Chapter 56: Cops and Conspiracies
"Have you been eating well?" Hannah Senior anxiously asked while facing her second oldest grandson.
"Grandma, I'm fine. I may not be a pro level chef, but I do well enough to feed myself." Will replied in exasperation. They were currently sharing a table at his favorite restaurant in the Wards. The Orizaba had recently docked at the Citadel to resupply before undertaking the dangerous task of aiding Ethan and Allie in their mission on Tuchanka by joining the Seventh Fleet. "And shouldn't you be more worried about Ethan, Allie and David. They're the ones who're going to be at ground zero for this Tuchanka operation. Ethan had better be damned sure of what he's getting everyone into." he cautiously added.
"I've reviewed your brother's plan and it seems sound. We're all going to have our work cut out for us but that's nothing new for this family." Hannah Senior sighed. "Knowing that three of you will be fighting in that chaos…it makes me wish you'd all chosen civilian careers." she lamented.
"I hate to break this to you Grandma, but Hannah's the only one who'll be going down that road. As for me, I'm a cop and I always will be. I know that's not much better, but hey, you'll never have to worry about me jumping headfirst into fights with Geists, Overseers, or Zodiac Commanders unless they cause trouble on my beat of course." Will joked.
"Heaven help me, your brothers…I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief after David recovered from that business on Elysium and then Ethan goes and picks a fight with a Zodiac Commander on Thessia." Hannah Senior said wearily.
"With Hannah's boyfriend no less, Ethan always was the hothead. Hannah and Miranda are going to kill him once this is all over." Will casually replied before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Bringing that young man into battle with him, I honestly don't know what goes on in Ethan's head sometimes." Hannah Senior stated regrettably. "Isaac has suffered more than enough pain in his lifetime, having him bear witness to the horrors of this war is more than unkind." she added softly.
"It was his choice Grandma and from what I hear, he's more than capable of handling himself. I just hope we can keep dad from strangling him once he finds out about him and Hannah." Will said earnestly.
"Your father means well and Isaac is a wonderful boy, I can't imagine that John will have much to complain about-"
"Except for the fact that they've been keeping their relationship a secret for over a year while living together, you mean." Will cut in. "Dad's already a lunatic when it comes to Allie and Hannah, we all know that and this situation is only going to make things worse. Regardless, we can't afford another catastrophe. Allie puts on a strong front but…Mal isn't coming back." he added sadly.
"No, I don't suppose he is." Hannah Senior quietly agreed. "Well, at least John and Ashley are on speaking terms with Ethan and Allie again. That whole state of affairs was weighing on me. Family should always be together, especially during dangerous times like these."
"No arguments here, maybe we can finally have a proper Christmas celebration now." Will replied humorously. "We were all starting to feel a little bit guilty for imposing on David and Sophie during their holiday alone time." he joked.
"That girl is quite charming and also genuinely sweet. I'm proud of David." Hannah Senior said fondly before narrowing her eyes at her grandson. "I count myself lucky that he hasn't followed his older brothers' examples." she sternly added.
"Aww man, not this again." Will complained. "Grandma, I'm a playa for life. That's just the way it is. Ethan is still fumbling around trying to forget about Zoe and it's not working. Maybe someday he'll get his act together but personally, I doubt it. I love the guy but I'm pretty sure he blew his chance years ago." he explained in a cavalier manner.
"So I have to pin my hopes on David and Hannah if I want to have any respectable additions to this family including great-grandchildren." Hannah Senior mused in exasperation. "The two youngest and apparently the two brightest, who would have thought." she pondered.
"I love you too, Grandma." Will joked before making his way over and embracing her. "I've gotta get back to work now but I want to see you again before you leave." he said sincerely as his grandmother returned the hug.
"You will and be careful." Hannah Senior replied warmly.
