A/N: Chapter three. I worked hard on this one, especially near the end, and I'm quite pleased with the result. My computers being an ass at the moment, which kept me from having this updated sooner, but don't worry, I wont let a minor(?) delay halt me completely. Enjoy Chapter three and please leave reviews :)
Upon arriving on Omega, Shepard along with Miranda and Jacob sought out Aria T'Loak, who resided within the nightclub, Afterlife. Shepard was apprehensive to meet the Asari, as she was rumored to be short tempered, stubborn, and very powerful. However she was quite possibly the only one on the entire station that would know where to find the Salarian and Archangel.
As they made their way into the club, they were confronted by a group of Batarians, who seemed keen on causing trouble. "What are you looking at?" One sneered as Shepard approached.
Shepard wasn't interested in starting a fight, well not yet.
"Don't you have better things to do rather than pick fights with people you don't know?" Shepard responded, her voice flat.
The Batarian drew his weapon, obviously offended. "I don't have to take that from you!"
Shepard moved quickly, Grabbing the Batarian gun arm and twisting it behind his back. Shepard twisted until his fingers loosened and the weapon fell to the floor.
"Maybe I should rephrase that." Shepard snarled, "Don't you have better things to do than pick fights with someone who will ram a grenade up your ass if you don't get out of here within the next five seconds?" she released her captive, sending the Batarian stumbling away, companions in tow.
"Five minutes on this pisshole and we've already almost got into a brawl." Miranda remarked stiffly.
"Come on, let go find Aria." Shepard motioned for her squad to follow.
The club was impressive; Loud, steady music, pulsing colors, erotic dancers and alcohol galore. People crowded the place, dancing, drinking and talking amongst themselves. It was a more lively club than any Shepard had previously been to, though perhaps not as classy.
The trio shuffled their way through the dense crowd, making their way to the stairs. Ascending them they came to a halt in a small lounge, overlooking the main floor. The Asari they were looking for stood looking down at the goings-on from her overhanging balcony.
"Aria T-Loak?" Shepard asked, trying to get the Asari's attention.
"Commander Allison Shepard." She replied in a smooth, entrancing voice. "Or so it seems; last I checked, you were dead." Aria did not look around.
Shepard took a step forward. "I got better, and I need your help. I'm looking for someone."
"Aren't we all?" Aria replied. Shepard took another step. "I'd advise you too keep your distance, for now. I need to know first that it's the real Allison Shepard that stands before me." Aria turned and fixed Shepard with her hard, blue stare. "Scan them." She commanded her guards.
A Batarian stepped forward and activated his Omni tool, running Shepard over with it.
"The results match, though there seems to be a slight… addition to her DNA." He conveyed, showing the Omni tool to Aria.
"Well, well. You've grown haven't you Shepard?" The Asari smirked. "I didn't expect Cerberus to fill the galaxy's' greatest hope with one of humanities most deadly weapon."
"How do you know about that?" Miranda asked astonished.
"If there's something worth knowing, I'll find out about it. It doesn't matter how discrete people try to be, I'll always find out one way or another. Having contacts with the Shadow Broker has its advantages."
"Okay, putting aside your dealings, can you help me find the people I'm looking for?" Shepard asked impatiently. She wanted to get this team up and running before any more colonies got hit.
"That depends on who it is you're looking for. I can help you find anyone on Omega, no matter how important or insignificant, I'll know where they are. Beyond this station however, may be more of an issue."
"Both people I need to find were both last heard of on Omega, I assure you." Shepard replied. "I need to find a Salarian scientist named Mordin Solus, and a vigilante named Archangel."
"I see. Well your best bet for the Salarian would be in the quarantine zone on the lower levels of the station. He runs a clinic down there and is trying to find a cure for a plague that his infected the area. I always liked Mordin. He's as likely to shoot you as he is to cure you." Aria informed.
"And Archangel?" Shepard asked.
