PROPHECY
CHAPTER TWENTY:
THE PRICE OF REVENGE
August 19, 2185
1200 hours.
Shuttle Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In Orbit Over Zorya.
Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Soldier Grunt, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani.
Marcus sighed as he stepped out of the elevator, immediately making his way towards the starboard kodiak shuttle. He had swapped his valkyrie heavy rifle for a M-76 Revenant light machine gun due to the kind of mission they'd be embarking on. He'd even let Grunt borrow his claymore, swapping the heavy weapon for a simple scimitar assault shotgun. Grunt would put it to better use anyway.
It had been a day ago since the Normandy and hit the Citadel and he handed Rana over to C-Sec. Bailey had been ecstatic, saying that the asari scientist had been a war criminal ever since the end of the Eden Prime War, and that having finally nabbed her was a big win for C-Sec. After leaving, Marcus head set a course for the coordinates of their next recruit; a powerful biotic convict by the name of Subject Zero, or by real name, Jack.
But before they could reach their destination, Zaeed had confronted him and informed the spectre that he had finally found the location of Vido and that they should act before he got away. Seeing as the merc wouldn't take no for an answer, Marcus had their course changed to head for Vido's location. Now they were in orbit over Zorya, the Faia System, Ismar Frontier Cluster.
Apparently Vido and a medium-sized army of his Blue Suns mercs were situated on Zorya; a multispecies colony with a population of one hundred and forty-eight thousand. It's capital was Thun. Apparently Zorya was also the beating heart of the entire Blue Suns organization, the mercs acting as the colony's police force. Their HQ was situated in the city of Thun itself, but Vido had taken a medium-sized force to capture a refinery owned by the Eldfell-Ashland corporation, named after it's founders, as it was a human company. The Blue Suns apparently held the workers as slaves at the refinery, giving Marcus another reason to raid the facility.
So now here they were; about to launch an all-out assault on a corporate refinery overrun by a small mercenary army. It was why he was bringing such heavy weaponry; he had even left the less heavily armed people behind, the exception being Garrus as he didn't think he'd need the turian. He even brought Grunt to, one, to test him out, and two, because he was a pure krogan. Enough was said.
Marcus wasn't surprised to see Zaeed already at the shuttle, the man having his arms crossed as he leaned on the shuttle's hull. He twisted his head as soon as he heard Marcus approach, smiling. Once Marcus had loaded up on the shuttle, it hadn't been long before Grunt and then Jacob arrived. Grunt, as was obvious, was thirsty for some combat and would make him all that more dangerous on the field. The spectre knew he could use that. The krogan didn't have biotics like Wrex, but he made up for that in raw krogan power and brawn.
"I've read up on these Blue Suns mercs," Grunt declared as they moved inside the shuttle, Marcus barking to the pilot to take off as Zaeed sat closest to the hatch and Jacob opposite him. Grunt preferred to stand up as Marcus sat down next to Zaeed, "They were responsible for Okeer's death. This is good. Okeer would love for his legacy to reek vengeance."
"Whatever, I just wipe the smug grin off of Vido's face," Zaeed stated, "Son of a bitch has been running for twenty goddam years. It's time I let the noose loose."
Marcus nodded, "Vido is our first priority, but remember, there will be civilians in that refinery too, so we have to watch our fire."
Zaeed rolled his eyes, "Vido dies. It doesn't matter who gets caught in the crossfire."
"Zaeed, you will not be shooting any civilians. Otherwise, I'll shoot you myself." Marcus said dangerously. Zaeed simply shrugged, moving back to looking out the kodiak's hatch window as the shuttle took off, gliding out of the Normandy's shuttle bay and descending into Zorya's atmosphere, locking onto Vido's coordinates.
Marcus closed his eyes and let his head bob down, not listening to Grunt's mumbling as the krogan contemplated the battle ahead of him. Zaeed and Jacob said nothing, just sitting there, the former gazing out into space and the latter just doing nothing. Marcus simply let his mind wander; resting his mind. He hadn't gotten much sleep since the battle on Omega, and it was taking it's effect on him. After this mission, he'd probably go up to his cabin and take a nap for a bit until they rendevoused with the prison ship.
He thought of his mother. How worried she would be. She must be royally pissed, having to learn of her son's survival through the Alliance and not her own damn son. He'd have to talk to her at some point; maybe even locate the Orizaba and talk to her. Then thoughts of Tali sprung up. He wondered what might transpire on Haestrom when the time came. And then what would his mum think of him dating a quarian? He knew the response wouldn't be negative, but what if she took it the wrong way? What if she thought he was...using her? And had she listened to his warnings about the Reapers?
