Illium 2183

Mission: Black Sheep.

Operatives Cassidy "Red Fox" Nasalia and John "Titan" Shepard assigned.

Objective: Neutralise as many of the planet's prominent gangs as possible to secure good relations for possible Alliance negotiations.

No guidelines are given, inside contact named Silandis. A prominent Turian affiliated with the gangs. More information at drop-point Echo

Good-luck.

Hacket

The apartment was shit, she'll admit. It stank like crap, and somehow even in 2183 mould is still an issue. She was pretty sure something was living in the toilet, and the beds seemed to to be over a hundred years old. Whoever said Illium was a nice planet was full of horseshit. The apartment was tiny, with only one bedroom and bathroom, and just a kitchen with a table. Well, okay it was located in the slums, but that didn't mean it had to be this piss poor, right?

Well, at least it was cheap.

Cass yawned. She felt like shit, and it had been days since she had a clean shower. Her usually auburn hair was so greasy it had turned black. She felt disgusting.

But at least she wasn't alone.

Cass and her partner had been on Illium for around 4 months, and their mission was to help disrupt the criminal underground of the city. So far they'd managed to take down three of the planet's biggest gangs, just the two of them. It hadn't been easy, but they'd managed. The duo were N7, and they were two of the best the Alliance had to offer. Both of them were elite, having years of experience under their belts, and both being extremely deadly. Certified bad-asses, the both of them.

Speaking of her partner, it seemed he was finally coming back to the land of the living.

The hero of Elysium. The sole survivor of Akuze.

Both these titles had been given to the man sat across the table from her, but they didn't really tell a lot about the person behind those names. They didn't give credit to what he was really like.

His face bore a deep, jagged, heavy scar across the left side of his face. That same face was tanned and usually was quite handsome, though at that moment he was sunken with fatigue. He had a short, well trimmed beard covering his lower face, accompanied with short hair.

The man was smoking a cigar, rolling it a little between his fingers. His eyes were looking out the window next to them, staring at the dark night outside. It was strangely quiet. For once the sound of gunshots was absent.

His name was John Shepard. Her partner.

"You OK? You haven't said anything for a while." Cass said to Shepard, seemingly bringing him out of some kind of day-dream.

He yawned and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Just tired."

"I get what you mean. When was the last time either of us got any sleep? Feels like days." She said.

"It probably was." Shepard sighed, while also letting out a puff of smoke from his cigar. "Our sleep schedule is pretty fucked."

"Or lack of one."

Shepard nodded, and looked out the window again. His eyes scanned the buildings across from them. He was worried.

"Haven't heard from Silandis for a while. Better not have ratted us out. Never did trust that Turian bitch." Cass said.

"I dunno. We've gotta give her a chance. She hasn't done us wrong yet." He replied.

"Yet." She stressed "Doesn't give me much confidence."

"What are you so worried about? We''ll just shoot our way out if need be." He said dully.

Cass yawned widely, and shook her head trying to keep the fatigue at bay."You make it sound easy."

This time he turned to look at her, and lifted an eyebrow before saying "I mean, it kinda is. You just point-" He emphasised by making a finger gun "-and shoot." His finger shot up, as if an imaginary bullet had been fired. "The hard part is making sure you're not the one who get's shot."

"Sound advice. I'll make sure to keep that in mind." She joked.

Shepard went quiet again, and Cass just stared out the window contemplating about the man sitting opposite her.

"You're welcome C. I'm well known for my advice, after all." He smiled at her.

"Yeah right. Your "advice" is about as good as the alcohol on this piss-shit planet."

Shepard pulled a face, feigning offended.

"Come on C! Now that just being harsh. I'd like to think my advice has some value."

"Telling someone to piss in a straight line isn't advice Shep."

He took a another smoke from his cigar and exhaled. "Well... Shit. Guess you may have a point then. You're a bit of a bitch ya know that?"

"I may have heard that before, yeah."

Shepard laughed lightly, and the duo lapsed into a comfortable silence, just listening to the far away sounds of shuttles zipping through the city.

The silence stretched on for a few minutes, the only sound coming from either of them was Shepard inhaling and exhaling his cigar every minute or so. It was a while before Cass spoke again.

"Hey Shep, how long has it been? Since we became partners, I mean."

"Huh. Well, I was paired with you a long while after I'd finished from N7 training, and that was roughly three years ago now. I'd say about a year, give or take a month or so." He replied.

"And how much do you know about me?" She inquired.

"A tad random." He remarked.

"Humour me" She told him.

"Fine. You're thirty three years old, born in a outer colony. You've been with the Alliance for, what was it? 10 years?" Cass shrugged and said "Close, but eleven."

He nodded his thanks and continued "You were promoted to N7 with strong recommendations from your commanding officers. You've fought most of your battles against the batarians, and a few against some human terrorists.

You met an Asari at some point and you got married. Now you've got a young daughter. They both live on the citadel. There's probably more, but I didn't really delve that deep in your file. Why did you want to know?"

"I dunno really, I guess it's just I'm curious about something. It's about your file."

Shepard looked at her again, though she noticed he tensed up slightly.

"Okay, but first so what do you know about me?"

"I know that you're Earthborn, and I know you've got a kid sister. You are twenty six years old, and you have been with the Alliance since you were 18. I also know that you've got some kind of relationship with Captain David Anderson, though I ain't got a clue what that might be.

"You commanded your own force by the time you were twenty. The battle of Elysium ensued, and you won. A few years passed, and then-" Cass stopped before she mentioned Akuze. It was never a good idea to mention it around him.

"And then I came back from Hell and joined N7." He stated, though he was noticeably quieter than usual

She continued, skirting around that subject. "But all that's fairly common knowledge for one of the biggest names in the Alliance. No, what I want to know is why so much of your file is redacted. Before you joined the Alliance, there is next to nothing about your life. And after you finished your N7 training, there's just nothing but "[redacted]". Why? What is it you did that warrants nearly your whole life covered up?"

"I'm fairly sure you've asked me this before."

"Probably."

Seeing that the man clearly wasn't going to answer her inquiry, she persisted

"Come on Shep! Just indulge me. Pleasssseeeee"

But before he could reply, her and Shepard's omni tools pinged, and a message came up on their screens.

It read:

We need to meet. Go to the warehouse near 31st.

S.

"Looks like we'll have to put a rain-check on your interrogation C." Said Shepard, sounding slightly relieved. He stood up, and threw what remained of the cigar on the ground, stamping the light out.

"Looks that way. Oh well! At least we finally heard from our friendly neighbourhood informant." She smiled an almost devilish smile and leapt from her seat. "Grab the guns would ya?"

Shepard grinned "Of course."

"Well then. Time to get to work."