"He's holed up in some apartment building a few levels down." The Asari continued, "The local merc gangs have teamed together to take him down, and now they have him cornered. If you want to get near him, the mercs are recruiting freelancers downstairs. Just don't expect them to be very understanding when they learn you intend to take him with you."
"How do you know I intend to take him with me?" Shepard asked, wondering how many contacts this woman had.
"Shepard, you've just returned from the dead and Archangel appeared long after you died, so you couldn't have known him before then, scraping any possibilities of revenge. In addition to that you've only just arrived on omega and I doubt he's managed to piss you off already. Plus your not a mercenary, so your not out to kill him for money. That only leaves the explanation: that you want him to join you." Aria seemed amused by Shepard's astonishment as to how she knew so much.
Shepard nodded her thanks and left without another word.
"We should go after the scientist first commander. The sooner we find a way to counteract the collector seeker swarms the better." Miranda said.
"You heard Aria," Shepard muttered, "Archangel's cornered by three entire merc gangs. If we waste time they'll surely get to him before we do, and I can't allow that."
Miranda nodded and they made their way to the Merc recruiting station.
Upon arrival of the location where Archangel was allegedly pinned down, they came to the sight of the mercs packing away their supplies, weapons and mechs.
"What happened here?" Shepard asked, approaching one of the Turians in charge of a cargo shuttle. "Did they get Archangel?"
"Almost, but he pulled a fast one and slipped away in an escape shuttle before we could finish him off. They managed to put a tracking device on the shuttle though, and the bosses have him pinned down in an alley on the far side of the station. There's nowhere for him to run this time, so we're packing up shop and we'll be going back to business as usual in a day or two." The Turian seemed rather pleased with the news.
"Where exactly is this alley?" Sheppard asked, panic beginning to rise up in there chest. She couldn't let them kill Archangel.
"Listen lady, the bosses took ten or fifteen men each, there's now way Archangel can survive that. They won't need your help so you might as well go find some other contract to take up."
Shepard pulled out her pistol and grabbed the Turian by the front of his collar. "It's not up for a debate.' Shepard snarled, loosing her temper. "Either you tell us where Archangels location is or I put a bullet in your skull."
"Okay, okay, damn. The alley's on the far side of the station, over that way somewhere." He pointed. "I've got a GPS linked to the tracker on Archangels shuttle right here if you can't find it on your own." He pulled a small device off his belt.
Shepard took it and knocked the Turian out with the butt of her pistol without a moment's hesitation. She was pissed off right now and didn't feel like being shot in the back as she walked back toward the transit she'd arrived in.
"Out." She ordered the Batarian, who'd been reading an adult magazine and hadn't noticed her exchange with the Turian. He slowly got out of the driver's seat, his hands raised.
Shepard and her squad jumped in the shuttle and sped off as quickly as they could. Shepard took a glance at the GSP and set a course for Archangel.
"Shepard we've got gunships on our tail!" Jacob yelled over the sound of the speeding transit shuttle. Shepard swore.
"Hold on things are about to get a whole lot rougher." Shepard shouted back.
She steered the shuttle into oncoming traffic, in an attempt to loose the gunships. Hopefully they'd be too afraid of hitting an oncoming vehicle, as the gunships were relatively large and wouldn't be able to maneuver as easily through the rapid flow of ships. The gunships took a left, probably intending to meet up with Shepard somewhere else and cut her off. Shepard was one step ahead however, and took the nearest exit, nearly missing it at the speed they were going.
Miranda yelped as they narrowly avoiding a truck coming in the opposite direction. "Shepard that wasn't an exit lane!" she screamed over the sound of the trucks horn.
"Don't worry, I got this." Shepard grinned, enjoying the thrill of being in a high speed race against time.
"Above us!" Jacob warned, and Shepard pulled up, just as a pair of missiles flew passed, and exploded against the roof of one of the buildings. "Damn it." Sheppard cursed quietly. She pulled her grenade launcher off her back with one hand, the other on the wheel, and handed it back to Jacob.