He didn't need to think about that. It wasn't nessacary. He'd love Tali no less, even if his mother didn't like it. During his entire time serving in the Alliance, he had never fallen in love or had the time for it. He always followed a simple mantra. Romance has no place on the battlefield. That had been his original way of thinking. But now that he had someone he loved; he wasn't willing to give her up. And what of her family? What would her father think of him? Did he think him worthy of his daughter?
These thoughts and many others were violently cast down when Zaeed hit him on the armored shoulder, jolting him awake. As he turned, he saw the hatch was opened and all there was to see for miles was thick jungle canopies, greenery all over the place. He could feel the heat diving into the shuttle, unrelenting. Marcus nodded and stood up, the thought of Tali never leaving his mind as he unholstered his revenant and stepped out into the harsh, Faia sun. Then it was back to business, as usual.
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August 19, 2185
1228 hours.
Outer Outpost, Nerada Jungle, Eldfell-Ashland Refinery, Zorya.
Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Soldier Grunt, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani.
"Jacob, right side, move! Grunt, draw their fire!" Marcus barked.
Gunfire roared across his cover as the Blue Suns tried to keep them pinned, but too no aveil. As soon as Grunt popped up and opened fire, they immediate focused on him, allowing Marcus to stand up and unleash a torrent of machine gun fire, his revenant tearing through shields, armor and flesh like it wasn't even there as merc after merc fell. Eventually they got into cover, Marcus squatting back behind cover as his revenant's magazine was depleted, popping out a molten clip as he slapped in another one, hearing a satisfying clicking sound.
It was then Jacob's time to shine as the cerberus operative hit the enemy's right, taking them behind their cover. One of the human mercs, a pyro, tried to attack Jacob from behind with his flamethrower, but didn't get far before Grunt hurled into him, 500 pounds of super krogan smashing into him and breaking almost every vital bone in the merc's body as it was thrown uselessly into a tree, body limp and dead.
Grunt let out a sadistic laugh of satisfaction, as he ran into what was left of the Blue Suns platoon, shotgun tearing into them as he picked them off, one by one. Any shots that hit Grunt forced him into cover, but almost five seconds later he was already regenerated and charging into the fight again; he was regenerating faster than even Garm did. Marcus didn't regret bringing him on the mission at all.
With the enemy platoon dealt with, they continued to clear the outpost, making sure they hadn't missed any of them. After taking a breather and time to reload, they continued. Noone had been wounded; with only Zaeed being injured. But that had been merely been a bullet grazing him and the bounty hunter had been quick to shrug it off, calling it a 'bite' in comparison to other wounds he had sustained.
The jungle trek was met without resistance. Obviously Vido was more tactically aware than Tarak and Jedore; he had withdrawn his forces to the refinery, taking the time to most likely fortify his position. Unfortunately, Marcus was a N7 and was hardcore military. He had predicted ahead. Instead of hitting the refinery directly, they'd be hitting from the side. Grunt had the explosives on him; having taken some from the pacified outpost.
It took some time, but it wasn't long before they came across a waterfall, water plunging into a deep chasm below. The only way across was a bridge, which had been retracted. However, that was easily reversible, with the controls to bring across the bridge on their side. Just as Zaeed activated the bridge, Marcus stepped up to him. Suddenly, a voice popped up from Zaeed's position. He turned, seeing him holding one of the Blue Suns' communication devices.
"This is Commander Santiago," A human male voice stated, voice deep, "Fortify the front gate and hold. If any of you retreat and the intruders are still alive, I'll kill you myself." Zaeed then growled as he moved to cross.
"Sounds like he hasn't changed."
Marcus shook his head, "I have a feeling you're going to tell me just why you hate this guy."
Zaeed merely scoffed, "I knew he was a sadistic bastard back when we started the Blue Suns. The Suns only got meaner after he staged his little coup twenty years ago," the merc explained, "So yeah, we have a fucking past. Glad to see you took notice."
Marcus widened his eyes in shock, "You founded the Blue Suns? Why wasn't I told?"
Zaeed answered with annoyance in his voice, clearly taking Marcus' tone for anger, "Because it's not common knowledge. Vido wiped me out of the records," The merc paced, shaking his head, "He ran the books. I led the men. Worked real well for a while. Then Vido decided to start hiring batarians. Cheaper labor, he said. Goddamn terrorists, I said."
