Chapter 10! Enjoy!
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Nicolas made his way back towards Afterlife on foot. For once he had left a mission unscathed and he wanted to relax. The damage to his suit seemed to be enough to deter any attempts to mug him as he turned corners into dark hallways. The bustle of the space station led his thoughts to the mission Aria had given him the last week, the one where he lost his arm and his old acquaintance had supposedly rescued him.
He probably took the credit for someone else, that dirtbag.
Nicolas didn't answer out loud, not that it mattered, but his thoughts started to articulate a sentence in his mind, "It is by far the easiest story to believe. I'm pretty sure I passed out shortly before he arrived, since he was able to reattach my hand. I wonder how it really went down."
…
One week ago.
The warehouse was empty save the pieces of furniture stuffed with bags of red sand, a weird precaution to take in Omega, since it didn't have a customs office or anything of the sort. Nicolas had just finished putting explosive charges on each of the stashes when he noticed that one of the sofas had a strange marking. Upon closer inspection, the Blue Suns logo was unmistakeable. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple, this wasn't some small fry smuggling drugs into Omega, this was a Blue Suns operation.
Nicolas' eye twitched as the gravelly and deep voice in his mind cursed Aria and prophesized Nicolas' death. Like a scared bug, Nicolas ran to each of the pieces of furniture, making sure that the explosives were all in place before scrambling for a panel at the end of the warehouse, where the far wall could open out to space for cargo ships to dock. His mission was to purge and destroy the drugs by spacing them and then blowing them up, it seemed like an in-and-out mission, but everything went downhill from that moment.
The entrance to the warehouse was blown open with a breach charge and two flashbangs rolled in. Nicolas dove behind a sofa wrapped in plastic sheets as the grenades detonated, deafening him for what seemed like minutes. The human extended his assault rifle and peaked out to fire at his assailants, but the sheer amount of enemies to take down made Nicolas' trigger finger hesitate. He sat back down behind the sofa thinking of what to do next.
"Thirty fucking mercs," he thought to himself as his hands started shaking, his gloves rattling against the rifle.
An idea dawned on the human, and he opened his omnitool as bullets started piercing the sofa he was sitting behind, depleting the energy of his shield. With a press of a button, one of the pieces of furniture blew up. The red sand inside spread through the air, generating static and warping fields as the powder caught fire. The bullets stopped coming for a second and Nicolas used that time to change position to the back of another sofa. He blew another piece of furniture when the shots started whittling away at his new cover, the red sand having the same effect.
Nicolas heard the shout of a Batarian from the far side of the room as the assault rifle fire died down, "You'll never get out of here alive, Archangel!"
The human shook his head as he selected another bomb to detonate, "I'm not goddamn Archangel," he whispered as he blew a third explosive. He sat up to a crouch and set his eyes on the panel that would open the far wall. Accommodating his legs on the floor to start sprinting, the telltale tinkling of a grenade disc rolling on the ground came from beside him. His eyes darted to see the disc on his right as he started sprinting. The frag grenade blew behind him as his shields failed from the shockwave. Shrapnel shattered plates on his back and shoulders, but one piece flew between them at his right wrist, slicing the hand clean off. Nicolas landed under the panel, his hand beside him. High on adrenaline, he picked up his hand and activated the panel before dashing behind a structural pillar and holding on.
The vacuum pulled the rest of the furniture out into space, along with the mercs that remained alive. His vision blurred, Nicolas reached around the structural pillar and closed the wall. He fell to the ground as blood gushed from his wrist and dripped from shrapnel wounds on his back he hadn't noticed. He opened his omnitool and drowsily walked towards the exit of the warehouse, blowing each of the bombs he had planted. The only thing Nicolas heard as he blew the last piece of furniture was the first half of a bang. One of the stashes had managed to remain in the warehouse and blew dangerously close to the human. A piece of metal structure hit his left arm, ripping it off as the rest of him flew towards the entrance wall. The red sand from that last explosion finally succeeded in lighting the roof on fire.
"Spirits! Cassis, get in here now!"
A turian ran into the building, waiting to find traces of a firefight only to be met by a fire and a half-dead human. Another human entered the warehouse carrying a case full of medigel pouches and bags of blood of various colours. The turian looked at the human doctor covering the wounds in medigel and dropping the severed hand into a bag full of medigel which flash froze once closed.
