Chapter 13
Skave slid to the elevator door and pounded it out of rage. He let them get away again.
You idiot Skave, you let them get away!
No I didn't!
Oh yes you did you failure.
I am not a failure!
Shutting the voice off from inside his head, Skave grabbed his knife, stuck it between the doors and pried them open. Getting an inch of leeway, his fingers crawled through the crack to pull the heavy doors aside and got inside of the elevator shaft. Concrete walls shrouded by wires, steel I-beams, and cords stared back at him tauntingly.
Failure. Failure. Failure.
The tensioned cords wobbled slightly from the elevator traveling up the shaft with Heiko, Hilliard, and Nashira. They were safely tucked away in the metal box. Quickly, Skave took aim and slowly squeezed the trigger.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
His gun shots echoed in the hard shaft. He put round after round into the bottom of the elevator and he could hear the mass accelerated slugs eating through the steel floor. The box shuddered to a stop hundreds of feet above his head and his mandibles flared with excitement. His arms snaked out of the shaft to slap the up arrow with his hand. He wasn't going to give up on them this easily; they were not going to get away yet. The exact location to where they were heading was imprinted in his brain and hopefully he could kill two birds with one stone. The way Toby screamed at him when Skave almost had him was amusing…no, it was hysterical. He sounded like a child waking up from a nightmare. Just a measly, little boy who was drenched in a cold sweat; it was pathetic.
Skave patiently waited for the elevator to come to a halt and let the steel doors open. The sight that was revealed before his eyes was glorious. Red blood was spattered in the elevator's mirrored walls. Fine crimson spherules of gore painted the reflective surfaces and a smeared hand print scored the floor. It had only three fingers. Skave grinned knowing he took out the last loved one in Toby's life. Now, he had to finish this.
Executor Kieran sat in his office on the top floor of C-Sec academy, overlooking the beautiful vista of the Citadel. His panoramic window yielded an utterly gorgeous view of the five Ward arms stretching into space like they just woke up from a restful nap. The dark blue carpet of his commodious office muffled the footsteps that approached from behind. With his legs beginning to tremble from standing, Kieran sat down in his lustrous upholstered leather chair, swiveling it to face his asari secretary who was assigned to the academy to keep him in touch with everyone here and to serve him whenever he visited C-Sec. Kieran's eyes drew a line from her feet, which wore blue formal high heels, to her face, which was accented perfectly by the tight knee high business dress. She coughed into her fist clearing her throat.
"Sir, we have had a security breach."
"Hasona," he asked, noticing the nervous lines that creased her forehead.
"It's Heiko and friends," she shot back.
"Friends?"
Kieran's face was kept stoic, hiding his mixed emotions.
"Yes. There is also a turian chasing them. Do you know anything about that," Hasona asked, raising a black tattooed eyebrow. Kieran ignored the question and fell back to plan C.
"Try to contain him to the confines outside my office. If they abide to our armed officers requests, I want them dead."
"What of the turian, Executor?"
"Kill him too if he obstructs any opportunities of my second request. He is…volatile."
"Yes sir. If you could stay inside your office while we deal with these problems."
"Not a problem," Kieran whispered, spinning in his chair to watch over the city…his city.
Toby stared at the holographic screen above the elevator doors letting them know where they were going.
VIP Sector.
Spending all these years in C-Sec, both Brian and Toby knew where they were heading. Pira must have totally hacked the elevator clearance to allow them up here to finish their intimate business and get Gia back from the monster leading C-Sec. Twenty-four hours ago, Toby shook hands with the Executor, the one who took Gia and, or killed her. The pistol in his hands was ready to take the life of this foul leader, cutting the head off the corrupt serpent called C-Sec. The revenge was immense and still slithering under his skin; he could feel its barbed edges scratching and burning his sore, tender flesh.
"Do you think they have Gia up here," Nashira asked with her voice cold as ice.
"They will, I can feel it," Toby responded, turning to look at his wife who clasped a pistol tightly in her hands. She was prepared to get Gia back no matter the cost. Both of them were blind with revenge, yearning to kill the person who took the only thing worth living for in their lives. White hot pain arced up Toby's leg which exploded from his foot. Screaming out from pain, he stumbled against the wall and in shock, looked at his foot which had bloody tufts of cushioning protruding from his shoe. Another bullet blew a fist size hole into the floor, spitting hot shrapnel from the glowing hot mouth.
