Chapter Four: Zaeed
The Angel of Death slept in her seat, leaning her head against a pillow which was propped between it and the bulkhead, red hair spilling out over her shoulder onto the grey bodysuit, the black and red armour removed for comfort. Her freckled face was utterly relaxed. The armour itself was stacked up on the seat beside, with two datapads on top. The information on them about her past self was extensive, and was probably the reason she needed to go to sleep after having been asleep for so long. She inhaled and exhaled steadily, without the need for tubes down her throat for the first time in what was probably more than a year.
Zaeed Massani blew a breath out through his teeth, multiple frustrations weighing on his mind as he sat in the opposite seat, watching. His sleep was interrupted again by these problems.
The first was the memory loss. Feron had said it was temporary, but none of the datapads had done anything significant to help. The woman before him knew who she was now, but still couldn't recall for herself. Yet she was still herself, at least in part. Zaeed hoped for his own sake as much as the galaxy's that the remains of her personality meant she could recover everything.
Another frustration was Omega. It was taking too damn long to get there. If the Shadow Broker had survived the nuking of his base, which was certainly possible due to its sheer size, he was almost certainly sending out bounty offers and orders to mercenaries. Every shuttle launch from his ship was logged, Zaeed knew. Who knew what the factions on Omega would do with such an offer. Causing trouble on Aria T'loak's station wasn't for the fainthearted, but he wasn't even sure that a firefight with three people counted as trouble on Omega. The only thing that might upgrade that skirmish to something of interest would be revealing his ward's identity to Aria, but that was a no-no according to Lawson's orders.
The foremost problem in Zaeed's mind was closer to hand; Jane Shepard was utterly beautiful.
Yes, she was pretty in the traditional sense, but that wasn't the whole story. If she had been just some regular person, or even a model of some sort, he wouldn't have paid her a second look. Women like that were everywhere. There were twenty billion humans in the galaxy, after all. No, it was the look in her eye when that batarian had insulted her, and she went immediately for the kill. There was fury, yes, but there was focus too. Zaeed knew what that mix felt like, how intoxicating it was. He liked her because she was like him. Very few women were.
He had even stupidly stood for her against that same batarian bastard. That was overprotective. Even territorial. Which was all a pity, because there was no way in hell he could ever have her.
He blew out another annoyed breath, and closed his eyes to go back to sleep. Leave it be, old man, he thought, before finally slipping back under.
The awakening from Feron came after what felt like only a few minutes, in the form of a few pushes against his shoulder. Zaeed woke to the sight of expanded drell pupils, and jerked up slightly in surprise.
"Damn it Feron!" he said loudly, rubbing his eyes, "Don't do that." The drell backed off, making his apologies and scuttling off back to the cockpit of the shuttle.
"We're coming up on Omega," Feron called as he moved, with no small amount of sarcasm, "Thought you would want to know."
Zaeed's shout had roused Shepard too. She was suddenly very alert and sitting up straight in her place, ready to move instantly if there had been danger. She slept lightly, he realised. He hoped that didn't mean she knew he had been staring at her while thinking of the problems they would all be facing shortly. He scratched his chain in idle thought about the idea, and sat up himself.
"Okay, angel," he said to her, "We're almost to Omega. You ever been there?"
The green eyes swivelled to him, with their own question. Zaeed quickly realised what he had said was stupid.
"Never mind," he said, before she could answer, "Memory. Sorry. What you need to know is that it's dangerous. Gangs, mercenaries, scum in general. It's a barrel of laughs when you're not being chased, because every two bit criminal thinks they're Blasto or something, but for us, it's not going to be any fun."
Shepard frowned. "I know about Omega... for some reason," she said, "By reputation? If there's a safe place there, I would be surprised."
Zaeed reached over and grabbed on of the datapads. "We don't know if your captors survived that little surprise we left them," he continued, "But we're going to assume they did. That means there's only one place that's safe for you, until Cerberus and maybe the Alliance show up."
He tapped at the datapad, and turned it back to her.
"This is Afterlife," he said, "It's a nightclub, but it's also what passes as the centre of government. It's owned by Aria T'Loak, Queen of Omega. She plays court up on the main floor. Below is the VIP area. That's where we'll be safe. Aria won't tolerate mercenaries shooting up her club, but under no circumstances will you or I go up to the main floor. If she saw either of us, she would want to know what the hell we were doing there."
Shepard seemed to accept that logic. "The Queen of Omega and the dead Spectre," she said, "Yeah, not having that conversation."
Zaeed grunted with amusement. "Yeah, bad day for us if we have to explain that one," he said, "So we'll enter at the VIP entrance. It's unmonitored by VIs but heavily guarded. There's an omnitool in the box below your seat, stick it on. It's on the map there. There are armed bouncers at the door. If we're separated, you get there. Tell the bouncers that Jaroot said you could get in."