Marcus raised an eyebrow as he titled, "Twenty years is a long time to hold a grudge over something like that."
Zaeed's face creased into one of rage, standing towards Marcus, "A grudge!? Vido turned my men against me! He paid six of them just to restrain me while he put a gun to my head!" He then made a drilling motion with his index finger into his forehead, "Then he pulled the trigger! For twenty years, I've seen that bastard everytime I've closed my eyes...Every time I sighted down a target. Every time I heard a gunshot."
Marcus nodded in realization, noticing the man's change of tone. This wasn't a grudge, this was something that truly haunted him, just Akuze had haunted the spectre many years afterwards.
"So don't you call that a fucking grudge."
Suddenly, Marcus realized something. Zaeed. A human. Had survived a gunshot to the head. Something that should have killed him, "Wait, you survived a gunshot to the head. How the hell...?"
Zaeed let a grin cross his face, anger fading away, "Rage is a hell of an anasthetic."
Just then, Jacob returned, running towards them and out of breath, "Shepard, we need to go, now. Grunt and I just ran into a enemy squad and I think they know about our counterattack. If we want this to work, we'd better go now."
Zaeed simply sneered, vindicator grip already in his hand as he pushed past Marcus and sprinted down the bridge, past Jacob, "Bring it on, you son of a bitch!" the merc shouted to the jungle, as if hoping that his adversary would hear his words of exclamation. That he'd hear the verbal challenge brought on by the man who he had betrayed.
Marcus and Jacob were quick to follow and they quickly met up with Grunt, who was kicking the dead bodies of numerous turian and human blue suns mercs to make sure they were dead. Without waiting for Grunt, they rushed past and towards the eastern entrance to the refinery. Zaeed's hijacked comm unit crackled to life once more.
"Squads Charlie, Delta, Foxtrot, Mike and Papa, mass at the gatehouse. Move!" barked the batarian voice. Good, the Blue Suns were still expecting an assault from the northern gatehouse. That meant only a small force, or none at all, would be there to greet them at the east entrance. Then it'd be a simple matter of locating Vido and taking him down. Then they'd liberate-
"Shit!" Zaeed barked as he fell to the ground, missile narrowly missing the group as it zoomed past, impacting the ground nearby and setting fire to the nearby undergrowth. Marcus turned to the source, finding a turian holding a missile launcher, accompanied by a Mako. Marcus cursed his luck as he dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding a blast from the Mako's main gun. Without waiting, he simply dropped his revenant, pulled out his missile launcher, and took aim at the stolen alliance vehicle.
Grunt, Zaeed and Jacob were already leaping for cover by the time Marcus squeezed the trigger of the missile launcher, the projectile flying out of the chamber and shooting towards it's target. The rocket hit the Mako just above the cockpit, tearing the shields, but not breaking through. Without waiting, he keyed a program on his omni-tool Tali had given to him. It was an overload unit used to disable kinetic barriers given to her by her father, and this one had been modified by her to target larger geth like the colossus models. He never had to use it, but it might just work on vehicles. Opening the program, he aimed at the Mako and pressed activate.
A jet of electricity shot out of his omni-tool and hit the Mako, causing electricity to taze the entire vehicle. When he looked, he grinned in triumph as Zaeed fired his rifle, seeing the shots ping off the Mako's now exposed exterior. My Tali; helping us even when you're not present. Without waiting, he took aim with the missile launcher again and tried to fire. Before he could though, the Mako located him and fired it's main gun.
The shot missed and hit two meters away behind him; but it was enough to lift him into the air and send him flying forwards, shields gone. He hit the ground with a grunt and he groaned in pain as his mouth slammed shut from the impact, bitting his tongue. He rolled over and aimed the launcher from his upside down position, firing the missile. It zoomed towards the vehicle and hit home; striking the turret and causing it to explode in a brilliant flash of light.
Dumping the launcher, Marcus equipped his SMG and rolled back over, firing sporadic bursts into the bewildered mercs. They tried to retreat, but his team cut them down. Grunt, who had also been thrown across the area by the blast, had gotten up and his fire joined theirs as they picked off the survivors.
Shaking his head to get rid of the dull effects of the shellshock he was experiencing, he motioned for Jacob and Zaeed to breach the Mako and kill any passengers. Meanwhile, he went to stand up, already tasting the coppery taste of blood still fresh in his mouth. He picked up his launcher and holstered it, followed by his SMG as he searched for his revenant. He found it, hiding behind a few bushes. He quickly picked it up and moved to join Zaeed and Jacob, who were already moving towards the wide open gate.
