Delta: …I got nothing. ROLL CLIP!
Disclaimer: Zero does not own Mass Effect or Halo. Only Delta and his insanity, and actions done out of the sake of comedy.
Change in Life
Geez, this tank is heavy… I don't even have all the soil piled in yet. God, I hope Shepard doesn't walk in here until I've gotten the place cleaned. The floor looks like a pigsty.
"Delta, What the hell are you doing with all this dirt?!" Well it isn't Shepard at least.
"Hey Jacob, I'm just uh…prepping my new roommates stuff." I lean on the tank.
"New roommate? Who is it, a mole?"
"Baby brown klixen actually." Jacob gives me a 'so-not-amused' look. "Hey, you're not here anymore."
"Actually yeah I am. Despite how often I'm not here when you are I do still live here."
"Are you sure? I thought you would've moved in with Kasumi by now…"
"These aren't apartments Delta."
"I'm just saying man. You're there about 90% of the day, why not just be there that last 10%."
"Because she needs privacy that last 10%."
"She needs what?"
"Privacy."
I give him a blank look.
"And I forgot who I was talking to…"
"Uh huh." I turn back to the large aquarium I'm filling with soil and dump some more in. I start patting down the soil at the top before picking up Gary and putting him inside. He does a couple little hops and moves over as I start placing rocks and small vegetation in for decoration. The aquarium wasn't very large, just about 3 feet high and 1 wide. The space on top was just for Gary while the rest was for it's other occupant. One who was still asleep. In case he woke up before I noticed I placed some crickets in the tank and put the lid on over it. The tank was nestled in the corner of the room by my bed, right before the xbox and holo-tv where I played my games. Both gave off a good amount of heat for Gary to bathe in whenever I enjoyed myself. I set to cleaning up the spilled dirt and bags from around the side of the room I had the stuff set up in. "So, what was it you needed Jacob?"
"Oh, uh… You know what, I don't recall what it was now. Odd. Well, I'll just get to work then I guess."
"huh, kay then, I'm gonna go bug Mordin about something." I say, finishing the cleanup and heading into the comm. room to bypass it for Mordin's Lab. Once there I look at Mordin who is standing up and breathing softly, fingers twitching as they hang at his sides. "Uh, Mordin?"
Mordin blinks and shakes his head slightly before straightening, looking at me for a full second before his eyes clear in recognition. "Ah, Delta, good to see you. New projects I assume you wish researched?"
"That I do Mordin, That I do. Observe." I download schematics for a new vehicle onto Mordin's computer.
"Hmm, very interesting..,. easily deployed, good maneuverability, amazing firepower for size. Could work. Will start now. Exciting to see come to fruition."
"Sweet! See you later Mordin, and thanks."
"Pleasure is always mine." Mordin replies. I smile and walk out, heading into the CIC and stepping up behind Kelly. I stand there for a few seconds, watching Shepard and her over her shoulder. "So whats up?"
"OH MY GOD!" Kelly yells out, swinging back with her elbow and then curling up in surprise. I just crumple to the ground in pain. "What have I told you about that?!"
"I had EDI keep deleting the messages you sent him recently. All just for that. You got that on film right EDI?"
"Affirmative, Shepard."
"Perfect."
"I think I've just lost a million potential children…." I groan, rolling across the floor until I'm curled up against the wall as I try to recover.
"At least he has the decency to get out of the way." Shepard mutters while still sifting through the wok on her computer.
A few minutes later I stand up, still hunched and walk over to Shepard. "So, I came to ask where we're headed next."
"I plan to go to the Citadel and Omega soon to handle business for Thane, Garrus and Samara. Zaeed is still pestering me about his old feud and Jacob has something he needs to settle as well. We don't have all the time in the galaxy though. I worry we wont be able to help everyone."
"I could probably handle Zaeed and Jacob for you."
"Hm… you probably could. They're both in small known planets so you couldn't cause a big splash. I'll think about it. In the meantime, we're going to make a quick stop back at Illium to help a friend."
"Hm? Find something for Liara? Likely a little gift from our oh so generous benefactor/terrorist friend."
"He's no friend of mine. Just a temporary ally." Shepard replies.
"Either way, fun times abound no doubt. Illium it is! I will await the journey in my room! Or the vents."
