AN: I don't know. I was going for chaotic. Too busy? Should I have done more with Grunt and Thane? Garrus? Tali and Samara?
Alison Gunn, Yacht Golden Labradoodle, Bekenstein
"Really, Kasumi?" 'Alison' sighed.
"Don't worry about it, Mister Gunn," the thief grinned from the backseat. She was enjoying this a bit too much. "Over the last few months I've been seeding information about you 'Devil Dogs'. Full spread in Mercenary's Weekly, regular donations to the right political parties, things like that. Even some fake receipts and logs."
"Uh huh," Alison continued to frown. "And why the shitty statue?"
"Because Hock is the kind of megalomaniac that would love something like that," Kasumi made a face as she thought about it. "He and Saren did a lot of business. In fact, you could say that Hock is where he is now because of it."
"Fine then, finish your rundown," Alison sighed again, defeated.
"You are bringing your trophy date," Kasumi chuckled as she looked Samara over. The asari Justicar was sitting in front, next to Alison. She was wearing a long flowing red dress that sat off the shoulder and showed almost as much cleage as her combat suit. "I have to say, you look amazing."
"Thank you," Samara smiled slightly as she inclined her head. "I wasn't always a Justicar. I had my years in the social world."
"I'm the bodyguard!" Grunt grinned as he bounced up and down slightly. His exuberance made Alison question how well he was going to be able to keep it together.
"And I am the bodyguard that masquerades as the personal assistant," Thane sat in the back, his hands clasped before him. "Fairly standard. Drell accel as assistants because of our memories."
"Exactly!" Kasumi nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Garrus gets to guard the car and Zaeed stays in the fucking vehicle!" Kasumi actually turned around to glare almost hatefully at the old merc.
Zaeed sat, staring straight ahead. His fingers clenched and unclenched on his rifle as he seemingly ignored Kasumi.
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him," Garrus chuckled. "What's Tali's cover?"
"Token quarain," the token, herself, said. "I am," she cleared her throat and shifted her voice to a higher pitch. "I'm Mister Gunn's secretary. He was so kind to purchase my contract on Illium! I keep his calendar organized!"
"This is never going to work," Alison sighed yet again.
"Oh, come on, never thought of boss/secretary play?" Kasumi wrinkled her nose as she fought to keep her laughter down.
"Just calling it now."
Hock Estate
"Hold please," the guard in Blue Suns heavy armor hald up a hand as Garrus and Grunt pushed the giant, gaudy gold statue down the ship's loading ramp.
Honestly, the thing was hideous. It was probably twice as big as Saren actually was, and in a highly reflective gold.
Garrus had made some joke about it looking like the statue on Mindior. Whatever that meant.
"There a problem?" Alison crossed his arms as he glared at the guard.
"Scanning the statue. Standard procedure. Also, please check your weapons," the guard spoke far more politely than Alison would have expected.
With a dramatic sigh, he walked to the guard station, drawing a pair of light pistols from the inside of his jacket. He then withdrew two knives from the inside of his sleeves, one from between his shoulder blades, and another gun from the inside of his pant leg.
Samara withdrew a heavy pistol from her handbag, one from the inside of her thigh and one from the small of her back.
Thane...Thane deposited a small arsenal.
"Your bodyguards will have to wait there," the guard blinked at the pile of munitions on the table and gestured to a small building next to the landing area. "All the bodyguards are staying there. They will be provided refreshments for the duration of your stay."
Alison's eyes narrowed dangerously. He opened his mouth to say something when Samara lightly touched his arm. "Darling," she said. It was honestly impressive how she was able to let her eyes lose intelligence like that. "Darling, I want to get out of this wretched sun!"
"Is there an issue?" a strong, commanding voice spoke over the din of the entry.
"No, sir," the Blue Sun officer stood tall as he turned to regard one Donovan Hock. "The guests were checking their weapons."
"Sir!" one of the techs near the statue called out. "There is something odd with this statue!"
"Hmm?" Hock turned to look at the statue itself. As his gaze swept over it, he smirked to himself. "Something on the scans?"
"No sir," the tech shrugged. "That's the weird part. It isn't scanning at all."
"Oh, that's because I'm smuggling in weapons and armor so I can raid your base and steal all your treasures for myself," Alison shrugged as he stepped forward. "That's just how I roll."
