What's the point in asking questions, even only rhetorical questions, in anonymous guest reviews - considering I can't reply to them anyway? I've got nothing against criticism, but I would like to engage it...
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Shepard had never heard of this 'Zorya' before. Since the number of settled garden worlds in the known galaxy was in the low thousands, this was not surprising. Apparently, Zorya had been colonized only very recently, with the first settlement starting up in 2160. As this was the Terminus, this was not backed by any regular government. Most colonies in the Terminus were started by independent groups. However, on Zorya, several independent groups had been involved, groups that on their own would have been too small for colonization efforts, and which hence had needed to band together. A multitude of human, batarian, asari and Lystheni salarian groups had agreed to start a colony in a common project. This had not worked out. The colonization efforts ended up being done haphazardly and amateurish, and the several groups involved in settlement eventually had a falling out – something that was never difficult between humans and batarians to begin with.
This was made even worse by the biological conditions on the ground. Zorya was thoroughly overgrown with plants and fungi of all kinds. Even only clearing the ground for construction was a considerable obstacle. Worse, all those plants and fungi were releasing an insane amounts of pollen and spores into the air. Some of those made breathing difficult, some caused severe allergies, and some were outright deadly.
As a result of those two factors, Zorya was now dotted with several independent mini-colonies[1]. Life in them was primitive. Even only feeding the people already was a certain problem. The colonies had to resort to laborious and crude clear-cutting and slash-and-burn farming in order to win any land at all, and in order to keep the concentration of pollen and spores below a critical level. It was almost medieval. And as if this were not bad enough yet, violence was rampant on the planet. A constant low-level warfare existed between several of the colonies, and raids by criminals who had run off into the wild were a common problem, too. Worse, vorcha had been able to establish populations outside the settled zones, and now posed a risk to those as well.
The only stabilizing factor on the planet were the Blue Suns – and that just went to show how bad the situation on Zorya really was. Officially, the Blue Suns merely dominated the planet's high-demand security market. All colonies had contracted the Suns for that work... and should any colony fail to do so, or even hire somebody else, the Suns would make sure to show them the error of their ways. Unofficially, the Suns basically ruled Zorya. They did not intervene too greatly into local politics, but their word was law, and they made sure to get protection money in form of the various contracts from everyone. It was basically like a Mafia don ruling over his neighbourhoods. Consequently, Zorya was also the Suns' headquarters.
Shepard increasingly came to the conviction that placing a refinery here had been a terrible choice by Eldfell-Ashland. The company's executives most likely had only looked at local star charts – Zorya was the nearest garden world to several eezo mining projects in the region. But looking at information on planetary conditions might have saved the corporation a great deal of trouble; it would maybe have been more profitable to accept longer transport and supply routes than trying to deal with the situation on Zorya. Even if the Blue Suns were defeated now, which Shepard strongly assumed, it was still their planet. Eldfell-Ashland would not be able to do business here without accommodating them.
But that was something for the company's executives to worry about. Shepard was only here to help Massani fulfil his contract, and to free the workers currently held as slaves. In order to do that, he had brought the whole squad along, except for Jack, Kasumi and Mordin. He still did not trust Jack, but what was more, he still felt the ex-prisoner had basically been shanghaied into service. Thus, he felt uncomfortable with the thought of actually sending her into combat. He would have little problem with her getting her treatment even without her paying for it in labour. But since Jack was dangerous, Shepard had also decided to leave Kasumi aboard. Few would be able to deal with Jack's biotic powers head-on, but the thief could act unseen, from the shadows, if the need should arise. At the same time, her stealthy style was not well suited to the Zorya mission, which would probably end up becoming a frontal assault. As for Mordin, Shepard did not want to "waste him" on an assault unimportant to the wider mission, not if he could also stay in his laboratory and device improvements for the anti-Seeker protections.
For ease of command, Shepard again had split the deployed squad into two teams, again one led by him and one by Lawson. However, this time the two groups were moving together. Given the Blue Suns' strength on this planet, Shepard feared the squad could get picked apart one by one if it should separate.
Massani obviously had prepared well for the mission. He had studied facts about the refinery, rumours about the local Blue Suns troop and the topography of the area around the target. He thus had been able to pick a very clever landing spot for the shuttle. It would place the squad not too far away from the refinery, but at the same time in a place that was a bit of a blind spot for the Suns. Nonetheless, Massani cautioned the mercenaries would most likely spot them soon enough. They had put an ample amount of patrols and motion detectors all around the refinery, mostly so as to prevent the workers now treated as slaves from escaping.
