Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 8: A Bloody Mess
It felt like murder. To some degree, it likely was. Lowering the scope from his shoulder, Archangel brushed a hand against his sore shoulder: his senses on high alert as he drew in each breath quietly and with more care than most would take. Breathing was key, the Turian vigilante reminded himself as he leaned back into his position and lined up his sight. A twitch formed in the Turian's body as his scope rested on a man in dark gray armor with a red stripe running down the left arm. Immediately, the vigilante shifted his fire to a nearby Blue Sun Mercenary before returning his sight to the familiar figure.
"Shepard..."
The word was barely a whisper, and didn't even register to the Turian's helmet's microphone, but it was loud in the space of Archangel's helmet and he felt a smile pull on his mandibles. Switching briefly to a concussive round, the Turian took a shot at the formerly deceased Spectre, his grim smile growing as the human moved to cover, the two other humans with him following suite in a synchronized and familiar routine of cover and advance. It was so seamless, so practiced that one wouldn't have guessed it was the first time Shepard, Jacob and Zaeed were working together and it spoke of common training. Alliance Marine training.
"See you soon, Commander."
Commander John Shepard drew in a deep breath and peered around the crate he'd taken cover behind after Archangel had tagged him. His barriers had taken a beating there, a reminder of the need to upgrade his equipment when he could secure some decent funds from someone besides the Illusive Man.
"I take it no one bothered to tell that bastard we're here to help."
Zaeed's voice was a harsh whisper, loud in Shepard's ears and the Commander cut the mercenary a sour look filled with silent warning. The Mercenary nodded once and shouldered his assault rifle, his good eye focusing on the action around him. He wasn't stupid enough to go spouting off about the surprise Shepard had in store for all of his fellow mercenaries, and there wasn't anything else that needed saying.
Miranda Lawson had a headache. A rather large one at that as well. The Cerberus Operative was busy trying to get the new crew settled in and equipped while also coordinating with EDI for the most efficient and rapid point of entry to Shepard's position that would avoid the more obvious and established mercenary positions. It was, in essence a nightmare for the young woman and Revan and his little "squad" weren't making things easier for her either. The man was overconfident, even by her standards and he had the gall to try giving her orders phrased like questions to make them seem more like suggestions. Had she not been amongst the top three percentile in regards to humanity's overall intelligence, she may even have missed it. Miranda supposed her annoyance was more with the man's lack of contribution to the disorganized chaos that had erupted around them and she knew it was petty, but it was still damned irritating how the man just stood there, staring off into space.
The sound off dozens of boot steps filled the Normandy as the Cerberus crewmen prepared to assist Shepard. While the location of Archangel's stronghold prevented more than a handful of the ship's crew from taking part in the coming fight, that handful was just finishing their preparations, their attention on their weapons and armor while the crewmen and women prepared their transport and assisted in retrieving the necessary supplies for their likely short and violent mission. Still, amidst all the activity, it was the stillness of one that drew the attention of all the others, and the ire of the ship's unspoken XO.
Revan Qel-Droma had been a statue in the midst of the chaos that had exploded around him. His armor was already fitted to his body, his own design that had only been modified by necessity over time; in essence it was a hobbled together assortment of Mandalorian, Republic, Sith, Rakatan and Echani technology. The integrated Omni-tool added Citadel-tech to the list of equipment Revan's armor was compiling, along with a small modification to his envirosuit that surprisingly made it slightly more resilient.
What occupied Revan's focus, however; was the information scrolling across his mask's sensors as he reviewed the data stored there, specifically the information his mask's sensors had recorded during his fight with the Sith Emperor. Each time it got to the point in battle where the Sith Emperor assaulted him with Force-lightning, the mask's sensors would die, only to come back online when he was underwater. There was no data available that would help him find a way home and Revan calmly stored the files away, his hand lowering to the crate he was resting against, closing around the barrel of an M-96 Mattock assault rifle.
