Wow, glad for the positive responses last chapter. Hope that keeps up.
This time we've got it all. Action, drama, flashbacks, betrayals, and I think I sold you on a similar line in the past, so let's just get to it.
Guest reviewer "no one" asked: "Is B. J. Blazkowicz from Wolfenstein a Unique or Supernova?" At present, he is neither. I have no intention of using him in my story, though one of the three variations of the Wolfenstein universe may be referenced as a past job, like what I did with Resident Evil. No Uniques or Supernovas, but still jobs may take place.
To guest reviewer JackMatrix: Indeed.
At this time, I would like to thank Harbinger of Kaos for assisting me with a particular scene in this chapter. You'll know it when you see it, but don't worry. It's temporary.
Summary: For fear of spoiling you in any way, there is no summary this time.
Spoilers: Fallout: New Vegas, mostly the DLC.
Disclaimer: What? No, we've already been through this. I don't own anything.
What Happens on Omega
Omega Station
Kima District: Archangel's Base
Under ideal circumstances, the physically and mentally superior combatant always wins. As such, a smart man would concede defeat upon realizing he's outclassed.
Sadly the galaxy – not to mention the multiverse – was full of overconfident idiots just itching for a fight. Garm was no exception, and it became more obvious by the second. He had ignored Eleanor's warning and ordered his forces to attack.
WHAM
A bad choice in hindsight. With Eleanor in front, Ryan coming from behind, and Archangel up above with the rest of the team, the Blood Pack was getting humiliated. Warp fields, inferno grenades, and tungsten ammo rained down from the second floor, perfectly exploiting the weaknesses of the otherwise hard-to-kill vorcha and krogan. Meanwhile Ryan nailed a pyro to the wall with his Kishock before telekinetically ripping the harpoon back out and snatching it in his free hand. Twirling the makeshift spear between his fingers, the Splicer King swept the legs out from under another vorcha before stabbing it in the head. With his helmet cam activated for research, the depowered Son of Rapture was already improving his genetically enhanced durability by observing a species with natural armor and regeneration.
Meanwhile Eleanor had called dibs on Garm. Swatting the last vorcha aside like a fly, she charged the krogan in a rather unsettling role reversal. At the last second, Garm raised his M-300 Claymore, but the Big Sister was faster. Forcing his shotgun to the side with her needle, Eleanor used her free right hand to land several punishing blows to the krogan's torso and face. With small diving hooks attached near the wrist, each punch dealt sharp and blunt force trauma.
"Hey, get back!" Garrus warned, unable to call out the woman's name when he didn't know it yet. "Garm is healing faster than you're hurting him!" The turian wasn't kidding. Garm was a freak of nature, regenerating faster than any krogan he'd ever seen, even Wrex. He wasn't a pushover either, and his biotics were nothing to laugh at.
Taking Garrus' advice, Eleanor beat a hasty retreat via teleport… only to rematerialize above Garm and dive down on him needle first. It was expected for the battlemaster to raise his arms in a defensive posture, but not what happened after that. As the needle drove through his left arm, Garm used his other hand to grab Eleanor by her left arm, finally holding her in place. He'd taken the blow voluntarily! The krogan sneered as he tried slamming his captured foe into walls, shelves, whatever he could find. Luckily, the Big Sister was flexible enough to avoid it every time, and Garm just ended up hurting and tiring himself out. Growling in fury, Garm detonated his biotic barriers, only for Eleanor simultaneously counter with a reflection. The reflection plasmid of Big Sisters was an outward expanding dome of force, just like Garm's detonated barrier but with one difference:
It was a lot stronger, and Garm was the one sent flying. Rising up again, now in blood rage, the battlemaster charged forward, launching warp fields the entire time. Eleanor countered the few accurate warps with her fireballs before cocking her left arm back and waiting. Garm barreled in close, flailing his arms like giant cudgels…
He caught air when Eleanor spun underneath the attack and drove her needle up from below through the underside of his neck. Garm expected to regenerate as usual. He did not. Eleanor was draining him dry, leeching the life of of him. It wasn't long before the mighty Blood Pack battlemaster dropped to the floor as an empty husk.
Garrus' mandibles were slack from the display. Not just the end, but all of it. "Spirits… what-" he caught himself. "Who are you?"
Collapsing her helmet, Eleanor gave the turian a small smile and a playful curtsy. "Eleanor Lamb. Ryan's big sister." In a flash of purple, she was gone, reappearing at Garrus' side. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're Garrus Vakarian." She smirked. "Or is it 'Archangel' now?"
The vigilante coughed awkwardly at the use of his Omega moniker before something occurred to him. "Can I assume you would be able to teleport us out of here?" He gestured to Ryan. "The boss says he can't, and I'm not entirely sure I want to know what that means."
"It actually has two meanings in this case," the Splicer King cut in. "First, I literally can't teleport anyone with me anymore." Garrus looked at Eleanor skeptically, but she just nodded to confirm it as Ryan continued. "Second, if we disappear into thin air, then they'll hunt you down until they find you and kill you." He sighed. "And once word gets out on exactly how you managed to vanish, they'll hunt me down too." Ryan was deep in thought now and speaking out loud. "We need to get out of here alive, but in a way that keeps the mercs from hunting us down."