"Silly child…"
"Knock knock" I say before the doors open up to reveal Kasumi in slightly less clothing than usual, olive skin shining in the low light.
"Nice to see you regard me with some privacy."
"I'd rather not get killed for accidentally stepping in on you naked."
"Wise."
"I thought so. I was hoping there might be something here that I could partake of, something of a highly alcoholic nature?"
"No. Shepard's restricted your private binging to beer alone."
"What?! That's no fun…"
Kasumi pats my shoulder while nodding sagely "Yeah, a shame for you, eh Deruta? So, I guess you'd like to grab a bottle?"
"Not a few."
"Only one a day."
"Damn it Shepard…" I sigh. Kasumi chuckles and goes over to lie back on her bed while opening a book as I grab a bottle of beer and head into the crew lounge with a small wave to her. She returns it as the door shuts behind me. I juggle the unopened bottle in my hand while walking over to the elevator and heading up to my room. Five minutes later I step out onto the CIC and take a left towards the armory, opening it to see Jacob poking Gary and Gary's eye stalks just swiveling towards me in what seems like a bored fashion.
"You know, this klixen species seems a lot more capable of showing emotions. I get the sense he's annoyed by me." Jacob says while he stops poking.
I walk over and wrinkle my nose once close to Jacob, backing away to the other side of the tank. "What was your first guess, the irritation shown in his eye stalks or the fact that it seems he keeps farting at you?"
"All the above." Jacob walks over to the guns and resumes his maintenance. I drop some crickets into what seems like a small cone shaped hole dug into the dirt of the aquarium, watching as they start to hop away once the lid is replaced. A single cricket remains in the middle of the hollow before the dirt shifts and before the cricket can jump away a burst of soil rises and falls, engulfing the cricket before it can so much as chirp. I chuckle and turn to see Gary calmly munching on another cricket and lettuce.
"You know where we're headed next?"
"Illium. Shepards got something for Liara, likely about the Shadow Broker. Should be an interesting trip."
"You think so?"
"Oh, I know so." If only you knew how. This videogame was real spot on. "I'm just gonna sleep til we get there." I lay down on the bed and close my eyes, drifting off to sleep quickly.
"Sir, do you see anything?" I shake my head before opening the comms. "Negative Corporal. I'll keep looking." I sigh, floating deeper into the rock formation in the center of a zero gravity sphere we have found in this installation. Verona's face appears in the corner of my HUD, her holographic brows furrowed in confusion as she searches.
"I don't understand. The radar surged in this very area. We should be right on top of whatever responded to our scans. Wait!"
"What is it?"
"Your beta waves have spiked. Somethings affecting your mind, and it isn't me. I can't tell what but it feels clos-THERE!"
I wince at her shout just as my roaming hand brushes against something that feels more metal than rock. I turn and look at what seems to be a steel oval orb with a single hornlike antennae poking out of its top flash blue before I am hit with a wave of semi-solid light, pushing me back into the opposite wall. I curl up as my mind is assaulted with words numbers, all of a foreign language broken with my own. I can faintly register Verona in the background but I cant speak to her as my mind is taxed enough with the images that are slowly becoming understandable. I see a large black sphere and an armored being that stands tall above an army of robotic creatures with orange lights glowing from bladed protrusions and projectile weapons. That's all I see before I black out.
My eyes open widely as I wake up. I sit up and look around no longer floating in a rock formation but back in my cot, on the Normandy. I get up and get dressed quickly, glancing out the window to see us coming into Illium's atmosphere. Seems I woke up right on time. Lets go meet today's squadmates!
"Hey Tali, Garrus." Kinda expected this. But this is two, I make three so who's going to be the last one I wonder…
"Alright, good to see everyone's here." Shepard says while walking over with Thane by her side. "Let's move out."
We head out through the mezzanine and market area, ignoring the vendors calling out as we pass, most stopping and losing a lot of enthusiasm once they take notice of Tali being the only one to look at anything but our destination. We head up the steps and stop in front of Nyxeris who informs Liara of our arrival. I turn invisible before everyone's left, sidling up behind the secretary as Shepard and the others go in. Once behind I look over her shoulder and smirk, seeing the report compiled on her desk makes it far too easy for me to get rid of her while having a useful excuse.
