[Mass Effect/Eternal Darkness] The Problem of the Ancients

[ellf]

Rewrite of the last two scenes:

Nothing about today made sense. Nothing about today was right. Private Kenneth McCormick could feel himself shaking in his armor as he pushed through the complex. No, today was definitely not one of his better days. This Lieutenant Shepard, supposedly an N7, an N-fucking-7, was who he was serving under and he couldn’t manage to conduct himself in such a way to impress her. The elite of the elite had him, and he couldn’t hold himself together for two damn seconds to keep things from happening.

Of course, given the situation, he really couldn’t blame himself, no matter what his friends back home would say. Sure, the day started out alright. The Lieutenant had let him man the turret on the Mako, not that he or Jones were expecting her to drive how she did. Holy shit, he thought he was going to die multiple times even before the ground collapsed, but when it did, the Lieutenant knocked herself out using biotics to save them. He didn’t think it was even possible for a human to be as strong a biotic as Shepard appeared to be.

The woman appeared to be full of surprises as they’d landed in a Prothean complex, and she was able to actually read the language. That set off some internal warning bells, but by the time the two of them had managed to get to where Shepard was reading it, they’d become trapped. He supposed that she actually could read it as she’d managed to obtain a map from the somehow still active Prothean operating system. Of course, the map didn’t include the part of the complex that they were in. Of course it didn’t, that would make things easy, and Heaven knew, he couldn’t stand when things were easy.

He didn’t know much about Protheans, but he was pretty sure that they were more advanced than some sort of ancient people painting frescoes about sentient sacrifice. Feed the creature and it will leave you be for a bit, he supposed, but what exactly were those murals about? Were they about those... those... things? The things that were walking around in that room? Scorpions didn’t get that huge, and they didn’t explode causing someone to disappear. There was no earthly explanation for what he saw; God, he needed to just get drunk off his ass and damn the consequences. Too bad he didn’t have that luxury now.

As if teleportation scorpions weren’t enough, there were the zombies. He was sure that R&D would call them some scientific name, but they were moving corpses, blood-red and animated by an unseen force. Some even had biotics. It wasn’t right. Fighting them wasn’t like the sims. A headshot didn’t take them down, but enough shots did. He certainly was in the right about prodding what he thought were corpses with the tip of his gun. It was the safest way. The gun couldn’t be fired at him that way, and he’d be able to shoot at a moment’s notice. Of course, then the Lieutenant had to distract him with her sexy voice, so he was unable to unload as much as he could into the zombie before it grabbed him. Damn thing had a tight grip. If he wasn’t wearing a hardsuit, he’d probably have been in much worse shape.

Even he had to admit that the Lieutenant seemed better collected during that fight than he was, but that wasn’t saying much as she’d pretty much spaced out afterward. He’d decided that if the Lieutenant was going to be like that, he’d take point and head down the hallway. He only stopped when he arrived in this room to wait for the Lieutenant. It in no way had anything to do with the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. No, he was perfectly fine when he entered the room; he was absolutely certain.

Of course that all changed when the Lieutenant got there. Something set his hackles on edge, and while it wasn’t Shepard, it started as soon as she entered. Of this, he was certain. He’d scanned the room for threats, and then it appeared. The giggling announced its presence even before it showed itself. The inhuman sound resonated in his skull, laughing, tearing. It bounced, throbbed, and the room shook as the giggling had continued.

It revealed itself... the monstrosity. It defied reality. It defied every single bit of biology lessons drilled into his head since grade school, and it defied physics even. All the while it continued its giggling. But there was no head! No mouth! Where the head should be was a floating marking, no a rune! A rune hovered over its mouth, and its giggling continued even as it spoke. That harsh whisper that carried hints of madness as it clawed at his soul. Nails on a chalkboard, but the infernal giggling hadn’t stopped. It needed to be stopped.

He pulled out his sidearm. It was the only way. The creature was the source and the giggling would stop. It would. All he had to do was shoot it dead. Eliminate the source, and the giggling would stop! Yes, that was all. He’d give the Lieutenant some warning. She needed to know. The plan was so simple, it was almost funny.