"Hey, quarian," Massani called over to Tali as the squad was leaving the squad. He was typing something on his omni-tool. "Use those codes. They should allow you to tap into Suns communication. You're better at that technical stuff than me."
For a short moment, Tali seemed surprised, but she immediately began to work on her own omni-tool. After a while, she reported: "The codes seem to work. We have access to Blue Suns communication."
"How did you get those codes?" Garrus asked. "Even we didn't manage that back on Omega."
"I've done my homework," Massani merely stated.
The squad set into motion. Even if they had not checked the maps of the area, it would be impossible to miss the refinery. A giant chimney rose over the fungi-crusted palms that stood everywhere, and released an ungodly amount of smoke into the air.
"Eldfell-Ashland seems to be using pretty crude technology here," Tali commented.
"That's why companies come to Zorya," Massani explained. "No regulations here. Not for the environment, not for labour safety. And with that goddamn thick vegetation, even all that smoke won't make any difference to the atmosphere."
Vegetation was indeed omnipresent. The squad was walking along a narrow path, but even here the ground was covered in lichen. Any area that was not covered in bushes was at least covered in grass, and even all vertical surfaces were taken up: Fungi grew on rocks and trees, to the point that hardly any uncovered spot could be seen at all. And this, as Shepard knew, was one of the areas on Zorya constantly cleared from vegetation; otherwise pollen and spore levels would become deadly.
A voice came from Tali's omni-tool: "Squad Bravo, a shuttle landed near your location. Check it out."
"That was Vido," Massani explained. "They've seen us. We better keep close, and watch out for Suns."
The squad made its way through a relatively narrow canyon. The scenery was eerily similar to the canyon they had walked through on Gei Hinnom; Shepard half expected to be attacked by varren any minute. And indeed, just like on Gei Hinnom, they found corpses: Human corpses this time, two female and one male.
"Shot in the back and left to rot," Massani commented. "That's definitely Vido's style." He did not seem overly concerned with the dead, though, as he immediately added in a calm and disinterested voice: "Let's push ahead."
The only animals in the region seemed to be bird analogues and some pyjaks. It was actually unclear where pyjaks came from; like varren they could nowadays be found all over the galaxy. It seemed they were relatively unaffected by the deadly conditions on Zorya. Going by the numbers Shepard encountered, they seemed to be thriving here.
"Command to Bravo." This was Santiago again. "Take a position. Likely these people are not runaways."
As the squad came around a corner in the path, they could see the omnipresent vegetation being broken up by steel. Metal skeletons rose into the air to support a facility there. Shepard's people had reached the underside of the refinery. There was not much time to inspect it more closely, though: Squad Bravo was using this location for their stand.
Unlike the Eclipse, the Blue Suns did not hold robotics in high regard. They had a more 'hands-on' style that relied more on toughness than mechanical qualities. This was almost a pity: In fights against the Suns there simply were no mechs for Tali to take over and turn around. On the other hand, fighting against organics made using biotics more effective.
Squad Bravo was soon reinforced by more mercenaries streaming over a bridge gaping a lower lying canyon. The entire underside of the refinery soon was one large battlefield. It was never in doubt who was winning, though. Even the reinforcements could not help the Blue Suns keeping this position.
"They're getting torn to shreds out there!" A voice from the Blue Suns' communication network, displayed by Tali's omni-tool. "All squads! Fall back!"
For some Blue Suns, this was easier said than done. Running away was a certain problem if you were pinned down in your cover by enemy fire.
Finally, Shepard saw a couple of rifles being thrown away from one of the Suns' positions. "Stop shooting!" somebody shouted. "We surrender!"
"Hold fire!" Shepard ordered his squad. Then, towards the enemy position: "Come out with arms raised."
Slowly, hesitantly, one by one, the enemies did so. A human man came into view, then another one, then a turian woman, then an asari. Meanwhile, just to make sure, Shepard's squad still remained in their positions, not wanting to potentially be baited out into the open.
"Alright," Shepard said, but he was interrupted by the asari, who looked right at Garrus: "You're the turian. The one Sidonis wanted to get away from."
Moving like lightning, Garrus was immediately next to her, and lay a heavy hand on her shoulder. His voice was growling. "Sidonis? What do you know about him?"
"I... I tell you everything!" the asari promised. "Just let us go then."
"We'll..." Garrus began to answer, but Shepard interrupted him: "You will be free to go... if you tell him what he wants to know."
"He... he got into contact with our cell on the Citadel two months back," the asari explained. "I was with them back then. Came to here after... well, that doesn't matter now. The Citadel section is more... discrete than what we do out here in the Terminus. Strictly security business, nothing crooked. Or at least, nothing openly crooked. Sidonis sought the help of Fade... somebody who can make people disappear. And Fade uses us for protection, in turn. You want to get Sidonis, you need to find him. But his reputation is solid. He hasn't sold out a single client yet."
