A/N: I'm shooting for two updates this weekend. I've got the ball rolling and rolling fast and I intend on keeping it going for a little while.
I own nothing
Emily Wong sat at her desk at the news station going over several datapads. There were several stories she was running at the moment, but only one really got her attention and had it for the last few months.
"Hay Emily, we're going out tonight. You coming with?" asked an Asari stopping by her desk.
"No thanks Lenea, I've got some work to do tonight at home." said Emily as she packed up several datapads into her bag and shutting down her terminal.
Lenea smirked, "Chasing down another lead on Maverick huh? Com'mon Em, the guy's a ghost for a reason. And there haven't been any attacks on mercs or other thugs for over three weeks now."
Emily sighed, "I don't know Lenea. I can't help but think that there is more here than what we think. I mean, why is he targeting the Blue Suns directly? What does he know that C-Sec doesn't?" She wondered as they both walked out of the building.
"Just try not to overwork yourself too much." said the Asari. "Cut loose and have a little fun once in a while. I'll catch you later." with that she headed to the rapid transit hub while Emily headed to her apartment.
Getting inside, she started the coffee maker before going to her home office and started going through information again. She had a feeling that it was going to be another long night.
X
Alexander 'Maverick' Drake
Zen's Armaments - Lower Wards
November 21, 2180 - 14:01 hours
Alex set the welding gun aside as he finished putting the custom Carnifex hand cannon back together. His omni-tool shining brightly as Linkin Park played in the quiet back room of the weapon shop.
Everything in the last couple of weeks had been quiet. The Blue Suns had been underground since he had killed Marcus Greves. All the data he had collected on troop and work locations turned out to be dead ends.
There had also been several news reports about known Red Sand dealers being found dead throughout the Citadel. People believed that it was him, but the truth was that it wasn't. The dealers that were dead were on the list of those who had helped the mercs with whatever they were planning.
The mercs were moving their operations and killing off anyone who could sell them out. They were getting smarter.
But Alex loved a challenge, and that would prove to be a huge problem for the Blue Suns.
Other than his job as the station's vigilante, Alex had found a good group of friends in C-Sec. After that first get together with Chellick, Garrus, Ivan and Bailey they had all decided to meet together once a week. Either at the bar, the shooting range, or at any of their apartments for a night of Skillian Five.
Alex had seen Garrus loosen up more and more when they hung out together. The soldier was sure that the Turian's suspicions in him were fading. And that was a damn good thing in his book.
He had also notice that Reena would go out every other night for the past two weeks. Even though she said she was just going for a walk Alex knew differently.
She always came back home smelling like the same style of cologne Chellick always had on.
Alex had even convinced the landlord of his apartment building to let him move into a bigger place. It took all of two days for him and Reena to move into a comfortable two bedroom apartment on the floor above their old one. His Quarian friend had asked why he wanted to move, all he said was that she deserved her own room where she could have a little privacy.
The statement went over her head for a good 30 minutes, until she understood his implications and started slapping the shit out of him while fighting back a huge blush behind her visor.
Finally finished with his project. Alex paused the song that was playing and checked a few things on his omni-tool. He had managed to connect Prophet to the device from the nano suit. With this he could monitor the AI's progress when it was searching through the data they compiled.
So far neither of them had come up with anything concrete. But Alex had figured out that out of all of the dealers that had been taken out, there was still two left on the list that were still alive and could offer information he didn't have.
He had Prophet monitoring various radio traffic signals to see if the last two Red Sand dealers could be tracked down. It was only a matter of time before one of them was found, and hopefully Alex would get to them before the Blue Suns did.
"Done for the day?" asked Reena coming in from her lunch break.
Alex shut down his omni-tool and leaned back in his chair, "Yeah, probably gonna head home early for the day. God knows Zen owes me an early day off." he said standing up and heading for the door.
"Hot date?" asked the Quarian crossing her arms over her chest. Alex shook his head. When he and the other guys went to Flux and the Asari, Lorna, had flirted with him. He had Prophet to a thorough background check on her and discovered that she was an unregistered Adat-Yakshi in the Citadel archives. An anonymous message to the Asari embassy was sent and the woman was picked up and shipped back to Thessia to ensure she didn't harm anyone.