Marcus looked the sight of his revenant, scanning the room. There was a balcony over looking the room directly ahead along with another door to the entrance of the facility; gas pipes and fuellines occupied much of the room. His suspicions of a trap were pretty much confirmed when three squads of Blue Suns mercs; human, turian and batarian, all arrived over the balcony, lowering their weapons at the group. Suddenly, the leader of the group, a african-amerian looking human male, appeared over the balcony, blue tech armor active.
"Zaeed Massani. So you've finally tracked me down." The voice that rolled out of his mouth was recognizable as soon as he spoke. This was Vido Santiago.
"Vido."
He noticed Zaeed move to raise his rifle, but he immediately stopped at the grip when all three squads focused their weapons on him, "Don't be stupid, Zaeed. I have a whole company of bloodthirsty bastards behind me, ready to kill or be killed on my command."
Marcus felt his blood boil. This man was strategically intelligent, but he used his men like resources to be disposed of and replaced. It reminded him of Josef Stalin. 'Death solves all problems - no man, no problem.' This man must be the living embodiment of the bastard.
He noticed Zaeed looking around the room, trying to spot somekind of weakness. Oblivious to Zaeed's plan, Vido continued his smug speech, "Actually, take your shot. Give my men a reason to put you down like the mad dog you are. Again."
Zaeed didn't even hesitate as he unholstered his vindicator and fired pointedly at a fuel pipe behind Vido, missing the man and hitting the pipe, causing gas to hiss as is it fumed out. Vido merely chuckled as Zaeed moved beside another gas valve and Marcus and the team took cover.
"What was that? Gone nearsighted, old friend?"
Zaeed peeked out of cover again, taking aim at the pipe one final time, "Burn, you son of a bitch."
His vindicator barked once more, the fuelline exploding in a torrent of flame as one of the nearby squads was consumed by the fire, throwing Vido into the railing with a grunt. The man fixed a glare at the bounty hunter, who fixed him with the same expression. Rage covered Vido's face.
"You just signed your death warrant, Massani. Men, take down this piece of shit!"
With that, Vido limped away, three squads taking his place and raining fire down on them, keeping Marcus and his team pinned. With fire already brewing all over the place, Marcus wanted to bark at Zaeed to get down when he saw him priming a grenade and placing it on the fuel valve he was using for cover, "Zaeed! Don't-"
Before he could continue, Zaeed had rolled out of the way and the grenade detonated, triggering a chain of explosions to rip through the balcony. The mercs were tossed around, some falling off the balcony and others being thrown into walls, some even being engulfed in flames; either way, they all met a quick end. Marcus fixed Zaeed with a piercing glare, but didn't have time to argue about it. Vido was getting away and the refinery was falling apart.
They rushed through the door and down the next path, encountering two mercs with avengers trying to delay them. The best they did was harass them, with Zaeed simply headbutting the lead merc and Grunt throwing the other aside. When they reached the door to follow Vido, they heard screams of help breach through the walls of the refinery. It was the sounds of workers trapped inside, fires enveloping them. Zaeed didn't seem to care; too busy opening the door.
"There are people still trapped inside," Marcus stated.
"Let them burn. Vido dies, no matter the cost."
Sick to death of Zaeed's stubborness, Marcus clenched his fist and punched Zaeed across the jaw, causing the man reel backwards. He cradled his face, turning towards Marcus with a look of anger on his face, "We do not sacrifice innocent lives of the sake of the mission! Do you understand me? This isn't about your lust for vengeance anymore! You're recklessness has endangered human lives and we are damn well going to do our best to clean up your mess!"
Zaeed was quick to retort, "And if Vido gets away? What then!? What the fuck shall you do then? I'm not going to lose twenty years of my life over some goddamn civvies!"
Marcus had an idea in an instant, opening his omni-tool and pressing Garrus on his contacts list, "We're not going after Vido. But he won't escape either."
Garrus was quick to answer, "You've reached the Vakarian hotline. I'm either running calibrations or I'm in the middle of a suicidal mission to stop genocidal machines. Please leave a message after the beep."
No beep followed.
"It's me Garrus, and I know you're there."
"At least I tried," Garrus responded immediately,"What can this turian do for you?"
"We've got a situation. Zaeed here decided to blow up the refinery and now we've got civilians to save. But that could mean Vido getting away. Do me a favor and deploy the shuttle to these coordinates and stop him for us. Kill any troops with him but leave him alive. Zaeed will deal with him. I've pissed him off enough already."
