[Mass Effect: New Genesis] Part 6.3: The Fabled Illusion

The reinforced double doors to the Thanatos slid open. Myn and his team were about ready to enter into it when Corwin turned a corner and was rushing towards them, cradling something alien in his arms. Corwin came to a very hard stop, needing the assistance of (insert PC/PCs name(s) here) to not fall over or drop. His head was down...his visor was pointed at the thing cradled in his arms.

It was deep blue and silver alien armor, Prothean in design. It looked similar to other armor both teams have seen. Corwin's voice came over his comm system for everyone to hear.

"We were attacked on the way out by," he paused, trying to catch his breath. Probably for the first time, everyone could pick up fear in his voice. "I couldn't identify what that thing was. It scattered us. Aivar's hurt. She was taken out on the top floor. Not sure what....I'm taking her to medbay. The rest of you see if you can save the team."

The doors slid open and Othic could already hear something come toward them. He raised his rifle toward the sound, hoping it was the other squad but was dismayed as Corwin rounded the corner cradling a figure tightly in his arms. Myn couldn't see who it was carrying but he felt a tightening in his chest as Havens more or less skidded to a halt in front of them.

Their leader looked to be ready to collapse as Meera grabbed him by the elbow, holding him steady. The fear in his voice was unmistakable as he filled the squad in on what had happened. Even Othic found it disconcerting, he'd always assumed Corwin to be a steady hand but something had shaken him badly.

"It scattered us. Aivar's hurt." Havens said, indicating the armoured figure in his arms. To Myn it seemed like Corwin was on the verge of hysteria, he certainly wasn't in full control of his emotions. What the hell had attacked them?

"..I'm taking her to medbay. The rest of you see if you can save the team."

"Havens, wait. The Doc can take her to the Med Bay and give her proper attention. We need you here. You know your way around this place and you at least have some idea what we're up against. We still have three crew members missing." To Othic the idea made perfect sense, give the casualty to be looked after by a medical professional and add another combat experienced member to his team.

[GM Post - this takes place as the elevator is rising up to get Kreiger. Corwin is rounding the corner and approaching the door, not quite there yet. ]

The emptiness shaped as a woman had no true color. She was a chasm that could not be measured. A pandemonium of unreality in a hideous uproar. No mind was able to behold the nothingness with it. Ideas such as physical laws and sanity were quaint notions that had no place within it. She was the abyss.

And she was gazing at Eri.

She watched Eri run. Distance did not matter. She was the hole in things. She did not move. She was a fixed point in reality. Reality moved around her. Within moments of Eri running down the hall, she was already in front of Eri. Stygian tendrils shot out of her and wrapped around Eri's armored throat, lifting her off the ground.

The Universe speaks around her.

This form is not yet complete.
The Reincarnation Matrix will be the solution.
You will give it to us.
Or we will do to Myn Othic what we did to the other.

[I][/I]

It waits.

(posted in 6.2, but extending it and it fits here as well anyway)
kreiger gave himself a once over in the suit as. He was shaky in the hard exoskeleton and had no clue as to how it all worked, but he was sure he'd figure it out.
"okay, lets see here, helmet obviously, heavy armor on my arms, legs..."
he ran the suits hands over his chest.
"yep the chest too...wait...are these...BREASTS!? *sigh* no time to argue man."
He turned and started walking towards the elevator, canon in hand, it seemed to take forever and was quite slow and shaky. he thought of the crew downstairs. Element zero spikes that large could only come from two logical places. The ships drive core exploding or aviar and seeing as aviar was out of it and the eris hadn't exploded, he was worried.
as he stepped on, the elevator creaked under the weight of the armored suit and seemed to warp slightly underfoot. He descended slowly, taking the time to look over the suits features via the HUD inside.
"ah....run tutorial?"
"Voice pattern recognized. Quarian, Male. Starting tutorial. Hello and welcome to the T4NK armored assault unit, please select a function you wish to learn more about." there was a feminine tone to the voice, soft and somewhat calming."er.....combat?"
"The T4NK, can use any weapon that standard foot infantry use with greater accuracy as recoil is almost not an issue with the reinforced arms, as well as having its own select weapons such as the rail canon located in this units...ERROR, COMPONENT MISSING...it also has many defensive measures, such as smoke launchers and flares, both activated by voice."

