A/N: With roughly 100 reviews, 9,000+ views and an ever climbing list of favs and follows, I'll say that this story just may become one of the most sought after on my page. And this is still only the beginning.
Even though a lot of readers out there are sitting on the backburner about this series until they see newer content, I'm still glad that those readers are willing to stick around until then. And as I promised a couple of them via PMs, I will deliver when the time comes. Until then, I'll do my best to breeze through the chapters leading to it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Reena sighed as she finished up her shift at Thrax's shop and sat at her usual workspace in throught.
Ever since Jason told her everything about what he does as 'Maverick' she couldn't help but worry about her Human friend.
Jason was strong, and had a will that seemed unbreakable. But somewhere deep within the Quarian's heart she couldn't help but wonder if he had bitten off more than he could chew. Even though he had well honed skills, a powerful suit and an arsenal, she couldn't help but think something bad was going to happen.
"Knock, knock." Reena jumped as she turned around only to see Chellick grinning at her from the doorway leading into the workshop.
"Oh, Chellick! I wasn't expecting you so soon." she said getting up and hugging the Turian.
"Got off early today, so I thought I'd come and see if you wanted to go out when you finished up." said Chellick.
The Quarian smiled, "Sure. Just let me finish cleaning up." she said going back to her station to put things away.
The detective looked around the room for a few moments. "Hey, where's Jason? Shouldn't he still be here too?" he asked not seeing his friend around.
Reena's back straightened slightly, "He wasn't feeling to well, so he decided to head home early." she said walking over to him.
Chellick raised an eyeridge, "Sick? I don't think I've ever seen him sick since I've met him."
"I know, it shocked me too. But he said that he was fine and was heading home to rest." replied the Quarian as the left the shop arm in arm.
"Maybe we can pick something up for him, kind of a get well thing." said the detective as they walked down the busy streets. Reena nodded but decided not to say anything. Chellick was getting really good at reading her body language and she didn't want him to figure anything out.
It was then she realized something, "Chellick, how did you get the rest of the day off? I thought you were helping C-Sec track down Maverick?" she asked curious.
Chellick scoffed, "Damn council harped on the Executor for not finding him sooner. So they decided to send someone after him so C-Sec could handle the other cases we got going on right now."
Fear and dread cluched at Reena's stomach. "Who...did they send after him?" she asked trying to keep the tremor out of her voice.
The detective chuckled, "An Asari Spectre, Tela Vasir. Shocked the hell out of all of us that they'd send one of their best after him. Then again, if you want something done right, send in the big guns."
If one could see past her visor, they would see Reena's complexion turn ashen pale.
"Reena? You okay?" asked Chellick concerned for his Quarian girlfriend when she seemed to freeze up all of a sudden.
"I...I'm fine. I just remembered that I have to make a note of something for work." she said bringing up her omni-tool.
Chellick chuckled, "Your a real workaholic you know that?"
Closing her omni-tool Reena did her best to giggle back, "Well, you know me." she said wrapping her arm around his waist as they continued their walk. Hoping to keelah that Jason got her message.
X
Jason 'Maverick' Harlow
Citadel Service Tunnels - Upper Wards
November 24, 2180 - 15:01 hours
A Keeper slowly skittered it's way down the long narrow tunnel that connected to the massive service network that honeycombed throughout the entire station. The four-legged insectioid alien stopped at a terminal that was designed for it and began typing at the holographic display silently.
Above, hidden by a cluster of pipes was Jason in the nano suit. His sharp eyes watching the bug-like creature continue about it's work before it began moving back down the tunnel again along it's pre-designated path.
With the coast clear he dropped silently to the floor before moving over to the terminal the Keeper was just at. "SECOND. Hack in and see if you can find any abnormalities in the tunnel system." he said bringing up his omni-tool.
"Data Mine Commencing..." The soldier waited patiently while keeping an eye on his motion tracker for any movement. Everything had been quiet up to this point, the only thing he really had to do was dodge around the Keepers as they went about their rounds.
