June 12th -2155 - Noveria - Peak Fifteen Rift Station - Tram Stop
What was an empty tram station but a few moments prior was now a hustle of activity. As about half the mercs left in the facility all gathered around the boarding platform, placing fortifications, setting up gun emplacements, and basically pointing every weapon they had down that tunnel in preparation for the upcoming tram.
"Hurry up people. Somebodies coming, and whoever it is has already made mincemeat of our forces." Shouted an Asari commando. "So the minute that Tram comes into sight I want it reduced to atoms."
While the Batarian clones and the various mercs got into position around her, she herself gritted her teeth. This was supposed to be a simple operation, just get in, Vasir does whatever she needs to the Rachni queen, and gets out. Then this damn infestation broke out, and they've been losing men left and right just to get here.
And to top it all off, as they had finally managed to secure the queen, she loses four whole squads as somebody else invades the facility. The units stationed at central station barely had a chance to report they were under attack before coms cut off as they presumably fell to the enemy. Whoever it was both skilled and brutally efficient. They had only really gotten one ID, an Asari, of unknown affiliation, despite implying somebody other than the alliance, it wasn't really much to go with intel wise.
So Vasir told her to cut them off at the tram, and that's what she was going to do.
She turned to the VI console. "How close are they?"
The VI flickered to life. "The Tram will be arriving in two-one minute-s, is there anyyyything else I can help you-you with &^ %#?"
The commando growled under breath. On top of their assault of the facility, the enemy had also done something to the station VI that was making it deteriorate by the minute, meaning even its intel was sketchy.
"That's all." The Asari said, dismissing the VI, before turning back to stare down the tunnel.
Then slowly in the distance, she could make out the sound of a tram on rails, and a dim light could be seen in the distance as it drew closer.
"On my signal…" The Asari said, holding up her hand, while the other hefted a rocket launcher onto her shoulder.
The soldiers and mercs all tensed as the sound steadily got louder, fingers on triggers twitching with anticipation as their target grew closer.
When it was close enough to see individual windows, she dropped her arm "Open Fire!"
The tunnel lit up with blue accelerator fire as thirty mercs unloaded everything they got at the oncoming tram. The sound was almost deafening as the constant drone of machine guns and assault rifles mixed unpleasantly with the sound of tortured metal and shattering glass as the front of the tram took a whole company's worth of fire within a span of a few seconds.
The tram started to slow down as it became too damaged to run and only momentum drove it onward.
However the Commando wasn't going to take any chances, bringing the sight to her eyes, just as the Tram was coming to a stop mere meters from the platform, she pulled the trigger. The Rocket burst forth, sailing down the length of the room, blowing the tram off the tracks and reducing it to a twisted wreck.
As the reverberations receded down the tunnel, the only sound was the sounds of heatsinks venting, and held breaths as they surveyed their handiwork.
When nothing moved, you could almost feel the tension drain from the atmosphere, as mercs lowered their weapons and started chatting amongst themselves, wondering what they were even worrying about.
The commando put down her rocket launcher, and strided across the room to survey the damage. As she reached the platform, she frowned however.
There were no bodies, no blood or gore dripping out of the wreck, no smell of charred flesh or open wounds, no sign that anyone at all had been in there in the first place. Now she knew that they had really laid into it, but there really should be something.
Did they send an empty Tram just to psych them out? She doubted it, as they had to restart the facility just to get them running, it was far too much effort just for a trick.
Then she noticed something else the wreck was missing.
The Tram door.
"Everyone! They bailed out already, they are somewhere in the tunnel!" The commando shouted, putting the mercs back on high alert. She herself drew her pistol and got ready for whatever counter offensive came their way. They had been baited, so now the enemy knew exactly what they had, while she was still completely in the dark.
"Love sign ~..." A voice echoed down the tunnel. The commando trained her gun trying to pinpoint where it came from, her brow furrowed as her translator registered that as Alliance common. Was the Alliance involved after all?
The tunnel seemed to darken in front of her, shadows deepening.
"...Night Spark!"
It was pure instinctual terror that lead the commando to dive out the way.
And not a moment too soon, as the tunnel was filled with a massive lance of blackness, all sound was swallowed, replaced by a low thrumming noise that seemed to fill every nook and cranny with the same mind numbing drone. The Lights of the aurora danced in tendrils around it creating a colourful corona, giving it an unnatural beauty as it filled the Commando's vision. The air became so still it was almost stifling in the confined space of the tunnel, to the point where the commando was struggling to breath.