the elevator reached ground floor and kreiger saw the black anomaly before them.
"WARNING threat detected.end tutorial mode."
"Oh shit..." Kreiger saw Eri being lifted by her neck and the doors wide open. the sun poured inside, gleaming against his metallic paint as he stepped off the elevator, turning to face the beast.
"um....er....close combat?"
A large blade shot out from the mechs armored wrist. he placed the canon on his back and it collapsed into place.
"okay, this should work....HEY UGLY!" kreigers voice sounded slightly more feminine through the suits voice projectors, but still just as hazy as a quarians mask would alter speech patterns.
"PUT HER DOWN....NOW!"
He changed the mechs stance to brace for combat.

Corwin stumbled towards the Eris, not registering that Meera was holding onto his arm to stabilize him. Corwin was so focused on bringing Aivar to the medbay that he overlooked the one person who could help 'him' was right there next to him.

"Havens, wait." Myn's calm words came through Corwin's comm system. Corwin paused, almost stumbling. "The Doc can take her to the Med Bay and give her proper attention. We need you here. You know your way around this place and you at least have some idea what we're up against. We still have three crew members missing."

Corwin glanced over his shoulder toward the general direction of Myn and the team. The adrenaline was wearing off. Aivar was rapidly getting heavier. He looked back down toward Aivar, speaking in a hushed tone, almost to himself. "I promised Aivar that I would keep her safe. I have to see her to the med bay....I...." Corwin turned his head to Meera.

"I need to head back into the gates of hell," Corwin said a little more confidently while holding the unconscious body of Aivar to the doctor. She took 'him' from Corwin as Corwin turned around, taking a very deep breath. "Alright," Corwin whispered to himself once more before trying his best to sound confident. He started to describe the layout of the Base and all the hallways that's there, advising everyone to stay far away from one certain area (#3 on the map). He also advised the team to not open the doors to two rooms (C and E), though any surviving teammates are probably hiding in any of the other rooms. He wasn't sure how to describe the thing that attacked, only that it inspired something of a primal fear in everyone. Even Jorgal ran at the sight of it.

"Kreiger's in there!", Astila yelled at the fact that something had attacked them right as Corwin was exiting with Aivar. Astila had to hold herself back from running in at that moment, but knowing how sensitive she had been to the first floor of the Glory, she knew running in alone was a bad idea.

The Justicar looked at Aivar, she couldn't believe it was the same person. "Hurry, Meera!", Astila said, as Corwin transferred the biotic to her. Meera headed back to the medbay.

The group prepared to go into the pyramid. Astila holstered her weapons, instead flaring her biotics as they were here greatest form of offense and defense. "I am ready. We must move. Quickly!"

Eri had just entered the hallway when she caught sight of Corwin with Aivar in his arms dart by crossways at the far end of the hall. Relieved they had made it to safety and would be soon near the door, Eri picked up her own pace, running as fast as she could manage with the circlet in tow.

No sooner had she passed the radioactive room than the air before her seemed to shift, and faster than her mind could comprehend, the empty woman-shaped void was before her.

Eri stumbled in her haste to stop her forward momentum. She scrambled, nearly pinwheeling her arms to get away from the creature, but there was simply no time. Before she could even react, another of those inky tendrils shot out of the void, locking itself around Eri's throat. The biotic barrier dropped immediately causing the circlet to clang noisily to the deck at her feet.

Sheer panic welled up inside her as she was lifted up off the ground. Her feet kicked, struggling to get away from something that didn't look fully in the physical realm to begin with. Her heart pounded away in her chest, feeling as though it might burst from sheer terror, when a now-familiar voice spoke out around her.

She had no idea if anyone else could hear the words that were spoken, but they were all too familiar to Eri at this point.

This form is not yet complete.

The Reincarnation Matrix will be the solution.

You will give it to us.

