| abstract
| - The 7 descended into the dark bunker, Lance leading the way once more, but now with his eyes open a bit more, intent on not setting off anymore traps. The doctors and Rhoen followed behind, with Iyra, and a wobbly Taylor holding the rear. As he reached the bottom of the staircase, lance could see a single dim light at the end of the corridor, it was only about 20 feet away, and the hallway ended there. It was clearly the elevator shaft. Roy peaked over Lance’s should and confirmed that though, “There it is, the shaft, told you Lance!” he said with a smile, patting Lance on the back. But Lance was still irked by the death of Nidel, he simply gave a shrug and walked forward towards the open elevator. As the group walked forward, Taylor stopped in his tracks, his legs were still pumping, involuntarily as his muscles continued to spasm, the adrenaline was pounding through him and hadn’t ceased. He dropped back, leaning over and bracing his hands against his knees. Deep breaths, his visor was fogging as he tried to stabilize himself. Lance looked back, noticing Taylor distraught and responded, “You okay?” he asked. Taylor didn’t look over to his superior, just raised one hand gave him a thumbs up. Iyra, however stopped, and waved the others forward, “Go.” she said softly, “I’ll talk to him, we’ll catch up.” She proposed, feeling responsible to help Taylor catch his breath. The CO gave a nod, and motioned the others to follow him, Iyra watched as they entered the elevator, waiting for it to descend before speaking to Taylor, who had now leaned up against the wall, hands on his hips as he heaved out some heavy breaths. “Hey, hey” Iyra uttered out, wiping the condensation from Taylor’s visor, “You’re okay, you’re okay.” She could see his eyes clearly now, the dim blue like the ocean in a storm, but they winced as he battled back everything he was feeling. He took a few more breaths, and relaxed some, enough to speak, “I don’t… that’s, that’s not what I wanted to happen.” He chattered out, trying to establish some composure. “I tried, I tried so hard to, to save Nidel.” “You did what you could.” Iyra eased him, “Nidel knew the risk, there was nothing you could of done.” It wasn’t good enough for Taylor, he knew Nidel saved him, “Iyra, he gave his life to save me.” Iyra answered back immediately, “Then cherish that, don’t let him down. What’s happened has happened, you can’t change, but we need you” she paused, “I need you to hold it together. You going to be okay, I promise.” She said again with a hopeful smile. Taylor took another deep breath and nodded, Iyra was helping, it was nice he thought, to have someone take the time to help him. “Alright, you’re right.” “You good now?” She asked, Taylor answered with a thumbs up and another deep breath as he relaxed. “Good, let’s go.” She turned to walk towards the lift before throwing out one more piece of information, “For what it’s worth, I was really worried something would happen to you, I’m glad you’re okay.” It was a comforting sentiment, though they hadn’t known each other long, Taylor felt like Iyra was his first friend on the ship, and she felt like he was the first she had made in some time. He smiled, “I’ll try to stay okay.” Rhoen’s voice broke through on the comms, “Hey you two, you’re going to want to see this.” He spoke ominously into the mic, “I’m bringing the lift back up.” The two looked at each other with some level of interest in regards to Rhoen’s statement. They both began to wonder what was on the other side of the elevator as they could hear it rising back up the shaft. As it reached the top, there stood Rhoen, still expressionless as he was before, whatever was down there sure wasn’t dangerous, that was a relief to both Taylor and Iyra. “What is it?” Iyra asked. Rhoen signalled them onto the lift, “You’ll just have to see.” The two walked onto the lift, and Rhoen hit the button, it began its descent, slowly dropping down between the tightly packed shaft. The old beige, sanded down, worn out walls slowly grinded by before suddenly the shaft ended, opening up into a massive, gaping hexagonal hallway. They lowered down, still a hundred feet above the floor itself, pods lined the walls of the monumental corridor, hundreds of them decorating the curved walls, each secured and fastened in by wires and metalic restraints. The lights were running above on the top of the access way, shining bright, the dust and mist could be seen floating in their light. Both Taylor and Iyra were amazed by the sight, absolutely blown away by the sight, the nerves had even died down in Taylor, he had just succumbed to the view. As the lift hit the ground floor, a light jolt shook and Rhoen stepped off, looking back to the others, “It’s really something isn’t it?” Iyra nodded, still enthralled by the sight as she gazed around the all, “Yeah I’ve never seen anything like it.” “Neither have I.” Rhoen added, “And I’ve seen a lot of shit.” Though his explorations have been vast, he had never seen a bunker of this size, and this well kept, especially after 50,000 years. Ahead they could see the rest of the team, the room was so large that they looked