"See if you can damage those gunships enough to pull off. I don't want them tailing us when we find Archangel." She commanded.
Jacob grabbed the launcher and leaned out the side window of the shuttle, taking aim at the nearest gunship.
Shepard looked away from Jacob and back at the route ahead, swerving around the billboard they had almost smashed into. However Shepard had made the maneuver just as Jacob began to pull the trigger, sending the projectile wild, missing both gunships.
"Fuck!" Jacob yelled.
"Miranda, take the wheel!" Miranda barley had time to reach over the back of the driver's seat as Shepard let go, letting the shuttle swerve for a few seconds.
Shepard opened the door and leaned out, holding on with one hand. Gathering her strength, she threw a warp at one of the ships, hitting it on the nose. The gunships shields went down instantly, which made Shepard thankful that the Blacklight virus improved her biotics significantly. Jacob took aim at the now unshielded gunship and fired.
The gunship took a hit to the left wing, sending it spinning, and finally crashing into a nearby building. "One down!" Jacob whooped.
Shepard felt triumphant as the second gunship pulled out of the pursuit, just as their shuttle entered a tunnel. "We shouldn't have any more trouble from them." Shepard stated calmly. No sooner had the words left her mouth than the gunship appeared at the end of the tunnel from above, and started charging directly at them.
"Oh shit." Jacob cursed, and the gunship fired its missiles. There would be no avoiding them thins time, there was nowhere to run as the tunnel was to narrow. Shepard closed the door and prepared herself for shielding the shuttle with her biotics. As the missiles neared, Jacob leant out the window, getting ready to fire at the fast approaching gunship. The missiles were almost upon them, and then everything became a blur.
Garrus knew he had reached the end. There would be no escaping the three merc groups this time. Last time he had an escape route planned, but there was nothing here, in the closed off alley.
The leaders of the merc groups had tailed him via gunships, shooting at his shuttle until he had been forced to land in the nearest defensible position. Not the best of choices on his part. The few mercs who had tried to come around his cover had met a quick end with a bullet between the eyes.
Now they sat and waited. He would've been dead already, if any of the gunships been able to reach him, but the ally was too narrow, and there was no good vantage point from above. But it was only a matter of time now. They would wait as long as they had to, but Garrus had no supplies, no backup, and no means of escape. He was well and truly trapped.
"Come out Archangel!" The unmistakable voice of a Krogan rang out, Garm. "It's time to pay in blood for all my men that you've killed!"
"What about all the innocents that died at the hands of you and your men?" Garrus shot back from his position behind his shuttle, his voice distorted by the device in his helmet. "If the fallen want their payment in blood, I'll more than happily give them yours."
Garm roared and fire a shot to the side of the shuttle, hitting the wall. "Ha! Do you think you're gonna make it out of here alive?" A second voice rang out, this one Batarian. "Did you think attacking me in my home would do anything to weaken my resolve? You die here today Archangel!"
Garrus knew Tarak spoke the truth. He had come to terms with the fact that he may die soon after he and his team were betrayed. There was no one on the outside world that would care if he were killed. Everyone he had known probably thought he was dead already.
He hadn't told his family where he was going, but he did tell them that there was a good chance he may never return. That was almost two years ago now.
The Normandy's crew had all spit up after Shepard had died. They probably didn't even care that he had left anymore.
Shepard was the only true friend he'd ever had, and she was gone. There was no one. His only regret was that he wouldn't be able to kill that bastard Sidonis and avenge his fallen comrades.
He exhaled roughly, dropping his sniper rifle; it wouldn't be of any use to him now. Standing, he made his way around the shuttle, where the three merc leaders and about thirty other men stood waiting.
Shepard tried to keep the shuttle under control as they neared their destination. She had managed to stop the missiles with her biotics and Jacob had destroyed the gunship with a dozen well placed shots, however the wing of the gunship had scraped along their right side of their shuttle, taking one of the engines with it. Now with only one working engine, Shepard struggled to keep them from smashing into a building or sign.
