Okay, I've finally checked out the ME3 Extended Cut. Yeah, it's definitely better than it was before. Wouldn't exactly call it 'good' but at least it doesn't leave you behind with the feeling that everything has gone to hell.
Anyway I decided to give this story another shot, that is if you people are still interested in reading it. Thanks to the EC changes I won't even have to label it AU.
So here goes.
Cyra's body relaxed a little, as the pain stopped. The young asari was panting heavily. She had no idea, how long she was being interrogated. The mind-numbing pain had washed away her sense of time or the ability to think straight.
"Well?" One of her tormentors asked, the tone of his voice pleasant as if he was talking about the weather. "Are you ready to talk yet?"
Cyra wanted to tell him to go to hell but it came out as an incomprehensible babble. Pulling herself together she instead, once again, mumbled her name, rank and serial number. The pain came back instantly.
"Stop it!" In the adjacent room Marlowe struggled with the straps that bound him to a metal chair as he heard the asari scream again. The 'headquarter' of the gang, that had captured them, was an abandoned police station, interrogation room and everything. The Corporal clenched his teeth. The worst thing about it was that his chair had been placed directly in front of the sheath of glass that separated the two room, basically forcing him to helplessly watch the whole thing. At this point Marlowe actually wished he'd be the one being tortured and he flinched every time Cyra's body convulsed in pain.
"We'll get to you in due time." The secret agent, at least Marlowe figured the three guys had to be something like that, said patting him on the shoulder. "Don't you worry about that."
The agent's eyes narrowed as he noticed that the Corporal wasn't paying attention. He walked around the bound man, studying his face for a few moments.
"Wait a minute." The agent finally said, a thin smile appearing on his face. "You don't have feelings for your CO, do you?"
That did get Marlowe's attention. "Fuck off!" He snarled with an angry glare.
"We can stop this in a heartbeat, just tell us what we need to know."
"Go to hell." The sniper puffed, knowing full well, that as soon as the agents got what they needed, whatever it was, they would just put a bullet in each of their heads.
"Maybe we should change our method of interrogation then." The agent suggested. "Maybe something...hmmm... less painful?" He added with a lecherous grin. Not that they were actually going to do what he implied. While black ops teams did just about anything to get the job done, sexual assault was something not even they ventured into. Marlowe, however, didn't know that as he let out a loud roar.
"I'll kill you sons of bitches!" He spat out through clenched teeth, wildly tearing at the shackles until a few drops of blood ran down one of his arms.
"Well, good luck with that." The other man replied dryly. "Ah, no matter." He shrugged. "We'll get the rest of your team soon enough. If you're not going to talk, one of them will."
It took Marlowe a while to regain his composure. "I wouldn't bother, trying to find them bro." He eventually said. "They'll come here on their own. Count on it."
"I doubt, they're that crazy, even if they knew where we were."
"Oh don't worry they'll find their way. If I were you I'd get outta here while I still could."
"I'm shaking." The agent replied with a sarcastic snort.
"There he is." Sweetwater said, staring at the live-feed from his recon-drone's camera. "Hags! Wake up!"
"Finally." Haggard groaned as he sat up in the van's driver's seat, rubbing his eyes with a wide yawn. He briefly checked the small clock built in next to the vehicle controls. "Almost an hour of sleep." He mumbled to himself, before raising his voice a bit. "Which way is he going?" He asked as he started the truck's engine.
"Looks like he's going home." Sweetwater replied after rechecking the local police's files on their target. Initially he'd hacked into the police network to tap into surveillance cameras only to find out that there were none in this part of the city. Undaunted he'd looked for files of the hotel staff and got several hits. Most of the files contained only minor stuff. Speeding tickets and things like that. However in the file of the desk clerk, in addition to his home address, favorite watering hole and so on, there was a small note that said he had been hanging around with a local street gang in the past.
"Right." The demo-expert said as the vehicle slowly came off the ground. "So where do I go?"
After getting proper directions from his comrade, Haggard slowly guided the truck out of the back yard he'd used as parking space. He muttered a curse, his eyes narrowing as he moved into the open and got blinded by Horizon's star. He took a moment to let his eyes adjust before he proceeded onto the dirty street. He drove down the road slowly and carefully, stifling another yawn as he went. The nap had helped a little but it was still kind of hard keeping his eyes open and focused on the street. It didn't help matters that the van's controls were clearly not designed to be used, wearing heavy armor.
"See any place where we could snatch him without drawing too much attention to ourselves?" He asked.
