Location: 20 minutes out from the batarian merchant docks— batarian state highway 48—Anhur, New Thebes.
At least the batarian state knew how to make roads, Elena gave them that much. Speeding down Highway 48 felt like driving on butter, everything was smooth, calm and completely devoid of life. Exactly how she felt right now as she watched the motion blur of the boreal forest around her.
The Jeep that Gus so gracefully set aside for them still used a steering wheel. For all their road innovations batarians had a bad habit of copying old human technology. It was awkward at first, but holding onto something sturdy kept her hands occupied and away from her moist cheeks.
She fiddled with the ancient radio on the dash. Selina once showed her how to tune one to the right frequency, but all they got was some boring conspiracy broadcast. They usually came from the same delusional prophet that claimed there were cops on Omega.
Elena jerked her hand away as the radio came to life. "—And now from DJ Madura's 21st century revival mixes, we bring you spies by Coldplay."
"I awake to find no peace of mind
Said, how do you live? As a fugitive.
Down here, I cannot sleep from fear no.
Which way do I turn. Oh I forget everything I learned.
And the spies came out –"
Elena slammed the tuner off and continued the drive in silence. It's like God himself was laughing at her for being so stupid. She always thought that Mark would have her back. That he was tired of this lifestyle too. It made her sick to think that he could use his greybox as a bargaining chip. As if all those years of toiling in seclusion, of making advanced breakthroughs by going against nature suddenly meant nothing but profit. Sure she had her reservations about Cerberus, but they were under Alliance control. There was safety in that blue uniform which was gone the moment they switched to gold, white and black without warning. Of course both Petrovsky and Kahoku always quelled her concerns but now, without her mentors and without her team Elena had no one to blame but herself for this mess. The past decade with Cerberus started eating at her insides. Is this punishment for everything I've done? Akuze, the rachnii...? Was my relationship the price for all of those wrongs? Hell, was it a relationship at all or was Mark just stringing me along?
The questions nagged at her but Elena forced herself to look ahead. There was no point in looking back now, only heartache and deception lay there. She had a future to safeguard and thanks to that two-timing bastard she wasn't sure of what future either military powers envisioned.
Elena lowered her speed as she entered the back roads of the spaceport. There was some sparse civilian traffic, mostly just shipping crews working to load cargo bound off-world. Thankfully none of it seemed to be cages full of humans.
Car lights flared up ahead. At first she dismissed the vehicle as a simple civilian model, but when the mounted turret poked up from the silhouette she grew suspicious. Alright, nothing to worry about. Just a security vehicle. They don't know who you are.
As the two cars drew closer, Elena felt her heart drumming in panic. There was nowhere to go if they weren't friendlies, this would either be a fight to the death or a head-on collision.
The Jeeps just barely squeezed past before Elena slammed her breaks.
The other car did the same and screeched to a halt.
Heart threatening to explode, Elena took a deep breath and wondered if she was seeing things. It can't be...
The other Jeep stood idle in her side mirror, she could see the back of the big guy in the mounted turret talking with the other two, but no one was opening fire on her. It wasn't until she saw Dana jump out from the side that she got her first taste of relief.
As her sister ran towards her Elena felt the tears return. There was something comforting in knowing she was near, thank god, this nightmare might be coming to an end. Elena undid her belt and hopped out into her path. "Dana," she greeted, unable to believe her eyes. Her sister hadn't changed a bit, the same windswept shoulder-length hair framed her face and didn't obscure her killshot. Elena sighed, getting tired of loved ones pointing guns at her tonight.
"Don't move!" Dana roared, eyes alight with fury. "Turn around with your hands up."
A stab of pain hit Elena as she recognized the deadly look in Dana's irises. Over the past four months she had been hunted like an animal, attacked without provocation and forced to defend herself, betrayed by her boyfriend and yet none of that matched the overwhelming grief of being her sister's target. Of course. Why would anything change now? The Alliance is her family. It always was. "Nice to see you too," Elena threw back wanly.