The new weapon had come courtesy of the Normandy's extensive armory and Revan eyed the unfamiliar weapon critically. It packed more of a punch than the previous assault rifle he'd since left within the armory but was only semi-automatic as opposed to firing full auto or bursts. It would take some getting used to and a combat situation was not an ideal backdrop for testing out new equipment. Amongst the other equipment on Revan was his modified M-4 Shuriken. Unlike the others, Revan used an old-style leather shoulder strap for the small submachine gun and a quick-release strap for the new assault rifle. Foregoing any other eezo-based weapons, Revan shifted the thick web belt strapped to his waist. A series of bandoliers rested there on his belt, loaded with spare thermal clips and had been modified to allow one of his lightsabers to be held to the belt with a quick-release locking mechanism as well as a modified carbon-composite blade that rested horizontal to the ground at the base of his spine. Miranda had commented on the dangers of his equipment becoming entangled with his battle robes and Revan had seen the point, though ignored the unspoken advice. The "rig" he'd set up for his equipment was a familiar one, though not exactly like the one he'd used long ago when he'd been under the guise of a Republic soldier. It worked and he was trained for it, so why bother with magnetic locks, holsters and bandoliers? In either case the Normandy's quartermaster was a fine craftsman and Revan was satisfied with his equipment.
"Operative Lawson, Shepard's signal has come through."
Miranda looked up from her omni-tool, acknowledging the AI's message with a mere nod that EDI's projector was able to pick up. Aria's information checked out and the location of Shepard's transponder matched the "pirate queen," as Joker called the Asari leader of Omega's information.
"Have Doctor Chakwas prepare the medical bay for casualties, the rest of you, get your gear in check and let's move."
Proficient in relaying commands, a leader that was offering orders in a manner that did not leave room for question; yet got things moving along. Sound advice, Revan decided as he did just that. Mordin was staying on the Normandy, his efforts better suited to discovering how the Collector's Seeker Swarms worked and Lia, despite her protests had been all but manhandled into the Normandy's Drive Core to deal with endless questions from the two lead engineers, Donnelly and Daniels, he believed they were called. Whatever their names were, Revan merely cast a quick glance to Miranda and gave a subtle nod of acknowledgement. He wanted Lia out of the way for the next mission along with their newest crewman, Shari'a T'Nala. It was nothing personal on Revan's part. It was actually the Illusive Man's influence that had led to the decision and had it not been for his own unique abilities, Revan had no doubt he would have been benched for the coming fight as well. As it stood, Miranda needed backup on the mission and a squad of fully-armored Cerberus goons tended to lack the subtlety this mission called for... at least to a certain point.
"Looks like it's just us..."
Miranda crossed her arms, drawing Revan's attention several inches below the edge of her uniform's collar briefly before he snapped his eyes up to meet the genetically engineered woman's pale blue orbs. Miranda offered a brief, humorless smirk as her eyes appraised Revan's preferred gear.
"I agree with your advice to leave the Quarrian and Asari out of this mission. Due to the lack of information on Archangel as well as Miss Vael and T'Nala, Cerberus cannot risk such a sensitive mission. Had Zaeed's credentials not checked out, I doubt the Illusive Man would've sent anyone other than me along but Shepard made a good point. We- I at least don't fit the mercenary image."
Revan grunted as he took his seat heavily, his armor's leather straps creaking and a dull thunk reverberating through the enclosed space of the UT-47 Kodiak Drop Shuttle. The secured assault rifle on Revan's gear bumped the former Jedi's knee before shifting against the seat and Revan scowled as he realized the shuttle's seats were not designed to accommodate his unique gear-set. Shifting accordingly, Revan found a comfortable position as he offered Miranda a blank stare through his mask.
"You may have biotics and a modified barrier, but that outfit hardly constitutes armor."
Miranda shrugged as she secured the safety harness in her own seat and the shuttle lifted off from the Normandy, weaving through Omega's "streets" towards Shepard's position.
"The added weight and bulk of armor would do more to hinder my abilities than benefit them."
Revan nodded his understanding, knowing that there were a number of Force Powers that suffered similar limitations. The conversation ended there as the Operative and the Sith Lord waited for the transport to arrive at Shepard's coordinates. Neither spoke of what they would find on their arrival and as the transport landed and released the two, a small sigh came from Miranda at what greeted the two fighters. It seemed Shepard's notoriously bad luck in finding people willing to shoot at him extended to his backup squad mates as well.
"Bloody Hell, keep your head down! I don't know how fast you think you are, Revan; but those shots are moving near the speed of light!"
