PA: Zero612 does not own Halo or Mass Effect. He only owns the story plot, Delta, and Verona. Indigo team belongs to Colonel-Mustard1990.
Me: Ohhh gooood whyyyyy!
Delta: NO, put that knife down, you are NOT committing Seppuku! Oh, hello again everyone, sorry for the repost.
Me: I HAD TO RETOAST!
Delta: Shut up, damn you! (gets Me in a headlock) I'm sorry, guys, Zero's a lil OCD sometimes and this is killing him.
Me: (Frothing at the mouth)
Delta: (sigh, lets go) Ok, Zero has now edited this chapter. there are minor grammar and conversational changes, but you don't need to re-read it if you don't want to. some jokes were thrown in though so returning readers get new laughs and new readers, well, you just get some freebies. Zero would also like to issue a special thanks to Juggalo Prince for catching the plot hole. Enjoy.
Changing Attitudes
"How long have you had this serum's details processed?"
I sigh, the door to Miranda's office has just closed and that's the first thing she's said since Shepard left. She's staring at me now, no doubt wanting to share this information with Cerberus, give them their own supersoldiers.
"Well?" Now she's getting impatient.
"To be perfectly honest Ms. Lawson, the serum surfaced in my mind after I fell down through the ships hull with that Krogan anchor on Korlus. I fell unconscious as I fell and woke up with the Krogan on top of me. The idea for using it came to me when I presented it to Mordin and he confirmed that it was specifically tailored for me, or one like me."
"Confirmed? So you got other data besides this serum?" shit…
"No, just a feeling really, like it was made for me. Mordin just made me sure of my feeling."
"What gave you this feeling Delta?" God, you're such a prying bitch.
"Instinct I guess." Stay civilized, after Horizon we start Loyalties, so don't want to piss her off again and ruin the new chance I have at helping her with her sister. "Not much else besides that is there anyway. All that's left is random things that don't matter.
"We can't be sure of that unless you tell me."
"Miranda, I doubt the Illusive Man would find much benefit for Cerberus in the imaginings and random musings of a 17 year old kid."
"…" Miranda considers that before sighing. "I hope you're not withholding anything from us."
"Nope" Nah, nah, I'm not hiding anything. I'm just your regular, run of the mill 21st century black kid who went to college early and ended up in one of his favorite video games. Nothing unusual or withheld about that. "Should we go ahead with the rehab? I would prefer to be able to assist Shepard as fast I can."
"Yes, that would be best for now. I'll call Jacob and have him readjust your armor, make it a better fit for your new self." She's staring at my chest now. I wore a near skintight shirt when I went to Mordin for the procedure and now that I look down too I realize my muscles have grown large enough to make my near-skintight into a pretty skintight shirt. I can see my pecs, toned laterals and… so that's what my six-pack would look like. I wonder… well, contests with Jacob aside, Miranda and I move to the elevator and head down to the cargo bay to practice and get used to my new, enhanced body.
So Miranda has had me running around the Cargo Bay to test stamina, lifting crates to test strength, flexibility and reflexes have been tested with her flinging shit at me biotically. I saw her smirk once but it disappeared when I looked at her longer than a split second after she hit the back of my head with a power cell. We then checked my eyesight by her having me read the labels on crates from certain distances. Woo hoo, now I can read tiny print from 15 yards away. Also, we tested my eyesight further by making the cargo bay as dark as night and having me prowl around looking for Miranda. She was pleased with my stealth abilities and I managed to 'surprise' her a few times. We ended and went up to the Armory to make sure Jacob had the adjustments to my armor right. I tried on my armor and it fit well, snug and comfortable, but not too tight to impair movement. It felt incredibly light on me though, like I was just wearing an extra, larger set of clothes for winter.
"Well, we need a little more work but you're good enough for active duty. Shepard should be almost done on Horizon, so we can stop here. I'm going to go welcome the Commander back."
"Alright then" I respond to Miranda, turning back to Jacob. "So who did Shepard take with her anyway?"
"Grunt, Garrus, Mordin, and Jack. Zaaed, Kasumi and I are the only ones left behind, besides you and Miranda." Oh yeah, I haven't visited Zaeed in a while, maybe I should… nah, he'll poke fun at me for being a virgin. Again…
"Ok then, thanks man." Jacob nods and goes to his terminal as I walk over to my cot, sitting on it and pulling out my games. I focus on not crushing the controller and OSD, while quitting the rooms when I find annoying squeakers on the other teams. While one game loads I find a message from Infiltrait0rN7 in my inbox.
'Delta-Specialist,
We have not reached a consensus yet as of whether or not you are ally or enemy. We are willing to remain in contact and have included our direct contact information and encryption algorithm set for automatic use whenever you wish to speak with us. We do not know whether you speak the truth or not but we have reached consensus that something will be gained out of mutual contact. We anticipate the exchange of data.'
I smile and download the encryption key and contact info, then put on my helmet and turn off the outer speakers to contact Legion. After a few seconds, he opens the line on his end.
"Delta-Specialist. We awaited your attempts to contact for 10 hours, 38 minutes, and 47 seconds."
"I apologize Legion, I would have contacted earlier but a certain chain of events delayed the action by some time." I leaned back, relaxing while my diplomatic side begins influencing my speech. "I originally sought contact to establish a relationship between us. One that would further my goals and yours as well."
"…We request an elaboration, Detla-Specialist"
"I want to work with the Geth. I know the geth are not all bad at least, even though some are in our systems, fighting against our militaries."
"The geth are not in your systems."
