Mass Effect: Massive Shock

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect or the BioShock franchises or any characters or property that BioWare or Irrational Games has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 and BioShock and BioShock Original Characters I come up with are MINE to use and distribute.

A/N: This chapter will be a little slower to start than the other ones. I wanted to show everybody relaxing and stuff. Action will find its way in eventually, just like all the other chapters.

"A riot is the language of the unheard."

~Martin Luther King Jr.~

Ch. 14: Crisis! On Infinite Wards! – Part 3

Holiday

6:44 PM March 14, 2182

No… No fucking way! No!

I drop to the ground next to Anderson's body. He lays face down, his clothes and skin blackened from the explosion. Udina is nowhere in sight.

"Udina?" I call out weakly. Silence responds.

I turn Anderson over onto his back. I place my ear against his chest and I close my eyes, listening…

Come on…

Suddenly a loud gunshot makes me jump. I look up and see Anderson pointing a gun at something behind me. I turn around just in time to see another Blue Suns merc standing with a large bullet hole in his eye piece before he falls to the ground.

Oh shit! Oh thank God, the Goddess, the Spirits, the Ancestors, Buddha, Ganesh, Confucius, Athiesmo, and all the other assorted religions! He's alive! HE'S ALIVE! Phew… this has been a really traumatic couple of hours for me emotionally. I'll be thankful for that rest later.

Anderson coughs and lets his hand and head fall back down onto the floor. "You came back. Good timing too. Actually? I could've used you a minute or two ago."

I look down at my hand covering the wound on my stomach from the pipe. My hand is covered in blood, I might as well have dipped my hand in a bucket of blood, and my under-armor jumpsuit is sticking to my skin and leaking blood.

"I was a little… tied down." I get to my feet, with some difficulty. "Are you alright, Anderson? Can you walk?"

He nods. "I think so. That explosion threw me against the wall and knocked me unconscious. I think the Blue Suns took Udina."

I hold out a hand to help him to his feet. "Well then we'll just have to go get him back then."

Anderson takes my hand and I start pulling him up but I drop him when an explosion of pain erupts from both the site of my broken ribs and the wound from the pipe in my belly on the opposite side of my torso.

I clutch at my sides and cry out in pain as I drop to a knee.

Anderson gets up and places a hand on my back. "Splicer, what's wrong? You hurt?"

I nod, my face twisted in agony. "When the gunship fell… It exploded and threw me against a wall. That broke a few ribs. There must've been a stray pipe from the wall because I got impaled on it. Not to mention that I got shot in the leg earlier."

"We need to get you back to your apartment building." Anderson says instantly.

I shake my head. "No. Not yet. I need to get Pallin some armor from the Hahne-Kedar store in the Market District here in Shin Akiba. Then we can head back down to my Residential Block. It's on the way don't worry."

Anderson shakes his head. "No. Sorry. But we're heading straight to your place. Let's go."

I look up at him. Aw, what the fuck. I'm hurt, Pallin will understand. "Alright. You're right. Help me up. We're going to have to go out a different exit, the entrance is blocked by the gunship."

Anderson pulls me to my feet and supports my left side, which is the side where my broken ribs and my bad leg are. I keep my right hand over my jagged pipe wound.

We head downstairs and into the lobby. Anderson puts me down on a chair. "Wait here, I'm going to look for another way out."

"Wait." I draw my shotgun and hand it to him. "Take this. It's going to be tight quarters."

Anderson nods and runs off with my shotgun.

To pass the time, I focus on trying to stay alive. When Anderson finally returns, his expression is grim. "There's no other way out. We're trapped in here."

I shake my head. "Nah I think I can get us out. Just help me up."

He helps me to my feet and I stand on my own, most of my weight distributed to my right side. "SNAKE: How much EVE do I have?"

"One hypo remaining."

I slap my chest gently and inject myself with more EVE. I focus and activate Telekinesis. I raise my hands and start pushing the wreckage out of the way, roaring in agony in between clenched teeth as I push. The challenge proves far too taxing on my body and after a few seconds I fall to the ground, all the energy, willpower, and EVE drained from my body.

The wreckage is at least out of the way. But now I fear I'm going to slow Anderson down. No matter what he has to survive. Even if he has to leave me here.

