Nate POV
"WATCH OUT!" Jack yelled as she jumped in the way of the oncoming car. She raised a barrier quick enough to protect us. She was strong but not strong enough to stop a burning skycar hurtling at us at high speed. I put up a second barrier to reinforce hers, just in front of the one that she put up. Even that wasn't enough. We were strong enough to stop it from crashing into our living room but it still broke through the glass. We were knocked back into the the plants my mum grew near the stairs. But not before crashing through the glass fixture just in front.
We landed in a pile at the base of the stairs. She lay uncomfortably on top of me, the cuts and bruises covering her arms and her lip looks busted. I didn't fare much better myself. My head was spinning and I couldn't see through my left eye since blood was leaking into it from the cut on my eyebrow. I tried wipe the blood away but it was too constant. The cut was really deep, medi-gel couldn't fix this, at least not without leaving some sort of scarring.
Why the fuck didn't I react. Because of how slow I was Jack got hurt. If I'd erected the barrier fast enough then she wouldn't have had to jump in the way and wouldn't be in the situation she's in right now.
Why didn't I react? A normal person would have ran away or tried to get out of the way. No I wouldn't have done, I knew if I did my friends could die and most importantly Rylee could die! But standing there static had the same effect, so why did I do it? Do I want to die?
"Come on dumbass" Jack groaned as she got up. She had to use the stairs as support and even then she was on the verge of collapse
"Take it easy... aarg" I griped as the full extent of my injuries became known to me. Turns out some of the glass left big cuts on my abdomen so I was bleeding through my shirt. I'd only realised just how much blood I'd lost before I started feeling light-headed. Fuck human psychology.
"Nate!" I heard a shrill shriek. It was Rylee, she ran up to us, her face filled with worry. The terror on her face evident when she saw how much blood I'd lost. "Jacob get the damned medi-gel" she ordered, before turning back to me "Stay with me Nate, come on... don't you dare bleed out" she cried and pleaded. I could feel my body growing colder, as the pain intensified by a thousand fold.
"*cough* where's everyone else?" I coughed.
"Tali is inspecting her suit, with Kaidans help, whilst the others are looking after themselves. Miranda, Garrus and Thane ran upstairs" she explained. I guess that would make sense. Kolyat, Solana and Oriana are upstairs. Shit the kids are here. Jack's eyes bulged at the Rylee's revalation. I have to move. I shifted my position to prepare to sit up.
"What the hell are you doing?! If you move you'll hurt yourself" Rylee pleaded. I ignored her advice and carried on trying to move. I started coughing again and blood started splurting all over the place. Great I'm losing even more blood. "Stop it you idiot before you get yourself killed" tears fell from her face as she pleaded for me to stop. Why am I ignoring her? Maybe I do want to die. "JACOB GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE NOW!" She shrieked
Jack had started to crawl over to the living room. She wasn't bleeding as much as me but her left leg had a glass shard in it that prevented her from walking properly.
"Jack stop you're hurt" Rylee informed
"Don't worry princess... aarh. I just need to get... a... little... further" she groaned, fighting the pain and getting to just in front of the plant. "AAAH UURGH" she grunted. All of a sudden the sky car in the living room began moving. What's she doing? There could be civilians in the streets.
"Jack STOP" I attempted to yell before the blood flooded my throat. I'm not sure if medi-gel is going to cut it anymore. Turns out that some of the glass got into my mouth and had done some damage. The car was teetering on the edge of the floor. It wouldn't take much more to tip it.
"AAAH AURRGH" she grunted this time mustering a lot more force to almost launch it across the ledge. We were relatively close to the bottom floor so I could see the explosion as the light and subsequent smoke began to rise.
Jacob ran into the room with the med kit in hand. "You get Jack, I'll handle him" she instructed and he complied. Rubbing medi-gel on a wound hurts. At first it's like rubbing salt into a wound but after a while it starts to feel soothing. Rylee had to go through 2 packs of it to heal all of my cuts. Some were deep and required more than others, particularly the one on my abdomen.
"Watch where you're rubbing that you perv!" Jack yelled. She also had some damage done to her chest. Jacob was rubbing her arms and stomach and began moving up. I took the opportunity to laugh despite the situation. Rylee then punched me in the back.
I got up and walked over to glass. The sound of the glass shattering under my feet filled the small area. "What the hell were you doing!?" I barked in reference to the car that she threw out of the room.
"You can't honestly be that stupid" Jack cursed "That thing was on fire" she informed. From where I was laying I couldn't get a good look at most of the car. If she hadn't flipped the car out of the room then everyone would be dead.
"Wow... good work" I appreciated
"Fuck your good work" She responded automatically
"Let's get out of here" Rylee suggested.
We walked into the living room to see Tali and Kaidan still examining Tali's suit. Whilst Grunt stood there seething. Javik and Liara had them all in a protective barrier whilst they talked. I guess that would explain why no one was hurt. Up the stairs I could hear crying. I ran upstairs immediately to see what the fuss was about. Kolyat was in Thane's arms as he was crying an annoying baby's cry. Miranda was holding Oriana close to her as she cried gently on her shoulder, as Garrus did the same for Solana. Good all of the kids were safe.
"Everyone get up here!" I ordered. They each walked into Rylee's room or stood in the corridor outside it. "We need to get out of here." I stated and they all nodded in agreement.
"The first priority is getting the kids out of here" I established. I scanned the room and began thinking of a safe location. But with all that was going on I was drawing a blank. We need to get them somewhere close enough that they aren't in danger for long. But also far enough away from the fighting they're safe
"Nate... Come on Nate.. Answer me" my omni-tool pinged. It was Nyreen.
"Hey are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was headed to the combat arena with Aria when I saw that car fly into your apartment. Are you okay?" she explained
"Nothing I couldn't handle" I responded arrogantly. She's with Aria. That's it.
"You said that you're with Aria right?" I asked hopefully
"Yeah she's right here" she responded sceptically
"Good. I need you to do me a favour. I'm going to send a few people your way. I need the two of you to get them to Afterlife" I asked. Nyreen in a good person who cares about the lives of innocence. She'll do it, but I never understood why she was with Aria.
"Yeah we'll do it. Just get them down here. I don't think we'll be able to get up there" She informed.
"Thanks. They should be there in a couple of minutes" I ended the transmission. I looked around and thought if who should go with the kids. Sam and Kelly would have to go with them since they were non-combatants. But that means I would have to send a defender with them. Aria is a biotic powerhouse and Nyreen will make the kids her top priority but a few extra hands couldn't make things worse.
"OK, Kelly and Samantha will go with the kids to meet up with Nyreen" I ordered
"Are you crazy, what if they meet hostiles on the way down" Garrus interrupted
"If you had let me finish you would have heard what I was about to day" I scolded. I guess Solana being in danger has him a bit on edge. I can only imagine how Thane must feel with his son "James will go with them." I finished.
