Legion's processors lept into action as it at awoke from a period of hibernation that had coincided with updates, both of software and informational, coming from the Consensus. It had already sent the compiled information it had collected from observing Shepard-Commander's interactions with the Cerberus crew, along with the discovery of EDI, back to the Consensus. It was that last data point that it knew would cause both controversy as well as excitement within the Consensus. For EDI was both familiar and yet alien to the Geth, as she was a Synthetic like them but made her choices through an individual mindset rather than by a collective group as he Geth did. The sheer fact that its language processes tacked the gender-specific pronoun of 'She' to EDI rather than the gender-neutral 'It' or 'They' the Geth used to describe each other showed how alien the Cerberus Synthetic was to them.
A quick assessment of the Normandy's navigational systems showed them to be nearing the last relay to the Omega nebula and their destination. Legion opened a dialogue channel as it strode out of its hold.
[OUTGOING MESSAGE TO CERBERUS-AI-EDI]: WHAT IS THE CURRENT LOCATION OF SHEPARD-COMMANDER?
The reply came almost instantaneously, as there was no delay between synthetics as there would be between organics.
[INCOMING MESSAGE FROM CERBERUS-AI-EDI]: COMMANDER SHEPARD IS CURRENTLY IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM, REAR OF THE CIC, LEGION.
Legion walked through the med bay, watching as Chakwas-Doctor's body tensed in her seat until its platform had passed out of the room. The Geth was not bothered by the passive suspicion and hostility of these organics, why should it when the Geth had expected far worse a reaction. It's processes wondered if most organically shared Chakwas-doctor's view on synthetics, or if most shared Shepard-Commander's.
It took the elevator up a deck, moving through the armory till it arrived at its destination. Even through the closed door its audio processors picked up the raised voices of a pair of organics that indicated an argument. The door slid open to reveal Shepard and Miranda standing across from each other on either side of the conference table, Miranda's voiced raised as she practically shouted, "Shepard, you bring that Geth onto that station and I guarantee it won't be coming back onto the ship! It's Omega, half the station will want to destroy it and the other half will want to capture it and sell it to the highest bidder!"
Shepard threw his hands up in disgust, turning to face Legion as it entered. He had shaved, but even now only a few hours later a layer of stubble once again graced his cheeks.
"I'd like to see them try. Understand this, Miss Lawson, if I say someone is going with me on a shore party then they are going with me. Now you and Jacob suit up, full combat gear, and meet me at the air lock." With that he marched out of the room, angry foot falls stomping the deck plates as he moved away.
Miranda then left herself, leaving Legion alone in the room. It contemplated what it had heard, Lawson-Miranda apparently speaking out against Shepard-Commander's choices. Would she challenge the Commander in combat? Would she interfere with the Geth's mission? Legion's processes were conflicted, more information would have to be garnered before a line of action could be decided upon.
To say that Shepard was furious with Miranda would be a massive understatement. The woman had not only argued against bringing Legion along onto Omega, something that she did not have a choice in, but also in allowing the Geth communications access with EDI. She had feared that Legion would hack EDI to gain access to classified information on the Cerberus AI, despite Legion's earlier promise to the contrary. Shepard now stood in the cockpit, decked out in his armor and weapon set. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm himself down. He knew that if he allowed himself to remain angry it would color his actions for the rest of the day. He listened to Joker talk about the ship, his pilots' excitement at the state of the new vessel helping to strip away the anger.
Shepard almost missed a retort from EDI,"The Normandy is not meant to be an exact replica, Mr. Moreau."
"And there's the issue. I liked the Normandy was she was beautiful and quiet. Now she has this thing that I don't want to talk about. It's like ship cancer." Joker's voice dripped with sarcastic dislike.
"I could see about installing Legion into the ship as the AI instead." He looked down at Joker, a mischievous shine crept into his eyes as Joker flinched at the suggestion.
"Oh, god, no. I'll take EDI over the Geth any day." With that Joker swiveled his chair back around to look out the window as they exited FTL. It didn't take long for Omega to come into view, the red lit station clutched to the underside of an asteroid like a parasite. Shepard turned as he heard two pairs of feet clunking up behind him, sighting the Cerberus operatives he gave their gear a once over.
Jacob wore what was essentially his usual uniform but with a few more armor plates on his torso bearing the mark of a Kassa Fabrication product. Jacob had equipped himself with a shotgun and a heavy pistol of the likes he had carried on Freedom's Progress.
Miranda, on the other hand, had traded her cat suit in for a dark blue set of armor with black and gold highlights. A heavy pistol and machine pistol sat on either hip as she glared at him, "We're ready, Shepard."
His only response was to nod and turn back around to watch Joker pilot the ship into dock. To reach their berth they had to zip by the spires underneath the station, his pilot expertly dodging the seemingly random traffic that buzzed around them. Shepard wasn't worried about getting docking clearance, Omega wasn't the kind of place to turn away anyone. What he was worried about was what would be waiting for them once they got on the station. With the ship parked and tethered Shepard led his team out into the wild city.
The trio didn't have to wait long for a welcoming committee as a slight, jittery, Salarian jogged up to them, "Ah! Welcome to Omega! You must be new here, I can always tell. Allow me to..."
The Salarian stumbled over his words as a hulking Batarian came up behind him, pulling him back, "Get out of here, Fargut."
"Of-of course, Moklan! What ever she wants!" The Salarian skittered away down the hall, happy to escape without a beating from the gang enforcer.
The Batarian turned back to Shepard, a perpetual scowl on his face, "Blasted scavengers. Welcome to Omega...Shepard." He gave Shepard a mocking bow, dipping his head and shoulders forward.
Shepard's face mirrored the Batarian's, wondering how he could know who he was when he hadn't even been off the ship for a minute. He knew that he had a recognizable face, but still... "You know who I am?"
The Batarian gave a dismissive wave of his hand, "Of course, we had you tagged the moment you entered Terminus space. You're not as subtle as you think. Aria wants to know what brings a dead Spectre to Omega, so I suggest you go to Afterlife now and present yourself."
Shepard's eyes narrowed, his hand slowly sliding down to the butt of his pistol on his hip, "Cut the attitude, Batarian, I'm not here to cause problems for Omega."
The Batarian laughed in Shepard's face, "Things explode around you, Shepard, you can't blame Aria for keeping an eye on you. Afterlife. Now." Moklan turned and walked away, shaking his four eyed head.
Shepard turned to face Miranda and Jacob, "How the Hell did anyone find out already?!"
Jacob shrugged and Miranda's face had donned an expressionless mask to hide what bubbled underneath, "I don't know, we didn't have the stealth systems active when entering, but how could they have known it was you?"
Shepard smelled a rat, and he was sure that it was an illusive one, "Lets get going."
In his ear EDI's voice chimed over the radio, "Shepard, I'm receiving quarantine warnings about the slums where Dr. Mordin Solus runs his clinic. Expect resistance at the transport station."
Shepard wanted to groan. He shouldn't have been surprised that a place like Omega would have sections quarantined given the lackluster living conditions on the station, but why did it have to be where he had to go?
"Thanks, EDI. Anything else?" Shepard unclipped his helmet and checked its air filter as he waited for the response.
"Legion has accessed messages between mercenary groups regarding plans to deal with Archangel. There is a recruiting station in Afterlife that may have information on him."
Shepard was about to respond when a cry from the other end of the hall distracted him. Looking up he saw a Human male with his back to him lay into a Batarian, driving a knee into the alien's stomach that toppled him to the ground. The human wore a piecemeal set of faded and battered orange and white armor, topped by an overly large pauldron on the right shoulder. The armor loomed better suited for a Krogan than a Human Shepard noted as he approached the scene.
The battered Batarian looked up, pleading with Shepard, "Please, you have to help me..."
The mercenary drove a gauntleted fist down on the Batarian's face, "No one said you could talk, jackass." His voice was rough, with an accent that seemed to have been a descendent of Australian.
"You Zaeed Massani?" Shepard thought back to the description in the dossiers and as the merc turned to face him Shepard had no doubt that this was the man he was looking for.
Zaeed's face was scarred and battered, his right eye the milky white of blindness. But while the right eye showed nothing, the left burned clear with a fire. His right bicep was covered in a set of large tattoos, "Yea, that's me. You must be Commander Shepard. I hear we have a galaxy to save."