"Fake Archangel's death," Miranda said simply. Utterly ignoring the glares she received from Eleanor and Ryan, she engaged her omni-tool. "I analyzed the bombs, and if the positions were altered slightly, we could bring this whole place down."
Zaeed grinned. "Someone's gonna need to change those positions then," he nodded in the direction of the mercenary headquarters. "And someone's gonna have to keep the Suns at bay."
Ryan and Eleanor shared a knowing look, but the roaring of a gunship engine cut them off before they could explain.
"ARCHANGEL!"
The Eclipse and Blood Pack had already both swung and missed. Now with the Blue Suns, it's three strikes and the mercs are out.
Omega Station
Gozu District: Environmental Control
"Human nobility," the batarian muttered. "I didn't think such a thing existed."
The old "kill the hostage, I kill you slowly" routine worked like a charm. And with Cole being Cole, naturally they followed through and spared the batarians after Daniel was safe. It would be a stretch to say everyone parted on good terms, but no blood was spilt.
After thanking them profusely, Daniel ran back to the clinic. Alex scoffed once the naïve boy was out of earshot. "That bleeding heart's gonna be the death of you someday," he told his best friend.
Cole shrugged. "Yeah, but it helps me sleep easier. You know, sleep? That thing people have to do when they get tired?"
"I've heard tell."
Jacob merely rolled his eyes and took up the rear as they pressed on towards the environmental controls.
Resistance was light until they hit a massive room with no ceiling and three giant fans high up on the far wall. Running in front of the fans was a balcony. Provided with high ground and decent cover, members of the notorious Blood Pack "Boom Squad" had made themselves right at home. They'd taken this room swiftly and without mercy, raining missiles from above while flanking anyone in cover with more rank and file vorcha and krogan from the lower levels.
And against relatively normal mercs like the Blue Suns, this had worked fairly well. Against two walking WMDs and a skilled Cerberus operative? Not so much. Cole ice launched toward the left side of the balcony, and when the Boom Squad launched their payload he countered with three rockets of his own. Two were the usual sticky rockets. They both trisected before latching onto the six incoming missiles meant to demolish him, detonating them all prematurely upon explosion. The third was different splitting into two rockets connected by a wire of electricity. The aptly named "tripwire rocket" wasn't meant to hit multiple targets. When one of the Boom Squad got caught in the wire's path, it became an exploding electric bolas, smashing the rockets into the vorcha from either side. The explosion took out the original target and the vorcha standing next to him. Done right, the tripwire rockets was a powerful tool in his arsenal. Done wrong, and the conduit would leave quite a mess.
By this time the five remaining vorcha heavies were opening fire again. Cole's only response this time was an EM blast, redirecting all the rockets.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM
The ensuing devastation ripped the balcony apart, and Cole dropped down on the Blood Pack forces in a shootout with Jacob and Alex. The virus had "borrowed" a gun and was waiting for this very moment. Discarding the rifle, he dashed forward and leapt off the ground just as Cole landed on it to unleash a massive thunder drop. The next several seconds played out as if in slow motion. When the shockwave caused a reverse polarity in all nearby forces and sent them floating away, Alex was already hurtling through the air to meet them. Slamming feet first into one vorcha, he killed it on impact before using its corpse as a launch pad to kick off and repeat the process a second time. Then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth. Finally only the two krogan were left floating helplessly about. The apex hunter shifted to a claw for his left hand and a blade for his right, lunged through the air, and tore them both to pieces before landing on his feet.
The moment the fighting ended, it was as if time had finally caught back up with the room's living occupants. The sky began to rain blood, gore, and body parts from all the victims at once. Alex kept walking ahead without even batting an eyelash.
Jacob forced his lunch back down before catching up with Cole. "You don't ever… get used to that, do you?"
"The blood-and-guts brutality? Hell no. You just accept that he got used to it a long time ago. He was 'born' that way. He'll 'live' that way. And assuming anything ever kills him, he'll die that way." Cole nodded to the virus getting further ahead of them. "C'mon."
"MacGrath, Mercer." It was EDI. "I have scanned the room ahead. The central control system is in an alcove in the center of the back wall. You can inject the cure and reinitialize the systems there. The fans must be reactivated manually, and passages exist on either side of the alcove leading directly to their controls."
"Three destinations?" Cole yelled. "And three of us? This sounds perfect!"
More of the boom squad was up ahead, led by a particularly loud vorcha. Growling as if his throat were full of blood, he finally spoke. "You no come here! We shut off machines! Break fans! Everyone choke and die! Then Collectors make us strong!"
"All I needed to hear," Alex snarled, raising his hands above his head. "Cole!"
The conduit shot forward, running straight up the virus' back before grabbing the outstretched hands. Alex then hurled his friend over his shoulders straight at the vorcha in a horizontal thunder drop. The electrifying impact blasted away the Boom Squad leader and his men, opening a path for Jacob to take the cure to the central console while Cole and Alex each took a fan.
Unfortunately, there were more vorcha and a single pissed off krogan in the ex-Corsair's way. Realizing a pistol wasn't going to cut it, he switched out for his shotgun, an M-22 Eviscerator. No longer running on internal heat sinks like the Chief's model from the Battle of the Citadel, the Eviscerator had been overhauled like everything else to use thermal clips. And with three shots per clip, Jacob planned to shoot wisely.
