Shepard brought up the mental diagram he had made before being locked up in here. He had to make some adjustments of course. Firstly, the line connecting the Informant to his previously unknown employers now ended with the two batarians, Balak and General Zakman. Also, another line branching off from the Informant once again ended with Damien Crenshaw. That Damien was working with Zakman and Balak stung Shepard more than he liked. He could stomach the idea of Tyrone and Rico easier. Tyrone was always cowardly and easily swayed by those who could offer him a better deal, and Rico was greedy enough to sell his allegiance. Marcus, despite everything, was loyal to the very end, the bitter end.
Damien was, different, than those three. He wasn't anywhere near as friendly as Marcus, or at least he never really attempted to make that connection. He was ice cold, always. Shepard wasn't sure if he ever remembered Damien smiling, or being angry. He either never felt it or was very good at hiding it. The only times he really had anything other than a strict, monotone demeanor was when he utilized his biting sarcasm and condescending, subtly confrontational wit. That being said, he wasn't ever quite the scum bag that Tyrone and Rico were. A career criminal most definitely, but he wasn't so blindly ambitious that he made the stupid mistakes others did. Shepard wasn't sure what Damien's motives were. He didn't care about anything, wasn't affected by anything. All he did was focus on the task at hand and do it efficiently and effectively. It is what made him such a good second in command.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"I know you're in there. It's Damien."
Speak of the devil.
Shepard stood next to the steel door separating him and Damien, their words passing through it. Shepard wondered if the door was too thick for him to break down.
"You son of a bitch, you better pray I don't get out of here." Shepard said angrily.
"You know I'm not the praying type John. And if I was, I wouldn't pray that you would be stuck in here. I need you to complete the set."
"Complete the set? Those are people you're talking about, not playthings!"
"They are just valuables to be delivered. And you are one of the last ones we need."
"One of the last ones?"
"You've got quite a resourceful gang now John. That drell was particularly troublesome. And that women, the cute one with the accent, she handled herself well in your absence."
"You'll regret letting them escape. They'll help me and then all of us will get Hackett and the others back from your batarian handlers and that man always in his armor."
"The four of them escaping was a minor setback, but it'll set itself right soon enough. I don't even need to do anything I'm counting on the competence of your shipmates." Damien said with the closest thing to amusement that Shepard had ever seen in him.
Shepard thought about his words for a moment, and dread overtook him instantly.
"You had me sent her deliberately! You are going to use me as bait for the others and then take us all back to General Zakman for execution."
"Well, you and Admiral Hackett are the only ones that are definitely slated for execution. Understandable I suppose. The others though, I don't know about them. They may just kill the turian and the Cerberus woman outright, they are too much trouble. The geth may be valuable; the pilot is just dead wait, so he'll be fed to the varren probably. I wager all the others will fetch a good price on the slave market."
That Damien spoke about this so casually angered Shepard to no end. He found himself pushing his fist against the metal door that he started pushing himself back. He wanted to break this door down, to get on the other side and shut Damien up. He wanted out, he wanted to see light other than the faint glow from his abnormal scars, he wanted to get his crew back, and he wanted this all to end!
"You know how those batarians are."
Shepard heard it. The change in the tone, however slight, the way Damien said it. Even though they were on opposite sides of a great metal door, Shepard was sure Damien had stood and faced it directly, like he was accusing him of something. Shepard was shocked by himself; he felt his anger change into guilt. The two of them didn't exchange words for a few moments, but Shepard could almost feel him on the other side.
Why did he feel like he owed Damien an explanation? Why the hell would he try to do it now of all times? Was it because he had let Damien, and all the others, go on for so long without one?
"Why are you doing this Damien?" Shepard asked in an almost defeated tone.
"Why did you do what you did on Mindoir all those years ago?" Damien replied.
"Because what we were doing there was wrong, and you know it."
"Please, you presume too much John. You think I don't care about anything, don't feel anything. Don't deny it; I know that's how all of you felt. But I can be angry, and hurt, as much as anyone else. And what you did hurt me and the others more than your sugar coated view of us and your old life will allow you to understand."
