Not A Hero, Not For Hire

by Soleneus

Shepard's gone, the Normandy's gone. I failed. Now I've got two years to make sure I never fail again, and to do that, I need to sharpen my skills, gain new ones, and wreak havoc on the criminal side of the Galaxy. Nothing's ever that simple, but I've got a lot of rage to express. It's time to Hunt. OR Hero 3: Hero Hard with a Vengeance.

13. The First Hunt

Bekenstein. What started as a first-wave industrial manufacturing base for humanity and ended up becoming our version of Illium. The rich get richer and party it up with others of their status, while anyone below a certain social line might as well not exist. Luxury goods at a luxury cost.

At least they're honest about it.

As we drift towards the planet, my omni-tool chimes. "Omen came through," I mutter, opening the message. "Kyle Muresh Iyander, born on Shanxi, prodigy with computers, went to Grissom Academy, served six years Alliance Cyberwarfare Division, discharged, joined Bekenstein Computational Security Systems as a Junior Systems Analyst and made Senior Systems Analyst within a year, then jumped up to Management and became CEO in five years. Under his direction they bought out a Turian competitor and brought them into the fold, causing some controversy for bringing aliens into what'd been a purely-human company."

"It says after the acquisition, the company now serves as the provider of encryption services to both human and turian embassies," Jade points out, highlighting the relevant section. "They've got to handle some very sensitive data."

"And at quite the premium, I imagine," I reply dryly, eyes scanning the document. "I'm not seeing why this guy would need me, though. He could hire anyone with the credits he's rolling in and already has a private security force." It smells a bit suspicious to me.

"Maybe you should ask him yourself?" My AI Companion asks, the address attached to the message blinking.

I tap it and settle back in my seat, waiting for the call to go through and reading the rest of the message. Not sure why Omen included Iyander's sexual preferences or favorite kind of coffee. My screen distorts as the call goes through, displaying a stressed-looking man with dark skin and darker eyes. "Kyle Iyander?"

"Yes. You must be 'Onslaught,' then." He answers, a hint of an accent in his voice, "Councilor Anderson recommended your services to me…he assures me that you're capable of discretion?"

Why was that a question? "When the situation calls for it, yes," I steeple my fingers in front of my face. "And from what it sounds like, a discrete operator is what you need. And for what, exactly?"

Iyander blinks slowly, clasping his hands together in front of him. "Not over an open channel. Set down in Docking Bay 57, an escort will meet you there. We can discuss my needs in private, and unarmed."

"I'm never unarmed," I warn, meaningfully running my thumb over my knuckles, a brief spark dancing over the surface of my gauntlet.

"With no visible weapons, then," he adds, closing the channel.

I type the destination in and sit back as the auto-pilot takes over, tapping my fingers on my arm rest. I spent a long time and a lot of credits making my suit a deadly, intimidating weapon. The only thing really 'discrete' about it is the Active Camouflage unit. And the Spring-loaded sheath. "Anything alarming in the dossier?" I ask, standing up from the chair and heading back to the weapon board, hanging Invictus up.

"Besides what seems to be an addiction to Tupari? Says he's gone through three pallets of the stuff this year," she replies, her avatar coalescing on the surface of the workbench, arms crossed, "Not really. No felonies, major crimes, not even a parking ticket. He seems clean…then again, Data Security is what his company specializes in."

"You can't hack their systems remotely?" Medusa goes up on the pegs, followed by The Tyrant and my still-unused Spitballers. It's not like I have a Formal Heavily Armored Jetpack-having, Missile-Launching, Lightning-Throwing Walking Death Suit. I dress for All Occasions, if all those occasions are violent ones.

"Not from here, no, signal strength's too weak to even probe their network," she cups her chin in thought, jade-green hair fluttering in a non-existent wind, "Local News Network has an announcement from ICS, dated a week ago, about a new encryption software similar to ones used in the Embassies. I'd have to get closer or be onsite to slip in."

I bounce my lightsaber in my palm, unwilling to part with less than two weapons and not counting the suit. Looking back at the ARMs on my shoulders, I get an idea. "Jade, can you open one of the ARMs and have it hold this?" The crab-claw like device splits apart just wide enough to fit the hilt inside of it, clamping down and holding it in place. It looks like a slightly longer antenna compared to the shorter one on my left side, and with the pauldron there being larger than the right, it's an appealingly asymmetrical look.

There's a slight bump as my ship sets down, Jade's avatar crackling for a second before vanishing. "I just received a burst from a message buoy," her voice whispers in my ear, "Tevos wants you back on Orbit for a soft and hardware update. Apparently it's important."

"For a woman who's been around for a thousand years, she sure can be needy," I mutter. Probably doesn't help that she spends most of her time on Orbit and is spending weeks to her what are days to me. "Leave a message saying I'll drop by after I deal with this, and I have some time to think of some upgrades."

The ramp descends as I approach, opening up into a small docking area. Not commercial, but not exactly private, either, as a steel-grey skycar hovers overhead, engines whining as it slows and lands on the ground. It opens up to reveal two turians and a human, all covered in black, featureless armor carrying shotguns. They all balk as I step out of the docking bay, hands tightening on weapons. "Onslaught?" The human asks, eyes jittery.

"Were you expecting someone else?" I ask in reply, stopping before the skycar.

The three of them trade glances before the human nods towards the car. "Get in." He takes the driver's seat while a turian takes the passenger, the other taking the far back seat, leaving me next to the door. The passenger tries to be subtle, angling the barrel of his shotgun under his arm at me, while the turian to my right doesn't bother hiding anything.

The ride is taken in silence, my eyes fixed on the city sprawling below. The buildings are boxy, almost uniform at the base, but become more architecturally varied as they went up, with asari curves and turian spikes blended together into something vaguely human. New opulence built on old, industrious bones. A bit away from the city center is another building, simple and grey, bulging out above the middle, then narrowing the higher it goes until it resembles a blocky spear. And, naturally the skycar heads straight for the top.

As far the HQ of a big tech company goes, it's pretty unassuming. The car wavers a bit as it rises above the building, being built high up enough that the atmosphere is thin and the wind strong, but steadies as we enter a mass effect envelope. Unassuming in appearance only, then. Mass effect envelopes are expensive anywhere other than a space station. But that's Bekenstein.

Two guards flank the landing pad and we set down next to another car, also black but subtly armored and if I'm seeing right, custom-tuned high-performance engines. Two more guards stand by the door, heads turning to follow my little group as we pass by. The decor is stark and more than a little grim, all dark grey and black, concrete and metal. It feels more like a prison than an office space. And at the end, relatively speaking, set into a uniform wall of black and grey, is a big ol' door.

