A/N: Yeah, I had to make the 'weekly updates' announcement thing just before I moved places. It was simple enough, but my net provider took their sweet time transferring my internet subscription to my new address and the local net café was just not cutting it (Welcome to the Philippines, we have the second worst internet in the world, look it up.). Enough excuses, I will try to get back into my tempo with things settling down now. P.S. I love equilibrium, whatever happened to Taye Diggs, anyway? He was the most disappointing part of that movie.
Chapter 16: The Counter Attack.
Tarrana Ionet was not pleased, a scowl marring her otherwise beautiful face as she listened to the reports. Her arms were folded over her chest, tapping an impatient finger on her elbow as Filon, her salarian lieutenant droned on. They had gotten rid of Shepard from the equation; that scoundrel, Miller, had seen to that. They also had the upper hand in terms of numbers as well as the situation in question. They also had that virus Cerberus had so graciously given them to disable the ship. For the record, it wasn't all that great. And still, despite all of that, what was supposed to be a simple mission had turned into a disaster. Losses were expected, sure, but that was calculated to be only several men and some mechs. Instead, one of her top lieutenants was dead, along with 38 of her finest soldiers and a number of mechs, including 3 Ymirs. She gnashed her teeth at the thought. Oh yes, she was not pleased at all.
"My lady?" Filon spoke up tentatively as she remained silent after his report. "We… uh, we are waiting on your commands."
"My commands, Filon?" She said, peering over her shades-like visor to look at her lieutenant in the eye, speaking dangerously soft. "Dear Filon, my previous commands still stand…" She closed the gap between them alarmingly quick and grabbed him by one of his horns, pulling him closer. "I WANT THAT DAMNED SHIP!" she shrieked into his face, before pushing him back and sending his ass crashing to the floor. Omnitools came to life on both her arms, wrapping them in crackling heat as it primed. "AND I WANT EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD'S HEAD FROM THAT SHIP ON A STICK! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" She continued, pointing both her hands at Filon, threatening to incinerate him on the spot.
"Of… Of course, my lady! Forgive me, my lady!"He backed away hurriedly as Tarrana's Loki servants converged upon him, ushering him to get up. "Please, mercy!" he blurted out as he got up to his knees before the mechs could touch him, bowing his head to the ground. Tarrana's temper was legendary, and Filon knew this all too well. Her last tantrum ranked as one of the most gruesomely violent things he had ever seen. As far as he knew, they were still trying to scrape off bits and pieces of flesh from that ceiling. He gulped audibly as his boss had bloody murder etched on the scowl on her face. Her gaze was practically piercing into his head. Filon was doing his best to not shake in fear. He wasn't doing very well in that regard, so he settled for not pissing himself.
He remembers the day she first came into power, claiming her command, no, her reign, over the Omega Eclipse. She was a newcomer, a consultant sent over from Eclipse Corporate HQ to oversee the transition of command upon their previous commander's death. There were two main candidates vying for the position, tough as nails and just as sharp when it came to tech. Tarrana deemed both of them unqualified and took command herself. When one of the two argued against the decision, she killed him on the spot. She then killed the other one out of principle. Since then, she has proven to be an able and cunning leader, and every bit as brutal as she was eccentric. And Tarrana Ionet was very, very eccentric.
Tarrana regarded him for a moment, no doubt weighing in her mind the pros and cons of killing him where he stood. Suddenly, her scowl disappeared. She turned sharply on her heel, facing away from him and took a deep breath. The fire wreathing her hands suddenly dissipated into nothingness. She sighed melancholically as she massaged the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry, dear Filon…" she began, a tone of remorse lacing her voice, "You have to try and see things from my perspective… With Jantar gone, as well as those baseless rumors of Archangel's return, and now with Lessa dead too, I have only you to rely on…" She brought the back of her hand to her forehead and swooned. "The stress, dear Filon… Oh the stress! I did not mean to yell at you, it's just that I hate repeating myself." she said, her voice sickeningly sweet; motherly in the most twisted way imaginable. She looked over her shoulder and flashed him a warm smile. "I hope that you will not make me repeat myself in the future, hmm?"
Filon's voice was shaky with barely contained fear. "Of course not, my lady…" he replied, a chill running down his spine. "Thank you, my lady…"
"Good!" she said, perking up and turning to face him once more with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. "Now, put out those fires and instruct the cyber warfare division to raise the heat, as they say, yes?"
"At once, my lady."
"Now then, prepare another boarding party, would you darling? You will lead it, personally, and I expect very impressive results." She said, activating her omnitools, her Lokis kneeling down in front of her to present her with various consoles streaming with data, reflecting it on her visor. It was the data being mined from the Normandy as it was being hacked. A lascivious smile etched its way onto her face as she immersed herself in the stream. "You are dismissed, dear."