"I couldn't continue living like that. If I had thought that you or the others would or could change…."
"No one changes John. They just forget things on purpose. The problem with your situation is that you have people who remember things for you."
The sound of machinery moving inside the metal door was heard for a second before the sound of the lock lifting followed. The door was unlocked.
"And there are people who take things more personally than I do."
Shepard charged through the door, making it slam loudly against the wall. Damien was nowhere to be seen. Shepard inspected his immediate area for traps or ambushes, nothing. He walked down the long hall, hearing the almost animalistic and mad sounds of the other inmates. He entered a wider area, it looked like a place where the guards would sit and have a few drinks over a game of cards. A few metal tables and some empty bottles, several chairs, even a fridge and other appliances. It was empty, and dark. The lights weren't on. That is until a dim red light came on, flashing quickly. An alarm resonated through the halls and then through the speakers in the room. With his sight occupied by the flashing red light and his hearing filled with the blurting of the alarm, it was Shepard's keen feeling that alerted him to the thudding in the ground. It was shear luck that he turned and managed to duck beneath the large blunt object being swung at his head. The blunt object was swung again, and again, and once more before Shepard punched at the center of the attacker. If the attacker felt any pain, it didn't show. If anything, the punch hurt Shepard's fist more than the attacker. Shepard than realized that the big blunt weapon was actually a fist. Through the flashes of red, Shepard made out the long, black tribal tattoos running along the length of the exposed torso, arms, covered legs, and up into the head that was nearly eight feet off the ground.
"Surprise, surprise John." Sean said.
"What the hell are you doing here Sean?"
"At this moment, I need to prepare you for delivery."
"So you are working with Damien and Zakman as well, I should have known."
"Only as of a short time ago. Really the only thing that kept me from ringing Damien's neck was the news that you were here!"
"Just walk away Sean, you don't need to involve yourself in this. This is between me and the Zakman."
"No John it isn't. I have a score to settle with you as much as that batarian. You see those lights? You hear those alarms? That means it has started. I've got twenty minutes to have you prepared for departure, along with your girlfriend and company."
Miranda!
"Step aside Sean, this is your last chance!"
"Yeah, it is. My last chance to let off seven years of steam. Let's rock!"
General Zakman sat at his desk quietly. He tapped his finger lightly against a half drunk glass of batarian ale, occupying himself. He had been expecting a report from Balak quite some time ago, and he was growing impatient.
The door to his office opened and one of his soldiers walked in immediately, practically squeezing through the opening as it widened. He looked really worried, making his attempts at looking professional more pathetic.
"Sir, I have, um, news of Balak, and the human Informant."
"And what news is that?"
"The Informant forwarded a message to us sir. He says that he has found Balak, dead, killed by the members of Shepard's crew who are still at large."
Zakman remained completely motionless, even his breathing was regulated. On the inside, he was seething.
"Is that all?"
"No sir. The Informant has asked that we provide him with enough men and ships to commence with his plan. He says that Shepard's remaining crew will be attempting to free him from prison, and that his human friend Damien will go through with their capture."
"So he wants us to make him able to stage a breakout, only to capture Shepard and his people for us. How ironic. Send three drop ships of soldiers down there. I want Shepard and the Informant on this ship soon."
"We are approaching the prison landing pad. Please wake all sleeping children!" Joker said from the pilot's seat.
"There are no children on this vessel." Legion stated from behind him.
"It's just an expression Legion." Garrus said from the seat beside Joker, drowsy because he had actually dozed off a bit.
Miranda sat in the back, next to Private Jerrod Kilik. Miranda fidgeted with anticipation.
"You should calm down a bit, you look like whom may be someone attempting to break the law in a prison." Kilik half joked to her.
Miranda smiled to herself slightly, but her leg would not stop moving.
"I guess I'm just a little, nervous."
"If you don't mind me saying, you don't seem like the kind of girl to get worked up so easily."
