"After that, we headed to Zorya to help Zaeed finish his job. He needed to take care of the Blue Suns that were in the refinery. Sounds simple in theory, but as you should know by now, nothing is ever that simple."
The shuttle hatch opened, revealing a dense tropical forest. The sun was setting on the horizon as thick smoke rose into the air from the refinery. Kacey drew her assault rifle, as did Garrus as Zaeed fiddled around with his omni-tool.
"Tapping into Blue Suns communications." Zaeed said as he caught Kacey's gaze, "Stay tight, and watch out for ambushes."
"Got it." Kacey replied as she began to head towards the refinery.
The air was still, quiet. Nothing but the sound of the trio's footsteps. Kacey had taken Garrus along for the mission, since the turian was much more familiar with the Blue Suns mercenaries. Kacey hoped that this would mark the end of dealing with the mercenary group; she was getting irritated by the group.
"Squad Bravo, a shuttle landed near your location. Check it out." A sharp voice cut through the comms.
"Here we go." Zaeed growled, "Keep close."
Kacey rolled her eyes; she had hoped to stay under the radar for a lot longer than that. She gripped her rifle tight as she moved through the forest and came across a handful of bodies, discarded like trash. The smell was strong, potent enough to make her stomach feel a little queasy. She could handle the sight of the corpses, but the smell was a different thing altogether. Garrus shook his head at the sight; it was a pointless waste of life and they both knew it. Zaeed, however, inspected the bodies.
"Shot in the back and left to rot." Zaeed mused, "That's definitely Vido's style. Let's keep going."
"Zaeed's reason for being there was about more than just another mercenary contract. It was personal. And he was determined to do what he went there to do."
Kacey kept her eyes peeled for any sign of a merc, as she headed towards a structure in the distance. She scanned the area for the mercenaries as she passed through, but found that the place was clear, all while hearing what sounded like Vido ordering his men into position.
Kacey turned the corner, only to hear someone shout and saw a few bullets whiz right by her, clipping her shields as she fired an inferno concussive shot at the merc, sending the unfortunate mercenary flying. She moved into cover behind a boulder as she saw the small outpost building towering over them nearby. She ordered Garrus to take out the snipers overhead while Zaeed took out the enemies on the right.
She had grown accustomed to fighting them; they were no more different than the geth, only difference being that her inferno shots were actually effective against them. The bullets burned right through the mercs as she opened fire on the mercs, killing each one with well-placed headshots. Even with their shields, they didn't stand much of a chance as Garrus destroyed them before Kacey and Zaeed took aim.
Mercenaries weren't as challenging as soldiers in her experience; soldiers were certainly trained better and their equipment was more difficult to work around as they typically were new, state of the art technology. But mercenaries lacked the same discipline and skill of experienced soldiers. They could point a gun and shoot their target, but they didn't have the same tactical skill or initiative. At least, not at the level Kacey had. She was able to circumvent their formation a little bit too easily, and shot many of them from behind before they realised what was going on.
Once the trio finished off the mercs, they regrouped and Kacey led the pair to a retractable bridge. As Kacey activated the bridge, Vido's voice rang through the comms.
"This is Commander Santiago. If any of you retreat while the intruders are still alive, I'll kill you myself. Now get the hell back out there and kill them!"
"Vido." Zaeed scoffed, "Sounds like he hasn't changed."
"You know him?" Kacey asked.
"Yeah. I knew he was a sadistic bastard back when we started the Blue Suns." Zaeed explained, "The Suns only got meaner after he staged his little coup twenty years ago."
"Back up. You started the Blue Suns?"
"Yeah. It's not common knowledge since Vido wiped me out of the records." Zaeed elaborated, "He ran the books, I led the men. Worked real well for a while. Then Vido decided to start hiring batarians. Cheaper labour, he said. Goddamn terrorists, I said.
"So, you two had a falling out over hiring batarians?" Garrus mused.
"And you've been holding onto that grudge for twenty years." Kacey added.
"A grudge?" Zaeed said angrily, as he got into Kacey's face, "Vido turned my men against me. Paid six of them to restrain me while he held a gun to my head and pulled the trigger. For twenty years, I've seen that bastard every time I close my eyes. Every time I sighted down a target. Every time I heard a gunshot. Don't you call that a goddamn grudge!"
Kacey slapped his hand away, making it clear with a scowl that she didn't appreciate Zaeed getting in her face.
"You survived a gunshot to the head? How?" Kacey asked, changing the topic slightly.
"Yeah, and you survived your ship getting disintegrated. A stubborn enough person can survive just about anything. Rage is a hell of an anaesthetic."
"I'll just have to take your word on that." Kacey mused, "Come on, we better get moving."