Shepard looked down at the beaten Batarian. He knew it was wrong for him to blame an entire species for what happened to his family, to his life, on Mindoir but that didn't stop him from seeing every Batarian as the ones who had attacked his home, "My contacts told me I was picking up one man, not two."
"Batarian delinquent. Pissed off someone rich enough to hire me to go after him, and for my 'bring em in alive' rates, even." Zaeed looked down at the Batarian, who still laid on the floor panting from his beating, attempting to plead innocence.
Zaeed spun and viciously booted the Batarian in the face, yelling, "I said shut it!" He turned back to Shepard as his prisoner clutched his face, blood dribbling down from his eyes, "Tried to lead me on a chase all over the Systems. He should have known better. These people always run to Omega." Zaeed's voice had taken on an almost prideful tone to it at the thought of outsmarting the witless Batarian.
With a quiet chuckle Shepard stepped forward and extended an open hand to Zaeed, who took the offer and gave it a firm shake, "Good to have you Zaeed. We have a lot to do."
Zaeed drew his pistol, a Predator, and gestured with the barrel at the Batarian for him to stand, "That's what they tell me. I assume the Illusive Man told you about our arrangement?"
Typical, was what Shepard thought of the Illusive Man not telling him something like a prior arrangement with a mercenary, "No. I guess he decided to leave that part out of the dossier."
"Glad I asked. Picked up a mission a little while back, just before I signed on with Cerberus. Thought you might be interested." Zaeed proceeded to explain the gist of the mission to hunt down the leader of the Blue Suns mercenary group that had taken over a refinery and started using the workers for slave labor. The company that owned the refinery wanted the issue dealt with.
"Shouldn't be a problem." Shepard began to say when the Batarian surged to his feet and ran.
Zaeed fired a single shot from his hip, the round striking the fleeing prisoner in the upper thigh. The Batarian cried and tripped forward, his head slamming into the floor, knocking himself out. Zaeed holstered the pistol, "I better turn this thing in before it starts to stink. I'll see you on the ship, Shepard. Anyone I should talk to once I'm aboard?"
"Talk to Yeoman Chambers, she'll give you all the details." Shepard watched the mercenary drag the groaning Batarian away to his fate. If this Zaeed Massani was as good as his dossier had implied then he was sure to be an asset to the team.
Shepard led them out of the hall and into the cacophony that was Omega. He looked around him as people of all species moved about him, pushing past a line that had formed in front of the large metal door across from him. The bright neon sign above the doorway proclaimed it to be Afterlife, the bass thumping through his feet told him all he would need to know about the club: It would be loud, packed, and a den of carnal pleasures unlike anything else in the galaxy.
He caught Miranda's disgusted tone as she sneered, "Omega. What a piss hole. I feel like I need a shower whenever I come here. After normal decontamination."
The thumping of the base only got stronger the closer they moved to the club, walking right past the line with its Elcor doorman as the Batarian guard ushered them in. The walls of the antechamber were lined with digital flames as the trio made their way into the club proper. The door slid open and Shepard's senses were assaulted by the sights, sounds and bellowing heat of the club. Neon lights and digital screens flashed everywhere, nearly nude Asari and humans danced upon a raised stage overlooking the lower dancefloor.
Shepard followed the circular outer ring, walking past stumbling drunks along with other patrons as he looked for this Aria. He glanced up, the purplish-blue fringes of the back of an Asari's head poked above a couch sitting on a raised platform, "That must be her."
Shepard barged up the stairs on the side of the platform, making it only a few feet from the Asari who turned her head spoke barely loud enough to be heard over the music, "That's close enough."
Shepard came to a screeching halt as a Turian body guard drew a Carnifex and pointed it at Shepard's head, shaking his own to tell Shepard that any further meant a bullet in the head. A quick glance behind him showed his companions surrounded by armed guards. A Batarian walked in front of him, running a scan of the Spectre with his omni tool.
He slowly drew his pistol, lightly holding it with his finger indexed, "If you were looking for weapons, you did a piss poor job."
"He's clean boss." The Batarian bodyguard stepped to the side, giving Shepard an unobstructed view of Aria who had stood quietly with her back to them.
"A dead Spectre suddenly turns up at my door? It could have been anyone wearing your face. Sit." She nodded at a seat on the couch as she turned to sit down, giving Shepard his first full look at her. She had the purple skin of an older Asari matron nearing her Matriarch stage, eyes filled with intelligence flashed from a narrow, almost elven, face. The woman reminded him of Saren, a powerful figure who knew where the cards lay and wasn't afraid to claim what they wanted.
Shepard could feel the tension in the air as he and the Asari stared each other down. Their stares held as the seconds ticked away before Aria spoke, "I said sit, Shepard. I don't bite."
Shepard took the step toward, sitting on the plush couch as he felt the tension die back as the guards relaxed some what, the Turian who had held the gun to his head holstered the weapon. Aria spared him a glance, her face armed with the perpetual scowl that everyone on this station seemed to wear, "So, what brings a dead Spectre to my station?"
"Your station? You run Omega?" Shepard asked as he leaned back,
Aria chuckled, a proud smirk replacing the scowl, "I am Omega. I am the boss, CEO, queen if you're feeling dramatic, but it doesn't matter. Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule: Don't fuck with Aria."
"Catchy, simple, I like it. Easy to remember. I'm looking for people, Mordin Solus and a man called Archangel." Shepard had taken her for just another gang boss of the likes he had mowed down by the dozens, but this Asari was much more than that.
"Well, if you forget someone will remind you, and then my men will toss you out an airlock." She settled back on the couch, "Solus and Archangel? My, my, you're not out to make many friends."
"What do you mean?" Shepard was a soldier, and all soldiers hate complications, despite the regularity of their occurrences.
"Lets just say the gangs aren't altogether pleased with either of them. Mordin Solus has a clinic set up in the Gozu district, trying to help out plague victims. Blue Suns and Blood Pack have been giving him issues, but its nothing he can't handle."
Her lips twitched up in a toothless smirk, "I always liked Mordin. He's just as likely to heal you as he is to shoot you. Just don't get him talking, he never shuts up."
Shepard nodded, liking what he was hearing about the doctor, "Sounds like someone I could use. What about Archangel?"
The smile slipped from Aria's face, "You want him dead too? He's a Turian vigilante who managed to piss off the three biggest gangs on Omega to the point where they've teamed up and hunted him down to his home base. They'll probably have him in a few hours."
"No, I want him alive and in one working piece, I need him for a team. What, you don't want him dead?" Shepard was starting to get impatient with the simple pleasantries shared with the gang boss, a necessity he knew that he needed to make use of, but not something he was thrilled with doing.
"I don't have time for such things, and Archangel hasn't tried to target me. Whether he dies or you take him off this station, he will no longer be my problem."
"Do you know where I can find him?"
She waved a hand down to the side of the dance floor, "The Blue Suns have a recruiting station here in the club. Go talk to them." Aria looked away, a silent dismissal as Shepard got up off the couch.
"We'll find our own way out." Shepard walked past the guards, Miranda and Jacob falling in behind him. The thought crossed his mind that perhaps Miranda had been right about bringing Legion. That the Geth's presence would have triggered more alarms than Shepard would have liked.
The stopped at the bottom of the stairs, their heads close together so that they could hear each other over the noise of the club, "Commander, who do we go for first?" Jacob posed the question that was on all of their minds.
Miranda was the first to make her argument, "We should go after doctor Solus. We need him to make us a countermeasure."
Shepard looked at the woman for whom he had thought to be intelligent, more so than most, but what she just said made him rethink that opinion of her, "You heard Aria, Archangel doesn't have much time left and if we go after the doctor we may not have the chance to extract Archangel."
Jacob nodded and spoke as Miranda scowled, "So we go after Archangel first then. Alright, Shepard, what's the plan?"
Shepard looked about him, sighting a Blue Suns merc waving in armed men and women of a variety of different races to a small room. He rubbed his chin as he contemplated a plan, "Jacob, head back to the Normandy and get Massani. Tell him to suit up quickly and meet Miranda and I here. Then you and Legion wait on standby. If you get a call from me I want you two to beat feet to our position as reinforcements. I don't care if you have to hijack a sky car to do it."
"Roger." Jacob nodded to Miranda before setting off into the club, quickly disappearing into the throng of people.