Tossing a pair of lift grenades, Jacob covered a wide enough area to leave most of the vorcha helpless until he could deal with the krogan. Barriers up, he shrugged off shotgun rounds from the krogan and returned fire. All this did was provoke the thing into charging, but that was the Cerberus operative's plan. When the Blood Pack warrior was practically on top of him, Jacob dropped to his back and slid forward underneath his giant adversary. Aiming up as he slid by, the former Alliance officer pulled the trigger to unleash a full blast of serrated, metal wedges into the krogan's head directly above him. As the lizard's skull blew wide open, Jacob slid right on by and used one hand to push back into a standing position in a single fluid motion. Turning his Phalanx sidearm on the still floating vorcha, he put them down with a double tap each before inserting the cure and reinitializing the systems like EDI had instructed.
On the left, Alex was out of patience. Armor up to tank the missiles from the Boom Squad on the balcony above, the virus was abusing the hell out of the cramped, linear hallway to the fan controls. Whipping out his blade, he simply dashed forward and slashed back and forth in a wild frenzy. Anything in his path was cut to ribbons, though he stopped just short of the final krogan. Plucking the warrior off the ground with his human hand, he pricked it in the neck before tossing it up at the Boom Squad. Tendrils erupted from the krogan in a bio bomb, dragging in all the vorcha heavies on the platform, as well as a fair amount of the platform itself. When the entire mess collided, the Boom Squad's grenade belts reacted poorly to say the least.
BOOM
And they inevitably lived up to their name in a very colorful explosion. No biomass remained behind of course. It degraded down after use now, just like his tendril barrage devastator. Hitting the switch, he strolled back towards the others, knowing things were well in hand.
Cole took one look at all the scary aliens with guns in his way and sighed. Spinning around with arms together, he unleashed an ionic vortex to literally blow his enemies away. Walking now unhindered to the fan control, he reactivated it and left without any sense of urgency. The Blood Pack's little scheme was finished.
And while that meant the slums of the Gozu district would eventually return to the way things were before, it wouldn't be all bad. The Blue Suns knew what had happened this day when they tried to crack down. The vorcha had beaten them, and three men had beaten them worse. A single salarian had humiliated them repeatedly before that. After getting kicked while they were down that many times, the Suns were bound to wise up even after the Supernovas had left with Mordin.
It wasn't long before they had made it back to Mordin's clinic. The good doctor had already set things up in anticipation of their success. He left the place in Daniel's care and announced his willingness to depart for the Normandy. Daniel of course had to thank them again.
"You know for a moment, I thought you were gonna kill them even after they freed me."
Cole shook his head. "Not my style. They didn't really do anything wrong. They were just paranoid batarians bashing humanity."
"Risky," Mordin said simply. "Would have killed them myself."
Alex held up his hands in defeat. "That's what I said!"
"Let's avoid an ethics debate and just get back to the ship," Jacob suggested calmly. He figured it must be a mad scientist thing.
"Not until I know that counteragent is gone," the virus reminded everyone. "We had a deal."
Mordin inhaled sharply. "Never agreed to 'deal' specifially. Said would discuss, now discussing. Destruction of viable failsafe… problematic."
Peeking out from beneath his hood, Alex Mercer fixed his pale blue eyes on the former STG. "If that shit gets used against me by the wrong people for the wrong reasons, 'problematic' is gonna put his foot up your ass.
The salarian shrugged. "Won't relinquish upper hand. Can compromise however. Safeguard data and cut off all third party access to formula. Beyond that, making no 'promises' at this time."
Alex still looked pissed, but Cole held him back, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We'll have to take the chance. Earn his trust later or something. Prove that you won't eat him when he lets his guard down."
Shrugging off the hand, Alex actually grinned. "You're something else, you know that Doc?" Without another word, he turned and walked away. The sociopath had always suspected, but at Cole's last words, he knew for sure:
They'd just found another friend of Unique Shepard. Odds were good that the same was true for everyone else in those dossiers. The Supernovas were cruising around the galaxy to recruit the proverbial "flock" of the literal "Good Shepard". Solara had a twisted sense of humor.
Mission Summary:
Recruited Doctor Mordin Solus for the team. Examination of Omega's plague cure confirms Doctor Solus' expertise. Can also use work on Omega as leverage against Aria if necessary.
Priority directive from Cerberus Command: Dr. Solus has created the first known weapon to combat the likes of Alex Mercer. Every effort must be made to acquire and mass distribute. Fabrication rights will not be included. Find a legitimate enough shell corporation and make sure even the aliens get it for next to nothing. When every military force in the galaxy has the means to kill him, Mercer will actually fear them for a change. He'll be hunted down and killed like an animal. And Cerberus will be the heroes to thank for it.
Omega Station
Kima District: Archangel's Base
If Miranda Lawson was grateful to her father for anything, it was her intelligence. No normal human could otherwise keep up with so many things going on at once. As the most dangerous and effective private military firm in the galaxy, the Blue Suns had plenty of resources to toss around, even against Cerberus. Miranda was coordinating with Zaeed on where to relocate the bombs, hearing him expect more pay for "demolition work" of course. She was also tracking the movements of the gunship as best as possible for Eleanor, Ryan, and Garrus so that they could target the Suns as soon as they fast-roped in from above. Aerial insertion was fighting dirty, but it was working.