"There's always a first," Garrus hissed.
He was still holding on to the asari, until Shepard ordered: "Let her go. That's information we can work with. You people are free to go." Garrus let go of the mercenary. She and her colleagues looked around unsurely, apparently uncertain what to do now. Shepard told them: "Just run into the jungle. There's no predators out there as far as I know, and you don't need to run into the pollen heavy areas. Just get out of the combat zone."
After some more hesitation, the mercenaries followed suit.
"Sidonis," Garrus hissed again. "I got him."
Shepard nodded. "Then our next stop is certain: The Citadel. For now, can you stay concentrated on this mission?"
"I'll take it as training round," Garrus answered. It did not sound quite as light-hearted as it was probably intended to. "Training on how to kill Blue Suns."
Shepard nodded again. That cleared matters for him. He trusted Garrus.
Some mercenaries remained hidden behind steel beams or covered by ferns, apparently without thinking of surrendering, but they could pose no threat to the squad anymore. When the squad reached the bridge the Blue Suns reinforcements had used, Shepard noticed movement in the corner of his eyes. He saw an asari and a human woman running away. He let them be. He also would have let the first group of mercenaries to surrender go without any price. That they had told Garrus of Sidonis had just been an added bonus.
The bridge contained a mechanism that allowed it to be drawn in and out. Without needing specific orders, Tali began working on the control unit.
At the same time, a voice emitted from her omni-tool: "I'll kill any of the cowards who ran away myself. Any of you only thinking about doing the same won't live to see tomorrow. Now get to your positions and hold them!"
"Sounds like Vido hasn't changed," Massani commented.
"You seem pretty preoccupied with him," Shepard observed. "I'd say you have a past with him."
"And I'd add it involves the Blue Suns," Garrus intervened. "You seem awfully knowledgeable about them."
"Damn right I am," Massani confirmed. "I goddamn founded them myself."
"I looked the Suns up on the extranet," Shepard answered. "We fight them often enough after all. Nothing mentioned you as a founder. Santiago founded them."
"We were co-founders," Massani explained. "I led the men, he ran the books. Worked real well for a while. Then Vido decided to start hiring batarians. Cheaper labour, he said. Goddamn terrorists, I said. So Vido decided I wasn't needed anymore. He hired six of my men – from my own goddamned squad, not even from among his batarian friends. They held me down while he put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger. He then wiped all the records of my involvement with the Suns. Now, one of the batarians runs the military side of the Suns."
"You survived getting shot to the head?" Shepard asked. This doesn't exactly make his story more believable.
"Yeah," Massani confirmed. "And you survived your ship getting disintegrated. A stubborn enough person can survive just about anything."
The bridge was drawn out.
"But why didn't you ever tell me about this?" Shepard asked.
"Why should I have? Wouldn't have brought me anything," Massani claimed. "Even now you aren't really believing me. Doesn't matter. Believe me or not, as long as we're going to kill Vido."
"So it's the same for you," Garrus stated. "Just like me, you want revenge."
"Goddamn right I do," Massani answered. "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. So yeah, I want revenge."
"Then we'll get him," Tisiphone intervened. The answer was brimming with determination. Massani's experience resonated with her. Strange how both she and Garrus can sympathize with his story, but it fits.
"We will," Shepard confirmed, but he was more unsure. We're here to free the workers. Santiago is merely a bonus. "Let's go."
They had barely crossed the bridge, when they could hear Vido again: "They're at the southern access. All squads mass at the gatehouse! Now!"
The door to what was most likely the gatehouse came into view for the squad after just a few moments. Steep rocks rose to both sides, which would make going around the refinery in order to find other entrances potentially difficult. Still better than running into a fortified position like this, though.
He came to a halt, and so did the rest of the squad... except Massani. "What are you waiting for?" the mercenary asked. "Vido's right in there."
"Together with probably most of his soldiers," Shepard cautioned. "We go in there, we'll just get gunned down."
"I know Vido. He wouldn't just shoot," Massani claimed. "He sees me, and he'll gloat. That'll give us some time."
"That's a hell of a gamble to make," Shepard judged. "I'm not letting my people run into a death trap due to your judgement of a man you last saw twenty years ago when he tried to kill you." From what he himself had seen of Santiago, he would even agree: The man was fond of boasting and self-presentation. But he would not base a high-risk strategy like that on such a small observation.
"You wait outside then," Massani told him. "I get gunned down, you can finish the business. But I won't." He let his view wander around the squad. "Some volunteers to go with me would be nice."
