Chapter 9. A Long Night In Nos Astra


9. April 2388 AD, Illium, Nos Astra

"That batarian-"

"Ka'Anto Had'dah," the Spectre corrected him.

"Ka'Anto Had'dah didn't just find you, he got sent after you," Redford countered. "He won't be the last."

"I can handle myself, let them come."

"I don't doubt that. Still I can't just let you walk out of here alone. You're too valuable to lose," the specialist insisted.

"You're worried about me? Cute. We just met," she said sarcastically.

"A friend of mine would like to have a little chat with you. He doesn't buy the whole 'Rogue Spectre' story," he replied. "As it stands, you're the only witness he has. Interested?"

"You get me of Illium, I get payback?" she questioned as she sat down her drink before turning towards him. "And I don't get incarcerated for life or killed by my colleagues?"

"Basically." Redford confirmed.

"I didn't have any other plans either way," the asari chuckled while getting up. "This doesn't sound half bad."

"Is that a yes?" he questioned.

"Yes, it's a yes."

The Spectre pushed herself away from the bar and stood up from the chair, after stumbling a bit she regained her balance quickly. He should've gotten here earlier, this would be easier if she'd be sober. Redford threw the batarian knife to the ground and closed the gap between the two, only the wave of her hand and her focus on not letting the alcohol get the better of her stopping him from getting too close.

"So how does this go down?" she asked as the two started to make their way through the dancing crowd.

"Who would they sent after you? Another Spectre?" Redford asked while scanning the crowd.

"Another Spectre would have to get here first. It's going to be the STG cell on Illium," she explained. "They'll throw mercs at us to soften the target and then close in for the kill. Now that they know that they are working on borrowed time they'll get more aggressive."

"How many STG agents are we talking?" he questioned while forcing a salarian to the side. Damn this place was crawling with potential assassins.

"No clue, they don't like to share that part with the Spectres. You know, in case they have to terminate us."

"Alright. Are you armed?"

"I am biotic and I have my omni-tool with me, that's it. The rest of my gear is at my place."

"Not ideal but it's too risky to stop at your place so we'll have to work with what we have. I'll call a friend of mine for pick-up. He'll be coming in from the Citadel so we have to bunker down for the time being," Redford explained, without mentioning that Alec didn't know he'd play taxi yet. "When he gets here, we book it."

"You came up with all of that on your own?" Tela Vasir questioned with a sarcastic tone. "I'm impressed."

"I kind of make this up as we go along," he said while pressing a button on his watch, causing the ring around its display to glow red. To the vast majority of people currently alive this glow meant nothing. To Section 13 agents it basically meant "Get me the hell out of here", its activation sending a prepared distress signal to either the closest agent, or in Redford's case a predetermined one.

Specialist Alec Shepard.

The odd couple moved across the dance floor and Redford observed his surroundings as good as possible, the music, aggressive light and dancing crowd complicating the task. Everyone could be a threat and at this distance, he'd have hardly any time to react to someone walking up to him with a gun.

"The guy who's talking with the bouncer," the Spectre said, "his left horn is kind of broken. That's a serious injury, he's most likely an STG agent," she finished as the krogan bouncer started to look at the two.

"Great," Redford said. "Of course the bouncer is a krogan."

The krogan, most likley hired because only a krogan could throw out an angry krogan, started to push his way through the crowd, coming directly towards the two. He didn't take near the amount of time Redford had needed to get as far as he had already gotten, since people tended to move out of the way of a krogan bouncer, and soon enough he was right on top of the,

"Is there an issue, mate?" Redford said only to be drowned out by loud music.

The deeper, louder krogan voice suffered none such issues. "Some salarian told me you put something in her drink?" he questioned. "You better get out of here, you creep."

"Listen, I didn-"

Redford was interrupted as the krogan started to glow purple and float away harmlessly, drawing the attention of everyone around them in the process.

"Didn't feel like talking," the equally glowing asari explained. "Come on, move along. STG won't wait for you to stop being impressed by biotics."

As he shook himself out off the jealousy of lacking said ability, he grabbed a hold of the asari's hand and started to pull her through the crowd, using the fact that most were at first distracted and then amused by the flying krogan to his advantage.

"I can walk by myself you know?"

"Yeah but maybe it'll buy us a few seconds if they are looking for you, not for an asari and a human," he explained his strategy, causing her to nod in agreement. "Besides, I'd never hear the end of it if I were to lose my drunken target on a dance floor. That'd be bloody embarrassing." The way out of the club grew easier with each step as he forced his way out of the worst part of the crowd, people moving to witness the spectacle of the still floating korgan behind him. Part of Redford felt sorry for him but between embarrassing the bouncer in front of dozens of people or being beaten to a pulp by him, the specialist knew what option he preferred.

"My hotel's just five minutes away," Redford said. "If we hustle, we can be there in three."

"Or we can draw less attention towards us by walking like normal people, who don't feel like every salarian is going to shoot them any minute now."

"Fair point," Redford agreed while slowing his pace, now no longer noticeably leading the way. To the rest of Illium it would look like a couple that had hooked up in a club, not a Spectre and a Section 13 agent evading the local STG cell. Vasir and Redford walked across the plaza connecting the hotel and the club while doing their best to look for potential opponents, the trick about espionage was knowing who'd stab you in the back and who would simply walk up and shoot you in the face after all.

"The one by the skycar?" Redford questioned, relying on the Spectre's better understanding of what an STG agent looked like.

"Nope, he's just an information broker," she dismissed."Ran a background check on him ever since he moved into my neighbourhood."