And all while making sure she didn't get her head shot off in the process? Miranda figured she was doing rather well.
Until Tarak's lieutenant showed up. Jentha. She wasn't overconfident and careless like the rest of these mercs. She was smart, and she was powerful, and it showed immediately. She didn't fast-rope down until Garrus had just fired off his concussive shot, Eleanor was already in the middle of telekinetically hurling multiple Suns out the window, and Ryan was just setting down new traps where the next batch of mercs would drop from the gunship. The timing was perfect when Jentha hit the ground, using implants to give herself a combat grade adrenaline rush and marksman boost. Eleanor knew a threat when she saw one and instantly teleported away, letting the six Legionnaires drop to the floor before they reached the window. Jentha was still in "bullet time" as many people called the adrenaline rush. From her perspective, the purple flash indicating Eleanor's reentry was happening in slow motion. Freaky as it was, Jentha had plenty of time to dodge under the incoming needle and open up point blank with her M-76 Revenant.
"ELEANOR!" Ryan screamed as the veritable wall of bullets sent his sister flying backwards. Miranda watched in mixed confusion and horror as the Commander's eyes changed. Pupils, irises, and sclera all disappeared behind a bright, sickening, yellow light coming from the back of each socket. The air shattered hard as he rematerialized directly between Eleanor and Jentha, palm extended. Again, Jentha opened fire, but Ryan's fingers contorted to metallic bone and raised an energy field of some sort. Even on full auto, the shield in his palm just soaked up the Revenant's fire.
DON'T!" he roared as he drew nearer to a frightened Jentha. "TOUCH! MY! SISTER!" On the last word, he took the energy in his palm, full with all the bullets meant for him, and smashed it over Jentha's head.
CRAACK
The blast didn't kill her, or even send her flying. It atomized Jentha. There was nothing left. The furious Splicer King drew his hooks and was about to turn on the remaining Suns when a fist connected with his face. Shaking off the dizziness, his eyes returned to normal.
"Calm the bloody hell down, Ryan!" Eleanor yelled, shaking her fist to return feeling to it after hitting her brother's literally thick skull. "I drained enough from Garm in advance to protect against something like that." Raising both hands, she telekinetically flung the previously forgotten Blue Suns out the window to their dooms. "Honestly, you can't get pissy every time someone close to you gets hurt. It was pathetic then, and it's pathetic now."
"It was pathetic when, exactly?" Miranda called out from behind cover while putting a bullet in the left eye of the last merc.
"Charming as the family talk is," Garrus shouted. "Can we save it for later when we don't have a gunship bearing down on our collective asses?!"
"YOU FREAKS THINK YOU CAN SCREW WITH THE BLUE SUNS?!"
Ryan looked firmly at his sister. "We'll talk later. Seriously, how much longer to we need to hold them off until he gets here?"
Garrus took another shot with his rifle. "'He' who?"
"Me."
The rumbling baritone of the one and only Master Chief came across everyone's radios. He was here, and he was ready to utterly embarrass Tarak and his gunship. High enough that nobody could see, the doors opened on the Normandy's Kodiak and the Chief jumped out, diving down and aiming for the Blue Suns' Mantis.
"That's our cue to leave!" Miranda exclaimed. "Eleanor, get us out of here." The Big Sister nodded, grabbing Miranda, Zaeed, and of course, Garrus. Wouldn't be much of a recruitment if he died now. They all vanished in a flash of purple. Ryan stayed behind though, keeping the Blue Suns' attention away from their escaped quarry. In less than a second, he wouldn't even need to do that. Flipping them off, he ran "inside" where they could only imagine he was trying to get to cover. They didn't realize they were watching a decoy "hiding" in that base. The real Ryan had already teleported back to the Normandy.
Right at the last possible moment, the falling Spartan inverted himself, landing feet first on top of the Mantis's cockpit and scaring the ever-loving shit out of Tarak and his goons inside. The krogan and the ODSTs may have invented orbital insertion, but Spartans perfected it. Then to the sheer horror of every merc inside the gunship, he began to hit the cockpit. Not shoot, not hack open with Cortana's help. The Master Chief was doing what he used to do with Covenant vehicles. He simply punched it again, and again, and again until the frame was unrecognizable and the protective window broke apart. Tarak didn't have time to scream before the Chief yanked him out and let him fall. Clambering into the pilot's seat, he unleashed the gunship's entire remaining payload on the merc base across the bridge, set a course straight for the side of Archangel's building, and leapt back out. Sheer brutal efficiency with nothing fancy. As he fell, Eleanor returned and grabbed him from behind, spiriting them both away as she had done before with the others. And that's when the show started.
KABOOOOOOM
History and urban legend would say that Archangel chose this moment to go out in style. Taking the mercenaries down with him to the very last, the bright explosions from his destroyed base lit up the normally dark Omega skyline for all to see. One last act of defiance, carried out by a man who believed in justice on a world where none existed. And some would occasionally whisper that his ghost still haunted the Terminus and those who preyed on the weak. "Those spirits the turians always swear by?" the rumors went. "He's one of em. He scopes out the galaxy from his sniper's nest in the next life."