The turian brought a hand up to his helmet as the suit speakers were muted.
"That's Nicolas, no doubt about it. Tell the doctor he's type A blood," a synthetic voice crackled through the turian's translator.
The turian nodded and relayed the information to the doctor, who hesitated before nodding, perplexed at the turian's knowledge. Two litres of blood were plugged into the human's suit, activating its emergency life support systems. A needle extended into the small of the human's back, into the abdominal aorta to pump the extra blood into the body.
The turian spared a moment to look around the burning warehouse when his eyes stopped at what seemed to be an arm. The pieces of bicep that remained were shredded all the way to the forearm. It was probably Nicolas', but there was no way it could be reattached. Shaking his head, he asked the doctor if it was okay to move the human. With a nod, they took Nicolas into a sky-car where a Batarian and a Salarian sat waiting. The vehicle zoomed off into Omega, leaving the burning warehouse and the lower docks behind.
…
Isn't it fucking convenient that the turian appeared in the nick of time?
"Whatever, I'm alive now," Nicolas protested against himself as he turned a corner to make a shortcut for Afterlife. He stopped at a dark alley to open his visor but the mechanism had been ruined. With a grunt, he removed the helmet and produced a cigarette from a pouch on his thigh. Lighting it, he puffed out a cloud of smoke when he heard a familiar name get called out.
"…of Archangel," it was a gravelly voice, characteristic of a turian, and it wasn't far away. Nicolas looked around and caught an open window from the corner of his eye. The voice was coming from there.
He inched closer as a batarian voice piped up from the window, "How do I know you're telling the truth?"
Nicolas frowned as he stood non-chalantly on the other side of a dumpster, puffing out his smoke in silence. The turian voice came again, "Look man, I just want out. You said I could go if I gave you something you could use, and I did that. Here are the address and pictures of the place with Archangel and the rest of the squad in it. Go check if they're fake, go ahead! I'm confident this info is legitimate. Now I want my ticket out of this shithole."
"Oh you ain't going anywhere, Siddy. I'm taking you to Aria now and she'll decide where you'll go."
At the mentioning of Aria, Nicolas dropped the rest of his cigarette and fast-walked for the nearest rapid-transit terminal. He sent a text to the asari notifying her that his job was done and that he would be going in civilian clothing to the club for a night of drinking.
…
Nicolas sat at one of the bars of Omega, the Salarian bartender Urvat eyed the human suspiciously when he asked for a beer and he took a cautious sip. The CCTV displays behind the bar alternated between different angles and Nicolas' eyes were glued to the screens. Finally, he saw a sky-car descend near the exit and a Batarian and a Turian hopped off. Nicolas squinted at the screen as he saw the two enter the tunnel leading into the club before leaving his seat and heading for the exit where he would be able to get a good look at the two. Anywhere else it might have been more of a gamble to assume that the two were the same ones he overheard, but in Omega it was completely unheard of to see a Batarian-turian duo walking into a club together. As Nicolas approached the entrance, the large gates swooshed open to admit Aria's Anto and 'Siddy'.
The turian was pail and jittery. Blue markings decorated his mandibles but aside from that, his face was bare. Anto looked the same as always, walking a few steps behind the turian, leading him towards the stairs that went up to the VIP floor. Nicolas' eyes followed the pair until they reached Aria. He could clearly make out the tendrils poking out over the back of her head and her arms spread out in that grand manner she always does when meeting someone new. After a few seconds, Nicolas saw Aria get up and disappear into the VIP level. Whatever was happening now, it meant something bad for Garrus.
You're not thinking about helping that two-faced bastard, are you?
"So what if I am?" whispered Nicolas as he downed his nearly full beer before walking out of the club and heading for his living unit to suit up. He needed to talk with Aria.
…
The Gates of Afterlife opened for Nicolas once more as he walked in. His HUD was still not functional and the hole in his helmet even made the krogan bouncer at the entrance widen his eyes. Everyone on the way to Aria sidestepped to let the human pass and all of her bodyguards became silent as he approached.
He had set his suit speakers to be louder this time, and in a distorted voice, he spoke, "I did what you asked. Can we talk?"
Aria arched an eyebrow as a curious smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. She downed the drink she had in her hand and wiped off a droplet that remained on her lip with the back of her hand, "Let's go."