And behind that door is a room. Long, with windows showing the world outside, covered by fluffy clouds except for the other buildings peeking through. A bit ominous, then another door and another room. A long table set to one side for board meetings, a couch and coffee table on the other for what I assume is making evil plans and chuckling, and then another door. And, of course, about twelve guards all standing silently.

Behind the second door is another room, shocker. Less windows, less length, but the walls are covered in certificates and awards, with a small kitchen and a cot in one corner.

At the end, behind a large, likely expensive desk, is the man himself. And a turian who, going by the slightly softer features and overall less rectangular profile, is a woman. Iyander eyes me with some dismay. "'Discrete'?" I hear him mutter behind his hands, "Anderson must be joking…"

"He's not," I reply, standing before his desk, crossing my arms. "In my line of work, it pays to be memorable. No one expects the guy in the flashy armor to be subtle."

Iyander hums noncommittally. "Forgive my disbelief, but I fail to see how-"

I activate my Active Camouflage with a gesture, the startled faces on Iyander and the turian making the journey worth it. The flurry of clicks from safeties being switched off are less welcome, but expected.

"Incredible," the future client breathes, standing up from his desk and circling my barely-visible form. "You have access to cloaking technology?"

"Just because I don't appear capable of subtlety doesn't mean I'm not," I answer, letting the Cloak dissipate. "Have I convinced you?"

"Indeed," Iyander nods, sitting back down. His turian bodyguard looks disquieted, though. "I suppose you wish to know why I am in need of your services?"

"Indeed," I echo.

He taps the terminal before him, bringing up two pictures. One is of a human, female, short blonde hair and wide grey eyes, kinda loony looking. The other is a turian, on the pale side with black markings on his face. "These are Lily Vikander and Seperus Snate, two former employees of mine who recently absconded with some very sensitive data. Before I locked their addresses down, they were attempting to sell it."

My omni-tool flashes as I download the files on both of them, but I have a question. "You haven't told the police about this?" I wave a hand at the armored people in the room. "Or had your own people to handle it?"

Iyander shakes his head, steepling his hands in front of him. "Publicly admitting that my company that provides data security had a breach, from the inside no less? My reputation wouldn't survive." His eyes dart up to peer into my helmet. "Hence why you'll be paid very well for your discretion. As for my private security? They are my private security. They have no authority outside of my property."

That's fair. "Timeline?"

"As soon as possible. Retrieve the data and the criminals, alive if possible but dead will do. Above all else, do not access the data," his eyes narrow into a glare as his turian bodyguard meaningfully fingers her shotgun. "Before they disconnected from the network, I encrypted the data with proprietary technology, a Data Vault. They'll be looking for some way to bypass it, but the security is layered and every one contains viruses, traps and alarms. I will know if it's been tampered with."

I wave his concerns off. One, I doubt they'd be able to track Jade going to work, two, I don't really care about the data unless it pertains to saving the galaxy, building up Titan, or if it's funny. "I understand the parameters. As for the price…"

Iyander sighs, rubbing his chin. "For this service, I am authorizing the release of a million credits to you, with the possibility of longer term employment should you be successful."

I arch an eyebrow, not that they can see it. "A million?"

The client grumbles under his breath, pinching his nose. "Fine, two, but no more," he declares, jumping as the turian guard nudges his shoulder.

I restrain a shrug. That wasn't what I was getting at, but I'll take it. "Standard operating procedure is half up front, half on delivery."

Iyander bobs his head, fingers working at the terminal. "I expected as much. To whet your beak, as it were, I will also offer a bonus dependent on the speed with which you catch these thieves."

Nodding, I drop my arms and turn towards the door. "I better get started, then."

"With speed, please," Iyander nods, waving a hand. The guards flank me again and I walk out, heading back to the roof and then back to the hangar.

Time to hunt.

…

It was a pretty dramatic declaration, but in this case Jade does most of the work. Using the extranet, she linked up to the local grid and the cameras, using the pictures provided by Iyander to track the two thieves. Watching her work is giving me a headache, though, the screen speeding through hours of video in multiple windows. "They left the building the night before the theft was discovered and went home, then emerge four hours later with dyed hair and new paint, but that didn't do anything to throw off facial recognition," Jade relays, displaying the woman with red hair and the turian with pink markings, "They went to public extranet terminal attempting to contact what seems to be the Shadow Broker, except that they didn't get anywhere before their addresses were locked."

"Why would they think the Shadow Broker wouldn't just kill them after getting his hands on the data?" I ask aloud, rubbing my throat. It's been sore as hell since that last fight, not to mention ticklish. I attached a water bottle and took a drink, grunting at the sting. "Especially if it's that valuable?"

"Desperation, most likely," Jade shrugs, eyes fixed on the monitor as it continues to play. "They realized with their address cut off that they could be tracked by omni-tool, so they dumped the ones they had and apparently realized they needed one." The human and turian pair hover around an alley, looking suspicious as hell until a human, probably an accountant going by the clothes, decides to take a shortcut. Watching them try to mug the guy is pain. Just…pain. Those two have never thrown a punch in their lives, and it's only the fact that the turian has reach that they even manage to knock out the guy and steal his omni-tool. And even then, he smashed a bottle over the turians' head and cut the woman on the face.

"Well, actually bringing them in shouldn't be a problem if that shit show is how good they are at fighting," I comment, trailing off into a cough.

"They rent a room at a seedy motel for the night, then next day go searching for something, possibly a way off-world," my AI companion continues, "They send a few messages, but not to the Shadow Broker. Appears that someone heard the noise that they were making and decided to investigate." That someone happens to have a fuzz implant, because the camera watching them leaves his face covered in an error code, "Looks like they traded addresses." The screen suddenly stops, zooming in on the omni-tool on the woman's arm. "They're meeting today in an hour or so. Address attached."

Pulling the address up on my omni-tool and plugging in the coordinates leads me to a condo building, on the ground floor that was under construction. "Where are they now?" I ask, standing up from my chair, clearing my throat.

"The motel, they've been hiding out since the meeting," she replies, her form collapsing as I take Invictus off the peg and holster it on my thigh. "Ah, movement. They want to be early I guess."

"Then I'll meet them there," I say, dropping the ramp and firing my jetpack, flying out into the sky, the setting sun casting the world in gold. If I ignore the humming and the vibration of the device on my back, it almost feels like I'm soaring through the air on my own power. What I wouldn't give to feel the wind on my skin. "Which car?" Traffic hasn't slowed a bit, but staying out of the lanes is easy.