"Not yet." Came Sweetwater's answer. Judging from his voice the tech was just as tired as he was. "Too many people around."
They'd decided to shadow the desk clerk once he'd left the hotel, waiting for an opportunity to grab him quietly. If none presented itself they'd capture him at his home.
"Stop for a bit. We're getting too far ahead."
Haggard did as he was told. The road, he used ran parallel to the one their target walked on so he had to rely on Sweetwater's directions. He glanced around as he waited. No one seemed to take notice of their truck. At least something.
"Hags! He's just entered a back alley." Sweetwater exclaimed, startling his buddy. "If you step on it we can catch him on the other side. The demo-expert got the truck moving quickly but only a few moments later the tech told him he could slow down again.
"He entered a building." Was the curt explanation.
"Any idea what's in that house?" Haggard asked as he reached the back alley Sweetwater had directed him to.
"I'll check online...just a minute." The tech said, logging into the city's extranet. "Great." He said a few moments later. "It seems to be a brothel."
"Oh for Christ's sake!" Haggard exclaimed, briefly burrowing his head in his hands. "Now we gotta wait for this horny bastard again."
"Nice guy." McCoy, who'd been looking over Sweetwater's shoulder in silence, commented dryly.
"Yeah." Haggard growled, rubbing his forehead. "I'm half thinking to go in there and drag that scum bag out by his underpants."
"So, what do we do now?" The medic asked, giggling softly at the mental image.
"We wait, what else?" Haggard shrugged, scratching his head. "Any idea which way he's gona go when he's done?"
"If he really is going home he should come our way again." The Private replied. "But leave the engine running. In case he's going the other way we'll have to move fast if we want to catch him before he leaves the alley."
"We can't just stay out here and wait with a running engine." Haggard observed a few minutes later. "People are beginning to stare. Sweets, find me a spot where we're out of sight, will ya?"
"You know, it looks like the alley is wide enough for our truck." Sweetwater said after a moment on thinking. "Looks like there's even enough space to turn around close to that whorehouse. So why don't we just wait there? Not a whole lot of people around right now. Seems like business is slow this time of day."
"Right." Haggard got the van moving quickly. It took him several tries to get the truck into the narrow street, unflattering remarks about the vehicle's maneuverability or the lack thereof included. Sweetwater's sly comments didn't help either. Carefully turning the truck around before letting it settle down, he took a few moments to look around, making sure the van's doors were unobstructed and there was nothing in the way of a quick getaway. The demo-expert briefly regretted that he'd given up smoking a few years back. He could have used a cigarette right now. If nothing else it, at least, would have given him something to do while they waited.
"Everybody ready?" He asked, more to keep himself from dozing off than anything else.
"Sure." Sweetwater replied with a shrug, as he opened the van's back door to recall his drone. "Nothing we can do right now except waiting anyway." He carefully picked the tiny drone out of the air and put it back into it's slot on his belt to recharge.
"McCoy, what about you?"
"Sure, I'm ready." She said, holding up the small injector to emphasize her point.
"Remember we don't want him to be out too long..."
"I know, I know." The medic interrupted him. "Look, we went over this in detail at our...our 'hideout'. I don't need to be told the same thing over and over again.. I'm not stupid, all right?"
"That's good." Haggard said dryly, unable to fully keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "Just making sure."
"This dosage should knock him out for about thirty minutes." She taped on the injector. "That should do it, right?"
"Fine." The demo-expert reached over to pick up his helmet from the passenger seat, checking the casing briefly he put it on. He closed the visor for a moment to make sure the helmet was properly connected to the suit's power supply. Time seemed to crawl as he kept watching the brothel's entrance. He checked the time again. Close to thirty minutes since their target entered the house.
"Come on, what's taking you so long?" He whispered, tapping the van's small steering wheel with impatience. "Just blow your goddamn load and be done with it."
"Hm?" Sweetwater asked. "What was that Hags?"
"Nothing, nothing. I am just thinking out loud is all." Haggard rubbed his eyes for a moment. Hadn't there been something he'd wanted to ask the tech? He racked his brain repeatedly but he just couldn't remember what it was. 'Jesus George, get your head outta your butt will ya?' He gave himself a mental ass-kick. 'So you're tired. And? That ain't an excuse to let your brain shut down like that. Wake the fuck up!'
"That building doesn't have any other exits does it?" He asked as he finally remembered.
"Nope." Sweetwater replied without hesitation. "Couldn't see anything from the air and nothing in the building blueprints either."