The asari's room looked different this time. There was no bag of Red Sand on the table in front of the sofa, but instead there were several empty bottles of turian liquor. Nicolas looked around before speaking through the suit's speakers, "Had visitors?"
"Don't act like I didn't see you looking when you came to 'drink', Nicolas," Aria chuckled as she stepped over to him and removed his helmet. She pressed a finger against the bruise on the side of his head, making him wince, "Never before have you had only one beer at the bar."
"Who was he?" he demanded with deliberate calmness.
Aria's eyes widened, "Oooooh, jealous, are we?" she smiled before baring her teeth at the human, letting her nose wrinkle, "How about this, persuade me, and I'll tell you all about it, deal?"
Nicolas' eyes went blank as he looked at the floor for a moment. Walking calmly over to the bar, he opened a bottle of whiskey and took a long swig from it. He frowned and exhaled a long breath before turning his head to glare at Aria, who started backing away slowly towards the bed.
"Deal," he muttered as he stalked over to the asari.
Oh now you really have to be worth the information, dipshit.
Nicolas closed his eyes and cracked his neck, tilting it to the sides as he neared Aria. She let herself fall on the bed as he finished closing the distance. Before she could lie down, Baker stretched a hand out and grabbed her by the neck, careful not to squeeze. Aria gave a playful snarl as they met for a long kiss, their breathing hitching as they fell on the bed. Without interrupting the kiss, Aria reached around his ribcage and started unclasping his armour. Nicolas chuckled as she tugged on a clasp and was unable to open it. Aria pulled away and gave him a perplexed look.
"Is the clasp too hard for you?"
With an annoyed grumble, Aria lunged forward, biting Nicolas' lower lip and drawing a drop of blood. She started glowing as Baker's clasps all became undone at once. He didn't miss a beat as he stretched his limbs out one by one and his armour flew off. Aria let go of his lip so he could descend to her neck, kissing, licking and biting, earning pleasured moans from the matriarch. A faint humming filled the room as the last of Nicolas' armour plates came off, and he was left with nothing but his underarmour on top of Aria.
Aided by his prosthetic arm's strength, Nicolas turned her over onto her belly deftly, getting a startled yelp which turned into a playful giggle as he started undoing her suit while she arched her back, raising her butt, "Your fingers are cold!"
Nicolas didn't answer as he pulled the garment off in a swift motion. With his flesh hand, he gave the prone asari a hard smack on the ass, earning a startled moan. With urgency, he removed his underarmour before turning Aria back over. She looked him up and down, stopping at each individual scar on his chest before stopping to stare into his eyes. With a coy smile, she slowly opened her legs, inviting him closer.
Grabbing onto the underside of her thighs, he pushed her back on the bed, leading her to the centre before crawling on top of her. The two embraced before moving back and forth. A hand crept down Nicolas' stomach, reaching him and grabbing on. He let out a gasp as Aria squeezed and smiled, "So Blasto hasn't gone soft."
"Stop calling him that," Nicolas smirked as he couldn't help but growl at Aria's touch.
"Or you'll what?"
"You don't want to know."
"Oooooh now I'm scared, Blasto."
Nicolas chuckled before lunging for her neck and biting hard. Aria smiled with pleasure as she let go of him and raised her hands to drag them across his back, breaking the skin. He hissed at the pain and pulled away to be able to stare into Aria's eyes as he aligned himself on her before pushing his hips forward. Aria's breath hitched as the two moved to the rhythm of Afterlife's muffled music. Aria bit into his shoulder as his pace quickened, drawing blood from the human. The two rolled over so Aria could straddle the human. She grabbed onto his hands and pinned them to his sides as she controlled the rhythm, swaying her hips in circles as she moved.
Aria's pace became more and more frenetic and Nicolas could feel his mind going blank as the pleasure took over, but as he closed his eyes, Aria grabbed onto his face, squeezing his cheeks to get his attention.
"No," she gasped, as her eyes became black as the midnight sky.
Nicolas' world became nothing but blackness as the bed under him, the sounds around him and Aria's warmth disappeared. Her voice whispered into existence, starting far away and unintelligible but drawing closer from the void until it surrounded him and he could finally make sense of what she said, "Embrace Eternity."
