HOLOCAUST
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:
SHADOW ARMY
June 22, 2186
1128 hours.
Commander's Office, 17th Precinct, Shalta Ward, The Citadel.
The Reaper War.
Commander Armando-Owen Bailey.
Bailey sat there, hand smoothing through his hair tiredly as he finished yet another day's worth of work. The shit just seemed to keep piling up, and no matter how much the C-Sec officer kept on track with it, it always ended up overwhelming him. I feel like a glorified doorman more than anything else.
The 17th Precinct, at least, was a more quieter place of the Shalta Ward; Shalta itself was by far the more popular of the Citadel's five wards, with most of the commerical and economical sector stemming from Shalta and, next to the Presidium ring, the most developed cosmopolitan sector. Compared to Zakera Ward, it was almost entirely devoid of crime, but compared to the Kikowani Ward, it had no industry whatsoever. The way Bailey saw it, each Ward served a purpose, and Shalta's was nice enough for him to like it here.
Still, he thought to himself, maybe he shouldn't have accepted the promotion given to him by Udina.
Being a Captain on the Zakera Ward had been much easier. Less paperwork, and he saw alot more hands on action then he did as the Commander C-Sec's Shalta Ward Division. Here, he rarely saw the outside world except for his bed, and the rest was just paperwork and looking blankly at a terminal screen as he tried to think of a good speech to say infront of the masses. Then there was the monthly reports to the Council; he was due for one soon, and he dreaded it. Just writing to the 'three stooges' as he called them was tedious.
Still, it was a job somebody needed to fill, and if Councilor Udina thought he was good enough for the job, he he was good enough for the job. He just didn't have to like it.
Suddenly, his terminal beeped. He knew immediately who it was and powered down the terminal, refusing to speak to that unbearable woman. News journalists were okay, but when they got out of control, or as manipulating as she did, then you got trouble. And Khalisah Bint-Sinan Al-Jilani of Westerlund News made sure to give him a hammering every time he popped out to take a shit. She would be there, with her drone, shooting him with questions left, right and center. It got to the point where he had to bring an escort to keep her away so he could reach his house.
Khalisah hadn't been the only reporter, unfortunately. Many more had followed her example; the only one he had been able to withstand was Emily Wong, as she seemed less upfront about her questions than others did. But that didn't make her less annoying the rest; just more tolerable. But he could understand their questions, even if misguided.
They mostly centered around a lack of C-Sec militarization and the development of Council-funded militias throughout the station's many wards. Reporters from CNN, Westerlund, Battlespace, NBC, TONN (Thessian Open News Network) and many others had barraged him with questions about why people were now allowed limited weapons permits, being able to acquire liscenses of up to Level 5 that allowed them access to D Class weapons (heavy machine guns, anti-material rifles, ML-77 Missile Launchers). Bailey had explained that it was the idea of the Council, and that they should talk to them about it. He refused to mention who's idea it had actually been: Captain Shepard.
The man had theorized that if the Citadel came under siege, the people would need to be able to defend themselves. Short of going down the Josef Stalin route and sending men and women in hand to hand with the enemy, they needed to make sure they could unite as a fighting force, and so private militias were founded under Council juristiction and C-Sec overwatch; groups of numerous identities that could defend certain parts of the station and would receive basic military discipline and training. It was a brilliant idea, Bailey had quickly proposed to the Council, one that took a bit of convincing on Tevos' end, but eventually ended in many Citadel militias.
Of course, the reporters never ceased their pestering, and Bailey eventually just elected to ignore every single one. See how they like it.
Then his omni-tool beeped and he almost cursed out loud as he glared at the flashing device, anger flashing in his eyes. I am so sick of these damn reporters and their nitpicky, overdramaticized need to invade my-
Then he saw who was calling him and frowned, his glare diminishing. Then a sudden realization hit him and he quickly answered it, omni-tool forming a holographic vidscreen over his arm as he addressed the human in it.
"Executor Reed," Bailey addressed, "I was not expecting this. To what do I owe the honor?" Yeah, real polite. Because we know just how much the Executor loves you.
"To recent events that have me very concerned," the executor immediately declared, sighing as he ruffled his blonde hair, biting his lower lip, "Something slightly disturbing as come up, and I was wondering if you could provide some insight on the matter."
He nodded, creasing his lips, "Of course, Executor? What is it?"
The executor sighed as he licked his lips, leaning back in his seat with a creak, "Some suspicious activity at the Shalta Ward Docks has been reported to me recently. A matter of fact, suspicious activity has also been reported on the Presidium. If I recall correctly, this activity was quite alarming in its propensity."
Bailey widened his eyes, leaning forward as he placed his arm on his desk, "Anything specific?"
There was a gleam in the man's eyes, "Yes. The reports state that the influx of weaponry had gotten rapidly more excessive, and there appear to be Atlas mechs, of all things, coming in large quantities. I contacted the other ward commanders, and they appear to not be experiencing anything of the sort. This activity is very...concerning, especially when the same is happening on the Presidium, but with most of the manifests being body armor."
"That is very worrying news, but none of this information has reached my ears, to my knowledge," he replied, taking a deep breath befoe measuring his response, "I'll take a team to investigate the latest shipment and see what's going on. We are stocking up on weapons, but this seems ludicrous."
"See that you do," the executor stated bluntly, "I'll expect an update in the next three hours. Until then, Executor Reed out." With that, the holoscreen vanished, shrinking to normal size. Bailey deactivated the device, letting out a loud whistle as he leaned back, hands folded on his lap and his chair creaking from the pressure placed on it.
After awhile, he decided he would investigate this personally with a team. He was sick of being cooped up in here, and whatever was going on here needed to be investigated; either illegal activity was being committed here, or it was simply an overloaded manifest. He hoped for the latter, silently begged for the former.
He brought up his omni-tool once more, contacting his men downstairs, "I want a six-man squad prepped and ready with basic weapons and armor and meeting me down outside the entrance in seven minutes. Bailey out."
It didn't really take him all that long to suit up. His personal stash of weapons was locked away safely in a locker in his office, with an access code only he knew. He quickly coded it in and opened it, revealing the arsenal that lay inside. Basic ballistic/riot armor, basic sentry interface like Garrus had for the eye, a predator pistol with scope attachment and a simple, but premium issue, M-7 Lancer Assault Rifle; a predecessor to the Avenger that still used the old mass acellerator overheat system instead of modernized thermal clips, but had more punch than the avenger, and more penetration power. It looked like the avenger, but had a blue tinge instead of matte gray, and was extremely rare. The most likely place to get one was the Citadel Historical Archives, and that place was off-limits to anyone who wasn't Council, high military official or spectre. Even Bailey couldn't touch the place; hell, even the Executor himself had to get permission from the Council to even touch the haptic interface.
