Expect the unexpected – part II
"What in the name of the goddess should I do to leave this fearful place?" Flickering thoughts were moving through her head since she had to leave the small freighter whose captain had been "arrested" which meant on this station he was sent into retirement, the permanent one for sure. Fear, anger and unease were rolling through her, left her shivering and searching in vain for a solution. "With 200 credits I won`t be able to find a ship to another world, regardless how far away, and mercy is an extinct gift in this hellish place, so what now? I won't go and beg my mother to send me some money, not before I tried everything else. But first I have to find a place for the night. If I rent a room somewhere the little money I have will be wasted in a couple of days, so maybe I should try the Afterlife, if they let me in that is…" Her mind full of wandering thoughts, a suppressed fear always on the edge of breaking through made her inattentive to her surroundings, so she bumped into the back of a batarian, who had gradually slowed down his pace, maybe to enter one of the shabby establishments along this small street.
He turned around, fearing an attack, already gripping behind his back for a weapon; his two batarian companions did likewise. He looked surprised when seeing the young Asari before him instead of trouble.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I just didn't realize anything around me, being deeply in thoughts. Please, accept my apology." She hastily tried to ease the situation.
The batarians surprised look turned into an uncomforting smile "What do we have here, guys, seems as if our search for some amusement has suddenly come to an end" His companions quickly surrounded her. "Nice one, you found there, or did she found you?" One of the other batarians added chuckling about his own joke.
She fought to regain her composure, but to no avail, frantically looking for some aid, but seemingly she was alone with them "Don`t scream, don`t run, stay calm, concentrate, concentrate and use your biotics to hold them at bay" But she was unable to concentrate on her biotic abilities, her mother never wanted her to get a proper training, so the outcome of her efforts presented themselves as some biotic discharges flickering across her hands.
The first batarian – supposedly the leader of this pack – grabbed her face and forced her to look at him "Stop that, or you will regret it! No one will help you, be sure of that, this is Omega. To make it up to me you will accompany us to our quarters, we surely will have some fun together." He said with desire gleaming in his eyes and a nasty grin on his face.
"Please, let me go, I didn`t cause any harm, I am not that kind of woman" She made a last attempt, but already knew it would be in vain.
…
"Another ten minutes and I can have a rest and think about a way out of this mess, didn`t expect this trip to consume that much time." I decided to shorten my way a little by taking one of the smaller conjunction ways I normally would try to avoid because of the shadows casted by the dim light and the sparse room to move. 30 meters before me a trio of shadows stood around something or someone, nearly blocking the way. "Stick to your beliefs would be helpful sometimes" I thought with a sigh "If I turn around they will get suspicious, so be it" I continued my steady pace, now only 10 meters away "Perfect, batarians, by the form of their heads, couldn't get worse." They were laughing while they concentrated on something in their middle I still couldn't make out. One of them looked in my direction, his gaze turned into a killing glance when he recognized me to be human. Suddenly a melodic but trembling female voice pleaded "Please, let me go, I didn`t cause any harm, I am not that kind of woman". With this I realized the "something" I still couldn't see must be a woman they were threatening. "Don't get into trouble, that`s not of your business, you should be grateful, most batarians hate humans, but these seem to be distracted enough to leave me alone." I moved cautiously past them as one stepped a little aside "Tend to your own business, human" the batarian grumbled while I passed him. While moving by, I could see they held an Asari in hostage, the poor thing being at the edge of panicking while tears streaming down her face
"3 meters, 5 meters, take another step, move forward, keep yourself out of trouble" Another now tearful "Please" followed by nasty laughter interrupted my attempt to lull myself. "Fuck you very much, I cannot do this" With that I turned around on my heels, approaching the small group again "In case your communicator had a malfunction I iterate it for you: She is not interested" crossing my arms before me, I tried to stay at ease while hiding the adrenaline rush I could feel was already building up behind my composed appearance.
The batarians turned around, drawing their attention from the Asari maiden "Didn't I say you should tend to your own business, human, shut up and be gone now, you risk your health while standing there." The seemingly leading war dog hissed at me, his eyes sparkling with hatred while his left hand moved slowly to his backside in preparation to draw a weapon.
"I appreciate your concerns about my health, but I feel pretty fine right here where I'm standing, thank you. I once more ask you politely to let go of your hostage, otherwise you are risking not only your health but your life." I said calmly, but appointed, wearing an unstressed expression I clearly didn't feel like inside "The cloaking device will come in handy again, second time on the first day, especially in these close quarters, presuming they won't let their prize go, what is almost sure." I thought while readying myself for expected attack.