"So, how's your ol buddy the Broker doing, hm?" I say, shimmering into view slowly behind her as I hear her gasp. I put a hand on top of hers before she can press a button she was reaching towards, pinning it to the desk. My other hand grips her arm to stop it as well.
"Beginning file copy…Complete. Coordinates and IP for delivery extracted." Silver says in my helmet. I smirk, having an AI was oh so useful.
"Well, fun as this is, I think Liara should hear about this." Nyxeris grits her teeth and glares hotly before her biotic aura flares up around the two of us. I only have time to say "wait" before I'm flung forward and hit the door to Liara's office hard. I groan and get up quickly seeing Nyxeris scramble from behind her desk. I lunge forward with a single elongated blade, slashing across her ankle and shin, causing Nyxeris to stumble while I get up. Once I do I shove my blade towards her neck but the plasma splashes as it comes into contact with her barrier.
"Huh, forgot about that. Well then." I turn off the blade and hold her by her shoulder before punching her forehead, knocking Nyxeris out cold. Just as I get up with her under an arm Shepard and the others have scrambled out of the office and Liara looks furious.
"What the hell are you-"
"She's a traitor. Nyxeris was a double agent working for the Shadow Broker. She compiled a report on her computer and I saw it. She threw me off her before I could bring her to you."
Tali crosses over to the computer and taps on it but it is unresponsive as she looks through its components she swears. "She's destroyed it. I can't lift anything out of the memory core. Any evidence is gone."
I merely smirk as Silver sends a copy of the report he lifted to Shepard and Liara's omni-tools. Shepard merely nods while Liara looks at me questioningly.
"I won't spam you emails you know."
"Well, at least this means the Broker wont know about the information you've given me since Nyxeris is taken out of the loop. You can dispose of her now."
"Aw, and I wanted to ask her out on a date too…"
"She'd just say no and kill herself at the idea."
"Hurtful. Oh this is a dilemma…"
"What is it?"
"Well, it's harder to kill her now. She's not trying to kill me. Or hurt me. She looks kinda peaceful now actually, aside from that nasty bruise."
"You've killed before haven't you? How is this that much different?" Liara asks
"Well before usually involved guns shooting at me, pain, taking shots back, visions of red and some not so heroic cowering-I mean taking cover. Here I'm calm, holding an unconscious alien woman in my arms with a warm sun shining on my skin -bang- AH! You could've hit me!" I yell, dropping the new corpse on the ground and staring wide eyed at Liara who just puts away her pistol.
Liara sighs and turns to Shepard, "I'm going home to start looking through the information you've given me. Here's my address, come over when you can. Feel free to use my computer for any information you need to know." Liara then turns and heads off through a hallway. I look down at the body of Nyxeris and slowly inch away from it.
"I'm going to look through the markets for anything we might find useful. You guys are free to do what you want until I call you again. Don't get drunk." She says the last part with an emphasized look at me. I just turn and whistle. "Delta."
"Yes Commander…" I walk over to a robot parts stall and look at what's available for purchase the vendor comes over and starts talking animatedly about what she has for sale and I just stare at her with my visor tinted until she slows down and eventually shuts up. When she slinks away I laugh under my breath. I hear Tali chuckle as she walks up beside me.
"That was certainly funny but also what you humans would call a, dick move, right?"
I laugh a little again "Yeah, pretty much." I pick out an item and start looking at the specs for it. I was hoping to find something I could use to upgrade the Colossus again but it doesn't seem luck was on my side. I found a cool automatic feeding system for an aquarium and figured I could modify it a bit to dispense food for Gary and his roomie. Hehe, wonder how long it'll take for Shepard to find out about him. Oh well, anyway moving on I think it's time to visit Aethyta at the bar!
"Delta, Shepard said you couldn't-"
"Aethyta! Can I have some orange juice?!"
"I don't have any kid. If it's alcoholic I got it, but I doubt I have anything that isn't besides water."
"Mhmm….hmmm…hmmhmhmhmhmhmm."
"Stop it."
Tali rolls her eyes and looks at Aethyta. "Shepard said he isn't allowed to drink so please don't give him anything alcoholic."
