Temporary Infiltration – Personnel Recon

Walking around in the enemy's uniform is risky, especially if you are injured or unable to fight. Therefore, before infiltrating the enemy base, make sure to observe their behaviour before trying to become one of them in order to mimic their actions. Remember, a helmet doesn't make you completely unrecognisable!

…

Jackson's left leg hurt badly, and the Eclipse armour that he stole was a size too small, forcing him to take shallow breaths. He had a nagging migraine, mostly due to lack of oxygen and loss of blood. He thought he was hallucinating when he saw Soracs kiss, but he quickly realised their cleverness behind their moves: they were trying to hide within the crowd.

Or I hope that is what's happening…Jackson smirked.

He felt drained after the fight, and his hands constantly went to his abdomen, grabbing an imaginary bottle. He was surprised at his lack of power – he should have been able to fight longer and harder, but he felt as if channels within his body were blocked. Jackson vaguely remembered Kisa saying something about cybernetics when the doctors put him back together, and he guess that was the problem.

The guns that he was lugging were a dead weight, but they did come into good use when a second Eclipse team tried to attack him (his biotics had ran out by then). The stupid assault rifle still wasn't calibrated though.

Jackson wanted to get off the road fast. He wasn't sure how much longer he would last while his legs bled out. He spotted a narrow, dark street with a hidden clearing further in. It looked relatively clean – perhaps it was a gathering place for a street gang. He couldn't care less. He let the two asaris know of his presence, and turned into the narrow street.

…

Kisa gasped; Jackson's injury was worse than she thought. Having no medi-gel, Jackson had attempted to supress the blood flow with some clothing and tightly-fitting leg armour, but that wasn't enough. The unusually large bullet had hit the bone and was lodged in place, causing continuing damage and pain. It wasn't the worst injury she's seen (she had, in fact, almost lost her arm once), but Jackson's casualness made her think that the injury wasn't serious.

This could actually kill him.She thought, as she tried to secure his leg more firmly.

…

Thea and Jackson were munching away at the pizza. Thea was continually amazed at the man in front of him. Even though he was clearly in a lot of pain, his face showed no signs of it. In fact, he was grinning and engaging in small talk.

"So you had a quarian…?" Jackson urged, trying to keep his mind off his injury.

"Hmm? Oh. Girlfriend, yes. Before they were kicked off Rannoch." Thea replied. She understood his need to think of something other than his leg, so she continued. "I guess it's weird to humans when we asari say 'girlfriend'."

"Well, even though I understand, it still feels like lesbianism. Not that I have any problems with lesbians." Jackson bit into his slice. "So how do they look like under the mask?"

"Kinda similar to humans, actually." She noticed that Jackson eyeing Kisa again. She grinned – she approved Jackson as her cousin's very first boyfriend. "She hasn't had anybody yet." Thea mouthed when he turned his attention back to her. Jackson nodded, expressionless.

…

Finally, the blood stopped flowing. Jackson's leg was one, bloody mess wrapped with every bit of clothing that Jackson had looted. His fancy overcoat was also chucked in, as well as large bits of his pants.

"Well done! You've passed a field test! Now you can be our combat medic!" Jackson remarked. "Although it would have been nice if you could've saved a bit of clothing, too."

Kisa smiled at his lighthearted joke and stood up, unsure of what to do with her bloody hands. Red blood wasn't unusual for her, although she still found it interesting. Jackson offered his shirt, which was also torn to make some bandages. He now only wore his undershirt and now-converted-into-shorts, all stained with blood. Kisa wiped her hands gratefully.

"Where do we go now?" Kisa asked. "There aren't many places that a bloody, well-armed trio can enter without being questioned…" Jackson and Thea both stared at her, amused.

"You tell me, Doctor." Thea handed her the leftover pizzas.

…

Kisa closed the door and sighed. Everything was finally under control.

It was difficult to convince the hospital staff to let them in, since Jackson was currently on the Wanted list. Chief Police Officer Casmo had arrested almost 70 Eclipse mercenaries, but she wanted to make sure that no more public threats existed. So she put out an arrest warrant for two unknown asaris and one human who called himself Mr Wolf. They even managed to create some holos based on eyewitnesses: one of them was very similar to Jackson, with the three barely-noticeable facial scars.