“Lieutenant,” He chuckled. No he didn’t. “Lieutenant... I’m going to shoot it.” He chortled. No he didn’t. That was the giggling. He needed to stop it. He just needed to shoot. “I’m going to shoot it now.” He snorted. No he didn’t.

What he did do was fire his damn gun at the abominable source of the giggling that continued its assault on his brain. What he meant to do to that damn zombie that tried to take a chunk out of him, he did here. Fire until he couldn’t fire anymore due to overheating. When his pistol started to overheat, he laughed. No he didn’t. He switched to his assault rifle and unloaded another set of rounds until it too overheated. He opened his eyes after that last volley, and the creature stood there, unharmed by his attack... and the giggling was louder. It was manlier.

Heaven help him, he was giggling. He couldn’t help it; the situation was just so funny. He had no hope in facing this thing down. It was hopeless and that was funny. It was impossible and that was hilarious. The Mistress of Madness would take his mind... would take the mind of the Universe, and it would be handed to her on a silver platter! The humor in that was palpable. He needed to tell Shepard. The Lieutenant would get the joke. He was certain of it. She seemed like the type.

He switched to his sidearm again and turned to the Lieutenant. “Lieutenant...” He giggled, oh yes he did. “Lieutenant... the Darkness is coming...” Another giggle, yes, and the barrel against a head. “It’s coming and it will damn us all!”

A squeezed trigger. The best jokes are the ones that end with a bang.

********************************8

No. Shepard had seen more than her share of death during the Reaper War, and even before it. She’d even seen suicide before. No. Hell, she’d inadvertently talked a couple people into suicide before, but that was a result of fighting off indoctrination. Fighting off the Reapers’ influence, allowing one self to be free for that final second, that, she’d seen before, but this? Hell no. This was in no way the same thing. This wasn’t Reaper indoctrination, but it wasn’t unlike it. Whatever that thing was, it got into McCormick’s head, and it killed him. It pulled the trigger. “My God...”

Shepard turned her attention toward the creature, raising her shotgun toward it. Sure, it probably wouldn’t do more than sting it, but she had to do something to distract it so she could get away and figure out a way to kill it. “You killed him, you bastard. You’re the reason McCormick’s dead.”

“Kenneth McCormick was a weak-minded fool. Very much unlike yourself... Andrea Shepard...” Its whisper drove a chill down her spine, almost as if it were caressing her core. She stepped back slightly, so she could get a better angle on it. “You, who have faced the Leviathans, you, who have faced the Reapers, yet your mind remains strong! You are untainted by the corruption of the usurpers! You are no weak-willed pawn, but you do the will of greater powers than your own.”

Untainted? Well, she supposed she wasn’t indoctrinated, not for lack of trying on the part of the Reapers. Still, somehow this creature knew. The Leviathans may have gotten her surface thoughts, but this... thing... whatever it was, it got something more... something deeper... She needed more intel. She didn’t have time to grieve the loss of a Private whom she’d just met this morning.

“What are you?” Commander Shepard stalling tactic number one: get the enemy to speak about itself. Perhaps it would work, perhaps it wouldn’t, but most unfathomable enemies loved the sound of their own voice. Even the Illusive Man wasn’t immune to that one. If it wanted to kill her, she was certain that she’d already be dead at this point, so it was best to get it talking before it remembered.

“I have been called many names in my service to my mistress, Xel’lotath. But the most important is Greater Guardian.” Xel’lotath... she’d heard that name before... That spell from earlier... It was aligned with Xel’lotath. This creature worked for whatever powered the spell. “And you too have been called by a number of names.... Hero of the Blitz... Savior of the Citadel... Prophetess of the Reapers... Though perhaps that last one is a future name.”

That last bit wasn’t helpful, but she wasn’t going to show weakness to the enemy. “With that sort of name, I’d assume that you actually guard something. Is it this complex?”

Never mind the why; Shepard wanted to know the what, the where, the how, and the when. The why would only matter if the what and where weren’t objectively bad. The Reapers may have been created to stop organics and synthetics from warring, but the methods they used were not only abominable, they were untenable. They refused to allow for something outside their paradigm.

