Chapter 28: Bring Me the Sky

Jack could tell Kal wasn't happy to hear his voice given their last conversation so, he kept it short, "I was in the neighborhood and heard Balak was active again, so I thought I'd come help."

Kal's tone was short and clipped, probably the Quarian felt he was the only reason Jack was here, just like Torfan, "Uh huh... Simon, any Batarians there yet?"

The chief engineer stepped forward to the comm's speaker, "No, just your friends, and the engine's still not active.. Kal, I think Balak is headed to the mainframe, that way he could activate all the engines from one place instead of fighting you for every inch."

Not knowing the history between them, Ashley raised an eyebrow whispering, "You know this guy? He sounds like an asshole to me."

Kal spoke up again having thankfully not heard her, "Damnit your right, there out of the window," His tone was louder for a moment, "Everyone get to the safe room right now!" Jack could hear fearful yelling in the background, "Simon give the Commander directions how to get here, Reeger out."

Simon turned to face them as the comm station clicked off, "Gods I hope they'll be ok, we have children in that building Commander..."

Ashley folded her arms, "You keep kids here? What kind of mining operation is this?"

He was about to say something but, Jack cut them off, "I'm sure your explanation would be very interesting but, it sounds like they're in trouble no matter why they're here. Simon, give us those directions."

The engineer opened his omni tool and tapped it a few times, "Right, I'm sorry, here you go. Take my Mako Commander, but please hurry. If Balak gets to that mainframe he could drive us all into Terra Nova. Billions will be killed, including my grand kids."

Jack wasted no time going to the Mako outside but he still had a lot of questions. How had Admiral Kahoku known this was happening but at the same time get the specifics wrong? He couldn't shake the feeling that this was all a set up of some kind. Maybe he was just being paranoid but, it was awfully convenient that Balak knew the love of his life was working as a glorified security guard in the middle of nowhere. He would have to get the Batarian talking when he arrived, Balak had a habit of saying too much when he thought he had the upper hand. Ashley and Wrex followed him into the Mako and he started driving. Jack just hoped Kal could hold off the group until he arrived.

_o0o0o0o_

Garrus's eyes slowly opened feeling a sharp stabbing pain in his right arm, Saren hadn't hesitated had he? Garrus would have to remember this the next time he and Saren met. He originally thought he was in the Normandy's medbay until he started looking around and seeing the ceiling of the mess hall and Tali at the end of the bed pushing it out of the way. Liara was pacing the halls looking to be deep in thought, had someone died? The door to the medbay was covered with a plastic tarp and inside the window he could see Doctor Chakwas cleaning the surfaces in the room rapidly, luckily there weren't any body bags around. Nevertheless, something big was happening and he was missing it.

He groaned looking down to Tali who was ignoring him to type on her omni tool, "Hey, what did I miss?"

Tali didn't answer him at first too busy typing until her helmet looked up at him, "Other than the fireworks you started by blowing up an entire volcanic chain and putting our lives at risk? Nothing, nothing at all."

Garrus sighed sitting up, "Guess the Commander knows about that huh? Why am I still on the ship then? I kinda went rogue after all."

Tali sounded monotone, even more so than usual, "I didn't tell Jack what I suspected. I figured having Saren's relative around was better than having one less crew member."

He raised a browplate from her tone, "Do we have a problem? You seem like you don't like me."

Tali waited a moment before replying, "It's just hard for me to work with a CSEC agent having been on my pilgrimage. I was lucky if I got to walk by one without getting stopped."

Garrus winced trying to wave his stiff arm around while giving her a teasing glance, "It's a good thing I quit CSEC then huh? And uhh thanks for covering my ass, I owe you one. Where are we now? Did the Prothean Doctor have anything useful to say?"

Tali shrugged, "Right now we're on Terra Nova, Balak wants to try a rematch of Torfan. Jack's on the ground with Ashley and Wrex, we're acting as backup. The Liara situation is less clear, neither one of them have wanted to talk to any of us about the vision."

Garrus stood up despite the pain running up and down his arm, "I guess I better get suited up then, he'll probably need us knowing Balak."

Tali tilted her helmeted head, "Are you crazy? Doctor Chakwas had to put a metal bar in your arm because Saren practically destroyed it. You can't just start fighting again till your bones heal."

Garrus gave her a confident smile, "Trust me I'll be fine." He winced after tapping his omni tool, "Joker get me as close as you can to wherever Shepard is going."

Liara suddenly stopped and looked at him, "Garrus? Just be careful down there with what you do, Shepard and Balak have a lot of history you'll be jumping into."

Garrus just started walking towards the armory knowing official records well enough. Sure every story had something more to it but, he would be fine. In his CSEC days Garrus had dealt with hundreds of domestic disputes, was this really all that different? He also felt like he had to show that he was a valuable member of the team, otherwise Jack might want to kick him out. That might be an irrational fear given Jack's friendly behavior but, he couldn't help having it. It was important to Garrus to be the one to take Saren down to clear his own name to his family. He didn't want to be seen as a failure to the loved ones he had left. However, it was obvious after their encounter on Therum he would need Shepard's help. His arm just had to last for one sniper shot, preferably to Balak's head and then he could rest awhile.

_o0o0o0o0o0o_

The coordinates for the main building were getting closer and closer but, Jack still felt like they hadn't gotten there fast enough. After twenty minutes a lot can go wrong in an active combat zone, what if he was too late and Balak had just killed Kal? Jack's gut tensed when he saw the front door to the main facility blown open, it wasn't a good sign for Kal. As the Mako got closer though, several Batarian bodies were also laying under the door itself and Jack grinned. Kal must've blown the door from the inside as a trap for the terrorists. Fewer numbers would at least make it easier to take Balak down, and that's what had to be done. Balak had proven one too many times that letting him somehow escape only led to more deaths.

