AN: Sorry if it seems like it has taken me some time upload a new chapter but I had family over for the holidays and I spent a lot of time hunting but now I'm back and here's chapter 8 enjoy.
P.S I don't own the Mass Effect Universe
Chapter 8: A Search in the Dark
Jess's POV
I began to awake as I the effects of the tranquilizers wore off. I slowly lifted my eyes allowing light to shine on them.
I rose quickly off of what I thought was a bed half expecting my assailants to still be around me. As I rose I felt a hand on my shoulder and instinctively grabbed it and struck the unknown figure in the chest when I felt a group of hands grab me and restrain me to the ground.
"Jesse calm down it's us." I heard a familiar voice say
I relaxed trusting the voice and as my adrenaline slowed down I looked around to see everyone standing around me and Garrus and Wrex holding me down to the ground.
"I'm ok, now let me go." I command to Garrus and Wrex who soon released me from a death grip
I slowly stand and look around to see Shepard lying on the Med-Bay bed and Joseph lying on the ground holding his chest where I struck. I reach my hand out and help him up
"Sorry about that." I apologize "Wait, the Broker's agents they are after Brent." I say as I rush to the door
"Jesse" Joseph said in a sad voice "They took him."
I looked down, never have I felt like I let someone down so badly "How long have I been out?" I ask as I look at the ground
"Jesse" Ashley says softly as she approached
"How long?" I shout causing my squad mates to look away
"You've been out for an hour." Garrus says finally giving me an answer
"How is Shepard?" I ask still with my head hung down
"She's fine she was in the room when they attacked. She was able to kill one of them before they sedated her." Joseph replies
"We need to find them. We can't let them have Brent." I say as anger began to fill every fiber of my body
"I know that's why I'm going after them." Joseph says as he puts his hand on my shoulder
"I'm coming with you." I say turning to face him
"No" Joseph simply said as he looked at me square in the eyes
"Why the fuck not?" I shout as I shove him
Joseph stumbled back but showed no intention of striking back. "Brent would want one of us to stay and when he is not here I'm in charge." Joseph said pointing to himself
"So you want me to stay here hoping that you can get him back. I am the person who is responsible for letting them get away with him!" I shout become upset at Joseph
"You couldn't have fended them off by yourself." Joseph states
"I know that… but I have to do something I need to help." I say
"And you can" Joseph said "You can help by sticking with Shepard and helping everyone here while I find Brent."
I lowered my head once again as I felt the cold of defeat "So that's it then, you're going after him leaving me here."
"I'm sorry but you let your emotions get the better of you." Joseph said as he walked over to me "Listen I will bring him back, I swear that to you" he finished as he rested his hand on my shoulder
"If you're going after the group of people who infiltrated the Normandy and took Brent then you will need help. If you won't take me then at least take someone with you." I say
"I'll go" Tali spoke up from the crowd of squad mates surprising everyone
"Tali I don't think you should…"
"I'm going with you. You might need my tech expertise. Besides I owe Brent one for the time he saved me from the Broker's agents. It is time I repaid hi" Tali interrupted as she stared at Joseph
"Fine you can come." Joseph said as he rubbed the back of his neck in defeat
"Then it is settled Tali and Joseph will search for Brent while the rest of us will finish Feros." I say
Joseph POV
After my defeat to Tali I gathered my things and grabbed some medical equipment from Chakwas incase Brent's health has become unstable. That is of course if we find him. Soon after a quick stop to the Med-Bay I was standing outside of the Normandy at the docking bay. I watched as the Normandy began to hover and leave the Citadel leaving me and Tali to begin our search.
"Where should we go to first?" Tali asked me as she turned to face me
I began to think about places that someone can sneak mercenaries onto the Citadel without anyone knowing about it. "Tali, is there any Warehouses or levels that C-Sec doesn't go to?" I ask
"Well there are lower levels that C-Sec doesn't patrol that often. Level 5 is one of the places that they don't go to, we could try there."
I nodded in approval and we began for a rapid transit that would lead us to the level we needed to go to.
After waiting for a few minutes at the transit a taxi arrived for us.
"Where to?" the Salarian driver asks
"Can you take us to Level 5 of the wards please?" Tali politely asks
The Salarian turned around to face "Are you sure you want to go there? I heard rumors of people disappearing there."
"We're sure." I say as I lean over towards him "Now take us there."
