Lower Lowell - The Lowell Theater House - Mars
Shepard's jaw was agape. She had just watched the Dead Man set fire to a man, and leave the room with him burning to death, the screams echoing all around the theater. Not even a cursory glance came back from the cloaked figure's burning eyes from behind his mask, no sign of even a hint of remorse detectable. She span around only to find Garrus and even Zaeed stunned by the display, both with a distant gaze that when traced settled on Ward's still burning body; the Dead Man had just given the entire group of hardened veterans, vigilantes and mercenaries pause for thought.
It didn't last long however. It only took Shepard a moment to snap herself out of it and even less time to throw herself over the balcony, using her biotics to soften her fall. She turned back to her companions. "Contact the Normandy, we need a pickup, now! I'll handle the Dead Man."
Garrus nodded and started to help Zaeed break down the door, leaving Shepard racing down the aisle, desperately trying to catch up to her target. Even though Cerberus had rebuilt her with enough cybernetics to make a mech jealous, there was no equal for a head start. Thankfully, the Dead Man had been so kind as to leave her a nice trail of steps in the form of burning footprints that had spread to the walls. Seems like he needed to let off some steam, she thought, wondering much Ward could've done to deserve assassination in such a brutal form. As she exited the theater proper, Shepard could hear the sirens of the LPD chorusing around her. They obviously knew that the Dead Man was in the area, so a response wasn't surprising.
What was surprising was the presence of a Gunship.
It was a standard police issue ship, with a machine gun and dual mounted rocket pods, all encompassed in the iconic mantis-shaped chassis. It was racing east, towards the main elevator to the Shipyards, when Garrus and Zaeed caught up with her.
"Normandy is sending us an extraction, but it'll take a while" Reported Garrus, whilst Zaeed just groaned.
"Well then, tell Joker to get his thumb out of his ass and get it here now!" Shepard smiled. She and Zaeed had gotten off to a rough start, with his abrasive personality clashing with her idealistic views. But his stories and quick, cutting jokes had endeared himself to her.
"Tell you what, while we wait for an extraction, why don't we go wherever that Gunship has just shot off to?" As if to punctuate her question, gunfire sounded across the platform. Zaeed smiled.
"Y'know what, that sounds like a good plan."
]I[
The Dead Man was, well, for want of a better word, screwed.
The mission had started off well enough, he had managed to get across The Wall easily enough. One person was easy, it was getting everyone in a squad across that god-forsaken battleground that was the hard thing to do. He dodged between Wall Personnel like they were lasers in an old spy vid, and had made it to the theater easily. Hell, he even had time to set up a dramatic meeting between him and Shepard.
Shepard. He hadn't counted on her, funnily enough. Yes, he had planned on her arrival, but not her effect on him. He was going to kill Ward no matter what, but Shepard's... obliviousness to the people's struggles below in Lower Lowell had pushed him over the edge.
Pushed him back to being that version of himself.
He didn't want to burn Ward alive, he really didn't. But Shepard's in-credulousness had gotten him angry, and he felt like he needed to. He needed to burn out the cause of all the pain and suffering. To extinguish the evil, with fire.
That was the moment that royally cocked up the entire operation. After that, he accidentally set fire to the Lowell Theater House. Gotta fix the fiery footsteps problem, cool at first, now just annoying. That had gotten the LPD here quite quick, and he had to make haste eastwards, to the main elevator to the Shipyards. Not the brightest idea, but that was where his ride was.
Bringing it roundly to his current situation, pinned down by a Gunship in a clusterfu- target rich environment. He could see his ride, and Wainwright sat in the passenger seat in full armor, Dead Men logo sprayed on the left shoulder pad. The Dead Man sprayed a few shots from his up-cycled revolver ineffectually, (It's not old, just more experienced, he had said to Wainwright when he bought it off a Quarian scrap salvager), the revolver's heat sink ejecting out, hissing like an airlock.