Bailey quickly and methodically donned his armor, strapping the light equipment to his chest and engaging the magnetic clamps as he slotted his predator to his hip, and then holstered his lancer on his back. He wrapped the sentry interface around his head and switched it on, blue box appearing infront of his right eye and already streaming information from his armor to his eye piece; kinetic barriers (which were made with the intention of dealing with short-range ballistic weapons), chrono, motion tracker, even allowing him to bring up information on a suspect in seconds. He could access a man or woman's criminal record just by looking at them and scanning them through the C-Sec database.
His equipment equipped and ready, he shut down his terminal, shuffled his papers, set his omni-tool into combat mode, shut his windows and marched out the door, locking it firmly behind him. He had many attempts on his life and many had tried to hack his terminal and frame him for things he hadn't done just because of his policies regarding crime. He had sent many scumbags and bastards to the Citadel Supreme Court, and many hadn't come back, and many didn't like it. He wasn't about to give them a free shot.
His office firmly secured, he walked down the steps into the main offices and towards the main entrance, purpose in his every step. This had to be the first time in two months Bailey would be active in the field; actually leaving the building for personal encounters instead of filing reports about it. It was a nice change of environment then the four walls he had grown accustomed to. Udina made sure I was nice and comfortable...didn't realize that being comfortable was the problem.
He disliked the comfort of safety. Safety meant he wasn't doing anything right.
If people tried to kill him, then he was doing something right.
His team of volunteers was waiting at the entrance as he ordered them to, dressed in C-Sec ballistic/riot armor just like himself, but carrying different weapons; most with basic pistols, while others redefined 'escalating quickly' when one carried a Revenant LMG. Quite the jump from a basic predator handgun.
Six men stood before him. One human, three turians, one asari, one salarian. He recognized all of them; Peter Stewhart, Daidilus, Rainus, Nexpus, Leena and Aedon. All of them were decent officers, but Leena leaned far too heavily on the 'asari superiority' side, being a supporter of the 'Thessia Only' party, which was essentially an asari version of Terra Firma. However, she kept those opinions to herself. Nexpus was still resentful of humans due to the First Contact War after his fifty years in the service, and Peter had a history of being ex-Cerberus, even if he didn't like talking about it.
Still, they were all capable officers and the fact they had volunteered only made them better. They didn't have to, but they chose to anyway. That was the principle of it.
He nodded to them, pushing past them and towards the garage where all the C-Sec skycars were held. They had C-Sec coloured and labelled UT-47 Kodiak Shuttles, but they were for use by SWAT only; they even had SWAT stamped along their hulls. So while driving a shuttle would be fun, it wasn't necessary or even authorized in this situation. He motioned for them to follow him as he spoke, his officers falling into line beside him.
"We've been given a task by the Executor himself, people," Bailey declared, "Some suspicious activity is going on at the Shalta Docks, and we're going to find out what's going on."
"Great. So another shake down," Daidilus complained, and he could feel the turian's eyes roll as he groaned.
"At least I'm not holed up in a damn office," Peter added, exhaling heavily as they entered the garage and moved over to two cars parked neatly across from each other, "I'm ready for some goddamn action."
"As long as said action doesn't involve me getting shot, I'll be fine," Nexpus added.
"Less than enthused about this," Aedon said in reply, visibly shaking, "Paperwork less dangerous."
"Welcome to the force," Peter quipped as he entered the front seat of Bailey's chosen skycar, "Where danger is part of the damn job."
It didn't take long for them to get seated, with three taking one car, and three taking another. They practically flew right across the Ward, gliding across the tops of skyscrapers, the open nebulaic clouds of the Serpent Nebula covering the space around the Citadel in almost mystic clouds, the Citadel fleet hovering over...wait, where was the fleet?
When Bailey looked above him, he did not see the standard display; no Destiny Ascension lazily cruising by the Wards, no turian and human cruisers on patrol, and no frigates flying in formation. There was just nothing; an empty expanse full of nothing but the usual merchant or transport ships. Not a single military warships to be seen, and definitely none of the Citadel fleet. Bailey found the display odd; the fleet never left its post over the Citadel.
Maybe its gone to respond to an outside threat? Are the Reapers coming here and the fleet went to try and stop them?
Whatever it was, Bailey had no time to contemplate on it. They were quickly reaching the docks, and were descending with rapid speed. They shot through the lanes of traffic, which seemed to be strangely absent in this area, and reached the landing pad, parking both skycars in the parking lots allocated. Once firmly parked and the cars inactive, the doors shot open like an unveiling clam, their occupants coming to stand and surveying their surroundings.
What quickly became apparent to Bailey was the...silence. For a conglomeration of tightly knit docks, especially ones as commericially lively as the ones of Shalta Ward, it was pretty...abandoned looking. There were three decently large freighters, most with registered trademark logos such as Synthetic Insights, Archimedes BioFusion Inc. and TruePath Pty Ltd. All three were eerily silent, and simply sat there, showing no sign of departure. None of the workers appeared to be present, no forklifts were active, and most of all, all systems seemed to be shut down, yet announcements still rang throughout the docks; yet again, those systems were automated, so it would run no matter what.
"Where the hell is everyone?" Nexpus asked, mandibles twitching, "Its very quiet."
Even as the question was asked, the team spread out to cover all possible ground, confused at what had happened. Even as they spoke, Aedon, accompanied by Bailey, broke out his omni-tool and did a quick scan of the area, almost frowning at the results, "That's odd. Energy readings state that multiple skycars left this area not too long ago, but also registers...much stronger readings. Too strong for skycars. We're talking enormous horsepower...enough to power...say..."
Bailey whorled on him, eyes lighting up, "Shuttles?"
"Yes..." the salarian replied, "Another odd thing is that there seem to be small discharges that were too small for even a skybike. Which means..."
"Weapons discharge," Bailey blurted out, quickly reaching for his lancer and bringing it to bear as did Aedon, "Team, equip your weapons. We could be dealing with a possible terrorist situation or a psycho who's lost it. Best keep a clear head."
"I don't like it," Aedon pointed out, "According to these readings, they're still fresh. They can't be anymore than a few minutes old. And if weapons were fired, then where are the bodies? Where is the killer? And how is this all connected with the influx of weapons and distribution of Atlases of all things? Who brings combat mechs to the Citadel? Even the private militias aren't authorized for that kind of ordnance. That easily registers as Class G weaponry."
"It reeks of black market," Leena observed, looking down from the top of their perch on the parking lot roof.
Bailey shook his head, disagreeing with that theory, "Those bastards are smarter and more subtle than we give them credit for. Atlas mechs? Pretty much painting a neon sign, really. No, they wouldn't so stupid. To expose themselves like that. If they wanted Atlases, they'd have them transported somewhere outside of Council juristiction; like the Terminus Systems. No, the black market has nothing to do with this."
"How about Renmark and her Suns?" Rainus asked, readying a scope on his Deadshot DMR, scanning the area below from his crouched position, "They seem to be in the heavy weapons business."
