Chapter 36 – I Work Alone
Shepard smiled as the hologram lit up. The light was quickly reorganized into what appeared to be a solid image of Liara's portrait hung just above and behind Shepard's headboard, her innocent smile looking out over Jane's quarters. She moved to sit on the sofa facing towards her bed and the portrait when she heard the doors to her cabin slide open, quickly followed by the sound of Miranda's heels walking towards her, although each step came with an urgent thud.
"Shepard! What did you do?!"
Jane looked down at the collection of models sitting on the table in front of her. "I just bought a couple of things to help me feel a little more at home. Wasn't that the point of giving me a credit chit?"
"The point of giving you a credit chit was so you could spend your own credits, not mine!"
"That was expensive," Jane protested. She looked up towards the holographic portrait of Liara. "I wanted the best for her. It didn't leave me any credits left for anything else."
Miranda shook her head. "Then you shouldn't have bought anything else."
"I don't plan on spending the entire time I'm on board this ship walking around in that god awful uniform you provided, even if it preferable for that tasteless cat suit you wear."
"So that's how you justify spending two hundred of my credits on clothes?" Miranda snapped, "three hundred on these stupid models? Five hundred on fucking fish!" She glared at the large illuminated fish tank in the office space.
"Well, if you want your credits back, I'm not sure any of it will be a lot of use to you. The clothes are probably a bit big for you, and I doubt you've got anywhere to keep the fish?" Jane picked up a model freighter. "You don't strike me as a ship fan either."
Miranda crossed her arms, frowning at Shepard for a moment before turning to leave. She took one step towards the exit before turning to face the bed. "Or I could take that projector."
Jane bolted to her feet. She blocked Miranda's path before the agent had managed to take more than two steps.
"That's mine."
"You stole my credits," Miranda stated defensively.
No verbal response ever came. Shepard simply narrowed her eyes, glaring at the other woman. Miranda backed away under Jane's leering gaze. She moved to take another step backwards when her heel caught on the first step up to Shepard's office and sent her tumbling to the floor with a loud yelp of pain.
"What on earth possessed you two to behave like such a pair of children?" Doctor Chakwas snapped as she examined Miranda's wrist. "To think a trained marine could behave so poorly. And you," Her eyes flicked up towards Lawson's. "With that 'perfect' genetically engineered story you've been telling everyone, you'd think you could include better judgement!"
"Sorry," Jane and Miranda both uttered in unison, each staring at their own feet.
"Good." Doctor Chakwas moved to gather several pieces of medical equipment and supplies from a nearby cupboard. Upon turning back around, she glared at Shepard. "What are you still doing here? I thought you were supposed to be out there saving the galaxy again, not invading Agent Lawson's privacy."
"Erm… Sorry?" Shepard said before making a quick exit from the medbay.
"So what did you do?" Chakwas asked Miranda once Shepard was safely out of the room.
"Nothing," Miranda insisted.
"Shepard doesn't start threatening people over nothing. What did you do?"
"Shepard stole my credits," Miranda protested.
"What did you do?"
"I… I was going to steal the picture frame in her room," Miranda sighed. "Shepard had a copy of a painting of her asari in it."
"Liara?" Chakwas asked as she forcefully tightened a bandage around Miranda's wrist, making her shout out.
"Yes," Miranda complained, opening her mouth to continue before Chakwas cut her off with a glare.
"You thought that threatening to steal a picture of Liara from Shepard was a good idea? What exactly made you think that was a good idea? You went through every piece of data you could find on her while rebuilding her, and you didn't think she would act defensively?" Chakwas continued to glare before pointing towards the door. "There, shoo. No using that wrist for a few days, and absolutely no missions. Let the medi-gel in the bandage work."
"Feels more like a splint," Miranda mumbled as she nursed her bandaged arm.
Chakwas sighed as the door closed before collapsing back into her seat and shaking her head. "Those two will be the death of me."
Zaeed didn't even wait for the shuttle to touch down before he leapt out of the cabin into the dense jungle. Zorya appeared as through every continent was covered in sprawling jungle from orbit. That opinion hadn't faltered as the shuttle had approached the sprawling canopy, broken only by several smoke stacks several miles to the north.
"What's the rush Zaeed, they've been here for a fortnight," Shepard called after the mercenary as the shuttle touched down. "I think we can afford the few seconds it takes to touch down."
"The longer we take to get there, the longer they have to get ready for us," the ill-tempered man shouted back.
"I think they've had more than enough time to prepare for a counter attack. We have to go in smart," Shepard insisted as she rushed to catch up. "We go in slowly and use the jungle for cover. If we do it right, we can circle around and attack them from the rear."
"This is my mission, not yours," Zaeed argued. "Just stay tight and watch out for ambushes. I'll patch us in to their radio frequency."