Then as suddenly as it came, it ceased, the last embers of the Arora dissipating like smoke in the breeze. A sudden inrush of air accompanied the sudden oppressive silence.
With shaky legs that seemed to have been robbed of strength, she struggled to her feet, and surveyed the damage.
There wasn't really much left of the Platform… or her men.
It was as if the entire platform had been deleted, there was no destruction or debris, just stumps of supporting pillars, half eaten crates, and the occasional limb of those who had been near the edge of the blast, whose stumps only now began to bleed. The far wall looked like it had been sanded flat, becoming a perfect, featureless circle dug half a meter into the surface.
Nondescript dust filled the air, floating gently, settling on every surface. The commando struggled not to breath it in.
Tack tack tack
She heard the sounds of footfalls against metal and spun down, trembling hands pointing her pistol down the tunnel.
A pale looking Asari in a strange conical hat casually stepped into view, a cape-like cloak that seemed to be darker than the surrounding shadows floating behind her. In one hand she held a long metal rod, the other she held a small octagonal block, the aurora lights still dancing around it, slowly fading.
She was followed by four other figures, all of them very clearly Alliance.
"D-Don't move!" The Commando shouted, a move she very quickly regretted as all five turned to her.
The Asari gave her a rather chilling grin? "Couldn't stay down, huh? Not the smartest move, gotta say."
"Who are you? What the hell did you do? Why are you with these… Alliance!" She shouted, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. Outnumbered and most probably outgunned, she was probably dead standing.
The Asari kept her grin and started advancing on her.
Already unnerved, the commando fired.
The Asari's body turned partially black and a hole opened up to let the accelerator round pass through.
Now thoroughly freaked out, the Commando started firing wildly.
As bullets passed around and through her, the Asari went into a run, quickly closing the distance. With a swipe of her staff, she disarmed the commando, her overheating pistol clattering uselessly on the ground.
"Hello, my name is Isika," she said, getting right up into the commando's face, her eyes turning black. "And I am a demon of the night wind."
The commando didn't even get a chance to scream as Isika's forehead came in contact with hers.
The Commando gave a strangled gurgle, before dropping bonelessly on the floor.
"Well that was fun." Isika said happily.
Before Ishi gave her a light slap on the back of the head "Ease up on the psycho there Ise, we need you focused. You can indulge your 'mild sadistic tendencies' in your own time."
Isika rubbed the back of her head where she was struck. "Sorry, sorry, got a little too into it."
"We noticed." Ishi said dryly.
Jesamine turned to Uno "Is she like this in bed?"
Uno immediately went beet red. "Nononoo, absolutely not. I am not into that sort of play, I am not a masochist."
"I don't recall asking that." Jesamine said, deadpan.
Uno suddenly got redder. "W-well the question was implied and… Stop smirking Ika!"
"Who, Me?" Ika said innocently, her helmet featureless as ever.
"I can see through that damn helmet you know!" Uno said hotly.
"Methinks someone doth protest too much." Jesamine said airily.
"Well, if I didn't... I mean…" Uno said, her brain shorting out. Before turning to Isika in a silent plea.
"Guys knock it off, I may be a sadist, but I'm not that kind of sadist. And even if I was, Uno isn't into that stuff." Isika said.
Uno looked relieved while Jesamine huffed "Spoilsport."
Isika then smirked. "She is a bottom though."
Ika doubled over in laughter.
If Uno could be any redder, steam would be coming out of her ears.
"Now who needs to knock it off." Ishi said, giving Isika another slap, this time knocking her over. "Please try not to overheat the bunny, she's the only one around here with brains."
"Indeed, could you lot please stop screwing around?" Came Desida's ethereal voice, "Finish the mission so I can go home already."
Ishi rolled her eyes. "You heard the boss lady. Lets roll out already."
Ishi, Jesamine and Ika, started advancing through the devastated terminal, while Isika stood back up.
'Traitor.' Uno thought balefully, not trusting herself to speak yet.
'But you're just so cute when you're embarrassed.' Isika thought, walking over and giving her a little pinch on the cheek.
'Why am I dating you again?' Uno thought.
Isika leaned her back against the taller moon rabbit, the tip of her hat tickling uno's nose. 'Because you looove me.'