"Hold on this landings gonna be rough." She warned.
The shuttle impacted with the ground with bone jarring force, and skidded along for a few extra meters before grinding to a halt.
Shepard and company stumbled out of the wreckage; Miranda groaned and rubbed her forehead. Shepard recovered quickly and analyzed her surroundings. They had landed in the middle of a street, though it was deserted. The buildings rose tall above them and the fait sound of traffic could be heard off in the distance.
Shepard looked at the GSP in her hands, which told her they were about two hundred metres from their destination. Drawing her assault rife, she motioned for her comrades to do the same.
They made their way down the street, listening for any sounds of combat. All was silent. Shepard took another look at the device in her hand; they were fifty meters from their target. Looking to the left, Shepard spotted an opening between two buildings.
Pointing she muttered quietly, "That must be where Archangel's pinned down. Stay sharp and be ready for anything. If we find them, don't attack unless I give the order. We don't want to hit Archangel by mistake." Jacob nodded, Miranda checked her pistol. "Let's move."
They entered the alleyway slowly, making sure there were no traps planted to hold off intruders. As they moved deeper into the alley, they began to hear voices coming from further within. Picking up the pace, but remaining quiet, they came to a small clearing, occupied by what had to be about thirty or forty men. A damaged shuttle sat at the far end.
"Did you think attacking me in my home would do anything to weaken my resolve? You die here today Archangel!" a Batarian at the front of the group shouted towards the shuttle.
Shepard had entered the clearing on a narrow railing that overlooked the scene. No one below had noticed them. She signaled for her squad to take up positions on opposite sides of the railing, while Shepard took cover near where they had entered.
Movement from below caught her attention and she turned her gaze in time to see a Turian in heavy blue and black armor set out from behind the shuttle, unarmed, hands raised.
The Krogan at beside the Batarian sneered. "So this is how the mighty Archangel makes his final stand; Unarmed and in surrender?" The mercs behind him laughed. "I was expecting more of a challenge, but I suppose it's all your capable of." He strode forward and punched Archangel in the side, sending him to both knees.
"Back off Garm," the Batarian warned. "We agreed that Archangel faces the justice of all three of us, not just you." The Krogan grunted but backed off.
"What would any of you know about justice?" Archangel growled from where he knelt, his hands behind his head. His voice was low and murderous, disguised by some kind of device in his helmet. "You kill anyone who stands in your way, regardless of where they stand. You torture innocents and kill people to weak to defend themselves."
"I've had enough of your words." The Salarian snapped. "You killed my brother, so now you die."
Archangel looked up slightly, seemly straight at Shepard.
"If I die," he rumbled, looking back down at the three merc leaders. "I die knowing that you'll all soon join me." the mercs seemed to understand what he was saying and looked around.
That was when both Shepard and Archangel made their moves. Archangel drew his hands out from behind his head, a heavy pistol in each hand, and opened fire on the group in front of him.
Shepard signaled her two comrades and jumped from the railing to the ground below. She raised her rifle and took down three mercs before diving behind a crate. Two mercs were pulled up into the air with biotics, who were quickly dispatched by Miranda.
Archangel rolled out of the way as Garm charged, aiming his weapons at the heavily armored Krogan.
Shepard looked for the Batarian, but he was nowhere to be seen. Shepard spotted the Eclipse leader out for the corner of her eye, taking shots at Jacob. Shepard aimed and unloaded into the Salarian, her shots stopping short as his kinetic barriers absorbed them. The Salarian noticed Shepard and approached menacingly, which was surprising for a Salarian. Or maybe it has something to do with the two foot blades that had extended from his gauntlets.
