AN- Thanks go to Drakependragon and Semet who has bravely chosen to join the Beta team - pray for his immortal soul :-)
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Fire and smoke chokes the air…
The smell of burning flesh churns up my stomach and above it all the screams. Dear God the screams, wailing and pleading for mercy, and in the midst of it all Zaeed stands there unmoved, his gaze cold and unfeeling as he observes the carnage around him.
"My loyalty has a price." Zaeed hisses softly just before he tosses a heatsink at me while I cower on the ground, injured and covered in gasoline.
The glittering red ruby arcs through the air to land on me, sparking my clothes, and setting them alight.
The cave girl, the First Slayer, crouches down while sniffing at a charred carcass. "That which you must buy is worth less than that which is given freely." she whispers knowingly as she continues to hover over the corpse.
The flames begin to eat away at me. Anderson sits by and stares into the flames that were beginning to consume my flesh.
"I gave you a second chance Shepard… You can't waste it."
"I'm burning, I'm going to die!" I plead with him. This man is the closest thing I have to Father now that Mom and Dad are dead and gone.
Why can't he see my pain, my anguish.
"Death is your gift child.," The First Slayer cackles "It is your burden, your curse, your blessing."
"There is no other way Child; either you destroy them or they destroy us." Anderson replies with a forlorn sigh, "Choose any other path and we are already dead…"
Something stares at me from the shadows. There is a cruelty in the eyes that is at once so very alien and yet so terrifyingly familiar.
A cold demonic smile cuts across the face almost cutting it in half. This is not the smile of a friend or a lover, THIS is the smile of a predator that has, at last, found the prey for which it has hunted for so very long.
Its dark eyes, two bottomless pits leading down into an inevitable nothingness,
"You cannot fight against your nature." it hisses at me, "You're no hero , you're no savior. What you are Shepard is The Butcher... The Machine ... That's what you are; that's what you will always be… Don't fear it, embrace it!"
My screams deafen me I don't even know anymore if its the fire or the fear that consumes me and in the end ...maybe it doesn't matter.
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Shepard's Thoughts
Slayer dreams ...
Thank you Xander for that little gift… Essentially it's an early warning system that provides me with valuable Intel that can aid me in defeating the foes I face, overcoming the obstacles in my path, and protecting those I care about... There is at least one minor glitch however, I have to figure out what the images mean first and unfortunately, as Xander is fond of reminding me, no one ever got around to writing a Slayer 'Dreams for Dummies' book so I'm pretty much left with figuring stuff out the old fashioned way, on the fly.
I figured it had something to do with the mission to Zorya, where Zaeed's old partner was working the employees and other residents to death.
Zaeed thought we should stop him.
I thought I had Zaeed figured out. I thought that, yes, he was a mercenary, but as long as he was under contract he'd follow my orders and be an actual professional about how he went and killed people.
I keep forgetting that while Zaeed might be a mercenary he was also a man, and men can be motivated by things way more basic than simple greed... Pride being one, rage and hate being others.
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The team looked down at a huge factory belching rather sizable clouds smoke into the air.
"Eldfell-Ashland Refinery just like I told you Shepard." Zaeed grumbled as he continued to gaze down at his target. "Let's get this show on the road."
"EDI, please report any com traffic from the Suns." Shepard ordered of her ship's AI.
Xander shook his head before opening his mouth with, "The IES shielded us from being detected when we were in orbit." He said as he tapped his fingers on his omni-tool and bringing up the larger screen display. Pointing at two indicator lights pulsating on the holographic map he then continued with,
"Bad news is they have two forward points of operation branching out from the main facility. One of them is between us and the refinery while the other is a couple of clicks east of the rest of facility. When the shuttle dropped the Suns probably saw us and if they didn't I can guarantee they'll know we're here when we pass the base on our way into the refinery."
"If we hit them hard and fast enough it won't matter will it?" Jack snarled as her biotics flared in anticipation.
"I was starting to wonder if there was a reason you brought the destructive little bitch along." Massani grinned, the whole time knowing perfectly well how close he was to getting a bioticly enhanced punch to the head. He had just been around the block so many times that he didn't really care anymore.
"...And we're sure EAE wants a clean sweep?" Xander asked,
"Sorry to burst your bubble Junior but corporate types can be ... a little ruthless." Massani replied snidely before anyone else could open their mouths.
"I'm just saying that there might be people still alive down there." Xander replied, the old mercenary's attitude not fazing him in the slightest.
"Vido is a sadistic bastard, so if anyone IS still kicking they won't be once he realizes we're on his ass."
Shepard deftly reached back and unhitched her trusty sniper rifle and it unfolded to its proper size, a huge and monstrous affair, as she heard the two men snipe back and forth.
"What the hell is that?" Massani asked as he gaped at the huge thing Shepard was now holding.