They then got the psychic equivalent of nails on a chalkboard, making both the psychically sensitive girls nearly double over.
"I said stop screwing around." Desida intoned.
Both girls, getting the hint, hurried after the other three.
"Finally decided to join us huh?" Ishi said dryly. "So where to now chief?"
"R-right." Uno said, getting her brain back into mission mode. She quickly scanned the rest of the facility, before turning to the wall Isika had sanded flat. "Alien Life Form resembling a larger than previously encountered Rachni in some sort of containment tube, with an Asari in armour in the direct vicinity. In a secure lab on the other side of this wall. Possible idents on targets."
"Sounds promising. Are they alone?" Ishi asked.
"She's got two bodyguards. Other than that, they have the rest of their forces hidden in side rooms. More mercs and robots. Either she is overconfident, or it's a trap."
"Probably a little of both." Isika said. "Vasir is good and she knows it, but she didn't get this far by taking unnecessary risks."
"Noted." Uno said. "So in order to confront her, we need to spring her trap. Any suggestions?"
"I suggest a standard Breach and clear, maybe through the wall. After all, it's gotta be pretty thin after Isika Sparked it." Ishi said.
"Wouldn't we need to draw the guys in the side rooms out first though? Otherwise our breach could just be squashed." Ika added.
"True." Ishi said.
"Anyone willing to be a decoy?" Jesamine asked idly.
"I'll do it." Isika said.
"Ise." Uno said frowning. "You are hardly the most durable."
"Don't need to be, nobody can hit me." Isika said smugly. "But that's not the point, I checked the mind of that commando, I'm the only one they have ID'd. She didn't even think it was Alliance until she saw all of you. Best we keep up the charade for as long as possible."
Uno rubbed her chin. "You have a point…"
"Plus, as an Asari she'll probably be more willing to talk to me then any of you. I might get her to start monologuing, could get some intel about why exactly she wants the queen. Besides..." and at this Isika cracked her knuckles. "I haven't had much of a chance to shine since we arrived at this facility, gotta make a good showing for the exam. Dueling a Spectre sounds just the ticket."
"You just blasted an entire platoon along with the platform they were standing on." Ishi said dryly.
"Please, I'm Marisa's apprentice." Isika said dismissively, "It would honestly be pathetic if I couldn't."
Uno thought for a bit, and then sighed. "Fine, but be careful, you are facing a skilled biotic in an enclosed space, I don't want you to be laid up due to contamination, you aren't a youkai, at least not yet, so you are much more fragile than us."
"Don't think I already know that? I'm the one who spent four months in experimental magical surgery." Isika said. "But you are honestly worrying too much, my physiology is fairly biotic resistant remember? And I'm used to the pain and discomfort of contamination, So I can weather it better than you lot can, that's even if I stay still long enough to even get hit. Come on, don't you trust me?"
"I trust you in a lot of things," Uno said, with the unspoken 'including my heart.' being transmitted over their bond, before continuing out loud. "But do I trust you to not be reckless in a dangerous situation? Certainly not. I know your master, and I know you Isika."
Isika pouted. "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, partner."
"Don't be like that please Isika." Uno frowning, letting her concern flow freely. "I'm just…"
"I know you care." Isika said, standing on her tip-toes to give Uno a little peck on the cheek. "But you gotta relax, Danger is part of the job, and the only reason I can do the stuff I do, is because I have people like you who can catch me when I stumble." Isika grinned at Uno's little flush. "Besides, It's not like I'll be completely alone, the minute things start getting hairy you girls can blast your way in."
"Yeah, While you two were having your little quarrel, we already placed the charges." Ishi called from the hole, where Ishi, Ika and Jessamine had wandered off while the argument had been taking place.
"If you are not careful someone might have to make the decision for you." Jesamine said, looking impatient.
Uno, feeling somewhat outvoted, sighed. "Fine, but do be careful, please?"
"For you? Anything." Isika said. Giving her another peck on the cheek. "Just be ready, I'll try and get her talking, but who knows how that will go."
Iskia then walked over to the door to the secured lab, before using gravity magic to force the locked door open, and stepped through.
The secure lab was a large rectangular room consisting of catwalks around a large transparent containment chamber, where a very large Rachni was lying down, looking obviously uncomfortable.
