Commander (the_commander) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-07-04 11:43:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, commander tyra shepard, j'onn j'onzz (martian manhunter), nathan summers (cable), neena thurman (domino) |
"We need to punch through its shields"
Who: Shepard. Neena. Nate, J’onn. Also featuring Banshees and Brutes
What: First Banshee and Brute are encountered!
When: July 4th, morning
Where: Somewhere
Status: complete
Rating: PG-13 for language and violence.
Beer. Sniper rifle. Husk heads exploding. It was a good day. Shepard had her Omnitool as well, in case any of them got close, but she was sore and hurt enough that she hoped that wasn't the case. She heard something, and nearly shot Neena’s head off. “Warn a girl next time.”
“Sorry.” Neena said with a laugh. “Thanks for not shooting me.” She moved closer to Shepard. “I really need to hit you up for one of those omnitools. They came in pretty handy the last time I was up against hordes of humanoid things.” It would be better than her machete, even if she was taking the time to sharpen it whenever she could.
“A lot of work was done to them after Earth was invaded, to make them effective in close quarters combat. Could probably take on a Krogan if you were brave and stupid enough.” She rolled out some soreness in her shoulder. “Not even sure what I’m doing here, except trying to think. Think and shoot.”
“Is there anything else you should be doing? I mean, right now there’s things that need shooting, and we need to focus on that, right?” She didn’t know if there was something bigger going on, but she wasn’t familiar with this particular threat, either.
“I feel useless,” Shepard admitted, shooting something over her shoulder. She took a swig of beer. “I know there’s more coming, but I don’t know how I can warn people without inducing mass panic. And I don’t know when, and I don’t know where, but this can’t be just the beginning.”
“Get one of the telepaths to tell people. It’s probably not the best way, but it’s the fastest. They can keep people calm.” Neena snagged one of her beers and opened it, looking around them. “If you think things are going to get worse, we need time to get prepared.”
“I’ll message Bristow again. She needs to be fully prepared, and unlike the council or my own leaders, she’ll probably listen.” Not for the first time Shepard wished Anderson were around. He could have given her his usual advice. There was no man she respected more.
“Yeah, that’s a good place to start.” Neena said with a nod. “That’ll get her people on it, and I’ll get in touch with all of mine, but most of them already know, anyway.”
“Rather be chicken little, than fried.” Shepard shifted around a bit, crossing her legs underneath her body. “You seem to be having fun.”
“This is just a Thursday, as far as my dreams go. It’s not even a really bad invasion, yet.” She shrugged and took a drink of her beer. “This is what I lived for.”
Shepard nodded. “After we found that beacon...everything changed. I guess it was a good thing. If we hadn’t the Reapers would have shown up with no warning. We had time to prepare, to build alliances. The first cycle where everyone actually worked together.”
“That was the dreams, right?” Neena asked. She turned to shoot at one of husks.
She nodded, and propped her rifle up on a brick. “Still weren’t ready for them. They hit Earth first, because I’d managed to piss them off twice. The first time was breaking their ability to pop into the Citadel and wake them all up. The second time was when I stopped them from building a Reaper out of millions of mashed up humans.”
Neena whistled. “So I guess this isn’t far off from a normal Thursday for you, either.”
Shepard laughed. “Stopped being normal when I stepped in front of a beacon and absorbed a warning message from a galactic civilization that died fifty-thousand years ago.”
“That’s all dream stuff though, right? None of it happened here?” She didn’t want to be a party pooper, but right now they had to focus on the immediate threat.
“Not yet. Though when I first started dreaming, I got the visions first, before I ever got what caused them. Before these husks, the last dream threat was the Illusive Man. And Garrus and I put bullets in him.”
“Well, God willing we’ll put bullets in whatever caused this, too. We should try to get more organized, we can work on sweeping Orange County.” If they could get everyone to work together again. She was surprised it had worked so well the first time.
“A sweep is a good idea. Or split the county up into sectors and divvy it up. That might be more effective.” Easier to sweep neighborhoods if things got truly apocalyptic.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea, too. Want me to call the rest of the mutants? I have almost all of ‘em on speed dial.” She wondered if they should set up a phone tree.
Shepard smirked. “See if you guys can take the south side. I can stretch out from the ranch and get some of my people going farther north.” Karak boom! Her rifle’s retort sent a beautiful thudding into her chest.
Neena nodded and dug her bluetooth headset out, dialing as she headed south. Thomas was probably close at hand, she’d get him to call his brother and Elaine.
Shepard watched Neena (and her ass) move. She decided to buy her a drink once all was said and done. Girl’s night out. She deserved it.
And then there was this screech. It cut through the air, cutting through Shepard’s spine and making Neena’s headset crackle and whine.