"Will do." "killjoy…"
"Thank you." Tali points a finger at me "Behave." Then walks off, likely to inspect the items at the shop. Wonder if she got a pay raise, I'm pretty sure I've collected some "extra" money along the way. Interesting how pocket change and salvaged thermal clips can get you so much extra money.
"We're helping out Liara. She's onto something about the Shadow Broker now."
"Is that so?" Aethyta's response is melancholy but I noticed the small twitch in her forehead. I smirk and grab a bottle of water from my hardcase, taking a sip as I watch her clean a glass. Seeing no one else is at the bar I feel its safe to continue.
"Yup. Honestly I feel it's a little unhealthy but she does seem to harbor a lot of guilt over what she's done. One friend nearly died and she fears what the other might feel about the measures she's taken. Why the universe chose to deprive her of a comfort I wont ever know."
"Life ain't fair kid."
"Nope, it sure ain't." I get a ring on my omni tool, a message from Shepard saying to meet at the taxi station in 5 minutes. A mere 2 minute walk. "She's going to find out. Then she'll have questions. I hope by then you're ready to answer as many as you can. And that you'll be the one she comes to for the answers." I slide off the stool, give a small smile and wave to Aethyta before walking off. I can just feel her stare back at me.
At the taxi station I whistle and slide into a cab, seeing as everyone else is already piled in to theirs. I look to the side and see Thane as my taxi partner, his eyes closed as if in meditation. I lay back and relax as the cab zooms off, flying through the sky towards Liara's apartment. It was rather fun, until we got to the destination which was when I was hit by the sadness of the ride being over.
And the surprise of the taped off crime scene. Shepard jumps out of her cab in front of us with Garrus and Tali, running over and using her Spectre license to get past the tape. Thane and I follow close behind. I immediately start looking around, ignoring the cops and Tela Vasir as she makes her appearance. I watch from the corner of the apartment as she and Shepard talk, glaring at our future traitor. Tela dismisses the local cops so she and Shepard can do some more investigating. I step over to the bullet holes in the window of Liara's apartment, waving Garrus over.
"What do you make of this?" I ask him.
"Definitely not standard issue work. Would have to be very powerful too, judging from the angle of the breakage in the glass the shot was taken from a high point, either on level or above Liara's apartment flooring." Garrus says, hand stroking his chin as he speaks.
"So it was either straight or down at an angle. Likely from one of those three buildings across the street, they seem to be in range." I unholster my rifle and look through the sights. "I'd say the middle one, but that's the most obvious choice since it provides the straighter shot, so another option would be the building on the left. There's a nice alcove within sight of here, likely good sniping distance and held in the corner of the building, closest point to the target and just out of sight too."
Garrus takes the rifle and looks through it for a few seconds before handing it back to me and nodding as its replaced in its holster. "I agree, the middle and left one are the best choices for a successful hit with a sniper."
"I found something." Shepard says, standing in front of the prothean relic near the bottom of the stairs. Shepard takes it over to Liara's TV where the message showing her talking to her contact Sekat shows up on screen. We watch intently until we hear the next destination, Baria Frontiers at the Dracon trade center.
"Guess we're getting a new travel agent Shepard." I say as we head out to the cabs. Tela jumps into her own car. Together we all head out to the Trade center, slowly coming in to park out front. Suddenly a large explosion rocks our shuttlecars and the center itself, blowing people onto the ground and causing flames to billow out of the 4 story building. We jump out of our cars and start running for the building. Tela flies over Shepard, pausing her car shortly,
"I'll come in from above, cut them off!" "Alright!" Shepard yells back, hurrying though the front doors. I follow, watching Tela's car go to the roof so she can do her dirty business out of sight. "I look forward to getting you…" I mutter. Once inside we see the wreckage from the blast destroyed the lobby, dead bodies littered everywhere.
"This is just pissing me off." I say, clenching my Plasma Repeater in my hand.
Shepard says nothing but remains calm and moving forward, heading for the stairs leading to the atrium offices. Forgot she's seen much worse anyhow…well we haven't seen the Collector's plans for their human captives so she couldn't have seen stuff that much worse. Once up the stairs we look around the Atrium, seeing the offices and Salarian Embassy. Shepard tells Vasir about the shot civilians and unarmed bomb she finds, warning her on the enemies possession of military grade hardware. I ignore it and move on, going into the sign in desk for Baria Frontiers.