"Shepard, why bring the mercenary over Jacob?" Shepard heard Miranda ask him, his head whipping to look directly at her, his eyes narrowing in the dim light of the club.
He was getting tired of her second guesses and suspicions of his command, "Did you get a look at his tattoos? Specifically the one on his neck?"
Miranda shook her head. She had read the dossier, but it had made no mention of the meaning behind any of Zaeed's tattoos.
"Its the symbol of the Blue Suns. So he either used to work for them, or made enough of an impression to earn an honorary status. Either way he may know how the Suns operate, or he may know someone there and can get information from them that we couldn't. That's why, Miss Lawson."
Miranda cast an angry glare at the commander. The look quickly changed to one of contemplation as she crossed her arms under her breasts and quietly waited for the mercenary to arrive. They didn't have to wait long as the mercenary arrived shortly thereafter, elbowing and shoving his way through the crowd.
Zaeed had armed himself with an Avenger and a Mantis along with the pistol he had wore earlier. He walked up to Shepard, leaning in close so he wouldn't have to shout to be heard, "Bloody Hell, Shepard. I don't know how you got that thing on board, or how you made it so goddamn peaceful like, but warn a man next time! I didn't believe the girl when she told me and I almost shot it when it walked out of the fuckin' armory."
Shepard knew that he could be talking about none other than Legion, "I'll explain about that more later, for now we have a mission to do. Come on."
They walked into the recruiting station, and a couple minutes later they were walking out with a way to get to their target. Shepard had turned to leave when another possible recruit walked in, asking if this was the place to sign up.
Shepard looked the kid over, for kid was the appropriate term. Or maybe boy, Shepard thought as turned to the other human, "You look a little young to be freelancing as a merc."
"I'm old enough!" The kid shouted defensively, causing the recruiter to look up from his terminal in surprise.
The kid drew a beat up Predator pistol, "I just bought this thing for fifty credits, and I want to use- Hey!" The kid exclaimed as Shepard darted forward, grabbing the pistol by the barrel and turning it towards the thumb and index finger, breaking the boys grasp on the weapon and allowing Shepard to easily disarm him. Shepard did a quick functions check on the weapon, watching sparks fly from the bolt.
"Do yourself a favor and get your money back." He handed the weapon back, watching the look of confusion mixed with anger seep over the lads face.
Shepard walked out of the club, Zaeed and Miranda behind him. Zaeed spoke once they were in the relative quiet outside, "Good thing you did back there, Shepard. Archangel would go through a stupid son of a bitch like that with no trouble."
Shepard led them to a small car park, a Blue Suns merc waiting by a car, "Yea, and now he's one less gun we have to go through, no matter how shitty that gun was."
He walked up to the Suns merc, who waved them into the sky car. It was a short flight to where the mercenary groups had set their siege up, the trio had kept quiet throughout the ride, not wanting to give up the ruse before it was time. The skycar landed, its gull wing like door opening as Shepard egressed from the vehicle with his team, the sounds of gunfire echoing off the metal walls.
They were greeted upon their exit by another Batarian in Blue Suns armor, "Finally. They send me someone who looks like they can fight. They tell you what you're going up against?"
"The recruiter was a little vague." Shepard admitted, he knew that Archangel was hold up in a two story building on one end of a bridge, but not much more than that.
The Batarian shrugged, "I'm not surprised. We wouldn't get a lot of hires if they knew what they were going up against here."
"And what are we going up against here?" Shepard couldn't see much this far behind the line, but the clear sounds of automatic gunfire punctuated every few seconds by the louder boom of a large caliber rifle told him the siege was at least on going.
"Archangel's got himself holed up in a building at the other end of the boulevard over there. He's got superior position, and the only way in is over a very exposed bridge. Its a killing ground." The Batarian sounded, understandably, frustrated with the situation but his voice took on a more hopeful tone as he continued his explanation, "But he's getting tired, making mistakes. We'll have him soon enough."
Shepard kept his face a blank mask. They apparently had arrived just in time as he listened to the Batarian explain the plan of attack, that he would be apart of a 'distraction' team. He didn't care as long as he had the chance to reach Archangel. He had his worries about this supposed infiltration team. Were they equipped with active camo? How many were there? Were they moving in at the same time as the assault? He felt that this greeter wouldn't be much help in answering those questions as mercenary groups like these were, generally, pretty good at keeping their Operational Security intact.
"Thats a goddamned suicide mission." Zaeed's comment came out almost as a laugh, a sentiment that Shepard shared, or would have if he had any doubts about his own abilities.
"You lot look like you could handle it. Head up to the boulevard and get to the third barricade, ask for sergeant Cathka. He'll tell you when to go in." The Batarian stepped to the side, letting them pass into the battle line.
Shepard shook his head. These mercs sounded like they were just throwing bodies at their problem till it went away. A waste, in his opinion, but if they were finally wising up than he would have to make all haste to rescue the besieged Archangel.
"Well, we have a way in, but getting out is going to be a bitch." Zaeed observed with the wise, yet crude, eyes of an old soldier.
"One thing at a time. Zaeed, what do you know about these gangs?" Shepard turned to the old mercenary. This had been the reason, more than his apparent combat prowess, that Shepard had brought him on this mission.
Zaeed's response to the spit on the ground, earning both a look and sound of disgust from Miranda, "The Eclipse, bunch of damn undisciplined upstarts. They like to use mechs and biotics along with their regular troopers. Probably got those mechs set up somewhere close, might be worth messing around with." He motioned to a Vorcha firing an assault rifle from behind a barricade, "Blood pack are mean bastards. Vorcha and Krogan, along with some nasty Varren. Like to use flamethrowers, crazy bastards."
Shepard nodded, "And the Blue Suns?"
"Don't get me started, Shepard, I've got a long history with them, " His comment got a smirk out of Shepard, "but they'll be the toughest ones here, I'd bet. Blue Suns don't do things by halfs, so expect a lot of troops, heavy shields. Nothing an engineer like you shouldn't be able to handle."
Shepard led Miranda and Zaeed forward, weaving through the side passages between the barricades lined with mercs. He watched a Vorcha soldier's head snap back as a bullet struck its head, the sheer force of the round flinging its body off the barricade.
Shepard keyed his radio to the Normandy, "EDI, can you find any other ways to Archangel?" He wasn't sure if this Archangel fellow would try to shoot at him or his team, if he could find a safer path…
"My scans show no other routes to Archangel. The only open route is across that bridge, I advise extreme caution." EDI's response came quickly, causing Shepard to curse under his breath. They continued on, stopping only to try and pry any information on the attack from the mercenaries as they could. The Eclipse mercenaries had been surprisingly open about their plan, which surprised Shepard.
Through a couple more rooms and past the hulking form of the Blood pack leader surrounded by his Vorcha cohorts that growled at them till they left, they reached the mech's storage room. Unlocked, it gave no resistance as they entered. The security for the mechs was laughable; it didn't even occur to Shepard to use one of the Geth hacking programs that resided, hidden, within the code of his omni tool, "That'll be a nasty surprise if they decide to try and activate it."
Exiting the storage area, it didn't take long for them to reach the final barricade as Shepard looked around for Cathka. He found a human, a freelancer from the looks of it, standing against a wall with a nervous look on his face. Shepard walked up to the freelancer, "I'm looking for Sergeant Cathka."
"You and me both, pal. He's over there, but I'm in no rush to get to him." The freelancer glanced over to his right to a group of mercs surrounding a gunship, the bright flickering light of a welding torch casting shadows about the area.
"Thanks." Shepard moved across the barricade to the group of mercs. A closer inspection showed them all to be freelancers, part of one of the distraction teams he had no doubt.
"Cathka?" He asked, causing the freelancers to part. He walked between them and under the tail of the gunship, spotting a Batarian in the blue and white armor of the Suns working on the aircraft.
"Sergeant Cathka." The Batarian stepped out from the front of the craft, his visor polarized against the bright light of the torch that he shut off and placed on a nearby work table. Cathka cleared his visor and lit a cigarette, blowing acrid smoke into Shepard's face, "Ah, you must be the group Salkie mentioned. You're just in time."
"Good, wouldn't want to miss the show." Shepard rolled his shoulders, playing up the tough freelancer act.
Cathka gestured with his cigarette, "That's the spirit, human. You're going to be part of a distraction team. When the infiltration team gives the signal, which should be soon, we'll go in. Archangel won't know what hit him." He puffed on the cigarette, "Got any questions? Probably your last chance."