Less than an hour later, Will found himself at his desk in C-Sec HQ reviewing the usual files on several petty felonies that had recently been reported. Since his promotion to detective, he rarely found himself having to deal with any serious cases due to his rather prolific purge and capture of dozens of notorious underworld figures and Equinox saboteurs during his initial stint as a rookie investigator. The Wards were safer than they'd ever been and so was the Citadel in general, thanks in no small part to his efforts. As he continued to read through his workload, he suddenly found himself greeted by his partner, who seemed to be in a rush as he approached.
"Eli, what's the deal? I haven't seen you this worked up since we were working that smuggling operation." Will curiously inquired.
"I think I might've stumbled onto something that makes that look like picnic by comparison." Eli replied wearily.
"What've we got?" Will asked, instantly preparing himself for the worst.
"A possible assassin." Eli replied bluntly.
"Keep talking." Will said seriously.
"I was passing through customs not long ago and they ran across something strange. Not the usual, creepy, random, possibly erotic alien paraphernalia strange, but the ominous kind of strange. An unmarked, unidentified piece of luggage was discovered sitting in the docking bays near an Avina terminal, a seriously damaged Avina terminal." Eli explained.
"Okay, a little weird but not that suspicious." Will calmly replied.
"It gets weirder." Eli added firmly. "The suitcase was sitting underneath a keeper who was repairing the Avina terminal, like somebody was trying to hide it. After what we found inside it, I'm pretty damn sure that was the intention." he continued.
"Let me guess, you found the kind of contraband that could kill someone with a few pulls of a trigger." Will surmised.
"You guessed it." Eli replied. "It was full of the components necessary to assemble an M-11 Suppressor. I'm guessing that somebody was planning to pick up that party favor and put it to use. The Suppressor is the most popular and effective handgun for hired killers." he added grimly.
"So basically, an unidentified vandal trashed the terminal and hid the luggage which was more than likely a drop-off for our mystery hitman. It never ends, does it?" Will mused before sighing. "Alright, let's move on this before our gunman manages to find an alternative means of carrying out his contract."
"Uh, about that. You should probably know that McEntire is already moving on this. She was there when the custom guys identified the gun." Eli cautioned.
"Damn, no, you know what, screw it." Will replied irritably. "That woman is NOT getting under my skin today." he added resolutely while Eli chuckled. "What's so funny?" he immediately asked in agitation.
"Nothing, it's just the two of you-I mean if you can't see it-"
"Stop it right there." Will interjected seriously. "No, just, NO. That woman is a constant thorn in my side and a consistent pain in my ass. Every single time there's a case and even when there isn't one, she goes out of her way to try and one-up me. Everything is a competition with her. It's beyond annoying at this point. She may have a pretty face, but I know trouble when I see it. So just drop this." he sternly demanded.
"Fine, fine. Forget I said anything." Eli chuckled.
"And wipe that stupid smirk off your face, we've got work to do." Will commanded brusquely. "We can start by examining the surveillance footage of that Avina terminal. The docking bays are part of our monitoring network, so we should be able to find something to point us in the right direction." he explained.
"I hate to break this to you, but I already tried that. Forty-eight seconds of footage have mysteriously disappeared and I'm almost positive that's when the sabotage and luggage drop-off took place." Eli stated seriously.
"So we're definitely dealing with pros." Will pondered out loud. "Okay, Plan B. We'll review all of the footage leading up to the missing portion and everything that takes place immediately afterwards and keep our eyes peeled for anything unusual. We just need to identify one out of place detail to point us in the right direction." he optimistically added.
Sometime later, Ethan and Eli found themselves examining several hours of surveillance footage inside of a mutual friend's office within the E-Crimes division of C-Sec. "You guys should know, competition is going to be heavy on this one. Whoever these guys are, they've managed to get the attention of the Customs, Investigation, and E-Crimes divisions. By the way, McEntire was here earlier and I think she might've gotten a lead." their friend Paulson explained.
