Mass Effect: Surreptitious
Chapter Three:
Fading in and out of consciousness Axel attempted to make out his surroundings, but was unable to. Every time he became conscious for a few seconds he saw the same girl who was crouching down next to him. When he finally came to, he noticed he was in one of the buildings at the dig site. His wound had been cleaned using Omni gel and bandaged tightly. He sat up from the bed he was on and looked around, however there was nobody in the room. Axel reached down for his gun and noticed all his weapons, ammunition, and body armor was gone.
"Who the hell shoots somebody, takes their equipment, and then helps heal them?" Axel mumbled.
Just as soon as he said that the door burst open and in came the girl who Axel had saw each time he became conscious. The girl removed her environmental suit and looked over and saw him and jumped as if she was scared.
"I'm not going to hurt you if that's what you're thinking miss…?"
"Sara. Just call me Sara…Are…are you alright? I thought you were one of Sarens men looking for me. That bastard dropped me on this rock a few weeks ago to look for the dig site here. He told me if I didn't find what he was looking for he would send men to kill me. I heard the explosions, felt the tremors, and saw the Geth all over the camp. I hid here and then I saw you. While you were heading up the ramp I took a one of the guns from the locker here and shot you. I'm sorry…I feared my life was going to end soon, and just reacted."
Axel sat there and listened to Sara explain her situation.
"I always figured if someone hit me good with a bullet like you did it would be the end of me and…"
Sara cut him off mid-sentence.
"I have your pistol right here I can still shoot you if you want."
Sara displayed a huge grin across her face. Axel a little surprised by the comment let a smile slip and looked her directly in the eyes.
"Don't tempt me with a good time now."
The two shared in laughter. Sara walks over to the counter sitting across from the bed Axel is sitting at. She grabbed a couple of MRE's and hands one to Axel. Starving the two of them sit down and eat together. Axel isn't very sure he can trust her since she worked for Saren. At the same time he wants to believe he can trust her for saving his life after she had shot him. While eating Axel began thinking about his next move.
"If Sara worked for Saren maybe she has some valuable information that can lead me to Shepherd. Maybe I can offer her a ride off this planet in exchange for information."
Before he could think of anything else Sara interrupted his thoughts.
"Take me with you. I want to get off this rock and I want to get payback on that Turian Bastard."
Axel was surprised at her eagerness to go with him. After all, they both just met.
"Well I can't make any promises right away. First off, I need to know how long I was out cold. Second I don't know if my ship is still in one piece or not. Third, what kind of special talents can you provide? Last, I need to know if you have any kind of knowledge of where Saren is headed."
"You've been out for four days now. I had to extract the poisons from your wound. All your equipment is over in the locker. Whenever you feel you can get up and about again you can check and make sure everything is in order. I am an engineer and know a little about medicine. My father was a doctor back on Earth. You're heading after Saren too? I can offer you information about his next move."
Axel a little startled by her willingness to help, was overcome with relief by her offering to help. He didn't want to force the information out of her if he didn't have to.
"I'm not going after Saren in particular. There is someone else pursing him. Her names Shepherd. Commander Amy Shepherd of the Alliance military, to be exact. Saren and Shepherd are seeking the same thing; both will be headed in the same direction. This will give us both what we seek."
Sara developed a surprised look on her face.
"I know of this woman. I have seen her on the news and read about her in the papers. She is a very famous person in the military. Can I ask what it is you want with her?"
Axel bowed his head toward the ground before answering her.
"To be honest I am not sure what will happen when I see her."
This kind of answer gave Sara the chills, but she didn't say anything else in fear of upsetting Axel. After the two had their conversation Axel began preparing to leave the planet. Not only did he have his gear now, but Sara gathered up the remaining portions of food and medical supplies for the two, and the left over ammunition for the sniper rifle. Axel was relieved to find out his ship was still in one piece and nobody had stolen it. Axel and Sara put on their environmental suits and made their way to the Mako and awaited the arrival of his ship to pick them up.
"I hope you're lucky doc and all this hot vented smoke doesn't damage my ships sensors."
Sara made a loud gulping sound. Axel's ship swooped in a little in front of them and dropped the landing bridge. The two drive the Mako up into the ship. The ship takes off back through the atmosphere.
"I overheard Saren speak to some of his Geth that he was going to send them to a planet called Noveria. It's an ice world and very cold. I am not sure what he was planning to do there though."
Axel pondered the situation for a moment, and then punched his coordinates into the star map. The ship made its way to the mass relay and shoots them into hyperspace.
"It will take us a little bit of time to get to Noveria, feel free to explore the ship and do whatever. I don't have another room here; you can take my room for the night and ill sleep down in the med lab."
Sara a little surprised by his offer smiled and politely rejected Axel's offer.
"With all due respect I would like to be the one in the med lab. I have been around them most of my life and would feel a lot more comfortable in that type of environment."
Axel gave a dumbfounded look to her and just laughed.
"Suit yourself, I am going to go lay back down and rest this wounds been taking a toll on me all day."
Axel leaves Sara to do whatever she wishes. Twelve hours later the ship leaves hyperspace and is in orbit of Noveria. A communication team from Noveria signals the ship."
"Greetings and welcome to Noveria, Our station is not accepting visitors right now, due to facility malfunctions. If you do not accept the terms and land in our docking bay, you will be placed under arrest."
Axel let out a laugh.
"Tell your security team we'll meet you guys at the docking bay."
Axel cut the transmission off and gets up. He turns around and bumps into Sara.
"Looks like things might get a little ugly. I suggest we give this security team a proper welcome aboard my ship."
Sara looked at Axel and only nodded. The two run down to the cargo bay of the ship and each grab a weapon and ammunition. The ship docks into the Noveria docking bay. The two anxiously await the door to open. As soon as the ships loading bay door opened, gunfire Ignited…