Miranda knew he was right. She never fidgeted on Cerberus missions, never doubted her abilities or her preparedness. The only time she felt like this was when she had to fight through Eclipse mercs and Captain Enayla to protect Oriana, and during the suicide mission when she witnessed Shepard slide down the platform to catch a falling Garrus, unsure of it he was coming back. Now here she was coming to try and break Shepard out of prison, needing to rely on someone she just met.
"It's Shepard, isn't it?" Kilik asked unexpected concern.
Am I that obvious?
"I'm just worried that something will go wrong."
"He's important to you. I know that feeling."
Miranda looked over to him expectantly.
"He may as well have been my older brother, because of the bond we shared. He helped me through the darkest parts of my life. We watched each other's backs, we were happy. Or so I thought."
"What happened to him?"
"I still ask myself that same question. I thought I knew him, actually, maybe I still do. Perhaps he just forgot who he was, and turned his back on everything we had, everything he was."
"Who was he?" Miranda asked, surprisingly interested.
"We're here, everybody off." Joker said from the front.
Everyone began filing out, including Kilik.
"Like I said, he may as well have been my brother."
Miranda decided to drop it, she didn't expect to get anything else out of him.
"So should I just wait here, or are you guys planning of blowing up this…. Oh shit!" Joker swore as he looked into the sky.
Legion, Miranda, Garrus, and Kilik followed his gaze to see three heavily armed dropships, identical to the one present at the attack on the outpost, start landing at different landing pads placed around the prison. Soldiers armed to the teeth filed off and entered the prison. A loud alarm started to beep, echoing into the air.
"They're here for Shepard, we need to move!" Miranda said.
They all, minus Joker, ran into the prison, where gunshots where already being heard.
Shepard ducked beneath Sean's arm, being forced back once again. Sean was forcing into a corner, and because of his incredible reach and bulk, Shepard couldn't maneuver around him.
"You've gotten slower John!" Sean said, leaning back for another punch.
Shepard decided that the only way out, was up and over. Sean's fist came flying towards him. At the last second, Shepard moved a little to the side and the massive tattooed hand crashed into the locker behind him, denting it. Shepard took the opportunity to grab Sean's lowered head, pull it forth, and use the momentum to haul himself upwards and over his shoulders. The pull made Sean slam his head into the same locker, and Shepard shoved him from behind to make the impact worse. Sean roared and spun around, nearly back fisting Shepard who had just barely ducked beneath it. Shepard followed up with three quick strikes to the gut. Sean merely grunted in irritation at this, tried to give Shepard to old one two. The first strike Shepard actually blocked, but the force from it opened him up for the second one. Sean punched him straight in the chest, shoving him back.
Winded, Shepard wasn't able to avoid or block Sean's next attack, a kick from his long leg. The kick pushed Shepard off of his feet and made him crash onto one of the metal tables, scattering the assorted cups and plates. Before he could get up, Sean grabbed him by his throat and pinned him down.
"Do you really think you can beat me in a bare knuckle fight John?" Sean asked.
Shepard tried to push against him, but Sean was leaning into him, holding him firmly in place. Sean smiled widely, his teeth being a stark contrast to the black tribal tattoos on his face.
"Believe me, I want to kill you. I want to make you suffer for seven years of betrayal, of being stuck in this shit hole! But if I want to get out of here, I need you relatively intact."
Shepard reached around until he found a bottle that hadn't fallen off the table. He took it and broke it against Sean's head, scattering glass everywhere. Sean's head didn't move at all, but his grin disappeared, replaced by a scowl littered with sharp broken glass. Shepard felt Sean's other hand grab his leg, and Shepard was then thrown across the room, crashing and rolling on the ground. Pain shot through his whole body, his right shoulder mostly because he had landed on it. Then he felt the stomping in the ground again. Sean stomped over towards him and raised his foot, attempting to stomp on his stomach. Shepard rolled out of the way and swept his foot beneath Sean's, tripping the giant up. Still on the ground, Shepard took advantage of Sean's current imbalance and grabbed his arm when he bent over, and pulled him down. When he was low enough, Shepard placed both his legs against Sean's abdomen. Using all the strength he had in his legs, pushed upward, sending Sean toppling over and crashing to the ground. The resulting thud made a teetering cup fall to the ground.