The Salarian driver turned and we headed towards the 5th level.
10 minutes later
We arrived after a very quiet ride. We exited the taxi and paid the Salarian his fee and I watched as the taxi made a fast U-turn and left. I turn around and saw a very crippled infrastructure in the area. Warehouses were falling apart, there seemed to be what looked like shops that were long abandoned, the air smelled stale, and apartments that have collapsed from years of neglect.
"What happened to this place, it looks terrible?" I asked
"This is one of the most untouched places on the Citadel. The Council has wanted to reconstruct this area but have had more urgent matters to attend to. They have been putting their resources into other more important projects." Tali explained as she examined the area
I nodded in response to her explanation "So how will we find Brent in…" but before I could finish my sentence the sound of an explosion and gunfire filled the air. "Where is it coming from" I ask Tali as I look over to her
"I sounds like it is coming from there." She said as she pointed towards a small warehouse that was smoking.
We soon sprinted towards the building "Brent, please let it be you." I hear Tali whisper. I didn't look at her or question her because my mind was to set on getting to that warehouse.
We arrived at the warehouse and the smell of smoke and death filled the structure. The warehouse was a two story warehouse with broken windows running along the upper walls letting light in. The light revealed the Broker's agents, Cerberus agents lying across the ground and a few extra bodies that I didn't recognize. I ran up to a turian that bore the Broker's armor and felt for a pulse but couldn't find one. I looked around and saw a human in the Broker's armor come crawling from behind a half melted crate that had black scorch marks streaking across it. I left the dead turians body and stormed over to the human.
As I approached him I lifted him with my biotics and brought him closer to me. I could see he was shot and was going to die soon as blood was coming from his mouth. "What happened here where is our friend?" I shouted at the bleeding human
"They came from nowhere. We… weren't prepared." He choked out
"Who, who were they!" I shout "Tell me" I shout again as I shake him
"Joseph you need to calm down this man is dying." Tali spoke to me as she walked next to me
I relaxed and placed the man down on a pillar that was missing its left side. Tali walked past me and over to the man and applied medi-gel to his wounds to by us some time.
"Now tell us what happened here?" Tali asked in a calm peaceful tone
"We were making a trade with some Cerberus operatives when they came down on us. It was supposed to be a simple tradeoff for some human. No one heard them approach until it was too late. We tried to fight them but they were better trained than us. The Cerberus agents were the first to go and then we fell just as quickly. It was… a… massacre."
"Who were the people who did this?" Tali asked as she placed her hand on his shoulder to calm him
"They were the… the… Red… Hounds…" the human finished as his head fell limp to the side signaling his death.
"The Red Hounds, who are they?" I asked as I stood up
"I've heard of them along my travels for my pilgrimage. They are a very pricy and strict mercenary group. Very few people can afford them from what I hear. There are stories that say that they are the best soldiers turned mercenary because they sought more… excitement and pay. I also hear that the Red Hounds can find anyone in the Galaxy. Rumors say that the Broker goes to them more than anyone else for information or when he wants someone found." Tali stated as she closed the eyes of the man who just died
"So they are skilled fighters and trackers." I say summing up what Tali just told me. "Wait if the Broker is an important part of their job and payment then why would they cross him?"
"I don't know they must have gotten an offer so great that they would even consider going against the Broker and Cerberus and go as far as killing their agents."
"Well we can ponder on this later but right now we need to find out where they went." I said as I walked over to a body in the far corner of the room that bore red armor
"What are you doing?" Tali asked as her eyes followed me
"Finding answers" I say as I search the body of the mysterious soldier. After searching him for a few seconds I hold up a data pad
I stand up and see Tali looking at the pad "Let's see what we have here." I say as I play the contents on the pad
"We have our orders retrieve the package from the Broker's agents no matter what. Our … employers want this human alive so watch your fire. Once you have the package take him to the old market district on level 5, we will make the exchange there. If we can pull this off we will live like Kings boys." The recording finished
"The market district is not that far away from here let's go." Tali said as she turned and sprinted towards the door leaving me in her dust. I mean I didn't think a Quarian could move that fast. I placed the pad in a storage unit that rests on my chest armor and I sprinted to catch up with Tali.
We ran out the warehouse there was something on my mind that I need to let out
"Tali I need to ask you something." I said as I caught up to her
"What is it?" she said simply
"How is it that mercenaries are even able to get onto the Citadel?"