Nicolas' universe became blue. He couldn't make out any details, no matter where he looked until he felt a hand trailing down his chest. He looked down to see Aria's arm going down towards his legs, its shoulder losing itself in the blue background. He felt lips kissing his neck as the arm vanished, then legs straddling him and finally, Aria materialized on top of him, swaying her hips as she had been doing back in her private room in Afterlife.
Baker could feel he was ready to finish, but words couldn't escape his mouth as he reached the point of climax. Aria's moans were all he could hear as all became blackness and reality came bubbling back.
Aria was laying on top of him, beads of sweat forming on her blue skin. She rolled over and looked down at her belly before letting out a quick chuckle and stretching out a hand to drag her fingers softly over Nicolas' chest.
The human panted as he stared up at the ceiling. It took him some minutes to fully come back from the melding but once his eyes came back into focus, he turned to give Aria a warm look, "So I shouldn't be worried about the turian?"
Aria laughed once before winking at Nicolas, "Sidonis is nothing compared to you, darling. He's a coward who sold out his friends. I let him out of Omega only because what he gave me was too valuable to pass up."
Nicolas raised his eyebrows in fake surprise, "what did he give you?"
"Everything about Archangel's team!" She couldn't help but smile, "His hideout location, their weaponry, dossiers on all his team mates… the only thing missing was Archangel's identity, but that doesn't matter."
"Why not?"
"Because I called the Suns, Eclipse and the Blood Pack after Sidonis left, and they payed me a stupid amount of money for the info."
"Are you going to be my sugar-mommy now?" Nicolas smiled and Aria gave him a playful push.
"No, you are still going to earn your prizes. Speaking of which, I have a quick job for you, if you want?"
"Shoot." Nicolas turned over to his side to face Aria and she did the same.
"The Blood Pack are starting to bring Red Sand into Omega, but that will mean the market will be shared by too many providers. There is a batarian called Waeram overlooking the delivery of the cargo, and I need you to kill him and destroy whatever he brought onto the station. Once he's dead, I need you to display his corpse outside the building with a Blue Suns logo seared onto his face or somewhere visible, so we can start bad blood between the mercs."
"Sounds easy enough."
"I do need you to get this done before the raid on Archangel starts, otherwise no one will believe the Suns did it."
"Fair enough. I'll get ready." Nicolas sighed as he got up from the bed and started putting his armour on.
…
Baker walked out of Afterlife briskly, heading for the rapid transit. As he went, he brought up his omnitool, Nicolas sent a message to Garrus' contact address from C-sec. There was no other way he would be able to reach him.
…
"You just received a message on your old C-sec account, Garrus."
The turian stirred from his nap when the synthetic voice called his name. He grumbled something unintelligible and cleared his throat before continuing, "Wha- what, what is it, Hal?"
"You just got a message on your old C-sec account."
Garrus shuffled around on the hard mattress, trying to find a more comfortable position, "Give it a look. Tell me if it's important."
A moment passed before Hal's voice crackled in his translator again, "It's from Nicolas. He wants to meet up ASAP."
Garrus' eyes shot open, "Tell him I'll be waiting for him at Air Filtrations Sector C."
…
Nicolas leaned against the railing that would avoid him falling ten levels down to the roof of Afterlife. Sparks rained down from the upper levels where spaceships were being maintained, and the roar of everyday life bubbled up from the lower levels of the station.
He lit a cigarette with his omnitool as a turian rounded a corner and walked towards him deliberately. Blue armour and a helmet with a black visor let Baker know it was Garrus approaching… or Archangel as the population of Omega had started calling him. Nicolas eyed him warily, looking for weapons, but none were visible from his point of view. There was, however, ample space on his back for a heavy pistol or a shotgun. His own hand crept towards the pistol on his thigh, but he stopped himself, hoping Garrus hadn't noticed.
"Thinking about shooting me, broomhead?" the turian's flanging was further distorted by the suit's speakers, but it was undeniably Garrus' voice.
"As long as Aria hasn't asked for it, I wouldn't consider it. I'm just not sure about your agenda."
Garrus shook his head, crossing his arms, "After all we've been through, I'm the smallest of your problems. You have to get away from that woman, Nicolas. When she's done using you, it'll only be a matter of time before you're thrown out the nearest airlock."
"At least I have time, Archangel," Nicolas stood and took one step towards the turian, "You have a defector in your midst, giving out information on your hideout and your pals. Looks like they aren't the most trustworthy people."
