Chapter 8

Fickle Trust

"You aren't serious; you can't just walk around looking like that!" Velpia protested. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Velpia put her face into her hand. "First, we aren't technically allowed to open-carry our weapons besides our sidearms, and second, you look like you're about to storm the place. Lose the armor and the vest."

Martin threw his hands up in defeat, left for the bathroom, and removed his armor and combat vest. He emerged from the bathroom dressed as he would have back on Earth. Black hoodie, baggy Camo Cargo Pants, and combat boots. "You literally look no different." She said, exasperated as she shook her head. "So you're telling me what you're wearing isn't armor?"

"Nope, civilian clothes, it just has built-in Barriers." Velpia took his armor and removed the back plate that held his Kinetic barriers. She handed them to him, "Put this on under your shirt." Martin set the Plate down, removed his Hoodie, and put on the Barrier device. She watched him put himself back together and then grab the collapsed rifle he had rigged a sling too. He turned around, stuffed it down his pants to his thigh, and secured it. "Never knew you stuffed your pants," She said while peeking over his shoulder.

"I am not going to be caught off guard." He said while zipping his pants back up. Velpia laughed as she walked to the door. "You literally carry a hand cannon, and you still need a rifle?"

"Laugh all you want. We get into a firefight, and pants gun will save the fucking day."

They left the apartment and headed down to the strip. Martin quickly felt uncomfortable with the crowd they were heading into; he felt exposed and vulnerable. Especially more so without his combat suit. It had become a part of him, a second skin, as he never entered a public space without it. He quickly changed his focus, trying to keep up with the long-legged Turian. "So you never mentioned you had a brother."

Velpia slowed down as she glanced at Martin, "And you've never mentioned your family."

"I think it's pretty obvious that they're all dead. Didn't think it needed an explanation." Velpia dismissed his sarcastic response and carried on walking. "You're such a jackass."

They walked through the crowded strip and headed to Chora's Den. Bailey was able to set them up with someone that knew where the Eclipse was operating on the Citadel. Martin was sure Bailey knew what they would do. He wasn't totally convinced that Bailey or C-Sec was going to allow a full-on firefight on the station, but he didn't see it going any other way; they weren't exactly the subtle pair.

When they arrived at Chora's Den, Martin quickly realized this wasn't a regular bar. He thought he should have been able to extract that from the name, but then again, he didn't expect such an establishment on such a station.

The bar was in the shape of a circle. The inner ring housed the circular bar; the outside had dancers and booths.

"I guess titty bars are a Universal constant," Martin commented as they took to a booth on the wall. They positioned themselves with their backs against the wall to fully view either side of the room. It wasn't Omega, but they were sure someone would be after them soon.

They waited for a few minutes before ordering drinks and relaxing. "Do you see anything you like here?" Velpia joked.

Martin slouched in his chair and looked around. "Nah, not my type."

"Surprising, I thought humans like Asari." Martin laughed while putting his drink back on the table. "Maybe today's humans, but in my day, if someone had a blue anything, that was an immediate nope."

Velpia cocked her head slightly to the side, trying to process his remark. "I don't wanna know."

Martin smiled as he looked up at the doorway. Velpia saw his face quickly change. His eyes opened slightly wider, and his smile turned more serious. She noticed his gun hand slowly slip under the table. A large Turian approached the table and stood at the end of their booth.

"Spectre," Martin said while turning his sight to Velpia. She couldn't tell if Martin's face was annoyed or angry, but she did know they couldn't start a fight here.

"Velpia… Human." He replied while taking a seat next to Velpia. Martin adjusted himself and put his arm on the back of the booth. He aligned his right leg, which held his pistol towards Luciso; his hand laid gently over it.

Martin didn't know what to think of Luciso's sudden arrival. He had issues reading the intentions of some Aliens. He spent enough time around Velpia to know her mannerisms, but the cultural differences between himself and even other humans were almost alien to him.

