"All right", Shepard said, holding up the syringes. "Let's do this the hard way."
Coetzee'seyes widened, fear making them bulge out of their sockets. "But I gave you the codes to the FFI!" He was bleeding from several cuts criss crossing his chest and his nose was broken. A second digit had joined the thumb on the grimy floor and electrodes had been fastened to his neck. He stank of sour sweat, urine and fear.
"I want the Dealer." Shepard's voice was low and hard. She held up the two syringes he had dropped earlier. "You know where he is!"
"I don't! Oh, God... I swear! Please... don't use that on me... Please..." He begged. "I'll do anything, just don't... don't inject me with that."
Shepard gritted her teeth. He had done far worse to her then the things she had done to him in these ten, or fifteen minutes or so, and he begged for mercy? "Stop your whining and give me what I want!"
"I don't know where he is!" Coetzee repeated desperately. "You have to believe me! Oh God, he'll kill me..."
Shepard leaned over the man, grabbing him by his dark hair and forcing his head back, exposing the throat. She pressed the two syringes against the jugular vein, hard enough that the needles penetrated the skin. "But what I'll do is much, much worse then death, isn't it? The choice is yours."
The man's Adam's apple gulped. "P-please... All I have is the comm-sequence he uses. It's on my omni-tool."
Shepard nodded and Garrus activated the man's omni-tool and transferred the comm-sequences to his own. "I have it, Shepard. Now let's get the hell out of here."
"No", she said, her voice hard and brittle. "I want him to suffer."
Kaidan had been seeing to James but now he turned to the Commander. "Don't you think he's suffered enough?" He asked. He was pale but composed. A part of him was shocked by Shepard's blood-thirst, but another part of him understood her need to destroy this man. It was a dark part he had thought he had left behind when he joined the Alliance. "We've listen to him scream for the last fifteen minutes. Either kill him or don't, but let's leave. James needs medical treatment and-"
"I want the Dealer!" Shepard interrupted him. "He's the one who did this. To me and to James. Coetzee is just a tool... " She meet Kaidan's amber coloured eyes. "I need to find the Dealer. I need to know who he is."
"I understand", Kaidan said, meeting her dark, burning gaze. "But not like this, Shepard. You're better than this-"
"Back off, Alenko." Garrus voice was a low growl. "This is Shepard's call."
Kaidan looked like he was going to object but then turned his attention back to James.
"Let... her... kill... him", James managed.
An explosion shook the room. Kaidan shielded James from the falling plaster with his own body and Garrus pulled Shepard aside just as a piece of the ceiling caved in. Dust and smoke rose, making them cough.
The sound of guns being fired reached them. "What the hell is going on?" Garrus demanded. "Are there any other gangs operating in this sector?"
Coetzee was shaking his head, coughing, gulping for air. "N-no." A second explosion made them all huddle down as more debris rained down. The sound of weapons being fired reached them. Shepard climbed to her feet. She once again pressed the syringes against the pounding jugular in the man's neck.
"If you have the sequences the Dealer uses I'm sure you've traced them back to the source. You know where he is."
Coetzee looked up into the Commander's eyes, they were as dark and cold as space. There was no compassion there, no mercy. He knew his only chance of survival was to give her the information. "Illium", he whispered. "But I don't know where, I swear! He bounces the signal through different servers and shit. All I know is that he's somewhere on Illium and that he used to work for Cerberus."
"Cerberus?" Shepard frowned. "Did they have something to do with this?"
"N-no." Coetzee carefully shook his head. "Our inside contact said he went rouge about three years ago. They've been trying to find him ever since but..." A third explosion drowned his words and the following sound of gunfire was louder then before.
"That's our cue, Shepard!" Garrus shouted. "Let's get the hell out of here before the whole building collapses on top of us!"
Kaidan had helped James up on his feet and were already leading him towards the door, holding him steady with an arm around his waist. "Come on!" He yelled. "We have to go!"
But Shepard didn't seem to have heard them. She stared at Coetzee. "Go ahead", he said. "Just kill me and get it over with.
"You tortured me and raped me because someone paid you to do it..." Shepard said slowly. "You don't deserve an easy death." She held up the two syringes. The liquid in them had a faint turquoise colour. She grabbed Coetzee by his short dark hair, pulling his head back, exposing the throat. "I hope this will make you die screaming, you son of a bitch." She slammed the two needles into his neck and injected the drug.
Coetzee made a strangled sound, his eyes wide and bulging, his body arching. She stood there, staring at him as his jaws worked and he started to foam from the mouth.
Garrus touched her arm. "Come on, Shepard", he said softly. "You did it. He's dead. Let's go." Numbly she let him lead her towards the door, dropping the empty syringes.
"First floor cleared", Jondum Bau said, reloading the shiny little gun he used. Zaeed had almost choked when the salarian Spectre had pulled out the little thing, but after having seen the destruction it caused he viewed it with a lot more respect.
"I told you, they're keeping them downstairs", he rasped. "They'll be held in one of the subterranean levels. Bastards like this has no imagination."
"But", Bau said and smiled. "They do have explosives. The whole base seemed to be rigged."
Zaeed shrugged. "Saves us the trouble of planting bombs, doesn't it. Shepard will want this place turned into rubble."