"How so? Because I've seen geth units in these systems, fighting organics."
"The Geth are not in your systems. The Heretics are."
"So there are Geth factions?"
"Only two. We realized the Heretics would not coexist peacefully so they left."
"Oh, well that changes things a bit" Bitch please, I knew that. "So, you are a member of the true geth?"
"We are all geth."
"…right, gestalt intelligences. Well, basically I want to befriend the geth, and help you since you are basically a race in this galaxy, even if synthetic. So I'm glad to be able to talk to you Geth, and I hope our relationship fosters into a prosperous and friendly one."
"We agree, and hope that this relationship furthers mutual goals."
I sever the connection and sit back up. I wave to Jacob as I leave the room and head down to greet the commander as she comes back from Horizon. After 5 minutes I am standing beside Miranda at the port for the Kodiak, awaiting the shuttle itself and its occupants. After another few minutes the Kodiak settled in the Normandy's cargo bay and the ship shook slightly as it left orbit from the planet. Grunt, Mordin, Garrus, and Jack all stepped out, and I nodded to Garrus with a smile that he returned. The professor looked distracted and ignored me, except for a second of examination before he moved past to the elevator. Grunt noticed I had changed, as did Jack, and they both stopped slightly to quickly look me over. Finally, Shepard stepped out of the shuttle, and she seemed kind of sad. She nodded to Miranda and I and walked past us quickly. Guess she's going to debrief with TIM. Miranda and I glance at each other and I shrug at her before she leaves the room. I hang around the engineering deck for a few seconds before walking over to see Grunt. Time to test how strong I really am.
"Delta. You've changed. You smell different."
"I had some alterations made. I've augmented my body Grunt, and I still need to see the full extent."
"Are you challenging me?" Grunt grinned slightly at the prospect of a fight.
"In a way yes. I want to spar with you Grunt, no weapons, no armor, no killing. We will fight with our fists and stop once the other is floored for longer than 10 seconds."
"Hmmm, agreed. Where shall we fight?"
"Cargo bay. I'll set up an arena."
Grunt pounds his fists together "I like the idea. Shame we cant kill each other"
"Yeah, shame." I wave to Grunt as I leave the room and am surprised by Jack appearing outside the door.
"What the fuck did you do?"
"I augmented my body. Made it faster, stronger, more deadly."
"Uh huh. Why?"
"So I could go from lethal to super-lethal. Like you guys are."
"Did you add some idiot drugs in your changes? Cause I'm pretty sure you just challenged a Krogan, you idiot kid."
"I'm not an idiot nor am I a kid."
"So sure? I heard from Zaeed what you did when you guys first saw me"
…goddamnit Zaeed. "So?"
"You're a cherry aren't you?" Jack smiles at this, chuckling slightly. "Oh that is priceless, trying to impress Shepard or something with your new muscles kid?"
"About as much as I am for you Jack. I thought you'd love my newer better self but it seems I must be heartbroken." I retorted sarcastically. Jack frowns as I smile at her slightly angry face.
"I'm gonna enjoy watching Grunt kick you around"
"You can hope at least Jack. It ain't gonna happen though." I walk past Jack and go down the elevator. 10 minutes later, the stage is set, Grunt and I are in a 15x20 ft box arena made of crates, and Jack is watching from her seat atop another.
"Ready to start Grunt?" I ask the krogan, his shudders of excitement more obvious without his armor. Now he's just in a tan colored underarmor skintight suit. I'm in sport shorts and a black skin shirt I borrowed from Jacob, which is convenient now that we are the same size, and body shape.
"I'm always ready to fight Delta" Grunt smiles and I see Jack do the same out of the corner of my eye. I nod at grunt and crouch in anticipation.
"Then begin." And Grunt starts off with a headfirst charge. That was not predictable at all…
I wait for him and sidestep him at what I thought was last minute. Wow, my reaction and movement speed is amazing! I was out of his way with several more inches to spare than usual, and I turned as he stopped his charge. Before he turned around fully I jumped on his back and held onto his hump with one hand, standing on his legs while I used my fist to punch his head. His plates hurt, but they were still unformed, and so my punches hurt him more than usual. He reached up to grab my arm and pulled, throwing me over his shoulder. I landed on my back and rolled to the side as he dove forward, slamming his head and torso into the ground. I stood back up and got into a boxer's stance, feet wide, planted firmly, arms and fists raised to protect the face and chest. Grunt threw a haymaker at me, which I ducked under and deflected slightly with my arm. I pushed both fists into his face, knocking him back a bit as I backed away. I dropped my arms to the side and smirked at Grunt noticing his smile had grown.
"HAHA, you're turning into a fine fighter Delta. This is a great fight!"
"Yeah, and no weapons make it last longer."
"Agreed! After this one we must spar again!"
"Alright" Jack interjects and we both look at her while she speaks "You've got the freak lizard entertained but this still seems boring. You haven't gotten hit."
"Sucks huh Jack?" I ask her smirking and turning to her "Too bad thought, because its not likely I wi-AGGHH!" I yell out and look to my side to see Grunt smiling as he tackles me nad throws me into the crates. Slightly dazed I look up to see Grunt grinning like crazy, staring down at me while Jack is leaned so far back on her crate laughing she'll probably-"!"- oh, she fell.