At the other end of the road there was a tall woman. She was bigger than the husks, but clearly suffering from the same mutation and disfigurement. She screeched again, and the windows on either side of Shepard and Neena blew out. A glob of energy appeared nearby, and twisted and warped a car into wreckage. When the Banshee moved, it warped forward in short bursts.
Shepard lept over a barrier and grabbed Neena’s arm. “Move!”
Neena yelled and threw the headset away. rubbing her ear as she looked around for whatever had made that god awful noise. She barely had time to react before Shepard was hauling her along. She had enough sense not to argue. Whatever the hell that thing was, Neena wanted it dead ASAP. “Motherfucker.” She swore, as she worked on getting her bearings again.
"We need to punch through its shields," Shepard explained. "And whatever you do don't let it get close to you. You won't survive if you're grabbed." She cracked her knuckles, then darted to the side. "Count to ten then put a bullet into it's head."
She ran out. A ball of flame shot from her hand and Omnitool and soared towards the Banshee. It hit the creature and blue energy spasmed and flowed around it.
Neena nodded and did as she was told, slowly counting to ten. She watch Shepard as carefully as she could without taking her eyes off the horrible creature, and took the shot when it was an option. She watched its head swing back, but was disappointed to see that it didn’t go down. “Tough fucker, huh.” She switched her gun from semi-auto to full. She was done worrying about conserving bullets.
"That's...what's what they turn the Asari into," Shepard said, ducking behind another wall. That's what Liara would become. "Biotic goddesses of death. But they can die, just like all of them." The charge on her tech ability was ready again, and the commander gauged the distance. "Count to six this time." She disappeared from sight, flickering slightly as she moved. She came out of her cloak when she through another tech fireball.
This time, the Banshee's shields winked out completely.
Once again Neena counted, and when she shot this time a spray of bullets came out of her gun. It was enough to pulp a normal human’s head, and she hoped it would be enough to take this bitch down, too.
The Banshee's shriek blew out several more windows. It shuddered and curled up into a ball in the air, and then it shattered in a shockwave. A car flipped over, and Shepard nearly landed on her ass. She took a breath. "Son of a bitch."
Neena gasped as she was pushed back a little, staring in shock. “What the motherfucking hell was that thing?” It was no longer a typical Thursday.
“Banshee. What the Reapers turn the Asari into. The Asari are already naturally gifted in biotics - think telekinetic ability. They don’t need an Omnitool to fling fire and warp reality. Augment that with Reaper technology and rip away their soul...” she gestured at where the Banshee had been. “And you get that thing.”
Neena made a face. “Okay, your world sucks the worst.” She shook her head and went to Shepard’s side. “You okay, Shep?”
She nodded her head. “A little shakey. Not at the top of my game to begin with today. Just wondering what’s next. I’m almost certain there’s going to be a Reaper now. Happy fucking Fourth.”
Neena nodded. “So on a scale of one to Sasha Grey how fucked are we?”
“Sasha Grey in a snuff film,” Shepard replied, rubbing at her chin.
There was a growling sound, accompanied by thudding, rumble foot steps. Fast moving rumbly footsteps.
Shepard upgraded her assessment, voice calm, in that ‘they have a cave troll kind of voice. “Sasha Grey getting skull fucked.” She lifted her weapon and opened fire without a moment’s hesitation.
The creature was large. It looked lumbering and slow, like a cross between the Juggernaut and the Blob, but it moved unbelievably fast. It was heavily armored, and like all the Reaper forces had those eerie blue glowing eyes. It charged at them, flipping a car like it was a tin can.
Neena blinked. “Okay, fuck this.” She turned and ran away from the thing, dragging Shepard along. Killing zombies was fun, but getting thrown around by that thing would almost certainly ruin her week. She’d promised quite a few people she’d be sensible, and the sensible thing to do was run like hell.
Shepard fired over her shoulder, and threw down a couple of grenades before they got around the corner. Between the Banshee and now the Brute, adrenaline was coursing through her body. She wanted to end that fucker and then keep ending it after it was dead, but Neena had the right idea.
"Either they want something in this area or they consider us a threat."
“Doesn’t matter.” Neena noted. She was okay with giving this thing whatever it wanted. “Wonder if Nate’s nearby.” She focused hard on him, doing her best to project her thoughts along the ghost of their old mental link. If she wasn’t pregnant she’d be looking for a way to fight it herself, but she knew she had to be careful.
Nate was Graymalkin like he was a lot lately, and when he heard her, he snapped up to a sitting position and he was moving before her touch was finished. I read you. Keep running.
“Professor! I need pinpoint weapons online now! And get me John Jones on the horn immediately!”
“Yes, Nathan.”
Bodyslide out or hit it? Your choice. His mind brushed both of theirs this time.