Hock turned his smirk to Alison, and added a small chuckle. "Very well, mister Gunn. Come in. I look forward to your raiding. I wonder, do you intend to assassinate me as well?"
"Heaven's no!" Alison placed a hand on his own chest as his eyes went wide. "I have people for that!"
"Ha,ha," Hock laughed openly as he clapped Alison on the shoulder. "I quite enjoy you, Gunn. I am sure you will fitr in well here."
"What the hell was that?" Kasumi's voice came over the comm as an angry hiss.
"Cat and mouse, my dear….cat and mouse."
Tali, Hock Estate, Bekenstein
Honestly, the house was ridiculous. It was, in a word, huge. Just the floor that the party was taking place in was large enough to fit nearly a hundred cubicles, if it was on the Fleet.
The walls were covered with paintings, and art from almost every species. Except her own. She wasn't sure why that irritated it did.
To keep appearances, she had to walk a step or two behind John...or, Alison Gunn, as Kasumi created for him. And she got to watch him lead Samara around. Who looked amazing. And charming. Her smile sparkled. Her eyes gleamed. Her chest...bounced.
"If not for my oaths, I would probably have killed almost everybody in this room," Samara subvocalized into the comm.
"Well, good thing you have them, then," Garrus chuckled. "Nobody is even looking at us, by the way. We are a bit small compared to most of the ships here. If only we were pirates or something, we could make a rather large fortune."
"Food's good," Grunt added. "Lotta guards here. Probably half are krogan. They seem to keep looking at me funny."
"They are probably wary," Thane came in. When you walked in the first thing you said was 'I can kill almost everybody here with a dessert fork'."
"Subtle," Kasumi sighed. "I'm almost down to the vault. Security is even better than one would expect for a man of Hock's reputation."
"Is it going to be an issue?" John...Alison...whatever. He smiled and chatted aimlessly. It was banal that Tali couldn't track what was being said. She could, however, tell that he was both incredibly bored as well as disgusted.
"Please," Kasumi sounded insulted.
"Sorry," John laughed quietly. Whether it was in reaction to Kasumi, or the thing that turian was saying about asari sexual practices, Tali wasn't sure.
"Gunn," a beefy, heavily muscled man brushed aside the turian John had been chatting with to loom above John. "I lost out on contracts because of your weak little band!"
"I'm sorry, have we met? I am fairly sure I would remember someone of your...smell," John waved a small handkerchief in front of his nose.
John was...weird. He was a large man. On the upper end of the human average, let alone compared to quarian males. He also had an astounding amount of combat experience. He was probably one of the single most dangerous people in the galaxy.
Alison Gunn, however, seemed to be somewhat feminine. His posture was so different he seemed shorted, and smaller than he really was. He also stood is such a way that conveyed arrogance, yet also seemed weak? Personally non threatening.
This large man, however, seemed to be even more insulted."You son of a bitch!" he roared, drawing back a fist, and lunging forward.
John's reaction was...weird. His eyes shot wide as he stumbled back with a little high pitched shriek, colliding with Tali and nearly sending them both to the floor in a heap. Luckily, she was able to keep her feet, as well as hold him up.
Samara, however, stepped forward. With a casual hand, she caught the large human's fist in her open palm, her fingers wrapping around it. And she did it without her biotics. Her bare strength alone was enough.
The man's eyes bulged slightly as he stared at the Justicar. Her own eyes flat and dead as she stared back.
"What is the meaning of this?" Hock pushed his way through the small crowd that had gathered around the small incident. The people were like some sort of parasite, clinging onto anything that might offer blood for their debauched minds. "Leonard. I did not invite you here to assault my guests. And your betters."
"Hock!" the man, Leonard, said in shock as he stumbled back from Samara. He had to struggle slightly to pull himself from her grip, which seemed to make him even more uncomfortable. And honestly, Tali was pretty sure Samara had let him go. "I...Gunn and...I…"
"Enough, Leonard. I'm afraid our business relationship is terminated," Hock looked at the large man the way one would look at some sort of insect.
Leonard pales as his mouth moved, but he seemed unable to make words. He then stepped toward hock, one arm stretched out in a pleading gesture as two Blue Suns stepped next to him. One pressed a small device to the back of Leonard's head, and let off a small *pop*.
