I'm doing a bit of blending of Logan's background. Due to me liking pretty much every incarnation of the character, some aspects of 616, Ultimate, and some of the cartoons will be used. Maybe I'll stretch into the movies, but we'll see. Anyways, thank you for one person reviewing. It meant a lot. Hopefully more will do so in the future, but who cares? I enjoy writing this, and will continue to do so, either way.
He came out of the shower with sopping wet hair. The usually wild, and grungy hair hung over his eyes, and he grimaced. Shaking his head, not unlike an animal, water flew all around him, and his hair stayed out of his face, going back to its usual wild look. He looked at himself in the mirror, and decided that it was time to get rid of the full beard that sat on his face.
He grabbed a razor, and chopped it down. Dark, thick hair fell down onto the floor around him. He looked into the mirror, and nodded. The thick sideburns on the side of his face were like before, thick, and went down to his jawline. He touched his face and stood straight. Bringing himself to the lockers situated in the large bathroom, he quickly grabbed a uniform. His face scrunched up in disgust. He hasn't worn anything this stiff in decades.
He quickly pulled the uniform on, and sighed at the feeling of the uniform. Cerberus stood for everything that he was against. He grimaced at the symbol that was on his arm. He would never forgive himself for wearing this. Once they landed on the Citadel, he was going to buy a bunch of comfortable jeans and beaters. That way he'll never have to wear this fucking thing again.
Walking into the war room, he saw Jacob and Shepard standing on opposite sides of the room. There was clearly some tension in the atmosphere, because Logan could sense it in the air. They must have had a major disagreement on something. Maybe about him. Who knows, he wasn't paying attention.
"Commander...We've done what we could for Garrus, but he took a bad hit. The docs corrected with surgical procedures and some cybernetics. Best we can tell, he'll have full functionality, but..." Shepard's eyes swung to the door, near where Logan was leaning against the wall, where Garrus Vakarian walked in. His face was mangled, and his armor was clearly broken.
"Shepard." He said, simply. It was as if he hadn't just been shot to bits a mere couple hours ago. Jacob chuckled.
"Tough son of a bitch. Didn't think he'd be up, yet." Garrus looks over to Logan, and gives him a nod, a signal of gratitude. Logan dips his head twice, and continues to remain silent.
"Nobody would give me a mirror. How bad is it?" He asked, as he walked in.
"Hell, Garrus, you were always ugly. Slap some face paint on there and no one will notice." Logan laughed at the comment, and Jacob joined. Garrus failed to remain serious and began to laugh, before hissing.
"Don't make me laugh, damn it! My face is barely holding together as it is. Ah, probably for the best. Everyone was always ignoring you and hitting on me. Time for you to get a fair shot at it." Logan chuckled again, and Shepard shook his head.
Jacob snapped a sharp salute, and quickly exited the room. Their eyes watch him go, and Logan slowly came off the wall. He walked towards the table, where he was towered over by both the Turian and the Commander.
"Kid needs to get that stick out of his ass." Logan commented to no one in particular, causing the other two to chuckle. One with a hiss.
"Frankly, I'm more worried about you. I've heard bad things about Cerberus these past couple of years." Garrus said, and trained his eyes on the Commander. Shepard's eyes firmed, and he took a step forward.
"That's why I'm glad you're here, Garrus. If I'm walking into hell, I want someone I can trust at my side. You're my best friend." He said, and Logan watched the two men with interest. So, he and Garrus were that close, personally. It made sense. The way they had met on Omega showed that the two were closer than they originally let on. He was putting money on the two being of mostly the same mindset, and nodded. If Garrus was anything like the Commander, then the two would be just fine.
"You realize this plan has me walking into hell too, right? Ha. Just like old times. I'm fit for duty whenever you need me, Shepard. I'll settle in and see what I can do at the forward batteries." He said, and nodded. He turned around, and his form quickly left the room.
Shepard looked over at the shorter man, and quickly decided what he would say.
"You don't know what to say. Listen, I get it. Make of me as you will. Your mission's too fucking big to let little shit get in the way. I'm your man for as long as you need me, Shepard." Logan said, and crossed his arms. Veins bulge on the massive biceps and forearms.
"I just have a lot of questions, Logan. First off, how in the blue hell do you have claws in your goddamn forearms?" Logan chuckled, and nodded.
"Good first question, kid. You'll learn at some point." Logan's eyes seemed to be misty, but they were not sad. Pure, unadulterated rage seemed to boil within them.
"I'm sorry to bring up painful memories, Logan. I know we just met, but you can trust me. I want you to know that I'll wait for however long you need me to wait, but I am asking out of genuine curiosity. Not out of an ulterior motive." Shepard said, and looked at the man in the eyes. The feral looking man nodded, and turned towards the door. Shepard nodded, and he pulled out the dossier on Logan and read through the brief background it gave him.
"Subject Name: James Howlett
Born September 16th, 1882
James is an expert martial artist, marksman, pilot, athlete, tactician, and linguist. He also possesses nigh-indestructibility." He reads the birth date and just stares at it. This human was the longest living human in the galaxy, and he had no clue this entire time. The fact that Logan was able to hide this simple mind-boggling fact was a testimony to the man's ability to disappear. He would be interested in speaking to the man, further.
His question that remained was focused on the man's past. Why would he be a skilled linguist? How did he become such a skilled fighter? When he watched the man tear people to shreds on Omega, he was both impressed and unnerved by the man's utter knack for chaos. It was as if killing people in utterly violent ways was second nature to the man. Shepard was confused as to how he felt about this. Having a nigh-indestructible, extremely skilled killer on the team was something that they needed if they wanted to destroy the Collectors. However, his gut told him that there are issues that Logan needed to face before Shepard was truly able to rely on the man.
With his mind made up, he walked back towards his bridge. He looked at the advanced galaxy map, and looked over to his Yeoman. He walked up to her, and she turned around. Soft green eyes and a very open, loving smile was on her face. He wanted to both walk away and smile back at the same time.