He turned to Ashley as he slowed down the Mako, "I'm going in the front alone, Balak will be completely focused on me. That'll give you both plenty of time to flank around and get him from behind. Don't move until my signal though, he probably has hostages now, understood?"

Once they both agreed, Jack jumped out of the Mako drawing his weapon. While splitting up was a sound plan, Jack also had a very selfish reason for doing it this way instead of a frontal assault, Torfan. Seeing as how this situation was very similar to their last fight, he was sure Balak would talk about it, and Ashley didn't need to hear any of that. Eventually the secret world inevitably come to light but, he would much prefer it was after he was done dealing with a galactic extinction event. If he was removed from the SPECTREs, no one would be interested in going after Saren or learning more about the Reapers. The sounds of yelling and fighting pulled Jack from his thoughts and made him start running down the central hall.

As he moved, Jack passed many Batarian and a few Human bodies. The sheer amount of Batarian's dead made Jack tremendously proud of Kal, Simon was right, the Quarian was making Balak pay for every meter into the building. Jack's heart fell though as he made his way into the main headquarters, a lot of Human's were dead from an explosion blast and at the far end of the room, Kal was the only one left. Balak had Kal in a choke hold from behind but, the Quarian was still fighting, using his long strong legs to snap another Batarian's neck in front of him.

Seeing Jack enter, Balak turned his and Kal's body to face Jack, "Well damn that was mighty quick. Just touch this cute little head and you come running. It's good to see you Jack, you miss me?"

Jack needed to keep him talking long enough for Ashley and Wrex to get into position, "Not especially but, I'm sure your going to talk on and on about how you missed me."

Balak sneered missing a few teeth now, "See we were made for each other you and I, we just seem to always know what the other one wants. I'm sad you didn't miss me but I bet I know someone you actually missed. Why don't you say hi to your love bird dear old Kal?"

As Balak lowered his hand from Kal's mouthpiece, the Quarian shouted, "Go to hell you son of a-"

His mouthpiece was quickly covered again, "Woah Kally boy why don't you watch the language? There are kids in the next room." The Batarian pointed to a glass window where on the other side around thirty women and children sat looking terrified, "We wouldn't want to hurt their innocent little ears would we?"

Jack now knew something was very, very wrong after Balak said Kally. It was something Jack used to call Kal in their most private and intimate moments on the Everest. That could only mean Balak had footage of them together, and the Alliance had a mole. With the inconsistent story the Admiral had given him about what was going on here, Jack had to wonder if Kahoku was personally involved. The Admiral would certainly have access to the video feeds of their quarters but, it was hard to picture a Human would actually work with Balak.

Trying to not look shaken up, Jack slowly approached, "Let's cut to the chase, what do you want Balak?"

The Batarian pulled Kal backwards towards the back door to keep distance between them, "Just how I remember you, getting straight to business, I like that." He used his pistol to point to a computer in the middle of the room, "All I want you to do is to turn that on and bring me the sky."

Jack shook his head keeping up the pressure by continuing to walk forward, "I'm not killing billions of people for you Balak, it's not going to happen."

Balak frowned and clicked the safety dramatically off his weapon, "Are you sure about that Jack? Last time we saw each other you were all too eager to press a button for me when I threatened Kally. This time your mom won't even be in the crossfire, it'll be easy. What's a few more billion dead if you get to keep the man you love?"

Kal was desperately struggling and shaking his head, Jack stood his ground, "Things were different then Balak, this time I have the advantage."

Balak started laughing until a Krogan shotgun blast rang out in the distance, "Shit, she said you would come alone! That lying bitch tricked me didn't she?! I... I'm a loose end now aren't I?"

Jack held up a hand trying to calm him down, a wounded animal was the most dangerous after all, "Why don't you just slow down so we can talk about this alright? Maybe I can help you find this woman, who is she?"

Balak seemed to snap starting to shout, "No, NO! I will not die because some Human BITCH backstabbed ME! Besides, your not my friend, you just want Kally don't you? I'm giving you five seconds to hit that button or I'll blow Kal's head off. FIVE... FOUR..."

Garrus' voice suddenly came through his ear, "Shepard move to the side I have a clean shot and Ashley's team is getting stopped."

"THREE!" Balak was shouting at the top of his lungs now.

Jack gave Kal a subtle wink before saying, "Alright Balak you win, just let me get over to the terminal."

Kal was struggling even harder having not seen the wink thinking Jack was really doing this. Jack hated giving him that helpless feeling as he walked towards the mainframe but it was short lived as a bullet rang out. Unfortunately, Garrus had underestimated the force of the kick back dramatically altering the angle of his shot. Turning back to look, Jack saw that the bullet had hit Kal in the shoulder and not Balak.

The Batarian started laughing, "Ahahaha, hahahaha, that was your plan for a rescue? A single sniper who missed his shot hitting... Ahahahaha."

In his laughing fit, Balak loosened his grip on Kal. This allowed the Quarian to grab Balak's wrist flipping the slavers body onto the ground and take his gun, "Looks like it worked you bosh'tet."

A moment later, Wrex and Ashley poured in from the back door with the Krogan chuckling, "Ha, Batarians, so bad they can make Quarians look like they have an actual quad."

Kal cocked his head while holding Balak at gun point, "Friends of yours...?"

Jack nodded before looking up at Ashley, "What took you both so long?"

A new Turian voice made Jack's and Kal's head snap in that direction, "Oh, just a brief misunderstanding..."

Jack's eyes widened seeing the hooded Turian standing before him. It was impossible but, that was Mandaria giving him a Turian smirk, her mandibles twitching, "Hey Jack..."