Day 00 (Before deployment):
The Sarge put me on punishment duty again today, for the rest of the month for the incident during grenade practice. Not one of my best moments, but I couldn't help it. The duty was meant to continue for the remaining months. But rumour has it, we've got a huge mission coming up soon on some Citadel reactor plant.. No-one knows much more than that, and command ain't telling us anything yet. So they sent us and three other 4-man squads to go in and investigate what happened down there.
A few of the squad namely a Krogan and Sarge who's a N7, experienced in dealing with Cerberus and rogue Geth forces or "Clankers" as they've nicknamed them. because of their synthetic origins, of course. but this mission doesn't feel right. We also got a new member who got transferred from a different squad, a N7 engineer who was assigned as the "defence expert".
I'm not sure whether it's just me or something is off, but we going in with some of the heaviest and well armed equipment the Alliance, and the Citadel could give us. Weird... But I'm not complaining, I and the engineer that was in our squad got lucky with custom-modified M-76 Revenants, if we ever run out of ammo I still had an Eviserator for close encounters.
The briefing said the reactor was a Citadel Firebase. On the planet classified as Cyrone, it had an attached large garrison of mostly Turian troops, and a real original name. Firebase Reactor, really? They couldn't think of a better name than Reactor? Anyway, command said they don't know what attacked the Firebase, wiped out the garrison. But it can't be good. It went dark and contact was lost for a long period of time, the goal of the mission is to investigate what happened, secure the firebase and wait till reinforcements arrive to bring the reactor back online and operational again.
This might be just another bughunt, or a stand up fight. Who knows. If whatever attacked the reactor plant is still there. Then they'll have to deal with four squads of the Alliance's ultimate badasses, A.K.A us. However, I guess it wouldn't hurt to write a logbook about it. Just in case something happens, and we don't make it. So the next group of people may find this, and at least get a better fighting chance. But I can't help but shake this feeling that something's gonna go wrong with this drop.
Day 01:
Well. The Kodiak drop was like an express elevator to hell, the ride was bumpy and I swear the pilots even struggled to keep it under control during the flight at some point. Although I remembered a pilot, who I forget the name of who I met awhile back mention that flying a Kodiak is like a flying brick. Not like that dampened the squad's morale though. Hell I even saw the engineer just fall asleep during the flight, the Sarge noticed and woke her up soon enough.
I just wanted to get my boots on some solid ground...For once.
As soon as we landed, we hacked and gained access to a service elevator that led to the main reactor floor. The other squads moved to secure the lower sub-levels, we secured the area that led above the reactor and set up ammo crates around the floor in key strategic areas. It was all quiet for our squad, for what seemed like an eternity, in reality. It was probably only an hour or so. But still no sign of the Turian troops, or the reactor workforce. I wonder what happened to them? They couldn't of just vanished of the face of the galaxy just like that.
Day 02:
Things have gotten eerily quiet today, as one of the three other squads failed to respond to Sarge's call. They were investigating one of the lowest sub-levels, until they just went dark. Not even a warning, situation report or a call for help. Nothing, just...Silence. Third squad is going to mount a search and rescue for the missing squad and pull them out to regroup with Second squad, leave no man behind right? or at least what the others believe.
However curiousity is getting the best of me as I wonder what could be doing all of this and without the higher ups knowledge...Something is off about this, but what is it?
Why do I get this dreaded feeling at the bottom of my stomach I'm bound to find out during this deployment? I made sure that the Sarge contacted Command for evac just in case, to which eventually I found it'd come in 9 days... 9 more days, we can do this...I hope.
Meanwhile the engineer is helping maintain the reactor's power levels, making sure it doesn't meltdown and kill us all in one huge backfire. That would be a pretty bad and humiliating way to go, then again. So is a failed grenade throw...Not my fault, someone put a wall in my way.
Day 3:
Third squad is gone, they neared the same position as the missing squad. And just vanished shortly after reaching fourth squad's last known position, meeting the same fate as them. Sarge and the others tried to contact third squad. They just got nothing but static and silence. The squad is starting to get uneasy and twitchy, some have said to of seen things moving in the shadows...Shadows looking like humanoid figures.
I thought they were slowly going mad, until I was on patrol on the far side of the reactor. Opposite the elevator idly walking near a cargo bay until I spotted something in the corner of my eye. That scared the sweet loving crap out of me...A shape, a shadow. Something, I've never seen before, whatever it was it was BIG, the shadow looked like some kind of huge beetle, with large blue glowing eyes. and I swear that thing was watching my every move. I felt like prey before the predator pounces and kills the prey. However before I got a second glance or even aimed my Revenant at it's general direction. It vanished...Just like that! How can something that big move that damn fast?!