"Commander. It's heartbreaking what's going on with Logan. Even if he puts on that brave, angry face. He is torn up on the insides. Like he's in a constant battle. I'm not sure who the enemy is, he told me to kick rocks when I tried to ask, but I know he'll come around. Once the man trusts you, he'll follow you anywhere you go." She said, and nodded. Shepard considered her words, and agreed with her.
"Thank you, Kelly. Is there anything else I should look out for with Logan?" He asked, and leaned back on his left hip. He crossed his arms, and watched her think for a moment.
"I'd watch out for what really gets under his skin. He's very closed off. Angry. I can imagine he's been through a lot in his life. It's the only explanation as to why he is the way he is. I believe Logan is a man who has lost everything. Be careful with him, Shepard." She warned, and her light eyes became serious for a second.
"Thank you, Miss Chambers. I enjoyed talking to you." He said, and nodded to her. She smiled and waved goodbye to him, before turning and getting back to work.
He quickly turned and looked up to the intercoms around the ship.
"EDI, where did Logan settle? Is he on this deck?" He asked the ship, itself. He'll never get used to that.
"Logan has settled on deck four, in Engineering. Apparently he has a hidden talent for engineering that Cerberus was not aware of." She said, as if she was noting it to herself. Shepard's eyes narrowed at the tone that her voice took. He would be the first to disable her if she was found to be relaying information to Cerberus. He would cooperate with them, but once this mission was over, he would be doing a full one-eighty. There was no way in Hell he would align himself with a terrorist organization. Cerberus would never be forgiven for what they've done.
He stepped towards the elevator, and hit the third deck. He was going to talk to Garrus. He was going to give Logan some time to himself, before speaking to him again. Let him settle down.
He made his way to the main battery, and looked at the man working at the terminal. The Turian had been through a lot. Whether that meant the drone, or days on end without food and water, killing any piece of shit that tried to kill him. Shepard could only respect the man before him. The size of this Turian's balls were unmatched.
"Garrus." He said, and the alien turned to him. A smirk settled on the Turian's face, and he crossed his arms.
"Shepard. Been a long time." He joked, and Shepard cracked a grin.
"Have you got a minute? We haven't seriously sat down and talk since...Well, you know." Shepard said, and looked down at his feet. Garrus took a shaky breath, and nodded his head.
"Sure. I just checked the weapon's system. You can never be too careful, right? I thought I had seen every weapon in the galaxy in our fight against Saren. Mercenary work showed me otherwise. Now Cerberus rebuilds the Normandy with a few upgrades to boot. Wish I had joined up with them sooner." Shepard, even if it was a joke, was annoyed by the last sentence.
"We haven't joined Cerberus. They're funding the mission. That's all. They're still terrorist scum." Garrus smiled.
"Relax, Shepard. Just a figure of speech. I'm not going to doubt your judgement. Not after I got my whole squad killed." Shepard knew he was avoiding speaking about his death.
"Garrus...I know I was gone for a while." He said, and the Turian looked away from him.
"Shepard, I'm not going to lie to you. It was rough...Thinking you were dead? You led me into what I thought was Hell, even if it's nothing compared to right now. We faced down enemies that normal men would bow to. You led us without even thinking about it. Knowing that your body would never be recovered...Being spaced? It wasn't a death fitting for you.
You have stood against the galaxy without allies before, Shepard. This is no different. Damn. Seeing you standing here after two years of being dead? Only you, Shepard. No one else can pull this off." He said, and looked upset. Shepard brought the man into a brotherly hug, and patted the man's armored back.
"Thanks for the words, Garrus. I know I can never get those two years back. To me, it's only been a couple days since I died. How'd everyone else take it?" He asked, looking at the floor. Garrus sighed.
"About as well as you expected. Tali and Liara took it the worst. By the Spirits...You should have seen the way Tali cried over your casket, Shepard. It was heartbreaking. I shouldn't be telling you this, but I know you'd want to know. Damn it. You're here now. That's all that matters." He said, and Shepard could tell he didn't want to talk about it.
"So what did your merc squad do? It didn't sound like you were available for hire." Shepard commented, and leaned against the railing.
"You saw Omega-it was full of thugs kicking the helpless. I formed my team to kick back. We weren't exactly mercenaries. Nobody paid us. We made money taking down slavers, pirates, or gangs that went too far." He said, and paced towards Shepard's left.
"Sounds like you acted like another gang." Shepard said, suppressing a smirk and snicker. It was always fun to bust Garrus' balls.
"Then I'm saying it wrong. We didn't shake anyone down. No civilian casualties. That was our rule. Every one of my team had lost someone to Omega's gangs. We weren't out to get rich. We were out to make those bastards think twice before murdering someone in the street." Shepard nodded. He understood that.
"Didn't sound like you made many friends with those gangs." He said, and Garrus smiled.
"I got three separate merc bands to work together trying to take me down. My manager at C-Sec would be impressed. It was fairly simple, really. We'd hit their shipments, disrupt activities, get under their skin, and make them angry." He folded his arms behind his back, and walked away from Shepard.
"They'd come charging right into our well-prepared killzone. Crossfires and snipers, clean and surgical. They didn't stand a chance." Shepard nodded. If it was one thing that he valued of Garrus' abilities, it was his tactical brilliance. The man's mind was like a war game. He would be an extremely good addition to the mission based on this alone, never mind being the only ground team member that the Commander truly trusted right now.
"How did the gangs take down your squad? From what you told me, they were all fairly skilled." Shepard asked. Garrus became agitated. It was easy to see that by his aggressive body language, and deeper breaths.
"It was my own damn fault. One of my people betrayed me." He took a shaky breath, and walked towards the door. Shepard stood straight, and followed him.
"A Turian named Sidonis. He drew me away just before the mercs attacked my squad, and then disappeared. Everyone in my squad is dead, except for me. Just because I hadn't seen it coming." He said, and turned around. His eyes were full of pain.
"I'm not sure I understand. What happened, exactly?" Shepard asked, and listened closely.
