Watching Shepard fall through the fish tank is more satisfying than sex. The Clone wishes she could see it in person, but she can hear Shepard scream through Maya's comm, and the hacked security feed gives a passable visual. She sits in a shuttle, one that will follow the initial Trojan horse, in case the first teams of mercs can't take out Shepard. The way Maya sets the Alliance poster girl up at the sky lot is also beautiful, placing her in the crosshairs between the mercs chasing her and the ones that will meet her there. Their plan is perfect-Shepard won't see her coming-until the plan isn't.
And who in the galaxy would expect Urdnot Wrex to show up? He's supposed to be on Tuchanka, blowing up ruins or something, but no. Apparently he's here to negotiate with the Council. The Clone swears darkly under her breath as she sees the first shuttle crash.
"Rasa." She calls on Maya's private channel.
"Who is this?" Maya's using her staff analyst voice, and that hardly passable American accent. Shit. She must still be with Shepard's pilot.
"I'm calling the other mercs off. We'll have to take out Shepard at the Arch-"
"Whoever you are, Shepard is coming after you. I hope you know that." God, that cover of hers is annoying. It takes the Clone a second to realize Maya's trying to communicate without giving herself away. "Good nigh-"
Joker cuts in. "Wait! You should backtrace the c-"
"Oops." The call cuts off.
The Clone can't throw anyone inside against the walls of the shuttle without endangering all of them, so she screams.
Things only get worse from there. Just when the shuttle takes off for the Archives, the Clone gets a call from their dealer. Elijah Kahn is not happy.
"I'm cutting you off. I'm returning your down payment now."
No, no, no. The Clone can't fail Maya like she did Dreya. She can't allow this to happen. Not again. "What's the problem?" She rubs her face, wishing she had packed some of that leftover champagne. No. The Clone needs something stronger. Ryncol, maybe?
Kahn practically spits out his words. "Turn on a vidscreen. When I sell a gun, I don't want it showing up on the nightly news."
The Clone does her best to keep her pleading out of her voice as she tries to reason with him. "It won't be linked to me-"
Kahn interrupts her. "Save it. Our association is terminated." Before the Clone can threaten him, he continues, "And if you even think of coming after me, I've got info on you ready for primetime. So you ponder that. Kahn out."
What the hell is he talking about? There's no way he has any intel on the Clone. As far as the C-Sec knows, she doesn't exist. But Brooks...
"That went well." One of the snipers across the shuttle from her snorts.
The Clone looks up at her, and the sniper immediately stiffens. "What did you say your name was?"
"I didn't, ma'am."
"Your name, sniper."
"Susan Bell, ma'am."
"Well, Miss Bell. None of us are interested in your commentary. Clean your gun or twiddle your thumbs. I don't care what you do as long as you shut your mouth. Are we clear?"
Bell nods silently, pulling out her rifle. The Clone checks their ETA for the umpteenth time in the past half hour. She also checks on Brook's location. From the look of things, Joker is taking her throughout the Citadel. Fuck. He must be looking for reinforcements. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
They arrive at the Archives, just as the staff are heading home for the night. The Clone has the pilot land the shuttle out of site while they wait for the last person to leave. It's then that her omni-tool lights up with a PING! She opens it up, recognizing the caller-ID, and answers with her voice-disguiser.
"Elijah. Come crawling back?"
It's not Kahn on the other side. It's Brooks, Major Kaidan Alenko, and Shepard. "Guess again." Peachy. Kahn, at least, is resting permanently in his chair with is head rolled to the side. Small victory.
Something about seeing Shepard there, still in one piece, and still ahead for some stupid fucking reason—is she made of luck?-really sets the Clone off. She doesn't deserve all the breaks she gets. Shepard doesn't deserve to be the galaxy's favorite hero. She certainly doesn't deserve her friends. "You! I see you've recovered from flopping on the floor like a fish."
"You'll need to do better than that. The last guy who trash talked me was a couple kilometers taller than you."
Shepard does have a point. The Clone has to remind herself that she's already won. She already has the Spectre Access Codes. All she has to do is take out Shepard. If some mindless alien drones can do it with a particle beam, the Clone can do it with a gun. "Brave. I thought as much. But it won't matter. You have nothing. All you can do is wait for the hammer to fall."
"Why do this? What did I do to you?"
Because you don't deserve the life the universe gave you. "I'm gonna take everything you have and everything you are." The Clone cuts off the call. Brooks already knows what to do. They only have to wait for the hammer to fall.
The Clone waits in the shadows of the lobby balcony for her chance to strike. She knows from the com signal that Brooks is in the same room, but the Clone can't risk revealing herself to search for her. Meanwhile her implants rattle off alerts and tactical advice, most of which align with nuking the Archives from orbit, and everyone inside. Of course, they would guide the Clone to the exits first, but that's beside the point.
"Brooks, you okay?" Shepard calls out over the sound of gunfire and grenades. The Clone freezes at the mention of her name, listening for Brook's reply.
"Upstairs!" Brooks yells back. The Clone sags with relief. "Scattering and taking cover!"
She waits until she sees Brooks at the periphery of her vision, then she signals for her to come closer. As soon as she's within reach, the Clone kisses the operative full on the lips, only parting when she's run out of air. "About time your lazy ass showed up." She whispers against her mouth.
"Me? I'm the one doing all your dirty work." Maya smirks back at her. "Ready for your debut?"
"I was born ready." The Clone spins Brooks around, pressing the barrel of her pistol into her partner's temple. She shoves both of them towards the edge of the balcony. Showtime.