I'd prefer fighting against Reapers than this mind-crushing silently eerie place, at least Reapers tell you when they're coming to get you instead of pushing you slowly into madness and insanity with nothing. But silence and shadows. I've checked my equipment and maintained it at least ten times today, the monotony of field stripping and cleaning the equipment helps in beating back the soul-crushing boredom and borderline insanity.
It's better than sitting around and doing nothing and wait till the shadows get you...
Day 3.5
Second squad almost got wiped out in a chaotic engagement that didn't last very long today, they suffered three casualties. As a Turian jump-trooper, a Vorcha soldier and a biotic Asari Sniper got killed in an ambush that caused a huge explosion like one fired from a nuke-launching Cain, that rocked the entire complex. The last member of second squad found the bodies- what remained of them to be precise, scattered across a open stairwell. What caused such an explosion, is beyond me. But it sure as hell wasn't Reapers.
We have no idea what we're dealing with, with an unknown hostile force with THOSE kind of capabilities spells bad news for us. we still had no contact with third and fourth squads... We can only guess that they are either, M.I.A or K.I.A.
I knew alot of the members of third and fourth squads. They were good decent people who I met while on leave on the Citadel...I remember two of them from third Squad, a Turian Engineer and an Asari, rumour had it they were engaged. Only had to serve one more tour, before they could move to Thessia together. Poor people, they really didn't deserve to go down like this. Damn this war and the Reapers.
Day 4
We found out what took out second, third and forth squads today. Husks crepted out of the shadows and ventilation shafts, they tried to attack the engineer and me while on patrol. It looked like they were coming out of the godamned walls! We were ambushed, we engaged and mowed down quite alot of them with our M-76's. But the husks just kept running at us, trying to close the gap just to get to us.
However with each husk we killed, they exploded like bombs! What kind of husk does that?! Then I noticed something- off with the husks we mowed down. They were red, instead of the blue coloured husks that Reapers employed. These husks aren't even Reaper husks! More showed up followed by what appeared to be a red husk shrouded in a glowing yellow aura that looked...Possessed and hellbent on getting near us.
I blasted several bursts of Revenant fire at the husk and took it down. What followed next sent me and the Engineer flying into and over a ladder, into the lower level by the reactor as another huge explosion. Similar to the one that wiped out second Squad just erupted dangerously close to me and the engineer. Luckily we weren't too badly hurt, and we were still combat-able.
We won't end up like second squad.
These things just won't stop coming, we kept mowing them down. But they only really stopped when Sarge and the Krogan arrived and really laid down the fire on these things. They opened up with crippling amounts of fire from a Typhoon and what looked like a M-300 Claymore respectively. I could definitely tell the shotgun the Krogan used was a Claymore, that thing deafens you everytime it fired and I heard rumours that the recoil would wreck anything that WASN'T a Krogan. The Krogan ran in just punching, headbutting and firing Claymore shells and laying the pain on these things, smaller explosions erupted everywhere around the Krogan as he mopped them up.
However, more taller creatures appeared opening fire on the Krogan, these looked different to the husks and more insect-like, with four golden yellow eyes. They ran into cover with strange-looking assault rifles, these things were ridiculously accurate.
I could feel the rounds just graze the top part of my helmet while I was in cover, the engineer set up a small beacon, which fed ammo to friendly soldiers who were in the highlighted area around it. Sarge ran to our cover overlooking the reactor floor. The Demolisher's beacon kept feeding him ammo as they laid down suppressive fire on the insectoid attackers. I saw an opportunity to revive the Krogan, I leapt out of the cover sprinting to the fallen Krogan and picked him up using the medigel dispenser from my Omni-tool. The amount of fire I took while healing that tough son of a **** was overwhelming.
I felt my shields just disappear...
Just as my shield gave out, the Krogan was up and fighting again as he charged into the groups of the insectoid creatures. Sending them flying as he continued headbutting, backhanding and shouting Tuchunkan war cries, like an enraged god of war enacting vengeance on all those that opposed him. Quite frankly, it was awestriking and terrifying at the same time. I'm just happy not being on the recieving end of that Krogan's rage. I almost feel bad for these creatures.
Almost.