"Data Mine Complete." Jason's omni-tool displayed the map of the section of tunnel system he was currently in, but this time several locations lit up red signifying heat signatures.
The small red ones moving freely throughout the tunnels were obviously Keepers. But there were two groups clustered together in two large areas. One being twice the size of the others.
After looking over the map, he plotted a course that would take him right past both sections without being detected. With everything all set, he shut down his omni-tool and activated his cloak before making his way down the tunnel again. Being sure to skirt his way around the Keepers so that they wouldn't discover him.
The trail of information he collected on the Eclipse activities ended here. Whatever they had planned had to do with the service tunnels leading to the Presidium, and Jason was liking it less and less the more he uncovered.
This was strickly a stealth and recon mission. He didn't like it, but if the mercs figured out that he was there they'd panic and do something drastic which would make things a lot worse. Which meant that he needed to get in, find what he needed and get out before he was found.
After treading through the tunnels, stopping in an alcove every so often so that his suit's energy could recharge. Jason made it to the section that had the larger cluster of heat signatures.
A door with a red holo-lock stood before him. The sounds of voices could be heard from the inside but Jason couldn't make out anything useful. Remembering his map, he crouched down into a nearby alcove and pried off a grate that lead into a duct that went directly through the large room beyond.
Keeping his cloak activated, he gently crawled inside and began to make his way through the wall. Staying on his stomach and trying to make as little noise as possible with each movement until he managed to find another grate leading into the room, stopping so that he could get a better look.
Inside was a room bigger than his apartment. Large cables came down from the ceiling and several parts of the walls leading to several large terminals in the center of the room where half a dozen Eclipse engineers were typing away at them. A dozen heavily armed mercs lined the walls around the room standing guard while the other six did their job.
The nano soldier noticed the dead bodies of two Keepers in the far corner which explained why they had remained undetected up until this point.
As he observed through the grate, Jason brought up information about the service network up on his HUD so that he could figure out what the hell they were up too. After reading several lines of information, he realized that this was one of dozens of electrical conduits that connected to the main power grid for the wards.
One of the mercs working at the terminals produced a hand held device that looked like a small black PDA and inserted it into the terminal he was working at. "And that should do it. The other teams should be finishing up any second." said the Salarian.
"And this'll work?" asked a Human checking his assault rifle.
"It will. One press of a button, and everything will be under our control." replied the engineer darkly.
Jason zoomed his visor in on one of the terminals hoping to see what they were up too, but couldn't get a clear view. "SECOND, any chance you can scan the terminals from here?" he whispered.
"Negative." replied the AI making him curse mentally. He'd have to get closer, but if all the mercs saw him and opened fire things would get dicey.
He could take the mercs, but the power conduit would get badly damaged in the crossfire. He needed a new plan.
Deciding to move on and hope the next site gave him more intel. Jason began to move through the duct again, popping open the grate at the other end and climbing out before making his way down the tunnels again.
"Proximity Alert." Jason pressed himself to the wall, drawing his combat knife as an Asari merc came around the nearby corner and headed his way. His cloak made him invisible for a short time, but if the merc got close enough he could make out the distorition in the air and alert the others.
The grip on the blade tightened, the soldier ready to spring as the merc walked past him slowly as he headed for the door leading to the room Jason had snuck past.
With the merc's back to him, Jason began to slowly make his way toward the corner where he had come from. Knife in his hand just incase. The merc reached the door and turned around facing the hallway and saw nothing out of the ordinary as Jason slipped around the corner and slowly followed the corridor.
He reached a second door with a green holo-lock. The image shimmered meaning it was about to open. Pressing himself to the wall again, Jason watched the door part and a Salarian merc walk out and head the same way the Asari did.
Seeing his chance, the soldier slipped inside quickly just before the door shut.
