MASS EFFECT: WINTER EYES CHAPTER 20

Charon Attack

Pharos, Three Days later…

"Tezor, state your progress." A worried asari's voice came through the comm link for the mossy green male salarian and his human male comrade on the other end. Both were clothed in black light armor.

Elin Tezor tapped his ear piece, furrowing his brow to eye their surroundings. Unlike many salarians, he had bright yellow facial markings along the center of his head that resembled tiny circles that went down the right of his face following to the end of his jaw. His amphibious dark eyes blinked slightly. "We're through the landing security. Unclear the amount of guards inside."

The human tossed a cocky grin his way as he was in the middle of undressing in the dark supply room to take over the clothing from their poor victim who was still out cold on the floor. "I can handle it." He wiggled a bit as he tightened the pants interlace. "The pants are kind of snug."

Tezor rolled his eyes and squeezed back to make room for him. The tightened space was not ideal for him. "Just get on with it."

"Getting fat, Alex?" The asari teased.

"No, Kieta." Alex quickly shut down the idea. "Their clothes run different than what we have."

"Uh-huh. Just hurry it up. I don't like idling up here."

Alex stood proudly in his new uniform and pushed the blonde bangs from his eyes. "How do I look, Elin?"

"Don't forget the helmet to avoid the facial recognition." The salarian pointedly reminded him.

Alex complied and put on the helmet that had a solid black visor. "Yes, mom," He grumbled through the apparatus. "Want to kiss me goodbye too?" Tezor proceeded to give him the salarian gesture that was similar in meaning to the human's middle finger. With a chuckle, Alex moved in the dark to the door. "Maintain radio silence until you hear from me."

"Watch your ass." Kieta chimed in.

Elin Tezor remained still as he watched Alex disappear from the maintenance closet before proceeding out himself. So far, they were undetected at the base that was given to them for their assignment. The information disclosed to them from the Shadow Broker that this place was targeted as the probable site for Charon, the new cell of Cerberus. As an operative for the Broker, Tezor had limited time to know all the outs and ins of the politics behind some of their missions. He trusted the Broker since all the years of servitude didn't bring him to a false lead. This was the third mission he had with Alex and Kieta and the three of them seemed to work well together. Kieta was their drop off and pick up. She was idling under the radar in a scout ship, asari design. Tezor would serve as the lookout outside the facility and be backup should the call come. Alex would be the infiltrator. He was ex Alliance and with a tech background, it made him the ideal choice to go inside and try to track down the heart of Charon's operation. Assassination was not called for, but if he was pressed, then he could defend himself. The group only had an hour window before the real transport ship would arrive. The ruse hopefully would work that long.

Twenty minutes and the radio silence was killing Kieta. The scenario was not unusual for them and she had been distant from them for even longer. Something about this mission didn't set right with her. Suddenly, an alarm blared throughout the cockpit. Proximity alert! Rushing to her controls, Kieta Meto checked the feeds and saw that the nearby relay was activating! Seconds later, a flagship entered the system. Its mass effect fields rocked Kieta causing her to maneuver quickly away to avoid losing all her stabilizers. Her eyes widened as she watched the ship move closer to the base on her radar screen. "Goddess…is that with them?" She moved to break the radio silence to alert her friends below that were groundside, but another alarm screamed at her like a banshee. For a brief second, it felt like she was reliving the battle on Thessia once more. The ship noticed her and was locked on! Manning the controls, she banked the craft hard to the right to avoid being in range for the ship's side cannons. Her mind raced with theories. Did Charon already know they were there? Was it all bad timing? She expected some type of communication from the flagship warning her to "cease and desist" and to identify herself, but there was none. Kieta bit her lip as she eyed the mass relay ahead. The ship strategically placed itself directly in the flight path! Her kinetic shields couldn't withstand the opposing fire power! She couldn't run forever in the system on her fuel and landing below was out of the question. If she was going to go out, she had to warn her friends. "Alex! Elin! We have company!"

The salarian was quick to answer the call, ignoring the silent protocol. "Kieta!" He could sense the urgency in her voice. "What's going on?!"

"Flagship! I'm locked on!" Kieta felt the blood drain from her face as the nagging alarm blared even faster. "Multiple bogeys! It's dispatching fighters!"

"Bug out!" Alex said to her. "You can't go up against that!"

"I can't leave you two down there!"

"Do it. We will find a way back." Elin tried to keep his voice as calm as he could as fear crashed into him like a wave.