Revan begrudgingly conceded Miranda's point, though silently as he slowly belly-crawled his way to the cover of a reinforced... well, Revan wasn't entirely sure what it was. It had likely held plants at some point, but had long since been abandoned. Grime covered the former Sith Lord's robes as he reached out with the Force, feeling the minds of the mercenaries and seeking a gap in their thought patterns to exploit. Acting as rear-guard for the advance on Archangel's holdout, the Blue Sun mercenaries that Revan and Miranda had run across only minutes after landing were well-trained and had a shoot first and ask questions later policy when an unidentified and heavily armed duo walk up to their perimeter. The reinforcements that were actually a six man squad moving to the rally point for the assault didn't help matters either and Revan had scarcely the chance to dodge the high-speed projectiles, his armor and shields taking a beating in the seconds it took to make it to cover. His subsequent attempts to exploit any openings were ruined when Miranda would shout to him, trying to take charge of the situation and unwittingly broadcasting their intentions to the enemy. They really had to work on their coordination before the next fight.
Pinned down by superior numbers with a half-competent opponent, Revan grew concerned with his own armor's limitations. Mobility was fine, but it lacked the full protection of a hardsuit. The gaps in the Mandalorian metal plates would present openings for the projectiles to exploit. That and the leather straps couldn't take sustained fire from small high velocity projectiles without snapping under the stress.
"Good thing I have my dueling shields."
Revan muttered, checking the charge of his shields and scowling in annoyance. Miranda was trying to use her biotics to create a distraction, but one of the mercenaries facing them was a biotic and it was a moot point. They were both pinned down and there was no way the two of them could break cover long enough to make a dent in the opposition without catching a few dozen founds in the face. Of course, Revan was one of the best fighters his galaxy had to offer and there was always a solution... usually in the form of wonderful balls of exploding death. Revan felt a smirk pulling at his lips as he felt a plan form in the back of his mind. The former Jedi reached out with his senses, searching the mercenary's minds and finding what he was seeking. Readying his assault rifle, Revan cast a glance to Miranda, making sure he had the Operative's attention before making a "wait" gesture with his hand that the young woman could understand. A second gesture followed and Miranda nodded as she closed her eyes and raised a biotic barrier. Clearing his mind of distractions, Revan made a small gesture with his hand and smirked as shouts of surprise came from several points within the enemies ranks.
Walter P. Franklin was once a Marine in the Alliance. After an incident in a night club with an Asari dancer that had unfortunately happened within sight of an Alliance Lieutenant, he'd been court-martialed. Not that it had mattered. The Blue Suns were always looking for men and women with military experience and he made more in a month working for the Suns than he did an entire year in the Alliance. Not to say his parents were proud of him, but he didn't really care what they thought. They'd died on Eden Prime with his sister and whoever else he called family nearly three years before. Drawing his thoughts from his long dead family, Walter focused on the task at hand. His squad was supposed to be loading up in a gunship to rappel down to where Archangel was and try to take out the vigilante before he cost them anymore manpower or money. The problem was, Archangel had some friends helping him and now there were even more people showing up out of the blue to help that Turian bastard. Unloading his entire thermal clip into the area around the woman that was trading fire with his squad, Walter blinked in surprise as a familiar beeping sound filled his ears.
"Grenade!"
The former Alliance Marine shouted a warning before diving to the nearest cover, his pulse racing as he covered his face with his hands. A moment later his eyes opened as he heard the tone, too close for comfort hasten its warning of the impending explosion. Too late, the soldier realized the sound was coming from his own grenade belt and with a wordless shout; Walter Franklin ceased to exist, at least in the form of something resembling a human being.
"Break and suppress!"
As Revan's voice came over the communicator in her ear, Miranda rose steadily, controlling her breathing as she drew a bead on her opponents, surprise coloring her features as the results of Revan's action. The surprise lasted only seconds before she took aim at a wounded Blue Sun mercenary and squeezed the trigger of her M-5 Phalanx. The heavy pistol round quickly ended the life of the stunned Batarian and even as she moved to her next target, Miranda was starting to regret her decision to bring the high-recoil weapon. Her next target obviously prioritized her injuries in favor of living, ignoring the pain from the shrapnel and bringing a lethal M-76 Revenant to bear on her.
Cursing as she dropped to cover, Miranda felt lightheaded momentarily at the effects of the projectiles on her biotic barrier which had collapsed at the last second. It was blind luck that her kinetic barrier hadn't failed right alongside her biotics and Miranda cast a glance to see Revan taking cover as well, a gloved hand rising to the side of his mask as he rubbed his fingers along a new and very visible scratch in its surface.
"New strategy, don't get shot."
Before she could fully comprehend what he was doing, Miranda saw Revan again break cover and watched in mute shock as he seemed to move like a blur, his assault rifle shifting between the two still-living mercenaries and ending their lives with lightning-fast kill-shots from the powerful weapon. Revan remained standing a moment, his weapon at the ready before he lowered it and nodded approvingly at the damage the new and in his mind, much more effective weapon had dealt.