"What does that mean?" Garrus closed the remaining distance between the two, towering over Nicolas. His tone went low and menacing.
The human didn't back away, and he blew his smoke into the turian's face before speaking, "It means that names and information are starting to circulate in Omega."
Garrus shook his head, his demeanour becoming less menacing, "Impossible. None of the people in the squad know each other by name. Hell, I only know some of them myself, and I brought them together."
"Does the name Sidonis ring a bell?" Nicolas tossed his cigarette over the railing.
Behind the visor, Garrus' eyes widened, and his mandibles pressed against the walls of his helmet, "No."
"He's a turian that's just fed info on your squad to Aria's people, which she sold to the Suns, Eclipse and the Blood Pack. The thing is, if he asked for a ticket out of Omega for that information, then the consequences that it'll bring must come soon."
Garrus was unable to hold back a 'spirits'. Nicolas lit another cigarette before continuing, "I'm probably putting myself in front of many gun barrels by telling you this, so I would recommend you start preparing for an attack. You know, so I don't get thrown out an airlock in vain."
"I guess a thank you is in order," muttered Garrus as he turned to leave.
Nicolas sighed, "This is what being a good guy in Omega got you."
"It's better than having spent a year working for the queen of crime."
"We both did the same things, Archangel. We did drug busts, killed weapons smugglers, loan sharks, mercs. All those good deeds, and in the end we both had the same effect: none."
"I brought hope to the victims. You just made them switch their fear from one crime lord to another."
"And what good is hope if it'll all be just as it was in a couple months' time? At least I won't get killed in the process, and Omega has no memory for martyrs anyway."
Garrus let his arms fall and clack against his armour. He shook his head in disbelief, "This isn't the Nicolas that saved the Galaxy by my side… or Shepard's."
It had become easy to not flinch at her name. Nicolas scoffed, "Shepard's dead, Archangel. She saved the Galaxy and then she got killed. A textbook martyr if ever there was one. It only took a month before everyone forgot her and what she fought against. The Reapers are somewhere out there and no one is about to do a thing about it. Why try and save anything when no one really wants to be saved?" He pointed at him with his cigarette, "Go. Take care of your squad, get them out of Omega ASAP and don't come back. This isn't a place for heroes."
Garrus huffed beneath his helmet, "Take care of yourself, Broomhead."
Nicolas threw his second cigarette over the railing, "You too."
Once Garrus had rounded a corner, Nicolas crouched against the railing, checking his weapons before opening his omnitool to go over Aria's mission details once more.
A level above, a Batarian opened his omnitool, set to the dimmest hologram strength. After typing a quick message, he left for a rapid-transit station to get back to Afterlife.
…
Baker had spent the last fifteen minutes talking to a mechanic about changing the registration to a fictional ship he supposedly had while he eyed the target building. It was a run-down warehouse where the red sand shipment would arrive. By the time Nicolas had gotten there, a skycar towing a container had arrived, and it had just left. Promising the mechanic to come back the next day, he walked past the building and looked for a back entrance.
The lights behind the warehouse had been shot off long ago. He made his way to a grate that led to a garbage disposal chute originating in the building's basement. He climbed in, careful to not let the grime inside the chute make him slip.
Expanding his rifle, Nicolas scanned the higher levels, looking for heat signatures. He found and highlighted three figures on the ground floor and one in the second level. Nicolas remembered the details on Aria's assignment. He had to do the job quick. Once the occupants of the warehouse became aware of his presence, Blood Pack mercs would be called in and arrive the following fifteen minutes.
Going up a flight of stairs, Nicolas edged up to a pillar overlooking the centre of the warehouse. The container that had been flown in was in the middle of the ground floor, and three Blood Pack members were unloading the cargo of Red Sand. At the far end, a container had been fashioned into an office, placed on the second level, with a flight of stairs leading into the makeshift office. Through the container's window was a Batarian in red armour. Peeking around the pillar, Nicolas spotted the Blood Pack tattoo on his neck. That's the target. That's Waeram, alright.
He evaluated the best approach. With Waeram overlooking the ground floor, it would be nearly impossible to sneak up to the other three. He could either wait until they were done, risking the arrival of more Blood Pack to help with the shipment, or go in, guns blazing, risking reinforcements arriving.
The assignment said fifteen minutes.
