Starting File Sequence… Thunderbird
Loading Digital Data… Chapter Twenty-Two
Initializing Play Back… Reaper Creatures
Galaxy: Milky Way Galaxy
Cluster: Galactic Core
System: Tartarus Debris Field
Location: Avernus Station
Date: 2186 CE
.:Meanwhile:.
Tasi, Ip, and Vurtak
Tasi crouched through the halls of Avernus. She could hear the sound of fighting and gunfire further within the station. The station shook as the Thunderbird continued its attack. Tasi looked behind her. Ip and Vurtak were not too far behind. The hulking krogan lingered after the other, cautiously sweeping the area behind them and watching for any Cerberus stragglers that would possibly spot them. He nodded at her, keeping any conversation to a minimum.
As she continued, Tasi was careful to look around. She looked overhead. Tasi followed a set of wires and tubes as she made her way toward the source of the wires. Their task was to sabotage the stations energy supply. Without knowing the exact layout of the station, it was always safe to follow where the energy was being taken.
Tasi stopped suddenly. She tuned her hearing, focusing on the sound. The sound of foot falls clacked further down the hall. Tasi quickly motioned to the others. They approached her as she looked around for a way to get out of the hallway.
There was a door a little further ahead. Tasi ran up to it and started hacking. Within a few moments, the door opened, and the others ran in. Tasi darted in just as the door closed behind them.
Vurtak and her hid on the other side of the door. Tasi listened as the crew ran passed. Vurtak gripped his hammer, ready to attack if the door should ever open. They waited several seconds even after the crew was gone. Tasi let out a huge sigh.
“Tasi,” Ip’s voice rose up from deeper within the room.
Tasi turned around. The room they were in looked to be a large chamber used for containing specimens. Tasi walked over to one of the large class doors. Inside were several Adjutants. Their bulbus backs glowed bright blue as they walked around. In other rooms were other creatures. Variants of Reaper converted creatures were locked in their respective cages. There were krogan, asari, even salarians. Every species of the galaxy was represented, locked in their own room awaiting retrieval from a Cerberus agent.
Vurtak walked past several rooms, “This is where they keep their pets, eh?”
Tasi nodded, “Looks like it.”
“So we meet again,” the door opened and entered Shadow the infiltrator. The woman’s left arm was mechanical, a memory from the first time that she had met with Tasi, “I’m glad I investigated the unauthorized access alarm to this room. That way we can finally settle things.”
Vurtak gripped his hammer while Ip activated her crossbows. Shadow turned her attention to Tasi as the quarian drew a handgun. The Agent pulled out her baton and slapped in against her palm.
Suddenly, the woman turned invisible. Shadow then appeared behind Ip and struck her with her baton. Ip recovered and shoulder rolled out of the way. She turned and fired several arrows at the Agent while Tasi took several shots at her as well. Shadow disappeared again. Ip activated her scanning visor and looked around the room.
“Tasi!” Ip shouted, “Behind you!”
Before Tasi could turn around, Shadow used her baton to cut off the quarian’s oxygen supply. She activated the electrical setting and the baton coursed with electricity. Tasi shook violently.
Ip fired several crossbow bolts, strafing in order to get a better angle to pierce Shadow and force her to let go. Shadow forced Tasi’s body around, keeping her hostage in between her and the salarian. She looked over her shoulder. Vurtak raised his hammer. When he swung, Shadow was already gone. She had let Tasi go and flipped backward. Shadow sailed over the head of the hammer and landed just in front of the krogan.
The Agent struck Vurtak several times with her baton. Vurtak barely seemed affected. He grabbed her mechanical arm and threw her into one of the doors filled with Reaper creatures. The glass cracked as she struck the door. The Reaper creatures caged in their rooms increased their activity. They seemed agitated as Shadow gritted her teeth. She quickly got to her feet and ran at Vurtak.
Vurtak grabbed his hammer and swung at her. Shadow dropped down and slid under the hammer. She got to her feet and sung at Vurtak’s leg with her baton. The electric shock caused Vurtak’s knees to buckle.
Shadow turned invisible. Shortly after, she appeared behind Ip. She struck the salarian in the side of the head. Ip fell to her knees. She pivoted slightly and shot a crossbow bolt into Shadow’s lower leg. Tasi ran over to Ip and made sure she was alright. Ip nodded and Tasi activated her drone and it hovered around.
It turned suddenly and headed toward one of the control panels by one of the Reaper creature doors. Tasi raised her gun and fired several shots in the direction of the panel. Shadow cried out in pain as she grasped her shoulder. Tasi shot several more times. Shadow staggered back. She collapsed but before she fell to the floor she grabbed ahold of the console. With her last remaining strength, she pressed a button.
An alarm sounded. The doors to all the Reaper creature cells opened. Creatures whose appearance resembled the jelly shaped hannar floated out of their cells. Reaper blasters were attached to the ends of their tentacles. Further down salarian creature charged wildly and frantically at the three crew members. The hannar started using their blasters to attack.
Tasi grabbed ahold of Ip and pulled her toward cover. Tasi’s purple drone fired rockets at the floating hannar. The crazed salarians found their position and closed in. Vurtak used his hammer and blasted them away.
He looked down at the two girls, “Come on! Let’s get going!”
“Let’s go,” Tasi helped Ip to her feet.
Vurtak charged the way forward, swinging his hammer left and right, giving himself and the girls a clear path toward the exit. Tasi shot as several Reaper creatures as she ran. Many of them only staggered but weren’t killed. Ip activated her shield in one hand and shot creatures with her bolts with her other hand. Vurtak slammed his fist against the lock of the door. He kept the area clear while Ip and Tasi ran out into the hall. Vurtak backed away and the door closed behind him. He slammed his hammer into the outer lock mechanism, locking it in place with the creatures safely on the other side.
They breathed heavily.
Ip looked up at the ceiling, “The cables go this way.”
Tasi nodded and led the way down the hall. They reached a large set of doors. When the doors opened, they walked into an engineering room. Electrical pylons crackled high above their heads stemming from a central structure as it generated power to support the ship. Tasi turned to the others behind her and nodded. They all reached for an item on their belt.
“Remember,” Ip said as she disconnected a device from her belt and placed it on the central conductor, “These explosives are timed. We will need to activate them at the same time. These are going to do quite the damage, so it is recommended that you don’t accidently drop it or set it off while we’re in here.”
Vurtak smirked, “Copy that.”
Tasi placed her device and set the timer. She looked around at the others as they finished with their devices. They nodded and headed back out of the room.
“Vicia! We’ve planted the explosives,” Tasi reported, “I recommend heading for the exit.”
NOT POSSIBLE. HELD DOWN.
Text scrawled across Tasi’s visor. It was Scylla’s way to communicate since she couldn’t speak.
Ip shook her head, “They need to get to the exit now! The explosives are set to go off.”
“Well, we can’t leave them,” Vurtak stated.
Tasi spoke over comms, “We’re heading you way. Just hold on! We’re all making it out of here.”
A Place Between Worlds 