Tisiphone stepped forwards. "For revenge."
Grunt did likewise. "I don't fear 'death traps'."
It took some time before someone else answered. Finally, Garrus did. "Yes. Revenge. And a fight against the Blue Suns."
"This is stupid, but okay," Shiala added.
The situation made Shepard a bit uncomfortable. Half the deployed squad had just volunteered. Only he himself, Tali, Samara, Lawson and Taylor had not. But he could see no other entrance, and if these people volunteered for the dangerous way in, then he would not hinder them.
Tali provided assistance in opening the door. Then Massani and his volunteers stepped in. The rest of the squad took positions to both sides of the door, ready to storm in or provide fire cover should the situation call for it.
"Zaeed Massani," Shepard could hear Santiago's voice from within. He peered around the corner and could see the man standing on a balcony facing the entrance, together with a dozen of Blue Suns mercenaries. They had a perfect firing position... but did not use it. Just as Massani had predicted, Santiago was merely talking. "You finally tracked me down."
"Vido," Massani answered, reaching for his rifle.
He stopped when Santiago hissed: "Don't be stupid, Zaeed. I have a whole company of bloodthirsty bastards behind me, ready to kill or be killed on my command." Man, I'd have gunned down Massani and the others five times over already. "Actually, take your shot. Give my men the reason to put you down like mad dog you are. Again."
In one swift movement, Massani drew his gun and fired in Santiago's general direction, while running to the left side of the entrance room. He did not hit anybody, though.
"What was that?" Santiago asked in a mocking tone. Goddamn, even now he doesn't order to open fire? That man's too stupid to live! "Gone near-sighted, old friend?"
Only now did Shepard notice gas leaking out from behind the mercenary leader. So Massani did hit something!
And indeed Massani merely stated: "Burn, you son of a bitch." He rose his rifle and fired again, this time with more precision.
He again hit the pipe already hit before. Whereas before only gas leaked from it, now a burst of fire came forth, and then gave way to a fiery explosion that hit all the Blue Suns on the balcony. Ash and burning fragments came raining down from above. Massani's volunteers were quick to seek cover, though the area did not provide for much.
"Go in, take position, and provide fire cover!" Shepard ordered the remaining squad. He hoped Massani's little manoeuvre had thinned out enemy resistance.
The surviving mercenaries now finally opened fire, but there were indeed only few of them left. Santiago lay on the ground and managed to rob away. "You just signed your death warrant, Massani", he threatened.
While he focused on aiming and firing at the mercenaries above him, Shepard could hear clanking sounds from the left, the side where Massani had ran off to. He took a step back in order to risk a quick glance and saw the freelancer mercenary repeatedly hitting a valve with the butt of his rifle.
"What the hell are you doing?" Shepard demanded to know, but then had to turn around again: The Blue Suns on the balcony had still not been wholly defeated.
Shepard heard an explosion to his left. Then another explosion occurred behind the Blue Suns on the balcony, this time considerably larger than the one that hit them before. The remaining Suns were engulfed in flame, blasted over the railing or collapsing in screams. But that was not the end of it. Further explosions followed. By the sounds of them, they seemed to spread all over the refinery. Fire was suddenly everywhere.
Calmly, Massani walked over to Shepard. "Opening the gate."
"By burning down the refinery?" the Spectre asked. He was enraged. According to Eldfell-Ashland's files, 118 people had worked at the refinery, and they were estimating the Suns to still keep around 95 slaves working there. "We're here to free these people, not kill them!"
"I came here to kill Vido Santiago!" Massani replied. "You want my help on your mission, you better make damn sure that man dies today."
"So all your talk about work ethics and keeping to contracts, that was just pure bullshit!" Shepard observed. "You just want your revenge, and if dozens of people have to burn, so be it!"
"If I weren't under my oath to Shepard, you'd be dead already," Samara added.
Shepard thought Lawson was awfully quiet considering how Massani had just threatened to break his contract with Cerberus, but she did not say a word.
"I don't care," Massani claimed. "Vido cost me twenty years of my life. I won't..."
He was stopped cold when Tisiphone came walking up to him and punched him right into the face. Massani's instincts were good: He had turned around and rose his hand to block off the strike, but it had not happened quite fast enough: Tisiphone's fist delivered a blow to the left side of his face. He staggered back a step after the strike, but immediately straightened up again.
"I know all about losing decades of your live," Tisiphone claimed. "You whine because of a single incident. Oh yes, you were left for dead, but it was just a single incident. I saw a dozen kids die around me, and it could have hit me at any time as well. I was torn from my family, imprisoned for nine years, abused for two and suffered pain for seventeen years. And yet, do you see me burning down dozens of innocent people?"