Crouching against the pillar, he took two grenades from his pocket. Setting one to flashbang and the other to high explosive, he hurled the stun grenade over to the three mercs unloading the container. Once it blew, he threw the second grenade, disintegrating two of the Blood Packs and disabling the third's shields. He made quick work of the third as he thought, alarmed, "Waeram's gotta be calling for reinforcements!"
The remaining batarian shot through the office's window at Nicolas as he sprinted for the flight of stairs. The bullets bounced off his shield, lowering it to minimum capacity as he ran up to the locked door Waeram hid behind. Hacking it open, Nicolas saw a desk, with the batarian cowering behind it.
"Come on, Waeram, don't make me chase you around the desk. We both know you're screwed."
"Shut your mouth, human! It's in your best interest not to kill me!"
"That's a new one! Sorry, man, but I'm not gonna wait for the Blood Pack to come here and help you out of this mess." Nicolas raised his rifle and looked through the scope, finding Waeram's head's heat signature behind the desk.
It all happened too quickly. The moment the bullet had shred through the desk and Waeram's head, a dead-man switch activated. The desk between the two beeped loudly and Nicolas had just enough time to back off and let the door close in front of him. Inside the desk, three breach charges detonated in the direction of Nicolas, blowing the door from its rail and crushing him against the wall. The building's integrity was compromised, and the warehouse's roof fell onto the container, exposing the red sand. A second breach charge, hidden within the container blew, igniting the red sand, and setting the warehouse ablaze. The door holding Nicolas in place fell forward, crashing through the second floor to the ground level, Nicolas following close behind.
…
"Warning, toxic levels of carbon monoxide detected. Warning, visor shutting mechanism obstructed." The suit's VI repeated the warning a couple of times until Nicolas stirred.
The building was crumbling all around him, fire raging and eating at the walls, licking up at the ceiling that began to blacken, bend and crack downwards. His arms began responding and his consciousness came simmering back as he pushed himself up from an uneven and jaggedly splitting floor. A searing pain shot through his jaw and cheek, and the hand raised to his face met a piece of floor tile hanging on his skin. He tried to clench his teeth to stave off the pain, but they met with the piece of shrapnel blocking the way, so after a sharp shout, he gathered his willpower to grab at the piece of concrete and pulled. Quickly extracting a medigel patch from a pouch on his thigh, he removed the protective film and slapped it on the wound, effectively stopping the bleeding and soothing the throbbing pain. Nothing could get the taste of iron out of his mouth, however. His helmet visor was cracked and the HUD shut off long before he woke. He tried to shut the visor completely, but the crack hissed as air seeped through it. It would be soon before the suit air supplies were gone due to the leak, so he stood and tried to make sense of where he was inside the warehouse. On the floor above was where the desk had been, and most of the floor he was standing on belonged to the corridor outside it. He needed to find the batarian, or what was left of him and leave the corpse at the entrance, otherwise it could all be associated to an accident, and that would really piss of a certain asari. His left leg was twisted at the ankle, surely catching most of the door's impact, as well as the fall. Climbing up to the second floor wasn't an option, but the stairs should be nearby around the corner to Nicolas' left, so he walked along the wall to his objective, watching the precarious state of the ceiling above him. The stairs were unobstructed, but the railing managed to sear his hand through the deteriorated mesh of his glove. Taking the steps two by two, Nicolas spotted the upper half of the batarian's body beside the doorway where the bomb went off, at least he would be easier to carry out of the building. Once they were out, he retrieved the blue suns brand and turned it on, searing the logo on Waeram's forehead, as instructed before making his way to Afterlife.
The piston above his Achilles juncture hissed one last time before the foot hung freely from its hinge as Nicolas turned the corner reaching the bridge towards Afterlife's entrance. He hesitated when he saw the Krogan bouncer standing at the end of the queue, but he had to debrief with Aria. Afterlife was his safe haven in case the Blood Pack was following him. As he limped up to the krogan, an alarmed expression flashed across the old co-worker's face before going back to normal.
"Tough day?" the krogan bouncer nodded as Baker walked past the long queue into the club.
"You have no idea, man. I hope Aria's waiting for me," the speakers distorted his voice and crackled, struggling through the damage.
"Nobody's said anything about her leaving, but I doubt her patience is too long, you should hurry in." the krogan talked over his shoulder as Nicolas walked into the entrance tunnel.