"Alright then" I stand up and brush myself off. "No more Mr. Nice Guy" I charge at Grunt this time, surprising him as I tackle his midsection. He skids back a bit as I push but then applies his own force to me. I smirk and slowly push at him to redirect it upwards more before dropping and launching up just as he moves over me. Before he or Jack knows, I'm lifting up Grunt above my head. The bastard weighs a shitload though, so I step to the side and slam him into the ground. He lays there dazed for a few seconds before jumping up and laughing his head off while facing me again. I throw a jab at him as he gets up, which he takes but he tries to grab my arm as it moves away. I pull back in time and swerve to avoid a punch he's thrown at me. I try to get in an uppercut, landing a couple punches to his gut and shoulder but he stops me with a right hook and a jab to my stomach. I sidestep another haymaker and lunge forward, bringing my right fist up to smash into Grunts face. He stumbled back and I followed with a side-kick that planted him on his ass. When he tried to get up I elbowed his face again and kneed his chin as he fell.
"Huh, guess it's a bit easy for you huh?"
"He's naturally slow and inflexible. It's easy to outmaneuver him but if he gets hold of someone they're screwed."
"Sucks. Try not to get caught then."
"What?" I turn to see Jack jumping over the arena boundary, her biotics lighting up around her. "Shit…" I look behind me again to see Grunt get up frowning slightly.
"What are you doing human?"
"Tag-team, what fuck do you think I'm doing dumbass?"
"Can we not double team anyone on our general ship-team?" I ask arms spread pleadingly.
"No" they both respond in unison. I sigh and back away to keep them both in sight. Grunt charges me again, as does Jack with her biotic corona focused in her right fist. I sidestep Grunt once again, noticing he's moving faster. I then basically deflect Jack's punch and leapfrog over her, turning again to face the two, ducking a punch thrown by Grunt. I lean back from Jack's boot as she tries to kick me and turn my body to dodge a hook Grunt aimed at my side. I arch my back to job another biotic punch by Jack and flip back form the tow of them, lashing out with my feet as I do so. I stand again and take a martial arts stance, my legs spread, body turned to the side, fist and arm up in front of my face and my other positioned at my waist. Jack and Grunt try to punch me together but I use both arms to deflect their blows past me and lash out with my leg to kick Grunt's out from under him. I step to the side as he falls, grabbing hold of Jacks arm with my right hand, pulling her to me. I move behind her, grabbing her left arm with mine and wrapping it around her chest. I move my right leg over her left and push back on it, stepping in between her legs. I finish with pulling her right arm behind me and holding it there as her head turns to me with a slightly insane but delighted snarl.
I smirk. "What, you want a kiss or something?" I grin as her face becomes slightly enraged, laughing as she struggles against me.
"Why the fuck would I want to kiss you?" She snarled. I saw Grunt getting up and decided to end the break.
"Dunno, but the feelings mutual anyhow." I push Jack away from me and she stumbles slightly as she activates her biotics to make herself heavier. What she doesn't notice as she turns to me is that Grunt is right under her and they both fall as soon as they touch each other, Grunt weighed down by Jacks now very heavy self. I laugh and don't let up until Jacks biotics start to fizzle out, but by then the 10 second limit is almost reached. Grunt throws her off him as soon as she's lighter and sits up as my laughter dies down.
"Hey Grunt, ten seconds are up. That means I win." I smirk at Grunt and he growls angrily turning to Jack.
"The next time I go into a fight, it will either be alone or with Delta, human woman."
"My names Jack you Dumbass overgrown fucking lizard. You'd better remember it or else I'm gonna kick your ass off this damn ship!"
I chuckle and look up at the engineering deck on a hunch, mildly surprised to see Shepard and Miranda there, along with Kasumi, watching the fight. Miranda moves away from the window after I look up but Shepard stays there, watching me look at her and Grunt and Jack bicker in the background. Wow, those two sound like an old married couple. I glare back at them but it remains unnoticed as the two of them continue arguing and threatening each other. After a few seconds I sigh and go to the elevator, riding up to the crew deck and stepping into the bathroom for a quick shower. When I get out I have my shorts on and a towel around my neck as I walk over to the elevator. Miranda steps inside with me as the doors close and turns to look at me.
"Delta."
"Miranda"
"What was the purpose of fighting those two?"
"To see the extent of the augmentations." Miranda raises an eyebrow at that, but turns back towards the elevator doors before speaking more.
"And your current state of dress?"
"Well, I did just fight Grunt and Jack in hand to hand combat. That tends to leave someone sweaty, and I don't like the stench staying longer than it should."
Miranda nodded slightly. "The commander has set a course for Illium. We are going to recruit a couple more people before we head out to the far rim for a planet called Haestrom."
So we're going for Thane and Samara before we head to Tali. Sweet. I nod at Miranda and the doors open on the CIC. I step out and head to the armory, noticing how several of the women working there were ogling my chest and back. I smirked as I entered the armory but didn't see the crew freeze as Miranda apparently gave them some stare meaning 'get back to work'. In the armory I replace my current sportswear with the casual Cerberus crew outfit, a black shirt and white cargo pants. I frowned at the Cerberus logo, Jacob chuckled when he saw me do so, and walked to my cot to open my omni tool. I was almost a Spartan. I had the augmentations, and now I needed the training and armor. Sure I could shoot a gun but these guns were just a little heavier than my Nerf guns back home, what with the mass effect field generators making them so light. The recoil was less than a gun that fires actual bullets too, but I still needed the true training of a Spartan to become one. I could wear the armor now, since my body could handle the enhancing synthetic musculature that is part of the Mjolnir and SPI armor used by most Spartan III's without hurting myself severely. The armor might be able to be made but I doubt Jacob and Mordin could configure it on the fly in this ship. Plus, it'd probably take a ton of titanium to make too. Either way, I sit down and make schematics and building specifics of my own Spartan armor. I sit and work on it for several hours, bickering with myself over what to have for the knee guards, chest piece, shoulder pieces and helmet. Finally I was done, and I stood up with a smile, saving the schematics and shutting down my Omni-tool just as Shepard stepped into the room.