"It's a Geth weapon," Xander answered, "I wanted to call it the 'Widowmaker'." Shepard shot a look at Xander who continued on smoothly as he pretended not to notice his commanding officer's look, "I have been 'informed' however that calling it that might be considered a bit inappropriate. There was also some stuff in there about patriarchal persecution and female empowerment..."
Jack was now staring at him hard, the electric blue of a biotic field having now grown from a faint shimmering to something far more predatory and ominous looking as it wrapped around her.
"And I'm going to stop talking now." Xander said as he finally finished.
Shepard just continued to stare balefully at him for a moment longer before nodding with satisfaction.
"Jacob built it based on Xander's design schematics." Shepard explained, "It's got a hell of a kickback, but it will kill just about anything I aim and fire it at."
"Do I even want to know how you managed to get your hands on the specs for some Geth weapons?" Zaeed muttered as he glanced over in Xander's direction.
Xander only looked over at Massani for a moment before answering with, "No old man, you don't want to know how I pulled that off."
"We're taking it for a test drive." Shepard replied before flipping the switch in her brain that dictated how she responded on the battlefield compared to anywhere else. "Harris, grab Jack and circle around to the forward base and draw them out into the open, I'd like to see what this bad boy can do."
Xander only nodded before he and Jack headed down into the jungle to follow out their orders. When they had advanced a short distance Xander tapped at his ear bud.
"Ground team to Normandy, come in." he signaled as the comm-link to the orbiting stealth frigate connected.
"Normandy actual, Joker here. What's going on Xand?"
"Is Lawson around?"
"I'm here Mister Harris, what is it?" Xander heard the voice of Miranda Lawson come over the com and he couldn't help but notice the automatic twitch that came to Jack's features when she heard the 'Cheerleader's' voice.
"You're still monitoring all extranet traffic right?" Xander asked as he continued walking.
"Of course, it's a security precaution." Miranda replied already quite tired of explaining herself over and over again, "Shepard told you there would be certain things you'd have put up with if you wanted to serve aboard this ship."
Xander snorted, "I just want to know if you've been monitoring Massani's email. I want to know who he was talking to at Eldfell-Ashland Energy."
"That's a good question." Operative Lawson seemed genuinely shocked that Xander of all people might have a practical idea, "It will take a little while… I'll get back to you as soon as I get anything."
As he cut the connection Jack looked at him, her involuntary twitch now gone away with Miranda's voice, and she asked, "What is it Harris? Worried your girlfriend is making nice with someone other than you?"
"I'm not in high school anymore Jack." Xander replied with a chuckle, "What I'm not so cool with is being played and I'm getting really bad vibe out of all this."
"What's that mean?" Jack asked, her interest now peaked.
"Massani is as mercenary as they come and you know better than most that mercenaries don't get out of bed unless someone's paying them to." Xander said with his brow now knitted together in thought.
"Dude wants to waste this Santiago guy." Jack replied with a shrug, "No big shock there."
"So why share the glory with Boss Lady?" Xander asked, "Technically he'd be obligated to share any sort of reward with the rest of us. Does Massani strike you as the kind of person to just throw good money aside?"
"Well whatever, the old man better come through with the creds though, I ain't down here busting my ass just for charity." Jack said, a scowl blooming on her face as she thought about the implications of her companion's words.
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The forward base was in ruins and Vido's harsh voice could be heard off of one of the dead Sun's coms, demanding updates that would not be coming.
"This is Santiago, get your asses back out there. If these intruders aren't taken out soon I swear I'll kill you all myself!"
"Oh, he's a real charmer." Xander growled as he continued to scan with his omni-tool for any possible surprises, "You used to work with this asshole Zaeed?"
"It was twenty years ago," Massani shrugged nonchalantly, "my standards have become a bit more refined since then."
"You've been chasing this guy for twenty years?" Jack snorted. If nothing else that sort of thing took commitment.
"You gotta problem with that Missy?" Zaeed growled.
"Someone fucks with me; you can bet your ass I ain't waiting twenty fucking MINUTES for payback." Jack shot back snidely.
As this little back and forth was going on the squad continued to move down one of the pathways leading towards the refinery before taking up posts near the south entrance gate. From the com traffic it looked like a small army of Blue Suns was massing just on the other side of the door.
Shepard turned to Xander and said, "Xander, you still have that combat drone thing that Tali made you?"
"Anya, oh yeah… You want her to scout the perimeter Boss Lady?" Xander asked even though he had already started calling said drone into existence.
Shepard nodded with smile and she had to admit it was fun working with Xander again. They were already slipping back into the natural symmetry of their old working relationship and she knew that it wouldn't be much longer before it was almost like they had never parted to begin with. Which to be honest wasn't all that surprising considering that he was a couple centuries old, so changing too terribly much in just a couple years would be somewhat difficult for him, and she'd missed the last two years of her life so changing would have been just a bit difficult for her too..
A moment later Xander finished tapping away at his omni-tool's holographic controls and Anya flared to life.
An angry purple colored globe, the drone happened to be temperamental but useful for just about a hundred and one things all the same, and that wasn't even taking into account its various repair functions.
