Vindicates Chapter 4

Chapter 4 of Vindicates.

## Story

**Location: ONI Stealth Pelican, approaching Unknown Facility**
- 2183, Aug 7

Jake "Nomad" Dunn and Sam Gideon sat across from each other, discussing the mission they were about to undertake, as the Spartan known as Ben-174 piloted the Pelican.

"What do you know about the Spartan?" whispered Jake

"This whole thing has me spooked, Sam. They told us that they sent in a platoon of marines, then spec ops, and got no response. Now they're sending us three in to do a sweep and clean. Three highly trained augmented units, one of which is a Spartan. Reach is still under siege, they need every Spartan possible to defend the planet."

"Ben was wounded during the initial wave and then sent back to Earth for healing, he's been patched, up but it is strange that they sent him on this mission instead of back to Reach with the rest of them..."

"Shit is serious, what else aren't they telling us? And since when do so many intelligence agencies work together? A mixed team like this is just suspicious."

"Calm down Jake, let's just get in, do our jobs, and get the hell out. We should be glad we have a Spartan with us, what, would you prefer some rookie who'd get himself or us killed? I do kind of feel like a Yautja hunting party though. Three of us are going in and hunting separately, sounds just like 'em. Also, he has the hard job, better him that gets ganked by whatever's waiting for us in the dark than us."

Ben chimmed in. "You guys know I can hear you, right?"

Sam replied "Yeah, we just don't care."

Ben set the Pelican to autopilot and began walking over to the pair.

"Just for clarity, we're going over the mission parameters and objectives one more time before we deploy.  They want me to investigate the right wing of the complex. ONI believes that's the source of whatever issue it is they've failed to disclose to us, so I guess you're right Sam, I do most likely have the most dangerous job. Nomad, you're taking the left wing, up to the control tower here to look for survivors. Intel again says that there may be some people hunkered down there, since it was the most secure part of the facility. Sam, you're going to the rear wing to shut down the communications array, which will turn off the distress beacon being pinged to UNSC frequencies. The brass don't want anyone finding out about this place. They've classified this as a Section Three mission boys, so if we repeat any of what happened here they'll have our heads, quite literally. Whatever you see today keep it to yourselves, if you make it out alive."

Location: Unknown Facility

- 2183, Aug 7

Rhodey was the last one off of the ship, simply because she was piloting it. It was a five man squad, including her, Samus, Isaac and the two Shepards. tThe others had made it off of the Spectral already as she remarked,

"Hmm, the beacon's gone silent, and this entire place is empty. Thats's not a good sign."

John commented on the status of the station "It's pretty quiet, but the power's still on, along with the artificial gravity."

Isaac responded with his usual paranoia. "I feel like I'm having an episode of déjà vu, and THAT is a bad sign. Are you absolutely sure Necromorphs haven't taken over this facility? The USG Ishimura looked quiet when we approached too."

"I wouldn't be fielded us against Necromorphs at this stage, Isaac, but if you want, you can wait on the ship."

"Ha, funny... no, I'll stay in case any of you need rescuing."

Jane laughed, "Now that is funny."

Rhodey interjected to keep everyone on track "It could be a trap set for someone." "That's what I figured," replied John.

Rhodey nodded and stepped off of the ship. "Jarvis, be a dear and keep the Spectral cloaked 'til we need it?"

## "Of course, ma'am."

**Location: ONI Stealth Pelican, approaching Unknown Facility**
- 2183, Aug 7

"Who the hell are these guys?" inquired Nomad, concerned.

Sam pointed to the screen "Well those two are the human Spectres who saved the Citadel, but they're supposed to be dead, and that's the Federation's bounty hunter Samus Aran, don't know who that guy is, or that one..."

Sam had been previously approached by the man wearing the black and blue armour, wanted him to join some kind of cause after he got burned. Luckily though, he had been given the option to re-join the government, and declined his offer. He hesitated on whether or not he should reveal that he knew the man, but that would require explanation, so he opted not to.

"Don't know. Looks like antique armour though. Maybe ONI is doing more spook shit, and brought in a second team? Maybe it's the Council who faked their deaths and are investigating?"

Nomad turned and tilted his head "With a Federation Bounty Hunter and two nobodies?"

Sam shrugged. "They could be Spectres, too."

Ben was fixated on Samus as he thought to himself: What are you doing here?