Day 06:
Skipped yesterday - the same thing happened as Day 4, creatures attacked again in large numbers. Mostly consisting of the explosive husks, a few of the possessed husks and more of the insectoid creatures. However today something new happened,Command wanted us to complete an objective.
As it so happens, there was two package of Reaper tech that was located around the reactor. We had to deliver back to the Foward Operations Base, soon enough Sarge, the Krogan, the engineer and I agreed on a plan. Which was that the Krogan would run and collect the packages, while me and Sarge would run with him and cover him while he delivered the package. With the engineer holding the drop off point and engaging hostiles at a distance.
Sounded simple enough...Only, it wasn't. As by the time we had delivered the first package, and had the second one on the way to the drop off point. We were ambushed by something of a pair of towering abominations, with cannons on one arm and a pair of disproportionate mutated fists on the other.
They were like something made out of your worst nightmare, then twisted and corrupted further. Until you had nothing but pure nightmare fueled creature from hell. They had effectively cut us off, and blocked the quicker route to the drop off point on the Reactor floor. Meaning we had to go around, risking them bottlenecking us with more of those explosive husks.
I'm starting to despise those exploding husks...
And sure enough. The explosive husks, the the insectoid creatures appeared with the husks trying to close the gap and draw our attention away from the insectoid drones. Who were positioning themselves into the perfect lines of fire for an ambush. We gunned our way through with me and Sarge effectively swatting away the husks like flies, while the Krogan opened fire on anything that got close enough, between him and the drop off point.
Once we delivered the packages. We took up positions designated as the "High Ground" and began peppering the enemy with complete sustained heavy fire, however after we killed several groups of the little guys. Those towering abominations showed up again through the reactor doors. More of the insectoid creatures ran ahead into cover and gunning in front of towering abomination. The towering abominations had turned around, targeting us and started firing back at us with multiple of these powerful kinetic blasts, which took down shields with just two direct hits.
It was fast becoming a stalemate. Which only the winner with the heavier damage dealing could emerge victorious. Sarge and the Krogan both broke cover, Sarge must've activated some function in his oversized battlesuit, because his armour was literally glowing red. He began unloading crippling salvoes of Typhoon fire on the towering abominations, while the Krogan charged foward pulling all incoming fire away from Sarge. And yet again, engaged the enemy in a brutal melee fight with the Krogan as the obvious winner with his brute force and sheer indomitable Krogan spirit.
The towering abominations on the other hand, were a whole other story. They just refused to die, it wasn't until the engineer had fired a rocket at them, which killed most of the smaller troops did one of them actually die. The engineer lauched a second missile at the second towering abomination, finishing them off the fighting started to die down shortly after that.
As much as I have no idea what these things are, and how terrifying they are. It's good to be shooting at something, than just waiting in silence. Slowly decend into insanity. With nothing to do, but just where did these things come from? And a better question is, how many of these things are there? Surely these things don't have that many numbers to throw away just like that...
Day 07:
More of the same fighting as yesterday, but dammit I got sloppy. While on the opposite side of the reactor, one of those husk things got close and grabbed me. They're tough SOBs, their shapes are deceiving. I knocked it down but it blew up in my face! Those explosions just murder your shields, I think I got downed... I don't remember much, but there was alot of fighting that happened after that.
I remember vaguely hearing Sarge yelling orders for the Engineer to revive me. The Krogan, backed her up with his Claymore. When I came too the engineer revived me, and put me back on my feet. I've never been so thankful in my life, I thought I was gonna die if she hadn't picked me up!
Thank the Alliance for those breakthroughs in medigel technology, otherwise I doubt I'd make it back to write this. Just 4 more days...
Day 08:
Well, looks like the enemy's deployed more of those towering abominations, since we've been seeing more of them today than usual. I put the count to say, 4? 6 even? They just eat up whatever's thrown at them, even the amount of firepower we've been throwing at them.
Then it happened...While we focused fire on the infantry, the Krogan was headbutting what appeared to be one of the elite insectoid things to death. However before he was about to land the killing blow, one of those towering abominations just picked him up and threw him on the floor and then Beat him down with it's cannon arm until the Krogan was crushed to death! And that wasn't the worst part. It just walked off towards us as like nothing happened.
Sarge gunned it down after around, 10? 20, even? seconds maybe... Of constant streams of Typhoon rounds. Actually it was more of a tsunami of Typhoon rounds than a stream now that I think about it...He was pissed at that thing, and just did not stop until it died. As we moved to mop up the rest, Sarge moved to the fallen Krogan as if to revive him, but he didn't. He just stood there for a second and moved on to get more ammo. Now there's just me, the engineer and Sarge left. Ammo supplies are drying up with each attack from these things, they just don't stop coming. They don't care if their comrades fall, they don't stop to heal their fellow troops. They just keep coming at us, with everything they got.