"Sidonis asked for my help on a job. When I got to the meeting point, no one was there. By the time I had gone back to our hideout, the mercs had killed all but two of our squad. They didn't last long, either." Garrus said. His flanged voice was troubled.
"Are you sure it was a betrayal? Maybe they took Sidonis out first?" Shepard suggested, trying to think of it, himself.
"No. I put out feelers with some old contacts. He booked transport off of Omega just before it happened. He also cleared out his private accounts. He sold me out and ran." Shepard's face hardens. He was a fairly patient man, and usually in charge of his feelings, but cowards almost always got under his skin.
"Do you know where Sidonis is now?" Shepard asked. He knew what Garrus wanted to do, and would support him on that. Sidonis needed to die.
"No. His trail goes cold after he left Omega. I'll keep hunting, though. I lost my whole team, except for Sidonis. When I find him...I'll correct that." His eyes widen, and he seems to get lost in memory for a second.
"Thanks for coming by, Shepard. I've got some things to take care of." Garrus walked by Shepard, and back into the main battery. Shepard stared at the man's back, feeling utterly sympathetic for the man. When he had lost Jenkins, it left a piece of him broken. When he left Ashley on Virmire...
He turned around, and walked towards the elevator. He was busy thinking to himself, wondering how the hell he's going to pull this goddamn mission off. Even if he did succeed, what would be the cost? A grim look settled on his face, as he finally entered the elevator. He pressed deck two, and waited for what seemed like forever. The one thing Cerberus needed to fix, and the elevator was only a fraction of a damn second faster than the original's.
Grumbling to himself after he left the elevator, he made his way to the galaxy map, and walked up to it. He looked over the map, and decided he would begin his second recruiting mission at Purgatory, due to the small distance between Omega and there.
"Joker, fly us to Purgatory. I've got a recruit to see." He said, and waited for a response.
"Of course, Commander. Should take us around three hours. Maybe enough for a small nap. After all the bullshit on Omega, you may need one." Joker said. He was right.
"I may just do that, Joker. Thank you." He walked towards the elevator, and pressed deck one. When he finally came out of the elevator, he realized just how tired he was, and how much he needed a nap. He pushed towards his door, and waited for them to open. He heard how quiet it was in there, and sighed. He remembered bringing Tali in here, and allowing her to sleep in his bed. She couldn't stand the quiet of the ship. He had the loudest room. He remembered how bashful she was when he suggested it, and a smile came onto his lips. He missed the quirky Quarian engineer.
He approached his bed, and laid down on the soft mattress. He felt his eyes become to heavy to fight against, and closed them. He drifted off into a deep sleep.
Logan took a nap in the cot that he was assigned to. He was having a nightmare.
It felt as if lava poured down his veins. He tried to scream, but his throat was not allowing him to. His eyes melted out of his skull due to the sheer heat of the experience. He thrashed wildly, the pain from his molten bones beginning to seriously kick up. His skin began to glow lightly, as the burning metal radiated.
"Extraordinary. I never imagined the process would go this well." Cornelius said as he watched the event play out. Logan's skull began to broaden, and a sick crack was heard. His hands, his shoulders. They all expanded with sick cracks and pops. He threw his head back and grit his teeth as his face began to burn. The metal began to coat his face, and the center of his face began to melt slightly. His healing factor was doing its best, but the pain was unbearable.
"He is holding up well, given the circumstances. Shall we continue the bonding process?" His assistant asked. He was fat, and had a sloppy combination of hair and facial hair.
"Yes. Maximize the power output. We must hurry." Logan's eyes had finally healed back into his head when he finally realized what happened. He thought the pain was bad, but he hadn't experienced the full thing yet.
"No!" He awoke with his claws swinging wildly, the memory still vivid after centuries. He fell out of the pod and slammed against the metal floor. He looked up and saw the Commander staring back down with sympathetic eyes. He wasn't scared about almost being made a shish kebab. He was worried for his crewmate.
"Logan...Are you alright? You must've had one hell of a nightmare." He said, and Logan grunted.
"Fine. Didja need me? Or do ya like watching other men sleep?" He shot back at the Commander, who seemed to struggle keeping a smile off of his face.
"We've reached Purgatory. We're docking as you and I speak. I want you for this mission. We're recruiting Subject Zero. If we run into any issues there...I need you to have my back." Logan listened to the words. Someone needing him. He remembered when he was needed by a lot more than just the Commander. The entire group of students, teachers, and residents...He failed them all. He shook his head.
"Yeah. I'm right behind ya." He said, and followed the Commander to the armory. He found a locker with his name, and opened it. Inside was a set of armor. It resembled his costume back on Earth, during his time as an X-Man. He looked at the helmet, and saw the pointed black ears hanging off of it.
"Someone's read too many fucking comic books." He complained, and quickly got the armor on. He left the helm for last. It left his mouth uncovered, had white eyes, and seemed to be made of a thick metallic substance.
The rest of the armor was made of similar material. His arms were bare from his tricep to his elbow, and his biceps were also bare. He quickly put the armor on, and looked in one of the mirrors of the room. The armor was black, blue, and yellow. His torso was yellow, with black stripes coming down from his shoulder guards, which were black. His sides were also black. His thighs were yellow, as were his knees. His boots were dark blue, with black stripes running down the center. He placed the heavy gloves on his hands, and secured them. He stood without his mask on, and grimaced.
"I look fucking ridiculous." He said. His icy blue eyes looked up towards Shepard and Garrus, who stood there looking at him. Garrus coughed.
"I actually think you look pretty badass, Logan." Shepard said, and crossed his arms. Logan grunted, and lowered the helmet over his face. It automatically fit to his face, and connected to the raised collar of the armor. He blinked, and the white eye lens close with them. They glowed lightly, almost like a Quarian's eyes, and a HUD could be seen through them. A small map was in the lower left corner, and the shield statuses of both the Commander and Garrus popped up.
"Never had gear like this." He noted to himself, and shrugged his shoulders. They looked at him and nodded.