"Marking it on your HUD." A distant blue car gains a large arrow pointing down at it. I stay low, hugging the buildings but keeping it in sight as the car wends its way through traffic until it finally breaks off and heads downward.

Landing in a nearby alley, I lean out and watch the pair exit their car, both of them looking a little worse for wear and on-edge. I hit my Cloak just as they make an amature sweep, darting across the street as the turian enters a code that opens a locked door leading into the under construction condo. I'm tempted to yoink them out right now, but I'm curious to see who they're meeting. I slip in just as the door closes, the edge catching the heel of my boot, and the thieves jump at the ping of metal.

Slipping away and ducking behind a pallet of flooring, I watch them creep into what would be a living room when it is finished, in plain view of the wide windows looking out on the street. At least the glass is polarized.

And there, sitting in a plan chair with a couple of boxes for a desk, is a guy. He looks Asian, but I don't know who it is. Seems familiar, but I'm not sure why. "You're early," he says, the thieves looking at each other nervously, "You've got the data with you, I hope?"

The turian nods, reaching into his jacket to retrieve an OSD, tentatively holding it out. "This is our lives I'm giving you," he mutters nervously, "Are you sure they'll protect us?"

"They might not be friends of mine," the man replies, cool as can be while he takes the OSD, "But the Alliance will be grateful to have this…assuming it's actually what you've said it is." What? The Alliance?

"It is," the woman stresses, fidgeting with her fingers, "They definitely need to see it. This- this could change Council Space as we know it."

The hacker smiles. "Well, color me intrigued," he says cheerfully, cracking his knuckles and tapping the side of his head, a light blue visor forming over his eyes, "Take a seat. This might take a while, this Data Vault is particularly complex."

They thieves do so, twitching and looking out the window every once in a while. "You sure you can crack it?" The turian asks, nervously jiggling his feet.

"Please," the hacker huffs, eyes focused on the terminal, "There isn't a system in the galaxy I can't crack."

Silence falls as he gets to work, fingers flying over a holographic keyboard, broken occasionally by the hacker muttering to himself. "Oh, clever," and "Ah, almost missed that," then "Not bad." I'm not sure if he's putting on a show for the thieves or if he's forgotten them entirely.

"Saul, he's just about reached the final layer," Jade warns, "Or what only looks like the final layer. It's another trap."

"Think you could slip in there without setting it off?" I ask, standing from my crouch and resisting the urge to rub my knees. Kneeling for nearly half an hour isn't fun.

"Definitely."

"And there's the prize," the hacker says aloud, sitting back in his chair with a victorious grin, "Let's see what's so-"

"I'd rather you didn't." The barrel of Invictus presses against the back of his head and he simply stops. The thieves jump, clutching at each other as my cloak falls away. "I'm being paid quite a lot to retrieve that data unmolested. And you're about to set off a trap."

"Am I?" The hacker asks, fingers twitching, "Oh, I see. Clever little bastard."

"You two," something buzzes on the edge of my senses and even as I look up at the thieves, my eye twitches and switches to EM Vision. There, creeping up on my right, is a figure wearing Active Camouflage. "Stealing from your boss? Your very rich boss?" The figure slips forward, arm drawing back. "Don't you know that's-" My left arm darts up, catching the Cloaked figures' wrist as they strike, the camouflage failing. "-Dangerous?"

The woman growls, omni-tool loaded with some kind of custom disabling program that would overload my armor and give me a concussion. The thieves jump again, pale and shaking, at the appearance of another invisible person. "Ah," the hacker sucks his teeth, sounding disappointed, "I don't suppose I could convince you to drop the gun and let me finish cracking this vault? I mean, a little peek couldn't hurt, right?"

"Considering how much I'm being paid, yes, it could hurt. Quite a bit, in fact," I tap the barrel of my gun on the base of his skull, tightening my grip on the woman's wrist as she tries to pull away, "Remove the OSD and hand it to me. Dying is optional."

"I can't just close it, the spike I'm using would collapse the vault and erase the data," the hacker replies, shrugging sheepishly, "It's an 'all or nothing' kind of deal."

"Then close the spike and reapply the security." I say firmly, "I know how it works." He raises his hands and nods, sighing, getting back to typing. I glance at the woman. Under the hood, she's also Asian, with a purple mark on her bottom lip and…"Kasumi?"

She jerks in surprise, eyes going wide as the hacker pauses in shock. "…No?" She denies lamely.

"Keiji?" The hacker says nothing, but the minute slump in his shoulders means I'm right. "Wow. It's been a while."

Kasumi frowns. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember meeting someone like you," she says, eyes darting to the gun still pressed to the back of her lover's head.

"It was some years ago, Liam Gregor's mansion," I reply, tapping Keiji on the shoulder with my gun, "I broke your arm and threw you through a display case."

"Ah, that was you," Keiji hums in realization. "Well, I'd say it's good to see you…"

I release Kasumi's arm and circle the table, Invictus still pointed at them until I let it drop and some of the tension dissipates. "What a coincidence," I murmur, scratching the chin of my helmet, "So, you've given up on the stealing thing and decided to move into the information broker business?"

Keiji shrugs. "It's just a side thing. You're a mercenary now?"

"Bounty Hunter," I clarify, "Thieves you two might be, but I wouldn't call you 'evil' by any stretch, though it seems we're at a bit of an impasse. I was hired to retrieve the data and these two," the thieves flinch away from me, ''by their boss, who they stole that data from. I do have questions, though. Why are they trying to sell it to the Shadow Broker?"

"Us?" The turian speaks up, voice shaky, mandibles trembling, "We're not, Iyander is! We're trying to alert the Alliance, not sell it!"

"And why's that?" I ask, noting the fact that Iyander is trying to sell the data. Not a good look for a security company. "What's so important about this data?"

"It-it's-"

"Saul, a skycar just came down across the street," Jade warns and my head snaps up. Looking through the window, I see three black-armored figures pile out, guns in hand and take cover behind the car.

"Get down!" I shout, throwing up a biotic shield just as a hail of bullets shatters the window. The thieves flop to the ground ungracefully while Kasumi and Keiji dart behind my shield as I walk towards cover, dropping it as I dive to the side behind a wall. "Son of a bitch, really?! My first fucking job and the client betrays me?!"

I am so telling Anderson.