"You really want to do this, girl?" Massani asked her.
"If I wanted to 'do this', you'd be dead already," Tisiphone spat out. "I don't do macho one on one bullshit."
Damnit, we can't waste even more time on this. In principle, Shepard was fully agreeing with Tisiphone, but there really were more pressing matters present than the psychotic mercenary. "We're ten people," he spoke up before Massani could respond. "With proper equipment and experience. We can save the refinery, or at least the people inside, if we get moving now."
"You want to waste your time, go ahead," Massani answered. "I'm going to kill Vido."
"Then crawl away like the dog you are," Shepard told him. I oughta kill you on the spot. But Massani would be able to put up a fight, and there was no time for that. Besides, Shepard would not kill somebody just so without proper consideration – for which, again, there was no time. "And pray we don't ever meet again. You wouldn't survive it."
With that, he turned around to enter the refinery. Some of the squad kept a watchful eye on Massani as they turned to follow the Spectre, but eventually they all did.
The building in which the fight had taken place turned out to be just what Santiago had called it: A gatehouse. At the other side, it opened to a sort of inner court, with metal gangways connecting several buildings. The squad moved towards the largest one. This was not without some dangers. The fire had already spread all over, and explosions were still happening. At one point, Shepard managed to just so stop short before a gangway plate right in front of him blew up.
Who the hell designed this refinery? Using explosives in order to separate the eezo from its the rock, ice or dust it usually came with was already incredibly crude. Transporting the explosives in liquid form through unsecured pipes was worse. But that some simple hits with a rifle butt had been enough to blow the factory up was truly mind boggling. That's what happens as soon as corporations are free of regulations.
Shepard opened the door to the largest building. A wave of heat washed over him. Inside, everything was red, from the fire or from the emergency illumination. Explosions could be heard from farther back. Just as he stepped on a staircase, one such explosion blew away parts of the wall's sheathing to left of him. Instinctively, he ducked down in a cowering position, but fortunately no flame burst forth. Further explosions followed his way upwards. The building seemed like it could collapse any minute now. And the further Shepard got inside, the hotter it got. He felt like inside an oven, which was not at all helped by his heavy armour.
He opened up a further door to see a vision of hell inside: Fire was everywhere, coming from below, above, the sides – everything just seemed to be one giant, formless ball of fire. Smoke and a red mist hang in the air. A column of flame hit Shepard as he stepped merely a single step forwards. Fortunately, his armour managed to keep away most of the heat, but he still grunted in pain. He felt uncomfortably reminded of the vorcha flamethrower that had hit him on Omega. But we need to go inside. Can't be helped. Carefully, he did so. Eventually, he could see the contours of the room among all the flame. But between the pipes, stairs and engines, there were over a dozen fires burning.
"We need to stop the fuel running through the pipes," Tali shouted. Between the blistering fires and the occasional explosions, she could barely be heard. "I can't hack the system quickly enough. There are several control stations for the fuel here. We need to get to them all."
Great. Just great.
At least no Blue Suns was insane enough to stay in this hall of fiery madness. The squad still had to be extremely careful. Flames could burst forth from any angle, glowing pieces of the wall could be blasted towards them, explosions could happen right in front of them. Finally, though, they managed to deactivate the flow of fuels. Near the last terminal was what appeared to be a fire safety room: Behind a glass front there were several humans, some of them thumbing against the glass.
"You need to activate the extinguishing system!" one of them shouted. "Upstairs!"
Someone less disciplined shouted: "We're going to die!"
"I'll try to reach the extinguishing system!" Shepard promised them, and then turned to do just that. There was not much more to be said.
The climb up several cases of stairs was just as difficult as moving around the hall's bottom level had been. At one point, the gangway in front of them was completely unpassable due to burning debris; the squad had to take a complicated way around to finally reach their goal: A control room that contained, among other things, the controls for the fire extinguishers.
As soon as Shepard started them, water began falling down from the ceiling. At least Eldfell-Ashland didn't rationalize away this system. Given their apparent cuts elsewhere, this actually was genuinely surprising. The water hit the fire. For a while, the two primal elements struggled for dominance, with the water vapour filling out the hall being the sign of that struggle. Finally, water won out: The fires were smothered by it.
As the squad went down the stairs again, everything was dripping wet. Small puddles of water were everywhere, and the hall was filled with the sounds of dripping liquid and boots splashing in it. All in all, this state of affairs was vastly preferable to everything burning.
Immediately after the squad reached the hall's ground level again, a middle-aged man with balding head and worker uniform came running towards them. He enthusiastically grabbed Shepard's hand. "Thank you! Thank you for saving us! I thought... we all thought we'd die!"
