Chapter 25: Dossier: The Vigilante
Serpent Nebula, Widow System, Citadel, Skycar En Route to The Olympus.
March 14th, 2185. 8:22 am. EST (Earth Standard Time)
It's Pi Day!
Not that the simple fact had anything to do with what was going on.
In actuality, the previous day, despite the encounter with the Council, was lackluster and mostly normal aboard the Normandy. Tela Vasir got situated on board, given a private room of her own on another deck on the Normandy. Though she didn't quite agree with Cerberus, she decided to join the ground team as a member and a valuable asset both within and beyond Council space. Kasumi Goto, as expected, set up her stuff in her lounge, with the fully equipped bar and everything.
They were introduced to the crew and, as expected, Miranda wasn't overly thrilled with the idea of having a Council Spectre aboard and as a member of the crew. Despite her protests, Shepard remained unmoved on the issue, telling Miranda to take it up with the Illusive Man if she had such an issue with it. Despite her arguments, the Illusive Man had yet to contact anyone about the issue, leading Jordan to believe that Miranda decided not to complain.
Other than that, it was a simple evening, with the only other interesting thing that occurred being the continuation of Tela's and Jordan's conversation of what has happened on Rannoch and with the Geth during his several months of silence. She knew something happened to the Geth, since many of them worked with Liara on the Broker ship, but didn't know any of the details. She was shocked, but understanding and even sympathetic towards his current situation with his appearance. Otherwise, yeah, just a normal night.
That is, until Shepard got a call from Anderson, informing him that the Vigilante had entered The Olympus, the very same hotel where Jordan stayed when he first arrived on the Citadel.
Shepard had decided to take him, Kasumi, and Tela as his squad. Together, they all hopped into a skycar to get to the hotel ASAP once they were suited up and ready.
Everything was normal, and it seemed like it would be a simple mission after all… that is, until Shepard got a call from Anderson.
"Shepard. There's a situation."
"What is it, Anderson?" He replied, the entire conversation was audible to the four of them.
"There's been an attack on the Presidium. An entire company of mercenaries have descended upon The Olympus. We think they're after the Vigilante."
Shepard's eyes widened slightly, "What about C-Sec?"
"Occupied and stretched thin. Many of the mercenaries have begun taking hostages throughout the Presidium. With this going on, there's no way C-Sec can get anywhere near the Olympus… which is where the Council comes in."
"The Council?" Tela Vasir asked, straightening up a bit as she asked.
"They have officially named both you and Shepard as Spectres assigned to this situation." He informed them, "As such, your primary objectives are putting a stop to the attack and learning why this is happening." Anderson paused, before answering the unspoken question, "Survivors and civilians are a secondary priority, Shepard. Save them if you can, but you must stop the mercenaries."
"Who do we have, Councilor?" Tela asked, "Who's attacking? Blue Suns? Eclipse?"
"We don't have much intel on the enemy, other than the name of their company. We're working on more information, but… it is the Talons."
Jordan swallowed harshly. This didn't sound good.
"Good luck, Spectres." Anderson said, "And make sure the Vigilante lives. He's done a lot of good work for the Citadel and its citizens. He doesn't deserve whatever the Talons have against him."
Serpent Nebula, Widow System, Citadel, Presidium, The Olympus.
March 14th, 2185. 8:34 am. EST (Earth Standard Time)
Thanks to his Spectre Status, Shepard was able to override the safety protocols and C-Sec warnings that tried to force the skycar to turn back. Once the four of them landed, they hopped out, staring up at the large structure before them.
Commander Shepard pulled his assault rifle off of his back, as Jordan did the same with his Geth Pulse Rifle, Vasir took out her shotgun, and Kasumi pulled out an SMG. As they prepared to enter, wearing full armor, Shepard spoke over their comms, trying to talk to EDI. "What do we have, EDI?"
"Squads of Talon Mercenaries are spread throughout the entire structure. The room of the artifact collector is located on floor 19, room 210. The Vigilante is likely there, pinned down by the Talons. Warning. The Talons have taken control of Security. It will be impossible to reach the Vigilante in time unless you disable their lockdown of the building."
Shepard nodded, "You heard her." He called back to the other three, "We're going in. First objective is Security. We take that, we might actually have a shot." He turned towards the three of them as he relayed the plan, "Sower, by my side. We'll sweep together. Vasir, you take point. Your biotics are better suited for close range, so let them have it. Kasumi, you stick to the side. Use your tactical cloak to your advantage. Take the enemy out and confuse them. Understood?"
"Loud and clear, Shepard."