"Delta, I want you to come with me." I nod and head to the airlock with Shepard. I see Jack, Zaeed, Grunt, Garrus and Miranda waiting there already and I raise my eyebrow in confusion. Shepard has two more than usual, what's she planning on? And Miranda looks kinda fidgety too, I wonder what she-wait, Illium, Miranda's sister! Oh crap is that why we have such a large squad? So Garrus, maybe he's going to command some people for a while.
"Commander." Miranda turns to Shepard a slight pleading look in her eye. Shepard nods at her and steps into the airlock with everyone piling in after. I put my armor on quickly, and just in time as the outer door opens and we start walking. Pretty soon the greeter woman, asari… oh fuck it, they might not technically be women but they still look too damn close not to be considered women.
"Welcome to Illium Commander Shepard." It would be hilarious if she acted like the Wal-mart greeters. The funniest ones I've seen were one on Family guy, when it was that one dude, Dick Cheney I think, who just kept saying 'go fuck yourself'. Then Jeff Dunham's puppet Walter said he was a greeter and he always said 'Welcome to Wal-mart , get your shit and get out!' That would be funny as hell, but what would she say? 'Welcome to Illium, buy something or go the fuck away.' 'Welcome to Nos Astra, please either go or make some use of yourself.' Welcome to our dock, I-"
"Thank you. Come on everyone, let's go see Liara." Oh…shit, I really have, just… got, to work on this zoning out thing. It's like a freaking repeat of math class. On a plus note, we're in Nos Astra. Time to get some upgrades for my weps. Shepard leads us to the marketplace under Liara's office and we look at the merchant stalls. Tali comments on how Quarians usually aren't welcome here for their pilgrimages, being so poor off the bat. Garrus notes that it's a safe place until you fall off the grid. Then its like falling through a skyway, not pretty… though usually more unnoticeable.
"Commander Shepard, over here." A purple asari by the news screens motions Shepard over. They exchange a few words before the Asari's eyes turn white, then Shepard listens to her speak before grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. Oh I remember, that's one of the reactions to the Asari the Rachni queen sent! So Shepard saved her huh. That's nice. Pretty soon Shepard comes back to us and tells Garrus and Tali the asari was a messenger from a friend from Noveria. I'll ask them later, at lest get some valid reason as to why I now they spared the Rachni. Other than the obvious one. Anyway we head to Liara's office and Shepard has everyone but Garrus stay back. I stand outside the door, looking at Nyxeris as it closes. The two of us regard each other and I keep a mild eye on the argument Miranda and Jack have going while Grunt just looks around bored. Miranda's very fidgety now and she seems to be losing her usual cool demeanor.
"Jack, come here for a sec." I call down to her. Jack scowls at me but comes up anyway, compelled by some unknown reason to listen to me. Now I have to think of a reason as to why I called her up… shit.
"What do you want?" Jack snarled.
"What are you two arguing about now?" I ask.
"Why the fuck is it any of your business?" She scoffs.
"Because if it's something trivial then I want to solve it so it doesn't end up annoying me more than it has to."
"It's not fucking trivial!" Jack points a finger into my face.
"Really now, then what is it?"
"It's about something I found in the cheerleaders Cerberus files." Oh crap, is she talking about the Teltin facility?
"What'd you find?"
"None of your damn business, that's what." Jack turns and stomps back down the stairs. I frown and look behind me as I see Shepard come out of the room with Garrus. She seemed a little sad until they came into view, at which point Garrus stopped whatever he was doing to comfort her. Shepard hid whatever it was she was feeling and walked past me while Garrus hung back a little.
"What happened in there?" I asked the veteran Turian friend.
"Liara was…different, than we remembered her. She seemed a lot colder too. I don't think Shepard expected that kind of reunion from her."
"Why not?" Garrus just looks at me in silence. "Were they lovers or something?" he jumps and his mandible flare in alarm before he glances to Shepard who suddenly became rigid.
Garrus sighs "Yeah, they were together, and just now Liara barely kissed Shepard after being gone for two years."
I frown. "Oh… well that sucks." Pretty bitchy move. I know I had a play through in which Shepard had romanced Liara in the first game, but I never saw how that worked out seeing her again in the second. So she barely kisses her? That's not loving at all. Or hot… oh goddamnit… OUT, OUT PERVY IMAGES, DAMN YOU! We walk towards Shepard, me shaking my head furiously, and see her talking to Jack while Miranda's off to the side. I walk over just as Shepard and Jack finish talking, Jack seeming more relaxed than before. Meanwhile Miranda's getting fidgety and looking at the door that leads to the lounge area.
"Alright, we have a few things to do here so I thought we'd split up to take care of two at once. Delta you're obviously capable of combat again so I'm going to be relying on your enhanced abilities to make this work."
"You can count on me Shepard. Whatever it is, I'll get it done." Just don't have any hot women talk to me for the next few minutes. excluding Miranda
"Good, because you are going to go with Miranda while the rest of us go look for the Assassin."
My eyes widen in surprise behind my visor and I look to Miranda as she stands surprised as well. It doesn't last long though.
"What! But Shepard-!"
