And It All Seemed Harmless: Chapter 17

"Shepard?"

"Yes EDI?"

"The signal is becoming more and more scrambled as we approach the Genex Chemical Building. Perhaps Dr. T'Soni is within it."

The building before Shepard is massive, its size comparable to that of any of the skyscrapers in the Ilium skyline downtown. The building is not far from the center of Nos Astra, and it is styled after the other city buildings. The stories are too numerous for Shepard to count upon a visual glance, and each floor is marked by wide spanning glass windows that give off a vibrant purple light in the nighttime. If EDI hadn't announced it was some sort of Chemical manufacturing building, the soldier would have guessed it to be a modern hotel or apartment complex rather than a business building. The two armed guards at the doors are the soldier's only indication she is in the right place. She takes up position about fifty yards from them, out of their eyesight behind one of the sky cars parked in the front lot of the structure.

"EDI, analyze the structural blueprints. If they aren't a matter of public record, use the link to Liara's console created when we uploaded information from those terminals to her database. She probably has the prints of every building on this planet. Also, try to hack into their security systems if you can. It's too massive for me to search every floor, I don't want something to happen to them while I waste time twenty stories below."

"Understood Commander."

"And send an empty signal to Jack's omni-tool to pinpoint her position. If she's in there already, I need to find her."

Shepard takes a deep breath, running her hand through her sweat matted hair. The soldier's exhaustion was reaching a peak, and yet her chest felt tight with the adrenaline of the situation. Though EDI would be able to give her a rough packet of intel to use to navigate the building, the soldier was concerned of her own capability to infiltrate where the hostages were being held without alerting Archer of her presence. Shepard had been in more than enough hostage situations to know that if there didn't appear to be a link between those taken and their captors, they were just bait for a bigger fish. And if Archer was the one behind this, if he had taken Liara because of her appearance in the security footage from Eternity, the Commander herself was the big fish he intended to snare.

If Shepard thought there was any chance Liara and Miranda would be spared in trade, she would do it in a heartbeat. She would give herself to a mad man for any member of her squad, and would give anything she was or had for Liara's sake. However Archer did not seem to be the fair trade sort, and his very presence seeking vengeance gave the Commander a strong feeling in her gut that he would be doing anything he could to try to hurt her. Even harming those she cared about before her. He was not the type of captor to secure individuals to trade for another, he was the type to use them to bring the target in sight, and then eliminate them when they were of no further use.

Hopefully Jack is staying safe….

Shepard knew she would be unable to sleep at night if Archer were to get a hold of Jack. The young criminal's eyes had been wide, filled with fear and threatening to spill over with tears of the past as they came face to face with the horrors of Aite. Shepard would never have brought Jack along for the final battle with the rogue VI had she known it was all a result of disturbing human experimentation.

But Shepard hadn't known. And she had brought Jack. And Jack had seen everything, her frail body looking ready to collapse as they stood in front of David Archer's torture in the cold metal lab.

Shepard had sent Jack for extraction immediately at the sight, spouting an excuse about needing someone at the doors of the facility to signal their shuttle. To the soldier's relief, Jack obeyed with a word and left, leaving Shepard and Miranda to contact Grissom Academy and hold David and Gavin until Cerberus troops arrived to secure them.

Witnessing Jack's paralyzing fear at the very implication she could be in David's place again, Shepard had promised herself she would never let Jack be in any of those situations ever again. Standing in front of the Genex building where Jack and Archer likely were, Shepard felt like that promise was already in jeopardy.

Why did Jack even charge in without me? She hates both Miranda and Liara, why face a situation that we have good reason to believe is being caused by a man who represents her greatest fear for them?

The soldier had been musing over that question the entire way to the building. So far, she was completely unable to place why Jack had involved herself so personally. The convict was a complicated woman, with a survival instinct so core to her being Shepard expected her to wait for a team or to remove herself from involvement entirely after she had notified the Commander.