"They can pay their way through. There's plenty of corruption here but mercenaries never go past the wards. That way C-Sec doesn't track their activities."
"Ok glad to have that cleared up." I say as I come to a stop "Hold up" I say as I signal Tali to stop
"What is it?" she asked as she looked past me and saw a group of men standing in the center of an opening conversing about something but we were too far to hear
"Blue Suns" I say as I clench my fists
"Why are they here?"
I had a feeling why but I was hoping I might be wrong. I was hoping I'm wrong because it is far too early for them to make an appearance… at least I hope.
We began to hug the walls of the structures and snuck around hoping to drop in on their conversation. While sneaking I noticed many things that made me think this area that has seen its better days. There were numerous oil and gas storage units, crates that once contained food or trade goods. But now there's rust on these buildings, gas has soaked into areas of the ground, and rust and decay has gripped this place.
As we neared them I noticed some men in red armor guarding a metal container. I looked closer and noticed an opening at the top where instead of metal there was glass. I positioned myself so I could see and saw part of Brent's face. They are holding him there. Now that I know where Brent was all I needed to know was who it was that wanted him.
After sneaking for a while we were close enough to hear the conversation between the Blue Suns leader and the Red Hounds leader who were both human
"I won't hand him over until I see the money. The Collectors hired us to retrieve him" The Red Hounds leader stated
"The Collectors have ensured that you will receive the money once they have him in their hands. We are here only to hand him over to them." The Blue Suns leader responded trying to calm the ever growing impatience of the Red Hound leader
"If I don't have my money soon I'm going to give him to another organization." The Red Hound leader threatened; clearly patience wasn't his strong suit.
"Who would you sell him to? You attacked the two highest paying employers you can find." The Blue Suns leader countered
The Red Hound leader clenched his fists and soon the Blue Suns leader was on the ground with a bleeding nose. The Blue Suns leader stood up holding his broken nose "That's it open fire we'll take him by force." He shouted as his men released their weapons upon the Red Hounds mercenaries.
Unfortunately for the Blue Suns the Red Hounds had taken the necessary precautions for this situation. Soon the whole area was erupted with gun fire. While this was happening, me and Tali bunkered down hoping they would kill each other.
As soon as the fight began it ended and I looked over a blasted hole in the wall near us and saw that the Red Hounds were the clear victors. I watched as the Red Hounds leader lifted the defeated Blue Suns leader in the air with his biotics and pulled his pistol out and pointed it at the defeat leaders head and pulled the trigger sending crimson blood and brain across the metal floor.
The Red Hound leader dropped the dead man to the floor and turned to one of his subordinates. "How many did we lose?"
"Sir, we lost only three troops." The soldier said as he saluted
"Good, grab the package we'll leave to find someone who will pay for this extra weight." He said as he turned around and stared at the dead Blue Suns merc.
"We have to do something." Tali whispered next to me
I didn't answer her because I was thinking that there was no way that we could defeat these guys. I thought that for a while until it hit me, we have the element of surprise.
"Listen" I quickly say to Tali who still sat next to me "I want you to launch your combat drone at their heavies then I want you to quietly sneak around and pick off their troops while I take care of their leader. If you get overwhelmed then I want you to get out of here Brent wouldn't want you to die for him ok."
I looked at Tali and awaited a response. Then she finally nodded in approval to my idea. "Be careful" I say as I leave her to her part of the plan.
I began to follow the buildings to get as close to this biotic leader as I could. Soon I was within spitting distance of him. I prepared myself for my strike if I could I will kill him in a single strike.
I sat still until the sound of men screaming was heard
"We're under attack!" a soldier in the back shouts
"What the hell…" the Red Hound leader said as he turned to see who was attacking his men.
It was the moment that he turned that I struck. As my body glowed blue I charged him as fast as I could project myself. As I neared him the Red Hound Leader turned around and quickly glowed blue and caught my fist that were aimed at his chest.
"Good trick kid but good enough." He said as he threw my hands down and kneed me in the chin sending stumbling back.
I looked up at him while I held my sore chin "How' I asked
"I knew you were there the whole time I was just waiting for you to make a move. The Collectors told me to expect his friends to come."
