I wasn't a fan of Illium; the place reminded me of the very worst aspects of capitalism.

As Sir Winston Churchill said about democracy; "democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those others that have been tried." Capitalism fell within the same category for me. Everything else humanity, and by extension the rest of the galaxy, had tried flat out sucked in comparison.

I shifted my black poncho, sticking to the shadows as I made my way to our RV point.

Beyond a few curious looks, I didn't get much attention; which was how I liked things. My garb made me look like a mercenary with an archaic sense of style; which was kind of the whole point.

I ducked into an alleyway, quickly making sure that I was alone; before turning my attention to the nearby fire escape. It was kind of like what you would have found in inner cities like Baltimore or NYC.

It was modernized of course, with Eezo based barriers around it to prevent people from falling off; and electric locks on the ladders to prevent people from climbing them without authorization. Not a problem for me; I just tapped a few commands into my omnittool, and lowered the ladder halfway down.

It had an alarm that would automatically trigger if it was lowered more than two thirds of the way down; hence why I lowered it only half way. Still more than low enough for me to jump up and climb up the ladder.

Pulling out the Hi-Standard HDM .22 caliber pistol; I kept an eye on the windows to the apartments as I climbed up the ladder. I grimaced as I climber higher; both due to the height I was currently at, and due to the fact that I had forgotten to give Hiram his own Hi-Standard.

The Hi-Standard was so quiet; you would make more noise going "Pew-Pew" when you shot it.

And considering the fact that we needed to be discrete about this; there was no way that Hiram's modified MP5 would do the job in the close quarters we would be stuck in. I had chosen it as our main weapon because it would be perfect for outdoor environments.

When inside, the sound of gunshots were amplified; and suppressors only made a gunshot sound like a door slamming in comparison. The Hi-Standard was one of the few weapons that were truly silent.

I made my way to the top of the fire escape; keeping an eye on the door to the stairway that led inside. I quickly holstered my pistol and unslung my MP5; activating my camo unit.

I looked through the attached ACOG, and looked across the way to the local Police station where the Quarian Traveler was being held even as I pulled up the blueprints to the building; planning how we were going to get to the holding area in the basement.

Plus, I needed to think of the possibility that her omnitool had been placed somewhere other than the official evidence lockup in the basement.

"Nomad, I'm on my way up the fire escape; please don't shoot me sir." Hiram said over the radio.

"Copy that." I replied, not even turning to look; already seeing his blue dot moving towards me on my motion sensor. After a few minutes, I heard him crouch down next to me; activating his own cloak that had been given for this mission.

"What's the play sir?" He asked, sounding nervous.

I smiled slightly under my bandanna; but reached into my hidden back holster and pulled out the spare Hi-Standard I had been carrying. "Hi-Standard HDM .22 Caliber; One of the few guns ever made that is truly silent. The MP5's are for outdoor use, or when things get hot." I explained as I passed him five mags.

And in case you're wondering, yes; I was carrying five guns and the appropriate ammunition for them. I had my HDM on my hip, the MP5 in my hands, my .50 Cal Beowulf on my back; and my .50 Cal AE revolver on my shoulder holster.

I had learned to carry a lot of shit; never knew when I might need something.

Hiram took it and quickly checked to see if it was loaded; accepting the spare mags and attaching them to his utility belt. "Unshielded targets only; shielded targets you'll just be wasting your time. Use the MP5 only if we run into an armored or shielded hostile." I informed him.

The retrieval specialist nodded, looking uncertain; but I couldn't tell behind his oxygen mask.

"You make up with your girlfriend?" I asked as I sighted the fourth floor of the police building.

He chuckled in reply as he pulled out his own MP5; "Yeah, agreed to a date next time I have leave and I'm on Illium."

I just shook my head with a faint smirk; "Watch out, next thing you know you'll be the ships Al Bundy."

He looked at me as I chuckled, and just shook his head. "I've never played football, and I'm sure as shit never selling shoes."

"Alright, enough chit chat; we need to enter the building now, because they intend to transfer our VIP to the Police headquarters by tonight." I said, slipping into business mode.

Hiram shifted slightly, "Yes sir; how are we getting in?" He asked.

"We'll enter through the topmost floor, since it's the records storage and next to no one goes in there from what I've seen. They have two stairways, and two elevators; and one of the elevators is out of order, so we'll rappel down the shaft and enter the basement that way." I said, already standing up.

"Sir, what about any Asari cops that we encounter?" He asked.

"Expendable, all of them are corrupt and paid off by the business moguls here. We avoid any contact if necessary; but kill them if they spot us." I ordered sternly.