"Clear, Commander."
"You got it, Shep."
"Let's do this." Shepard said quietly, smiling beneath his helmet.
Tela leading the group, the doors opened into the lobby of the hotel, showing a squad of six Talons standing around near the front desk, who immediately noticed them as the door slid open. "Intruders!" One of them shouted as they raised weapons.
Kasumi smiled, vanishing from sight immediately, "Now you see me…"
As instructed earlier, Tela biotically charged forward, smashing into the lone merc in the back with a sniper rifle. As his shields fell, two successive shotgun blasts from Tela put him down. Together, Jordan and Shepard swept with their assault rifles, hitting many of the mercs as they scrambled for cover.
"Dammit, we're outclassed! We need backup!" A deep voice yelled, likely into his radio.
To the group's left, an elevator dinged and opened, letting out another squad of Talons into the lobby, opening fire upon Shepard and Jordan and forcing them into cover. Protecting Shepard, Jordan made himself a bigger target by moving slower, while upgrading his shields with his Geth Shield Boost, safely allowing him to reach cover as well.
"They're pinned down. Advance!" One of the new mercs commanded, ignoring the deaths of the original squad as Tela ripped them to shreds for a moment, before she ducked into cover from their fire. She would have charged at them as well, but then another elevator opened, doubling the second squad's size.
"Kasumi, back up Vasir!"
The three mercs focusing on Tela and keeping her pinned suddenly ignited with volts of electricity arcing between the three, shorting out their shields. Stunned for a moment, the middle of the three men flew forward from a strike from an invisible foe. Taking advantage of the situation, Tela biotically charged into one of them, killing him instantly, before transferring the rest of her momentum into a biotic punch into the ground, sending out a small biotic shockwave, which hit the remaining of the three mercs, killing him and sending other enemies staggering backward.
Jordan, now with his heavy disruptor ammo activated, opened fire with Shepard once more, taking down the rest of the low-level mercenaries.
The lobby was silent for a moment, before Tela called out, "All hostiles down, Shepard."
Smiling, Shepard stood up and out of cover. He pointed towards the de-facto leader of the merc group in the lobby, "Jordan, see if you can patch us into their comm network."
"Alrighty…" Jordan said quietly, bending over and grabbing one of the helmets. He tinkered away for a few moments, a low glow of green was visible through his polarized helmet, displaying his power as he worked. "Got it… patching us in… now!"
"-status of squad beta?" A man's voice came over the hacked comm.
"Negative. Squads Charlie and Delta have stopped reporting in as well." Another man responded.
"Dammit? C-Sec already?"
"Negative. Cameras show an asari and three humans. No C-Sec armor, but their helmets are obstructing their identities."
A new, female voice came over the radio, "Elite Company hasn't taken down the Avatar, yet. I'm redirecting squads Zeta, Juliet, and Romeo to your position. Do not lose Security!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Both voices cried out in sync.
"And get off the damn radio. Your useless chatter is distracting."
And with that, their channel went silent. "Sounds like we'll have a welcoming committee at Security." Jordan commented.
"Don't worry… I'll take care of it."
Serpent Nebula, Widow System, Citadel, Presidium, The Olympus, Security Room.
March 14th, 2185. 8:57 am. EST (Earth Standard Time)
"David, turn that shit off!" One of the mercs cried out, working away at a terminal to prevent C-Sec from regaining control of the building.
Another merc nearby, David, shook his helmeted head as music kept playing aloud, "Nah man, this shit's amazing. No wonder the boss lady listens to the old classics so often!" He called back, moving his body as he danced to it in the center of the room.
'Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito'
'Deja que te diga cosas al oído'
'Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo'
"Aaaaahhhhhhh!" Another one cried out, "Turn on something written in the last century, David! Or so help me God, this'll be the last song you ever hear!"
"C'mon, it's amazing!" David yelled back over the music, "Besides, it's so boring in here!"
"Boring?!" Another merc asked, the leader of the squad in Security, "Are you fucking kidding me? We've taken control of a building on the Presidium, are hunting down a vigilante, and we have an elite group of unknowns incinerating everyone on their way here! How in the hell is that boring?"
"C'mon, Blake, lighten up." David said, pointing towards the doors, "The door is blast and hack-proof. There's no way anyone could get in here. We just have to keep the door closed until the mission's complete, and we'll be good!"
"Oh, shi-!" The merc at the terminal screamed out as his monitor exploded, electrocuting him and cutting off his cry as he fell to the ground, unconscious.