"A bit too extravagant for mercenaries. Too military. Besides, Renmark knows the rules and wouldn't break them. Agreed to them right infront of me when I spoke to her, and she's followed them to the letter ever since," Bailey pointed out, shaking his head once more to yet another dismissed theory, "No, not Renmark."
"Then who, huh?" Peter asked, shotgun raised before him as he scanned the area ahead almost constantly, "Who the fuck would be smuggling in Atlases? Why the hell would they do that?"
"That's why we're here, Stewhart," Bailey replied, seeing that they had almost reached the elevator leading down into the main dock, "To find out who and why."
But just as they all made their final approach for the elevator, they heard it activate. Something was coming up.
They all readied their weapons, but Bailey ordered them to be lowered, not wanting to provoke an engagement. Nevertheless, he kept his grip on his rifle taunt, ready to bring it up and fire if necessary or provoked.
Once again, the dock was plunged into total silence as they all waited, bodies tense and ready, not knowing what to expect. It wasn't Blue Suns. It couldn't be Reapers. Or black market traders. Or mercenaries of any kind. Or some back alley criminal. No, whoever did this had alot of backbone...and probably alot of hired muscle to pull it off.
His eye twitched as they watched the elevator finally arrive, clicking into station as it became firmly situated. The light flashed green and the door began to open, revealing the occupant inside...
...but as the door opened, it became quickly apparent that it wasn't one occupant. It was twelve. And they were armed and armoured.
The first shot came before they could ready their own weapons, the muzzle flash of a mattock rifle flying through the air to slam into an unaware Aedon's face, his nose crumbling in on itself before the bullet exploded out the back of his head, a clean hole where his nose once was as he collapsed to the ground, green coating his body like fast blowing water.
It took a second for Bailey to register before he snapped his rifle up and fired, catching one of the hostiles in the chest. The rifle kicked back against his shoulder and he grunted, having gotten so used to pencil-pushing life that he got what firing a weapon was like. Red blood spurted out from the impact area, and Bailey realized that the enemy troopers didn't even have shields.
The trooper toppled forward, crimson staining his otherwise spotless gold and white armor, slamming into the ground with a dull thud, avenger rifle slipping from his hands to slide across the ground with a skid. Bailey, knowing he would be the next priority, quickly drew himself to the ground, keeping his rifle steady.
Rainus was quick to react, his Deadshot DMR snapping to the left and popping off two shots as he ran forward, landing two shots on a heavily-armoured looking trooper. But to Bailey's shock, and Rainus', they pinged harmlessly off kinetic barriers, proving that some of these troopers did have shields. The bulky soldier returned fire, his mattock coughing off two shots into Rainus' riot armor.
The first shot caught on his shields before another punctured his shoulder, causing the turian to cry out as he rolled away, popping off three more shots from his DMR that went wide.
Peter steadily retreated, his shotgun booming over and over as he pumped the slot, keeping the approaching enemy at bay. Daidilus and Nexpus dove behind the skycar, shots pinging off the vehicle's hull as they returned fire. Leena pulled up a biotic barrier to defend herself while Bailey quickly got up and ran over to the skycar, keying his omni-tool in a flurry of key strokes. By the time he finally connected with the nearest precinct, he was diving behind the skycar, four mattock rifle shots slamming into the concrete, and another two into the car, leaving two more holes in its chrome finish.
"This is Dispatch 1-4, request immediate assistance!" he shouted, placing his rifle in his lap as he winced from another shot glancing over him, Nexpus jumping up to counterattack, "Code 11! I repeat, Code 11!"
The response was immediate, "10-4, what's your sector, 1-4?"
"Shalta Docks, eastside!" he replied urgently, breathing heavily as he heard a massive bang next to him, followed by Nexpus diving out of the way. Bailey simply watched as Leena's body slid across the bonet to land infront of him, her back riddled with bullets; obviously gunned down while running for cover. Nexpus reassumed his position, growling as he returned fire.
"Damn it, 11-99, two officers down! The hostiles are heavily armed and heavily armoured; military-grade equipment, over! I count six plus hostiles, unknown affiliation!"
"Scratch that!" Diadilus replied, "They're Cerberus!"
Bailey frowned at him, turning from his omni-tool, "Are you sure?"
"He's right!" Rainus called out as he rolled up next to him, "I saw their insignias and the color of their armor fits! That, and the Atlases all fit in! They're Cerberus!"
He nodded, turning back, "Scratch that, Actual, hostiles are Cerberus! Assume they've got Atlases over!"
"Solid copy, SWAT teams are inbound to your location ASAP," Actual replied, but as soon as he had, they spoke again, voice full of irritation, "What do you mean we've got similiar reports on the Presidium?"
"Ma'am, gunfire outside!"
"What?" they replied, "This is damn C-Sec Headquarters! Noone could possibly-"
A massive explosion followed, and Bailey's eyes widened, "Fuck! Cerberus! Everybody, get down-!" Then the line cut, and Bailey's omni-tool died as the connection was cut.
"Holy shit!" Peter exclaimed, gaining Bailey's attention as he appeared behind the skycar with them, "They've got bloody jetpacks! They're coming over the walls!"
As Bailey peeked around, he saw that he was right. More Cerberus soldiers leapt over the walls, thrusterpacks on their feet propelling them from the floor and up. Numerous types; from standard looking troopers to females with swords, they appeared, one by one.
He heard Peter's startled gasp, and then a choke, causing him to whorl around in time to see an assault trooper looming over Peter's dead body, shotgun in his lap with his neck snapped at an unnatural angle. The assault trooper simply raised his Locust, ready to open fire.
Daidilus roared and charged the assault trooper, slamming him across the face with the butt of his rifle, causing the trooper to stagger back before being riddled in the chest with bullets, his body slumping against a wall. Daidilus cheered, turning back to-
His head practically vanished as the top half was blown away in a maelstrom of blue gore and viscera, his body switching from a moment before falling to the ground, rifle clattering down uselessly beside him.
Bailey had had enough and he jumped up, taking aim with his lancer and pulling the trigger at whatever hostile he could locate, "Damn it! Everyone, in the skycar, now! We've got to get to the Presidium and extract the Executor!"
"Its a spirits-be-damned invasion!" Nexpus cried out, coming in next to Rainus as Bailey keyed the skycar and opened it, leaping inside as he booted up the key systems.
It all made sense now. The Citadel fleet not being present...the quiet of the docks...the influx of weapons and Atlases...the attack on C-Sec Headquarters. Nexpus was right, this was an invasion. A Cerberus invasion. They had either lured away or destroyed the Citadel fleet, allowing them room to land. Then they deployed weapons and mechs en masse fast enough to equip their troops, and then began to invade. And what was the best way to take over the Citadel?
Eliminate Citadel Security; its only real defense force. The militias could easily be dealt with.
That was why they had deployed on the Presidium; that's where C-Sec HQ and the Executor was. Take out those two, and C-Sec would be in total disarray. Then they could attack C-Sec Academy and take control of the main docks and from there, take out the Council. This wasn't a Reaper invasion.