like action figures standing in the distance. The three trotted through the room, their footsteps echoing with each step, as did the voices ahead of them. The others looked back, Lance too, was bewildered by the sight as he greeted Taylor, “Welcome back, feeling better? Place is something isn’t it?” “Yeah.” Taylor muttered, still looking around the room, “What are all these pods?” Iyra had heard tales of the ruins on Ilos, the massive corridors decorated with cryo pods. “Are these, cryo pods?” she questioned, “My mother’s description of Ilos was, very similar to this.” Roy nodded, the grin across his face was quite enthusiastic, “I believe so, but it doesn’t look like any” he paused as he scanned the room, “Any are online, they all appear to be deactivated.” It was a grim thought to imagine that, they were standing in a crypt if that was the case, the sight of the room didn’t appear to be so magnificent anymore to Iyra, or Taylor. “The main room is more than likely ahead, onward my friends.” Albrighton speed walked ahead, juiced up and ready to get on with his expedition, the other two researchers followed behind, all more lively than Taylor, Lance, Iyra, and Rhoen, now faced with the idea they might be in a Prothean crypt. They followed behind the bubbly researches, between a divide and then into another massive corridor, once more filled with the cryo pods. At the end of the hallway was a smaller door, it wasn’t completely open, but just slightly it had been split down the middle, as if was opening but jammed. Rhoen took no time to put himself to work, “Don’t worry, your Krogan comes in handy now.” He announced with a smile as he approached, sticking his hands between the opening, and easily forcing the door open with his brute strength. “Be careful not to break anything.” Quell, the salarian muttered. Slight irked by the thought of anything being destroyed, his expression changed to apologetic when the Krogan shot a look at him, their species didn’t have the best relationship. However Rhoen quickly flashed a grin and a chuckle, he was only teasing the doctor and gave him a pat on the back that stumbled him slightly into the next room. As they entered they were greeted by another vast room, octagonal in shape and spanning high towards the ceiling, old lights beamed down, more of the pods decorated the walls, as well as crumbling devices used to withdraw the pods, some still attached to their supports, the others broken along the floor. Directly across from them, about 30 feet above the floor was an observatory built into the wall, a door beneath it and several other doors dotted the sides of the room. “Here it is.” Olassia announced confidently, “The control center for the bunker.” Roy was pleased, smiling he gave Lance a pat on the back, “We’re here Lance, quest almost over.” The soldier didn’t seem convinced and doubted the work was done, “We’ll see about that, nothing is ever that simple.” They quickly treaded across the room, glancing up and down the surrounding walls at all the dark pods, they headed straight for the door beneath the observatory. “You know where you’re going?” Rhoen asked them. “Might as well start in the middle, Prothean’s central command was always that, central.” Roy shot back. Quell approached the door first, scanning it once more as he did outside, he muttered under his breath before announcing to the others, “It’s locked, can’t override this one, but there has to be a manual override nearby though.” Lance looked around, there was another door on either side of the room, “I’ll stay here with you.” He said to Quell, before looking to the others, “Taylor and Iyra, why don’t you go with Roy, and Rhoen with Olassia, see what you can find.” Not to thrilled about the idea of splitting up again, but it was what was best, so they headed to the opposite doors. As Taylor, Iyra, and Roy approached the door nearest to them, it opened automatically, another well lit corridor, this time small, human sized nothing monumental. “I’ve never found one of these bunkers.” Roy admitted, “It is quite the sight.” “I guess so.” Taylor replied, still creeped out by the structure, “How does none of this spook you doctor?” Iyra agreed, “For real, it’s just...eerie.” The doctor smiled, ever so charmingly, he did have an aura about him, “I’ve been doing this my whole life, but I’d be lying if I ever attempted to say it never sent chills up my spine. But that’s just what’s magnificent about it, the adventure, the thrill, never knowing what you’ll find next. Isn’t that all any of us want?” Both Iyra and Taylor looked each other, he was right, they both were there for adventure, despite where they were, what had happened, it was an unbelievable experience, weeks ago Taylor couldn’t predict he’d of seen the sights he had this day. “Yeah, yeah I guess you’re right.” “Word of advice.” Roy added, “We’ll always endure hardships, struggles, but you have to press on, I might seem like a scientist who’s to involved in his work, but I’ve lost friends and colleagues a like to this work. You can’t let it stop you, you signed that contract when you came out here, you will have loss out here, but you’ll discover