Author's Note: Mass Effect: Defiance is my second fan fiction. It follows the events of my first piece, Mass Effect: Transcendence (id: 8416577). Please be patient for chapters, as I currently am short on time and working on this one when I can. At the moment, please enjoy the teaser prologue. Thanks for reading!
Mass Effect: Defiance
by writeowl3
Prologue
Screen after screen of data loaded onto the computer console. His fingers, enrobed in red synthetic material, brushed over the various images and lines of code that glowed on the display. The lights above began to flicker; he hummed in time with each dip in power while systematically pushing each file to his datapad.
"Finally," he muttered, disconnecting the datapad from the console's system.
He flipped the pad in the air, catching it in his shoulder bag. The quarian pushed past the roomful of overturned chairs and damaged lab equipment that littered the floor. He stopped at the doorway to pick up a toy hanar sitting on a nearby desk. He wrapped his fingers around the squishy pink toy and squeezed. The hanar compressed to half its size; when released, it returned to its original shape. He squeezed the toy twice more and laughed. The smile behind his visor was invisible to the outside world as he placed the toy inside his bag.
Like an inverted pyramid cut into the rock walls, the finished stone sections of the underground city sprawled outward and upward. Artificial sunlight shimmered on the elongated pools of water recessed into the city center. An asari stood watching from the seventh level as the reflection of a quarian appeared within the pools of water. His footsteps echoed off the marbled floor. She followed him toward the city's main exit.
"How did you do it? Execute an environmental system failure?" she asked, stepping into his path.
He shook his head and continued to walk around her. "That's a bit too severe. I prefer procedural malfunctions over system failures. System failures are so obtuse. Any idiot can take a krogan Striker to a computer system and cause it to explode. It takes much more finesse and intelligence to cause a direct and specific... glitch," he said.
The asari matched his stride. "Within the entire underground facility?" she asked.
"No, only this sector of the moon. A subsurface-wide evacuation of an entire city state would be completely unnecessary. As in all things, moderation," he said, laughing. "So. Now. Here I am, strolling through the depths of an empty salarian city in the heart of a Halegeuse moon. And here you are: an asari the most exquisite shade of blue, escorting me and my bag full of military-grade secrets to my shuttle. Are you just a particularly chatty assassin? Or simply a fan of my work? I don't do autographs; surely you understand."
She smiled. "I need your help. And you've come highly recommended," she said.
He gasped. "I'm so flattered. Look, whatever you're willing to pay me won't even come close to my current fee, I can assure you. Don't waste my time."
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," she said.
The quarian became quiet, his arms crossed as he walked. "Do you have it then?" he asked after some time.
The asari reached into her pocket and produced a circular pendant. He took it from her and examined it.
"What do you need?" he asked as they approached the shuttle on the surface.
"Somehow, with the Reapers mostly destroyed and the rest in hiding, it seems we have engaged an even greater threat," she said.
He nodded. "So I've heard."
"I need your expertise if we are to have any hope of finally achieving victory in this bloody, endless war," she said.
"My government requires this information. I must deliver it first."
"Don't worry. We've already purchased the information you've procured. And the admirals have already approved of your transfer," she said while entering the shuttle.
"What if I refuse?" he asked, following her.
"We can be persuasive if needed. But, all things in moderation, right?" she said.
"We?" he asked. "As in the Council Vestige? Or the Residual Asari Republics?"
"We, as in the Shadow Broker's Kholkikos faction. Our ship isn't far. I'll give you the coordinates," she said.
"Hmm, rogues and scoundrels. My kind of people. And which would you be?" he asked.
"Neither. Dr. Liara T'Soni," she said, shaking his hand. "A pleasure to meet you in person, Yazan'Orzaa vas Neema," she said.
Yazan sat in the pilot's seat and entered Liara's coordinates. "Tell me, Doctor. As an agent of the Broker, are you allowing Tali to collect on my life-debt to...repay another?"
"Tali is a friend," Liara said.
"Then it is indeed a pleasure, Doctor, to assist you."
It was dark, hot, and dry. Just how he liked it. As he climbed through the bowels of the ship, the only sound he made was his black coat brushing against the metal walls of the ducts. It didn't take long for him to locate the weapons repository. Entering the room through a hatch, he dropped to the floor, surrounded by an arsenal of guns and ammunition.
Searching through multiple containers produced few results, until finally, a gray container adorned with the Cerberus insignia caught his eye.
A small smile formed at the corner of his mouth. "Perfect," he said.
He began picking and choosing weapons, placing one on the holster at his side, strapping two to his back, and loading even more into a carrier case. The door to the room burst open. A batarian staggered in, panting as he braced himself against the wall. He looked up at the drell standing in front of him. He thumped the armor at his chest.
"Thane, I actually found it! This armor is going to make me a fortune," the batarian said. He was smiling wide, showing all of his pointy teeth.
"We aren't here for armor. The objective was the weapons, Bakaar," Thane said, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh, come on. You found the weapons and then some. What are you bellyaching for?" Bakaar said.
As they began to exit the room, a roar of shouting erupted at the other end of the hallway. Bakaar pushed Thane back into the armory. "Nope! Can't go that way," he said.