The creature seemed to stare down at her from its position floating in the center of the room. If Shepard knew how the creature saw, she could easily say that it was staring at her, but she could only approximate at the moment. Then the creature’s laughter filled the room. The mixture of child-like and psychopathic glee was certain to give her nightmares. She couldn’t let it get to her, not the way it did McCormick.

“What I guard is none of your concern for the moment, chosen of Mantorok.” The whisper seemed almost taunting at this point. It made Shepard wish she had a bigger gun. Maybe the Mako’s cannon would work... or perhaps a Thanix Cannon.... but she didn’t have the Normandy.

“If it’s not this complex, why show up here? Why bother killing McCormick and not me?” Shepard regretted those words the moment they left her mouth. Good job reminding the eldritch abomination that it didn’t kill her yet. Maybe her luck would hold out and it wouldn’t decide to kill her. Or maybe she’d die and join Thane in the beyond. Either way, the words were out there, a challenge floating to the giant.

“Because you may still be of some use to my mistress, Andrea Shepard, my hands have strayed from you this day.” The creature did a flip in the air before gesturing to her with its lower set of arms. “I have been ordered to extend to you an offer, one which no mortal has been given for more than two thousand years. Renounce Mantorok, swear fealty to the true ruler of the galaxy, Xel’lotath, and you will be granted power beyond your wildest imagination. Together with my mistress, you will crush this galaxy underfoot, drive its heretics from their hiding places, and all who dare oppose you will surely perish.”

Okay, that was unexpected, but it didn’t seem all too different from what Harbinger seemed to want from her. Xel’lotath wanted her to be its Saren, from what she could tell, but she was too loyal to the Alliance to do something that would threaten it like that. No, from how the Guardian was speaking, it would have been more than that. She would not herald a force in like the Reapers... but if this thing could read her mind, it already knew her decision. “And if I refuse?”

The Guardian laughed again, only with a little more psychopathic bent to it this time. “Then you and I shall meet on the battlefield as enemies, Andrea Shepard, and I shall treat you as I have ever treated enemies of my mistress.” It paused for a moment and gestured with its upper set of arms. “But you need not decide today. When we next meet, I will have your decision, but before we part, I will leave you with a gift. ”

Seven runes appeared around Shepard at that moment, green ones that lit up in order. This was similar to the spell she’d cast earlier, save that she only recognized one of the runes, the same one that adorned the Guardian’s head space.

Narokath. Pargon. Pargon. Santak. Pargon. Xel’lotath. Pargon.

As the last rune lit up, Shepard felt different... as if a weight had been lifted from her mind. She felt more like the woman she was before she started fighting the Reapers, before she saw the child die on that shuttle... before she destroyed that Relay. It wasn’t that the memories went away, but she felt as if she were better equipped to deal with them than before. As if the stress from them had just been lifted from her mind, and she could handle it better.

Turning her head upward so she could look at the Guardian once more, she spoke. “That... spell, what... what was it?”

“A mere taste of what my mistress offers you, Andrea Shepard, that is all. We will meet again.” The Greater Guardian laughed once more, causing Andrea to tighten her grip on her shotgun. It then curled into a ball before transforming into a ball of glowing green light. The light ball then shot upward toward the ceiling of the room, passing through it and possibly beyond. Shepard doubted that such a creature obeyed the laws of physics.

She looked down at the corpse of Kenneth McCormick. There was no way she’d be able to drag him to the surface and be able to fight off whatever else this hellhole had. She reached down and removed the helmet from his suit, revealing a beautiful head of blond hair, cut short and caked with blood out the back. She reached down around his neck to retrieve his dog tags.

Standing, Shepard started toward the only other exit to the room that she hadn’t come through. “Jones, can you read me? McCormick’s down. He... He didn’t make it. Self-inflicted gunshot wound... I’m going to press on and see what I can find. There has to be a way out. I’ll try and reestablish contact in ten minutes.”

Shepard took one last look at the corpse before exiting the room.