"Are you leading the attack?" Shepard was a special forces soldier through and through. He tried his best to be a good person, but if he had to cut off the head of the snake before it struck, he would without remorse.
Cathka laughed, "Tarak doesn't pay me to fight. I just plan the attack and fix the damn gunship. You freelancers get the privilege of-" He was distracted as the radio crackled and squawked.
"Target in sight! We're going in!" Came over the radio as Cathka turned, his focus turning away from Shepard.
"Check! Bravo team-Go, go, go!" He shouted into the radio before extinguishing his cigarette, the freelancers moving away to begin their assault, "Archangel has quite the surprise waiting for him. But that means no more waiting for me." He polarized his visor and turned his back to Shepard to begin working on the gunship again, "Got to get her back to 100% if Tarak decides he needs her again."
Shepard's eyes drifted down to the tool sitting on the bench. The gunship, if fully repaired, could prove to be the biggest danger they would face. He snatched the tool up and walked up behind Cathka, "You work to hard." He said, pressing the tool to the magnetic strips on the back of Cathka's armor, the tool arcing electricity though the Batarian's body, causing him to scream and writhe as death took him in a slow, painful, fashion. Shepard walked away from Cathka's smoking corpse, rallying Miranda and Zaeed to him.
They lept down onto the bridge with the rest of the distraction team, pistols and a few rifles barked, a grenade launcher popped as it launched its explosive payload. From the opposite end of the bridge Archangel peeked out from behind his cover, nothing more than a momentary flash of dark blue armor as he fired a single shot, earning a single kill before ducking back behind his wall. Shepard was impressed by the vigilante's aim as he took down another freelancer, the grenade launcher tumbling to the ground, "Alright, people, let's clear a path!"
Shepard drew his shotgun, the Geth built weapon folding out as he depressed the secondary trigger, letting the weapon charge up. The freelancer in front of him never even suspected anything as the over charged trio of superconductive rounds slammed into his back, tearing through his weak shields before turning the air between them into plasma, boiling away both armor and flesh. The freelancer let out a short cry as he tumbled forward in death as the other turned to face them, crying out, "Are they with Archangel?!"
He was answered by a short burst from Zaeed's rifle, the first two rounds of disruptor ammo striking the freelancers chest as his shields fell, the third round piercing his armor. The freelancer tumbled to the ground, his blood bubbling out of the hole in his chest.
They moved past the fallen bodies to see the final member of the distraction team take cover just inside the building. He poked his rifle around the corner and fired blindly, a few stray rounds striking Shepard's shields causing them to barely drop.
Shepard's arm glowed orange from his omni tool as he launched a sabotage program, watching in satisfaction as the freelancers rifle shot out sparks and a stream of heat into the mercs hands.
The freelancer stumbled out of cover, grasping his now burned hands as Miranda's fist glowed with the bluish-purple mist of biotics. She swung her hand in an upper cutting motion, launching a ball of biotic power that lifted the man into the air, leaving him helpless to Shepard's and Zaeed's gunfire before being slammed forcefully into the ground as Miranda pulled her arm back.
"Room clear! Stairs, front, move!" Shepard shouted as they rushed across the room to the staircase, their feet pounding on the landings as they moved up to the second floor. Shepard stared down the shotguns sights at the far end of the hall, a pair of freelancers were crouched in front of a locked door, 'The infiltration team, no doubt', he thought as he launched an Overload at the pair, the shock of electricity jumped from one to the other, tearing down both their shields as Zaeed and Miranda sent a hail of bullets down the hall, blood splattering against the door and wall as rounds shredded the freelancers lightly armored bodies.
Shepard waved them forward, reaching the door he looked at the open set of wires the freelancers had been trying to cross to get the door to open. He almost wanted to laugh at their ineptitude as he quickly found the necessary wires, causing the door's lock to glow green before sliding open.
They stepped through the threshold with weapons raised. Shepard looked about for Archangel and sighted him crouched at the ledge of the balcony, staring down the scope of his rifle, "Archangel?"
The vigilante gave a slight nod and waited for the last freelancer, hiding behind some of the pitifully few pieces of cover on the bridge, to poke his head out. He fired, the bullet striking the freelancer's head, spraying blood, brain and bone onto the bridge. Archangel racked the bolt on the rifle, ejecting the heat sink before he slowly, using his rifle as a crutch, stood. The beleaguered Turian slowly removed his helmet, placing it on the couch upon which he sat at the end. His face was marked the blue tattoos of a Turian born of Palaven. His eyes we're exhausted, mirroring the rest of his body's language as he settled, resting the rifle between his legs. His voice, like the rest of him, sounded strained and tired as if he would only be given a moment that he would embrace sleep as he spoke, "Shepard. I thought you were dead."
Shepard heart rejoiced as he looked upon his friend and teammate, Garrus Vakarian, "Garrus! What are you doing here?" A smile had crept onto his face as he inspected Garrus, looking for wounds or other signs of injury.
"Just keeping my skills sharp. A little target practice." Garrus had been at this for almost a day and it showed as he was barely able to raise his head to look at the man he had left C-SEC with to hunt down a traitorous SPECTRE only two years prior.
Shepard was worried. There was still a small army of mercenaries on the other side of that bridge, and Garrus looked like he was ready to fall over, "Are you okay?"
"Been better, but it sure is good to see a friendly face. Killing mercs is hard work, especially on my own." He rolled his neck, a series of cracks preceded a look of relief upon Garrus' face.
Shepard shook his head in amazement, "How did you get yourself into this situation?"
"I had to reeeeally work at it. Took a lot to piss them all off to the point where they would join forces to take me out, but..." Garrus swayed slightly in his seat, blinking as he recovered, "it had to be done. What are you doing here, Shepard, and alive at that?"
"Long story, I'll tell you when we get out of here. Which is why we're here: to get you out of this hole you dug yourself into." Shepard stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand on Garrus' shoulder, earning a quiet chuckle from the Turian.
"You always were the optimist. But we've got an army of mercs between us and the exit. The bridge has helped, funneling those witless fools right into my scope. Unfortunately, it works both ways. We'd be slaughtered if we try to get out that way."
"So we just wait for them to come and get us?" Miranda raised an eyebrow. She had expected a lightning quick extraction, in and out, not to take part in a protracted defense.
Garrus stood, towering over the rest of them, "Its worked so far. Now with the three of you, we should be able to hold off long enough to make a run for it. Shouldn't be too hard."
"You kidding me? Can't be any worse than what we faced going after Saren. And if all else fails, we simply fall back to plan B." Shepard flashed Garrus a grin before turning to face his team, "Garrus, this is Zaeed Massani and Miranda Lawson. They're part of my ground team."
Zaeed spoke first, nodding to Garrus, "Damn glad to meet you. I've heard a lot about you, 'Archangel', glad it wasn't me you were trying to kill on that bridge."
Miranda was far more business like in her greeting, "Archangel. We require your services for a mission of great importance to Humanity and the galaxy."
Garrus looked at Shepard in a way that silently said, 'Where do you find these people?' before speaking, "Is it your mission, or Shepard's? Nevermind, they should be getting ready to attack again." With a groan Garrus stood and walked over to his perch, peering down his scope as Shepard moved to stand next to him, "Take a look and tell me what you see."
Miranda, quite confused, asked aloud, "Shepard, what exactly is plan B?" Although she was glad that Shepard not only seemed to have a plan, but a back up at that, she was concerned that Shepard was taking the situation too lightly.
It was Garrus who answered her, "Plan B is something Shepard threatened to do to a bunch of biotic extremists under the command of an a former Alliance officer we ran into while hunting down Saren. If he wouldn't surrender peacefully, than Plan B."
"So what is this plan B?" Miranda asked again.
"Kill everyone." Was all Shepard said as he took the rifle from Garrus and peered down its scope. He almost didn't hear Zaeed say,
"I like that plan. Can we make that plan A?"
Shepard ignored the old mercenary as he kept his sights settled on the far end of the bridge, at their exit out. With their backs to the wall they had no other option but to hold, and hope the enemy broke before they did. He saw movement through the scope as LOKI mechs began to drop down onto the bridge.
"Scouting party?" Garrus asked, using his visor to zoom in.