"So, you never got around to telling me who Anya was." Shepard prodded playfully as she finished prepping her sniper rifle.
"A woman I almost married. I lost her when Sunnydale did the big fade out." Xander replied easily after a moment. He'd had a lot of time to come to grips with his past mistakes and so thoughts of Anya no longer held the same sting that they used to.
"Ahh, you're a romantic. How sweet is that?" Shepard asked rhetorically, her tone still playful but now with a touch of apprehension laced in it, before nodding and patting him on the shoulder.
Xander, for his part, just ignored Shepard's jesting before poking at the controls to make Anya fly free and glide up into a ventilation shaft. He heard her chattering away right before the visual interface on his omni-tool opened up and let him see inside as Anya continued down the service corridor.
Anya produced just enough light of her own so that they could all clearly see the dark shaft stretching out ahead of the drone as Xander continued to direct her.
"We're wasting time," Zaeed grumbled impatiently, "Vido's in there right now and I'm NOT letting him get away from me again!"
"Is he on the other side of the door ready to pop out and shoot you in the back the second we walk through the damn door? Or is he up above us on a balcony ready and waiting to gun us down when we go blundering in making ourselves easy targets." Shepard hissed as she gave Zaeed a sharp look that clearly said 'Shut the fuck up you whiny old bastard!'.
"Sometimes the best strategy is the full frontal assault girlie!" Zaeed snapped back as his fuse grew even shorter.
"And just how many infiltration OPs have you lead exactly?" Shepard asked as calmly as she could.
"I was running men through places like this since before you were a green recruit girl!" the old mercenary grouched.
"Then maybe you've heard the old saying," Shepard hissed as she tried to keep her voice down in the face of her temper flaring up over Massani being an ass, "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."
Before Zaeed could respond though Xander made a triumphant sound and said, "I got Vido, he's set-up above the main doorway waiting for us to stroll in there. Looks like there's a secondary gate beyond the door, but he's already sealed that."
"Well we weren't exactly expecting him to make this easy for us were we?" Shepard sneered. "What else?"
"We already know where he is let's go!"" Zaeed growled, his patience now pretty much gone.
"What are you hiding meat-bag, I know when a guy's fucking lying." Jack snarled, she'd been thinking about what Xander had said and found herself thinking that he was right. Something just wasn't adding up. "I'm betting the old fart's gonna screw us over, let me ice him then we can get the fuck outta here."
"Look, Me and Vido ... it's a personal thing." Zaeed deflected lamely.
"Define 'personal thing' Mister Massani." Shepard growled as her temper finally started breaking the restraints she had put on it.
"He screwed me over for the leadership of the Suns! Paid six of my own guys to hold me down so he that could have the 'privilege' to put a gun to my head and pull the trigger himself!"
The Slayer dragged her fingers through her dreadlocks, "Crap, I knew it! Damn grudge matches never end well." Shepard drawled out. "OK Xander, keep scouting; find me Vido's exit strategy."
"What?" Zaeed shouted, "He's right there. We can take him!"
Shepard glared at Massani before responding with a low, "You're way too horny for this guy. That means if it comes down to the squad or Vido I don't know which way you're going to go; that's dangerous."
"Screw this! I don't give a damn if your too scared to take him on, I'm not." Zaaed retorted before dashing away, throwing open the gate, and darting inside.
"OK, I guess we're committed now…" Xander sighed. Zaeed, the stupid son of a bitch that he was, had just made this OP way harder than it had to be.
"Let the old fart take a crack at it if he wants it so bad." Jack snarled, "I say let's book it and get the hell back to the Normandy."
Shepard shook her head, knowing what she had to do even if she was privately in agreement with the volatile woman beside her, "No, that's not how this works Jack and I think you know that." she said, "We support each other. And no matter how much I want to shoot him right now, he's still a member of my squad. Xander, can Anya finish surveying the place without you?"
Xander nodded, "She's totally independent, sorta, kinda reminds me of the original, which is I guess kind of the point of why I named her like I did."
"Leave her active and relaying whatever data she can pick up than. Come on people, saddle up it's time to go."
"Oh boy, geezer wrangling…" Xander said with a snort, "I'm really living the dream of the intergalactic hero now baby."
"I'll find you a damsel in distress later." Shepard replied dryly as she the rest of the squad cautiously started making their way into the complex after Massani.
"I have no idea how you two ever managed to get such a bad ass reputation." Jack said while shaking her head in mild confusion and bewilderment.
Jack then noticed that Shepard's eyes had grown cold and dark, a death's head smile bisecting her entire face as it replaced her normal expressions. 'Oh,' Jack thought, not afraid to admit to herself that she was a little startled at the change, 'that's how…'
Shepard looked at her for a moment before speaking. "If you can keep up Jack," She answered, "I think you're going to find out pretty damn soon."