Anderson moves to help me up but I push him away weakly. "Just leave me here. I got nothing left in me. Energy, drive, blood, you name it. I'm dead weight now."

"This isn't the time to be a hero, Splicer." Anderson says with a shake of his head.

I shake my head in disagreement, almost frustration. "Hero? I'm no hero. I'm tired of people saying that I am. It wasn't hard catching those criminals. I'll tell you who a hero is. A hero is somebody who saves people. I just get them hurt. A hero is someone like… Commander Shepard. He fought off hordes of batarian slavers on Elysium nearly single handed and saved countless lives. Me? I am… a possible hero. Is it possible that Pendosa would have gone around and killed every last person on the Citadel like some unstoppable force? No he would have been caught eventually. Or even now, a hero would… I don't know… disarm a Blue Suns super bomb and save the Citadel.

"I'm just some 23 year old idiot who has really bad luck and really good timing. I'm sure Garrus could have caught Pendosa given a few more days but I took the job because I was bored. You hear me? Bored. He's wrong about me only doing it for the money, because I don't need it. But I am just a showman. I make pretty displays and I put on a good show for the press and stuff. Not on purpose but still. But what am I? Just some really unlucky bastard who got thrown into this life against his will. I lost everything I once had… twice. And I'm not ready to lose it all again. But I haven't had it long enough to want it back so just go. You don't need me to stop the Blue Suns. Just go, Anderson. The galaxy needs you." I just poured my heart out onto the floor here along with some blood.

Anderson sighs. He kneels in front of me and leans me back so that we're face to face. "Splicer, I'm an Alliance marine. We don't leave men behind. So, I'm sorry about this."

"Huh?" I say with a frown.

Anderson punches me square across the jaw and I black out.

8:11 PM March 14, 2182

Ow… What the hell? Did Anderson hit me?

I open my eyes and stare up at the ceiling of a very poorly lit room. The only light is from a dull flickering candle. I look around. Oh, it's my apartment. Holy shit, did Anderson carry me all the way back to my apartment? Granted it wasn't too far but I must weigh nearly 300 pounds with my armor and weapons.

I try to sit up but my entire body resists. Everything from pain to exhaustion impedes my movement. I can't believe how tired I am. When was the last time I got some sleep? Like… 35 hours? Not to mention the fact that I was almost constantly fighting and running the entire time.

I look around the room again. It looks like I'm alone.

"Hello? Anyone here?" I call out weakly, my voice hoarse.

No response. I curse and sit up with some considerable difficulty.

I fight past the exhaustion and pain and get to my feet. I take slow, extensively premeditated steps to my room. I stumble inside and go to my desk where the last syringe from the open medkit sits. I take it and inject myself with the serum.

My entire body feels like it's bathed in scalding water as my cells accelerate and my wounds heal. All I'm left with after a few minutes is a dull pain where my wounds were. The serum is total magic. It even works with broken bones somehow.

I really wish I knew how it worked or how it was manufactured. I know Dr. Suchong developed it and it uses ADAM in some way but I have no clue how to make it. I don't even know what's in it, other than ADAM.

I drop the syringe on the table and look around. Alex is gone too. Weird. I stumble over to my bed and sit down on it. The sheets are stained red from Alex's blood but it's dried.

I slowly remove my armor piece by piece until all I'm left with is the black jumpsuit I wear underneath the armor plating. I unzip it down the front and peel it off of me. The suit clings around my previously wounded areas due to dried up blood and I notice someone stuffed bandages into it to staunch the bleeding. Weird how they would just leave me there injured and all they did was put… dish towels over my wounds. That can't be sanitary.

I wiggle off the rest of the suit and throw it onto my bed. If you're curious, yes I don't wear stuff underneath the suit. It's more comfortable that way.

I stare down at myself, my body is covered with dried blood. I really need a shower. I walk into my bathroom to take a well-deserved shower.

That's when I find out that I wasn't totally alone.

Alex is just now getting out of the shower, a towel already wrapped around her. Her eyes shoot up to me in surprise, then down slightly.

