Sorry this took so long. I have been swamped with work and other responsibilities. I taken a pretty big liberty at the end. I hope you enjoy. Please r&r and let me know what you think.
Luke sat in the co-pilot chair watching the stars whiz past the ship. His heart raced as he thought about those vats of J-11. Would it have been so bad for him to take some of the drugs? They would make him more powerful as a biotic.
Luke shook his head trying to push the thoughts out. Now that he had his flashbacks under control, his drug addiction was coming back. He really just could not catch a break.
"I heard you got an amp." Joker said turning to Luke.
"I originally got it to suppress my abilities, but I'm thinking I might have to start turning it on when we are on missions." Luke said.
"So, Alenko doesn't let me see his amp. Is it like a weird bug looking thing in your skin?" Joker asked making finger puppets to mimic the movements of a spider.
"Mine is a surface amp. Alenko has an implant. Mine is for people with nearly useless biotic levels to either nullify it completely or to boost it to the point that it is useful."
"Man, biotics are a bunch of cry babies." Joker exclaimed turning back to the controls.
"What do you mean?" Luke asked looking back at the pilot.
"I can break a bone if I sneeze too hard. That is a disability. Being able to move crap with your mind is not." Luke laughed and crossed his arms.
"Me too…only the bones I break are across a ten foot room. But I know what you mean. I get that some biotics have really bad headaches and even have some mental illnesses because of their eezo exposure, but biotics are still a powerful skill set to have, even if they come with headaches." Luke's fingers fell to the back of his neck and touched the amp at the base of his hair line. He had been having some headaches due to his biotics at the Cerberus lab. If he were to start using his biotics more regularly, he would need some conditioning… not to mention some training.
"You two having fun?" Claire asked coming up and standing behind Joker.
"Oh yeah, can't you see me dancing with glee?" Joker said waving his hands above his head.
"Every day he shufflin'." Luke added.
Claire laughed. Leave it to Luke to add an old school comment to make just about anything funny.
"Claire, when we get to the main Cerberus facility, I want to take point on the infiltration team." Claire looked over at her brother and nodded. She did not mind letting Luke take the lead into the facility.
"I'll be right behind you with Wrex, Tali, and Ashley. I'm going to have Garrus, Kaidan, Liara, and Mallory dropped in to secure the entrance once we have gotten in." Luke nodded. They did not want Cerberus reinforcements to come in behind them and box them in. "Luke, about that, I don't want you to think that you can't come to me with stuff like that."
"It is one thing to come to you about the raid or the Lazarus project, but a drug problem… that is a little different." Luke said standing and starting to head back toward the CIC. He didn't want to talk about all this. He wanted to focus all of his energies to the destruction of the main Cerberus facility. Killing those bastards would take the edge of his addiction and stress.
000
The approach to the Cerberus facility was relatively easy. Garrus and Claire provided over watch and sniper cover while Luke drove the Mako with Ashley and Wrex on the guns.
The whole team assembled outside the main entrance as Luke checked his pistol. Claire looked over at Ashley and nodded toward Luke. Ashley shifted uncomfortably. Claire had asked her to talk to Luke and try to calm him down about the raid, to try and get him to focus, but he looked focused to her. Perhaps a little wrathful but focused.
"Are you alright?" Ashley asked readying her assault rifle. Luke smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just ready to kill these bastards." Luke turned to the door and overloaded the lock. "You've got my back on this, right?"
Ashley socked her weapons and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "Always." Luke smirked and opened the door charging in at a full sprint.
Claire turned in horror to see her brother's back vanish into the facility with Ashley several paces behind. "No, Luke! Ashley! Damn it! Everyone take your positions. Wrex, Tali, on me double time." Claire, Tali and Wrex took off into the facility at a full sprint just as the reports of rifles and other small arms reached the entrance.
"Luke is going to get himself killed one of these days." Kaidan said pulling his pistol and taking his position by the door of the facility. Mallory knelt with her assault rifle in hand peeking every so often into the facility on the other side.
"Luke may charge into a situation without fully considering a strategy or tactic, but he improvises fast and thinks faster." Garrus said keeping his eyes focused on the rolling hills surrounding the Cerberus base. He kept expecting a shuttle or tank or something to come over one of the rises to reinforce the base but all seemed quiet outside. "He is a good partner to have."
"You're bias Garrus. You have been working with him for years. Everyone here is still getting use to his style." Mallory snapped. Garrus turned to look at the human with a curious glance.
"He is your brother. You two could not have changed that much from the time you were kids." Garrus said. His mind wondered to his own sister on Palaven. He wondered what she was doing, how her life was going. A large explosion echoed from inside the facility that drew everyone's attention for a split second.
"I don't know how it is for turians, but humans change as they grow up. Our life shapes us into what we end up being." Mallory responded. "With Luke, I guess it made him vengeful and violent."
"Not even close." Garrus responded. "Luke is not about vengeance or violence. He focuses of doing the right thing even if it is not the legal thing. That is Luke's focus." Garrus responded.
"I found Luke to be quite agreeable, as long as I did not try to pry into his personal affairs. I believe he is a good friend to have." Liara said sitting down with the back against the facility wall.
"Mallory is right. Luke is out of control. Look at the way he charged in to this facility. He is going to get someone hurt, mark my word." Kaidan said looking at the two aliens.