"Copy that Shepard. I'll take Kasumi and Mordin with me." With that, the turian hung up. Marcus instantly spun towards Zaeed, "Happy now?"
Zaeed let a smirk cut his features, "You're full of surprises, you moral pain in the ass." With that, Zaeed leapt down from the platform, moving towards the inferior of the refinery. Marcus was close behind, with Jacob and Grunt taking up the rear.
They were inside pretty quick and the place wasn't pretty. Fires occupied everywhere, with the whole place just falling apart. However, it didn't take them very long to reach the trapped civilians. It had been a simple matter of shutting off the emergency lockdown, as it caused the doors to lock and trapped the workers inside. With the workers outside, Marcus and his team made best speed towards Vido's platform. Hopefully Garrus had gotten there in time.
When they reached what looked like a cargo port of some sort, they found themselves wedged between the remainder of Vido's forces and Vido himself. It became a fight for survival from there. The Blue Suns forces never seemed to stop coming; not to mention they had a YMIR mech guarding the exit to the outside platform; most likely deployed to hinder their progress.
But Grunt had no such fears. He recklessly charged the enemy mech, ramming it head on. With uber strength, Grunt literally sent the YMIR stubbling into the wall, the mech unable to reset itself; not used to being moved due to it's sheer weight. Grunt then shoved his claymore into it's midsection, unloading a shot that crippled the mech's leg motors, causing it to fall to it's knees. Bent over, the YMIR stood no chance as Grunt pumped a final shot into it's optics, causing the mech to topple to the ground, defeated. The krogan roared in victory.
This proved a big bonus as the mercs focused on Grunt, allowing them to take them from behind. They dispatched the survivors and let the remainder retreat, Zaeed seeming more worried about Vido escaping. They chased after the bounty hunter, moving through the exit gate and out onto the main platform.
As Marcus looked across the platform, he could only manage a smile. He smoking wreckage of a mantis gunship lay in the forest, shot down. What made him smile even more was the kodiak shuttle parked on the platform; but it wasn't Garrus', it was theirs. Garrus, ever the man of style, had actually taken the mobile tank Cerberus had put on the ship and used it to stop Vido. The vehicle looked odd in design; with a main body much like the Mako, but with two 'wings' that acted as the hover thrusters and the main turret ontop. Unlike the Mako, it had no wheels, hovering above the ground, but was parked perfectly.
Dead Blue Suns littered the area, either blown apart by the Hammerhead's firepower or gunned down by Garrus' team. Kasumi leaned against the tank while Mordin and Garrus kept Vido still; the man kneeling on the ground. Upon seeing Zaeed, Vido's smug look changed to one of sheer terror. Marcus rolled his eyes at the man's sudden change of demeanour.
As soon as Zaeed reached Vido, he gave the man a swift kick to the quad, causing him to double over in extreme pain. Garrus let go, letting Zaeed finish off the bastard. The great leader of the Blue Suns; nothing but a sack of trash. For a organization based around military-trained mercs, this man was more grunt then he was commander. Mordin walked over to the shuttle, followed by Kasumi, who seemed disturbed by the sight of Zaeed beating Vido. Garrus just watched on.
Zaeed grabbed Vido's head and pulled it back so he coud look him in the eyes, shouting in his face, "Piece of shit! You caused me twenty years of pain, you treacherous sack of goddam excrement! I should wipe the fucking floor with you! But I won't-I'm not in the mood today for gore. I just want to see you dead!"
"Please Zaeed, think this through!" Vido pleaded, "I could give you control of the Blue Suns again! It'd be just like before!"
Zaeed shook his head as he let go of Vido's head, unholstering the pistol at his hip and raising it to the back of Vido's head, "No Santiago, nomore deceit, no more bullshit. I've spent twenty goddam years hunting you down. I don't show mercy to those who betray my trust; especially not you, bloody cunt."
Vido tried to raise himself again, but a shot echoed through the jungle, Vido's body going slack on the floor from the massive hole in the back of his head, red blood pooling around his dead body. Twenty years of the merc's life wasted searching for this piece of filth. This bastard who turned his own men on him. And now he was dead at the man's feet; hunger for vengeance fullfilled.