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Explosions, fire, screaming wails of panic… Vido cursed the whole lot of his soldiers as completely useless as he fled deeper into the building. His men had of course tried to hold the oncoming enemy squad in the main entrance but the flames and heat were already driving them back and allowing the intruders to advance.
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"What the hell are you doing!" Shepard asked with a shout.
"Vido was confident," Zaeed growled as he watched his old partner flee, "had a lot of men and now they've been nicely toasted he's panicking and we got him on the run."
"...And blowing the damn building up, that doesn't strike you as a bit extreme?" Xander snapped out.
Shepard cut them both off before another argument could break out between them, "Enough! We can discuss this back on the ship." she said as she sought to re-center herself.
"Once Vido's dead we can discuss anything you want." Massani snarled, his single minded obsession now ruling over his every move.
From there the entire squad doubled timed it up a set of stairs with the heat and flames from the explosion Zaeed caused dancing around them and licking at their heels.
Suddenly Xander heard a distant cry. He looked up and saw through the flames a single person trapped on the overhanging gantry running the length of the room. Flames surrounded the young woman who shouted down at them,
"The fire, it's too hot... We can't get to the controls to shut off the gas."
"Boss we got civilians." Xander said while pointing at the woman on the ledge.
Shepard snarled a curse before replying with, " And here I was just thinking that this was going too easy!"
"We stop to help those people and Vido gets away." Massani pointed out 'calmly' as he started fingering his side arm.
"And?" Shepard replied with cold calm of her own. She knew where this was going and she didn't like it one bit.
"If Vido gets away you really think he won't try to do this to someone else? To a bunch of someone elses?" Massani asked as if his question would solve all of his squad mates' doubts.
"Like you give a crap about that!" Xander shouted as he gestured to the panicking woman above them, "You just want him dead; what if it was Jack up there, or me?"
"You lot can take care of yourselves. You probably wouldn't be caught dead in that kind of situation in the first place!" Zaeed nearly shouted as a near manic gleam entered his eyes.
"That's what I thought." Shepard snarled in disgust, "Xander, you and Jack go get the civilians. I guess I'm stuck with the master mercenary."
"What the hell is your problem?" Zaeed shouted.
"Let's go Massani, let's just do this if we're going to do it." Was all Shepard said as she started marching off in the direction Vido had gone.
"We'll stay in radio contact and let you know when we get them out." Xander assured Shepard as he and Jack started heading in the other direction.
Shepard only nodded while frog marching the protesting Massani into the flames.
"Ok, she's pissed." Xander sighed.
Xander and Jack then headed for the upper floors. Xander quickly found the holo-interface controls for the facility's gas mains before simply re-channeling the more than flammable liquid away from their part of the facility.
Soon the flames lessened in intensity… Now the place was only like the inside of a damn oven as opposed to feeling like they were trapped in the fires of Hell itself.
He and Jack then soon arrived at where the refinery's workers were struggling to stay alive.
He banged on the glass and shouted, "Relax we're going to get you out of there!" Then his com beeped as he received a message and he quickly tapped the side of his ear piece to open the link.
"Xander here, go ahead." He said as he continued to look for a way to get the civilians out.
"Harris, it's Miranda. You were right, Massani has been in contact with Eldfell-Ashland."
"So he was telling the truth."Xander sighed. He honestly hadn't been expecting that.
"That's all he was telling the truth about." Lawson reported as she swiftly continued, "Eldfell-Ashland wants the workers alive."
"What? But Massani said..."
"I can only imagine what he said, but he wouldn't know would he? Eldfell-Ashland was hardly going to tell him an important detail like Jonas Ashland's Granddaughter being among the workers. Too much risk of that fossil taking her hostage for a ransom of something." Miranda said sarcastically.
"What?" Xander asked even though he had heard her perfectly. 'Oh great, this is just NOT my day.' Xander thought ruefully.
"Aisha's down there?" Joker asked out of the blue, "I saw her sex tape."
"Who is she?" Xander asked as he suddenly slipped into all business mode.
Joker explained, "Really young, really rich and mostly famous for the fact she is really young and really rich."
"You've got to be kidding me?" Xander sighed, "A thousand light-years from where humanity began and I'm stuck rescuing the 22nd century's answer to Paris Hilton?"
"That would be an accurate summation of the tactical situation Mister Harris." EDI replied in her usual monotone.
"It gets worse..." Miranda said.
"I'd ask how this could possibly get worse but I know better after all this time." Xander replied as he just pinched the bridge of his nose and continued to listen.
Miranda explained what she'd discovered before disconnecting the comm-link.
Xander's luck was apparently running at its usual rate of efficiency and now it would seem it was spreading out to encompass the boss. Maybe he should start wearing a sign of some kind…
Anya chirped a notification to him letting him know she'd found something interesting.
Xander looked at what she'd found and a slow smile spread across his face.
"What?" Jack asked him.
"Oh you AND the Boss are going to just LOVE this."
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"What's the matter old friend?" Santiago taunted. "You managed to even bring Shepard into this and you still can't get it done. You've really gone to seed old man."