"Nah, thought I'd spend the day walking around the wards. There's a lot on my mind lately." he said grabbing his jacket.
"Don't stay out too late." she called from her spot. "Do I give you a hard time when your out all hours of the night?" he called back heading out the front door of the shop missing the curses in Khelish that were fired in his direction.
"The day they admit that their dating is coming. And I'm gonna be on their case everyday until they do." Alex muttered to himself with a chuckle as he headed back to the apartment.
The place was easily twice as big as his old place. The kitchen and living room were much bigger and were separated by a dining room. There was a hallway with both bedrooms, one with a private bathroom and the other across the hall from a larger bathroom. It was almost double the cost per month, but definitely worth it.
And besides, with all of the money he collected from the dead mercs and what he earned from the weapons shop he'd be living comfortably for quite a while.
X
Entering the apartment, Alex headed straight for his room. Sitting at his desk and booting up his terminal and putting in the passwords to get past the strong encryptions he put in place that no one could even hope to get through.
"Prophet, anything new?" he asked standing up and heading to the large closet in the bedroom. Walking past the racks of clothes, both from the 21st and the current century.
"Scans have not picked up any trace on the targets. Scans still in progress." replied the AI as Alex pressed a hidden button in the back of the closet. The wall slid open revealing his nano suit with racks containing his weapons, ammo and arrows on either side of it.
The little feature had cost him a couple hundred credits. But it was worth it to make sure that his suit or Prophet wasn't discovered by wandering eyes. He trusted Reena with his life, the same could be said to Chellick. But he couldn't risk putting them in danger if anyone knew they were associated with 'Maverick'.
"Scans have identified Subject Number 2." Alex left the closet and went back to the terminal where a dossier was displayed.
The image of a Salarian with orange skin and black markings appeared. Skelart Nourvox. Arrested three times on Red Sand possession with intent to sell. A well known snitch, but managed to keep himself from being killed even with the large people he had double crossed.
"The Suns must have promised him safety if he helped them." Alex muttered. "Prophet, show me the transmission you picked up."
"Connecting..."
"They're all dead! Those bastards promised to pay us and keep us safe from all of this and their the ones blowing our fucking brains out!" squeaked the voice that must have belonged to Skelart. "I need to get out of here. I have a brother on Omega that'll help us out of this. Meet me at shipping dock 32 tonight at midnight...you better fucking be there."
When the transmission ended Alex looked grim, "Prophet, was this done on a private or public channel?" "The transmission was sent and received on a public channel through the use of a public vid-call."
"Dumb motherfucker." Alex cursed, "The mercs would have to have been blind, deaf and stupid to not have picked that up too. We need to get to him before they do." he said heading back into his closet.
X
At the same time, a Blue Suns merc lowered his headset and looked at Tarak. "Got Skelart. Shipping docks, Dock 32 tonight at midnight." Tarak nodded before looking at the squad of ten he had assembled. "Make sure that little rat doesn't leave the station alive." he growled darkly.
"Yes sir." said the squad leader as they all headed out to lay a trap for the dealer.
X
Alexander 'Maverick' Drake
Docking Yards - Warehouse District
November 21, 2180 - 23:52 hours
Things were too quiet. Though considering the situation it was a good thing.
Alex stood in the shadows between two warehouses, keeping his eyes out for anything that so much as twitched. No one had been in this end of the docking yards in over two hours. Which was good since things could turn out very badly if/when the Blue Suns show up.
After waiting another three minutes the soldier caught sight of something moving. Zooming in his visor, he saw a lone Salarian slowly creep out from between two buildings on the opposite end of the docking area.
"Identity Confirmed. Subject: Skelart Nourvox Found." said Prophet.
Alex activated his cloak and proceeded to walk out into the open. Slowly making his way closer toward the Red Sand dealer so that he wasn't noticed.
The flood lights all around the docking area suddenly switched on temporarily blinding Alex as he crouched down behind a crate while still cloaked.
When his visor polarized so that he could see, the soldier saw eight Blue Sun's mercs surrounding Skelart with weapons drawn. "We found you, you little bastard." growled a Turian in full armor.
"I-I didn't sa-say anything to anybody!" the Salarian cried as one of the Human mercs slammed the butt of his rifle into his back knocking him to the ground.
