Angel's Lament
Thank you for tuning in for this chapter of Angel's Lament and I hope I can entertain you with This chapter. And now because I want to be brief I'll just say enjoy...
Chapter 20: Heralds of Dread
Antros stood aboard the bridge of The Angel's Retribution dressed in his specially made armor called the Armor of Remembrance, an ancient suit of Artificer Power Armor made in the ancient forges of Mars during the dark days of the War of the Beast, and recently remade to fit the enlarged frame of a Primaris Astartes. It had served many masters and had seen many even to their deaths but it had always been recovered and rebuilt. Now had a specially made helmet so that Antros's Psychic Hood could still be placed upon his head. The Helm itself was unique, with it looking similar to that of the Sanguinary Guard though it was cast to represent Mephiston's face and not their gene-father. Mephiston's face on the helm was twisted into a hateful roar echoing the rage that had always lay within the honored Chief Librarian.
Antros carried his usual weapon of the blade, Vitarus, its ancient steel blade wreathed in psychic flames, and acted as a conduit for Antros's powers, giving the sword the power to slice through even the thick armor of a Baneblade. Now though he felt that the blade's raw power would be somewhat wasted on such a pitiful foe as the Collectors, but he knew he needed to fight or else he could risk the very purpose for him being in this new galaxy. Antros also carried his favored Plasma Pistol, Angels Light. The ancient pistol renowned for its calm machine spirit that allowed it to have only malfunctioned twice in all records kept on the weapon.
With Antros were the Nikolaus and Dontriel standing by Antros's side as golden wrathful angels ready to smite any who dared stand before them. As well with the Astartes stood a large collection of mortal crew loyal without question to the Chapter, men, and women chosen for their courage and valor making them the exemplar crew for Antros's present mission. Amongst these mortals that Antros trusted was the Lady Admiral of the Sanguine Spirit. Antros had her take temporary command of The Angel's Retribution so that he might allow her to stretch her legs and take on a fight since she had been requesting for such a reassignment.
Currently, The Angel's Retribution was passing swiftly through the warp to where Antros had detected the spirit of the human commander he meant to save. Aboard the mighty Strike Cruiser was the full 4th Company and several of the revered Ancients of the Chapter that had been in the care of the fleet before they were taken away. As well as the fleets complement of heavier warsuits had been requisitioned for their mission as overwhelming force was of utmost importance in their mission. This had meant the Tactical Dreadnought suits had been released and for those without training in the sacred operation of such revered armor their Mark X armor had been reequipped into the Gravis Pattern to allow for heavier protection and firepower.
Antros had briefed the whole 4th company on their mission, the safekeeping of the mortal named Jane Shepard and by proxy the continued well-being of her crew, even the foul Xenos, though they only need be alive if of an undesirable species as their survival was of little concern. While the well being of the human crew was put to a high priority as they were the main reason for Antros's interference as they had earned their protection for aiding in the hunt against the Reapers and their miserable minions.
But for now, the Strike Cruiser sped with utmost haste along the tides of the unnaturally calm warp to where they were needed. As far as Antros could reckon they were now only about an hour's travel from where he had sensed the mortal, meaning now was the time for any final preparations.
Antros turned to the Lady Admiral, her face obscured by pictscreens and hololithic displays that she ran her hands along with an experienced grace. She was old by mortal standards nearing her mid 200's. With the use of rejuvenating treatments, she had managed to keep herself looking a bit younger but Antros had seen countless deaged faces for long enough to tell the signs of when they were older than they appeared.
For example the wrinkles on either side of her eyes were too bunched up to have occurred at her perceived age. Then another sign that gave it away almost immediately to Antros was her skin's look in general, after extensive rejuvenat treatments a person's skin began to take on a near rubber-like quality that was both observable and detectable through touch.
All of these signs and more were seen clearly on her though still despite these abnormal marks she seemed regal and dignified like her station called for. As Antros observed the Lady Admiral he took several steps towards her doing little to soften his footsteps as to make it clear of his approach. Just as the Chief Librarian came up to the side of her chair was when she finally noticed him. The Lady Admiral, through her neural links and cables, commanded her Hololith displays away and deactivated her pictscreens a moment, then after completing this she looked to Antros, her face neutral but her Aura showing her desire to hear what Antros desired.