"You bastard," Massani shouted, "I'll show you who's gone soft!"
He gunned down several Blue Sun mercenaries while setting off a several more explosions in the process.
Shepard took down a thug carrying a blowtorch, setting off the tank strapped to his back with a few well-placed shots so that the resulting explosion took down not only the person she was shooting at several of his buddies as well.
Then in the middle of all this her com beeped with an incoming message from Xander.
"Boss," She heard her friend and subordinate say when she opened the com, "EDI says you're in some sort of a central area and that there should be a couple of outflow tanks above you. Personally I'd shoot them, it might make things easier on you."
"Oh yeah, I see them." she replied as Zaeed unleashed weapons fire on the Suns still stupid enough to be blocking their pathway.
"The two rooms on the east and west walls, they are for channeling fuel, reset them and you'll be able to take out Vido." Xander continued after a moment's pause.
Zaeed spun around at the message and spat, "Vido is right ahead of us, if he gets away Junior I'm blaming you." he snarled.
"Xander are you sure about this?" Shepard asked.
"As sure as I usually am about these kinds of things." Xander answered simply.
"Fine I was getting tired of chasing this idiot anyway." Shepard replied with a snarl. This whole assignment was getting on her last nerve.
"WHAT!" Massani shouted out in rage. The traitor he'd been chasing for twenty years was right in front of him and Shepard was gonna risk him getting away on the words of some kid!
"You heard the man, we're doing this," Shepard replied calmly, "if we each take one it will go faster and we'll still have plenty of time to catch the bastard."
Zaeed snarled as he started of the way he'd originally intended, "If you think I'm letting Vido get away so you can run errands for some wet-behind the ears pussy then you can keep your damn money! I thought you were a goddamn professional!"
With that aging mercenary darted across the bridge and Shepard thought about yelling at him to stop, then she thought about shooting him, and then she decided she had bigger concerns and let the stupid bastard go.
Shaking her head in consternation Shepard then darted toward the east room and hit the fuel control interface before quickly sprinting across the way to hit the second control.
The Refinery VI announced in its bland voice the results of her work. "Fuel circulation bypass complete, fuel reroute to north docking bay commencing."
A moment later a final YMIR came online and Shepard didn't hesitate, she just opened fire, trying to take down its kinetic barriers before it could get a bead on her. Catching sight of the outflow tanks Xander was talking about, she directed her fire at one of them. The valve exploded open and the tank spewed fire directly at the YIMR scorching and melting the thick armor.
Shepard tagged the thing and it exploded harmlessly. Well, harmlessly from her distance anyway.
Then she darted forward and threw open the doorway and heading out onto the landing where Massani was directing fire at the floating gunship but Vido was safely behind the ships kinetic barrier.
A single umbilical line secured the gunship to the landing pod and the refueling station thereon.
Shepard smiled, "Xander you clever little bastard." she whispered before taking aim.
Vido, who was currently oblivious to the peril he was in, continued to mercilessly taunt Zaeed, "Sorry old man see you in another twenty years! Oh, and here's a little something to remember me by."
Vido banged on his gunship's control panel and said gunship's rocket pods opened before firing off round after round in the direction of his old compatriot. The resulting explosion sending debris flying into the air before it came back down as nothing more than burning garbage; with Zaeed quickly becoming trapped under one particularly large piece.
Vido retreated into the gunship which rose into the air, tearing the umbilical cord as it flew away.
It was better than a mile and half and going strong as Xander and Jack arrived.
"Where's Vido?" Xander asked.
Shepard just pointed in the direction of where Vido was going.
"Oh, I guess we'd better stop him then." Xander sighed resolutely before asking. "You hit the controls right?"
His commanding officer only nodded in response before they were rudely interrupted with,
"You idiots just cost me twenty years of my life!" Massani screamed from under the flaming wreckage he was trapped under.
"Shut your mouth ya old fart." Jack snarled back in response. "We know you tried to screw us over." The young tattooed woman had clearly had enough of Zaeed's shit.
"Jack?" Xander asked as he got her attention, "That ammo modding trick you do, can you do it to weapons you aren't holding?"
"Yeah, of course."
Without a word Shepard unhitched the Geth modeled sniper rifle from her back and silently lined up her shot.
Jack's eyes brightened as the understanding of what Xander was on about hit her and biotic energies quickly began shimmering into existence.
"Like I told you before Boss, don't shoot with your eyes, shoot using your Slayer senses." Was all Xander said from where he stood next to the rest of the squad.
Shepard looked across the large gulf of space between her and her target and suddenly she knew without a doubt that she couldn't possibly miss such a ridiculously easy shot. As it was she barely felt the recoil from her oversized rifle as she squeezed off a round.
"Oh big girl, great job," Zaeed said bitingly as he tried to drag his aging ass out from under what seemed like half the helipad, "a sniper round against an heavily armored and shielded gunship would be a small wonder it didn't bloody-"
Then the gunship exploded…
"Sweet fireworks…" Was all Xander said as he continued to watch the outcome of his plan and the Boss' shooting.