The next moment, Leonard's eye rolled back in his head as a small trickle of blood rolled out of his nose. His massive body dropped into the guard's arms as they swiftly took the body away.
"My apologies, mister Gunn," Hock nodded slightly as John stood up from Tali's arms.
"No-" John started in a high pitch before clearing his throat and dropping into a lower pitch than normal, as if he was trying to cover for hios little slip. "No, it's fine. But, say, was that one of the new Testriee Skull Crackers? I thought they were illegal!"
"Ah, yes," Hock grinned with a wink. "They are the latest model, straight from batarian space. The best new device in wetworks. On lower settings they work amazing at keeping one's slaves in line."
"Hear that?" John turned to Tali, nudging her. "Make a note. I want to get a batch of those before the Marse run."
"Y..yes sir," Tali quickly ducked her head as she began typing into her omnitool. She set it to direct transfer to John's HUD.
Don't enjoy this too much. I don't do that kind of play. Unless you are the damsel in distress.
"I think that can be arranged," John said to her, quietly.
Tali could feel her face flush as a giddy feeling rolled over her. This is not the time! She admonished herself.
"Enjoy the party, mister Gunn," Hock gave John a small nod before drifting back into the crowd.
"I hate that man," John grumbled under his breath.
Kasumi, Vault Security
Impressive set up. Kasumi nodded. Bio scanner. Voice print. Password. Yes. Impressive.
Kasumi crossed her legs as she sat back on the unconscious man that was manning the security station. The moron had been playing some kind of game on his omnitool when Kasumi cracked him with her taser.
"But, nothing I couldn't crack in my sleep," she said aloud with a small, self satisfied laugh.
A casual flick of her wrist and the security feeds started a loop. It would probably be a good twenty minutes before any dedicated security noticed. Assuming there was somebody other than the one she was sitting on.
It was almost too easy. What if Hock was onto them? That didn't really make sense though. If he knew he wouldn't have let the statue in, seeing as how it had all the weapons and armor stashed in it.
She was probably just jumpy. The man had killed Keji with his own hands. He, apparently, did something terrible to Zaeed, and he seemed to have kidnapped one of Mordin's students.
All in all? The man was a dead man who just didn't know it yet.
"Okay, Shep," Kasumi, finally ready, said through the comm. "I'm about to insert Tali's program. Power will be out for thirty seconds."
"Ready," Shep came back. His voice had an odd quality to it. Kinda like…"Are you eating?"
"Gotta keep my strength up," he was completely unapologetic. "Besides, this little weiners in barbecue sauce are really good. I kinda wish I had brought a container."
"Power in, three...two...one…" Kasumi growled out as she set up the program. "Go."
With a touch of a button, the building's power blinked off, dropping everybody into darkness. There were screams and shouts as guests panicked.
So much for the elite of the mercenary world. They still had the giant windows letting in the lowering sunlight.
"Goddess," Shep grunted as he slipped into the security room. "I had two nubile women jump on me, squealing. Any other time and I would have enjoyed it."
"Oh really," Tali asked with dry humor.
"Umm...how about we get our gear?"
Grunt, Side Party
These were really good...whatever they were. It was some sort of ground up meat, mashed into a patty, then grilled. Next they put slices of cheese on it, some fresh vegetables and condiments, then stuck it between two slices of bread.
Whatever they were, they were fantastic.
The drinks were crappy though. Just wine and some sort of watery, fizzy drink that they called beer.
Humans had no taste for liquor.
Except Shepard. He could do anything.
Alison
"Alright, Tali, you and Samara wait here," Alison indicated the small area just before the vault's main doors. "Something happens, I want you two as rescue squad. Secondary rescue will be Thane and Grunt, followed by Garrus and Zaeed."
"Confirmed." "Roger." "Ready."
"Before we go," Alison gave Kasumi a look. "What's with the giant duffels. You could probably fit a body in each of them."
"You can," Kasumi grinned. "I've stolen slaves before. And in this situation, I was thinking we might as well do some shopping."
"Kasumi…" Alison wanted to be upset, but the offhanded way she mentioned 'stealing' slaves made him pretty much willing to forgive anything.
"What? The man has stolen priceless artifacts from pretty much every species he can get his greasy hands on," Kasumi sneered. "Blood money to take a people's culture."