so much more.” An enlightening sentiment, Taylor, and Iyra thought. The Doctor, despite seeming so oblivious to everything aside from his work, had a side in touch with reality. “Wow, that was deep.” Iyra divulged, still thinking about the lesson. Roy smiled and nodded, “Yeah, I always try to remember the important lessons like that. It’s what makes life worth living.” They passed through the hallway, it was barren as they glided across several open doors, leading into old battered rooms, living quarters, kitchens, other basic accommodations, this wasn’t just a bunker, it was a home. Iyra herself was having menacing thoughts, though she didn’t live with, it made her parents ventures during the Reaper invasion seem all too real. As they rounded a corner they were met by a steep staircase, at the top was a mostly dark room, aside from what seemed like several flickering lights. “Well up we go.” Roy remarked. “Have you never seen a horror vid?” Taylor questioned sarcastically, “You never go into the dark room with a stuttering light.” Iyra gave him a light push from behind and teased him with a smile, “Ah come on Taylor, it’s part of the adventure, remember?” He rolled his eyes and simpered, following behind the doctor up into the room, and as they reached it wasn’t anywhere near as ominous as it seemed, just a mess, half the room was only lit by the flickering the light, the rest everything seemed to work. Old broken desk and furniture scattered the room, as well as empty and spilled supply boxes, strange monitor like screens, all broken, were planter in the corner of one of the rooms. Near the mess was an old worn down console. Roy approached the console, wiping the dust from it, he had obvious experience with prothean tech, and fiddle around with its controls, suddenly it buzzed on, incredible that Prothean tech was so advanced, that 50,000 years later, some of it still worked. Roy grinned brightly as the screen lit up, “We’re in, this is more than likely the security station.” The console was scripted in Prothean, Roy had to take another moment to translate it, “And now we’re set, let’s see what secrets this place has.” A surprised look shot across his face, “The cryo pods, they’re, they’re all empty.” “This entire place?” Iyra asked, wondering if that meant the Protheans here somehow survived and came out of hiding sometime after the Reapers, like they did on Ilos, “Does that mean, they survived the war?” Roy shook his head, “No, these pods were never used, this station never went online. Mission status just prompts incomplete, whatever the Protheans meant to do, never came to fruition.” It was better than thinking that they were in a crypt for Taylor and Iyra, still another ominous twist in regards to the ruin. “Better than being surrounded by dead bodies still.” Taylor remarked, slightly relieved. “I suppose so.” Roy mumbled as he continued through the console, “It was meant to holds thousands, I struggle to think what went wrong, but there it is, door controls.” He activated the controls, “That should unlock the door, I’m sure we’ll find out more inside of there, and the clue me and my team are searching for.” Lance broke in on the comms, confirming the Doctor’s belief, “What ever you guys did, the door is open.” “Wasn’t us.” Rhoen barked back into the mic. “It was us, you’re welcome, we’re on our way back.” Iyra passed the word onto the others, ever so assured of herself, before nodding to Taylor and Roy to head back. The entire team regrouped back in the main room, the door now opened in front of them, it was dark, a different material from the rest of the structure, like smooth-metal rather than old solid concrete like material. They stepped in slowly, Lance leading the way, immediately it split into two stairways, leading up to the observatory. They split, half the team heading up one, and half the other way. As they reached the top, they stood in the observatory, it was clean, for the most part, sleek in design, several computers and consoles decorated the room, all dark and offline, on the back side of the room was another sealed door. “The central control.” Olassia declared, looking for anything that was functioning, “Odd, nothing is on.” She walked towards the door in the back, it still had power, but the red light indicated it too was locked. “And another locked door.” “Well let’s find a way to unlock.” Lance suggested, pointing out the obvious. The team members began to search around the room, looking for any sign of anything that was running on power still. Shuffling through, Lance approached the center console, and as he turned the chair that faced it he made a grisly discovery. A skeleton, prothean in build was slumped on the chair, the 50,000 years hadn’t decayed it completely for one reason, the black and blue gnarly prosthetics and synthetic modifications that lined the skeleton, the Prothean, when it was alive was hardly organic. He had heard tales of the Reaper huskification, this was a clear indication of it, Roy was now beginning to piece together what had happened here. The others noticed, each disturbed by the sight of the body, but Rhoen recognized it, as did