Sure, Shepard was aware Jack cared about the Normandy crew more than she let on, but notifying Shepard of peril on their behalf would usually be enough for Jack if the mission seemed like more trouble than it was worth. She wouldn't hang any of the crew out to dry, but she wouldn't get herself killed for them. She had survived too much to die like that, and Shepard understood. What Shepard didn't understand, was the change of heart that had led to the convict charging into an unknown facility likely containing state of the art fortifications for Miranda and Liara. To think of it, Shepard didn't even understand how Jack had become involved at all.

She went to go check on Miranda in Eternity? Why?

Before Shepard can muse further, her musings keeping her anxiety at bay for the several minutes it takes for EDI to accomplish Shepard's demands, the electronic voice of her companion AI sounds from the soldier's tool.

"Commander. I have accessed a schematic of the building from Dr. T'Soni's terminal. It has been uploaded to you omni-tool, and possible extraction routes are highlighted in your interface. Accessing security footage was unsuccessful. There is a network of security cameras in the building, but they have been recently disabled as of yesterday. A reset at the internal security terminal is needed to access them. I have also marked that terminal on your schematic. I recommend using stealth to access the terminal before attempting to locate Ms. Lawson and Dr. T'Soni. There is a lesser probability of being discovered in your path to the terminal than there would be searching each floor of the building."

"Exactly my thoughts. Contact the Normandy and get anyone on the squad that you can contact on stand by. I know we're on shore leave, but some of them have to be nearby the ship and ready to gear up. Don't send anyone to this location until my command. Subtlety is going to be very important to get them out of here alive."

At Shepard's words, a large explosion hits the soldier like a skycar in Illium traffic. The guards at the front door are knocked back several paces by the blast, and Shepard's ears pound from the awful sound. The third floor of the building is dotted with flames, the blast having shattered the glass in every window frame on the level. Broken glass is littered around the guards before her, and they step gingerly through it on their way into the building to likely investigate the third floor chaos.

"EDI! I need to go in, now! Where is Jack? Was she in that explosion? Did they find her?"

"According to Subject Zero's eezo levels, strong vitals, and coordinates, I believe she was the cause of the explosion Commander."

"Dammit Jack…."

Shepard leaps from her position and strafes toward the building. Unfortunately, the soldier's only consolation is that if the catastrophic amount of guards now converging on Jack's position were to ordered capture Shepard, anyone else would likely be held as bait for the Commander with the other two hostages, not terminated.

The soldier pauses when she reaches the front door, flattening her back against the wall and peering over her shoulder to assess the guards in the front lobby. There are more than ten, a number almost impossible to pass by unseen. However, the chaos of the explosion is acting as a perfect distraction, and the guards are arguing about whether they should hold their position or charge upstairs as backup. One guard is fixated on the elevator lift in the center of the room, mashing his hand against the call button as if every squad in the building wasn't attempting to use it. If the soldier is attempting to call the lift at all, Shepard can safely assume the stairwell was full of charging guards.

So both options are out for bringing me upstairs to that terminal...why are they charging around like animals? Isn't anyone giving them orders?

The chaos within the hired mercenaries practically confirms to the soldier that Archer was indeed in charge here. A scientist alike to Archer would lack the experience to command a mercenary group, so it was very plausible to the Commander that these arms were hired by the scientist when he fled. Absence of time working for Archer had probably led to their lack of familiarity with procedure, and they seemed unfamiliar with the building at best.

They must have taken over the building on Archer's behalf...they know less about it than I do.

The realization is comforting for the spectre. If the building had been recently invaded, there were likely few advanced security measures in place, making it a less complicated extraction than she had previously expected. However, a large amount of hired guns with little direction could be even more dangerous, at least an organized mercenary group could be predicted.

There. The soldier is almost overjoyed for a moment when she locates a vent on the far side of the large room upon her most recent scan.

That should allow me to access any floor I want….

"Freeze. Identify yourself."

The soldier's head flips forward, and she is greeted with the sight of a guard dressed in the same uniform as those inside advancing from the sky car lot, his rifle trained on her body.

How did I miss him?

The soldier mentally berates herself. She should have combed the parking lot when she arrived. It was a rookie mistake to have found cover without surveillance, but the soldier was never as sharp as she usually could be when Liara was involved.

Shepard puts her hands on her head and stands still as the soldier approaches. When he reaches her, he places the barrel of his weapon against her chest, his helmet inches from her face.