An eyebrow raised, as she pulled out the omnitool and put it on her left wrist. "Who is Jaroot?" Shepard asked.
"A salarian pimp who liked to drink," Zaeed said, "He used to run with Aria's crew, way back when she was just getting started. He's been dead for centuries. His name is just a pass phrase now, but if you think they doubt your word, joke about how he might turn green from grey if he keeps up his drinking habit."
Shepard's lip curled in disgust, probably at the pimp part of that explanation, but she nodded to show that she'd rely on that information if the time came. Which had spectacular effects on her hair. Zaeed felt a pang of want, but kicked it down in his head, and pointed to a locker at the back wall of the shuttle.
"That's your weapons locker," he said, "You'll find a Viper and a Piranha in there. Grab them. We'll be docking in a few minutes."
The black jellyfish shape of the station and its red glow was looming large in the forward window, as Feron chattered with a traffic controller about where they were going to put in.
"Piranha?" Shepard inquired.
Zaeed blinked. He had forgotten that she had missed the last year and a half or so of weapons development, on top of everything else. That she remembered what a Viper was seemed promising, at least.
"Automatic shotgun," Zaeed replied, "Tears through vorcha like paper. You're going to need it where we're going."
The Tuhi docks were a hive-like structure of shuttlepads, open to space if not for the mass effect fields and emergency blast doors keeping atmosphere inside them. It was the closest dock to Afterlife save for Aria's own, and only served small craft. Heavy shuttles at the largest.
The ship landed in its usual place, in a darkened bay with only red emergency lighting. Like so much of Omega. Zaeed was a regular on the station, and his reputation preceded him. That bought him a small but very convenient berth, especially so if one wanted to avoid the rabble. Unfortunately, it wasn't the rabble he was facing this time. It was the others; anyone of rank in the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack also had access to the dock.
There were advantages and disadvantages to using that particular entryway.
Aria's personal forces controlled it tightly. There was no fighting there without upsetting her. That meant Zaeed could get Shepard onto the station without being immediately ambushed, or blown up on the landing pad. Being the closest to Afterlife also greatly reduced the travel time required through the areas that fighting wouldn't cause Aria upset.
On the down side, if the Broker had enough information put out, his cats-paws could make them almost immediately. The corridors of his ship were monitored; if some of his servers survived, he might even have pictures of Shepard, albeit in armour head-to-toe, that he could put out there. Zaeed wasn't sure if the Broker would even want her alive at this point. A single shot out of the dark could end everything. Well, not a single one. Shepard did have pretty good shields built into her suit.
Shepard herself had the helmet back on, somehow twisting that huge back-length flow of hair up to fit inside it. When the doors opened, she stepped out into the small bay first, Viper raised. She checked the corners, and when she was satisfied there was no enemy waiting, she knelt with the barrel pointed straight at the only exit; the elevator door.
Zaeed felt a certain unease clutch his insides, as if he had just discovered something. She had just executed a perfect sweep of the room. How could she remember that but not her own name? What the hell had the Broker been doing to her?
"Easy, angel," he said, patting her on the shoulder, "This is part of Aria's turf. No one can touch us here. At least, as long as Aria doesn't find out we're here. Which she won't, as long as we don't hang around too long. Thank your lucky stars that the Broker isn't likely to tell her about it, you'd be far more valuable to her than him." Alliance politics being what they were at that moment.
Shepard relaxed a little, lowering her weapon and standing up, but her eyes didn't move off the door. "Gotcha," she said, "What next?"
Zaeed turned to Feron, standing at his maximum height and crossing his arms.
"Cerberus thanks you for your service," he said, "Payment will be wired to your account on Illium. Best you get lost now, before things get hairy."
The drell blinked, getting the drift immediately. Cerberus meant human. Not that Zaeed was a supremacist, he generally didn't trust anyone unless he knew them very well. Aliens were just harder to know. There was also another problem; Feron was a true mercenary. Politically, it wasn't wise to keep the alien around. Practically, who knew what his real allegiance was. He couldn't be seen with them. It would raise questions.
"I've got a ship waiting down on Fumi," Feron said, walking to the elevator, "See you in another life, Zaeed."
"You'll be waiting a long time if you want to see me in the next life, Feron," Zaeed replied, "Good luck, frogman."
The doors closed and the drell disappeared. The whirring of the motors told that he had left.
"Shouldn't we have went with him?" Shepard asked, her helmet finally pointed in his direction, "Or better yet, we could have used his help."
"Feron's a spy, not a soldier," Zaeed shrugged, "Besides, I need to talk to you before we head out there."
Shepard's helmet tilted. "About what?" she asked.
"Batarians," Zaeed replied, pointing at her, "You fly off the handle when you see them. That's all well and dandy if we're somewhere else, but you've got to control it here."
The black armoured former Spectre waved her hand dismissively. "Whatever," she said, "I'll try not to get us killed. But if one of those four-eyed freaks steps up to the plate, I'm sending him to hell. You haven't seen what I've seen."