"Did you do that on every neighbour?" Redford asked, only slightly surprised.

"Just the ones who seemed suspicious. No normal salarian works as little as that guy does."

"I guess that makes some sense." he answered, not really sure if it did.

"Really makes a whole lot of sense if you've spent as much time as I did in this business, don't get me wrong. You're good, you wouldn't be in that 'Section 13' group if you wouldn't be," she reasoned, causing Redford to look at her in surprise as she described the agency. "Come on, of course I looked at the data cache I stole. Natural curiosity," she explained.

"Just how much was on that drive?" Redford asked as he noted the grin on the asari's face. Not the answer he wanted.

"More than enough," she assured him. "I'll give you the whole list when you get me of Illium."


9. April 2388 AD, Citadel, HSA Embassy

The day had been rather longer for Alec, since Anita Goyle had been quite busy in her duties as ambassador. He not only had to listen to a rogue Spectre call him an upstart but he also had the thought that his wife should give birth any day now looming in the back of his mind. He'd be able to take his leave in two days.

Just two days.

He closed the chat window after telling his soon-to-be-wife he'd go to sleep now and went to lay down on his bed when the wrist watch on his left hand started to vibrate and glow red.

"Stuck on Illium, need exfil, got a package for IM. - Lal Qila," it displayed on the screen in small letters and Alec immediately shot up from his bed and started to dash for the armory, almost smashing into Goyle in the process.

"Alec, what's going on?" she questioned as the man ran past her.

"Can't explain!" he shouted. "Ask Harper!"

He slit his security card through the locking panel in front of the armory and started to put on his hardsuit in record time. He slapped the chest plate into place and attached the combat rig, now including the prototype kinetic barrier/ shield hybrid, to it. After grabbing his helmet, he opened the door to the gun compartment of the room and grabbed his SIS-8, his knife and the sole submachine gun in reach, a Kassa Fabrication M-83, designed for the naval special forces commonly known as N7. After being satisfied with his choice of weapons, he started to place ammunition in his pouches and grabbed several of the disk shaped Mark-14 grenades out of the container they were stored inside.

This might get messy after all.

Alec Shepard rushed out of the door and only came to a stop at the room of the logistics officer.

"I need a ride," he declared as he opened the door to find the man sleeping.

"What?" the tired officer questioned as he rubbed his eyes.

"Focus," Alec insisted. "I need a ride to Illium. Right now."

"Argh, let me think," the officer grunted as he tapped his hand against his head. "Right, right. Bay D24," he began. "The HSASV Hastings is docked there I ca-"

The specialist ran out of the room the moment he had a direction and connected the comlink in his helmet to the ship, moving as fast as possible in case the ship was in the process of leaving. He couldn't miss that flight.

"I'm with HSAIS." he began as the captain opened the high priority message. "I need you to give me a ride to Illium."

"Who's this? I'm going to need an author-" before the captain could finish the demand, Alec transmitted the requested code along side the standing order to any military personal to grant a Section 13 agent anything he might need in the pursuit of his mission.

"The Hastings will be ready to leave when you get there, Specialist," the captain spoke after a short pause Alec had used to cover more distance. At least some good news. This might have been the first time for today that things went as planned.

Specialist Shepard jumped across the gap between two platforms, cutting the way to the elevator short by over 50 meters and drawing the eyes of the few diplomats still present on the Presidium. As he landed he rolled to break his fall and dashed for the closest elevator, taking the momentum out of his movement by sliding the remaining distance between him and the still open doors. He got to his feet, turned around and hit the button that would send him to the docking area, the military authorization ensuring that the elevator would prioritize his request over any other it might have gotten.

"Hurry up you stupid metal box," he snarled as the elevator began to move causing the people sharing the cabin with him to look at him in a mixture of confusion and amusement. "Can't these things go any faster?" he asked as an asari shook her head. Most advanced space station in the galaxy and he probably would've been better off taking the stairs. He just knew that Redford would get himself into a whole lot of trouble over this 'package'. The man had a talent for these things.


2130 CE, Illium, Nos Astra

Nos Astra's nightsky was dominated by the lights of its skyscrapers, a large advertisement board attached to the one in front of the window being casting just enough light towards them to illuminate the otherwise dark room. She looked through the blinds of the window as the human, who still insisted on being called 'Bradford' even though she had informed him of her awareness of his allegiance to Section 13, strapped on the last parts of his armor in the darkness. Only the slight red glow of his watch, now attached to the armored sleeve of the hard suit, betraying his presence. It either spoke for his vision or his training that he managed to attach the pieces correctly in complete darkness.

"I thought you traveled via civilian transport?" she questioned, remembering a previous chat they had shared on the way to the hotel.

"My bag is pretty big," he explained. "and Illium's control officers are pretty bribeable."

"That they are," Tela agreed. She would know. "Wish I could've gotten my stuff though."

"If everything goes as planned, you won't need it."

"Then why are you putting on yours?" the Spectre muttered, well aware that things never went as planned.

"If you fought in a war, you'll put on any piece of protective gear you can have, even if you don't need them," he replied. "Also I hate suits, I look way better in this thing," the blonde man said as he knocked his knuckles against the hard surface of the grey chest piece.

That was a part she couldn't understand completely due to lacking one component of the experience. While already well into her fourth century of life, she couldn't claim to have fought in any sort of conflict that could be seen as a war on the scale of the one she suspected him to have been part of. Sure she had hundreds of intense fire fights and long term operations to go back on but there hadn't been a major war the Citadel Council had taken part in ever since the Krogan Rebellions. None of her missions compared to the long term pressure of being part of an ongoing, interstellar war.