Blake turned towards his unconscious body, pulled his rifle off of his back as he approached, "What happened?! And turn that shit off, now!"
David finally complied, turning off the old 'classic' as he approached his friend, "Looks like a terminal malfunction."
"Bullshit." Blake responded, "It was perfectly fine thirty minutes ago… hey, what's the status on those intruders?"
Another merc at another terminal called out, "There's only three of them right now, but they're still coming. Just about finished mopping the floor with Tango squad."
"Where's intruder number four?"
"Unclear, si- ah!" The merc yelled, as his monitor, too, exploded, sending him to the ground with burns as he went under, just like his friend.
"Something's not right, sir." Another merc called out, standing up from his terminal and taking a few steps away from his. "They shouldn't be malfunctioning like this. I'm calling it in." He declared.
Blake nodded, turning on his comms to connect him with the rest of the squads, "There's something wrong in Security. All the terminals are going haywire!"
Their boss called back immediately over the channel, "Make sure there's no intruders… wait a moment..." She paused for a moment, "Describe the intruders for me."
Blake looked at one of the remaining, functioning terminals, "There's an asari in blue and white armor. I see a human male, with some sort of weird purple armor. And there's another man black and red armor. And there was another woman with them wearing some sort of hood, but she's gone."
The line went silent for a moment, before she responded, "Dammit! Shepard's here for the Vigilante. Elite Company, double time! I want that man dead, yesterday. And Blake, turn on thermal scans. You've got a thief in there with you…" And with that, the comm line went dead once more.
"A thief…?" Black asked aloud, confused as he turned to the rest of his men.
"Nah man, fuck this!" Another merc cried out in alarm as he rose to his feet, ignoring the majority of their boss' warning, "Commander fucking Shepard is here! Didn't you hear her?!" He turned to his colleagues, "We're all gonna die! Why aren't we evacing?"
"We have our orders, so calm the fuck down!" Blake yelled back, "Everyone, you heard the boss lady. She thinks there's a thief in here, so let's turn on our…" His train of thought was ended when someone else spoke.
"Ah drat." An unknown female voice responded after a moment, "And here I was, having fun listening to music with you guys…" Before Blake even had the chance to locate the origin of the voice, the entire room exploded with light, blinding the mercs and leaving them to the intruder's mercy.
Serpent Nebula, Widow System, Citadel, Presidium, The Olympus, Security Room.
March 14th, 2185. 9:17 am. EST (Earth Standard Time)
Shepard shook his head in amusement as he and his remaining two squadmates entered the now unlocked and hostile-free security room.
Sitting beside the primary terminal in the room, Kasumi sat with a grin under her hood and her feet propped up on the desk before her. Several terminals around her were now piles of smoking metal, while the room was decorated with over a dozen Talon mercs, both on the ground and slumped over desks and chairs. Most seemed to be dead, except for a single merc, who appeared retrained to another chair near Kasumi. Said merc was conscious, but was wisely remaining silent.
"Hey, Shep." She said simply, "These employees are so unprofessional, aren't they? Figured you'd like to speak to a manager." She motioned to the restrained merc.
Shepard turned to Jordan and Vasir, "Jordan, work with Kasumi and locate the Vigilante. Try to check on our other friends looking for him." Jordan nodded with a smile and went over toward Kasumi, before bending over a bit as he began working on the terminal. "Vasir, check so make sure they're all dead. Don't want any surprises." She nodded and did what she was told, too.
After his commands were given, the Commander approached the merc.
"Who're you?" He asked simply.
"Fuck you. I have nothing to say to you."
Shepard narrowed his eyes, before Kasumi cut in with her own comments, "His name's Blake. Kinda the head honcho of this little band of mercs in here."
Shepard nodded, "Blake." He said, before looking the man in the eyes, "Why are the Talons going after the Vigilante?"
Blake shook his head, "Screw you, Shepard." He basically spat out.
Taking a deep breath, Shepard brought out his most dangerous weapon against people like Blake: His charisma. Shaking his head slowly, John spoke, "You obviously know who I am, so you know what I'm capable of. This carnage? This was caused by just one of my squadmates. Do you really think you or any of the other Talons here are going to be able to stop us?"
Blake hesitated for a moment, but didn't respond.
Shepard knew he was getting somewhere, "Listen. Tell me what I want to know, and I can help you out, here. C-Sec will regain control of this building. After the attacks this morning, do you really think they will simply read you your rights and bring you into custody? We both know Palin isn't a huge fan of humans."
"I… I want you to let me go." Blake said, his hard eyes staring into Shepard's. "My freedom for information."