Antros wasted no time saying in an ordered and calm voice. "Are all of the weapon battery crews in position?"
The Lady Admiral responded quickly, her tone dignified and her voice that of a born officer. "Of course, Commander."
Antros then asked, "What of the Nova Cannon and the Shark Assault Boats? Are they prepped as well?"
The Lady Admiral nodded and said her voice unable to disguise her pride she felt at having already prepared such measures. "Indeed My Lord. And I have also prepared the Thunderhawk Squadron for when our forces need to be retrieved." As she finished her lip turned up a little.
Antros nodded and asked his final question, keeping his same tone. "What about the Bombardment Cannon is it ready to fire when we reenter into realspace?"
This question seemed to catch the Lady Admiral somewhat by surprise, her smile fading quickly, but she caught herself almost immediately and said in a somewhat questioning tone. "Are you sure about using a planetary bombardment class weapon on an alien vessel is an efficient use of our supplies?"
Antros understood the Admiral's reluctance to use heavy arms like a Bombardment Cannon but he quickly spoke reaffirming his desire to use such superior arms against a lesser foe. "Yes, I am sure in my conviction to use it, I know it may be a waste but I wish to send a clear message to the Reapers, one of a challenge to their self-perceived superiority to lesser beings like mankind. I wish to show them the error in such beliefs and I wish to show them true power."
The Lady Admiral still seemed hesitant but a small flame had been kindled in her, a desire to show the strength their fleet possessed in its ranks. Antros smirked behind his mask, a pride lit in his chest at the spirit of those who followed him, and a desire within himself to show them that their faith was not misplaced.
...
The Normandy had barely made it to the Collector Base as the holes from when the Collectors had assaulted her weakened her hull and caused the ship to need constant overwatch so that she stayed on her correct route as the ship's systems were still mainly scrambled from the Collectors Cyber Attacks. EDI had been doing her best to correct the errors but there was only so much she could do as other matters developed.
Shepard and the others still able to fight had quickly left the Normandy, leaving a few of the more heavily wounded to defend the ship while they desperately tried to catch up and save their friends and loved ones who had been taken when the Collectors had kidnapped the everyone on the Crew level. Among those taken were Kaiden, Garrus, Tobi, , Elizabeth, being the most notable to Shepard and her present company.
With Shepard rushing to save those taken were Mordin, Jack, Jacob, Miranda, Samara, Zaeed, Grunt, Alexandra, and Joslyn. The latter had been devastated after her son had found out her son was taken but her anger seemed to pale compared to Shepards. Jane was now spearheading the squad's infiltration of the Collector Base. Though Shepard wished she could split the team to force the Collectors to diverge their forces she also knew she couldn't afford to allow them to split up they had to try and muscle their way through to the main control room.
So far all they had found was halls filled with Collectors of all types as they tried to swarm at Shepard's squad using numbers in the hope to overwhelm the Crew with sheer force of numbers. So far the Crew had been able to keep them from doing much and no one had yet to sustain an injury that hadn't already existed. So with this Shepard pushed forward delving deeper and deeper into the station to where EDI had pinged the Main Control Room.
They rounded a corner, Shepard leading with Jacob and Samara both doing their best to keep up with Shepard as she sprinted the full way, not caring to pace herself. Just as the rest of the squad caught up they suddenly began being fired upon from the far side of the hall by a small horde of about twenty Collectors running towards them, guns raining fire on the squad as they attempted to take cover.
The room they caught themselves in was a four-way intersection allowing the Collectors to swarm in from all sides as the Crew tried to reassess their situation. The map showed the Main Control Room to be through the doors on the left of their current path leading them more around the edge of the base, but with their present circumstances it was near suicide to try and run for it. They had been forced to take cover behind several strange looking biological containers but those had proven to be effective cover for the fighting thus far.
The group had split three ways to cover the three active paths that the Collectors were taking, Jane, Jacob, Kasumi, and Mordin took the main door. While Jack, Zaeed, and Grunt took the corridor behind the Shepard, their work ensured the Collectors couldn't shoot them in the back. Then the final group was Miranda, Joslyn, Samara, and Alexandra, who took on the door to their immediate right.
Shepard was the first to pop up after everyone took cover, her Carnifex pistol firing three times each shot connecting into the torso of a Collector Guardian. The third shot cutting all the way through its gut leaving a bleeding hole where his chest had been. The Guardian fell like a sack of potatoes hitting the floor with a loud clang as his weapon hit the ground.