A woman came trotting after the man. "Enough of us did."
"Do you have any overview on how many people have died, and how many have survived?" Shepard asked. He did not expect them to; not mere seconds after the fire.
"We were about 30 in that safety room," the man explained. "And there were about 30 people in the sections where explosions hit hardest; those will be all dead. That leaves nearly 40 people I have no clue about."
Shepard made a grimace under his helmet. At least 30 dead, probably considerably more. Massani has a lot to answer for.[2]
"It would be more dead if you hadn't reacted so quickly," the woman commented. "I thought you paranoid to get us all into that claustrophobic room as soon as you heard the first bang, but you were right." She turned to Shepard. "I'm Jessica al-Amiri, and this is Jacques Sokolov, this section's foreworker."
Shepard shook the hands of both. "I'm Jonathan Shepard, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance arm of the Citadel Council. We're here to free the refinery from the Blue Suns... and the workers in particular."
"Shepard?" Sokolov echoed. The expected reaction. Shepard's armour obscured his face, so people would not immediately recognize him. But the name was famous, of course. "I'm glad, but I didn't think our fate would reach the Saviour of the Citadel!"
"We were... well, let's say, we were passing through the region," Shepard told him. In a way, this was even true.
"How did the fire happen?" al-Amiri asked. "And the Blue Suns, what about them? Are they gone?"
"Not completely yet," Shepard answered. "As for the fire... it happened during the fighting." Again, not incorrect.
"I told the company to invest more into safety!" Sokolov complained. "This could have happened any time! The valves especially were criminally under-engineered. Anything hitting them could have started a massive explosion." You don't say... "But yeah, some bullets to the pipes would get you the same result, as we can see." Shepard did not bother to correct Sokolov's assumption.
Al-Amiri sneered. "Well, there's a reason we came to this godforsaken wo..."
She was interrupted when Tali's omni-tool beeped. "The Suns' comm system is back up," the quarian explained. "Let's hear what they have to say."
She pressed a button on her omni-tool to activate sound: "Starting the gunship. When will you be there?" "I don't know. Ten minutes maybe. Why isn't this son of a bitch dead yet?"
The second voice was already known to the squad: Vido Santiago.
"One of your men is still out there?" Sokolov asked.
"Well... in a manner of speaking," Shepard answered. "But yeah, we should go... support him."
Al-Amiri opened up her own omni-tool and quickly typed on it. "Here. That's the way to the Suns' landing platform. Seems like they're all going there. Good luck!"
Considering how large the facility was, knowing the route to the landing platform was absolutely necessary. The first area the squad traversed seemed to be Eldfell-Ashland's version of an office room. However, even though it certainly contained office desks, those were all placed in a big, industrial hall with metal walls and pipes around them. Even here the company seemed to have been determined to cut costs: The offices had simply been put into the factory themselves and had gotten no decoration at all.
The next hall the squad entered seemed to be the refinery's cargo hub. Shepard could see cranes, conveyors and fuel tanks. Between them stood several crates – and laid several corpses, all of them in Blue Suns armour. There even was a destroyed YMIR mech in one corner. Looking closer at his surroundings, Shepard noticed how several areas of the wall were full of impact holes.
"Massani's work," Garrus judged. "He's good."
"He certainly is if he managed to take out all these mercs," Shepard agreed. Damn. Maybe I underestimated him.
The hall had an exit leading to the outside. There, Shepard could see how a black gunship was just lifting off from the landing platform. Apparently, it was equipped with loudspeakers. Through them, Shepard could hear Santiago speaking: "See you in another twenty years, you son of a bitch!"
From somewhere else, the Spectre heard Massani screaming. The mercenary came running at the gunship from another angle. He stopped and wildly fired into the air, trying to hit the vehicle. However, it was too late – Santiago was already gone. Massani did not seem to care. He continued to fire, until finally the gun jammed. Only then did he notice that Shepard and the squad had approached him.
He swung around and aimed his rifle at Shepard. The gun ejected a heatsink; it stood to reason it now could fire again. "You just cost me twenty years of my life!"
Shepard had no intention to engage in Massani's games. He hit the mercenary with a powerful biotic push. Even while Massani was still flying away, Shepard raised his shotgun and fired single precise shots – just enough to whittle away Massani's shields. The freelancer tried to stand up again, but Shepard now shot his left leg legs and his right arm. In the day and age of medi-gel, these were not terrible injuries, but they made sure that Massani would not pose a problem. [3]
"That was unwise," Shepard commented. "If you wanted to shoot me, you should have."