Cerberus was taking over the Citadel, right under their noses.
The skycar started with a beep, but he quickly had to shove Nexpus off of him, the dead turian having been shot in the back of the head while waiting. Shoving the dead turian off of him and helping Rainus into the skycar, he hit the acellerator and pulled up, watching the rapidly expanding Cerberus forces become smaller and smaller as they climbed into the sky. Once assured they were far enough away, he shot towards the Presidium.
"Where are we going?" Rainus demanded, confused by Bailey's actions.
"To save the Executor and possibly the Council," Bailey declared, going as fast as they could. It was at that point they could hear sirens begin to sound, and the traffic died down as a massive panic began to set in. Someone must have raised the alarm.
"By the spirits..." Rainus exclaimed, looking out the window of the skycar and up, pointing as he did, "Look up..."
Bailey did look, and he wasn't even surprised to see that the space around the Citadel was now occupied...
...by a Cerberus fleet.
One massive dreadnought floated alongside a carrier next to the Presidium, with four battleships lining the area around the Wards. In the middle were numerous fighters and interceptors, corvettes and frigates, destroyers and cruisers. An entire Cerberus fleet lay over them, and Bailey swore he saw a momentary glimpse of what looked to be the Normandy in Cerberus colors. But when he closed his eyes and opened them again, it was gone. I must have imagined it.
"How the hell do we win against that?" Rainus asked incredulously, holding his head in his hands, "Where the hell is the fleet?"
"Coming soon, if we have anything to say about it," Bailey growled, watching as the Presidium got closer and closer, "Coming soon."
The siege had begun.
But he would not let Cerberus have this station.
{Loading...}
June 22, 2186
1147 hours.
Upper Bar, Purgatory, Presidium, The Citadel.
The Reaper War, The Citadel Siege.
First Lieutenant Jentha Renmark.
She let the warm liquid drift down her throat before finally surrendering the glass to the bench once more, blowing out an enormous sigh as she rolled her neck, hearing it give a satisfying crack before she spun in her seat, armor creaking as it grated together. She moved a hand through her hair, pulling it back behind her ears as she turned, leaning back against the countertop.
Her men pretty much dominated the entire upper floor of the bar, having had it cleared out beforehand as a celebration for the completion of some of the recruits' training; courtesy of herself, of course. Due to Blue Suns paranoia and need to be ready for any clientele that might present itself, they all wore their armor, sans helmet. Humans to batarians to turians littered the tables, drinking contentedly and laughing as they talked or watched the dancers on the elevated stage behind them.
Three new recruits had joined the Blue Suns ranks, and three new recruits were being showered in drink, one of them already drunk, another on the way and another looking less than satisfied, deciding to remain secluded at the back table with his simple glass of sterilized water. Jentha had offered him a drink, but he refused; said he hated alcohol. Suit himself.
Of course, it had been celebration. There had been dancers. There had been laughter and drinks and drunken slurs. There had been noise; all up until two minutes ago.
She rotated her head to the left, looking down the steps to the bottom where an evacuation was currently in action. C-Sec officers littered the lower floor, about six to ten of them, all wearing ballistic battle armor and carrying rifles and shotguns. They shouted orders as they slowly evacuated the night club, person by person, looking about ready to fight off an invasion. They had popped up two minutes ago, and that's when the sirens began to sound.
There had only been one time those sirens rang; three years ago, during the Battle of the Citadel, when Sovereign lead a geth fleet in an attack on the Citadel. An attack Shepard stopped, ending in Sovereign's destruction. It had been three years since those sirens saw use. They only sounded when the Citadel was being invaded.
Was it the Reapers? No, there wouldn't be time to evacuate if that was the case. They'd already be overrunning the station. So who's bloody invading? Indoctrinated traitors?
But Jentha didn't move, tapping her back to make sure her trusty Revenant was still strapped to her back. Anyone tried to attack her, and they'd be shredded. That, and she had an omni-bow installed on her omni-tool, as well as an omni-blade. The rest of her men were armed as well; an assortment of rifles strapped to their back, shotguns to their waist or pistols or SMGs to their hips. The Blue Suns prided themselves on military discipline, which included being ready for anything.
Her eyes once more drifted to see their lone recruit, who had just inserted his 'emergency induction port' into his drink, inserting it into his vocalizer as he took a long sip of his drink. The quarian she was very reserved, and had barely spoken since joining their organization. She had broken alot of racial boundaries to get him in, but it had been worth it for a mechanic of his caliber. As stated by the Blue Suns Manifesto, which had been written two hundred and four years ago, only turians and asari had been allowed to join its ranks. However, when the Eclipse formed thirty-eight years later, the asari centric organization quickly garnered their attention and, to compete, the Suns fired all asari personnel and made it a turian only organization. When humans appeared on the galactic stage, the organization opened itself up and allowed humans in, and when Santiago took control, allowed batarians to join as well. So as of now, only humans, turians and batarians were allowed in the Suns.
No quarians.
But maybe the boundaries could be changed. After all, the commanders of the Blue Suns Corporation were always bending and changing the rules to suit themselves, and maybe Massani could bend a few to make it so quarians could join up. But as it was, she didn't think he'd mind one quarian who didn't even wear their colors. I'll see to it that he gets a blue and white veil. Make it official.
Peta'Tasi vas Nedas was an interesting man. He seemed to be someone with something to prove, and yet not. He seemed like the type looking for redemption, willing to do anything to achieve that goal. Yet again though, he seemed like he had nothing left to live for; an empty shell that just moved around with no real purpose or will to continue. It was pathetic and sad to look at. She strongly considered telling him to man the fuck up, but she decided that'd achieve nothing, so she let it be.
She turned back intime to see a C-Sec officer ascend the steps, a turian who looked to be the sergeant of the unit. When she looked back down the steps, she saw the bar was now practically empty, sans for the arguing that obviously came from Aria's area. That asari refused to leave her new domain, and she did not envy the C-Sec officer's job at trying to get her to move. Stubbornly bitchy is one of many terms I use to describe her. Constantly at odds with Massani, and not getting any better.
"You and your men need to leave immediately," the turian stated firmly, belt allowing his rifle to hang limply on his chest, "Citadel Security has declared a state of emergency, and we need to get you to the nearest evacuation shelter right now."
She sighed, standing up as she unholstered her Revenant, bringing it down into her hands. She watched the turian twitch for his rifle, only for her men to see the action and reach for their own, quickly coming to stand as they knocked their chairs to the floor; Peta, however, did not move, completely ignorant to the world.
"Look at my gun, officer, and then look at my men," she growled, "Do we look defenseless, to you?"
