Disclaimer: Anything from the Mass Effect universe other than (so far) Jason and Rebecka belong to Bioware
The cold rain continued to pour on the trio's heads as they walked down the street, though now it was much lighter. When Samantha looked up she could see the moon behind the elegant skyscrapers and the flying cars in the distance. They turned to cross the street to get to the junkyard across it. They moved to rest under an awning but Jason moved to go deeper in once they separated.
"Where are you going?" Sam said as she stopped him.
"I'm going to hunt for a functional ride so that we get to the warehouse district before the night ends. Mr. Lawson is a very rich man according to the bosses and we'll need every advantage to eliminate his security." He stated bluntly
"*sniff* Maybe I should come bro, I'm a better Tech than you and sister, I might find it faster." Rebecka offered as she moved closer while she rubbed her arms to warm herself.
"No, little one, you already sound as if you are catching cold and we don't have the credits to get you treatment if you get pneumonia or bronchitis."
Both of the girls gave a worried look at him that he knew meant "but what if…" so he assured them he would be fine and would be back soon before venturing further inside.
The two girls waited for a full half hour before Jason finally returned. The car he found was a very old model and was almost completely coated in rust but he had apparently jury-rigged it to at least get them to the warehouse. As the top opened and Jason turned to them he threw them some jackets he had found in the back.
"They seem to be well made, and rain resistant *sniff*," he stated to them, "they should keep the two of you warm and dry during the mission."
"What about you Jason?" Samantha replied.
"I'll be…"
"If you say "I'll be fine." again I'll slap you, I haven't had the sniffles yet so I can go without, you are going to wear this jacket and like it you got that." She replied in an irritated tone with her hands on her hips after throwing the jacket back at him.
He laughs as he begins to slip on the jacket. "Ok, Ok, Sam, I'll put it on" He said with a smile.
After he slid his jacket on and Rebecka had done the same they all huddled into the car and began to drive towards the warehouse district. The rain was almost gone now as they drove through the sky above the filthy slums they called home. Samantha checked her Omni-tool for the time. It was going on midnight standard earth time, meaning they had maybe four or five hours before the sun would arise and their jobs would get harder, and it already made her uneasy. The usual hits that the Reds would have them do were on relatively cheap warehouses that usually belonged to other gangs, but this one belonged to a very rich tycoon who could bring a hammer of doom down on the gang. She hoped that whatever was in there was worth it because if there was even one screw up from the other teams, the Reds were done for. The car began to slow and lower as they got a block away from the entrance of the warehouse district.
"You guys have your Omni-tools comms set to the right channel right?" Samantha asked.
"Had it done before we left the boss's place sis." Rebecka answered happily.
"Good job Rebecka," she turned to face Jason, "and you?"
"I had it set after I found the car." Jason replied. He turned to face her, the moonlight just coming across his face illuminating his deep blue eyes as he looked at her, "What about you?"
"I did it at the awning." She quickly answered as she blushed, she quickly changed the subject. "So here's the plan, we need to split up before we even attempt to approach this place, a group could attract more attention than necessary."
"Right, so who's going where?" Jason asked seriously as he pulled his Mantis sniper rifle from his back and began to check it over in his lap.
"Let's see." Samantha says to herself as she activates her Omni-tool and opens a hologram of a map of the next five blocks in front of her along with part of a blueprint for the warehouse. "From what I can tell on here there may be three ways in, We got a heavy security door in a back ally that Tigress can hack through, a service shaft above the front for you Wolf, and possibly an unmarked way on the roof, like a window or something, or at least a vantage point for me."
"Quick question," Rebecka says as she leans between the front seats, "why do we use these codenames, sis?"
"That's not important right now Tigress." She replies.
"It's so that we can have titles that are respectable in the Reds," Jason answers without looking up from his Mantis, "besides, I think they help your sister focus." He finishes with a smile.
"Now really isn't the time for teasing, Wolf, we only have maybe four hours before the sun rises and…" Sam says in an irritated tone.
"Point taken, Fox." Jason says with a chuckle while Rebecka begins to giggle in the back.