The room was half the size of the previous one, but looked to be more like a storage area for various supplies to help maintain the tunnel system in this sector. The only things that didn't belong there were a few crates barring the Eclipse logo and a large desk set up with several terminals in the corner where another merc sat going through something.
With no one else in the room, the nano soldier saw the opprotunity to get some answers. After making sure that the lone merc wasn't paying attention, he activated his omni-tool and disabled the lock on the door before slowly sneaking up to the merc at the desk.
When he reached the man, he cocked his fist back and punched him hard in the temple, knocking him out cold. "Nighty, night asshole." he muttered laying his upper half on the desk to make it look like he fell asleep, turning his head to cover the bruise that would be forming soon.
Jason immediatly brought up his omni-tool and started going through the terminals set up. Each one contained dozens of files about shipments, troop locations, recruitments, and several other pieces of the mercs operations that were happening on the Citadel.
Working fast, Jason kept searching for anything that would hint to whatever they were planning on doing down here. After another minute he found something. A file labled 'Operation: Flytrap'.
Clicking on the file Jason cursed when a window popped up requiring a password to enter. "SECOND, rip the file. We don't have time to decrypt it now." he said checking his motion tracker.
"Download Commencing." Jason clicked on another file that held a dossier of a Salarian with greenish-brown skin. A computer expert by the name of Kaion Xambit that was employed by the Eclipse to assist them.
Looking down at the file about Operation Flytrap, Jason could assume that what ever the operation was, that the Salarian in the dossier was helping them with it in some way. He quickly filed away a copy of the dossier to his omni-tool just as his motion tracker pinged, the two guards from earlier approaching the door.
"Shit." he muttered as SECOND finished the download. After shutting down the computer, Jason brought up the map of the tunnels again to give him a quick escape route. The sound of the mercs pounding on the door rang through the room as he found another duct in the back that lead to a seperate system.
Just as the two mercs outside started to hack the door, Jason vaulted over to the duct and pried the grate off, slipping inside and quickly replacing it just as the guards entered the room. "What the fuck? Sleeping on the job again." said one of them shaking his head.
"The boss is gonna kill him if he keeps this shit up." said the other. Both unaware of the soldier that slowly slipped away from them.
X
Jason pulled himself out of the duct and looked around the small room, a door across from him being the only way out. "SECOND, where are we?" he asked opening the door and seeing it lead to an exit to the service tunnels.
"Scans indicate current location being in the 800 Blocks within the Upper Wards. No hostiles detected." Jason activated his cloak and walked out of the service entrance checking around to make sure that no one was nearby before leaping high and grabbing onto the window ledge of a nearby building. He repeated the action two more times until he was ontop of the large apartment complex.
"Well, looks like we got ourselves a new lead." he said about to activate his omni-tool when it suddently chimed with a new message. Curious, he opened it and saw that is was from Reena;
From: Reena'Nolen
To: Jason Harlow
Heads up! Chellick says the Citadel Council has sent a Spectre after Maverick! Be careful!
Jason mentally cursed, he knew it was a matter of time before the council got smart and decided to get involved. But to send a Spectre? He shuddered at the thought of who they would have chosen to track him down.
Bringing up the dossier on the Salarian computer expert he found, the soldier saw that he lived in the 800 Blocks close by. If there was anyone that could tell him what the mercs were up to and what Operation Flytrap was it would be Kaion.
Activating his cloak once more, Jason made sure to check his surroundings before he began to make his way toward the Salarian's home that had been listed on the dossier.
X
Tela Vasir lowered her binoculars and smirked. She loved it when her hunts gave her a challenge.
Touching her ear piece, she contacted C-Sec.
X
Chellick had just finished walking Reena back to her's and Jason's apartment when his omni-tool went off with a call. "Hold on a sec." he said turning to answer it. "Chellick here."
'It's Garrus. We just got contacted by Vasir. She's spotted Maverick in the 800 Blocks and is requesting backup to box him in before he get's away.'