"Oh you already checked?"
"Yeah I kinda needed something to do. You know to keep me awake and all."
"Tell me about it." Haggard snorted. "So he has to come out this door, right?"
"Yep, if that little prick ain't planning to dig a tunnel that is." The tech chuckled. "Relax Hags. He won't slip past us."
"I am relaxed!" Haggard snapped a little more fiercely that he'd intended to. "I'm very fucking relaxed okay?"
"Yeah very relaxed you are. Indeed veeeery relaxed."
"Shut up will ya? I just hate sitting on my ass all day."
"He'll come out there soon enough, don't worry." Sweetwater shrugged.
"Hmph. With our luck he's probably gona stay over night." The demo-expert remarked sourly, turning around it his seat.
"Oh come on. He can't be making that much money..."
"Would you two stop it?" McCoy interjected. "If you keep bickering like that, hey may slip past us after all."
Haggard had to bite his tongue to keep himself from shouting at the medic. She, admittedly, had a point so he went back to scanning the surroundings. The door opened several times, causing a small adrenaline rush each time, but unfortunately the desk clerk was not among the men that came out. The demo-expert flinched and reached for his shotgun as the door opened yet again but it was only a prostitute coming out for a smoke. He sighed, reluctantly putting the gun down again as he briefly watched the woman in the mirror.
"What are you looking at, Hags?" Sweetwater just couldn't help but ask, grinning widely.
"Screw you." Came the reply. "And just what are you looking at huh? Thinking about letting your drone fly into that hooker's cleavage?"
"Oh you're just mad that you don't get all the cool toys."
"Actually I prefer to play around with things that go boom than with a glorified marble. Thank you very much."
Sweetwater's only answer to that was a naughty sound and they went silent again but only for a moment.
"Ah shit!" The tech hissed.
"What?" Haggard, who'd just closed his eyes to let them rest for a moment, snapped in annoyance.
"That hooker's coming over here." Sweetwater said, glancing out the back window. "Guess she's looking for more customers."
"That's all we need right now." Haggard groaned as he lowered the window on his side.
"Wait. What do you intend to do?" McCoy's voice was raised in alarm when she noticed he'd grabbed his shotgun. However the prostitute reached the van before he could answer.
"Hey Sweetheart..." She began but froze when she noticed her intended prey was wearing heavy combat armor.
"Don't. You. Move. Sister." Haggard hissed, his voice so ice-cold that a shiver ran down the medic's spine.
"Don't yell, don't shout, don't say anything at all." The demo-expert continued. "If you make some kind of ruckus, if anybody takes notice of us because of you, I'll get out my little friend here..."
He tapped on the shotgun. "...and make him say hello. Do I make myself understood?"
The woman nodded jerkily. She'd put on quite a lot of makeup but even so one could see that her face had lost all color
"Brilliant. Now just go back nice and quiet, have another smoke and..."
"There he is!" Sweetwater exclaimed loudly. "Let's go!"
"Goddamn it!" Haggard snarled as he opened the door, pushing the hooker out of the way.
The desk clerk, who'd just been lighting up a cigarette of his own, gaped in astonishment at the armored soldiers running towards him and reacted too slowly.
"What the..." Was all he managed to blurt out before Haggard and Sweetwater pinned him against the wall.
"What the..." He began again only to be rudely interrupted by the hiss of an injector and a sharp pain in his neck. The lights went out within a few seconds.
The prostitute watched in stunned disbelief as the armored men dragged one of the brothel's regulars away, loading him into the truck. Her eyes followed the van as it drove out of the alley and disappeared. Then she began to scream.
Director Fisher impatiently rubbed his thin mustache with his index finger as he waited for the deciphering protocol to kick in. For the third time he checked all his precautions against unwanted interruption. From the isolated com-channel, to the proper encryption algorithm, to the locked door. So far everything had been going according to plan, even better in fact. But that cocky special forces trooper threatened to jeopardize everything. What was his name again? Ah yes, Sweetwater. He'd checked the private's file a little while ago, cursing himself because he hadn't done it before the operation started. He could have requested another team to be assigned to the ship. One without a trooper with the reputation of sticking his nose into other people's files. Or Commander Shepard's daughter.
He pushed those thoughts aside. No use crying over spilled milk. With a little luck the situation was already under control.
The desk's holo-projector hummed softly as it finally came online, showing a small image of his senior agent on horizon.
"Jones! At last." He said curtly. "Report!"