Zaeed drew his lips back in an annoyed grimace. "I guess that will have to do," he said slowly, "In fact, if you keep it to annoyances rather than being indiscriminate, that might help us. But I will end you if I end up being shot at by every batarian on the station because you couldn't keep your cool. Is that clear?"
He didn't like having to issue that threat, it tore at him a little and made him doubt he could do it, but he was sure to show absolutely none of that in his tone or posture.
"As crystal," Shepard replied flatly.
"Good," Zaeed said, "Sling that Viper and let's get going. Feron should be clearing the dockyards now."
Shepard did as she was told, collapsing the rifle into its carry-form and hanging it off the maglock on her leg. She quickly checked that the shotgun, hung off the small of her back, was snug, before nodding to Zaeed to lead the way. He couldn't help but give a small chuckle as he walked on. She was so military, it was funny.
The elevator ride was short. Less than a minute in near-pitch black, followed by a large concourse area bathed in brighter red light than the dock bay had. The usual guards were about. Mostly turians, in dark grey and bronze coloured armour, armed with assault rifles. Aria's people, under Gavorn. A few people coming and going, but no one of consequence for the mission.
"Follow me," Zaeed said, "No talking. No weapons. If someone stops us, let me do the talking."
A single nod came. Again, good enough.
Zaeed paced forward; quick, long steps. Anyone who looked on would see that he was in a hurry. He eyed anyone who got near too, and not with a friendly smile, but a scowl. Shepard was hot on his heels, albeit having to half jog to keep up as he was taller than she was. The idea was simple. Nothing unusual to be seen. Just his usual, pissed off self, coming back from a mission. Not a time to stop him for a chat.
They made it to the doors to the Tuhi side passages, making it past the first two sets of guards unhindered, when they opened.
In stepped four figures from the gloom beyond. All four were in combat armour, painted blue and white. Blue Suns logos on the front. The rear two were guards, having full-face helmets. The one in the middle was a human woman, with neck-length hair dyed metallic red. The one in front was a batarian with rust coloured skin that faded into near-white on the edges of his face. The batarian was no stranger.
Shit, Zaeed thought, it's Tarak. Leader of the Blue Suns on Omega. A perfect storm had just landed right on his boots. Someone who definitely would stop to talk to him and would even follow if he refused. Someone who might set off Shepard's murderous hatred of batarians. And someone the Broker might have already put on their trail.
"This fucking thing," Tarak said, stopping in the doorway and tapping on his omnitool, "It says I have a high priority message, but I can't access it. Jentha, fix this!"
"Can't, sir," replied the human female, "It's the structures around here. Hardened against EMP attacks. Some places block the signals."
The bastard wasn't moving, instead blocking the way and continuing to fiddle with his omnitool. Zaeed was sure that he had noticed that he was stopping their exit, and didn't care. His second had even began to stare at them, like she expected them to get the hell out of the way first. Expect there was no real way to do that. The corridor was too narrow. It was a side exit, which was the whole point.
Shepard's hands were held behind her back, seemingly at a military rest but in actual fact ready to pull her shotgun out. Her tolerance for the situation was decreasing rapidly.
Only thing to do was dive in.
"Problems, Tarak?" Zaeed said loudly, "You always were too angry with your comms. That has a mind of its own. Sooner you learn that, the better."
The batarian had looked up from his omnitool, and his eyes widened.
"Zaeed?" Tarak said, "What are you doing here?"
"Going for a drink with my friend here," Zaeed replied, thumbing to Shepard beside him, "You're in the way."
"Am I?" Tarak said, "Or are you?"
The guards took that to mean that they should step forward menacingly, which might have been a threat to someone other than Zaeed. To say nothing of how quickly the Angel of Death would have ended their lives.
But Tarak's intentions were not in line with what his subordinates had assumed, and before Shepard could begin reaping, he waved them off.
"Relax you idiots," he said, "Don't you see that tattoo? Zaeed Massani is one of us." Shepard's helmet swung, as she looked up at him. At the Blue Suns tattoo on his neck.
"Used to be," Zaeed replied, "Vido fucked it all up. Not one of you any more."
"Yeah, he's a real asshole," Tarak shrugged, "But his days are numbered. Dal'serah and Vosque are pissed off with him. Keeps getting the west branch into fights with Cerberus. Hear you work for them now. Really hurts my feelings as a batarian." The alien laughed heartily.
It was a good sign. There was no way in hell the Blue Suns had gotten the bounty yet, if they ever would.
"I work for me," Zaeed lied, "Now, are you going to get out of my way?"
Tarak snorted. In the batarian fashion, he made a ritualistic swing of the head to indicate dominance. He was a Terminus batarian, Zaeed knew, and he didn't really buy into all that traditional crap that the former Hegemony types did. But that didn't stop him from calling on his people's culture when it suited. With that display complete, probably made for the benefit of his batarian guards, he shoved past, pushing Zaeed against the bulkhead.