Or we will do to Myn Othic what we did to the other.

Eri stopped struggling for a moment, still gasping for air as her hands clung to the tendril around her neck, holding herself up... but for some reason the words brought her out of her overwhelmingly panicked mindset and she found herself able to think more clearly.

Unless it had simply read her mind, this was the being that had been torturing her with nightmares. This was the being who was threatening Myn. And if what it was saying was true... this being was also claiming to have killed Satiel.

Anger welled up inside Eri, quickly replacing her fear. This creature did not get to make demands without answering a few questions first. "Who ARE you?" Eri choked out.

[GM's note: this conversation is happening prior to Kreiger's bad ass entrance]

"Who ARE you?"

The tendrils tightens, lifting Eri higher off the ground. Her feet dangle off the ground.

We are beyond your comprehension.

Names have no meaning for us.

We have been called many names

The Wandering Destroyer. Nazara. Sovereign.

It lifts Eri higher off the ground.

Eri winces as the tendril tightens, pressing her armored collar more tightly around her neck. She gasps slightly as she feels herself lifted higher into the air.

We are beyond your comprehension.

Names have no meaning for us.

We have been called many names

The Wandering Destroyer. Nazara. Sovereign.

Eri hears the creature speak the one name she does recognize - one that's not beyond her comprehension. Sovereign. Yet, this creature looked nothing like a reaper - at least not the one she had seen.

"Sovereign is dead..." Eri countered. "Why me? What made you think I could find this... thing... and that I'll just hand it over?"

"Sovereign is dead..." Eri countered. "Why me? What made you think I could find this... thing... and that I'll just hand it over?"

The hole in things and Eri came closer.

Death applies to only those that live.

We have never lived.

We will never die.

She lowers Eri lower.

You will hand it over Meridian O'Connell

You have been marked as our Bride since your birth

You are ours

The Reincarnation Matrix will seal our bond

The creature startled Eri by suddenly appearing closer in the blink of an eye, though it at least lowered her slightly.

You will hand it over Meridian O'Connell

You have been marked as our Bride since your birth

You are ours

The Reincarnation Matrix will seal our bond

Eri stared at the void in confusion, not at all sure what to make of any of what it had just said. She had originally been worried about the fate of the galaxy if she were to turn the matrix over to a reaper... but at that moment, she was far more concerned with her own personal fate. O'Connell? The creature knew her by her biological name? Since birth? Yet, that was perhaps not the creepiest part of the being's words.

"Bride...?" she stammered a bit dumbstruck, focusing on the oddest word of the bunch. "Why... why would I be yours? How do you even... how do you know me? How was I 'marked'?" Eri asked, a bit horrified at the thought.

The thing that referred to itself as Sovereign does not respond to Eri's inquiries nor does it let her go. It stays there, letting her feet dangle off the ground.

It waits

Eri winced when she didn't receive a reply, finding the void's silence almost more disturbing than its voice. She felt like a small child with her feet dangling helplessly in the air.

"What exactly happens if I don't give you the Reincarnation Matrix?" she questioned softly, putting her concerns into words, hoping she didn't spook it into doing something drastic. "Why would you harm Myn? What does the object do?"

[I][/I]

"bride? did....did that thing say bride? open coms link to one CORWIN, close proximity"
"Connection established""Corwin, im watching Eri be, well....strangled by this thing and its talking about BONDING and other weird shit but i CAN'T engage while it's still holding her, got a plan or should i hold ground?"
Kreiger kept eyeing the void, wondering if it could truly be the ship torn apart at the citadel or if this was some elaborate ruse used to strike fear that the prothean's developed, simply to guard it's treasures.

"I am ready. We must move. Quickly!" Astilla practically commanded them. Othic had raised his Omni-tool ready to send out a comms message to the rest of Corwin's team so they could be tracked down and exfiltrated. As he did so Kreiger's message broadcast over their frequency.

"Corwin, im watching Eri be, well....strangled by this thing....." Myn barely heard the rest of the message, his instincts kicking in almost immediatley as he used his Omni-tool to pinpoint Kreiger's position. The results popped up on his screen as the Quarian finished his panicked message.