"I'm on my way." he said quickly cutting the call. He looked at Reena and pressed his forehead to her helmet, "I'm sorry I have to go so soon, I'll call you later okay?" The Quarian nodded as her boyfriend headed back to the elevator.
Reena quickly slipped into her apartment and started typing on her omni-tool as fast as he fingers could go. She had to warn Jason before it was too late.
X
Jason 'Maverick' Harlow
Kaion Xambit's Apartment Building - 800 Blocks
November 24, 2180 - 16:20 hours
Finding the building wasn't difficult. Neither was getting inside thanks to the nano suit's cloaking. Then again, the security measures in this universe weren't set up to handle such technology...yet anyway.
Finding the floor and room number, Jason took the stairs. Being sure to make as little noise as possible so he wouldn't alert the other people living there. Reaching the designated floor, he crept out into the hallway and headed toward the door leading into Kaion's apartment.
Along the way, he read the Salarian's dossier that had been compiled by the Eclipse. He had been apart of the Salarian STG operating as a tech expert and hacker. After several years served, he left STG and went into his own business as a programmer for military grade tech. He was well known for making upgraded versions of shields, omni-tools, hacking equipment and other programs for various military branches.
The fact that the Eclipse had him on their payroll meant that Kaion wasn't as honest and justly as he made everyone believe. But the real question was what was he doing for them?
When he got to the door, Jason drew his pistol and activated a hack program to get the door open. He waited a good 15 seconds before the lock turned green and the door slid apart allowing him to sneak inside.
The interior was dark. No one was home. Which worked just fine with Jason.
"Nano Vision Engaged." the room lit up allowing the soldier to see better. Deactivating his cloak as he made his way through the apartment and being sure not to disturb anything as he moved.
The heat/night vision of his visor didn't detect any signatures within close proximity. But all that could change very quickly if he didn't hurry.
Checking a few rooms, Jason located what looked to be an office with several terminals set up with work benches covered in various devices lined the walls. The room screamed tech wizard in every sense.
Deactivating the nano vision, the soldier stepped into the room keeping his weapon at the ready just incase something happened as he approached the desk first.
As he moved, he never saw the small beam of light on the floor as his foot passed through it.
Reaching the desk, he immediately went to work hacking into the main terminal set up there. "Let's see what he's got on hand. SECOND, hack the encryption and show me the more secured files." he asked touching the terminal with his omni-tool activated.
The screen flared to life as data scrolled across it. After a few moments several files appeared on screen. Jason looked over each for anything familiar when he spotted one labled 'TX-99'. Clicking on the file, a blue print of a familiar device appeared on screen. The very same device that he saw the merc in the tunnels putting into the power conduit.
"SECOND, what am I looking at here?" Jason asked reading the blueprint.
"The device displayed is designed to implant a virus that can be activated via a frequency designated for it." explained the AI as it showed the files it had been hacking into.
"So the device infects whatever it's plugged into...shit!" he cursed as he looked through more of the files and found one labeled Operation: Flytrap.
Clicking on it, he found that it was also encrypted. Firing another hacking program, the soldier sat back and waited for the firewalls to go down as he started piecing things together. It all added up, the increase in manpower, gaining access the the service tunnels around the Presidium, a device that implants a virus that they were putting them into the power conduits to be activated at a later date.
The terminal chimmed signaling the file was successfuly hacked. Opening it up, Jason's eyes widened as he read over what the operation was about. "Son of a bitch..."
A small alarm suddently started ringing from the terminals before they all shut down. The center one coming back online a second later revealing the face of Kaion leering back at him.
"Maverick...I should have known you'd be hunting for me sooner or later." he said sarcastically.
"You've had it coming it would seem." Jason replied with his voice filtered. "Do you honestly think the Eclipse are going to keep you around once they have what they're after? To think you were someone to be respected for your work in the STG, now your just a pathetic brain for hire."
