I sat down with the other members of Shadow Squad, baring Michelle. We were currently on a ship, supplied by Azrael of course, on it's way to our first target. The ship, called the Retribution, was basically a smaller version of a frigate, but painted black and was almost completely automated. The only things it didn't do was pilot itself, which was Michelle's job, or keep up maintenance, which was Karrie's job. The Retribution had a surprising amount of stuff inside it, from an armory, a med bay, a science lab that apparently doubled as Luke's room, and vehicle hanger.
Right now we were in all in a conference room, listening to Luke as he explained the plan. "So here's the deal: We're currently on course for a batarian slave base that recently got a successful haul... on a human colony." He said, grimacing. Everyone repeated the gesture. That... wasn't good. While they weren't exactly responsible for the recent attack of Elysium, they still put money on it. Money that they lost, and because of humans nonetheless. All of this did not look pretty for those captives. Luke sighed, trying to gather his thoughts.
"Right... anyways, this base is a key point in their operations, so it's extremely vital that we take this place out. First of all, it's located in the Attican Beta Cluster, on Zeus, a planet aptly named for the massive lighting storms it has naturally occurring. We'll land approximately four miles from the base, which will give us a decent view of the area. With me so far? Good. From there we'll have a few objectives." He said, bringing up a screen. On it was the schematics of a base. Luke pointed to one section that was highlighted, far off from the rest of the base. "This is where the residents of the colony are being held. Our main goal is to secure these people, as well as the base, by any means necessary." He told us, marking that part of the base off. Luke highlighted several more points, all surrounding the base, as well as one near the back. "These sections are turrets. Heavy duty stuff, strong enough to tear the Mako in two. This larger section is the base's perimeter shield, it makes it so that nothing large can enter said perimeter. This is where you come in." He said, pointing at Garrett, who was leaning off to the side.
"Your job is to scout ahead. Go in and ensure the people are there. Got it?" Luke said, motioning to the plans once again. Garrett nodded.
"Loud and clear. Let me guess, once that's done you want me to disable the shields as well as the outer defenses, right?" He said. Luke nodded.
"Precisely. Oh and loot away while you're at it. We could use the extra credits." He said. Garrett looked like Christmas had come early when Luke told him that. Luke motioned to another part of the base. "The next thing we have to worry about is the batarians themselves. If my calculations are correct, and they usually are, we're looking at about a hundred or so easily. We're going to need a diversion to lead them away." He said, pointing at me and Aaron. I groaned.
"Let me guess, you want me and Aaron to... Oh I don't know, blow something up to get everyone after us right?" I asked him. Luke looked offended for a second there, but grinned widely.
"No no no, Rich nothing like that." He assured me. Wait really? "No, what you're going to do is go to where their leader is located, shoot him in the head and hole up there. Sound good?" He continued. There it is. I looked at Aaron, who nodded.
"I'd listen to the kid. He knows what he's doing. Hasn't gotten much wrong yet." He told me. I shrugged. Fair enough. If he trusts him, I guess I could too.
"Alright Luke, I'll play along. So let me get this straight: Me and Aaron are kicking the hornet's nest. Garrett's ghosting his way through the base. What about the others?" I asked. Luke's grin, almost impossibly, grew even wider.
"I'm glad you asked that! While you two are up there gaining the attention of everyone, Michelle, Karrie and Riley will stay on the ship for obvious reasons... well at least Riley and Michelle anyways. Karrie, are the mechs ready for deployment yet?" He asked the redhead, who was fiddling with her omni tool. She looked up when he asked the question.
"Uh... I'd say about fifty or so are fully operational. I can start working on some right now if that's okay." She said, looking at Aaron. He shook his head. Karrie stood and tried to speak, but Aaron raised a hand.
"I'm sure that can wait until the meeting's over Karrie. Besides, Luke hasn't told you what you were supposed to do." He said. Karrie quickly shut her mouth and sat back down, burning red. Luke smiled.
"Much appreciated. Now then, the mechs will be vital to the success of this mission. Once Aaron and Richard have effectively raised hell and Garrett's disabled the base, we'll dock with them and send the cavalry in. Once that happens, I want the mechs to be split up into two groups. Group one will move towards the prisoners and help watch over them. Group two will move towards the armory, ensuring that our little slavers can't access their heavy duty stuff. Everyone with me so far?" He asked. Jason cleared his throat.