Before he could make it halfway across, a taser shot ten thousand volts through his spine, making him crumble to the ground. A black bag was immediately pulled over his face, and he was dragged into the club by his shoulders, his feet lagging behind. The music seemed awkwardly distant, distorted by the aftereffects of the taser, but the sound of stairs banging periodically against his shins was unmistakeable; he was being carried to Aria.
With the bag still on his head, he was punched across the face a couple of times, dazing him before he was dropped on a carpeted floor and the two people carrying him left the room he was in, locking the door behind them. After a few moments dedicated to getting back his senses, Nicolas pushed himself up from the ground and took the bag off. He was in Aria's private room.
Baker stood up and limped over to Aria's private bar, if he was going to die, he might as well do it with some Earth made rum and a cigarette.
…
Nicolas sat on the edge of Aria's bed, a broken glass on the floor and a bottle of rum at his side. Cigarette butts surrounded him, black burn marks on the carpeted floor. He looked up as Aria's door opened, admitting the asari, who wrinkled her nose at the state the human had left her room in.
"I thought humans were well mannered. This is no way to treat a friend's room."
"I felt I earned a bit of disrespectful time, seeing as my blood had already ruined the carpet." Nicolas answered sarcastically, pointing where Aria's henchmen had dropped him. After three drinks, he felt he'd lost fear of death and cared little about what Aria had to say.
The asari walked towards Nicolas, the garbage on the floor floating away from her as she approached, "You haven't earned anything. You failed me."
Nicolas raised a finger, "Did not. Waeram is outside the warehouse with a Suns brand on his forehead. No one saw me leave."
Aria tossed her head back in a laugh, "You thought I would send you to kill a Blood Pack batarian to create conflict between them and the Suns? Now that they're working together to get Archangel? Oh, Nicolas, you can't be so naïve."
"Why did you send me to kill him, then?"
Aria sat beside Nicolas, her fingers going up his spine all the way to his neck, where they lingered, causing him goosebumps, "Because, my dear Nicolas, I needed a way to cripple you. So… I ordered a shipment of pink baby powder and asked a couple of newbies to expect you," she cackled, "Now look at you! Your leg's not working and you couldn't chew on marshmallows to save your life!"
Nicolas eyed the asari beside him. She had been sadistic in the past, but this was lightyears ahead of anything she'd done before. Something was wrong, "Why?"
Aria leaned on Nicolas' shoulder, an innocent smile on her lips, "Have you been talking to nasty people, Nicolas?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Have you been talking to people I don't like? Talking to a certain… turian?" Nicolas' blood ran cold, Aria continued, "Have you been talking to a certain angel, Nicolas?"
"Aria, what the f-" Nicolas was thrown biotically against a wall before he could finish.
"What, you thought that I had no idea you were going to talk with Archangel once you knew of what Sidonis was up to? Ever since he went to save you at the drugs bust I could see there was some weird loyalty going on. Your days here were counted from that moment and they ran out once you decided to let him know a target was painted on his head, knowing full well it was I who allowed the Suns to coordinate with the Blood Pack and Eclipse. All this time you've been my little amusement pyjack, and betraying their owners isn't a smart move for amusement pyjacks. I can't believe you thought you'd be able to do this behind my back, how stupid are you? You think I don't know what you are, after molding you for a year and a half? Remember that Salarian drug dealer? I got him to start selling in Afterlife so I could see you execute someone. I got you to kill that merc company and that human family as well, just for the hell of it! I made you. I know more about you than you yourself." Aria paced as she spoke, grinning at Nicolas that had opted to lie still, "By the way, Archangel was right. You did have some effect on Omega: you made the population fear me more."
Nicolas glared at Aria as she walked, the garbage on the floor avoiding her as she went. She stopped moving and scratched her head, trying to remember something else to say, "Also, I've gotta say, your mind was interesting when we melded. Not mate material, but interesting nonetheless." She chuckled, "Don't hate me too much after this, though. I'm hardly the first to use you."
Nicolas smiled, showing teeth coated in red. The blood began to trickle down the side of his neck, "Fuck you, Aria."
She grabbed Nicolas' right arm and pushed her thumb into the wound on his face. Bones cracked as they scraped against each other under his skin. Clenching his jaw muscles tight, he kept his screams as low as he could, fighting against Aria as tears streamed down his cheeks and the blood from his mouth pooled on his armour.