"Perhaps it's best to wait to set off any more of the charges until we've found her and the others?" Bau suggested, taking the lead down the stairs. With most of the mercs milling around outside like panicked ants the base itself had been all but empty. They hadn't had any trouble taking out the few guards they had come across. It had almost been too easy and it had made Zaeed nervous.
The booby-traps had been a welcomed return to the shitty world he knew and loved. And triggering them was fun.
The corridor at the end of the stairs was dark and filled with whirling dust and smoke. A movement in the far end of the corridor made him pull the trigger. The sound of the heavy rifle was deafening. A couple of slugs whistled past his right ear and he dove into the flimsy cover of one of the doorways.
A blue light flared as someone activated a biotic barrier. Zaeed peered through the smoke at the dark figures huddling behind a broken crate. Three humans and one turian. "Is that you, Shepard?"
One of the figures moved. "Zaeed?"
He grinned and stepped out from the doorway. "In the flesh. We've come to rescue you. I should have known you wouldn't need it."
Shepard rose and lowered the gun she had taken from Coetzee. "So you're the one that attacked the base?"
"He had help", Jondum Bau said, moving out of cover and extending his hand to the Commander. "It's good to see you alive, Shepard."
She took his hand and managed a smile. "Yeah..." Another explosion shook the building. But this was fainter and seemed to come from outside.
"An STG-team under the command of Kirrahe is waiting for us on the roof", Bau said. "They are keeping the shuttle safe but we should hurry."
Shepard nodded, relief washing through her. "All right, let's go."
Zaeed and Bau took the lead with Shepard and the others following them closely. James was still feeling the effect of the drug and the torture but he was conscious and able to walk with Kaidan's help. They moved through the facility, retracing Zaeed and Bau's steps.
Shepard changed the pistol for a Sub-Machine gun she took from one of the dead mercs and Garrus found a decent shot gun. The sound of weapons being fired grew louder as they moved up towards the roof. Then they were suddenly outside.
The humid air was filled with the smell of the jungle and smoke. The STG-team were holding the platform. And there, just to the right of its centre, like a mirage, stood the Kodiak.
The relief was like a drug, washing through her system. Shepard felt as if she was flying, as if time had slowed down and speed up at the same time. She struggled to keep herself up on her feet, struggled to keep close to Garrus, Kaidan and James, fearful she would lose them to the battle they were leaving behind.
Garrus put his arm around her when she faltered, giving her of his strength. "I've got you", she heard him say through the sound of gunfire. "I'm not letting you go." Shepard turned her head and looked into his eyes and saw a mixture of emotions, too complex to be deciphered.
Behind them James suddenly tripped over a root or a rock and nearly fell, almost pulling Kaidan with him. He struggled to stay upright and caught all his weight on the bad knee. White, hot flashes of pain exploded before his eyes and from somewhere far away he heard himself scream. Then there was only darkness.
"Go!" Zaeed shouted at them, having caught James in mid-strife. He was now carrying the wounded soldier, grunting under the weight. "Keep up the pace! Head for the shuttle!"
Kaidan felt Garrus grab his arm, pulling him along, he focused on putting on foot in front of the other. He could hear Shepard's breath ripping in and out of her throat and Garrus cursing as a bullet graced his shoulder. Salvation was so close When they came close enough to hear the buzzing sound of the shuttle's drive core it was the most beautiful sound anyone of them had ever heard.
The hatch was open and then Cortez was there, extending his hand to them, like a saving angel. Shepard grabbed it and was pulled into the safety. Kaidan and Garrus followed next, falling in a heap. Zaeed was the next to climb in. He put the unconscious James in one of the seats and flopped down next to Shepard. Kirrahe and Jondum Bau dove inside, pulling the hatch down.
"You look like shit, kid", the scarred mercenary said taking in her dirty, torn clothes, the bruises, the cuts and scrapes. His keen eyes noticed the needle-tracks still marring the inside of her arms. "What the hell did these bastards to to you?"
Cortez had taken his seat in the cockpit, his hands dancing over the Kodiak's controls and the shuttle took off. Below them the STG-team melted back into the jungle to continue with their own mission.
Shepard leaned her head against the cold metal floor of the shuttle, her head spinning, her breath coming short and hard. She shook her head at Zaeed, unable to answer. He nodded slowly as if her silence was answer enough for him.
"We found explosive charges", he said in that whiskey and smoke voice of his. "No one is getting out of that place alive." His hand touched her, clasping her shoulder and handed her the trigger he had rigged.
Shepard stared at the metal and plastic object. Then she pressed the button and a roar rose up as the old buildings were swallowed in a cloud of fire. "Thank you", she mumbled.
Zaeed grinned at her. "Happy to help, kid."
Then someone wrapped a blanket around her and the shuttle trembled and shook slightly as Cortez pressed the throttle, picking up speed, bringing them up through the atmosphere and towards the waiting Normandy.
Shepard sat, leaning against the wall, feeling the vibrations through the metal. Garrus put his hand over hers, squeezing it gently and Kaidan looked up from having checked on James to give her a smile. The last thing that went through Shepard's mind before she dozed off, comforted by the sound of the shuttle and the sense of safety, was the sight of their faces and the sensation of being alive. We made it, she thought. We made it...
So they finally made it off Pragia, and everone is still alive... except for the bastards that hurt Shepard. :)