"You're getting out of my way," Tarak said politely, "See how easy it is?"
"Yeah, yeah," said Zaeed, crossing his arms again, "What next? We going to get our trousers open, see who's packing the bigger weapon?"
Tarak laughed, and waved his companions to move past, which they did. "I like you Zaeed," he said, "Sure you don't want to come back, help me scalp Vido?"
A snowball's chance in hell. The offer wasn't anywhere near serious. And the whole disagreement between Zaeed and Vido, the founders of the Blue Suns, was over the likes of Tarak. Batarian involvement in the company. It was profitable, but it brought the whole corporation low.
"Na, that bastard is all mine," said Zaeed, baring his teeth, "Good luck getting to him first."
The batarian made a batarian smirk, and began walking off at a casual pace.
"See you then," Tarak said, waving over his shoulder, "Maybe next time, I won't be so polite."
Zaeed couldn't reply before the omnitool on the man's wrist beeped loudly once.
"About time!" Tarak said to Jentha, "It's loading up. Slowly, but surely. Hopefully it's just another one of Vido's fuckups, and not something to cancel our exercises for..."
"Yes sir," Jentha replied with a smile.
A terrible suspicion fell over Zaeed, setting his blood on fire; that the message was from the Broker.
He took Shepard by the arm and rushed her out the door, turning the corner onto the dark side street as fast as possible. Luckily, it was completely empty until where the main entrance to the docks opened out onto the central avenue. All doors were closed too. It was late by the standard station time. There were no vendors operating. Good.
"We're out of Aria's complex," he said to the woman, "Viper out. Now."
Shepard complied immediately, the semi-auto rifle expanding into her hands. Again, she took a knee and aimed at the door they had just come out of. Clever girl, Zaeed thought, she had drawn exactly the same conclusion he had. He grabbed his own Avenger off his back, and cocked it to put the first heatsink into the chamber.
"ZAEED!" came a shout from the corridor into the docks. Followed by the sounds of running footsteps. Tarak knew.
No time to lose. His mind focused on survival at once. Plucking an incendiary grenade off of his belt, Zaeed pulled the pin and tossed it straight through the doorway. The entrance was engulfed in flame hot enough to melt steel, sparks of white-hot material sparking from multiple points. Good enough to delay his old colleague.
"Move!" he ordered, pointing in the direction away from the main entrance.
Shepard stood and broke into a run, far faster than Zaeed would have thought possible. So fast that he couldn't exactly keep up. No wonder she was a Spectre, he thought, as he plodded along behind her through the twisting route. She came to a halt at the next intersection, again dropping to her knee. This time however, she began cracking off shots around the corner at targets unseen. A whirlwind of shots came in reply, poorly aimed, almost all of them too high and getting higher.
Zaeed joined Shepard to find that the next intersection to the right was filled with vorcha, wearing the colours of the Blood Pack. At least twenty, if not thirty of them, spraying with their submachineguns, barely a tenth of the shots going anywhere near their position. Better yet, Shepard was putting them down with absolute precision. Headshots, one after the other, no chance for the vorcha's disgusting healing abilities to kick in. By the time she had run through her magazine, half the aliens were dead and the other had scrambled for cover.
Shepard cocked her rifle, reloading it, and turned her head to him. "Where to?" she asked, the red visor of her helmet aimed right at him.
Zaeed grinned like a maniac, taking great pleasure in what he had just seen. But they had to move quickly. Tarak would be close behind, and where there was Blood Pack vorcha on Omega, Blood Pack krogan were not far behind.
"So much for the shotgun," he said, raising his own rifle, "Another three blocks down, same direction."
"Affirmative," Shepard replied. She broke into her sprint again, causing Zaeed to groan inwardly. He followed as best he could.
They met no resistance, but more and more, saw citizens fleeing from the main avenue. This was soon joined by the sound of gunfire, which grew and grew in the few minutes it took to complete the first part of their journey. Shepard, inevitably, got there first. This time, she didn't kneel. She pressed herself up against the corner, and peeked around.
"What the hell?" she said, her voice carrying to Zaeed via the comms.
"What is is?" he asked, reaching her and stacking up behind her.
"The Blue Suns are fighting vorcha," Shepard replied, "Lots of them."
Zaeed looked around for himself. A Blue Suns platoon was being faced down at the square beyond, pouring out of a shuttle that must have only just left the docks a minute before. Not just by vorcha, but by krogan. Centurions with their glowing ablative armoured plates hovering around their bodies laid down heavy fire into the ranks of the vorcha meatshield, while the Blood Pack krogan were massing to make a charge of their own. The muzzle flashes were so frequent that they merged together into a single continuous light source, allowing every gory detail to be seen.
"I don't believe it," said Zaeed, "The Broker called all of them. At the same time." And now they were fighting each other for what had to be a huge reward.