"Edi's already working on cracking their radio encryption. She just needs them to send a few more broadcasts," Jacob explained as he and Garrus managed to catch up over the rough terrain.
"I've already got the key," Zaeed stated.
"You couldn't have let us know that in advance?" Shepard questioned.
"Squad Bravo, a shuttle landed near your location. Check it out."
"Sounds like we're going to have company," Garrus sighed.
"Expect six troops. They won't be stupid enough to send mechs out into this growth," Zaeed confirmed.
"Garrus, move off to the right flank. Find yourself a perch," Shepard ordered.
"Structure ahead!" Garrus shouted.
"Residential?" Jane queried.
"Too small. Looks more like a field lab. Could be a prospecting site?"
"Does it matter? It had to be more favourable terrain than this," Jacob complained as he hit a shrub blocking his route.
"Find somewhere up front Jacob. Put those biotics to use," Shepard ordered as she pulled out her assault rifle. "I'll keep any of them from flanking you. Zaeed, can you-"
"I'll kill the fucking lot o' 'em," the mercenary snapped before sprinting towards the structure.
"Sure," Shepard sighed before pursuing him.
"I was expecting that to be harder," Shepard mused.
"Cheap fucking labour," Zaeed snarled before he kicked the helmet of a dead batarian at his feet.
Garrus strode towards them from the edge of the treeline, opposite to the direction the mercenaries had approached them from. "You'd think when they send reinforcements they could send more than three people.
"I think he singed me with that flamethrower though," Jacob sighed as he examined a now black, flaky patch on his uniform.
"The next group won't be so easy," Zaeed warned. "Sounded like their dispatcher caught on that we're not just a recon party. They'll wait for us at the most fortified position." Without waiting for a response Zaeed began walking on in the direction of the refinery.
Shepard managed to catch up with him when he came upon a retracted bridge. Shepard activated the nearby controls, extending the walkway over a narrow canyon blocking their progress.
"This is Commander Santiago. If any of you retreat while the intruders are still alive, I'll kill you myself. Now get the hell back out there!"
"Vido," Zaeed stated. "Sounds like he hasn't changed.
Shepard halted the bridge half way across the canyon. "I get the feeling you have a past with this guy?"
"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." Zaeed growled. "So, yeah. We have a past!"
"Why didn't anyone tell me you founded the Blue Suns?" Jane asked as she crossed her arms.
"Because it's not common knowledge. Vido wiped me out of the records," the merc replied sounding bitter. "He ran the books, I lead the men. Worked real well for a while. Then he started hiring batarians. Cheap labour, he said. God damn terrorists, I said."
"You should have told us. We're a team! This doesn't work unless you're open with us."
"I work alone," Zaeed replied bluntly. "I don't normally take jobs I can't handle myself. It was a hard learnt lesson."
"Twenty years is a long time to hold a grudge," Shepard commented, digging to discover what had pushed Zaeed so far.
"A grudge! Zido turned my men against me. He paid six of them to restrain me while he put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger!" Zaeed shouted as he pointed violently at Shepard. "For twenty years, I've seen that bastard every time I closed my eyes. Every time I sighted down on a target. Every time I heard a gunshot. Don't you call that a goddamn grudge."
"You survived a gunshot to the head?"
"Year. And you survived your ship being disintegrated. A stubborn enough person can survive just about anything. Rage is a hell of an anaesthetic."
"Explains the eye," Shepard mumbled before restarting the bridge.
"They've been sighted at the southern access. All squads mass at the southern gatehouse! NOW!"
"I guess we aren't going to be getting the jump on them this time," Garrus stated as he checked the clip in his rifle.
"Bring it on, you son of a bitch!" Zaeed shouted towards the refinery on the opposite side of the canyon.
The four man squad continued on in silence, using the natural cover to conceal their approach to the gatehouse as much as possible. Being spotted while trying to traverse the slope up from the canyon would have left them at a distinct disadvantage. Fortunately, they didn't meet anyone, as the Blue Suns appeared to be sticking to the undoubtedly fortified gatehouse.
The refinery didn't come into view until they were standing directly in front of the gate. Only the jungle's canopy was visible above them, while the dense ground foliage obscured the walls as they approached.
Shepard cautiously led the team towards the entrance, until Zaeed barged past her to the controls to promptly open the surprisingly unlocked doorway. She was not however surprised to find her staring down the barrels of at least ten assault rifles around the gate house, mostly on an elevated catwalk surrounded by pressurized pipes.
"Zaeed Massani," the only unarmed Blue Sun called out. "You finally tracked me down."
"Vido," Zaeed stated, raising his assault rifle.
"Don't be stupid Zaeed, I have a whole company of blood thirsty bastards behind me, ready to kill or be killed on my command."
"How stupid do they have to be to agree to get killed for money?" Shepard laughed with Garrus.