Unfortunately I'm butt naked and there's nothing in the immediate area to cover myself with. Instead of thinking of something to do or something clever to say I opt with just standing there, which isn't really the best way of handling a situation like this by the way.

Alex stares for a long, long time. Of course in Awkward Land, time slows down to a crawl so for all I know I could have been no more than five seconds. Finally she blushes and covers her eyes. "Were you uh… gonna use the shower?"

I nod. "Yeah."

"Go ahead. I'm all done with it."

Is this going to happen a lot? Why do people always see me naked? I step out of the way and Alex sidles past. I close the door and grab a fresh towel out of the shelf next to the shower.

I step inside the shower and turn on the water which is nice and warm. I stare down at the ground and watch the blood wash off of me. As I shower, and in my semi-comatose state I have trouble wrapping my head around what just happened.

Well that was awkward.

Later…

I exit the shower with a towel around my waist. I quickly style my hair in the mirror before exiting the bathroom. I take a second to look at myself. I have a little stubble growing. I should probably shave but I don't really feel like it. It kind of gives me that… grizzled look. You know, the one every male celebrity sported back in at the turn of the 21st century.

I walk over to my closet and take out some fresh clothes: just a pair of jeans, boxers, and some socks.

After I put on my clothes I walk out into the main room again, where I find people gathered around the room. In the room are Nelyna, Nata, Ram, Saphyria, Vaga, and Alex who is avoiding eye contact.

"Hey guys." I say a little confused. "Where were you guys earlier when I woke up?"

"We were down in the lobby." Vaga says from the back of the room.

Anderson comes out of the kitchen. "I just got back when some Blue Suns showed up at the building. We all went down to the lobby to help out. That was around 7:30. I quickly patched you up and got down there to see if I could help. Though… I see you fixed yourself up."

I look down at myself again. I have several new scars on my body. One where the pipe impaled me, one where I got shot in my leg, and I also have a scar on the side of my head now too, creating gaps in my hair. Luckily the scars on my head are on the side of my head, in the shaved portion, so it looks appropriate. I shrug.

Zero enters the room. "Blue Suns are gone." He smirks at me. "Hey you're awake."

I nod at him. "Zero. Where's Pallin?"

"Lobby, arguing with your landlord." He responds.

"Thanks." I say heading toward the door. "I'm going to go talk to him. I'll see you guys in a bit. Grab some food if you want. I don't have any turian food so sorry guys."

I head down stairs and into the lobby where Pallin and Mr. Dalarian are throwing heated words at each other.

"No! You can take my building! You can take my food! You can take my guards! But you can't fucking take my armor and weapons!" Mr. Dalarian roars at Pallin.

Pallin shakes his head in contempt. "Think about it! I need that armor and your weapon if I'm going to go out there to fight again. You're just sitting on your ass in here!"

I decide to stop the argument. "Hey! Come on guys! Pallin. I'll go out and get you armor and weapons from Hahne-Kedar later. Mr. Dalarian, you don't have to relinquish your weapons and armor but you have to listen to him. He knows what he's doing."

Mr. Dalarian just mumbles some vulgarities under his breath and walks off to his office.

"Son of a bitch. I'd like to give him a piece of my mind." Pallin says and somehow a deep growl rumbles in his throat.

I take a step away from him cautiously. "Calm down Pallin. I'll go to get your stuff tomorrow morning. I need to get some sleep, I haven't slept in over a day."

Pallin nods. "I understand. I could use some rest myself."

"You're welcome to join me in my place if you want but it's a little crowded in there right now." Where's everyone going to sleep in my place anyways?

Pallin raises a hand. "No need. I'll find a place to sleep on my own. Thank you, though."

I nod. "I'll talk to you tomorrow then."

Pallin nods at me as I walk away. "Splicer."

I head back up to my apartment. When I get inside I find a lot of people already asleep. Ramlok is asleep on the floor, with Hirvio lying on his belly. Anderson is dozed off in an armchair. Vaga is using my punching bag as a pillow but is still awake and just staring at the ceiling. Nelyna is on the couch and Saphyria isn't in the room. The only one not asleep in the area is Zero who is sitting at my table, cleaning his gun.

I walk down the hall and look in Nata's bedroom. Nata is asleep on her bed with Saphyria sleeping on the floor for some reason.