"Thank you, my lady." Filon was only too happy to comply, hurriedly leaving her presence.
"Oh, and Filon?" She called out to him in that sing-song tone she spoke in, stopping him in his tracks.
"Yes, my lady?" He replied hesitantly, turning his head to face her once more.
"Should you fail, I do not expect you to come back alive." She said, giving him a small smile and a wink. "Understood?"
He gulped. "Understood, my lady." Great, he thought, just fucking great. If Lessa couldn't do it, what chance did he have? Maybe he should just run? This woman was insane. Not to mention that he was sick and tired of saying 'my lady' over and over and over again. He was at the shipyards; he could nab a ship out of here and start anew elsewhere. He has enough connections to slink in with other Eclipse cells. He could be out of here in minutes… His train of thought was derailed when he heard Tarrana gasp behind him. "My lady?" he inquired, turning around once more.
She was smiling lewdly as she touched a finger to her purple painted lips. "Oh my… This is unexpected." She mused.
Before Filon could ask what she was talking about, the sound of depressurizing pistons made him turn towards the Normandy. Its shuttle bay doors were opening, and not a second later, a Kodiak came thundering out. Weaving in and out of the limited space of the shipyard, its cannons roared as it fired with gusto, catching many surprised and unaware mercenaries in a fiery death. "Impossible!" Filon said in disbelief as explosions rocked the area. "What kind of pilot is able to fly that thing in here?"
"This is a stupid idea!" Joker screamed from the pilot seat as he yanked hard on the controls, narrowly avoiding a rocket from a, Eclipse heavy. "And I should know, I've had a few!"
Jack held her grip tightly on the railings, trying to steady herself despite the Kodiak's wild maneuvers. "I hate to admit it, but Joker has a point!" She yelled back before an explosion rocked the hull. "How the hell did you talk us into this, Garrus?"
"I'm a people person!" Garrus yelled over the blasts of the cannon as he operated the weapons console.
"Asshole!"
"Save the name calling for later! Besides, you are loving every second of this!" He yelled back as he continued his sweep of death and destruction.
"Hell yeah!" Jack yelled back with a toothy grin.
"You know your roles! Jack, Samara, Grunt! Get ready for deployment!"
Grunt stood up and hefted a rocket launcher, with Jack and Samara forming up beside him. "We are ready!" He boomed.
Joker yoked the controls and the Kodiak turned in a sharp arc, heading straight for the row of Ymir's on the Normandy's port side. The side hatches opened and he gave Garrus a thumb's up.
"GO!" Garrus yelled as he peppered the Ymir's with cannon fire as they passed by.
Jack smiled psychotically as she burned with biotic energy before leaping out of the open hatch leaving a trail of blue energy behind her. The ymir was too busy firing back at the Kodiak to notice the biotic known as Subject Zero rocketing towards it. Jack roared as she landed with explosive impact on the ymir, punching through its shield and shattering its chassis. Her gaze shifted to the one next to it before charging right into the heavy mech, a shining fist blasting through its head.
Grunt sneered in contempt as he watched Jack run amok. "So she has biotics, big deal…" he muttered as he walked up next to Samara.
"Steady, Grunt, there's more than enough to go around." Samara consoled as she wrapped her arm around his in preparation for the jump.
"Let's just go already!"
Samara merely stared back at him with her nonchalant face and nodded. Both of them jumped out after Jack, with Samara taking Grunt into her biotic field as they plummeted towards the ground.
"I am KROGAN!" Grunt bellowed as they landed with impact onto an unaware ymir and taking it out, the rest already too focused on Jack to notice. Grunt hopped off of its head as the ymir fell to its knees; he landed on the ground and leveled his rocket launcher towards the back of another heavy mech. Pulling the trigger, the rocket punched straight into its armor and blew off its upper body. "Haha! Next!"
The asari justicar rolled her eyes as the krogan charged onwards. Wreathing her body in biotic energy, she put both of her hands in front of her and levitated another ymir off of its feet. With a grunt of effort, she quickly pulled away both of her hands in opposite directions, tearing the mech apart in her biotic field. "Keep tight formation, don't catch yourself in the open!"
Garrus watched all this occur as he gave them covering fire with the Kodiak's cannons, keeping the rest of the Eclipse at bay from raining gun fire on the trio. "Alright, Strike team has deployed! We're keeping them plenty distracted." he said over the comm, "How're things on your end?"
He could almost hear the smirk on Kasumi's face as she replied over the comm. "Copy that, stealth team is ready. Deploying in 30 seconds."