The truth was much less romantic. They were all safe and sound aboard the Normandy. Chakwas was fussing over everyone, most of all Eleanor and Garrus. The former had taken a Revenant to the torso, an injury she only exacerbated by teleporting four people out of the base in two back-to-back trips (five counting Cortana). The latter was sleep-deprived, strung out on stims, physically exhausted, emotionally unstable, and drowning in betrayal and survivor guilt.
But they did it. The three largest merc bands in the galaxy had united to take down one Garrus Vakarian, and the Normandy team simply flipped them off. "Just like old times," the turian had said. He'd even joined up to take down the Collectors. They were worried about his state of mind, but if he was about to go crazy, then there was no better place in the galaxy for it to happen than on this ship with the Supernovas.
He chose to set up shop in the forward battery. To distract himself from everything that had happened, his team, Ryan being alive, all of it, Garrus went to work calibrating the hell out of the main gun. He even had an idea for an upgrade…
Mission Summary:
Extracted Archangel from military siege, dealing heavy blow to mercenary resources and morale. Revelation of identity as Garrus Vakarian useful in keeping "Power Five" comfortable. Surprised to learn that Commander Ryan's overprotective streak is criticized by his "sister" Eleanor Lamb. As per the General's suggestion, it has been marked as a potential weakness to exploit.
Addendum: Previously, we thought to have gained the upper hand upon learning the Commander could no longer "teleport" others with him. Eleanor Lamb has stepped into this role to effectively and he can apparently call her to his side at will and from an undetermined distance away. This warrants further observation. Finally: Eleanor Lamb is… an uncomfortably powerful combatant. Recommend flee on sight orders should allegiances shift.
Twelve hours later: Omega Docks
Normandy SR-2
CIC: Combat Lab
"Cerberus working with aliens, AI, hated enemies, alleged dead men." The salarian smirked slightly. "Clearly more desperate than previously anticipated."
"And we approached them first," Cole replied. "Imagine how 'desperate' that made us." He waved away the topic. "You didn't bring me down here for that though. EDI said it was medical matters. What's up?"
Mordin paused before locking the doors. "Aware you can interfere with surveillance and monitoring equipment. Recommend doing so. Likely won't want Illusive Man hearing conversation." He waited until he was completely sure that Cole had done as he asked. "Ran scans back in clinic. Body heavily irradiated. Predates jumping through mass relay on foot. Idiotic, but irrelevant to current discussion. Radiation inconsistent with dark energy exposure. Identical to nuclear fallout of old bombs and ballistic missiles." A sharp breath. "Impossible, yet undeniable. Explain." It wasn't a request.
Cole opened his mouth to speak when he heard a massive commotion outside. It sounded like it was coming from near the helm. He jabbed a finger in Mordin's direction. "You keep a lid on those 'scans' for now, Doc. We'll pick this conversation up later."
"Will be here when ready to discuss."
As he walked out the door he yelled over his shoulder. "And don't act like there aren't a crapload of skeletons in your closet too! It's in your smartass eyes." Feeling like he was even with the STG for now, he ran up to where the Chief was standing by the airlock with Ryan, Eleanor, Alex, and Miranda all arguing with him.
"You can't 'leave' Chief," Alex growled. "Not just out of the blue like this!"
The Chief was… leaving them?
John-117 didn't flinch in the face of Alex Mercer's wrath. "EDI is a cyberwarfare suite, and she's beginning to learn more than I'd like." That said, I already needed to make contact with the Alliance. Any longer and they'll declare me AWOL. I tried using the QEC, and there I ran into Officer Lawson." The name came out as barely more than a growl. "As if she's not asking too many questions already, she offered me a job. With Cerberus."
Eleanor looked at Miranda in disbelief. "You offered a counterterror specialist a job… as a terrorist? Are you out of your mind?"
Miranda rolled her eyes. "Despite what people would have you believe, we are not a terrorist organization."
Cole snorted and pointed at himself. "Terrorist." He pointed at Alex. "Terrorist." He pointed at Ryan. "Government-sanctioned war criminal." The conduit shrugged. "I think we know what we're talking about here."
"You wear those labels with borderline pride, but where and when did any of it even happen?" Miranda countered. "We have surveillance footage of Mercer threatening a Doctor Wayne about what a 'real terrorist' is like, but where were you on the watch list? That was before Ilos, and nothing exists in any of your files to back the claims up." She held her head high. "If you're so wicked, then where's the proof, and why can't anyone find it?" She turned on her heel and strode away. "I'll be in the XO's office if any of you feel like talking sense."
"We walked right into that," Alex muttered bitterly."
Eleanor raised her hands in reassurance as she took off after the Cerberus loyalist. "I'll handle her, don't worry."
"It doesn't matter," the Master Chief spat. "I won't work with them as long as they keep trying to get in our heads and stab us in the back all at the same time."
Ryan glared. "Oh, but you'll gladly work with a military that burnt and whitewashed us all to save face?" He lowered his voice. "Does the 'I' in ONI stand for intelligence or idiocy? Either way, they're hardly better than Cerberus, and you know it. You've worked with insurrectionists before because you didn't have a choice. So get off your moral high ground and concentrate on the real enemy like you did then."
The Chief went rigid with fury. "I'm. Leaving." He shoved the Splicer King out of the way and stormed out of the Normandy airlock.