"Shepard, Liara's signed in to the office very recently. Few minutes ago in fact."
"You get that Vasir?" Shepard asks over the comm.
"Got it." is her reply.
"I'll scout ahead." I say before going stealthed. Garrus goes by the door and opens it, peeking out as I walk through. The door closes behind me and I curse under my breath seeing sprinkler valves going crazy. I watch the area intently looking for any mercs who might be watching. If they see the water splash off my armor, my camo wont be worth a damn. With no one in sight I rush through the water, spraying as little as I can and hurry forward again, towards a dry cubicle area. I crouch down in one and let the water slide off me, not a moment too soon as a squad of mercs run past me, all armed and one with an RPG launcher on his back. They hide at the front of the cubicle office, waiting for Shepard to walk through the door.
I speak lowly so as not to be heard, "Shepard, there's a group of 5 soldiers here, 4 with assault rifles one with a rocket launcher. They're at the end of the first hallway, situated in front of the cubicled section of the office."
"Understood."
-Kzzt- what was tha- "Alpha team be advised, your position is compromised. The enemy is being supplied with intelligence. All groups be wary, watch for anyone cloaked or moving whilst cloaked at all times. We need to get rid of this recon unit quickly." Silver?
"We accessed their communication arrays. We believed it to be beneficial to our goal."
"It is good to know they'll be looking for me now… Well, they can't catch what they can't see so lets remain unseen." I sneak ahead, looking back as Shepard and the others open fire on the group I told them about, pinning them down with their surprise attack and taking out 2 in the initial fight. I walk forward, moving by a group of 4 standing near a hole in the wall caused by the explosions. Shepard gets near them after passing by the first group and 2 move off to engage her immediately. The last two hang back and then go forth as one of their allies dies and I see a 5th one come from a hallway by the hole. I look back, seeing the last guy crouching behind cover with his shields dwindling as Shepard advances so I jump up and break my cloak for a few seconds, slamming my blade into the 5th man's throat and lowering him to the ground as he dies before resuming my crouched position and cloaking once more. Shepard guns down the man behind cover as he fumbles to alert his cohorts about me but luckily he only managed to get out a gurgling groan of death.
"Silver, how often do people look up?"
"Statistics state that it is not often."
"Well, lets take the path less traveled." Silver's only response is a slight hum as he activates my packs anti-gravity module, sending me up to the ceiling. I use my hands to pull myself along it, staying out of sight and above those pesky sprinklers so my cover isn't blown. Without using the thrusters as well the camo system is capable of cloaking me and the pack as well
"Shepard, group of 4, sort of an office/mezzanine area. 1 with a rocket launcher behind a barrier in front of the hallway, 2 behind a barrier in the middle area with rifles and the last is on the side of the hall where the hallway opens into the room."
Shepard moves in with Tali Thane and Garrus. Thane and Garrus stay back as Tali and Shepard go in first, shotgun and SMG blazing as they take down the targets.
"End of the hallway, several barriers, I count 7 mercenaries all armed with rifles. One is an engineer and has an incinerate primed."
Shepard and Tali rush forward, diving behind some nearby barriers. Thane and Garrus each fire a shot, one taking out the engineers shields, the other his tech armor and then Shepard pops up to put a few rounds through his head. The 6 remaining soldiers pop up together and fire at them all.
"6 remaining. 2 are stationed behind a pillar to the right of the room. 1 more is hiding behind some thick rubble on the far left but if you get closer he is likely to move through the open for better cover, probably to the barrier in the middle of the hall with one of his friends behind it. The last 2 are behind a barrier behind this first one. I'm at their backs Shep. Tell me when to go and I'll take down these two while you guys get the rest." I say, positioning myself above the two mercs, ready to shut off my pack and cloak and drop down on them.
"Wait. Garrus, Thane your shots lined up?"
"Got my eye on the ones at 3."
"Target set for the crossing shot."