"He is shooting at us from down below," Nashira shouted getting against the wall, making herself a smaller target as yet another slug penetrated the ground and missed everyone else. "Toby!" Nashira's eye went wide staring at Toby's foot which was dribbling blood all over the floor. "Let me patch that up!" dropping to her feet, Nashira grabbed Toby's foot as the elevator shuddered to a stop. The pain only got worse looking at the wound, so he tore his terrified gaze from it and picked Nashira up from the ground, standing her up as she used the wall to get off her knees.
"We need to get out of here now," Toby shouted at the two as the doors opened to the top floor of C-Sec. Ignoring the pain, he grabbed Nashira while standing on the ball of his foot and pulled her close. "Nash honey, we have to get Gia. Don't worry about me." Her silvery eyes narrowed and she nodded. The three of them exited the elevator into a short hallway leading to an open two story room with large glass windows.
From a distance, they heard shouting, "Damn it, they got up here!"
Toby knew that if the Executor was here, there were going to be armed guards, possibly with armor that had kinetic barriers. He didn't know the layout of this upper floor except for it held several offices, the Executor's being one of them, and the others were meeting places for diplomats and Council members. With a bullet that took off some of his toes, a broken collar bone, sliced open back, and a crushed arm, fighting wasn't going to be easy, but Brian had a Spectre carbine and Nashira was perfectly okay. Putting his wife in harm's way was against his most important rule, but it had to be done, especially since the officers were going to be shooting to kill.
"We don't want to kill you," Brian shouted, shouldering the carbine while approaching the end of the hallway. "We are innocent you idiots!" The guards hiding in the room beyond went silent at Brian's poor attempt at peace.
"Looks like we are going to be forced to fight," Brian whispered. Again, Toby looked down at his foot, suddenly feeling his shattered bones grind against each other. The pain was there, but with the help of adrenaline and N7 training, he was able to block it out. He took the bag off of his shoulders, still clenching the pistol tightly in his slick fist, which was chewed raw from his hysterical attempt of getting free. A sound behind him startled all three of them as the elevator hissed downwards towards the Hunter. Suddenly, Toby noticed the elevator behind them was the private elevator and there was a much bigger one coming up across the room from them, most likely filled with armed C-Sec guards prepared to take Toby's life. They had to make a move now or they all were going to die. Toby knew the guards don't wear their armor all the time, so at some point, they have to get in their suit and get in fast. Maybe they didn't have on their suits yet, he did notice a bit of shock in their voice. Was it coming from their current state of not having armor on? Toby went through all the possibilities in his head formulating a plan of attack. If they were to fire on them, that means the three of them were going to have to kill the guards. They were already in way over their heads with important leaders manipulating everyone else through skilled deception, skewing fact from fiction. Killing them was going to be the only way to break through and get Gia back.
Toby stared at Nashira, whose back was against the wall, holding the pistol with confidence, but lacking the fluidity of a trained soldier like Brian and himself. There was no way she was going to get hurt, no way at all. He was going to protect her at all costs no matter the outcome. Her two toes were spread out on the marble floor, obviously uneasy about their chances with the fight to come. Or was she nervous about Toby…or Gia. It was all of those impeding factors, she was no soldier. Never in her life should she have to touch a firearm with the intent to take a person's life. This whole thing was wrong. This should have never happened to them. Rage enveloped his sorrow like a storm, realizing the man behind this morbid situation was behind one of those doors. He needed to kill him.
"Brian, I know there are no more than two guards up here at time, which is a fact. If we wait any longer, the Hunter in going to come up our ass and take all of us out along with whoever is coming up in that elevator. Right now, we get past the guards by killing them or wounding them, grab Gia, wait for the Hunter to open the elevator doors, we waste him, and we escape." The plan was the best thing Toby could think of at the moment. It was sloppy, but had a slim chance of working. Nashira's gleaming eyes glared at the two from behind the polarized mask uncertain about the outcome, but no matter what, she was with them all the way.