"Anyway…From what I can see the best course would be for Tigress to try first. If she gets in we follow, and if she doesn't or sets off an alarm I can use my biotics to lift her to the roof, then while the outer guards are scrambled you can get in through the front or I can use a place in the roof, maybe Overload an air conditioning unit or Warp a way through if things get bad. Damn do I hate the Reds intel, it always sucks, incomplete blueprints, making us resort to guess work and not a lick on the state of security."
"Don't worry, Fox, it will be fine."
Samantha sighs before closing the holograms. "Okay, Jason, just…both of you be careful, please." She said in a worried tone.
Jason places a comforting hand on Samantha's shoulder, but doesn't say a word. Even without any words being said, however, the action gave her great comfort. Jason always had a way to make missions like this work. No matter how bad things got, he would always be there, perhaps that was why she was…
She stopped herself from that train of thought; there was no way he would accept the idea and the tension could get any of them hurt.
"You okay Fox?" Jason asks
The question snaps her out of her train of thought, "I…I'm fine, let's go."
Jason opens the roof of the car and the three step out of it. They split up as they go up the street. Jason heads through the ally next to them and seemingly disappears into the shadows, while Rebecka just walks down the street, as the youngest she could walk the street and pass as an urchin. With the other two gone Samantha goes to the entrance of the ally and, with a combination of biotics and acrobatics she pushes from one wall to the other until she was on the roof of the left warehouse. As her feet land on the roof she slips for a moment because of the slight mist of rain that was falling that was coating the roof. Using her biotics once more she catches her balance and looks forward to see the city in the distance again, though much closer than before. The elegant sky scrapers seemed to attempt to touch the moon in the night. She wished deep down the three of them could leave these slums and live there, to be rid of the Reds and live as a real family. Perhaps she could contact the nice Alliance scientists that brought her and Jason some L3 implants last year, or maybe when Rebecka turned eighteen in the next three year they could all enlist and leave earth and the Reds behind together.
"I'm in position across the street from the warehouse. Fox, Tigress, status."
Once again Samantha is snapped back to reality. She begins to answer when she is interrupted by Rebecka.
"I'm already hacking the door, but this guy aint playin with the security, already had to get two guys in heavy armor out the way and this is some top notch stuff."
"What's your estimate on the hack, Tigress" Samantha asks as she begins to run across the roofs carefully.
"Looks like maybe another 15 if I can get somebody to keep the patrols off of me." Rebecka answers.
The sky began to darken as clouds began to move over the moon, making it harder for Samantha to see; luckily she was on the roof next to Warehouse 58 before the following rain began to pour again. Using her biotics she began to lower herself down from the roof into the ally below, she could see the orange and red glow of Rebecka's Omni-tool and the panel she was hacking.
"Annnd…..Got it!" Rebecka states in an excited whisper over the comm as the panel changed from red to green and the door slid open.
As Samantha drew closer she saw shattered ice and meat hunks littering the ground which she recognized as the pieces of the guards that Rebecka undoubtedly hit with her Cryo Blast then broke to kill them. She maneuvered around the remains to get to the door and get inside. After she made it around them she looked up to see Jason and Rebecka motioning for her to hurry inside.
The inside the building was dimly lit, but nothing they weren't used to. After some quick hand signals between the trio, they split up to clear the building of its guards.
"Remember Tigress," Jason says in a near soundless whisper, "we want to be as quiet as possible, make sure you are ready for the kill before you disrupt their shields. Do not do what you did outside in here unless absolutely necessary, ok?"
"Ok, gosh, I aint a kid anymore, I know what to do!" She retorted as she pulled away.
Once Rebecka was out of earshot Jason motioned for Samantha to follow her and said "Don't let her see you but if you have to, take out anyone she has trouble with."
Samantha nods in response and Jason heads back outside to get rid of the outer guards. After he is outside Samantha closes the door and turns to go after Rebecka. She could hear the echoes of at least twenty occupants in the building and figured it would take another hour to clear the building. She slowed as she noticed a strange symbol on the metal crates, a black gem with an open bottom with yellow borders on the sides that didn't connect at the top or bottom. Suddenly Samantha could hear Rebecka shout in the distance.