Shepard hesitated for a moment, before replying, "Depends on the information. It better be good."
Hanging his head in defeat, Blake gave in and began, "Our boss… Commander Smith, she claims we're here because the Vigilante has been attacking our operations on the Citadel." He admitted, "But… I've heard her talking to her second-in-command. I think it's personal."
"Who is she? Commander Smith?" He asked, wishing to know about this mysterious woman.
"She came to Omega and found the Talons nearly two years ago." He explained, "We only knew her as Jane Doe, some kind of pseudonym. She rose through the ranks and began Nyreen's second in command of the Talons, earning the title of Commander and she began to use the name 'Smith'. She fought for control, before gravely wounding Commander Kandros. With her gone, she took command and began recruiting. We've grown to rival other merc groups."
"Who is her second-in-command?"
"No one knows!" He said quickly, "He appeared suddenly, and always wears a helmet with a voice scrambler. All I know is that he has her complete trust… and he's a heartless bastard."
"What about the reason you're here? You said it's something personal?"
"I don't know. Just last month, we began to branch out beyond Omega and began to set up shop on the Citadel. Somehow, the Vigilante kept finding our warehouses and bases. We've lost millions of credits worth of smuggled good in the last month to him." He paused, looking over to the side for a moment, "But our boss… she was pissed. Like, beyond pissed." Shepard raised an eyebrow, so he continued, "Obviously, the money loss pissed her off, but once she learned it was the Vigilante… she just lost it. She wanted the man taken alive and questioned before, but the Vigilante… she wanted him dead."
"He must've really pissed off your boss." Jordan commented as he finished up his work on the terminal, with Kasumi still in her previous position, simply watching everything. After another moment, Jordan spoke again, "Found him. He's still on the 19th floor and I've regained control of the elevators. There'll be one waiting for us in the lobby."
Shepard nodded as Tela walked over to them, "What about this guy?" She said, motioning towards Blake.
Blake stared at Shepard with wide eyes, "I've told you everything I know! Shepard, please, can I go?"
Shepard looked to his companions for their opinions.
"He kept his end of the deal, Shepard. As dangerous as he is, I'd let him go. The Talons will know he's a whistleblower, so they'd kill him if he went back." Jordan said.
Kasumi shrugged, "You could let him run. Or, you could turn him over to C-Sec. Let them deal with the criminal."
"Aren't you a criminal, too?" Jordan mumbled.
"No, but my twenty-three other identities have a few warrants out for them." She replied with a small smile.
Ignoring them, Shepard turned to Tela to get her opinion.
Tela shook her head, "I say kill him." She replied neutrally, making Blake's eye bulged, "If you let him go, he'll return to the Talons. And if he's taken by C-Sec, he'll just be released back to them anyway. The safest solution is to kill him and move on." She finished, glaring at the merc.
"N-no!" Blake yelled, "I-I swear! If you let me go, I-I will give up my life as a merc. If you let me be taken, I'll be killed. I don't want to die!" He pleaded.
Shepard sighed, took a deep breath, and made a choice on the matter, "I'll let you go, but if I ever see your face again, I won't be so merciful next time!" he promised him, releasing the restraints.
"Th-thank you, Commander." He stuttered, standing up and beginning to walk away, "I won't forget this." Blake said, before leaving. As expected, he didn't try to warn anyone over the radio, simply leaving and not looking back.
Tela looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't. Jordan, however, smirked and muttered, "Paragon…"
They all heard him, and were confused in their own ways, before Shepard decided to ignore it and turn towards the exit, "Alright, we have a Vigilante to catch!"
Serpent Nebula, Widow System, Citadel, Presidium, The Olympus, Main Lobby.
March 14th, 2185. 9:33 am. EST (Earth Standard Time)
Shepard and his companions approached the elevators, only for two squads of six to appear from around the corner and another hallway. As they immediately open fired and forced them into cover, the elevator dinged and opened, allowing a single individual to step out.
Unlike the other 'grunts', this Talon Merc had glowing blue eyes on his helmet and wore yellow and black armor with a Talon symbol on his chest. However, what made him far more intimidating was the glowing blood-red omni-tool on his right arm, forming the shape of what appeared to be a bow at the end of his hand.
"Talon Engineer…" Jordan whispered to himself as he took in the merc's appearance, having recognized the form from the ME3 multiplayer. Jordan knew one thing from this man's appearance. He would not be an easy enemy.
"Stay in cover!" The man yelled, clearly in charge towards his comrades as he quickly ran forward to cover of his own, "Do not underestimate Shepard!"