He had never understood why some people were blathering on and on even when guns were already drawn. He himself certainly was not the type for that. He only talked after he had secured the situation, like now.
"To hell with you, Shepard," Massani cursed him. He supported his body on his left arm. "Didn't know you were so goddamn sensitive about having a gun in your face. Won't happen again. Now fix me up so we can get back to the ship."
"Not gonna happen," Shepard told him. "Not after you just killed at least thirty people on my watch. I might accept to see past Cerberus' history, at least for the moment being, or even past the history of such people as Okeer and Jack. Even yours. After all, we all fight a common enemy, no? But I do demand that on my mission, on my watch," He was shouting these words. "no further crimes will happen. Certainly no mass murders."
"Look, Shepard," Massani argued. "This isn't like your crusade two years ago. I agreed with you back then. It's always been my policy to never target kids. You can ask your turian friend here, it's part of my reputation. Nobody asks kids if they want to be part of the game or not. But these people here? That's different, Shepard. Humans have been in the Terminus for less than thirty years. Just about every human here is here because they decided to come... including these workers. They knew what the Terminus is like: Lawless and dangerous. They knew the risks and they took'em. If they wanted safety, they should've stayed on Earth. So this just isn't the place for your morality."
It was somewhat surprising for Shepard to hear that apparently, Massani did have a sense of ethics, twisted as it might be. But it was not convincing.
"How very convenient to hide behind the general danger of the Terminus after you just added to it," he answered. "There's no excuse for mass murder, neither here nor in Citadel space. The only problem is, Citadel space has a proper court system. This hell hole of a planet doesn't. We could turn you over to one of the local colonies, but we all know how that would end: You'd be executed not because you deserve it, but because Santiago wants it. So, in the absence of a proper justice system, it falls to us to deal with you."
"You wanna hold a trial?" Massani mocked. "You aren't exactly lawyers material."
"No," Shepard conceded. "But we have to make do."
"With what goddamn right do you want to judge me?" Massani burst out now. "Who the hell made you god?"
"I won't be deciding alone," Shepard told him. "We all will." He turned around to the squad. "We will determine Massani's guilt, and then his punishment."
Tali was the first to speak up, maybe because she knew Shepard's sense of justice best – she could have foreseen this development better than the others. "There's no need for this distinction. We all know what the punishment would be if we sentence him. You wouldn't settle for anything less, and we have no prison to hold him, anyway."
Lawson understood. "So we'll deliberate whether to shoot Massani or let him go."
"I suppose that's what it comes down to, yes," Shepard agreed. "You're right, Tali. We can make this one vote."
"You can't be serious!" Massani protested.
"He did kill thirty people," Tali conceded. "And he deserves punishment for it. But I can't sentence him to death. We fought side by side with him. He's... crew." Which, to quarians, was a very important concept. "Besides, it would be wasteful. Alive, he could still do some good. We might need him against the Collectors. Dead, he's of no use to anybody. I vote we let him go."
Shepard nodded. He did not think that Massani rejoining the squad was a viable option anymore, not after what just had happened, but he would accept every cast vote without comment. Contrary to the conceptions of some, he genuinely did not try to play god. There was a reason he had extended this decision to the whole present squad, and he would accept that decision, whatever it might be.
"Thirty people is just a tiny fraction of the lives lost in every Collector attack," Lawson spoke next. "There's a reason why Cerberus hired Massani. He threatened to breach the contract, but I'm sure a new one could be negotiated. A new contract that takes the... new realities into account. Of course this only works if he's alive, so I vote we don't kill him."
Oh. So that's how it is. That was why Lawson had not spoken up earlier: She saw an opportunity in this. If Lawson's vote saved Massani's life, the mercenary would have to accept whatever new contract Cerberus came up with – and a new contract would definitely make sure he was on their side, not Shepard's.
"Yeah, we can't just kill him!" Taylor simply said. "I don't know if I could fight at his side anymore, but... let's just let him go. We can't be judge, jury and executioner all at once."
Juries are not a universal right, no matter what we North Americans might think, but okay.
"Why can't we?" Tisiphone argued. "Because it would be improper? You really want to argue procedures after this bastard just killed all those people? Like hell. I have no problem with being his judge, his jury and his executioner. Damn, I supported him. I do support retribution. But in all my time, I never sacrificed people for it. I say we kill him."
Massani groaned, but he stayed silent. He probably realized the only chance to get out of this alive was to not antagonize anyone, and the best way to do that was to shut up."
"Why are we even discussing this?" Grunt complained. "You're my warmaster, Shepard. You're an excellent warrior, but a terrible master. You want to kill this man, kill him. You really need my vote for that, as if it made any difference, you have it."