Olassia, “That’s Reaper tech.” Rhoen declared, well versed on the matter as he served in the Reaper War. It brought back the memories of the war for Olassia, she felt a chill go up her spine, though it was over for, the Reapers were gone, what they did was still fresh in her mind. “What happened here?” she questioned as her voice trembled. Roy noticed the skeleton’s hand covering something on the console, and calmly brushed away the ancient corpse’s arm, revealing a control panel, similar to ones he had seen on other expedition, a reboot system. He triggered it, and the machine came online, humming and buzzing as it powered up, its main screen lit up, and the lights in the room as well as the other consoles turned on. “Damn, just like that huh?” Lance whispered under his breath as he looked around the room. The doctor ran through some of the console’s controls before a projector next to him activated, revealing a badly damaged, hazy, fading, prothean VI. The VI scattered out lines, not understandable, broken apart but it slowly started to become clearer and clear, in prothean however. “Translating.” Roy announced as he awaited the process. Within a moment it became understandable “Reboot in process. Initiliazing system restart. Welcome to the Ourian Bunker. Mission Status is: Incomplete.” The VI declared, “Zero of the 25,000 Cryo Pods are in use. The key remains in lockdown.” “The key…” Olassia mumbled, “The key to the Heart of Vey’Kosa...that’s what’s here.” Roy prompted the VI with a question, it could only respond to basic request. “What is the status on the key?” “The key was the catalyst to the Dark Heart, separated from its home and secured here, to ensure the heart would never be found by the Reapers. Mission prerogative was to release the frozen Prothean population after the Reaper invasion, thus allowing them to return to the heart, relocate, and utilize to defeat the Reapers in the following cycle. Director Illiac commenced lockdown procedures before the vault could be filled. Lockdown has been breached.” The information made the group wonder why the Reapers were after the Heart, why they sealed the key here, what they planned to do with the Heart, and what it was. “What is the Dark Heart?” Roy asked. “That information is unavailable, it has been removed from my databanks.” They looked at each other, still confused as to what had happened here, “Removed, but why?” Olassia wondered. “Where is the heart?” Roy then demanded to know. “The exact location has been unknown for sometime, but is confirmed to be within the confines of Numia, on the edge of the galaxy. Centuries before the arrival of the Reapers, we waged war with Tekkunan, their leader Vey’Kosa wielded the power from the Dark Heart, devastating armies” the team all looked at each other, they were on the right track and this was the information they were searching for. “Vey’Kosa and the last of his loyal allies disappeared on Numia, after the Prothean fleet’s bombardment buried his fortress, not before we retrieved the key to the Dark Heart. Believing the Heart to no longer be a threat, we sealed the key away, until the arrival of the Reapers. As our people sought any fighting chance, we attempted to recover the Heart, to no avail, as the Reapers annihilated us on Numia. This outpost was established to house a large enough enough force to seek out the Heart and unlock its true potential, a weapon against the Reapers in the next cycle. Mission status is: incomplete. Zero of the 25,000 Cryo Pods are in use.” It repeated itself once more. Roy smiled to the others, “This is huge. The Reapers feared this Dark Heart!” Rhoen rolled his jaw in a circle, the fact the Reapers feared made him question what it could, “Yeah and I think we should too.” “This discovery is going to be monumental, it has to be for the good if the Reapers wanted it gone.” Olassia declared, opposing the view of Rhoen. “Or it’s a weapon of mass destruction.” Iyra added. The VI spoke once more, “Recorded logs of Director Illiac are available.” “Play the logs.” Roy ordered, maybe this would shed light on what actually happened here. The logs started, the Protheans voice was jagged and harsh, slightly manipulated by the huskification he had undergone. “I’ve done it, I’ve done as they asked.” He was taking heavy breaths, “Those fools, believing going behind their backs, trying to hide, that they could escape them. The Reapers are eternal, we are their servants, as such we must obey, if we obey we can stand alongside them, they will enlighten us. They have already accepted me, and as such, I must succeed for them. The lockdown has been initiated, I am all that dwells within the bunker, the others will meet their fate for their treachery, the Reapers, Harbinger, is on its way. Their judgement will be swift.” The log ended, a dark, dire, message, indoctrination had plagued the species of the galaxy during this cycle, and it did for the Protheans before them. The entire team was quite as they took a moment to settle the nerves that had rattled, but Rhoen spoke out, “That guy's an asshole.” he stated bluntly. “Fucking prick.” Taylor snorted out a laugh, “Say it like it is.” “I