"Hands up, turn around and move away from the vehicle!" Dana repeated. Elena slowly did as she was told and caught sight of two men descending on her jeep. This had to be some sick joke. For a moment she thought this was Cerberus running some sort of hallucinogenic test on her already fragile psyche, but the illusion of all of this being a dream was shattered when she felt the cold metallic tip of a rifle barrel at her lower back. If this was anyone else one flick of the wrist would have them eating a biotic warp. But Elena couldn't find the strength to siphon even that much of her dark energy.
"All clear," a familiar male voice said before his boots sounded on the dirt near them. "Elena?"
"Whoa, you know her, Loco?" The other man asked.
Elena tried to look back but was prodded forward with the butt of her sister's rifle. "Don't move!" Dana commanded, even as the men shuffled beside her.
"Hey." Elena felt the sensation of the rifle's tip leave her back. "What the hell are you doing?" the man asked.
"Shepard, get out of my way," Dana ground out. Elena listened closely while ignoring the pain in her fatigued arms and keeping still. The last thing anyone needed was Dana opening fire out of reflex.
"No." The refusal was absolute and strong.
Shepard? The image of the cute war hero on the news finally hit her brain and gave Elena the courage to turn towards a bizarre scene. Here was a man she didn't know, defending her against her own sister.
"Step away, that's an order!" Dana yelled, though her quaking hands gave her away. "This is some sick joke...my sister is... I thought you..."
When Shepard took the rifle from her sister, Elena stepped forward and that's when she saw it. All the grief, rage and pain Dana futilely tried to swallow finally bubbled towards the surface. As their eyes met it was like a dam burst and suddenly Dana's moist eyes matched her own.
Elena enveloped her sister in a comforting hug and buried her head in Dana's shoulder. "I'm right here, sis."
"I thought you were dead," she heard Dana's muffled voice against her head. But none of that mattered now.
She felt Dana's arms rise around her back. The sisters stayed in their embrace, clutching each other for dear life. Elena's heart fluttered with excitement as the realization that Dana cared finally hit home. Normal operatives would have stopped to think about the tactical disadvantage of being out in the open, but Elena was done over-analyzing everything. For once she just wanted to believe what was directly in front of her, family.
When Elena opened her eyes, she caught Shepard smiling to her and mouthed a 'thank you' his way. There was no doubt in her mind that they wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for him.
The war hero only nodded and hung back with the guy who seemed like a bodybuilder's wet dream. When Dana drew back and did a once-over her eyes clouded in concern. "You're crying?"
"So are you," Elena teased lightly, trying to wipe at her own tears. "It's good to see you, D."
"Likewise." She felt relieved as Dana's gloved hands rubbed her shoulders and arms. "Let's get you home."
Elena chortled at that. There was no home for her, not as long as Cerberus was on her tail. "You got my distress signal?"
Dana looked to her quizzically. "That was you?"
"It was supposed to point you to the warehouse," Elena said quickly, "please tell me Selina is okay?"
"She's fine," Dana assured, putting an arm around her as they walked towards...oh god, a turian Scout. Elena tried not to laugh at their ancient wheels. Sure the anti-air Jeep Gus procured was from another century, but even that had a technological advantage in the form of a communication jammer, over this relic of the First Contact War. The Scout belonged in a museum.
Shepard seemed to find this amusing as his green eyes followed her line of sight. "It won't fall apart, I promise," he assured.
"Oh yeah?" Elena said, feeling so much better in the past fifteen minutes than she had in the past four months of running. "Is that what the curator said?"
Shepard laughed and threw his hands up in defeat. "Hey, don't be so judgmental. At least it has a working turret unlike your scrapheap," he said with a nod to her Jeep where his buddy stood at the gun controls.
The other guy tried starting the barrel but kept shaking his head. "It's totally fried. You'd be a sitting duck with this thing, Ms..." the big guy stammered.
Dana straightened up, reverting to fully composed captain mode in record timing. "Vega, meet my sister Major Elena Flores."
"Hey." Elena waved as the beefy man jumped down and gave a crisp salute alongside Shepard. "Oh, no that's not necessary," Elena said quickly, not feeling worthy of a salute. She cast a glance to the oblivious dock workers instead who, being no strangers to big guns and old machines, ignored them and continued working.
"This is Commander Liam Shepard and 2nd Lieutenant James Vega," Dana continued proudly as she turned back to Elena. "They helped me scour the galaxy for you."
