Mass Effect: Crossroads

*3 Days After the Attack on Canterlot*

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Spike watched the skies pass by with the trails of smoke from Canterlot continued to bellow out into the sky like the snoring Dragon Fluttershy had dealt with when he first came to Ponyville, and stared at the massive hulking white things above the unfortunate city, still trying to still piece together what had happened to the world he once knew.

From the reports by survivors, or escapees, some were calling themselves, the metal monsters had invaded the city with strange clouds of a type of knock-out gas, and small wingless creatures that carried random ponies away to the sky, and beyond that. He had heard that some of the Royal Guard had tried to take the city back... two days ago, and not a word has been heard from them since. He knew that whatever these were, they were beyond what any Equestrian had ever encountered. And it showed.

The ponies of Ponyville were now all evacuated towards Apploosa, or Manehatten, or anywhere far away from the Contact Zone, as Canterlot was now called. They had all started to leave after the initial attack, but they had not left it in improper care. The military that rolled in and set up faster than Spike had expected, as military leaders from all over Equestria began to file into the small town for the coming war, Spike began to question.

Should he fight? Should he go with the CMC to Babs Seed's apartment in Manehatten, and forget all his troubles for a bit? Or should he go to the Dragon Lands, and try to find refuge there until this all blows over? Or, again, should he fight?

He thought back to all the good times that he and his friends had in Ponyville, since the day he arrived, even. They were always smiling and having exciting adventures. Sure they got into trouble every now and then, but they never resorted to violence. He was taught that violence was never the answer. That violence would only lead to more violence. But he lingered on that thought for a bit, as they had done nothing to antagonize these invaders. They had come from the sky and just attacked. They started with violence. They took his friends, they took innocent ponies, they even took Celestia. They had taken so much, and now Spike saw the violence for what it needed to be: the answer. It was his turn to return the violence, and he would, to see them again. To see her again.

Spike clenched his claws and breathed deeply as he stared up at the sky above him, knowing now what needs to be done.

*2 Days After Launch*

The Normandy came out of FTL and began to drift towards the expansion of space before them, only to be altered by the burst of heat and energy from the thrusters. As they glided through the void, a planet came into view. A planet that happened to be tagged by Alliance as the initial step in locating Oleg Petrovsky.

"Shields up, Weapons heating now, and Stealth systems engaged." Joker said aloud to the crew.

Shepard came up to the Captain's Nest in the center of the deck, and observed the planet as the image was enhanced for showing the location of the downed Cruiser. The size of the sphere began to increase, until Shepard was looking at a field with a broken ship scattered across it. Some parts were flashing red as multiple systems were shown dying out, and some glitches in the image itself after some parts fell off from gravity and time. The Cruiser itself was almost unrecognizable at a glance, but there was a resemblance to an Alliance ship if he looked carefully at the bow of the ship, where the main cannon fired. Apart from that, it was almost a complete wreck.

"The Hell happened here?" Shepard whispered to himself.

"Shepard, Captain." an electronic voice called from behind him.

Shepard turned to see his friend Hunter standing behind him.

"Hunter. What brings you here?"

"I would like to inform you that I have been examining the reports of the wreckage of the Cerberus vessel, and have come to a conclusion. The attack on the ship was from within it's own barriers. There are burn marks and destroyed sections that were heavily damaged before it could crash, and evidence suggests that the way they appear throughout the wreckage, it was indeed struck from within. There are little to no indications of battle from the outer plates of the ship's armor, as well as the evidence of the Kinetic Barriers failing far too late for any kind of assault from another ship."

"Are you saying that whatever did... this.... was on board causing it?"

Hunter nodded. "Correct. Data suggests that the attack may have started from the prison block. However, there is something rather alarming."

Shepard stepped down from the nest to meet the troubling (sort of) tone of the Geth.

"What?"

Hunter looked Shepard in the face and narrowed his eye.

"The damage only started from a single occupation cell. It did indeed lead to another cell, but suggests that there were only two on this... rampage."

Shepard took a step back and stared at the scans of the destroyed ship. He shook his head and started walking towards the elevator as he spoke to the communications officer.

"Traynor, get Velron down to the weapons deck and tell Bay to ready a shuttle. I'm going down there. Also, tell Joker not to get within range of the Cruiser, but not too far for an emergency escape. Hunter, you're staying behind. We have no idea what it is, so we need to go in fast and get out before we find whatever did... that. And that means we keep it close-ranged and fast."

"Affirmative."

After nodding, Shepard made his way into the elevator, and went down to the Armory.