"Load up, Logan. You may be best at close quarters, but I have read you're an expert marksman. Since Garrus and I, here, specialize in long-distance fire, bring a shotgun. Preferrably something more of your speed. Maybe a Scimitar, and a carnifex if you're up for it." He said, and looked at the man. He looked at the weapon in front of him and held it.
"Haven't held and used a gun in a long time. Huh, figure I'm a bit rusty." Logan said, and placed them on his back. He placed extra ammo in the belt that Cerberus made for the armor. He nodded, and made sure they knew he was all set.
They made their way towards the airlock, and waited for them to be connected to the prison.
They were met by a guard, but the Turian understood who the Commander was, and gave him a brisk nod. Due to the man's reputation, he was revered across the galaxy. Logan didn't blame anyone for that. The Citadel would be gone if it weren't for the Commander's efforts.
They made their way towards a well armed and armored Turian. He was carrying a high-grade assault rifle.
"Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard. Your package is being prepped, and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed." Logan's arms immediately cross, as he stared at the Turian in front of him. His forearms began to itch, as he got ready for a fight.
"I can't do that." Shepard said simply, and Logan's face broke into an unnerving smile. Mixed with the strange helmet and glowing white eyes, the guards were extremely put off by the human.
"Everyone stand down. Commander, I'm Warden Kuril. This is my ship. Your weapons will be returned on the way out. You must realize that this is standard procedure." The Turian said, attempting to reason with the Commander. Shepard took a step with his right foot, and lifted his hand.
"And it's my standard procedure to keep my guns." His voice was hard, and the two men began to have a small stare off. Logan's respect for the Commander grew. He knew the man had a pair, but he didn't realize he would willingly challenge a prison warden while they were in said prison.
"Let them proceed. Our facility is more than secure enough to handle three armed guests. We're bringing Jack out of cryo. As soon as the funds clear, you'll be on your way. If you'll follow me to Outprocessing for the pickup, Commander." He said. A new edge on his flanged voice. Logan looked at Garrus.
"Let's go, then." The Commander said, and the two behind him followed.
"Cellblock Two. As you can see, we keep tight control over the population. Each prisoner's cell is a self-contained, modular unit. I've blown a few out of the airlock as an example. The ship is made up of thirty of these cell-blocks. We house thousands of prisoners. We can put the whole place on lockdown in a moment's notice." He stops, and turned around. He looked to see how the three were holding up.
"Nothing goes wrong here." He said with surprising finality. Logan believed that arrogance would bite him in the ass, later. He kept his arms crossed, and his eyes trained on the Turian in front of him.
"Can you tell me about Jack?" The Commander asked, and leaned back. He stared at the man, and waited for a response.
"Cerberus hasn't told you?" He asked, and wrung his hands. He quickly seemed to grow nervous at the idea of Subject Zero.
"Jack is the meanest handful of violence and hate that I've ever encountered. Dangerous, crazy, and very powerful. You'll see, soon enough." At the description, both Garrus and Shepard sneakily glanced at Logan. He looked back over and his lip curled.
"What're you girls looking at?" They looked away innocently.
"How'd you end up running this ship?" Shepard asked, and looked at the Turian in front of him.
"I was in Law Enforcement on Palaven, and got sick of seeing criminals escape out into the galaxy to carry on with their crimes. Bounty hunters aren't dependable. Eventually, I hit upon this idea. Keep the criminals in space and the galaxy is safe." He said, and Shepard's eyes furrowed.
"You do this because you think it's necessary?" He asked. And opened his arms, referring to the entire facility's seeming use of extreme methods.
"Every day I see the worst sapient life has to offer. Governments are soft, unwilling to make the hard decisions. Someone had to stand up and make the galaxy safe." He said. Logan held back a sneer. The piece of shit was lying. He did this to make a profit.
"Maintaining a population this size in space can't be cheap." The Commander said, and knew that the man would slip up. He may not have Logan's senses, but the Commander could tell when he was being bullshitted.
"We can cut corners that governments can't. Each prisoner brings in a fee from his homeworld. These individuals are violent, and their home planets pay well to keep them here." He said. The Commander got him with this one, and he knew it.
"What happens if the homeworld doesn't want to pay." Logan's fist clenched, and he got ready for whatever may happen after this. If Shepard found out too much, or came to the right conclusion, then this man may attempt to do something about it.
"We explain that we can't maintain the prisoner without their help, so we'll be forced to release them back to their homeworld. At an unspecified time and place." He added the last bit with a hint of malice.
"You're extorting them." Logan growls, and his eyes narrow. The Turian's eyes also harden, and he looked at the group again. Garrus and Shepard were silent, and were awaiting for whatever else he had to say.
"You don't have to agree with my methods, but don't question my motives. These are despicable people, and I'm keeping them locked up." He said. Logan's lip curls, and he knew that Garrus wasn't happy with this, either.
"Have there been any escape attempts?" Garrus asks, as they begin to move again.
"We're in space. They have nowhere to go-and they know it. Still, these people are dangerous, and we exercise extreme caution." They watch as two prisoners about to fight got separated by some sort of stasis field. It was quite impressive.
"We have ways to control the population." He said, and they walked through a set of doors. He stops, and the trio stopped with him.
"I'm going to make sure the funds from Cerberus have cleared. Outprocessing is straight down this hallway. Just keep going past the interrogation rooms, and the supermax wing." He begins to walk away.
"I'll catch up with you later...Shepard." Logan grunted, and let his arms go down to his side.
"I don't like him, Shepard. He smelled like he was up to no good. Expect a trap of some sort." Logan froze, as his hearing picked something up. The impact of a weapon against flesh, and the sound of a man weakly grunting and screaming from the beating.
"Shepard..." The man turned around, and saw Logan's eyes narrowed. He pointed to the area with his head, and they turn the corner.
"You don't even get good information this way. Eventually the prisoner would admit to anything to get the pain to stop." Logan could hear Shepard's heart begin to beat furiously, and could smell the chemicals that made one angry enter his blood. He watched the Commander walk up to a Turian.