I check my room and find Alex changing the sheets of my bed. She's still wearing just the towel. I walk in.

"Hey. What're you doing?" I ask as I approach.

She glances at me. "Changing your sheets for you. I didn't want you to sleep in a bed filled with my blood."

"Where're you sleeping?"

"Couch."

I sigh. "You can go ahead and take my bed. I'm not tired just yet. I think I'm going to eat something first."

Alex looks up at me. "You sure?"

I nod. "Yeah. And go ahead and take one of my shirts or something from my closet. I assume you're still wearing the towel because your clothes are messed up?"

She nods and continues her work. "Alright then. I'll see you in the morning."

I leave the room and walk into the kitchen where I grab a granola bar. Ah granola. The world's solution to world hunger in the palm of your hand. Not really. But I like granola bars. I eat it quickly and take a seat on the couch next to Nelyna.

Somehow I don't feel like sleeping… Maybe this is a good time to socialize?

I walk around the couch and sit next to Vaga, crisscross-applesauce.

He looks over at me briefly before looking back up at the ceiling. "What's up?"

I shrug. "I just felt like talking a little. We don't really know each other."

He shrugs. "What's there to know about me? You got the main stuff: Fornax, Shadow Broker… That's about it."

"Yeah…" I sigh, trying to think of a subject of interest. "Well… Well, you know how to snipe and pilot right?"

He nods. "Yeah… so?"

"Well where'd you learn how to do that?" I'm actually really curious, from what I've seen he's a damn good sniper.

He smirks. "All turians have to go through boot camp starting on their 15 birthday. Most serve until they're 30. I stayed until I was 25. I'm 28 now. I was in the 5th Legion's Sniper Squad. There were 12 of us total, best in the Hierarchy's military. A few of us even got commendations from the Primarch. Not me though." He pauses to laugh. "It took a lot of bribes to get out of the service before my term was over."

I frown at him. "You bribed people to get out of the military."

"You got it." He says winking at me. "I learned how to be a pilot from private lessons."

I sigh. "That's… fascinating?"

"Isn't it?" He says with a smile.

"You sure are conceited." Zero says from the table without looking up from his partially disassembled shotgun.

Vaga shrugs. "I know."

"Were you in the military, Zero?" I ask him.

He stands with his reassembled shotgun in his hands. "I need to go on watch. Come along, I'll tell you as we go."

I nod and hop to my feet and follow him out the door.

After a few moments of silent walking I look at him. "So… Military?"

He nods. "Yes, I was."

I wait… when he doesn't continue. "… And?"

"And what?" He asks glancing at me. "I was in the military. End of story."

"Yeah but you have to have a few stories." I'm getting information out of him whether I have to torture him for it or not. "Come on. Tell me more."

He sighs. "Fine. Uh… Well… I'm a biotic, and turian biotics are rare. Our combat style sometimes conflicts with other common soldiers styles so we're often not trusted by others."

I laugh. "Like you need another reason."

He shakes his head, but smirks at the poke. "True. Anyways, biotics are often assigned to special teams called Cabals. I was part of the 3rd Cabal in the 33rd Legion."

"What rank were you?" I ask as we head down another floor.

"I was 4th in command of my unit. Master Sergeant 1st class. Though my unit Commander said I had a knack for leadership." He says. After a second of silence he stops in his tracks and looks down at the ground.

I stop and turn back at him when he stops. "Something wrong, Zero?"

He looks up at me for a second. "Uh… Sort of, just uh… Uh… No. Nothing. Nothing's wrong. Just… worried about the Blue Suns."

I nod understandingly. "I hear you."

He nods. "Thanks. Looks like the building's clear. We need to head back to your place anyways. Your landlord called lights out about an hour ago."

I nod and follow him back to my apartment silently. After we get back he retakes a seat at the table and places his shotgun in front of him. I stretch and take a seat on the couch next to Nelyna.

I yawn loudly and rest my head in my hand as I lean against the armrest. Sleep quickly overtakes me.

9:09 AM March 15, 2182

I slowly open my eyes. Wow, that was the best sleep I've gotten in years. I woke up by myself too. Not because of a nightmare or a noise or something.