"I said identify yourself trespasser."

The soldier's lack of armor and weaponry makes her a vulnerable target. Had she caught this man by surprise, she could have used her biotics to dispatch him quite simply. Now, with his rifle trained on her unarmored chest, she was in a poor position. However, the man asking about her identity at close enough range to fully inspect her face did reinforce her notion that the team was inexperienced. If the objective was to lure Commander Shepard, shouldn't he know what she looked like?

Maybe I look different in my big bad armor..

Or maybe this isn't about me...

"My name is Tara Hawke. My sister works in the Genex building, I wanted to know what was going on, I heard an explosion."

"Identification." The man doesn't ask any questions to her story, leaving the soldier wondering which parts of it he believed, if any. He steps forward and begins to pat her down, checking for any weapons that might allude she was not here for an innocent purpose.

As his gloved hands reach her hips, Shepard brings her knee to his crotch, causing him to lurch forward into the soldier's biotically charged fist which perfectly contacts his helmeted head. His neck snaps instantly from the contact, and he falls in a lifeless heap into the soldier's arms, who silently drags him away from the door. She sets his body behind a nearby sky car, and begins to strip him from his armor and weapons in robotic fashion.

Her carelessness in not sweeping the lot earlier has unsettled the soldier, and she realizes in her distracted state, there was a real possibility it could happen again. If she was to make it to the others without alerting anyone to her presence on site, maybe she should enter as another.

The armor pieces snap to the soldier's body and though the entire suit of armor is larger than what the soldier would usually don for battle, she can manage the weight well enough for a good fight. The slight discomfort is worth the protection the suit offers her over her thin fatigues.

"EDI? I'm entering the building undercover. Block anyone from contacting me when I'm inside to protect my identity. I will contact first if I am in need of anything when I am clear."

"Understood Commander."

Rolling the stripped body underneath the car, the soldier turns and jogs towards the building entrance once more. When she enters, the guards on the ground floor are still arguing between themselves, so she turns her attention to the stairwell.

Amateurs.

The stairwell is packed but beginning to clear out, guards milling to their respective floors and not rushing to the third floor as Shepard expected.

The situation must be under control. Shit, Jack!

Shepard side steps several guards and makes her way to the third floor anyway, only to be stopped by a guard in similar armor on the landing.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

The guard is strapped with multiple upgraded weapons, a package of incendiary rounds on his belt.

He's wearing a bit of credits in gear, he must be one of the mercs in charge..

"Is the situation on the third floor contained? I was notified of intruders sir."

The guard nods slowly, crossing her arms. "It was contained. Get back to your position."

As the soldier's mind races, trying to craft any excuse she might use to follow Jack, another well-armed merc appears beside the first one. The merc is identical to the other, but this one is not wearing a helmet. In his hands are two cracked pieces which look like opposite sides of the helmet.

"Brax. Do you know who the fuck that woman was?"

The first guard shakes his head, leading to the helmetless guard slamming half of his broken helmet into the wall in frustration.

"We need to figure out how to restrain her. The ones upstairs... they're struggling with her. We're going to lose more men holding her than we did catching her. Only order I've heard from Archer is to capture anyone who enters the building, not waste them for some fucking reason. I told him I knew she was nothing but he won't listen, he's up there wasting time talking about how he can restrain her. I'd like to see that thin little prick deal with her."

"How do you know she's nothing?"

"Recognized her. Subject Zero, she's famous in the back channels. Every merc company has tried to recruit her at some point and I was the poor bastard sent to try to bring her in for the Blue Suns when I ran with them. She's good, but she's worthless."

"Did you say Subject Zero?" Shepard interrupts, causing both men to look at her, the helmeted one snarling at her voice.

"We didn't ask you recruit. Back to your post unless you want to go up there and be Zero's chew toy."

"I think I can help." Both men cross their arms in disbelief, but Shepard continues. "I served on Purgatory with her, when she was still imprisoned. I know a lot about Zero. I think I can restrain her."

The second guard chuckles, then tosses the pieces of his helmet at her. They clink off her chest plate and fall to the ground.

"Be my guest. Come with me. You can tell Archer everything you know about Zero."