It wasn't long before Elena found herself outvoted and packed into the back of the Jeep with Shepard and Dana at the front and Vega manning the turret overhead. They rolled through the dense spaceport and slowed as workers moved cargo onto waiting ships, making snail-like progress. Elena studied Shepard's profile and smiled at the quick glances he kept stealing towards Dana. There was more than simple concern there, something her sister was naturally oblivious to as she kept her eyes forward.
Deciding to get it over with, Elena leaned forward between their seats. "You know I can't go with you right, sis?"
"We found your archives, Elena," Dana stated. The change of topic earned a weird glance from Shepard but he didn't say anything. "You're going to tell me what the hell is on them and then we're going to hand it over to Alliance command."
"Heh, it's not that simple, D." Elena sighed, not really in the mood to talk about this but knowing there was no way of avoiding it either. "I know you want answers but they're going to have to wait. I don't know how far Cerberus has infiltrated the Alliance and I can't risk them getting their hands on sensitive intel."
"In case you haven't noticed, your life is in danger," Dana spat, turning to her incredulously. "Listen to me and we'll get you out of this."
Deciding to switch tactics Elena turned to Shepard. "She's all thumbs when it comes to tech. I'm guessing this is where you come in?"
"Uh," Shepard hesitated between the road and the two conflicting faces. "It'd help if we could read your notes."
"So you haven't been able to decipher them?" Elena asked, feeling the small thread of relief that everything wasn't lost.
"No," Shepard confirmed by avoiding Dana's glare, "we're in the process of de-activating the secured matrix you've put them in."
"What's on there?" Dana demanded.
"Stuff that could get a lot of people killed," Elena said simply. "Listen, I can't come with you. I know you'll fight me and probably win Dana but you have to understand that what I'm doing is right. That information could hurt the Alliance just as much as it can hurt Cerberus."
"How do you know this?" Dana asked, her tone softening by the lowest octave.
"I just do," Elena whispered, wishing she had all the answers but with Mark...no...no maybe it was better to just let them have the intel...then again... The conflicting emotions resumed their onslaught, never letting her enjoy peace.
A part of her wanted to warn them about the indoctrination weapon, but the other more emotional part recoiled at the potential misuse that would ensue. Despite his betrayal, Elena stubbornly concluded that Mark was right. The Alliance would seek to understand this monster in their own way. They would deconstruct the research and many innocent people would die because Alliance scientists would undoubtedly try to recreate Cerberus experiments.
"I trust you, sis. You know I do," Dana replied calmly. "But I can't let you sit on something this big. Not when it could get you killed."
Elena hated the pang of self-inflicted guilt in Dana's voice. She also loathed being the person who put it there, but Dana wasn't going to let this go and chose to brood in silence. As they meandered through the space port, Elena wondered how fast she could slip away into one of the departing ships.
Her gaze darted to Shepard. "Hey, when you finally break the code don't judge me. Okay?"
Liam glanced to her in confusion but kept his hands firmly on the wheel. "I don't understand, Major?"
"You really don't have to," Elena said, returning her gaze to Dana. "D, I'm not going to sit here and argue with you. But there's no time for—"
A biotic explosion detonated before them. Shepard jerked the wheel but there was no avoiding the sudden minefield of biotic explosions, one of which sideswiped the Scout and stopped them in their tracks.
The howl of contracting metal screeched against the front hood of the Scout as the resulting momentum sent the vehicle flying. There was a brief moment of weightlessness as the old Scout flipped over its front. Secured only by her seatbelt, Elena saw the ground flying below them. Surprisingly, Vega was still attached to the turret and opened fire, despite being upside down. Elena couldn't see the enemy he was shooting at, but she knew that they would all be missing their heads if they landed like this.
Elena clenched her fists and pulsed her biotics. As the pavement rose up to meet them, she pushed out with all her might and sent a powerful throw towards the ground. The rudimentary volley worked, as the Scout flipped over its axis and landed on its wheels with a devastating crash.
The Scout whined as its systems announced critical engine failure. Elena thanked herself for wearing a seatbelt even as she tore it from her person. Dana and Shepard looked pretty bad from hitting their heads on the windshield.
