A/N: Happy Labor Day folks. And if you're among the unlucky few who still gotta work today, I'm right there with ya. But before I get dragged back to the grindstone I figured I'd get the much anticipated next installment out to the public for those who have the day off to enjoy.
So here you go!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Emily Wong sat at her desk at the news station going over several datapads. There were several stories she was running at the moment, but only one really got her attention and had it for the last few months.
"Hey Emily, we're going out tonight. You coming with?" asked an Asari stopping by her desk.
"No thanks Lenea, I've got some work to do tonight at home." said Emily as she packed up several datapads into her bag and shutting down her terminal.
Lenea smirked, "Chasing down another lead on Maverick huh? Com'mon Em, the guy's a ghost for a reason. And there haven't been any attacks on mercs or other thugs for over three weeks now."
Emily sighed, "I don't know Lenea. I can't help but think that there is more here than what we think. I mean, why is he targeting the Eclipse directly? What does he know that C-Sec doesn't?" She wondered as they both walked out of the building.
"Just try not to overwork yourself too much." said the Asari. "Cut loose and have a little fun once in a while. I'll catch you later." with that she headed to the rapid transit hub while Emily headed to her apartment.
Getting inside, she started the coffee maker before going to her home office and started going through information again. She had a feeling that it was going to be another long night.
X
Jason 'Maverick' Harlow
Thrax's Armaments - Lower Wards
November 21, 2180 - 14:01 hours
Jason set the welding gun aside as he finished putting the custom Carnifex hand cannon back together. His omni-tool shining brightly as Linkin Park played in the quiet back room of the weapon shop.
Everything in the last couple of weeks had been quiet. The Eclipse had been underground since he had killed Marcus Kane and all the data he had collected on troop and work locations turned out to be dead ends.
There had also been several news reports about known Red Sand dealers being found dead throughout the Citadel. People believed that it was him, but the truth was that it wasn't. The dealers that were dead were on the list of those who had helped the mercs with whatever they were planning.
The mercs were moving their operations and killing off anyone who could sell them out. They were getting smarter.
But Jason loved a challenge, and that would prove to be a huge problem for the Eclipse.
Other than his job as the station's vigilante, Jason had found a good group of friends in C-Sec. After that first get together with Chellick, Garrus and Bailey they had all decided to meet together once a week. Either at the bar, the shooting range, or at any of their apartments for a night of Skillian Five.
The nano soldier had seen Garrus loosen up more and more when they hung out together. He was sure that the Turian's suspicions in him were fading. And that was a damn good thing in his book.
He had also notice that Reena would go out every other night for the past two weeks. Even though she said she was just going for a walk, Jason knew differently.
She always came back home smelling like the same style of Turian cologne Chellick always had on, and she acted like a lovestruck schoolgirl for a while afterward. Whether she would openly admit it or not, Jason knew that Reena was going out and dating the detective.
With how things were going with him and his Quarian friend living under the same roof, the nano soldier had convinced the landlord of his apartment building to let him move into a bigger place.
It took all of two days for him and Reena to move into a comfortable two bedroom apartment on the floor above their old one. His Quarian friend had asked why he wanted to move, all he said was that she deserved her own room where she could have a little privacy.
The statement went over her head for a good 30 minutes, until she understood his implications and started slapping the shit out of him while fighting back a huge blush behind her visor.
Finally finished with his project. Jason paused the song that was playing and checked a few things on his omni-tool. He had managed to connect SECOND to the device from the nano suit. With this he could montior the AI's progress when it was searching through the data they compiled from any location. While at the same time allowing him control of various systems at a long distance.
So far neither of them had come up with anything concrete with the data they got from the now dead information broker. But Jason had managed to figure out that out of the dealers that had been eliminated, there was still two left on the list that were still alive and could offer information he didn't have.
He had SECOND monitoring various radio traffic signals to see if the last two Red Sand dealers could be tracked down. It was only a matter of time before one of them exposed themselves, and hopefully Jason would get to them before the Eclipse did.
"Done for the day?" asked Reena coming in from her lunch break.
Jason shut down his omni-tool and leaned back in his chair, "Yeah, probably gonna head home early for the day. God knows Thrax owes me an early day off." he said standing up from his workstation and heading for the door.
"Hot date?" asked the Quarian crossing her arms over her chest. Jason shook his head. When he and the other guys went to Flux and the Asari, Lorna, had flirted with him. He had SECOND to a thorough background check on her and discovered that she was an unregistered Adat-Yakshi. An anonymous message to the Asari embassy was sent and the woman was picked up to ensure she didn't harm anyone.
"Nah, thought I'd spend the day walking around the wards. There's a lot on my mind lately." he said grabbing his jacket.
"Don't stay out too late." she called from her spot.