'If that's not the Queen, then I'm bright pink.' Isika thought.
It was odd though, just by looking she could tell it seemed far more docile than the other Rachni swarming throughout the facility, then again it could be under some sort of sedative.
She spotted Vasir at a console that was right up next to the containment unit, flanked by two Asari commando's.
They had both turned around at her rather loud entrance and were training an Assault rifle and a shotgun on her as she walked into the room. They hadn't fired yet though, so her plan of Getting Vasir to talk was looking pretty good right now.
Vasir herself then turned around, and Isika could see a moment of surprise, probably due to Isika's youth, pale skin, and odd attire, but it passed almost instantly, replaced with the Sharp eyes of someone who has killed for her convictions and would do so again without hesitation.
"So you are the one whose has been a pain in my ass today. Bit young for mercenary work aren't you? Shouldn't you be in school or something?"
'Mercenary hmm? A reasonable, albeit incorrect, assumption, and a useful one.' Isika thought.
"Oh I'm just a bit of an early bloomer." Isika said, shrugging diplomatically. "A maiden out to see the galaxy, explore new cultures, learn new skills…"
"Break into private facilities and slaughter a couple of dozen mercs." Vasir said dryly.
"Not unusual for a maiden to do, the fact that Eclipse still sees new recruits is testimony to that." Isika countered. "And what about you Miss Vasir? A council spectre, here at the behest of confirmed traitor Saren, with the queen of a race long thought extinct? I'd say you being here is far more… unusual."
"Got me there." Vasir said. "But you still aren't supposed to be here, I know you are not alone, and I doubt that you are here just to chat. So what outfit are you running with? You are not Eclipse I know that much, and no self respecting Asari would join blood pack, in fact you don't look like you belong to any major group that I know of, and I know them all. But you don't strike me as freelance either, Your equipment looks high quality, and custom made. And then there is the hat…" Vasir's eyes narrow. "You know, I've only seen a hat like that in one place, Shanxi, during that Alliance new year celebration. Interested in Alliance fashion are we?"
"It has its charms. Alliance culture is quite fascinating if you give it a chance." Isika said, frowning internally, So far Vasir was controlling the conversation, she needed to get it back to the Rachni behind her. "My choice of wardrobe aside, I must admit I am rather curious about your large friend behind you.
"That has gotta be the clumsiest conversation change I've ever heard." Vasir said, unimpressed. "First time doing an interrogation?"
Isika pouted. "My first time trying to interrogate someone politely."
"Oh, Scary." Vasir said. "But if you must know, the scientists in Binary Helix managed to find a Ranchi ship with a dormant queen egg, how I don't know, don't care. They intended to try and make bioweapons, but as you've probably noticed that's going pretty poorly, but what I'm more interested in is in the memories of the Queen. Rachni queens carry the knowledge of their forebears, so even though this one was born in this lab, she still has access to the collective knowledge of the rachni."
"What knowledge could someone like you want from an extinct race? Not to be rude, but you aren't the sentimental type." Isika asked.
"Sorry, no more freebees." Vasir said. "That for me and Saren to know, and for you to never find out."
"I guess diplomacy is finished then?" Isika said tilting her head.
"Before we get to the inevitable conclusion, mind satisfying my curiosity as well? It's only fair."
Isika considered this, and decided there was no harm in it, after all, in all likelihood only one of them is going to be walking out of here alive, and it was not going to be Vasir if Isika had anything to say about it. She spread her arms out invitingly "I suppose it is only fair. What do you need to know?"
"Oh you know," Vasir said, drawing her Vindicator Assault rifle and pointing it at Isika. "Little things, Like who or what are you?"
Isika beamed, and spread her arms even further. "I thought you'd never ask! I am Isika Valao, and I…" darkness formed around her hands.
As Isika brought her hands together, Vasir caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and charged out of the way, and one of her bodyguards jumped off the catwalk in panic. The other one was not so quick, and was caught between a massive pair of hands formed out of shadows with a massive clap.
"...Am a magician." Isika said, parting her hands, letting the limp commando fall to the ground.
She then immediately darted to the left as the repositioned Vasir opened fire on where she had just been standing.
As Isika rolled into cover behind some crates, Vasir shouted between bursts "Now how the Hell did you become a magician, don't tell me all that stuff about Biotics and magic was a lie?!"
