Mass Effect: Salvage

by N00813

Chapter 2

Chapter 2
--
You ask a krogan if he'd rather find a cure for the genophage, or fight for credits, and he'll choose fighting — every time. It's just who we are. – Urdnot Wrex, 2183 CE
--
The wolf lunged at Sev’s arm. He swung his rifle at it, smashing its butt into the wolf’s face. The wolf’s snout sprayed a splash of bright scarlet blood, and its body crumpled. Sev brought his armored boot onto its head, painting the metal beneath with a starburst of blood and brain matter.

“Wildlife’s dead!” he called.

Levin and Riana took their time before meeting him in the corridor of the ship. Both of them were cradling metallic objects, some smooth and rounded, and others jagged.

“Help us take these to the shuttle then,” Levin said, and handed over his cargo to Sev. Riana did the same.

Sev rolled his eyes under his helmet, but neither of his two companions could see that. He walked over to the shuttle, cargo under his arm, and over the radio he could hear Levin grunt as he boosted himself up onto the second floor. The staircases were useless since the ship hull was upside-down, and the elevator had long been defunct. Thus, they’d have to leave Sev on the bottom deck, since he was too heavy to boost up.

He’d been fine with that. Now his job mostly meant watching the shuttle in the charred clearing from behind a makeshift barricade in the ship. He wished he’d brought more holovids before embarking on this contract.

Sev looked at the sky. Stars were slowly drowned out in a spray of light that spilled in from the horizon. Sunrise. Means the animals are waking up. He checked the amount of ammunition he’d brought along. 40 thermal clips meant … around 800 shots? Should be enough for the day.

-&-

“Sunrise!”

The general’s call rang clearly over the tent-city. There was some groaning in response. He turned to reprimand the guards that had, before discovering that the groans had come from the six Element holders.

“Just – one more – min” the white unicorn called out. Rarity, was that her name? the general thought. She’d been wearing a ridiculously frilly yellow eye-cover, and propped it up with a hoof at the sound, staring irritably at him.

“No. We move now. The beasts of the Everfree will be slower in the morning.”

She opened her mouth, probably to rebuke him, and then closed it. “You win this time.”

“If I didn’t, there wouldn’t be a next time.”

The general walked out of his tent and dismantled it with practiced efficiency, with no care for the six mares also underneath it. He folded it into a small bag, and left the bag in the organized spot. On his return, his charges glared daggers at him. Except the pink one, who was smiling. Odd. He ignored them.

Today he led a team of 50 guards. The general vaguely remembered that this was the largest deployment since Discord’s return, but his mind was all business when he saw his five lieutenants trot up to him and salute.

“Trace, you’re up front today. Metal, behind Trace’s squad. Blade and Shield, you two on the flanks. Frost, watch our backs. Diamond formation escort. Get your squads ready and I’ll meet you all by the path.”

Each lieutenant trained with 9 other guards to form a cohesive unit that would support one another. This ensured combat efficiency as well as high morale.

The general looked back at the six mares. The purple one – Sparkle – spoke up. “Mr. General? Sir? It’s – er – I was wondering, what do you know about this mission? Princess Celestia wasn’t clear in her letter.”

“She wasn’t clear with me either,” the general replied.

There was a short pause.

“So you’re going into battle not knowing what you’ll be facing?”

Another pause.

“Yes.” The general hated how useless and weak he felt at that moment. His entire lifetime of experience and training seemed paltry now. He’d never been in a real battle, where the enemy aimed to kill.

He shivered.

-&-

A growl.

Sev was already ready before the sound came – the VI told him of a large approaching heat signature – but he’d wanted to see what he was up against before he started shooting. After all, information is power.

The source of the growl came into the charred clearing, eyes focused on the shuttle. Sev examined the creature with a hunter’s eye.

Wings. Flight capable, high mobility.

Stinger tail. Poison. Threat.

Mammalian body, feline. Agile.

Head of a predatory feline. Threat.

Again Sev had the feeling that some of the creatures on this world were not descendants of evolution. The reptile-avian hybrid he could just accept, but this abomination of creatures seemed manufactured from a test tube.

The creature pawed at the shuttle. It was about 3 meters high and 5 meters long, including the tail. Most importantly, its claws were scratching the paint of the shuttle. Levin wasn’t going to be happy.

Sev didn’t need an excuse for a fight now. He felt a familiar buzz as he leveled the muzzle of the Striker to the beast’s head. Adrenaline, my oldest friend. Red sand, morphine, even X doesn’t compare to this. Most dangerous drug in the galaxy. His hearts raced to prepare him for the upcoming battle.

He saw that the beast had noticed his movement. Its eyes flicked from the shuttle to him, and it snarled, spraying saliva over the top of the shuttle.

Levin’s definitely going to hate that.