"Do I give you a hard time when your out all hours of the night?" he called back heading out the front door of the shop, missing the curses in Khelish that were fired in his direction. "The day they admit that their dating is coming. And I'm gonna be on their case everyday until they do." Jason muttered to himself with a chuckle as he headed back to the apartment.
The place was easily twice as big as his old place. The kitchen and living room were much bigger and were seperated by a dining room. There was a hallway with both bedrooms, one with a private bathroom and the other across the hall from a larger bathroom. It was almost double the cost per month, but definately worth it.
And besides, with all of the money he collected from the dead mercs and what he earned from the weapons shop he'd be living comfortably for quite a while.
Entering the apartment, Jason headed straight for his room. Sitting at his desk and booting up his terminal and putting in the passwords to get past the strong encryptions he put in place that no one could even hope to get through.
"SECOND, anything new?" he asked standing up and heading to the large closet in the bedroom. Walking past the racks of clothes, both from the 21st and the current century.
"Scans have not picked up any trace on the targets. Scans still in progress." replied the AI as Jason pressed a hidden button in the back of the closet. The wall slid open revealing his nano suit with racks containing his weapons, ammo, grenades and arrows on either side of it.
The little feature had cost him a couple thousand credits. But it was worth it to make sure that his suit and SECOND wasn't discovered by wandering eyes. He trusted Reena with his life, the same could be said to Chellick. But he couldn't risk putting them in danger if anyone knew they were associated with 'Maverick'.
"Transmission Intercepted...Scans have identified Subject Number 2." SECOND suddenly chimmed, Jason left the closet and went back to the terminal where a dossier was displayed on the screen;
The image of a Salarian with orange skin and black markings appeared. Skelart Nourvox. Arrested three times on Red Sand possession with intent to sell. A well known snitch, but managed to keep himself from being killed even with the people he had double crossed.
"Eclipse must have promised him safety if he helped them." Jason muttered. "SECOND, show me the transmission you picked up."
"Connecting..."
"They're all dead! Those bastards promised to pay us and keep us safe from all of this and they're the ones blowing our fucking brains out!" squeaked the voice that must have belonged to Skelart. "I need to get out of here. I have a brother on Omega that'll help us out of this. Meet me at shipping dock 32 tonight at midnight...you better fucking be there."
When the transmission ended Jason looked grim, "SECOND, was this done on a private or public channel?"
"The transmission was sent and received on a public channel through the use of a public vid-call."
"Dumb motherfucker." Jason cursed, "The mercs would have to have been blind, deaf and stupid to not have picked that up too. We need to get to him before they do." he said heading back into his closet to grab his suit and weapons.
X
At the same time, an Eclipse engineer lowered his headset and looked at Falon. "Got Skelart. Shipping docks, Dock 32 tonight at midnight."
The Salarian nodded before looking at the squad of ten he had assembled. "Make sure that little rat dosen't leave the station alive." he said darkly.
"Yes sir." said the squad leader as they all headed out to lay a trap for the dealer.
X
Jason 'Maverick' Harlow
Docking Yards - Warehouse District
November 21, 2180 - 23:52 hours
Things were too quiet. Though considering the situation it was a good thing.
Jason stood in the shadows between two warehouses, keeping his eyes out for anything that so much as twitched. No one had been in this end of the docking yards in over two hours. Which was good since things could turn out very badly if/when the mercs showed up to get to the dealer.
After waiting another three minutes the soldier caught sight of something moving. Zooming in his visor, he saw a lone Salarian slowly creep out from between two buildings on the opposite end of the docking area.
"Identity Confirmed. Subject: Skelart Nourvox Found." SECOND reported, highlighting the Red Sand dealer on the HUD.
Jason activated his cloak and proceeded to walk out into the open. Slowly making his way closer toward the skittish Salarian so that he wasn't noticed.
The flood lights all around the docking area suddenly switched on temporarily blinding Jason as he crouched down behind a crate while still cloaked. When his visor polarized so that he could see, the soldier saw eight Eclipse mercs surrounding Skelart with weapons drawn. "We found you, you little bastard." growled a Human in full armor.
"I-I didn't sa-say anything to anybody!" the Salarian cried as another one of the Human mercs slammed the butt of his rifle into his back knocking him to the ground.
"And it's going to stay that way Skelart." said the leader of the squad, drawing his pistol and pointing it at the smaller creature's head.
Jason was moving when the gun was drawn, his enhanced speed allowing him to reach the group in a few seconds. Grabbing the two Human mercs that were closest and smashing their heads together. Their helmets, and skulls, crumpling like tin cans before they collapsed onto the ground dead.
The rest of the group turned. The squad leader went to aim his pistol but received a boot to the chest that sent him crashing into a Salarian merc and sending both crashing into a crate ten feet away. All four still standing mercs quickly opened fire on the vigilante.