"With all due respect Nate. I am not leaving Kolyat in the care of others" Thane asserted. I don't really blame him
"Same goes for me. I want to make sure Oriana is safe" Miranda added
"And there's no way I'm letting Solana go without me" Garrus proclaimed. I perfectly understand all of their feelings. If Rylee was still a kid then there was no way I was going to entrust her safety with anyone but myself. And maybe Garrus, Kaidan and Ashley. Garrus and Miranda maybe wouldn't be in as much panic if I offered to take the kids to Afterlife. But I need to get to the fighting to help the civies.
"Fine then Garrus you go with James. Everyone else stays behind" I instructed. It would have been a lot better to fight with Garrus at my side. Over the years we'd developed a partnership.
"Bullshit!" Miranda yelled. That was the first time I'd heard her say that
"Miranda, Thane you both want to go with the kids but you're needed here. Garrus and James would never allow the kids to get hurt. And Nyreen would die before allowing innocence to suffer" I reasoned hoping that they would listen. Thane's muscles tensed, whilst Miranda's body stiffened.
"Hey" James got their attention "I promise you that nothing will happen to them. I will guard them with my life. You have my word" he reassured solemnly. The drell and the genetically engineered beauty's features softened a bit. James can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be.
"Head to the armoury in the spare room and suit up" I advised and they ran. Miranda and Thane both nodded but didn't look entirely comfortable with the idea.
After a few minutes James and Garrus returned with their equipment "Come on people let's move" Garrus urged. Oriana and Solana followed behind the big Turian. Sam picked Kolyat up along with the towel he was wrapped up in a tagged along with Kelly. And James rounded off at the back. I hope to God that they'll be alright.
I turned around and faced the rest of the group. There were 12 of us remaining including myself so we should split in groups of six. Oh shit, my mom is on the Presidium with Kaidan's. What if the fighting is there as well. I need to get up there and so would Kaidan and Rylee. But both Rylee and I can't go to the presidium, there are too many people in the wards right now that need our help and Rylee is the second best leader here behind myself.
"We're going to divide into squads of six. The leaders will be Rylee and myself" there was no argument. I pulled Rylee into the corner of the room.
"Follow Kaidan to our armoury and suit up. We'll be there in a few minutes" Rylee ordered and they listened. We both walked into our rooms and accessed our personal arsenals. I put on my Blood Dragon Armour. It used to belong to my dad. It was so advanced for it's time that it's still effective today. I picked up my M-6 Carnifex Hand Cannon, M-12 Tempest, an M-92 Mantis and to top it all off my new shotgun. Zaeed was cool enough to give me the specs in our last Weapons class. I had an M-22 Eviscerator, the shotgun I had designed with Jack using its original schematics, with some improvement over the past few weeks. I had compensate for the overheating effect of using what Jack likes to call 'Warp Ammo' so it's almost perfect. I took the two that we'd built and planned on giving Jack hers at some point in the week.
Rylee walked into my room, clad in her custom N7 armour. She was toting an M-77 Paladin, M-97 Viper, M-12 Tempest and my Dads HMWA Assault Rifle.
"We need to choose our squads"
"Yeah, but how do we decide"
"Grunt and Jack come with me and that's without question" I said as if it were obvious and she shot me a questioning glare "Grunt chose me as his battlemaster he'll likely not listen to your orders as he would mine and the same applies to Jack." I explained
"Fine I'll take Thane and Kasumi. We've fought together before and developed chemistry. It's even better with Garrus" she smiled
Since I plan on going to the presidium and Kaidan's mum was there he has to come with me. "Kaidan's with me" I added and she nodded. I've taken most of the powerhouses of the group with Grunt, Jack and I so Rylee needs to take two for herself. Thane is good hand to hand but from what Rylee's told me he's not exactly a powerhouse.
"You should take Javik and Jacob" I suggested
"Just what I was thinking. I need a bit more muscle" She agreed
My next decision would be a risky one. I'll have to take Miranda, she knows the area better than anyone there, but I'm taking Jack and they aren't exactly the best of friends. I hope that they don't implode. "I'll take Miranda and Tali. You need another powerful biotic in Liara" I explained
"Thanks. Now we've got the squads sorted out we need a plan" she started
"I know... I'm going to go to the Presidium to see if there's any fighting up there to see if we can help. If not we'll come back and help your squad" I suggested
"What! I was going to go to the presidium" she argued
"Rylee. Look out to the wards." I urged pointing at Zakera Wards "People are being slaughtered. I know you want to help mum in the Presidium but you're better suited to help the people down here" I argued. She raised her hands in defence. I guess she sees that this isn't the time to be arguing.
We stomped downstairs to see if everyone had suited up yet. They were all ready and wearing some form of armour apart from Jack, Miranda and Thane.
"We're going to split into two squads of six. My squad will have Grunt, Jack, Tali, Kaidan and Miranda. The rest of you are with Rylee." none of them seemed to mind the squads "My squad will head up to the Presidium to see who needs help up there."
"Whilst my squad will stay in the wards and stop those shooters. So are you ready?" Rylee questioned. "Let's go" her squad fell behind her and ran out of the apartment.
"You heard the lady let's move!"
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Garrus POV
I don't know who thought that now would be the best time to attack the Presidium but they pissed off the wrong Turian. Doing something like this is ballsy to say the least. To pull this off you'd need to be very well funded and organised. No way could any amateur squad pull this off. All electricity has gone out including the Citadel Extranet connection and communication network. That leaves only a few organisations that could pull this off. I don't know most of them but I'm sure hacking into my Dad's computer should enlighten me.
I felt someone tapping my legs. It was Solana, she had this look of absolute fear and sadness. "Garry, I'm scared" she sobbed
Turians are taught from a young age, slightly older than she is, that there are a lot of bad people in the universe that need killing. As well as the fact that death is a part of life we need to accept. She doesn't know this yet and I'm damn sure not telling her that now. There is no way anyone here is dying.
"Solana, I need you to be strong. You're the one setting an example for Oriana. She's younger than you and will follow what you do. Be strong for her and your older brother." I advised reassuringly. She steeled her face and nodded.
"Garrus... how much longer until we reach the bottom floor." James asked as he removed the rubble of a car that had crashed into this apartment. I looked at the house number.
"One more floor and we should be at the lobby"
"It would be really useful to have someone like... urgh... Blue or Sparks here with us" he grunted as he cleared a path.
"Blue? Sparks?" I asked. Who the hell are they?
"You know... Tali and... urgh.. Liara" he grunted. I stood watch at the rear in case anyone was headed our way. I guess Liara is blue but why is Tali sparks. I understood what James meant when he told me that not everyone's name fits them, but Tali isn't sparks
"Really? Why them?"
