A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and support, guys!
Dragonmith: That story sounds really awesome. Damn. But I'm not going to read it, because I don't want it to affect my story. But thanks for the link!
It was a day just like any other. Having already developed a routine for the past month, I was getting ready for Napier to pick me up to the shooting range. He arrived, however, this time he was donning a rather expensive suit, and carried yet another duffel bag.
"What's the occasion?" I asked, taking a sip of coffee. He tossed me the bag. Inside was a suit similar to his. I arched an eyebrow.
"Wear this and pack your clothes. We're leaving."
"To where?"
"Illium," he said. "The ultimate place where anyone and everyone can do anything and everything. Perfect location for a little 'off the grid' training."
"And what might that training comprise of?"
There was a mischievious glint in his grey eyes. "Maybe a little driving, perhaps a couple of grenades... You know, the works..."
"Alright, just give me a minute."
Turned out there was a reason for the suits. Napier had booked first class tickets for our three-day journey. Aboard the commercial cruiser, we indulged in fine wine and top-notch delicacies, all in our very own suites, which was equipped with top-of-the-line amenities. Even the toilet seat was gold.
After the cruiser docked at Nos Astra's spaceport, Napier led me to a skycar waiting for us at the shuttle depot. I recognised the vehicle as a W6Z, which was basically Mass Effect's take on a Ferrari back home.
I frowned. "Napier had properties on Illium?"
The software replied, "You'd be surprised at how deep a corrupt officer's pockets go."
I didn't answer.
Napier brought us to a rather elegant hotel and bar nearby called 'Eternity'. After we'd settled down and washed up, we headed out again. Unlike the Citadel's rather calm and sleepy scenery, Nos Astra's was that of a major city back home, a metropolis that was bustling, bright and brimming with energy like Los Angeles or New York City. Skyscrapers that lit up like Christmas trees littered the skyline, and the traffic lanes were so packed, it was a wonder that no one crashed.
Napier landed at what I assumed to be a trading hub. "Welcome to Illium's busiest commercial hub where you can buy anything and everything," he said. We went around, browsing through the endless shops that ranged from luxury clothing to heavy duty weapons of mass destruction. We stopped at a kiosk called 'Nos Astra Sporting Goods', although I had no idea why a shop that allegedly sold sporting goods would have body armour and grenades among its catalogue.
After making a few purchases, we headed back to the hotel and turned in for the night. The next morning, Napier brought me to the outskirts of town after a heavy breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausages. One thing that took my breath away was how the planet's look changed between day and night. During the day, the lush green mountains dominated the view, with streaks of sunlight filtering in, most of them blocked by the gigantic skyscrapers.
"Don't believe that it's just as safe as the Citadel," Napier warned me. Illium was only habitable at the higher polar latitudes, with a surface temperature of 63 degrees celcius. Apart from that, drug dealers ran rampant, hiding behind the name of empty shell companies that hid their less-than-legal transactions from the rest of the galaxy.
"What are we doing here?" I asked as we landed.
"You'll see."
After we got out, Napier took out two footlockers he had stored at the backseat previously. The footlockers opened up automatically after Napier pressed a button. One contained a Black Widow sniper rifle attached with a concentration mod and extended barrel, as well as a Paladin heavy pistol with an upgraded magazine capacity along with a high caliber barrel.
The second footlocker housed a set of black armour with green highlights as well as bright green lights. And then I realised that this wasn't any random set of armour. Napier had carefully selected each and every piece. To be specific, it was a combination of: a chest plate from Serrice Council, shoulder plates from Rosenkov Materials, gauntlets from Kassa Fabrication, and leggings from Ariake Technologies. There was even a Kuwashii Visor to top it off.
Damn, he'd really put a lot of effort into it. It must've cost a bomb too.
"Woah... Thanks man, I appreciate it."
He smirked. "Don't thank me so fast yet. You'll be cursing me later when you're shooting Batarians and Geth." And then he opened a secret compartment in the first footlocker that I didn't realise. Inside was a assortment of different grenades. Incendiary, fragmentation, flashbangs... You name it, he had it.
Needless to say, we spent the rest of the day shooting and blowing up the whole place, except this time I was clad in the heavy armour. Running and gunning with the weight of metal on your body was a whole new experience, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. After all, I wore all sorts of vests and body armour during my job. The hard part was trying to get used to securing the metal plates over the wire mesh suit I had to wear over my body, and then efficiently storing or removing weapons from my back.
The next two weeks on Illium was a blur. Napier taught me how to forge my own unique omni-blade, as well as an omni-shield, which he said not many could do. My experience with tech as a tactical technician also proved useful when he taught me how to hack various systems and codes. We would spend hours searching for the best hacking software the galaxy had to offer - more often than not from shady vendors. To ensure that I would be ready for almost every and any situation, Napier decided to cash in on my ability to defuse bombs and coached me on how to deal with modern explosives. There wasn't much of a difference between bombs from both worlds, really, except for the mass effect fields that were pretty much integrated into everything in this universe.
The software even taught me how to drive, which was difficult at first, but I got the hang of it after a couple of tries. He even managed to get his hands on a fake ID for me.
"Good job, Kovac," Napier said one day, over dinner. "You're catching up fast. You'll be ready for real combat soon."
After he felt that I was sufficiently prepared, Napier and I went on a short stint of bounty hunting, chasing down small time dirtbags. Our first assignment was to eliminate a small group of mercenaries. At first everything went smoothly, and we had killed off most of them. Upon seeing the both of us, the sole surviving Batarian surrendered - or so I thought. I foolishly lowered my weapon, and that gave the Batarian an opportunity to pull the trigger twice with the gun in my direction. I fell back to ground as the force of the high-velocity rounds slammed into me. Thankfully, my shields absorbed most of the energy, so the bullets didn't penetrate my armour.
It was then that I truly understood the difference in combat between the real world and the Mass Effect universe. Back in my job, SWAT members were trained to suppress their knee jerk instincts and shoot only when absolutely necessary. Here, combat meant shooting all hostiles on sight.
I learnt from my mistakes, though. I never hesitated to shoot anyone with a gun trained at me ever again. I adapted. After all, that was what both my previous and current jobs demanded.
Before long, we were moving again, this time to Omega. The trip had no luxurious cruiser or bubbly champagne. Instead, it was a tattered small shuttle that smelled like Batarian brains and decomposing varren. Believe me when I say I know what I'm talking about.
After an agonising four days, we finally reached what Napier described as Hell on a rock. I found the description unfortunately apt. Dark, gritty alleys that smelled like piss and looked like shit, buildings that looked as if they were about to collapse any moment. Unlike the vibrant Illium or serene Citadel, Omega was truly Hell. Bandits and criminals strolled the streets freely, while civilians cowered in fear everyday, every moment. After settling down at a very rundown hotel -which was frankly a dark dingy apartment that smelled like a sewer- we rented a car and headed towards Afterlife.
Along the way, Napier told me, "Omega isn't really that different from Illium, security-wise. They're both places full of pirates and slave traders, except that one has a classy packaging while the other doesn't give a fuck."
I didn't say anything.
As we landed, I asked, "So what are we doing here, exactly?"
"I pulled a few strings, went through a couple of contacts, and got us a job."
"What job?"
"Saving Shepard."
A/N: Well, that's it for today, folks! Don't think there'll be any more chapters coming out until Tuesday, during which I'll be updating Downpour. Ciao!
PS: Let me know about what you guys make of Uploaded so far.
And no, the W6Z doesn't exist... I made it up...