"Go Delta." Shepard says, moving up with Tali. The guy on the left gets up to move towards cover with his friend but is immediately shot down by Thane. The 2 behind the pillar at the side pop out to shoot Shepard and Tali. One get's taken down by Garrus and the other is brought down by Tali's shotgun after Garrus breaks his shields. Shepard opens fire on the guy behind his barrier, forcing him back down and vaulting it to punch him in the face before shooting the last of her clip into his dazed body.
I merely dropped down, slamming my booted foot onto a guys head and forcing it into the barrier, breaking both while all my plasma was channeled into the right blade, enlarging it to be longer than my forearm and like a mini plasma sword, swinging it up into the guy to my left, piercing his shields then twisting it before plunging down, stabbing through his armor and body into the ground as he dies. I pull it out and stand up, walking over to Shepard and the others as they collect thermal clips to replace their spent ones. Shepard grabs some extra credits before heading for the hallway into the stairs.
"Burn baby burn…" I say, following her and seeing the pipes spewing fire in front of the stairs preventing our journey forward.
"I'll get it." Tali says, stepping into an adjacent room and activating the fire suppressant systems manually. "Clear!" Tali says, walking back out as water sprays down once more.
"Great, now we're all wet once again…"
"I have a shotgun."
"I wasn't even going to say anything!" I throw my arms up and turn to Tali. "You have a very dirty mind my friend!"
Tali's eyes narrow at me. The two of us stare at each other even while Shepard shakes her head and walks on up the stairs. We remain where we are until we hear more gunshots. Tali rushes forward while I sigh and cloak myself once more. I move up, seeing the last 2 mercs of the level then realize what happens next. I rush over to the door and try to open it, watching as the lock slides open and the door turns.
"Wait, no!" I hear and pull out my phalanx, shoving it through the door gaps and pulling the trigger. I hear a yell that sounds distinctly human and straighten as the door opens fully, bringing the pistol up to my eye and firing more accurately. The human wielding the shotgun drops dead and Vasir stands in shock for a second before drawing her weapon I lung and grab Sekat then use my pack to burst us back through the door, shielding him with my body as Vasir tries to shoot. The door closes behind us, Shepard and the others running up.
"Delta!"
"Saved Sekat. Vasir's a traitor. Come on!" I scramble up after dropping Sekat behind the desk by the door, running through it again with Shepard to see Liara and Vasir facing each other. Liara has a gun pointed at Vasir while Vasir has a hand behind her back, and the other holding up a datadisk containing the info we need.
"Not that you'll ever see what's on it…." Vasir glows blue as the glass window behind her fractures and shards fly out from it towards Liara, Shepard and I. "…You pureblood bitch!"
Liara makes a protective Biotic sphere as Vasir starts to run away. Shepard runs after her, tackling her through the glass and delivering a few short punches while trying to grab the disk. The two tumble in midair, Vasir's biotics slowing their descent before she's able to wedge her foot between the two and shove Shepard off, kicking her into the ground. Liara jumps out after her, using her biotics to do the same before sprinting after Vasir. Back at the window I watch Liara and shake my head slowly. I understand her reasoning but still, doing that felt… wrong. Thane, Tali, and Garrus head straight down while I stop to pick up Sekat and fireman carry him to where the other injured persons are. I leave him with them then use my flight pack to circle around after the others with his thanks already fading away. I see Vasir jump into her car while Shepard, Liara and the others watch.
"Delta! Go!" Shepard yells, point at me then throwing her hand to Vasir.
"With pleasure! Silver, full throttle!" I rise up further and shoot off after the Spectre, noticing the others get into their own skycars. Within minutes they've caught up to Vasir, about 5 or 6 car lengths behind her while my more nimble self is nearly above. I see things drop and float from her car.
"Shepard, she's dropping proximity charges." I hear a feminine voice echo this a few seconds after me.
"I noticed!" Shepard exclaims.
Hehe, forgot how bad of a backseat driver Liara was. Oops, charge, Barrel roll time. And incoming traffic! Up, down, left, left, right, up, up again, drop down, wave hi, DID SHE TIP A TRUCK!? Uh oh, she hit someone. When crazy drivers collide!
"Agh!"
"Shepard was that you?"
"No" Shepard replies with a light chuckle.
"You're enjoying this." I hear Liara declare. Tali and Garrus chuckle over the intercom.
Ah, Truck!
"Truck!" Liara yells.