Peeking out, my shield pops as a sniper round punches through but bounces off of my Barrier. He's above the other three, crouched on top of a building. The high ground isn't going to save him. I turn to Keiji and Kasumi and point at the other thieves. "Don't let them die!" Then I jab the finger at them, "And don't go anywhere! I'll be back…"

As my shield comes back online, I spin out of cover and focus on the sniper. I throw my arms back, power enveloping me as the world stretches and pulls until it snaps back. Slamming into the sniper, the impact sends him flying back, my hand darting out to grab him by the foot. Spinning, I throw him back down to the roof, ripping the rifle out of his hands before smacking him across the face with it.

Grabbing him by the face, I toss him off the roof and jump after. The three mooks behind the skycar only get the brief warning of his body crashing into the glass before I land on the one in the middle, stomping her head into the concrete while smashing the one on the left with the butt of the sniper, jabbing the one on the right with the barrel before I pull the trigger. He goes flying, the booming retort echoing in my ears as I spin, sweep the knee of the last mook then switching my grip on the barrel and swinging it back, crushing his head between it and the side of the car.

The crunch of armor and bone signals the end of this brief firefight.

I cross the street, calling a skycar as I go. "Come on!" I call, the thieves emerging from the bullethole-ridden condo, "It's not safe here!"

"And it's safer with you?" Kasumi questions, crossing her arms.

"Considering that the fucker who hired me just tried to kill me, the safest place is staying out of my way," I growl, the anger burning in my chest like a star. I'd been on the fence about turning them in ever since they mentioned the Alliance, but shooting at me is a surefire way to make me land on the other side! "Now get in the fucking car!"

The skycar lands beside us and the thieves clamber in, Kasumi taking a seat on Keiji's lap as I drive us up. Jade, sensing my intention, meets us halfway from the dock in control of the Scarab and while transferring from one vehicle to the other isn't easy, fear of death from falling makes a great motivator.

Now there's a plan. I'll fly through that fucker's window and dangle him over the side until he cries. Stomping up to my wall of weapons, I grab Medusa and slide it into place, followed by The Tyrant, my two Spitballers and six grenades. "S-so, the data-" The formerly blonde thief starts before I hold a hand up.

"I don't give a shit right now," I grunt, checking my ammo. All blocks are full, everything's ready to kill. "I'm gonna-"

My omni-tool chimes. Someone's calling me. I open the screen and there he is. Iyander. "What the fuck do you want?"

He steeples his fingers, looking calm as can be. "I see I was mistaken, you have retrieved my property," he begins, noting the two thieves sitting on my bed. Not like I was using it, anyway. "Please, bring them to my office and we can put this indiscretion behind us."

"'Indiscretion'?" I ask hoarsely, my knuckles cracking as I clench my fists, "You shot at me."

"And you killed four of my men," Iyander says reasonably, and his calmness is only making me more angry. "In return, I will render the rest of your payment and we can part ways."

"I'll render you into paste," my heart's thundering in my chest, blood burning in my veins, "You hear me? I'll tear down your building with my hands and shred your soul, you son of a bitch. No one betrays me."

Iyander stares back, unblinking. "Be reasonable-"

I hang up. The thieves draw back as I look at them. "Stay here. Don't touch anything." Without another word, the ramp opens and I drop out of my ship, jetpack bursting to life.

Night has fallen, and the spear-like building looms ahead of me, a vision of vengeance dancing in my head. This rage…it burns. But it's comfortable, as well. "-ul! Saul!"

"What?" I growl in annoyance, eyes fixed on the top most floor of the building. I can almost see Iyander watching me through a window. Soon, motherfucker. Soon.

"They have a Jeff!"

"…A what?"

"J-E-F! A Jetpack-!"

My pack sputters and suddenly I'm losing height and control, bouncing off of the glass, rolling down the sloped side of the building. Grasping at the glass barely slows my tumble, but it gives me some control as I draw on my biotics to slow me down. Even then, I'm still sliding off the side and the edge is coming up quickly. My knife emerges from the sheath and into my grasp as I stab it down, but the windows are thick so the edge bounces off. My feet leave the side and I feel myself dropping.

With a roar, biotics flaring, I ram the blade through the glass, catching myself on the edge with a jerk. I can't help but look down and luckily, the clouds cover just how far up I am. "Son of a bitch…" Heaving myself back up isn't fun, but my jetpack isn't entirely disabled and I can affect my mass with biotics. The top of the building and Iyander's office looms above me, some twenty floors. Guess I'm climbing. "What the fuck just happened?"

"They have a Jetpack Exclusionary Field, that's what I was trying to say," Jade answers, sounding terse. "You weren't paying attention."

Grunting, I take a running start and drive my knife into the sloped window. "Would've nice to know earlier," I mutter, clambering up another floor. "You didn't know they had one beforehand?"

"I can't tell when it's off," she replies, "Not to mention their system is very secure, I didn't get much warning."

"You can't-" I heave myself up another floor, the building narrowing and the slopes getting steeper, "-access their system at all?"

"No, I'm going to need direct access to- they're dropping the envelope!"

Her call is the only warning I get before winds buffet me like the hands of a giant clumsy infant, trying to snatch me off of the glass and hurl me into the open air. Throwing up a shield grants a bit of reprieve, but I can't hold it forever. Sheathing my knife, I drop my free hand down to my lightsaber and ignite it, driving it into the glass below and spinning.

Glass crunches under my boots as I land inside, the wind howling around the molten edges of the new hole. "Jade, bring the ship around and make sure he can't escape from the roof," I order, drawing Invictus and heading towards the elevator, though the console dies as I approach. Smart move, limiting my mobility…no, actually, that's stupid. They should've trapped me in the elevator instead. A caged animal is easier to put down.

Another reason to kill them all.

Stumbling around in the dark won't do me any good, so I move quickly and cast my eyes about for an important-looking office, finding one a bit down the hall. The terminal's still on and it only takes a couple seconds to hack into the network. Not that it's really 'hacking' per se, as whoever uses the office had their password taped to the side of the terminal. I guess even as part of a company specializing in security, there are always gonna be lazy motherfuckers.

Ignoring the emails or even trying to get system access, I open up the floor plan and then I curse out loud. For some idiotic ego-driven reason, the elevator and the stairs only go most of the way up, leaving four floors that slowly ramp up leading to the top floor and Iyander's office. Leaving the terminal (and yanking off the password just because I can) I stalk towards the stairs only for the elevator to chime, the doors sliding open and a squad of black-armored security to spill out.

My hand snaps down and whips out a Spitballer as my ARMs unfold and open fire, the security scattering under the withering hail of bullets even as I skip back to make distance. "Keep them suppressed!" I growl to Jade, drawing Invictus and switching the vision mode in my cybernetic eye to X-ray. Spotting the figures crouched behind cover, I aim for their heads and open fire.

