Hey pals.
I wanted to apologize for the lack of updates. Almost 2 weeks since I last updated this story. I have not given up on it, nor will I. This story is like my firstborn child, I just had to take care of my other story. I been kind of busy in real life too, so that my excuse. I will try to update more often, but no promises.
1/5 2183
Mads began to wake up. He began to dwell on the events of the previous day. He took his cigarette pack and decided to have a smoke. Did they deserve it? To be completely torn apart by a powerful shotgun, Germany complained that the Shotgun was immoral during World War 1, if it doesn't kill you; then you are now the host of several pieces of lead. If you're not helped right away, you will lie in a ditch trying to bandage yourself from several points of entry, a meaningless action. It might be immoral, but these pirates and bandits deserve worse.
Mads' conscious is clear as day, not many people can claim as much. Not that some things didn't trouble him, but it was all so far out of his reach. Sometimes he wondered if he really was the right kind of guy for this job. Never did he ever dream of becoming a galactic protector, those roles seemed right out of the movies. Just then did Mads realize that it had been too long since he had seen a good movie, perhaps it was time to watch something, to get his mind of the events of the previous day.
Mads loaded up his terminal and opened up the galactic movie collection, a bit like the Netflix service they had back in his time. How he would spend countless hours watching entire series whenever he wasn't away on military duty, such memory was he fond of. Mads skimmed through the movie collection, it was full of bullshit movies that were nothing but money grabbers, to cash in on a once beloved franchise. It seemed the Aliens too were quite fond of movies, some traits really do carry across species like Kaiden had put it.
Mads loaded up Blasto 2, a movie about a Hanar spectre. Mads chuckled at the thought, not that he wished to be viewed as a racist towards other species. The film was boring to say the least, really bad production value. Mads gave a sigh and decided to keep on looking for a good movie.
Just then did Mads stumble upon an old classic. He didn't know that the aliens liked old human films; well Mads wouldn't call them old.
Goodfellas. A damn good film. Made 2 years before he was born, it was a cult classic. Nostalgia filled Mads' mind, such a masterpiece should be giving screen time again. Mads spent the next 2 and half hour watching the classic.
Mads finally came out of his cave. Once again dressed in his alliance uniform, it's quite a while since he had worn anything other than that or his armor. One of these days he thought about taking a day off and just enjoying the free time, perhaps on the citadel or Earth. But that would have to wait until the Galaxy is safe, or the Turian Saren is in the cold ground. Made gave a small yawn as he went over to the kitchen, where he brewed himself a coffee.
He walked over to the mess table; there he found both Kaiden and Ashley. They were busy chatting each other up. They seemed to get quite friendly with each other.
"Hey you two" Mads greeted as he sat down.
"Hey Commander, why are you first up now?" Kaiden asked.
"Watching an old classic, kind of lost track of time" Mads replied.
"What did you watch?" Ashley asked.
"'Goodfellas', a legendary film. Have you seen it?" Mads asked back.
They both shook their heads.
"Uncultured heathens" Mads remarked as he sipped some of coffee.
"Guess we better watch it sometime then" Kaiden said as he blinked to Ashley.
"You two are cute" Mads commented as he sipped some more coffee.
"It's not like that Commander" Ashley replied as her cheeks turned red.
"Sure it's not, and we're not hunting down a rouge spectre" Mads replied smiling.
Ashley switched uncomfortably in her seat, afraid the commander might expel her from the mission, since romance wasn't allowed in the alliance.
"If you're afraid I will terminate you Ashley, then you can ease up" Mads said reassuringly.
"I- Thank you commander" Mads gave a quick wink. Then procced to finish his coffee.
"What are you doing today commander?" Kaiden asked.
"Hunting down Dr. Heart" Mads replied.
"Dr. Heart?" Kaiden asked.
"A fugitive hiding from his judgment. A favor for Garrus really" Mads said.
"I see. Well good luck" Kaiden said.
"Thanks, got a feeling I'll be needing it" Mads said as he rose from his seat.
Mads nodded to them before departing for the Elevator. He stretched out a bit, his back giving a crack.
Looks like I'm getting old, the next thing will be a receding hairline, oh lord please have mercy on me Mads thought to himself, like most men he hated the idea of losing hairs and the remaining turning gray. Though it was bound to happen at some point. Still he was only 33 or 191, depending on how you looked at it, he preferred the former.
The elevator doors opened to reveal the cargo bay. As charming as ever, not that he would have it any other way. There was a peaceful vibe to it. Mads walked over to Garrus, once again busy doing things to the Mako.
"Do you have a fetish for the Mako?" Mads asked as he appeared in Garrus' line of sight.
Garrus gave a quick laughter.
"If I was turned on by the Mako, it would be an even more glorious sight" Garrus replied.
Now it was Mads' turn to give a small laugh.
"I suppose that's true. We are not far out from the good doctor" Mads said as he pressed his back against the Mako.
"So it finally comes to an end" Garrus said.
"We're nearing the end. What will you do?" Mads asked.
"That's easy; I'll butcher him like one of his victims." Garrus answered truthfully.
"Wouldn't it be sweeter to let him rot in a cell?" Mads asked.
"No way, there is a million ways he can escape on our way back." Garrus said.
"How about we make a deal?" Mads asked.
"What kind of a deal?" Garrus asked.
"We will try to arrest him, if he refuses, you can butcher him, I will even lend you the knife" Mads proposed.
"Hmmmm... Alright" Garrus agreed.
"Excellent, get yourself ready, we will board the vessel in about 45 minutes" Mads ordered.
"Will do" Garrus said as he resumed his work on the Mako.