The batarians looked at each other, a little unsure because of my unwavering display of self-confidence and calmness. With a roar the supposed-to-be leader draw his shotgun from behind his back, his companions now drawing their weapons likewise. On his first movement I activated the cloaking device, quickly moved out of the immediate shotgun radius and draw my heavy pistol, activating the armour-piercing ammo. The batarian in front of me gasped in surprise as I vanished from his sight, frantically looking from left to right.
"4…3…2…" I counted down the remaining seconds before I would emerge, changing the angle to the first batarian, so their hostage would not be standing between the first two of them and me. In the second the cloak collapsed the muzzle of my Phalanx was an arms' length away from the head of their leader, I breathed out and pulled the trigger two times, the first one shattered his kinetic barriers, the second one covered his companion standing behind him with brain matter and other debris. Both remaining batarians were stunned for a second, time enough to pull the trigger twice again, sending the contents of the second ones head onto the wall behind him. The third batarian who still held the Asari with one arm close to his body fired two bursts with his Shuriken in my direction, managing somehow to let half of his shots go astray in his frantic attempt to avoid his imminent death. My kinetic barriers sustained the hits, going down on 40%. The blinking icon on my visor told me the cloaking device had reloaded and I activated it immediately. Vanishing again before his eyes was too much for him to bear; he hurled the Asari towards my former direction, turned around and started running towards the entrance to the main street I came from in the first place. I caught the Asari before she could crash into me; the impact caused the cloak to collapse, so she cried out in fear as I returned to the visible world only a few inches away from her. She tried to get away from me, her eyes in panic and splashed into the dirt and filth which covered seemingly half of the station.
Moving my view back to the fleeing batarian my visor displayed the distance with 60 meters now "This son-of-a-bitch is faster than a weasel, but that won`t help him this time" I draw my Mantis, releasing my breath while the rifle extended to its full length, took aim at the back of his head and pulled the trigger. The rifle issued its usual humming "Thump" followed by another one a fragment of a second later as my shot found its target; the head of my last opponent seemingly ceased to exist.
I turned around to look for the Asari and found her leaning against the wall next to me; she was shivering, sobbing and continuously murmuring. "Shhh, calm down now, nobody's going to harm you anymore. Please follow me, we have to get away from here before someone recognizes this mess and tomorrow half the station knows who is responsible for it."
She turned her gaze in my direction, her face stained with dirt and tears, her big midnight blue eyes still watering "Why did they do this, I don`t understand, and you, you killed them." She started sobbing again.
I picked up her small bag, the only luggage I could make out for the moment, took her arm gentle but assertive, leading her away in the opposite direction as the last villain had lost his head. I tried to keep an eye on my surroundings, while I lead the Asari as quick as possible away from the battleground. About ten minutes later I stopped in front of a closed shop of a somewhat better appearance than most of the others. "Ok for now, I think we are out of immediate danger. You are a little better now?"
She gave me a startled look, suddenly realizing that we had come to a halt. She tried to focus her thoughts, partially regaining her composure now, still fear flickering in her eyes. "I surely will need some time to swallow this wholly, but for walking it should be enough."
"Ok, then" I replied releasing her arm "Events made me your guardian angel for tonight, so where may I bring you? And before you start to protest, I am insisting on bringing you home safely."
"Home? I don't have a home, at least not on this damned station, I just tried to figure out where to stay for the night when they caught me for their "amusement" as they called it." She answered with a faint of tremble in her voice.
"Hmm, this doesn't make things easier then." I stated while curling the short hairs of my chin beard. "The only thing I can offer you right now is to stay in my room for the night in a lodge nearby."
She eyed me suspiciously, the fear returning to her eyes instantly.
"I know how this must sound to you right now, but you will have to trust me in that. I'm not in for "amusements" I can assure you, speaking of that I simply don't do "amusements recently." My voice fainted at that last sentence; again uninvited memories invaded my perception.
Looking at his face, she recognized a sudden distance in the eyes of her saviour, accompanied by a deep sadness which he seemingly struggled to overcome before his gaze turned back to her. "Maybe I can trust him, he doesn't seem a bad guy, hell, he just rescued me risking his own life." She managed to bring a smile on her face "I trust you in that, please let us go then." He looked at her in surprise, and was apparently relieved by her decision. "Well then, I don't understand his motives, but his surprise was genuine."