"So you fought in those 'Fringe Wars' of your race?" she hoped she recalled the name correctly, after all she was still somewhat drunk. She knew that the conflict had begun some twelve years ago and while he looked rather young, it was still very much possible that he took part in its later stages.

"Yeah. Just about anyone in Section 13 did," he sighted, looking at his helmet, the finest trace of an emotion she couldn't quite place yet audible.

"I have to admit that I haven't had that particular honor yet," she replied.

"No honor really," 'Bradford' sighed. "I read up on your people's history. Wars aren't something asari do a lot, right?"

"No they are not. The last real war in galactic history was the Geth Uprising three centuries ago but the Council didn't deploy any forces during it so I didn't take part in any of the battles," she explained. "The last time the Council fought a war was the Krogan Rebellions."

"That's a long time."

"I take it your kind was very different?" Tela asked, already suspecting the answer to her question.

"You could say that," he agreed as he got up from the bed. "Anything?" he said, referring to her looking out of the window.

"Nothing yet. Just two asari going at it in the building over there and a turian assembling a weapon he most certainly doesn't have a permit for in his room right below. He looks really annoyed though, ceilings probably the opposite of sound proof," she nodded at the other hotel complex opposite to theirs.

"At least they are having fun," he said as he looked at her, swiftly turning his head away as he realised what he could've implied with his look. "We are not leaving anyone important to you behind, are we?" he questioned as he rested his hands on the 'neck' of the combat rigging attached to his armor, his eyes now scanning the finer details of his helmet, the darkness making it hard for Vasir to make out just what he was looking at.

She wasn't sure if he asked out of pragmatism because he didn't want to leave anyone for STG behind to target. If there was such a person, it could turn into a liability after all. Or if he asked because he actually cared to a degree if anything happened to someone innocent. She remembered a time when she did, that time had passed. Spectre assignments didn't leave room for said caring, a lesson she had learned after enough failures to protect everyone. The target always had priority, everything else was secondary.

"No, in my line of work there's not a lot of room for any sort of meaningful relationship," she sighed.

"Good. I'd hate to go out there again. Already pushed my luck as things are," he chuckled.

"You'd risk the mission for someone not related to it?" she asked to learn more about the way her companion thought. If they were going to flee together, they needed to understand how each of them did things.

"If they are important to my target, they are important to the mission," 'Bradford' replied as he walked up to the window. He lifted the blinds a bit and began to observe the neighborhood as well. "The skycar is new," he observed.

"Pulled up right as you got up," Tela replied. "No one got out yet but it's probably here for a reason."

"That reason being us?"

"Most likely. It's a rental," she said, noting the small advertisement on it's door.

"Makes sense, just get it on a fake name and the investigation goes into the wrong direction right from the start," the human figured. "Pretty basic actually."

"Bonus points if they manipulated the flight computer to give a wrong location."

"Should be easy enough for the STG."

"Three to the left and one up from the room with the two asari. Lights just turned on," Tela stated as she saw the flicker of the lamps.

"Could be a coincidence," the Section 13 agent suggested, causing Tela to look at him.

"You don't really believe that now, do you?" the asari questioned as he shrugged.

"I never said I believed it, I just said it could be," he assured her. "Give me a break, woman."

"Would you look at that," Tela suddenly said as the door to the skycar opened up to reveal a salarian wearing Eclipse armor. He began to walk to the hotel across the street and the low grunt escaping from the man next to him led her to ask her next question. "Did you make friends here already? Which captain did you kill?" she added as she recognized the small insignia on the salarian's armor that identified him as a cell leader.

"Hey, I'm just here on a business trip, remember?" he countered, obviously not willing to disclose the details of his reasons to be on Illium. Not that she hadn't made the connection between the death of one of Eclipse's top officers in Nos Astra and the appearance of a Section 13 agent in the same part of town already. But this wasn't her issue right now. She kept looking out of the window, opting to keep talking in the process.

"Of course you are, silly me," she chuckled while the salarian opened the door. "I'd almost bet that the blinds on that window are going to close in around a minute," she said while pressing her finger against the glass.

"STG wouldn't make such an obvious mistake, would they?" the human questioned, unfamiliar with salarian training.

"Who said it's STG? Maybe they are just after you?" Tela countered and throwing a little bait into her question.

"Unlikely, this room isn't registered on 'Bradford'." he said. "As far as Illium is concerned, I booked a hotel on the other end of Nos Astra."

"I thought you were just here for business? Why the two rooms?" she chuckled, pleased at having succeeded even in her drunken state.

"That's your batarian friend and he brought company," the human suddenly pointed out, "coming out of the plaza and heading straight for the hotel as well. Still think it's me they are after?" he asked. "You wouldn't by any chance have pissed of Eclipse in the past, would you?"

"Damn," she said. "They are gathering everyone in Nos Astra who'd love to see me dead, aren't they?"

"Looks like it," the human confirmed her suspicion. "That's good."

"STG has a reputation for being good. Complete deniability," Tela replied before mockingly forming up just one of the potential stories they could spin around this incident. "This way it's going to look like my enemies got wind that I may be gone for good and decided they want payback before I slip out of their hands forever."

"It's a decent story," the human shrugged. "They take you out without even risking their own skin and if they're lucky, you take out a couple of these bastards before they get you. Win win," 'Bradford' figures as he stepped back from the window. "I didn't exactly pack enough ammunition to fight an army, tell me you don't have any other enemies around here."