He nodded, "And the other prisoners?"

"Leave them, if all goes to plan; none of them will matter. After all, who will believe a bunch of convicts and criminals?"

I climbed up to the fourth floor, doing my best to not look down.

I could tell Hiram was doing the same due to the fact that he hadn't looked down once from the moment we had started climbing. The lack of the safety line probably had something to do with that; if we fell, nothing would catch us.

I reached the window, and kept low; breaking out the spy cable, using it to quickly sweep the room and make sure there wasn't anyone inside.

"Rookie!" I whisper-shouted.

"Yeah?"

"Run the jamming program."

He braced himself against the wall while he hugged the rope; and quickly inputted the commands for the jamming program. It was rather simplistic; it blocked all alarms and emergency signals throughout the building, and it set all the cameras that could see us on a repeating loop.

After I was sure that no one was in the alleyway below us, and that no one was in the room; I pulled out my Hi-Standard and shot the window, and then smashing the shattered glass out of the way with the butt of my pistol.

"Ok, I'm going in; don't get lonely out here alright?" I joked as I pulled myself inside.

I heard Hiram mumble something that I didn't catch; but otherwise he stayed quiet.

I pulled myself through the broken window, careful to avoid the particularly sharp bits of glass as I swept the room to make sure that I hadn't missed anything. A clunking noise behind me drew my attention, and I grimaced as I saw Hiram struggle to pull himself inside; the man swearing up a storm under his breath as he did so.

A far cry from my disciplined and utterly silent entrance only a few seconds beforehand.

Holstering my pistol and rushing over, I quickly grabbed his arms to give him some security; "Keep quiet you fucking spastic." I hissed as I pulled him in.

"Sorry sir, but I almost fell." He replied, panting slightly.

I drew my pistol again as he asked, "Sir, how did you break the window; more importantly, how did a fucking .22 punch through it?"

"Simple, they're arrogant cheap-asses; they figured that no one would dare break in, and they thought their alert system would be enough. Why waste money on expensive armored windows when you're not going to use them." I explained as I stalked over to the broken down elevator.

Ding!

We both froze for a moment, and then we ducked into different areas of the room. I activated my cloak and hid behind a nearby server; while Hiram crawled under a desk near the window he had just entered.

Three Asari walked in, chatting aimlessly. "Why would the Chief want files on some cold case from five years ago?" One asked.

"Who cares, it should be on one of the storage servers." The older one replied.

"Think it has something to do with that Quarian we picked up?" The third asked.

"Dunno, I just wonder if the chief…" The oldest trailed off as she spied the broken window.

PftPft! I double tapped the one in the middle in the head; killing her instantly. I then double tapped the youngest as they crouched and drew their pistols instinctively.

I moved to the third, but she fell dead before I could properly center my sites on her.

Hiram withdrew himself from under the desk he had been hiding; immediately setting his sights on the elevator and the doors to the stairs just in case anyone else decided to come up here. Good instincts. I thought with a smile as I walked over to the broken elevator and pulled the outer doors open.

That smile dropped when I saw what was on the other side.

The elevator was all the way down on the bottom of the shaft; that wasn't a big surprise. No, what was a big surprise was the fact that the maintenance ladder was on the other side of the shaft.

"What the fuck…" I grumbled, while Hirams shoulders sagged in disbelief.

"We have to jump that?" He asked, his voice sounding slightly strained.

"Yup… why do you have a ladder in an elevator shaft, to fix the elevator; how do you get to the ladder? You take the elevator that doesn't work, who the fuck thought this one up?" I ranted under my breath as I backed up.

"Sir… wh-" Hiram started to ask, before cutting himself off as I full tilt sprinted and jumped when I reached the edge.

I felt weightless for a second; then gravity took its hold over me and I started to drop.

Clang! "Oof!"

I slammed up against the ladder and grabbed it with all my strength; stopping my gravity induced descent. I released the breath I didn't know I had been holding and slowly started to climb down the ladder, making room for Hiram to jump.

I looked up and over my shoulder, "C'mon Rookie, if I can make this jump with all my shit; you sure as hell can."

Hiram visibly gulped, before backing up out of my line of site. After a few seconds, a black and olive colored blur flew across the shaft; and slammed into the ladder just above me. "Ooooh my God… that was stupid… why do we keep doing stupid things…" He rambled under his breath.

"Quiet!" I hissed.

He instantly shut up, and we both started climbing down the ladder; I drew my pistol and kept my eye on the other closed doors leading to the other floors. Last thing we needed was some maintenance guy popping his head in and spotting us.

