Thunderbird: Chapter Eleven

Starting File Sequence…  Thunderbirds

Loading Digital Data…    Chapter Eleven

Initializing Play Back…  Escape

Galaxy:   Milky Way Galaxy

Cluster: Far Rim

System:   Ma-at

Location: Ammut

Date:     2186 CE

The Vanguard

Vicia landed down on the first floor. Cerberus scientists turned and ran out of the room. The geth closest to her turned to face her. Vicia unsheathed her claws and charged forward. She darted forward using her biotic abilities and slammed her fist into the nearest geth. Her blades pierced its body. White conductive fluid poured out of the wound as it slumped to its knees.

A purple drone hovered above the platform and launched rockets at the Engineer. The Vanguard jumped in between, raised his blade and slashed the air. A biotic wave passed through the air and knocked down the rockets.

In the excitement, Ip managed to activate her both her omni-tools and overloaded the two geth beside her. When they let go, Ip jumped back. Two omni-bows formed on her wrists. With a flick of her wrist, two bolts left their flight grooves and struck their targets in their back.

The Engineer raised her right hand, “Attack our intruders. None of them leave alive.”

Every geth in the room turned to face the members of the Thunderbird crew. Tasi leaped over the railing and landed just behind Vicia. She activated her omni-tool and aimed at one of the geth approaching her. It was ridged for a few moments before relaxing and turning on its former allies. Vicia shouted as she slashed around her in a fury of claw blades and biotics.

Scylla forced her way to her feet. The Vanguard raised his right hand, palm facing her. A biotic glow emanated around his palm as he readied an attack. Before he could, Yatka came in and kicked his arm away. The biotic blast destroyed a row opposing geth. Yatka drew his second curved dagger and sliced the air toward the Vanguard. The Vanguard narrowly dodged. The dagger few and struck a geth standing right behind Ip.

Yatka reached for belt and drew the hilt of his sword. With a click of a button, the sword blade extended and Yatka swung at the Vanguard. The Vanguard flipped back, landing on one knee.

Like Yatka, the Vanguard reached for a second sword hilt on his belt. With two swords at the ready he stared down Yatka, ready for the drell’s next move. Yatka glanced over his shoulder. Scylla stood weakly behind him. Seeing that she was in once piece, Yatka activated his decoy ability. Two other versions of Yatka appeared. He attacked and the Vanguard defended but it turned out to be a holographic copy. Yatka’s second attack was genuine. He kicked out at the Vanguard and pushed him back off the platform.

Ip ran up the platform toward the Engineer. The Engineer reached for a grenade on her belt and threw it at the salarian. In the air it activated and started homing in on Ip’s location. Ip dove to one side and the homing grenade dove after her. She quickly brought up her omni-shield. The blast knocked her back into several geth behind her. The Engineer reached on her belt and was about to throw another homing grenade.

Scylla formed several biotic orbs and threw them at the Engineer. One knocked the Engineer in the back of the shoulder. She looked back in time for an orb to strike her in the face and another in the abdomen.

“Why you little—!” the Engineer screamed.

Tasi looked up at the platform. Her helmet was severely damaged. An enormous crack exposed her left eye. But instead of what was expected. A robotic eye peered out from between the crack of her helmet. The other impact points of Scylla’s orbs exposed electronic circuitry and machinery. She was entirely synthetic.

The Engineer slammed her fist on the console beside her. The geth on the table started screaming again. Subsequently, it brought Scylla to her knees. She clasped her head and screamed.

“You have out lived your usefulness,” the Engineer activated her omni-tool. She drew back her fist, prepared to punch Scylla with an explosive punch.

“No!” Vicia shouted as she fought her way through the hoard of geth.

Tasi brought up her omni-tool and tried to hack into the Engineer’s system. Ip turned and fired a bolt. Yatka was in a heated battle with the Vanguard. Their sword clashes rang above the noise.

Scylla was paralyzed with pain.

The Engineer threw down a punch. Before she could connect, the geth on the table reached out. One of the cords attached to its arm disconnected as it slashed at the Engineer. A blast exploded where the two of them connected. The Engineer looked down at her fist. It was clasped firm in the geth’s grasp. She pressed a button near her shoulder and disconnected her robotic arm. Scylla grabbed the cord and swung it back and struck the Engineer squarely in the chest. The electrical charge blew her back across the room.

Scylla looked up at the geth as it pulled cord after cord away from its body. The more cords that were disconnected, the stronger she appeared. Scylla leaned on the table and started pulling more of the cords out of the geth connecting it to the electronic sphere above.