"Sorry but the next one just arrived," Tela muttered apologetic as she spotted the familiar asari police chief. "I knew the cops here were dirty but 'killing an agent of the Council dirty' comes to a surprise, even for me," she explained.

"This is just great. Even law enforcement has a grudge against you?"

"Well a century ago I was the reason she had to weasel her way out of a slavery investigation. Asari can hold a grudge for a long time. Although I didn't expect her to actually work with Eclipse. That's a new low, even for her."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." the human said. "Old human proverb."

"Speaks volumes about your people." she said, probably sounding more insulting than she intended. "No offense."

"Anyone besides the galaxies most notorious spy agency, mercenaries, a crime syndicate with a private army and law enforcement out to get you?" he asked as he looked at his watch.

"Crooks, drug dealers, the maidens in the club, the krogan bouncer." she joked, remembering the expression of jealousy on their faces when she left with the human and the sight of a helpless, floating reptile being ridiculed by the entire club. "I think that's it."

"I pray to every deity in existence that the krogan won't make a return," the human pleaded as he folded his hands. "I don't think he'll fall for that trick a second time and I don't want to fight a pissed of toad that can tear me into two pieces ."

"This presents a whole new issue though," Tela said, aware of her lack of armor and weapons. "You might not be ready to fight an army but I am not even ready to fight anything bigger than a bunch of goons with pistols. My barriers are strong but they aren't that strong," she nodded towards the heavy weaponry on the back of the police chief.

"I don't think we'd make it five minutes outside now. If the police is in on this, we might as well run around screaming your name. Your place is not an option."

"I know," she said. "I do have a hidden stash though."

"Where?"

"Further away than five minutes," the Spectre frowned.


9. April 2388 AD, Combat Information Center, HSASV Hastings

"You are asking me to cause a political incident, you know that right?" the captain questioned as he scratched his beard. "Getting you to the surface is one thing, an armed extraction is another."

"I know," Alec said as he looked at the projection of Nos Astra. "But Illium is technically a world under corporate control, and not part of the Council. Besides, the package is very important to Section 13. One way or another, this has to go down Captain Faye."

"I know and I will give you my full support but I still have to make sure you understand the consequences of this operation."

"We are basically at war with half the Terminus anyway, what are a couple of asari corporations going to do?" the specialist chuckled dryly. "I'll deploy to the surface and make contact with Lal Qila, then you'll have to get us out."

"Can't we just fly a platoon to the surface and get him out right away?" the captain asked as the projection displayed several Kodiaks landing in the proximity of Redford's position, small, holographic marines pouring out of their crew compartments to secure the area.

"You were worried about an incident, weren't you? If I do my job correctly, there won't be a need for anything besides one Kodiak," Alec said as he pressed a button on the computer connected to the projector. It now displayed a single Kodiak hiding among Illium's traffic and swiftly dropping a single human in the dark of night, his small holographic form disappearing once it made contact with the 'ground'. "I appreciate the willingness to break out the sledgehammer, Captain Faye but let's try the scalpel first. If it goes south your grunts are going to get enough to shoot at anyway."

"Whatever you say, Shepard. This is your area of expertisel," the captain said as he looked at the suggested tactic. "We'll arrive in roughly four hours. If you need anything else, let me know. Until then I'll put the N7s on standby."

"Much appreciated, Captain Faye," Alec replied as he leaned over the desk.

The commanding officer of the Hastings offered a quick nod and walked out of the CIC, leaving Alec alone with his thoughts. He had spent too much time playing bodyguard, it would be good to be back in the field. Damn Goyle for making him go soft. It was about time he did what he'd been trained to do.


Three Hours Later, 9. April 2388 AD, Illium, Nos Astra

"They are on the move," the Spectre informed him from her position at the window.

"Let me guess, coming straight for our hotel?" Redford asked as he looked at the watch now integrated into his armor. At least two more hours until Alec would be here.

"Just Had'dah and his batarian buddies for now," she said. "Using the dumb muscle to test out our capabilities. Evil but smart."

"Classical probing attack," he figured as he went to the door. "We gotta get out of here."

"I agree," she said. "Simply running won't help though."

"I didn't plan on running," he told her as he closed the seal on his helmet, turning him into the faceless incarnation of the HSA the IFS had come to use in so many propaganda pieces. Even the darkest corners of the room became visible to him as his HUD activated its night vision mod. "They are either going to use the stairs or the elevator. If they are stupid, it'll be the elevator, if they are slightly less stupid it'll be the stairs. If they are too confident, they'll split up."

"The moment you take one of them out, I can 'borrow' his barrier generator and gun," the asari Spectre added while he grabbed a hold of his SIS-8 and unlocked the door of the room, lifting the pistol close to his chest.

"They just went inside," she said and just like that Redford opened the door, looking at the elevator display to his right. The number of floors on the display was climbing.

"Elevator's moving," he said as he left the room, the smaller asari right behind him. "Overconfident or stupid?"

"Both."

The number came closer to their floor and when the doors opened to reveal no one but the turian janitor of the hotel, Redford lowered his pistol a little bit.

The janitor pulled out his ear phones and looked at the human. "Looking for the batarians?" he asked, apparently unmoved by the fact he'd just been threatened by a figure in heavy combat armor. "Took the stairs, don't make too many blood stains, I'm the one who has to clean that up later," either the turian had seen some seriously bad things during his mandatory service or Illium really made everyone jaded if they stayed long enough. Redford suspected it to be a combination of the two.