"You nuked his ship," Shepard said, amusement rising in her voice, "What did you expect?"
"More sense from the being that's supposed to be the galaxy's big dog information dealer," Zaeed replied, pulling back from the edge as stray rounds began impacting on the ground nearby.
"Do we have to go through them?" Shepard asked, hefting her rifle up.
"No," Zaeed said, "There's an aircar lot down to the left. There's transport waiting for us. Since we lost Tarak, and no one over there is going to notice us with that fight going on, we can use that. If we hadn't, we'd be humping it through the tunnels for an hour or so."
"Then let's go," Shepard said, her head back around the corner, "Those krogan are going to charge. We won't get a better distraction." As if to illustrate her point, the guttural roar of the warriors' attack went up, accompanied by the deep barking of shotguns that the krogan favour. The sound of heavy weapons firing in response was the cue to go, Zaeed decided.
"With me!" he said, before crossing the intersection at a quick pace, not quick enough to be noticed in anyone's peripheral vision. Shepard didn't sprint ahead this time, following behind at the same speed.
The walk away from the fight was tense, but as with much of Omega, the blocks were irregular in size, allowing them to take a few twisting turns out of harm's way after passing another intersection or two. The aircar parking lot wasn't far either, and was one of many that Zaeed knew were dotted around the area of the docks. In fact, he had placed getaway vehicles in three others, partially as decoys in case someone was monitoring him, partially so that they would have multiple directions they could flee in if compromised seriously. This was just the closest one. He was buoyed with every step towards it. The plan was working, more or less.
The lot was protected by a strong kinetic barrier twenty feet high, the pedestrian access only opened with a passcard. It was for high end vehicles, owned by the wealthy inhabitants of this part of the station. Mostly Aria's top goons and those of the PMCs. The barrier glowed an angry orange, becoming more apparent as they got closer.
Zaeed tapped the passcard against the barrier, and a gap large enough to accommodate even an elcor appeared. Shepard rushed through first, in among the luxury aircars and limos, weapon at rest. Zaeed himself stepped in and tapped the passcard again, closing the door. They were safe from anything but the most concentrated fire, for the moment.
"Which one is it?" Shepard asked, her helmet plate sliding over the top of her head to reveal her face.
"Hot red one," Zaeed replied, "The Ferrari." The stolen Ferrari from Bekenstein, he was tempted to clarify. Perks of being part of a 'terrorist group' in the eyes of Citadel law. Theft wasn't a big deal.
Shepard looked around, and frowned in the... cute way that she did.
"There are three red Ferraris here," she replied.
Massani grinned at the joke she hadn't noticed yet.
"Yeah, but there's only one with the registration '007'," Zaeed replied, pointing, "In human numbers." Someone in Cerberus was a real joker.
Shepard rolled her eyes. "You remind me of someone," she said, "I can't remember who." She shrugged it off, and her faceplate slid back into place.
They negotiated the lines of vehicles carefully, although they could have just stepped onto and over most of them without great effort. Avoiding alarms was the idea, although Zaeed knew that on Omega, worse things could happen from interfering with someone's car. He'd seen everything from bombs to silent alarms that summoned gun drones. On Omega, that sort of preventive measure just made good sense. The latter was far more likely than the former here, as the lot had scanners that detected most explosives.
"Here we are," Zaeed said, taking out the keys from a back pocket.
Without warning, everything went dark. He missed the slot for the key entirely, cursing. He had probably scratched the paint. He looked around, trying to see what light had gone out. But it wasn't just the red ones on the floor. The entire quarter of the district seemed to have lost power. Including the kinetic barriers. A chill went down Zaeed's back. Someone had cut the power.
Shepard realised the significance of that before he did, and dragged him to the ground, holding up her finger to quiet him. She lay on top of him, which would have been very pleasant to Zaeed if it wasn't for the accompanying sounds. A whining rumble of shuttle engines. The clank of touchdowns. A staccato of thump-thump-thump that increased in volume, with the occasion bursts of comm chatter. The roar of the shuttles dusting off again.
They weren't alone any more.
"Zaeed Massani!" called an artificially loud female voice, in sari, "This is the Eclipse. We know you're in there. Your friend too. Jaroth is directing more forces to join us. You're fucked. Come out and we won't harm you. We'll leave that to the Broker, whatever he has planned for you."
Nothing nice.
The bitch, Zaeed thought. It was guaranteed that they had mechs and probably biotic vanguards too. The Eclipse always were the most dangerous of the merc companies, in his opinion. And now, they were hunting him. So much for the plan's success.
Shepard shifted her weight off of Zaeed, and moved to aim. Before she could, a barrage of shots ripped through the cars around them for a couple of seconds, sending her back down into cover again. No joy.
"That was just a warning!" the asari continued, "If we have to go in there and drag you out, I promise you it will be painful. Get your ass out here, with your hands up and your weapons left behind!"