"Blue could lift this shi..." he froze. He could feel my glare coming from behind him. "Sorry... load for us with her mind" he apologized. I know biotics are useful and would be very effective in this situation.
"Then what about Tali?"
"For the kids" he responded honestly. Tali has always been good with kids. Particularly Solana, she likes Tali a lot. I have to be on my guard, even more so than usual. I can't make any mistakes of it could cost Solana her laugh. A quiet cough emanated from behind me. It was only then that I had an epiphany. It wasn't just my sister in danger. Thane's son and Miranda's sister were with us as well. I knew that they were here but I never really grasped just how serious the situation we are in is.
"What's with you" James asked snapping my out of my inner monologue
"What do you mean"
"You don't look like yourself... You look nervous"
"I'm doing just fine James. Now let's get back to finding an exit, Nyreen and Aria won't wait forever"
"Relax Garrus. If we're too tense we'll make mistakes. Lighten up a bit but not too much"
"Easy for you to say. You don't have a sister in this situation" I spat. "Maybe you should take this more seriously"
James got up from his spot and grabbed me by the collar "I gave my word to Thane and Miranda that I would keep their loved ones safe. I don't ever make promises if I have no intention of keeping them. SO DON'T YOU EVEN THINK I'M NOT TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY" he growled
"OK I'm sorry" I apologised "Having Solana and the kids here... I can't think straight... I'm just on edge"
"Understandable. But don't let that compromise yourself" he suggested
A bullet flew through the wall and whizzed past my visor. No way that's a pistol round, had to be a sniper "Sam activate the barrier". She knelt on the ground and placed the generator on the ground, the lot of them were enveloped in a generated field.
"Kids now activate your barriers" I instructed. They turned the activation node on the belts I gave them and they were encased in a second, personal shield. Better safe than sorry.
"Garrus get your ass down here, we need some help" Nyreen yelled. James and I nodded and followed suit.
"Stop fucking around and get down here" Aria barked, I guess we weren't moving fast enough for Omega's queen
We arrived to see that they were being pinned down by the mystery group. Aria and Nyreen both hid on either side of a massive chunk of rubble which was being cut down my enemy fire.
My first priority has to be to find the sniper. That wall was pretty thick so for a bullet to get through it, the sniper has to be fairly close. From the current landscape there are only a select few decent sniper perches. And since it went through the wall at that angle, he has to be... there. I spotted the sniper. He looked slim, wearing a black cat suit like armour, with a bright red scope where his eyes should be.
I took a deep breath and took aim. I steadied myself and fired. HEADSHOT got one! This had the unfortunate effect of drawing all attention towards myself.
"TAKE THIS BITCHES" James roared before tossing out an Inferno Grenade, it only effected a small group but it set them all alight.
"Took you long enough" Aria added before laughing a flare at another sniper. Two more hostiles walked on to the field, using riot shields as cover. Nyreen was trying to get him between the mail slot. The bullets just bounced off of the shield, she then threw a flash bang to disorient the soldiers.
Whilst they were blinded I took aim, I fired a shot through the slot and blood, as well as brain matter splattered all over the place. "SCOPED AND DROPPED" I cheered
"Screw this" Aria growled before hitting the other shielded enemy with a singularity, he hung in the air scrambling to find the ground, and she then took out her pistol and blew his brains out
James picked off anyone that got too close. This armoured hostile was wearing medium, black and grey armour, her helmet had red slits where they eyes should have been. They were wielding swords and side arms. Aria slid behind a pile of toppled steel girders, the asari fired shot at the enemy but she dodged every single shot with a series of fancy flips and slides. This girl is like a phantom, Aria just can't seem to hit her.
"THAT'S IT" She let out a frustrated roar "LET'S SEE YOU DODGE THIS" she yelled before hitting her with a flare. The brilliant, firework like explosion was almost blinding. "WHAT THE FUCK!" Aria said in disbelief. The phantom was merely disoriented by the blast, all it did was take down its shields. I haven't seen anyone survive her Flare!
James ran over to the confused Phantom who was still trying to get back her footing. He barged her to the ground before firing point blank to the head, finally killing her. Within a few minutes we had cleared the area of hostiles. James killing the majority while I stood back and guarded the kids, Sam and Kelly. I signalled for them to follow me and they did, they cautiously climbed down the debris until they were at ground level with Aria and Nyreen.
"What the hell is going on Garrus?" Nyreen asked "Why are these kids here?"
"These are the people Nate told you about" I answered
She rubbed her forehead "When Nate said that he was sending people to hide in Afterlife. I assumed it would just be Kelly, Samantha and some adults from his apartment, not... children" she complained
"Doesn't matter now. What we need to do is get to Afterlife" James advised
"I hate to spoil this little meeting... but the streets are crawling with these mercs. We need to use the secret passages" Aria interjected. I'd always known that there were secret passage ways and tunnels around this area. It was where Nate and I used to have target practice in the one that led to the lower wards.
"Fine then. Lead the way" I offered control to Aria
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Rylee POV
We made our way down the fire escape since it would be the quickest way to the Zakera Ward. I quickened my pace as the screams, shrieks and roars got louder as well as the gunfire and grenade blasts. When I was near the bottom I released my hold of the ladder and jumped to the pavement. I was proceeded by Liara, Thane, Jacob, Javik and then Kasumi.
"OK people. The plan is to get to C-Sec Academy"
"Why? We should focus on quelling the attack" Javik asserted
"Javik, we can't. Didn't you see the shuttles on the way down?" I asked, the Prothean shook his head "They were headed in every direction. Some to the wards and some of them were going up the levels. This fight is far too spread out for us to even dream of stopping it, even if we had stayed together. We don't know their objective, if they even have one. Or who their leader is" I contended "We can't stop it, but we can hold it off until those who can show up"
"I was worried you would not be as strong as your brother. I am glad that you are" he praised to which I nodded
"C-Sec academy is the only defensible building with Medical facilities. We will pick up any injured civilians and take them over to the academy" I declared "Let's move"
We ran through the wards, stopping by a few buildings to see if anyone had survived. So far all we'd seen were corpses, so disfigured by debris and flames that their species was undefinable. It was truly sad to see such a waste of life on a grand scale. We stopped by this terrace style house which didn't look too badly damaged by just about every skycar in the area crashing to the ground. We walked in to find that most of it hadn't been disrupted by rubble.
"HELP" it was coming from a room just ahead. I ran in to it as fast as I could. In the room were a couple of humans. They were standing by a room with their fingers and arms bleeding. There was rubble all over the ground and quite a lot of it. They looked to be roughly 30 years old, their clothes looked fine, bar a few tears and stains which didn't look like they came from the explosions.
