The Firefly (Mass Effect Andromeda)

Chapter 29

Scott and his team hurried across the tether, hearts pounding. Meridian was the priority, he knew. But if there was a chance that Olivia was still alive, he had to find her. "Okay we keep this quick and quiet, and they'll never know we were here." He told Jaal and Drack as they stepped onto the Kett vessel.

"I think they noticed..." Drack said wryly as they were immediately set upon. After shooting down the first set of Kett Attackers, Scott accessed a terminal, allowing SAM to scan for the Archon's private chamber. SAM countermanded the initial alert, giving them a short reprieve.

Raeka and Captain Hayjer had followed them onto the ship, hoping to rescue Salarian captives. They promised to focus on rescue while Scott hunted for the Archon's quarters.

In a hangar bay they were set upon and forced into a corner while Kett attacked from all angles. Jaal was a good shot, and taking down numerous Kett briskly, while Drack was a force of nature. "Where are we going?" Jaal shouted desperately as they made a run for it.

"The exit is on the far side of the room." SAM informed them.

"With a lot of Kett in the way." Drack snarled.

A dropship came in, more enemies dropping down, firing. The sound of gunfire was deafening, even through his helmet. Jaal cried out as a bullet grazed him, dropping back.

"Why don't we ever get a dropship?" Drack complained.

They forced the door open, and shoving themselves through, let it slam. There was a moment of quiet. "This is not good." Scott muttered. They came across a set of empty stasis pods. Scanning them, they turned out to have belonged to several of Ark Paachero's leadership. They must have targeted them to sow confusion and fear, Scott thought grimly.

They found their way into a massive gun battery. Their jaws dropped at the sight of vast weapons pointed out from the ship. "Look at that." Drack said.

"Are those guns out there?" Jaal asked, disbelieving.

"Confirmed." SAM said, "The offensive armaments of a highly capable warship."

"All pointed at the Salarian Ark." Drack finished.

"Another problem." Scott sighed. "If we don't get the guns offline, they're all dead."

Another gunfight erupted in the room, this worse than the first. If Raeka's team hadn't come to their rescue, they'd have died. As it was, they made it through, and Raeka's team declared they needed to pull back to the Ark.

The two teams bumped into one another shortly afterwards, divided by a wall and a pane of glass. "Raeka, we've got a big problem." Scott said, "Did you see those guns back there?"

She nodded, "I know. They'll destroy the ark before we can power up the engines. Unless...Venro used to repair FTL drives on private cruisers. Venro: an EMP device?"

One of her team stepped up, "It might work. If we rig one to detonate near those guns, they'd lose power."

"And the Ark would be out of harm's way."

"What about your missing people?"

"I'll keep looking." Raeka said, "Captain Hayjer and Venro will focus on the EMP."

"Everyone be careful." He glanced around, "Good luck."

They continued alone, finding their way into what appeared to be laboratories. Drack glanced at him, "Do you think we'll find her?"

"Olivia? I don't know." His voice was heavy.

"She is likely dead already." Jaal's voice was careful.

"She saved me on Kadara." Scott said, "She killed to save me, pulled me out of the flames. And then she was taken. It's my fault."

"No, kid." Drack said gently.

The labs were a myriad of suffering. They saw numerous Salarians, their bodies dumped without ceremony after pointless deaths. Others were screaming, silenced as the Kett scientists saw the trio running through. One that he scanned was missing organs. They had been taken while he was still alive. It was butchery without any kind of mercy.

Stepping into another kind of lab, a large open room, Scott suddenly found himself unable to move. His whole body was suspended, crackling in orange light. Some kind of stasis field, he thought in a panic. The others were the same.

"It's useless to struggle." The Archon said, striding towards them in person. "I've been in this forsaken cluster for decades, surrounded by amoeba. Then you arrive – a human able to do the unthinkable. You even evaded me." He paced around them. "Such an unlikely rival." He said with humour, "It was almost invigorating to have one. And yet, it's a fitting end."

"What are you going to do with me?" He strived for calm.

"Whatever I please. You're not my first human pet."

"Olivia!" Scott cried out, losing his cool.

The Archon smiled as he seized him by the throat.

"Hey, try that with me!" Drack yelled. The Archon ignored him, turning Scott's head from side to side before injecting something into the back of his neck.

"A first sample." The Archon said, "Your testing begins. I will learn your secret soon enough." He leaned in close to Scott's face, "Save your strength, human." He left the room.

"If he doesn't know about me, it means Olivia hasn't cracked yet." Scott said in hope. "SAM what did he hit me with?"

"I'm sensing a biological transmitter in your bloodstream. Attempting to neutralize it." SAM answered.

"Okay that's priority two for sure. Any ideas for breaking out of this?"

"The containment fields only interact with living matter. If you expire, the field around you will extinguish and manually reset. As you know, my access to your physiology allows me to enhance your vital signal when required. I can also do the opposite."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Kind of don't want to die today, SAM!" Scott cried.

"After stopping your heart, I would attempt to resuscitate, of course."

"Any other options?" SAM answered with a negative. "Alright, let's do it." He tasted bile in his throat.

"Ryder," Jaal said, "Good luck."

"You better come back." Drack drawled.