(I promise it will get better soon, but I'm a firm believer all hell should break loose before it gets better. Also, I'm looking for a beta for the rest of this story and for future stories. I can offer some pro audio/podcast work/beta-ing your stories in return. If interested, shoot me a message!)
And It All Seemed Harmless: Chapter 18
When the guard leading her upstairs finally stops, Shepard finds herself harshly pushed by the through the doors of the stairway landing.
"Archer was just here. Should be close. Watch your step. Zero's been leaving bodies everywhere."
True to the soldier's word, the narrow hall is littered with bodies to the point Shepard cannot decipher where the trail to Jack began and ended. The guard guides her through them, and they turn a corner to find themselves face to face with Dr. Gavin Archer.
Rage fills the spectre at his very sight, her grip on her newly procured rifle tightening to the point she's convinced she can tear the metal should she hold it any tighter. Archer does not glance at either of them as they approach, his attention on a panicked asari mercenary before him rattling on about their dangerous biotic prisoner, begging the man to let them kill her.
"And you think you're capable of that?" Archer says with a thin smile, his eyes lighting up as if he was genuinely enjoying the panic visible in the woman. It makes Shepard nauseous. "Your men don't care that I told them not to kill her, they'd rather apologize to each of us bar all consequence than lose their lives to that biotic monster. They're trying to kill her don't you see? And they're failing."
The mercenary huffs at the statement, straightening up as if to deflect the comment.
"The job is our first priority Dr. Archer. We would dispose of her if allowed."
This statement garnishes a chuckle from Archer, and he tsks his tongue in response, his dangerous smile never once leaving his lips.
"Have you ever studied psychology? Wait, of course you haven't. Allow me to inform you. The human mind is a fantastic creature, but a flawed one. Clinical trials have more than proved the theory that under duress, the mind does not perform to its full capability. I would say Subject Zero is an excellent example of duress, wouldn't you Captain?"
The captain shrugs, her tense body displaying her frustration at being lectured when her mercenaries were losing their lives in the same building.
"The correct answer is yes. My, not an academic were you? Makes sense as to how you ended up in a mercenary faction. Under duress the mind reverts back to its core instincts. Survival is the most core instinct of them all. I think it is a safe hypothesis that Subject Zero is causing your men to think only of surviving, not following your orders Captain."
"Sir." The helmetless merc beside Shepard interjects, leading her to Archer's side. "This one has a history with Zero, service record includes some time at Purgatory when Zero was imprisoned. She may have some insight into restraining her."
Archer flicks his eyes to them, never once losing his self-assured smile that infuriates the spectre.
He has Liara, Miranda, and Jack. And the fucker has the audacity to be enjoying himself? He's not leaving alive this time…
"Thank you Lieutenant, but that would be unnecessary. I don't care about Subject Zero's background or what shiv made her squirm on Purgatory. I have everything I need to restrain her."
The lieutenant looks into Archer's eyes with an expression of pure murder.
"Then why don't we do it already?"
Something flashes in Archer's eyes that Shepard can't read, and the scientist takes a slow step towards the lieutenant, only stopping when the asara interjects.
"To Zero's cell. Go. You're to be stationed there until further notice. He's the source of our credits and our contract, you don't question him." The asari states, her eyes cold and focused as she looks into the eyes of her officer. The man nods, and leaves the hall, the fire in his steps gone as he leaves to face what would likely be his death.
"Thank you Captain, maybe you're more qualified for this than I thought."
Archer turns his attention to Shepard then, his eyes tracing over her as if evaluating her. The soldier stiffens, a nagging fear in the back of her mind praying there was nothing visible to the scientist that could allude to her identity.
"I apologize the Lieutenant took you from your post for nothing, but you may still be of use, so do not stray. Captain, I believe now is the time to tell you, I have attained a biotic dampener."
At the statement, Shepard half expects the asari to lunge for Archer's throat, to choke him for letting her men die while he withheld a weapon that could disable the powerful biotic killing them. The captain does not however, holding her professional gait and cold expression. It is something Shepard struggles to do at the same words, a feeling of impossibility taking over her at the news of a biotic dampener being inside the building. Though each of her squadmates within the building was trained with a weapon, they relied on their biotics for most high level combat situations. Jack was a force of nature as a biotic anomaly, capable of tearing vehicles and enemies apart in single movements, but a very average shot in the soldier's professional opinion. Escaping with everyone once the dampener was activated would be difficult, or impossible altogether.
"Why use it now instead of turning it on when Zero was confirmed in the building?" The captain inquisits, her tone surprisingly steady for how incensed the soldier imagined her to be.
"The biotic dampener requires a power supply. There is a substantial generator in the building, but it is directly linked to the building security system. The moment we utilize it, the moment we have a network of security cameras vulnerable to enemy hacking online. Do you see my tactical thinking Captain?"
The asari nods slowly, though from her cold stare, Shepard knows the justification is not nearly enough for her.
"I will take a small squad of your men for protection and activate it. I can take this one your foolish Lieutenant dragged up here and the two stationed outside the chambers where I secured the dampener. Once I activate it, I want you to personally put a bullet in Zero's head. The others are more than enough to lure Shepard here, Zero has proved to be only a liability. When we have Shepard in custody, we can dispose of the other two. I only need the Commander to negotiate for David's custody."
After all he's done to him...he still won't let David go? That's what this is about... Not vengeance, but a man who can't let go of the experiment he gave everything, even his humanity for...