"Oh and you are not bias. You are dating his sister and don't like him because he is a better hacker than you. Honestly, the only one that can get around difficult encryption better than Luke is Tali." Garrus replied facing the man. Kaidan shrugged admitting that he was a little bias. Luke had left his sisters when not only they need him but he needed them the most. He did not deserve to be there on the Nornmandy with them in his eyes. He would work with him because he was a skilled tech engineer and a decent shot with a pistol, but as a far as being friendly, he had no ambitions to even attempt to befriend him.
Inside the facility, Luke was pinned down by hailstone of enemy fire every time he got his shields back up, one of the enemy engineers used their omni-tool to overload them. He was in deep trouble.
"Luke, I want you to take your assault rifle and blind fire over the top of the crate. The rest of us will move up and flank them. Ashley, Tali, get ready to move. Wrex, you lead around to the right." Claire said over the radio. Luke immediately switched to the assault rifle and put the barrel over the top of the crate and pulled the trigger. Within seconds, he heard the enemy commandos scream and panic as Claire, Tali, Ashley, and Wrex ripped through them in a matter of seconds. Luke stood up and chuckled to himself.
"What's funny?" Ashley asked as she jogged over to him.
Luke looked over at her and then back to one of the bodies. He chuckled to himself as he pulled the visor off one of the men there and revealed the man's face.
"This my dear Ash, is Kale Brink. We was a member of the 5th street Reds on Earth. Be brought a bunch of the gang to the Citadel and tried to make a grab at power. Fortunately for us, they could not move fast enough and did not have anywhere near enough guys. Brink was supposed to be in prison for six years. Looks like Cerberus got him out, trained him, and gave him a job."
"If this is the kind of people that work for Cerberus, then we need to find them and kill them." Ashley said. Luke smiled and nodded. She understood.
"Luke, next time, wait for my signal to charge in and start killing people." Claire said checking her shoulder plate for damage. She had taken a sniper round to the shoulder that was quickly retaliated with a shot to the commando's head.
"Right…sorry about that Claire. I thought you were right behind me." Luke stated sarcastically. His smile immediately vanished and he headed toward the door leading deeper into the facility.
"Luke, I'm serious." Claire said reaching for her brother. The second Claire's hand touched Luke's shoulder, he wiped it from his shoulder.
"Stay here. There is someone still here." The team looked around raising their weapons. "I signal you if I need you."
"How?" Claire asked holding her assault rifle barrel on the door that Luke was facing.
"I'll lie." With that Luke opened the door and sealed it behind him on a time lock. Tali would have been able to get through it but Claire would hold them back until Luke signaled. She trusted him…even after everything he had withheld.
"I'm surprised that you decided to come in alone." The voice echoed from the walls and sent chills up Luke's spine. He could feel the eyes on him but he could not find the source.
"Why? You know me, I'm a loner. What are you doing with Cerberus?" Luke asked. His eyes darted from one wall to the other trying to find the source of the blood chilling voice.
"They supply things I desire." The answer was behind Luke now. He spun around trying to catch a glimpse of his opponent.
"What things? The last time we tangled you were an assassin for hire and never missed a target. What else could you possibly want?" Luke's hand was on pistol as his eyes kept moving.
"A mission." Luke drew his pistol aiming down the hallway at a figure in black clad armor. He wore a recon hood with eyes that glowed red. Same suit that he had been wearing the last time Luke had tangled with him.
"You never let anyone see you unless you want to be seen. What do you want from me?" Luke said slowly drawing his pistol.
"Please Shepard. If I was going to kill you, you would already be dead. I'm here to collect the files and leave before your sister stumbles in here." The figure raised an OSD. Luke holstered his pistol.
"Original wager? I keep my team out and say you were never here for the OSD." Luke asked. The figure nodded and placed the OSD in his chest pocket.
"With pleasure."
Luke charged as did his opponent. The man in black leapt up to deliver a punch, but Luke dropped and slid under his feet. He sprung back to his feet and leapt at the man's back. The figure countered by kicking Luke in the chest halting his advance. Luke immediately tackled the man pulling him to the ground. The figure freed himself quickly and delivered a devastating kick to Luke's jaw. The blow bloodied Luke's nose and lip and made his slightly dizzy. Luke jumped to his feet backing away trying to see straight. The man did not give him the chance. He immediately launched a barrage of swift punches into Luke's stomach and chest. Luke managed to catch his breath just enough to clasp is hand s together and bring a heavy hit down on the man's collarbone. Even in the armor, Luke delivered a hard enough strike to the back of his opponent's head that he was able to slip by and kick him in the back. The man in black stumbled forward but before Luke could take advantage of the opportunity, he regained his balance and preformed a spinning-back hook kick that Luke in the shoulder. Luke groaned as his shoulder shifted out of place and he grabbed the man with his good arm. He brought his knee up as the man turned and caught him in the gut and punched him across the face. Luke tackled the man again wrestling him to the ground and trying to get him in a choke hold, but again his opponent escaped. The man in black spun around and delivered another kick to Luke's face and knocked him to the ground. Luke tried to get back up but gravity simply would not pick a direction to pull him toward. He looked up as the world spun and darkened and watched as his opponent scampered away.
"Luke, come in. What's going on in there? Luke? Luke, if you don't answer me, I'm going to come in here and kick your ass." Luke rolled on to his back and activated his radio.
"I'm here. Come on in…but, uh….already got my ass kicked." Luke pulled himself over to the wall and propped himself up and waited to the team to come through. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do.