"Right, sold," Alison shrugged. "Priorities. We get the greybox, then targets of opportunity."
"Alright," Kasumi agreed, tapping into the door.'Breaching….now!"
"What...the hell…." Lison blinked as he and Kasumi slipped into the brightly lit vault.
Everywhere around them were statues, paintings, frescos. Sections of former buildings that had elaborate carvings, rock that had been chipped into form by stoneage hands. Golden coffins depicting long dead races. All of it rare or unique. And nearly all of it illegal.
"Wow...Michelangelo's David," Kasumi pointed out the marble state. Cracks and chips covered it, but couldn't take away any of its majesty.
"Couple Van Gogh paintings," Alison pointed out before turning to some...thing. It was about the size of a terren cow, but was all sharp edges and points.
"Huh, turian sculpture," Kasumi tilted her head. "Turians don't do much physical art. Looks like for a reason. Their music is amazing though."
"Kasumi…" Alison stood, just noticing something.
"Hey, this is quarian," Kasumi tapped on a case. "Carved into stone tablets. Wonder how long it was since they worked stone like this."
"Kasumi…"
"Ew," Kasumi shrank back from a particularly ugly statue. It was bigger than a krogan, with a wide flat mouth, small beady eyes, and strange branching horns. It was dressed in some sort of ragged armor. "Don't want to run into whatever that is."
"Kasumi!"
"What?" she finally whirled, a frown on her face until she tracked Alison's finger. "How...how did he get that in here?"
The pair of robbers stood staring at the far end of the vault. At the largest, by far, piece in the entire place. It was huge, made of copper, and was only slightly damaged.
"How the hell did Hock get a hold of the Statue of Liberty's head?" Alison breathed.
"They only recovered half of the statue after that earthquake destabilized its island," Kasumi gave a little shrug. "I can't imagine the expense of slipping that out, unseen."
Alison gave a quick shake of his head as he turned back to Kasumi. "Any luck?"
"Yes," Kasumi felt her brow curl as she looked at a particular case. "It's right...is that...the Locust?"
"What?" Alsin asked joining Kasumi. "Two of them?"
The pair stood over a rather impressive pair of SMGs. The hands seemed to be made of ivory, and they both had gold engravings along the sides and barrel. One of them also has dull brown stains.
"The gun that killed two presidents," Kasumi glanced up at Alison. "And a perfect replica. They even seem loaded."
"And right next to the greybox," Alison indicated the small device. That sat next to the weapons.
"Yes," Kasumi swallowed. "It's hard to look at…."
"And it will do you no good," Donovan Hock's giant see-through head appeared at the far end of the vault, obscuring the Statue of Liberty's. "I've worked on the device for a year."
"That's because it doesn't belong to you," Alison stepped forward. "None of this does."
"Ah, mister Gunn," Hock gave a cruel smile. "How much did the thief pay you for this exercise? Either way, it wasn't worth your life."
"You won't get away with this," Kasumi spat, her fists clenching at her sides.
"Miss Goto, I get away with whatever I like," Hock laughed darkly. "I do the dirty work so that important people can keep their hands clean. And now that I have you, I will be able to crack the infuriating device. And with the information it has, I will rule the Alliance from behind the curtain. Or destroy it!"
"Oh, goddess," Alison rubbed his hand over his face before putting his helmet's visor down. "Screw this." With a biotic flare, Alison smashed his fist down onto the display case, shattering the glass lid. Reaching in, he withdrew the two SMGs, tossing the replica to Kasumi, even as she snatched up the greybox. He then whipped around and fired a burst of the gun into a pair of clay pots, shattering them onto a cloud of dust.
"NO!" Hock roared. "Do you have any idea what those are worth! They were the only ones of their kind! I will burn everything you know, Gunn! I will find everything you loved! I will kill your friends, your family! I will kill your fucking mailman!"
"Name's John Shepard," John grinned. "Council Spectre. And I'm pretty sure everything in here makes a rather good case for arresting you."
"Kill them both!" Hock yelled as the giant image flickered out, to be replaced by doors at the far end opening and disgorging armored soldiers.
"Communications are out," Kasumi made a sour face as she stuffed objects into the duffels. "Pretty sure the building going onto alert will inform our team that there is an issue, though."
