Laryna

A shuttle quickly dropped us off maybe a half mile from the factory we were sent to save. It was a beautiful area. Heavily forested, very colorful. Zaeed started to tap on his omni-tool. "Tapping into Blue Suns communications. Stay tight, and look out for ambushes."

I nodded to Zaeed to take point, and we started down a worn path at a brisk pace. We had been moving only a few minutes when his radio turned on. "Squad Bravo, a shuttle landed near your location. Check it out."

"Here we go," Zaeed said, turning the safety off his rifle. "Keep close."

Further up the path we came across several bodies. No pools of blood and drag marks from the direction of the factory; they were dumped here. Zaeed stood looking at them a moment, and shook his head. "Shot in the back and left to rot. That's definitely Vido's style. Let's push ahead."

Lifting a brow at the name, I nevertheless continued to follow him. "Command to Bravo. Take a position. Likely these people are not runaways." Zaeed's radio buzzed up again. Then shortly afterwards, a different voice. "Report to base! Armed intruders incoming at the southern checkpoint!"

"We've already been spotted?" I inquired, looking around for a camera or something that gave us away. Carefully, we made our way forward, and came to the edge of a small clearing. There were some scattered building materials in it's center, as well as a catwalk. As soon as we cleared the brush several shots were directed at us. My biotics instantly flared up and I threw a Warp at the closest target as we rushed to cover. That's when I noticed the crouched figure on the catwalk, and figured he must have noticed us from his vintage point. Using Singularity, I forced him out of cover and used a few well placed shot to take him out.

Just as we finished the trenched group reinforcements came charging up the path. This left them wide open though, and we gunned them down easily. After waiting a few minutes and no one else approached us, we made our own way down the path, and came up to a retracted bridge. I was punching in the command to extend it when Zaeed's radio came on again.

"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!" I met Zaeed's eye and stopped the bridge, waiting on his order to move forward.

"Vido," he growled. "Sounds like he hasn't changed."

Recalling the bodies earlier, I nodded. "Sounds like he needs to get shot."

"Glad to see you and I agree," Zaeed said. "I knew he was a sadistic bastard when we started the Blue Suns. The Suns only got meaner after he staged his little coup twenty years ago. So, yeah. We have a past."

This was news. "Why didn't anyone tell me you founded the Blue Suns?"

"Because it's not common knowledge," he snapped. "Vido wiped me out of the records." Taking a deep breath, he managed to calm himself. "He ran the books, I led the men. Worked real well for awhile. Then Vido decided to start hiring batarians. Cheaper labor, he said. Goddamn terrorists, I said."

I crossed my arms, bracing myself. "Twenty years is a long time to hold a grudge."

"A grudge?" Zaeed shouted. "Vido 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." He pointed his finger right up into my face and he voice raised with every word. I saw Garrus start forward from where he was waiting off to the side, but I shook my head slightly to back him off. "For twenty years, I've seen that bastard every time I closed my eyes. Every time I sighted down a target. Every time I heard a gunshot." He finally backed off, again gaining some control of himself. "Don't you call that a goddamn 'grudge.'"

"You survived a gunshot to the head?" I asked, studying his blind eye, trying to imagine the pain he must have gone through.

"Yeah," he said. "And you survived your ship getting disintegrated. A stubborn enough person can survive just about anything. Rage is a hell of an anesthetic."

Couldn't argue with that. I turned back to the bridge and reissue the extend command. "We'd better get moving," I said.

"They're at the southern access," Vido's voice said over the radio. "All squad mass at the gatehouse! Now!"

"They know we're here," Zaeed said unnecessarily. He drew his weapon and charged it. "Bring it one you son of a bitch!" And he lead the way forward at a canter. We encountered no further resistance as we reached a gate, and it opened for us with a simple touch.

There was a greeting party waiting for us. Half a dozen men were looking down at us from a catwalk. The man in the center sneered, his eyes fixed on only one person. "Zaeed Massani. You finally tracked me down."

"Vido," Zaeed said softly, reaching for a bigger weapon on his back.

"Don't be stupid, Zaeed," Vido warned. "I have a whole company of bloodthirsty bastards behind me, ready to kill or be killed on my command. Actually, take your shot. Give my men a reason to put you down like the mad dog you are. Again."

A moment passed while I considered our options. I was about to speak when Zaeed drew his rifle and started firing up at the mercs. They returned fired instantly while Vido ducked for cover. I pushed Garrus to my right into cover, hiding in close beside him. Zaeed only stopped firing when he also reached cover on the opposite side of the room.

"What was that? Gone near sighted, old friend?" Vido taunted when no one got hit.

"Burn, you son of a bitch," Zaeed replied, and fired just over Vido's shoulder. At first I was confused until I noticed the flammable sign on the pipe. As Zaeed fired, his bullets sparked off the metal, and resulted in an explosion. The mercs scattered that weren't thrown, and Vido staggered against the railing.

"You just signed your death warrant, Massani!" Vido groaned, and limped out of sight. The mercs reformed, and opened fire down on us.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded as I watched him pounding away at a valve wheel. My questioned was answered by another explosion, killing all the mercs on the catwalk and blowing the inner door open below them.