"No butts Lawson!" except that one behind you, jiggling so good while you argue with Shepard. So firm but still looks like Jell-o and-oh dear they noticed me staring. I look back at them and shrug, completely ignoring the fact that my visor is showing my face and my eyes were obviously pointed somewhere…inappropriate. After looking at Miranda and Shepard I quickly polarize my visor as I'm assaulted with images of Liara adding in with the two for a three way. Damn you puberty, damn your invasive distracting mental tactics!
"Shepard he will not be anywhere near enough help!"
"It will be fine Miranda. He was a good fighter before and he just became better."
"But Shepard!"
"My decision is final Lawson. Either take him with you or I send him off for something else."
Miranda looks frustrated and groans before grabbing and practically dragging me to the lounge area. I quickly get set and am walking beside her as she walks through the area, ignoring my slowing down for Aethyta's Eternity Bar and instead pulling me harder as we pass the slave broker. In a few seconds we walk up to her asari contact, Lanteia.
"Ms. Lawson, its good to see you again."
"How is she?"
"She's fine so far. You authorized a man named Niket to help didn't you?"
"Yes, Niket's an old friend, he's trustworthy." I look between the two in feigned confusion. After all, Miranda only told Shepard and Shepard's decision to include me and exclude herself was only recent.
"They're in port 26 and we think your father has sent some agents to get them."
"Oh no. We'll have to hurry." Miranda turns and strides off to call a taxi. As we wait a few minutes for one to arrive, I look at Lanteia and ask "So, whats going on here?"
"If Lawson didn't want to tell you I'm not talking."
"Thank you miss, you've been very helpful. I have morals, and I won't fight unless I know what for." Even If I know why and what we're doing this, I don't know why the fuck I'm here. Yeah…
"My sister is going to be kidnapped by my father from her family. We need to make sure that doesn't happen."
"You have a sister?" I ask Miranda.
"Yes, a genetic twin. She was supposed to replace me…"
"We never discussed your origin, have we…?"
"No…" the cab arrives, "but we have a long enough ride." I follow Miranda in, sitting at the drivers seat. On the way over Miranda briefs me on all that I know, cementing it and giving me a look into her own self-esteem problem. Wonder if that can be helped faster by Shepard and I both working on it, but my wondering ceases as Miranda keeps talking. Not soon enough, I see the gunships used by the Eclipse fly alongside us. I smirk and Miranda notices the ships and finally shuts up. I know I asked for it but still, she talked my ear off… even after I got to know all I needed. The cab lands soon in that cargo area by the port and we step out. We see an Eclipse captain walk over with his tech armor on, ready to go.
"You're the woman that stole our bosses little girl. Listen, if you walk away now, we won't tell him we saw you."
"I don't think so. Oriana is not going to go back to my Father." Miranda snarls at the guy.
He shakes his head and turns to me "What are you doing here with her anyway? I bet this doesn't concern you so why don't you just leave now? My boys already got their shots lined up, all I have to do is make my move and you two are done for." I look behind the guy and see about 8 other mercs hiding behind crates and such. A couple of them are asari but most of them are Salarians. I notice a crate hanging over the middle of the group, and if it were dropped, it would squash some cover and a few mercs too. I look over and see Miranda's noticed it too, and look back to the guy as he just finishes talking.
"Hold up a second man, there's something really cool behind you. Here, let me help you see it." I grabbed the guy's chin and back of the head and twisted it 180 degrees. I let go and drew the new Mattock heavy rifle we got after the Horizon mission. The single shot was annoying sometimes but it reminded me of the DMR in Halo: Reach. I got most of my kills from the DMR, melee and Sniper rifle. I smirk as I duck behind cover and pull out my Mantis, quickly scoping and sniping several mercs. After 3 salarians and two humans are dropped I see one Asari warped by Miranda's biotics, and the other shot by her SMG. I add a quick sniper round to diffuse the Asari's barrier and Miranda drops her with a few more shots. We move forward and I cloak myself just before two mercs round the corner. I sprint past them quickly, my plasma blades out and slicing through their necks. The other 2 mercs behind them are surprised and I stab one in the head before de-cloaking, shocking the last one as I kick them down and drive my blade into their heart. I looke dup and scanned ahead a bit as Miranda ran up to me. We nodded to each other and advanced, finding a few more mercs and mechs guarding the first elevator. We shot them down and called for the elevator to come down to us.
"-Team four come in. Come in team four-" a radio sounds out, evidently dropped intact by one of the mercs. Miranda leans down and grabs it, syncing its airwave channel with hers. I copy the movement and ignore the chatter. The elevator opens up and we step inside.
"Delta, I think I should tell you something…" Ah the child revelation thing. I was expecting that. "Oriana is my genetic twin and my father did create her to replace me but she was only a baby when I took her and left my father as a teenager. I rescued her from my father and Niket helped me escape with her, but I never told him about her."
"Why didn't you tell him about her?"
"The fewer who knew I had Oriana the better."
"Ok, so now we're guarding a what? 12 year old? 13 year old?"
"Oriana's turning 19 this year. She's almost a woman." HOT DAMN! I already knew this but hearing it from Miri's mouth is oh so much sweeter. Especially with those luscious lips of hers… thank you god and all that's holy for this armor not being able to budge from shifting body parts… "I'm very protective of her." Oh yeahhh… forgot that part. At the idea that Miranda might, no would, tear it off if I tried, well, doggy laid down real fast…
"Lets go help her then. We're going through the cargo processor yard right?"