"Quick question. Any armor we're going to have to worry about? What about anti aircraft? Gonna need to know so I can prep accordingly." He told us, speaking up for the first time this whole meeting. Luke blinked, before whacking himself on the head several times.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He muttered angrily. He turned to Jason. "Thank you for reminding me. Aircraft will most definitely be an issue. Michelle? You up for it?" He asked her. Oh right, forgot she was listening in on the intercom.
"It's not like you're asking me to jump off the ship. I'll take care of them." She said. "ETA is two hours by the way." She continued. Luke blinked.
"Two hours? Damn, must have carried the four wrong." He muttered, shaking his head. "Whatever. Well, thank you for the reminder Jason. Right then, Caveman, you're up." He said, pointing at Aaron. He nodded, standing up.
"Right. We'll be splitting up into teams. The kid and myself will be one. Rachel? You'll be working with Garrett. You'll be going in close quarters, so be prepared." He said, pointing to the two quietest members of our group. They nodded. Aaron looked over at Jason. "Sorry pal, but you'll be stuck with Luke. Try not to kill him please, we need him still." He said with a grin. Jason grunted, glancing at Luke, who gave a wink in response. Aaron turned to Karrie and Riley. "I want the two of you ready for anything. Karrie, try and get more mechs up as soon as you can. Riles? Set the med bay just in case." He said. Karrie shot off like a bullet, while Riley calmly left, checking something on her omni tool. Aaron turned to the rest of us. "You've got your orders. Let's move out!" He barked. Like that, everyone scattered. Guess it's time to suit up.
After putting on my armor and duster, I walked into the armory. Jason had mentioned that he was working on my guns. I saw Aaron, Jason and Luke. Luke was busy trying to convince the others to take something he created a few days back. Jason was simply minding his own business, tinkering with an assault rifle.
"Come on Keener, I assure you this is perfectly harmless. I mean it's not like you haven't taken risks before. Remember what happened on Talos V?" Luke asked an extremely disgruntled Aaron, who scoffed in response.
"If I recall, Talos V was your fuckup to begin with. If Riley hadn't joined up when she did, you would have been down a leader." Aaron shot back. Luke waved him off.
"Details, details." He said. Then he saw me. Ah shit. "Ah Rich, there you are! You've gotten here just in time. Can you do me a favor? When you're down on the surface fighting for your life, can you use this at some point? I need to confirm some tests I ran." He said, handing me a small cylinder with a button on top. I held it in my hand, studying it.
"What is this? A grenade?" I asked him, bringing the cylinder closer to my face. Luke scoffed.
"Don't be ridiculous. It's a eezo detonator. Should replicate the effects of a warp, stasis or a singularity, depending if I crunched the numbers right." He said, turning towards the table full of weapons. I blanched, rapidly moving the extremely dangerous device away from my face.
"Uhh... you're absolutely sure this is safe?" I asked Luke, who was busy inspecting a pistol. He groaned, tossing the pistol aside, much to Jason's annoyance.
"I'll have you know that something I've created hasn't blown up in my face for months. You just have to press and toss. Simple as that." He said, grabbing another pistol. He scoffed and tossed it as well. "Jason, where on earth is my gun? I left it right here." He asked him. Jason nodded, handing him a case.
"Found it lying around. Really should keep better track of this thing. I tweaked it up a bit. Fire rate should be better, and should be able to shoot off more rounds before overheating." He told him. Luke nodded, opening the case. Inside was a rather deadly looking gun. Unlike my pistols, this one looked more like a cannon more than anything. Luke sighed in relief as he inspected it.
"Well, at least you didn't damage it. Did you know what I had to do to get this thing?" He asked Jason. Aaron decided to speak up.
"If I recall correctly, you stole that from a Spectre. One who was extremely pissed off at you." He said with a grin. Wait what? Luke waved him off.