"Oh it's very real alright, I got the scars to prove it." Isika laughed behind her crate. Sort of a lie, as Reisen had already removed all the scarring, but it sounded cool in her head. "But I was very determined. It seemed like a fair tradeoff at the time, and I don't regret it even now."
"You got rid of your biotics? That shouldn't even be possible, what are you, crazy?" Vasir said, quickly charging a shockwave.
"A little bit." Isika said, as she rolled out from behind the boxes seconds before they were torn apart by the shockwave, darting from side to side to avoid Vasirs resumed fire, while quickly advancing on her position. "But isn't this what being a maiden is all about? Learning new things? Experiencing new cultures?"
Isika drew her staff, a blade of darkness forming on the tip, and Vasir was forced on the defensive as Isika closed the distance, staff swinging.
"Maybe if you lunatics stopped treating the Alliance like-" Vasir leaned out of the way of a thrust. "-Some kind of troublemaking upstart-" Vasir stepped back as Isika made a swing at her midsection. "-Then maybe you might be able to remember how to be an Asari!" While Vasir was unbalanced, she tried for a downward swing.
In the nick of time, Vasir raised her Assault rifle to block, and the blade bit into the metal with a crunch.
"Are you serious?!" Vasir snarled as her biotic barrier flared, making Isika's blade sputter and crackle. "Ever since the Alliance got here, they've been calling the shots, they treated our negotiators like dirt, openly mocked the council and its authority, and threatened open war if we didn't give in to their demands. They have no respect for any authority other than their own, and you are saying I'm the unreasonable one?! Go to hell!" She gave a kick to Isika's gut, making the younger Asari stumble backwards. She tried to fire the weapon, saw what condition the blade had left it in, before instead using her biotics to launch it at Isika instead. Following up with a Biotic shockwave.
Isika Recovered in time to dodge the impromptu projectile, before instantly liquifying into shadows to fall through the grated catwalk underneath her to avoid the shockwave.
Vasir clicked her tongue before looking for another weapon.
Spotting the other commando who had only now managed to clamber back onto the catwalk, she quickly charged over, nearly knocking over the commando again.
"I need this," Vasir said, snatching the shotgun from her subordinate's hands, giving it a quick once over, an M-27 Simitar, perfect. "Get a new one from the guys in the backroom. Disarm a clone if you have to."
To the commando's credit she was only surprised for a moment before nodding and fleeing the room, but not before having to duck a laser blast.
"I have got to work on my aim." Isika said sardonically, stepping out from around the containment unit, pistol raised.
Knowing that her barrier is useless against a laser, and now carrying a close range weapon, Vasir went on the offensive. Ducking down into a charge, she shot towards Isika, once more had to dive to avoid the biotic attack, before rolling off the catwalk again to avoid the shotgun fire.
"Slippery little bitch aren't you?" Vasir snarled.
"You'll find I'm pretty good at not being hit." Came Isika's voice from below. "Are you?"
Vasir moved a moment too late as a dark blade slicing through the catwalk, the blade crackling and fizzling through her biotic barrier and piercing both her armour and foot.
Biting back a scream, Vasir pulled her foot off the blade and quickly staggered backwards, activating her armour's medigel reserve to stifle the bleeding, before having to continue to move backwards as more blades shot up from the grate under her feet.
"You ever considered taking up dancing?" Came Isika's voice from under the floor.
Vasir responded by unloading a thermal clip into the ground, and was gratified to hear an indignant squark, as Isika was presumably forced to evade.
Quickly ejecting the spent heatsink and replacing it with another, Vasir quickly considered her options. She was aware that Isika did not come alone, and had guessed, correctly, that Isika was in fact playing a high stakes game of chicken to see who would call in their reinforcements first. And while she was loath to give the cocky little magician the satisfaction, she was aware that Isika was already up by a stab wound, and Vasi's only hit, a kick in the gut had cost her her favourite assault rifle.
The score was in Isika's favour and she had no interest in dying here, Saren needed her.
The last thought was accompanied by a throb in her temple. But she ignored it.
She was aware of a movement behind her, and she dived to the floor twisting in the air and letting another shotgun blast rip. Her satisfaction at landhind a hit disappeared when she noticed she had not hit the slippery Asari, but rather a pure black silhouette of her, that bubbled for a moment before disappearing into mist.
She rolled onto a crouch, barely twitching as she landed on her injured foot. Around her five more silhouettes rose up from the grates around her on the catwalk.
"Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me." Vasir swore, starting to get an understanding why Isika considered magic a good trade off. This kind of thing really isn't fair.
Unfortunately the silhouettes didn't give a fuck about what Vasir thought was fair and rushed her on a mass.
Quickly blasting two away with her shotgun (evidently these dopplegangers having less self preservation then the original) reading a shockwave with her other hand sending it rippling down the catwalk, the other three scattering, but only one managing to twist around the warp without getting caught and charging Vasir, its fingers elongating to daggers. Only to be blasted apart as Vasir warped through it.
Ignoring the prickling on her skin to what she could only assume was the Alliances dreaded 'contamination', she quickly barked into her comms. "Get in here on the double, and watch out, this bitch's friends are probably hiding somewhere!" before turning to face back down the catwalk where Isika was now standing smirking at her.
Her men wasted no time as every side door barring the one that Isika entered through suddenly swarmed into the room brandishing Guns at the standing Asari.
Then the wall exploded.
To be precise, several shaped charges went off less then a second before someone with a really big hammer and a nark on gave it a really firm tap.
The mercs staggered back as a circular section of wall separated with a mighty crash and boom, sending a spray of debris and smoke in its wake, slamming against the containment tube leaving spiderweb cracks across the reinforced tube and making the Queen stager back as far back as it could in the confines of its cell.
Immediately then Ishi shot across the room like a cannonball, taking a guys head off with a Lariat on the way, before bringing her hammer down, collapsing one of the catwalks and bringing on the hapless soldiers standing on it along for the ride.
She was followed directly by Ika who immediately slipped under the closest catwalk, taking two hapless turian mercs along for the ride, whose immediate messy end could be heard shortly after.
A chilling fog entered the room, conjured by Jessamine as she too slipped into the room quickly using the no visibility to slip right to one of the door's and start picking off the soldiers who were still entering the room.
The fog of course was no impeachment to Uno who sent a swarm of her focus crystals to get into position around the room, while taking potshots with her rifle from the breach, her first being the hapless Asari commando who had escaped earlier.
"Did they just fucking breach through a wall?!" One of the Turian mercs shouted. "Those things are like a meter thick!"
"What do you expect its the fucking Allaince, now less talking more staying alive!" A Batarian shouted back, before an armoured tentacle emerged from the fog and dragged him under the catwalk, which the mercs only now realised has filled with water to the point where swells of it were coming up through the grates.
This was of course a combined effort of both Ishi and Ika, with some assistance from Jessamine, which thanks to both being more at home in the water turned the battle into even more of a slaughter then it already was, with Ishi demolishing half half the catwalks under along with their hapless occupants, while Ika cackled with glee as her tentacles rose up like a kraken to drag as many as she could into a watery grave.
"Showoff's." Jessamine said, rolling her eyes, before quickly drawing up some small thunder clouds to add her own brand of chaos.
With no visibility and attacks coming from both above and below, they had no hope of preventing Uno's final touch.
"Prism Configuration 12-b ~ Total Area Denial!" Uno intoned and twin prismatic beams erupted from her primary focus prisms hovering by her shoulders, and as fast as light (literally) the room was filled with an intricate web of lasers of every colour that weaved itself through the myriad of crystals, perfectly positioned around the room and landing a lethal blow throw every merc, soldier and commando still left standing.
The light left as quickly as it came, and the bodies all dropped at once, some hitting the catwalk, while other dropped into the water with a splash.
"I commend you for your efficient execution." Jesamine said, who hadn't even flinched when the lasers had surrounded her. She waved her hand to clear the fog "I think that was one of your better ones."
"Well you know how it is. Getting better every day." Uno said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Yeah, well thanks for leaving some for the rest of us. Ishi said, pulling herself out of the water onto one of the remaining catwalks, and giving her head a shake to remove some excess moisture from her hair.
"Yeah why'd ya even need us?" Ika quipped cheekily, raising her head out of the water.
"Well I need time to set up attacks like tha- Ika stop torturing the guy, seriously we don't need another sadist." Uno said dryly.
"Eh?" Ika said, looking to her left where a Batarian was struggling to reach the surface as a tentacle held him down.
"Oops, forgot about him." Ika said, as the tentacle gave a jerk putting the man out of his misery before retracting to its resting length.
