Normandy SR2 - Iera System
Shepard was tired.
The squad had just returned from Horizon, and Jane Shepard, Lioness of Elysium, Savior of the Citadel, had just encountered the Collectors for the first time. Not only had they been able to get away with over half the population of the colony, but she had also had a... interesting reunion with former crewmember, and friend, Ashley Williams. So not only had Shepard been angry with herself for letting a frankly unacceptable amount of civilians get abducted and taken to god knows where, but she was also recovering from one of the harshest conversations he had ever had the misfortune to experience. The fact that the Illusive Man had immediately set them to task with recruiting yet more team members was not helping.
Shepard was so close to the safety of the elevator when she heard the voice of her comrade in arms, Garrus Vakarian.
"Shepard, do you have a minute?" Shepard fixed Garrus with an icy glare that practically screamed 'If this isn't worth my time, I will gouge your eyes out with a rusty spoon'. Oblivious, Garrus took Shepard's silence as approval. "I know TIM's already given us a fresh new batch of dossiers on criminals, assassins and crazy biotic psychos. I was thinking-" Shepard held up a hand.
"Garrus, I'm not in the mood to look over more targets from your Omega days to shoot right now, fun as it may be." Shepard said in a exasperated tone. She had already heard all about Sidonis and how Garrus had a frankly unhealthy obsession for putting 'That barefaced bastard's head on a pole', as Garrus so eloquently put it, and was already disappointed in him for pursuing the matter further; never mind adding another target to his 'Hit List'.
"No-no-no-no, this isn't a target; it's a recommendation." Garrus explained, piquing Shepard's interest.
"What do you mean?" Shepard inquired, dead-pan smirk plastered over her face, "What makes the illustrious Archangel interested in a glorified shopping list?"
"Hey, I'm allowed to do things over than calibrations, okay? Anyway, this isn't a target or dossier, it's a possible resource. Now, I don't trust the Illusive Man at the best of times, but when he offers us the opportunity to get access to a network as big as the Shadow Broker's, I tend to get interested." Garrus replied, glib tone permeating his dual-toned voice.
"Whoa, hold on there, Shadow Broker scale?" Suspicion laced Shepard's voice, "What's the catch?"
"Simple, according to the Notes, all we have to do is... dispose... of the current owner."
Shepard's mood, which had steadily climbing since she learnt of the network, fell flat. "Who's the current owner Garrus?" Garrus winced, she's not going to like this, he thought.
]I[
"And that's why we are currently going full speed towards Mars." Shepard sighed. Today just was not her day.
"So let me get this straight: We are currently going to the Lowell Superstructure on MARS, so you can risk assassinating one of the planets most dangerous crime lords, who we don't even know the location of, just so we can get our hands on some data that might not even be that useful?" Joker said, incredulity filling his voice.
"Don't forget the part where we dock a Cerberus vessel at an Alliance controlled station. That's gonna be fun." Shepard replied, forced joy injected into her voice.
"Oh. Yeah, that too." Joker face-palmed, "Let's just hope this Dead Man is planning a suicide mission, let us cut out the middle man."
]I[
Lower Lowell - Wainwright's - Mars
"Sir, you are aware you're planning a suicide mission, correct?" Wainwright offered, concern for his friend betraying his voice.
"Never tell me the odds, pal. I'm taking this bastard down if it's the last thing I do on this god-forsaken City-Station. He's been getting away with this shit for far too long, and if it's gonna take me setting him on fire to get the point across, then I'll shed a tear for his wife." The Dead Man stated matter-of-factly, no hint of emotion other than hatred in his voice. As he spoke, he placed a odd looking device on the table in front of him. To anyone outside of the organization, it just looked like a collection of miscellaneous tech attached to a long strap. To The Dead Men, it was a life-saver. The innocuous looking device was called a Sky-Belt, an example of The Dead Men adapting to life in the verticality of Lowell, allowing the user to run across the many walls that hung over the divide between Lower and Upper Lowell in order to stay out of sight of the Lowell Police Department. They were used primarily by The Dead Men's intelligence wing, leading to the nickname 'Shadow's Friend' after the users.
"Well, sir of course I agree with this action, it's your plan that I disagree with. An operation in Upper Lowell is a bad idea for a squad of our most experienced Shadows, for just you, no matter how good you are, it's suicide." Wainwright countered, desperately trying to convince his best friend out of this fool-hardy act.
"Ah, but it won't just be me, will it?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand, sir."
The Dead Man's voice came echoing from the dark, a playful undertone. An undertone that Wainwright knew far too well, an undertone that meant his plan was already in motion.
"Wainwright, please play the recording I prepared earlier."
]I[
Lowell Superstructure was a strangely beautiful place, Shepard had concluded. Both Lower and Upper Lowell had a charm to them, a certain aura about them. Upper Lowell was a classically beautiful city, much like the Citadel, or the cities on Earth that towered high into the skies, each building a monolithic testament to the builder's skill, radiant with shades of whites, oranges and blues. Upper Lowell had a spectacular feature, in that the buildings were so high up that a layer of fog had settled near the middles, making the buildings seemingly rise out of the clouds. But, Shepard thought it seemed, detached almost, from everything human, turian, asari, or anything to give it a sense of personality.
Lower Lowell had a far different facade, with almost all the personality of the entire Superstructure seemingly condensed into one section of the City, with graffiti of all kinds covering the rust colored walls of the squat buildings that covered the structure like a layer of dust. One repeating graffiti tag was a skull, one half fading into a fire, all surrounded by a diamond.
The symbol of the Dead Men.
Seeing the symbol placed everywhere was sobering to Shepard. The scope of what she was doing finally set in. Sure, she had killed a reaper, been brought back to life and almost saved an entire colony, but this was much more personal. She was going to kill a person she had never met once in her life, just so she could get a damn network. The realization hit her like a brick. She was essentially being an Assassin, and for Cerberus no less. Sure the target was a criminal, but they were a criminal that she had no personal grudge against. Hell, the team had even come across some Dead Men, and they were damn-well courteous to them, even giving them goddamned directions to the nearest rapid-transit station. Sure, even the most horrendous company could have some good people in it, but the thought still made Shepard sick.
Garrus' voice broke Shepard out of her trance, bringing her back to the inside of the cab.
"Shepard, we've got a transmission coming from the Normandy."
"Put it through Garrus." Garrus tapped a few buttons on the dashboard, and the holo-emitter lit up, showing a video of a man dressed up in a long black coat, wearing an armor suit beneath it, with the exception of the helmet and the gloves, both of which were replaced with a black skull and skeletal hands, respectively. The eyes of the skull glowed green ominously.
"Y'know, somehow I think this isn't Normandy calling us." Said Zaeed, curiosity etched on his face.
The mysterious figure started to speak. "Sorry for the deception, Shepard, but I feared this was the only way to make you listen. I know you're working for Cerberus, and I also know that they've want my network. Sadly, both of us know the only way TIM is getting my network is over my dead body. So, no use playing Cat and Mouse, so here's where I am. Come and get me. By the way, you're not the only reason I'm going there. This is The Dead Man, signing off."
The figure was replaced by a map going towards the Lowell Theater house.
"Garrus, change course. I want to have a chat with a dead man.".
]I[
Boom! First REAL chapter done! Please tell me what you think of the Dead Man and Lowell as a backdrop. I would love to hear any and all feedback, because I genuinely want to get better at this.
PunchyMcNutkick, OUT!