Shepard swept with his rifle over his cover to his right, managing to take out two of the twelve grunts before he was forced back into cover. As he returned, an arrow whizzed over his head, impacting a wall behind him as it embedded the majority of itself into the wall. It would have greatly damaged Shepard's shields if it had hit.
To make matters worse, another elevator opened, allowing two more Talon Engineers to join the fight.
Seeing this, Shepard knew it was time to try out one of Jordan Sower's special abilities as a so-called 'avatar'. "Kasumi, flash and vanish. Tela, Charge. Jordan… Synthesis. I'll take their leaders." Shepard called out his commands as his shields fully recharged.
As instructed, Kasumi began with a flashbang, throwing it out into the dead center of the remaining mercs, causing the grunts to be overwhelmed by the light and blast, while only forcing the engineers to remain in cover in order to not be affected by the blast. As soon as the grenade left her hand, the thief vanished, taking on a few of the enemies to the left. Tela, as the enemy was stunned, biotically charged into the group on the right, the blast sending those still alive to the ground. However, something felt odd to the two women.
Although asari do not need a biotic amp since they are fully natural biotics, she has an experimental one in place, greatly increasing her capacity and range of biotic skills. Such an amp is not technically legal in any sense within the Galaxy, but as a Spectre, the rules really didn't matter to her. Regardless, instead of feeling a slight increase in heat from her amp, it felt rather cool. Vasir's biotics, in fact, felt fully recharged and ready to go, as she charged again, before comboing into a biotic shockwave. Such raw power, as she was used to, yet her amp felt as if it were ready to keep going all day. Even her shotgun, it seemed, could make a few extra shots per thermal clip as she finished mopping up the remaining mercs on her side.
Kasumi, likewise, found something very peculiar with her tactical cloak. As she opened fire with her submachine gun upon the unsuspecting enemy, her tactical cloak wavered, but remained intact, somehow. Rather than collapse and fully reveal her, it remained as her bullets entered the enemies. In fact, even her weapon seemed to work better than normal, not needing to be reloaded immediately. Despite the surprise and partial invisibility, she took a few hits from the enemies as she took care of them, not fully losing her shields in the process, luckily. Soon, just like Tela, she finished mopping up the mercs on her side, before she entered cover to flank the three leaders, just as Tela did the same on her side.
Shepard, with the grunts under control, stepped out of cover and charged non-biotically towards the three enemies before him. One saw him coming and rolled to the side, disappearing from view as the other two, rather than flee, decided to fight back. Arrows materialized on their omni-bows as they fired together at Shepard. Shepard lent to his left, narrowly dodging one arrow as another impacted his chest. However, unlike what it may have done previously, his shields didn't fully collapse, rather they only lost about half of their strength.
Surprised by the lack of damage dealt, one Engineer flew backward into a wall thanks to Shepard's cybernetically enhanced punch. The other one, who was still standing, had five arrows notched in Shepard's direction, three hitting him and dropping his shield the rest of the way, while the other two whizzed by and impacted Kasumi, dropping her shields and forcing her into cover. Luckily, Tela saw the loss of shields of both of her companions. She smirked and biotically charged into the Engineer who Shepard punched and was currently climbing to his feet.
Needless to say, that Talon Engineer was dead, now.
Shepard took care of the one who fired at him, pulling out his pistol and firing the entire clip into his chest at point-blank range, ignoring the enemies shields as the enemy fell dead.
Suddenly, they heard a deep, distorted voice yell out to the three of them from their previous cover. The remaining engineer stood with a pistol out, the barrel resting against a familiar, helmeted figure who was no longer wearing his helmet.
The Talon Mercenary held Jordan Sower, who seemed almost limp in his hold. His left arm around Jordan's throat as his right hand held the pistol of Jordan's head. Jordan, on the other hand, was sweating profusely as his green eyes and scars glowed harshly. It almost seemed like steam was actually radiating off of Jordan's face. The Avatar's eyes were lightly drooping and contained little energy within them despite the harsh glow.
"I will kill him." The Talon Engineer called out to the other three, "If Miss Goto so much as vanishes, your friend will get a new hole in his head." He threatened, before turning his full attention to Shepard, "We're here for the Vigilante, Shepard. Leave while you still can. We don't want to be your enemy."
Shepard, holding his assault rifle in his arms tightly, kept it aimed at the merc, "You became my enemy when you and your friends began taking hostages."