The hospital staff immediately recognised him, and determined that Kisa and Thea were the "unknown asaris". However, most of them remembered Thea, who visited sometimes, as well as Jackson's kind nature. Minutes later, Jackson was being rushed to the emergency room.

Jackson mumbled something about 'karma', and asked all synthetics within his body to be taken out. Before they could ask him why, he passed out due to blood loss. The doctors argued briefly whether they should follow his request, and decided to remove the robotics. There weren't many anyway, and Jackson's stunning resilience to death gave doctors no other choice.

After about an hour's operation, Jackson returned to his old room, his belongings from the hotels having been taken out by Thea (she "borrowed" Jackson's identity card and returned it rather reluctantly). Everything was going to be fine, at least for now.

…

The young human opened his eyes. He scanned the room he was in. It was a small room, with graceful curves arcing down from the ceiling, lit softly in a hue of blue. It had a distinctive sting in the air; the smell of antibiotics. A small table was near the door, with his black armour and weapons arranged in a neat pile.

An Eclipse armour and few more weapons was placed next to the table, on the ground. Jackson felt a strange sense of déjà vu, although this time, his mind wasn't fogged up with painkillers. He wriggled his left leg, and was glad to find that it had healed. There were several areas around his body which throbbed with his heartbeat; the remnants of his cybernetics-removal operation.

He glanced left, realising that there was another bedside table. On top of the table were two bottles. One was a regular water bottle and the other was his eezo bottle. A sticky note was attached to the bottles:

"Thirsty?"

Jackson chuckled and drank from both bottles. He activated his omni-tool: June 9th. Exactly a week ago, he was in almost the same position. He sighed and flexed his whole body, gloriously free of life-support modules. He traced his memory through what happened in the past week, and remembered that his talk with the Soracs had not yet finished. He built a quick to-do list:

Firstly, get out of this hospital and finish the story. Secondly, get off this planet and contact the Shadow Broker. Thirdly, start recruiting…

He paused. He still wasn't sure if he should go ahead with this. The mission was… impossible. Alone, he had no chance, but with a team, he had a shot at stopping the monsters. But he would probably loose everyone again.

He wasn't sure if his psychology would hold up if he experienced another lone survival.

No. I'll probably break down. But I am the only one who knows what's beyond Beta-Two. The fate of the galaxy rests on my shoulders, God damn it. The duty is beyond my life.

As he fought his dark fears, Kisa entered the room. She was now back on duty, although the hospital decided that she could no longer work here. Bringing an injured criminal secretly into the hospital was unacceptable, and they were afraid that Kisa's history might come back to haunt them. Kisa didn't care – she would have quit anyway, now that Jackson wanted to hire her. She smiled broadly when she saw that Jackson was awake.

"Good morning Jackson." She said. She got out her medical scanner on her omni-tool.

"Hi…" Jackson returned the smile, although his eyes didn't meet hers. Something was troubling him again, like that night on the balcony.

"You okay? Your leg seems fine and the doctors got rid of all the cybernetics, as you asked." She finished scanning Jackson, and was satisfied that he was healthy. Again, his body had healed at a remarkable rate.

"I'm fine." Jackson looked at her. She stared back. They stood watching each other for some time. It was a quiet, peaceful moment.

Jackson suddenly closed his eyes and looked away from her. After a brief moment, he shook his head and whispered; "I'm sorry."

Kisa was hurt. Although she knew exactly what he meant, she refused to believe it. She wasn't sure what to make of her emotion... sadness, anger, confusion all mixed into a haze. She was surprised at herself, for the strong emotions that was far too weird. Without a reply, she left the room. She needed some time to sort herself out.

Jackson looked up at the ceiling, his eyes watering. He did like Kisa. He knew very well that he had developed strong feelings for her from the start. Like the clichéd romance stories, it was love at first sight, and he knew it. But she might die in the mission, and he wanted to protect her. He couldn't let her follow him to their deaths.

He also felt guilt over his dead teammates. He was the only one alive… and he couldn't enjoy his life. That was betrayal. He also felt guilt for Catherine. Finding someone else to love was betraying her memory. He couldn't do that. Finally, he remembered his duties, and how attachment will ruin it. After all, he was the Lone Wolf – he worked best alone.

No… Not this lifetime. A single drop of tear landed on his fist. The duty is beyond my life.