"One would think," John agreed as he fired a burt into one of the charging men, then twisted, grabbing another Sun, and using his body as cover, his team firing into his body. "About done with your doggie bags?" John's omniblade flashed out, stabbing a Sun through an eye as he dropped the body he had been holding and letting another burst take out more men.
"Let's go!" Kasumi stood and tossed one of the bags to John. "Don't worry, I grabbed the stuff for your girlfriend." Kasumi grinned as she pulled a grenade from her lower back, throwing it before a small knot of Suns.
"Gotta bring her something nice."
Thane
It was clear when something went wrong.
The lights went out for a short time, something that, naturally, put the room full of professional bodyguards on edge. Even when it came back up, they looked at each other suspiciously.
Grunt continued eating those cheeseburgers.
That was before the Blue Suns Mercenaries came in, however.
"Get down! Get down now!" they shouted, shoving into people, weapons swinging about. At professional bodyguards. Which, to be honest, were paid murderers.
Grunt and he were the ones the soldiers were pushing towards, naturally, so Thane decided he might as well act first.
With practiced hands, Thane snatched up the large knife and double tined fork that was being used to serves some type of roasted meat. He pivoted, his arm snapping out, throwing the knife in a powerful arc and burying it halfway into one of the Sun's throat.
Stepping forward, he caught the barrel of one of the guns, jerking the man forward and stabbing the large meat fork into the man's eyes, once, twice, and a third time, before dropping him to the floor.
Now with a weapon, Thane took the rifle and turned on the rest of the Suns, firing quick, controlled bursts and dropping them, one by one.
"My turn," Grunts deep rumble carried over the chaos as the massive krogan picked up the entire buffet table and swung it around as if were some sort of giant bug swatter.
Of course, in such a confined space, Grunt struck down far more random guards than he did Blue Suns. But on the brighter side, the battle now turned into a complete free for all.
Garrus
"Incoming," Garrus sighed, hefting his sniper rifle. He knelt next to the landing strut of the yacht and sighting in.
"About goddamn time!" Zaeed snarled as he stood and charged forward, his rifle blazing.
"No, sure, go right ahead," Garrus shook his head as he stood to follow after the maniac. "I'll be right there behind you."
Samara
"I can get the door open," Tali whirled as both sets of security doors slammed shut, trapping Tali and herself between them. "Which way should we go?"
"I would suggest the way we came," Samara's eyes narrowed as she regarded the door. "Shepard and Kasumi will need a distraction. And we will be able to cut reinforcements from being able to flank them."
"Right," Tali nodded as she began ripping apart the system. Her instincts screamed at her to follow John, help him. But her mind knew that she would never catch up to him, with how fast he was moving. And the fact that he seemed for irritated than anything else. "This security is made of tissue paper. I could have done better than this when I was ten."
"Is that so?" Samara smiled her small amused smile.
"Yeah, I mean, triple algorithms? Quadratic repeating? Biometric variable?" Tali snorted with disgust. "It's something a salarian would have built. Okay, six guards on the other side of the door. Ready?"
Samara's dark blue aura wrapped around her, making her dress puff and snap around her. "Yes. Let us eliminate these fools that would do evil."
John
"Is this an entire fucking munitions factory?!" John looked around with wide eyes. There had been a small explosion, breaking a hole into the floor and dumping him into a sub level.
"Shep! You okay?" Kasumi peeked over the edge.
"Yeah, fine," John shrugged. He picked up the duffel he had been carrying and gave it a throw, back up to Kasumi. "Take these. Head out. I'm going to swing through this level and see if I can pop out the other side."
"Are...are you sure?" Kasumi frowned down, looking troubled.
"All good," John gave her a thumb's up as he turned to look down the corridor. "If we let Hock get away, Zaeed will be fucking pissed."
"Alright," Kasumi clearly wasn't happy, but she could move faster, and quieter on her own. Then, with a last downward glance, the thief faded from view.
"Time to get dirty," John grinned a feral grin as he set off into the munitions factory. "Wonder how big of a boom were' going to get?"
Garrus
"That's not good," Garrus looked back the way he and Zaeed had come. There had been the sounds of large explosions, which, it turned out, to have been the ground underneath the landing area, caving in. And exploding. And burning.
"What was that?" Tali's voice came over the comm. It was the first thing that came through since the lock down started. Well, the first thing that wasn't static.
"We're going to need alternate transport," Garrus answered. "Garage just caved in."
