was clear.

“Wait, if you never had sex since her death, you never shagged Liara then?”

“Oh I did! Just before the news. Then her mother, then both!” he said proud of himself, making her gasp.

“No way! You had sex with her mother then a mother-daughter threesome?!”

“Yes. Wish you were there. Benezia’s tits are out of this world.”

“I’ll have to trust you on that.”

“If I had the time I’ll tell you all about it. God knows Shepard tried. Since you’re not there to share with her anymore our time together, she’s quite frustrated.” He said, chuckling.

“You could always have sex with her.” she replied mischievously.

“Please don’t talk about that.” He said in a serious tone.

“Alright, I won’t. I’ll still think about it though.”

They kissed one last time and said their goodbyes, each walking in another direction.