"May the goddess be with you both. I'm heading out of this system." Kieta tapped in the coordinates and pushed the engines to full throttle. She could hear the systems whirring loudly as they adjusted. Six individually flown fighter crafts exited the flagship's hangar and pursued. Their course directly at her. Kieta gritted her teeth as the blips neared hers on the radar. She mentally blocked out the alarms. "I'm not moving over so get the fuck out of my way." The ship rocked violently and hard as the fighter's guns struck her at the dead center, dropping her shields drastically. Crucial systems were failing. "Kinetic barrier at cockpit. Turn off life support systems outside the cockpit." Kieta instructed the onboard computer system. "Redirect everything to the shields. I need to make it." The blips on the radar were now past her ship but circling back to take another hit. The flagship's dominating presence loomed over her through the viewport. She seemed to be a spec of its shadow. The fighters were breaking up! One was going to her port side, one to her starboard and one directly behind her. All of them locked on and drawing nearer. They were pinning her to the flagship! The glow from the mass relay seem to be taunting her. "I'm not going down like this," She seethed. Sweat beads formed at the top of her forehead. "I survived Thessia." Suddenly the ship's cannon released a bright flash that engulfed the viewpoint, then seconds later, the entire destruction of her ship followed. The sound of her scream and the explosion deaf to ears from the void of space.

"Kieta? Kieta?" Elin tapped his comm link again. No response. Did she make the relay? It would make sense why the connection was severed. He didn't want to think about the other answer…He glanced nervously back to the hallway that Alex disappeared into. They already broke radio silence once. "Alex?"

"Yeah?" Did she make it?" Alex's voice quiet. "I don't know where the fuck I'm going. This whole place is a maze."

"I can't confirm…we need to break off. I'll see what transport I can hack into."

"Hold up…I think hear some voices. Might be this Erinyes that the Broker told us."

"Alex, wait! We need to regroup!" Elin reached to his side to unholster his Scorpion pistol. There was no response. Growling through his teeth, Elin glared angrily at his friend's direction. "Don't you dare mute me!" Still nothing. "Fine…" He muttered under his breath as he darted down the hallway to the hangar. He would get another ship ready. With the flagship up there, then most likely Charon would be on to their presence. The entire facility would be on lockdown soon. If they didn't leave now, then they were good as dead.

Rounding the corner, the salarian spotted the ships and dashed to them. Suddenly, there was a sound of a shotgun blast coming from behind. Before he had a chance to turn around to see the threat, he felt a pain strike his back. Another blast, this time, the rounds burrowed a hole straight through his damaged armor, penetrating his vital organs and flesh. A groan escaped his lips before he dropped to his knees. Dark blood filled his throat and mouth, pouring through his teeth and out his lips. His body crashed onto the metal floor, feet away from the nearest craft. Operative Hernandez grinned as he walked casually towards his fallen victim with a shotgun held by his right hand. "Well, well…."

Alex moved towards the room he heard the voices and then slowed his steps when the talking abruptly stopped. Taking a breath, he held his pistol in his hand and inched closer towards the closed door. Opening it, he discovered the room to be dark. "Huh?" The presentation confused him. Startled, he dropped his guard slightly to allow time for Erinyes to swiftly kick the weapon out of his hand with a round house kick. The gun crashed onto the cold metal floor in the darkness. Surprised, Alex looked at his would-be attacker to only be met with another swift side kick to his face. The heel of the attacker's boot scraping his skin. Erinyes met his body with several hard strikes to the center, knocking him back out of the doorway into the hallway. Before Alex had a chance to get up on his feet, five guards poured in on him with assault rifles drawn. Seeing his opposition, Alex wiped the blood from his punctured face and glared angrily at Erinyes. "Erinyes, I presume?" He scowled.

"Interesting that you know my name and the location of this place." Erinyes crossed her arms as she looked down upon him. "We will have much to talk about." Alex held up his hands in surrender with a sigh of frustration. Seeing him give up, Erinyes tapped her comm piece to rejoin the conversation she had with Hernandez prior to the interruption. "All clear. The salarian?"

"Dead." Hernandez confirmed satisfactory. "I'll toss his body out with the next trash dump."

Hearing Hernandez' loathing of the aliens as much as she did, made her aroused. She grinned as she kept her eyes on the man in front of her. "Not yet. Find out what you can. Identification, background, group. I want to know how they found us and who they are working for. Once you have this, dispose of him as you see fit."

