Chapter 13: Larus
July 4th, 2172
Krag and I have been spending the last 9 days looking for Larus, and after searching through a lot of places and consulting a lot of his... "contacts"... we've found out that Larus is now manager of a local restaurant. The problem? He knows that he might a target for something like this. I guess Pinkton tipped him off about what we might do, so he's locked down his restaurant and hired mercs to defend him. Krag and his guys are gonna help me out here.
For a krogan, Krag isn't actually that bad with a sniper rifle. In fact, it's his weapon of choice. The plan is to have him and one of his guys in an apartment across from the restaurant providing covering fire for the rest of us, who'll surround the restaurant, clear it of mercs, grab Larus and get out before C-Sec arrives. Krag's connections in C-Sec have ensured that C-Sec won't be on scene when we're there, and that their response will be delayed so that we have enough time to get out. And I thought Philly cops were corrupt...
We were in position and waiting for signs of movement inside the restaurant. I looked behind me, and saw Krag in the window of the apartment. He was already scanning the windows for mercs. I sat there, nervously tapping my foot, flicking the safety of the rifle in my hand off and on. I got this rifle a few days ago so that I wouldn't only have a pistol during these jobs. I've never had my hands on an M-8 Avenger before, and I swear these are the best ergonomics on any gun I've ever held. Why haven't the Reds got any back home? I don't know, and I shouldn't be thinking about that now. I have a Salarian to catch.
My omnitool pinged. Someone had spotted a merc in the window, and it was time. Krag's sniper rifle rang out, and I heard a window shatter. There was a scream inside, and we began to fire in. The mercs started returning fire at us when they realized what was happening. A group of Krag's men and I got right under the window, and lobbed a grenade in. After the explosion, we rose up into the window and fired at any mercs in the open. Goddamn does this feel good. We broke down the door and charged in, shooting every merc in sight that we hadn't gotten before.
Eventually the restaurant was clear, and Krag came in to meet me. "You found Larus yet, Smartass?" I shook my head no, and began searching behind the counter. There he was, cowering with a pistol in his hand. He pointed it up at me. "Step back man! I'm not afraid to use this!" I sighed. "Larus, if you come with us you won't be hurt at all. I just need to talk about something." He glared at me. "No way man. I heard about what you did to Pinkton. I ain't going down like him." I could feel myself getting angrier. I raised my voice. "Would you rather have a chat with us-" Krag finished my sentence. "-or be busted by C-Sec for your Red Sand operation?" Larus lowered his pistol, and a look of fear came over him. "Alright, ok. Just don't-" Krag kicked him across the face, knocking him out cold. He dragged him out from under the counter, and carried him across the back. I followed him out, only to see that Krag's guys were already engaging C-Sec officers down the street. "What the fuck, Krag! You said there'd be no C-Sec!" Krag got pissed. "Fucking rat. I'll have his ass next time I see him." He started screaming into his earpiece. "Keep them off Costov's back, no matter the cost!" He turned his head to face me. I could see the anger in his eyes. He shoved Larus into my arms, and said, "Get back to your hotel room! We'll keep C-Sec off of you as much as we can!" He pulled out his sniper rifle, and took up a position in one of the broken windows. "What are you waiting for, Smartass! Get going!"
Salarians are actually lighter than I thought they'd be. I slung Larus over my back, and made a break for it into the apartments across the way. I kept making my way through the maze of apartments, dodging C-Sec as much as I could until I came into an alley. I kept running as I heard C-Sec officers yelling at me to stop behind me. They started shooting, so I began zigzagging to avoid the storm of bullets being fired my way. I eventually lost them in the labyrinth of alleys, and got back to my hotel room. Holy shit! What the fuck just happened?! I entered my room, and laid Larus down on my bed.
I immediately entered the bathroom, and washed my face. I looked at myself in the mirror. There were cuts on my face, and I was bleeding pretty bad from my left arm. I checked the drawers for spare medigel, and after finding some, I applied it to the cuts on my face and the gash on my arm. Crude job, but still sufficient. I went back into the bedroom, took off my hoodie, and sat in a chair facing the bed Larus was on. I grabbed my pistol, loaded in a thermal clip, and waited for Larus to wake up.
It took a few hours for Larus to come about. When he woke up, he was scared stiff, and tried to leave. "C-Sec'll have you if you try to leave." That was sufficient enough, and he sat back down on the bed. He took a look at me, and cringed. "Geez, you look bad." I continued to stare at him. "It was all to get you out of there alive." I turned on the TV to the news. News of a shootout at a local restaurant... reknowned krogan crime lord, Krag, killed in the fighting... no survivors from his gang. Larus watched with me. "I may have hated Krag, but he was a damn good merc." I stared at the floor for a while. I was just getting to get Krag's respect.
I got up. "Well, I got you for one thing." I holstered my pistol, and pulled up a chair. "You know who a certain John Stokes is, right?" Larus looked at me like I was insane. "How old are you?" I raised my eyebrow. "17. Why?" He shooked his head, and brought his palm to his face. "You're too young to be hunting this guy. He's ruthless, and knows just how to get your money out of your hands." I grew angrier. "I don't care. I need him for personal business. Now, do you have any idea where he might be?" Larus laughed. "You don't just find Mr. Stokes. Besides, he left the Citadel a few months ago." I could feel my blood boiling. "So my being here on the Citadel is pointless?" Larus got up. "Listen, kid. I've got some beef with the guy, too. How about we find him together?" What choice do I have? I just lost my previous ally only a few hours ago. "You know what? Sure." Larus smiled. "I'll find a ship. I heard he went to Earth, a city called Philly? Philadelphia? You know where it is?" I laughed. "I've lived there all my life, of course I know where it is!"