He sighed, hand falling limply to his side, "Look, your presence here is only a toleration on the Executor's part. We're only giving you fair warning that this area is going to be flooded with Cerberus very soon, and when they do, you won't be getting out. They've got heavy ordnance, Atlas mechs and likely gunships. You can be safe, but you need-"
Cerberus, huh? Didn't think they had the balls to tackle the Citadel itself. My respect just went up for them a notch, but only a notch. They're still pro-human pigs, and I'll still kill any fucking one that comes near me. Disgraces of humanity, "Then I'll make sure to tell Cerberus to personally go fuck themselves before killing their well-trained troops. And the Illusive Man can take his Atlases and shove them up his new asshole, because I've got a rifle that'll give him a secondary and tertiary hole to shit out of."
"You think this is a joke?" the officer spat, glaring at her through half-lidded eyes, "A Code Ten has been declared, you stupid bitch! You or your revenant won't save you when half a thousand Cerberus soldiers pour through that door! They are heavily-armed, heavily augmented and have military grade training. They will tear through-"
An explosion downstairs cut him off, a brilliant flash of light blinding them for an instant as the boom vibrated through the walls, seemingly making them wobble. The turian covered his head as he spun back around, rifle already in his hands as he scanned the doorway.
The doors had been totally destroyed by the blast, the debris scattered across the floor and smoke pouring from the doorway, which had been enlarged to some of the wall around the blast zone being decimated. Green gore stained the doorway in a bright rivulet, the remains of the salarian's feet now a dozen meters across the room, green staining the floor in wet drops in multiple directions. His human comrade stood five meters from where he had been, his face and chest drenched in the blood of his friend, the officer still recovering from shellshock as he stared blankly at the spot his friend had previously occupied. All over, C-Sec officers were still recovering from the blast with either blown eardrums, drenched armor or consoling dead friends who had been caught in the blast. One trooper sat on the ground, leaning against a wall as his hand pressed against his shoulder, a piece of debris wedged inbetween his shoulder blade.
Even as her men gathered, they watched the head of the shellshocked human explode, green and red mixing into one as his head exploded like a shaken soft drink, body collapsing back and thudding against the ground. With that, the first centurion stepped through the door, smoke trailing from the barrel of his mattock as he opened fire again, pouring shots into the shields of another officer.
The injured soldier sitting down kept his hand pressed against his shoulder, blue blood bubbling through the cracks inbetween his fingers as his other hand reached for his SMG, pulling out just as a shot punctured his elbow, the force causing to snap back and break, the turian screaming in agony as his arm was blown in half, followed by another shot piercing his mouth and silencing him as he slumped, hand sliding from his injured shoulder as his killer, a Nemesis came through and dived behind her victim's body, propping up her black widow rifle just another muzzle flash from the doorway followed, and an assault trooper stepped through, then another, and another...
The officer opened fire, and Jentha cursed her luck as she followed suit, barking at her men to return fire. Her revenant roared to life and poured fire into the doorway, managing to cut down three assault troopers halfway through, forcing the rest to take cover.
Most of the officers in the room were laying down suppression fire now, her men joining the cacophony. She even watched as Peta reluctantly unholstered his weapon, the inexperienced quarian managing to take aim and fire without even wincing, blankly holding down on the trigger and managing to take down a single assault trooper before having to reload. She rolled her eyes at him, unimpressed by his attitude. Emptying an entire clip into a combatant who's not even shielded? He's going to need alot more training.
The Nemesis managed to get a bead on their drunken newbie and before Jentha could shout out a warning, a shot blew through his windpipe. Red blood gushed from his torn throat in a blinding fountain, quickly soaking the front of his armor and the ground. With a final choked gurgle, he toppled forward and slammed onto the ground, blood spreading out from his ruined oesophagus. She muttered a silent prayer, sliding down next to a C-Sec officer, the one who had been pleading with Aria to leave, who was crouched behind a couch, rifle ontop and firing. Poor bastard...
From what she could see, two squads of Cerberus troops had tried to swarm through the door, and they were now down three men. The Nemesis continued firing from its perch behind the dead officer's body, while the centurion stayed in a tight crouch and fired at anyone who moved. Assault troopers flanked him, and another centurion stood by the doorway, two guardians filing past him and three dragoons, the latter lighting up in biotic blue as they hurled attacks left and right, trying to pummel their force into submission.
One asari officer answered their attacks, standing up to hurl a warp right back, hitting one dragoon square in the chest. Before he could respond, she took advantage of this and stood up, emptying half a clip into his shields before they collapsed under her onslaught. The dragoon turned to face her, but was too late as the asari from before stood up again, took aim with her carnifex, and blew a nice hole through his head, body slamming into the wall behind him from the force, a nice red splat drenching the wall.
Suddenly, a more brilliant blue glow flashed behind her and appeared in her peripheral vision, the merc turning from the reloading of her LMG to see Aria charging forward, face contorted in anger and flowing in blue fire. Her pet, Bray, slid up next to her, his Raider shotgun firing twice and hitting an assault trooper square in the chest, gutting him as he collapsed onto the ground.
"Hey, fuckers! Remember me!?" Aria snarled, charging right at the nearest centurion, who immediately spun to face her, getting off two shots that pinged off her kinetic barriers, "I'm the bitch who's station you stole!"
Aria, as if a suicide bomber, suddenly disappeared in a brilliant explosion of purple and blue, the explosion shaking the foundations of the room and causing everyone to almost their balance from the tremors it caused. When the blue vapour vanished, the centurion was gone, Aria was still alive, and the rest of the troopers around her, including the two guardians, were nothing but black scorch marks on the ground, reduced below even atoms. Aria must have used a flare. Nice.
With an entire Cerberus squad vaporized in the blink of an eye, you'd think their resolve would weaken. But it didn't. Instead, the second centurion made the foolish decision to keep up the attack, dancing outward to attack Aria, the last two dragoons in behind them, the Nemesis pulling back to keep its distance, and a phantom moving in to assist, accompanied by one combat engineer, who began to set up in a turret in the doorway.
Jentha took aim at the Nemesis and let off a volley of bullets, managing to wittle down her shields to nothing before she disappeared around a corner. Cursing the damn sniper, she quickly chose another target...another assault trooper...and tore his head open like a watermelon, bloody splattering everywhere as the heavy rounds reduced his head to a meaty pulp, staining his otherwise prestine white and gold armor.
Aria slapped the centurion's rifle away and then grabbed it, using her biotics to bolster her attack as she slammed the rifle across the soldier's leg joint. The centurion let out a howl as the rifle actually split in half upon contact with his armoured leg, an audible crack resounding through the room as his bone snapped. The asari bitch queen, dropping the ruined mattock, then descended on him.
She'd give the bastard credit, it was persistent, even despite its broken leg. It quickly unsheathed its stun baton and activated it, only for Aria to grab the wrist holding it, snap it and grab the batton. She turned in time to see a phantom moving towards her, its sword descending. With a smug grin, she stepped out of the way, the sword meant for her head instead slicing through the centurion's head, said head rolling away, a nice trail of blood following it.