Zaeed sat up against the aircar, and looked over at Shepard. She was in the process of taking her helmet off. No point hiding now, he thought. Her hair flowed out again, untwisting under its own weight. It set off his protective instinct again, except this time he was fully aware of it. And he decided to use it.
"Let me tell you something," he said, "Surrender is not an option."
Shepard shone a dazzling, canine smile back at him, her green eyes ablaze.
"I agree," she said, "We won't agree to their surrender."
They stared at each other for a little while, before bursting out with chest-splitting laughter, which carried and echoed around the lot. They clutched onto each other mostly just to stay upright. The absurdity of the entire situation seemed complete. Why not laugh yourself to death?
"A girl after my own heart," Zaeed laughed.
"What the hell!" the asari beyond exclaimed, "They're crazy. Troopers, mechs, forward!"
Another barrage began, shattering the glass of the Ferrari and ripping it along the sides. Their kinetic barriers flared, as some of the bullets came through the cover entirely. Red paint chips and glass dust covered them. Time to do something stupid.
Zaeed got up on his knee, and let loose with his Avenger. It was near pointless; the Eclipse had complete superiority of numbers. But what else was he going to do? Die in Shepard's arms? That didn't sound like the end of the story of Zaeed Massani to him.
The LOKI mechs lumbered forward straight into his shots, their plastic casings breaking off like eggshells from the stresses. They were tough little things despite it, dragging themselves along after losing limbs, determined to kill. But they weren't the real threat. The mercs had barriers. Not good ones, for the most part, but good enough to give them a chance to get behind something, even those who were advancing straight up the access lanes. At least, protection from his Avenger.
Shepard joined the show seconds later, a blue icon on her Viper's status screen indicating she had activated a disruptor mod.
The Eclipse troopers began to die. Shot straight through the chest, shot in the eye socket, those that didn't get into cover were ended instantaneously. After that, anything that stuck out even a few centimeters received Shepard's attention. Shoulders not crouched low enough, legs not brought in far enough, even the barrels of weapons. She emptied all thirty six shots in the weapon from all six heatsinks in minutes. If she missed a single one, Zaeed didn't see it.
He understood perfectly why she had been a Spectre. And why Cerberus wanted... no, needed her. This wasn't a mere soldier. This was a supernatural force.
The reasons became obvious to the Eclipse too, as they were forced to stop firing. Just before Zaeed's shields failed completely. Shepard's were of higher quality, but couldn't be that much better, because she ducked down hastily, making damn sure she couldn't be hit directly. Not that it would have mattered much. The Ferarri was now a wreck.
"You want to give up now?!" Zaeed roared, firing a burst blindly over the top, "There's plenty more where that came from!"
They were trying to take Shepard alive. Or else they would have blown up the whole lot, just to be sure she was dead. There was a slim, very slim, chance that he and she could make it out of this alive. But it required the Eclipse to be taunted into attacking stupidly. If they wouldn't do so themselves.
A car soared through the air, and landed behind them.
"Fuck this," the asari voice said, "Commandos, forward! Steady, don't rush!"
Zaeed's stomach dropped, forcing him to clench his teeth. Their odds of survival also dropped. To zero. That's the thing about asari, he thought to himself, piss them off and they almost always want to flay you with their minds.
Other cars flew, flipped and chucked by the biotic throws of the asari matrons now advancing through. Some of them were even held in place as moving barricades, screeching from the metal on metal with the ground.
Zaeed began to look around for a way out. There was no way in hell he was going to wait to be torn apart by warp fields. Shepard tapped him on the shoulder, but he ignored her, still looking. She slapped his shoulder again.
"What is it?" he growled.
Her helmeted head tossed a motion in the direction behind her, and she pointed at the ground. There was a vent. Large enough to fit a person. Well, a human at least. It would be a squeeze for him too.
"How convenient," Zaeed joked, "But how do we get over there?"
"One at a time," Shepard replied, "I go, you cover, then you run while I cover."
"And they're blocking their own view with those floating aircars..." Zaeed said, sending a glance over to make sure the asari were still doing just that. He gave a thumb to express his approval, and shifted so he could stand all the way up. And set his rifle to fire incendiary rounds.
"If I get hit, you go on without me," he said, "That's an order."
"Three, two, one..." said Shepard, not commenting on his order, before she sprinted across the open access lane and through the next partially filled spaces.
Zaeed stood just as she bolted, and let loose with his Avenger on full auto, spraying across the floating cars, hoping to set off a H2 fuel cell or two. Whether or not he would have been successful in that, he wouldn't find out.
From behind, a ripping brrrrrrrrrpt sounded so loudly that it felt like the vibrations were shaking his bones inside of his muscles. A stream of shots, large shots, fanned out over his head and into the cars. A ripple of explosions followed, as the explosive shells found the fuel far more easily than his rifle. The asari were flung back, onto their asses. Zaeed followed a second later, as more explosions and the sound of shuttle engines came again.