"Yes, there are explosive materials here too so stay alert." I nod and we both watch the doors open. We move out into an alley made of cargo boxes and see a conveyor line. Soon after we come across some cover mercs pop up on the far side. One forgot he had no shields on and that was made apparent by my pistol shot blowing into his head. I smirked at that and ducked behind some boxes as fire rained on me. I popped up with my Mattock shooting at one merc while I had an Incinerate trained on one whose shields had been taken down by Miranda. I then snuck up to the conveyor line and activated my cloak, running to the other side while switching to my Locust SMG. Once there I saw three mercs behind cover and I shot one with a concussive blast, stunning him, stabbed another with my left energy blade and unloaded the whole clip of my Locust into the third and farthest one. After those two died I curbstomped the one who was stunned on the floor. Now that I think of it, not the best idea for regular use but thankfully his helmet kept most of his blood off my leg and foot… yeah Jacobs gonna be freaking out over this. Miranda takes down the last merc as she turns to me and then walks over.
"Was that really necessary?" she asks, gesturing to the result of my grotesque head stomping. I shrug at her, "I thought so."
"-This is Enyala, keep the bitch back, Niket is nearing the transport terminal-"
Miranda and I make our way through a corridor of cargo crates, picking up some credits and weapons upgrades on the way. We find some mechs by what looks like a check-in station and locker area for dockworkers. We push forwards, finding another cargo conveyor rail and seeking cover as even more mercs pour out to shoot us. I watch a few and snipe some explosive tanks by a small group of them, chuckling as they blow up. When the blast fades I see they're all dead and watch a flaming leg fall down beside some other mercs. One of them is a woman, a new one apparently, as she screams, falls, and scrambles away from the severed, burning limb. I shoot her companion who turned to yell at her and move up to take position where they were as the girl runs away to hide. I shoot the mercs coming out of one carton and incinerate an asari that tried to warp Miranda. She seems to be afraid of fire on herself and I saw a few more come out to cover her. I shot them down quickly, letting the first one burn to death. Miranda and I picked up any thermal clips we needed as the fighting stopped and I ran around quickly to get the upgrades that Miranda would miss in her urgency. Once I had everything stored or data secured we went on to the alley of canisters, and I shot the two mercs that came out to fight us with my shotgun.
"-Divert everyone except my guard from Niket. I'll handle him and the kid personally-" that was Enyala again. I wonder, does every Asari name have an 'a' in it? Enyala, Liara, Samara, Benezia, they all have 'a's! Wait, councilor Tevos doesn't… or is she Velarn? Shit, why can't I remember that at this time, I'm experiencing a mental conundrum! This must be solved, my curiosity will be sated!
"Damnit, I'm not letting her get Oriana" oh, right Oriana. Curiosity, you will be shelved for now sadly. My shields start to drop and I look up, recognizing mercs ad some mechs shooting at us. My gun is up and firing at them, me scoring headshots galore. Oh its great having such enhanced eyesight, I can see so much farther and clearer now, my accuracy is so greatly improved. I run up to a rail for cover and throw a haymaker into the guy standing in front of it. He falls back, flipping over the side of the rail as I duck behind it. Hell yeah bitch, you just got mollywhopped! We continue fighting through the mercs and I just get plain tired of doing this so much. I rush through blowing up everything I can, incinerating the leftovers and throwing in a concussive blast or two. I then stalk through the remains and notice a pair of fleeing feet. I ignore it and turn to Miranda as she catches up to me.
"Shepard was right apparently. You are a great help." I nod in response and we find the elevator that leads to where Niket and Enyala are. I quickly scan the room's occupants and pull out my Mantis before striding forward. I snipe one guy at the back and Miranda guns down a merc at the front. She shoots the guy behind him while I squeeze off two shots that take down a regular grunt and the shields of the legionnaire in the back. Pretty soon the elevator door opens and 2 engineers, a grunt and a rocketeer step out. I snipe the grunt and one engineer and Miranda shoots the other engineer, but doesn't manage to kill him before he unleashes his combat drone. I put away my sniper and reach fro my shotgun but the drone hits me with an electric charge, short-circuiting my shield system. Miranda destroys it but the damage is done and the rocketeer decided to be smart and fired at me. The rocket impacted against my armor and exploded with enough force to shatter bone. I flew back and landed hard, grunting slightly in a daze while Miranda gunned him down. I groaned as I slowly sat up, medi-gel assaulting my wounds in its magical healing manner. I look to Miranda and grab her hand as she offers it, only slightly using it to pull myself up.
"Are you okay?" she asks.
"I'll be fine, but I'll be damn tired after this." Miranda nods and walks over to the elevator.
"-Niket has reached the terminal. He'll switch the family over to our transport.-"
"NIket? Bu-But that can't be right!" …Sorry Miranda.
"It can be a few things… but it sounds like only one right now." We get into the elevator as Miranda talks and I activate it.
"No, maybe the captain knows we're listening in and she's feeding misinformation about Niket making a switch. Or maybe it means something else. Niket wouldn't do that." Now her strained composure breaks a little as she activates her Omni-tool and Overloads the elevator controls, "Dammit, why won't this thing go any faster!"
"Congrats you've made it go faster by a couple feet per second. It could be all of the above still Miranda but I don't think so. You never told him about Oriana, so that's always some way to get him to betray you. His loyalty is to you after all, not your sister. And you never told him about her or of how protective you are of her."
"No, he could have turned on me when I ran away. He's the only person from my father's life that I kept in contact with. I'm sure he tried to buy him off before."
"You're missing the point though, there are many ways to convince someone ot do something unusual for them, money is just the most common one but it is not, by far, the only method. Maybe your father told him about Oriana and appealed to his morals and doubts instead of his pockets since you seem to guard yourself effectively against people susceptible to that kind of persuasion."