The specialist nodded his thanks and began to move, Vasir following close behind him. He opened the door of the staircase and heard the heavy steps of armored boots climbing upwards. He leaned over the railing only to be greeted by a face with four eyes. The batarian shouted something but got interrupted when another pulled him aside just in time for Redford's first bullet to miss his target. At least one of the mercenaries headed for them had good instincts, he could be trouble.

The footsteps grew more plentiful as he began going down while the batarians kept rushing up the flight of stairs. Redford slowed down just in time for them to twist the corner and began to shoot, the bullets of his pistol finding their mark on the batarian standing first in line. The rounds smashed into the barriers while the mercenaries behind him got their line of fire obstructed by themselves. The first merc, apparently in panic squeezed down the trigger of his assault rifle and the small rounds only somewhat missed Redford, smashing into the wall next to him and punching small holes into the wallpaper instead of the specialist, before his barriers gave in and a single pistol bullet ended him. Hitting the center of his face, the impact caused the body to drop back into the group as the second batarian was momentarily distracted by the blood spraying into his face, his barriers not stopping the slow moving liquid from hitting him.

Redford wasted no time as he jumped down the stairs and kicked the corpse to further obstruct the batarian team moving up the stairs. The second merc fell backwards and the third tried to catch him in an act of comradery while the fourth one finally opened fire on Redford, his prototype shield projector catching the rounds as he reached the platform between two flights of stairs. He aligned his pistol with the head of the merc and started shooting while stomping on the hand of the third batarian who had tryed to go for his pistol. The fourth mercenary didn't have the same quality of barriers that the first had enjoyed and fell sooner than his fellow batarian, sliding down the stairs as the deadly bullet gave him a push in the direction he had come from. Now the specialist took a knee on the neck of the batarian with the broken hand and started to squeeze of his air supply.

Next Redford unsheathed the knife on his right shoulder and dispatched the second merc behind him who just now started to lift the first dead alien off himself with a single well placed stab of the ceramic knife all the while keeping his pistol pointed at the head of the sole survivor. The asari Spectre appeared after the sound of fighting had stopped and immediately began to strip the first batarian, who had been made pointman due to the quality of his barriers, of his gear, taking a moment to decide on which pistol she should take while Redford somewhat lifted his knee.

"How many are left, where is Had'dah?" the specialist growled through his helmet, the filter to his voice making him sound even more threatening.

"In the lobby with the other teams," the merc stammered while trying to breath. Teams, that was plural and in turn bad news.

"How many?"

"About twelve guys," he said. "Plea-"

Redford squeezed his knee back down to interrupt the batarian from rambling.

"I don't want to hear it. What's with the cops and Eclipse?" he questioned and only then relieving the pressure on the batarian's throat.

"I don't know I-" Redford placed the barrel of his pistol in front of the batarians mouth.

"Think again."

"I wasn't in the meeting I'm sor-" the alien was once more interrupted by the pressure on his airways.

"You talk too much," he smashed the side of his pistol against the temple of the mercenary, causing him to drift into unconsciousness.

"Should've killed him," the Spectre criticized as she finished her scavenging. "He might wake up and shoot you in the back later on."

"I think he won't be shooting anything for the rest of his life," Redford countered as he got up.

"Let's keep moving," Tela Vasir suggested as a gesture of her hand requested him to take point. The specialist complied, taking care not to slip on the dark-red batarian blood, and soon the couple moved down the flight of stairs until they found themselves at the exit of the ground level.

"Twelve mercs and whoever else decided to join the party ever since," he summarized as he placed his hand on the opening mechanism of the door "What can you do with your biotics?"

"Just about anything," the Spectre answered, sounding earnest instead of cocky. "If they don't watch their spacing, they'll be in for a nasty surprise."

"Good, we need nasty surprises," Redford replied before opening the door that would lead them to the lobby. As it slid open the two didn't immediately rush out, instead waiting for a wall of rounds to come flying through it. When that didn't appear, Redford decided to take a chance and peaked around the corner only to find five mercenaries still waiting at the elevator, their frustrated pressing of the buttons next to it leading the specialist to believe that the janitor had decided to mess with the controls. "Seven aren't here, let's move up," he whispered before slowly walking out of the door and taking cover behind a decorative plant. It wouldn't stop any bullets but it would definetly keep him hidden. It's purple leaves extended far enough in each direction hide his kneeling form and right about now not being seen was more important than not being hit.

"No trace of Ka'Anto either," the Spectre noted while crouching down behind a counter located slightly in front of the specialist, her lack of armor making her movements completely silent.

"They are bunched up," Vasir said after taking a peak. "Now or never."

"Don't let me stop you," Redford nodded as the asari began to glow purple, the Eezo in her system coming to life. She rose from behind the counter and made a punching motion with her hand, a wave of purple rippling through the lobby and not only throwing around pieces of furniture but also batarian mercenaries. Two of the unfortunate targets met their demise when the wave cracked their necks and broke several other bones in their bodies due to its massive force hitting them at the right angle. The other five were thrown around like dolls and spread out across the lobby, making them easy targets.

Even while the wave was still moving, it's ripples growing less noticeable with each passing moment, Redford only somewhat realised that the Spectre wasn't done. In a blur of motion a purple figure shot through the lobby and smashed into the remaining batarians. Only then did he realise that the figure was in fact the Spectre herself, apparently catapulting herself through the use of her biotic powers.