Jack nodded along with him a giant grin lit up her features, "Nice Shepard!"
"Good job everyone, let's get the hell off this rock," Shepard said brightly, glad that this pooch screw of an OP was over and done with.
And Zaeed? Well, Zaeed could only stare on in shock as what was left of Vido's transport started falling back down to the ground below. Then he quickly shook himself out of his shock and gave Shepard the most incredulous look he could muster. "How the hell did that?" he sputtered out after a couple of seconds, "...that's impossible."
"The gas you unleashed when you blew up the place are really REALLY volatile." Xander explained, "I had to reroute the gas flow to save the workers. The secondary controls are in that big room you had to pass through. When I had the boss activate the controls, it rerouted the flow to the gunship since it was still being refueled."
"And since the old fossil already proved all you need to set that shit off is a good bullet..." Jack finished as she nodded in understanding.
"And the gunship was filled with the gas, which was in the gunship's main fuel tank," Shepard filled in from where she was packing up her Widow, "and the tank still had a refueling line connected to it so all it needed was a trigger like a strike from the Widow."
"Widow? I thought we were being sensitive?" Xander asked.
"When YOU call it Widowmaker, that's being insensitive." Shepard said with a smirk. "When I do it, it's cool."
"Vido's dead?" Massani whispered almost as if he didn't bekieve the proof that was right in front of him.
"...And with not a lot of help from you old man," Shepard snapped irritably, "I'd ask what you were thinking, but hey we know you weren't doing much of that now were you?"
"I ... I don't believe it."
"That Massani is why you fail." Xander snorted derisively.
It was at this point that Shepard bent down over the trapped man so that she was practically nose to nose with the mercenary before she said, "That, Massani, is what happens when you have good a squad behind you, when you have people you can depend on watching your back. You accomplish your goals and you do it without blowing a goddamn building up or killing innocents!"
Zaeed only snarled in response before retaliating with, "What do you know? I heard about you... Oh yeah, I've heard all the stories. The great Commander Shepard, also known as the Butcher of Torfan. Everybody knows you hate Squints and you sure as shit didn't care about killing a bunch of em when you had the chance. Made 'em kneel on the ground and beg for their lives when you gunned them down so the stories go. Now you're gonna go and pretend your shit don't stink?"
"Wow, and the guys under YOUR command ended up betraying you huh?" Xander asked in fake disbelief, "I'm surprised they had to get paid to do it."
"Go to hell Junior, now get me the fuck out from under this crap." Zaeed shouted as he flailed around, looking outright insane now more than ever.
"You don't get it do you Massani." Shepard hissed as she ignored the older man's plight. "You spent twenty-years of your life pointlessly chasing that asshole and in the end it was THE TEAM that got it done. Not you. Myself, Xander, and Jack working together… The destructive little bitch, the wet-nosed baby, and the touchy hard-case. That you abandoned in the middle of a firefight just so you could go off and chase your obsession."
"I survived this long by looking out for my own ass, no sense in looking for anyone else." Zaeed shouted up at them from his place on the ground. He was practically frothing at the mouth by this point.
"That's not how we're going to get this done Massani. We go up against the Collectors, or anyone else in our way as anything less than a team and we're going to get torn to shreds." Was all Shepard said as she continued looked down at the somewhat mad mercenary.
Xander looked around nervously before he finally said, "I think that we should get going, come on Jack help me get this thing off him."
Shepard's voice and gaze were cold as she continued to speak, 'The Machine' now being in full control as she pulled out her pistol and pointed it at the mercenary's head, "Now, give me one good reason I should risk my people, or my mission, on a broken down old man who can't put aside what he can't fix and put the team and the mission first." It was at these words accompanied by a look that had broken men far tougher than him that got Zaeed to calm down a fair deal and start to think straight again.
"I'll give you two," Xander replied before Zaeed could, "Terra Nova, if it had been up to you the hostages would have been killed. The only reason any of them are still alive is because Buffy was there."
Shepard just looked at the speaking man for a moment as she tried to keep a flinch off her features at the memory her friend's words brought up before saying, "You said you had two reasons..."
"Simple, cause it's what Anderson would do if he was here. Well, most likely anyway." Xander finished with a shrug.
For her part Shepard only looked at Xander a moment before holstering her weapon, reaching down, and pulling the debris off Massani while hurling it off to the side with a casual toss that shocked even the ever jaded Jack.
"Massani, we're making for the Citadel and I intend to drop the hostages there. You have until we get there to decide if you can play nice with others. If the answer is no then you can consider your contract with Cerberus terminated and you can go your own way. Make no mistake Zaeed, this is officially your second chance. Everybody worth a damn gets one with me. For your sake, don't waste it because you won't get another."
With that the commander of the Normandy turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Massani to look after her in bewilderment.
"Who's Anderson?" Massani suddenly asked.