Luciso slowly leaned forward, folded his hands on the table, and stared at Martin. He gently and quietly switched the safety off while giving Luciso a slight grin.

"I think we, what's that human expression? Stood up on the wrong foot?" Velpia tried to slide away from the Spectre without drawing attention but stopped once she noticed him quickly make eye contact with her.

"What makes you think that?" Martin calmly replied.

"It's obvious we want the same thing." Luciso leaned back and folded his arms in front of his chest. Martin looked up at the wall behind him and noticed a small dent before returning his sight to him. "What do you want?"

"I know you are after Pricus, and Eclipse has him. If we work together, we'd have a better chance at taking him." Martin darted his eyes over to Velpia; she was calm but looked unsure what to make of the Spectre. "Why would a Spectre need our help taking down some two-bit gang?"

"They know I'm coming; they will pull Pricus out once they see me." Luciso paused and unfolded his arms. "You two, conversely, won't cause an immediate panic."

Martin moved his hand off his pistol and rested it on the table. "Why should we trust you?"

"I'm not asking you to. Consider it compensation for your past transgressions." Luciso looked at Velpia, un-holstered his sidearm, and placed it on the table before returning his head towards Martin. The signal was clear, help or he'd continue his hunt on them.

Martin looked over at Velpia; she sighed and slightly nodded. He let out a deep breath before grabbing his drink and took a clean gulp.

"We need Pricus alive for our job. We need whatever information he has."

Luciso's face mandibles slightly extended open, the Turian equivalent of smiling. "I think we can work something out."

The Spectre departed a short time later. He told them to wait a few hours and that he would send them additional information. Martin and Velpia agreed, but they didn't trust him. They both felt they had little choice. They headed to the Bachjret Ward and waited for further instructions from Luciso. They waited patiently in the darkened car for several hours, but as of yet, they had heard nothing from the Spectre. They were parked on top of a smaller building overlooking the ward. Martin spent his spare time leaning his head against the car's curved window, looking out at the other large wards. He could see the skyline; it was rather impressive and seemed to go on forever. Looking up, he saw the other ward's buildings hanging from above; the ends of the stations were engulfed by the large gas clouds surrounding them.

Velpia finally broke the silence, "What do you think he's planning?" Martin kept looking out the window and sighed. "I'm expecting a nice backstab. He doesn't seem to be the type to just drop a grudge." Velpia shifted herself to face Martin, the faint light illuminating the top half of his body.

"Ever wonder if we are making good life choices?" She asked. Martin scratched his forehead and cleared his throat. "What do you mean?"

"We clearly aren't very good at this." Martin chuckled and turned himself towards her, "We are fucking terrible at this, aren't we?" He commented. She let out a small laugh, "Just stumbling around, getting chased by The Blue suns, Cerberus, Eclipse, a Spectre-"

"-Getting arrested by the Alliance, C-Sec-"

"-and how many times have we been coerced to do something at gunpoint?" They both continued to laugh at their absurdity before returning back to their quiet. The top of Martin's hand began blinking as he raised his arm slightly. He touched his hand and waited, "I'm sending you the coordinates. Meet me." The noticeably Turian voice said. He turned off the audio as Velpia quickly got the sky car in the air and headed toward the area.

"Looks like we are heading to a large basement under a building," Martin said while looking through the information Luciso sent him. Martin turned off his Omni-tool, drew his pistol, and rested his arm in his lap. His body grew tense as he tried to push his concern to the back of his mind. "I don't like this," Velpia added.

They landed the sky car at a landing area and headed inside the complex of buildings. The complex was open and was lit very brightly. Martin noticed immediately that area was completely void of movement. "This place seems a bit too empty for my liking," Martin said while gripping his pistol. Velpia unfolded the Avenger rifle she had hidden in the car. "Yeah, none of this feels right."