Just got to stay sharp and focus on surviving this hellhole of a Firebase, just 3 more days...
Day 09:
The Krogan apparently is unkillable, I'm unsure of whether it's the Redundant organs or something else. But he got back up and complained that the towering abomination got a "cheap shot"...How was that a "cheap shot" he got crushed repeatedly, to death. Until he was a bloodied pulp! How the hell would he know about cheap shots, he's a Krogan, with two pairs of balls?!
Getting crushed to death, didn't seem to bother him however. As he just grabbed some ammo supplies and walked it off like nothing happened, it anything it only seemed to ****** him off more than usual. He then single-handedly took on two of the towering abominations, along with what looked like 3 squads of the insectoid creatures. More of the exploding husks joined the fray but fell prey to the Krogan's attack, with his Claymore, his rage and bare damned hands! I could only watch as the Krogan just went to town on these things. And not care about his personal well-being. I know Krogan were tough, but this tough?! It's just too scary to even think about! I'm more afraid of him then I am of those hostile insectoid things.
Still no sign of that giant beetle thing I saw 6 days ago...Did I just imagined it or was it real? I just hope I imagined it. And I never have to fight it...That thing was just pure nightmare fuel...
Day 10:
Yesterday, I said I hoped I imagined I saw that giant beetle. Hoped to never fight it... I was so wrong. I wasn't imagining it.
It appeared out of nowhere, that chirping scream that came from it. Was terrifying, not only that. But it was fast, deadly fast. No matter what firepower I threw at it, it just refused to die...It just wouldn't die! It only kept floating towards me maliciously. Firing some powerful beam that just annihilated shields, scorched armour, I got hit in the leg while retreating through the Reactor room.
I almost made it, until it blasted the back of my leg. I made it but I couldn't move, blood was everywhere and I was bleeding out to death. I thought I had it for sure, that would've been my lot...
...Until that engineer appeared, just booking it towards me and applied one of those Op survival packs. I still had, it temporarily stopped the bleeding, healed it until I got proper medical attention. She's saved my life once again...I'm not sure whether she just does it because it's her duty, or something else. But I'm starting to like her...I doubt I could repay her for bringing me back in this fight, again and again. But I'm glad she brought me back.
Maybe, once this mission is over. I'd invite her for a few drinks to celebrate, just for surviving this god awful mission and remember those that couldn't make it with us. The Sarge and the Krogan were still off fighting that thing, they took it down surely enough as I could hear them both, gunfire and that thing's creepy chirping...
Maybe we might survive this after all...I hope we do. Because I'll be damned if I'm gonna let myself die here, in this hellhole of a planet.
Ammo supplies have been exhausted. We still have over 15 missiles left, in case more of those beetle things and towering abominations show up. Our reserve ammo is all we got, evac's gonna arrive tomorrow. So all we need to do is just hold out until then...Just one more day dammit.
...If I don't make it...And I die here. Then, I'll make damned sure I'm taking as many of those hellish bastards with me, as possible while buying time for the team. And the engineer to escape...All that matters, is getting her out of this hell.
Even if- Even if it means if I have to stay behind. With a missile launcher in one hand and my Revenant in the other. I WILL make those bastards pay for killing the other squads, the Turians who fought and died here and the workers who didn't stand a chance at defending themselves against these nightmare-ish horrors.
...I just want these unforgiving bastards dead.
...
The Diary of a Praetorian:
Day 01:
These Collector Drones are utterly useless!
The prey got away and that Krogan pushed the Marine with the Engineer into that elevator, the Destroyer waited for them. then the Krogan just massacred over 100 of the drones, Abominations and took down at least possibly, two Scions and the other Praetorian that was fighting along with me.
We lost two Praetorians now, including the other Praetorian that got taken down by the Krogan and that Destroyer several days ago. The Krogan soon ran out of ammo and just ran into the groups abominations and drones and beat them down, we just rushed him eventually.
It's a pity, I was looking forward to killing that marine. I've been tracking his movements since the second day of their arrival
Anyway, I finally managed to chase the Krogan down and killed him. I hate my job, I hope I get a vacation after this, otherwise Harbinger got hell to pay.
Modifié par Nova-SheperdXD, 06 mars 2013 - 04:33 .
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