"Must be John," Tali half sighed and half snickered. "Samara and I are almost out of the vault area."
"Zaeed plowed ahead," Garrus looked around for any sign of the merc. He could probably just follow the trail of bodies. "I'm holding the front door. When you….holy crap…"
"What?" Tali asked, worried.
"Uh, there is an asari in a dark suit ripping Blue Suns apart. I...I think it's Shepard's dad?" Garrus felt his mandibles drop wide as she watched the asari spin in a blur of biotics, slamming foes left and right. And when they fell, they didn't get back up.
"We're done too," Thane called as he and Grunt, casually, came out from the building they had been set aside in. Both of them were covered in blood and gore.
"Great," Garrus looked around, picking off the occasional Suns that popped up. "Now we need Shepard and Zaeed. And Kasumi."
Hestalia
This has to be John's fault. Hestalia frowned darkly. He had been shocked enough when he saw him in that altercation with another mercenary boss. Then his chock grew when he realized that the asari with him was a Justicar. And that is was Samara
Knowing something was going to happen. And that it would probably involve explosions. Hestalia had contacted her people, warning them to pull back, which they, unhappily, did. The comms cut out. Alarms seemed to go off. Then more shaking and running.
Fuck it. He had thought as he swept Blue Suns off their feet and slamming them to the ground with bone crushing force. If the boy is starting something, I might as well help.
It was clear that the suns had not expected a random guest to begin killing them, seeing as how long it took them to realize that somebody was, in fact killing them. And even when they did, their resistance was pitiful, not organized at all.
And he saw the one man in the universe that he hated above all others. Zaeed...Dark thoughts rolled through his mind as the son of a bitch crashed through the doors. He fired widely, cutting down Suns and random party goers, without stopping. He slammed through a door to the side, screaming obscenities about Vido Santiago.
Hestalia's first impulse was to crush the man like an overripe melon. And he would have done it if, at the last moment, he remembered Hannah saying that John needed him for the mission.
And he probably did. If Zaeed was good for anything, it was killing, and surviving. It sure as fucke wasn't being a good person.
"Hestalia?" a deep woman's voice pulled him from his reverie, turning him around to see the speaker. "What are you doing here?" Samara looked at him, stunned."
"Merc conference," Hestalia shrugged. "Hock is involved with a lot of shit. The other Eclipse didn't want to go near him, so I got volunteered."
"You are back in business?" Samara frowned a little, clearly upset. "When? Why?"
"Couple of years," Hestalia shook his head. "I'm with someone. I have children now. But one of them needs me to be a warrior again. The Reapers are coming and I need to do my best to get an army for him to fight with."
"Shepard," Samara looked at the ground for a moment. "I am helping him as well."
Hestalia blinked as she noticed Tali for the first time. Garrus was there too. And the krogan. "Thane," he sighed. "Where the hell does Johnny find you guys?"
"His cause is just," Thane bowed his head slightly. "My body and soul are one in this."
"Does this mean you found her?" Hestalia turned to Samara. "Is it over?"
"I have a lead," the Justicar looked her square in the eye. "I will finish my mission. Your sister will not kill more."
John
He froze.
There were a lot of men here.
A lot as in a small army. And they all had guns. That were pointed at him. And they all frowned a lot.
"Commander Shepard," Hock laughed from the railing above him. "There are a great many people that will pay a ridiculous amount of money for you. Or your body. Which would you prefer?"
"That was probably one of the better Evil Overlord lines that I've heard in a while," John nodded, honestly impressed. "Look, I'll tell you what. Surrender now, and I'll make sure you die peacefully in your sleep on the way to your trial."
"Oh?" Hock's brows raised in amusement. "Are you the righteous one that is supposed to take me in? But me on trial? Do the right thing?"
"In theory. But I'm a Spectre. I have a lot of leeway," john shrugged. "Besides you're a terrible piece of shit that would probably use connections to get out within a week. Better to just take care of it."
"Well, if nothing else, I do admire your pragmatude, if not your grasp of the situation," Hock looked down, seemingly bored now. "Kill him."
"VIDO!" Zaeed's gruff, raw voice echoed through the chamber, pulling everybody's attention to the door as Zaeed slammed through it. "VIDO!"