"Is there something I can do for you?" He asked, as if he was bored. Logan made sure he was within melee distance, in case things go south. His eyes resting on the Commander.
"There's no excuse for beating a prisoner who can't fight back." He said, and crossed his arms. The prison guard seemed to suddenly become stiff, and rigid.
"This is a massage compared to what his victims went through." He said, attempting to justify it.
"This degrades you as much as him." The guard sighed, and looked forward.
"We have orders." He shot back, quickly.
"You're not important enough to make your own decisions?" Garrus and Logan watched as the guard seemed to relax, and his head hung limp for a moment. The two look at one another and shake their heads. Leave it to Shepard to diplomatically fix things.
"I admit...I sometimes get tired of this. Does this really get us anything useful?" He asked, seemingly more to himself than to the Commander. The Commander rested a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Stop this...For your own sake." He said softly. The Turian nodded, and set his head.
"Yeah. You're right. Call it off. At least, for now." The interrogator's arm stopped mid-swing, and the human prisoner darted on his knees across the small cell. He went into fetal position, his hands covering his head, and rocked himself back and forth. The guard had effectively broken the man.
"Hey! Hey guys, over here. Lemme ask you something." Shepard walked over, drawing stifled groans from the two men he was with.
"If you're buying prisoners, can you buy me? Man, I don't care where you take me or what you do with me, but it's gotta be better than here." The human prisoner seemed to be sane enough, but Shepard's mind was on what he must have done to get here.
"We're here for Jack, not for Joe Shmoe." Logan said, and crossed his arms.
He was right, of course. Shepard led them to Outprocessing, where a man at the terminal informed them that they would have to go to the far side of the room. The hair on Logan's body stood on end. He looked at Garrus, and knew the old cop felt the same thing. This was a trap.
"My apologies, Shepard. You're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer." The warden's voice came over the intercom, and Logan growled.
"Drop your weapons and proceed into the open cell. You shall not be harmed." He said, and Logan grunted.
"Shepard, we both know he's lying. He betrayed us once, he'd do it again." Garrus said, and Logan nodded.
"Maybe I can change your mind." Logan chuckled. Even in this situation, he was looking for a diplomatic means of ending things.
"Activate the systems." The warden cried out over the intercom, and Shepard dove into cover. Logan did as well. Garrus split to the right, attempting to find a place to hide his sniper rifle. Logan looked at the Commander, who nodded. Logan swung around the corner, dodging gunfire, and drawing their attention to him. A stray bullet almost hit him, but the blue shuddering showed that he had shields. Weird.
He sliced a Turian's gun in half, before stabbing him in the gut, and turning him to the others. While they were all focused on him, Garrus and Shepard mowed the rest of them down, easily. From his HUD, Logan could see that they were Blue Suns troopers. He walked towards the door, before a FENRIS mech made its way in the room. He quickly rolled to the side, and kept in front of it, eventually turning it, making its sides and back exposed to the other two. It was quickly ripped apart by continuous gunfire.
Blood and tissue flooded the floor. Logan looked down at the floor without a single care. He was used to seeing this shit. Three hundred years of constant skirmishes did that to a man. Garrus and Shepard, however, were both young. Shepard had to have been in his mid-twenties. Logan would guess around twenty seven, tops. Maybe even younger. Stress ages people.
They walked through the door, and quickly make their way down the hallway. Logan quickly takes the shotgun off of his back, and waits behind cover. He nods to the Commander, who nods back. He runs into the open, and slid on his knees, taking the oncoming troopers by surprise. Such closeness with a shotgun proved to be too much for shields, as one of the trooper's head explodes all over the hallway. He slammed a fist against the dead body, causing it to slam into the other trooper, disorienting him. He back-handsprung out of the line of fire, and behind cover, and the Commander and Garrus began to fire down the hallway. Their assault rifles cracking loudly. He peeked out of cover, and saw there were two left. He took a deep breath.
Running towards the window diagonal to him, he leapt off of the ground, and sprung against the window. He continued to do this, keeping the troopers off balance. The two other squad members quickly pushed forward, using Logan's distraction as a ticket to their progression. He came down on one, already putting his shotgun on his back. His Carnifex now in hand. He spun, sliding on the floor, slicing one Turian's legs off at the hip, while shooting the other between the eyes. They both dropped dead on the floor.
"Spirits..." Garrus said, and looked at the man. Logan breathed heavily, more from adrenaline, than exertion. He was amped. He smiled, and laughed loudly.
"I can't tell you the last time I was able to do that, Shepard." He said, and stood straight. They continued down the hall, where Logan finally put his Carnifex on his hip. His shotgun was back in his hand. The Commander carried his assault rifle, and Garrus did the same, carrying his sniper on his back.
"Shepard is on the loose! I repeat, Shepard is on the loose! Get people down here!" A random man said. The door opened, and Logan immediately shot the man until his shields were down. The man was clearly not a fighter, but he continued to shoot. He obviously missed, due to fear. Logan shot the man in the chest, sending the man flying off of his feet, and opening the flesh. He looked away, and blinked twice. The Commander walked towards the control terminal.
"Shepard, hacking that control, every door in the cellblock opens." He pointed out, and Logan nodded.
"It's the only way to get Jack outta there, Shepard." Logan said, and the man nodded. He nodded once, firmly.
"I'm doing it. Be ready." He said, and began to mess with the terminal. A massive mechanical arm suddenly activated, apparently startling a YMIR. The mech-and the three men-watched as the mechanical arm seemed to grab something. It began to twist, releasing a cloud of steam, and began to lift a cryo pod out of the floor.
As it lifted, the three men waited in anticipation. They were suddenly floored by the appearance of Jack. She was a small woman. She appeared to be shorter than Logan, and built very lightly. She had shaved hair, and heavy makeup around her eyes. Tattoos covered every inch of her body, and she was basically half-naked.