"She probably did, but I doubt it's the right one. McEntire is too impatient and I'm not wasting my time holding her hand." Will replied dismissively while Eli snorted in laughter at the remark. "Shut it." he quickly snapped after glancing at his partner. "Hang on, I think we've got something." he announced shortly afterwards while observing a few minutes of footage that followed the empty gap.
Eli took a moment to identify Will's discovery and quickly agreed. "Rodney, typical. That idiot's no saint, but he usually manages to avoid getting himself into trouble like this. What was he thinking?"
"Who's Rodney?" Paulson asked curiously.
"Normally, a two bit bootlegger and small time felon. We've busted him a few times for some minor infractions, usually involving the sale of illegal VIs that have been modified to resemble celebrities and political figures. Some of them were actually pretty funny. I know dad got a good laugh when he heard about his. He said it was way better than the one of him that was floating around the Citadel a couple of decades ago and I have to agree, that piece of crap didn't look or sound anything like him." Will humorously explained.
"No kidding, who even made that?" Eli joked. "I guess we'd better track down Rodney before someone else does. Whoever was supposed to get that package won't be happy that we intercepted it." he added seriously.
"Agreed, let's head for Purgatory. That's where he usually hangs out and even if he isn't there we should be able to pick up his trail." Will suggested. "Thanks for the help Paulson. If McEntire happens to come back, we weren't here." he announced somewhat sternly.
"Yeah, yeah." Paulson leisurely replied. "I wish the two of you would just get a room and get it over with already." he quietly muttered.
"Say what?!" Will replied indignantly.
"I said good luck and give them hell." Paulson quickly recovered while Eli grinned.
"The list of people who're due for an ass kicking is getting pretty damn big." Will humorously remarked as he and Eli made their way to their sky car outside of HQ several minutes later.
"So I'm guessing I'm driving? You taking the wheel while being pissed off is pretty much suicide." Eli joked.
"It's gonna be one of those kinds of days I guess." Will sighed as they departed.
Less than an hour later, the two detectives were scoping out the interior of the Purgatory Bar, looking for any sign of their elusive suspect. "Oh, I can't believe this." Will finally commented in exasperation and with a hint of amusement.
"What?" Eli curiously inquired.
"Check out the 'lady' sitting at the bar next to those Alliance soldiers." Will replied while grinning.
Eli quickly glanced in the woman's direction and promptly did a double take. "He didn't?!" he spluttered incredulously.
"Yeah, he did." Will replied in amusement. "I'd say it's a pretty good job, all things considered. Hell, if he wasn't nursing that god-awful drink of his, I probably wouldn't have identified him." Will replied casually.
"Pineapple juice and whiskey with a twist of lime, always classy Rodney." Eli mused. "So should we save him? Those soldiers look pretty eager." he pondered while grinning.
"Yeah, may as well. The idiot will definitely be willing to cut a deal after all of this." Will replied before leading the way towards their suspect.
"Come on beautiful, just one dance. A gorgeous thing like you sitting alone, it's criminal." an Alliance soldier lamented while attempting to charm the fugitive in disguise.
"Truer words were never spoken." Will humorously announced as he and Eli approached.
"Shepard?!" the criminal in disguise whispered in shock.
"Damn, you even managed to get a halfway decent voice modulator." Will replied in amusement. "I suggest you boys run along, my partner and I have a few questions for the 'lady' here." he sternly added as he and Eli flashed their credentials. The soldiers quietly dispersed while grumbling and the two detectives quickly took seats on each of Rodney's sides. "What the hell, Rodney? Honestly, what the hell?" Will asked in exhaustion.
"Yeah, I know. Just take me in, if it's you Shepard, I know I'll at least have a chance at being safe. I'll tell you whatever you want, just keep me away from those guys, I'm begging you." Rodney pleaded.
"Start from the beginning Rodney and don't leave anything out." Will demanded.
"It all started a week ago, I was picking up a few pieces of 'merchandise' from a contact in Customs." Rodney began.
"Great, so we've got a moron in Customs who's taking kickbacks. That explains a lot." Eli replied irritably.