Zaeed nodded as they crossed the bridge, keeping a scowl on his face as he reloaded his rifle. As the trio heard Vido order his men to the nearby gatehouse, Zaeed shouted angrily, "Bring it on, you son of a bitch!"
Kacey rolled her eyes and sighed, "This is gonna be a long day."
…
"Zaeed was pissed. Angry. He wanted Vido's head on a stick. Nothing else mattered. He was hired to get rid of the Blue Suns mercs in the area, yet it certainly felt like he took the job for another reason entirely."
They arrived at the gatehouse, and Kacey opened the door, only to find a couple of mercenaries on the balcony above the opposite door. In the middle of the small group, a dark haired human man glared at the trio, more specifically Zaeed.
"Zaeed Massani." Vido scoffed, "You finally tracked me down."
"Vido." Zaeed growled in response, raising his rifle and pointing it at Vido.
"Don't be stupid, Zaeed." Vido dismissed, "I have a whole company of blood thirsty bastards behind me, ready to kill or be killed on my command. Actually, take your shot. Give my men a reason to put you down like the mad dog you are. Again."
"You must be fun at parties, huh?" Kacey mused.
"Don't test my patience, Shepard." Vido scowled, "You must have a death wish to be siding with that mad dog."
Zaeed opened fire on the pipes near Vido, causing the pipes to leak out flammable gas. Kacey and Garrus ran over to the right and took cover near a metal crate while Zaeed ran to the left near a pipe and began to hit the valve with his rifle.
"What was that?" Vido laughed, "Gone near-sighted old friend?"
"Burn, you son of a bitch!" Zaeed growled as he opened fire on the burst pipe behind Vido, causing an explosion.
Kacey couldn't believe what she had just witnessed; Zaeed was destroying the refinery for the sole purpose of getting one up on Vido. she kept her head down as the gatehouse started to explode around them.
"You've just signed your death warrant, Massani!" Vido shouted as he left, leaving the rest of the mercs to open fire on the trio.
Bullets rained down on the duo at a rapid pace. Zaeed continued to hit the valve, ignoring the mercs trying to shoot him.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Kacey asked.
Zaeed hit the valve one more time, causing it to fall off and a much larger explosion rang out through the gatehouse, killing all of the mercs in one blast. The gate on the opposite side flew off, as the building started to collapse.
"Opening the gate." Zaeed said calmly.
"We don't sacrifice lives for the sake of the mission." Kacey replied sternly, as she marched over to Zaeed, "There's always a better way."
"Like what?" Zaeed snapped back, "Wandering around in the jungle for hours, looking for another way in? You want to waste time out here, go ahead. I'm going to kill Vido."
Kacey punched Zaeed, catching his attention immediately, "The mission is to save these workers, not burn them to death."
"I came here to kill Vido Santiago." Zaeed snapped, "You want my help on your mission, you better make sure that man dies today."
"Keep to the mission or else I'll kick your ass."
"I'd like to see you try." Zaeed replied, "Let's go, we're wasting daylight."
…
"Zaeed is stubborn. Very stubborn. He desired revenge against Vido. That was why he took that job. It wasn't about the workers; it was about revenge. Unfortunately, I'm a hell of a lot more stubborn than him."
They fought the mercs on the catwalk, with the burning refinery still exploding around them. Kacey refused to meet Zaeed's gaze; she was pissed off by the mercenary's callous behaviour. She couldn't stand such attitudes. As far as she was concerned, his attitude was going to have to change if they were going to have any chance of making it through the Omega 4 Relay and back.
Before Kacey could open the door to enter the refinery, a scream cut through the tension. Kacey turned and looked up towards the upper catwalk, where a young man ran out of the burning building, coughing and spluttering.
"Help! Help! We're trapped!" The worker shouted, "We can't get to the gas valves to shut them off! The whole place is going to blow!"
"No time." Zaeed said, "Vido's probably halfway to the shuttle docks by now."
"I get why you want Vido dead, but is it really worth watching those people burn to death?" Kacey asked.
"I'm not sticking around to watch. We stop to help these people and Vido gets away. And if he does get away, I'm blaming you."
"I wasn't standing for it. You know that. Zaeed caused that explosion. If he hadn't, maybe he would've gotten the chance. But innocent people weren't going to die because he made a stupid decision. They were not dying for his revenge."
Kacey grabbed Zaeed's collar, her voice firm, "Forget it. We're going in and saving these people. You caused that explosion, you're responsible for the mess they are in. We are going in to save them."
"Fine." Zaeed said, "We'll do it your way, Shepard. Hopefully, I won't regret this."
"Good." Kacey said, jumping down to a lower platform to head into the burning refinery.