Meanwhile the steady pulse of machine gun fire continued overhead as Vega sent controlled bursts into the blue tornado before them. Elena blinked the stars from her vision as she clambered out the side and yanked Dana's door open. "Dana?"
"It's alright," her sister assured, as she grabbed her rifle and gingerly reached over to Shepard who was hunched over the steering wheel. "He's unconscious. Help him!"
Elena rushed over to his side while Dana and Vega concentrated on whatever being was inside that biotic cluster. The distinct lack of any return fire made her uneasy. What type of enemy doesn't fight back? From the corner of her eye she could see most of the batarian workers running away, leaving their stock where it fell. Meanwhile the massive cargo ships continued their launch, none the wiser to the commotion on the ground.
"What the hell is this thing, Captain?" Vega roared over the sound of his bullets.
"Just don't let up!" Dana yelled back as she peered through her rifle scope, waiting for their enemy to come forth.
Elena tugged at Shepard's door, but it didn't budge. Thankfully Shepard was starting to come to. He slowly pushed away from the steering wheel and gently worked his neck as his eyes scanned the situation. Deciding not to let him get too comfy in the middle of a fire-fight, Elena tapped the window to get his attention and motioned for him to take cover.
Shepard seemed to get the hint and ducked as Elena condensed biotic energy into her hands and swung at the glass.
A flash of blue from the front caught her eye. She made to move but it was too late. The blistering heat of biotics hit her side and she was thrown clear of the vehicle.
Elena heard gunfire mixed with her sister's panicked voice as she skidded to a halt on her back. Coughing through the cloud of dust, Elena searched for her attacker only to find herself among towers of shipping containers. The Scout was ten feet away and she could see Dana scrambling to get to her while Vega aimed the turret at their approaching enemy.
Elena squinted and tried to see beyond the enemy's biotic barrier. The shield flickered with each round and gave her a clearer picture.
Her eyes adjusted to the furious ones of Alexei Barens? No. I've hit my head too hard. Staring transfixed at the approaching figure. As Dana neared her side, Elena stood on wobbly legs and pulsed her biotics. The left side of her body felt sensitive, but the sting wasn't debilitating.
"We need to move, D. Get them out of here!" Elena yelled as she glanced back to the Scout. Shepard was pounding on the door, trapped in his seat. Vega swiveled the turret to keep up but was slowly losing ground to Alexei.
The approaching figure barred his teeth in a vicious smile. Those dark venous arms were bent at 45 degree angles and sustained his biotic shield. His bio luminescent eyes shone with an unhealthy glee as his biotics did the impossible and stopped the bullets. Elena wasn't sure how it was possible, but somehow Vega's rounds were being absorbed by the impostor's bubble shield. They flew in the direction of center mass, got stuck in an invisible line and seemed to hang suspended.
As the bullets rotated in mid-air, Elena dashed for the Scout and threw up a biotic barrier just in time to deflect the returning rounds.
"Free Shepard and run for it!" Elena ordered, using all her strength to sustain the shield, while glancing over to their enemy. Fatigue was starting to set in as darkness perked the edges of her vision. Not daring to lower her heavy arms, Elena grit her teeth against the sting at her side and focused on her shields. It had been hours since she had last eaten a proper meal and the use of biotics was starting to take its toll.
The mounted turret overloaded from within and exploded in a cloud of sparks. Vega fell backwards and tumbled off the Scout as a dozen molten car fragments rained down on him.
Before she could ask the big guy if he was okay, Miranda Lawson stepped from her hiding place behind a trailer and drew her gun on him. Elena fired on her but the woman was quick and dove back into cover. Dana ran ahead and engaged the operative, the two exchanged fire while Vega struggling to brush off the molten bits of the Scout from his suit.
Under normal circumstances Elena wouldn't have bat an eyelash at Cerberus' head bitch in charge. Lawson had the bark and maybe the determination, but her biotics were pathetic in comparison. However with this impostor backing her, Elena found herself outnumbered as she walked backwards towards Shepard's door, keeping herself between the war hero and her nemesis.
"It's been a long time, Flores," the impostor said, grinning wide. He glanced over to Lawson and Dana as they sparred before settling his gaze to her. "Did you miss me?"