My bullets punch through their cover and armor, downing two with a pair of shots each, but a few go wide and a turian pops out to return fire. My Spitballer overheats with a loud chirp, the vent snapping open to disperse heat and on cue the rest of the goons lean out to shoot, and my shields fail.

"Fuck!" I dive back through cubicles, retreating towards the stairs and as I corner a wall, I tuck my SMG under my arm and draw a grenade, switching to Proximity Mine mode then slapping it on the wall. Distantly, I hear the elevator chime and more shouting. Great, reinforcements. Slapping another mine on the wall, I hurry to the stairway only to find the door locked. Kicking it doesn't do much besides hurt my foot and before I can reach for my lightsaber, bullets deflect off my freshly-regenerated shield.

The fuckers circled around the floor to pincer me! Dropping to a knee and laying down suppressing fire with the SMG, I squeeze off a few shots from Invictus before it clicks, empty. Shit. Holstering the Spitballer while the ARMs continue to fire, I'm just reloading my gun when a pair of explosions go off behind me and even more bullets pop my shield, my barrier flaring to life. Forgoing my guns altogether, I raise my arms in both directions and loose missile after missile down at the two groups, the ARMs seperating to join, but there are just two many on both sides. My barrier flickers and gives so I throw myself backwards through an open door and find myself in a janitor's closet.

Reloading my revolver, I can't help but sigh. In hindsight, I should've pretended to take Iyander's deal, then killed him when his guard was down. Blindly firing down the hall, I can hear their footsteps coming closer, but their caution is giving my barrier and shield time to recharge.

And the door to the stairs flies open, bullets replacing oxygen as a squad from the floor above opens fire into the room. My shields barely last a second even as I slap at my wrist and open up my Omnishield, the second it takes to unfold stripping away my barriers before I slam it down in front of me. And now, I truly am trapped. With three sides filled with enemies in a little concrete room full of cleaning supplies. And my Omnishield, no matter how thick, will eventually break down.

Clenching my free hand and raising it above my shield, I squeeze off a tongue of flame that makes the mooks duck away while I plan. I need to get out of this damn room…and I've got an idea. A relatively new one, even.

Lightning crackles around my arm before spreading across the surface of the shield, rearing my arm back. Just as they peek back in to open fire, my fist meets the shield and a thunderclap echoes throughout the room, a wave of force spilling out to knock them all head over heels. My ears are ringing as I dismiss the shield and sprint out of the room, stumbling a bit as I hop over them and bolt up the stairs. Stopping at the next landing, I throw my hands out and let loose lightning, arcs of energy shooting out and chaining between them, making the guards scream and shudder.

There's only one floor with stair and elevator access, merely two flights up, and as I take the steps two at a time I take out a grenade, switch it to Hi-Ex and hurl it on the ground. My lightning wasn't strong but widespread and they're already getting back up, tripping over each other as the squad in the halls charges into the squad on the stairs. Focusing biotic power in the palm of my hand, I press my will down on it, ripping the orb in two and pressing them together while trying to spin them at the same time. And then I throw it.

The 'Singularity' is just as bad as the last time I tried, but effective. Armor grinds and shatters, bones split and flesh rends as screaming echoes throughout the stairwell, blood spraying all over the walls. But then I did just drop a biotic blender on a bunch of people, so it's not unexpected.

Then I toss a Warp in the mix.

The biotic explosion, paired with the Hi-Ex grenade, silences the screaming with an echoing boom and a distant clatter of concrete and steel, either collapsing the stairs or at least making them hard to get up. Just four floors between me and that fucker, with no reinforcements from below…just an unknown number ahead of me, already aware that I'm coming for them.

Best not to give them anymore time.

At the top of the first ramp, first floor, whatever, there's nothing. Not a good sign. As I round the corner to the second, however, ten guards pop up from behind a line of cubicles and open fire. Rolling to the side and finally reloading, I chance a look out and shoot back, though they aren't taking many chances by blindly firing over their cover to keep me suppressed. My Amp is still burning so another Singularity is out of the question right now, and my eye is still in Wall-Hack mode.

Adjusting the power of Invictus' shots to the highest it can go, reducing the amount of times it can be fired to six and charging a fistful of lightning, I sight down on the enemy closest to the middle of their line and squeeze the trigger. My gun nearly kicks out of my hand, but the bullet punches through four lines of cubicles and the security I targeted stumbles out of cover, clutching the stump of an arm. I hit him with Chain Lightning to spread the love, a chorus of screaming rising as several of them get fried and I dash out of cover, firing. Only one shot actually lands, blowing a melon-sized hole in a turian, so I grab the Spitballers and dive over their cover, ARMs out and firing.

The Spitballers may have been designed to strip shields, but they still fire bullets the size of a grain of sand accelerated to a fraction of the speed of light. Focusing on one target at a time, with their shields gone from my lightning, it doesn't take too long to fill them full of holes, spin around and do the same to the other side.

Moving up the next ramp, I reload Invictus and adjust the power back down. There's a reason I don't use high power mode, because while I could down a Krogan Battlemaster in a couple of shots, it kicks so damn much I'd have to stand still and resight after every shot. Ten medium-power shots and mobility is better than six high-power and no mobility.

Stopping just before the corner, I hug the wall and peek my head out then duck back as a high-power round blasts a hole in the concrete, a booming retort echoing throughout the floor. What kind of asshole uses a sniper rifle in close quarters?!

"Keep him suppressed!" A feminine voice shouts, and bullets fill the air. Gritting my teeth, I shove a hand around the corner and blindly fire, my shield dropping quickly. Another sniper shot carves another hole into the wall. I'm thinking their plan is to either lock me down here while Iyander escapes, or chip away at my cover until I have to retreat.

"Iyander's attempting to evacuate," Jade announces calmly, and over the sound of gunfire I hear more gunfire, punctuated by a pair of distant explosions. "They can no longer evacuate."

"Good! Can you bring the ship around?" They've got me pinned down pretty good, and time's wasting.

"Are you sure? These guns were designed for vehicle combat, they'll go right through-!"

"Do it! Just be careful!"

Jade sighs. "Alright, coming around. I suggest you duck."

I hit the ground as lights flood the room and the gunfire pauses. "What the-?" I hear someone ask distantly. And then chaos.

The Scarab's main guns, as Jade said, are meant for ship-to-ship combat, firing slugs about the size of an apple at near FTL-speeds at eight hundred RPM. Against a humanoid target, it'd be like me using Invictus on a rotting melon.

