Chapter 15.2
And so end the second day on Illium. Man, this was a hard one to write. I still am not exactly sure about it, I feel it is not perfect yet. Still, is here, and I hope you enjoy it.
Have a good reading.
P.S. yes, it is massive compared to the other entries, but the more I thought about splitting it, the less I liked the idea.
Illium's Eclipse main compound around the dock district. 13 21 local hours.
Entering inside the Eclipse's second compound proved to be extraordinarily easy. A quick discussion with that suspicious Volus called Pitne For still waiting inside the spaceport, and lo and behold! They now possessed all the maps and schematics of their main lair, coupled with basic knowledge of their alarm systems.
Turned out that said Volus had tried to double cross the Eclipse sisters by selling them a toxic gas, presenting it as a drug capable of improving their biotic capabilities. Of course, the Eclipse discovered the scam and now wanted to tear the idiot apart, so having a spectre interested in dealing with said Eclipse cell must have looked like a blessing from the sky for him. No wonder he immediately agreed to help Shepard in his mission.
No, mused the commander grimly. Entering inside the compound had been easy.
Avoiding being shredded by the Eclipse inside? This was proving to be far more difficult, especially considering that the entire place was chock full of Eclipse soldiers baying for their blood. And also of canisters packed with toxic gasses.
A canister exploded near the commander's position, filling the room with its deadly payload. All around him bullets and biotic attacks hit the wall he was using as cover. The metal covering the wall groaned and screamed like a living thing, shrapnels of metal flying away like small missiles, but it held. For now.
One of his attackers fell, her head twitching and moving madly after being hit by a Tali's drone, but another one immediately took her place and started hammering their position with bullets.
At least they were not being suppressed by automatic machine gun fire! Garrus and Tali's overload had already taken care of them.
"No Justicar to do the job for us, eh Shepard?" joked Garrus behind a crate. He raised himself from his perch, fired a bullet and quickly ducked down in less than three seconds. A slumping soldier was the result of his work. Despite all of this mess, he was smiling.
"Yep." replied Shepard "That is good! Can't have my team becoming a bunch of lazy asses. How many are left?"
"At least two dozens. Mostly soldiers at this point, but still some commandos. This will take a while."
A Vanguard tried to approach and blast them with his gun. A shotgun blast from Tali almost tore him in half.
"Glad you see you two are having fun!" grumbled the girl "I knew there was something that I definitively did not miss since leaving the old Normandy, and now I remembered it."
Shepard smiled slightly. She may bicker and moan as much as she wanted, but she still fought with ruthless determination and admirable zeal. Tali had come a long way from that shy girl of two years ago, scared shitless at the idea of fighting with the squad but still willing to do it for the Migrant Fleet.
It made Shepard feel almost proud.
"Shepard, I intercepted the Eclipse's communication. It appears that there is dissension among their ranks: many officers wish to retreat and cut their losses, while their main leader is spurning them into action. My predictions say that an aggressive push has a 71.3% chances of breaking their morale and force them to flee." EDI's voice intruded inside Shepard's channel
"I also inform you that the level of toxicity inside the room is reaching critical levels. I suggest ending the battle quickly."
Another casket of gas exploded next to Garrus, its frame shattered by a biotic bullet.
"Thank you, EDI. You heard her, team! Ready to move on my mark!"
Shepard quietly grabbed a pair of incendiary grenades from one of his pouches, courtesy of Zaeed. All around him bullets and biotic attacks kept flying like many murderous missiles, but Shepard simply ignored them. He waited for the right moment, to have as many enemies bunched up as possible.
That moment quickly arrived: scared by a concussive shot fired by Garrus, at least seven recruits instinctively bunched together in an effort to avoid the blast. All that Shepard needed.
The grenade banged at the feet of the bunched groups, menacingly moving toward its target, and a second later it went off.
The entire patrol disappeared under an inferno of fire. The people inside it shrieked and wailed like a tortured soul, while the protective systems of their armours failed one after another and their flesh inside their armour melted and cooked into a crisp.
This did the trick. Terrified by the sudden slaughter, many of the surviving recruits broke into a panic and started a mad dash toward any possible exits. the surviving veterans and commandos tried to stem the tide, but in doing so they exposed themselves and Garrus quickly picked them off one by one with his sniper rifle, their heads exploding like ripe melons. Routing, panicking and confused, the few surviving soldiers quickly fell under Shepard's team barrage, finally ending the battle.
"Area clear." said Garrus after some seconds, his eyes still glued on the sniper barrel "They are gone."
"About damn time." snapped Shepard lightly "Spread out and check the exits. I do not want any surprises."
"Yes Shepard." the team quickly moved toward their objectives, avoiding the clouds of toxic gas and obeying Shepard's order while Shepard inspected the battlefield.
There were at least twenty corpses all around him. Broken, smashed, destroyed and still bleeding. Most of them were younglings, kids attracted by the idea of adventures, loot and pleasure so common inside the mercenaries' propaganda posters, especially one like the Eclipse. The commander sighted at this: this was one of many parts that did not enjoy about his work, but he refused to be drowned by any sense of guilt. They made their choice and had to pay the price. If only they would stop doing-
"...Please." a weak voice interrupted Shepard's musing. One belonging to an Asari.
Shepard's instinct immediately kicked in, spinning his body and aiming his gun at the direction of the voice, only to lowering said gun after seeing who was talking.
In front of Shepard there was a wounded Asari, her light armour punctured and broken in many places. She was bleeding heavily from a chest wound and her eyes had a glassy expression.
"Please….don't...I…." wheezed the girl, more blood escaping from her split lips
"Ehi," replied Shepard. He activated his Omni-tool and injected the much-needed medicine inside the girl's body "Don't worry, I won't shoot you. How old are you girl, and what is your name?"
"132. My name is Elnora." replied the girl. The bleeding had been staunched, but she was still far from safe.
"You should be at school, kid." chided Shepard gently. A bitter laugh escaped from the girl's lips
"It was….so boring! I wanted to….to to have fun. To live my maiden's days to the fullest….the Eclipse looked so cool: entering the sisterhood...fighting together….seeing the galaxy….living a...wild life. Instead we only….smuggled drugs and….robbed people….We even helped….an Ardat-Yakshi."
Again that name. Ardat-Yakshi. Seizing the moment, Shepard decided to push
"What is this Ardat-Yakshi you speak of? Where can I find it?"
Embers of fear managed to kindle the girl's dying eyes.
"I have no idea….of where she is…..only the boss….Wasea….knows it. About the Ardat-Yakshi….i cannot explain….it is too….alien for anyone….to truly understand. She is a….a predator. No one….is safe from her….not even Justicars."
-Just what is this thing?- asked Shepard to himself -What can instil so much fear inside a person?-
"I understand. Well, kid, I have good news and bad news. Good news, you will survive; the Medi-gel has stopped the internal bleeding and patched you up. Bad news, once this mess is over I will consign you to the commissariat. Young or not, you attacked a council spectre and admitted of committing the crimes of smuggling and mugging. Avoid doing anything stupid and everything shall be fine."