"And it's going to stay that way Skelart." said the leader of the squad drawing his pistol and pointing it at the smaller creature's head.
Alex was moving when the gun was drawn, his armor and the nanites giving him enhanced speed as he reached the group in a few seconds. Grabbing the two Human mercs that were closest and smashing their heads together. Their helmets, and skulls, crumpling like tin cans before they collapsed onto the ground dead.
The rest of the group turned. The squad leader went to aim his pistol but recieved a boot to the chest that sent him crashing into a Batarian merc and sending both crashing into a crate ten feet away.
All four still standing mercs opened fire on the vigilante. "Maximum Armor." Alex grabbed Skelart and ran off avoiding the hail of gunfire as he entered the space where the Salarian originally came from.
"O-Oh shit! Fi-First the Suns now you...wh-what the hell do you want?" Skelart asked terrified.
Alex lifted him up by the front of his shirt and pressed him to the wall. "I wanna know what the Blue Suns got from you. What is so important that they're killing off you and your fellow dealers?" he asked in his filtered voice as the mercs peppered the area around them with rounds.
"L-Look, I...I don't know." Skelart whimpered as the gunfire drew closer.
The soldier slammed Skelart into the wall hard making him yelp. "Bullshit! I know you assholes told them something. I killed Marcus Greves, he said you told them about backways throughout the Citadel. What did he mean?" Alex demanded, slowly turning so that he was shielding the Salarian from a few stray rounds. Keeping a close eye on his energy meter as it dropped by a little.
"Okay! Okay. A-All they wanted to know about were the s-service passages around the Upper Wards. Us d-dealers know all about them so we c-can avoid the cops better when they come af-after us." Skelart stuttered.
"Is there more?" Alex asked wanting to get everything he could out of the drug dealing loser. "N-No..." he whimpered, but Alex knew he was lying.
"Tell me or I'll throw you out there!" he roared pointing with his thumb over his shoulder out where the mercs were still shooting at their position
Skelart's eyes widened, "T-They were very interested in the Presidium and the Embassies!" he shouted in fear.
"What about them Skelart, and you better be straight with me." Alex growled. "They wanted to know a-about the Presidium and the Embassies the m-most. We sell to the rich classes more often than you think. They wa-wanted the service network for the Upper Wards. But they r-really wanted everything we had on the Presidium." the Salarian confessed.
Alex dropped him to the ground. The Blue Suns wanted data on the Citadel's service tunnel network? Mostly around the Presidium and Embassies? Not good.
"Get lost Skelart. I see you again you won't be so lucky." Alex said taking out his Jackel and making his way to the entrance to the opening leading out to the docks where the mercs had stopped firing.
Reaching the end, he saw the four remaining mercs with their guns drawn. The squad leader standing in the middle, his chest armor badly dented from Alex's heavy foot but lucky to survive the kick that caused it.
"Give it up Maverick!" The Turian shouted.
Alex shook his head. Maybe he was wrong about the mercs getting smarter. His eye caught sight of a red barrel behind the two mercs on the right. He quickly aimed and fired causing the barrel to explode, sending both mercs flying in different directions.
The explosion stunned the rest of the group giving Alex an opening. Sprinting forward and taking another merc off his feet, his large hand grasping the man's throat before choke slamming him into the ground with spine shattering force.
Whipping out one of his Hammers, Alex shot the merc standing next to him. The large slugs tearing through the Turian's kinetic barrier and punching two holes in his chest and one in his head.
The squad leader watching his men get decimated as he pulled out his omni-tool. "We need backup now!" Alex looked in his direction when he started chuckling. "Let's see you handle this!"
Alex hear the low hum of engines powering up. Looking toward the sky, he took back the thought that he believed the mercs weren't smartening up.
X
Another long day of investigating, Emily walked out of the news building with a big yawn. Dead tired from lack of sleep from the night before.
Her boss had noticed that she looked more run down than usual and told her to take a mandatory vacation. Four paid days off and she was told to try and get some sleep.
The journalist's exhausted haze was broken by the sound of gunfire and explosions coming from the docking area not far away. Curious she ran to where the commotion was coming from.