"Archangel also used you, ever since I sent you to check that drug bust out."
"He saved… my life." Nicolas panted when Aria let go of his face. She punched him on the unharmed side and a cut appeared on his cheekbone.
"He stood by, letting you do all the work!" Aria stood up, turning Nicolas' face over with her foot inspecting the damage, "Then he just dropped in once the danger was over to act like the big saviour he is."
Baker chose to stay silent. He looked up at Aria, a bored expression on his face, "Alright, so we've proven I've been used. Now what?"
Aria looked bored, she walked over to the bed and grabbed the bottle of rum before tossing it to Baker, "Now I'm gonna go talk with some important people, if Anto can be trusted to know what people are important. Drink the rest of that rum. You've earned it after a year and a half of work. A doctor will be here shortly to wire your jaw shut, then you're going to the other room. Remember that one?"
With that, she spun on her heel and left.
…
Everything was black. Slowly, a white light came from above. She floated closer and closer, and a bubbling noise, like a water boiler started gaining strength. A few moments later, the bubbling was so loud that she could feel it all through her body, and the white light grew, taking almost all of her field of view.
"…wake up! Shepard, Wake up!" a female voice called out her name, but she didn't budge.
All of her skin felt like it was crawling with ants, making it impossible to discern whether she was sitting, standing or lying down. Her eyes were unable to open due to the blinding light and her teeth felt like she had been biting on ice cream for half an hour.
A feeling of water in her lungs drove her to cough but her diaphragm wasn't responding. She tried to open her mouth to gag when a rumbling noise deafened her. She felt the soft fabric of a bed under her shake as she was moved out of balance and fell off the platform she was on. The impact on the floor shook her, jump starting her muscles. She used her arms to lift herself so she was on all fours and she coughed out a blue liquid. She gagged but her stomach was empty and the voice came back, sounding like it was from an intercom.
"Shepard! Get up! This facility is under attack!"
…
Nicolas mapped a dose of adrenaline and metabolizer to a simple hand gesture as he waited. Soon enough, a Salarian opened the door to Aria's room. He had a gun on his thigh and a briefcase in his hand. The door behind him closed and displayed a red hologram, signalling its locked state. Wordlessly, the salarian produced another gun from the briefcase and loaded a dart into it. Nicolas made the hand gesture as the doctor was distracted and waited for the adrenaline to kick in. The doctor took aim and shot, expertly aiming at Nicolas' neck. As his body went limp, the salarian produced a coil of thick steel wire and a contraption that looked like a compact sewing machine.
Grunting, the doctor strained as he threaded the wire into the machine. With a look of disinterest, he walked over to Nicolas' limp body. The human checked if his prosthetics were responding and he felt the vibration of the servos within them. Meeting no resistance, the doctor placed the machine in Baker's mouth, letting it latch onto his lower incisor. Placing his hand on the lower jaw, he started pushing it up so the machine would be able to attach itself to the upper jaw as well, but Nicolas' prosthetic arm shot up to the salarian's neck squeezing hard, not letting even a gasp escape the alien.
With shaky legs, Baker stood, holding onto the salarian. He lost his balance and the two began stumbling towards the far wall, crashing into it before sliding to the floor. Nicolas glared with wide eyes at the Salarian, subdued under the grip of both his hands now. With his prosthetic arm, he punched the alien in the face until he no longer reacted to the beating and he backed off, panting. Grabbing the pistol on his thigh, he pulled on the doctor's arm to bring him up to the door's hologram.
It swooshed open and Nicolas was met with two turian guards. Bringing both hands up, he shot one of the turians in the head at point blank range while yanking off the other's mandible before sprinting for the VIP floor. Without thinking, he jumped off the nearest railing, hoping he would land on the top of a table or bar, where he could roll safely. He was lucky and landed on a turian patron, who softened his fall. Without looking back, Nicolas sprinted towards the exit, doing his best to keep his balance as one of his feet was unresponsive. He pointed his gun straight forward as he got out. To his relief, the krogan bouncer made no effort to stop him, a grim expression on his face.
As fast as his legs could carry him, the human made his way towards Korvos' shop.
Hope you enjoyed it!
If you have any comments, feel free to PM me or leave a review!
So this chapter was extra long! It just kind of wrote itself, and I was considering separating it into two parts, but there was enough grim endings to chapters in this story as it was.