We quickly and quietly made our way down to the basement level, where the broken down elevator was resting.

"Alright, we're gonna enter in through the elevator; I'll pop the hatch and doors and make sure there ain't any cops inside." I informed Hiram as I hopped from the ladder over to the roof of the broken lift.

"Yes sir." He replied.

I nodded, before opening the emergency exit on the elevators roof; quickly using the spy camera to make sure there wasn't anyone inside and that the doors were closed. Slipping down and landing as quietly as a cat; I sneaked over to the doors and pried them open by a few centimeters, slipping the spycam through.

There was a subdued thud as Hiram landed behind me; and I grimaced, he's getting a little better at the whole stealth thing at least. I thought, trying to console myself with how loud he was being in comparison to me.

"Two Asari cops are inside, from what I can see; the doors to the stairs seem to be closed, and the working elevator isn't in use at the moment. Alright, we're going in."

I slowly pried the doors all the way open; and kept my pistol aimed outward. Hiram followed behind me, and I motioned for him to watch the doors to the stairs. Most of the prisoners were asleep, or were busy reading, or keeping themselves entertained through other means.

None of them noticed me as I slipped over to the last cell on the block.

There were two Asari in the cell standing over the lone occupant.

The Quarian Traveler was sitting on her cot, and since the cells were soundproof to both the inside and the outside I couldn't hear her; but from the way her shoulders were shaking, and judging how her glowing mercury eyes were dimmed, I could tell that she was crying.

Travel shock, I realized sadly.

It was tragically common amongst fresh Travelers; especially those placed into very shitty situations like this one. This was probably the last place she wanted to be next to Omega; and it was clear to her that she wasn't getting out of here.

From her perspective, that questionnaire that she had taken had probably led to her predicament in the first place.

I stole a glance over at Hiram, and gave a quiet whistle; he looked over, and I pointed at the doors and gave a thumbs up as a question. He nodded and gave one back, meaning that we were clear so far.

I quickly hacked into the cell controls, and opened the door; which the Asari had closed behind them. The two cops whipped around in surprise, as I double tapped both of them in the head.

The Quarians sobbing stopped even as the Asari fell dead, and she gave a loud squeak; jumping backwards and pressing herself up against the wall. My wolf outfit and my skull bandanna probably not doing me any favors in reassuring her that I was a friendly.

"St-stay away from me!" She hissed, her voice thick with a Kheelish accent; which was common for Travelers that ended up transformed into a different species. They naturally knew the language of their species; which was a great help to our intelligence people.

I put a finger up to where my lips would be, "Shh…"

She instantly quieted and seemed to cower slightly; my Hi-Standard being pointed in her general direction probably wasn't helping matters, so I lowered the barrel so it was pointed at the ground while I raised my left hand. "Are you Ziva'Lorah?" I asked, smirking lightly at how she had chosen a name that sounded so similar to Tali'Zorah.

"Yes…" She whispered.

"I'm Nomad, Group for Specialized Tactics; we're here to rescue you."

It took a few minutes, but I was able to hack into the storage lockers that held Ziva's things; and found an old fashioned iPad, an omnitool, a few nutrient paste tubes, some water, and a white lab coat that doctors wear.

I pulled it out and gave her a look that said, "really?"

She got a little indignant at the look I was giving her and she put her hands on her hips; "I was a biomechanical engineering student, they gave it to us when we started classes." She snapped.

"And how long were you in classes?" I asked, her youthful attitude and the age she had submitted to her forms belying that it was basic at best.

Her eyes dimmed somewhat; "… a few months." She mumbled.

I just rolled my eyes and tossed her coat to her; walking out while she grabbed her things, "Rookie, how we looking?" I asked, ignoring the looks the prisoners, at least the ones that were awake, were giving us.

"Still nothing on their alarm systems boss; But we don't have much time before they find the bodies in the attic." He replied.

"Bodies in what attic?" Ziva asked as she exited the storage lockup.

I suppose with 20-20 hindsight, it's obvious; but the minute she exited the lockup, a loud alarm sounded.

"WARNING! UNAUTHORIZED EQUIPMENT WITHDRAWN FROM EVIDENCE!"

We all looked at each other as the alarm spread to the other floors of the building.

"Well… fuck."

A/N: PT. 3, the finale will come tomorrow; and i hope you enjoyed this chapter, Ian wrote the last one, i wrote this one, and we joint wrote the last one.

12 hour drive's are so much fun... so... much... fun...

Link to my discord is /U9vgbyx please join up if you wish to chat or make submissions to this series.

Leave a review as always.

I would really love a TV tropes page guys.

And i will see ya when i see ya.