She launched the merc she had aimed for into the wall and caused blood to splatter from the back of his head as he died on impact, not being able to force his head through solid concrete. Then she used the borrowed pistol to place several deadly shots in the heads of two stunned batarians, their barriers already shattered by pure kinetic force of her biotics and their skulls far to thin to stop the miniscule rounds from destroying their brains. She turned to her left to face a batarian about to get up and her fist started to glow purple as it smashed into his head, shattering every single bone in its path and liquefying his brain, a dark-red impression of an asari fist permanently embedded in the batarian's face.

The last batarian however wasn't dropped by Vasir as he leveled his pistol at her only for Redford to shoot him before he could act on the situation presented to him, three SIS-8 rounds causing him to drop down before he could even think about squeezing the trigger.

"I had him," the Spectre said as Redford walked up to the carnage.

"Not a single doubt in my mind," he answered, remembering the mission report of Cerberus's battle with her. He came to the realisation that it was a massive credit to the Cerberus strike team that they limped away from their encounter with nothing but injuries and wounded pride.

"Still leaves five mercenaries unaccounted for," the Spectre said as she idly kicked one of the batarians only hit by the shockwave, apparently making sure he was actually dead and not just playing possum.

"Think he booked it?" the specialist asked.

"Ka'Anto isn't the type to run away. If there's one good thing to say about the guy it's that he stands his ground no matter the odds."

"Well he sure as hell isn't aroun-" he spotted the slight, familiar flicker of something in the corner of his eye walking up to the Spectre and shoved her to the side while he started to shoot. The asari, after a second of confusion twisted on her heel and started to fire as well when she spotted the reflection of light hitting the figure at just the right angle.

"Tactical Cloake. Of course," she complained as she dove for cover. Redford himself repeated the move in a somewhat slower fashion, lacking the agility of his companion. He fired of the last round in the clip before making himself small behind his new found cover and switched out the magazine, taking the time to place the old one in his pouch for spent magazines for later refilling. The specialist smacked the fresh magazine in place and pulled back the sleigh as he switched his firing hand.

The perks of being ambidextrous.

He peaked around the new corner to find the same flicker of light exposed. With the squeeze of the trigger the barriers shattered in a blue burst of energy, weakened by the strain placed on them by the tactical cloak, and a batarian appeared as blood stained the ground, a hole in his leg causing him to kneel down. He groaned, trying to point his gun at the specialist until Redford placed another bullet in his neck, ending the source of the noise and the threat of being shot at the same moment.

"One down," he informed the Spectre who again powered up with biotic energy and launched another wave of ripples into the general direction the first batarian had appeared out of. He heard the sound of something cracking, followed by a scream that got ended with another gun shot ringing through the lobby. If you can't see them, just make sure you can hear them. Seemed logical to Redford. Two down, three to go.

He saw the blue muzzle flash as rounds impacted on the purple barrier of the Spectre and began to shoot at the spot, and while he didn't hit the shooter, he at least suppressed him.

The asari Spectre registered the hit and went back down, creeping around her cover so she wouldn't present her flank to the invisible batarian. Then she waited a moment before once more launching herself behind the suspected position of the mercenary. Upon impact a circular field of biotic energy caused a blue crack to appear in the air, showing the failing of a kinetic barrier and giving away the position of his enemy. Redford aligned his pistol with the center of the blue crack and fired until he saw blood appearing around his targeted area. He moved his aim up by a few inches and saw something drop. Vasir, closer to the target, pointed her pistol at the floor and fired of another round, killing the mercenary and causing his tactical cloak to reveal his dead body.

"Only two left," she said as she looked around herself to spot any reflection of light. Her eyes scanned the area and snapped back to a previous spot. She threw herself to the floor just as a high powered sniper round tore through the air. Redford mimicked the motion, still very fond of his head and not yet willing to lose it out of placing too much faith in the shield hybrid and made a move for better cover.

"Well there's one," he called through the lobby. "Now where's number two?" he tempted faith only to see the flicker of light on his right closing in.

The figure tried to fire his assault rifle at the specialist but didn't expect the unusual swiftness with which he rolled himself to the side before launching himself at the ghost, hoping that the sniper wouldn't have an angle at him. Redford felt his impact, certain of having managed to down the batarian until he felt a fist smash against his helmet. He forced his hand to where he suspected the mercenary's eyes should be while slapping aside the assault rifle. However he only felt the hard surface of a helmet and wasn't even sure if he had managed to remove the rifle out of the hands of his opponent.

So much for eye gouging and removing the threat.

He still pressed down the head as more blows smashed into his chest piece, knocking the air out of his lungs. He tried to grab a hold of the striking arm but due to the lack of visibility he narrowly missed it and decided to finish this before he found out if the mercenary still had his rifle or any other weapons that could kill him at any moment on him. He forced his other hand to what felt like the chin of the batarian and started to apply pressure until he forcefully twisted his neck, causing the blows to simply cease as the mercenary's arms dropped to the ground with a thud. Instead of standing up he rolled off the body and started to crawl back to the edge of the cover from where he had previously seen Vasir. He peaked his head around the corner to find her gone and instead standing further ahead, right where the sniper should have been.

He saw her mouth something before firing her pistol into something roughly the height of her knee. The cloud of blood that appeared in the air confirmed his suspicion that Ka'Anto was no longer going to be an issue. He started to walk towards her as she wiped of some blood of her pistol with a curtain.

"The janitor asked you not to make too many stains," he reminded her, sounding somewhat condescending.

"Can't fight if the bastard's brain is blocking the barrel," she replied nonchalantly. "There goes their probing attack."

"So who's next, Eclipse or the cops?"

"I believe Eclipse will throw some mechs at us, maybe some tech support. I didn't actually piss them off as far as I know."