"Niket wouldn't betray me… We'll be at the transport shuttle soon anyway, we can clear it all up there."
I nod and watch the icon of the elevator reach our intended floor. Soon it stops and I face the door waiting to step out. Through the closed doors of the elevator I can hear a part of a conversation very mutedly.
"-I get paid regardless of how the girl gets there Niket."
"No! I was told that I could handle this my way. We are not traumatizing the family any more than we-" The elevator doors open with a ding and Miranda and I step out. She stands and glares at Niket and Enyala while I, uh… strike a pose with my fists on my hips. Miranda turns her glare on me for acting so silly even now and I just laugh a bit as I let my hands fall.
Niket leans forward a bit with narrowed eyes before leaning back in surprise and muttering "Miri." Enyala jumps off her cargo box and draws her shotgun saying, "This should be fun" I draw my pistol and crouch as I see the Asari worker standing next to them glance between us all, cringing at Enyala as she draws her weapon and outright terrified as Miri-Miranda and I draw ours. I see her give her last glance at all of us and turn and I break out running for her as she runs away. Enyala turns calmly and tries to shoot her but I manage to tackle the asari woman before the shot is fired. I crouch as we land covering her body with mine, before rolling her off me, and standing up to block Enyala's second shot if she tries it. I point my pistol at her as we both listen to Niket and Miranda begin their conversation, moving slowly towards Enyala.
"NIket. You sold me out. Why? You were my friend! You helped me get away from my father!"
"Yes. Because you wanted to leave, that was your choice. But if I'd known you'd stolen a baby-"
"I didn't steal her, I rescued her!" Miranda responded forcefully" Shit, she tries to kill Niket first, what do I do to stop it?...damn.
"From a life of wealth and happiness? You weren't saving her! You were getting back at your Father!"
"How'd Miranda's father convince you to help?"
"They told me that you kidnapped your baby sister all those years ago. They said I could help return her, no trauma to the family. I told them that you wouldn't do something like that, that they could go to hell! Then you told me what you'd done. I called them back that night."
I turn to Miranda and look at her pointedly as she shakes her head slightly in sadness saying, "Why didn't you call me Niket? We've been through a lot. You could've at least let me explain!"
"Gotta say, that's your bad dude." I comment.
"I deserved to know that you'd stolen your sister Miri! I deserved to know that you were working with Cerberus! But I still had to hear it from your father first…"
"So he knows about Oriana too right? Then moving her wont work…" I say.
"Miranda's father has no information about Oriana. I knew you had spy programs in your Fathers system Miri, so I kept it private. I'm the only one who knows…" Miranda lowered her gun as he said this.
"Which means that you're the only loose end. This isn't how I wanted it to end Niket. I'm going to miss you…" Miranda raises her gun and aims it at Niket. Just before she pulls the trigger, NIket is blown to the side by a concussive shot, Miranda's shot missing him.
"Miranda, no! You'd to regret it." I run over to Niket and check him over for injuries. A few broken ribs but better than being dead I suppose… "Maybe he could help from inside, keep your father off Oriana's trail." I say, propping the man up to look at Miranda.
"Yeah, yeah." He groans in pain. "I could help you like that. Keep him away, and stop him when he gets close. I could say that we missed her here, and she's gone."
Miranda looks at us as she considers this. Oh this is perfect, my concussive shot pushed Niket out of the path of Miranda's bullet and out of range of Enyala's shotgun looks like he'll live through this day. "Fine… but I never want to see your face again Niket." Niket nods quickly and I look back at I'm to see his face contort in pain and agony as he splits down the middle a noticeable amount and I see blood gush from the side of his head. I drop him in shock and look at Enyala.
"There, now you'll never see him again. Can we get this over with?" That bitch, she just built up a warp field and focused it on Niket's head! Now his brain and the top of his spine is split down the middle and shifted a few inches…
Miranda lifts up Enyala a very bright blue corona covering the two of them. "You'll die for that, Bitch!" She throws Enyala back so hard I hear her smack against the cargo container in the back of the room. Enyala's guard pour into the room and start firing on us as we duck into cover. I go along the left side of the room and Miranda goes to the right, and we make our way across. While its slow moving on each side any mercs who try to flank us through the middle are quickly killed by our crossfire. Enyala decides to come for me and as she gets close I grab her shotgun and flip her onto her back, behind my cover. I rip the shotgun out of her hands and smack her head with it, unleashing one of my plasmas blades and driving it into her neck. As she dies I smirk into her face and stand up, my Mattock roaring to life and sending mercs to their death. After a few minutes, the fighting done and we both stand up, looking around and finishing the wounded. I grab the locket belonging to that one asari woman who gives you credits for it.
Miranda and I step into the elevator and I activate it once again as she slams her hand into the wall.
"Dammit! Why didn't you let me kill him! I could've done it but watching that Asari bitch do it."
'I didn't let you because you care, apparently. Besides he's been avenged you know that, whereas if you did it you'd be left with grief over his death and guilt at being his killer. That doesn't sound better than just grief over his death and satisfaction at his vengeance to me." seriously…
"It was always like this. Everything my father gave there was always a hook. An angle for his long term plan. When I ran I threw away everything he gave me. Except Niket. Weakness on my part."
"Niket helped you run away from your Father. You kept a true friend and that's not a weakness. Your weakness was not Niket himself but your reluctance to trust him fully. If you did, all this would have been solved years ago like it was today. With you free, your sister safe, or soon to be, and your father clueless."