"I don't understand. We bypassed the security system," Thane said.
"I know, but I wasn't able to bypass Cerberus when I found the armor," Bakaar said. Thane stared at him and sighed.
"What?" Bakaar asked and shrugged.
"This is why I prefer to work alone," Thane said. He grabbed Bakaar and took cover behind an oversized storage container as the bullets began to fly. Bakaar provided cover fire as Thane began to search through nearby containers.
"Stay here," he said to Bakaar as he pulled two grenades from a container and a shotgun from another.
The first grenade flew through the air, landing in the doorway behind the Cereberus operatives. A few managed to take cover during the explosion. Before the smoke could settle, Thane grabbed one of the men and shot a hole through his chest. He shoved the second grenade inside the hollowed out flesh and unleashed a wave of biotic force, sending the man flying into the remaining operatives. Thane rolled behind a large metal crate just as the second grenade exploded, sending white-hot pieces of Cerberus armor searing through an array of weaponry. The room grew suddenly quiet as the smoke dissipated.
Bakaar peered out from behind his spot and looked at the shards of shrapnel all around them. "Are you crazy? This room is full of shit that can explode! You could have killed us!" he said.
Thane tossed aside the shotgun in his hand and reached for a sniper rifle. A lone Cerberus agent rounded the corner. Thane lifted his rifle and fired a single shot through the man's head.
"Let's go. And since you can't stay on task, the case is yours to carry now," Thane said and tossed the carrier case of weapons at Bakaar.
"Sune, we're going the wrong way," the human man said to his female accomplice as they ran through metal corridor after corridor within the Xianan base. His lungs burned with each breath.
"I know where I'm going, Frey," Sune snapped.
"No, you don't. We should have gone south out of the main chamber, not west," Frey said.
"I'm telling you, it's this way! I don't take orders from you anymore, remember? So shut up and keep running," she said, matching his stride.
"You never did that very well in the first place," he said.
They turned a corner and came to a dead stop when the krogan guards caught sight of them. As the krogans opened fire, Sune and Frey sprinted back down the previous hallway.
"Well?!" Frey exclaimed.
"Fine. It wasn't an exit. I was wrong. Are you happy now?" she asked. Sune grabbed his arm and dragged him left suddenly. The guards gave chase, shooting all the while.
"They're getting closer!" Frey yelled.
"I can see that!" Sune said as they descended a set of stairs. Two bullets ripped through Frey's leg; he cried out as he lost his balance.
"Frey!" Sune said. She reached out for him, but missed as he tumbled down the flight of stairs.
The krogans approached the top of the stairs. Sune quickly attacked with a singularity field before she dragged Frey into a small side room. She ripped open the access panel and pulled the glove from her left hand to reveal a synthetic, metallic arm. She scanned the open panel with her hand, and the door promptly slammed shut.
"I rewrote the code for the locking mechanism. Should give us some time," she said, putting the glove back on.
"Did you have to pull so hard when you dragged me in here?" Frey asked, sitting up.
"I could have left you to be captured or killed, if you preferred," she said.
He groaned and grabbed his leg. "Oh, you mean like last time?" he said.
"No. Last time was different. You were still interested in sex, as I recall," she said.
"Is this really the time to have this conversation?" he asked as she scanned their coordinates in a nearby computer console.
She sighed. "It's never the time."
Sune placed a small detonation device on the far wall and pulled Frey behind the console. A piercing, high-pitch noise errupted from the device. Sune and Frey covered their ears as the device continued to climb in decibels. Before long, the wall crumbled, exposing the tropical grasses outside.
"I hate those damn things. Going to make me completely deaf one of these days," Frey said. He leaned on Sune as she helped him stand.
"Can you walk?" she asked.
He nodded. His pant leg was soaked with blood. "I'll manage...with some help," he said.
Together, they staggered over the pile of rubble and disappeared into the dense forest except for the drips of blood Frey left behind.
The sound of this ship was steady. Balanced. Not as melodic as the Normandy, Thane noted. From his perspective, there was nothing special about the Caswallawn. Low on fire power. Small. But these days, it was even more important to go unnoticed.
He paced in front of the armory, assessing the total store of weapons before working through his system of quality checks. First the triggers. Then the barrels. Sniper rifles then shotguns. Assault rifles. He disassembled, cleaned, and recalibrated each one by hand. It was calming to work with his hands.
The new inventory awaited his inspection. Sleek but heavy. No ammunition for these weapons: only energy stores. He had never handled anything quite like them before and looked forward to testing them in combat. As his hand brushed over the Cerberus insignia etched into a receiver, his thoughts turned toward Shepard.
"The Reapers will pay for the suffering they've caused," Shepard said.
"No," he said, "we are the ones paying for it instead."
"I wasn't enough," she said.
He turned back to look at her. "You were always enough for me."
He pulled a necklace from his pocket and turned it in his hand before placing it inside the breast pocket of his coat. The door to the armory opened, but he did not look up as Liara stepped inside the room. She waited for him to acknowledge her presence, but he made no attempt to.
"It's time," she said finally, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Thane nodded. "I'm ready," he said.