"Did anyone else expect a guy?" Garrus asked no one in particular. They all chuckled. Until she woke up, that is. Dark eyes open violently, before she already tears out of the restraints on her. She looks at the three mechs, and pure rage seemed to explode on her face. She unleashes a battle cry, as her skin began to gently glow blue. Her fist seemed to become a blue light, and she slammed into a mech, utterly destroying it.
"Holy shit." Logan muttered under his breath. His eyes were wide, and the other two simply nodded at his assessment. He turned to them, and they turned to him.
"Did she just..."
"Three YMIRs?"
"She's not a guy?" They began to chuckle at the last one, and quickly made their way out. They quickly followed the hallway, and came across the havack that the woman made on her way out. A large hole in the wall was blasted through, and she obviously made her way through there. They ran down the hallway, and through another door. A mechanical arm swung from the ceiling, before crashing to the ground.
"This girl's powerful, but not very subtle." They round the corner, and notice multiple troopers shooting at Jack. She was not in eyesight, but that was the only thing that they would be shooting at. They all quickly took cover behind the railing, and the Commander turned to the two men he was with.
"Logan, sneak up on those bastards down there, and kill them quietly. No guns. Garrus and I will use our sniper rifles to take out those bastards in front of the mech. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Move!" He said lowly to them, and the nod. Logan quietly vaulted over the railing, and landed on bent knees. He was utterly silent. He crouched, and silently made his way towards the first trooper. He hid behind cover, knowing there would be another right after him. He took a deep breath, and extended the claws of his right hand.
Quickly rolling out of cover, he grabbed the man, flipped him using his hip, and had his claws through his throat, eliminating his ability to speak. He quickly dragged the body behind cover, where it wouldn't be noticed, and peeked out. He could hear the sound of sniper fire being drowned out by the heavy weaponry of the YMIR, and had to admit that Shepard had been smart with his planning. He quickly snuck up behind the other trooper, grabbing his ankle, and pulling him down with him. All three claws went through his skull, and into his brain. He was dead, instantly.
The YMIR finally become concentrated on him, and he nodded. He leapt back up towards the railing, and figured he would use his superior speed to keep it off balance. Due to his claws, he knew he wouldn't have to wait for the shields this time. That was his mistake last time. It was the armor that was a pain the balls. He made sure he was nearly around the mech before leaping onto its back. He slammed his claws through whatever he could, ripping wires, metal, etc. out of the massive mech's back.
It finally began to shake, and shudder. The YMIR began to groan, and Logan laughed out loud as it finally fell over. He kicked the thing once, for effect.
"Good work, Logan." The Commander complimented, to which the man grunted. Garrus and Shepard chuckled at the man's lack of response.
"Shepard, the warden has locked down the area behind you. You must find another exit route." They all groan.
"Son of a bitch." Logan said under his breath, and they all agree. Logan promised to himself that he would kill that man once he got a hold of him.
As they closed in on a prison guard, they saw various wounds scattered all over the Turian's exposed body. Blue, copper-based blood pooled on the ground, and they all knelt besides it. Logan saw various knife wounds.
"This guard got swarmed by prisoners with improvised weapons. He didn't stand a chance." Logan usually didn't feel much at all, but he could tell the Commander was genuinely upset by this loss of life. He remembered when he used to be. In his younger days. When he met Xavier...He looked over when Garrus grunted.
"Shows you what kind of people these prisoners are. I don't agree with everything they do here, but they are in the galaxy's best interest. These guards kept maniacs away from innocent people." Logan nodded, and agreed for the most part. He was a bit more skeptical about the truth of the statement, though. He disagreed that they held the interests of the galaxy at heart, but no doubt the galaxy benefitted from these prisoners being there. They felt another violent shake.
"Come on, through this door." Shepard said, and they entered through the door. They quickly came across more troopers, to which they pulled their usual tactic. Logan's hand was on his shotgun, and he nodded to the Commander. He vaulted off of the cover in front of them, and landed in between two troopers. In one fluent movement, his right hand's claws was in a trooper's throat, and his right hand pressed the trigger of his shotgun, blowing a gaping hole through the trooper's armor, sending him flying onto the ground. Logan sheathed his claws, and the Turian's limp body fell to the floor.
He hid behind cover, and watched Garrus use Logan's distraction, and Shepard's fire to nail a trooper right between the eyes. His head caved in, most of it disappearing. His blood and brains splattered onto the wall behind him. The last one paused momentarily, and seemed to not know what to do. Logan's keen eyes spotted an explosive right next to the man's feet, and chuckled. He quickly took his Carnifex off of his hip, and shot the barrel, blowing the man's entire lower half off. His screams echoed around the room.
"Logan...Put him out of his misery." Shepard said, and Logan nodded. He leapt up to the walkway, and saw the man crawling somewhere. His intestines and spine dragging against the floor. He unsheathed his claws and stuck them into the man's head, pinning him to his spot. He stopped moving instantly. He took the claws out, and sheathed the claws. His left hand still held the Carnifex.
He put the gun on his hip as they made their way forward, and they launched into cover when they noticed a group of five or six troopers come down towards their direction.
"Keep them on their toes, Logan. We'll take care of them. Make sure they don't know we're here." He said, and Logan nodded. He somersaulted over cover, and immediately dodged their gunfire. He was too fast for them to get a beat on. He dove right through a Turian's leg, stabbing the trooper straight through the ankle, before tripping him, and leaping clear over the group. He landed, and quickly hid behind the small wall separating them. He took a deep breath, hearing the gunfire continue to pelt the little space between him and six, maybe five now that Turian was down, streams of gunfire. When he heard the fire pause, he took a step out of cover, and made sure to stay in their sights. He watched one's head all but burst open like a watermelon, and one's knee become all but destroyed. Both fell to the floor, one completely out of the fight, due to death, and the other being totally incapacitated. He felt his shields take two hits, and took a sharp turn, running straight towards a Turian trooper.