"David Anderson, her former commanding officer, and currently humanity's rep on the Citadel Council... And maybe the only person who's respect Shepard really gives a damn about. If not for that, your ass would have been left to rot out here Massani."
"David Anderson huh? I hear he's some kind of a big goddamn hero type?" Zaeed questioned.
"The biggest and he taught her everything he knows. Though not everything she knows." Was all Xander said as he began following after Shepard with Jack quickly following suit.
"I'm starting to believe all the stories about you two," Zaeed told Xander honestly as he slowly shook his head, "I almost want to come along on this stupid mission just to see what you two can manage to pull off."
Xander shuddered, "I'm kind of curious about that myself."
8
9
8
The EAE workers were being contained to a small area of the shuttle docking bay. Miranda was insisting that some slight concession to security was needed. She may have had a point since of the six workers who'd survived two were technically minded enough to pay way too much attention to the prototype Hammerhead hanging over their heads as well as the Kodiak shuttle which had transported them from Zorya's surface.
Of interest to Xander however was the young East Indian girl, whose pleas for aid had almost certainly saved the workers lives. This was of course the young granddaughter of Eldfell-Ashland's CEO Jonas Ashland. Her name was Aishiwarya Ashland.
The young heiress gazed around the docking bay in wonder while clutching a small mech that looked like a mini FENRIS to her chest.
Shepard, Miranda and Xander were currently watching the survivors from the viewing area one deck up from the cargo bay.
"Do we know what she was doing down there?" Shepard asked her eyes followed the young heiress.
"According to Joker, she's filming a reality extranet podcast." Xander explained. "Think 'Undercover Boss' meets 'The Simple Life'."
"I've never heard of either of those." Shepard replied, her gaze never leaving the person in question.
"And thank God for that, reality TV was one bane of the twentieth century I absolutely do not miss." Xander grumbled.
"The mech acts as a camera?" Miranda asked.
Xander nodded before responding, "Anya ran into him in the refinery's vent shafts. Ashia was using it to scout out the area. Sorry to say boss but that little guy caught and recorded most of the actual engagement."
"Are we going to deal with that?" Shepard asked out loud even though she already knew the answer to her question.
"EDI's blocking it from transmitting anything while she's aboard ship as we speak," Miranda answered, "unfortunately the footage from the gun fight on the ground has already been uploaded to the nearest com buoy."
Shepard could only shrug in acceptance at her XO's words before saying, "Well, we knew this little party wasn't going to remain secret for too long. I say let's just embrace the situation. Have Chakwas move some of her equipment down to the shuttle bay to treat any wounded that they may have. She's army, she knows the score."
"And what will we do when we hit the Citadel?" Miranda argued, "Ashland's a publicity magnet, we'll have every media outlet in the galaxy digging around to find anything they can about us in the next 24 hours at the latest."
Xander shuddered, "What worries me is if she really got video footage of the boss in action then we can assume the whole galaxy already knows you're back. Or they soon will anyway." He interjected quickly so as to forestall an argument.
"That was a possibility even before we somehow picked up the heiress to a multi-billion credit fortune. But for now she and her people stay in the shuttle bay." Shepard replied calmly, glad for the interruption. Even if she was getting on a little better with her XO Shepard knew that the two of them would probably never see eye to eye on more than a few subjects.
With the decision on what to do with the civilians that they'd picked up made Shepard stepped away from the glass and said, "Tell Chambers I'd consider it a personal favor if she'd have a chat with our guests down there, to make sure they've survived their traumatic ordeal without too much damage."
Miranda shuddered before nodding regardless of her own trepidation, "Are we really THAT concerned about their welfare?"
Shepard shook her head 'no' then she answered with, "No, that's just a cover. Our real intent is for Kasumi to get in there and neutralize their omni-tools without any of them ever being the wiser. No scans, no pictures, and absolutely no recordings of any kind."
Then as they were speaking the ship's main lift opened up to allow Garrus onto the deck. The turian was sporting new armor to replace the set that had been ruined during the battle on Omega. It wasn't anything all that special but it certainly did the trick.
"There you are, Shepard I need to talk to you." Garrus said before he paused to look over at Lawson. "It's kind of a personal matter…" His meaning was clear.
"The ship's XO was just finishing her report." Shepard replied sharply, if not unkindly. In the end Miranda could only grimace with annoyance before retreating to the lift. She knew a dismissal when she heard one, no matter how much it galled her.
"Garrus, I know you don't want to hear it but we're all on the same side, for now." Shepard said. "Seriously though, I really need you to work with these people. At least until we've confronted the Collectors and I have some kind of evidence that the Alliance can't ignore."
"You can't say that you don't remember some of the screwed up shit they were pulling…" Garrus grumped, even though he knew that the commander was right.
"Believe me I remember, but I need this ship and its resources for now if I'm going to have any real chance of going up against the Collectors. Frankly Garrus, if I'm walking into hell I could really use your help on this one. Which means that, for now, you've got to try and make peace with these people." Shepard patiently in said in response.