Marcus sighed as he let Zaeed have a moment to himself, instead moving towards the shuttle, taking off his helmet as he did. His tongue stung with pain from biting it earlier, but it seemed the blood had stopped running; his regeneration most likely kicking in. The back of his armor was most likely scorched from the Mako round blast, but he'd fix it back on the ship. He instead stepping into the shuttle, throwing his helmet onto the seat to him as he collapsed into the seat. He was quickly joined by Kasumi.
"Tough day, Shep?"
Marcus huffed, "Just so much as tough but...exhausting."
Kasumi nodded under her hood, "I understand that. Kinda felt like that after the fighting on Korlus. I'm a thief; Keiji taught me how to fight, but I don't usually go into full combat missions. This is my first time."
Marcus quirked an eyebrow at the petite thief, "Keiji?"
The master thief was quiet for a moment and once again he saw that sadness in her eyes; but it only lasted a minute, "He is a...good friend of mine." With that, they both went silent. It didn't take long for the Normandy to descend, moving to pick up the Hammerhead. Garrus drove it into the Normandy, and Zaeed was quick to follow, leaving Vido's dead body where it lay.
With Mordin, Grunt and Jacob inside, the hatch closed and they docked with the Normandy. Once inside, the stealth frigate ascended into the atmosphere, Joker taking the ship up and away from Zorya. Away from the Faia system. They needed away from that particular place. After all the absurdity of the mission, Marcus went up to his cabin, having stripped his armor in the armory and had Jacob repair it, deciding to take that nap he promised to himself. As soon as he hit the bed, he was asleep.
He imagined what Tali was up to at that very moment.
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August 19, 2185
1245 hours.
Debriefing Room, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet, In Orbit over Ilos, Refuge System.
Brigadier General Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Rayya, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh, Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Huzzi.
Tali stood perfectly still in the light of the debriefing room. It wasn't really a debriefing room; just a space on the ship that had been cleared a little to serve as a debriefing room. The mission they were briefing Tali and Kal on was top secret and highly classified, meaning that holding such a mission briefing on the bridge where numerous ears could hear was out of the question. Tali was glad Koris wasn't present; as he probably would have whined on about the unethicalities of the mission. Suit-wetter.
It was about the Haestrom mission. This was it. They were finally doing it. They were literally within two day's travel of the Far Rim Cluster, where Haestrom was located. The point of the mission was to take a ship, which in this case was the Hutbyk, a heavy fleet corvette, and enter the Dholen System where they'd land on Haestrom undetected with the Hutbyk's stealth system. Once on Haestrom, they'd hide the Hutbyk and set up a secure facility at an old military barracks within the city ruins. They'd be taking an entire company along with them; her division would attract too much attention and alert geth forces on the planet. They would be gathering specific information.
Dholen was dying. That wasn't the problem though; it was how fast it was dying. Dholen was meant to have two billion years left before it went supernova; according to current estimates, at the rate Dholen was decaying now, the system would cease to exist in just over two hundred years. What was causing the acelleration of the planet's death was unknown but the Admiralty was determined to find out. Tali would be leading a science team, accompanied by a company of skylords, to Haestrom to research what was going on. Apparently Dholen was also effecting Haestrom's atmosphere; filling it with mass amounts of deadly radiation. Thanks to the suits, they didn't have to worry about that. Kal was military leader and would be leading the skylord company.
Prazza and his platoon had originally been going on the mission, but due to their untimely deaths on Freedom's Progress, only Myr would be accompanying them. So now here they were, discussing it.
Considering they'd be using stealth technology, it should be an easy mission; the likelihood of geth detection was moderate at best. So why did she fear death? Because mere thought of going into a geth controlled cluster with a corvette and a company of soldiers wasn't exactly hopeful. They may be skylords, but they were in enemy territory, and they had the homefield advantage; more troops and knowledge of the landscape. The quarians hadn't occupied Haestrom for three hundred years; the geth still occupied it.
But Tali had fought tons of Tali before. Gei Hinnom had been her first time. Then Therum. Then the geth strongholds. Feros. Noveria. Virmire. Ilos. The Citadel. She had fought and destroyed more geth than anyone person in this room; even Gerrel or Kal had killed that much. Tali was known as the geth slayer by all those on the fleet. It made geth apologists depise her; like Koris. It made many quarians worship her. It was why they had high hopes for this mission; Zorah, the geth slayer, was coming with them. That was the pressure. The fact that everyone believed in her. They believed she'd get them out of there alive.