Again, he was screwed. He needed a distraction.
]I[
Shepard stepped onto the elevator, selecting Shipyards and leaning on one of the few hand rails. She needed to get down there and catch up to the Dead Man, now.
"Shepard," Called Garrus, omnitool flashing, "I've patched us into LPD comms chatter, seems like somethings going down in sector three."
"Nice, patch me in." As soon as she uttered the order, she was bombarded with chatter from what seemed like LPD officers.
"Get down!" She heard one squad leader shout before a series of six powerful sounding shots sounded across the comms, "We need that Gunship firing on his position now!"
"Sir, I think I got him!" Shouted an officer excitedly, and soon after all sounds of gunfire stopped.
"Well, bring him over here then. We can finally kill him for good. Been wanting to see what's under that mask for a long time."
"Shit, we need him alive goddamn it!" Shepard shouted, startling everyone around her. "Garrus, can you make this thing go any faster?"
]I[
The Dead Man was in the middle of reloading his revolver when a blinding pain shot through his shoulder. When he turned to evaluate the damage, he was met with the grim sight of gaping hole clean through the bone. Then again, it's hard to hit anything else. He didn't have a chance to get into a safer position before he was blown backwards by a concussive shot.
The ear-splitting shriek of the shot rang in his skull, and the pain from his wounds finally started making him pass out, but not before he saw a group of people approach him with weapons out, and a pistol trained on his head.
]I[
Shepard and co. rounded the corner to see a group of three LPD officers huddled around what seemed to be a dead body. Before she could try to open a dialogue, one of the officer's shot at the team, causing them to take them all out within the space of a couple of moments. Shepard couldn't help but feel guilty. But of what the Dead Man said was true, then they are all guilty. It was a small consolation, but a consolation none the less.
As Shepard ruminated over her moral dilemma, Garrus and Zaeed inspected the dead body. A cursory glance at the scene confirmed their suspicions; the body was indeed the Dead Man's. Zaeed spoke up.
"Y'know, I thought he'd be tougher, not get taken down by a couple of goons and a gunship." He said, smirking. Garrus knew he wasn't only observing the situation, he was also poking fun at Garrus' own misfortune at the hands of a gunship. The unpleasant memory made him subconsciously itch at the scar running down his face.
They were both at ease when Shepard came to inspect the area.
"Seems like our Dead Man's alias became fact after all," Said Shepard sadly. She may have hated his methods, but she couldn't help wanting to know more about the man who managed to whip lower Lowell into a near religious frenzy. "Bag up his body, no use leaving him to the rats and scavengers."
Just as Shepard was about to walk away, Garrus shouted some... colorful language in a shocked tone.
"Spirits! Did you see that?"
"See what? Spit it out birdface." Zaeed said, wanting to leave quickly.
"I swear it just moved!"
Before Zaeed or Shepard could start mocking Garrus for being chicken, they both stood ramrod straight as they saw the body push itself into an upright position and say:
"If it's not too much bother, I'd like to go to a doctor now please." The voice was ragged, and most surprisingly, it didn't come out in filtered tones. Instead, Shepard could hear a bit of an English accent and an undertone of dread. The voice brought her back to Akuze, and the last person she heard before they got killed by the Thresher Maw: Doctor Adam Kane. The memory brought her back to her days as Corporal Shepard, lost and alone after losing her entire squad to a Thresher Maw attack. She also lost her partner, Adam Kane, who was serving as her combat medic and engineer that day.
It didn't take long for Commander Shepard to come back to the fore of her mind, and she quickly ordered an extraction and a med team to her location. She didn't care that they would be running the bull a red cloth with a Cerberus Shuttle in Upper Lowell. She couldn't lose another one again, goddamnit.
]I[
So, this marks the start of the relationship between the Dead Man and Shepard, but what will the rest of the crew think about him? And why does he hide his face under that skeletal mask? Follow and review, and until next time, this is PunchyMcNutKick, OUT!