Tali's voice piped up after her. "We'll stop the viral upload; just keep them off our backs."
"Copy that, Garrus out!"
"How are we still alive!" Joker screeched as he swung into a barrel roll, dodging several rockets against all odds. "Best fucking pilot in the fleet, that's how! Wooo!"
As the battle raged on, a shimmering silhouette went unnoticed as it jumped out of the hole on the Normandy's belly, landing quietly on the damp, ash black ruins of the wrecked industrial lift. Kasumi looked around as Eclipse techs were panicking while troopers and mechs tried to reform into their squads amidst the chaos. She kept her position and kept her silence as they ran about all around her. A few moments later, most of the eclipse had mobilized except for a couple of techs who were mulling about with some consoles. Bingo.
Her footsteps didn't make a single sound as she sprinted towards the techs, pulling out her heavy pistol in one hand and flipping the safety off. Leaping into the air, she landed on top of the console with a light thud, killing her stealth and surprising the techs enough to suppress their reaction time. Long enough for her to put a bullet into each of their heads. "Clear." Kasumi said into her comm as the techs slumped to the ground, dead.
Two lengths of cable dropped down from the hull breach in the Normandy, and soon after that, Mordin and Tali slid down undetected. Both of them raised their weapons as they advanced on Kasumi's position cautiously, eyes scanning for any Eclipse mercs. Luckily, the mercs were being kept busy enough for them to not be noticed.
Kasumi had already started working on the console when Tali and Mordin had come up beside her, engrossed in the data uplink. "I'm in their system, just taking a quick tour of the lay out." She said, breaking through firewalls and rummaging through files. "Plenty of interesting stuff in here… Don't know if it's what we're looking for, though."
Tali opened her omnitool and linked it up with the console. "Hold on, let me take a look." She said as the two devices went in synch. "Well this is interesting…" Tali mused as she read up the data.
"Care to disclose your assessment?" Mordin asked as he looked around for any sign of trouble.
"This isn't the main console uploading the virus. It's just a node to bounce off and amplify the signal." Tali explained as she started typing into her omnitool's interface.
"Hmm, could destroy it, weaken the signal." He began, rubbing his chin. "Could also perform more in depth interventions, risk would be... Substantial."
"Precisely, they might have multiple nodes around so destroying this one might not be of much help." Tali replied. "We could try to disable the upload remotely from here. But we have to be virtually invisible in the system or we could be compromised and locked out."
Kasumi activated her omnitool and waved it over the console. "You leave the subtlety to me." She said as she hooked her omnitool into the console and started to upload a program. She pressed a few keys and a few moments later she had a victorious smirk on her face. "There you go, just what you wanted… Virtually invisible."
Tali blinked in disbelief as she double checked what Kasumi just did. The console was not registering in the system, despite her being able to access all of its drives. "What the… How?"
"Hello? Best thief in the galaxy." Kasumi teased as Tali gawked at the interface. "You have your tricks, I have mine."
"Mind if I grabbed a copy of your tricks?"
"Ah-ah, patent pending." she said, wagging a finger at Tali. "Now get on with the virtual heavy lifting, we have a ship to save."
"Right, initializing firewall breach."
Meanwhile, in the lower Afterlife.
Miranda gritted her teeth, slowing her breathing as she hid behind cover and waited for the signal. The Blue Suns were relentless, but she and the rest of the pirates were about to give as good as they got. She glanced over to where Jacob and Zaeed were, just in time to see the old man toss several grenades over cover. It was only a split second, the time it would take for the Suns to duck into cover before the frags blew, but it was all the time they needed to turn the tables. "Barriers!"
As one, Miranda and the other biotics leapt out of cover and radiated energy from their bodies. Focusing the energy into their hands and projecting it as a barrier in front of them just in time as the grenades exploded, shielding them from the blast. Behind them, Jacon, Zaeed and the rest of the pirates followed suit, cocking their weapons and eager for a little pay back.
The mercs had emerged from cover, not expecting what they saw. The pirates marched onward defiantly as bullets hailed against the barrier. It flickered and crackled under the strain, but maintained its integrity as the biotics pushed onwards, and dug deep into themselves.
"Come on, everybody!" Miranda said as they pressed forward closer to the mercs, "Just a little more!" She was carrying most of the weight, having more biotic power than those here.
A woman next to her had visible strain on her face. "I… I can't!"
