Mass Effect Andromeda Series II: Chapter 43
"Found him!" Shepard tapped back into his omni tool to relay a message to Bailey. Garrus ran over to the ledge where he was and looked down to see the Salarian Council Member looking around nervously.
"Get him somewhere safe," Bailey came back shortly after.
The executor's office was in shambles below. Cerberus must have hit it well before they got there. Screams and gunfire could be heard throughout the Presidium. So far, they had annihilated the threat nearby. The attack on the Citadel by Presidium was sudden and unexpected. Garrus couldn't even fathom the idea of why. Fortunately, Andromeda was safe. They found her pinned down by troopers in Richfield's office. Too bad that Richfield didn't make it. He was a damned good detective.
A blur snapped Garrus' attention and he saw a man dressed in all black with Asian features jump down right near the Councilor's position. The man stalked his prey slowly. Wasting no time, John shot the glass and provided a way for them to get down to where they were. "Don't even think about it," Vega stared down the intruder with his gun drawn.
"Shepard!" The Salarian's voice quaked with fear as he stared at the man before him. The Cerberus symbol on his chest plate was hard to miss. Whoever this guy was, he appeared to be one of the Illusive Man's elites. "He's going to kill us all."
"That remains to be seen," John was calm as he kept his gun poised.
"I mean Udina. He's staging a coupe. The other councilors are walking into a trap."
"Three on one, pal. It's over," Garrus pointed out the obvious to the assassin. He couldn't believe how fearless this guy was. Who was this guy?
"No," The man spoke darkly as he kept his eyes focused on his target, not even looking at them. "Now it's fun."
Out of nowhere appeared Thane who was pointed his side arm right at the man's head. Where did he come from? "Damn he's good," Garrus looked on in astonishment.
Unquivering, the man swiftly took his arm and knocked back Thane's gun away from his head before the Drell had a chance to fire. The two became locked in hand to hand combat. Their hands moved like lightening. John grabbed the Council as he pulled him to safety behind them. Just as they did, the assassin cloaked himself. "Eyes!" John realizing what had happened and they formed a circle to protect the Salarian as they desperately surveyed the area to see where the man went. He was too determined to just back out now. Vakarian felt his heart pumping hard in his chest as he tried his best to remain calm.
Just as he uncloaked once more, the Asian man took out his sword and kept his engagement squarely on Thane. Thane opened fire but the man was quick. Showing no sign of aggravation or anxiety, the Drell charged and continued to fire. The two leapt at each other and a slight groan could be heard from Thane. The assassin looked up at them as it was revealed that he pierced the Drell all the way through with his sword. He removed it quickly just as he moved his gaze over to Garrus letting the mortally injured friend fall to the ground. "Thane!" Shepard ran to join in the fight, Garrus and Vega stood back to protect their Councilor.
This time the assassin ran and jumped down to the Presidium Commons below. Once he was gone, Garrus moved over to his comrade. "Just hold on! I'll contact Dr. Michel," He pulled up his omni tool. Blood was gushing out of the opened wound. "Dr. Michel, Thane needs medical assistance stat. He's at the Executor's office with a bad stab wound."
"I'm on my way and will send a team," Dr. Michel replied back.
"How bad is it?" John rushed back over to where they were once he knew they were in the clear.
"I have time," Thane gasped between breaths as he took his hand to apply pressure to the wound. "Go stop him."
"That coward left," Vega huffed in frustration.
"No, he's going after the other council members," The Salarian spoke out regaining his courage.
Shepard reached out to Bailey as he made his way to follow their foe, "Get the word out. Udina is trying to seize power. I'm going to get to the councilors."
"They are being taken to shuttle pad on the Presidium. Start driving."
Garrus raced ahead to a nearby C-Sec vehicle. "Shepard, over here!" He sat at the controls. He never thought he would drive one of these again. "We can use this to get there." Vega crawled in the back while Shepard took the seat beside him. Flipping ignition switches, a HUD came up to show the vehicle's specs including altitude, fuel and speed. "Switching to vertical lift." He felt the car accelerating up and then tapped the GPS to direct it to their destination. "Should be there in five minutes."
"Push it as hard as you can, Garrus," John kept his eyes ahead.
Just as they were heading out, a large thud hit the top of the car making the alarm go off from the stabilizers. "What the hell was that? Did you hit someone?!" Vega rubbed his head from the violent jerk.
"Unless they can fly, then no," Garrus tapped the controls. "I'll have to switch to manual to compensate. We got extra weight." Just as he spoke, the assassin jumped down on the hood and faced them through the windshield. His eyes hidden from his visor as he stared at them without speaking.
"The bastard is back!" Shepard took out his pistol. "Garrus keep driving." He opened his door and leaned out as far as he could without falling to his death and began to maneuver to shoot.
The Cerberus agent swiftly jumped to avoid the attack and made his way to the back of the car. He drew his sword and pierced the car's engine. Smoke began to pour out of the exposed machinery. The alarm inside blared even louder as the attack triggered a complete engine failure. "Shepard, I have no control!" Garrus desperately tried anything he could to adjust but they were losing altitude fast. Nothing was responding.