can’t believe this, what a coward.” Roy said, disappointed with what he just heard, “We need to find this Heart now, all the more reason too, if the Reapers feared it, imagine what it could be.” Iyra was still unsure finding this object was a good idea, “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Roy shrugged off her doubts and requested more from the VI, “Lift the lockdown.” “Disengaging bunker lockdown. Mission status is: incomple” hearing the door behind them open Roy shut off the console, much to the relief of the entire team, as the VI meant to repeat itself again. He quickly turned to the door, striding with pace into the room, it was small, untouched, clean, sleek and shining with facets and constructs lining the sides of the circular room. In the middle was a pedestal, seated inside of it, floating was a strange cube shaped metallic device, glowing with slanted green lights across it. Roy, with haste walked right towards it carelessly and reached inward, but as he did his hand sparked and lit with stinging burning pain as he touched an invisible barrier surrounding the device. He pulled back quickly, shouting in pain as he patted his hand on his legs, “Shit!” the barrier burned straight through his hardsuit’s fingertips, and grazed his fingers themselves. Olassia and Lance darted over to him to make sure he was alright, “What the hell?” Lance barked out, “Are you alright?” The Doctor was catching his breath, “Yeah, just, surprised, there’s a barrier.” Taylor glanced over to Iyra, “That’s what happens when you’re impatient.” he whispered with a smile. Quell went straight to scanning it, “Amazing, there’s no conduit. No power source, I’m not sure how the Protheans engineered it.” Olassia thought for a moment, pondering a solution, “I might have an idea, maybe I can create a biotic barrier… Hold it long enough to remove the key.” “Can you handle that?” Iyra asked, not knowing if the Doctor was adept enough, “Me or, maybe even Taylor can do it.” Taylor shot her raised eyebrow and an offended expression, “Maybe Taylor?” “Olassia, I’m not sure that’s the best idea.” Roy implied, still shaking out the pain in his hand. “No, no I can do it.” Olassia assured confidently. She approached it slowly, now starting to 2nd guess her idea, “I’ll just be careful. And quick.” She took a deep breath, her biotics flaring up as the mass effect field formed around her, and she swallowed, sticking her hand forward. As it touched the invisible barrier, she felt it fight back, but pushed forward, the barrier breaking and bending around her hand as she pushed through, her field was holding up. She pressed ahead, her fingertips first grazing the key, and as her palm drew closer, she could feel a strange energy, like a buzzing inside of her body. Then she grasped it, and like that it all happened at once, the key hummed at a great volume, the barrier exploded, sending out a wave of harmless energy across the room. It all startled Olassia who instinctively braced, wincing as the key suddenly collapsed, reformed, and swarmed up her like a collection of sinister ants moving to destroy a picnic, her heart stopped, and everyone in the room froze, frightened as to what was happening when suddenly, the pieces lit up, fusing and dissipating into Olassia’s arm. She pulled her arm back and dropped to her knees, not in pain, just shock, she looked at her palm, a single green light illuminated beneath her skin, and faded into nothing. The others surronded her to make sure she was okay, “Olassia, Olassia?!” Roy beckoned, “Are you okay?” She nodded, feeling no pain, or anything different, “I think so…” “What the fuck was all of that?” Taylor asked. Quell went straight to scanning her, “Everything looks normal, except, except weird… there’s almost encrypted data within you now. You absorbed the key.” Olassia had a look of uncertainty, not sure what to think, “Am I, Am I okay?” “Yes, your vitals are fine, we'll need a full scan on board the Aetherius, but it looks like you're okay” Quell paused, “But..” Olassia looked at her hand, coming to a conclusion before Quell could, “I am the key…” She muttered as she stared at her hand. The others seemed to look at each with questionable expressions, that is what seemed to be the case now. Roy leaned down next to her, “Well Olassia my friend, you just became apart of this mystery, the most important part.” She was still taking deep breaths, the sentiment didn’t make her feel any less dubious of the situation. Lance activated his comms, calling back to the ground team above, “Saelian, Kiara, get the rovers ready, we’re coming back up, things just got interesting.” Iyra looked over to Taylor and gleamed an amused look, “Here’s our adventure Taylor, I hope you’re ready.” He smiled back and nodded, “Yeah this is something else.” The thought of what had happened here still loomed on both of their minds, Nidel’s death, the Prothean’s logs, and the key fusing with Olassia, it was like something neither of them ever could imagine. Now, they were just left wondering what Numia had in store, what was on the horizon for this journey….
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)