The sound is deafening, a shrill, piercing whine echoing in my ears as concrete is pulverized, dust and gravel raining down around my head. After what seems like forever but is more like fifteen seconds, the noise stops. "Floor clear," Jade announces and I hop up, shaking the dust off of me, "The remaining floors are too narrow for me to do that again, not without bringing them down. And I assume you want to kill him yourself?"

"Damn right," I reply, cutting through the carnage. Not a cubicle is left standing, and the enemies resemble mulch with the occasional intact limb. Good.

Hurrying up the next ramp at a run, I round the corner to find a turian standing at the top, a large gun in one hand while the other is pressed against the side of his head. "What do you mean a gunship-" His eyes go wide as I come up, frantically bringing his weapon to bear, "Open-!"

That's a Revenant Light Machine gun. Oh hell no, I'm not getting pinned again. The world warps, stretches and snaps back, my biotic charging slamming into the turian and sending him flying into a wall, my hand shooting out to snatch his gun out of the air. It's weighty and has a bit of spin-up, but the line of guards is caught off-guard and rapid-fire heavy rounds make short work of them.

One floor to go.

The Revenant isn't exactly my style, but I like it. I think I'll keep it to tinker with.

Rounding the last corner, bullets rain down and I jump back, peeking out to see what I'm up against. It's a security checkpoint of some kind, with two turrets and a single guard behind a desk with an assault rifle. "Jade, can you sabotage the turrets?" My omni-tool flickers green in response and I duck out, firing the program off. The turrets flicker as she takes them over, then simultaneously turn and open fire on the guard. It only takes a second.

And then I'm at Iyander's office and naturally, the door's shut and locked, the power off so I can't even try to bypass it. A speaker crackles. "Onslaught," Iyander starts, sounding calm, "I can see I've provoked you. And while I can see you've earned your moniker, destruction won't get you through this door. My entire office was designed to be a vault in the event of an assault and evacuation wasn't possible. The windows are locked down with blast shields strong enough to withstand your ship, and the walls are thick enough to withstand rockets. Unless you wish to bring down the building, you can't get in here. I suggest you withdraw."

My eyes scan the room, my implant flickering through vision modes. As I check EM waves, two spots light up near the top, cameras, the lens focused on me. Without a word, I draw Invictus and blast them both to scrap. The door is really thick, but I've got a masterkey. And though it's fuzzy, I can make out a good number of guards with their guns aimed at the door. Cutting my way through would put me directly in their line of fire.

Switching vision modes, I can see the rebar laced through the concrete, and a section that's darker than the rest near the corner. Either they were running out of materials or someone decided to literally cut a corner, it works for me. Stalking over to the turrets, I yank part of the casing free and start digging around for the power source. "What're you planning?" My AI companion asks as I pull the mass driver and the battery free.

"You think I could jury-rig a det charge out of this?" I reply by way of question, withdrawing a grenade from a pouch and taking it apart.

"…You'll need two," she answers, the other turret opening up.

With her help, I attach the drivers to the grenades, shaping the charges and linking a simple two-step detonation program to the VI. The first step will activate the eezo in the drivers, lessening the mass of the wall, then the charges will blast through. With the magnetic pads from the grenades, I attach the charges to the weak spot on the wall, then slap my remaining grenade on the door in flashbang mode.

And then my lightsaber comes out.

…

The remaining security flinched as a clang echoed through the office, their hands tight on their weapons, sweat filling their armor as the silence stretched and they hoped that the one who'd torn through their company had decided to retreat.

They jumped as a bright blue blade erupted from the edge of the door and slowly began to move up, leaving a molten trail. "He's coming…" One whispered shakily, "He's coming through…"

"Overkill Mods on," the head of security barked, feminine voice flanging as she readied her rifle even while she slowly backed up towards the meeting room and the inner office, "Overlapping fields of fire."

The blade traveled around the edge, outlining the door in hellish orange before it withdrew, and time seemed to stop.

Then with a bang, the door came flying into the room and reflexively they opened fire. But there was nothing there.

There was a beep, just loud enough to turn their heads to the grenade attached to the front of the door just before it detonated with a blinding flash and a deafening bang. Audibly and visually crippled, the security kept firing wildly, hitting each other and the walls.

And then the wall on the far side of the entryway exploded, a figure racing through the dust with his lightsaber lit to crash into the chaos. His blue blade rose and fell and arced, divesting screaming men of life and limb. The head of security blinked harshly, eyes watering as she tried to focus fire on the enemy, most of her shots hitting newly-made bodies instead. She hopped back into the meeting room and slammed the door button even as another security guard was crawling towards her, arm outstretched.

The door slammed shut and the room went silent except for an echoing cry. She panted, mandibles twitching, and threw her overheated rifle away to draw a long, curved knife. Blue light shimmered in the dark of the room as she focused her biotics, wrapping herself in layers of barriers, energy flooding through her veins. A desperate, dangerous move that would put her in the hospital for months if she survived.

If she survived.

Metal screeched as the blade quickly sliced through the door, leaving a molten x that was then bisected and kicked in. She threw her arms out and released a wave of energy as he came charging through, knocking him back a step. As he stumbled, she threw herself at him with a roar, her shoulder meeting his chest as she zipped through space to hit him. He set himself firmly and drove an elbow into her spine, and she detonated a layer of her barrier to stun him, then heaved him up on her shoulder and hurled both of them over the meeting room table and into the wall.

He grunted in pain at the impact but with the wall supporting him, he launched a knee into her stomach and grasped the back of her armor, standing her up and slamming his faceplate into her face, barriers flaring. She stumbled then skipped back as his sword sizzled through the air an inch from her mandibles, the table hitting the back of her legs. She lashed out with her knife, blade shimmering in the glow of her biotics, picking away at his barrier while agilely ducking and dodging swings from his sword. Stuck between the wall and the table, he didn't have enough room to swing at the turian bobbing and weaving around his hulking armor. With an irritated grunt he paused, letting a strike skitter off of his arm before surging forward, slamming his shoulder into her chest and sending her back, blade arcing up over his head and coming down onto her.

She threw her knife up desperately and felt it catch, eyes widening as she saw that the biotic aura around her blade was holding up against the sword, though draining fast. Sparks flew as she struck at him and he swung at her, trading blows until she faked a stumble, letting him sweep a leg out from under her. She fell back as he switched his grip to stab down and biotically pushed herself back, his glowing blue blade sinking into the heavy metal table.