The death of the Collector was hardly noticed, but the other creatures turned their weapons on Shepard forcing her to quickly duck behind cover to save herself and to allow her shields to recharge. As Shepard ducked, Jacob, Kasumi, and Mordin all popped up, firing their own weapons at the assembled Collectors in front of their path, as Shepard had done. They were able to kill another 5 of the horde before they were focused on and forced to go back behind their cover.
On the other side of the fight Grunt's defense was more than capable of tearing through their opponents and even pushing them back so well that Grunt had begun to chase after the Collectors. Though the stubborn Krogan reluctantly returned to cover when Jane ordered him back to his group. Then the next group had fared not so well as the Collectors had poured out a lot of their heavier troops on that side including praetorians.
Miranda was the one keeping her group together with her cool and collected thinking allowing her to order Alexandra and Joslyn effectively. Though Samara declined to follow what Miranda instructed she too was useful in keeping the Collectors at bay, but her insubordination was costing them. Shepard knew she needed to get the whole squad out of this corridor or else they were going to end up completely pinned and worn down until they were overwhelmed.
Shepard refocused her attention on her avenue, quickly spotting the remnants of the first wave and the beginning of the second.
Once she was able to make a basic plan of attack she spoke to her present squad with her behind their shared cover saying. "Kasumi draw their fire in my mark. Modin when I give her that order when you see an opening to move, take it and cover her. Jacob and I will take care of the rest."
The the three agreed quickly, though one was rather unhappy in her present assignment, and a second later Shepard waved her hand at Kasumi saying to go. The Expert Thief sighed at her present mission and jumped out from their cover running back towards their entrance firing her pistol as she ran.
A few seconds later after she was about 20 feet away and had attracted most of the Collectors in fronts attention Mordin popped up taking swift and precise aim at each Collector he targeted. As the Salarian Scientist did his best to cover the Thief, Jane and Jacob popped up. Jacob used his biotic to pull the farthest Collectors towards the rest of their group, hurling them hard into their fellows, dazing then a second. As the Collectors tried to recover Jane raised her hands towards the Collectors summoning a singularity in the middle of them.
The shifting miasma of gravitational energy sucking the already confused Collectors into one another. Their bodies ragdolling into one another as the gravitational power overcame all their strength. Some were able to recover somewhat despite the energy swirling around them and their flying companions but they could do nothing but attempt to fire their weapons to no avail.
Shepard quickly followed the Singularity with a Warp, causing the Singularity to detonate. The Collectors at the center of the vortex being instantaneously obliterated to pieces. While the other Collectors were burned and severely wounded from the explosion but they were unhindered by their pain, their beaten bodies rising from the ground ready to fight again.
Shepard and the rest of her squad were prepared though and they had already raised their firearms and so they quickly began firing at their wounded enemies. The Collectors tried to put up a counter offensive but their efforts were heavily weakened by their present state. As even though they acted unaffected their bodies were still severally battered and broken making their aim slow and imprecise.
After shooting down the last of the group covering the desired corridor had been cut down Shepard sprinted towards the doorway, almost forgetting to order the squad to follow. Shepard internally cursed herself for her distracted mind. The team hurried after their determined Commander hoping to save her as much as see their mission through to the end.
The next corridor they came too, after getting past a dozen more Collectors that were trying to flank them as they ran, was stranger still it was a massive room that seemed like some sort of storage room if all of the crate-like objects were any indication and what almost looked like indoor cranes though their construction was bizarre as it was almost like a giant and gruesome hook more than a crane.
The openness of the room allowed Shepard to take a moment to breathe what she felt like was pure air, though it could have simply been her mind playing a trick on her. Either way with a renewed vigor Shepard prepared to storm through the large room, but then a noise came. More than a noise, a voice, over the sound of Collectors running after the squad and their guns firing, and the pattering of boots on the strange metallic floor, there came a clear and harsh voice. It was monotone and deep, with a sinister edge to it, and despite its unemotive tone it sounded almost prideful, and the voice even seemed to emanate from the very walls.
"Assuming Direct Control."
That was all it said yet somehow the words sent a shiver down Jane's spine, one that stopped her dead in her tracks, only a few dozen meters from the doorway to the next corridor. The room seemed to shrink after the voice spoke.