**Location: Unknown Facility, Vindicates Team**
- 2183, Aug 7

The team was standing before the primary entrance into the facility. Rhodey was hacking the terminal to open the door, when she felt as if someone or something was watching her. She slowly turned her head upwards and her visor's HUD revealed the silhouette of a cloaked Yautja, peering at her from the rooftop of the facility. She heard Samus in her comms,

"You see it too?"

"Try not to make it obvious. Look away and continue acting normal."

**CAUTION: SLIPSPACE RUPTURE DETECTED**

"Thanks for the heads up, Jarvis."

John points as he states "That isn't an ordinary Pelican, they don't usually come with slipspace drives."

"I noticed. Everyone get inside quickly, it's probably another response team, and they won't like us being here."

The group headed into the facility as fast as the doors would open. It was a downwards slope which stopped at a door, which levelled out again. The door at the bottom of the slant was open, and as they reached it they came into another hallway, one littered with bodies.

"Oh my Darwin...", Rhodey exclaimed.

Isaac whispered into his comms repeatedly, "Déjà vu, déjà vu, déjà vu..."

"It's not Necromorphs." Rhodey said, as her visor zoomed in on a corpse, she immediately flew over to one and got in close, spotting the hole in it's chest. "This confirms what I suspected... they were breeding Xenomorphs."

Jane pipped up "Well, what the hell are those? You didn't tell us about them."

"I wasn't sure, but now I'm certain. This is a Weyland-Yutani facility, but they had some kind of weird joint operation with ONI utilizing UNSC resources. Xenomorphs are a... well, I've never seen one up close, I'm relishing the opportunity to though. It would also explain the Yautja that's following us."

John looed to his sister, who shook her head in the typical "no" response which told him she hadn't seen it. He turned back to Rhodey "We're... being followed by a Yautja?"

Samus interrupted, "We both spotted it as she was trying to unlock the door."

Jane ignored Samus and spoke up again in a calm matter "Rhodey, if you want to lead, you're going to have to be more honest with your team."

"I understand that," she said, as she flew over to the second console, hacking into its systems as an expert multi-tasker "but I needed to not alert the Yautja. I planned on telling you when we got inside, which I did. The Xenomorphs are... more complicated."

The rest of the team began inspecting the gory scene. Isaac commented, "It looks like something broke out of their chests, like, outwards. From the inside."

Samus began relaying scan data. "Some have their limbs removed, others have been stabbed, burnt by exposure to some kind of corrosive chemical, but none have bulllet holes... do these match the descriptions of your Xenomorphs?"

"Yes, that's why I know it's them. Every day I'm shuffling through on comms chatter and data bites Jarvis has isolated for me based on the algorithims I created which could have important information. Most of the time it's encrypted and/or vague, sometimes it's rumours, like what I heard here. I've learned that if someone high up enough suspects something, then it's most likely true, but that's still not always. Xenomorphs have been a rumour, a legend, spoken about in UNSC and ONI intelligence circles like a scary boogeyman for years. What I know about them is that apparently the first encounters were on Acheron, an outer colony moon that went dark some years ago. They're some kind of... endoparasitoid species with multiple life stages. They breed and grow extremely fast, are extremely strong, fast, and gifted in stealth. I've heard they quite often sneak up on trained combatants. They're not exactly that hard to kill with the proper weapons, but they have extremely concentrated acidic blood, so even a lot of people who've won an engagement didn't come out alive. Avoid close quarters combat if you see one. Images I've seen of them are like... black serpents, in fact that's what the Yautja call them, "serpents". They're tall, thin, and use their tails as weapons, they have a sharp blade on the end."

Rhodey started going through her data files, and then brought up a blurry image onto the screen in front of her, and then she kept typing. "Let's see if this will match the security footage from the station. Until now I couldn't even be sure these creatures existed, but their breeding process supposedly starts with a queen, who lays an egg, which in turn is a carrier for what's often been dubbed a "facehugger". They will attack a person or being of some kind, wrap itself around the face, and insert an embryo inside them through the throat canal. In a matter of hours, the resulting specimens will erupt from the victims chest as a larvae." She points to the corpses, all of which have holes in their chests. "Between that, the acid, and the bullet holes in the walls, I think it's safe to say these things are real. And this is definitely Weyland's facility, has his dirty fingerprints all over it."

John asked "What happens to the larva when it leaves the victim?

"They scurry away, hide, molt and grow, which has been recorded to take less than an hour, and then they do their queen's bidding if they have one. Which means infecting more victims with face huggers or protecting the nest... ". When she finished, footage began playing on the screen, an N7 commander filing a report to ONI Section 3.