Miranda turned her head to the right and saw a girl no older than her own sister. Now however was not the time to ponder on how someone so young could go so very astray. "You have to!" Miranda said to her as she increased her own output, taking a little bit of the weight off of the girl's shoulders. They were more than three-quarters of the way, and some of the mercs were starting to back away nervously. She furrowed her brow in concentration as the strain assaulted her unrelentingly. Suddenly, like a load being lifted, the strain eased off. Looking to her left, she saw Jacob take up position next to her, one hand holding his shotgun while the other was raised in front of him, focusing his biotic field towards the barrier.
"I got your back." He said with a grunt of effort.
"I know." She replied without thinking.
The reply almost made Jacob trip on his own feet. No time for him to think of that now though, they were near striking distance.
Zaeed smirked as he pulled the slide on his LMG, spitting out the stub of the cigar he still had clenched between his teeth. He raised his gun and stared down its sights. "Alright men, weapons up!" The pirates weren't used to coordination, they weren't a military unit. But Zaeed radiated this presence that made them do just as he said. "On your mark, Miranda!"
"Biotics!" Miranda announced, "Shift the frequency of your fields to the same as mine! Keep it charged and steady!" The barrier crackled violently as tendrils of energy started to sprout from its surface, as if reaching out greedily for the mercenaries. "Now!" She roared as her eyes glowed with biotic fury.
Like a rising tsunami, the barrier started to swirl with unrestrained energy and rushed towards the Blue Suns. The mercs had started to turn and run but it was too late. The blast of energy crashed into them, tearing them apart atom by atom as it surged down into the passage way. Those who were able to somehow survive the blast were quickly mowed down by gun fire.
The biotics were exhausted, and Miranda nearly fell backwards had Jacob not been there to catch her. Zaeed stepped up to the front, looking at Miranda with impressed satisfaction.
"Good job, Miss Lawson." He started as he made his way towards the passage way, with the pirates, surprisingly enough, following his lead. "You and the others catch your breath; We'll take the reins for now."
Miranda was too tired to reply, and simply watched as Zaeed broke to a sprint, followed by the pirates who streamed past them. She turned her head towards Jacob who was also looking at the pirates who were rushing towards battle. She could always depend on Jacob, she thought. She wasn't somebody who looked back on her decisions though, but maybe… No. That was over and done with. She was sure Jacob thought so too. "Jacob…" She said weakly, catching his attention.
"What's wrong?" He said, turning his head and looking her in the eyes.
Those eyes, she thought. Everything about Jacob was strong, but his eyes were always gentle. She'd always lose herself in them just before they would… Ugh, she must really be out of it if she's thinking those kinds of thoughts. Must be the exhaustion talking, she thought. "I'll be fine, there's enough food scattered about here to replenish our reserves." Miranda assured him. She then nodded her head towards the passageway. "You should go with Zaeed."
"Are you sure?" Jacob said as he let go of Miranda, who somehow managed to find her footing and put up a strong front.
"I just want you to keep him alive long enough so I could kill him myself." She said with a small smirk. "Think you could manage that?"
Jacob chuckled as cocked his shotgun. "Yes ma'am, I'll get right on that. Just get something to eat." With that, he turned towards the passageway and followed after the rest.
Miranda watched his retreating form and whispered under her breath. "Take care…"
As the battle was about to rage beneath, the battle in the upper Afterlife raged to a boiling point.
Shepard's armor was caked with dirt and blood as he lunged into a Blue Suns centurion, burying his combat knife into the man's visor and straight into his head. He then pulled the knife out, blood gushing from the hole, and flipped the corpse around, using it as a shield when several mercs unloaded their assault rifles into him. Taking the heavy pistol from his hip, he kicked the centurion towards them and tagged each of them with a couple of rounds in the head. No sooner had they fallen dead, the chaos engulfed him once more and he found himself grappling with another Blue Sun who tackled him into the ground. The turian straddled him and grabbed for his pistol, but Shepard kept his grip tight. The two wrestled for control over the gun, but Shepard's cybernetics gave him an edge in a battle of strength. He grit his teeth as he forced the barrel of his gun towards the turian's face and pulled the trigger. The top of the merc's head exploded, blood splattering everywhere before he lifelessly slumped on top of Shepard. Shoving the corpse off of himself, Shepard quickly got up to his knees. His breathing was ragged and his body was aching despite the adrenalin coursing through his veins. He needed to keep going, he was afraid that if he stopped now, he won't get back up. Gathering all his strength and will power, he got up to his feet just as another mercenary converged on him. Not having any of it, Shepard whipped the man's head with his pistol and kneed him in the gut before wrapping his arms around the merc's neck and snapping it like a twig. He reloaded his pistol and took in the situation.