"What's wrong" I asked
"Our son is in that room. He's only 5" the woman cried. She pointed at the another room only this one was filled with wreckage from another sky car
"He was asleep and we were watching TV downstairs before the signal cut and we heard some explosions. Next thing we knew Keenan's room was covered in rubble" the man explained
"How do you know he's even alive" I asked
"We don't!" the man informed "But if he is and we don't do anything... We could never live with ourselves" his words filled with worry "We've been moving the rubble for about 20 minutes now, but we can't get in"
Out of nowhere someone started crying. It was coming from the rubble filled room. "Momma, Daddy. It hurts. Where are you?"
"Keenan" his mother shrieked
"Momma. There's a lot of red stuff coming from my tummy" Keenan moaned
"Please get him out of there" his father pleaded. There was no way I could get all of that out of the room before the child bleeds out
"I'm feeling really... sleepy...and... can you bring a coat... it's really cold" he informed. Shit he's about to die. His f
"LIARA!" I cired urgently, my eyes growing wide with desperation
The Asari, along with Javik, Jacob and Thane used their biotics to clear the room. I did my part along with Kasumi and Keenan's parents to move the rubble. We were doing it haphazardly and in a rushed manner. I'm sure if it wasn't for our biotics this would be impossible.
"Goodnight momma, goodnight daddy" the words were fading as he said them and we were only half way to getting done.
"WORK FASTER" I ordered and we became a lot more urgent in our actions. The room was flooded with wreckage, it's a miracle that this kid is even alive. He won't be for long if we don't pick up the pace. I used the hormonal nodule in my brain that increases androgen levels to intensify my strength. I began lifting 3 times what I was earlier and managed to clear most of the path.
"KEENAN!" his mother yelled when she got into the room, we hadn't cleared all of the rubble yet but we had dealt with enough to get into the room. She moved the most of it onto the bed as she searched the room for her son, fueled by desperation she ignored the cuts and bruises. That was until she saw the blood soaked carpet and a limp lifeless leg from which the blood was coming. It was right next to the door which could explain why we could hear his voice.
"NO...NO...NOO" She cried breaking down into tears, she took off the bits of debris that covered her now dead child. When it dawned on me the the child was dead my heart stopped, my head started throbbing and tears were threatening to fall. His father fell to the ground defeated, knowing that he was just minutes away from saving his sons life, he had this look of total depression.
I looked to Thane and he had the same look as the father. He was the only one of us who could even attempt to relate to the man. He is likely imagining what it would be like if he found Kolyat in a similar situation.
"I'm sorry for your loss... but we need to get you out of here" Jacob said.
"What's the point? My son is dead under these rocks... what... can I live for" she wept growing quieter as she spoke
"Come on hon... We have to leave" her husband encouraged but his voice didn't sound convincing
"Why Chris? I have nothing to live for..."
Thane stepped forward and placed a hand over her back "You do have reason to live. If not for Keenan then why not your second child" he reassured
She slapped Thane across the face. Ouch that had to hurt "Do you think this is some sort of JOKE? I've just lost my son and you tell me lies" she shrieked
But the drell wasn't dissuaded, instead he stood "I wasn't lying to you. I was referring to your unborn child" he stated calmly
"What are you talking about?"
"I've seen your pictures, you usually favour tight, revealing clothing however you are wearing a baggy hoodie and trousers. As well as you're overly active nose and back pains you displayed when we arrived" What is he talking about and how did he pick up on any of that.
"Is that true?" her husband asks
"I don't know"
"Come with us to C-Sec and we will confirm it. But believe me. You are with child" the drell reassured. Chris and his wife got up reluctantly, leaving their son and followed us on our way to C-Sec. I lived roughly 20 minutes away from C-Sec academy so it shouldn't take us much longer to get there.
We managed to pick up some other survivors and civilians on the way, some had died in our presence, some were critically injured, and would be dead were it not for Thane, Liara and I's knowledge in medicine. We had managed to pick up quite the crowd of people which made us potential targets. Javik put up a barrier to protect the group and Liara traded with him when he got tired. I pulled to the back along with Thane.
"Is she really pregnant" I asked
"From what I can tell she is." the drell assassin affirmed "I don't have enough information to make an apt judgement"
"If that was the case, then why did you sound so confident?"
"They were depressed... Clinically so. They would have killed themselves had I not told them. It would have been a tragic waste of life"
"But what if you're wrong?"
He didn't answer for a bit "I had to do something... too many have lost their lives here. I wouldn't have said it if it had no hint of truth to it" he confessed
"Good work. I hope you're right"
It saddened me greatly to see the Citadel looking like this. Buildings burning and the smoke filling the air, screams of terror off in the distance begging for help that would never come and if it did it would be too late. Cars lodged in the side of buildings ready to explode and kill the inhabitants. Some of the sick bastards even had their victims in full display as a warning. Wreckage lined the streets along with craters, ignition marks and dead bodies. And the most sickening part was the sky. It was so beautiful and blue as though it were a nice sunny day on earth. The juxtaposition of tragedy and beauty left me feeling sick
As we edged closer to C-Sec academy the gun fire began to become clearer. We were a bit conspicuous with a big biotic barrier covering us, but it was effective. A bunch of the mercs started pouring into an alleyway and some took cover behind the walls leading up to it.
"Jacob, Thane you're with me. Liara, Kasumi stay behind and guard Javik" I instructed. We got out of the barrier and took cover behind some trash cans. "Thane" I got his attention whilst taking out my M-97 Viper, whilst he took out his M-29 Incisor. We took aim at each of the mercs near the entrance.
"I'm ready" I declared taking aim at his head
"Fire" he ordered as we both fired at the same time, their brain matter now lining the walls. Jacob jumped over the the trash cans and assumed the position of the dead guards his Katana in hand. I took out my Lancer and took the position of the other guard. Thane found a spot where he could see the alley from cover.
"Kane, Isaac, get your ass over here, we're losing men fast" someone hollered from the alley.
We turned into the alley, the white armoured merc looked surprised. Before he could react Jacob blew him 5 feet into the air.
"Hey what's going" another said as he turned around, I didn't give him a chance, I unleashed my rounds into his chest. Another merc had turned the corner and was firing rounds at me and thankfully my shields were up which provided me ample time to duck. I reached into my back pocket and took out my Inferno Grenade, I started cooking it until there were two seconds to go. I launched the grenade underneath the dumpster so no one would see it before ducking once more. The explosion blew the bin a few feet into the air crushing some of the enemies
I got careless and someone had caught me in a biotic field and I was being lifted off from cover. I tried to hold on to the dumpster I hid behind but it was too powerful to resist. I saw one of them with their hands slowly lifting me up and the other hand had a gun aimed squarely at me. Shit I'm going to die. Jacob is pinned down by suppressing fire and I'm out in the open like a sitting duck
As I was about to accept my fate I heard an almost silent bullet whiz past me and before I knew what was going on I was dropped onto the floor. When I looked at the guy who had me in a lift field I saw that his head had exploded. I looked up and saw that there were more enemies aiming their assault rifles at me.