"So they aren't going to fully commit," Redford reasoned, assuming that STG had simply paid a small fee to the organisation for taking out two trouble makers. "Police is going to be an issue though."

"Why?"

"They are all biotics, just like you."

"And?"

"I am not a biotic. If the HSA learned anything while engaging Eclipse it's that biotics are the single most dangerous infantry unit the average human soldier can face," he explained as they began to walk to the exit. "If they are anything like you, I'll probably be thrown around like a pillow."

"Seeing as I'm one of the strongest, non-Ardat Yakshi biotics I don't think this will be an issue." she replied before cracking a small smile. "Besides, you can handle yourself."

"Ardat-what now?" he tried to repeat the name, his translator failing to do its single job.

The Spectre simply didn't reply to his question, instead walking straight to the door and opening it with a swipe of her hand, an orange glow betraying the activation of her omni-tool.

"Never leave home without it," she said as they walked through the gap. "Where's your friend going to pick us up?"

Redford looked at the watch and sighted. "He'll come as close to us as possible but he'll only be here in forty five minutes."

"That was fifteen minutes? Time really does fly when you're having fun," the Spectre slightly slurred.

Of course he'd get stuck escorting the somewhat drunk crown witness with a thing for casual violence.

"Come on, we can't stay in here," she called from the other side of the door. "Can't risk Eclipse bringing down the whole building complex."

If the comment was made out of empathy for the people in the building or made simply because she didn't wish to be buried by rubble was something Redford wasn't ready to judge just yet.


10. April 2388 AD, Tasale System, HSASV Hastings

The ship appeared out of the Mass Relay network and opened it's hangar doors.

"Good luck down there, Shepard," it sounded over his helmet as he felt the Kodiak ascend from the floor of the hangar. "Unfortunately, this is as far as I can get the Hastings."

"This is close enough Captain Faye," Alec assured him as he sat down on one of the seats in the crew compartment of the shuttle which by now had left the ship and began its journey to Illium. The pilot had assured him that the trip wouldn't take longer than ten minutes. His claim was backed up by the ever growing outlines of Illium.

The specialist once more checked his gear, the M-83 resting at his side. It was unusual for a specialist to bring along a weapon that couldn't easily be disguised or fired while on the move but Alec Shepard had long since learned to compensate for the disadvantage of restricted mobility. Every specialist had a different fighting style after all.

The shuttle pilot informed him that they'd breach atmosphere soon and that they'd drop within a hundred meters of Redford's current location, only being delayed by him somewhat trying to blend into local traffic.

As if an armed military shuttle with the sigil of the HSA printed on it could blend in on Illium.

He felt the entrance into atmosphere as the Kodiak began to shake slightly due to meeting air resistance and grabbed a hold of a sling attached to the ceiling of the craft, stabilizing himself while getting up, looking out of one of the windows, which in reality were screens linked to high resolution cameras on the outside of the shuttle, and seeing the orange flames engulf the Kodiak.

"Three minutes," the pilot said. "One if I dive straight through the traffic."

"Let's not cause a multiple-vehicle collision," he called back into the direction of the pilot, a thumbs up being his only reply. While Alec didn't doubt that the Kodiak could take a hit from a skycar flying at the speed limit of urban traffic, he didn't intend to cause dozens of deaths by making a military craft shoot straight through organized aerial traffic. The shuttle began to 'blend in' as it made it's way to the surface, closing in on Redford's moving signal, the lack of explosions giving Alec hope that the man had for once actually managed to avoid trouble.

The hope was crushed as the specialist released the hatch of the craft and immediately realised that Redford had to be close by when he saw a squad of Eclipse mercenaries rush over an abandoned plaza littered with destroyed mechs. He waited for the pilot to fly next to the edge of a platform attached to the large, city-like skyscraper and jumped from the shuttle's crew compartment, landing on one of the hundreds of balconies of the arcological complex, the mercenaries ahead of him unaware of his presence. Alec crouched down behind the wall of a store and raised his M-83 so that his scope would align with the lone mercenary at the back, apparently guarding the rear of his unit. He squeezed the trigger and the first burst smashed into his barriers while the second one bounced of his helmet, causing the salarian to dive to cover behind an advertisement board, saved only by luck.

Alec however didn't plan on letting him call reinforcements as he fired through the board, the full metal jacket bullets successfully penetrating the object and by the sound of it hitting the mercenary. He left his cover and walked up to the board's opposite corner, peaking around it to find the mercenary aiming at him.

Apparently this one wasn't as dense as others.

Mass accelerator rounds left the barrel of a submachine gun and Alec was saved from relying on his armor thanks to the shield hybrid deflecting the rounds. He twisted around the corner and fired through the same spot again until he heard the sound of a gun drop. Then he swiftly jumped around the corner of the board, prepared to finish the mercenary only to find him lying dead in a pool of green blood. However he had succeeded in guarding the rear long enough for the squad to realise that they were now caught between two sides, having been alarmed by the gun fire of their fallen comrade. Two salarian Eclipse members turned their attention towards Alec and one of them sent an electric current towards him. Not able to dodge as fast as the situation required, his HUD began to flash red as it informed him that his shielding hybrid had been overloaded. A series of mass accelerator rounds only narrowly missed him as they reflected of his left shoulder, scratching away parts of the red dagger emblem in the process.

Alec slid away from the board and into cover behind the walls of yet another store while firing his M-83 into the general direction of the two salarians, one of which hit the ground as his barriers broke, waiting for them to recharge. Alec didn't waste any time trying to hold at his current position though as he dug out a disk shaped charge from one of his pouches. He pressed a button on top of the object and sharpened fins extended themselves out of its side before he pressed another one that would set the detonator to trigger three seconds after impact.