"Zaeed?" Hock, or Vido, said quietly as color drained from his face. "Don't just stand there, idiots! Kill them!" The man screamed as he turned and bolted along the catwalk.
"Oh, shit…" John cursed as he dove behind a mako. The entire room was full of ordnance. Heavy weapons, explosives, power banks. Everything one person needs to make a very, very big boom. And the Suns fired into it.
Zaeed
He was thrown from his feet as the first shockwave slammed into him. He hadn't noticed it, but the warehouse area he had found Vido in was a munitions dump. Emphasis on was. The dipshits fired blindly at him, stray rounds sparking and striking volatile weapons.
And detonating them.
More shockwaves came as yet more blew. It seemed every time he caught his feet, something else went, slapping him back down.
While Vido got away.
"By the fuck, not!" Zaeed spat, leaping over burning wreckage. He dodged under fallen debris. He shot down any asshole that entered his line of vision.
"Zaeed!" a voice cut through the explosions and smoke. Goddamn it!
He skidded to a stop, and glanced back.
Shepard.
The man stood, an SMG in hand. He fired into Suns, left and right. His omniblade cut down more as he mowed through the mercs as if they were wheat.
A lot of wheat.
But. Vido was getting away.
Shepard...John…
Is a man. Can take care of himself!
Zaeed threw everything away again.
Tali
"What the hell is that!" she pointed up. It was a mostly rhetorical question. It was fairly obvious that what she was pointing at was a ship. It looked like an Alliance cruiser.
"I've come to save the day!" a familiar woman said, sing-song over the broad comm. "Bow before my glory!"
"Jane?" Hestalia frowned as she stared hard at the ship that hovered just inside the plant's atmosphere.
"Dad?" Jane said in confused shock. "What the hell?"
"Don't you what the hell me," Hestalia growled. "Why are you here?"
"Mom said I was supposed to be here. To bail out John," Jane said defensily. "She said that he was dragging John into something and I needed to be ready."
"..." Hestalia ran a hand over her face, once. "Fine. Your brother is probably in the lower level, where the explosions are coming from. I'm going to keep gathering the slaves and bystanders, so send a shuttle to my coordinates."
"Already on it, boss," Jane grinned with her voice. "I got a squad with me in a drop shuttle. I'll hit in a bout five. Two more are coming your way to mop up and rescue."
Tali stood and looked between John's father and Jane's ship. So much was happening so fast….Then…
"Hurry!" Tali shouted as her throat threatened to close up. The only thing keeping her from dashing into the building was not knowing how to get to him.. "John's in trouble!"
Jane
"Alright, we are dropping hot," Jane looked at her marines. "Kal, I need you at your fireteam to secure our the drop zone and hold the shuttle."
"Yes, ma'am," Kal nodded, hefting his rifle.
"Rest of you, spread out and take out resistance, but don't go too deep," Jane looked over the rest of her people with a grin. "I'm going straight for John. I need to see his face when I pull him out of this mess."
"Captain!" the pilot called back. "I can see the target. Looks like something blew the side out of the cliff face. Smoke is pouring out."
"Can we land?" Jane asked, looking over the man's shoulder and letting out a small whistle as she saw what he was talking about.
"No problem," Garcia grinned.
John
It...did not look good.
John sat behind a crate of grenades and cursing every time some dipshit fired at him. Most of the Suns realized the problem, right after a series of artillery power banks blew the wall clean off. It also set almost everything on fire.
Thank the goddess that Zaeed and Jacob had gotten him this heavy assault armor.
Zaeed, John cursed in his head. The bastard went deeper into the mess, hunting Hock. Or Vido. Or the fucking tooth fairy. It didn't matter.
He was going to curse more, but he heard the roar of shuttle engines blow through the room. And, peeking up, saw a repainted Alliance combat drop shuttle swing into the giant hole. It's side doors opened as marines, both human and quarian, poured out, weapons blazing.
The shuttle itself was an odd hodgepodge of colors, as it it had been put together out of several different shuttles. John knew, however, that was just what they did to make it not look like Alliance. That...and the skull and crossbones painted on the side.
Unfortunately, that could only mean one person.
"Here I am!" Jane leapt out of the shuttle, an assault rifle firing somewhat randomly. She had always been a terrible shot.
"Ah, fuck," John stood, dropping a Sun who thought she was being sneaky.
