With the quarians surrounding me, Arthan held my Locust and Carnifex at his hips. Couldn't be a prisoner with guns, right? My teeth gnawed my cheek, fixating my eyes on the approaching doors. Any quivering in my body, my stubbornness quashed. There was no time to be afraid now. Stay calm and everyone would get out of this situation, assuming the situation didn't explode beyond my control. Shayan, however, was unaffected by my calm exterior. The quarian quivered with excitement and nerves. He was a wild card. He needed to remember to calm that head of his or we would have a bad day. Friendly fire could stay at the bottom of my wish list. I approached the red masked male as he checked his sniper rifle, an Indra. Tinkering with the sniper made his eyes glow, like when he altered the armour.
"Shayan," I called. He started, even saluted in surprise. A flinch rose, but my muscles suppressed it. That went about as well as a fish in acid. "Hey, just wanted to check in. How are you feeling?"
"I-I'm great! A-A little nervous but..." he said.
"Shayan, I need you to listen to me, alright?" I said. He shuffled. "You're scared, everyone can see it. I know what that's like. I was like you," he blinked at me. "So here was the advice given to me when I hid at even my shadow; shoot if you can't run, run if you can't shoot. Can't do either? Imagine what someone you admire, someone you trust would say to someone who held a gun to your face. Then replicate that," Tie would tell whether my words made sense. "It's far from easy... hell, there are times even I need to remember to do this. So if things go south, I need you to concentrate. Don't shoot at random; how close are they? Who is more a threat? Who has the most dangerous weapons? These are the things you need to take into account. I will thank you more for taking out a rocket soldier 100 metres away than a soldier punching me in the face. Does that make sense?" Shayan glanced to the sniper in his hands, the gun quivering.
"I-I guess it does but..." he mumbled.
"Shayan," I said, dragging his attention back to me. "This isn't something that gets better overnight. There are times I wonder why I do the things I do when bullets hurt. I know you can do this, I'm trusting you to watch my six," His eyes popped through his helmet. A grin appeared on my lips before patting his shoulder. Shayan surrendered his weapons to Cassa and Jhort as my shoulders rolled. Arthan and Phylla kept their eyes on me. Dammit, why, why, why was I the leader here? I never agreed to this shit!
"Alright, positions people. Remember your lines," I said, taking one last breath. "Let's do this," My back straightened as Arthan, Phylla, Cassa and Jhort surrounded us. They shoving us towards the building. Shayan yelped, not expecting that they would be rough. My teeth grit. Stay with me, Shayan, just stay with me on this!
The Blue Suns patrolling the building noticed our approach, the guns were up for an instant, before they processed the armour – and the red-haired girl glaring at everything around her. They lowered their weapons. The quarians halted, forcing me and Shayan collide into their backs. They elbowed us hard in the chest. I hit the deck, Shayan wheezed beside me. The guards rested their guns on their shoulders.
"Sorry it took so long," Arthan began. "Bitch wouldn't stop jumping like a goddam monkey," My snarl ripped free. Despite me telling him to say that, it still stung to hear it. The patrol snorted.
"I hear that. Alright, drag her ass up. What's with the quarian though?" the guard asked.
"Pair of 'em jumped us, trying to take us out," Phylla shrugged. "I assumed she got help, dragged him here just to be sure," The guard hmmed for a moment.
"Yeah, probably. God, I'll be glad when this job is done. Boss is trying to get more money out the client for the shit she put us through," he nodded his head towards the door. "Boss is in his office,"
"Roger that," Arthan responded. He marched on as Jhort and Cassa hauled Shayan and me to our feet, shoving us to follow. My glare didn't affect them. God, please don't let them find out! Even once inside the building, I prepared for the worst.