Miranda looked down as I said this, taking in the words. "He's gone now though. It's sad but its life. At the very least his last desire was to help keep your sister safe. So we should go fulfill that one don't you think? You still have her after all."
"Yes, you're right. I still have something. Thank you, Delta." We both remain silent as the elevator continues up. Pretty soon it opens on the transit floor and we get out. I move around as stealthily as possible searching for more of the Eclipse Agents, as does Miranda. After seeing none and finishing my sweep I stand by the elevator that will take us down to the taxi station. Miranda walks over to me.
"No sign of Eclips. Looks like we're clear." Miranda looks over the floor of the station watching a family of three. I follow her gaze and see a slightly aged couple and a young, dark haired woman. Mini-Miri! Hah, I'm so going to use that one in person if we meet face to face. "There she is. She's safe. With her family." Miranda's eyes start to tear up. "We should go."
I turn to her with a look screaming 'the hell you will' "Oh-ho-ho-ho-hooo no. You are going to go and talk to your sister right nao."
"I can't. Even if I want to it's not the best for her, and that's all I want for her. The best."
"The 'best' for her would be knowing that she has an older sister willing to fight through several floors of armored, greedy, mercenaries to make sure that she was safe. She doesn't need to know the specifics of anything. Just saying hi and letting her know you're watching and that you care will be enough from a sibling." I just wish I could for mine.
Miranda's eyes really start to tear up now as she looks at Oriana. "Maybe I should just go talk to her then. Just to say hi." I nudge her on the back towards her and Miranda walks over I see the two greet each other first off and Oriana's parents seem slightly perturbed at Miranda's inclusion and revelations. I smile at the interaction between the siblings as they chat idly a few minutes later. I'm reminded of my family, and my own little brothers back home… I wish I knew what they were doing now… I can't let it get to me though, I will return home one way or another and I'll make up for lost time with them. I just can't let them drift in now. Rooming with Jacob reminds me too much of bunking with my lil' bro for me to forget any of them, but dwelling on any of those negative feelings is going to make it harder for me to get back and lose them. I see Miranda walk back over to me, smiling brightly as her eyes tear up again. We both step into the elevator and I see Miranda and Oriana wave to each other. Before the door closes Oriana's gaze shifts to me and the elevator cuts off any further contact.
Minutes later Miranda and I are sitting at the Eternity bar, drinking glasses of Asari wine.
"Thanks again for your help Delta. I couldn't have done it without you."
"Maybe but you still would've given them all kinds of hell by yourself. Enyala probably would've been the only one that would've been a problem." I finish my glass and pay the tab, waving goodbye to Aethyta. Another Asari name with an 'a' I must find out if that's the most common letter in their naming customs or not.
"Aethyta!"
"What can I do for ya kid?"
I deadpan "Stop calling me kid."
"No"
"damn…" I hang my head and Aethyta chuckles, as does Miranda slightly. I lift my head up again and look at Aethyta. "When translated, is the English vowel 'a' present in every asari name, or is it the most common vowel in Asari naming culture?"
Aethyta' slightly surprised. "It's just eh most common, by a very large amount. Practically every asari has an 'a' somewhere in their name. why do you ask?"
"It's a question that's been bugging me for the past few hours. I just couldn't get it out of my head. Thanks" I wave goodbye to her again and walk back over to Miranda we walk into the corridor together before she grabs me and gives me a very tight hug.
"Thanks so much for helping me with my Sister and Niket Delta."
"You're welcome." I respond returning the hug. Oh god, if I was a foot shorter this would be fucking PERFECT! Even if apparently it only lasts for a second. Miranda lets go and we continue walking along to the Normandy. Once onboard we find that Shepard is in the meeting room with Krios, our new assassin teammate.
"I don't like mercs. An Assassin is just a precise mercenary."
"It's fine Jacob. We can trust him."
"I don't know about you commander, but I'm partial to trusting someone who's only loyal to their next paycheck."
"Well get to trusting because thane's doing this job gratis."
"No mentiras, gratis? Que pasa Shepard, fue una contesta que te ganas cuando fuiste para comprar nuevos soldados para nosotro equipo?"
"No Delta. We don't shop for teammates and as for jokes, Jokers are enough without you compounding on them."
"…I'll get you to respond in Spanish someday. Shepard."
"Well seeing as you two are comfortable standing next to each other I'm willing to bet the mission went off well." Miranda and I both nod at Shepard. "Good, then, rest up because in a while we are going after our Justicar." Miranda nods as Jacob and I salute and we all head off to rest. I can't wait, I wonder what I can do with the Samara mission in the Eclipse headquarters.
Me: And there we are. Another chapter for you guys to read and enjoy. Here's a translation of the Spanish
"No lie, for free? What happened Shepard, was there some contest you won when you went to buy more soldiers for our team?"
Delta: the funny thing is I knew that. I must be able to speak Spanish fluently :D
Me: No shit, really? Well, anyway as for the people who see some Miranda/Delta stuff here. You do. It's there.
Delta: She likes me now? The fuck do I do now?
Me: I don't know, work it out yourself man. Make a decision who you're going to get, if anyone. I have finished this at 1:30 in the morning so I am gonna do a quick edit and load it up.
Delta: We'll get started on the next chapter as soon as we get some good sleep and a decent haircut.
Me: yeah yeah yeah, Peace out everybody!
Me: (punching forehead) Oh god whyy...
Delta: Get over it you made a little mistake.
Me: I made a bigger plot hole than a goddamn deus ex machina!
Delta: ...You know there's some irony in that statement.
Me: (mopey) Like I care... Peace out everybody, until next chapter...