Elnora's eyes lit into a fit of fear, and the girl weakly tried to protest and escape from Shepard's grasp
"No!...i will not...rot in prison!" but Shepard proved to be faster and injected the struggling girl with a sleeping agent. Three seconds later and the girl's face dropped no the floor, sleeping soundly.
"Should have put a bullet on her head Shepard." sneered Garrus behind him after witnessing the commander's actions "I dig a bit inside the Eclipse's terminal. This girl is the direct responsibility for the death of the Volus merchant's associates."
"We will drop her to the commissariat." retorted Shepard "My decision is final Garrus."
Garrus swore lightly but accepted Shepard's decision
"Let's move now! I doubt this Wasea will simply give us what we want."
16 minutes later. Outside the main warehouse area
Shepard couldn't stop laughing. He knew that it was wrong in doing so and that the person in front of him needed to be helped, and not insulted, but the situation was simply too ridiculous for him.
"I am a biotic GOD! I think things….and they happen! Bow before me, you snivelling mortals, or I shall sweep you with my divine powers!"
Shouted the reason for Shepard's uncontrollable fits of laughers. A small Volus high on something and emitting a weak biotic aura.
After minutes of fierce fighting, avoiding clouds of toxic gasses, bullets, biotics and attack of every kind, the last thing Shepard had expected to find just outside the Eclipse leader's room was an addled Volus with a delusion of grandeur.
Turned out that the Eclipse had not killed every colleague of Pitne For. Maybe because they wanted some poetic justice, maybe because they needed to immediately dispose of some casks of toxic gas, or maybe they just wanted to have fun, but for some reason, the Eclipse left one Volus merchant alive and stuffed his body with drugs. He should have died on overdose almost immediately but, thanks to some biological miracle, the pudgy creature managed to survive and also to gain some temporary biotic power.
His mind, on the other hand, was having the ride of his life.
"Shepard, should we not help him?" asked Tali worried. Unlike him, the young Quarian was not laughing. The mask was hiding the girl's expression but Shepard was ready to bet that she was scowling right now.
"According to my scan, more than half of his body is filled with toxic Minagen. Lucky him that, apparently, Volus are resistant to it." supplied Garrus. Unlike Shepard, his demeanour was calm and stoic. Just hoping that this charade would end soon.
"We should lock him somewhere safe unless we want to have a drunk Volus in the middle of a battlefield."
"Alright alright! Listen up buddy, are you part of Pitne For's gang?"
The Volus's head tilted slightly, a movement that almost managed to drop him on the floor, and then finally answered.
"Before becoming a god, I worked for him. The poor soul is probably worried sick about me."
"He said nothing about you to the commissar. He probably wants to escape as quickly as possible from Illium, and denouncing your disappearance would slow him down."
Replied Tali darkly
"Face it! People like For cares only about money."
"Pah!" shouted the Volus in response "If this is true, then I will deal with him accordingly, but not before crushing that arrogant Asari that dared to torture my perfect body."
"He is going inside to face Wasea?!" said Garrus flabbergasted. "Shepard, this Volus could not tie a pair of bootlaces right now, let alone fight an Asari Commando. We need to stop him!"
"You are right. Ok buddy, listen up! Why don't you take a nap somewhere safe and let the actual soldiers handle Wasea?" offered Shepard. Of course, the Volus took it as a personal insult
"Are you mocking me, earth clan?! Killing Wasea and drinking her biotic rich blood is the last step before ascending to godhood! Anyone that will try to stop me will be swept away by my godlike powers! I"
Shepard hit the Volus on the back of his pudgy shoulders, gently. The Volus tumbled down like a rag-doll, his addled body incapable of even keeping itself straight after such a weak pressure. Dazed, confused, the Volus took precious seconds to raise from the ground and, when he did it, his voice sounded far more subdued.
"I….i….but….biotic god….what am I saying….i" he stammered
"You need to rest." concluded Shepard gently "Go take a nap, we will deal with what is left."
"Yes, yes. Taking a nap. Conquering the universe….later." The Volus wobbled away from the door, leaving Shepard and his team free to move
"So much for godhood." snickered Garrus
"Ok team, recreation's over. Weapons ready and hot, I doubt this Wasea will simply surrender to us."
The Asari leader of this particular Eclipse compound was an impressive specimen. Taller than Shepard and dressed in full battle armour, the woman possessed a broad physique, a strong body and green eyes that betrayed glints of malignant intelligence.
His resolve was also sterner than the ones of her subordinates. Where her guards shrieked and cursed when the door leading to the outside exploded with a thunderous thunder, she refused to act rashly. One hand placed a data-pad next to a drawer while the other gave subtle orders to her underlings. Wasea rose from her spot, unperturbed, and looked at Shepard's team with neutral eyes
"Spectre," said Wasea to Shepard "You could have knocked."
"Wasea, right?" rebutted Shepard "Let's cut to the chase. I am here on behalf of the Justicar. You have pieces of information that she needs. Just hand them over and we can avoid bloodshed."
The commander hoped, for one single second, that Wasea would have accepted and simply be done with this charade.
What could she possibly gain from aiding this peculiar criminal if she ended up killing a spectre after all?
Of course, reason and common sense were not in ample supply this day.
"You know spectre," said Wasea to Shepard some seconds later "I was starting to think that the Goddess had cursed me for some reason. First the arrival of that filthy creature, then a Justicar come breathing on my neck. Last but not least, a bunch of pathetic Volus tries to trick us."
A shimmering halo of biotic energy suddenly wrapped Wasea's body like a blanket. Fearing the worst, Shepard and his team scattered and readied their weapons.
"At least now I can vent my frustration. Come and die, human!"
A couple of crates next to Wasea jumped like living things. Covered in biotic energy, the heavy crates flew against Shepard with such speed that the commander only barely managed to avoid them. The crates exploded, their deadly payload now free to spread inside the room, but this was not the only danger. Bullets and biotic attacks hit Shepard's team's covers, a deadly barrage of death that threatened to tear anyone foolish enough to raise his head.
It was not a good situation, and yet Shepard simply shrugged in annoyance. No fear or rage marred his features, just old plain annoyance
-Why everyone wants to die today?- he grumbled. The soldiers alongside Wasea immediately opened fire, but they were a sparse bunch, incapable of doing real damage. Wasea was the only true danger, and Shepard quickly devised a plan.
"Tali, drone! Garrus, concussive shot followed by constant fire. Now." ordered briskly Shepard. He didn't wait to see if his teammates obeyed their orders. He didn't need it. Instead, he dashed away from his cover, shotgun in hand, moving from cover to cover with consummate experience and started blasting any Eclipse unfortunate enough to block his way.
The shields shimmered and crackled under the pressure, but still, they held. The same could not be said about the unfortunate soldiers at the receiving end of Shepard's shotgun. Wasea snarled in rage and directed all of her energies toward Shepard, something that the commander had not expected and forcing him to duck for cover once again lest he wanted to suffer an onslaught of biotic power. His reflexes saved him from a barrage powerful enough to destroy a LOKI mech but he was still forced to move behind a nearby column, just as Shepard had expected. All of Wasea's power was now directed against Shepard's cover, but in doing so he forgot to coordinate her remaining soldiers.
A terrible mistake when you are more than a simple grunt.