"Actually, take your shot," Vido continued, ignoring Shepard's mocking comment. "Give me a reason to put you down like the mad dog you are. Again."
Zaeeds only response was to squeeze the trigger on his assault rifle, as he darted sideways towards a manual valve for cover. Shepard, Garrus and Jacob didn't need any more of a prompt, each quickly finding their own cover before the mercs could return fire.
Surprisingly, the return volley didn't follow. Vido simply looked over his shoulder where several shots that had sailed past had punctured pipes. "What's that? Gone near sighted, old friend?" he scoffed.
"Burn you son of a bitch!" Zaeed bellowed as a burst fired from his assault rifle.
Vido barely had time to look back and register the flames pouring from the pipes behind him before the rusted metal was torn apart by an explosion. Two mercenaries were thrown from the walkway and landed either side of Shepard, their armour smouldering from the heat.
"You just signed your death warrant Massani!" Vido spat down at intruders before turning and quickly editing the walkway. Four additional mercenaries took his place, firing burst of gunfire down at them.
Shepard, Garrus and Jacob each clung to cover, doing their best to fire return volleys without exposing themselves. Zaeed however took to assaulting the valve on a pipe junction beside him using the butt of his assault rifle.
"What the hell are you doing?" Shepard asked the merc through the team comm-link as she glared at him.
Zaeed didn't respond. After several more hard blows, the valve turned, increasing the rate that gas was flowing towards the fire on the walkway above them.
"Shit," Jane muttered as she watched another explosion above them.
The flames and explosion surged through the pipe, following it in every direction, through ever junction. The Blue Sun troops were quickly swallowed by flame. The gatehouse shook violently as a larger explosion occurred where the mercenaries had been standing. The walkway tore under beneath the force of it before the gate halting their progress into the refinery buckled and collapsed.
"Opening the gate," Zaeed stated before looking at the now flaming hole allowing them access to the rest refinery.
"You just put this entire refinery at risk. We don't gamble with innocent lives for the mission. There's always a better way!" Shepard shouted at the mercenary.
"Like what? Wandering around in the jungle for hours, looking for another way in?" Zaeed snapped back. "You wanna waste time out here, go ahead. I'm going to kill Vido."
The older soldier moved to walk into the refinery, but was cut off when an armoured fist collided with his jaw line.
"You're endangering lives, and the mission, for your own selfish revenge."
"You really wanna do this, Shepard?" Zaeed growled in warning.
"I ought to knock you the hell out. But thanks to you, we're got a burning refinery to save."
"Let these people burn! Vido dies, whatever the cost!"
Shepard grabbed the merc's armour and shoved towards the gate. "I said we're saving them! Move out!"
Two fresh Blue Suns soldiers charged at them as the squad stepped through the flaming gateway into the main facility. They were both quickly and efficiently cut down by gunfire.
"This way!" Zaeed shouted, gesturing towards the elevated walkway leaving the gate house. "Vido went this way!"
"HELP! We're trapped" A crowd of people yelled from out of sigh above them. Shepard looked around frantically until she glanced up. A large group of people were trapped on a balcony hanging off the side of the refinery's main processing plant. "We can't get to the main gas valves to shut them off. The whole place is going to blow!" An explosion shook the walkway beneath them as flames burst out of the doorway behind the crowd of people.
Zaeed turned and opened the door in the direction they had been heading while Shepard started to walk towards the burning building.
"There's no time!" Zaeed shouted after her. "Vido could be half way to the hanger by now."
"I came here to save them," Shepard called back, before sprinting through an open doorway and into the inferno within.
Garrus and Jacob looked at each other for a second and shrugged, before charging after the commander.
"Shit!" Zaeed cursed, punching the door controls before following; reluctantly. He found Shepard forcing the lever on a manual valve.
"Jacob, I saw a big warning sign that way," Jane shouted over the sound of flames as she indicated a flight of stairs. "Go find something that looks important and shut it. Garrus, see if you can find a sprinkler system!" She turned to look back at the large mercenary that had appeared behind her. "Zaeed, there's a gas pipe above me. It looks like it comes down on the far wall. Find a shutoff." Still struggling with the lever, Jane glared at Zaeed when he didn't move. "What? You'd stand there and watch these people die?"
"You're damn right I would! The more time we waste here, the more time Vido has to escape. If he gets away, I'm blaming you!"
With one final push, Shepard pushed the leaving into the closed position with a loud grunt. "We're here to free these people you fucking bastard!" Shepard screamed at the vengeance filled merc before running deeper into the burning building.
He caught up with her just as the commander closed another valve. Seconds later, the ferocity of the flames began to diminish as a torrent of water rushed down from the ceiling. "The civvies should be able to handle it from here. Time to get back after Vido," Shepard called out called out to the silhouettes of Garrus and Jacob through the water.
"About time," Zaeed snapped. "If Vido gets away, I'm holding you responsible!"