He leapt off of his feet, grabbed the Turian's shoulder, landed on his feet, and-using the momentum from flying through the air-threw him into the air above the Commander. The Commander easily shot the man as he sailed in the air, and the Turian's dead body fell to the metal floor. Logan quickly rolled to avoid gunfire, and spun. He saw another trooper die from the fire, and two were left. Logan quickly pushed off the floor, unsheathing his claws, and spun as fast as he could. The mess of blood and gore left of the two Turians splashed all around him, nearly hitting Shepard and Garrus, who had to turn their eyes.
"YMIR incoming!" Logan cried once he saw the monstrosity lumbering towards them. Logan unsheathed both hands' claws, and quickly rushed the mech. He dodged the slow targeting system of the YMIR, and rolled behind a wall. He waited for the YMIR to get closer before leaping onto the top of his cover, and landing behind the YMIR. He help up a hand to the other two, and slammed a clawed hand into the side of the YMIR, instantly making it start to jitter with electricity. He leapt onto its shoulders, and stuck his claws into the neck area, attempting to jostle it loose. With all of his strength, he grunted. He ripped the head of the mech off, and threw it to the Commander.
"A gift from me to you, Commander." The men all share a laugh. Before all of their shields took an impact. They quickly flew into whatever cover they could find, and pressed hard against it. Logan quickly peeked over, and nearly got hit in the helmet with a bullet. He ducked back down, and looked over to the Commander.
"Logan, you're fast enough to cover the distance. You'll most likely be tagged, but I know it isn't a big deal for you. Concentrate on pushing them to that walkway to the northwest of us, understood?" Logan nodded, and took a deep breath. He pulled the Carnifex off of his hip, and quickly somersaulted over cover. His shields were nearly instantly down, and he felt two bullets enter his left arm. He dove behind cover, and held his arm up. He watched the bullets pop out of his skin, and thud against the floor. He dove out of cover, and shot three bullets at the trooper. Two cut his shields down, the first slammed through his skull. He rushed the bridge, sheathing the pistol as he did so. He made sure they were backing up towards the bridge, not brave enough to move any direction other than backwards.
Garrus and Shepard stood and unleashed a torrent of bullets from their assault rifles. What remained of the man Logan had cornered were decimated, as their lifeless bodies collapsed to the floor. Logan looked back to the Commander and Garrus, who jogged to catch up to him.
"Nice shooting, Logan. You hit that guy right between his eyes." Garrus complimented, and Logan nodded.
They entered the next room, and saw the Warden standing above a crate, openly firing upon prisoners. Most of them were unarmed. He relented for a second, before firing at the trio. They had already reached cover, but it was close to hitting Shepard.
"You're valuable, Shepard. I could've sold you and lived like a king. You're too much trouble! At least I can recapture Jack." Kuril said to himself, as if rationalizing the entire thing to himself. Garrus and Shepard shook their head, and Logan growled.
"Not happening! You're a two-bit slave trader, and I don't have time for it." The Warden's gun came up, and he held up a hand, as if dismissing what the Commander had said.
"I do the hard things civil governments are unwilling to do! This is for the good of the galaxy!" Logan couldn't believe his ears.
"Shepard, this guy's a fucking nutcake!" Logan yelled over the sound of gunfire. Shepard saw the shield generators around the room, and nodded. He knew what to do.
"Logan, take out the shield generators. We got your back." Garrus nodded, and Logan quickly bolted towards the nearest shield generator. With a quick two slashes, the shield generator laid in pieces on the floor. He followed his HUD to the second one, easily disabling that as well. When his shields failed, he ignored the burning pain in his thigh and left tricep, and leapt over multiple troopers. It distracted them enough for Garrus and Shepard to get the jump on them, and quickly take them out.
When Logan got to the third, he heard Shepard grunt. He must've been tagged. He quickly made work of the third, tearing it to shreds. One more was left, and he quickly ran towards the fourth. He ripped it to shreds in seconds. The Warden noticed this, and he felt himself being sent flying off his feet. He must have used an explosive round. His shield was down, and his armor was damaged in the back.
"Shot me in the back." He muttered under his breath. He looked over to the Commander, who had his eyes trained on the Warden. He watched the man's eyes harden, and nodded. He quickly bolted to the left, making sure to hug alongside cover. He knew the bullets had already been pushed out of his body, but he didn't focus on that. He was focused on one thing. Anger. He quickly leapt up to the Turian man. He quickly smacked the gun out of his hand, and used a powerful leg to kick him down towards the Commander.
He looked over to the Commander, who stared coldly at the man. He nodded at Logan, who nodded back. He straddled the man, not even bothering to unsheathe his claws.
"Shepard..." Garrus began, but he held the man back.
Logan's first fist came down. The sound of his heavy hand smashing into the armored skin of the Turian echoed around the empty room. Soon, another hit rained down. This one stronger than the last. The punches became harder and harder, the Turian's leg twitching and he cried out.
"This is what those inmates felt. You wanna confess something, Warden?" Logan asked, as he kept hitting him. Soon, the man's cries ended, and his legs stopped twitching. Copper blood dripped off of Logan's grieves, and blue blood was all over his face. He looked over to the Commander, who stared hard at the dead body. He looked over to Garrus who couldn't watch another Turian be beaten to death. Logan nodded, and stood.
They saw Jack sprint through a door, and Logan heard a minor scuffle emerge in the room. They quickly ran towards the way they needed to go, and entered the hallway towards the door. They enter the room, and see the small woman barely constraining her rage. Her movements were jerky, and she seemed to be seething. Logan imagined frying an egg on the top of her head and cracked a stupid grin. Shepard quickly downed a guard running towards Jack, getting her attention.
"What the hell do you want?" She said, and looked the trio over.
"You're in a bad situation, and I'm going to get you out of here." Shepard said, and opened his arms. He was trying to be as open and non-threatening to her as possible. Logan nodded his approval. He was smart for doing that.
"Shit, you sound like a pussy." At that, Logan began laughing out loud. His hands went to his stomach, and he bent over. Garrus chuckled, as well. Shepard looked at the both of them as if he felt betrayed.
"I'm not going anywhere with you. With Cerberus." Jack said, pacing the floor. Logan could tell she was still agitated, and could smell the anger rolling off of her in waves. Her heart practically slammed its beats out. This was one seriously pissed off woman. He was kinda turned on by it, if he was being completely honest with himself.