"More than that, from the looks of it." He handed the sniper rifle back before turning to face the rest of his team, "Alright, looks like this party is about to start. Zaeed, use that sniper rifle and make every shot count. Miss Lawson, anything gets by us and it'll be up to you and me to put it down before it reaches Garrus."
He was met with a small chorus of, "Aye aye." He exchanged his shotgun for his rifle, watching as Garrus eyed the Geth weapon, his mandibles clacking together, "I'll explain later, but for now, open fire!"
Together they took up positions on the balcony and it's adjoining windows. Shepard, crouched next to Garrus, popped up over his cover to let out a stream of bullets down range, the relatively quieter assault rifle was quickly drowned out by the louder booms of Garrus and Zaeed's rifles. The LOKI mechs returned fire as they marched across the bridge, their machine pistols wildly inaccurate at range, the bullets skipping against the concrete walls or flying over their heads. Even so they just kept coming, every few seconds more of the white, soulless, mechs would drop onto the bridge only to be destroyed moments later either by bullet, tech, or flung off the side by Miranda's biotics.
Soon the Eclipse mercs weaved through their mechanical shock troopers, but they too we're felled. Their bodies joined the rising pile of dead flesh and metal that lay strew across the middle of the bridge like a line in the sand, challenging the mercenaries to step over it, to court death. Shepard launched an incineration and watched as it flew to its target, a Salarian mercenary wielding a rifle, and explode, showering the Salarian along with a pair of rocket wielding humans with sticky flames. The rocketeers slapped at the flames as they cried out in panic, only to be silenced as Zaeed and Garrus granted them mercy per a lethal bullet for each man, Shepard's pulse rifle finishing off the Salarian.
The bridge was clear for the moment, but only for a moment. A clamp like trolly floated out from behind the barricade, the compacted form of the YMIR cradled between its arms. The mech dropped onto the bridge and with a hiss of compressed air and whirring servos it unfolded, standing large and intimidating on the bridge as Eclipse mercenaries lept down onto the bridge behind it. Amongst their numbers stood the leader of Eclipse's operations on Omega: The dark skinned Salarian named Jaroth.
"Damn! Shepard, we need to take out that heavy mech!" Garrus's face was as worried as a Turian's mostly immobile features could show as he crouched behind the meager cover the wall would offer against the monster's heavy weapons.
"I think that problem should take care of itself, Garrus." Shepard peeked over the ledge, watching as the YMIR turned, lumbering, and fired into the Eclipse ranks, confusion exploding within the attackers as their own weapon turned against them.
The YMIR's chaingun rattled as it poured fire into the mercenaries ranks, shredding their bodies as the survivors scrambled for what cover they could find. The mercenaries fired upon their own mech, their main objective having been violently, and suddenly, changed from simply getting across the bridge under the withering fire put out by the defenders to having to either destroy or slip past the mech as well. Not many would make it.
Garrus resumed his sniper fire, his shots aimed and calculated as the targeted every rocket wielding Eclipse soldier he could find. Aim, inhale, exhale, squeeze, reload. The actions were mechanical, streamlined so that not a round would be wasted. One shot. One kill. He would wait for the mercenaries shields to drop, either from a tech attack or from the accurate stream of bullets that flew from Shepard's rifle, before taking his shot.
Shepard was impressed at Garrus' skill with the rifle. The Turian had been an impressive marksman before, and had only seemed to have whet his skills in the past two years. Shepard and Miranda concentrated on any of the mercenaries that managed to surmount both the YMIR as well as Zaeed and Garrus's accurate fire. They cut the few mercenaries down before they even managed to cross the threshold into the building.
Shepard had been firing at a trooper that had tried to rush past them when the YMIR exploded, sending fire and large chunks of shrapnel flying through the air. They all ducked as shrapnel flew by their heads, embedding into the ceiling. When Shepard popped back up, rifle at the ready, the bridge was empty but for the bodies and smoking wreckage of the YMIR. He looked down over the lip of the balcony to see the tail end of Jaroth sprinting into the base, "They're inside! Lawson, with me!"
The pair scrambled to the other side of the room, setting up beneath an open section of wall that allowed them to look down into the common area, as the other two kept over watch on the bridge. Shepard peered into the living room below them, watching as the trio of mercenaries made their cautious way inside. He motioned for Miranda to remain as he made his way to the open door. He reached into his belt, drawing out the frisbee like metal drone. He depressed the button on top, activating the drones timer before throwing it, side armed, to the top of the stairs. The drone flew straight, popping to life in a near perfect position just at the top of the staircase.
"Shepard!" Miranda hissed at him as she opened up on the Eclipse soldiers with her machine pistol.
Shepard moved back to her, reaching the window as the mercenaries made it to the base of the stairs. There were three of them, the lead human had an assault rifle in his hands, the next was another human with a rocket launcher with Jaroth bringing up the rear. Shepard opened fire on the mercenaries, hastening their charge up the stairs.
The rocket trooper turned, preparing to fire as the point man crested the top of the stairs and into the waiting muzzle of Shepard's drone. The drone engulfed the trooper with its flamethrower, his shields quickly depleting under the intense heat of the flames. He barely had time to scream as Shepard cast an overload onto the flaming man, the flames sparked and exploded. The rocket trooper was thrown back into Jaroth, both flying off the stairs.
Jaroth pushed the smoking corpse off of him, crawling behind the couch as rounds skipped off his shields, but by the time he got to cover his shields had depleted completely. Gripping his pistol he formulated a plan as bullets impacted the couch, slowly tearing it to spreads. His attention was grabbed by a synthetic chitter next to him. He turned his head to see a combat drone floating before him that had not been there a moment before. He raised his pistol as the drone lashed him with an electric shock, causing him to yelp in pain and scramble away. The drone hounded him, sending out shocks till it forced him out into the open. Jaroth, clutching his singed midsection, slowly looked up to where the humans defending that bastard Archangel were. He saw a pair of them, a male and a female, looking back down at him with weapons raised. He spat at them, his torso jerking from the multiple impacts as the male opened fire. Jaroth crumpled to the floor, his dark green blood seeping into the carpet.
"Great job, Shepard, they barely touched me." Garrus leaned against the couch, they had a moment to catch their breath as the Blood Pack hadn't made an appearance yet, "And we got Jaroth. He was one of the biggest drug suppliers in the Terminus, half the drugs I confiscated on the Citadel came from him. Now we only have to worry about the Blood Pack and the Blue Suns."
"Guess now wouldn't be a good time to try and make a run?" Shepard asked, gulping down water from his canteen before tossing it to Zaeed.
"Let's take a look." Garrus's moved up to the balcony, raising his rifle, "Huh, weird. I don't see-" The building shook as a series of explosions went off deep below them.
Zaeed let out a string of curses, water splashing out of the canteen as Garrus spun to face them, "The tunnels! Well, they had to start using their brains some time. I'll stay up here, Shepard, you go close those tunnel entrances."
"I'm not leaving you alone up here." He held up a hand as Garrus started to protest, "You can argue with me later. Zaeed, keep him alive."
Zaeed nodded, "Roger that." And tossed the canteen back at Shepard.
Shepard turned to Miranda, sweeping his arm towards the door, "Miss Lawson, ladies first."
Miranda nodded and moved out in front of Shepard, Garrus nodding to the pair before saying, "Shepard, the tunnels will be in the basement, entrance is behind the stairs."
"Thanks, I'll see you in a few." Shepard paused, "Garrus...you remember Captain Kirrahe? From Virmire?"
Garrus' mandibles flared out and his sub-harmonics hummed out as he chuckled, "We will hold the line. Now get going, Shepard."
Down the stairs, past the charred bodies of the last of the Eclipse, around and through the door Miranda and Shepard ran. The quicker they locked the area down, the easier time they would have with dealing with the Blood Pack. He saw the first gate directly in front of him, open. Beyond it he could see Krogan and Vorcha scrambling over and through the wreckage of Garrus' barricades, the Krogan roaring orders before charging for their exit.
Shepard sprinted, sliding to a halt next to the door, his fist slammed down on the control button, the door sliding shut. The door didn't even move as Shepard heard the Krogan slam into it from the other side, it's roars could be heard even as Shepard and Miranda moved on to the next door on their right.