Left to their own devices, wavering under Tali's and Garrus's fire, all around Wasea people died one by one. Hit by drones, picked apart by high powered sniper rounds, cooked alive under their armours or chocked by the toxic fumes exhaling from dozens of bullet-riddled crates, they all slowly died.
"Just die already human!" screamed Wasea toward Shepard. So much was the power behind her biotics that the column used by Shepard as cover began to shudder, the metal stripped away by dozens of terrifying blasts of biotic energies. Shepard's armour systems flashed dangerously for some seconds and the commander feared for the worst
-Does she not have a breaking point?! Cursed the commander under his breath. An entire section of the column disappeared under a pillow of smoke and shredded metal and alongside it a piece of Shepard's own armour. Then, all of a sudden, Shepard felt a loud crack followed by the sound of something breaking.
Hesitantly, the commander peeked from what was left of his cover, trying to understand what had just happened.
Wasea was now down, her tech armour shattered by a high calibre bullet and bleeding profusely from a chest wound. Her biotic powers flared and twitched and the corona of biotic power that previously wrapping her started to disappear.
"Fuck, fuck fuck!" she screamed hoarsely. Only now he noticed that her small band of soldiers lying dead on the warehouse.
She was alone now but at this point what she could do?
Her eyes started to lose focus and the shapes of Shepard and his teammates began to blur, to disappear.
"I should have never….accepted the...bargain!"
She tried with what was left of her strength to fire one biotic attack at Shepard, but the commander simply shoots her with his side-gun, opening another hole on her chest.
All her organs now destroyed, Wasea collapsed on the floor on a puddle of violet blood.
"No! You should have not." concluded Shepard grimly "Ok team, you know the drill. Scour for anything useful while I look inside their archives. I want to be out of here in less than half an hour."
Illium Space docks. Local commissariat. One hour later
"So!? You have it? What she wants?"
Shepard raised both his eyebrows in amusement and surprise. He and his squad had just finished doing their business inside the Eclipse compound and were now back to Elnora's working place. They were not alone: alongside them, there were both the addled Volus they found and the wounded Asari merc Shepard had drugged during one of the many skirmishes they fought against the Eclipse. Oh, and naturally all the credits, raw resources they could pilfer from the now ravaged Eclipse's base, and many interesting clues that Shepard knew Anaya would find very interesting.
After all, when it comes to sacking bases, not even a plague of locust could match Shepard and his crew.
Shepard had expected commissar Anaya to interrogate him about his two guests, or asking some intel about the Eclipse's compound the moment he entered.
This is how a commissar is supposed to act after all.
Instead, Anaya literally jumped at him when he saw him, grabbing him with one arm and begging frantically about the Justicar's task, brushing aside anything else.
It was not the only sour note inside the building: Asari is generally a cheerful lot, even at work. They always chatter, mingle, flirt and socialize while doing their jobs, far beyond the boundaries of social decencies according to many other races.
And yet today the commissariat was deadly quiet. All the clerks, policewomen, workers and even criminals were not even daring to utter a word, content to work and live in a silence so thick you could cut it with a knife.
They didn't even try to lock the Justicar in a cell, simply happy to have her meditate on one corner of the room, near the commissar.
"Yes, I have found what you need." answered Shepard "Justicar Samara, your target escaped o Omega aboard of the ship AML Demeter. Here is the data-pad with the intel."
Only now, when he reached toward the Justicar, Shepard noticed that her eyes were brimming with biotic energy somehow.
Some kind of technique used during meditation by biotics? Shepard had no idea
"Thank you Shepard." said the Justicar breaking immediately her trance.
A graceful hand grabbed the data-pad offered by the commander, and the Justicar's blue eyes, now blue once again, started scanning its contents.
"You did a fair job, Commander Shepard." said the Justicar after some minutes "The fact that she is escaping on Omega does not surprise me. A place of debauchery and revelry like that is the perfect hunting ground for her. She will not move for a long time."
-Hunting ground?- queried Shepard but refused to say it out loud
The Justicar rose from her spot and looked at the Commander right in the eyes, her serene expression turning into the phantom of a smile.
"You kept your word and I shall keep mine."
A corona of biotic energy wrapped Samara's body all of a sudden, startling Shepard for a second. But no attack comes to his direction, on the contrary! Samara knelt beside Shepard, almost touching his feet with her head, and placed her hands on her chest in what looked like a position of prayer
"By the Code I, Justicar Samara, swear to serve you, Commander Shepard, for the duration of your quest. Your enemies shall become my enemies. Your allies shall become my allies. Your quest my quest. Do you accept my oath, Commander Shepard?" declared Samara with a new voice, one empowered by biotics and carrying an aura of authority and dignity never heard by Shepard.
So startled was the commander by this turn of even that for some seconds words failed to reach him
-Did she just said….oath?!- asked a puzzled Shepard to himself -Just like the knights of old?-
"Yes... I accept." finally managed to say, Shepard.
"Then take my hand," answered Samara, offering her right hand to Shepard. Hesitantly, the Commander accepted it and, immediately, a surge of biotic power flew inside his body, making him slightly jump in surprise. It lasted only one second, but it was so powerful that Shepard's armour flared in alarm.
When Samara freed him from her grip, Shepard noticed that the armour plates covering his arm were now scarred and still glowing with biotic energy.
-Maybe is like the slap that squires received during the ceremony of becoming knight.- reasoned Shepard.
"Now we are bound by oath." declared Samara softly to Shepard. She raised from her position and looked at the commander with a new light. One that Shepard could not understand
"I will obey any order you shall impart upon me but, if you shall force me to do something that goes against the Code, once your mission will be over, I will kill you."
Just now Shepard noticed that he had managed to gather quite a crowd. Every single person inside the commissariat was looking both at him and Samara with awe-struck expression, their current job completely forgotten
"I had never seen a Justicar granting the oath of subjugation to a human." whispered one of the onlookers. A matron, judging by her posture "I don't think it ever happened in the history of our people!"
"Just who is this human?" asked another to anyone in particular
More than enough to make clear that, whatever this oath of subjugation was, it was not something to take lightly.
"The last part shall not be necessary, Justicar Samara. I am sure of that." and Shepard dearly hoped that it was the truth because the way Samara spoke about his demise in case of forcing her to break the code managed to send a shiver under his spine. Samara was not threatening him in any way, only stating a fact.
"Now, back to business. Commissar Anaya, I have something for you. First, the main responsible for the killing of one of Pitne For's associates. This girl" Shepard pointed at the Asari kept at bay by Garrus "Is responsible. I have found a recording where she confesses of being the assassin."
"Really now?" replied Anaya. "A recording is something, but I shall need more if you want me to properly detain her. Illium politics are….very elastic when it comes to dealing with mercenaries."
Shepard grimaced while Elnora's eyes lit in happiness and hope. The dreaded cell she was expecting to find ready for her was getting away from her mind…
"I vouch for Shepard," said Samara all of a sudden
….and immediately all of her hopes crashed down like a ton of bricks
"….If you vouch, Justicar, then I will accept it. You" Anaya pointed at one of her underlings "Throw her in a cell. I shall deal with the paperwork later."