"Nice going Ryan!" Cole shouted before chasing after their Spartan friend. "Chief!" he yelled, dashing through the street, searching everywhere. "Chief!" It was too late though. John had already disappeared. Tapping his dataphone, the conduit sent a message. "I don't know where you are, but I know you can hear me. I swear we will find you again sooner or later. And when we do, your ass is coming back to our ship, even if I have to kick it the whole way there."
He couldn't believe it. All they had been through together, all they had done, just to part ways in the middle of a job over... this. Crying out in frustration, Cole's anger short circuited Omega for a quarter mile in every direction before he returned to the Normandy.
"This changes nothing," Ryan forced out, not even convincing himself as he got choked up on some "dust" in his throat. "He's abandoning the mission." Reducing his voice to a whisper, the Splicer King added, "and us."
In an instant, Alex was on him, slamming him against the wall. "We abandoned him, asshole! To bring you back from a long overdue grave!"
Cole came flying back through the airlock and stood by his viral friend. "A grave I might put you back inside, Jack." He glared daggers at Ryan who just glared right back. "The Chief's gone."
Normandy SR-2
Crew Deck: XO Office
Miranda was watching the chaos unfold from her personal computer with some satisfaction when she suddenly realized she had company. Eleanor Lamb was standing in front of her desk with an almost tangible fury. "You clever bitch. The Illusive Man put you up to this, didn't he? Get the number one threat to his plans out of the way? You couldn't possibly kill the Chief, so you resorted to alienating him from the rest of us because of Cerberus." Miranda closed her eyes in shame and agony. She'd been made, and these monsters weren't exactly known for their forgiveness. The Cerberus loyalist was expecting a needle in the head but it never came. Instead, Eleanor just kept talking. "Sod your desire for control. Sabotage us like this again, and I don't care what the consequences are. I will kill you." With that, the Utopian turned and headed for the door.
"That's it?" Miranda challenged. "You're just 'letting me off with a warning'? Not even a word to your associates that this was my doing?" She rose from her desk and glared at the back of the Big Sister's head. "Why?"
"Blackmail," Eleanor hissed as she spun back around to face Miranda. "It's the only way I could possibly shut down someone as smart as you. No more reports to the Illusive Man on our strengths and weaknesses. No more digging into our clearly nonexistent pasts. You're going to leave our secrets alone, and you're going to like it."
Miranda was at a loss. If she didn't continue her reports, the Illusive Man wouldn't be pleased. If she didn't agree to Eleanor's terms… it was better not to go down that road with Alex Mercer involved. The choice was clear. The next step as a Cerberus operative? Not so much.
Eleanor must have seen the conflict in her eyes, meaning Miranda was losing her edge. Regardless, the Big Sister gave a small smile. "I'm not trying to control your life, Miranda. I'd be no better than my mother. The only catch is that you merely return the favor and stop trying to control us. It's really not that difficult."
Between knowing that she would live and hearing that she wasn't on a new leash, Miranda barely managed to avoid crying in bittersweet relief. "I orchestrate the departure of one of your close friends, and all you do is enforce mutual respect?" She met Eleanor's gaze. "How can you possibly be related to Ryan?"
Apparently Eleanor took this as an agreement to her terms. She shrugged. "Truth? I take after my father. He was a merciful man, sparing those who wronged him. I try to follow his example." Rather than discuss it further, the Big Sister pointed at her eyes, then at Miranda, and then she disappeared in a flash of purple.
Miranda sighed. "Dammit."
Normandy SR-2
CIC: Airlock
Alex was snarling. Cole was sparking. And Ryan's eyes were green-going-on-yellow. The Supernovas were probably seconds away from ripping each other to pieces when Joker had had enough. "If you freaks are gonna have it out, can I at least get off the ship first?!"
Caught by surprise, the argument instantly ceased and they all turned to look at Joker. The pilot swiveled his chair around and glared up at the three men who could break him by breathing. "After all, that's what started this mess. I didn't abandon ship when everything had gone to hell." He struggled to his feet. "The Chief just left, and you're about to destroy the Normandy in some kinda super smackdown. If that's not 'gone to hell' I don't know what is." He folded his arms, taking care not to break anything while remaining stern. "So do I jump ship now? Or are you guys gonna pull your heads outta your asses and get back to saving the damn galaxy?"
Nobody said a word. There was nothing to say, only a mission to continue without their Spartan ally. Ryan immediately went to see if he could get a message to Hackett regarding the Chief. As the only one neither burnt nor civilian, it had the best chance of success. Which was still little to none. Cole and Alex went to talk with Mordin about the secret that was slowly losing its secrecy.
Joker smirked and returned to his leather seat, hat casting a shadow over his face. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
Sometimes it didn't take a force of nature to get things done. Just a wiseass with a loud mouth.
En Route to Arcturus Station
Cortana sighed as her helmetless Spartan refused to even move while their "commandeered" ride made the trip back to Alliance space. "You know we should have stayed, John."
John didn't say anything at first, then finally his shook his head and looked at his charge. "Not when Cerberus is looking into every possible way to kill us. I'm not losing this armor's specs, or you, to those jackals."
"I appreciate the thought John, but-"
"Besides, they're all 'powerful' enough, and they believe they can handle the Illusive Man and the Collectors just fine. What do they need a super soldier for?"