Not exactly what I was looking for, but I did say the entire assembled squad gets to vote...
"I'll follow you in anything you'll do, Shepard," Samara stated. "Your decision is my decision. That is what the Third Oath of Submission demands of me. However, I can give you an... advice. And as in everything else, my advice is based on the code: As I've said before, according to the Code, this man deserves to die. What you do with this advice is up to you."
Like treating the advice as a vote... The Justicar seemed to be rather experienced in tricking and creatively interpreting the Code, but at the same time always seemed to keep to the spirit of it. So... three to three. Four to three with my vote. If somebody abstained, there could be a hung decision. In that case, Shepard intended to let Massani go. He would only kill him with a clear majority of votes.
Shiala and Garrus had not spoken yet. Both seemed unsure. Everybody was looking at them, waiting for them to cast their vote. It was the asari who spoke first: "I cannot with a clear conscience convict somebody to death. Not after what I have done on Feros. I was given forgiveness and a second chance. I now cannot deny this to others. Maybe Massani will not actually seek redemption, but even so I'm in no position to vote for his death. So I vote against that."
Kinda invalid comparison. You were under mind control. Massani wasn't. But Shepard still remained silent.
It took a further while before Garrus finally spoke up. "This is difficult. I can understand Massani. Revenge. I don't know what I would have done if I had been in his position, and it had been Sidonis fleeing. I really don't. But... what about the people in the refinery? I want revenge because Sidonis killed all my team members, at least indirectly. What if some of the survivors want revenge because Massani killed so many of their colleagues? Wouldn't that be the exact same situation? And if I find my case for retribution to be justified, then I also have to find that case justified. I mean, it's only a hypothetical situation, but it could be... ah, damn, I'm not good with explaining this stuff. But I hope I made myself clear. I say he needs to die, just as Sidonis does." He paused. "And I hope I won't do what he did in my pursuit of Sidonis."
Shepard nodded. "Then it is decided. I also cast my vote for executing him."
"Damn you, Shepard!" Massani shouted. "Damn you all! Someone stop this madman!"
Shepard raised his gun.
"Do you really want to do this, Jonathan?" Shiala asked.
"Think of the use he could still be against the Collectors," Lawson argued. "We can find some other employment for him, away from the Akuze."
Shepard shook his head. "Santiago is still out there. Massani would still want his revenge, more than everything. And he'd burn down another refinery if necessary for that. Even away from the Akuze... he'd still be a danger, and he'd still deserve to die."
He looked back at the squad. He saw how some squad members were glancing suspiciously at Lawson, as if waiting for her to spring into action. However, the operative remained entirely calm.
Shepard looked back at Massani.
"May the Collectors kill your self-righteous ass," the mercenary cursed him. "May the Reapers burn the entire galaxy down!"
Shepard shot.
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Aaand down to eleven squad members again. For those wondering, the presence of the absent squad members would not have made any difference. Mordin (who was willing to kill Maelon after all) would have voted for death, since Massani indeed is still a potential danger to others in his revenge crusade against Santiago, while Kasumi of course would have voted against killing the mercenary. Jack simply would not have cared. If she would not get to do the execution shot, and she would not, she would have simply abstained.
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[1]Yeah, no 148m inhabitants as the planetary description in-game says. This just doesn't at all fit with the description text. A colony founded a mere 25 years ago, which consists of scattered settlements that have to rely on something as primitive as slash and burn farming will not have 148m people. ME 2 is generally kinda wonky with claimed population numbers; see also Anshun with its supposed over 200m people, half of them human – that would be more than all Alliance colonies we've encountered combined. And Zorya, too, is somewhat implied to be a human-majority colony (all workers at the refinery are, and 2160 as colony founding date would fit with that, too). But as I've said before, I'm keeping ME 1 canon of Terra Nova being the largest human colony, with 4m people in 2183. Other Alliance colonies will have less people, and independent human colonies in the Terminus very much less. Given the description of the planet, I'd even say Zorya should have considerably less inhabitants than Horizon (IMO a good comparison as another independent human colony in the Terminus). So... let's say 148k instead of 148m people ;)
[2]I would assume a facility like this to have at least 100 workers. There is no way they all survive in such a situation, no way at all. Whatever happens, whether Shepard decides to rescue workers or not, realistically Zaeed will always have massive blood on his hands.
[3]No convenient explosion to make Zaeed see the error of his way. I mean, how silly is that? That's just a ridiculously convenient plot device so that Shepard doesn't need to make his/her hands dirty, as the explosion subdues Zaeed for him/her. This Shepard does make his hands dirty.