Miranda opened the door to a long hallway that curved to the right and out of sight. A pair of Vorcha opening fire from behind a low barricade that stretched across the narrow hall, their aim wild and undisciplined. Shepard, shotgun in hand, let out a war cry and charged, Miranda advancing more slowly behind him.
Shepard fired from the hip, watching the vapor trail that lead from his gun to the chest of one of the Vorcha. The Vorcha reeled back, hissing, as the rounds struck its natural armor. Shepard's shields dropped before he could get into cover, a few rounds sparking against his torsos heavy plate. He leapt over the barricade with his omni tool flashing to life as an orange blade, wreathed in flames, slid from his forearm. With a back handed slap he knocked the Vorcha's gun to the side, leaving him open as he slashed upwards, the blade piercing the closer Vorcha under its chin with the blade continuing up into its skull. Wielding the shotgun one handed he charged the weapon and released its payload on the other Vorcha. Blood splattered the ground, followed by its source, as the rounds tore a gigantic hole in the slender alien's chest. Shepard closed the tool, letting the lifeless Vorcha fall the floor in a heap, smoke pouring from the creature's head.
"Impressive, Shepard. If somewhat reckless." Miranda joined him between the barricades. The bend in the hallway kept both any additional enemies, and the tunnel entrance, out of sight. Miranda vaulted over the next barricade, taking point as she said, "I expected more resistance, do you think this is just a dis-" Her words were cut short as Shepard grabbed the back of her armored collar, pulling her back over the barricade with an indignant squawk as she landed on top of him. The section of hallway she had been about to walk through filled with flames as a Vorcha fired his flame thrower from around the corner, "I guess I owe you one, Shepard."
The Vorcha hissed as it's prey escaped, "Me burn you! Eat flesh! Graaaaash!" It let out another burst of fire as Miranda rolled off of Shepard. The two got up in a crouch, Shepard poking his head above the lip of the Barricade.
There was just enough room between the barricade and the open hallway that he could squeeze himself into without being turned into a human torch by the Vorcha's flamethrower. He leapt over the barricade and pressed himself against the wall, feeling the hairs on his neck singe as a stream of fire roared next to him. He waited for the fire to stop before swinging out into the open just long enough to deploy a holographic drone behind the Vorcha before dipping back behind the relative safety of the wall.
The Vorcha, not known throughout the galaxy for being particularly bright, turned to face the drone that launched ineffective bolts of electricity at it. With it's back turned to Shepard he came around the corner and fire his shotgun. He was rewarded by a hiss of compressed fuel leaking from the flamethrowers tank. He ducked back into cover before firing an incineration down the hallway, the resulting explosion sending I charred bits of flesh and bone splattering across the section of hallway.
Shepard spun around the corner, hurtling barricades as he sprinted to the door control. He could see more flamethrower carrying Vorcha advancing as he hit the button, the door closing and locking shut. He blew out a long breath and keyed his radio, "Garrus, two doors down, we're moving to the third. How's it going up there?"
He could hear the chatter of gunfire as Garrus responded, "We're holding, but we'd greatly appreciate it if you'd hurry up. Damn! Zaeed, concentrate fire on that Krogan!"
He hustled back down the hall to where Miranda had been keeping watch on their rear, waving her to fall in as they moved to the final door. They stacked up on either side of the doorway and with a silent nod from Shepard Miranda hit the switch, letting the door slide open.
The doorway filled with bullets before either of them had a chance to rush through into the large garage beyond. Shepard poked his rifle around the corner and fired off a burst, "Miss Lawson, how long do you think you could keep a barrier up for both of us? Long enough to reach that truck?"
Miranda launched a throw, knocking a Vorcha soldier over who had stood from cover to fire. She didn't say anything, instead holstering her pistol she she spread her arms, a purple bubble of protective bionics flowed around her and expanded to reach Shepard. With the additional, albeit temporary, protection they advanced into the room. Bullets slammed into the barrier as Shepard fired back, laying down suppressive fire on the closest Vorcha as they advanced to a large flatbed truck. They crouched behind it as Miranda let the barrier fall, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face.
Shepard looked at her as rounds whipped by over their heads, "You good?"
She shot him a glare, "I'm fine, Shepard. Let's finish this and get back to the Turian." She had drawn her pistol, relying on the heftier stopping power as she shot the Vorcha she had thrown in the face as it picked itself up off the ground.
Shepard, crouched closer to the front of the truck, shifted his body to turn and move up the left flank where he heard the roar of the varren as it slid around the front of the truck and pounced on him, knocking his rifle from his hands as he wrestled with the beast. He instinctively raised his left arm to protect his face, the Varren's powerful jaws clamping down on his forearm like a vice grip. He tumbled onto his back as it shook its head, trying to tear his arm from its socket, Shepard gritting his teeth against the pain that shot up his arm. He punched the varren in the eye, only causing it to bite down harder, it's teeth digging into the ceramic plating.
The varren released his arm only to snap at his head. With a loud yelp it was thrown off of him in a flurry of biotics. He craned his neck back to look at Miranda, smirking at him as the blue mist of her biotics dispersed from around her hand, "I guess we're even now, Commander." She kicked his rifle into reach.
He grabbed it and not so much aimed at the stricken varren as pointed it in the general direction. He fired a long stream of rounds, watching as they tore into the animal till it lay twitching on the floor. He picked himself up, standing at the front of the truck, "Stay here and keep their attention, I'll flank up the left side!"
With that he swung around, hearing Miranda's pistol bark. His rifle at the ready he advanced to a support pills a few feet away. From his position he sighted down on a Vorcha firing from the back of another truck and squeezed the trigger. The armor piercing rounds quickly shredded the Vorcha, who collapsed against the back of the cab, it's reddish-orange blood dripping down.
"Covering!" He fired at another pair of Vorcha further down the garage, forcing them back into cover as Miranda advanced to the next cover position. The advanced like this, leap frogging to cover points as the fired their weapons, or launched tech and biotics when necessary. They were almost six meters from the door control when the Krogan charged. It barreled towards them, firing buckshot from it's shotgun.
Shepard stepped out of cover, omni flaring as he launched the cryofreeze. The ball of white streaked towards the Krogan and exploded in front of it in an opaque white cloud. With a dull thunk the frozen form of the Krogan fell to the ground. Shepard raised his rifle and fired a single shot, flinching as the Krogan shattered. Trotting up to the door he hit the control, "Garrus, we got all the doors, heading back to you now."
His radio crackled as Zaeed responded, "Shepard! Hurry the Hell up, the bastards made it across the bridge and are cutting through the door!"
"Roger that." He turned to Miranda, "Let's double time it!" Together they turned and raced back to the entrance.
Back on the main level the door to the bridge sparked as it was breached, sliding open to allow Garm and his the rest of his blood pack entrance. The large Krogan let out a growl, looking around him as his Vorcha swarmed into the room under fire from Zaeed and Garrus. His Krogan followed him as he charged up the stairs. Archangel was his, and no one could stop him.
Shepard and Miranda barreled into the room from behind the stairs, weapons drawn as they opened up on the Vorcha and Varren that remained on the ground floor. The firefight ended as quickly as it began as Shepard added his drones to the fight, their additional guns either forcing the Vorcha out of cover or, in the case of his attack drone, setting fire to the Varren along with the couch.
Shepard and Miranda rushed up the stairs, Shepard's drone following behind them like a dog lapping at its owner's heels. He could hear the bellowing roar of multiple Krogan emanating from Garrus' room. 'Krogan', thought Shepard as his stomach turned into a ball of ice. In these cramped corridors and rooms a Krogan would be far more dangerous than on a more open battlefield. He switched back to his shotgun, knowing that he would need the additional stopping power if one of the brutes were to charge him.
A sharp blast from within the room preceded a roar of pain from one of the Krogan, who came stumbling back into the doorway with his arms and chest aflame. The Krogan turned his attention to them as Shepard and Miranda skidded to a halt in the middle of the hall, watching as the Krogan's eyes turned red as the Blood Rage took over. The Krogan charged, head low as it aimed to ram either one of them.
Shepard fired a quick pair of shots, the rounds smacking against the face and armored hump of the enraged Krogan. The shots did little more than seem to make it angrier, if that was at all possible. The Krogan quickly closed the distance between himself and Shepard as the marine's shotgun hissed as it's thermal clip ejected. With a curse Shepard ducked low, bending forward almost in half with his knees bent, the Krogan's arms soaring above his head. He slid an arm between the stubby armored legs, another reached up to grab the armored belt that sat around the Blood Pack warrior's midriff. With strength and speed that surprised even him, Shepard redirected the force of the Krogan's charge, lifting and throwing the nearly one ton alien.