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When Shepard arrived at the Armory, he was greeted with the sight of two Turians by the weapons lockers. It was Velron, inspecting a Tempest SMG, and another male Turian that wore black armor and had an M-8 Avenger on his back. Shepard approached his own weapon locker as he listened in to their conversation.

"I told you, you need to forget that old Tempest model, it's a piece of junk. You've gotta at least try the N7 Hurricane with a Kinetic Dampener and Heat Sink. It'll mow down anything not in cover at 10 meters, and can punch through barriers with ease."

"No way. We're going into a wrecked ship, that's probably more wrecked on the inside, while searching through a still collapsing structure. If we get into a point-blank firefight, I need a weapon that'll deliver a storm of kinetic rounds the fastest at close-range. Besides, I'm a Vanguard. I'd rather charge at the enemy and shred them down than wait an hour before someone's stupid enough to peek their cover. That's why we have the Geth, Hunter."

As they were arguing, Shepard pulled out his father's M-7 Lancer, and examined the scope. It had a good range for an Assault Rifle, and the 50 round magazine was proof of it's versatility. The Kinetic rails that were identified showed armor-piercing enhancements, capable of piercing 2.5 meters in a shot. The rifle also appeared to have a Kinetic Stability Dampener in the handle, allowing it to be fired more steadily outside of cover.

Shepard locked the rifle down and placed it on the table behind him as he opened the Armor Locker. Inside was his new customized suit, with a Recon helmet, Serrice Council Chestplate and Shoulder-guards, and Kassa Fabrications Arm-plates, and Hahne-Kedar Leggings. The entire set was a deep black, with blue outlines and lights.

As he started to armor-up, locking the under-armor on first, Velron approached him and spoke.

"So, Shepard, what's the situation?"

"We've got a downed Cerberus vessel with high-value intel that was destroyed from the inside by an unknown force that broke out from within the ship. No signs of life yet, but the whole thing's giving off strange readings. We go in, get the intel, then get out, hopefully without meeting whatever caused the wreck."

Shepard gave a reassuring fist to the chest-plate as he locked it into place, and reached for his Lancer.

"A Lancer? How in he Spirits did you manage to find a working one?"

Shepard smirked as he placed the rifle on his back.

"Let's just say I know someone."

At the remark, Velron shook her head and picked up her helmet, and locked it atop her head. Shepard followed her actions as he reached for his weapon locker and pulled out an M-3 Predator, and an M-4 Shuriken SMG. He attached them to his armor on their magnetic holsters, and approached the elevator, where Velron stood waiting with her selected M-8 Avenger in hand.

Shepard stepped in and pushed the controls to take them to the Bay of the ship. When it arrived, Shepard was truly impressed by what he saw.

The Bay was massive, no doubt now, as Shepard inspected the massive deck as he exited the Elevator.

To the left and right were massive crates for storage, and the scale at which they were locked into the deck. There were at least 200 crates of varying sizes at first glance, and more visible underneath. Closer to the center of the deck's entrance, was a series of consoles used for flight diagnostics of the various craft that could be launched, as well as procurement interfaces, allowing the crew to make purchases on necessary supplies for the ship's stock, such as ammunition and food.

Shepard looked up as he left the small entrance and took note of the structure of the launch-section. On either side were a lock-down strip for loading vehicles, that each had an M-44 Hammerhead, troop variants with twice as many thrusters, a UT-47 Kodiak shuttle with stealth drives of their own, and surprisingly an M-35 Mako. It looked like the Council had thought it best to overstock the Normandy for this mission. To confirm this theory, Shepard looked up and saw a series of suspended platforms that held not 4, but 6 Alliance Fighters.

As he examined the overstock, Shepard felt a slug on the shoulder and turned to his left to see Velron motioning to the open Kodiak at the end of the Bay, by the doors. Shepard nodded and jogged over to it with her. When they got to the door, they stepped inside and found seats. From his seat, Shepard saw the lights in the cockpit flash as the remote-pilot began to take control of it. A voice came up from the radio shortly afterwards.

"Captain, do you read?"

"Affirmative. Who is this?"

"Flight Deck Sergeant Steve Cortez, Sir. I'll be flying this bird from the consoles."

"At ease, when you talk to me, Cortez. Any particular reason you're not flying us from the seat?"

"Well, sir, I've recently come out of surgery after a Cerberus attack that took my legs. The new ones are adjusting, so until I can feel them right, I thought it'd be best if I piloted from here."

Shepard nodded. "Noted. Take us down, Sergeant."

"Yes, sir."

At that, Shepard and Velron felt the ship lurch upwards as the door closed, and felt the familiar sensation of leaving a ship's Mass Effect field, entering space, and reentering atmosphere.