The Vanguard jumped back to aid the Engineer. Yatka chased after him, grabbing one of his daggers from a downed geth. Ip slid in, firing several bolts at the two elite agents. The Vanguard knocked the bolts out of the sky with a biotic wave with one hand and blocked Yatka’s sword strike with the other. The Engineer scooted back behind the Vanguard. She threw a device. It deployed into a turret and started firing on them.

Ip dove and activated her shield to protect Yatka. Vicia ran up behind them. She teleported into the air and punched down at the Vanguard. The Vanguard held his palm out. A blast of biotic energy blew them both back.

Tasi hacked the turret and it turned on the Engineer, shooting at her legs. The Engineer scrambled back until she hit the wall.

“You—you cannot defeat me!” the Engineer said, “I am too important! My creations—my inventions are much too important to be bested by the likes of you! I am supposed to be in control!”

Alarms started blaring. Tasi looked back at the platform. The geth stood at the computer the Engineer was using. It stood at nearly seven feet tall. It’s three photoreceptors narrowed into pinpoint bits of red light. Sparks and smoke emanated from the sphere above. The lights flickered and machinery slowly shut down.

“What have you done!?” the Engineer shouted.

The geth turned slightly in her direction, “This unit was sent to locate and investigate those responsible for unexplained disappearances and if required, dismantle unauthorized operations. This unit has overloaded the artificial cerebral cortex. The cortex is set to give off an electromagnetic pulse. An immediate evacuation is highly recommended.”

Vicia looked at the others, “We need to get out of here!”

Yatka looked around, “What about their Vanguard?”

Looking around, Tasi noticed that the Vanguard was missing. He wasn’t among the downed geth in the room.

Ip pointed at the Engineer, “Forget him, what are we going to do with her?”

“Kritt, AVI, we’re headed out,” Vicia turned and headed toward the hallway where they entered. She looked over her shoulder, “Come on, let’s go!”

“Permission to accompany you,” the geth asked.

Scylla stood beside the geth. She signed quickly and Yatka translated for her.

“She says it’s with her,” he said.

Vicia sighed. She nodded, “AVI, we’ve got two extra passengers.”

Tasi followed Vicia as they ran down the long hallway. The doors opened to space. Tasi couldn’t see the Thunderbird or the shuttle. She looked over her shoulder at the geth. Scylla clung to its back as it lumbered after them. In its right arm it cradled the Engineers disconnected arm.

Vicia jumped into the void. The others followed suit. Tasi floated after Vicia, the jets on her back propelling her forward. An indicator appeared on Tasi’s visor. Soon after, the shuttle appeared a distance ahead of them. The door opened as it hovered stationary.

Vicia landed inside with Tasi shortly behind. Ip’s mag-boots connected with the floor of the shuttle. She scurried out of the way as Yatka floated in as well. The geth closed the door behind it. Vicia swung into the pilot seat beside AVI. As AVI piloted toward the Thunderbird as the EMP set off within the station. A wave radiated outward, knocking out all electronics.

The shuttle made its way toward the Thunderbird ship. Tasi looked out the shuttle window. The two geth dropships chased the ship as it dodged nimbly among the stars.

“Kritt!” Vicia said over comms, “Prep the ship to jump. We’ve got an EMP wave coming!”

The cargo doors were opened and AVI piloted the shuttle into the cargo bay. When AVI set the shuttle down, Vicia jumped out of the shuttle. Ip and Tasi ran after her while the others lingered behind.

Vicia ran onto the bridge, “Get us out of here! Now!”

Kritt muttered to himself as he dipped the ship downward, dodging several torpedoes at the Thunderbird. The ship rumbled as one of the torpedoes grazed the ships shields. Ip slid into one of the chairs.

“Shields are down to 63 percent,” Ip reported.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kritt looked over his shoulder. He flipped several switches and grabbed ahold of the lever beside him. The stars started to streak across the glass as power was diverted toward the thrusters. A few moments later the ship flew out of the system leaving the two geth dropships in its wake as the EMP wave approached them.

Tasi let out a sigh of relief. Everyone seemed to relax slightly. Kritt turned around, visibly perturbed.

“Y’all really need to stop with all these darin’ escapes,” he stood from the pilot seat. He was about to continue to complain when the doors to the bridge. His eyes grew wide. He activated his omni-tools. They formed red claws. He readied himself for combat.

Tasi looked behind her. The massive geth stood in the doorway. It stood at seven feet tall and was heavily armored. Its armored exterior was painted black with red highlights and patterns. Unlike most geth who had only one photoreceptor, the geth had three smaller ones each red in color. Each photoreceptor seemed to analyze everyone in the room.

Kritt turned to look, “What the heck is that doin’ on my ship!?!”