…
Navigating through the burning refinery was easier said than done. The entire place was falling apart, and the repeated explosions rocked the building to its very foundation. The constant shaking and thick smoke created a suffocating and nauseous environment. The workers were stuck in a small room, smoke filling the room quickly. Kacey looked around desperately looking for the fire suppression system.
The smoke was making it hard to see anything aside from the fire itself; the smell of smoke and gas lingered in the air as the trio looked around for the button to activate the system. Kacey jumped over a gap in the catwalk as she went further into the refinery, and found exactly what she was looking for. Kacey activated the fire suppression system and the door to the room where the workers trapped opened. The grateful workers fled the room, and Zaeed cleared his throat to get Kacey's attention.
"Come on, let's get that little bastard." Zaeed said.
Kacey nodded. She didn't want to argue with Zaeed. As far as she was concerned, she wanted the mission to be over. Kacey led them up some stairs and into a wide room, where several Blue Suns mercenaries were all in position.
"Give it up, Zaeed." Vido said over the comms.
"Garrus. Fry their shields then take out the snipers!" Kacey ordered, "Zaeed, take out those mercs on the right! I'll get the left."
"On it!" Garrus mused.
"Okay." Zaeed replied.
Kacey took her half of the room, methodically killing each merc with a inferno shot to the head. The mercs went up in flames, and those with flamethrowers exploded as their tanks combusted upon being shot.
Zaeed took a more hamfisted approach of pumping as many bullets as possible into the mercs as Vido made more sly jabs at Zaeed. It only served the purpose of pissing off Zaeed more, as his shotgun blew the heads clean off the unfortunate mercs. Garrus looked at Kacey, concerned even on the other side of the battlefield. She could understand why; the merc had the temper of a krogan. One that could rival an old friend of theirs.
"Zaeed! Watch your flank!" Kacey shouted as she noticed the mercs coming up behind Zaeed.
However, Zaeed ignored her, leaving Kacey to fire a concussive shot and Garrus to use all of his ammo to take the heat off Zaeed. As the last of the mercenaries were left to fry, Kacey shot Zaeed a disapproving look as she marched through towards the landing pad.
"Remember the Tokyo and that one marine that refused to follow orders? Private Louis Kingsella? He refused to work with the squad, constantly disobeying orders? Zaeed reminded me of him a bit. Someone who clearly doesn't know how to work in a team or follow someone else's leadership. So, I had to show him why I'm a 'Commander'."
Once they arrived at the landing pad, the gunship was already floating in the air. The gunship turned.
"See you in another twenty years!" Vido said smugly before cutting communication with the trio.
Zaeed ran up and opened fire with his rifle, trying to shoot the gunship. He screamed angrily as the gun rattled in his hands. Bullets flew everywhere but the gunship was still intact and flew away. Once the thermal clip was empty, the gun started to jam, causing Zaeed to angrily pop the thermal clip out, unbeknownst to him, it landed on some flammable fuel.
"You just cost me twenty years of my life!" Zaeed bellowed at Kacey, pointing his rifle at her. Kacey held up her pistol, the inferno ammo locked and loaded, ready to fry him if he dared to pull the trigger. Garrus also had his assault rifle pointed at Zaeed, aiming his gun at the veteran mercenary's head.
"Put the gun down, Zaeed." Kacey said calmly.
Before Zaeed could reply, the fire that started from Zaeed's discarded thermal clip caused an explosion. A metal beam fell on top of Zaeed's right leg, while Kacey and Garrus remained unscathed.
"Son of a bitch! Argh!" Zaeed shouted.
"Karma's a bitch huh?" Kacey mused, "You deserved that."
"Yeah? Screw you!" Zaeed snapped, "Now come on, get me out of this shithole."
Kacey walked over and kneeled down in front of Zaeed, "I'm not sure I need a man like you on my ship."
Zaeed scoffed, "If you didn't need me, Cerberus wouldn't have paid my fee. I'll do what I was paid to do. Nothing more, nothing less. Now stop screwing around! Let's go!"
Kacey stood up, her voice firm, "You put your own goals ahead of the mission. That's not how this works."
"I've survived this long watching my own back." Zaeed replied, not meeting Kacey's gaze, "No time to worry about anyone else."
He looked up to find that Kacey had her pistol pointed at his head. Kacey looked at him with another disapproving glare.
"You're part of a team now, Zaeed." Kacey said firmly, "There's no way we can do this unless we're all working together."
"You…you have a point." Zaeed relented, "I'm not done with Vido, but I can put that behind me long enough to get your mission done."
"Good." Kacey said, lifting the metal beam off Zaeed's leg with ease, "Don't forget it."
Zaeed nodded, "Let's get the hell out of here."