"I like this gun."
Revan stated to Miranda, his head turning to a disturbance in the distance. Miranda followed Revan's gaze and cursed at the sight of an A-61 Mantis gunship rising from a landing pad in the 'complex' the mercenaries had set up. The gunship ignored the two as it made a beeline for the position marked on Revan's HUD that Shepard was at. Casting a quick glance at Miranda, the Dark Lord shared a nod with Miranda as both took off in a dead sprint for Shepard's location. Revan slowed himself to not gain too much of a lead on Miranda as he realized he'd underestimated the weapons and tech of the Citadel galaxy as he was beginning to call it. His armor could take the hits, yes... but the straps used to secure it as well as the body beneath the armor was much more breakable. A vicious bruise and a near-concussion were Revan's gift for his oversight and the former Jedi Knight felt a new respect for the power of the weapon in his hands as he traded shots with several Eclipse stragglers that had not taken part in the main wave of the assault on Shepard and Archangel's position.
"Watch out!"
Miranda's cultured voice sounded in Revan's ears almost as quickly as the warning in the Force and Revan turned, his brow furrowed at the slight delay in his motion. The Force was slightly off, there was no other way of putting it, so Revan pushed aside his concerns and simply raised his assault rifle to the threat, painting the wall behind the Asari biotic that had tagged him with her blood and brain matter. Dodging to the side, Revan avoided the deadly biotic warp that would have struck him if his abilities had not been on full alert. Allowing the adrenaline to flow through his body, Revan squeezed off seven precise shots as he ran, killing another Eclipse merc and causing the last to roll out of his line of fire and right into Miranda's. The Cerberus Operative made short work of the Salarian mercenary and joined Revan at the end of the 'bridge' that led to Archangel's stronghold.
"What do you think?"
Revan asked, his breath even despite the exhaustion that Miranda felt pulling at her own enhanced and fit body. Dulled though her senses were by the exhaustion of stress of the battle, Miranda still detected an edge to Revan's voice. Eyeing the armored Sith warily, Miranda quickly turned her attention to the chaos before them, trying to ignore the warning in the back of her mind. There were more pressing concerns than Revan's vocal inflections. The two-story stronghold had been hit hard and despite the respectable amount of bodies and mechanical parts lying around the chokepoint, it was very clear that the Blue Sun mercs swarming the position would soon overwhelm its defenders.
"I think we should be worried about that gunship. We can see what is going on before us... but I don't like surprises and that ship was moving in a hurry. Either to get reinforcements or to stage an assault. We have to trust that Shepard can handle this."
Revan nodded his agreement to Miranda's assessment of the situation as he shouldered his rifle and squeezed off a pot-shot at a Blue Sun straggler. The mercenary's already weakened barrier failed as did her armor and the faceless foe fell behind an obstruction as Revan turned and lowered his weapon in surprise. The Gunship was off in the distance, almost outside of the range of his mask's sensors and with a quick tap to Miranda's shoulder, Revan drew the operative's attention to the waiting threat.
Garrus Vakarian felt a grim sense of accomplishment at the sight of the massive Krogan lying on the ground before him. Garm had been one that had gotten away and it felt good to have the freak of nature lying on the ground before him, dead like so many of his victims. The chance to relish the death of the Blood Pack warlord was short-lived when Blue Sun mercs began rappelling down from the rooftop. Shepard's people were good, but they were having problems dealing with the sheer number of heavily armed and well-equipped warriors. The mercs were well-trained too, Garrus thought with a Turian version of a sneer forming on his lips. He really wish he'd gotten Tarak when he had the chance. Sighing mentally, Garrus lined the sight of his M-92 Mantis sniper rifle on a Blue Sun and fired, taking down the mercenary's barrier and breaking off a plate from the Merc's hardsuit. Shepard exploited the opening and drilled three precise shots from the M-15 Vindicator he'd picked up from Garrus' personal armory that had since been knocked over from the table and used as rough cover. A straggling merc fell to shot from outside of the building and Garrus ducked reflexively, his sharp eyes flickering as they scanned the battlefield for the source of the shot. It could have been a misfire from new hostiles and the Turian Vigilante wasn't taking any chances. Spotting two figures in the distance, Garrus raised his rifle to his shoulder, calming his breathing and lining his sights up on one of the figures.