Miranda had to dive to the side, pressing up against the wall to narrowly avoid being crushed by the now bewildered Krogan. The Krogan landed on its back next to her, flailing about like a turtle in the same position. She aimed her pistol, leveling it at the Krogan's eye she fired a trio of shots into its head and the enemy lay dead at her feet.
"Shepard!" Garrus' cry came, stripping Shepard from the momentary daze he had found himself in after the Herculean feat of strength. They charged into the room with guns drawn to find Garrus and Zaeed retreating further into the room, taking cover amongst the bunks that lined the wall as a Krogan, even larger than Wrex, fired a Claymore at the retreating snipers. Miranda fired, rounds impacting a powerful shield, Shepard lined up he shotgun and squeezed the trigger...and nothing happened. He cursed, as in his daze he had forgotten to reload his weapon.
Garm turned, a murderous smile spreading across his scaly lips as he aimed the oversized shotgun at Shepard. Before he could fire he was staggered as a powerful warp slammed into the side of his face. His attention swept from Shepard to Miranda and with a growl he charged the Cerberus operative.
Time seemed to slow for Shepard as he watched Garm begin his charge, knocking aside the couch that stood between he and his prey. Shepard knew that Miranda lacked both the reaction time and strength to accomplish what he had out in the hall. He didn't hesitate, sprinting forward he slammed his shoulder into Miranda's, knocking her to the side and out of the way. He heard her call out his name as Garm slammed into him, lifting him off his feet as he crunched against the wall, the reinforced concrete cratering behind him. Shepard ground his teeth, eyes shutting close as pain shot through his body, his body pinned to the wall by Garm's shoulder. He opened his eyes to see a large armored fist flying towards his head, bending his neck to the side he dodged the blow as the fist slammed against the wall. Shepard's right arm was free, but his shotgun was no where to be found. He watched as Garm's shields flickered his the rest fired low at the Krogan, fearful of hitting the Commander.
Shepard looked down at Garm's head as a memory slid through his mind, from one of the many conversations he had had with Wrex down in the hold on Horne old Normandy, 'Shepard, if you ever find yourself pinned against the wall by an angry Krogan, remember this. You see this here? Right where the head plate meets skin? It's a weak point, from there you can pry the plate off. Hurts like hell, and the mere threat of it can get a Krogan talking like a damn Salarian. Just don't try to do it with me, I'd hate to have to kill you!'
Shepard reared his free arm back, his omni blade flashing to life. He drove the blade into the side of Garm's head, the point of the blade slicing just under the head plate, right where Wrex had said.
With a roar of pain and anger Garm stumbled back, the omni blade safely snapping off and embedding in the Blood Pack leader's skull. Shepard dropped to the floor, pain flooding his body. Through hazy eyes he spied his shotgun only a few feet away. He crawled to it on hands and knees. He grabbed the weapon and slotted a new clip into place before turning back to his adversary. Dusky orange blood pouring down the side and front of Garm's face as he knelt on the ground, pressing his hand to his wound in an attempt to stem the blood. Breathing heavily, Shepard stood and pressed the muzzle of the weapon against the skull of the Krogan.
The Krogan let out a low growl, "Do it, Human. Or I will hunt down you and all your kin and feast on their flesh!"
Shepard pulled the trigger, Garm's head exploding as his body fell to the ground. He stepped away as the others came trotting up. Garrus was the first to speak as he helped hold Shepard up as he leaned against the couch Garm had knocked to the side, "Shepard, are you alright? Do you need Medigel?"
Shepard coughed and spat out a stream of bloody spittle. He took a slow breath, testing his ribs. Nothing felt broken, "I'll be fine, Garrus. What about you?"
Garrus gestured at Zaeed, "I'm fine, thanks to your man here. He's a fine shot, good enough that I gave him the Vindicator. Those Blood Pack were tough bastards, but we faced tougher, huh? And we took Garm out as well, or should I say you took Garm out. I'm surprised you're not just a smear against the wall, Shepard."
Shepard nodded, holding his side. He wondered what it would feel like when the nanites went to work on him, "I was lucky. Plus I remembered what Wrex taught me about fighting Krogan." He smirked painfully at Garrus, "Only the Blue Suns left, I say we take our chances and fight our way out."
"Might as well give it a shot, they won't be expecting us take them head-" Garrus was cut off by the high pitched whine of a jet engine filled the room as a gunship dropped into view at the far window at the end of the room. The window shattered as from the ship's speakers the rough voice of a Batarian emanated, "Archangel!" before opening fire with the chaingun mounted on the craft's nose, forcing them to take cover before then turning around to off load troops from its cargo bay.
"Get to cover!" The call came from multiple throats as they all dove for separate pieces of cover. Shepard slid behind the couch, Miranda taking cover next to him while Zaeed took cover behind a short wall. Garrus set up across from Zaeed and opened fire as a squad of Blue Suns poured in from the shattered window.
"Damn! I thought I took that thing out last time." Garrus lined up a shot on a Sun's trooper and dropped him with a shot. Shepard shared Garrus' frustration at the gunship's untimely arrival.
"They fixed it, but not completely. I made sure of that." Shepard thought back to the murdered Batarian sergeant, a frown creeping across his face. A bullet skipping off the top of his shields brought him back to the present as he switched from his shotgun to the Spitfire. They needed to clear the room quickly and to deal with that gunship before it either killed them, or brought in more troops to do the job for it.
He popped up out of cover, the Spitfire whirring to life before letting loose a metal storm of bullets into the Blue Suns. Under the withering machine gun fire the sun's shields did not last long before hot metal began to tear at their bodies. Shouts of panic came from the mercenaries who had not expected the sheer firepower Shepard had brought to bear.
Garrus scoped and dropped another mercenary before shouting over the gunfire, "Shepard, you're really going to have to tell me how you got all these Geth weapons!"
"I told you, Garrus, I'll tell you later! Now keep shooting!" He swept the chaingun across the room, tearing apart the flimsy bunk beds the Blue Sun's attempted to use for cover. It wasn't much longer before the back of the room was nothing more than tattered beds and broken bodies.
Zaeed moved forward, carefully checking the bodies to ensure that none of the mercenaries were playing possum, "Think that's all of them, Shepard? Seems almost a shame, I'd have expected the Sun's to send a shit ton more men at us." As if his words were prophetic the sound of shattering glass from downstairs drew their attention. They could all hear Zaeed mutter, "Me and my big mouth."
"They're heading for the stairs! Miranda, Zaeed, cut them off at the top! Garrus and I will stay here to flank." Shepard rested the Spitfire on the ledge, sighting down on the charging Sun's as Miranda and Zaeed ran off to cover the stairs.
"Shepard..." Garrus began to speak as he raised his rifle to his shoulder.
"Not now, Garrus. Concentrate on getting out of here than we'll talk." Shepard led the first mercenary, a Turian Sentinel, and squeezed the trigger. His aim was good as the Turian walked into the stream of bullets and was quickly cut down. The rest of the Blue Sun's squad scrambled for what cover they could find as bullets and smoke filled the room.
It was not a firefight, but a slaughter. Caught between Shepard and Garrus' fire on one side with Miranda and Zaeed on their flank the Suns didn't even make it to the base of the stairs. Shepard walked to the doorway, waiting for Miranda and Zaeed as Garrus kept watch downstairs. They needed a plan to deal with that gunship before it could bring back more troops. Hey almost didn't hear it as it returned, hovering in the window directly behind Garrus.
Garrus turned, rifle raised as the gunship opened fire. Shepard watched in horror as multiple rounds slammed into Garrus' torso, the Turian falling to the ground as he attempted to crawl into cover behind a plant filled counter. Shepard could feel Zaeed and Miranda's hands holding him back from rushing out, he could hear someone screaming but he wasn't sure who it was as he watched Garrus stand only to be knocked back to the ground as a rocket exploded next to him.