"Kill it!" Shepard shouted.
Yeah, this thing needs to die. Neena added. She didn’t want to know what it would do to normal people if it found any.
Aye, aye. mon, capitans. Nate slid into the main control and yelled at Professor. “Do I have pinopiint control yet?”
“I’m sorry, Nate, maintenance was going on and...” “Do I have John?”
“Yes.”
“John! I need a favor! Two runners, fleeing from a new baddie of these alien zombie types, apparently really nasty and big! Neena and SHepard are the runners.”
“On my way.”
And over Orange County there were the sound of Sonic booms.
And a gentle and intense voice touched Neena and Shepard’s minds, a light brush.
Hit the deck, please. Incoming. It was a mind utterly unlike Nate’s and completely alien.
Shepard grabbed Neena and threw her down, leaping on top of her. She had flashbacks to multiple conflicts in both her lives. She loved/hated close air support.
Neena grunted as she hit the ground, and made a mental note to make a joke when the threat of being crushed by horrible space zombies wasn’t so imminent.
Then John was there, heat vision leading the way, twin red beam punching into the thing, followed by his fists.. 365 pounds of green muscle and power slammed into the thing, hitting and not giving it a moment to recover. The impact sent them both flying into the closest area of ground, and John didn’t let up.
John had gone full Martian now, and he looked angular, green, and utterly alien as he hit the thing, once, twice, three, times, and then gripped it.
With a cry like a wail, he started pulling it apart.
It let out a great wail, and grabbed onto John, gripping tightly, and started trying to pull him apart! But it wasn’t as strong.
Neena nudged Shepard off and scooted behind a car so she could get a look at what was going on without being directly exposed. She glanced over at Shepard, and asked as quietly as she could, “No shields, right?”
John growled, something low and harsh and spoke, words echoing. “Not now, not here, and not while I’m around. I am J’onn J’onzz, Martian Manhunter, orphan of a lost planet, and adopted son of this one, and you will not have it.”
And he ripped the thing in two, eyes burning as his beams leaped out, cutting it into pieces. He staggered back from it, and with a slow breath, he froze it, the whole thing, into one solid block.
Then he nodded.
“Not while I’m around.”
Shepard exhaled. "Wish we'd had you guys in my dreams. Would have been a much quicker war."
Neena put her gun down, sighing softly. “Well, fuck. Yeah, we need to get the agency in on this.”
John smiled as he turned to them, shimmering and turning into a much smaller and normal looking man, one wearing a brown cloak and mask, and nodding to them both. “Are you both okay?” All is secure, Nathan. The threat is dead, but it is not a husk. Something new.
Above them, in orbit, Nate sighed. Damn it. Okay. Thanks, John. I owe you another.
Nate switched his mind touch to the ladies. Do you need transport or medical attention?
Then John glanced back at the thing. “What was that thing?”
“A brute. You just missed the Banshee. They’re what other alien races get turned into by the Reapers,” Shepard explained. “Husks were human. Once they’re done wiping out a species, they collect our genetic material. I’m messaging Sydney. And my own people. You should do the same.”
“I’m fine.” Neena brushed herself off. “I’ll put in a call to everyone I can think of. John, you probably know some other people, can you do the same?” She pushed her hand through her hair. then started texting everyone.
“Of course. We know some of the same people, but yes.” He glanced over them both then nodded. “Do either of you need this body? I know a scientist, one of the dreamers, who is working on analyzing Husks. Having one of these might help his work.” John waved a hand at the frozen block.
“Whatever you want. That one is 100% alien with reaper tech like the husks...should be a field day for scientists. What we really need is an easier way to break through the armor, but the people in my dreams never did figure that out.” Shepard looked at it, eyes narrowed. “Shoot it a lot usually worked, but that always took time and heat sinks.”
“Of course. The man I know and trust is a chemist. I’ll let him know, right away.” he glanced around. “If you need any more help with things like this, let me know.” He nodded and reached out, lifting the iced up creature, and rising into the sky. “I have a feeling we’ll meet again. Until then, Miss Thurman, Miss Shepard, good hunting.”
Shepard nodded. Too bad there was nothing left of the Banshee to study. A way to counter it’s powers would be nice. “Well I feel sober.”
Neena took a deep breath, watching as the big thing was hauled off. “Well, you do know how to show a girl a good time.”
“Next time lets just stick to dancing,” Shepard replied. Of course, Shepard’s dancing was so bad it was considered a warcrime.
Neena snorted. “I think I’m a better fighter than a dancer.” She checked her rifle, putting the safety back on.
“Me too.” Shepard held out her hand. “Thanks.”
Neena shook it and smiled. "Take care, we'll probably run into each other again before this is over."