Ew, what's that? My leg feels wet. I look down at my leg.

Nelyna is lying across the couch, using my thigh as a pillow. And at some point last night she must've started drooling… gross.

I gently cradle her head in my hand and ease her down on the couch. I stand and stretch. I look around the room. Everybody is in their old spot, even Zero who looks like he passed out late last night.

Ugh, my leg feels gross. I'm going to get my armor back on. Maybe I'll go out and get Pallin's armor while everyone is still asleep. I go into my bedroom, moving quietly so as not to wake anyone up.

Alex is still asleep. Aw how cute. She's wearing my Bazooka bubblegum shirt. That thing was expensive too. I bought it about a week ago from that antiques dealer that I sold my Rapture guns to.

I tiptoe over to my closet and grab my armor case. I get a new jumpsuit because my other one is messed up. I take my stuff into the bathroom.

Better lock the door…

Later…

I attach the last armor plate, my chest plate, to my… well, chest. I limber up a little and wiggle so my armor sits properly.

I unlock the door and sneak back into my bedroom. I try to be stealthy but my boots keep clanging loudly against the metal floor.

I curse quietly after each footstep. I finally opt with rushing out of the room and back into the main room.

I walk out of my apartment and down to the lobby. The place is empty except for Trevor the night watchman. I nod at him as I pass. He nods back. Trevor always was a man of few words. Kind of creepy that fellow.

As I pass by Mr. Dalarian's office I hear audible mumbing from his office.

I frown and peek inside.

Mr. Dalarian is sitting at his desk facing away from the door, polishing his rifle and… talking to himself.

He growls to himself. "They all said I was mad. Mad! Mad for spending my life savings and retirement fund on all the counter measures in the building! Who's laughing now, huh? Who's laughing? Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"

I shiver and walk out into the lobby. I open my omni-tool and shut off the barrier protecting the entrance. I step out onto the street and reactivate it behind me with my omni-tool.

I take a deep breath of smoky air. I set out at a brisk pace toward the Hahne-Kedar store.

I round a corner and spot a small squad of Blue Suns marching down the street ahead of me. I slide behind a trashcan and peek out from behind it. Looks like they've taken control of this part of the Citadel. I guess they're just keeping order now.

One holds his omni-tool up into the air and places his hand on his ear. "Attention!" He yells, his voice projecting loudly. "Attention! The Citadel Wards are now under the control of the Blue Suns! Stay where you are! If anyone who is not wearing Blue Suns armor is found on the street they will be shot immediately!"

Shit… They have control of the Wards? Oh wait. Just the Wards? Not the Presidium? Hopefully they haven't gotten onto the Citadel Tower yet. If they do that's the end of the Citadel.

Damn, I don't want to bring attention to this part of the Wards. If I get spotted and they call for backup or something this place will flood with Suns. I'll go Adam Jensen here. I turn around the trashcan and quickly slide into cover behind a low wall of a cafe closer to the group. I vault over the low wall and enter the adjacent building.

After I get inside I use the maintenance access walkways up above to move from building to building unnoticed. The only worry that I have with this is the noise my boots make on the ground… hm… that gives me an idea for a new armor upgrade.

I reach a dead end. Dammit! The Market District should be just behind this wall! If only there was… a ventilation shaft.

I walk over to the small ventilation shaft I noticed just now. I pull the grate off of it and look inside. It's pitch black in there, but I can use my omni-tool light to illuminate it. Let's just hope that this comes out the other side and I don't get sucked into a fan or fall into a protein vat or something.

I pull myself into the vent and worm my way into it. Crap. This was a bad idea. It's a tight fit… stupid bulky armor. I start wiggling my way forward. My arms are pressed against my sides so I can't use my omni-tool to light my way. I wiggle my way forward but I stop and I can no longer move.

Yeah… I'm stuck. Like really stuck.

Well… great. I sigh and look around. Now what? I suppose I can break the vent. I start trying to push the vent apart with my arms and by flexing my back and chest. I hear the vent creak but it holds together. Let's see. Well… I know that metal expands when heat is applied so… This isn't going to end well.

I activate Incinerate and start blasting the wall of the vent with flame.