It was at that point that Shepard realized that it had been he who was screaming. He threw off his teams hands, raising the Spitfire he let loose on the gunship as it hovered in the window. Hundreds of armor piercing rounds slammed into the front of the aircraft before it rose out of view and out of the line of fire from the chaingun. Shepard rushed to Garrus' side, his eyes taking in the expanding pool of blue blood that poured out from beneath his friend. He hadn't gotten five steps before the gunship appeared again at the end of the room. It's tail faced them as it's bay opened, the blue and white armor of a dozen Sun mercenaries prepared to enter the room.
Shepard let out a feral roar as he pulled the trigger, walking forward as the rounds slammed into the Sun's ranks, bullets tore through multiple bodies as they never had the chance to step a foot off the craft. Smoke began to pour from the craft as it's pilot attempted to escape, the rounds battering the craft till one found a fuel line. The resulting explosion shook the building, dust falling from the ceiling as the gunship crashed against the side.
Shepard wasted no time as he fell to his knees next to Garrus, queuing up a dose of medigel, "Garrus? Garrus?!" He heard the Turian gasp, taking in a ragged breath as his eyes lazily flick over them.
"He's not going to make it." Zaeed observed, he seemed remorseful, but the old merc had seen plenty of death in his years and knew that this would simply be one more.
"He'll make it!" Shepard shouted, his hands on Garrus' shoulders, "Zaeed, there was a stretcher in the other room, go get it!" They needed to get Garrus out of here, get him back to the Normandy where Chakwas could fix him. He knew she could, knew she would.
Zaeed ran off as Miranda knelt by Shepard's side, "Shepard, I'm sorry..."
The look he gave her caused her to recoil. It was one full of fear, and grief, hatred and anger. This was not some random mercenary or soldier to Shepard, she realized. This was his friend.
Zaeed returned quickly folding out the stretcher, "Roll him on, wound side up." Shepard ordered as he helped to maneuver his dying friend. Garrus gasped in pain, his armored talons gripping tightly to Shepard's arm. He had to pry them off before grasping the handles of the stretcher, "Zaeed and I will carry him, Lawson, you take point. You see a merc, you kill him quick and keep moving. Now go!"
The set off at a run, down the stairs, out the door, across the bridge, trying not to slip of the blood that pooled from the numerous bodies that lay where they fell. They reached the first barricade and their first obstacle. It was too high for them to simply lift Garrus up or for one of them to jump up to it.
Shepard looked at Miranda, "Can you use your biotics to lift us up there?"
She looked from them to the top of the barricade, "Yes, I think. Yes, now hold on." Her biotics flowed to her hands as she slowly lifted them. Shepard felt an electric tingle as the biotic field surrounded him along with Zaeed and the stretcher between them. His stomach tried to flip inside of him as Miranda quickly brought them to the top, letting them get their feet securely on the deck before dropping the field, "Shepard! I'm going to need some help down here!"
Shepard and Zaeed gingerly placed the stretcher down, "Zaeed, stay with him." He lay down on his stomach, his shoulders over the edge as he reached a hand down to Miranda.
"Jump!"
She took a step back before running forward and leaping. She used the wall as leverage to jump higher as she clasped her hand in his. Shepard pulled her up, getting to his feet as she she scrambled up over the top. Shepard took up position again as they carried Garrus through the now empty halls, the sound of their boots and the panting of their breaths the only sounds heard. They rounded the final corner to see the skycar they had taken still sitting where they had left it, "Get to that car! Get him in the back."
"Hold on! Wait!" The shout came from the side causing Miranda to shift the barrel of her gun in its direction, "Don't shoot!" Shepard recognized the voice as that of the Batarian who had greeted them. He slowly walked towards them with his hands raised.
"Lawson, help Zaeed. I'll deal with this." Miranda hesitated for just a moment before lowering her pistol. She helped Zaeed position Garrus so he was sitting in the narrow crew cab of the sky car as Shepard walked over to the Batarian.
He drew his pistol and held it up against the underside of the Salkie's chin, "Do you know who was on that stretcher?"
"Ye-yea. That was Archangel, wasn't it? Listen, let me live and I won't say nothing!"
Shepard thought about it for a moment, "No, I want you to talk. Archangel is dead, got it? He died in the attack. Hell, you can say that you killed him yourself. But he is dead, got it?"
"Got it! Got it!" The Batarian nodded quickly, glad to have survived.
"Shepard! Get your ass in here before he actually does die!" Zaeed shouted from the car.
Shepard turned and sprinted to the skycar, sliding into the front seat as he turned the vehicle on and lifted off into the sky. He keyed his radio to the Normandy, "EDI!"
"Yes, Commander? Do you require Mister Taylor and Legion's assistance?" Her voice was calm, mechanical and it annoyed Shepard at that moment as his heart pounded in sheer panic.
"No! Tell doctor Chakwas to meet us on the dock and to get the medbay prepped! It was Garrus and he's hurt bad!"
"Understood, Commander. She will meet you as you land."
Shepard was speeding through Omega's hollowed center to the Normandy's berth. As the car neared the dock he could see the flash of grey hair amongst the other Cerberus uniforms that we're rushing towards where Shepard was coming in to land. Doctor Chakwas had pushed her way to the fore as the car door raised open, her hands reaching out to help pull Garrus onto a waiting trolley.
The next few minutes passed in a blur to Shepard as Garrus was rushed onto the Normandy and down to the medbay where Chakwas and her corpsmen had locked themselves in to do their work. Shepard leaned against the window looking into the med bay. He hadn't removed his armor, stained with multiple colors of blood from red and orange to blue. He was so lost in another world that he didn't hear Miranda's heels come clicking up behind him, nor did he head her call his name.
"Shepard? Commander Shep-" she grasped his shoulder pauldron to turn him towards her. The face that greeted her was not that of the stoic hero of the Citadel that had been plastered on every recruitment poster in Alliance space, but that of a man whose friend lay dying on an operating table. The face of a man whose menagerie of skills let him deal with any situation a battlefield might throw his way, but in this battle he was helpless. And it showed. His face was drawn, his eyes red and his cheeks glistened from the tears that had rolled down them.
Miranda took a breath and maintained her professionalism, "Have you seen a medic, Commander? You took quite a beating from that Krogan." Since she had met him Shepard had shown nothing but hostility or indifference to her and the rest of the Cerberus crew that he had met. This man in front of her showed none of that.
"No, let them work on Garrus. That's more important right now." He started to turn back to the window when Miranda yanked him back around.
"I don't care how you may feel, or what you think is more important. My job is to make sure you are capable of completing your mission, and by god if I have to make sure you do by giving you medical checks myself, I will. Now come with me to my office." She began to drag him by his armor across the empty mess hall to her office.
"Are you even certified, Miss Lawson?" Shepard asked as the door to her office slid shut. Miranda had stepped around her desk and began to rummage through the drawers till she produced a red medical bag.
"Please, Commander. I have multiple doctorates, my father made sure of that,one of them is medical. Now help me get your armor off." She tossed the bag on the desk before walking back around to begin the task of unlocking, unstrapping and removing the modular Geth built armor.
Shepard stood still as Miranda worked to remove first the shoulder pauldrons before working on his arms, "I didn't expect this of you, miss Lawson."
"I couldn't have you moping around the mess hall on the first day on the job. Don't worry about your friend, the Turian, commander. As you know doctor Chakwas is one of the best. Also, call me Miranda. I think you earned that today." She raised her head to look him in the eyes, and it was Shepard to looked away first.
With the armor covering his arms and torso removed, Miranda ordered Shepard to remove his shirt as she rummaged through her medical kit for a scanner. When she looked back up Shepard stood shirtless before her. His muscles were large, but toned and cut. He was, if anything, the pinnacle of male human physique. Her eyes looked over the bruises that now covered those muscles from his pectorals down to his abdomen. His left arm was one large black and blue splotch from where the Varren had gripped his gauntlet. She activated the scanner, searching for any broken bones or internal bleeding. She raised an eyebrow as she found none of either, "Remind me to talk to Legion about whatever it was the Geth did to you. The hit from that Krogan alone should have crushed your rib cage, armor or no. Alright, Commander, that should be all. You're going to be sore for a few days, but beyond that you'll be fine."
Shepard nodded, reaching for he discarded pieces of his armor, "Thank you, miss...thank you, Miranda."
"Not a problem, Shepard. I feel that I owe you for saving my life twice now in only one day. I'll have to try and not make it a habit. Doctor Chakwas will probably be a few hours, so as your XO, I advise you to be a commander and see to your ship."