The specialist moved around the small kiosk and found his target in the form of the salarian without barriers. The disk left his hand in a practiced throwing motion and the Mark-14 got stuck in the salarian's leg as the sharp fins penetrated the slightly less armored knee joint. The mercenary, apparently familiar with the device chose to throw himself away from his comrade, instead of trying to remove the explosive.

This action most likely saved the life of the other salarian for now but eliminated any chance of survival the struck mercenary had. The grenade exploded, tearing away the mercenaries legs and sizeable parts of his lower body. Green blood stained the surrounding area as Alec twisted back around the corner, lowering the risk of being shot. The other salarian mercenary, after a second of shock, activated something on his omni-tool, causing him to be surrounded by an orange suit of armor, effectively boosting his barrier strength. He then leveled his submachine gun at the kiosk and began to fire on Alec's position while walking up to him in the process, several of the rounds managing to find their way through the entirety of his cover before zipping past him.

Alec saw something orange close in on him and dove away just as an incendiary projectile exploded on the ground, parts of the chemical still making contact with Alec's boots. Luckily for him, the armor suit of specialists was designed to be resistant to flame attacks and he only had to endure the heat while the burning liquid scorched his feet black until rapid stomping to the ground extinguished the flames.

The salarian, apparently believing the hit to have injured the human came around the corner while his weapon began its cool down process. Instead of seeing the burned remains of a human however, he was greeted by a hand smashing his unarmored face into the wall of the small store. Green blood leaked from his nose as Alec dropped the M-83, now only held in place by the sling attached to his combat rig. He tried to go for his pistol but was interrupted when a hand grabbed a hold of him, Alec spun around, ready to smash his elbow into the face of the new mercenary.

"He's the last one," Redford said as Alec snapped out of the adrenaline fueled motion just in front of his helmet.

"Knowledge is half the battle, Praetorian," he reminded him, using the codename given to him after being assigned his posting on the Citadel. "You taught me that."

"All yours, Lal Qila," he said, not yet realising his hold on the salarian.

"Are there any more of you?" Reford questioned as he grabbed onto the salarian's armored collar while walking into the direction of a very long drop.

The mercenary chose not to reply while Redford closed in on the railing. "When are the cops going to make their move?" he asked his captive who answered by spitting green blood on his visor.

"Are you really going to make me do this?" Redford insisted. "What's with Eclipse mercenaries never willing to talk to me? Is it something I do?" he joked as he reached the edge of the skyscraper.

Alec however had another idea. "So this is what your friend died for?" he asked, recalling the mercenary he had killed with his grenade throw. "Just so you'd end up dying out of spite?"

Redford shoved him against the railing, informing him of its location.

"He wanted you to live," the specialist argued while Redford became increasingly lax in his hold of the mercenary. "Don't throw that chance away."

The salarian's eyes stared back at Alec and he opened his mouth.

"Right about now," he smirked as sirens became audible.

Redford pulled the salarian mercenary back from the edge and threw him to the floor before kicking him in the face.

"He did talk," Redford reasoned. "No reason for me to give Illium's cleaning crews even more work."

"What's with the police making a move? What did you do Lal Qila?"

"He didn't do anything," the voice of an asari said. "They are after me, I pissed of a high ranking police officer a long time ago."

"Your package is the rogue Spectre?" he said as he recognized her from the Council meeting, looking at her for a moment before once more turning his head to Redford.

"My package is the information she has," Redford replied. "Trust me on this one."

"Done," Alec nodded as the skycars of Illium's police drew closer. "So how are we playing this?" he asked.

"When they start shooting, try not to kill them, they are just cops with an evil boss," Redford said.

"I assure you most of them won't be as innocent as you make them out to be." the Spectre said as a squad car came to a stop right above them, shining it's spotlight on them.


Codex: UT-47 Kodiak/ UT-90A

The combat shuttle UT-47 Kodiak was first produced in 2347 after leaving a straining development phase. Designed to withstand enemy fire as good as possible it is heavily armored and equipped with a shielding device similar to that of the Paladin. The craft, called 'Combat Cockroach' by human marines, served the HSA for over 40 years until slowly being replaced by the Kodiak UT-90A, the first models having left the factory in late 2389.

The UT-90A, like it's predecessor, is capable of limited FTL travel but instead equipped with the shielding hybrid developed by joint turian-human research teams. Furthermore the vessel is capable of disguising its signature, making it viable for short-ranged stealth missions. Optically almost identical, the craft was designed in a way that would allow the HSA to retrofit their existing UT-47 to the newer model, a process finished on most craft by 2408.

The UT series doesn't stand out among the drop shuttles of other Council Races in any way besides the fact that it is slightly smaller, a decision made to limit the casualties taken should one shuttle be downed.

A number of shuttles have been modified to serve as transport vessels for Paladin Suits.


A/N: I've been accused of the apparently jumping around centuries in my story.

Listen Mr Guest. There are two dating systems, Council Era (CE) and AD, the human one.

If a paragraph begins with a CE date, it means that it's from the point of view of a council character, if it's AD it's a human one. I though that was obvious, but apparently you didn't get it, it's fine though.

Other than that, I'd ask you to review with accounts so I can answer to you directly.

I'd also ask you to review more, we are now 149 favs and 187 follows. Show me where you at people.

Hope you slide well into 2017.

I hope that even makes sense in your language.

See you around next time.

Edit: As of 25.7.17 Chapter 9 has been remastered.