Once again Shepard witnessed just how much power and respect a Justicar could command on other Asari. He privately wondered just how dangerous could one of them be if left unchecked.
"Now spectre, wanna talk about anything else? Maybe about that addled Volus?"
"Precisely. He is one of Pitne For's assistants. The Eclipse drugged him out of spite because the Volus tried to trick them. I have already called for an ambulance, but I also want to show you this. Proofs that Pitne For sold red sands to the Eclipse. Here is the data-pad."
Anaya grabbed the data-pad and skimmed its contents. A small, cruel smile crept on her lips
"Well well well! Selling red-sand is not forbidden on Illium, but I doubt that dear old Pitne is allowed to sell that much of it! Thank you spectre, I wanted to lock that sly bastard since I met him, and now"
Shepard's Omni-tool flared into activity all of a sudden, stopping both Shepard and Wasea from what they were doing. Annoyed, the commander looked at his tool, wondering who could disturb him right now. His annoyance turned into preoccupation when he noticed that Liara was the one calling her
"Liara?" asked Shepard while answering "What are you?"
"It's an emergency, Shepard. About the Ripper."
Shepard's sweat turned into ice after hearing this, already fearing the worst
"What is the problem?" he asked
"A small group led by a Batarian is moving toward her. Apparently, they had decided to throw caution out of the window and ambush them near the space docks right now, just close to your ship. You need to warn her immediately!"
Shepard had to suppress the urge to curse out loud in front of everyone
"Well, fuck!" cursed Shepard under his breath "Thanks for the info Liara. I owe you." Shepard immediately closed the call and tried to contact Kelly Chambers. He knew that Lena was with her and, with Lena's habit of never bringing an Omni-tool with her outside of combat, she was the only option.
Only static and jammed signals answered his calls.
This was not good. At all.
"Specter, what is happ-" tried to ask Anaya.
"No time for explaining. Commissar, I need to ask for a favour: could you temporary block all traffic movements in the sector of the space-port near the Normandy?"
"I could." answered Anaya "But why"
"Do it then! I need to move now." Shepard sprinted away from the commissariat alongside his team, both new and old, leaving a very puzzled commissar behind. He hoped that Anaya would grant him this favour, but he could not afford to stay put and talk his way into helping him.
"EDI!" Shepard shouted on his comm now linked to his ship "Red alert for all standing agents inside the Normandy. We have an emergency!"
Space-dock district, an area near the Normandy's dock. Three minutes before Liara's warning
"Wow! It is actually quite late already! Time really does fly when you are having fun, eh?!"
"I would not call treating both me and Raina with hours of pure torture inside that outlet -fun-, Kelly. But it is true that it is a bit late now. Between all the carousing, the spending and the eating inside that small restaurant. It is a wonder that Shepard has not called us already."
"Oh come on, Lena! You speak as if Shepard is our father and us a pair of roughnecks kids! This was our day off and we had fun, nothing less nothing more. He will not say a thing."
"Whatever, I had fun but I will be happy once I shall be able to drop all of this stuff inside the cabin and be done with it."
Kelly laughed gently at this quipping
"You really hate shopping, do you? Don't worry, we are almost there."
It was true. The large and imposing figure of the Normandy was finally, after one day of hard fun, in front of their eyes. Beautiful as always, gleaming like a silver diamond in Lena's eyes, the Claymore would have never imagined that such a bizarre construction could have one day become her home, but that was how Lena looked at it. The Claymore lingered her gaze for some seconds longer than she was used; it was not every day that she had the chance to look at the ship in all her glory, and the road was so silent and tranquil right now, just like inside a forest during a hunt. All she needed for a good….
Lena's brain stopped for a second. All Claymores that survives the first year of services develop a strong sense of survival, something akin to a sixth sense capable of analyzing, scrutinizing and digesting even the smallest scraps of pieces of information and turning them into a preemptive alarm. It is not a perfect radar, but Lena had not survived all of these years without listening to it. It was this sense after all that saved her from Korgath and his weapons years ago when he had no idea about what a gun truly was.
And now this sense was screaming at her that something was very wrong here.
"Odd." commented Kelly next to her, still oblivious of her distress "I am calling EDI to tell her that we are almost back, but my Omni-tool is not working properly." Effectively, the strange machine was behaving weirdly, even Lena could see it. It usual orange glow was somehow dimmed, and many commands refused to work when Kelly punched them with her fingers.
Something was very wrong here.
"Kelly," Lena whispered weakly to the girl. Her worried eyes scanned the place all around her, and her brain finally noticed the oddity that turned her senses so quickly.
Where were all the people? According to EDI and Jacob, space-ports of planets like Illium never truly stop working. So many ships docks inside it thanks of the thriving commerce, so much merchandise move up and down that entire squadron of clerks, workers and robots are hired and prepared in such a way that there is always someone working. Even one hour of break would bring a massive loss of profits, and if there is something that every merchant hate, no matter the race, is losing profit.
So why there was no one here right now?
"Mum," said Raina weakly. She had no idea of what was happening, but a quick glance aimed at her mother told her that something was not right.
"Kelly, we need to move now!" said Lena to her companion
"What, what are you talking about Lena?" asked the girl puzzled. Lena grimaced inwardly. Kelly was a sweet and caring girl, but when it came to survival and battle she possessed the sight of a mole.
"We are in danger. We need to go inside the Normandy, now!"
"Danger? From whom?"
Her answer arrived when five unidentified soldiers appeared in front of them, weapons already raised and aimed.
"...Oh." Commented Kelly, utterly surprised.
Lena reacted immediately. Her hands left the heavy bags full of clothes and immediately shielded both Rina and Kelly with her hands, forcing both of them to cower behind her. Of the corner of the eye, Lena noticed that no one was aiming a gun behind them, but the Claymore immediately excluded the possibility of an escape.
Not that it was impossible for her! She could easily run away by herself, easily avoiding or tanking some bullets, but she could not do it while bringing both Raina and Kelly with her, and leaving them behind was not an option.
"What is going on? Who are those people?" asked Kelly to no one in particular, her voice now laced with fear. Frantically, the girl tried to use the Omni-tool to contact someone, anyone, but the blasted machine refused to work.
"Stay behind me." snarled Lena to both Kelly and Raina. Her eyes scanned the incoming enemies, trying to see some weaknesses inside them or some signs of their affiliation. Something that could help her.
They were a motley group. An Asari, one Salarian, one Turian, two humans, all of them dressed in different kinds of garbs, from heavy armours to simple vests. Their weapons were also different, from simple heavy pistols gripped by the Salarian to one human pointing a heavy shotgun at her. Even the way they moved felt off to Lena; slightly uncoordinated, sluggish in a way. As if they had been rounded up in a hurry and forced to work together.
They were lead by a Batarian, one dressed very elegantly in a rich, black garb made of some kind of leather mixed with silk. Four eyes socketed in a bright, yellow face looked at Lena with a mixture of happiness and lust, and for a second this face reminded something to the Claymore.
"Aah, dear Ripper! Glad to see you once again." said the Batarian with a smile. His voice was smooth and gentle, almost caring but, just like many others Batarians, there was an edge of arrogance nestled inside the words.
The voice itself was not new for Lena. She had already met this Batarian in person, but she could not remember where, and how.