No, not shuttle engines, gunship engines.
The machines hovered over the lot and strafed the Eclipse position with rockets. Worse, walkers and light vehicles began appearing, the former crunching over the remains of the aircars towards the Eclipse. The latter coming to surround Zaeed from both sides.
He panicked. Grabbing his rifle once more, he crouched down, hoping to avoid detection, and searched for Shepard, praying to every god he could think of that she was still alive. He looked over at the vent, and found it open. Shepard was nowhere to be seen. She had followed his order.
The Angel of Death had escaped death for another day.
So relieved, Zaeed fell to his ass once again, and looked on at the battle with a certain sense of resignation. His part in this was over, for the moment.
The Eclipse too started to flee before the enemy, their full strength far from the place of the battle. Too far to expect reinforcements in time. They withdrew under the protection of biotic barriers, but had lost all their mechs and no small number of troopers in the process. Nothing interesting about that. Zaeed would have called a retreat even sooner than the asari had.
As for the newcomers, they were all human, which was interesting. More so was their identity. Dark grey and blue armour, with a turquoise light scheme and marksmen goggles on every trooper. Heavy troopers with ablative shields carried like ancient warriors used to. Designated marksmen with Incisor rifles. Riesig walkers and Mantis gunships, all bearing the name of their group.
CAT6.
They really were new, Zaeed thought to himself. For one, he'd barely heard of them, for another, they were acting like this on Omega. Heads would haved very possibly rolled, under different circumstances. But as it stood, this was all going down as the Blue Suns and Blood Pack looked like they were going to get into a full blown turf war. He couldn't deny a certain level of pride in having caused that particular piece of history.
It wasn't long before a weapon muzzle was pressed up against the base of his skull, and a black-clad figure appeared before him. Not like the others. No LEDs to indicate enhanced vision systems or barriers. Just jet black armour, that looked lighter than what the mercs were wearing. A helmet was removed, revealing a young woman, younger than Shepard, with short strawberry blonde hair, hazel eyes that leaned towards green, and a cheery smile.
"Hi Zaeed," the woman said, "I'm Kelly."
Zaeed cocked an eyebrow. She knew who he was, that was no surprise. He wasn't exactly famous, but he wasn't off the radar either. Especially on Omega. Her attitude was the problem.
"Hello," he growled back, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Where's Shepard, Zaeed?" 'Kelly' continued, "She's in a great deal of danger. I'd like to talk to her, before your Cerberus employers do. We can cooperate here, right?"
The soldier behind Zaeed gave him a nudge in the back of the head with whatever weapon was being held against it, which sent a spike of pain through him. Kelly scowled at the person behind, and the pain stopped. A humanitarian, Zaeed thought, just great.
"Oh, I'm all about cooperation," he replied sarcastically, "But I don't think talking to her will do you any good."
"Why's that?" 'Kelly' asked.
"She doesn't remember who she is," Zaeed replied, leaning back onto his hands, "Except for the fighting bit and the hating batarians bit. Especially that."
Kelly remained silent, clearly considering the implications of that... or perhaps considering if he was lying. She did seem like an astute young woman. She had organised whatever the hell this intervention was, after all. He knew she didn't have much time to hang around though, and it was shortly clear she knew this too. So she'd either shoot him, or...
"Take him," she commanded.
Zaeed found himself seized under the arm by two men, and dragged into the back of an airtruck.
Codex: Zaeed Massani
The date of Zaeed Massani's birth is unknown, due to records losses that occurred during the 2139-45 Cold War. The man himself has never given the same date of birth on any documentation available to any single government. What is known is that he was born in the United States around 2130-35, in New York Megapolis, to two service workers. He did not fare well at school, and joined the US Army in 2155. He quickly found himself in his element in the military, pushing himself to the limit but earning a reputation as a loner to most, with the exceptions being few and far between. This changed to a large degree over the course of two years, and he began to cultivate good relationships with the more hardened of recruits. This saw him placed in forward reconnaissance roles with similarly minded individuals.
In 2157, the First Contact War began. Unlike the bulk of national forces that saw combat under the command of the Systems Alliance during that conflict, he did not fight at Shanxi. Instead, his unit, the 525th Intelligence Brigade, was assigned to deep space reconnaissance operations in cooperation with a wolfpack from the Navy's Third Fleet. These operations began after the victory at Shanxi, and would continue for the month between the end of that battle and the armistice. The files on those ops remain classified under the Alliance's Thirty Year rule, and may remain so even after 2187, but it is known that Zaeed successfully reached the Terminus Systems during his tour. The chaos of that region of space, especially compared with its great wealth of resources and the possibilities for development, gave him an idea for exploiting it.