"We'll deal with it later, go on." Will added impatiently.
"Well, some stranger, this guy I'd never seen before just appeared out of nowhere and started gushing about how resourceful we were, how C-Sec's new security measures and overeager officers made smuggling damn near impossible, how he could use a pair of assets like us. I swear Shepard, I didn't want anything to with the guy but Cruz…all he could see were the credits." Rodney continued.
"Cruz, that worthless, lazy-alright, we'll definitely be dealing with his sorry ass." Will replied angrily. "Keep going." he added.
"I knew the guy was bad news but once I found out who he worked for, I knew I couldn't back out but…I couldn't let them go through with it either. I'm a businessman Shepard, not a murderer. So I did the most half-assed job I could with the drop-off once it was here and then went into hiding. I knew you'd probably be the one to pick up my trail and part of me is glad. Everybody knows that your family and the Terminus Wolves are the only ones that Equinox consider a threat." Rodney finished.
"Equinox!?" Eli exclaimed. "Will, we've gotta move on this, FAST!" he added urgently.
"Easy Eli, there are still a few details we need to know." Will calmly stated. "Rodney, do you know who their target was?" he asked seriously while facing the disguised felon.
"Sorry Shepard, they didn't bother filling me in on the details. Cruz might know though, he started digging not long after they recruited us. He said it was insurance just in case anything went bad and I consider this bad. They've been looking for me ever since you guys got your hands on the luggage, they're probably after him too. Damn it, why'd they have to approach me?" Rodney explained while trembling slightly.
"Alright, we're taking you into protective custody and I'm contacting Bailey right now. I'm guessing our friend Cruz didn't show up for work today." Will mused while summoning his omni-tool.
"No, he didn't. Which means he's already running or…" Eli trailed off as they both considered the grim alternative.
Moments later, Ethan began informing the C-Sec Commander of what he'd discovered as he and Eli escorted Rodney to their sky car. "Well, that explains what we found a few hours ago. I was just about to contact you two. Cruz is dead, a couple of uniforms found his body in an alley in one of the lower wards. He was killed with a single gunshot to the head from a high caliber firearm. These bastards have managed to crawl back in despite everything we've done. It makes me sick." Bailey explained solemnly while Rodney shuddered in fear.
"A few rats may have slipped in Commander, but they won't get far, not on my watch." Will replied reassuringly. "Anyway, we're bringing Rodney back to-"
Will abruptly stopped himself when he noticed a laser sight on Rodney's forehead and quickly dove onto the hapless criminal before a well aimed gunshot could take his head off. Within seconds, a sky car full of armed hostiles began following up on the attack and opened fire against the trio. "Eli, find that sniper! I'll deal with this, go!" Will ordered.
Eli immediately set off at a sprint while Will covered his escape with his Paladin. After killing two of the armed gunmen with a pair of headshots, he quickly stunned the other pair, including the driver, with an overload before executing one with another shot from his Paladin. Before the driver could recover from the neural shock effect of his overload, Will immediately knocked him out with a concussive shot, sending the sky car crashing to the ground.
Meanwhile, Eli found himself chasing a nuisance who had a fondness for cloaking. "Gettin' real tired of this." he complained after pursuing the sniper into an empty alley that rested between two neon signs that were advertising the opening of a new casino. Before his adversary could open fire while cloaked, Eli fired a few shots from his Phalanx at one of the towering signs that stood above him, showering the alley with sparks that quickly startled his target and revealed his position. Without a second thought, Eli closed in on him and unleashed a vicious string of punches that knocked his enemy out cold. "Oh yeah, you're under arrest." he calmly added afterwards while glancing at his KO'd opponent.
Sometime later, both Will and Eli were back at C-Sec HQ discussing their plans for interrogating their apprehended suspects. Rodney had already been safely delivered to protective custody and was being guarded by a group of officers that Will handpicked himself while his would be killers were being prepped for questioning.
