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The Race Against Time, part one
Garrus had assigned Samara and Zaeed the first two locations because they were some of the closest, and to be honest, Garrus was a little concerned about the older mercenary's health, wondering if he'd be able to keep up with the just as old, but much more lithe, justicar.
"There are only fifteen minutes remaining," Samara said. "I insist that we increase our pace."
"Hell. No." Zaeed panted. They'd gotten out of the starting gate pretty quickly, but Zaeed had to settle into a steady jog before long. His face had grown red and damp after about a minute of hard sprinting.
Samara, on the other hand, hadn't even broken a sweat. "Very well," she said. "But if your shortcomings result in the loss of innocent life, as a justicar, I will be compelled to exact the appropriate punishment."
Shortcomings? Who did the blue bitch think she was? "Yeah, yeah," Zaeed waved her off. "Less chatting. More running."
They arrived at their location, an expensive tech store that hadn't yet opened for the day. Samara took point, assault rifle drawn as they entered. She held her hand up, signaling Zaeed to stop. "I can hear them in the back room. There is a girl, weeping..."
"I got an idea," Zaeed said, his vigor returned to him after a short respite. He strode towards the back of the store, bypassing all the racks of merchandise and sliding his assault rifle into his holster. Samara wanted to rush forward and stop him, but it was too late.
Zaeed opened the door to reveal a group of six soldiers, circled around one girl with a cloth sack over her face, stripped down to her underwear and kneeling on the ground. "Hey," Zaeed called. The soldiers jumped back, guns trained on his chest. "You blokes got a john around here?"
They let their guard down for a second. Samara seized the opportunity. She darted passed Zaeed, and, with a wide throw field, knocked the guns out of the hands of the soldiers, whose grips had gone slack as they stared at the elderly mercenary. They jumped in surprise.
"Die, you ugly bastards!" Zaeed roared as he gunned the weaponless soldiers down. Samara let loose several rounds from her own rifle, efficiently ending the lives of the other guards. When they were all dead, Samara rushed to the girl at the center of the room.
"You are safe now," Samara said, gently removing the hood from her face. The girl did bear some resemblance to Shepard, but it was obviously not the commander. Still, Samara hadn't really expected it to be that easy to rescue their missing leader. Wherever she was would be much more heavily guarded, the soldiers a bit brighter than the ones Zaeed had fooled.
"Thank you," she sobbed. Samara cut her bonds, helped her stand. "Thank you, I thought for sure they were going to kill me..."
"Is there somewhere safe nearby where you may take refuge?" Samara asked, peering into the girl's tearful face. She nodded, wiping at her cheeks.
"My aunt lives down the road." Samara began searching for something for the girl to wear, but she found that Zaeed had already stripped the least bloody guard of his armor, removing his body suit as a suitable garment for the young captive.
"This'll hold you until you get there. Best not to dawdle," the gruff mercenary said. The girl nodded again, stepping into the body suit and zipping it up. She whispered her gratitude once more before taking off. Zaeed glanced down at his omni-tool. "Would you look at that? Still twelve minutes to go. Want to grab a coffee?"
Three blocks over, Mordin and Jack were closing in on their first target. Through the window, they could see a lone captive, face covered and kneeled on the ground. There were no guards around at all. Jack was about to charge headlong into the building when Mordin grabbed her. "Caution: proximity alarms will trigger explosives. Likely kill hostage, and intruders."
"Shit," Jack seethed. "What do we do?"
Mordin was already getting to work. His omni-took expanded, different runtimes of a hacking program splaying out in the air. His slim fingers were a blur as he entered an uninterrupted string of commands. "Simple: deactivate trap, free prisoner." Nothing that a former STG member couldn't handle. A second later, "Done."
They went inside and released the girl, giving her one of the blankets that was used to disguise a few crates of explosives. Crying grateful tears of relief, she left her would-be tomb and didn't look back.
At their next location, Jack and Mordin hovered at the door. "See any explosives?" she asked him.
"Negative."
"Good." She pulled out her shotgun, a wicked grin on her face. "We're doing this one my way, little high-tech alien man."
Mordin was about to point out to her that he was several inches taller than she was, but his statement fell on deaf ears. Jack let loose a fearsome war cry, charged up her biotics, and kicked down the door. Their second location was cleared without a hitch.
Garrus had purposely assigned Thane and Grunt to two of the more distant locations, knowing that the drell's athleticism and the krogan's unmatched endurance would be able to handle it. Sure enough, the unlikely pair raced across the streets of Illium at an incredible speed. The stores hadn't yet opened for the morning, but there were a few early commuters walking to work that gave them strange looks. Thane paid them no attention, wholly focused on the task at hand: leading his krogan comrade in the fastest route to their location. Grunt kept pace easily, the contrast of the drell's green skin against his black suit standing out against the gray and blue streets of Illium's silicon district, making him an easy target to follow.