Right after the voice erupted there came a sickly yellow glow from the dark corridor in front of Jane and the rest of her team as they halted behind her. The yellow light emanated from what looked like an enlarged Collector, the creature nearing 10 feet in height and its body seeming like a brick wall in her path. As if the monster itself wasn't bad enough, the light it created illuminated a large number of regular Collectors.
As if detecting its moment the creature lifted its arm at the awestruck squad of the Normandy. Then it spoke again it's voice still sounding like it came from all directions. "Destroy them."
As if a switch was pulled the stationary horde was sent into a frenzy as the whole mob ran at Jane and her squad members. The Collectors in the horde weren't even equipped with firearms, their only weapons being razor sharp serrated claws, a strange electric glow, and their overwhelming numbers.
Jane brought her pistol up just in time to kill the first creature. But she was immediately assaulted by another creature she had to quickly dispatch before it could cut her. The rest of the squad recovered at this point and immediately took aim at the horde letting their bullets flying through the air, cutting the encroaching mob's advance short as it was halted a moment.
Shepard took this moment to run back motioning and ordering her squad to find cover and prepare to hold there. They ran back over the majority of the rooms length. Luckily there were more of those biological crate-like things and most of the team was able to fit behind them, while a few others, Grunt and Zaeed were forced to take cover behind the larger containers separating them from the squad as a whole their cover was nearly 30 feet away from the rest of the group.
As they ran they blind-fired in the direction of the horde, their enemy so numerous that aiming was almost unnecessary. Once they had been able to take up cover they began to fire accurately, their volleys cutting down the Collectors in their dozens. Jane took a look at her thermal clip carrier attached to her hip to check how many she had left. She was almost completely out of clips with only two remaining on her left hip as the right carrier was empty. Jane knew that the rest of her crew must have been in similar circumstances with their weapons nearing uselessness.
As if sensing the Normandy's crews approaching lack of ammunition they doubled their assault, the horde approaching from both their intended path and from where the crew had come before. As if to make matters worse, the regular Collectors began to appear in the midst of their frantic fellows. But the Normandy's Crew were holding out effectively enough. The group now took more time to ensure their shots counted as they knew how few they had left. Soon they even began to see the enemies coming from behind begin to retreat, possibly giving them and Avenue to escape with and head back for resupply at the Normandy.
But Then the Creature with the sickly glow finally came into view its massive bulk and glowing hide making it stand out like a sore thumb. As the Creature strode towards the huddled group, in an almost casual stride, the Collectors around it seemed to become better coordinated, their attacks no longer seeming like the frantic charge of unintelligent beings and now taking an organized approach.
To make things worse Jane's pistol then finally clicked empty the thermal clip ejected automatically. In the following moments the rest of her squad's guns fell silent one by one as their weapons fired their last rounds. The Collectors quickly taking their chance and racing towards the Crew, in the hope to ripe them to shreds.
Quickly though the Biotics unleashed their powers trying to hold off the Collectors. Jack, Samara, Miranda, Jane, and Jacob all did their best to keep the Collectors at bay, while also trying to clear a path to make a run for it. But they began to lose their strength long before they could make any chance at an escape. Even Jack, the self-proclaimed 'Most Powerful Biotic Ever' finally fell to the floor nearly losing consciousness as her body was wrecked by her powers' price. Her last action was a massive Biotic shockwave that threw all the encroaching Collectors back as far away as the room's edge, most dying on impact.
The Creature though stood firm as the wave passed him, his body not even seeming to brace for the impact. This caused most of the crew to despair as their quickly approaching foes regathered and came in for another attack.
As if sensing the growing feeling of unease the Collectors Master, the Creature, halted its minions with a lift of its hand.
After that it spoke again, its voice almost sounding like it felt a great sense of accomplishment. "Hear me, Vermin, while my kind take no satisfaction from our mission, This one will enjoy seeing you all eliminated."
The Creature raised its arms from its sides, the sickly glow it gave off growing in intensity until it was nearly blinding. As the light hit its brightest the room suddenly was filled with deafening noise like that of a Thunder Crash.
Well what happened, is Shepard okay? how about those taken by the Collectors what became of them? Find out next time in the follow up chapter 'Angel's Wrath.' If you enjoyed this chapter please feel free to review and tell me what you thought of it.