"You need to back the fuck away, Alexei," Elena said, allowing her biotics to envelop herself completely. She knew it wasn't nearly enough energy to fight him off. The dark veins staining his biceps and lining the corners of his eyes already told her that much.
"My name is Armistan Banes, my dear." With that he raised both hands towards the air and disappeared.
The quick suction sound of a plunger made Elena jump and turn to her second bizarre sight of the night. The impostor somehow managed to teleport past her and rip Shepard's door away. Shepard groggily reached for his pistol only to have Alexei fling it from his grasp with a simple wave of his hand.
Elena concentrated all of her destructive energy and flung a powerful throw that would knock a normal person off-world.
It was absorbed by his shields and left Elena defenseless. She thought about using her pistol, but seeing how a turret was completely useless she opted to preserve her bullets.
Vega, finally free of the heated bits that melted his armor, scrambling for his rifle but Lawson warped him before it could clear his fired at the impostor, but ran towards Vega and managed to knock him down again before one of Lawson's bullets took his head off.
"So what's it going to be, my dear Flores?" Armistan Banes stopped at Shepard's side and grasped the war hero's throat. Shepard stiffened under his touch and gagged as if possessed. "Will you sacrifice the lives of innocents to keep me from my work?"
"Let him go!" Elena yelled, refusing to believe what her eyes were telling her. This man was indeed Alexei Barens. The matrix of black veins couldn't hide his short blonde hair and youthful physique. She couldn't believe this man was once a test subject, let alone a colleague at one point.
The man seemed to follow her line of thinking as he grinned that predatory smile and tightened his grip on Shepard's throat. "What will it take, Elena?"
"We need that data," Lawson's voice interrupted from behind them as she descended on Vega after overloading Dana's shields, "and we have orders to exterminate you if it means getting to that greybox."
Vega's strangled cry pierced the air as operative Lawson hit him with another warp. The guilt started eating at her, these people were just trying to help and now they would be pawns in this messed up game. But if she looked at it critically, the information that she was fighting her damnest to protect was worth more than the lives of these people, even her own sister. Elena glanced at Shepard's semi-conscious form as she summoned another wave of biotic energy from her arsenal.
"I don't know what you think you're doing," Elena grumbled, "but you're not getting anything from me."
Before Elena could unleash her attack, Dana recovered and fired a steady burst from her Thunder assault rifle right at Banes' head. He dropped Shepard who wheezed and spat in his seat. "Run, now!" her sister ordered and Elena didn't have to be told twice as she took off.
Elena shot a biotic throw at Lawson, who jumped away from Vega's heaving form. The soldier made another valiant lunge for his rifle, but it was easily knocked from his hands as Banes teleported before him.
Elena heard the plunger sound again before powerful arms grabbed her around the neck and squeezed tightly. The air constricted in her throat as her vision began to flicker.
"I always did like the fight in you, my dear," the man wearing Alexei's face whispered in her ear. "So determined, so strong, you could have been perfect too."
"The hell...you know about me..." Elena managed as she fought to shake him off.
"A lot more than you think. You see, I don't die so easily my dear." He threw her to the ground and Elena felt the air leave her lungs. Banes fished a syringe from his pocket. "Now consider this my gift to you," he said, leaning closer.
"Let her go!" Shepard yelled, pistol aimed at Banes. From the corner of her eye, Elena could see Dana running their way, as Vega kept suppressive fire on Miranda.
"You're...indoctrinated..."Elena managed through clenched teeth, as if that truth would snap this madman from his goal. "Fight it...Alexei"
"My name is Armistan Banes now. And on the contrary, I don't have to fight anything," the man replied, ignoring Shepard completely as he brought the needle close. "See for yourself and reap the results of your endeavors, Elena Flores."
"Stop!" Shepard fired but the bullets didn't even touch the man. Instead they froze in place and fell to the ground like hail.
"On second thought, perhaps a fresh sample will be more interesting." Banes flipped the syringe and flung it over Elena's head. She followed it's graceful arc, eyes widening as the needle buried itself in her sister's neck, stopping her dead in her tracks.