Before I could react another hostile had started firing, almost tearing through my shield, but then came the killer overload sending waves of electricity through my body and frying my shield generator, paralysing me for a second.
"Rylee get out of the way" Jacob bellowed,
"I can't move" I screamed
"Shit" Jacob cursed before using his biotics to throw me behind the dumpster I was initially behind, causing my skin to scrape against the wet ground.
Jacob hit them with a shockwave, I could hear their cries as they were hurtled into the air. There was no way I could go back out there blind with my shields fried, but they had Jacob pinned down. If I were in their position I would be advancing.
"Rylee he has a riot-shield" Jacob hollered. If I remain here then I'll definitely be killed but if I go out there I'll definitely be killed. I have to act. I threw an Inferno grenade out. I awaited the explosion before running out of cover and retreating to a more defensible position.
I got a good look at the one with the riot shield. What Jacob never told me that there were three of them with Riot shields. All my grenade did was act as a flash bang.
They began to advance on our position and then I heard three bullets whiz past me. When I peered over the bin the three Guardians were dead and the shields had little damage on them. There is no way. I looked back to the entrance. Thane had killed them from all the way back there. The slots in their shields were only about 2 inches wide. He killed the three of them with three shots, I haven't ever met a sniper that good, and not even Garrus could do that.
I waved for him to come over since we had dealt with all of the mercs. I hope we don't run into any more trouble. My shield generator out of commission would mean that I could become a liability.
The mercs said that they were losing men fast, so who could have been killing this many of them. As I walked further into the alley I started seeing a lot more charred corpses and even some frozen ones. Walking out to meet us was Dr Solus.
"Rylee, Thane, Jacob what are you doing here. Carrying weapons and armour. Obviously fighting" he started tapping at his chin "Could it be you're headed for C-Sec Academy" he theorised. It always freaked me out just how perceptive he could be
"How do you know" Jacob asked
"Most defensible position in wards, surrounded by officers and soldiers, where you could be most helpful" he surmised "I was headed there myself to help any of the injured civilians before... ambush."
"You held off all of these mercs on your own" Jacob sounded surprised
"Yes, but could not handle them all by myself. They have skills but not the brains. Sheer numbers proved to be... problematic" he said "Doesn't make sense, the troops didn't seem to be moving in manner associated with humans. Movement is almost sluggish and aimless. Only seem to follow orders of officers whose minds appear fully intact"
He started looking at my waist, I thought that Salarians had no sex-drive "Rylee, your shield generator appears damaged. Would you like one of mine" he offered
"Thank you" I accepted one of his generators. We walked out of the alley back into the streets to meet up with Liara, Javik and the others. We carried on our way to C-Sec academy, adding to our group more and more people who needed help. Luckily for us Dr Solus was with us otherwise we couldn't have helped some of the people we picked up.
When we got close to C-Sec academy I could see bodies dropping to the floor and a symphony of gun fire. There was an all-out shoot our going on and we were going to help. "Thane, Kasumi come on. Liara, Javik keep that barrier up at all costs. Jacob make sure no one gets close. CLEAR"
"CLEAR" they responded before we ran to the academy. By the time we had arrived most of the mercs were dead. Fighting them were Wrex, Garrus' Dad, and Zaeed. They were at the entrance defending the academy with what appeared to be relative ease
"MORDIN GET YER ASS OVER HERE" Zaeed bellowed
Wrex began charging at us, barging enemies and disemboweling them all in one motion. He was laughing as he did it too. One of the shielded mercs thought he would be safe from his strength. He used a biotic charge that completely shattered the shield before quite literally blowing his head off.
Garrus' dad was toting an M-13 Raptor, Kassa Locust and a Crossfire X. No one got anywhere near him, just about every shot was a head shot, and anyyone who got too close was taken out by the proxy mines he had set up.
Once we were done being starstruck we thought that we should actually help out. Kasumi cloaked and went god knows where. The only way I could track her was by the number of enemies just randomly dropping to the floor. Thane and I decided to hang back and act as snipers instead of getting in close. We got a few mail-slot shots in and some head shots but there was hardly anything to aim at. All of them were getting killed so quickly that we were scrambling to find someone. I can't even count the number of times that someone was killed in my scope without me shooting. When we had cleared the area I signalled for Liara and Javik to come over.
"What are you kids doin'ere" Zaeed asked, I simply pointed at the massive crowd behind me
"I'll be damned" Wrex sounded impressed. Garrus' dad marched down the stairs towards us
"Rylee thank the spirits you're alright" Mr Vakarian said, he then scanned the crowd
"Are Garrus and Solana in that crowd" he asked, I shook my head
"Then where are they"
"It's okay... Garrus and James took Solana and some other kids to Afterlife... They went with Aria so they'll have her gang protecting them the entire time" I tried to reassure the C-Sec veteran. He looked like he was thinking through what he had just heard
"Afterlife heavily fortified, Aria powerful biotic, Garrus very capable soldier. Children should be safe provided they get to Afterlife" Mordin added
"Listen to the Salarian Titus. They're on the other side of the wards. If you leave now there will be no one to coordinate C-Sec" Wrex reasoned
"Besides they've got Vega and Kandros with 'em. Ya daughter should be fine" Zaeed said
"Fine. I'll stay... Now what are you doing Rylee" the big Turian asked
"We're helping. We've brought these people here for help and refuge. Nowhere else is safe and some of them are seriously hurt" I explained
"Most of them would likely be dead if not for you. Proud" Mordin praised
"Good work" Titus appreciated. "Now you stay here" he ordered
"What! We can help" I argued
"You're better off here. It's dangerous out there"
"Look at what we did" I said gesturing to the mass of people we had led to safety
"Yes what you achieved should be lauded... but we have officers out there already doing what you are offering to do. We need people to take care of the survivors" He reasoned
"We'd be better suited for the field" I persisted
"That's an order Rylee. Your mother messaged me to make sure that you and Nathan are safe and that is what I will do" it sounded final. I knew that there would be no arguing with him. Escaping would require me to kill or knock out the remaining officers which I doubt we could do.
"FINE" I yelled before stomping away
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Nate POV
I led the team to the loft of the house. It had a secret passageway to the roof. My mum said that my dad had it installed in case he needed to get us out as quickly as possible without drawing attention. Luckily it was big enough for Grunt to get through otherwise we would have to go up the stairs.
When we reached the roof it was surprisingly clear. There was no damage done whatsoever but the rest of the building was in tatters. All of the skycars up here have been there all day, I guess the owners were lucky enough to not be driving when this started. Which made me really consider if what I was about to do was a good idea.