They were definitely pushing them back, he thought, but the numbers game would get to them soon. The pirates fought with fury, but they were also tired and angry, making them sloppy and vulnerable. He flipped open his comm to check on the others. "This is Shepard, give me a sitrep people!"
Miranda replied first, sounding tired and drained. "Miranda here, commander, we've pushed our way back into the main hub of the lower Afterlife."
Zaeed's voice butted in, "We have the bastards on the run, Shepard!" He began, his revenant barking in the background. "It's all a little bit too easy for my liking, actually."
Shepard looked around, and noticed that the mercs seemed to be giving them more ground than they should. "Something's not right here…" he mused. "Thane, how are things on your end?" He paused, but there was no reply. "Thane?"
Thane ignored the comm alert as he ducked underneath a spin kick, dipping to the ground and trying to knock Miller down with a leg sweep. The Blue Suns commander seemed to topple to the ground at first, but flipped and landed into a crouch, staring Thane in the eye with an amused grin on his face. Thane frowned as he tried to create some distance between them, but to no avail, as Miller kept his proximity to the assassin. Their battleground was a precarious catwalk high above inside of the Afterlife, and both men teetered over the edge as they traded blows. They punched each other at the same time, Both men swiftly rose up and brought up their pistols again, holding the barrel inches in front of the other's face. Before they could pull on the triggers, they simultaneously knocked the other's gun aside, causing the shots to miss their mark and whiz harmlessly past them. This man was definitely better than adequate, Thane thought, perhaps even above average in skill.
Miller smirked as he blocked a kick and retaliated with a right hook that the drell gracefully dodged. "Not bad, not bad at all!" He said as Thane retaliated with a series of punches that he all blocked with one hand. "Say… I know who you are now! You're Thane Krios, right?" he said with a tone of realization.
Thane said nothing as he tried to grapple Miller, but the man proved slippery as he was sly, worming out of each hold and chancing a few shots at Thane. For his part, the drell assassin was able to dodge the shots and knock the gun's trajectory off course if he couldn't dodge it. His coat was full of bullet holes, but he himself was mostly unscathed save for a few flesh wounds where the bullets grazed him.
"How rude! I asked you a question!" Miller said as he grabbed Thane's arm and twisted it into an armbar, dropping Thane to his knees and pointing his gun into the back of the drell's head.
Thane flipped forwards, following the drag of his arm and lay flat on his back, kicking Miller's hand holding the gun as he did so, knocking the weapon out of his grip. Another kick to the head made Miller let him go, allowing Thane to flip back up onto his feet. He raised his gun, about to fire, but Miller was on him in a second.
Miller wrested the pistol from Thane's hand and aimed for the drell, but Thane grabbed his arm and pulled him in towards himself, going past the gun and elbowing the mercenary in the face. Dazed, Miller lost his grip on the weapon, allowing Thane to grab it once more.
Thane pressed the gun into Miller's chest. But the mercenary grabbed for the gun just as he was about to pull the trigger, not to shove it away, but to press the thermal clip release. As Thane pulled the trigger, the thermal clip disengaged and dropped towards the floor, causing the weapon to click empty. Unfazed, Thane brought his foot up in a small kick, catching the thermal clip before it touched the ground and kicking it up back into the gun. Before he could fire however, Miller drew his head back and delivered a big head butt with his helmet into the drell's unprotected forehead. Thane staggered backwards, letting go of the gun and fell to his knees, dazed.
"Yep, you are definitely Thane Krios." Miller said as he kicked Thane's head as he was kneeling down, planting him flat on the ground. Miller laughed as he watched the drell squirm as Thane tried to get back up. "This is great! Not only do I get to kill Aria T'loak, but I also get to do in the infamous Thane Krios! I'll be feared across the Terminus systems!" he pointed the gun at Thane. "Any last words, drell? I still have a bleeding out asari to fuck before she dies, so make it quick."
"Make it hurt…" Thane said as he coughed out blood, trying to get back up onto his knees.
"Strange request, but to each his own I guess." Miller said with an amused smirk.
"I wasn't talking to you."
"Eh?" Before Miller realized what he meant, his body was engulfed in a biotic field and was levitated into the air. He struggled, but the force around him was too strong, and he could barely breathe under the pressure.
Aria stood proudly straight up despite her injuries, supported by her biotics and clutching her mangled hand, her body covered in her own blood. She was able to pry off the collar with the blade Thane had thrown, and was suppressing the bleeding from her wounds. The look on her face was pure hate as she increased the pressure of the field around Miller.
Miller's eyes bulged as his armor started to crack under the force of the field around him. "N-no!" He managed to say as he felt the piercing pain of his bones starting to give.
"Don't take it personally, Miller…" Aria said venomously. "It's just business."