From the day he joined the Supernovas, the Master Chief had never properly addressed the issue of physical inferiority. It was hard to tell when all of mankind was nothing before him, but the majority of Solara's occupants were capable of demolishing him rather easily. He was the only one to consistently rely on weapons, and the power gap that existed without MJOLNIR armor was unreal. This was about more than hating Cerberus.
He needed to remember why he was fighting for a Unique's cause in the first place.
Twenty Hours Later
Citadel Station
Docking Bay D-24
Things were horribly tense aboard the ship for most of the ride. Garrus was still in "minor" shock, and Ryan couldn't even bring himself to check up on his old friend. Whatever had happened on Omega, it would be discussed later.
On a more positive note, whatever conclusion was reached between Cole, Alex, and Mordin had been a peaceful one. Alex was still pissed that the salarian was packing a weapons specifically to kill him, but they had managed to settle an issue "of much greater importance" according to Cole. Not even EDI knew what was discussed, only that there had been a power fluctuation in the combat lab. Jacob had immediately gone to check, but when he arrived, the three of them were fine. By Mordin's expression of restrained delight, it looked like Cole and Alex had told him the meaning of life and then invoked doctor-patient confidentiality. While this seemed like a very real possibility to the Cerberus personnel, Garrus knew better. They'd let him in on the Solara Secret. While jealous that he got the same special treatment as Wrex on the SR-1, the turian couldn't deny that it was for the best.
After that, Cole left the lab quickly. The two resident mad scientists had their work cut out for them in a shared lab, and nobody wanted to be in a room with that much ego. The running theory was that if the Illusive Man tried to contact them directly, the galaxy would explode from fitting too much sense of superiority into too small of a space.
Almost a day later, they docked at the Citadel and got straight to business. The Normandy was going to be outfitted with Silaris armor to keep her from going the same way as her predecessor. It was Jacob's idea, and apparently he "knew the right people" so he was staying behind to talk them into making it happen. During this time they were contacted by Councilor Anderson and asked to meet. Damn if it felt like getting dragged into the principal's office.
All Supernovas had left the ship for the meeting. Since it was pretty miniature shore leave until the upgrade was finished regardless, they knew they had little else to do. Garrus came as well, wanting to see how his former source of employment was doing after two years. Miranda was tagging along to evaluate the meeting with the Council and assess the situation. Eleanor was giving her what Ryan had once dubbed "the Gorgon stare" though, so nobody was all that concerned about the possibility of more leverage landing on Timmy's desk.
Lastly, they were here to find and recruit a thief.
"Mister MacGrath! Enter the password, and receive a free gift!"
Though it would be more accurate to say she found them. Speaking to the group through an advertisement cylinder for the hell of it was a clear sign that this girl was that good. Cole made a motion for the Supernovas to fan out. This was her job application, but if she was the playful type they needed to impress her just as much.
"Got problems with collectors? Try Kasumi's credit services!"
Cole smirked in spite of himself. That was funny, obvious, and a sign that she could see him standing there. He fired off a radar pulse and detected something out of the ordinary. With a few subtle hand motions, he began issuing directions to Ryan, who had only pretended to walk away before turning invisible and doubling back. They'd played similar games with people before on Revan's territory and Retronuke Earth.
She appeared again, and though Cole still couldn't see her eyes, her smile had gone from playful to sultry. "Mister MacGrath." She drew out his name. "We have the finest companions waiting for you." The conduit raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps something petite, smart, and Japanese would be your style?"
His hand motions froze instantly and a red tinge appeared on his face. Despite knowing it wasn't real, the sheer absurdity of being propositioned like that in public was enough to throw Cole off. That, and while not Japanese, his first thoughts went to Lucy Kuo, followed shortly by what Trish would say – and possibly do – to him if she saw this right now. Behind the electric man, Ryan couldn't keep from dropping his invisibility and howling with laughter.
"Oh damn, she got you good."
Flipping the Splicer King off, Cole turned back to the ad. "Silence is golden." He smirked before adding, "And now I can enjoy your company for free."
The hooded lady in black returned to the screen, and this time she stayed. "Oh good, for a moment there it felt like I was back in high school where all the boys act like I'm invisible."
Ironically, the thief was invisible before, just not on the ad. In person, she'd kept her tactical cloak up while standing high up among the rafters. Now that her potential employer had cut the crap, she could do the same. "Kasumi Goto," she said into her omni-tool, letting it echo from the ad down below. "I'm a fan."
"Me too," came a voice from behind. She spun around to see Alex Mercer grinning arrogantly at her. "Nice hood by the way."
Down below, Ad-Kasumi "glared" at Cole. "Spoilsports. I'm not coming down just because you found me." She cocked her head to the side. "The view's nice from up here."
Ryan threw up his arms in mock protest. "Hey, what am I?"
"Tall, dark, and not my type," was the thief's response. Everyone began busting Ryan's balls for that one. Even Miranda was concealing a small smile.
Alex cringed through the laughter. "Really? With me right here?"
Kasumi smirked. "Especially because you're right there Lex."
"Don't call me 'Lex'. Ever."
Cole laughed at Ryan and Alex's suffering, but he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Was she serious, or was she still just playing games as revenge for finding her and ruining her fun?
After trading a few more "friendly" gibes, Kasumi became relatively professional. "It probably slipped Mister Illusive's mind, but I need you for a job as much as you need me for yours."