Shepard drew her combat knife from her boot, not wanting to use her new and inhuman abilities. The Salarian attacked with a speed that would have earlier frightened her, but with her enhanced reflexes, she was able to easily deflect the blows. As the Eclipse leader temporarily backed off, Shepard followed, stabbing at him chest. The Salarian parried and attacked with the second blade, scratching Shepards left shoulder piece. Shepard growled and blasted the Salarian with a warp, sending his stumbling back and disabling his kinetic barriers.
In the brief repast that followed, Shepard gazed over at Archangel, to find him engaged in deadly hand to hand combat with Garm.
Archangel sidestepped Garm's clumsy punch and struck as the right side of his face. The Krogan was enraged however, and Archangels blows seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever. Garm twisted and punched Archangel in the chest, knocking the wind out of him, and then followed up with a well placed head butt. The visor on Archangels helmet cracked, limiting his vision and disabling his HUD.
The Salarian then lunged at Shepard, who barely got her knife up in time to meet the blade. She shoved it aside and continued her attack.
The Krogan charged again and Archangel sidestepped, grabbing Garm by the hump as he passed by and swinging onto his back. Archangel dug his talons into Garm's exposed neck, causing him to roar in anger and pain. Garm charged backwards, slamming Archangel into the wall. Archangel grunted in pain but held on. Garm tried to dislodge him by scraping him against the wall, but to no avail. Roaring in frustration, Garm spun, slamming Archangel against a metal beam. Archangel snarled and released his grip, dropping into a stable stance.
As Garm completed his turn, now facing Archangel, the vigilante aimed an explosive kick at the Krogans knee, dislocating it and making bend the wrong way. Garm howled in pain and fell on his good leg. Archangel pulled a grenade off the Krogans belt as he fell and rammed it into Garm's mouth as he screamed.
"You never were good at keeping that big trap of yours shut." Archangel acknowledged. Garm stared up at him with a mixture of rage and fear. "Here's for everyone that died at your will." He snarled, and pulled the pin. He shoved Garm over as he walked past to retrieve his weapons.
Shepard looked over just in time to see Garm's upper half explode, chunks of armor, bone and flesh splattering everything nearby. The Salarian was taken aback by the death of the Blood Packs leader, and Shepard took advantage of the distraction, slashing at the Salarian's neck, and opening his windpipe.
The Eclipse leader's eyes bulged in shock. He tried to scream but his lungs were too full of blood. The Salarian collapsed in a puddle of dark green.
Shepard let out her pent up breath and surveyed the battlefield. Most of the mercs had been killed, and the others had fled down side alleys. The leader of the Blue suns was nowhere to be seen.
Shepard sheathed her blade and turned to Archangel who was studying her through his cracked visor. "Who are you?" He demanded suspiciously, though not unkindly.
"I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy." She replied, as the two Cerberus operatives joined her. "I'm taking on near impossible odds and need the best at my side. You're on my list.
"Commander Allison Shepard is dead." Archangel snapped as though Shepard's words offended him. She was taken aback by his knowledge of her first name. "Who are you to think you can live up to her legacy, to take her name?"
He was getting angry which worried Shepard. The last thing she needed was for him to attack her, but who was he to be so offended by her declaration. Putting that thought aside for the moment, she reached up and undid the clasps of her helmet, pulling it away.
Archangel took a step back in surprise and breathed, "How?"
Before Shepard could reply, an enormous crash made everyone instinctively raise their weapon. The sound had come from down one of the side alleys. Another crash sounded moments after the first one.
Then another, and another.
A heavy mech pushed its way between the two buildings and into the clearing, though it was unlike any mech Shepard had ever seen. Almost three times the size of the standard heavy mech, this one had thicker plating and larger weapons. A minigun was attached to one arm and a massive rocket launcher on the other. The most distinguishable feature however, was the cockpit in the center of the mechs torso, protected by thick orange glass. In the seat, sat the leader of the Blue Suns; Tarak.
"Archangel!" he yelled when he spotted the Turian, and aimed the minigun.