"You…." Lena wracked her brain, forcing it to dig deeper inside her memories. Her mind wandered back on the past and quickly dug out the image of this Batarian talking to her, a glass of champagne on his hand and discussing about Archangel and his dangerous example. She remembered meeting him on a gala, the gala when…
"You are one of the guests inside Hock's mansion. We talked a bit together, gossiping about Archangel."
the Batarian's hands clapped together in happiness
"Exactly! I am so happy to know that you still remember me, despite talking with me for such a little time! You have no idea just how much I wanted to grab and drag you with me back on my palace that day! You are such a marvellous human specimen, so unlike any other, I have ever met!" the Batarian slightly tilted his head on the right "Oh, but where are my manners? Allow me to present myself." the Batarian made an overly exaggerate bow "My name is Ghasvin Kram'coss. Proud member of the second high cast of the planet Aratoth. Following your culture's words, I would be what you once called a noble born."
"A lord among peasants then" continued Lena while trying to gain time. For what she was still not totally sure, but she still did it.
"Why someone as high as you would come here, so far from home?"
"Ah, even your manner of speech is so much more enjoyable than the one of so many humans! Always whining against their betters, always fighting back in the name of freedom! But you" all of four eyes scanned Lena's body with an obvious desire
"I am here because I want you, my dear Ripper. Having one of the greatest warrior and gladiator ever know in the Terminus system under my control would bring me a great deal of prestige and respect among my peers. The mere sight of you my dear, next to my chambers with a collar on your neck showing the symbol of my house, would fill my enemies with fear. Because if I have you after all, what else is beyond my grasp?"
"And why should I accept to become your slave, Ghasvin?" grumbled Lena back.
"No need to be so aggressive dear. I know that both the Council and the Alliance propaganda paint us Batarians as dreaded slavers, good only at whipping any poor souls that end in our grasp, but this is not the whole truth! Only the most wretched, the miserable outcasts and dregs of society suffer such a fate! You on the other hand, as a slave of my house, would experience a life of luxury and pleasure. I take great care of my possessions after all, as any high caste Batarian should do. You would be finally free from a life of a mercenary, cuddled and pampered by many exotic slaves living only for your pleasure. You would answer only to me, your new lord and master. An existence of joy and delight for you and your child! Yes, I know that the little thing behind you is your daughter. I made my research. All in exchange for your submission.
A great bargain, if you ask me."
"This Batarian cannot be serious," whispered Kelly on her back, and Lena completely agreed with her.
"A great bargain might be" replied Lena "But right now I am under contract, Ghasvin. And is not my habit to break contracts only because someone else offered me a -better-" Lena pronounced this word with pure venom "Offer. I have a reputation to maintain after all. What would others say if I decided to break contracts left and right?"
"I understand your reticence dear" Ghasvin's words were dripping with honey, but the edge was one of steel "And I commend you for your honesty, but I am afraid that I will not accept no as an answer. Boys!" all of Ghasvin's goons immediately started moving toward Lena
"You do not want to piss me off Ghasvin!" threatened Lena, but Ghasvin remained unfazed by this
"Please! You are as dangerous as a pack of Yaghs in battle, but you are unharmed and unarmored right now. You would only hurt yourself!"
-If that is what you think then you know nothing of me.- thought Lena
Ghasvin let his goons move for another meter before stopping them
"But I do not desire to injure you, dear. So, here one last chance: surrender yourself and move toward me, and I will let both your daughter and your friend go unharmed. You have my word."
Lena eyed the enemies soldiers aiming their guns at her. She could defeat them, she was sure of it, but it was too risky doing it right now, with both Raina and Kelly behind her. She needed to get closer, to lull them in a false sense of security, and she could think of only one way of defeating these people
"Lena" whispered Kelly behind her back "You cannot truly think about becoming a slave of that wretch! He will never let you go."
A bitter smile appeared on Lena's lips. Kelly, ever caring about others even when your life is in danger.
"Kelly." replied Lena to the girl "The moment I attack, I want you to take Raina with you and run away as fast as possible!"
"Lena, you cannot ask me to"
"Mum! Do not listen to."
shouted both Kelly and Raina in unison
"Promise me, Kelly!" Lena stopped them on their track, her voice refusing any rebuttal
Kelly's lips twitched in impotent despair, and her eyes looked at Lena's with a mixture of sorrow and defiance, but she quickly relented under Lena's gaze. Quietly, Kelly grabbed Raina's hands and prepared to run, all while Raina looked on the verge of breaking down.
Lena smiled grimly to them, in a vain effort to reassure them.
"Do not shoot my daughter, and Kelly!" announced Lena to Ghasvin "I will come with you."
Slowly, keeping both her hands on the air, Lena approached the small gang of guards and their Batarian overlord. All the goons twitched in surprise at her surrender but still refused to let the weapons down. Ghasvin, on the other hand, was beyond happy.
"I knew that you would have listened to reason." he beamed happily. Just now Lena noticed attached to Ghasvin's hip what looked like a golden collar with a strange symbol on its centre. Lena inwardly retched at the image of her collared like a dog but hid everything inside her mind.
She was not so close to the first goons, she could even count the smallest scales composing the Turian's skin, or the small crests of the two Asari, but she needed to come closer.
The six goons quickly surrendered her, aiming their guns from every direction in an effort to crush any possible ill intention aimed at their master.
Lena smiled inwardly at this. It mattered nothing how they moved. Not for her.
The moment Ghasvin moved his arms toward the collar, Lena strike.
Many among the galaxy, Shepard included, had always thought that Lena's power, while amazing in their own right, could only be exploited while using a weapon like a sword, or a gun, but they were wrong. T'von knew, after all, that the greatest and most spectacle kills were the ones made with your own hands and for this reason he hired, among the many trainers, a peculiar Drell adept at many fighting styles. Lena never knew anything about this peculiar person, not even his name, but it didn't matter because said Drell proved to be a true goldmine of knowledge! Where to hit a creature, any sentient creature of the galaxy, with her bare hands and defeat them no matter their armor and equipment; the weak point to hit, the strong point to avoid, the most common fear to exploit, everything she needed to know in a fistfight to emerge victoriously, and Lena proved to be an apt pupil.
Now, it was time to use them once again.
-When fighting humans, use a backdoor approach and hit the base of the neck with an elbow punch.- the bastard was in front of him, so she opted for the second option -If not, grab the enemy's shoulder- One yoki infused arm hit right on the base of the shoulder, breaking it on impact -with one hand and his chin with the other- Lena did exactly this while the enemy only began to cry in pain, his brain finally registering what had just happened -then break his neck with one swipe.-
One stroke and the human's neck broke like a twig.
The remaining goons reacted immediately, firing controlled bursts of fire, but they lost precious seconds in doing so and this proved to be their undoing. Only one bullet managed to truly hit her, and Lena felt the metal sizzle and burn her flesh of her left tight. Some kind of incendiary mods surely, and it hurt like hell. Still, it failed to stop her.
Her next target now was the Asari, and once again the words of his master returned inside his mind.