She rolled under the table and to her feet, launching herself across the top in a dropkick that sent him back against the wall again, the hilt of his sword leaving his hand. She grasped him by the shoulders and rocketed her head forward, slamming it into his helmet and making it bounce off of the wall, stunning him. The two antennas on his shoulders unfolded into small weapons and opened fire, bolts of energy sinking into her barrier before she swung, cutting one away and grabbing the other in her hand, crushing it then driving her knife at the side of his throat. The blade screeched and sparked against the metal of his armor and he lashed out, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her in for a vicious headbutt, a left cross that broke another layer of her barrier and shove that almost sent her spilling over the table.

As she rose to meet his lunge he threw a palm strike at her face that she dodged, a metallic sting her only warning as he swept his arm to the side, a curved blade emerging from under his wrist. His quick slashes carved away another layer of her biotic armor before she struck, carving a gash into his faceplate before skipping back from his retaliatory stab. He flicked his hand, a knife of the same style she wielded sliding into his palm, taking up a comfortable reverse grip on the hilt.

They paused for a moment, knives out, breathing heavy. Then they lunged at each other. Her strikes were simple, quick stabs that smoothly became sharp swipes, his wide slashes becoming vicious gutting hooks. She dodged a swing at her torso and the follow-up impaling strike, ducking and spinning to drive her blade into his gut when the back of his hand crashed into her skull and she stepped back, lashing out. His free hand caught her wrist.

Her knee rose and his foot came up to stomp down, pinning her leg to the floor. She swung at him with her free hand and he batted it aside before driving his fist with the hilt clenched inside into her ribs. Then back into her face. And again, and again, over and over his fist went back only to shoot forward. Distantly, as his rain of blows continued, she felt barriers die more and more, she realized her mistake. When she'd seen the armored figure and scoffed at his name, she thought he'd been human, not a machine.

His fist crashed into her face, her last barrier giving away with an innocent pop as her head rocked to the side, the bones and plates around her orbital socket cracking. He pulled back, brought his knife up and stabbed down. She threw her free hand up, groaning through a broken mandible as the blade punched through the armored flesh and bone, locking him in place. He pushed down, the tip inching closer to her neck but she drew on all she had left, trying to hold him in place. Their arms trembled and shook, straining against one another…

And then he let go of his knife. Her arm went up and he spun, twisting her knife-wielding hand around and ducking, jamming the blade of her own weapon into her thigh.

She bent double, a scream escaping her mouth. He rose and grabbed her by the back of the skull, turning and slamming it down onto the table, a crack echoing in her head. Then he grabbed her by the back of her armor and spun, hurling her across the room to impact the glass of the window. It bent, the opaque surface going white, but did not break and she slid to the ground in a pile of limbs.

Her eyes fluttered, fighting to stay open and steadily losing. She heard boots against the ground, and saw them stop near her head. She couldn't even move, let alone fight, and quietly waited to die. She felt pain as he bent down and pulled his knife from her arm, then her knife from her leg. That's mine you bastard…she thought faintly, cold seeping into her bones.

"A good fight," a deep, electronically-tinged voice rumbled.

And then her eyes closed.

…

Wiping both blades clean and storing mine back in the sheathe, I nod to myself. It was a good fight. Even the burning, blinding rage I'd been running on seems a little dampened after that. The knife she had, it was a Turian SpecOps knife, just like mine. And a biotic turian, too. Kinda wished I hadn't killed her, that's almost like a unicorn. I put her knife on the magnetic holster holding a Spitballer. It's a good knife, might as well use it.

There's only one more door between me and him but as I approach with my lightsaber lit, it slides open. And there he is, sitting behind his desk like I haven't just rampaged through his security. "Perhaps we can still make a deal-" He begins, perking up just a little as I turn off my lightsaber and stow it, only to duck and put his hands up as I draw Invictus and point it at him. "Listen! Let's not be too hasty, this information is worth quite a lot in the right hands! It could make you a very rich man!"

I will admit, the mystery has been eating at me. But I also want to crush his skull. "What data could be so fucking important that you'd try to shoot me in the back?" I growl, stalking up to his desk.

"Y-you were talking with the thieves! You betrayed m-!" The click of the safety disengaging makes him button his mouth, beads of sweat rolling down his temple. "Okay, alright! As part of encryption, there are worms built into the program! Simple VI that sort mail but also tunnel through systems to expose vulnerabilities! There is a conspiracy on the Citadel!"

I can't help but lower my gun a bit. "A conspiracy?"

He drops his hands slowly. "Yes, a quiet serious one! If this knowledge gets out, it could start a war between the Council Races! It's-" His hands dart under his desk and come back up with a Predator heavy pistol. The empty, shallow click of a trigger pull with the safety on is damning noise. He throws it at me, the gun bouncing off of my shoulder and rounds the desk, running for the door.

I take a step to the left and lift my foot. His ankle catches on it and he goes sprawling to the floor with a shrill cry, hands grasping at the ground as he tries to crawl away. I watch him go, letting him struggle to the door before I raise my hand, a Tether forming around his midsection, and pull him back. He starts screaming and clawing at the ground, all pretense of stoicism gone. As he comes sliding back, leaving a wet trail as he comes, I raise my boot and bring it down on the back of his knee with a crunch.

His screams are hoarse now. Moreso when I crush the other one. Kicking him onto his back, my hand closes around his throat and I heave him up before me. "Pl-ple-" He mumbles for mercy around tears and panicked spit and snot, face blotchy.

"Open capacitors," I say with a calmness I don't feel.

There's a second of pause, then all the filters on my biotics withdraw, segments of the armor along my arms opening to reveal slices of scarred skin. The rage that burns in my blood, the thunder of my heart in my ears…I gather it in my center, my unfiltered biotic aura flaring around me in a morass of hellish orange and red, pitted with abyssal black.

Iyander screams again, crippled legs kicking fruitlessly. What a bitch. I didn't scream when I was burned alive.

I focus everything, the erupting star of my hate channeling into my power, down my arms and into the person held in my hands.

He screams once more. But not for long.

When I'm done, I drop what's left and head back for his desk, withdrawing the OSD and inserting it into his terminal "Jade," I say, and she goes to work. Within seconds, the data Vault is unlocked, pages of documents opening on the screen, followed by a summary.

Within the last few years, secret communication between the Asari, Turian and Salarian Councilors have increased, along with reports of mysterious rings and a secret initiative that was repurposed into something referred to as Project Orbit. The Credit Sentry VI has also noted the subtle transferring of many, many credits to an unknown account.