The four of them ran for cover as the mech opened fire, cutting into Archangels shields. They dove behind a thicket of crates just as Archangels shields depleted. However, Archangel was behind a separate pile, and while Shepard and company would be able to make it to the nearest exit with ease, Archangel would have to cross the gap between them in order to reach it, which would require running past Tarak's line of fire.
Shepard was about to tell him to wait until his shields had fully recharged, but a rage had seemed to take over the Turian, and he stepped out into the mechs view, assault rifle in hand.
"No!" Sheppard yelled, but it was too late. The Leader of the Blue Suns let a rocket loose at Archangel, hitting him in the right side of the face. Had it not been for his shields coming on line at the last second, there would've been nothing left of the Turian. As it was, the rocket was enough to take his shields back down, and hurl his across the field to where Shepard and her team were.
Miranda and Jacob provided coving fire while Shepard looked over Archangel. The right side of his helmet had been destroyed, and the edges were melted. Shepard worked fast to remove the mess before it hardened onto his face.
As the helmet fell to the ground, Shepard's eyes fell upon the Turians blue facial markings, and icy blue eyes. "Garrus!" she yelled in shock and panic as her best friend gazed back at her, pain clear in his eyes, though she could tell it wasn't just the physical pain that bothered him.
Rage overtook Shepard then. She was angry at herself as she had allowed one of her own to be injured, and she was angry at fate for putting her best friend at the receiving end of the barrel.
"Miranda, Jacob, tend to his wounds as best you can." She ordered, her voice colored with pure and immovable anger. She stood and walked out from behind the cover, into Tarak's sights.
"Die!" he yelled and fires another rocket.
Stop.
A voice in her head told her what to do, and her body reacted. Shepard didn't even have to raise her hand. The rocket stopped a few feet short of her, halted by a powerful biotic shield.
Jump
Shepard didn't even stop to think, she leaped at the mech, covering a distance that no ordinary human could accomplish, and latched onto the front of the window.
Fist. Break.
She directed all of her biotic power into her fist, making it glow with orange energy, and brought it crashing down upon the glass surface, cracking it. She punched again, shattering the glass, though it did not yet break. She brought her fist down a final time, breaking the glass. Tarak looked up at her, sheer terror in his eyes.
Jaw. Execute.
Shepard grabbed the Batarian by the throat, pinning him to the seat, and with her other hand, hooked her hand around his lower jaw, her thumb under his chin, her four fingers in his mouth. Then she pulled. One powerful yank tore the Batarians lower jaw clean off his face, along with his tongue. A horrible gurgling sound emitted from the gaping hole she had left, as his lungs flooded with blood.
"Go to hell." Sheppard rasped, and plunged the points of the jawbone into the Batarians outer eyes. The bone penetrated his skull, killing him instantly, and Shepard Jumped cleared as the Mech fell backwards, landing with a solid crash.
As the anger drained away, she contemplated on what had just happened. A voice in her head had told her what to do, and she had acted without hesitation, as if the messages her brain was telling her body were voiced aloud in her head.
As the situation came back to Shepard, She spun around and rushed over to Garrus. Miranda and Jacob had managed to clear away the blood and temporarily stop the bleeding with medi-gel. The right side of his face was horribly burnt and raw, and the upper right half of his torso armor was almost completely destroyed.
"Will he make it?" Shepard croaked out. Now that her anger had somewhat subsided, all she felt was worry and fear.
"I can't tell you that Shepard." Miranda said her voice oddly sincere. "We should get him back to the Normandy as soon as we can for proper medical treatment."
Shepard nodded. She couldn't manage words.
She looked upon Garrus' unconscious face with concern. If I had just arrived sooner. She thought to herself.
"He said something just before he passed out." Jacob spoke up, and Shepard looked at him, her face unreadable under all that sadness.
"What did he say?" She whispered.
"'Just like old times'"
A/N: yes, here is the point that the Blacklight Virus begins to affect Shepard's mentality, and yes the effects will become greater as the story progresses, including physical effects. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try and post number four as soon as possible :)