-Frontal approach: hit the centre of the neck with one blow.- Lena hit the Asari's neck with such strength that she felt the windpipe shattering under the pressure. -Grab the scalp while the target is chocking- Lena grabbed the small tentacles on her back with one savage pull. -And break the neck.-
The Asari collapsed on the ground, her neck moved at an unnatural angle.
Behind her, Lena saw the Turian moving against her, trying to hit her with what looked like a shock baton.
-Against Turian, first break the kneecap bones with one kick- Lena's leg hit the Turian's leg with such strength that it shattered the bone with a crunching sound -then grab the fractured bone with one hand to inflict debilitating pain to the target and hit the eyes with your fingers- Lena slightly modified this teaching by hitting the Turian's right eye with the entire hand, cracking the pupil on the impact -Finally, grab the head crest and rotate it in one motion.- Lena did exactly that and the Turian's screaming immediately stopped, its neck broken.
Only one Asari remained in front of Lena, terrorized beyond belief and the grip on her weapon visibly shaking. Lena thought about charging at her and be done with it, but the girl was now so terrorized that, when Lena moved a single step toward her, the girl yelped in fear and ran for her lives, leaving her weapon behind
-Pitiful bastards.- snickered Lena grimly. Her wound on her tight was still sizzling and hurting like hell and her eyes were golden with yoki energy but, apart for that, she was more than fine.
"Now, Ghasvin" she cockily announced Lena "Wanna still have me?"
No one answered her.
Surprised by this, Lena moved her gaze left and right, looking for both Ghasvin and the last one of his goon, the Salarian. They were not here anymore, only the three broken corpses of the soldiers she had just killed were left now, still bleeding and lightly twitching.
-Had he escaped?- mused the Claymore for a second -Is he really that fast? And where is the other one?- Lena wanted to believe that it was over, that Ghasvin had fled like a coward, never to bother her again, but something deep inside her warned that it was not the case.
Ghasvin was still nearby, but where.
The sound of a gun firing, followed by Kelly's anguished scream of pain, answered Lena's question
"No!" whispered Lena to herself. Now she saw Ghasvin's plan: while most of his goons kept her occupied, he moved against Kelly and Raina, to use them against her.
She could not allow this!
Immediately, Lena sprinted toward the source of the cry, hoping to not be too late.
"We are almost here Raina, almost here!" Kelly was running for her life as she had never done before. She could feel her heart pumping like crazy, frantically trying to keep the fastest pace while moving away from the space-port. She was not running aimlessly: the girl was moving through smaller alleys and less used roads, but Kelly always made sure to move in a circle, in an effort to reach the Normandy with a longer tour. It was a long shot, but the only idea she managed to think at the moment.
"Kelly, they are behind us!" panted Raina next to her. The child was running hand in hand with her and, surprisingly, keeping a smooth pace without suffering any fatigue. Maybe it was her yoma blood but Kelly could not care less at the moment.
"Keep running." simply said Kelly to the child "Just keep running!"
The alleys and roads were still deserts, no one could help them even if they wanted, but Kelly's eyes could finally see the faint traces of the Normandy's profile and the faint sounds of people. It was still far, but now reachable. They only needed to hold for a little longer.
A coruscating pain suddenly hit Kelly's right leg like a spike. The girl screamed in pain and surprise, her body crashing on the ground with an audible thump. Kelly's strained face turned toward her leg, now bleeding heavily from a gunshot that had gone through the flesh like a scalding knife. When Kelly tried to move it, stars of pain hit her like a hammer and all her strength disappeared from her limb.
She could not move. That was clear.
"Raina, the ship is near. Do not think about me, just keep running!" croaked Kelly to the terrified child
"W-what?! No!….i cannot leave you!" screamed Raina. Her eyes were not wide in fear and she was visibly shaking at this point, but still refused to leave Kelly's hand. She even tried to raise Kelly's body from the ground with desperate movements.
"You must! If you don't they"
"Here you are!" a boot stomped Kelly's back all of a sudden with a sickening sound, stopping the girl's talking on her track. Ghasvin was finally here, alongside his remaining goon. His calm composure was long gone, replaced by an angry snarl that promised death for whoever tried to stop him. It was his boot the one pressing Kelly's back.
"You gave me a lot of trouble, little maggots, but now the chase is over. With you with me, that stupid girl will surely submit. Carasin, grab the child."
"No!" something inside Kelly refused to let this happen, no matter the pain on her leg or the weight pressing on her back. With a titanic struggle, Kelly shrugged Ghasvin's foot away from her back, unbalancing the Batarian slaver and almost making him collapse on his Salarian goon. The pain on her leg hit Kelly like a whip for this, and the girl saw the stars for a moment, but the action gave precious seconds to both her and Raina. Seconds Kelly used to literally coil Ghasvin's legs with both her arms, pinning him in place.
"Just run Raina! Run and do not turn back!" screamed Kelly. A second later an armoured fist hit her square in the face.
"Stupid bitch!" roared Ghasvin while he disentangled himself from a pained Kelly, but the quick diversion had worked, and Raina was already running away from him.
"Carasin! Get a move already! I will deal with this one." the Salarian grunted and moved to intercept Raina.
"Fucking humans!" cursed Ghasvin the moment he was alone with Kelly. One strong hand grabbed the wounded girl and forced her on her knee, uncaring of the searing pain that this caused to her.
"Just wait until your friend sees us together."
-You left her alone! You left her alone! You left her alone to suffer!- screamed the voice inside Raina's head, no matter how hard she tried to suppress them. She knew that it was the only choice left for her and that Kelly herself had ordered her to run, but still, she could not forgive herself for this!
The moment Raina saw Kelly grabbing that disgusting Batarian's legs, telling her to run, was the moment Raina sprinted away from the plaza, still screaming and sobbing.
She tried to reach the Normandy, she truly did, but so scared she was by her last tracker that she quickly lost herself inside the massive Dedalus of alleyways of roads and locked ends of the space-port. Running in circles quickly depleted what was left of the child's stamina and Raina's breath soon became a wheeze. Even worse, Raina could still hear the alien's heavy footsteps moving behind her, looking for her. Tired, panting heavily, Raina looked desperately for a hiding place, a hole where she could hide and wait for the alien to disappear.
She found said place in a small, dark crack between two massive buildings. Too cramped and short and dark to be called a road, too big to be called a hole, in the child's eyes it looked like a triangle wedged inside two massive buildings. The moment Raina saw it, she jumped inside it and stopped moving. The place was dark, devoid of lamps or any kind of illumination devices, and so small that even a small child like Raina could hit both walls of the buildings with her hands if she was not careful. A fault during the construction? A place willingly left open to let the buildings breathe? Raina had no idea and could not care at the moment. Her mind could only conjure prayers and stamp out tears right now, in a desperate effort to block any sound.
The footsteps of the Salarian quickly reached the alley, deafening Raina's ears. Raina could hear his tracker moving, coming closer and farther from her hiding spot for interminable seconds, looking for her. Many times the child thought that he had found her, that she was doomed, only to hear the Salarian moving away from the dark road. After some tense minutes of waiting, Raina heard no sound coming from the alleys, and allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief.
And right at that moment, a pair of strong, alien hands grabbed her tiny frame and roughly shoved her back into the light.
"Found you." simply stated the Salarian.