The phantom whorled to face her, only for her to ram the sharper end of the batton straight through its eye socket and into its brain. The phantom went limp almost instantly, the electricity coursing through its dead body going unnoticed as it slumped forward on its own blade.
Aria turned in time to watch as a dragoon wrapped its arms around her waist and tackled her into a wall, slamming her back against the cold surface. Aria growled, sending a haymaker flying towards its face. It effortlessly ducked under the blow, and slammed its head into hers, her head throbbing painfully and her vision dancing in and out. Satisfied she was defenseless, it grabbed its own stun baton and slammed it into her gut.
She cried out in pain as her vision was restored instantly, a different kind of pain causing her whole body to jerk and dance across the wall, the dragoon letting go of her as she fell to the ground, head banging. She continued to jerk about, her body looking like it was having an epileptic seizure. When it finally stopped, and the electricity stopped coursing through her, all she could see was the dragoon slumping across her. She widened her eyes, and then narrowed them in anger. That piece of shit is going to rape me! In battle! I'll rip his-
Then she smelt blood. Then felt it. Then tasted it.
She spat out the coppery substance as she turned to see the dragoon was ontop of her because it was dead, a nice set of holes blown through its chestplate and a nice one through its forehead, all leaking tremendous amounts of blood, which dripped onto the floor and ran down her neck and into her mouth.
She wiped her lips as she shoved the dead man off of her, turning to see that the battle was basically over.
Jentha gave a thumbs up to Aria, the barrel of her weapon smoking as she reloaded it. Thank me, later bitch.
The Nemesis popped up from hiding once more, but then, out of nowhere, its shields burst in a brilliant bout of blue electricity, and then its head exploded, body falling back, black widow slipping from its fingers to clatter to the ground.
She turned to see Peta, vindicator in hand, barrel smoking, the light of his omni-tool dissipating as it finished deactivating. He just stood there, and after awhile, finally lowered his gun.
Then he dropped it, Jentha watching it slip from his fingers to clatter harmlessly to the ground, the quarian almost frozen to the spot. It was then that Jentha realized. Aside from that assault trooper, he's never actually killed anyone before.
The battle was almost over, and they moved forward, pushing Cerberus from the night club. The last dragoon was dealt with almost harshly by Aria, and their combined fire made short work of the turret and its master, the combat engineer's eviscerated head and chest a testament to the gunfire that killed it, Jentha quickly kicking it to make sure it was dead. Cerberus brought a man back from the dead. No telling what tricks they have up their sleeves.
The group stepped out into the separation chamber between the night club and the Presidium atrium. The officer that questioned her before stepped forward, blood and soot staining his armor and face, and quickly keyed his omni-tool, "This is Dispatch over. Purgatory secure...just encountered enemy resistance. Hostiles eliminated, area evacuated. How copy, HQ? What's the status on the Coun-?"
Jentha stopped listening as she turned back to her men, making sure they were alright, and holstered her LMG. All three of the recruits, save Peta, had been killed during the attack, as well as four of her men. One was injured with a leg injury and would probably have to have his leg amputated, and one of her troops screamed in agony at the bullet that pierced his left eye, his comrades trying to put him under as he struggled against the agony.
Then her eyes landed on Peta.
The poor kid just stood there, holding his hands up infront of them and looking at them in horror. A speck of blood dripped down his visor, now dried, although she didn't know if it was his, or some Cerberus' soldier's. What she did know was that Peta was likely to go into shock soon, and that would spell bad for all of them, especially with Cerberus overrunning the Citadel.
"Peta?" she questioned, moving infront of him, "Peta, look at me. Eyes up here, Peta."
The quarian slowly looked up from his hands, which she noticed were shaking. He met her eyes and spoke softly, as if afraid someone else would hear, "I killed a person...an actual person."
"You feel like shit?" Jentha asked, more of a statement than anything else.
He nodded, not saying a word as he looked back down at his hands.
She slapped his shoulder, squeezing it as she turned away, "You get used to it. We all do. Soon you'll be kicking ass with the rest of 'em. Come on." And others are just not made for war. For death. For taking a life. We're bred for it. Peta just isn't the killing type. Did I make a mistake asking him to join the Suns?
Maybe she had.
But with Cerberus invading the Citadel, they'd need every able body person to kick them out.
{Loading...}
June 22, 2186
1155 hours.
Spectre Office, Citadel Embassies, Presidium, The Citadel.
The Reaper War, The Citadel Siege.
Major Kaidan Alenko.
He quickly waved his credentials over the scanner interface, and it took but a single moment for the door to shoot open, the system VI recognizing his authority in an instant. An authority he was still getting used to.
"Welcome, Spectre Alenko," the monotone voice greeted. The idea that he was the second human spectre in existence was still something he was getting used to, only having acquired the rank a day ago when he finally gave in to Udina's pressure and accepted the position; Rahna and Shepard may have helped alittle, but only a bit. Besides, how could he say no to the human councilor, even if it was Udina? And now he could enjoy all the perks that Shepard got to enjoy on a daily basis. And a shitton of paperwork to add ontop of the Alliance paperwork he already had. Gee, thanks, Udina. That part of the job is by far the most fun.
As soon as the door opened, he was already moving, descending down the corridor with a purpose. He dropped his sarcastic thoughts of the Council and immediately focused on the task at hand; he had recovered enough from the Mars attack to move and the nurses had confirmed he was ready for combat deployment almost a week ago; they just kept him in to make sure. So with his body recovered, he needed to armor up and get to the Citadel Tower. Quickly.
He had been in the middle of his physical therapy along the Emporium when the sirens began to rang, and when he looked up, he had widened his eyes when instead of seeing an artificial sky, all he saw were the bellies of Cerberus warships gliding by, and quickly the entire area had erupted into panic as gunships began to bombard the Presidium, shuttles deploying enemy troops and gunning down civilians, left, right and center. He had even watched C-Sec try to intervene, and as the hanar manager of the Emporium was crushed as one of their combat shuttles was shot down and crashed.
His nurse had practically abandoned him, and he hadn't had any time to really start asking the obvious questions: Why was Cerberus here? Where was the Citadel Fleet? How did they get here so quickly? How was C-Sec not alerted to this sooner? And where was Shepard when you needed him? He had simply ignored them and immediately went into combat mode; and with the Embassies so close by, he knew what needed to be done.
Of course, he had needed to evade the Cerberus squads that had been scouring the Presidium, gunning down whatever and whoever they could find. He had even watched with horror as a phantom tore open the spleen of an elcor who wasn't fast enough to escape, spilling his guts along the ground as the troops around him just laughed in their cybernetic undertones before continuing. He thought he even heard the dull thud, thud, thud of a massive mech. And from what he read in the reports, that wasn't good. They've got Atlases too.
Luckily, they hadn't secured the Embassies when he arrived; probably didn't deem them important. So he managed to get inside, with just his patient gown and nothing else, and quickly rushed into the spectre offices; and so here he was, prepping for combat.