The Engineer shook his head, "It was necessary. The Vigilante is a threat. One that must be ended before he dooms us all to extinction." He replied cryptically, "Last chance, Commander. Our boss can overlook your transgressions so far. Just leave. Once the Vigilante is dead, we'll release the hostages."
"Let Jordan go." Shepard demanded.
The Engineer shook his head, "No. The boss wants a word with the Avatar of Synthesis." He told them, "His release in non-negotiable. Leave now. If Jordan is not deemed a threat, we'll release him, too."
"And if he's deemed a threat?" Shepard asked slowly, buying time as he hoped his plan would work and that his companions were thinking the same thing that he was.
"We end him, just like the vigilante. These Avatars are a threat to us all, Shepard. Have you not seen the things they are capable of?" He asked, confirming that the Vigilante was, indeed, another Avatar. As expected…
"Even so, you don't get to play judge, jury, and executioner."
"No, that's the boss' job."
"Not for long…" Shepard responded, before subtly rolling his right left shoulder forward.
The Merc before them didn't understand the significance of the gesture, unfortunately for him. As soon as Shepard completed the gesture, Jordan leaned slightly away from him in the exact same moment that Tela charged forward, smashing into the merc and sending him flying. Or, at least, he would if Spectra Vasir hadn't also grabbed him by his throat and holding him in the air. Jordan fell to the ground, exhausted, as the gun went off in the merc's hand, missing Jordan due to their new positions.
"That's a Spectre's job, mercenary." She replied to his earlier comment, before biotically crushing his throat and snapping his neck, killing the merc immediately. She remained cold for only a moment longer, before she noticed Jordan's unmoving form on the ground, his helmet laying discarded a few feet away.
Bending down, she held Jordan lightly in her arms as she turned him over. His eyes were unfocused, and he and his armor were unnaturally warm as she looked him over. The green glow, itself, slowly seemed to dim back to how they were previously. "Jordan?" She asked slowly, her eyes narrowed in concern.
Shepard came over with a frown, bending down beside Jordan as he released half of a serving of medi-gel from his suit, allowing it to begin cooling Jordan.
"What happened?" She asked.
Shepard sighed, while Jordan seemed to regain his senses as he forced a smile on his face, "My bad…" He groaned out before he continued as he comprehended the question that was asked, "I'll explain later during the debriefing, ok? Just know that it's an ability of mine, and I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon."
Shepard nodded, reaching a hand down as he and Tela helped him to his feet as his strength returned, "We'll get Chakwas to take a look at you when we get back, but you're right. No more Synthesis."
Kasumi, who'd been silent for a while now, reappeared in front of them with a smile, "Well, I think our ride's here." She said, motioning towards the elevators with one hand while holding Jordan's helmet out towards him with her other.
Grabbing the helmet and putting it back on quickly, Jordan nodded. "I'm ready to move." He informed them. Tela looked slightly doubtful, but didn't argue. They had a man to save.
Serpent Nebula, Widow System, Citadel, Presidium, The Olympus, 19th Floor.
March 14th, 2185. 9:58 am. EST (Earth Standard Time)
They had stepped out of the elevator on the 19th floor, encountering a squad of eight grunts and two Engineers fairly quickly. Needless to say, the enemy was dealt with by our group of badass individuals. Though, this group of enemies combined with the enclosed space of the hallway caused a few minor injuries, which were treated with medi-gel.
After that, the group began to swiftly make their way down the halls as they searched for the room they were looking for, before they suddenly heard the radio come to life thanks to the comm channel they had hacked earlier.
"Boss. Where're our reinforcements?!" Someone cried out over the comm, "We've nearly got him, but we need more men to finish wearing him down!"
"Negative. You're on your own." The female voice from earlier called out, "Deal with him by yourselves."
"We're going to die! Shepard's on his way too, isn't he? There's no way we can handle all of this."
"There will be no retreat. Either you kill him, or you will die trying. Any available reinforcements are being pulled back. C-Sec will be there soon enough as well. Kill that bastard!"
"B-but boss…"
"Silence!" She screamed out, before a deep breath was heard, "Focus on Miller and stay quiet. I've got someone I need to talk to… isn't that right, Commander?"
The group of four began to focus intently on the comm now that the 'Boss' seemed to acknowledge them.
"I know you hacked our comms. Rest assured, it won't happen again. However, I've got a message for you, seeing as you can't respond right now…" She said neutrally, "I see you've recruited Miss Goto, but my oh my, your other companions are quite interesting, aren't they?" Shepard looked towards Jordan and Tela as they continued walking, but didn't say anything. "Jordan Sower, he's quite recognizable, I must say. Working with such a dangerous terrorist. Then again, you're with Cerberus. And as for your Asari friend, I first thought it might have been Liara."