Raina screamed and shrieked like a cornered beast under his grip. Tiny fists hit the Salarian's armour with reckless desperation while her legs flayed and moved away from her captor. She tried, she really did, to escape from her captor's hand. She even tried for the first time in her life to call yer yoma side to her, uncaring for the consequences, but the disparity was simply too big, and the only thing she managed to do was spooking her captor by turning her eyes bright yellow.
"What the?" exclaimed Carasin with wide eyes after seeing the transformation, but still refused to weaken his grip "No matter. Stop struggling and accept that you have lost, whatever you are. It is over."
Raina's answer was biting one of the hands keeping her still with her teeth, the strength behind her actions empowered by her fledgeling yoki. Small, white teeth dug deep inside the Salarian defenceless hand and green blow flew from Carasin's right hand. The Salarian screamed in pain and surprise but did not relent, of the contrary.
"You little!" he swore to Raina. The other hand, the one still untouched, curled into a fist and hit Raina square in the face. Blood escaped from a now broken lip and the child collapsed on the ground with a weak cry.
"Want to behave like a Krogan? Fine, then I will treat you as one." snarled Carasin. His fist curled up once again and prepared to strike. The whole situation reminded to Raina the time when the Organization's handlers beat her and the other trainees senseless if the decision to disobey.
The child saw Carasin's fist coming toward her, aiming at her chest. The Salarian was so strong, and the fist so close. So so close.
Then, a second before reaching her body, Carasin's fist stopped on its track, just inches away from her chest. Raina thought for a second that it was some kind of torture, a way to break her mind! Something like, -I will hit you only whenever I desire and you shall never know when exactly-, stuff like that. But when Raina timidly opened her eyes and saw the small tendrils of biotic energies coursing along Carasin's arm and the utterly surprised expression of her captor, the child understood that the truth was far different.
"You know guys," said a voice coming from behind them "If there is something that I truly hate, are people hitting children." Raina's still terrified eyes darted toward the source of the voice, and the child now saw a human with brown skin and dressed in black fatigue. An outstretched arm was aimed at Carasin, alongside many tendrils of blue energy coursing from his body, and his face was a scowl of pure hate and disgust.
Raina knew that man, not well but she knew him! It was one of her mother's colleagues. His name was Jacob!
Another pair of hands gently ripped her away from the now immobilized Salarian. Raina instinctively reacted from this by screaming and kicking, but only until she saw the owner of said hands, and the worried expression leaking from her hidden face.
"Thanks to the Kami you are still alive, little princess." Kasumi told her softly "When Shepard warned us about what was happening, we feared the worst. It is over now."
Raina abandoned herself inside Kasumi's embrace. The fear, the pain, all the emotion swirling inside her body exploded in one desperate cry.
"It is not over!" shrieked Raina on Kasumi's shoulder, covering the thief's fabric with her tears. "Mum is still fighting with all these bad people, and Kelly….they shot her! They shot her and pinned her down! She told me to run, and stopped some of our trackers all while they hit her, and I….i."
"Ehi Ehi!" whispered Kasumi to her ears "Is over. We shall deal with them. Don't worry. We shall save them." the thief turned away from Raina for a moment "You heard her?"
"I did." said another voice. A female one.
Only now Raina noticed that Jacob and Kasumi were not the only ones here. All of her mother's colleagues were here with her. The scarred man, the alien doctor, the strange painted woman, the big and angry Krogan, everyone! All armed to the teeth and more than ready to fight!
Miranda moved toward the trapped Salarian, an unreadable expression plastered inside her face
"Current location of your people, and then the security codes of your radios. Now." She said. The trapped Salarian gritted his teeth and refused to answer.
"I have no times for this." replied Miranda annoyed "Mr Massani, break one of his legs."
"On it." replied the scarred man
"Ehi no! Stop! What are you" the sound of the butt of a gun breaking a bone reverberated in the air, quickly followed by a shriek of pure agony. One hand quickly covered Raina's eyes.
"You do not need to see this," whispered Kasumi to her.
"Codes and position. Now!" replied Miranda without any traces of emotion
"Fuck….you," said Carasin to her. Miranda sighed softly but nothing else. She simply turned toward Zaeed and pointed and Carasin's horns without saying a word.
"With pleasure." snickered the old mercenary. One of his gruff hands grabbed one of the Salarian's horns, ready to break it.
"No no no!" shrieked Carasin "Not the horns. Ok ok! You won human, happy!? He does not pay me enough for this shit anyway. Last time I saw Ghasvin, he was dealing with your human pal, some alleys away from here. The others are probably all dead right now, well they are if the reputation of that freak is not a scam. The codes for our radios and tracking devices are 008932-1 and 084319-2. Satisfied now?"
"Very. We are done here. Kasumi, you and Jacob escort Raina back to the ship. The others with me."
"What should we do about this bastard?" asked Zaeed while pointing at Carasin. Miranda looked at him as if the answer was obvious
"Kill him, of course."
"Wait for what?! I helped you! Just let me" One sphere of biotic energy, coming from Jack, hit Carasin square in the chest, overriding Jacob's control and slamming the unfortunate Salarian on the nearest wall. Such was the strength behind the attack that Carasin's body exploded like a ripe fruit, splattering the wall with green blood.
"Sorry for the mess cheerleader," said Jack to her companions when they turned toward her. There was a strange light inside the woman, one never saw by anyone before "But seeing him hitting Raina reminded me of when they did the same to me, when I was a Cerberus test lab, you know? I just had to do it."
Many eyebrows were raised after hearing such words, but no one dared to complain.
They had work to do, and so they moved.
Lena's hands were shaking. A pistol, one grabbed from one of the people she had killed mere minutes ago, was moving madly under her fingers all while her brain screamed at her to use it! To kill the four-eyed bastard in front of her that had dared to try and enslave her.
But she couldn't.
Because right now the same bastard she wanted to kill was holding Kelly hostage.
Lena had almost lost a beat the moment she saw her friend's state. Broken, battered, one leg heavily injured and her face marred with bruises and scrapes. On her knees, breathing heavily and a gun aimed at her skull.
"You humans always give us problems!" snarled Ghasvin back to her. He was pointing a gun at Kelly right now, ready to burst the girl's brain into a fine, red mist, and Lena could do nothing about it! She was not that fast, not even with her yoki.
"But now it is all over. In less than two minutes, a car will come here. When it shall arrive, we shall all enter inside it and be done with this place. Am I clear, slave?"
Lena's mind screamed in rage. How she wanted to crack that bastard's head like a ripe melon right now, but she forced the thought away.
She needed to wait for an opening, or create one.
"Where is my daughter?" asked instead "She is not with you."
"This bitch" replied Ghasvin angrily, pointing at Kelly "Tried her damnedest to stop me from grabbing your spawn, and gained a hole on her leg in the process, alongside some scrapes. But do not worry, one of my men is already moving toward her. Soon we shall be all together."
"Ghasvin, I will never submit to you." snarled Lena back to the Batarian.
"People always says this. -I will never submit, I will kill you for this!- You slaves have no fantasy. Once my collar, and the control chip inside it, will be around your neck, it will be all over for you. Besides, you do not want to see your little lover's head exploding, right?"