The man on the other end of the call raised an eyebrow. No greetings, no small talk, no nothing. Right down to business. He shrugged. Director Fisher wasn't the talkative type.
"Well. " Jones began. "We don't think that either of the two subjects we have in custody know anything. Both of them were interrogated for several hours without results."
"I see." Fisher replied thoughtfully. "Your are of course aware that special forces soldiers receive training on how to handle interrogations."
"Of course, I'm aware of that." The agent said with a frown. "And we're choosing our methods accordingly. Don't you worry about that. Besides we're not done with them yet. We're giving them a few hours to rest and think and then we'll have another go."
"But at this time you think that nobody knows about the data?"
"Correct sir. If Private Sweetwater didn't tell his squad mates anything about it, I think it's pretty safe to say he didn't tell anyone else on the ship."
"Speaking of Sweetwater..." The director said with a hard stare. "Any progress in apprehending him and the other fellow who slipped away?"
"We're working on that." Jones hastily assured his boss. "We tapped into the city's surveillance cams and we got people out there, looking for them. They won't be able to hide forever."
"The same people who let those two get away in the first place hm?" The director remarked pointedly. "That screw-up never should have happened."
"I'm aware of that too, sir." The agent replied forcefully. "But we couldn't hire any professionals within the time frame you'd given us so we had to make due with what we could find in the neighborhood."
"Be that as it may." Fisher said. "I expect you to do your job, professionals or not. I would really hate it if I had to send in another team to clean up your mess. Do you understand me, Jones?"
"Yes sir, perfectly."
"Good. Get to it. Send me a status update in twelve hours. That'll be all."
The director terminated the connection without waiting for an answer and leaned back in his chair, thinking about what to do next. Should he wait until the situation on Horizon was dealt with or continue with his plans regardless? The longer he thought about it the more he became convinced he shouldn't wait any longer. Even if somebody on the ship had access to the data, downloaded from that research lab, it would take him a while to figure out that the whole bullshit about bio-terrorism was just a cover.
No, it was definitely time to go ahead with his plan. The sooner he got off the ship the better. He touched the holographic control panel of his desk, calling the captain. The ship's CO took a few moments to answer.
"Mister Fisher." Captain Heisenberg made little effort to hide his aversion for the director. "How much longer are you planning to have us sit around in this no man's land here?"
Fisher gave the Captain a thin smile. Heisenberg's dislike of 'intelligence types', which he shared with many high ranking alliance officers, was fairly well known and even got him into trouble once or twice. Fisher couldn't have cared less. He wasn't here to make friends after all.
"Don't worry, Captain." He said. "We're done 'sitting around' for now. Take us to Tarec-2-9-b and..." The director raised his hand and continued as Heisenberg opened his mouth to protest. "...prepare for a ground assault. Details will follow later."
The captain's holographic image stared at him in disbelief for a split second. "A ground assault?" He asked apparently uncertain he'd heard right. "A full scale ground assault on little Omega? Are you out of your mind?" The captain exclaimed loudly after Fisher confirmed with a nod. "Horizon was goddamn crazy already but this...Have you and idea what that would..."
"That's enough Captain!" Fisher cut him off equally loudly. "Those are your orders and they're not open for debate. Is that clear?"
The captain's jaw muscles tightened visibly as he clenched his teeth in anger. "Yes Sir." Heisenberg growled. He paused for a second. "But I want those orders in writing, I want a hard-copy or this ship isn't going anywhere."
Fished held up a piece of paper. "Of course, Captain. Already done. Now give me an ETA."
The captain glared at him for a moment before he jumped up and stormed out of the camera's cone of view. Fisher could hear muffled commands in the background as he waited for Heisenberg to return.
"Eight hours to the system, another two or three to sneak in undetected." The Captain barked curtly when he returned.
"Good. I expect your people to be ready for action as soon as we get there."
"Yes, Sir. Will that be all?"
"Almost. I want the prisoner be brought to my cabin once we reach our destination."
Heisenberg's eyebrows raised in astonishment. "I'll see to it." He shrugged. "And I'll come and get that hard-copy now."
"I'll have it brought to you."
"No need, I'd rather pick it up myself.
"Fine, Captain. Now get the ship moving."
The switched off the com-unit and turned around, staring out his cabin's window. He smiled when he felt the ship shudder slightly as it's main engines came online.
"Not much longer now." He whispered.
That's it for now. Comments, constructive criticism and things like that would be appreciated :)