The Blue suns were everywhere, milling around, waiting for orders. My entrance had them up on their feet. Their anger, their annoyance, their excitement, their lust. A shudder ran down my knees. Please, if there is a bloody God, don't let them get their hands on me! The satisfied snorts and cheers at my capture spiked my nerves. Their plans had been messed up by me somewhat, huh? My gaze pinned to Phylla's back, to stop me looking at the eyes of the human and turians surrounding me. They followed us right to the elevator, where the mercs hit the button for the boss's floor and left for us to travel to the top floor.
My hairs stood up, my body warning me something was wrong. The plan unravelled then. It was as if they knew we didn't know what floor the leader was on. As if they knew... they knew we weren't actual Blue Suns. My hands snatched back my guns, a growl rumbling in my chest. They slipped back into the holsters inside my trousers. The quarians stared, awaiting orders. My hand snatched Shayan's pistol, shoving it under a wrap of his red material. His eyes looked ready to pop.
"Keep on your toes. I think they know..." I warned. The quarians straightened, but earned brownie points by keeping their eyes straight. "What weapons do we have?" I whispered.
"Assault rifles, shotguns, SMGs, pistols, grenades, smoke bombs," Jhort answered.
"Alright, if things go south, I... I'll say... Marshal. I may have to use it inside a word but... if you hear that then drop a few smoke bombs," They nodded their heads. My breath dragged in, shaking off the tremble running down my back. Marshal... I wonder-
The elevator dinged, making me jump. We arrived on the floor. We poked our heads out, assessing the situation. A small room with a lone corridor greeted us. My gaze scanned around, trying to find anything that would help us. Aside from a few potted plants, nothing useful for saving our asses. The hall had no windows, no doors and the walls were bare. The lonely door at the end of the hall was my personal gateway to hell. A sourness rose up my throat, to control my breathing. Shayan quivered, finger twitching towards the trigger. He had to stay calm, if he panicked... my hand gave his arm a firm squeeze.
"Wait," I said. "And pick your targets... and don't change targets unless there's someone on top of you," Shayan trembled in response.
Another lungful of air escaped as we reached the door at the end. The silent 'whoosh' revealed the leader, tech armour ready. He frowned at me, standing behind his desk. The room was small, not a single window in the room. We got 5 steps inside the room before the trap sprung. The door behind us slammed shut by Blue Suns mercs, guns pointed towards us as Blue Suns dropped false panels. The false panels hid the windows, light burned my eyes as they squinted to stay on the leader before me. At least 30 Blue Suns surrounded us, all guns trained on me. A few lasers danced along the quarians, but they trained on me. My glower trying to stop my eyes watering as they adjusted to the light change. Hands still by my side, Shayan quaking beside me, it was time to meander through a minefield.
"I'm impressed, Shaik," the leader said, crossing his arms. "If those enviro-suits the quarians wear didn't trip our sensors at the door, we wouldn't have even known you had infiltrated us," My gaze straight, despite how much I wanted to shout or cry or cower. Fuck.
"Can't blame a girl for trying," I answered, trying to control the pitch of my tone. It held, but it drifted upwards near the end. The need to slap myself rose. The merc leader snorted, amused as he folded his arms.
"Keplar owes us a bloody pay increase for this. Give us the data drive," he demanded.
"Sure, give me the quarian intel," I shrugged. The Blue Suns gawked at me. Sure, this wasn't the best position to be bargaining... shit, this wasn't working! Dammit... God dammit, Dell, calm down! Just calm down!
"You... You have a lot of nerve, girl," the leader gawked. A smile strained, tried to make myself more like Indira. The thought of five other people's lives riding on my decisions, however, sent my shoulders rattling.
"A fair enough trade. You get your money and we get back what you stole. And no one gets hurt," I said, my voice quaking. The leader stared for a moment longer before he burst out laughing. It took everything not to flinch, the action slamming a fist into my stomach.
"Girl, I have you surrounded!" he roared. Dammit Dell, think! The fear drowned out common sense. My mind muddled, unable to think straight. Everyone counted on me to get them out of here, but I was failing! This is why I should never be a leader! Leaders had to be smart and brave, none of these were true for me, I only get people in danger! My breathing tried to slow to calm me, but nothing worked, everything sped up, too much for me to keep up with. Hyperventilation tickled my senses. "What could you possibly do?" My teeth grit, I couldn't do anything! My vision flashed as pain rocked me.