Heiko had a bad feeling about this one…like he wasn't going to make it. Never before has he felt a sensation like this. There was a pulsing void of anticipation that overwhelmed his chest and clasping onto each breath making each air molecule thousands of time heavier. He was going to keep Nashira alive. Staring at her for a split second, he just wanted to pull off her mask, stare into those eyes, brush his thumb against her suave cheek and absorb the infinite beauty that lay hidden behind the acrylic shield which eyes couldn't penetrate. Only several times in his life has he seen her face, it was almost too pure for him to look at, like he was tainting it with his eyes when he caressed her placid features. He loved her so much, more than anything at that very moment; he could feel the euphoric sensation tighten in his stomach and spread its warmth like sipping hot chocolate on a cold winter night. Toby wanted this over with.
"Brian, peek out and lay down a field of fire." Toby pointed at the two-foot-thick pillars bulging out of the circular wall. "I can use these bulges as cover if needed. All you need to do it suppress these bastards." Brian nodded while peeking out of cover momentarily before automatic fire rippled through the room which lashed at Toby's eardrums.
"I got two turians around the corner in the armory," Brian screamed barley holding onto the carbine with his broken hand. "On the count of three, I will cover you Toby! One…two…three!" Brian peeked from cover, squeezing the trigger of the carbine providing an accurate field of fire onto the small room's two corners, trying to shoot through the walls to peg his targets. Toby ran behind him while getting to the first pillar.
Brian kept up the fire, not letting the guards peek back out. Out of nowhere, Nashira ran in a low sprint to Toby and got behind her husband. Seeing her run out into the open with guards willing to take her life two dozen feet away infuriated him. Pointing his pistol around the corner, he unleashed fire into the room, tagging a turian in the face that never got completely dressed in armor. The slug popped the side of his exposed head open like a bursting balloon choked with blue fluid and grey curdles. His rage at the moment felt beastly, inhuman...demonic; there was no sympathy for that dead person; he was just a dead piece of meat. Toby wanted more, yes, more blood. More violence, more taking of lives, more shattered skulls, more people to be indoctrinated by the sludgy fear he wanted to induce. Screaming like a wounded animal on the edge of death, Toby exited his cover shooting wildly at the armory, not caring for his own safety and physical form. If he were to get shot, it wouldn't slow him down; nothing was going to slow him down at all. Something that has been lying dormant in a dark turbid pit has climbed its way out and is now controlling his every action. This once slumbering brute wanted blood and life to gnaw on to satisfy its hunger.
The last turian dropped from around cover, quivering from wounds that riddled his totaled body that was no longer a threat. Toby's lethal sixth sense caused him to turn around and beam at two doors. He could smell the one that ruined his life, cowering behind that door. He could hear his shivering body quake and feel his fear coursing though Toby's veins like they were one being.
Shouting, I hear shouting behind me.
A three fingered hand grabbed Toby's steely arm which pulled him towards the two doors. Suddenly, the pressure in the room got intense like something with infinite power entered.
The Hunter.
Nashira screamed with her voice cracking with fear as Toby turned around, noticing a dozen of armed and armored C-Sec personnel surge into the room with rifles drawn. Off in the corner of the room was the Hunter looming over Brian's mortal form, enveloping his dearest friend in its soul consuming blanket. Spinning his head focusing on Nashira, he knew Brian was going to die by the Hunter who was planning to annihilate his body, disemboweling him with its claws, shredding through nerves, strands of bloody fat and muscle in search for his soul. Toby turned away, not wanting to watch his best friend die in a gory way. A scream lashed out from the room, a man's scream which was drowning in complete and utter agony. Brian, his friend whom he considered family was dead. Rods of red swam into view like a paintbrush's streak, each wiry strand filtering all other emotion into pure rage and hatred as Toby kicked open the door of the Executor's office. A panoramic window acting as a wall spilled the yellow lights of the city into the lavish office space. A silhouette of a decrepit man sat in a chair behind a desk with legs crossed and hands folded neatly in his lap.
"Nash, lock the door!"