"They aren't going to talk, you know that right? In fact, they'll probably kill themselves at the first opportunity." Eli stated seriously.
"Oh, they'll talk." Will replied sternly. "We need to know who their target is and how many more of them are on the station. Garrus taught me how to get answers the hard way and if I have to, I'll put his lessons to good use right now." he added ominously.
"I won't argue if it comes to that and I know Bailey will keep it quiet. These bastards haven't really left us much of a choice with their initial stonewalling." Eli agreed.
"Tsk, Tsk." a voice coyly interjected from behind them as an attractive brunette with striking hazel eyes closed in on the pair. "Our resident hotshot is already thinking about resorting to violence, the rookies who look up to you would be weeping right now." she said mockingly.
"McEntire, I'm warning you, I'm not in the mood for your games right now." Will replied irritably.
"That's a fine way of greeting a fellow officer, especially one who came with some news you'd probably like to hear." McEntire replied in annoyance.
"Let me guess, you're quitting the force and moving to the other side of the galaxy. Finally! And I thought today was going to be all bad news, Eli we should celebrate later after we've dealt with this assassin business." Will stated sarcastically garnering a chuckle from Eli.
"I guess this means you don't want the data I found at Cruz's place, well that's fine by me." McEntire said dully.
"Hold on a minute, McEntire. We could use anything you found and this is OUR case." Eli stated while folding his arms and facing the woman.
"Really? Because I seem to recall being the one who was tracking down leads while the two of you were getting into gunfights outside of bars." McEntire replied scathingly.
"We were questioning a suspect who we ended up taking into protective custody and we apprehended two more-you know what? To hell with this. We don't have to explain ourselves to you and I'm already getting a headache from the effort. Eli, we'll try conventional methods and if that fails, I'll get serious and you can cut the surveillance cameras." Will stated darkly.
"Why are you always so-just tell them that you know who their targets are and play them against each other." McEntire snapped. "I found an encrypted datapad hidden in Cruz's apartment. The information on it was obviously too expansive to cover the details of a single target. E-Crimes is already decrypting it, but we still need to know how many hitmen are running around." she explained.
"More than one target, I was afraid of that." Will replied in exasperation while massaging his neck. "How long until our tech guys can decrypt the info?" he asked urgently.
"I don't know, like I said before, there was a lot of data and the security encryption is rock solid." McEntire replied seriously.
"Only the best from Equinox." Eli bitterly remarked, immediately catching her off guard.
"Equinox?! You mean they're behind all of this?" McEntire replied in shock.
"I thought you were a detective, McEntire." Will said derisively before turning to Eli. "Let's get to it, we can't afford to lose any more time."
In less than an hour, Will and Eli managed to turn the tables on their captives by cleverly exploiting the fact that they knew about their list. Unfortunately, their prisoners were unaware of the specifics and only knew what their leader had told them. They were simply 'neutralizers' tasked with dealing with any potential threats to their boss' plans and they weren't preview to who their ultimate targets were. All they knew was the fact that their particular cell had been tasked with handling the 'removal' of someone on the Citadel and they even appeared to be proud of the fact that they'd been chosen. 'Enemies of Equinox deserved no mercy,' they said while smiling. It was not only a sickening display but also a disappointing setback and Will was beginning to grow anxious.
"Well at least we know that there aren't many more of them." Eli said consolingly while he and Will sat at their desks.
"Aside from their leader and his best subordinates, you mean." Will replied in exhaustion. "He's still somewhere on this station Eli and we have to stop him before he carries out his plan." he wearily added. "At this rate, I might have to cancel my dinner plans with Grandma." he sighed.
"Shepard, Taylor! We've got something!" McEntire suddenly shouted after bolting into the room. "The techs managed to decrypt a portion of the data, their clearing it up now. Don't just sit there sulking, let's move!" she ordered before rushing ahead of them.
"Having that woman order me around, this really isn't my day." Will muttered after getting to his feet.
"I'm with you on that one." Eli replied sympathetically after rising from his own desk.