Mads went back to the elevator and took the ride back up to his quarters. He started to clean his 44. Magnum, making sure it would do its job well. There was no telling what kind of things would be on the ship they were about to board, since Dr. Heart didn't have the best reputation. Mads then spent the rest of the time cleaning the newest additions to his weapon collection. These old guns required a lot of maintenance work, but they felt so right in his hands.
Joker's voice came over the comms.
"We got the MSV Fedele in sight commander. It looks abandoned though."
"I'll be right up" Mads said as he slid his 44. Magnum down in his thigh holster.
Mads walked out of his quarters and up the flight of stairs. His hobnails boots echoing throughout the Normandy, his favorite trait in them. Mads greeted Pressly as he walked by, it was high time for another officer meeting, but it would have to wait until this mission was over.
Mads went up to Joker, him being in his usual seat. Busy typing in different controls.
"What's up?" Mads asked.
"It looks abandoned, it's drifting through space and is using almost no power. Sure you want to board?" Joker asked back in a surprisingly serious tone.
"Joker, I didn't know you cared" Mads replied.
"Shut up commander" Joker said as he turned his attention back to his console.
"Call up Garrus, will you?" Mads ordered.
"One moment" Joker said as he active the ships comms.
"All birds report to the bridge" Joker said, then closing the comms.
"He should be up right away" Joker said as he turned his head to Mads.
Mads chuckled. "Good one" He said.
It took a few moments before Garrus arrived.
"You ready?" Mads asked as soon as Garrus was in hearing range.
"Indeed, I'm ready to finish what I started" Garrus replied in a quite serious tone.
"Please don't get carried away, I would prefer you kept your sanity" Mads said.
"I have never been more sane" Garrus replied to his comment in a cold tone.
"We'll see about that" Mads said in with the same amount of coldness.
The Normandy hocked up with the MSV Fedele. Mads and Garrus walked into the airlock and waited for the process to be complete. Finally the doors opened to reveal almost haunting empty hallways.
"Lovely" Mads remarked as he took the first step on the vessel.
"You don't say" Garrus replied.
The walked along the hallway until they reached the door at the end. They had checked all the side rooms, revealing nothing but crates.
"You think the good doctor bailed his own operation?" Mads asked just as they were about to open the door.
"I don't know what I'm going to do if he isn't here" Garrus replied as he opened the door.
They were greeted with a less than pleasing sight. Several humanoid creatures were staring at them, looking a lot like Thorian creepers.
"Fuck me" Mads said as he reached for his shotgun on his back. The creatures began to rush towards them.
Garrus and Mads began to light them up, the sound of shotgun shells hitting the floor echoed throughout the ship as the firefight came to a close. Mads pulled his shotgun barrel up to his face and blew away the small stream of smoke coming from the barrel.
Mads squatted down and began to take a closer look at these creatures. Luckily the shotgun had already opened up their skin to reveal the organs inside.
"Dr. Saleon's handiwork?" Mads asked as he took a close look at the extra organs inside the creature.
Garrus squatted down beside him and took a look at the mess before him.
"I'm positive" Garrus answered as he raised himself up to his feet.
"Let's find him then." Mads ordered as he pointed to another set of doors, different from the ones they entered through.
"Right behind you" Garrus replied.
Mads opened the first set of doors, revealing another empty hallway, however as they opened the door to the first side room, they found a Salarian hiding inside.
"Thank you! Thank you for saving me from those things!" He said, clearly glad he was safe.
"Commander, that's him, that's doctor Saleon" Garrus broke in.
"What? My name is heart! Dr. Heart. Please, get me out of here" The doctor said, trying to sell his lie.
"You sure Garrus?" Mads asked.
"Never been surer in my life" Garrus replied.
"Very well" Mads said.
"There is no escape this time, doctor. I'd harvest your organs first, but we don't have the time" Garrus said in a menacing voice.
"You're crazy! He's crazy! Please, don't let him do this to me!" Dr. Saleon pleaded.
"You forgot our agreement Garrus?" Mads asked.
"But we can't let him get away! There is a million different ways it could go south if we took him in" Garrus argued.
"He is worth more alive Garrus, that brain of his holds the keys to everything he have been doing. We'll find a nice small cell he can live out his days in" Mads fired back.
"I've- Okay, you're right" Garrus said as he finally backed down.
"Dr. Saleon, you're under arrest for breaking citadel laws regarding organ harvesting. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you-" Mads was reading up his rights as the doctor spoke up.
"Forget it! I'm not going to prison" Saleon said as he reached for his gun.
Mads quickly drew his revolver and pointed at the Salarian.
"You sure this is how you want to play it?" Mads asked.
"Screw you human! You will never catch me alive!" He yelled as he tried to run for cover. However his head had a giant hole in it before he got anywhere near his desired destination.
"So he just dies anyway, what's the point of that?" Garrus asked.
"He refused my offer of salvation. He chose his own path; I didn't let that change me. Remember that" Mads said as he slid his 44. Magnum back into his thigh holster.
"I see. I have never met anyone quite like you Romanov" Garrus said.
"Well I'm an older breed of human" Mads said, only realizing a few seconds later what he just said.
"What that supposed to mean?" Garrus asked.
"A story for another time, let's get back to the Normandy" Mads said as he rushed out of the room and the ship.
Garrus stayed behind for a few minutes to collect enough evidence to send back to C-sec to confirm that it was indeed dr. Saleon they had just killed.
Garrus finally boarded the Normandy again and went straight down to his work station at the Mako. There he could dwell on the lesson given to him today.
Mads settled into his chair in front of his terminal. He started the process of writing a report about the events of the day. He also updated Garrus' report, making a few notes.