"Again?" Shepard says. I glance back to watch her manouver around it then speed up again, close to catching Vasir. Shepard gets closer too, her progression slower but sure as she pulls up beside her and I land on the hood of her car. The two start to bump each other through the traffic. I struggle to hold on, using one plasma blade to cut into the engines of Vasir's car.
"Hope you don't have insurance!" I yell before jumping off as another car crashes into Vasir's, knocking her out of the sky and careening towards a building. Wait…
"Hey uh Shepard. You know those places you told me to avoid in Omega? Am I allowed in their classy cousins?" I say, floating above them as I see reinforcements fly in. "They look like they're going to have some good business." I zoom over to the truck at the end, stopping on the windshield and waving before stabbing into it. I force the door open with y plasma blade and grab the driver, tossing him into the truck bed with the rest of his cargo before tilting the wheel and aiming for one landed truck that hasn't offloaded its occupants. I jump off and fly up as the two collide, causing an explosion that rocks the ground and startles the rest of the reinforcements, giving Shepard and the others a few seconds to mow them down. Of the few that remain I pick off a couple by sniper shots from midair then drop down, the muscle stilling servos in my armor shutting down in their cooldown period.
"Hey, that was over quickly." I say, landing by the others as they head inside a room. We see a video of dancing Asari in front of male occupants.
"What kind of hotel is this?" Shepard asks.
"Azure. It's a luxury resort with an…exotic edge. 'Azure' is slang in some areas of Illium for a part of the Asari body."
"Where?"
"Mainly the lower reaches. Near the bottom."
"I meant where on the Asari body." Shepard clarifies, turning her head to look at Liara
"So did I." Liara responds, turning hers to do the same.
I watch the two for a half second before turning away "These two need some catch up time…"
"I heard that Delta." Shepard says, irritated. Liara actually looks somewhat embarrassed for a short second before schooling her expression again.
"Not cariiiing." I say, jogging out and following a blood trail through more rooms before finding a dining area entrance. I look up and see Vasir further in. I cloak and move forward, Shepard close behind me with the group.
"Vasir stop! It's over." Liara yells out.
"Hey, hey you come here. What's your name?" Vasir suddenly flashes behind a waitress, holding her in front and pointing her gun over her shoulder at Shepard.
"M-Marianna… my name's Marianna." The area quickly clears as shrill screams and yells of panic sound out. Alls quiet far too soon.
"Marianna, you want to live don't you? Tell those people that you want to live."
Marianna looks at Shepard, a tear forming in her eye, "Please" is all she says, the rest unneeded.
Shepard makes her voice calm and consoling as she speaks "We'll get you out of here safely Marianna, alright?"
Vasir smiles in a sadistic and mocking fashion "Well, that's good to hear. All you had to do was walk away. Now it get's ugly." Vasir lifts her pistol to Marianna's head as she says this, the gun humming as its rounds prepare to fire.
Marianna cries openly now, holding back her sobs as she tries to speak clearly "Please, I have a son!"
"A son? I hope he gets to see you again. I hear losing a parent is just horrific for children. Scars them for life." Vasir says into her ear. Mariannas brows furrow as the tears stream down faster. She stares at Shepard beseechingly.
"I'm going to end you Vasir." Liara threatens.
"It's okay Liara we'll handle it. The usual way." Shepard says this and looks straight at me so I pounce.
I shove my plasma blade into Vasir's pistol, jamming it and making her drop it as the blade pierces through and comes close to her eye. When she does I kick her in the gut, knocking her away while I grab Marianne and activate my flightpack, shooting off to the side as Shepard and the others open fire on Vasir, damaging her barrier by a good amount before she recovers and biotically flashes to somewhere else. The gunshots keep going off as I duck inside a door with Marianne, patting her back soothingly while her grip on me remains tight.
"It's ok, it's ok. You're fine, you're not in danger anymore. You're safe."
Marianne's frantic breathing slows and her eyes grow calmer as a couple seconds pass. She looks at me and hugs me "Thank you. Thank you, thank you."
I chuckle "I think that's enough. You'd better get home, get out of here as soon as you can. I gotta go and help my teammates." I open the door and drop back into stealth, luckily Vasir had gotten knocked into a pool by the time I got back out. She bursts out of it and starts shooting at Shepard and the others. Garrus and Thane drop back to safe distances for their sniper rifles to do their work while Liara and Tali stay closer to Vasir.