He knew what his mission was. Shepard wasn't here, so they couldn't rely on the Normandy to save them. It wasn't the Reapers, so that made the battle slightly more winnable, and most of the other spectres weren't present on the Citadel, most of them all over the galaxy, either helping in the war effort, securing the Council's continuity, or running black ops in the Terminus. So as far as Kaidan was concerned, he was the only spectre present, which left the task of protecting the Council up to him.
He knew the drill: in the event of an emergency or the Citadel came under attack, the Council was evacuated to the Destiny Ascension. But ever since the Battle of the Citadel, they had changed that evacuation plan (which was lucky, given the Citadel Fleet was nowhere in sight, let alone the asari dreadnought) to a more realistic idea; so they had built a siege bunker near the Citadel Historical Archives, which was essentially the most heavily fortified area on the Citadel; meters of thick concrete making beating the place into submission via orbital assault impossible or a simple pipe dream. The trouble was getting the Council there in the first place: that's where he came in.
The task of escorting the Council to safety was now left up to him, and that was a pretty daunting task, given he didn't even know their current status. What if Cerberus had already killed them? C-Sec was aware of the emergency code, and Cerberus probably had the organization chock-a-block with sleeper and double agents, so what if they were aware of it? Hell, they didn't even know if the Executor himself wasn't Cerberus, given he was human and made him a viable candidate. And if they were alive, where were they? They could be half there already for all he knew.
But he couldn't waste time on that; he needed to get suited up. He quickly entered the main office, moving to his right and straight through the door into the main armoury. They didn't have his battle armor, but basic spectre combat armor would do and easily fall into tandem with his tech and biotic abilities.
Turning left again, he moved past the powered down shooting range and reached the nearest equipment locker, snapping it open with a single command prompt from his omni-tool using his spectre credentials. Inside was a prestine set of body armor, painted cobalt blue and with the Special Tactics and Reconnissance branch insignia stamped on the left breast, with the Council's Coat of Arms stamped on the right. Without further contemplation, he reached out, wrenched the breastplate free of the locker and began to strap it on.
He had just finished putting on his final shinguard when he heard the door open behind him and he spun on the spot, hand moving for the pistol at his hip that wasn't there. Realizing this, he instead keyed his omni-tool, bringing up his tech armor and readying his biotics just as the intruder entered into his vision.
He found himself relaxing and biotics dissipating as a slim salarian figure entered the room, his own set of cobalt blue salarian armor coming into view, his Locust SMG strapped to his hip. The salarian immediately held his hands up upon seeing the major's battle stance, but dropped them when he saw Kaidan's stance relax, "Another spectre, human? But not Captain Shepard; must be recent."
"Major Kaidan Alenko," the human replied, catching on to the salarian's way of asking 'so who are you?'
"Jondam Bau," the salarian replied, bowing his head slightly, "It is good to see a second human spectre; a shame there isn't more. Your species has more than earned its place in the spectres. Still, the Council decides what it decides. We're just their sword arm," the salarian smiled slightly, nodding to the lockers, "You know your task, then?"
Kaidan nodded, turning around to continue readying his armor, "Emergency Protocol Code Ten. In the event of a major emergency in where the Citadel comes under attack, a terrorist assault whether it be chemical, biological, psychological or an attempted assassination plot, foreign party invasion, or any threat to the Council's lives is presented, or in the event that Citadel Security has been crippled and is unable to respond effectively, the Special Tactics and Recon branch are to abandon all present duties and commit their sole purpose to ensuring the survival of the Council."
Jondam creased his lips in impression, "So you've read the Emergency Protocols then. Almost clause for clause, as well," he moved over and nodded, moving over to his own personal locker and retrieving what looked to be a second omni-tool, attaching to his second wrist, "Of course, that requires finding them first. Luckily for us, the whereabouts of the Council is always known."
Just as he finished latching on his armor and picked up his...helmet, of sorts, which was really just a Recon helmet eye piece, he frowned, and turned to face Bau, "What do you mean?"
"So you haven't read all of EP10, then," the salarian tsked, "At the last paragraph, its explicitly detailed that a tracker is to be placed into a councilor's occupational omni-tool when they are voted in or appointed. This tracker is only accessible by all members of the Spectres, the Executor and a few choice C-Sec high-ups. In the event of this such emergency, we'd need to be able to locate the Council quickly. These trackers allow this to happen; and according to mine..." the salarian made a show of checking his omni-tool before shutting it off, closing his locker as he strapped a second Locust SMG to his other hip, "They are currently congregated in the Council Chambers; then C-Sec will be following their orders to the letter. Per their own orders, they are to assemble the councilors there and, once secured, move them to the Presidium, huddle them in an armoured kodiak, and take them to the siege bunker. We'll need to meet them there for this to succeed."
He nodded, strapping the eye piece around his head and moving to retrieve whatever weapons lay inside. He found an assault rifle, and a good model too; a Saber automatic marksman rifle. He let it holster on his chest temporarily as he moved inside and recovered a secondary weapon; a specially made DXR-120D Precision Sniper Rifle, built for pinpoint accuracy, rapid takedowns and had a secondary firing mode that heated up the round into a small, contained fireball; essentially a less evolved version of the carnage many marines used. It was the weapon of an assassin. And he was no assassin. This weapon was for those graceful with it, and he knew only one turian who could do that. He quickly moved to return it, electing to just keep his rifle.
"Actually," came a familiar, raspy voice, "That weapon will do just fine for my needs."
He almost jumped on the spot, as did Bau, both moving in tandem, weapons drawn as they lingered on the lone form behind them who seemed to stand there, like an echoing shadow.
The drell himself seemed unfazed by the reaction, actually looking quite used to it. His hands were clasped behind his back, his grey coat straight and looking very official. The drell smiled at him, looking to be waiting. And Kaidan could only chuckle, lowering his rifle as he turned to Bau, "Lower your weapon Bau, he's a friend."
Bau nodded and lowered his weapon, taking the human's word. Kaidan turned back grabbing the sniper rifle, "Still, I don't think you needed to sneak up on us like that, Thane."
"My apologies," the drell humbly replied, the master assassin taking the proferred sniper rifle and holstering it with fluid ease.
"You can't just give him that," Bau pointed out, locking his locker, "That's Spectre-grade equipment. Only we're permitted access to it."
"Trust me, its of alot more use to him than me," Kaidan replied curtly, nodding to Thane.
"How did you get in here?" Bau continued his interrogation, looking doubtful of the drell's intentions, "You have to be a Spectre to get in here."
Thane turned to him, regarding him calmly, "Since my first return to the Citadel a year ago, I scouted out key points in this area. I noticed at least nine different entry points into this room, six of which required stealth, the other three requiring nothing but a single gram of C7."
Seeing the confusion of Bau's face, he decided to address the elephant in the room, "Jondam Bau, this is Thane Krios. Thane Krios, Jondam Bau."
"Ah," Bau replied, coming to an epiphany, "I have heard of you. A pleasure to meet your acquitance, Mr. Krios. How odd we should meet under such circumstances."