"Jay-Jay!" Jane threw up her hands as she grinned. "You really know how to blow up a party!"
"Why are you here, Jane?" John sighed, walking up to her.
"Mom sent me," his sister said, smugly before her face went dark. "Where is Zaeed?"
"Why?" John frowned.
"Friend Jane!" a loud, overly cheerful voice called out, drawing John's attention to a figure that stood, swinging a sword almost at big as it was, cutting Suns down in long, graceful arcs. "Are we keelhauling any of our foes?"
"Jane?" John blinked.
"Yes, John?" Jane gave him a shit eating grin.
"Sister?"
"Yes, Brother?"
"Is...that a giant parrot with an eyepatch, sword fighting mercenaries?"
"John!" Jane gasped, slapping his shoulder. "It's not like you to be racist! She is clearly not a parrot! Parrots are far more brightly colored."
"Why is she yelling 'avast!' and 'Arr, matey!'?"
"I...may have shown her old pirate movies while trying to explain what our job was," Jane looked at her toe for a moment.
John was silent for a moment before turning to his sister. "I don't know whether that was the greatest or most terrible thing I have ever seen."
'What ho!" the bird person yelled with a grin as she neatly skewered two mercs with a single thrust of her blade.
Zaeed
"No!" Zaeed screamed as he held down the trigger of his rifle, spraying rounds wildly at the mantis gunship. "You aren't getting away from me, Vido!"
"Ha, ha," the bastard laughed through the external speakers of the ship. "All this time, Zaeed, only to swing and miss. Honestly, I'm not sure if I should kill you, or let you live. Knowing how you failed. Again."
"I'll end you!" Zaeed spat. His head pounded with the hate in him. His heart threatened to explode in his chest. "I will destroy everything! You will burn!"
"Ah, now, now," Vido chuckled. "I think I will kill you. You would probably just be incredibly irritating otherwise."
"Rah!" Zaeed reared back and threw his rifle when the thermal clip ran hot, ejecting itself. The barrel glowed a cherry red, the clips unable to keep up.
The mantis rose in the air, its weapons trained on Zaeed even as the merc withdrew his other rifle. Jesse. The old, reliable rifle.
Before either of them could fire, however, the doors leading out of the hanger slammed shut.
"I think you've had enough playtime," John's voice came from behind him.
In shock, and anger, Zaeed spun to see the man standing with his arms crossed. Next to him was Jane. He...hadn't seen much of his daughter. Only at John's service on Mindior, and the occasional vid. She looked so much like her mother.
And Hestalia.
The asari stood, dark eyes staring at him, ignoring the heavy gunship with its weapons pointed at them.
"Feh, looks like I still get my chance to collect on your bounty, Shepard," Vido laughed. His voice was somewhat strained now. Wild.
"Dad," John glanced at Hestalia. "Shall we?"
Blinking once, Hestalia looked at John and nodded. "Yes...son." The last had been aimed at him. To hurt him.
But...it didn't. He had given up on it a long time ago. Hestalia was a better father than he ever could be. And now they showed it.
John and Hestalia flared, their biotic auras burning around them. Then John reached out his hand, clasping around Hestalia's. As they did, their auras flared once more before modeling together. They grew in power, linking in the way only those that worked together, trained together. Loved each other, could.
"Die!" Vido yelled as he let loose everything the gun ship had.
Which was not enough.
John reached up a hand, the combined power forming a shield around the group. All the gunships fury spent itself, scattering away.
Hestalia raised his own hand. Brilliant sapphire energy flew forward, wrapping around the gunship, squeezing it. Slowly the metal buckled. Sparks erupted from torn armor. Small explosion rocked it as the engines caved in on themselves.
Then, opening her fist, the aura released the ship, dropping it to the ground like a crushed can.
Father and son sighed in almost unison as they released each other, regathering their power. John, stumbled slightly, only to be caught by Tali.
Zaeed hadn't even noticed her before.
"Here," Jane almost spat the word as she thrust a heavy weapon into his hands. It was bulky, wide. The barrel of the thing was almost as big around as Zaeed's torso, and it hummed with power.
"M-920 cain?" Zaeed blinked as the thing.
"Seeing at to what you wasted, you might as well be sure," Jane's face went neutral as she turned away.
She knew who he was.
"Might as well," Zaeed nodded.