In 2160, he left the Alliance military and co-founded the Blue Suns Corporation, a private military company for contract in the areas of asset protection, pirate interdiction and convoy escorts. His partner was on Vido Santiago, another US veteran of the First Contact War. The company's intended client base was businesspeople looking to make money out of the Terminus and those already doing so looking to reduce the risk to their investments. The Blue Suns became hugely successful, expanded rapidly to become the largest mercenary group in the Terminus registered with the Citadel, and outstripped only in real terms by the Blood Pack's legions of vorcha.
By 2165 however, the company began to suffer a manpower shortage as a direct result of its success. It needed more warm bodies to fill the ranks, but could not find them among humans. This was exacerbated by the human entry into the Citadel market in 2165, followed by large grants of land in colonies, which were far safer and far more immediately profitable to humans looking to make their way in the galaxy.
Santiago suggested recruiting aliens, and even began the process by bringing in well known freelancers of many species. Massani agreed that turians were a good addition to the company, and even krogan in limited numbers, but the two co-founders came to a clash over the presence of batarians. By this point, batarian terrorism and piracy in the Skyllian Verge had begun and was on the rise. Massani refused to allow enemies of humanity to be recruited into his corporation en masse, and attempted to rally other leading officers. Santiago shot him in the head for the trouble, and took overall control of the corporation, placing a batarian, Dal'Serah, as figurehead CEO.
Massani survived the gunshot to the head, and fell into freelancer work himself after almost killing himself by alcohol poisoning. Vowing to return to the top of his game, he began taking ever more risky jobs, eventually becoming an agent of the Shadow Broker. It was during this time that his exploits became legendary within the mercenary community, particularly after his hijacking and destruction of the turian frigate Verrikan.
Soon after that incident, he was contacted by Cerberus agents looking to recruit him. They knew all about his betrayal at the hands of Santiago, and approved of his 'stand' to keep the Blue Suns as human as possible. They were also aware of his status as an agent of the Broker. The Confederation of the Terminus, the independent human worlds forming their own government, were just emerging. Good operatives were needed, more than Cerberus had to hand. Unable to turn down the paycheck, which was considerable, or the chance to fight for what he saw as a more aggressive human policy, Massani agreed.
He remained an agent of the Shadow Broker, part of his job being to spy on the information trader's activities while carrying them out, reporting to Miranda Lawson alone. The Broker, for his part, allowed him to take jobs from Cerberus, unaware that he had actually joined the organisation. Cerberus became his main source of employment.
During the Eden Prime War, Massani was heavily involved in the Terminus campaign carried out by Cerberus to ease the way of human-quarian Versailles Pact forces through the region to the Perseus Veil, with the Shadow Broker even providing intelligence on pirate bases to facilitate the job. This cooperation between Cerberus and the Broker ended immediately after the end of the war. The Broker seemed to shift focus away from the Reapers, just as the secret of their existence was being proved to the world. This greatly worried the Illusive Man, who ordered Massani to continue his cover and get as deep into the Broker's organisation as possible. It was this that allowed the eventual rescue of Shepard in 2185.
Codex: C-Sec Inquiry – 2183/4
In 2183/4, an inquiry was held at the request of the human councillor of the Citadel Council into the assassination and/or kidnapping of Jane Regina Shepard, Council Spectre and Commander of the Systems Alliance Navy. Its primary object was to determine if C-Sec were in any way responsible via negligence or malice for the incident.
From December to February, the inquiry heard evidence as to the conditions around Zakera Ward and the state of C-Sec forces there, transcripts of comms in the weeks leading up to the incident, crime data from the area, witness testimonials and cross examination of key parties. The inquiry eventually collapsed before its findings could be published officially, due to the intervention of three of the four other species councillors after it had begun. This was done to preserve the reputation of C-Sec at a critical time.
The findings were leaked days later. C-Sec was found to be partially responsible for the crime. Despite their huge losses to the geth, C-Sec had retained the ability to maintain law and order, primarily because their street roles were then being filled first with Alliance troops and later with the added assistance of Hierarchy military formations. However, no evidence of corruption or cooperation with the would-be assassins was found, and the security measures around Shepard's apartment were not so insignificant as to be easily discarded. The criminals used drones to carry out the lethal part of their attack, undetected by sensors placed streetside, the criminals not themselves being armed and posing as a legitimate business in operation. There were indeed units of both C-Sec and the Alliance Army stationed in the district of Shepard's residence, but these were found to be attending to other serious crimes at the time.
Despite this mostly exonerating the police forces of the Citadel, it caused outrage among the officers that any blame could be laid at their feet at all. The controversy resulted in the withdrawal of Alliance troops under CITFOR in March 2184, as cooperation between them and C-Sec became untenable until the recruitment of many humans to fill the empty places of those that were killed by the geth later that year.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So Shepard arrives on Omega... and the mess begins. I always like Zaeed as a character. Obviously, this shines through in this chapter. Kelly too.
As always, codex requests or suggestions are always appreciated.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