".....should I hold ground?"

"Kreiger, it's Othic. That's an affirmative on holding your position. I repeat, hold your position, I have a squad incoming." Myn kept his voice calm and controlled. He did not want to encroach on Haven's authority but he couldn't be sure how shaken the man still was and they couldn't dally on who was taking charge when a squadmate was being attacked.

"Nick, I want that heavy Prothean weapon primed and ready." If this beast was as bad as suggested by the actions of Corwin and the evidence of an unconscious Aivar, Othic wanted all their available firepower on it collectively. "Let's move out." He said leading the way.

His movements were quick, yet deliberate; rifle raised to his shoulder always aware of any potential danger.

The tendrils do not twitch nor move. Eri remained dangling at this thing's mercy. The universe responded to part of her questioning:

It was designed to bring the dead to life.

The Reincarnation Matrix does more.

It creates life.

Redirects it.

Restores it.

Makes it whole

Before the creature could continue, Myn, Nick, Astila, and Corwin are rounding the corner and seeing the thing for the first time. As with everyone, the creature does inspire primal fear. Though now that they were a bit more prepared, they can resist it somewhat.

The ceiling was shifting. It looked almost like... clouds.... Were they outside? 'He' felt himself being dragged slowly, a person was dragging 'him' along and they were having great difficulty in doing so. 'He' could hear panting, huffing and grunting.

"What is... going on?" 'he' mumbled. 'He' felt 'himself' be lowered gently suddenly and Meera came into 'his' view. She was scanning 'him' with an omni-tool and then 'he' suddenly waved her off.

"Go back to the crew." 'he' said, getting up, feeling... nothing. 'He' must have had one of 'his' episodes again. 'He' hadn't one in a long time. "They need you more. There are things in that base that will tare them apart." The doc looked like she was about to protest, but she nodded and started to jog back to the forsaken pyramid, reaching it just as the team went in. The doc was tough.

Aivar stood up, the suit helping 'him' steady 'himself'. 'He' began to walk towards the ship, and once on the ramp 'he' said "Jarvis... Get the engines ready. I think we will need one, once they come out again." 'He' started to walk to the cockpit.

"Myn!? this thing said something about you too, if your coming in, be careful. holding ground until you arrive."
Kreiger began feeling tense. he wasn't sure if this armor would be enough against what ever this was, nor did he trust they could even hurt it.
"c'mon guys...."
Kreiger was seeing more and more signs that Eri may be the indoctrinated party, it was all too convenient. but then again, so was the pay for this job. either way, the thought of losing a squad member, a friend, chilled him to the bone.

The creature seemed confused by Eri's questions. She remained dangling, suspended in the air by the tendril that showed no signs of tiring.

It was designed to bring the dead to life.

The Reincarnation Matrix does more.

It creates life.

Redirects it.

Restores it.

Makes it whole

Eri considered its words, having flashbacks to Sovereign taking out ships all around her own as they flew toward the alien vessel with every attempt to engage and destroy it. Now here she was, facing it again, if this creature was to be believed. What was this? The reaper's... soul?... speaking to her from dark space? It didn't make sense to her... but one thing was certain - if it resurrected itself with the matrix, they had destroyed it before. They could do so again, if necessary.

Eri steeled herself, knowing the question she wanted to ask, but afraid of the answer. "Am I indoctrinated?" she questioned bluntly, having given up struggling against the tendril around her neck at this point. It was tight, and certainly not comfortable, but there was no indication it was trying to strangle her as she'd originally thought.

Myn led the team to one end of the hallway, blocking off the exit for the creature. Kreiger's mech was blocking the other way. The hole shaped like a woman was surrounded by Eri's friends. Weapons were drawn and pointed at the thing.

It did not respond to her question verbally. All it did was loosen the tendril around Eri's neck, letting her crumple to the ground. Without a word nor apparent motion, it passed through the wall of Room D.

Anyone watching the outside of the Base, or somehow monitoring the outside, would detect/see the hole shaped like a woman head away from the Base and into the surrounding clouds of Skelon.