Within minutes, all three had gathered in a small room within the E-Crimes division while Paulson completed his decryption of the data. What they saw completely stunned them. "Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard…those bastards, they're going after Grandma!" Will snarled before bolting out of the room and sprinting to his sky car outside while struggling to make contact with his grandmother using his omni-tool.
"Will?"
"Grandma! Thank God! Where are you?" Will frantically asked after coming to a stop outside of his car.
"I'm having lunch with an old friend at Apollo's Café. What's wrong?" she asked in concern.
"Nothing, just stay right there! I'm on my way!" Will shouted in a panic.
"Will, what's gotten into you? I know something-"
She was suddenly cut off as the sounds of screaming and gunfire erupted in the background. "Grandma! GRANDMA! Shit!" Will cursed before jumping into his car. Both Eli and McEntire jumped in behind him as he took off.
"So, what's the plan?" Eli asked seriously.
"We improvise. Damn it! First Hannah, now Grandma. These cowards have fucked with my family for the last time!" Will growled while speeding the sky car towards its destination.
"Shepard…I'm ready when you are." McEntire said encouragingly while prepping her Predator.
"Good, because I just spotted my first targets." Will replied coolly after catching sight of several armed assailants who were opening fire into a crowd below. He immediately descended and rammed the assassins with his car before parking it and hopping out. A scene of utter chaos quickly met him and his companions as civilians struggled to flee from the confrontation in the distance. "They're still fighting, that's a good sign." Will said in an effort to reassure himself.
"Your grandmother is tough, Will. She won't go down without a fight but we should hurry." Eli added urgently.
As the trio fought their way towards Apollo's café, they quickly took note of several of their dead colleagues. "The Special Response guys, I know some of them. They're trained to handle situations like these. Who could've done this?" McEntire quietly pondered.
"I've got a pretty good idea." Will replied grimly. His suspicions were soon confirmed after the trio approached the café where Hannah Shepard was exchanging fire with a small squad of assassins who were being led by a powerful biotic in crimson armor. She had managed to kill several, but she was quickly being overwhelmed and also struggling to protect a wounded elderly man who'd been shot in the leg.
Will wasted no time and immediately dropped into his marksman mode, gunning down every hostile who was firing on his grandmother. Afterwards, he tossed several proximity mines around the perimeter of her position. "If you want my grandmother, you'll have to deal with me first asshole." he announced while coldly glaring at the enemy biotic.
"Believe me, it'll be a pleasure Shepard. This could have all gone so much more smoothly if you and your damned C-Sec friends hadn't interfered. We could've killed the old woman quietly and kept a few agents in place to handle future operations. But now here I am, the last of my team but no matter. I will complete my mission, she will die and so will you. Remember the name Havoc, I'll be the first overlord to kill a Shepard." the man coldly stated before tossing a cluster grenade at Will and the others.
As they scattered, Havoc quickly pulled Eli towards him with a biotic lash before opening fire with an M-358 Talon, destroying his shields and severely wounding him. Afterwards, he tossed him across the area with a biotic throw and sent a shockwave at McEntire. She barely avoided it only to be met with a warp and several shots from Havoc's Talon that sent her staggering to the ground. "Oh, I'm definitely going to kill you now." Will shouted threateningly after witnessing his companions' defeat.
He quickly fired a concussive shot that brought down Havoc's barrier and followed up with a pair of armor piercing rounds from his Paladin that tore into his enemy's torso. Enraged, Havoc quickly trapped Will inside of a stasis field and took advantage of his immobility by firing several shots from his Talon, destroying his shields and wounding him. As Havoc moved in for the kill, he triggered a proximity mine that Will had tossed out earlier while the madman had been distracted by his concussive shot. The resulting explosion sent him flying backwards where Will immediately closed in after the stasis field wore off. After firing another armor piercing round that tore into Havoc's chest, he drew his omni-blade and after narrowly avoiding several short range biotic blasts and a biotic punch, he sank it into his adversary's neck, instantly dropping him. Afterwards, he made his way to his wounded colleagues and administered first aid before finally approaching his grandmother, whom he simply hugged.