"It isn't a matter of morals or ethics. It's a cruel galaxy, but I believe that you already know that' don't you?" said Kaion stiffly. "You go around the Citadel attacking the mercenaries, for what purpose? To make the galaxy a better place? That is truely pathetic. The universe could be thrown into total chaos and the simple minded will go about their lives like nothing is happening around them."
"You talk and act like one of those who think their way of 'saving the innocent' is what will save the universe. That code of honor...is nothing but a bad joke." said the Salarian.
"That's big talk, coming from a tech expert that's double dealing under the table to help the Eclipse attack the center of government." Jason said grimly.
"You call it double dealing, I just call it business." said Kaion.
"What is the plan, Kaion? What the hell are the mercs going to do with the Presidium?" He already knew full well reading the files, but he had to play stupid so that they wouldn't get wind of it and change course.
"The Citadel and it's council will find out soon enough. You however, will never see another day." The sound of engines powering up outside the window of the office caught Jason's attention as two gunships baring the Eclipse logo appeared with their weapons coming online. "Goodbye Maverick." with that the terminals completely shut down as the gunships opened fire.
Jason threw himself over the desk as the windows shattered and the heavy rounds tore through the furniture and appliances in the room. "Maximum Armor." He leapt up with his assault rifle in hand and fired on the air units.
The rounds dented the gunships' armor, a few of them hitting the cockpit's canopy and cracking the reinforced glass. The pilots moved the ships out of the line of fire before coming back and firing their heavy guns back into the apartment. The soldier quickly fled the room to avoid being bottle necked by the two arial units. Venting his weapon as he moved through the hallway and into the living room where the gunships were waiting for him outside the large window.
Throwing himself against the wall as more heavy rounds tore through the room. Jason peered around the corner and activated his visor. The enhanced vision highlighted the gunships and their weapons. The units were armed with just their machine guns and a few rockets, but both could prove to be trouble if they fired on anything other than him.
"Tactical Options Avaliable." Jason drew his bow, spinning out of cover and kicking the nearby couch hard through the window.
The large piece of furniture struck the first gunship, shattering against it's nose and making it pitch back a ways. Jason drew back an explosive arrow and let it fly, exploding on the right wing of the second gunship and sending it spiralling down to the ground below.
The first gunship moved back into position, the visor of the nano suit immediately picked up one of the missiles of the unit as it came on and fired in his direction. "Maximum Armor." The explosion from the rocket destroyed the living room, sending debris and shrapnel flying in all directions.
The nano suit's strengthened and hardened weave deflected the debris and absorbed the blast from the explosion as Jason put his bow away and ran full sprint toward the window. Throwing himself out into open air thirteen stories above the ground and latched onto the cockpit of the gunship.
Jason raised his fist and punched it through the canopy and grabbed the pilot by his throat. "Happy landing." he said grimly as he snapped the man's neck in his grip.
With the pilot dead, the gunship started to fall. The soldier grabbed the controls from the outside and pulled up, leveling it off and slowing it's decent as it fell. While the ground approached, Jason timed it as the unit reached the one story mark on the apartment building before he back flipped off just before it hit the ground.
The ship crumpled and crashed on impact, but thankfully didn't explode thanks to the controlled fall.
"Well, that could have gone better." he muttered to himself as he stood up and looked at the crowd gathering around the two wrecked gunships and were in awe seeing him. It was then his omni-tool chimed with an incoming message once again;
From: Reena'Nolen
To: Jason Harlow
C-SEC AND THE SPECTRE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE! GET OUT OF THERE!
It was then Jason looked up and saw several police skycars parked all around him with over two dozen C-Sec officers with their guns drawn.
And standing at the head of them with her biotics flared, was Tela Vasir. "Maverick! Drop your weapons and surrender! You are under arrest!" the Spectre called out.
Clenching his fists, the soldier looked at his opposition. "Tactical Options Available."
A/N: Looks like C-Sec and the Council have finally caught up with him. But with how well he's able to get out of tight spots, you can bet that Jason won't go down without a fight.
Reviews still very much welcome, and I'll have an update ready within the next day or so.