Suddenly it collapse from underneath and I fall into a bar. The ceiling is at least ten feet above the ground and I hit the ground with an extremely loud crash.

I groan and I pick myself up off of the ground. Well that could have gone smoother. Ew I'm covered in dust.

I brush myself off and tousle my hair and head toward the exit. Great, it's locked. I sigh and start hacking the door with my omni-tool. Okay… Almost got it… and there we go. The door opens and a pair of Blue Suns on the other side turn to look at me.

"Hi ya. What's up?" I say nervously and with a smile.

The Blue Suns raise their weapons at me and I respond by Aero Dashing to them. At the end of the Dash I grab their faces and throw them onto the ground as hard as I can. Whoops. Killed them.

I shrug. I was going to do that anyways. I check where I am on my omni-tool. Oh! It's just over here. I jog over to the Hahne-Kedar Store. I enter and look around, rubbing my hands together.

Okay… Turian armor, turian armor…

I vault over the counter and into the storage room. The walls are lined with armor cases all neatly organized. I go to the turian section. Let's see… this looks good. I take a black case labeled Heavy/ Hahne-Kedar/ Janissary IX.

I open the case. Aw badass! This is cool. I'm sure Pallin will approve.

I close the case and carry it out of the store. Damn this is heavy! Geez, I wonder what my armor classifies as, light, medium, or heavy, because my armor isn't nearly this heavy in its case. Must just be because it's for turians.

I lug the case back down the street where the squad was patrolling before, which is now again deserted. I carry it down to my building.

A bunch of Blue Suns are gathered around the entrance. One is trying to hack the shields.

Shit. I drop the case and hide behind a low lying wall. I take out my assault rifle and aim it carefully. I take aim at the hacker and fire. His head is replaced by a jumbled mess and the other four mercs stumble away in shock.

I use Telekinesis and fling the armor case at one of the mercs.

The case collides with his head, shattering his fringe and killing him instantly.

I fire a controlled burst at another one until he dies. The last merc whirls around and around, looking for me.

I use Telekinesis and pull his gun from his hands. He yelps in surprise and faces me as I approach with my assault rifle raised.

"On your knees." He shouts at me.

The fuck? "No! You get on your knees. You're not really in a position to make demands."

He rolls his eyes and gets on his knees and places his hands on the back of his head. I put my assault rifle away and draw my pistol keeping it on him.

I walk over to the intercom. "Mr. Dalarian it's me. Open the door."

"Pass code?"

"Do we really got to do this every time?"

"Yes."

I sigh… "Killorax the Barbarian burns his old loincloths."

The shield shuts down and I grab the armor case. I motion the merc forward. He enters the building with me close behind.

Once inside all guns point at him. Mr. Dalarian approaches followed by Pallin.

"Splicer! You captured a merc! Excellent work!" Pallin says in excitement.

"And," I say handing him the armor case. "I got your armor too."

He takes it and examines the contents. "This is superb, just what I need. Dalarian, take the prisoner to a secure location and search him."

Mr. Dalarian doesn't protest, on the contrary he looks quite happy. He grabs the merc and shoves him down the hallway.

I stretch and approach Pallin. "Have you been able to come into contact with any C-Sec in the area?"

He looks up from the armor case. "Yes. There's a small C-Sec station here on the Zakera Ward in the Market District. All officers inside are present and accounted for. They've locked themselves in the docking bay there and are pinned down by Blue Suns. I sent word that I would assist them."

I nod. "Good. You're going to need some guns too. I got a few extras down at my place. I'll let you take your pick."

He perks up. "You are really full of surprises, Splicer."

I shrug. "You don't know the half of it. But for now let's head up to my apartment."

Pallin closes the armor case and follows me up to my apartment. Everybody is awake now. Nelyna stands quickly as we enter the room. "There you are! I was worried about you when I woke up and you weren't there!"

I frown. "Okay calm down. I just went out to get Pallin some armor." I turn to Pallin. "Let's get you some guns."

He nods and I lead him into my bedroom. Nata and Vaga follow us into my room.

Nata folds her arms in front of her chest. "You keep guns here? Where?"

I gesture at a trophy that sits on a shelf above my desk.

Vaga leans closer and examines it. "Little Miss Citadel Darling First Runner Up."