Nashira followed his order before the evil in the room behind them could slosh inside of the Executor's office. Toby's sluggish dream like state wore off. He leveled the pistol to the Executor's face. The red streaks atomized into a crimson haze of unadulterated hate which pushed his mental stability to the brink. He had to physically fight his finger from pulling on the trigger harder which would cause them to get no answers.
"Heiko, I have been expecting you," Kieran addressed Toby calmly. His introduction confused Toby slightly. He wanted to blow him away even more for this smug greeting. The turian should be on his knees pleading to live but no, he wasn't.
"I have come for Gia. I know you have her!"
The turian flared his mandibles confused.
"But Toby, I thought you…I thought you would know," he coolly said back, keeping his voice high whom seemed confused at Toby's request.
"Stop playing games with us and hand her over you bosh'tet," Nashira screamed, now aiming her pistol at his face. She walked close, leaned over the desk, and pressed the barrel against his forehead.
"Ah, I think I understand what has happened. Nashira, I am shocked you are still with him. Toby, I take it you hid the evidence," Kieran asked, finding the whole situation amusing. "For such a smart human, you don't know how to put the puzzle pieces together."
"We don't want to hear what you have to say, hand my daughter over," Nashira screamed again as Toby walked up behind Kieran searching for Gia.
"Toby, if you would have just died yesterday then none of this would have happened," Kieran spat out. Toby's face became hot, baffled at what he just said. "You are just too stubborn." Toby kicked Kieran's desk.
"Shut up! What are you talking about?"
The turian rubbed his hands together.
"In that attack on the Embassy yesterday, you should have died."
"Yeah, but I was better than those batarians." Toby grabbed the meek turian by the collar and dragged him to his feet. "You underestimated me."
"To tell you the truth I haven't."
Toby peered deep into the icy blue eyes of the Executor.
"What are you getting at," Toby questioned fiercely, fighting the urge to kill him right then.
"Vikar's plan failed the other day and he got his punishment."
"What are you talking about," Toby questioned not tearing his gaze from Kieran.
Kieran laughed, "Those batarians were hired by me to kill you, to extinguish the human threat to C-Sec."
"You are lying. Anyone of the CSSR teams could have gone in that building the other day, there was no way to know. Your 'plan' doesn't make any sense, it is too reckless."
"Did you smell alcohol on Skave's breath Heiko, did you," Kieran giggled. Toby's brow furrowed confused at what he was saying. "Did he offer to go in first? Tell me, did he?"
"Yes he did."
"I told Vikar to get drunk because I knew your superiors would notice. It was the perfect cover up, right? That gave you the chance to move in and die but you didn't. I gave those batarians strict orders to eliminate you, but I underestimated your strength. I know you had a hunch because one of those batarians said your name."
Toby didn't want to believe it, not at all and he could feel Nashira's gaze burning a worried hole into Toby's face.
"But in the debriefing the batarian didn't say anything," Toby shot back.
"I had Vikar edit that bit out. Everyone was against you in the trailer Toby." Kieran continued. "So I had Vikar finish you at your house, but I underestimated the drugs."
Toby had enough of this. "Where is our Gia?"
Kieran chuckled. "She is dead Toby and I am shocked you didn't know that."
"You…you killed her?" Toby's knees were growing weak and his rage thickened into volatile fumes. He still didn't totally believe him.
"You killed all six of my men I sent to your house Toby, I don't appreciate that."
"No!" Toby interrupted, "There were more than that, and one of your men took Gia away from us. One of your men hurt her and pulled off her mask. I know you have her!"
"Pulled off her mask," Kieran asked.
"Yes!" Toby grabbed his backpack and rifled through his belongings searching for Gia's mask. Nashira began whimpering off his left. The astonishing thing was the mask wasn't in his bag. Baffled, he ran a hand through his hair, wincing at his collar bone which screamed out in pain.
"Toby…you killed Gia," Kieran announced. "We have been drugging you Toby."
"Impossible!"
"It is very possible Toby. Do you remember the night your fiancée was murdered? The bar you were at, can you remember any familiar faces?" The nightmare was still fresh in his mind.
The bar. The asari bartender. Familiar face.
"You better stay hydrated."
Familiar faces.
Oh God!
Fomina said the same thing to me yesterday.
No, it couldn't be.