Martin led the way while referencing his Omni-tool. The elevator slowed down and stopped at the basement. The door slid open, and Martin raised his pistol into a defensive posture. He led the way out of the elevator into the dark room. Velpia followed close behind with her weapon raised.

A faint light in the distance reflected off the hard concrete-like floor. Martin headed toward it while trying to keep his eyes scanning around the room. He noticed a faint outline as they walked closer, now wholly fixated on the shape in front of them. A *pfft* sound rang out in front of them, and Martin was struck in the chest. A stinging, burning feeling startled him, and he reached for the source of the pain, Just above his heart. Martin quickly raised his pistol and fired off the entire thermal clip in the direction. Velpia quickly began walking him back just as the lights kicked on, blinding them.

"I wouldn't move if I were you, Martin." The familiar sound of Dallas' voice echoed through the room. As their eyes adjusted, Martin saw Dallas and another, who he thought probably was Pricus, tied to a chair in the middle of the room. The Spectre walked out from their right side, his weapon drawn towards the pair.

Martin quickly removed what looked like a dart from his chest. "I wouldn't make any sudden movements; that dart I hit you with just injected you with a paralyzing agent. The more you move, the faster it works." Dallas put his air gun away and folded his arms; Martin could feel his limbs begin to tingle; he wasn't sure if it was paranoia or the effects of the dart. Velpia had her weapon pointed at the Spectre, partially behind Martin. She was jittery and anxious but knew she couldn't take on Luciso and Dallas simultaneously.

Martin lowered his empty pistol; the tingle was moving up his arm, and his fingers started numbing. Dallas began slowly walking closer, and Velpia stepped out in front and pointed her rifle at him. Martin was helpless; every moment he remained standing, the more he lost feeling in his limbs. "Vee, probably best if you leave."

She quickly turned her head towards him, confused. "You can't ask me to do that."

"She's not going anywhere," Dallas added while taking another step forward. Martin slowly grabbed the grenade off his vest, holding it in his hand. "You really expect me to believe you'd kill yourself?"

"Let her go, and I'll surrender. If not, we all die." He paused for a moment, trying to muster the strength to keep standing. "I'm tired of all this bullshit." His breathing began to get heavier and strained. With every beat of his heart, he could feel the sensation in his veins pulsating. He didn't have much time. "Do we have a deal?" Martin asked while gritting his teeth. Dallas slightly nodded in agreement.

"Vee, leave." Velpia refused to move; she didn't want to leave him there. Not like this. "Godammit, don't be stupid. I'll figure something out; just leave." Martin said quietly through this strained breathing. She hesitated for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She turned around, grabbed his pistol from his hand, and looked into his eyes. She saw his immense pain; he was barely holding it together. "Don't say anything; just go." He pleaded.

Martin heard her footsteps behind him as she left the room and dropped his hand from the grenade. He closed his eyes, fighting the growing pain in his legs and waist. He slowly dropped to his knees and began to focus on his breathing.

"Now that you have him, I'm free to take my prize?" Luciso asked Dallas as he lowered his gun. "A deal is a deal, Spectre." Luciso walked towards Pricus and, without hesitation, shot him in the head. The body in the chair fell to the floor, limp, and blood sprayed across the floor.

Martin opened his eye just in time to see Dallas grab his Carnifex pistol, aim it at the unaware Spectre, and fire four rounds into his face. Luciso didn't have time to react; his head shifted backward from the first shot that landed directly between his eyes and tumbled to the ground.

Dallas lowered his pistol, smiled, and turned back to Martin. He seemed pleased with the situation. All his loose ends were neatly tied off, and he could focus on what needed to be done. Dallas approached Martin and knelt in front of him, "No matter the time or place, you always end up like this."

Martin attempted to move his arms, but they had gone completely numb up to his shoulders. Dallas continued to grin as he raised and pressed his pistol to Martin's forehead. "After this is all over, I will bury you; make no mistake about it." Dallas slowly pushed on his pistol, forcing Martin to topple over onto the floor.