She began explaining things. Kasumi said she still had a lot of details to narrow down, but she was far from vague. Cole suddenly remembered the last time he'd been recruited for a heist via hologram…
Flashback
Retronuke Earth
Sierra Madre Casino: The Vault
The madman's unmoving image laughed sadistically one last time. Father Elijah, former Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel Mojave Chapter, still thought he was calling all the shots. And why wouldn't he? Cole had been careful not to present himself as a threat. He'd relied entirely on knife spears so far to fight the Ghost People. His only real use of electricity had been to keep his bomb collar from going off. Now in true New Vegas fashion, it was time to show his hand.
It wasn't hard to convince that bastard to come down. He couldn't suffer even the slightest damage to his precious Old World tech when it was close enough to taste. In the words of the Sierra Madre that had stolen more from Elijah than vice versa, he just couldn't "let go and begin again."
And shortly after disconnecting, Elijah was standing right in front of Cole with a forcefield in the way and a detonator in his hand. "What could you possibly do, boy? Remember what I said? One wrong move, and I blow that collar! You have no choice but to meet my demands!"
Cole gripped the air near the edge of the collar before pulling his hand away, dragging the electricity out with it. The explosive leash came off and fell to the ground with a thud. "You were saying?"
"W-what?!"
The conduit shot forward, dashing through the forcefield, even draining power from it and shutting it down as he went. Grabbing the old man by the neck, Cole smashed Elijah against the wall behind him. Screw the money and the gold. He wanted answers.
"Who the hell is the other courier?!"
"What other courier?" the BoS traitor choked out.
Cole sent a shock into Elijah. "The man who told you about the Sierra Madre. The courier with the flag on his back! Christine told me about the two of you. What's his name? Where is he? Who is he?!"
Against all reason, Elijah began to laugh. "That fool? He compared the Brotherhood to the NCR and the Legion. Said it was no better! Hah! He'll die like all the rest when I wipe the slate clean."
"How about I just wipe you off the map?" Cole growled. Showing none of his usual remorse, the Demon of Empire City carried the old man back to the vault and hurled him inside. Already packing several gold bricks inside a makeshift sling bag he'd created in the Villa, there was nothing else of value except the Cloud itself. Cole was immune to its effects but the rest of the Wasteland wouldn't be as lucky. Frying the computer with a bolt of lightning, the impenetrable vault door snapped shut on Elijah, locking him inside his obsession for all eternity.
"Old Chinese curse," Cole muttered as he stepped into the elevator and went up. "May you find what you're looking for."
As his rage settled down, he knew that this applied to him as much as Elijah. Finding this enigmatic "other courier" that had refused to take the package was consuming him to the point of obsession. It was all he could think about most days: find the one responsible for the death of Unique Courier Six. Come hell or high water, Cole planned on getting some answers.
He was starting to sound like Alex more than Alex himself.
End flashback.
"We'll do it," Cole suddenly said, cutting Kasumi off midsentence.
"You'll what?"
"Steal your partner's graybox back. Hock sounds like scum, and I can tell this is important to you." He looked at the real Kasumi this time and said it again with more conviction. "We'll do it."
Kasumi bowed her head to hide her face even more. Such compliance from a total stranger was unheard of, especially when he knew what she was. "Wow, okay. Wasn't expecting that eager a response. See you on the ship then, I guess."
Blatantly ignoring that there were people and C-Sec everywhere, Cole ice launched up to her not-so-secret hiding spot. Landing two feet in front of the thief, he grinned. "Don't steal anything," he finally said before gesturing to Miranda. "We've already got one girl in a catsuit too many sticking her nose where it doesn't belong."
"Please," Kasumi shot back. "If I did steal something, you wouldn't be able to stop me." She swaggered past him before turning invisible. "You may not even realize it's gone until it's too late. I'm the best thief in the business after all, not the most famous.
Cole stuck out his hand in the direction he knew she'd gone after cloaking. "Give me my phone. Now."
Handing back the device, Kasumi called him a "spoilsport" again.
Eleanor appeared on her left in a flash of purple. "You lost a game of hide and seek to a man who can literally see electricity. No shame in that."
Similarly, Ryan shattered into existence behind his sister. "The real buzzkill comes next anyway." He shuddered more out of actual dread than overdramatic sarcasm. "We have to go talk to the Council now!"
"Do you plan on having a party up there, or will you be coming down soon?" Miranda shouted from the floor, where normal people would have conversations. "You're causing a scene."
Garrus sighed. "Agent Garrus Vakarian, C-Sec. What seems to be the trouble, ma'am?" The irony and perfect monotone of his delivery had everyone laughing again. Kasumi chuckled with them but inside only one thing was on her mind:
Donovan Hock wouldn't stand a chance.
Crappy ending, I know. I just have too much fun writing Kasumi to end it any other way. She acts so upbeat, but in reality she's hiding just as much pain as everyone else, if not more in some cases, after losing Keiji and being forced to leave him behind.
TO ANYONE WORRIED ABOUT THE CHIEF LEAVING, IT'LL BE OKAY! HE'LL COME BACK SOON ENOUGH, I PROMISE. If you need me to reassure all you Halo fans any louder, I can oblige. Just please don't kill me over my long term plan. It'll all work out, you'll see!
No bonus though. It was a long chapter, and I'm tired. Which means…
Read, Review, and Enjoy!