Vengeance For My Angel, a mass effect fanfic

"No, please!" the short man pleaded, on the verge of hysteria. "Have mercy, assassin! Please, I beg of you! Have mercy!"

So it was that I let him continue to stare down the blackness of the barrel of my M-77 Paladin. "Mercy?" I asked, with winter-like coldness laced into my voice.

"Y-y-yes! Mercy!"

"Why do you deserve mercy from me? You're a rapist. A murderer. People like you don't deserve mercy from people like me."

"You're an assassin! You're just as much of a murderer as I am!"

"I only murder those who truly deserve to die. The difference between you and I? I have a code of honor. You don't." I replied, wrapping my finger around the trigger. "Si vis me flere dolendum est primum ipse tibi. Requiescat in pace."

"Wait! Wait!" the man screamed.

I tilted my head questioningly.

"I can give you a name! I know who killed her!"

I bent down to the man, grabbing a fist full of his shirt, and glared at him, deadpan. "Give me the name."

"Only if you spare my life!"

I contemplated his proposal. "Your life will be spared. Give me the name."

"Victoir Elmer," the man stammered. "That's his name. Victoir Elmer!"

"Thank you," I said, throwing the man away from me with my biotics.

"You'll…you'll leave me alone now, r-right?"

"Yes. Yes, I will leave you alone, now."

The man breathed a sigh of relief. "No…No, no, no…Wait! You told me…"

A gunshot rang out in the night, reverberating throughout the darkened field.

Pro mundi beneficio…

I shook my head clear. Always have to remind myself that what I do, I do for the benefit of the world…For the benefit of Humanity. My heart always tells me differently. Tells me that I should retire. But I can't retire. Not yet. Not until mein engel is avenged.

They say that assassins are nothing but cold-blooded killers. While that may be true for many of our kind, some of us are capable of feeling remorse. Unfortunately for me, I was one of those rare types.

Guess it comes from training under a Drell. Some of their assassins aren't cruel-hearted individuals. Many of them are. Of course, I got the remorseful Drell…Those emotions must have rubbed off on me, after the death of mein engel.

Remorse would not be nearly enough to stay my hand from the trigger on this night. Victoir Elmer would die by my hand, even if it meant that I had to die. Justitia omnibus, I consoled myself. Justitia, pietas, fides.

Victoir Elmer killed mein engel, I would be the deliverer of Justice; I held no pity for him; and my loyalty was only to my Master, and mein engel. She may be dead. My Master, however, is not…As far as I know, anyway.

The tide of corruption in this galaxy needed to be stemmed. No one was there to do that, anymore. Not after the disappearance (or death, I should probably say) of Commander Shepard.

I had no desire to take up Commander Shepard's mantle. I am not related to him, nor had any affiliation with him. Just with his girlfriend, Jack. We were friends…had grown up on Pragia together.

I understood her lament…Just as she understood mine.

We both lost someone important to us. Shepard died (disappeared?) to save the galaxy. Mein engel was murdered. What I never understood is why someone needed to kill such an innocent girl like her.

She didn't deserve to die…

I did.

I was a lone Adept leading a Vanguard's charge. No one was coming to save me. No one knew I was out here. Everything was going to be done by my hand, and my hand alone. Alas, dum spiro spero.

Saying I wish to stem the tide of corruption is one thing.

Doing it is another matter entirely.

"Matthis, please don't take this job," she gently pleaded. "It will haunt you later; I can feel that it will…"

I kissed her softly on the lips, placing my hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "You cannot lose hope, mein engel," I told her, my voice barely above a whisper. "Ipsa scientia postestas est. This job will give us the credits we need to buy a better home, to raise our beautiful twins."

She took my hand, placing it on her swollen belly. "Knowledge itself is power, I know. But do you remember what I first told you, when I learned what your trade really was?"

"Ja," I replied. "Nemo est supra leges."

"These men you kill are not above the law…That also means you are not above the law, either. How would the Alliance handle it if they knew that one of their top Adepts was an assassin-for-hire?"

"That's why I left the Alliance. Honorable discharge. They won't find us."

"Do you promise me, Matthis?"

"Ja, mein engel."

We shared a passionate kiss.

"Good luck, my husband," she whispered into my ear. "Should all else fail, I will await you in the stars."

Again, I shook my head clear. I can still recall that moment, as though it were yesterday. However, I needed to still my thoughts.

It was time to exact my vengeance.

I had set up my sniper's nest in a tall tower, across the grounds. I carefully observed them with my thermal optic binoculars. Nothing will stay my hand. Nothing. No guards coming. No spotlights. I am in the clear.

I took my Black Widow sniper rifle from my back's harness, and I carefully rested it on the stone of the tower. I kneeled, positioning the Black Widow comfortably up against my shoulder. My Black Widow's scope also utilized a thermal optic. I tapped my finger against a button on the side, turning on a specialized laser that could only be seen through the scope, and began to line up my shot.

The conditions were ideal. It was a little past oh-two-hundred hours. There were clouds dotting the night sky, though it did little to block out the moon and starlight. I was positioned in such a way that the light reflection would not be a problem for me, however. I was trained to never let my target see the glint of my scope.

Ex nihilo nihil fit. From nothing comes nothing…Why does this phrase come to mind, at this very moment?

My target lived in a multi-billion credit mansion. Of course, his balcony was luxurious. As he stepped out onto his balcony, I made a note of his gaudy robe. Judging by the woman next to him, I assumed he was completely nude underneath the robe.

I positioned my shot center-mass, wrapping my finger around the trigger. I stilled my breathing and my heart rate. This was my only shot. No doubt, come morning, this tower would be fully guarded once more.