"This is not good, guys!" James yelled as he pressed up against the car's side as the vehicle jerked hard to the left and descended more.
John slid back into his seat and shut his door. "The asshole escaped! Garrus, try to get us there as close as you can get."
"I'm trying but I never crashed a car before," Garrus looked on to see the commons becoming closer and closer.
"Brace for impact!" John yelled and just as he did, the car slammed hard into the ground and through several vendor offices. He kicked the door opened once they were stopped.
"Could you have made it less bumpy?" Vega groaned as he rubbed his sore neck.
"Any landing you can walk away from is a good one," Garrus got out and took out his rifle. The entire place was shot up and dead patrons were lying everywhere. Apparently, Cerberus troopers were shooting anyone who moved. This seemed just as bad as when Saren invaded with his Geth. If Udina was trying to seize power, didn't he know that there would be no one who would stand behind him in support from this even if Cerberus pledged him? He had to be desperate.
The tall brunette woman, who had her gun drawn as they got out of the elevator at the landing pad, looked at them in surprise and confusion, "Shepard? Garrus? Vega? What are you doing here?" Behind her the Turian and Asari Council members were with Udina. The shuttle on the pad had been destroyed, most likely from Cerberus.
"Shepard's blocking our escape. He's with Cerberus," Udina accused John.
"Let me handle this, Udina," Ash kept her aim on them. "Shepard, guns down."
"Ash, it's me. We talked about this. I'm not with Cerberus," The Commander spoke calmly as he met her eyes with his.
The now Spectre looked at him in despair. "I-I know we did on Mars and after I got better, but I have a job to do now. I have to keep them safe."
"Come on, Ash," Garrus looked hard at her. "You know I would never join Cerberus. Udina is the real threat. He's working with them."
"Preposterous !" Udina exclaimed. "That Turian was a disgrace to C-Sec with his cutthroat ways. He's been with Shepard around Reaper tech. He could be indoctrinated!"
"I don't think so. I have fought beside Garrus, and Shepard. They are nowhere close to being Cerberus," Vega spoke up in defense.
"Damnit," Ash seethed as she looked back Udina and then back to them.
"There are Cerberus forces in those elevators," John pointed back at where they came. "If you open those doors, you are all dead."
"We have put our lives in Shepard's hands before," The Asari looked over at her counterpart. "He has saved us many times before. I do not believe he would put us in harm's way now."
The Turian beside her nodded his head in approval. "I agree. I think you are wrong, Udina. He has been assisting our Primarch on Palaven with the Reaper attacks. It doesn't make any sense why he would cross us now."
Growling, Udina moved to the landing pad controls. "We don't have time to debate this. We are dead if we stay out here. I'm opening the elevator doors."
John jumped ahead of his squad and aimed his pistol at the Human ambassador, but Ashley moved in his path with her gun still drawn. "Stand down. Please don't make me shoot you, John."
"Ash, after all we went through from Eden Prime to Feros and Horizon. You were there on Earth when the Reapers hit. You were standing beside me when Anderson put his life and the fate of millions into my hands. If you can't trust me now, at least trust him. But know that I do love you."
His words hit her hard as she lowered her gun with a soft smile his way. "I love you too, Skipper." She pivoted around and refocused her aim on Udina. "Udina, step away from the console."
"To hell with this!" Udina ignored her command and activated the console.
The Asari moved over to him to stop him but he shoved her hard to the ground. All of a sudden, the man withdrew a gun at her. "Gun!" Ash screamed.
With lightening reflexes, Garrus moved and shot Udina square in the chest. Blood splattered out from the impact and he collapsed to the ground, dead. "Good work, Garrus," John patted his friend on the shoulder before he moved forward to the console. "Get the Council back and cover that door!"
"I'm on the door!" Vega moved over to his position.
Garrus ran over to help Ash get the Asari back up. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Thank you for that," The Council member smiled at him.
"I should recommend you for commendation for your bravery," The Turian Councilor addressed him.
"Ugh, Commander!" James shouted to them in alarm as the occupant of the elevator on the other side was burning their way through the door. Everyone turn to expect the worse but just as it stopped, outside stepped Bailey and several C-Sec officers.
"Made it as fast as we could, Shepard," Bailey withdrew his weapon. "Looks like you uh-"He paused as he saw Udina's dead body. "Took care of things. Cerberus fled."
Ash ran over to John and kissed him. "Don't put me in that position again."
"Me? I think you had the gun on me first," John teased.
"Why would Cerberus attack like this?" James cleared his throat as he watched the two openingly express their feelings.
"I don't know but I plan on finding out."
Seeing the Commander and Ashley made Garrus revert his attention back to Andromeda. "Commander, I need to head down to Huerta to see how Andromeda is fairing." He quickly moved around everyone to get into the elevator. He didn't even wait for a response, but he figured they would be docked for a while. The assassin's cocky grin still plagued his mind. Who was that guy? How come they didn't come across him before?