"Maximum Armor." Jason grabbed Skelart and ran off avoiding the hail of gunfire as he entered the space where the Salarian originally came from.
"O-Oh shit! Fi-First the Eclipse now you...wh-what the hell do you want?" Skelart asked terrified of the large Human standing over him.
Jason lifted him up by the front of his shirt and pressed him to the wall. "I wanna know what the mercs got from you. What is so important that they're killing off you and your fellow dealers?" he asked in his filtered voice as the mercs peppered the area around them with rounds.
"L-Look, I...I don't know." Skelart whimpered as the gunfire drew closer.
The soldier slammed Skelart into the wall hard making him yelp. "Bullshit! I know you assholes told them something. I killed Marcus Kane, he said you told them about backways throughout the Citadel. What did he mean?" Jason demanded, slowly turning so that he was shielding the Salarian from a few stray rounds. Keeping a close eye on his energy meter as it dropped by a little.
"Okay! Okay! A-All they wanted to know about were the s-service passages around the Upper Wards. Us d-dealers know all about them so we c-can avoid the cops better when they come af-after us." Skelart stuttered.
"Is there more?" Jason asked wanting to get everything he could out of the drug dealing loser.
"N-No..." he whimpered, but the nano soldier knew he was lying.
"Tell me or I'll throw you out there!" he roared pointing with his thumb over his shoulder out where the Eclipse were still shooting at their position
Skelart's eyes widened, "T-They were very interested in the Presidium and the Embassies!" he shouted in fear.
"What about them Skelart, and you better be straight with me." Jason growled.
"W-We sell to the rich classes more often than you think. They wa-wanted the service network for the Upper Wards. But they r-really wanted everything we had on the tunnels running through the Presidium." the Salarian confessed.
Jason dropped him to the ground. The Eclipse wanted data on the Citadel's service tunnel network? Mostly around the Presidium and Embassies? Not good.
"Get lost Skelart. I see you again you won't be so lucky." Jason said taking out his assault rifle and making his way to the entrance to the opening leading out to the docks where the mercs had stopped firing.
Reaching the end, he saw the four remaining mercs with their guns drawn. The squad leader standing in the middle, his chest armor badly dented from Jason's heavy foot but lucky to survive the kick that caused it.
"Give it up Maverick!" The Human shouted.
Jason shook his head. Maybe he was wrong about the mercs getting smarter. His eye caught sight of a red barrel behind the two mercs on the right. He quickly aimed and fired causing the barrel to explode, sending both mercs flying in different directions.
The explosion stunned the rest of the group giving the nano soldier an opening. Sprinting forward and taking another merc off his feet, his large hand grasping the man's throat, before choke slamming him into the ground with spine shattering force.
Whiping out his Hammer, Jason shot the merc standing next to him. The large slugs tearing through the Salarian's kinetic barrier and punching two holes in his chest and one in his head.
The squad leader watched his men got decimated and pulled out his omni-tool. "We need backup now!" Jason looked in his direction when he started chuckling. "Let's see you handle this!"
The nano soldier heard the low hum of engines powering up. Looking toward the sky, he took back the thought that he believed the mercs weren't smartening up.
X
Another long day of investigating, Emily walked out of the news building with a big yawn. Dead tired from lack of sleep from the night before.
Her boss had noticed that she looked more run down than usual and told her to take a manditory vacation. Four paid days off and she was told to try and get some sleep.
The journalist's exhausted haze was broken by the sound of gunfire and explosions coming from the docking area not too far away. Curious she ran to where the commotion was coming from.
X
Jason rolled out of the way as heavy rounds tore up the ground where he had been standing.
The gunship the hovered overhead as the two Eclipse mercs inside locked onto his location and fired two rockets from under the vessel's wings. Seeing this, Jason took off in a dead run as the missiles struck the area behind him, forcing him to roll into cover as the ship's gatling gun opened fire again.
At the same time, two YIMR mechs, both of which had been dropped into the docks via the gunship, stomped toward him with their own weapons tearing into the crate he was hunkered down behind.
He needed a plan, and a damn good one. The nano suit could only take so much punishment from something like this.
"Tactical Options Avaliable."
Jason smirked seeing the options. "Thank you SECOND." he said as he readied himself. "Maximum Power." standing up, he drop kicked the crate he'd been crouching behind sending it crashing into the closest YIMR mech, staggering it back a couple of steps and giving him the opening he needed.
Drawing his bow, he knocked one of his explosive arrows and let it fly. The large mech's already weakened barriers fell as the bolt flew through it and struck it directly in it's cylinder-shaped head. When the arrow detonated, it took the YIMR's head with it, the mech collapsing to its knees moments before it's chest started to flash red and beep loudly.
The core within going into critical overload before the whole platform exploded with the force of several bricks of C4. Severly damaging the second mech and crippling it as it collapsed on its side sending out sparks from its joints.