"The pleasure is mine, Spectre," Thane replied politely, always courteous and never too talkative, "Although, my being here is only out of a shared concern over a friend."
Kaidan raised an eyebrow at that, "Why are you here, Thane? Did you follow me?"
Thane shook his head, "Captain Shepard has tasked me with being your protector. You were incapacitated and vulnerable. Shepard feared that Cerberus would take advantage of this. I offered to protect you. I am merely following his request out of mutual concern."
"Thanks Thane, but I'm fine," Kaidan replied, "But we wouldn't mind some backup on this. We need to reach the Council and safely escort them to the siege bunker."
Thane nodded, "This could become an issue given the Cerberus troop movements outside. They will likely storm the embassies soon, and the Council will be their priority."
"Which is why we need to beat them to the punch," Bau replied, "We should-" suddenly, his omni-tool beeped and the salarian accessed it, frowning. "No, cannot be right," he then looked up, "Just got reports of shuttle heading for Citadel Tower. Cerberus."
"What's odd about that?" Kaidan asked, readying his rifle as he moved for the door, "Of course Cerberus will try to take out the Council. We've established this already."
"Not the oddity," Bau stated as he followed behind him, "Origin, is. Classification meets that of Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate."
Kaidan froze in his tracks and he slowly turned around, eyes widening, "What? But how...I was on the Normandy! Shepard would not go back to Cerberus!"
"Cerberus rebuilt the Normandy," Thane observed, frowning himself, "It is more than likely they had the resources to rebuild a second one...one that served their own needs. If this is true, this could pose a problem strategically."
"Also another problem," Bau sounded almost panicked this time as he looked at his omni-tool, the three of them managing to enter the main office as they left the armoury, "Concerns the Council. C-Sec reports that all councilors secured except one. Councilor Valern is missing."
Kaidan cursed his luck, almost punching the wall, "Damn it! Do they know where he is?"
Bau gave a nod, Kaidan sighing in relief, "Last reported half an hour ago going to C-Sec Headquarters to speak with the Executor on a private matter. When asked, he said it had something to do with 'a security risk.'"
Kaidan exhaled heavily, shaking his head, "So you think he might still be at C-Sec HQ?"
"Its a possibility. But if Councilor Valern did survive, then he'll be hiding," Bau informed him, "C-Sec Headquarters was one of the first places that came under attack. C-Sec Academy won't be better off."
"Valern is a member of the Council, and him being alive is a top priority," he declared, hands on his hips as he looked between the three of them, "But there's the other three councilors who need escort."
"There will be no further need for debate on this topic," Thane declared, squaring his shoulders and twisting his neck as it cracked, "I will go to C-Sec Headquarters and extract the salarian councilor."
"Are you sure, Thane?" Kaidan asked, wide-eyed, "That place will be overrun with Cerberus."
An explosion sounded outside, rocking the structure they were in. The drell barely seemed to notice, merely nodding, "Yes. You do not need protection, and you have your duty to the Council. I will locate Councilor Valern and escort him safely to the siege bunker. Any Cerberus troops in the way I'll deal with...accordingly. However, being an assassin, I will likely evade them. I wish to avoid direct combat as much as possible."
"Good thinking," Bau nodded, turning to Kaidan as he turned off his omni-tool, "Then we are decided. Spectre Alenko and I will head to the Citadel Tower to escort the rest of the Council while Mr. Krios rescues Valern. We must move quickly if we are to beat Cerberus to the tower."
Kaidan gave a swift nod, turning to Thane, who was already fiddling with an air vent, "See you again soon, Thane. And thanks for the...protection."
The drell smiled alittle, "You need thank someone for something that is freely given," and with that, the drell disappeared inside the vent, gone in an instant.
"An interesting man," Bau noted, "Very humble. A man of his skills shouldn't have wasted his life on being an assassin."
Kaidan sighed, keeping his rifle close to his chest as the two spectres made for the entrance, "Yeah, well sometimes people get in bed with the wrong occupation."
"That is true," Bau replied, keying his crendentials to open the door. Once it was open, they moved out into the corridor, and made a quick scan; the area was clear, long evacuated of civilians and empty of any hostile activity. But that would soon change. They moved forward, weapons still at the ready, and keeping the area ahead of them clear in their vision.
It was a situation like this that Kaidan's heartbeat quickened, and he realized something. Shit, Rahna! She would have been on her way to the hospital when the attack started! Please let her be alright...the marine shook the thought away as he proceeded. Rahna was a tough girl; Conatix had made them that way. But if Cerberus hurt her...he didn't want to know what he'd do to them.
So this is what love is like...Kaidan sighed, the prospect frightening him as the two of them moved through the door and exited onto the Presidium, moving over to the nearest skycar. A pity I couldn't spend it with Ash, but I have Rahna now...and I'm not going to let her go like I did Ashley. Ashley had died before they could official declare their feelings for each other, but with Rahna...he hadn't made that mistake. Rahna knew where the two of them stood. And I won't let anyone hurt her. Noone.
He looked up, seeing thew Presidium on fire as shuttles in gold and white raced by, carrying more squads of hostile, pro-human soldiers. Gunships bombarded the area and shot down any C-Sec support shuttles, Cerberus troops and C-Sec SWAT teams engaging in combat in the streets. Blazes of orange trailed into the sky, fires and smoke clouding the once beautiful Presidium. It was like the Battle of the Citadel all over again.
Accept back then, the power had switched off and it had been pitch black except for the fires. Cerberus hasn't gotten that far yet.
Kaidan knew it would only get worse if help didn't arrive soon.
And despite the futility of it, he was hoping Shepard and the Normandy were on their way.
Soon, preferrably.
"Some called it the Second Battle of the Citadel. Most of us called it the Citadel Siege. The day Cerberus decided to make a move."
- Marcus Shepard.
"A failed invasion, obviously."
- Reia'Inas pav Earth.
"It could have succeeded if we hadn't gotten there in time. Let's just say that Cerberus' timing was a bit inconvenient, for them at least."
- Marcus Shepard.
"The Illusive Man was really fighting to get noticed."
- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.
"Yeah. We won the battle that day, but at a terrible cost. A cost that seemed to be getting more and more common."
- Marcus Shepard.
A/N:
I know this chapter took awhile, but...oh, go have a sook! I've told you time and time again that I've got commitments just like the next guy! And with this behemoth out of the way, we are now officially in Priority: Citadel II territory. This chapter will be, surprise, surprise, another two-parter (which I'm sure you guys are getting sick of), but I'll make sure that the two parts are worth it. You know me; I'm not one to follow the linear path, at least not in Holocaust!
And yes, the Deliverance will have a major impact on the story near the end; that shit going to be epic! But let's focus on the here and now; Citadel! Gotcha! And yes, Tali will have a more major part of this story; its just taking me awhile to get on with it.
Keelah Se'lai, troopers!