Lena's teeth grind against each other in rage. This was Aran's predicament all over again! Using someone she cared for as a shield against her, stopping her from moving or attacking.
-Not this time!- roared Lena to herself -This time it will not work!-
A plan formed inside Lena's mind. It was risky, and the actual chances of pulling it off were not massive, but it could work. She only had to be as convincing as possible.
Slowly, Lena grabbed the stolen gun with both hands and started raising it
"Stop! I am serious! I will kill her if" but Ghasvin immediately stopped talking, utterly surprised when he saw Lena moving the gun not toward him, but toward herself.
"You need me alive, right?!" asked Lena with a hint of amusement "It would be such a shame if I killed myself, right?"
All of Ghasvin's four eyes stared at Lena with utter surprise, and the Claymore heard a groan of utter desperation coming from Kelly's broken lips.
"You are lying." Ghasvin tried to see her bluff "I know that you can regenerate wounds, and even if you were not, you will not dare to leave your daughter alone."
Lena smiled cruelly at these words. This was a trick, as Ghasvin was suspecting, but not the one he was thinking no. Her plan was far different.
"Wanna bet?" taunted Lena. A second later, she pulled the trigger.
"Not, Lena!" the Claymore barely heard Kelly's desperate cry, her mind exploding under the sheer pain it was now suffering. The bullet, so close to her body, dug inside her skin and flesh like a scalding knife. Bone shuddered, flesh cracked and blood flew outside her gaping wound. Her yoki power instinctively kicked in, trying to repair the damage, but Lena abruptly stopped them.
-Not now!- she cried in her mind -Let….it….flow.-
Her flesh so used to simply mend itself together after years of battles, this time remained open and broken. Rivers of blood escaped from her gaping wounds, and Lena felt her strength flushing away from her body, droplet after droplet. She collapsed on her knees, her legs incapable of holding her anymore.
-Hurt...so….much.- Wheezed Lena, but she had to continue: Ghasvin's pistol was still aimed at Kelly's head.
At least now she knew just how much it sucked not being able to regenerate for normal beings.
Slowly, coughing blood from her lips, Lena collapsed on the ground, seemingly dead.
"No no no no!" shouted Ghasvin in absolute rage "It was not supposed to end like this. She was supposed to be mine." Full of anger, Ghasvin moved away from Kelly's trembling body and moved toward Lena, shouting at her.
"Wake up, you fucking whore! I said wake up! I haven't ordered you to die yet!"
He moved one of his legs toward Lena, with the purpose of kicking her corpse and in doing this, she completely left Kelly alone.
Just what Lena was waiting for.
"Wake up damn" Lena's body was suddenly drowned in yoki energies. Her entire body jerked and groaned like a living beast under a chain, regrowing and regenerating every damage suffered. Her skin became pitch black in less than a second, stronger than steel and ready to pounce.
Lena moved, but such was the speed locked inside her body that, to an untrained eye, it looked like a blur.
Her aim, Ghasvin.
The first hit shattered two of the slaver's ribs with a sickening sound, Lena's black fist burying itself deeply inside Ghasvin's light armour, shattering it as if it was made of glass. The second hit broke Ghasvin's mandible; with nothing to protect it, the damage was terrifying to behold.
One hand quickly grabbed the now screaming Batarian, easily holding its entire body with only one black arm.
"You were right!" said Lena to Ghasvin, her voice now nothing more than an inhuman growl "I cannot die that easily. Shame you failed to notice it."
The hand pinning Ghasvin in place suddenly lifted the Batarian as if he was made of paper. Ghasvin flayed and kicked desperately, hitting Lena's frame with all of its remaining strength, to no avail.
One punch shattered one of Ghasvin's eyes with a crunching sound. The second cracked its skull like a melon, the third snapped one of Ghasvin's arms like a twig.
Lena kept hitting and hitting, refusing to stop even for a second, covering the air with the sound of Ghasvin's body shattering under her blows.
Ghasvin died quickly, its body unable to endure such massive punishment, and yet still Lena hammered its body, her hunger for vengeance flowing like a raging river.
-This is for ruining my date.- Roared Lena in fury -This is for hurting her.- This is for scaring Raina. This is for attacking me. This is for being a slaver.-
Blood flew like a fountain, bones were shattered and pulverized, flesh moved and groaned under the impacts. It was a terrifying sight to watch.
"Lena stop! He is dead!" cried a horrified Kelly behind her, but her words were drowned by Lena's fury.
"Lena." Kelly tried to stop her friend from pummeling what was now just a bloody piece of meat dangling from her hands, so broken that Kelly swore she saw the eyes gouged out from their eyesockets only because Lena's fists were inflicting such pressure on the corpse. She grabbed one of Lena's shoulders, trying to reach her.
Lena's hyperactive senses reacted immediately by leaving Ghasvin's corpse and grabbing the stranger's hand, twisting it under her grip.
She almost twisted one of Kelly's hands without even noticing and one fist, one strong enough to break steel, moved toward Kelly's face. Only at the last second, she managed to stop herself, her fist an air breadth from Kelly's face.
"Lena." pleaded Kelly, tears on her eyes "Please, it is over! Stop."
Lena looked at Kelly's eyes, the fear swimming inside her green pupils, the way her skin was trembling in fear.
She saw the reflection of her body thought these terrified mirrors and retched in disgust at the sight. Pitch black skin, brutal muscles, monstrous sight.
Claymore.
Immediately, Lena freed Kelly from her grasp, and the girl coughed and sputtered in an effort to quickly regain her breath. The yoki inside Lena quickly retreated inside her body, a testament of the control she now possessed, but this did nothing to change the truth.
"Thank God you calmed down, Lena." wheezed Kelly weakly "You scared me for a second. Raina managed to escape, but she may still be in danger. You need to go Lena."
One pair of silver eyes turned toward Kelly, the pupils soaking in the image of Kelly's bleeding leg. Her face was unreadable but something in her posture scared her friend. Rigid, nervous, almost in tear.
"Lena?" tried to ask Kelly "Are you ok? Why...why are you still here?"
"You are hurt." simply replied Lena. There was something strange in her tone. As if a machine was speaking, not her "Because of me."
This was bad. This was very bad and Kelly tried to stem the problem
"Lena. Raina might still be in danger. You need to go."
This managed to bring some semblance of humanity back on Lena. A flicker of life moved back on her dead eyes, and her face moved by instinct away from Kelly, toward the Normandy.
"Yes... I must go. But not alone."
A pair of strong hands grabbed Kelly's body, strapping it on her back despite the girl's surprised squeaks of protests
"You come with me. I cannot let you die, I cannot."
"Die? Lena, I will be fine. Just leave me and"
"NO!"
the scream that escaped from Lena's lips left both girls speechless, and for a second no one dared to utter a single word. Then, faster than the wind, Lena darted toward the Normandy, where the Claymore had briefly felt Raina's faint yoki with such speed that Kelly almost lost her grip on Lena's shoulders
"None of you must die. Only I deserve this," whispered Lena while moving. Kelly heard these words and tried to ask her the meaning of this.
Her only answer was silence.
So, decent? Believable? Not good? Actually good? (I hope at least)