Sev was grinning widely now, battle-song roaring through him. His finger tightened on the trigger.

It seemed that time had been slowed to a fraction of its original speed – Sev was aware of the red streaks of light jetting out of the barrel of the Striker and hitting the animal, the creature’s expression turning from aggression to shock, then outrage as the explosive bullets tore bloody craters in its head and neck. He was aware of the creature taking to the air, to leap down at him, even as he started to strafe to the left, still firing. He was aware of how slow he was moving, and how the beast hanging in the air seemed to smile as it realized that Sev couldn’t escape from its pounce.

Sev continued firing into the creature’s head. One bullet detonated in the beast’s mouth, pulverizing its tongue, teeth and jaw and sending a slow river of red blood dripping out of its maw; another struck an eye and elicited a spray of vitreous slime; one passed over its head and continued into the sky above the forest canopy.

The creature’s head was a mangled mess of blood and bone, but it was still alive. Bizarrely, Sev started to theorize the reason why – Skull too thick? Secondary brain? – and then he saw the beast’s paw, claws extended, swipe across his armor’s torso section.

Modern body armor had a ‘triple canopy’ of protection. The first and outermost layer was the kinetic barrier, a series of repulsive mass effect fields that triggered whenever a fast moving object entered activation range. The second layer was the armor itself, a sealed suit of ballistic cloth that was reinforced with metal alloy and lightweight ceramic plates in important areas. The third layer of protection was the self-healing system. When the armor is breached, sensors interwoven into the suit relay information about the breach to the armor’s microframe computers, which order the breach sealed off with non-conductive, sterile medi-gel.

In this case the claws moved too slowly for the kinetic barriers to trigger – and Sev felt himself being thrown bodily to the side. He was grateful for the natural shell plating on his shoulder hump, as it absorbed the shock. The shuttle was to his right, and the creature between him and the interior of the hull.

Fuck.

A fully armored adult krogan, as Sev was in this case, could weigh up to one ton. And the beast had swatted him aside like a youngling.

Biotically enhanced muscle.

Oh, and I think my armor plate might have broken. That’s going to cost.

Striker rounds were designed to explode on impact, rather than penetrate armor. Even though superficial damage was catastrophic, internal damage was limited. Sev made a mental note to modify the bullet blueprint for the internal fabricator of the rifle.

The creature’s stinger rushed towards him. Sev ignored it and ejected the spent thermal clip, loading another in. The stinger couldn’t penetrate his armor. The worst it could do was to throw him off-balance. He aimed at the creature’s legs.
A hundred years of life on Tuchanka, the krogan homeworld, had taught Sev the thought process of a predator. Predators hunted by overwhelming their prey with speed or strength. If the fight was too even, the predator would usually back out, and try its luck against another target. Unless they were enraged.

The creature in front of Sev was definitely enraged now. Spittle mixed with blood dripped from its ruined mouth, and it roared with frustration and rage. Sev knew that the creature had the upper hand on speed, so he fired at its legs.
The creature buckled and fell to one side as its two left legs disintegrated into clouds of blood and tissue. It roared again. Sev was almost tempted to put it out of its misery. Almost. Battle-song coursed through him – he roared with pleasure as he strafed over to the other side of the animal, and ripped its remaining legs apart with a burst of gunfire.

The creature was dead now, for all it could do. It continued to gnash its teeth as it lay on the ground. Sev found that he respected the creature for its tenacity. It was a worthy opponent. And it would die a good death.

He ejected the thermal clip and loaded the radiator system. There was no point wasting ammunition now. The radiator took a minute to vent the rifle of excess heat, rendering it operable again.

Sev trudged up to beast’s head. It tried to stretch to bite him, but failed. Inflexible neck, Sev noted. He leveled the rifle until the barrel was pointing straight into the creature’s now empty eye socket, and could reach the brain. There. He pulled the trigger.

-&-

Far away, the assembled guards outside the Everfree heard the sound of rolling thunder. The clear skies above them seemed to mock them all the more.

Comments

[N00813]

Mini-chapter this time. I've encountered some sort of writer's block, but I've pre-written quite a lot. That should tide over.

[BioChemicalWolfGear]

kk nice MOAR MAN!

that's awesome :D

[sgtnolisten]

I kept thinking of this scene when reading.

[youtube=tLf92DUUx1E]

Just, ya know, without the grievous wounds going on.

[N00813]

886584

Grievous wounds are occurring. Just not on Sev.

And thanks, that was the vibe I wanted to get.

[sgtnolisten]

887089 Maybe I should have added "on the Krogan"...

Meh, whatever...

[Moonreaper666]

887089 Krogan>Manticore in strength, toughness and melee combat. The Manticore should have died the moment it received a bullet/projectile to the head. Don't lowball Mass Effect please.