"You do realize this plan has ME walking into hell WITH you?" Garrus asked with a snort.
Xander laughed sarcastically, "Come on G-man what? You wanna live forever or something? It's an OP against an unknown enemy and possibly overwhelming odds. How dangerous could this possibly be?"
Shepard and Garrus gaped at Xander, "You did not just ask THAT question?" Garrus replied.
"I have to hope for something Garrus." Xander shrugged, "Maybe one day the catastrophic danger loaming on the horizon will be of the fluffy bunny variety."
Shepard snorted, "Knowing OUR luck it will be a fluffy bunny the size of a Reaper."
"On the upside, Another in the long list of weird things I thought I'd never live to see will be checked off."
"Youhave a list of weird?" Garrus deadpanned. "And there is stuff on it that you haven't come across."
"...And since I've met you guys, I've checked off a ton of stuff."
Shepard snorted, "It's good that we're keeping you entertained, you're less dangerous that way." she turned to Garrus, "Anyway why were you trying to find me?"
"Actually it was the both of you I was trying to find at the time, who I ended up finding though was Sidonis." Garrus answered, the last few words coming out with a slight growl.
"Who?" Shepard asked.
"Sidonis, I brought him in to aid the team during the whole Archangel mess after I found Xander." Garrus said as his eyes grew hard.
"This was the guy who sold you out; betrayed your team?" Shepard asked.
"He lured me away from base," Garrus explained, "by the time I figured out he wasn't coming to our meet the mercs had already ambushed the team out on the street. The ones who didn't make it back to die at the base from their wounds bled out in the gutters of Omega." Shepard couldn't help but notice Xander wince at this last statement.
"I was with Mordin in the quarantine zone so I didn't find out about Sidonis until the siege was already well underway." Xander's voice was bitter as he spoke.
"As for Jack and Kasumi," Garrus continued to explain, "they were out on a surprise job, that's why they made it out okay."
Shepard shook her head, "Damn, I'm sorry about that Garrus, I wish there was something I could do."
"There is," Garrus replied as a malicious light gre in his gaze, "There's a local forger on the Citadel, calls himself Fade. He's very good at making people disappear and Sidonis was heard asking about him just before he vanished."
"You think this Fade could know where Sidonis has slipped off to?" Shapard asked.
"Even better, since the Geth attack travel restrictions have been tightened exponentially. The red tape someone has to put up with while travelling to and from the Citadel is incredible, and that's without factoring in the fact he'd have been travelling from the Terminus Systems of all places."
"You think Sidonis is still on the Citadel?" Xander asked.
Garrus only nodded.
Shepard looked thoughtfully at Garrus before speaking, "I wanted to meet with Anderson anyway. The man deserves to hear from me just about what the hell I'm playing at. After that though, I have no problem making this thing with Fade and Sidonis a priority."
"Come to think of it I've wanted to have a chat with Sidonis ever since I heard he'd cut and run myself." Xander replied.
"Shepard, I know you're still a little raw over what happened down on Zorya so I'll be honest." Garrus eyes filled with cold fire, "Conversation with Sidonis is low on my list of priorities. He hissed.
"Garrus, buddy -" Xander began but The Turian cut him off.
"Don't Garrus-Buddy, me Xander," He shouted, "He owes us, ten good people are in unmarked graves because of him. That's a debt I intend to see he pays us back for in full."
8
9
8
They were less than an hour from the Citadel when Zaeed caught up to Jack in her cubby-hole in the sub-deck.
"What do you want old man?" Jack snapped out as the mercenary approached.
"EAE sent me the bonus for the Zorya job." Zaeed said, unbothered by the fact that he was clearly unwelcome. "He really wanted his workers back and he was willing to pay for it. But seeing as you and Junior were the ones that actually rescued the civvies ... Well, anyway, here.'
With that Zaeed handed her a cred-stick and Jack was about to sneer at him some more when she caught sight of the amount of money loaded on it.
"What the hell? You serious old man? Ashland's willing to pay THIS much to get his little brat back?"
"No, that's YOUR half of what old man Ashland was willing to pay to get his brat back. Junior gets the other half."
"What fuck are you playing at old man. All I did was follow Xander around. You trying to pull some shit cause I ain't some good time girl you know?"
"Don't look at me girly, Shepard's orders. You did the heavy lifting, you get the bonus."
Then, having said what he come to say, Zaeed left her alone again.
And now that she was by herself again Jack found that she didn't know what scared her more at the moment, the idea that the big-time alliance heroes were eventually going to screw with her, or the fear that they were in fact just what they seemed to be.
And for a few minutes Jack could only look at the cred stick in her hands before whispering to herself, "They're fucking with me, they have to be, everybody tries to fuck me over eventually."
Yet there was a small part of her, a part of her that she'd tried her best to ignore since she was a little girl, which wanted to believe, just this once, that maybe these people were on the level...