Shepard flinched as she mentioned Liara, but Jordan felt himself pale at what the woman said next, "Tela Vasir, Council Spectre. Quite peculiar, working with her, Commander. I mean, who knew you were on such good terms with the Shadow Broker that he'd send his top agent to work with you?"
Shepard turned to look at Vasir, who flinched at the accusation as some of her purple blood drained from her face despite trying to prevent it from happening.
Jordan shook his head, "Shepard, you can trust her." he tried to tell him, which caused him and his glare to move to Jordan. As if knowing what was happening, the woman laughed over the comm.
"Hahahaha. I assume Jordan didn't tell you. After all, did you really think he had your best intentions at heart? In fact… did you know he doesn't plan to try to destroy the Reapers? He's going to try to spare them for destruction. To take it a step forward, he's not just going to spare their bodies, but their minds as well. Bet he didn't tell you that, either."
"Shepard, she's trying to turn us against each other." Tela said, recovering slightly.
Kasumi, now with a small frown, nodded in agreement, "I have to agree, Shep. As far as I've seen so far with you guys, they're on our side."
Shepard sighed and nodded, "We will be discussing some things in the debrief…" He said, "But for now, let's just finish this mission." He told them, as the rapidly approached their destination, while the 'Boss' continued to speak to them.
"And now, what? You're planning to recruit the Vigilante? Another dangerous man hell-bent on the death of our Galaxy? He will betray you, Shepard, just as Jordan will. The only thing he'll see as a bigger threat than you, is Jordan. They are Avatars, after all." She chuckled for another moment or two, "Well, I think it's time to go. See you around, Shepard. Have fun on Horizon…"
She finished as the Comm line went dead, confusing them all by here final phrase. That is, except for Jordan, who immediately began to feel dread at the warning. Just who was this woman. For the time being, however, he pushed that thought aside, as he focused on the task at hand.
Recruiting the Vigilante.
Finally, after another minute of silence, they reached their destination. They opened the door to see a large man standing in the center of the room, who must have been the Vigilante. Or, he was, until an arrow from an omni-crossbow fired from one of the two living Talon Engineers still in the room, aimed straight at the unaware man.
Serpent Nebula, Widow System, Citadel, Presidium, The Olympus, 19th Floor, Room 251.
March 14th, 2185. 10:12 am. EST (Earth Standard Time)
The Vigilante wore a pair of black combat boots, black pants, black shirt, and a large, 21st Century-style black trench coat and matching fedora. His face was hidden by shadows to everyone present, both enemies and spectators. His form stood there with its attention on the shattered remains of a Leviathan orb in the corner. That is, until an onmi-arrow phased through his body, hitting the large window on the other side of him.
The Engineer stood in shock as his target did not react to the bolt in the slightest, aside from a slight flicker in his form. Before he could react, a burst of gunfire from a few inches to the side shredded through the merc's armor and shields, both revealing the true Vigilante's location as his tactical cloak ended while simultaneously ending the life of the Engineer.
As soon as that happened, a pulse of green biotics flew from his outstretched left hand, hitting the remaining Engineer. Falling to the ground and writhing in pain, the Vigilante stalked towards his prey as he gripped his submachine gun tightly in one hand, placing it against the merc's head. A moment later…
Bang, bang, bang!
A burst of his weapon ended the man's life, forcing the green field to dissipate.
That's when he noticed the new four individuals before him. Prepared to raise his gun and begin another fight, he quickly stopped himself from doing so after recognizing the three of them without a helmet obstructing their faces. Tela Vasir, Kasumi, Goto, and Commander Shepard. The Vigilante visibly frowned at Shepard as he took a step back.
"Commander Shepard… you should not be here…" The Vigilante said slowly and carefully, his voice distorted in some fashion.
Shepard raised an eyebrow as he looked over the man before him, "You're the Vigilante?"
He nodded, "That is correct. Why are you here? Don't you have a Galaxy to save?" He asked carefully.
"You know who I am and what I'm doing?"
He chuckled lowly, "Of course. You're fighting the Reapers and the Collectors, are you not?" He asked, shaking his head, "So why are you…" He paused as he took a step back, "No… no, this isn't right… don't tell me you're here because…" He didn't finish his sentence.
"I'm recruiting the Galaxy's best to fight the Collectors and join my team. I'd like to offer you a spot." He said, confirmed the Vigilante's fears.