She was afraid of getting them killed. But she knew Marcus would be there for her. He'd be there to save her and her fellow quarians. She knew it was a breach of military confidentiality, but she had to do it. She'd be saving lives. In the end, Tali may be the geth slayer, but Shepard was her mentor. Her teacher. The god of war himself. The man who had fought Saren and won. He would save them, not her.
"So it's settled. The Hutbyk will depart for Haestrom in an hour. Any questions?" Xen asked, looking at Kal and Tali, who both shook their heads. Xen had a major interest in the mission and she knew why. Science was Xen's speciality; her field. If it hadn't been for being an admiral and the captain of the Moreh, Xen would be deploying with them. Tali looked over to her father, who appeared to be avoiding eye contact with her on purpose. Whether out of shame or self-admonishment, she didn't quite know.
"Then this meeting is adjourned. May the ancestors gift you with good luck. Keelah Se'lai." Raan finished, Xen crossing her arms and picking up a datapad to examine the data again.
"Keelah Se'lai," everyone returned, Tali and Kal turning to leave. When the door closed behind them, they moved down the corridor, moving towards the armoury to grab their gear. Tali would bring her armageddon shotgun; she'd probably need it. Kal chuckled at the absurdity of it all.
"Haestrom, huh? I guess this is where the geth slayer, shines, isn't it?"
Tali sighed heavily, "I really wish you wouldn't make me out to be some kind of hero."
Kal nudged her in the shoulder, "Well, that's because you are a hero. You're the Hero of the Citadel!" Kal then noticed that she was looking a little stumped; her shoulders were hung low and she was wringing her fingers. It was a fashion she hadn't used for a year; since then she was a hardened, authoritive marine. She hadn't the need for such nervous stances; she was drilled to ignore such gestures. But now, this Brigadier General, was fidgeting her hands like she had just passed graduation.
He stopped her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You okay, ma'am?"
"Please Kal," Tali laughed halfheartedly, "It's just Tali."
"Still working on that ma'am," Kal responded, "But why so down? Something I should know? This isn't about your bosh'tet of a father, is it? I saw you looking at him during the briefing."
The quarian engineer shook her head, "No, nothing like that. I'm just sick of being heralded as everyone's savior. Every single quarian is depending on me to get them out safely; what makes it worse is that I've slayed geth and I'm a brigadier general; lot of people's lives will be riding on me. An entire company and science team; depending on me to get them out alive."
"That's the pressures of command," Kal stated, pulling her into a corner and wrapping his arms around her. It was a thing that was reserved for lovers and family; and Kal was a big brother to her. He rubbed her back gently as Tali held onto him, "You've got to make decisions that are going to weigh heavily on your consciousness; but they have to be made. Leaders need to become mindless so that others don't have to be. It's the way the system works; it's a fucked up system, but it's nessacary."
Tali simply nodded as she let go, Kal pushing away, but keeping hands on her shoulders. Tali chuckled, "You know, only one other man has held me like that. And not in the way you have. I'd give anything for him to be with me right now."
"And who's that? The corp gave me guns, not intellect." Kal joked.
"Commander Shepard," Tali admitted, seeing as the area they occupied was empty, "Marcus Shepard. He's my mate."
Kal smiled behind his mask, "A human, ma'am? You've outdone yourself. Two heroes in love, out to save all life as we know it? Sounds like an old Rannochian folk tale."
Tali laughed, louder than she thought, "You make me out to be some kind of angel."
Kal shrugged, "You might be. I've seen lots of good marines, good men, fall for you, but never get to live long enough to express. I know our people's women are beautiful Tali, but I think the main reason that Shepard guy fell for you is because you make the asari seem like they're not trying hard enough."
Tali blushed beneath her mask, "He hasn't even seen my face."
"You don't need to. We're quarians," Kal explained, "We don't need to leave the suit just to show our true virtue. And you were right about Elan and Veetor."
Tali widened her eyes, "How so?"
"They're together," Kal stated, "As in a couple. I honestly never saw it coming; but they are. Night quite suit-linking, but I doubt that's far away."
Tali and Kal traded banter much like this for awhile all the way to the armoury. When they had their weapons, they went to the hangar to get prepped for the mission. Tali was still scared, more so than ever before, but her time with Kal had alleviated some of her trepidation. She also secretly knew Marcus would be there to save them all. She believed in him; and that's all the faith she needed.
She believed in him; and the ancestors would deliver him.
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August 19, 2185
1310 hours.
Garbage Disposal, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Hourglass Nebula, Osun System.
Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani.