"Not my fault that bitch didn't like what I told her. Honestly, you figure out someone's connected to the Shadow Broker and suddenly you're public enemy number one!" He said, groaning. The others simply started to chuckle. Luke flipped them the bird, before walking out. "Note to self, find out how Vasir's doing. Wonder if she's still pissed of. Probably is." He muttered on his way out.
My focus went from his retreating form to Aaron, who was working on... huh. Interesting.
"You use ballistic weapons?" I said, staring at the guns on the table, and the magazine in Aaron's hand. He was loading individual bullets into it, all for what was definitely the biggest gun. It looked like an assault rifle, but it had a bunch of different attachments I hadn't seen on others, stuff like a scope and a suppressor. Aaron caught me looking.
"Like it?" He asked, gesturing to the rifle. I nodded. Aaron set the magazine he held down, reaching for the rifle. "This bad boy is called the MA6E Modular Weapon System. It's an assault rifle that launched a few years before the Mars archives were found. Unfortunately with the discovery of the archives, as you know, ballistic weapons became a thing of the past. Thankfully Azrael was able to hook me up with this." He said, loading said gun. Damn, he really likes old school.
"Why exactly do you use ballistic weapons? Not that there's anything wrong, but why?" I asked. Aaron shrugged, chuckling sheepishly.
"Eh, never really got the hang of the modern stuff. I always needed something with a kick to it. Besides, all the current shields are built against guns with that shoot a smaller round. Figured something like this would punch right through." He said. Well I couldn't argue with that.
"What about that one?" I asked, gesturing to the other gun. Aaron smirked, setting down the rifle and picking up the gun I mentioned. It was a pistol, but it was also another old school gun.
"Ah, this one? It's a more of a memento than anything, like a good luck charm, but it's still had it's uses. My old man had it, wanted to pass it down. It's a modified Wilson Combat 1911, 21st Century edition. It's saved my life more times than I could count." He said, holstering the gun. Huh, rather impressive that it survived this long. I was about to ask Aaron something else when he paused, putting a hand to his ear. "Keener here. What? Alright, I'll head right up." He said. He turned to me apologetically. "Sorry kid, Karrie needs some help. We'll talk later." He said, getting up and leaving.
I heard Jason clear his throat. I turned to see him setting my guns on a table. "You were looking for these I assume?" He asked, gesturing to them. I nodded.
"Yeah, thanks. You do anything major to them?" I asked him. Jason nodded.
"Yep. Gave em a bit of a tune up. They were great as is, but I figured I'd give you an edge. Nothing major, just the basics. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make sure Rachel's stuff is good to go." He said, going over to fiddle with a gun. I took that as my cue to leave. Shouldering the rifle and strapping the pistols, I stepped out of the armory. So... what now? I got a ping on my omni tool. A message? Opening it up, I began to read it.
You're going to want to come up here as soon as possible. We need to talk. My room.
Luke.
Well isn't that ominous. Wonder what he wants? I holstered all my guns, leaving the armory. Following the really convenient pathways, I found myself outside of Luke's room. Should I knock or... The door suddenly flew open, and Luke was there in an instant. He... looked rather unstable at the moment. His normally neat hair was in a mess, his eyes were wild and... oh god he was twitching. He smiled when he saw me.
"Good! You're here! Come in!" He said, gesturing for me to follow.
"So... what seems to be the proble-" I got cut off as Luke suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders, dragging me inside. "What the? Luke, get the hell off me!" I said, trying to pull away from him. It didn't work. For a kid about half a foot smaller than me, he was pretty strong. He shushed me.
"One sec." He said, shutting the door and activating his omni tool. He sighed. "Good, now we can talk in peace." He said, turning towards me.
"What... exactly did you want to talk to me about?" I asked, glancing around at his room. The walls held... wait what the hell? Whiteboards? Who the hell still uses whiteboards? I could see dates, times, locations, names. Luke cleared his throat.
"Well, it's a rather matter concerning...some of our people." He told me. Oh this ought to be good.
"So... you then? Or is there something else wrong?" I asked him, glancing at his haggard appearance. Luke scoffed.
"Oh ha bloody ha. On a rather serious note, there's a situation on Zeus. We have a man down there, and he was captured." He told me. Shit.
"How bad is this going to be? He know much about what we're doing?" I asked, wringing my hands. Luke nodded.