Ishi shook her head, before looking around. "Speaking of Sadists, where's Isika?"
"She went after Vasir." Uno said.
"Vasir got away?" Jesamine said, tilting her head.
"Not for much longer." Uno said.
Vasir staggered away down an icy side passage, shivering from her impromptu bath and the frigid temperatures, her injured foot was aching, she clutched her side where she had hit, the railings on her way down into the water, and the throb in her temple had upgraded to a full migraine.
So when she found Isika standing in front of her, she can be forgiven for being a little slow with her reaction.
Her raising shotgun was slapped out of her hand with Isika's staff, before she was stabbed in the stomach, and swept off her feet with the return motion.
Vasir hit the ground hard, her head bouncing against the ice. And less then a moment Isika was on top of her, straddling her chest, and pinning her arms.
"Ready To die Vasir?" Isika cooed.
However the blow to the back of the head had given Vasir a momentary respite from the dull throb in her head, and for the first time in a while she could think with perfect clarity. "Wait." she croaked.
Isika cocked her head, "what's this, any last wor-"
Vasir cut her off, "Just shut up for a minute, This might be the last time my thoughts are mine, and I don't want to waste them bantering." Vasir half growled and coughed.
"...What do you mean." Isika said, her brow creasing.
"Its Saren… or at least his ship… he… calls it Sovereign. No idea where it came from. It does something to you, turns you into that bastard's puppet." vasir spat.
Isika looked conflicted. "Does that mean you were working with him against your will?"
Vasir gave a grim chuckle. "Fuck no, at least not at first, I meant everything I said about the Alliance, only now I think I hate Saren more… enough to tell you what I know."
Isika looked less conflicted, but still nodded. "I'm listening."
"Admittedly it's not much, He doesn't seem to tell his puppets much." Vasir said, but I know what he wanted from the Rachni, the location of the Mu relay."
"What did he want to know the location of a lost relay for?" Isika said.
"Wish I could tell you… Hell, by now it probably doesn't matter, last I heard your friends were already knocking on his door." Vasir said "Consider this… a last defiant act."
Isika nodded. "You know, I could bring you in…"
"Don't bother... I can hear his voice clawing at my ears even now." Vasir said, grimacing. "I'd rather die free than live that backstabbing bastard's servant."
Isika looked conflicted again, before nodding, her eyes turning black. "I'll make it painless."
Vasir eyes widened before laughing. "Of course you're one of them, a demon among demons, why not." Vasir turned sobre. "Before I go, one more thing, Your one of those… magicians right?" At Isika's nod, she continued. "Promise me one thing, You don't owe me anything, but consider it a dying wish… if you, an Asari, is going to be a Magician… be one of the best… You say we can learn a lot from the Alliance… maybe, just maybe, I'd like to see you prove it. Maybe then… then this might have all meant something…"
Isika could see Vasir start to slip away, so with a deep breath, she spoke. "May you find peace in the embrace of the goddess." and brought her forehead to Vasir's.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Authors notes:
XYZDreadnought: I feel I need to explain myself, specifically my characterisation of Vasir. Now I know that in the main game she was a pretty nasty piece of work, But it doesn't change the fact that everything she does was in her mind for the greater good. Yes she basically lets herself be used as the shadow broker's personal hitman, but it was in exchange for intelligence that she uses to save lives and keep the peace, she is doing the wrong thing, but for the right reasons. This doesn't excuse her actions, but it saves her from being a 2 dimensional villain, indeed in the main game, she was perfectly right in calling shepard a hypocrite, even if you go full paragon you are still using cerberus assets and resources. The main difference being that Paragon shep doesn't let himself be used by Cerberus, unlike Vasir.
Also, it's not as if Vasir likes the alliance, everything she says to Isika she believes, (and to be fair these are not entirely unvalid criticisms), but she hated the fact that Saren used her hatred to control her like a puppet. So in this case, she just hates Saren more. Her blessing to Isika in the end is not quite approval, but more gratitude for Isika letting her say her peace, and her pride wanting her death to mean something.
Touhoufanatic: whether it will of course is something that will pop up in ME2.
Honestly, I never liked the fight against Benezia in noveria, so having Vasir there instead makes things nifty and helps set up stuff in the future. We're approaching the end of these specials, but we're not quite there yet so the next couple will be coming out in the next little while just like these have, so look forward to em!