"It feels good to know that bastard is dead," Zaeed admitted, taking another, drawn out sip of his alcoholic beverage, wiping his lips, "Rage is a great anesthetic, but like all anasthetics, it wears off. It feels good that Vido's dead and that I killed him, but it doesn't feel all that good now. I should feel fucking great!"
Marcus shook his head as he rejected the bounty hunter's offer of a drink, "It might seem satisfying, but you quickly become hungry for more. That's what corrupts people. You can't let yourself lower to that level."
Zaeed slammed a fist into the bulkhead next to him, "Don't give that bullshit! That might work for you, but I've killed tons of civvies before and I never lost an sleep over it! I've killed fucking batarians, asari commandos, turian soldiers and the best krogan battlemasters! Don't bother with speeches! That's how it's been, and that's how it goes!"
"Don't tell me that you look down the barrel of your rifle and love gunning down defenseless civilians!"
"I do! I goddam love it!" Zaeed barked back, "Call me retarded if you want, but I love the death. The smell of blood arouses me. The sight of dead corpses makes me feel better. Ever heard of the quote, 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning?' Well, I love the smell of blood in the morning! It motivates me! How do you think I became the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy? It wasn't because I played nicely!"
"And do you think I became the Hero of the Citadel by butchering civilians and drinking their blood?" Marcus followed his statement with by standing up and moving forward so his face was inches from the merc's, "You seriously fucking think that I love murdering people by the hundreds? Slaughtering mercs and savoring the smell of their rotting corpses? No! I do it because it's nessacary!"
"I can't change who I am! It's who I fucking am!" Zaeed retorted but before more could be said, his face twisted backwards, blood dripping from his nose as he looked towards Marcus in anger.
"That is a load of horseshit and you know it! You can change!"
"Don't lecture me, Shepard. You ain't no bloody saint," He could see Marcus' confusion, so he continued, "I read up on you! And I read about what you did to that ERCS guard on Noveria; she used reave on the bitch!"
Marcus remembered the memory quite clearly. They had been raiding the Synthetic Insights Office for a turian named Lorik Quinn so they could acquire evidence for him that lead to administrator Anoleis' corruption. Sergeant Kaira Stirling however, confronted him and took her threats so far that she outwardly threanted to pop Tali's suit seals. This had been after he first admitted he had feelings for her, after he thought she had been creeped out by him. Outraged by the threat to the quarian's safety, Marcus had snapped and had captured Stirling in a biotic reave; an ability to utterly brutal that it involved the formation of warp fields inside the body; ripping apart interior organs and causing profuse bleeding.
He shook the memory away, "She threanted the life of a friend I considered very special to me. I...snapped. It's one of the times I couldn't control myself. But I didn't enjoy it. I've had nightmares about it since, ableit rarely. But they are still there. The point I'm trying to make Zaeed is that people can change. That means you can too."
Zaeed sighed heavily as he fell back into his seat, wiping the blood collecting under his nose away before it dried up. He went to take another swig of his drink. When he was finished, he looked Marcus straight in the eyes and nodded. Whether out of agreement or the alcohol in his system, he didn't know.
"Fine, Shepard. I'll let the matter sort itself out. I promise I'll be sober when we hit Purgatory. I've heard of Zero before and can't wait to see him in person."
Marcus simply smiled, turning and leaving peacefully. Marcus heard his omni-tool beep, but he ignored it. He had to. The events that had transpired on Zorya were burned into his mind. Vido's death. Rescuing the civilians and watching the refinery fall apart. He had done Zaeed's mission, and now the merc was devoted to the mission ahead of them. Marcus felt like he was sacrificing alot just to defeat the collectors. Hell, he didn't even know where they lived, let alone actually faced one yet. All he'd done was fight mercs; he hadn't fought a single collector yet.
And yet, he knew they were out there somewhere. Just watching. Waiting. Finding new colonies to attack. If he didn't stop them soon, every human colony would disappear.
And then it'd be the whole galaxy who suffered next.
"And now you went off to recruit Jack. That must have been...interesting."
- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.
"I'm not even sure that's the way I'd put it."
- Interrogation Subject 001.
Author's Notes:
A review recently posted asking if Reby was Kal's sister. No she is not; as explained in Enigma, she is his daughter. If she was his sister, I would have mentioned her in the present storyline. I have not, because she hasn't been born yet. This is why I've told you to read Enigma, as tedious as the first few chapters are, because it will help you understand the story of Prophecy even more; same will be with the following installments. Reading the previous stories is a sure fire way to getting to understand the story alot more.
Still working on that information page. ;)