Not wasting time, Shepard mounted on top of Sean and began beating his face in. Two punches, Sean winced, four punches, there was blood, six punches, and he broke his nose. Sean delivered a strong punch into Shepard's side, and used the brief pause to throw him off. Shepard took a few steps back and regained his composure. Sean got to his knees and looked at Shepard angrily. He grabbed his broken nose and snapped it back into place on the spot.
"You've gotten soft Sean." Shepard taunted.
"I'll show you soft!"
Sean did what could best be described as a human version of a krogan battle charge. The only difference was that instead of merely plowing into Shepard, Sean grabbed him and lifted him into the air, still charging. Shepard was carried ten feet and then slammed into the wall, with Sean's weight and momentum crushing him. Intense pain shot up Shepard's back and spine, and then Sean leaned back and slammed him into the wall again.
"Who's soft now John?"
Shepard promptly head butted Sean, hurting them both. Sean grabbed Shepard by his throat again and held him with one hand. Shepard could only watch as he brought his other fist back, and then punched him straight in the face. Shepard flew out of Sean's hand, felt his cheekbone cracking, and it was all he could do to stay conscious.
"Do yourself a favor and don't get back up. I must say, I'm a little disappointed with you John. What with everything Damien has told me you've been up to all years, I expected a little more."
Against the biting pain, Shepard pushed himself back onto his feet. His eye had already started to swell shut. His head had cleared of everything else, even the pain was somewhat forgotten. Only one thing remained in his head; defeat my enemy.
"Is that all you've got?" Shepard asked.
Shepard put a little fuck you in his words. Sean picked up on it immediately. Shepard recognized it, how his nostrils flared, his eyes widened. If this were a cartoon, smoke would have whistled out of his ears. Sean came running at him again, and this time, Shepard charged him as well. They both ran at each other full speed; a bear against a teddy bear would have been a fair comparison. Sean raised his fist, ready to drop the hammer. Shepard veered lower to the left. Sean did the same, swinging his arm low to catch Shepard. It was only a ruse. Shepard jumped at wrapped his legs around Sean's head. The missed punch and sudden weight on his head cause Sean to fall to his knees. Shepard grabbed one of Sean's arms and held it up with both of his hands. Shepard started squeeze and hard as he could. He could feel Sean's thick neck between his legs. Sean tried to pull Shepard's legs loose, but even he wasn't that strong. Sean tried to get back to his feet, and Shepard used his whole body to pull him back down onto his knees.
Shepard squeezed even more while still straining to hold one of Sean's arms in place. If he got both his hands free, he would be able to pry Shepard off of him. If he got back to his feet, he would be able to slam Shepard into the ground or wall. Sean finally decided to stop trying to pull Shepard off and instead started punching him. Sean punched him in the gut, the arms, and finally the head. Shepard powered through it. The adrenaline, the rush, gave him strength beyond normal capacity.
"Get….off…." Sean said through a choking rage.
Shepard felt Sean getting weaker. The punches were softer, and it was easier to hold his arm. Shepard used his legs to turn Sean over onto his back, with Shepard now constricting him from the top. Desperate attempts to get air escaped from Sean's mouth as gurgles and choking noises. He had stopped hitting Shepard, stopped moving. Shepard realized that he had held his breath, and had his eyes closed.
Just a little more.
Just a little more, and Sean would die from suffocation or a broken neck. Then Shepard's eyes snapped open, and he released his hold and Sean. Shepard exhaled finally, and stood up. His legs were a little numb. As he tried to step away, something grabbed his ankle. Sean moaned slightly from the ground. Shepard kicked him across the face, and he let go. The lights still flashed, and the sound of the alarms still went. Another sound joined it, the sound of metal doors opening.
Warning, all security doors have been opened. Please make sure prisoner supervision is adequate.
Time to go. Shepard thought.
"That should keep everyone occupied." Damien said aloud.
He had just opened all the security, plunging to prison into utter chaos. Prisoners now joined the fray with the guards and Zakman's soldiers. He grabbed his helmet from the pile of guards clothing he had been wearing. Stepping out of the control room, over the warden's body, he proceeded with the next part of the plan.