"Opening the gate," he said anyway.

Jumping from my cover, I got right up in his face. "We don't sacrifice lives for the sake of the mission. There's always a better way."

"Like what?" Zaeed challenged, not backing down. "Wandering out in the jungle for hours, looking for another way in? You want to waste time out here, go ahead. I'm going to kill Vido."

I punched him then, pissed. He stumbled backwards, hand on his face, looking at me to shocked to react. Violence towards crew mates never occurs from me, and he knew that, even in the short time he's been under me. "You're endangering lives—and the mission—for your own selfish revenge." I growled.

He regained his composure. "You really want to do this, Shepard?"

"I ought to knock you the hell out. But thanks to you, we have a burning refinery to save."

"Let these people burn!" Zaeed growled, his eye flashing. "Vido dies, whatever the cost!"

Glaring at him, I took point and headed into the factory. A few Blue Suns were waiting for us, but between my anger and Zaeed's eagerness, they dropped like stones in seconds. Our pace was quick, and we headed deeper into the building with fires and explosions all around us. We had reached a walkway that passed outside for a short distance, and where about to go back in, when I heard a door above. Expecting more mercs, I was surprised to see a simply dressed man run out. He noticed us and stopped his headlong flight.

"Help!" he shouted, panicked. "We're trapped! We can't get to the gas valves to shut them off! The whole place is going to blow!" A section of the wall behind me went flying in emphasis.

"No time," Zaeed said, already turning for the door. "Vido's probably halfway to the shuttle docks by now."

"You're willing to watch these people die?" I asked in disbelief.

"Damn right I am." he confirmed. "We stop to help these people, and Vido gets away. And if he gets away, I'm blaming you."

I grabbed the front of his armor. "We're here to free these people," I reminded him. "We're going in."

Zaeed sighed. "I knew this was a mistake. If we're gonna do this, we'd better get to it."

I had jumped the walkway already and was looking up at the worker. "Try to get someplace safe," I shouted up to him. "I'll find the others." I headed for the lower door under the catwalk that the worker had came through. The building was crumbling even fast here. Pipes crisscrossed everywhere over the ceiling and down walls into the floors. I could see two console stations from where I was standing, and I ran over to the closer. I studied it a moment, and find the close command. Garrus had made his way to the next one, and done the same. The resulting fires lessened, but did not completely stop.

The process forward was slow. We had to detour several times to get to the other stations. The final one was for the main line, and was inside its own separate room. I was also able to access the sprinklers from here. The rest of the workers were in the room below, and I watched them take off towards the exit.

From there, we came into a large storage room, and a small army was waiting for us. As we engaged, Vido's voice came over the loud speakers. "You brought Shepard with you, and you still don't have a chance! First person to bring me Massini's head gets something special in their paycheck."

I wondered when he figured out who I was. We exchanged fire across the room, several bullets flying wild as they bounced off metal tanks and pipes. "I took your Blue Suns. I took your life. And now I'm taking it again," Vido taunted. He must have a view of the room, I thought as I tossed around Warps and Throws. I also wondered how the present Blue Suns listening thought about this; likely they didn't' care.

"Take a knee now, Zaeed, and maybe I'll forget this ever happened!" Vido said when the room was nearly cleared. I figured it was a desperate attempt to save his own ass, but reinforcements entered from the far side, and I discarded the notion.

"Let that loser die, Shepard!" Vido yelled over his speaker after I had taken out four or so of his men with a tank I dropped on their heads as it was moving from one side of the room to the other. It had exploded on impact. Must have contained the natural gas they were gathering here. "You can walk outta here alive!"

We were getting close to the far doors now. "Never should have come here, Zaeed. Did you forget who you were dealing with?" As Vido spat his bravado, a heavy mech came out of the one of the side doors, missiles instantly going off in our direction. Most of the other Blue Suns had retreated into the opposite door the one the mech came through, staying clear. "Get ready, Zaeed! Here it comes!"

In response I pulled out my trusty grenade launcher, and in between missiles and bullet barrages, I popped off enough to blow it to shreds. We heard no more from Vido after that as the retreated Blue Suns returned and tried to continue to hold us off, but we pushed on with new determination.

"We're near the shuttle docks," Zaeed said as we ran for the doors. Some Blue Suns were left behind to slow us down, but overcame with his need for vengeance Zaeed gunned them down with barely a pause.

It wasn't fast enough. As we made the dock, a gunship was closing hatch and hovering.

"Not this time, Zaeed, you son of a bitch," Vido said over loud speaker. "See you in another twenty years!" And the ship took off even as we ran for it. I stumbled as the thrusts went off, but Zaeed continued to charge forward through it, his gun blazing, shouting his frustration. He must have hit something though, because the ship started to loose altitude, but it was still to far out for us to gain on by foot before he could disappear again.

Zaeed discharged his used up thermal clip, and with barely time to bring up my own pistol, turned his rifle on me. "You just cost me twenty years of my life!"