"Delta, no cloaking, get over with Liara and Tali now!" Shepard says as Vasir moves to the other edge of the room closer to Tali, prompting Shepard to switch to her sniper rifle to shoot her along with Garrus and Thane. I drop my active camo and boost over to her, knocking her away from Tali with a punch as Tali jumps to the side to avoid her shockwave. Tali then blasts her with her shotgun, knocking Vasir's barrier down some. Vasir moves away towards Liara who uses a singularity to slow her while I pull out my plasma repeater and fire. Once Liara's barrier is down she blinks away and we search for her wildly until two trucks with reinforcements come in and drop off soldiers. I shoot down a few with my plasma repeater, Shepard Garrus and Thane making a long-range killzone at the other end. Tali's shotgun does work while Liara's Singularity manages to snag a few and throw em off the edge.
"I'll finish you myself!" Vasir says, dropping back into the middle of our formation and sending a shockwave towards our snipers. Whiel they're distracted Vasir warps over to us and kicks down Liara while punching Tali. She lifts a table with her biotic power and is about to slam it down onto Tali's head. I boost in and slide Tali out of the way, taking the hit instead, we slide in different directions and my back impacts against a wall. I open my eyes with a grunt of pain then see a black singularity compress itself against my chest. Looking up Vasir's smirk grows wider as tables and chairs start to fly at me, hitting and pressing against my body as the singularity becomes the center of gravity for the flying mass of objects.
"Why do people still stick their gum under these things!" I yell, noticing my body getting weighed down as more objects fly at me, probably the result of Vasir's shockwaves knocking things up to be caught in the gravity well more easily. I struggle to get to my feet, Constantly having to readjust as the globe of objects gets larger and larger, making me more top-heavy even though just my shins and feet are sticking out. The echo of a force nearly pushes me back and I guess that Vasir just charged in front of me to avoid my teammates attacks.
"Switching to thermals vision." So she did. Thank you Silver. So Vasir IS right in front of me. Perfect.
"KATAMARI STYLE BITCH!" I yell out, thrusting myself forward. I see Vasir turn just as the large tightly packed ball of me, tables, chairs, vases, thermal clips, a merc who is struggling to escape the table pressing tightly into his groin, and the top half of a LOKI mech smash on top of Vasir's head. The singularity breaks apart as she's dazed by the strike and everything tumbles apart, covering us in debris from the dining area. "Thank god I wear a helmet…"
Vasir jumps out, clutching her shoulder before a last shot from Shepard knocks her back down. She crawls towards the wall on all fours, grunting and saying "Damn it" a few times.
Liara walks over to Vasir and grabs the data disk from her pocket before looking through it on her omni tool and walking away. Vasir starts talking about how the Shadow Brokers stronger than anyone and then she and Shepard get into some moral conversation.
I clamber out of the mess and grab onto Garrus ankle moaning "BRAAAAIINNNSS!"
He merely kicks me off and walks over to Tali, shaking his head.
As I got up and dusted myself off I saw Shepard and Liara moving away back down the hallway towards where the skycar was parked. The two talk with frequent interruptions made by Shepard as their tone grows progressively softer and harder to hear. I take a few of the broken rocket drones and carry them with me as we all head back to the ship. Once aboard I head straight to my room and take out two things. One of those things is the automatic feeding system I bought on the way out, filling it with crickets and installing it to the side of the tank. The other thing was the crumpled broken heaps of shot rocket drones.
"Silver, mind getting some work done on our other project?"
"Acknowledged." I see the compacted form of the Geth platform silver tends to use expand as he brings it online, nodding to me before heading out for the elevator and down to the cargo bay.
I turn back to the rocket drones and start to take them apart. "Let's see if I can make you like them…"
Delta: THERE WE GO! Done for now. Next chapter, we get to the Shadow Broker's base. I can't wait to take down the Broker!
Zero: Hehe, yeah, you get to help that a lot.
Delta: Wha-?
Zero: Until next time readers!
Delta: Wait, what do you mea-!
Zero: (knocks out Delta) PEACE!