"Goddammit Grandma, don't do that to me." he sighed in relief.
"Young man, I could make the same demands of you and I doubt you'd listen." she replied warmly while holding her grandson.
"He's definitely one of yours, Hannah." The elderly man lying on the ground chuckled weakly while observing the two.
"Hush, Ernesto. You need to rest until the medevacs arrive." Hannah Senior said somewhat sternly.
"Who is this guy anyway?" Will asked curiously.
"A very old friend who I served with in the past and another lost soul who owes your father their life." she replied earnestly.
"It's still hard to believe you're a grandmother now with five grandkids, all grown up. Your boy has done really well for himself. But I'm not surprised seeing as how he had you for a mother. You're still an amazing woman Hannah and just as beautiful-"
"Oh, hell no! Stop it right there old timer! No, just, NO! Once you get patched up, stay away from my grandmother, you hear me?!" Will shouted indignantly.
"Will, that's enough. I want you to apologize to Mr. Zabaleta right now." she ordered.
"No," he replied defiantly. "And I'm setting a curfew for you. As long as you're on the Citadel, you'll abide my rules." he sternly added.
"William Garrus Shepard, to whom do you think you're speaking to right now?" Hannah Senior demanded.
"I'm not the one you should be worrying about, kid. Neilon's the favorite in this little competition." Zabeleta laughed.
"Who the hell is Neilon?! Damn it, I'm not hearing this!" Will shouted in outrage.
Several hours later, Will found himself behind his desk back at C-Sec HQ. Eli had been admitted to Huerta Memorial but was in stable condition. McEntire's injuries had been less severe and she had been discharged almost as quickly as Will. They were both lucky that the Talon was a pistol that was better suited for close range targets. After finishing his paperwork for the day, he decided to check in with Paulson in E-Crimes before meeting his grandmother for dinner.
"Anything new?" Will casually asked after entering his friend's office.
"Yeah and you're not going to like it." Paulson sighed before handing Will a datapad. It was the fully decrypted list of Equinox high priority targets.
"So Mal's at the top, no surprise there. Then there's Ethan and Allie, then me and David followed by our parents and grandma, damn it, Isaac and Hannah are on here too, so is Zoe, Eli isn't going to be happy about this. After that it's a bunch of military leaders and politicians. I guess we'll have to move on this as soon as possible." Will calmly stated while reviewing the list.
"The Commander's already making calls, we might be too late on a few though. The Turian Primarch was assassinated twelve hours ago and so were two matriarchs on Thessia. This is getting serious Shepard and your family is almost at the top of their list. Shouldn't you be more worried, especially after what happened with your grandmother?" Paulson asked in concern.
"Most of my family spends their time in battlefields already, so we're used to this. I'll warn everyone and keep an eye on Hannah. Shepards don't go down easy and their top target will probably end up destroying half of their organization before it's all over." Will replied confidently. "We'll be fine Paulson, but thanks." he added gratefully before leaving.
As he made his way outside towards his sky car, a familiar and somewhat welcome figure was awaiting him. "Hot date?" McEntire playfully inquired while leaning on his vehicle.
"According to some dirty old man, yeah." Will replied with a hint of agitation. "How are your injuries?" he asked anxiously.
"Don't insult me Shepard, you're up and moving around, so why wouldn't I be?" she replied while eyeing him.
"Of course, what was I thinking?" Will asked sarcastically before moving towards his sky car. "Sorry I asked." he muttered.
"I'm not." she quietly responded.
"What?" Will asked in a perplexed manner.
McEntire simply strode over and adjusted the collar on his shirt before walking away. "From now on, call me Cassie." she called back while sauntering off. Will couldn't help but notice how alluring her exit was and quickly scolded himself.
"No, I am not going down that road." he told himself and for a moment he almost believed it.