Thane slowed down, signaling for Grunt to do the same. He stopped at a corner on the main street that connected to a narrow alley. The smaller street had a purple police line across the front of it, and when Thane leaned out of his cover, he saw that there were agents all along the length of the alley. They patrolled languidly, taking on the appearance of Illium City Police.
He turned to Grunt. "I will dispatch the agents at the far end of the alley if you deal with those closest."
Grunt paused for a moment, processing, then gave a nod of his massive head. Without further delay, he shouldered past Thane and into the line of sight of the agents.
Leaving his shotgun in its holster, Grunt activated his fortification and charged forward. "I. AM. KROGAAAAAN!" He collided full force with one of the agents, trampling him beneath his feet as he slammed into another. Thane started picking the others off, some not even having the time to draw their guns before they received a bullet in the brain. From further down the alley, Grunt heard one of them yell, "Kill the prisoner!"
Grunt abandoned the nearest targets in favor of the ones surrounding a young woman. He heard several shots, felt a few lodge themselves in his armor and the exposed places on his arms, but the only thought in his mind was that he was going to pulverize those weak-willed cowards into slimy pink paste...
Some were killed by Thane's sniping, some by Grunt's lethal duo of tackling and shotgun blasts to the face. They only stopped when everyone in the alley was dead.
Swiping at a bit of blood trickling into his eye, Grunt crouched down next to the girl, who had rolled onto her stomach. "Time to get up, now." He shook her shoulder, but she remained unresponsive. "The bad people are dead, you can..." When Grunt flipped her onto her back, he saw that her face had been blown away by shotgun spray to the head.
He heard the drell approach from behind. Thane caught sight of the girl, realizing that he and Grunt had failed. He began murmuring a prayer to ease her passage across the sea.
They were too late. "Is this... Shepard?" Grunt asked.
Thane kneeled down next to Grunt, cutting the girl's bonds so that she could lay flat on her back. Respectfully, Thane crossed the faceless victim's hands over her chest.
"Presently, there is no way to be certain. We must continue to our next location. When a medical team arrives they will identify the body." Until then, they were unable to determine whether or not the dead body before them was indeed their commander, or just an innocent girl caught in a cruel act of violence.
The two of them raced onwards. With only eleven and a half minutes left, they'd have to pick up the pace in order to save the next girl in time. Thane promised himself that he would not let this one die. Grunt was likewise motivated to break some limbs in order to protect the next unknown victim.
"I think this is the place," Grunt said as they approached an imposing office building. Its front doors were cracked open. Grunt made his way towards them, reaching for the handle, when... "AGH!"
The krogan recoiled, blood spraying from his shoulder. Thane's hand shot out, grabbing Grunt and pulling him away from the place where he'd been shot and towards cover, which happened to be a tall planter with an impressively leafy tree. Roaring in pain, Grunt dug the bullet from his wound with his bare hands. Thane winced, but investigated the blood-coated projectile to determine its origin, plucking it from the palm of Grunt's hand.
"Short-range snipers inside the building." Someone was expecting them. That wasn't good – it meant that the agents of the Shadow Broker would be more likely to give the kill order on their hostage. To have any chance at saving the girl's life, they would have to proceed with the utmost care.
Thane glanced at the krogan. He wasn't exactly the stealthiest of creatures. Thane quickly formulated a plan that would work around that particular obstacle. "I'll be able to take them out on my own. Wait here for my signal." Grunt was about to ask him what kind of signal he should look for, but the drell disappeared without waiting for an answer. Another shot rang out, the sniper no doubt taking him down before he could make it into the building. Grunt peeked around the corner of the planter, wondering how far the drell had gotten before he was shot. But there was no body. The door was just swishing closed. Grunt nodded, impressed.
A minute later, he started to get to his feet, considering entering the building by himself, when the sound of breaking glass made his head snap up. He watched as an agent of the Shadow Broker fell through the air, flailing and screaming right up until the moment his body cracked against the ground. That was a good enough signal for Grunt.
Thane was waiting at the top of the lobby stairs, panting slightly, when Grunt entered the building. "Come. She is on the third floor."
They didn't bother with the elevator, just started running up the stairs three at a time. Grunt was even more impressed to find that the stairwell was littered with dead bodies, all clothed in black. The third floor was also completely vacant, a few bodies with twisted necks slumped against the wall. Grunt gave them a passing glance. Huh. Looked like the drell was an assassin in more than just name. Thane pointed to a door towards the end of the hallway. "There are ten armed men in that room. If we approach them, they will undoubtedly kill the hostage."
"What's the plan?"
Thane blinked, his dark eyes traveling towards the ceiling. "I will enter the room through those vents. I can kill four of the men before they have time to respond. You will need to lure the rest of them out to kill them."