"How is it the Collectors already know about him?" I asked as I glowed blue
"The moment Saren knew about him news soon traveled about his… abilities." He said as he smiled and returned a similar blue glow
"If you know about the Collectors then you must know about the Reapers." I say as we begin to circle
"Oh we know and we made a deal with the Collectors for safety but now I have a feeling that deal is broken" he said as he looked down at the dead Blue Suns leader
I took advantage of the second he looked at the dead Blue Sun and charged him but before I could get towards him I felt a foot dig into my chest armor. I slid across the ground for a second because of the force from the kick. I stood up and saw the man charge me and I threw up my hands and caught him by the wrists, stopping his attack.
"You're good kid but you lack training." He said as he spun his hands in a circle, removing my grip and stuck me in the chest once more. I went to counter with a biotic push to get him back but he stuck my hand and kicked me in the face.
I fell to the ground and looked over to see Tali pull guerilla tactics as she would shoot one soldier and draw their attention with her combat drone so she could disappear in the infrastructure.
I looked up and moved my head as a fist crashed into the metal next to it. I threw my hands up and blasted the man back giving me time to stand back up. As I stood up I was immediately struck by a fist to the shoulder followed by a kick to the back of my leg sending me back to the ground. I looked up and I was grabbed by the throat and lifted off the ground.
"Kid you are really getting on my nerves." The leader said as he looked me in the eyes his crimson eyes adding to his intimidation "Although I'll give you this, I haven't had that much of a fight in some time now." He finished as he pulled out his pistol "It's nothing against you kid it's just business."
I closed my eyes as I felt the barrel touch my head. I knew I wouldn't be able to hit off and so I began to embrace my death.
I could hear him click his safety off and I could just see his finger inching toward the trigger. Then I heard a gunshot that rang through the air. I slowly opened my eyes and saw the man's face go blank as blood poured out the side of his head. His grip loosened as I slid out and hit the ground. I looked up coughing as I tried to gain some air and saw the man fall to his knees and finally hitting the ground face first.
I stood up and looked around to find the source of the shot when I heard four more rounds released and four Red Hound mercs dropped as they were rushing behind me. I turned and saw that all two were heads shots as a quarter of their heads were missing. The other two were shots in the chest. I looked at the direction that I assumed the shots came from and saw a figure stand up from one of warehouses two blocks away. From this distance I couldn't tell who it was but I could see their figure.
I began to ponder who it was when a bullet hit my shields that have finally recharged, signaling that the fight was still on. I turned and lifted four Red Hound troopers into the air and slammed them into each other their bones creating a cracking noise as their bodies became limp in the air.
I turned and saw Tali drop another heavy as she blew a huge hole in the turians chest with her shotgun. She then sent her combat drone that charged into a group of bunkered down troopers. When they noticed the drone they tore it to pieces but the drone wasn't finished with them upon its destruction it exploded and sent all five troopers into the air. I took advantage of this and took a massive metal crate and slammed it down on top of them crushing them. Blood began to flow from underneath the crate. I turned and saw the three remaining Red Hound mercs try to retreat but they were immediately gunned down by rifle fire. I turned to see the figure that saved me earlier. He walked past me and stepped on the back of one of the Red Hound troopers that was crawling away, pulled his pistol out and shot him in the back of the head.
"Who are you?" I asked the mysterious marksman as he turned to face me. The man stood over me and had a hood over his head and a long black trench coat.
The figure grabbed his hood and pulled it down revealing his face. It revealed someone that I figured wouldn't appear for some time. The person standing before me was none other than the greatest assassin… Thane
"My name is Thane I was hired to kill that man before you." He said dryly as he pointed towards the Red Hounds leader "I saw that you required assistance so I decided to help since you also helped me by distracting him and his men."
"You used us to get to him… good strategy." I say as I look over and see Tali place her hand on the case that holds Brent.
"If you don't mind me asking what's in that metallic crate?" Thane asks looking over where Tali was
"It's our friend." I say quietly
"My condolences, now I'm must leave." Thane stated
"Well I'm glad to have" I say turning toward Thane only to find him gone "your help"
I looked around to find Thane but I couldn't. I really want to know how he does that. I turned to Tali and over to her. I placed my hand on her shoulder and said "We've found him."
"I'm glad" she said in a low sad voice that caught my attention but I couldn't focus too much on it because I have gotten my friend back.
AN: That's the end of Chapter 8. A few things are really starting to change now. I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to see you next chapter.