Any sense of victory was short lived as the nano soldier was forced to roll out of the way as heavy slugs tore into the ground around him. The gunship banked and came around for another pass, but Jason was ready for it as he knocked another arrow. "Cloak Engaged."
He disappeared from sight, confusing the two pilots as they searched through every conceivable means.
"Where the fuck did he-" the co-pilot was cut off when an arrow pierced through the reinforced glass, the tungsten head of the bolt going into the center of his forehead and killing him instantly.
Before the pilot could register what had happened, a second arrow flew up and struck the wing of the gunship and exploded. Setting off the rocket pods and causing a chain reaction that sent the vessel spinning out of control, crashing into an empty warehouse causing the whole docking area to light up from the blast that quickly followed.
X
Emily was in a state of shock and awe.
It was him! Maverick stood tall in the center of the docking yard and took down not only two YIMR mechs, but also a gunship with a bow and arrow!
The journalist couldn't believe her luck. She had to talk to him before he disappeared again. But before she could make a move to approach, the reporter felt the barrel of a gun press to the back of her head.
"Wrong place, bitch." someone growled behind her.
X
Jason looked at the burning wreckage for a few moments before turning with the intention of getting lost before C-Sec arrived.
"Leaving so soon asshole?"
Turning, he felt his blood boil seeing the Eclipse squad leader still alive holding a pistol to the head of a young woman. "Drop your weapons. Or this bitch get's her brains splattered." the man growled, pressing the barrel harder against her temple.
The fear in the woman's eyes made him pause and think quickly. He couldn't risk a civilian getting hurt, no matter the circumstance. But that didn't mean he was going to allow this asshole get away with putting her in that position.
The nano soldier tossed his bow to the ground first, followed quickly by his other weapons. Before reaching for his pistol...
Everything flowed in slow motion. Jason grabbed the Hammer and snapped the angle up firing from the hip and sending the round blowing the merc's right ear off.
The man bellowed in pain as his head snapped to the side, releasing his hostage and dropping his gun to grab his now bleeding wound.
Jason charged forward, grabbing the merc by his armor and flipping him over and slamming him to the ground. His pistol pointed at his face that was gushing and forming a puddle behind him.
"Holding an innocent woman hostage, that's grounds for no mercy." the nano soldier said darkly, cocking the hammer back on his gun. The merc went to scream something before Jason pulled the trigger and put him down completely.
Moving from the dead merc, Jason helped the shaken woman to her feet. "Are you alright ma'am?" he asked keeping his voice filtered. The woman looked up at him in awe and he immediately recognized her as Emily Wong from Citadel News Network.
"I...I'm fine...thanks for that." she said, still shaking a bit while rubbing her arms. She looked up at him, "You're him...you're Maverick."
Jason nodded, "I am. What are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously.
"I just got off of work when I heard the commotion over here." said Emily. "And I saw you take down those mercs...I've been wanting to talk to you for some time now."
The soldier had a feeling where this was going, "I don't do interviews. The least people know, the better. I will not risk the lives of others." he said with conviction.
The journalist smiled up at him, "It's my job to report the news, Maverick. The people on the Citadel deserve to know the truth about you. Many see you as a hero, but others see you as a monster. Something to frighten kids into being good."
Jason looked over at the burning building where the gunship had crashed. "I'm not a monster...but I'm no hero either."
Emily tilted her head in confusion before looking around as sirens echoed out in the distance. "C-Secs coming you better-" she turned back and saw that he was gone.
X
Jason entered the apartment still cloaked. Checking Reena's room and saw that it was empty, meaning that she must have been out as he headed to his room and started removing the nano suit.
With the information Skelart had given him he now had a new lead to follow. He needed to find out what the mercs were doing in the service tunnels around the Upper Wards leading to the Embassies and Presidium. Maybe then he could find out what their objective is.
Entering his room, he sat the nano suit's helmet on the desk when the light suddenly clicked on.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, you bosht'et." Jason turned and saw Reena sitting on his bed with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
He'd been caught.
A/N: And the first real cliffhanger returns.
One of the readers that are reviewing this told me flat out that this so far seems like a cut and paste job. I won't lie to any of you, it kind of is for the time being save for the small changes I've been making. The reason for that being I'm trying to keep the original plot of this story going as a way to show DemonFireX's work is still very much alive, just in the hands of one who was taught under him.
The real changes won't happen until we get to the point where Jason meets Shepard, so I'm sorry if this is coming off more like a rip off of the original. That's not my intention. I owe DFX a lot, most of my work wouldn't exist if it wasn't for him. So this is my way of honoring his work since he's no longer on the site with us anymore.
Anyway, I got three more updates in reserve ready to go. When you want them, let me know. Until then, review and show your love!