X
Alex rolled out of the way as heavy rounds tore up the ground where he had been standing.
The gunship the hovered overhead as the two Blue Sun mercs inside locked onto his location and fired two rockets from under the vessel's wings. Seeing this, Alex took off in a dead run as the missiles struck the area behind him, forcing him to roll into cover as the gunship's gatling gun opened fire again.
He needed a plan, and a damn good one. The nano suit could only take so much punishment from something like this.
"Tactical Options Available." Alex smirked seeing the options. "Thank you Prophet." he said as he readied himself. "Maximum Power." standing up, he drop kicked the crate he'd been crouching behind sending it into the air toward the gunship.
The pilot pitched to the right to avoid the flying crate throwing off their targeting long enough for Alex to take out his bow and draw an arrow. When the gunship got back into position, Alex released the shot.
Inside the ship, the pilot recoiled when the arrow pierced through the reinforced glass and stopped an inch from his face. "What the fuck?" said the co-pilot.
Alex pressed the button on the grip of his bow. The gunship's cockpit exploded sending the whole thing spinning, crashing into an empty warehouse causing the whole docking area to light up from the blast.
X
Emily was in a state of shock and awe. It was him! Maverick stood tall in the center of the docking yard and took down a gunship with a bow and arrow!
The journalist couldn't believe her luck. She had to talk to him before he disappeared again. She felt the barrel of a gun press to the back of her head. "Wrong place bitch." someone growled behind her.
X
Alex looked at the burning wreckage for a few moments before turning. "Leaving so soon asshole?"
Turning, he felt his blood boil seeing the squad leader still alive holding a pistol to the head of a young woman. "Drop your weapons. Or this bitch get's her brains splattered." the Turian growled pressing the barrel harder against her temple.
The fear in the woman's eyes made him pause and think quickly. Alex tossed his bow to the ground, followed quickly by his Jackel. One of his Hammers joined the pile as he slowly reached for the last one.
Everything flowed in slow motion. Alex grabbed the pistol and fired from the hip, the round blowing the merc's right mandible off. The Turian roared in pain as his head turned to the side, releasing his hostage and dropping his gun to grab his now bleeding face.
Alex stalked forward, kicking the merc in the stomach and flipping him over. His pistol pointed at his face that was gushing blue blood and forming a puddle behind his head on the ground.
"Holding an innocent woman hostage, that's grounds for no mercy." Alex said darkly cocking the hammer back on his gun. The merc gurgled something before Alex pulled the trigger and putting him down.
Moving from the dead merc, Alex helped the woman to her feet. "Are you alright ma'am?" he asked keeping his voice filtered. The woman looked up at him in awe, Alex immediately recognized her as Emily Wong.
"I...I'm fine...thanks for that." she said shaking a bit while rubbing her arms. She looked up at him, "Your him...your Maverick."
Alex nodded, "I am. What are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously.
"I just got off of work when I heard the commotion over here." said Emily. "And I saw you take down those mercs...I've been wanting to talk to you for some time now."
The soldier had a feeling where this was going, "I don't do interviews. The least people know, the better. I will not risk the lives of others." he said with conviction. The journalist smiled up at him, "It's my job to report the news, Maverick. The people on the Citadel deserve to know the truth about you. Many see you as a hero, but others see you as a monster.
Alex looked over at the burning building where the gunship had crashed. "I'm not a monster...but I'm no hero either."
Emily tilted her head in confusion before looking around as sirens echoed out in the distance. "C-Secs coming you better-" she turned back and saw that he was gone.
X
Alex entered the apartment still cloaked. Checking Reena's room and saw that it was empty, he headed to his room and started removing the nano suit.
With the information Skelart had given him he now had a new lead to follow. He needed to find out what the mercs were doing in the service tunnels around the Upper Wards leading to the Embassies and Presidium. Maybe then he could find out what their objective is.
Entering his room, he sat the nano suit's helmet on the desk when the light suddenly clicked on.
"You have a lot of explaining to do you bosht'et." Alex turned and saw Reena sitting on his bed with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
He'd been caught.
A/N: It was all a matter of time before someone had managed to figure it out. And I bet many of you were expecting Reena to be the first to figure it all out. A lot more action where this came from guys. Stay tuned.