Shepard bristles at Archer's words, her face heating with rage underneath her helmet. The soldier's skin takes the hue of a scarlet red as blood rushes to her face, creating an anger so intense the soldier is dizzy from the emotion. Though the soldier had been aware her friends were nothing more than convenient bait to the scientist, the confirmation sets a pure hatred into the Commander's heart. Any man willing to spend the life of the asari she loved so haphazardly deserved a brutal end, one the spectre would happily provide. Fighting the urge to put a slug into the man that very moment, the spectre grits her teeth.
Not yet...not until the others are safe. Or at least, not until there's no one around to sound an alarm.
"Come." Archer beckons Shepard to his side with a tilt of his hand, and the soldier follows, eager for her opportunity to be alone with the man on their way to the others Archer intended on recruiting to his protection. The asari gives Archer one final salute, and then practically races down the hall, a bit more energy in her step as she rushes to finish off the convict that had taken so many soldiers from her command.
I have to kill Archer before he touches that dampener….Jack doesn't have a chance against hundred of years of mercenary training without her biotics.
Shepard's eyes follow the asari, watching anxiously for the captain to turn the corner and leave her alone with the scientist. After several moments, the asari disappears, but to Shepard's disappointment, a crew of well-armed mercenaries take her place, marching down the hall towards the pair.
"Sir! Brax sent us to relieve the posts stationed up here. He was under the impression Zero had weakened sentry forces considerably."
Archer nods slowly, waving them over to where he and Shepard stood.
"With us. I have a post that requires considerable protection."
The mercenaries fall into step with Archer and Shepard as the scientists leads them all down an adjacent hall towards a reinforced door guarded by two additional mercenaries. Shepard takes a deep breath, surveying the situation for any opening she could possibly take to attack them before the dampener was activated. The soldiers stationed at the door carried low-grade weapons and average armor, easily dispatchable by the Commander. The true threat was the guards that had just joined the pair, each carrying modified weapons, one even sporting a military grade flamethrower. Though the soldier could easily fell all of them, she silently doubted her ability to do so in such a swift manner that none of them would sound an alarm that could put Liara and the others in danger.
When the small crew reaches the large door, Archer uses his credentials to unlock it, stepping aside to allow the others to enter before him.
"Fan out. I want eyes on this entire room."
The mercenaries take his cue, spreading themselves out throughout the small room, their eyes and guns locked on the dampener's position. Shepard places herself closest to the door, and Archer tips his head to her as he enters behind them.
The odds are no better in the small chamber than they were in the hall, but as Archer approaches the dampener, the soldier realizes there would be no perfect opportunity to kill him, only the one she had right now. Creating an alarm within the facility could lead to the execution of all of her companions, but there was also a good chance they would not be killed until Shepard was in custody, something the soldier could hopefully avoid for a precious time. If that dampener were to be activated however, Jack would be dead in minutes, an almost concrete fact. Though the soldier's heart ached at possibly putting Liara in danger, she would not allow Jack to be set up for slaughter by the asari captain, not if she could help it. Liara would understand, and she and Miranda had a better chance of escaping with their biotic powers intact regardless of the alarm.
Dammit Jack...why didn't you wait for me?
As the soldier raises her rifle to fire on the dampener, whispering a silent apology to Liara in her mind for the danger she would be putting her loved one in, the air suddenly leaves the soldier's lungs, a shell scorching her in the chest plate. Her body is flung back as if she were a rag doll, her helmeted skull making contact with the wall behind her in a sickening crack. The soldier attempts to scramble to her feet to retaliate, but only manages to bring her body onto her fists and knees, her vision an assortment of colors and shapes that barely form a picture. What little she can make out in the blur is a horrible picture she wished she could not see. Archer is standing beside the dampener, that disgusting smug grin on his face and a large rifle in his hands, still smoking from firing the large concussive blast. The other guards in the room are converging on Shepard, their weapons trained on her hunched body, ready to finish Archer's work at a moment's notice.
"Welcome Shepard, I see you've adapted our fashion quite well. However, that armor does little to hide your less than human traits my dear Commander. Our security equipment detected your Cerberus grade cybernetics the moment you entered the building. And, your heroics are sickenly apparent despite whatever you mask you hide behind."
Gloved hands capture the soldier's arms, the butt of a rifle ramming into her helmet once, twice, three times until it cracks, the spectre's red hair spilling out of the broken metal. Shepard's head is pounding, her vision further blurred from the repeated head injury. She doesn't see Archer activate the dampener, but when she tries to rally her biotic energy around her, rallying any energy she can use to slam her body into the scientist in one last attempt to stop him, the blue light does not come.
Oh God….Oh God Jack...Jack?!
A picture flashes through her mind, a horrifying imagination of the asari captain unleashing round after round into Jack's frail body as the small biotic tries to use her power. She hears Archer's cruel laugh across the room, as if he is aware of the vanguard's fear her friend may be gone already. His footsteps make sharp taps on the metal floor as he crosses the room to her side, his fist curling around her neck, forcing her to look at him.
"Something wrong Commander?" Archer's face appears even more twisted in the Commander's altered vision, his features contorted into a sight as putrid as a husk. Shepard is unable to even respond before a sharp pain slaps the side of her skull once again, her blurred vision becoming overtaken with a solid black with each blow. The soldier fights for consciousness, aware that captivity could mean a certain end for the asari she would never stop fighting to protect. The aim of her fist is sloppy at best, but she still manages to lay a punch to Archer's throat, causing him to lurch back from the spectre, choking on his own breath. The mercenary beside Shepard reacts instantly, once again bringing the butt of his heavy weapon to her temple, perfectly vulnerable without her biotic barrier. The last thoughts in the soldier's mind before she loses consciousness are silent apologies to Jack, to Miranda…
And to Liara.