Shepard pushed the larger mercenary aside without paying him any notice and jogged in the direction of a sign saying "loading bay".
Moments later the four of them emerged onto a large open platform serving as the refinery's loading bay with several landing platforms suspended out over the giant canyon. They were just in time to watch a lone gunship lift off from one of the platforms and accelerate away. Zaeed stormed out into the bay, firing his assault rifle wildly in the direction of the gunship until his rifle jammed.
Shepard tapped her helmet to reopen a link to the Normandy. "Joker, we need some air superiority down here. Hostile mantis airborne and fleeing. Secondary weapons only to engage."
"Acknowledge. Normandy beginning attack run above your location," the pilot replied. Shepard looked up just in time to find herself face to face with Zaeed's assault rifle.
"You just cost me twenty years of my life!" Zaeed roared at her threateningly.
Jane lifted her assault rifle to meet the mercenary's seconds before a fire burst to life at the base of a punctured fuel tank. The flames almost instantly spread back to the canister, causing it to explode. The platform shook beneath them as a nearby support buckled and collapsed, throwing Zaeed to the ground and pinning him there.
"Son of a pitch," Zaeed cursed as the roar of flamed slowly advanced towards him as the puddle of fuel expanded towards him.
"Zaeed! You alright?" Shepard asked as she lowered her assault rifle.
"The hell do you care?" Zaeed snapped. "I'm fine. Now get me the hell out of this shit hole."
"Why?" Jane asked as she returned her rifle to her back. "I thought you only worked alone. How can I trust you to be there for the rest of the team when we need you?"
"I'll do what I was God damn paid to do, Shepard" Zaeed shouted angrily. "Now stop screwing around and get me out of here!"
"The shuttle's on route for extraction," Jacob stated as he stepped up behind Shepard.
"You put your own goals ahead of the mission. That is not how my team operates," Shepard stated as she backed away from the trapped human.
Zaeed opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a loud boom from above. All four team members on the platform looked out over the canyon in time to watch the Normandy shooting towards the horizon and fire a single shot with its mass drivers. A small speck sized explosion lingered in the distant sky as the Normandy continued on out of view.
"Vido's dead. I guess you got what you wanted," Shepard stated as their shuttle touched down behind her.
"He was meant to die by my hand!" Zaeed spat as she fought to shift the metal on top of him. "Just, get me out of here."
"Why? You caused this. You would have left the workers to burn in a fire you started. Why shouldn't I just leave you here to burn?"
"Because you need me!"
"I don't think I want someone like you on my team." Jane stepped into the awaiting shuttle. "Your place on my ship just got rescinded."
"Cerberus paid my fee!"
"Not my problem," Shepard shrugged as she moved aside to allow Jacob and Garrus on board.
"You can't be serious. You need me." Zaeed responded in disbelief.
Shepard gave Zaeed a quick nod before banging on the hatch to the pilot's cabin, indicating it was time to leave.
"Screw you Shepard!"
The shuttle door quickly closed as it lifted off and departed the refinery. A quick static filled signal reached the mercenary seconds later saying "See you around Zaeed," just before a pile of fuel tanks ruptured from the heat of the fire. The loading bay erupted into one giant fireball, before the deck plummeting down into the canyon. The shuttle however continued on its unwavering course.
"Where's Zaeed?" Miranda asked sounding confused as she watched the ground team disembark the shuttle.
"Dead," Shepard answered bluntly as she pulled her helmet off and opened a link to the bridge. "Joker, set a course to Korles. The planet with that krogan warlord," she ordered.
"Korlos," Miranda corrected her, looking startled. "But, what happened to Massani? Cerberus invested a lot of credits to ensure that he was the best!"
"He tried to blow up a refinery and got burned," Shepard shrugged as she started pulling off the armour covering her arms.
"And you all just let him died?" Miranda snapped, glaring at Jacob and Garrus as they followed Shepard.
"The mission was to save the refinery and workers," Garrus stated. Zaeed had other ideas.
"Part of being on a team is know how to follow orders, Zaeed didn't," Jacob added.
"The Illsuive Man made me in charge of this team," Shepard elaborated, softening her tone slightly. "I'm in charge of who's on it and who isn't. The credits aren't my concern, I'm just trying to stop the Collectors." She picked up the removed armour and marched into the nearby open elevator. "I just want to make sure we don't burn it down in the process!"
The doors to the elevator closed before the car rushed the commander away, leaving Miranda with the rest of the team. "I guess she is the one responsible for making sure this team works."
"You brought her back from the dead for this," Garrus stated as he slung his rifle back over a shoulder. "What was the point in that if you don't trust her to win?" He walked towards the elevator without even looking at her again.
"I guess I should break it to the Illusive Man," Miranda sighed to Jacob. "Perhaps her can still reclaim the credits he paid Zaeed."