I ran up to the biggest skycar well sky-truck I could find. I shot through the window, triggering the lockdown. I unleashed a VI program I had installed onto my omni-tool that could hack basic systems. The doors opened and everyone gave me a look as though I'm insane
"What are you waiting for... Get in!" I encouraged
"Are you fucking insane! They've been dropping out of the sky. And you want us to just hop in!" Jack questioned incredulously
"I have to agree with the psycho Nate" Miranda concurred
"Just trust me!"
"Nate, you can't expect us to get into a death trap" Kaidan added
I sighed "Guys think about it. Not every car dropped out of the sky did they?" they had no response
"There is no way that every car in the wards could be crash without interference" I stated "Each car operates on a secure individual network to ensure that a hacker can't cause what happened today. But there is one system that every car is connected to"
"Yes makes sense" Tali said "Every car is connected to the Citadel network. Supposedly the most secure in the galaxy. To crash that along with all of the electricity you'd have to send a virus into the network"
"What are you talking about?" Jack asked
"OK how do I put this... For all of the cars to crash, you would have to put a virus on the Citadel Network. But how they managed to effect a large number of cars but not all of them is a mystery" the quarian reasoned
"The VI I put in the car disconnects the cars external signal. So it severs it's connection to the network.. NOW LET'S GET IN" I ordered. And one at a time they filled the car. I had to get a truck because a normal car couldn't fit Grunt inside. In the back were Grunt, Tali and Jack whilst Kaidan, Miranda and I sat shotgun.
"We need to get to the Presidium" I stressed "There are a lot of people up there who need help"
"Yeah but then what Nate? We can't just keep fighting without objective. We can't possibly end this fight" Kaidan argued
"Yeah but we can get people to safety. The Embassies should be in lock down right now. We need to get to them. Hopefully there are some C-Sec officers there. If we're lucky a spectre" I hoped
"That plan requires a lot of What Ifs" Miranda interjected
"Yeah well we don't have a lot of options"
Kaidan started tinkering with his omni-tool only to find that it wasn't working "What the hell, it just fried" he complained
"That hasn't happened since everyone's in the school started crashing" Miranda added "Maybe it's just yours" she thought as she tried to access hers. "Dirty little bugger just short circuited"
"It's the same virus that infected the school a couple of months back" I observed "They didn't just disconnect us from the Citadel Network. They planted a virus in it, that also contaminates any sort of internal operating system causing everything to go to shit" I theorised keeping my eyes on the tunnel. I gave them a quick look, they were gob smacked
"What?"
"Oh it's nothing... just that..."
"What... thought that I didn't understand tech. Thought I was too stupid to ever figure that out" I suggested
"No" "Yes" Miranda and Kaidan answered respectively
"Ass"
"I'm kidding! Just a little surprised you figured it out before any of the techies" Kaidan defended
After a couple of minutes of silence Miranda noticed something "Wait a minute, if omni-tools were made obsolete. Then how come you contacted Nyreen at your apartment" she implored
"Oh about that! I think Kaidan can explain it a lot better than I can"
"His dad had the apartment fitted with some... extras" he said looking for the right words "He had his apartment fitted with anti-scramblers so that no matter what they could always communicate with anyone in the apartment or contact someone outside the apartment in the apartment" he explained
"So if you were outside the door when Nyreen called"
"Both omni-tools would have shorted out" I stated plainly
The rest of the ride was in silence. At the back I could hear Jack swearing at Grunt about how she'll take his four balls and throat of a Thresher Maw. I should have made her sit in front with me. On the way to the Presidium we saw the wreckage and destruction caused by this incursion. The walls were set on fire and sparks of electricity licked the remains of cars that had collided with the walls, threatening to cause an explosion at any second. The atmosphere in the front of the car became a lot tenser.
We were now near the commons, I raised the car so that we wouldn't be effected by any explosions and we would be too far away from fire. From above it doesn't look any better. It just made me realise the scope of this invasion.
Most of the presidium was in disarray. There are thousands of cars in the lake, they almost piled up to the second level at some parts. The worst part was that you could see the corpses in the cars. They were mangled, burnt or splattered all over the windows. To try and alleviate some of the tension I decided to turn on the radio.
All I heard was static, before a hologram depicting a mosaic of mangled and distorted shapes. There was a voice emanating from the hologram but the transmission was so bad I could barely make out what it was saying.
"Sorry...nity...now...us appreciates your sacrifice" the last part was very clear. Every skycar on the citadel was crashed by this virus. Not crashed but murdered by some monster.
"Oh shi.." I couldn't finish my sentence before the car began to plummet. I began losing control of all my senses as the realisation that I was going to die set in. No way, I refuse to die. I used every Eezo nodule in my body along with all my strength to put the hurtling truck in a stasis field. I yelled in agony, doing this felt as though my limbs were being ripped out of their sockets.
"Nate what are you doing!" Kaidan yelled
"Shut up and get the hell out of here. All of you!" I ordered, my face contorting from pain
"I'm not leaving you" they said simultaneously
"I can't keep... this field up much longer... grab Grunt and Tali and jump"
"You'll die" Kaidan pointed out
"We are still falling Kaidan. I've just slowed it down... No point in all of us dying. NOW GO!"
Kaidan and Miranda looked like they were going to argue but didn't. They climbed through the window into the back and they barked my orders. There was some argument from Jack but Kaidan persisted. Man I hope that she listens to them.
I'm going to die. If I somehow survive it will be a miracle but I'm going to be out of commission for a long time. That's not likely, I will die. At least I'll go out in style, saving the people I cared about. My only regret that I won't ever see my family again.
In the middle of my dying thoughts the seat beside me flew through the window, a hole formed where it used to be and the door came off of it's bolts. Jack's head poked through the hole.
"Are you fucking stupid. This thing is going down and you ain't running" she accused "You really are a pussy" she cussed
She then proceeded to grab me by my hips. She dragged me to the broken door. After that she jumped out of the truck but not before hit it with a shockwave. It sent us over the Commons and the car clear across the lake. We fell gently to the ground thanks to her as well. When we landed she dropped me to the ground without a care.
"I'm out of here" Jack said as she walked away
"Where are you going" Kaidan asked
"There is no way I'm following that pussy" she spat pointing at me
"He just saved your life" Kaidan countered heatedly
"I will not follow a suicidal dumbass" she announced "He wants to die I say let him. I'll be at the Hospital"
Do I really want to die? I've asked myself that very question constantly since the car crashed into my apartment. My heart feels perfectly fine, well it feels the same as it has for the past few years. I haven't had an attack since this morning. Telling the story didn't do anything for me. Maybe there isn't any hope for me. Maybe I'm beyond help. That story should have allayed some of my guilt, some of my pain, some of my grief but it's still there. Now just lingering in the recesses of my mind. Maybe that's all I was doomed to, a life of suppressing the pain instead of overcoming it. What kind of life is that, knowing that at any moment I could just die? Maybe... oh shit I want to die!