And the day shift guardsmen would then figure out what happened to the night shift guardsmen.

My target and his woman shared a kiss. Upon closer inspection of the woman, I realized that she was an Asari…Justicar?

Wait…Is that…

I switched off my thermal optics for a brief moment.

No…No, she can't be involved with this!

Forgive me, Mehetabel. You were like a sister to me, once…But if you're involved with Victoir Elmer, you, too, must die.

"Amonkira, Lord of Hunters," I murmured in prayer. "I ask that you grant that my hands be steady, my aim be true, and my feet swift. And should the worst come to pass, grant me forgiveness, so that I may be reunited with mein engel."

I switched the scope back into thermal mode, and instantly became still.

No more delays. Time for you to die, Victoir Elmer.

Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger.

The silencer deafened the sound of the bullet, as it left the chamber of the Black Widow. I watched as the bullet flew through the air. Within mere moments, it hit my target in the intended area, the center mass.

It was a clean shot. A clean kill. In a manner of speaking…

"Veni, vidi, vici," I whispered to myself, lifting my head from the scope. "Bellum longum…Consummatum est."

When I looked back through the scope, to see if any hostiles had appeared, I came upon a peculiar sight.

Mehetabel was gone.

Mere moments later, I heard a pistol click behind me. With absolute instinct, I stood up, drawing my M-77 Paladin. Mehetabel was holding me at gun point with an Acolyte pistol. She was not charging up a shot. That would buy me a few seconds, at least.

"Ars est celare artum, it seems," I said to her, my voice solemn. "How did you know I was here?"

"You're the only Adept I know that uses a Black Widow sniper rifle. Doesn't take a starship scientist to know that. Also, you're the only one who can use a Black Widow so effectively, from this distance. But, you should know something, Matthis…You did me a favor tonight. You killed the man who kept me from achieving my ultimate dream."

"Ultimate dream? What are you talking about?"

Mehetabel laughed wickedly. "Isn't it obvious? The Justicars are weak. They need someone powerful…Someone like me."

I started connecting all of the pieces together in my head. "You're an Ardat-Yakshi…aren't you? You're trying to hunt down Justicar Samara."

She smiled. "Yes, I am. Now, I am free to take Victoir's fortune to complete my quest. And it's all thanks to you."

I summoned my biotic power to me, and I growled, "Not if I have anything to say in the matter!"

I threw an orb of raw biotic energy at her. She effortlessly dodged my attack, firing the Acolyte pistol at me. When did she charge up the shot!? I summoned up my Barrier, in order to weaken her attack. I was swept off of my feet. Disoriented.

I underestimated the power of the Acolyte pistol.

"That's it, Matthis?" Mehetabel taunted me. "All it took was a measly pistol to bring you down?"

I struggled to stand up. Pain was beginning to flood my body. And I could have sworn I felt blood rushing down…some part of my body. I'm not sure which.

"No…It didn't take a measly pistol to bring me down…" I summoned more of my biotic power, and I tossed a Singularity at her. "But it'll bring you down quite nicely."

Mehetabel tried to run from the Singularity, but it immediately absorbed her into its orbit. She screamed and squirmed, trying to figure a way out of it.

"You can't kill me, Matthis! I'm an Ardat-Yakshi! I will end you!"

I rolled my eyes. "You're doing…a great job right now…aren't you, sweetheart?"

She spat at me. Real classy, that…

I brandished my spare pistol, an M-5 Phalanx, and stared Mehetabel down."Requiescat in pace," I said, aiming for her head.

"Your wife deserved to die, Matthis!" Mehetabel shrieked. "And I enjoyed every second of taking her life!"

"May your soul never find peace, Mehetabel," I replied darkly, pulling the trigger.

You can guess what happened to her from there.

The Singularity dissipated, and Mehetabel's corpse fell onto the floor. I sat down on the floor, leaning up against the wall. And I laughed.

All I could do was laugh.

My best friend, an Asari I had served alongside in the Alliance for years, killed my wife and unborn children…

And at the rate I'm going…She'll have killed me, too.

Darkness suddenly clouded my eyes. Feeling began to leave my body.

And I fell unconscious…or into death's embrace…

Mein engel, I have avenged you…

One day, I pray that we are reunited, and that we can finally have the family we always dreamed of…

A woman's breathing was starting to become strained, from some incredible effort. She must have had great stamina, to have accomplished as much as she already did. She was trying to catch her breath.

"You are such a dumbass, Matthis."

Her voice was a mixture of resentment and hurt.

"I told your stupid ass to ask me for help when you went on your damned revenge spree, but no. You had to go and try to be a hero, just like Shepard's stupid ass."

She went on a tangent of explicit swear words.

"When you wake up and you're out of the hospital, you owe me a drink for pulling your ass out of the fire. Again, for God's sake! You're almost more of a damsel in distress than Shepard!"

Latin Translations:

Si vis me flere dolendum est primum ipse tibi – If you wish me to weep, you must first feel grief yourself

Requiescat in pace – Rest in peace

Pro mundi beneficio – For the benefit of the world

Justitia omnibus – Justice for all

Justitia, pietas, fides – Justice, faith, loyalty

Dum spiro spero – While I breathe, I hope

Ipsa scientia postestas est – Knowledge itself is power

Nemo est supra leges – No one is above the law

Ex nihilo nihil fit – From nothing comes nothing

Veni, vidi, vici – I came, I saw, I conquered

Bellum longum – The long war

Consummatum est – It is finished

Ars est celare artum – True art is to conceal art

German Translations:

Mein engel – My angel

Ja - Yes