Sean should have incapacitated Shepard by now. Hopefully he isn't too damaged.
He made his way to the lift and watched the fighting through the windows as he waited. He was always curious as to why escaping prisoners already managed to get their hands on something flammable. He heard the lift arrive and turned to get in. Shepard's fist greeted him, knocking him down.
"Hello to you to John." Damien said beneath his helmet.
"Where you expecting someone else!" Shepard yelled.
Shepard moved to curb stomp Damien, but Damien caught his foot and swept Shepard. Damien was on top of him with one of his tempests aimed at his head.
"Actually, yes. I can honestly say I didn't expect you coming up this lift. Were you hard on Sean?"
"Not as hard as I'm going to be on you."
Damien felt something press against his stomach. He looked down and saw a shuriken machine pistol.
"Get up." Shepard ordered.
Damien did as he was told, still aiming his gun at Shepard. Shepard got up, his weapon trained on Damien.
"Is this all your doing?" Shepard asked.
"Capturing the majority of your squad, yes. Sending Sean after you, yes. Releasing all these prisoners, yes. The batarians on the other hand, no that wasn't my plan."
"Three outta four is enough. I should put a bullet in your head right now."
"Can I get in on that?" Garrus said, coming up behind Damien.
Damien turned to see Garrus aiming his mattock at him.
"Don't even think of reaching for that other tempest." Garrus said.
"How did you find me Garrus?" Shepard asked.
"We had some help. Miranda, Legion, Joker and I escaped the attack this guy spearheaded. I recognize your armor."
"Yes, I was hoping I would see you again. Not like this though." Damien said, lowering his tempest from Shepard.
"Where are the others Garrus?
"Miranda and Legion are down in the lobby. I spotted this guy and followed him here. Joker is waiting at the landing pad with our way out. Let's go."
"Alright. You start walking, you're coming with us."
"Goody." Damien said sarcastically.
The three of them walked away, and they didn't notice the lift going back down to pick up a passenger who had signaled it, in solitary confinement.
Miranda, Legion, and Kilik fired at the prisoners who were trying to rush them. They carried looted weapons, but weren't great shots. They made up for this in tenacity.
"Hold them back! We can't let anyone onto this landing pad until Garrus gets back!" Miranda shouted.
"We estimate that a total 4591 prisoners can occupy this prison. Our supply of thermal clips is inadequate to counter this."
"We can do without the math Legion." Kilik said.
They had been fighting the prisoners for about eight minutes now. They kept trying to come out here to escape from the war zone in the center of the prison.
"Any word from Garrus yet Miranda?" Kilik asked.
"No, nothing…."
"Miranda, this is Garrus. Are you guys okay?" Garrus suddenly chimed in.
"Garrus! We're holding out, where are you?"
"I'm on my way back, I've got Shepard with me!"
Miranda felt a huge weight lift off her chest, replaced by rock hard resolve.
"Understood, we'll be here."
Miranda charged up her biotics and sent a powerful push into the group of prisoners, plowing them away and clearing the door they were coming through.
"Legion seal that door!"
Legion accessed the mechanism wirelessly and shut the huge metal door, locking it.
"Task completed."
"Secure the area, Garrus and Shepard will be here soon."
"He's got Shepard with him?" Kilik asked.
"Yes."
"Well this just got a whole lot easier then!" Kilik said cheerfully.
"This way!" Garrus said.
The three of them had started running. They encountered minimal resistance on the way, even Damien had remained cooperative.
"I'll admit I'm impressed you four managed to find become this much of a nuisance." Damien said to Garrus.
"Five."
"Excuse me?"
"There are five of us, we had some help."
"From who?" Shepard asked curiously.
"Here it's just through this door. Oh, and he's some Alliance Commando. Private Jerrod Kilik."
Kilik watch the door open from behind Miranda and Legion. He saw Garrus enter, then Damien oddly enough, and finally, a slack jawed, horrified looking Shepard. He was sure he heard his name roll of the turian's lips.