"Why does it matter if I'm with Cerberus?" Shepard asked, trying to get some answers from her. Jack seemed to visibly calm down enough to think correctly.
"They've been on my ass for years. Anytime I go free, they put a big bounty on me. That's why Warden Kuril figured he'd struck gold when he caught me." He nodded, and looked over to his two allies.
"I'm offering to be your friend, Jack. You don't wanna be my enemy." Shepard said. The entire mission was clearly aggravating him, and he still had a bullet that grazed his ribs. His teeth clench at the thought of it.
"They have a way of dying." Garrus supports him, and shifts his weight to his left leg.
"You show up in a Cerberus frigate and expect me to come with you? Do you think I'm stupid?" She asked, clearly starting to become angry.
"Yes the hell I do. Darlin', you're arguing against the one ticket off this fucking hellhole." Logan said, and crossed his arms.
"Look, you want me to come with you, make it worth my while." She said, walking towards them. Logan noticed how small her frame was up close, but how beautiful her tattoos were. Sure, they were rough on the eyes, but they held their own story. He wondered what they all meant.
"Join my team, and I'll do what I can for you." Shepard said, also taking a step forward. He was telling the truth. Shepard would literally do whatever the woman wanted for her support. She needed to be able to trust and rely on the man, both as a leader and as a man.
"Don't make promises you can't keep." She said, and stared at him with hard eyes.
"I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus databases. I want to look at those files. See what Cerberus has got on me. You want me on your team, let me go through those files." She crossed her arms, and leaned on her leg.
"I'll give you full access." He said without a pause. Jack's eyes widen a bit, and Logan chuckled.
"He did the same thing for me." Logan said, and the woman snapped her head over to him.
"So you're being straight up with me?" She asked, clearly surprised by this turn of events. Shepard nodded firmly, and the two men behind her also nodded.
"So why the hell are we still standing here?" She asked. The three men chuckled, and Shepard called for them to move out.
"Welcome to the Normandy, Jack. I'm Miranda, Shepard's second-in-command. On this ship, we follow orders." Her very blue eyes stare into Jack's dark brown ones, and her voice was very heavily laced with sarcasm, and an underlying tone of accusation. Jack's eyes narrowed. Logan, Garrus, and Shepard watched the exchange, waiting for a reaction from Jack. When they found that Miranda hadn't been made a bloody smear on the wall, they were partly relieved, and partly impressed.
"Tell the Cerberus cheerleader to back off, Shepard. I'm only here because of our deal." Shepard stood behind the 'Cerberus cheerleader' and leaned over, so his head could be seen. Logan found it funny enough to have to stop himself from chuckling. While he was out in the galaxy, taking in bounties, he wasn't much of a laugher. He saw shit he didn't wanna discuss, and was surrounded by shitty company. The Commander and Garrus were two of the funniest sons of bitche he's ever met, though.
"Miranda will let you into the system. Tell me what you find." He said, leaving the end for zero discussion. Jack took a step towards Miranda, obviously disliking the woman and everything she stood for.
"Hear that, precious? You and I are gonna be friends. You, me, and every other embarrassing little secret. I'll be reading down in the hold, or somewhere near the bottom. Don't like all the traffic." She began to walk through the doorway, and turned her head for a second.
"Keep your people off of me. Better that way." As soon as she was out of the door, Logan whistled.
"She was something." He said, and looked over to the other people in the room.
"What, tell me that badass attitude doesn't get you hot!" The three remain to stare at him, and he rubs the back of his head.
"Shepard?" Absolute silence, and the Commander's left eyebrow rose.
"Garrus?" Garrus coughed to stifle a laugh.
"Miranda? Come on." Miranda's resting bitch face told Logan everything he needed to know. He cleared his throat, and nodded.
"Right." He lifts the helm off of his head, and rests it on the table. He looked at the other two, and they still were staring at him.
"Oh, fuck you all." They chuckled at his expense, and he joined them.
"Miranda, is her attitude towards you going to be an issue on our mission? I will try to speak to her and figure her out, but I refuse to allow petty bullshit to get in the way of the bigger picture." He said, and stared at her. Logan nodded, happy that the attention was finally off of him. He realized that Shepard's question was a good one. A team needed to be able to work together without any hesitation, or question. Quarrels over petty reasons was a good way to fuck everything up.
"No, Commander. Despite her being insufferable, I shall manage to keep my patience. Just keep her away from my office, and I'll be fine." She said, nodded, and left. The three men, still fully armored and armed, stood in the room. Shepard sighed, rubbed his forehead, and placed his two hands on the table.
"You did well, Shepard. Jack is going to a huge plus against those Collector jackasses." Garrus said, and nodded to him. Logan grunted in agreement.
"You two have had the most experience with psychotic people. You think she's going to be an issue?" He said, unmoving. His face pursed up, and looked over to the two other men. Logan crossed his arms and thought about it.
"Shep, I think that's grade-A bullshit. Don't get me wrong, this chick'll slit your throat if she wants to, but I think the entire tough image is just that. An image. She's been through shit. I can see that." He said, and the Turian nodded.
"Agreed. The standoffish personality is for her own self-protection. I've bumped into people like her over my career. Hard to gain their trust, but you have it forever once you do." He noted, to which the other men nod. Logan's thoughts fell back to Charles, when he gained the man's trust. He gave him answers. After so many years of wandering cluelessly.
"Shepard, I know what she's going through...Maybe I can talk to her. Or...Try to." Logan said, and looked at the man. Shepard stood straight, and looked down at the shorter man.
"Alright, Logan. I'll forget the earlier comments, and hope you take this seriously." Shepard said, joking.
"Come on, let's get this armor off. I need to wash Purgatory off of me." He said. Logan looked down to his gauntlets. Warden Kuril's copper blood had dried. He looked back to the man, and followed him towards the armory.
R&R, please? I am writing this story to the best of my ability, and would appreciate feedback.