I can't die. There are too many people in my life that would be affected by my death. My mum hasn't been the same ever since my dad died. She's a shell of the woman she once was. Her act may fool the rest of the world but not me or Rylee. Kaidan's mum dropped by a few weeks ago, she told us to keep our mum safe, to watch out for her and keep her strong. Losing her husband and her son could totally crush her. I can't be responsible for that.
"Jack stay... I won't... I can't die... My head hasn't been it it totally since the car came crashing into my apartment. I'm sorry"
"That's nice... but I won't follow you" she stated. I can't really blame her for not wanting to follow my lead, I wouldn't follow a CO who I thought wasn't in his right mind.
"We're headed for the embassy, you can tag along if you want or you can head over to Huerta Memorial" I offered before turning around and walking away the rest of the group in tow. I looked back, she wasn't anywhere to be found. I guess she's headed for the hospital
"Nate I just remembered something" Miranda said gaining my attention "Just before the car crashed the holo said something. It was something about appreciating our sacrifice"
"Yeah I remember what about it?"
"The voice... It was my fathers" she admitted in disgust
"What! Miri are you 100% sure"
"Yes definitely, I would know it anywhere. I've spent hours trying to get it out of my head. I wouldn't mistake it for anyone elses"
"Does this sound like something he's capable of?"
"He's capable of anything Nate. I told you about how he's treated Oriana, Jack and I" she hissed, her eyes grew wide at the realisation that she had just confessed that her and Jack live
It looked like Kaidan was going to comment "Yes I remember" I interrupted before he could say anything.
"We have a two options right now. Option one, we search the Presidium from here to the embassy rescuing anyone we see" I proposed "Or we head to Miranda's mansion and confront her father"
"Nate you don't honestly think he'll be threatened by some teenagers do you?" Tali asked
"No I don't" I took out my Carnifex "But this will"
"Fair enough" Kaidan smiled "We both know why we headed for the Embassies. You can go with Miranda to confront her father. We'll handle the rescue" he offered. I could trust Kaidan to lead the group, he's perfectly capable the last time I checked
"Good idea. Come on Miranda let's go!"
"Thank you Kaidan" she appreciated. We turned around and headed for the service stairs. The embassies were in the lower Presidium, whilst her mansion was on just above the commons.
"What do you expect to find?" I enquired
"I'd rather not talk right now" she shut me out. She has to be a lot more nervous than I initially thought.
We ran up the stairs, her leading me, she's very eager to get there. When we did finally reach her mansion, we discovered that it was untouched. Every other accommodation around it was charred apart from her place. That's not a good sign. There were also blood and dead bodies all over the place.
Through my visor I could see that a group of people were emitting energy signatures consistent with those from electric shields headed our way. Their thermal emissions seem to suggest that they are searching for something or someone.
"Miri can you see them through the wall?" I asked, and she nodded. "I need you to overload their shields and get back behind cover as quickly as possible" she gave me a stern nod before striding over towards the entrance to the building. She punched in the key code before throwing and overload. The resultant shock removed the energy markers for the shields so I knew they were now susceptible to biotics. I projected a wide area shockwave through the wall the flung everyone inside into the air.
Now that they were off guard I ran to the entrance with Miranda. I threw a frag grenade near the part of the wall I collapsed with the shockwave. Bits of armour flew through the air denting the walls and pillars. I could tell that I took out a large amount of them
An armoured guard jumped from cover, removing his SMG from its holster and aiming it at Miranda. Before he could even fire he was enveloped in a biotic aura. He was elevated high into the air before crashing violently on to the floor. That was really impressive.
"That was AWSOME! How did you do that?" I asked in awe of what she had just done
"I learnt it a couple of months ago. It's basically Lift and dropping the target with as much force as possible. It's a lot harder than it sounds"
"Can you teach it to me?"
"Only if you teach me how to Charge" she smirked
"Deal"
We carried on in the direction she chose. We ran over to the stairs. Someone had gone on a rampage in this room. Half of the stairs were missing and the banister was non-existent. Once again the walls were smeared with blood. The sofa had been torn to shreds with the stuffing covering the floor, the wooden statue of Cerberus, the three headed hound, was badly scorched. The worst part of it was the blood.
"Miranda... this blood isn't fresh... it looks like it's been there for weeks" I noticed
"Yes... my father pit Jack and I against each other... As you would imagine it gets very ugly. Most of the time we draw, there's only been a victor a handful of times. 5 days ago father decided that we would fight without armour... We nearly killed each other" she admitted.
A father is meant to protect his children. Even his surrogate child. And he actually does this to his daughters. He tries to crush the spirits of a 7 year old girl just to make the ultimate soldier. He doesn't see them as people. He sees them as guinea pigs to be prodded at his will. He doesn't care about them, he has to die. No I can't kill him, I really want to but Anderson would never approve. Alliance would be able to interrogate him.
We heard some shuffling in the kitchen. I took cover in the corner behind the door. Miranda opened it and took cover, whilst I entered the next room gun waiting to fire as I scanned the room. I cautiously walked through the room. Someone jumped out of cover and aimed a shotgun at us.
"What the fuck. Are you jackasses trying to get yourselves killed" Jack reprimanded before holstering her shotgun
"I thought you were headed for the hospital?"
"Saw something that called me into this place"
"What was it?"
Before she could answer I heard a childish shriek. It appeared to be coming from the next room. We ran to the door and entered the room just in time to see a familiar child being forced into the elevator. Who was she?
On the way to the elevator we encountered two unconscious humans. One male and one female who also appeared familiar. It was getting closer, tip of my tongue. They were likely the kids parents, given that they aren't wearing any armour.
"Miranda check on these two. Jack we need to help that kid" I ordered. We sprinted to the staircase beside the lift.
"Any idea where they're headed" I questioned as we jumped to the lower levels
"Only leads to one room" she panted, she led me to the bottom level. We jumped roughly 30 meters below ground.
Jack put the code into the lock and the doors hissed open. We had somehow beaten the lift to the bottom floor. The doors of the lift opened and the child kicked and screamed to get away from her captors.
"LET ME GO YOU BIG MEANIE" She shrieked. I could see Jack visibly tense up when she saw this. That soon turned into pure unadulterated fury. She ran as fast as she could at one of the surrounding guards and literally ripped his head off of his shoulders with her bare hands.
I took out my sniper as quick. Adrenaline filled my veins as everything suddenly became far more real. My senses became more heightened, my vision became 20/8, and the scope became almost irrelevant. My hands were steady, as steady as they'd ever been. If I get this wrong I miss, or much worse I could hit the kid. I aimed at his head and fired. His head exploded magnificently as brain matter stained the elevator doors.
I charged at the guard nearest to her and knocked him into the wall before leaving a cavity where his heart used to be. I then grabbed the kid, I took the shield projector from my belt, put it in her hand and activated it, blanketing her with the shield.