I was saved from having to react further when the fires took one last crack at the factory, and an explosion threw a large metal beam into the air in our direction. I dodged out of the way, but Zaeed wasn't as fast, and was knocked down. Pinned, he cried out and started cussing.

"Zaeed?" I called out. "You all right?"

"The hell do you care?" he snapped. "I'm fine. Now come on. Get me out of this shit hole."

Kneeling down beside him, I stared him down. "I'm not sure I need a man like you on my ship."

"If you didn't need me, Cerberus wouldn't have paid my fee. I'll do what I was paid too, nothing more, nothing less. Now stop screwing around. Let's go!"

"You put your own goals ahead of the mission," I stated, standing up and stepping back. "That's not the way this works."

"I've survived this long watching my own back. No time to worry about anyone else."

About to lose my temper again, I put my pistol barrel in his face. Zaeed went still. "You're part of a team now, Zaeed. There's no way we can do this unless we're all working together." Calmer now, I offered the grip of my gun instead.

Zaeed hung his head a moment. "You... you have a point." he said as I bent my knees and got a good grip on the beam he was trapped under. "I'm not done with Vido, but I can put that behind me long enough to get your mission done." I could live with that, and I lift the beam just high enough for him to slide out, and dropped it. He slowly got up, testing his legs. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"I already called in a shuttle," Garrus said. "Will the workers be okay until help arrives?"

"We cut off the flow of gas through the place," I said, thinking it over. "It shouldn't be in danger of going up. I think we can go with a clear conscience."

The shuttle arrived about five minutes later. Garrus jumped up first, offering me a hand up after him, and we both turned at the same time offered a hand to Zaeed. Not the greatest character traits were displayed from him while we were here, but I think Garrus shared my conclusion: even though he had disagreed with everything I had called, he followed orders regardless and showed himself to be worthy of this team.

Still, Zaeed went straight down to his quarters once we got back to the Normandy.

Zaeed

"Fuck!" I growled when I was safely hidden away in my workspace. I picked up an empty beer bottle and tossed it at the wall, watching it shatter. Who did she think she was? Acting all noble and shoving her morals down our fucking throats? I had him! I had that cowardly little tunnel rat in my reach, and he got away because the fucking woman who he was paid to obey decided to follow the heroic path and save the people from a little smoke.

I should have left her there with her damn alien and gone after him myself.

"Get ahold of yourself," I growled. I would have failed on my own. I knew that. Knew it the moment I broke away from the small group of mercs when they decided to go into slavery. They had just got the offer from the refinery to rescue their crew, and instead of saving those people, they were going to liberate them just long enough to sell them themselves. Until they heard was manning the place, and decided that a professional group of Blue Sun mercs would be to risky of a first target. But when I had dug and found out who was leading this group, I pushed otherwise. But they wouldn't be swayed. I had left that night.

Vido would have been impossible to get to solo. So when Cerberus had offered him this gig to be a part of a professional group of commandos, he had the mission offer tacked on as a condition. Thought I was being fucking brilliant. Turns out the Commander is a pushover. To idealistic. I would say she was completely full of it, if I hadn't seen it though, with my own eyes.

She goddamn kind with warrior instincts. How the hell did that happen? Didn't she use to be in a gang or something?

Didn't matter. Vido was gone. It likely would take years to track him down again, just as the shit head taunted while flying away.

"Mr. Massani."

I barely kept myself from jumping when the walls started to talk to me. "What?"

"Commander Shepard asked me to procure this information for you," the AI replied, and the console by the door lit up. I walked over, curious. It looked like to be thermal readings from the ground. The refinery was mostly cool now, and there was a large group of people inside a nearby building; likely the living quarters of the employees. As I watched, the view widen to include several miles of jungle. There was a blimp of heat about three miles out. Must be the copper I clipped.

The screen distorted a bit as it was fast forwarded. The time stamp stopped to about twenty minutes ago. Another heat signature appear on the edge of the map and approached the wreck. I could see a few dots pull away from the wreck and disappear into the mass of the new shuttle. Then it flew off screen.

Vido escaped off world.

"How the hell does that help me?" I demanded.

"Before we were out of range, I was able to hack into the shuttle's logs. It hails from the SS Thunderclap, and it's destination is for a colony two jumps from here known for assisting merc activities."

"EDI, you're a damn goddess." I laughed. I had a trail I could follow!

"Just following orders," EDI replied. I narrowed my good eye at the reminder. "I'll forward a full copy of my discoveries to your account. Good night, Mr. Massani."

Well, shit. Maybe the girl has a bit of a dark side to her afterall. I looked at the paused screen of the recording that was just shown to me. She's giving me another shot for my revenge. I didn't need to start from scratch, dumping a lot of creds into other people's pockets, or any guns in any faces, to loosen tongues to try and find him again. Not that it helped the first time. I literally just got lucky that my merry band got the job offer, and even luckier that the commander was willing to even see it through with me. It's obvious she has no love for Cerberus. She could have told me to fuck off since it wasn't her contract, just a promise made by a terrorist organization.

Ah, shit. I couldn't just hop a shuttle and go chasing Vido down now. I owed her. Big.

"Take your time recovering, you sonofabitch," I grunted at the screen.