I shrug. "That's me."

I pull the trophy and the wall above it opens up to reveal my secret stash of guns, ADAM and EVE.

Vaga whistles. "Damn. I wish I knew this was here."

"Take your pick Pallin. I got a whole variety here." I say stretching.

Pallin takes an EVE hypo out. "What're these?"

I snatch it out of his hand. Okay think of a lie and quick! "Uh… I have glaucoma. These help with that."

"What's glaucoma?" He asks confused.

I shrug. "It's an extremely painful… parasite. If I don't take this medicine I'll… explode."

Pallin shudders. I can't believe he bought that. Pallin takes an assault rifle and a pistol out of my selection and he places them down on the desk. "Thanks. I'm going to change into my armor. May I use your bathroom?"

I nod. "Go ahead."

He takes his armor into my bathroom. I close my stash. Vaga leaves the room as well, heading into the main room.

Nata puts her hands on her hips. "When was that installed?"

"I had that put in while you guys were held captive by Cerberus. Ram knew about it." I say as I start taking EVE hypos out of the secret wall.

"Why didn't he tell me?" She shouts angrily.

I shrug. "Because I told him that if he told you I would punch him."

Nata shakes her head. "Weaksauce…"

He, he… I taught her that word… I load the hypos into my pauldron the extra weight feels comforting as I make sure they're connected.

Pallin comes back out of the bathroom fully armored save for his helmet. Damn that was fast.

He walks over to the desk and arms himself. "Are you ready to go back out there, Splicer? I already spoke to Zero and that other turian, Vaga? They've volunteered to come too. We're going to go down to the docking bay at the C-Sec station in the Market District. Hopefully we can take back this part of the Citadel at least."

I nod. "I'm ready when you are Pallin."

Suddenly Pallin's omni-tool lights up and it starts beeping. "Hm? Who's this?"

Pallin receives the call and sets it to speaker phone. "This is Executor Pallin, identify yourself."

A garbled static clouded voice comes in over the other side. "Executor. It's me, Garrus."

Oh shit! Garrus! I totally forgot about him! He's okay! Wow, I'm happy about that, that's weird.

Pallin takes on a surprised expression. "Detective Vakarian? You made it out of the Presidium alive? How are you contacting me? I thought the Blue Suns knocked out communications."

"Yeah they did. But they only knocked down Citadel FTL Comm units. They didn't have the brains to take down the short-range infolink systems that come standard in every omni-tool." Garrus replies.

Short-range info what's? I open my omni-tool. Infolink. Is that what that's for?

Pallin gives me an odd look. Stupid inner monologue. "Detective. What's the situation on the Citadel?"

"The place is being totally besieged by Blue Suns right now. I think their main objective is to capture the Council and get them to relinquish control of the Citadel over to them. But luckily a few Spectres happened to be visiting the Council and have locked down the Presidium Tower. The Presidium station has been captured. I held them off for a while but there were too many of them and I had to retreat. They have hundreds of hostages now, maybe thousands."

Pallin slams his fist onto my desk. "Damn. Detective can you meet up with us? We're on the Zakera Ward. Are you still on the Presidium?"

"Negative. The Presidium was too hot, I had to get out of there. I've been tracking Splicer using the VI link from his helmet to his armor. I'm on the Zakera Ward right now but I'm having trouble pinpointing your signal. Where are you?"

Pallin starts pacing around the room. "We're in Splicer's apartment building. It's heavily fortified and safe from the Blue Suns. I'm sending the coordinates now. I'll have the watchmen let you in. I'm impressed with your initiative Detective. Get here safely and we'll decide a plan of action."

"Roger that. I have the coordinates. I'll be there in a little while. This place is crawling with Blue Suns and I'm having trouble staying hidden."

I jump into the conversation. "There are maintenance access walkways that connect most of the shops and buildings. You can use those to sneak past them."

A long pause. "Alright. I'll try that. Garrus out."

I turn to Pallin. "So we're going to revise our plan now?"

Pallin shakes his head. "No the plan is still to regroup with C-Sec officers at the Zakera station. Hopefully they'll be willing to help take back the Presidium."

I raise my eyebrows. "Bold plan Pallin. I like it."