"And what makes you think we're alone?" the words slipped from my tongue.
My eyes bulged, or would have if my body responded to me. Why did I... why did...? My limbs refused to listen to me, now numb from me. These weren't my words! What was going on?! The leader stopped dead, staring at me with wide eyes. It wouldn't stop, and the pain! My hair flicked back, smiling at the leader with hooded eyes. Something dark, something sticky, oozed from my pores, like sweat. Oh no, oh shit. I wasn't… I was sweating indoctrination. The corruption spread, my brain rattled from the pain.
"I got four quarians to mimic your own troops. What makes you think I don't have more hidden amongst your ranks?" I said, my eyes cast around the surrounding men and women, a calm smile on my face. The troops glanced to each other, guns twitching, eyes widening. They shuffled as they took each other in. I walked towards someone, the guns shook but not a bullet fired. They were too desperate to see who the traitors were. Or the indoctrination blinded them. "Who could you say is yours?" I wanted to scream as I took the head of one turian, fingers tucked under his chin. "Who can you say...?" My hand yanked his head to face the man beside him. "...is your friend?" My fingers trailed away the turian, striding back to re-join the quarians. Nyryntha, stop!
"Be still, Shell. You have fulfilled enough parameters for me to gain control and I no longer possess the patience to tolerate your interference. This is as it should be," she said.
Everything in me froze. Nyryntha would control me... my war was lost. My senses were dulling, my thoughts fading, the body around me feeling distant, foreign. She was killing me, wiping me from existence. she would turn into a monster and I could not stop myself, or Nyryntha, from killing everything near and dear. The human race would be extinct because of me. And the other races to! She would kill Valérien, Mat'al, Raisha, Indira and Shayan... All the people on the Citadel, everyone on Zhu's Hope. Everyone would die because I was too weak!
That last though, the thought of staining my hands with the blood of Val, Mat'al, everyone, turned the heat on. My blood boiled. The Blue Suns turian gave frantic glances to the human beside him, staring at his gun and myself. He was disorientated. He raised his gun, but it wasn't pointing at us. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he cracked. He released a hail of bullets into the human beside, screaming in terror. That was the trigger for all hell to break loose.
My scream roared in rage over the gunfire. My senses sharpened, an arm moved, responding to my demands. No one would kill my friends! Over my dead body! Nyryntha fought me, trying to keep her fragile control. She couldn't hold her stance against my anger, my desperation. Her robotic scream drove me to the edge. My vision turned red, staining the room in blood. Pain scoured my body, driving me to the brink. My gaze locked on with the leader before me. There was no sound, just the sound of my pounding heart. Primal instinct took charge, the will to survive. My muscles followed my commands, to run forward. Nyryntha resisted, but my boiling blood overcame whatever hold she had on me. I charged forward through the hail.
"MARSHAL!" I screamed.
My vision tunnelled, focused on the single man before me. My eyes never registered the smoke surrounding carpeting my feet, even after he vanished from my sights. The bullets soared past me unheeded as my legs pushed me through the smoke, finding the man raising the assault rifle in his hands. Everything slowed, there was only my breath, my heartbeat. Nothing else. Nothing else mattered. Live, survive. Nyryntha gone from my mind, the monster who tried to control me. She tried to take hold of me before I knew what happened. My hands slammed on the table before me; nothing was safe from me. Even if I knew what the indoctrination felt like, how do you stop it? What about during sleep? My body vaulted over the desk; how many people were indoctrinated, how many were under their thrall because of me? How many had murdered their own race for the voice inside their heads? My hands grabbed the leader by the collar of his armour; how many more had to suffer because of me? How long before a way to stop Nyryntha was discovered, how long before my fight with her was useless, was lost? Could I ever safe for people to be around?