"This is Commander Rupert reporting in. My team has secured the front entrance, the ODSTs and Pilots have secured their portions of the facility, communication is back up, but we've had trouble shutting down the distress beacon. We've located the resistance group in the east wing of the facility."

"We need to head to the east wing and check if the survivors are still there," Rhodey commented, as the video kept playing "Wait, what's that!? Lock it down men!" someone else offscreen screams "They're coming out of the vents!" as shots started firing, a Xenomorph comes into view on the screen. Rhodey pauses it so it shows the creature side by side with the image she had put up earlier.

"There it is, that's a match. You see now why I said nothing earlier? Do you want me to sound like a crazy person?"

Jane shook her head "We told the Council that there's a species of sentient starships waiting in darkspace to wipe out the galaxy."

"Did they laugh at you?"

"... Sort of."

"My point exactly. We need to keep moving, they'll be coming for us," Rhodey urged as the door opened "this will be the containment lab, so please, no one touch anything that might infect you, because I'm not bringing anyone back to base who might poop out a homicidal space worm."

Isaac replied "Thanks for that image, Rhodes..."

"Anytime, Isaac." Rhodey walked over to the broken window on the left hand side of the room "Oh, wow, I have something over here."

A creature with a deep voice called out in pain "Arrrrrrrrrrgh!"

The team gathered around the window to peer into the lab room. There was a Sangheili strapped to a table. The room was full of lab and computer equipment, and screens with various things on the monitors, mostly the Weyland-Yutani logo, broken glass, blood, and stasis tanks with ghoulish creatures suspended in them.

"Humans, have you come to watch me die? I will give you no satisfaction for my pain."

Isaac turned to Rhodey "How the hell did Weyland get their hands on a live Elite?"

"ONI. I think... I think they're trying to test Xenomorphs as a viable bioweapon against the Cov-"

"ARRRRRRRRGH" the Sangheili screamed, his chest making a loud thundering 'crack' sound as purple blood plattered across the room. A worm-like creature with a split jaw erupted from the wound, seconds before Rhodey incinerated it with her Repulsor beam.

"They're clearly testing the compatibility of infections and parasitic life forms, as well as their viability to be deployed against humanity's enemies." She pointed to the stasis tanks, one of which had a fully grown human-born Xenomorph, another with a Necromorph, another a Reaper-human Husk.

Isaac pipped up. "Rhodes, you need to scan for any unique energy signatures, if you find one we have need to leave immediately."

"Already did Isaac, there's nothing besides the stations generator, and if there was a Marker the Necromorph bodies would be moving. Looks like they're testing the Xeno's biology against all of these creatures, probably others too, we haven't checked all of the rooms yet."

Samus turned and went to the next room, where she saw a baby Metroid encased within a stasis tank.

"Bastards..." she muttered.

Rhodey leaned over to peer into the next room "Metroids too?"

Jane looked around once more before commenting "How did Weyland manage to contain a Metroid?"

Rhodey plugged a data chip which was also a transmitter into one of the consoles in the room and then began chatting. "Maybe they're also considering using Metroids as a weapon. Not a good idea if the Space Pirates couldn't control them, but if Weyland's been researching all of these creatures then the data in this station's systems could help me create the immunities I need to use against them... yes! They've got data on the Markers here, looks like Xeno biology isn't compatible with Necros, they need living tissue, but... oh, Xenomorphs can be "converted" into Reaper Husks... interesting. The Marker's signal doesn't affect Xenos either, they need fully sapient lifeforms, and the bio-mass is unusable because of the acid blood. It doesn't work with Reapers either it seems, since they have their own signal. Very interesting. Metroids can drain them all, of...whatever it is they drain them of."

John shook his head "It looks like a lot of lives were lost doing what they did here..."

"Better that it gets used for something good then, because Weyland suggested to ONI to start plopping Xeno eggs on Covenant worlds. What a disaster."

Samus asked "And the Metroids?"

"Deemed a possible solution to synthetic threats as they absorb all kinds of energy, but they think Xenos would be a faster, more effective threat for the Covenant to deal with. They think it'd slow them down enough to buy some time for the war."

Jane laughed "Yeah, and then we'd have to clean up the horror show afterwards, they obviously can't be controlled."

"Tell that to Weyland," Rhodey responded in sarcasm "we need to keep moving."

