Jackson flicked his hand backward, flinging the door out of the way. Sparks flew as the ball of metal crashed against the floor, coming to rest on the far side of the courtyard. Jackson still stood in the middle of the doorway, unmoving. The interior lights were turned off, though Kisa could make out the shadowy outlines of the furniture. The room looked largely untouched, which surprised her – she had expected the man to try to blockade the door. Instead, everything was ghostly and silent.
Jackson walked into the room, leaving Kisa unsure of what to do. Jackson hadn't told her to do anything throughout the whole gunfight, doing everything by himself. She felt like an unwanted guest who Jackson had ignored. Perhaps it was the remnants of his Lone Wolf fighting.
Standing in the middle of the room, Jackson spun on the spot, scanning the room through his gun sight. Seemingly detecting nothing, he dropped his gun to his hips and looked at the doorway, where Kisa stood in cover. His red visor was the only thing that gave out light in the room – light of a floating ghost. For a moment, he seemed to be surprised, and also confused, though such postures immediately vanished. He signalled Kisa to come in and to take cover near his position.
As soon as she stepped in, a large chunk of metal rose up from the ground, shutting the doorway with a loud clang. It immediately formed a barrier in front of itself, preventing both Jackson and Kisa from removing it by force. Kisa, who ran to take position near a sofa, realised something was horribly wrong.
The lights flicked back on, causing her to squint. Jackson, however, seemed unaffected, and merely raised his gun to the firing position. He was also charging his biotics again – Kisa could feel it.
"Who are you? What do you want? Do you really think that you can just come in and kill me?" A voice boomed throughout the room. Kisa's eyes slowly adjusted to the light, allowing her to identify a large hole in the ceiling. It was the building's second floor – filled with dozens of LOKI mechs and three YMIR killing machines. They were all active, their guns pointing directly at them. A single command, and they would be riddled with bullets. The sofa's meagre cover would not save Kisa, let alone Jackson, who stood on top of a table without a cover.
"As you can see, you are about to die. Plea for mercy, then I might save you!" The voice boomed again. It came from four speakers that were positioned strategically around the room.
What happened next happened within a matter of seconds. Kisa felt a strong biotic slam against her left side, pushing her into the kitchen area of the room. It had metallic serving table, as well as being relatively out of sight – it was enough cover against the machines. By the time she recovered from the initial shock, roar of gunfire filled the room, hailing the bottom floor with accelerated particles. Jackson, however, had biotic charged into one of the YMIR mechs, avoiding the bullets altogether. He smashed the machine's 'head' with the butt of his rifle, destroying it completely. Before other mechs could re-target him, he threw three fragmentation grenade into the fray while simultaneously lifting another YMIR mech into the air. Guns blazing, he sprinted in and out of various pieces of furniture, blasting everything out of the way. When his shields were finally depleted, he rolled off the edge of the 2nd floor, bringing down the hovering mech against the third YMIR. Soon, a large explosion ensued. Coupled by more waves of biotic attacks, the small army of robots were soon reduced to a smouldering mess. Parts of the upper floor started to collapse, too.
Kisa watched in awe as Jackson stood once again on top of the table, which had cracked in the middle. The whole building started to catch on fire as the burning robots landed on the bottom floor. Oblivious to the outside world, Jackson simply unloaded the spent thermal clip and snapped in a new one.
"To answer your questions, Liam Jackson, your head, yes and no." Jackson said loudly. "Get out and plea for mercy. Then I might save you." He holstered his rifle and stood still, his arms stretching straight down his sides. The armour flickered briefly before regenerating his shields in a field of blue.
Kisa felt a cold chill, even though she was sweating from the heat of the fire. Even after that, Jackson still made no more noise. His breathing, if it had fastened, was still unnoticeable. In battle, this man was beyond cool-headed… more like mechanical. She stood up, leaving the upturned table that had served as her cover. There were only a couple of bullet marks on its top. Her pistol (she had finally given Jackson's pistol back, mainly since its high-accuracy style did not match her abilities), was yet to fire a shot, its barrel dead cold. She could not close her mouth, not after what she's seen.
This human… what exactly is he? Kisa thought, realising how much she still had to learn about Jackson.
A batarian jumped out from a hidden room near the staircase. Through the open door, Kisa could see that the room he was in was caught in fire, and a large plume of smoke was filling it rapidly.
"Mercy! Mercy! Please!" The batarian coughed. His armour deactivated, leaving him vulnerable.