Overhearing this and realizing that it had to go to Elin, Alex found his strength and jumped up from his spot to take her on once again. "You, bastards!" He was quickly met with the butt of a guard's assault rifle into his abdomen, knocking the breath quickly out of his cavity, causing him to double over in pain.

"He's a human." Erinyes glared down at him with lack of compassion. "Keep him alive for now. I want him to explain his treachery before he is met with the same fate."

"I'm not telling you shit." Alex spat in between coughs as he slowly regained his composure.

Erinyes noted his armor and the insignia of the Broker on the man's neck. A tiny dot, hardly noticeable to the untrained eye, but her father prepared her for all contingencies. It both angered and amused her that the Shadow Broker now entered the fold. She figured at some point the Alliance may come after her, but not the Shadow Broker. She admired the new player. She always found the Broker to be an interesting character. Her father hardly spoke of the Shadow Broker and never bothered on making contracts with him. She never understood this and never questioned it, but the Shadow Broker was a dangerous person. One almost close to her level when it came to resources. "Hernandez?" She called to the Hispanic male operative one more time on her comm.

"Yes?"

"We will need to move our location. It has been compromised." She couldn't risk allowing another attack by the Broker. It was dangerous for them to have this information. She didn't know what the Broker was getting in return for this, but things were getting very interesting. That meant someone else was wanting this information. She would tighten security and call in all her operatives until the move was complete. There was already a code alert for the move, so all operatives would know the plan. Each would hunker down and stay idle until the new location was disclosed to them. They would regroup there. Radio transmissions would be silent.

"Understood."

Erinyes shook her head as she took out her pistol. "I never thought it would come down to this." She sighed and shot Alex point blank in the head, killing him instantly. Holstering her weapon, she looked upon his dead body and the mess on the floor from the bloody aftermath. "I need to find Raven."

"Erinyes, mam?" One of her assistant workers raced down the hall with a datapad in hand. The young woman stopped and grimaced at the gruesome sight. Erinyes could see the blood draining from the woman's face as her eyes desperately avoided the need to look further.

"What is it?"

"The tech team sent an alert to your personal terminal. It appears that Raven's tracker has been disconnected."

"Disconnected?" Erinyes held out her hand impatiently for the pad to review the data herself.

"Yes," The assistant quickly handed her the intel. "The device quit responding a few minutes ago and they can't get it online. Her GPS system is not tracking either."

"Last known location?"

"Unknown, mam."

"What do you mean, 'unknown'"?!" Erinyes narrowed her eyes at her.

The woman squirmed under the severe interrogation. "T-they said that the GPS failed to provide output for a week now."

"A week?!" Erinyes screamed in outrage as she stormed towards the tech room. The messenger remained in her place in fright as she watched the angry leader of Charon disappear from view.

Minutes later, Erinyes entered the room and saw the three staff members standing up from their seats instantly. "Yes, E-Erinyes?" Their voices trembled.

"Explain to me why Raven's GPS has gone silent the past week, and no one came to me to advise of this…." Erinyes' voice low and dangerous.

The older male of the team eyed his partners cautiously before stepping forward to address her concern. He cleared his throat as he stood up straighter to regain his courage. "Her signal dropped. We assumed it was a malfunction since it was working perfectly before."

"Our reports said that Raven went to Omega. We concluded that the disturbance could be from the Eezo outputs on the station. We were getting diagnostics and tests done before relaying to you, mam. We didn't want you on alert for a false error." Another replied.

"A false error?!" Erinyes fumed. "We just had the Shadow Broker's team compromise our location! Raven's gone dark! I want to know where the hell she is. You must have something! Vitals?"

The older man spoke up again for the group. "All vitals were normal prior to losing the connection. Blood pressure was stable. We didn't presume that she was under any type of threat."

"There was a drop in her oxygen levels though…" The woman of the group piped in nervously. She had a heavy English European accent. "Misread? Some type of sedative? We were going to check once the GPS came back online."

Raising her pistol, Erinyes shot the male of the group who spoke first squarely in the chest. He staggered backwards, holding his chest. His hands soaked with blood before he fell to the floor. The room erupted into screams of horror and fright. Erinyes stayed still until the chaos dissolved and all eyes were back to her. "Find Raven or you will be next. There's no room for error." Exiting the room, she made a beeline to her private chambers. "Aria has betrayed me…that damn bitch has Raven. She played me just like she did my father. There are no damn Reapers to fight this time. I will annihilate Omega from its very existence."