Biotic Wind
Chapter 7
Vendris Zone
Apologies for the late upload. School, homework and just talking with my fellow writers have taken up a lot of time. Hopefully the posts will be back on track after this.
The lift journey took a huge amount of time, which gave N time to reflect on the horrors she had just witnessed. The area was so large and crammed with so many inhabitants that it couldn't be a secret, unless it was a very well kept secret. The rulers of Illium would definitely have noticed the city of ruin when they were constructing the towers. The gang member had referred to her as one of the uppers, who thought themselves more important than the residents of the lower levels. She had not heard of any Asari speak of or make any reference to the sprawl of death, so only people in positions of the highest power knew of its existence. N resolved to investigate when she returned to the Normandy. The rusted lift clunked to a halt suddenly, the sound echoing around the shaft like a ghost's whisper. When the elevator showed no sign of continuing on, N raised the zig-zag metal gate and peered around at her surroundings. The chute was lit by spotlights at long intervals. The nearest one was just a few feet above her and on the opposite wall. N examined the distance between her and the light, and then gazed at the pit below her. She cursed herself for being stupid enough to try this, then did a small jog on the spot to warm her up. If she could do it without plummeting hundreds of metres to her death, she might be able to leap, latch on to the spotlight, and jump back to the top of the elevator to see if she could do anything to start the lift again. She breathed in deeply, jumped out the metal cage, and got shot in the shoulder. Yelling in agony, she grasped the rusty light with one hand and launched herself backwards. An armour clad sniper was furiously trying to reload his weapon when he was slammed into the wall behind him. N clutched her injured shoulder and stepped into the well lit corridor. The walls were stark white and contrasted starkly with the grimy shaft she had just come up. There was a sign on the wall to her right, pointing to the chute she had just exited, labelled ''VENDRIS ZONE. KEEP QUARANTINED.''

Just then, a dozen laser sights were pointed at N's face. The bearers of the guns wore grey armour and helmets that concealed their faces. Each one had two circular eye holes, which glowed eerily blue. Despite the immense pain she was in, N couldn't resist a wise-crack before she ended all of their lives.

''I bet you all wanted to be astronauts or firemen when you were kids. Trust me, you should have followed your dreams.''

Half of them flew through the sides of the hallway, the others started firing at an impenetrable Biotic field. With their minds so focused on keeping a finger down on the trigger, it was very simple to get all of them to shoot their own heads off with their own weapons. She didn't even have to raise a finger. When they had all been dealt with, she focused on her shoulder. The hand she had used to cover it was bloody. There was a large dent in her armour where the slug had impacted. Concentrating all her power on that one spot, she felt her skin stretching over the hole. He had used explosive ammunition, so she didn't have to worry about re-arranging her insides to squeeze the bullet out. The healing took a lot out of her, and she felt instantly dizzy. She tried her com-link, but there was no way the simple transmitter could penetrate the floors and floors of the complex. All that came out was static. She looked both ways down the corridor. To the left was an electric field. To the right was an impenetrable door. She sighed and blasted the steel door into the wall beside it. Blood came splattering out from behind the door. ''Whoops.''

A soldier came over to investigate. The blue eye holes gleamed in the gloominess inside the room. Because of the numerous monitors around the dark enclosure, N guessed that it was an operations room. That meant that there shouldn't be too many armed people in there. The trooper investigating the mess swivelled his head in her direction. He took one look at her and then tossed a very large grenade. N raised her hands and a shield came up, protecting her and funnelling the explosion towards the unfortunate soldier. The flames had a peculiar blue tinge to them, but the fire went out before she could study it further. There were no remains at all of the owner of the grenade. She stumbled through the door and surveyed the room. It was spinning, but N decided that was just her. People in lab coats cowered behind desks. The dim blue light blinded her. She walked over to the nearest person and tried to clear her head.

''Give me...answers...'' she managed to mumble. The grown man actually cried. A smile twitched at her lips. She moved on, knowing she couldn't get anything out of him. There was an Asari who wasn't breaking down at the end of the expansive bunker. In fact, she seemed to try to be avoiding her, but not like she was terrified. She approached her from behind, then coughed loudly. She spun around.

''What is going on down here?'' N asked. Strength was returning to her with every word. ''Who are you working for? Are you Cerberus?''

The Asari shifted un-easily.

''My contract requires me to keep the identity of my employer's secret.'' N sighed. It was always protocol.

''What's your name then?''

''What? My name? It's Rana Thonoptis.''

''Well, Rana, you know what I can do. And I am going to batter you into a messy pulp unless you tell me what the hell your doing down here and why the hell no-one knows about all those people crammed into that horror town.'' N announced cheerfully.

''I have a non-disclosure agreement. If I were to disobey it...''

''You are going to be in a lot of pain whether you tell me what I want to know or you don't. At least I'll make sure that you have a quick death. I don't think your bosses will be so kind, considering they're hiding that atrocity down there. Now, are you going to tell me?''

That's when Rana ran. N tossed the moonbelt over the Asari's head right after flicking the setting up to maximum. Feeding a stream of Biotics into it ensured that she floated quickly up to the ceiling. The extreme sudden change in gravity made her throw up. The sick drifted out of her mouth, floating in the air for a few moments, then fell to the floor. N seized the opportunity to gloat.

''You really thought I was that stupid? You were eyeing the exit the whole time I was talking!'' N glanced at the door.

Speaking of exits...

She tossed Ms. Thonaptis against a wall, knocking her out cold, then took the moonbelt and slipped it on her. Then she walked towards the door.