Grunt had some ideas on how he could accomplish that. "Sounds good to me."
Thane approached the air vent, removing its cover biotically. However, it was a long way from the ground to the ceiling. "Ahh, if you'd be so kind as to stand here.."
Grunt obliged, sauntering over to stand directly beneath the vent. "What do you need me to -"
He felt Thane's hands, then his feet, on his shoulder as the assassin used Grunt to vault into the vent. Grunt chuckled to himself. The more time he spent with the drell, the more he was starting to like him.
But enough of that crap: he had a job to do. Sucking in a deep breath, Grunt tilted his head back and let loose a thundering war cry to rival those of the mightiest of all warlords. It reverberated through the vents Thane was currently crawling through, the thin metal seeming to vibrate beneath his finger tips. Even Urdnot Wrex would probably be mildly intimidated. Then, he dashed around the corner.
Sure enough, his prey came like flies to honey. He heard them exchange words of confusion. "What was that? Where the hell did it come from?" "I don't know. We better check it out."
As they drew closer, Grunt stomped his foot loudly, guiding them in the right direction. They came running around the corner, drawn in by the sound. Grunt grinned.
He wished they weren't wearing helmets so he could've seen the expressions on their faces. They did, however, make these beautiful mewling sounds that were a mixture of shock, amazement, and the absolute purest of terror. Grunt grabbed them by their heads and smashed together as hard as he could. Skulls dented, they collapsed to the ground. Grunt couldn't help but feel an overwhelming amount of satisfaction. He let out a triumphant roar, luring his next two prey. Oh, how he loved it when they were surprised.
Thane was pleased to see that the guards were standing about a meter from the vent, so he'd be able to drop down and take them out from behind.
"What's taking so long?" Thane heard one of them ask.
"I don't know," another replied. "I'll go look." Thane smirked. The krogan was doing his job quite successfully. The rest was up to him.
Silently, he removed the air vent filter, sticking it back behind him where it wouldn't make any noise. Without wasting another moment, Thane dropped down into the room. His impact with the ground barely made a sound. He snapped the neck of the guard nearest to him, dead before he hit the floor. Staying low to the ground, he swept his leg towards the knees of the next guard, sending him toppling. In one fluid motion, Thane drew two pistols, one from each of his sides. The agents finally reacted to his presence, one of them pointing his rifle at Thane, the other one at the prisoner. Thane killed the latter first, dispatching him with a shot in the forehead. He had just enough time to duck and roll as a barrage of bullets hailed over his shields. Before any real damage could be done, he launched a biotic warp at the attacker, killing him almost instantly.
Thane finished off the agent he had kicked to the ground, twisting his neck until it broke. The whole encounter had taken about five seconds. Heart rate settling, Thane approached the prisoner and did away with the cloth covering her face.
While Liara and Daryn got to work on tracing the call from the Shadow Broker's agents, Kasumi was managing the comm traffic between the teams Garrus had sent out. About half of the locations had already been reached, with only one fatality. It was one more than they would have liked. And, by the looks of it, that woman would not be the last to die. Kasumi was normally an incurable optimist, but there were less than ten minutes left to save the remaining prisoners, and three teams still hadn't made it to either of their destinations. Manipulating the projection screen expertly, Kasumi brought up the Illium city map. There were two different colors of dots: bright pinpricks of orange were the locations of the remaining prisoners, and flashing blue triangles marked the positions of the ground teams who hadn't yet reached their targets.
Currently, there were four blue triangles and seven orange dots. One of the triangles moved on top of a location marker, and, right on cue, Kasumi received a comm transmission. "Normandy, do you copy?"
Kasumi recognized Thane's low, gravelly voice immediately. "What is it, Thane?" Kasumi asked, eager to hear that they'd saved another prisoner, dreading the alternative.
"This girl is..." For Kasumi, it felt like time had slowed nearly to a halt. Thane continued, "... she claims she is the sister of Operative Lawson." Kasumi let out a sigh of relief, letting the hand clasped to her chest fall to her side. As much as a surprise the identity of the girl was, at least she was alive.
From a few feet away, Liara overheard the transmission. "Tell him to bring Oriana back, immediately."
Kasumi glanced around nervously. "I thought Garrus said to send them home and continue to the next location."
Liara left her position at Daryn's side and approached the comm link. Kasumi wasn't sure if she trusted the asari, who had placed herself in charge in Garrus's absence. "That was their last location. Tell them to bring her aboard the Normandy."
Kasumi's initial reaction was to follow the orders she'd been given by Garrus, but her heart softened at Miranda's predicament. She'd want to see her sister as soon as she got back from the mission, just to make sure that she was okay.
"Thane: bring her back here," Kasumi relayed the order. He gave his affirmation, and the orange location marker blinked out.
Three triangles on the map. Six locations left. Nine and a half minutes before the rest of them were killed.