I shoved the merc through the window behind him. Did she doom me to an eternity alone or a fiery death to protect those important to me? My eyes stared at the hole in the glass, panting. My lungs burned with every gasp of air my lungs attempted. Sound, taste, touch, none of my senses responded. The flailing merc leader tumbled away from me. Nyryntha was a monster, a creature designed for death and destruction. What made me so different? I had killed, had ended the lives of fathers, mothers, daughters and sons. How many people had suffered because of me? Because of my guns? Because of the Reaper? I was a Saboteur, one who brought disruption to order, distrust to friendship and destruction to peace.
I only now understood the name 'Saboteur'. All my muscles froze at the sight of a human merc charging me, a mere metre from me. His expression, eyes rolled back into his head, the foam around his mouth, the manic grabbing of the air. Blood trickled down his nose. He wasn't even human. He was an animal. Was indoctrination that fast? Could it be so quick to control? Or was this something else? A bullet tore through his skull, skimming past my face to burn the skin under my ear. My gaze stayed forward as the merc collapsed on the ground, glued to the red-masked quarian with the pistol outstretched in his arm. Sound returned and copper stained my tongue. My hand raised, finding blood on the corners of my mouth. I wasn't sure where else I was bleeding from. Shayan's form trembled, but the gun was steady. My dry throat swallowed. That merc couldn't be indoctrinated, at least, not the same kind I was used to. It took days, weeks even and needed something to alter brainwaves. What escaped me earlier was organic, not an electronic signal. A pheromone? Something for short term control? Something only Saboteurs had? I didn't know and that was the problem.
"Are you alright?" Shayan called. He snapped me back, wriggling my fingers and toes to ensure control was mine. He got a slow nod. My body trembled from weakness, the fight against Nyryntha draining me of precious energy. Just... slow everything down, just relax. A slow exhale escaped, removing the last of the sour air in my lungs.
"Ok... Let's see if we can't find your data and get out of here... please," I said, rubbing my face. Filth clung to my body like a bath of oil. I leaned against the desk as Cassa dived onto the computer on the desk. She grinned as she hacked the machine. Shayan stared at me, wide eyed.
"That was amazing! How did you do that?!" he asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked. My trust in my dry tongue was low.
"How did you get them to turn on each other? Then you charged the big guy!" Shayan exclaimed.
"I... I have skills, I suppose. A simple flail of words," I managed a poor smile. "They're mercs, they care about the next pay check and their own self-preservation. I'm more concerned about getting all of you back home safe," I lied, trying to protect him from what was inside of me, from the horror that had just happened. My skin jumped in surprise when Cassa cheered.
"It's here! I-I don't think he made any copies of it so..." she breathed, scanning through the computer. "I have to make a copy and erase this version!" Shayan beamed.
"We did it? We actually did it? Without Berj?" he asked.
"Looks like it," Jhort nodded, crossing his arms. "We can go back to the flotilla,"
"Uh, hate to be the bearer of bad news but..." Arthan cleared his throat. "There are still about 12 dozen Blue Suns on the floors below us. The sight of their captain splattered on the ground below would not please them," A blush burned, coughing. Ah... I… didn't focus on what I was doing at all, did I?
"Well... fuck," I sighed.
A hand ran through my hair, staring at nothing as my fingers caught the beret. My alliance uniform lay torn and burnt, and after being thrown around and jumping like a maniac, this damn beret still stuck on my head! How the... did Indira super glue this? Urrrrh! My head shook, turning my attention to the matter at hand. These quarians had to get out of here and in one piece. On the top floor of a skyscraper with angry mercs the whole way down?
"Right, I don't suppose taking the elevator is a smart idea," I said, my imagination showing me the lines of guards at the bottom, all aimed at the doors. "So, let's take the stairs and hoof it," My glance studied the quarians as Cassa finished clearing the console. All gazes turned to me. My shoulders collapsed in defeat. Fine! If they wanted to die that much by letting me lead then fine! The Locust yanked out, a glare settling over my face.
"Move out!" I called.