"He's the leader of another squad. Trust me, Jai knows a lot. Good thing is that he can take a punch. Only thing is that if we don't get him out soon, we're going to have a problem on our hands." He told me. How much worse can this get? It seems Luke could see my question. "The worst case scenario is that if we don't get Jai out of there in time, then the base is going to be razed to the ground, hostages be damned." He told me, looking me straight in the eyes. Well... shit.
"That's... not good." I said slowly. Luke scoffed. "Right, stupid statement. What do you need me to do?" I asked him. Luke sighed in relief.
"Good, you're agreeing. I was worried I was going to have to blackmail you for help." He told me. I'm... just going to ignore that little statement. Luke continued, bringing up something on his omni tool. It was a map of the base. "So! Here's what we're going to do. You and Keener are going to be doing a HALO jump. Familiar with the concept? Ah well, you figure it out. From what I've gathered, you'll be landing somewhere here." He told me, indicating to one area. "From here, you'll make your way towards the command center, which coincidentally enough, has the prison bay on your route. With me so far?" He asked, glancing over at me.
I nodded. "Yeah. Only one question. What am I telling Aaron when I come across this... Jai?" I asked, getting a nod from Luke. "Jai. Alright, what do I tell him?" I continued, crossing my arms. I felt like I was going behind Aaron's back, and I'd rather not burn bridges before I started. Luke shrugged.
"Just tell him that you found a member of Gray Team. He'll get it." He said, sighing in relief and moving over to a whiteboard, connecting something. I could hear him mutter. "What on earth am I missing? We've got Zeus, now the others." He glanced back, noticing me. "You're still here? Oh right, forgot. That's all. Save Jai. Consider it a... vital secondary objective." He said, waving me off. As I left the room, Michelle's voice rang out.
"Just a heads up people, ETA is forty minutes. Pack up what you need and get moving." She said. Shit. I sprinted off towards my room. Better make sure I have everything.
I stood at the edge of the Retribution's cargo bay doors, looking down at the planet's surface. I'd say we're... fuck it, I not going to guess. We're pretty high up. I turned to Aaron, who was now clad in black armor and a blank, expressionless helmet. "So tell me again, what exactly are we doing?" I called out over the howling wind. Aaron looked over at me.
"Simple! We're doing a HALO jump. You've been skydiving before, right?" He asked me, his voice taking on the same modulated tone mine had. All the team had, something about anonymity. Made sense. I nodded at the question.
"Once or twice. Same concept?" I asked, noticing a wide array of clouds starting to form. Thunder rumbled, lighting began to flash. I saw Aaron nod.
"Yeah, sort of. See, thanks to some tech we set up, we're creating a sort of wind tunnel to pinpoint our landing zone. Once we get the signal, we're jumping. If you fall off course, your armor should be able to handle the rest. Don't worry, I've done this enough times. You'll be fine!" He said, clapping me on the shoulder. "Oh and before I forget, try and refer to us by our codenames during missions. I'm Vanguard, Luke's Spoiler, Rachel's Deadeye, Garrett's Thief and Jason's Slayer." He told me. Codenames? Eh, makes sense. Suddenly I heard the comms chime up.
"This is Slayer. Hostages are secure." I heard what sounded like a groan, then a thud. "All batarians in this sector are incapacitated. Estimate of a hundred strong was correct. Advise caution."
Another voice chimed up. "Spoiler here. I'd like to remind the barbarian that we are on a time limit here. If you two would like to hurry up, I'd rather not be swarmed by batarians. So hurry up... like now please." I heard Luke say. Aaron nudged me.
"That's our cue kid. Good luck. And don't forget to scream a little, it's good to get the blood pumping." He told me, taking a step back and running off the edge. Shit. Well, guess I can't back out now. With a sigh, I stepped back a bit, before charging. Once more into the fray.
AN: I think that's a good place to stop. I am sooo sorry for the wait you guys! Really! In my defencse, I've rewritten this thing so many times it hurts. And yes, I am taking certain liberties by adding a planet here and there, because... why not? As I was saying. I'll try to be more consistent, but rest assured: This story will never die! Until next time (hopefully soon) Read, Review and Enjoy!