Banes cackled in victory and Elena felt the anger boil through her system as she watched Shepard rush towards Dana's form. Elena fired stasis, warp and overload in quick succession to try and put some distance between them but it didn't work, Banes' biotics absorbed everything.
Alexei's mad laughter only continued before a rocket slammed into his body, its impact tossed Elena aside. She rolled near to where Shepard held her sister and scrambled to her feet. "Is she okay?" Elena demanded.
"She has a pulse," Shepard confirmed as he helped Dana stand.
Whatever was in that syringe didn't seem to take effect as Dana narrowed her eyes at their enemy. "Elena, go. We'll take care of him," Dana said, pushing away from Shepard and hoisting her rifle from the dirt.
When the dust cleared, Banes scrambled to his feet in a rage and sought out his attacker.
"But?" Elena glanced around for the source of the rocket but found nothing as Shepard signaled for Vega to flank Banes as he covered him from Lawson.
"Run for it!" Elena looked up to Mark's familiar face from his position atop a warehouse roof. The missile launcher on his shoulder fired again, sending a swirling rocket towards Banes before he disappeared into the cluster of shipping containers.
Elena shot a hesitant look at Shepard and Vega who were dodging and trying to fire at Operative Lawson, their combined efforts practically futile against the agile biotic. Then she looked to Dana who continued shooting. "Go!" she yelled, before resuming fire on Banes who couldn't deflect both attacks and staggered for the first time.
With one last look at everyone who was fighting for her safety, Elena sprinted towards the space port with a heavy heart. All instincts screamed for her to turn around and help, but the logical soldier at her core knew this was the right thing to do. Armistan Banes was all the proof she needed that indoctrination had to be fought. If the rachnii, or worse the Reapers controlled such powerful agents then all of humanity was royally screwed.
Losing herself among the maze of warehouses and stock, Elena pushed forward. She scaled a wall, and got the best view of the latest cargo ship to launch, unaware of the destruction just beyond its docking bay.
She dropped into a roll and heard the sound of teleportation gaining behind her. There were three more ships prepping for launch less than a sprint away. Choosing the one on her left, Elena took off at a sprint. The wet pavement slapped against her boots, each thud reverberating up her calves only served to reinforce her pace. She thanked Christ for Cerberus' brutal physical regime, ironically it was useful for running away from them.
The docking doors were already half closed but she still had ten yards to go. Elena pumped her legs as fast as she could, pushing herself past every physical limitation her mind manifested. This being a batarian planet, the bastards weren't big on waiting and the ship was already unlatched from its ramp despite the fact that the door was still closing.
As it hovered in mid-air, readying its thrusters for full propulsion to break through the nitrogen rich atmosphere of Anhur, Elena felt the clank of the metal ramp replace the pavement. Just a bit further now.
She leapt into the air and used the tiniest burst of biotics to steady her trajectory and slide through the door. The metal door clamped shut behind her and she felt the ship burst towards space.
Taking short shallow breaths, Elena stood on shaking legs. This should have felt like victory but all she wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die. She ran like a coward and there was no two ways of reading into it. A fucking coward!
Seeing Dana again was exhilarating. To know that her sister had a heart, to have it proven before her very eyes was everything Elena dreamed of. But leaving her so soon was heartbreaking. Elena had no delusions, she knew that she would have had to escape eventually; not because she didn't trust Dana but because she didn't want her sister in harm's way when the time came to dig into this shit cake. However, it didn't make leaving any less painful. Her mind was doing overtime trying to figure out what that fucker actually injected into her sister, but the list of potential drugs was too long.
Her fist slammed the bulkhead as she hung her head in shame and regret. She punched it again and again, landing one solid thud after another until a cold hand gripped her wrist in mid-air.
Elena whipped around to find Mark standing behind her. "They'll hear us."
A million emotions swept through her, starting with hurt and ending with betrayal. She yanked her hand away and drew her pistol in one swift move. It didn't matter that he saved her life. He was still the enemy in her eyes and she wasn't falling for his tricks this time.
A/N: Sorry for the delay folks. I took some time away to handle my crazy schedule, but I'll be back in full swing with more updates for this story as well as Omega Metro. Thank you all for your wonderful and constructive reviews, they really do help.