**Location:  Unknown Facility. ONI Stealth team**
- 2183, Aug 7

The Pelican had landed, with Ben the first to jump out.  A flash of light appeared in space to their left, in the distance a white and yellow ship was coming out of slipspace. It was a corporate cruiser, they were distinquishable from the typical UNSC cruisers by being smaller, coloured white, and in an odd shape that resembled a more human version of the aesthetics chosen by the Citadel Council. They're a more slender looking ship, whereas the UNSC cruisers are usually more massive, bulky blocky grey things that resemble giant guns, which is essentially what they are. They build their ships around the biggest Magnetic Accelerator Cannons they can make to output more firepower.

Ben looked up as he spoke "It's Cerberus."

"What are they doing here?!" replied Jake

Ben answered "Probably the same as us."

Sam sighed "This mission just keeps getting more and more complicated."

Location: Unknown Facility, Vindicates Team

- 2183, Aug 7

The team was opening the next door which would bring them into the center of the facility, but they didn't expect to be met with an army of Weyland's mercenaries. A blonde woman holding a pulse rifle was in the middle of the crowd of soldiers, seemingly in charge as she shouted,

"You're in a restricted area, outnumbered and outgunned. Lay down your arms and you'll be spared."

Rhodey took a quick look around and noticed that they weren't all mercs. Most of these were androids, combat androids. These were illegal, all AI was made illegal after, well, there were so many incidents, the first one her bloodline being responsible for. Only the military were allowed to use certain AI, "smart" and "dumb" were used on certain UNSC vessels and some corporations could get a licence as well. Rhodey had one for Jarvis, but combat androids were forbidden in all cases.

Rhodey spoke up "Okay, so, issue number one, most of us have weapons attached to our armour. Issue two, we're outnumbered but certainly not outgunned, issue three, this "restricted area," which we've identified to be associated with Weyland-Yutani, as well as yourselves, has been conducting illegal operations. If anyone here is to be surrendering for legal reasons it'd be you."

"Put down your weapons!" the woman said angrily.

Rhodey turned to her team "It's like she's not even listening. Am I speaking English?"

And then, suddenly, like some kind of braisen Spanish Inquisition, a squad of Galactic Federation soldiers came running down the opposite hallway of Rhodey's team. The man in the middle, who Samus recognised to be Adam Malkovich, her former commanding officer spoke loudly over the soldiers,

"Weyland Security, you're being ordered to surrender on behalf of the Galactic Federation. This facility lies in uncharted space and therefore comes under inter-governmental jurisdiction. We're here to investigate a claims of illegal Metroid containment."

The blonde girl stated directly. "We will protect this station and Weyland's investments from all infringements."

Rhodey spoke privately on the comms "Keep your weapons down, I want to keep this situation from escalating if we can help it."

Adam looked over to the Vindicates, and his face quickly turned to shock."Is that... Samus, what are you doing here?!"

Rhodey turned to Samus "Are you on speaking terms with these guys?"

"I'd like to talk to Adam, ask him what happened back on that research station."

The left door to the centre room opened up with a group of UNSC soldiers, leading them was an N7 Commander, behind him an ODST, a Titan Pilot, two Naval Guards, and two Marines.

"I'm Commander Rupert, the highest ranking officer of this facility and by extension the de facto commander of it. I see the situation here is a little bit tense, but none of you seem to have realised the state this facility is in, it's infected by parasites, coming with us is your best bet for survival."

The blonde woman shook her head. "With all due respect commander, Weyland is no longer confident in the UNSC's capability to protect this facility and his secrets; we're here to purge this facility, including you, your employment contract is terminated."

Rupert ignored the woman and turned his head to the Vindicates "Are those the Commanders Shepard?"

Rhodey spoke for them "Yes, it is, first human Spectres, we're also not here to kill anyone by the way..."

John commented "We're here to help, Commander, in any way we can."

Isaac signed "I guess I'm just not as popular as everyone else here is."

The human tribes were all bickering. They seemed to be figuring out which one was the alpha, no union among them. The Serpents were coming from there nests, awoken by all of the commotion. The humans would soon turn on each other and the creatures, now was the perfect time to strike amongst the confusion.

Paya landed behind some of the artificial humans, his invisibility cloak still rendering him invisible, but the sound his heavy body made arose some suspicion. He ignited his new weapon, eager to use it, the light giving away his position, just as he planned. The artifical ones turned in confusion, but Paya was too quick, before they could react, one was cut down in half, the other he pushed with the spirit magic he learned from the place far far away. Now they were all alert to a threat. The doors opened, and the serpents were running in behind him, perfect timing.