A/N: Worry not, the next chapter is almost ready, no long wait for it. It will be AWESOME!
Nate was out shopping in Nos Astra. He needed to upgrade, the Mantis didn't cut it; it was good, but not great. The assassin had earbuds on, a human rock band was loudly playing. It saved him from the annoyance of all the volus arguing with their customers. It was a typical Illium morning, people rushed around, there were disputes, nothing special.
Nate stopped the music and headed into the store. A few minutes later he had decided for an Incisor. Three round burst sounded good. As he had a few thousand credits to spare, he also bought himself a new Phalanx heavy pistol. The laser sight oughta help.
The assassin headed out of the store. He also wanted a new visor, bio-amp and the newly announced omni-blade upgrade.
The morning turned into day, credits changed owners and Nate acquired new gear. As time passed on, the feeling that he was being watched strengthened. The weird-looking turian just standing there and mumbling to himself, the salarian looking at the same helmet for twenty minutes, the krogan at the fish tank looking away from the fish. He wouldn't have noticed them, but the last one was suspicious. From personal experience he knew that you can't make a krogan stay away from a fish tank. Not for long anyway. But he wasn't occupied with anything else, just standing, occasionally sending careful glances trough the crowd.
Something was wrong and he knew it. The question was, who were they? He needed to get out of there immediately. As he sped up towards the nearest cab stand, the strange people also started moving. He was just a few metres from the nearest taxi when he felt someone kicking him in the back of his knee. Nate's foot went limp and he stumbled. That's all the attacker needed. It was a turian, tall and muscular. Nate was dragged into a side alley. Noone was around to see it.
An asari walked up. Her face was covered with a black and white helmet on his head; Shadow Broker mercenaries.
"Nate Halls. The Shadow Broker wants to make a deal with you," the asari said.
"And you couldn't have sent me a warning message or something?" Nate replied. He had no intention on becoming one of the Broker's agents.
"We need you to eliminate a competitor. In return, we'll let you live."
"Well, who is it? The target?"
"Liara T'Soni. Agreed?"
"I'll have to think for a second."
"You do not have much of a choice here. You can't lie, we'll put a tail on you until you kill her."
"Actually, I do have a choice," Nate smiled childishly.
"And that would be…?"
"Wether to spit on you and escape, or just… wait, no. I don't have time to talk. So go f**k your self and goodbye!".
Nate hit the turian holding him with an elbow and used the omni-blade to stab the asari in the stomach. He jumped over the body and ran towards the exit. The krogan agent standing nearby decided to stop him. Time to try out the bio-amp. He fired up his biotics and used them to throw the krogan backwards out of the alley and over the railing.
"The upgrade certainly was worth it," he commented. Nate turned around just in time to see the turian rush in, holding a heavy pistol in front of him. The omni-blade got another victim before the merc reacted. The Kuwashii visor's kill count meter jumped to three.
Nate turned around once again and finally hailed that cab.
"Liara T'Soni's info brokerage!" Nate shouted at the taxi.
"Routing… ETA: 5 minutes," the VI answered.
Nate dialed Liara the very next moment: "Liara, the Shadow Broker has a hit on you. Be careful, I'll be right over. Try to contact Thane or Shepard."
"You called too late. My secretary already attempted to shoot me. I dealed with her, don't worry. Calling Shepard now, bye!" Liara replied.
The taxi arrived and Nate stormed out, up the stairs and into the office. Liara was standing in a firm stance, aiming at the door.
"Let's go to my apartment. Shepard is ETA 4 hours,"
"That's… bad. Come," Nate drew his new Phalanx. The pair walked out, side to side, ready for attacks.
They reached the cab and took it to the asari's apartment.