"Shepard! We've got fire coming from the bridge."
Garrus managed to squeeze off one shot before the formerly deceased Commander had thrown himself across the room and thrown off his second shot.
"They're with me, Garrus."
The Turian frowned before looking back at where he'd fired in alarm. Spotting a figure lying on the ground, Garrus cursed mentally before his fears fled and he returned to the battle at hand. Shaking slightly, Garrus' next shot was off a centimeter and it took another to take down the mercenary.
"I'm sorry..."
Garrus muttered, his avian features twisted in remorse before he continued fighting. There would be time for guilt later.
"Are you alright?"
Revan remained lying on the ground, his vision clouded by stars and the taste of blood in his mouth. Sitting up slowly with Miranda's assistance, the former Jedi Knight pulled off his mask and ignored the beeping coming from his omni-tool. His shields were down and his mask, while intact had impacted his face with the full force of that unexpected shot. "I'm beginning to think it's my lot in life to be shot my allies."
Revan remarked bitterly, his mind dwelling briefly on Malak as well as Carth shortly after the Republic soldier had discovered his true identity during the quest for the Star Forge. Holding a hand to his forehead and rubbing it, Revan allowed Miranda to inspect his injury briefly before gently pushing aside her hands and replacing his mask. His skull was intact but his near-concussion had become an actual concussion thanks to that shot. Grunting with effort, Revan stood and looked up, his eyes locking on the empty space the Blue Sun Gunship had been moments before. A sense of dread rose next to him within the Force and Revan cast a glance to Miranda, losing precious milliseconds before the danger slammed into his senses, causing the former General to stagger. Still, overwhelmed and concussed, Revan reacted and his hand rose, the Force swelling around him before it focused into a deadly assault.
"ARCHANGEL!"Tarak bellowed across the loudspeaker in his gunship. The Turian turned from where he was killing a Blue Sun mercenary to see a deadly gunship rising ominously over the bridge where Shepard's other teammates were and Garrus could only stare in shock at the massive guns aimed directly at him. A body impacted Garrus, driving him down as rounds flew past him and the vigilante blinked in surprise, his eyes turning to Shepard and then up to where an almost deafening squeal of metal and machine was coming from. Growling as he covered his ears, Garrus felt a pressure on him and looked down at his damaged armor wearily. That had been close, too close and he should by rights be dead or dying. Pushing aside his concerns, Garrus rose with Shepard, their weapons turning to the gunship as they rose from cover before their weapons dropped slack in their arms. Shepard quickly recovered from his shock and turned to help Jacob and Zaeed finish off the Blue Sun Mercs still active within the building while Garrus looked down at the man he's mistakenly shot moments before. The Turian's sharp eyes detected a faint flicker of energy swell around the man before it fell away and the... for lack of a better term, 'ball' that was once Tarak and his gunship dropped heavily from the sky, breaking off a section of the bridge before rolling off and falling into the depths of Omega.
"Shepard... just where the Hell have you been these last two years?"
Garrus managed once the last of the mercenaries were dead. Shepard merely moved to the edge of the window and looked down on Miranda and Revan. Miranda offered up a mocking salute while Revan calmly removed his mask and spat what looked like a tooth on the ground. Shaking his head, Shepard turned and smiled at his former crewman, slapping the former C-Sec officer on the back before speaking amicably.
"I'll have to tell you about that sometime, Garrus. In the meantime, I've got a mission on my hands and I could use some help."
Eyeing the Cerberus emblem on Jacob's armor, Garrus cast a look to the battlefield around him before chuckling as he shook his head. Same old Shepard.
"We just wiped out the bulk of the Blood Pack, Eclipse and Blue Sun's presence here on Omega. To top that off you've already got the Geth, all those Batarians back in the Blitz, Saren and the Reapers... That not enough for you, Commander? I'm done here, Shepard so... yea I think I can spare the time. Just so long as you don't mind your shots looking sloppy next to mine."
Shepard smiled for the first time since seeing Tali on Freedom's Progress and nodded to his friend before a distant call from Miranda drew his attention to more pressing concerns. Namely, getting the Hell out of Dodge.
AN: I've been busy. Really busy. Work's been busting my ass all summer and I just haven't had the time or energy to write. I'll try keeping this story going but it's probably going to come slow from now on. Thanks for those of you who are still reading though, I appreciate the support and hope you enjoyed the update. You'll notice Revan was having some difficulties. The reasons behind that will come in the next chapter.