Fomina was that bartender? Was she drugging me?
At the Interstellar Shot Glass, she handed me my water, that is when she must have administered the drugs.
"Fomina," Toby burped flatly.
"There you go Toby. Remember back when Rena was murdered. Were you scared?"
"Yes I was."
"That drug reacts with the chemicals in your brain when you get scared. It is a hallucinogenic drug. Do you wonder why there was no evidence at the sight of your fiancée's murder? The claims you made of turians attacking you was your imagination, you killed Rena. You never beat that one turian to death, you know, the one that broke your hand?"
Everything Kieran was saying felt surreal and unbelievable yet it made so much sense. A cowl of nausea overwhelmed him and felt like vomiting everything that was left in his stomach. "Now tell me this, were you scared when you came back and killed everyone at your apartment?"
"Yes I was."
"Was there a point when you felt like you forgot what happened or were in a haze of rage you couldn't comprehend anything?" Toby remembers taking out the guard that was waiting for him to come off the elevator, and then wasting the three turians in the living room. Overwhelmed by rage, he lost track of the world around him. "That is when you must have killed Gia."
There was a lengthy silence.
"Toby, if you don't believe me, here is a photo of her body we recovered." Kieran handed Toby a thin piece of plastic that held a digital image of Gia's body lying on a metallic tray. Toby crashed to his knees with is world spinning. He stared at his daughter's dead body which was naked and splayed out on a medical tray with a small black hole torn in her chest. Gia's eyes were closed with a contorted appearance on her face like she died in pain from her own father's hand.
Oh God!
Oh God!
Oh God!
Toby wheezed and his stomach lurching, purging strands of thick spittle, stomach acids, and yellow water. This wasn't happening, it couldn't have happened; he remembers everything and he didn't kill her…at least he thinks he didn't. Toby knew first hand hallucinogenic drugs were a thing of wonder with his work in C-Sec. This whole plot was true, it had to be. Toby's glassed over eyes scanned the image once more. It was defiantly her with a bullet wound to the chest. Gia, his daughter, was murdered by her father. He was too terrified to move an inch, not even move his eyes. The drugs explained why the Hunter appeared the way it did with its oppressive aura. He was scared each time he saw it which must have activated the hallucinogenic drugs. Even the flashback he had at dinner, then the one he had while holding Gia made sense. Everything fit snuggly together in Kieran's extravagant plan to take down Toby. He could hear Nashira having a break down, sobbing like Toby has never heard her. They were deep, chest sucking sobs which rippled the air she sucked in.
"Toby, your friend Brian has been operating with me the whole time too, feeding us valuable information."
"Why," Toby whispered, not able to raise his voice above a subtle hiss.
"Why? Well humans don't deserve a place in the ranks of the Spectres. That is why Toby, nor do you deserve to serve along side of the Citadel Security Special Response. It is purely a trust issue," he smoothly said enjoying his voice.
"So…I was a Spectre candidate? That is why you ruined my life?"
Each time the Executor spoke, it was like getting punched in the chest then baptized in boiling water; it was more painful than all his wounds. Brian, his friend, who was now dead, was helping the enemy. What else did Toby overlook? Can he take anymore? He opened his eyes to reach out for Nashira who also crumpled to the ground. Suddenly, the most painful thing that has ever happened to him suddenly ripped through his body.
Nashira pushed him away.
"No Toby," she whispered through her wet mouth. "No." Each word that came from her mouth was more painful than a gunshot. It tore at every nerve in his broken body, blinding him with sorrow. Black enveloped his vision, feeling his mind lose grip in reality. The one thing he swore to protect, he singlehandedly tore apart in the blink of an eye. He ruined his life and the life of the ones he loved. The pistol in his hand still wanted to kill the one he hated, God he needed to kill the one who did this to him. Toby opened his eyes slowly, which were crusted in his tears and glanced at Nashira who couldn't make eye contact with him; it would have been too painful for her to stare at the one who murdered her daughter. Toby had to kill the one. Bringing his arm up, the icy cold barrel of the pistol kissed the side of his head.
Kill the one who did this.
Toby Heiko's finger pressed against the trigger needing to end his life. There was a white flash and black.