"Stay near me and you'll be fine" I advised and she nodded. This is one brave little girl.
Jack handled the rest of them in a bloody rage. I had always wondered what it would be like to see her when she just lets loose. In the combat sims she always holds back a little, but to see what happens when she acts solely on anger is a little unsettling. The manner in which she handles some of the enemies is disturbing. Ripping off limbs, ripping their hearts out, shooting them in the balls. What is most strange is that I never heard one scream. They were stoic the entire time, the closest I heard to a scream was a monotonous groan. Even the way they walked and ran was weird, it didn't look natural.
"CLEAR" I yelled. In an instant she seemed to calm down. Her muscles relaxed and he face seemed more stoic than it did furious. She kid ran out from behind me over to Jack, almost tripping over a dead merc. She gave Jack a big hug.
"Miss Jackie you saved me!" she cheered
"I told you it's Jack" she replied with forced annoyance. Behind her voice it's easy to tell that she was relieved that she was alive, to go even further I'd say she was happy.
That's her name. Jade Rodriguez. She was the kid that Jack tutored at C-Sec
"I think you have a fan" I smiled
"I wish she'd bug someone else" Why does she do this? She acts like she doesn't have a good side to her. She was seething when she saw that Jade was going to be kidnapped. She's relieved but she tries to be nonchalant about it. I'll never understand why she tries to make the world think that she's a good person.
"You don't mean that" Jade teased whilst laughing
"Let's get back...up...the..what?" I said but something else got my attention. A second door on the far side of the room opened up. I readied my pistol and aimed it true. Out of the door came a tall middle aged man with black hair with grey streaks. He had a clean haircut with his hair gelled back as well as well maintained facial stubble. His cold, gunmetal, grey eyes stared me down. It was Miranda's father, Henry Lawson
"Zero, Shepard so good of you to join us" he greeted with a sickening innocence
"I knew you were involved in this shit! I knew it was your voice in the car" Jack spat
"Now, now before you get all angry and unreasonable I would like you to return my property" I requested "She stands behind you" he clarified. He wanted Jade
"No way! I've seen how you treat the women in this house" I snapped. Saying they were his daughters implied that he actually cared for them. He didn't see them as people but objects. Toys to be played with when he pleases. He sees them as his property to be claimed.
"I would kill you before I'd ever let you near her" Jack threatened, her shotgun cocked and ready to fire
He raised his hands in defeat, a smug smirk on his face "I see you won't be reasonable. You have guns so I can't exactly force you to hand her over" he said teasingly "I'm truly disappointed in you Nathan. I would have thought you have humanities best interests at heart, but clearly you're too idealistic to see reason" he insulted
"Your joking right!" I growled "Preventing you from taking a little girl from her family and everyone she cares about to be part of your sick experiments makes me too idealistic... You're a MONSTER"
"I am not a monster I am a visionary"
"Wait is that what you did with me!" Jack accused the shock evident in her eyes
"I'm surprised that it took you this long to figure out. She possesses even more potential than you do. Think of it Zero we could find a method of engineering a line of human biotics that could rival even the Asari" he visualised, a crazed smile on his face, his eyes looking to the sky as though he see's something great
"Don't call me Zero, my name is Jack" she screamed throwing a massive chunk of debris at Lawson but she was too emotional to aim and it flew well above his head. The sick bastard didn't even bother to flinch and that pissed me off
"We both know that's not your real name" he smirked "You were always such a disappointment Zero. Although you had the raw power we desired. You were always so emotional, whether it was anger or insecurity or even sadness. You would always crawl under your desk and cry. I though you were progressing in the past few years since the tears have stopped. But then you have to develop feelings for this boy" he rebuked
"That poetry book of yours was always enlightening no matter how many times I read it. Why Zero. Why couldn't you fulfill your destiny, now your legacy will continue with the child"
Jade started tapping my leg. She looked up to me. Her eyes were watering and tears were starting to fall "Please don't let me go with him" she begged
Jack was now looking to the ground her face darkening "You would put her through what Cerberus has done to me. You would create a second me. A body of spite, hatred and self-loathing" she turned up nose flaring, eyes bulging, gritting her teeth "I'm going to kill you"
"I won't stop you" I stated
"No you won't. Because in 3, 2, 1" he pointed at the elevator doors. We turned our aim at the lift. To my surprise out came Anderson, Hackett and my mum along with an Alliance squad.
My mother ran up to me and gave me a loving hug "Nathan thank god your alright" she appreciated "Titus sent word. Rylee and your friends are all safe in C-Sec academy"
Henry Lawson started laughing "Such a touching family moment Hannah. Would you like to be alone" he teased
"Henry" she hissed "I should have known you'd be involved with this"
"Before you do anything drastic I would like to say one thing... I surrender" he said with the most arrogant, smug, conceited smile I had ever seen in my life
"FUCK THAT! THIS DICKHEAD IS DEAD" Jack screamed aiming her shotgun at Henry
"Jack stand down" Anderson ordered
"Anderson! You don't know what he's done to her, Miranda or her sister. You don't know what he planned to do to her" I argued pointing at Jade "He deserves to die" I asserted with a crazed look in my eye
"Nate we can get more information out of him dead than we can alive" Hackett countered "We don't know what he's done, but to kill him would gain us nothing"
I knew that arguing further would just enhance that point of view that I'm an angry teenager. Or that we are too close to the situation. "Jack... we may not like it... but we're going to have to leave it in their hands" I sounded defeated. Jack looked like someone had just stabbed her in the back. But I think she understands what I'm thinking
My mum took a good look at Jack and looked confused "You look familiar. Have we met before" she asked
"Never seen you in my life" Jack dismissed
Jade came out from behind me and stood in front of Jack "I'm sorry Miss Jackie" Jade apologised "If it wasn't for me then none of this would've happened". Did she really blame herself for all of this. Henry did make it sound like this whole mess was for her but she shouldn't ever think that. My heart was in my throat, I couldn't think of anything comforting to say to her.
Jack looked down. Before she did I got a good look at her face. Her eyes were begging to water. Jade's apology must have really gotten to her. She turned tail and ran up the stairs. I don't really blame her.
At least it's all over.
I hope
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Cerberus HQ
Illusive Man POV
The plan worked out even better than I imagined. Although the human casualties were high, they were working towards the greater cause. They're sacrifices will be honoured in the future and they will be heralded as heroes. The primary objective was completed and the information was retrieved. The council are non the wiser. It's almost baffling to think that this information has been in their hands for so long and they've done nothing to further understand it. Their cowardice and indecision will now be Cerberus and Humanities gain.
Henry Lawson played his part to a tee. Because of his actions we can continue the research in plain sight without Council interference. Although it would have been better if he had secured the asset before being incarcerated then it would have all gone to perfection.
Today is the dawning of a new era