He shook his head quickly and violently, "No. Why me? I should be… You shouldn't be trying to recruit me! I'm not supposed to get involved!" He finished with a shout.
That was when Jordan decided enough was enough. He stepped forward and looked at the Vigilante while taking his helmet off, revealing his face to the Vigilante as he spoke, "Why are you trying to stay out of this?" He asked mockingly, "You've already been getting yourself involved with the Leviathans, Avatar."
Beneath the fedora, the Vigilante's dark eyes narrowed at Jordan as both his appearance and his words soaked in. The rest of his appearance, however, remained clouded by whatever tech or biotics he was using. "You?!" He said slowly yet angrily. "I should have figured the Avatar of Synthesis was involved as well!" He turned his attention to Shepard, "I'll join you, Shepard." He said with conviction, "But… this man, he is not to be trusted at all!"
"Really? And how are you any better, Vigilante?"
"For starters, I'm not a possessed freak of nature hell-bent on forcing a genetic overwrite on the entire Galaxy!"
Jordan narrowed his eyes, feeling an unnatural amount of hostility towards the Avatar before him, "I'm not, and really?! At least I'm not a genocidal maniac who wishes to throw the Galaxy back into the stone age while killing everyone who relies on technology or who's even remotely synthetic!"
"Neither am I!" He shouted back. The other three seemed pretty confused by all of this so far, adding more and more to the upcoming discussion during the Mission debrief.
Jordan recoiled, "What… what did you say?"
"I said that I am not like that, either!"
"How could you say that? You're the Avatar of Destruction! You've been working against me!"
The Vigilante shook his head as his smirk became an uneasy frown. His eyes displayed great sadness, "No… I'm much, much worse than that, Jordan…" He maintained eye contact as he continued, "The Avatar of Destruction was the one trying to kill me." He admitted, motioning towards the dead Talon Mercs around him, "Their Boss."
"Who… who are you?"
The Vigilante pulled his Fedora off of his head as his features became visible to everyone. He had tan skin and dark brown, nearly black irises, which perfectly matched his pure black hair. His expression was serious and bitter as he maintained eye-contact.
"My name was Brian Miller… the Avatar of Oblivion…"
Brian Miller – Avatar of Oblivion
Class Description: As the 'Champion' of the Reapers, Brian has become the Avatar of the fourth option, where the Reapers win. Indoctrinated and Husk-ified individuals do not deem him a threat unless attacked or provoked first, and will try to spare him, rather than immediately kill. When concentrating and trying, he can influence small amounts of Reaper units temporarily. Himself, he is immune to all forms of mind control.
Power 1: Tactical Cloak
Power 2: Decoy
Power 3: Dark Channel
Power 4: Shredder Ammo
Avatar Power: Oblivion State (Unavailable)
Oblivion State: Error: Avatar Ability is non-functional.
A/N
I'd like to start with a quick comment about a review from last chapter. It was asked, why didn't the Broker blackmail the Council into pardoning Jordan? Honestly, I did consider doing this, however, I felt that this wouldn't be the best course of action. You see, the Broker never really seems to take sides in any conflicts, always remaining neutral and making sure neither side gets what they need to 'win', so I felt it would seem too out-of-character for the Broker to do so, sending up a few red flags. Also, it would also make the Council suspicious. "Why is the Broker so invested and interested in Jordan Sower?" Certainly, blackmail could've/would've been used if they simply arrested Jordan, but some sort of agreement was reached, and would work for the time being.
Also, about the poll. For those of you that don't know, the Poll is accessible on my profile page. In order to see the poll, you MUST be on the desktop version of the site. Not the app, and not the mobile version. Eventually, another poll may go up, but not for a while. And remember, ANYONE CAN VOTE. No need to sign in. Simply access the Poll and click on the link within one of the choices. That will send you to Strawpoll, and allow you to vote there.
Plus, Jordan might end up earning a pardon in a few different ways. First of all, if the Reapers are proven to be real, the Council will need all of the help they can get. Another way would be the Geth; if negotiations work out well, that could get him pardoned. Of course, earning more allies along the way may help smooth things out as well. Cough, cough, Justicar Samara, cough, cough.
Also, sorry about the delay. Work's been busy, as has college. Plus, I didn't want to rush this chapter, as it was a pretty important one, plot-wise… Anyway, I hope that made sense, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Quite the plot twist, eh? I've been planning 4 Avatars since the very beginning, so when several of the earlier reviews mentioned their shock and ideas about the three Avatars, I couldn't help but grin. The Avatars are moving, and how will this one interact and work with Jordan? Who knows?!
Welp, see you next time!