"Shepard!" Miranda shouted.
"You!" Shepard yelled, raising his pistol at her.
"What?" Miranda asked confusedly.
She heard the hiss of an unfolding weapon behind her, and felt metal brush against her head.
"Hello Johnny!" Kilik shouted excitedly.
Someone was laughing. It was a cold, hardly used laugh. It was Damien.
"Oh, this is rich, really rich. The person who has been helping you is him! Oh you can't write this stuff."
"Wait, Shepard, who the hell is this guy?" Garrus asked.
Shepard didn't reply. He was stuck in a state of disbelief.
"Thanks hon, you were a big help." Jerrod said in Miranda's ear.
"You son of a bitch, I'm going to turn you inside out!" Miranda flared her biotics.
"Ah ah ah, don't." Jerrod pressed his gun harder against her.
"Damien, how you let yourself get taken hostage?"
"Call it being stuck between a rock and a hard place." Damien said as he drew both his tempests on a distracted Shepard and Garrus.
Legion drew his pulse rifle and aimed it at in Shepard's direction, but not at Damien.
"Legion, what the hell are you aiming at? Shepard asked.
"That." Legion said.
"I see you started the party without me." Sean said behind them.
"This is practically a reunion, well minus Tyrone, Marcus, Rico and Alexander." He laughed, the only one finding humor in the joke.
"You shut up you bastard." Shepard said dangerously.
"Come on have a sense of humor Johnny."
"Don't call me that!"
"Jerrod, if you are done teasing, we should leave with them now before the Alliance sends people to sort this out." Damien said.
"Right as always Damien. But we still need to grab the pilot."
Joker watched everything unfold before him. Kilik was a traitor, and he had a gun to Miranda's head.
"Shit, shit, shit, why do I always got to do everything?"
He engaged the craft's engines and flew forward. He veered to the left and felt the craft clip Kilik, knocking him down. He flew around and saw all hell break loose.
Kilik was knocked off his feet by the craft. Damien fired disruptor ammo into Legion, stunning him, and then grappled with Garrus. Sean had grabbed Shepard and put him into the mother of all bear hugs. Then he saw a very angry looking Miranda.
"Now about my last statement..."
She lifted him into the air with her biotics.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Jerrod said in the air.
Miranda shot a concentrated ball of biotic energy at him and he went rolling off the landing pad. Miranda turned her gaze around to the giant holding crushing Shepard. She went into a full on sprint. She had let this happen, she had trusted Jerrod, but she was not going to let them hurt Shepard by grace of her. She leapt from her sprint into the air raised her fist.
"Let go of him!" She yelled.
Her fist, charged with biotic energy, struck Sean cleanly on the jaw. He was launched off his feet, dropping Shepard to the ground. Miranda knelt down next to him.
"I'm so sorry Shepard, I didn't know who he was."
"Miranda.." Shepard said weakly.
"I'm going to get you out of here."
"Miranda..."
Something snapped over Miranda's right wrist, then her arm was wrenched behind her and so was her other one. Something snapped over her left wrist, and her arms were stuck behind her back.
"Miss me?" Jerrod asked.
He grabbed Miranda and slung her over his shoulder. Shepard tried to get up, but something slammed into his back. It felt like a foot.
"Damn Sean, your face looks like shit." Jerrod said.
Sean didn't say anything because his jaw was dislocated.
"Jerrod, Alliance ships are here, we need to go." Damien called out, shooting at Garrus to keep him behind cover.
Alliance ships had indeed started coming down from the air. Legion had recovered and started shooting at Jerrod and Sean. A batarian dropship flew over to the landing pad and hovered just off the ground. Two soldiers gave suppressing fire from the ship for Damien, Sean, and Jerrod. All three of them jumped onto it, Jerrod still carrying Miranda.
"I'll hold onto this for you!" Jerrod said as the ship flew away with it's precious, precious cargo.
Yeah, this took a long time to get out. I won't meet my goal of finishing this before Mass Effect 3, oh well. I hoped you all enjoyed this. Read, Review, Suggest.