"Jackson, we should get out of here. This place is going to come down very soon!" Kisa said, as she hacked into the metal door's controls. The barrier was still up and running – Jackson would not be able to disable it using his biotics: it was too illusive to physically manipulate.
Jackson, whose armour's lights started to flash as a response to the fire, drew out his pistol and shot the batarian in the head. It knocked him out with a nasty lump forming above his right eye. Picking him up with his biotics, he made his way to Kisa, who quickly managed to get the door open.
As they made their way back to their residence, firefighting teams began to arrive, dousing the burning house with extinguishing foam. All traces of their bloodbath will also disappear, leaving only the dead guards' bodies to bury.
…
The room was heavy with silence. Neither the batarian nor the asari spoke after the video ended. Jackson had supplied the video that his science team had decrypted long time ago, just in case the Batarian didn't believe the story. Both Kisa and Thea had been appalled by the film back in the Overlook Restaurant, and seeing it for the second time didn't change Thea's fears. She finally understood why Jackson had decided against releasing this film on the extranet; it would almost certainly cause widespread panic. Although the galaxy would be more prepared against an impending war, if the Reapers didn't come for another century, then the galaxy would cease to be on alert – something which would make everyone even more vulnerable.
It may also be seen as just another hoax and ignored.
The doomsayers were never popular. Rarely did any of them managed to predict an actual doom. The really smart ones had to spread their message quietly, one leader at a time.
"So… that… human Spectre last year was… correct?" Rallel asked, rather needlessly. The video was true and real enough. The Reapers existed, and they may very soon arrive.
"Yes. Commander Shepard, the very first human Spectre was speaking the truth about the Reapers. The guy I'm working for wants to stop this threat, and so he needs the best and the best. But he also wants those who knows their responsibility, knows what's right from what's wrong and also ones who are prepared to die." Thea said.
Rallel closed all of her eyes, though this time she was trying to think. The asari in front of her had flipped her world upside down – someone wanted to hire her, Reapers existed and most importantly, she had a shot at getting out of prison. She opened her top right eye and looked at Thea. After even more silence (Thea didn't want to disturb her, though she was clearly getting impatient), Rallel opened all four eyes once more.
"Get me outta here then!"
…
"What should we do sir?" The Specialist asked. Their shadow agent (HIGHCOM's favourite, Agent Fin) had confirmed Liam's presence on Nevos, but he had eventually lost his trail. The Fin had had a hard time, first identifying Liam on Matra Hospital, then discovering his contact with Black Paint, and finally retrieving information about Liam's destination – Omega. However, due to Omega's lack of government and security as well as Liam's carefulness, he could not find Liam or Bui nar Tapaan (Liam's new identity, according to Black Paint).
He did, however, managed to identify Liam's companions – two asaris named Kisana Sorac and Thea Sorac. Both of them had a colourful history of heist and murder, ones that made Admiral wonder if Agent Fin had found the right people. After all, Liam was the sort of person who would kill thieves rather than to work with them… or hit them with concussive rounds and turn them to justice. But Fin demanded that these were Liam's companions, so the Admiral didn't ask further.
Now, one of his companions, Thea, was right here on the Citadel, claiming to be a lawyer for another criminal who's under suspicion for being a terrorist. Although the Admiral couldn't arrest her (he had no power to charge crimes committed outside Council space), he could probably put her on the watchlist too. But something held him back – his utter trust in Liam.
"Sir?" The Specialist asked again.
The Admiral lit his omni-cigar. Although he had cut smoking almost ten years ago, he still had the habit of chewing something when thinking. An omni-cigar, which didn't use fire, was a perfect replacement. "Put Agent Fin on the line for me. Do not put Ms Sorac on the general watchlist. I'll put an agent on her." The Admiral finally replied.
"Yes sir! … Agent Fin is on the line, sir."
"Agent Fin here, sir!" The young man's face appeared on the Admiral's computer screen. Having piercing blue eyes, blazing red hair and a tall nose, he was always popular among girls. He also had a very smooth and melodic voice, one that he seemed to use with great effect. However, the Admiral didn't like him – he was too arrogant.
"Agent, I'm sending you on another shadow mission. Track Ms Thea Sorac and Ms Rallel Ghanovan. I'll send you their info now." The Admiral sent him the locations and the details of the two subjects. The man on the screen glanced down, his omni-tool beeping.
"Sir Yes sir!" the man said without looking up. He closed the connection before the Admiral could dismiss him. The bastard was taking full advantage of his continuing MIA status.
The Admiral put away his omni-cigar.
Why are you hiding Liam?