With no messages to either the Human Ambassadors nor the new Councilor, along with the references to Eden Prime, Therum and Thessia, added to the credit expenditures and references to advanced ship technology developed from salvaged Geth and the Geth Flagship, we can conclude that the Asari, Turians and Salarians are building a high-illegal naval force. Lack of communication leads us to believe that this force will be aimed at humanity.

Further analysis leads us to believe the first strike was led by Saren Arterius, who furthermore went rogue.

…Orbit. The data that could cause a war, the data that had been stolen, that I'd been betrayed for, the data that contained knowledge of a conspiracy against the Alliance…

Is my conspiracy.

The one that I'm waiting for the right moment to bring Anderson in on.

So that means in however long it would take me to feel him out, feed him a bit then fully let him in, a couple of months at least, after that time this data would become functionally worthless. Only in this window of time could it be dangerous.

Which means that this whole thing, every bullet shot, every body dropped, all of it…was for nothing. "Rip everything," I sigh, sitting down in Iyander's chair. "Then delete it. I've got some explaining to do."

…

Sitting in the cockpit of the Scarab, I just feel tired. Sure, I got some money from that whole ordeal, another knife, a Revenant to play around with and fully stocked omni-gel, but what was the actual point of it all? Sure, I guess it's a good thing I found out about the data and stopped it from being sold to the Alliance or the Shadow Broker, but it's one thing to stumble across this kind of situation and another to cause it.

"You know, we were expecting to get quite a few credits out of this," Kasumi says, decloaking next to my chair. "Would it be too much to hope that we'll get something for being shot at?"

I spin around and step out of the cockpit, the thief following me to the area with all the other thieves. "Pretty much, yes," I reply bluntly, crossing my arms, "You're lucky I'm the one hired to hunt you. Had you actually sold the data, you would've been silenced. Shadow Broker or Alliance."

"S-so it is as dangerous as we thought?" The turian asks, fiddling with his fingers, "We didn't see all of it before it was locked down, but we saw the war part."

"Sort of," I shrug, "In the wrong hands, the misinformation could, in fact, cause a war, sure. But the whole picture is much less offensive and more embarrassing. I'm taking the data for disposal and you two," I point at the woman and the turian, who flinch in response, "To the Citadel. You two need a ride anywhere?" I ask the other pair of thieves.

"No, we're good," Kasumi replies, leaning on the table next to Keiji, "This was kind of a side-gig while we prepared for…something else." That's right, those two are involved in some kind of heist in the second game…I think. I never had the DLCs. "But speaking of the data, what do you mean 'taking?' We have it, and I think some credits would be fair."

I hold up the OSD and Keiji pats his pockets, surprise written on his face. "I picked it when your girl sat on your lap," I reveal, "And possession is nine-tenths of the law. The other tenth is my airlock. If you have an issue with it, take it up with that."

The male of the thieving duo raises his hands in surrender. "It's alright, I know when I've been outplayed," he says goodnaturedly, "Can you drop us off at these coordinates, though? We've got some planning to do."

"Sure, but after what just happened, Bekenstein is going to be hot for a while," I warn, storing the OSD back on my belt, "Might be better to cut it loose and head for…less secure pastures."

Kasumi throws her hands up. "And who's fault is it for the extra heat?"

I point at the turian and the human. "Theirs." I give the actual successful thieves as serious a look as I can through my helmet, "Think about it." Kasumi scoffs, but Keiji at least seems to ponder my warning. Oh well. If they don't follow it, whatever. I warned them.

Jade steers the Scarab around to their coordinates, the ramp lowering to reveal a small cottage in the suburbs. "No data, no money," Kasumi gripes as they walk out, "You could at least have something to steal! All you have are weapons, nutrient paste and water! I'm taking the Crab Rangoon one, though. That one's actually pretty good."

And then they're gone.

I turn to the thieves. "Don't touch anything except water or the bathroom if you have to. If you're tired, you can nap on the bed, the Citadel is only a few hours away." They nod, giving each other relieved smiles and clasping hands. "No sex, either."

Feeling pressure on my throat, I can't help but cough as I sit down in my chair and set the course for the Citadel. "You think any good will come from this, Jade?"

"Besides keeping Orbit and Titan hidden until we're ready?" She asks sarcastically, "Maybe we can get some people in and take over the firm. With no head, it might be easy to insert one of our agents to keep watch. This whole thing could've been avoided if that data was secure, though."

"We'll have to task an AI to solve that issue," I mutter, leaning back as we make to exit the system, "But those worms might come in handy if we need blackmail."

"Another thing," she adds, "Looking at the data, it wouldn't be the first time Iyander sold information to the Shadow Broker. Using coordinates from meetups, we could narrow down the list of systems he could be hiding in. Not by a lot, but some."

"Good." My chair is feeling rather comfortable after all that shit, and I don't resist the urge to close my eyes.

"And Saul?"

"Yeah?"

"You're going to have to explain to Anderson why you assaulted the headquarters of the guy he recommended you to and killed about forty people and the client."

"I'll figure it out."

…

…

…

…

A/N: Fuck me. There are a lot of reasons for the gap between chapters, the longest being uprooting my life and moving once again, searching for a new job and getting used to a new area and such, with the shortest reason being just…depression.

I just really fuckin' hate how long it's taken me to write this.

But hey, who saw a new chapter of this coming after Mass Effect Legendary Edition came out? Probably quite a few. Good news is, it's still fun and still a reminder of just why I wanted to become a writer and how stories can change the people who partake of them.

On the other hand, I also got to play all of the DLCs and now I'm retroactively pissed that my younger self never got to play them. Now, I'm glad to play the series again and I don't want to bitch about features I didn't get, I'm still unhappy that a bunch of stuff in all the games that was cut late in the development cycle didn't get restored. I mean, ME1 had a big ol' overhaul to the graphics and some QOL to the combat, but ME2 and 3 were pretty much untouched. I mean, come on, 2 and 3 used pretty much the same engine, how fucking hard would it have been to make ME2 combat like ME3?

Oh would you look at that, I appear to be bitching about features I didn't get.

Anyways, good news from all this is that I have a much clearer picture of where I want the story to go and how I want it to play out, so while I'm not promising anything, I will say that I'm inspired.

Thanks as always to the usual suspects and NorthSouthGorem, always around to shoot the shit and help refine the ideas. Why don't you give him a look-see? I hear he's updated recently.

Stay Awesome.

~Soleneus

P.S.: Seriously, some stuff was cut so late they already had dialogue recorded and coded and shit, would it be that fucking hard to complete it?

Ahem.

Halo Infinite, baby. The Chief is back and I am so ready.

Stay Awesome Some More.

~still Soleneus