Chapter 3 – Fistin'

Groaning, Jane stretched out her hands. The meeting with the Council had her positively livid throughout its entirety, which meant now she was both tired and itching to shoot something.

The three Councilors denied Udina's calls for action regarding the attack, and waved away any and all accusations directed at Saren, who Jane learned was one of their top Spectres.

"This is outrageous!" shouted Udina, throwing his hands in the air. "If it was any of their colonies, they would've raised hell for it! But since it's ours, they don't even lift a finger!"

Sighing, Anderson turned to Shepard. "You have an hour to try and find evidence. I suggest waiting for the C-Sec officer that led the investigation, he might know something or where to look." Giving Jane a nod, the Captain turned away, and followed Udina to the elevators. The N7 noticed the slumping of the man's shoulders as he joined the Ambassador. She didn't blame him. Politicians.

The very thought sent a shudder up her spine.

After a minute of waiting, Garrus walked out of the Council chamber, stepping up to Shepard with a Turian equivalent of a raised eyebrow.

"I did not expect you to still be here." he asked.

Jane gave him a small smile. "Well, here we are. I was hoping you'd know where we should look to find something on Saren."

The blue-tattooed Turian clicked his mandibles and brought up his omnitool. One odd detail Shepard noticed out of the corner of his eye. Seven, who was standing a bit to the side, twitched and tensed at the sound Vakarian's mandibles made. The grey-blue helmet swung side-to-side quickly, surveying the area. She would've kept on looking, but just then Garrus shut off his omnitool and spoke.

"It turns out, I do, in fact. I have a friend that runs a clinic in the upper Wards. She messaged me now about some Quarian that came in, who was talking about Saren. Something about proof she found. I say we go down there and look for this Quarian." the Turian spoke.

Nodding, Jane motioned for the other three humans to follow, and went to the elevators. "Got a description of this Quarian?"

"Not much. Lavender suit, purple mask, female, frail build." Garrus answered, scrolling through his omnitool again. "Just got another message. The Quarian asked my friend about Fist, and wouldn't you know it, Fist's thugs are now at the clinic. Good thing I convinced her to install that panic button." The orange glow of his omnitool disappeared, and Garrus began checking his pistol.

"That might be a problem. If we get into a shootout, we've only got pistols" Jane hummed in thought. Then, she heard a loud clack, causing her to look around. Beside her, Seven chambered a round in his M6G Magnum, and holstered it onto its magplate. The man turned to the Commander, tilting his head as he spoke.

"Non-lethal, Commander?"

Jane gave him a nod, rolling her shoulders, her biotics flaring slightly.

"Acknowledged, adjusting ordnance." almost immediately, Arc grenades, Gravity Stars and flashbangs were phased into pouches and bandoliers on his armor, as well as a CAR SMG with a suppressor, holosight, and loaded with stun rounds. They were an idea of Cooper's, back before Typhon, and toghether, Seven and the Rifleman made some prototypes. Not useful in combat, but for incapacitation, incredibly helpful. The fact that the Arc energy they rounds utilized shorted out kinetic barriers on hit was a boon as well.

He remembered the CAR fondly. The SMG was quite sturdy and reliable, considering the amount of moving parts inside. The rounds had enough stopping power to go through Pilot armor, but small enough to be light and have low recoil. The only thing he despised about the weapon was the paint. Why would you paint a weapon bright orange and white? The only upside to it was that it was easy to repaint the gun.

The trail of thought was pushed aside a moment later, as Seven finished the equipment check and swung the SMG onto his back, where it attached to a magplate with a thunk. The rest did so as well, looking over their pistols for damage or dirt in their two-pronged barrels. Satisfied, they all collapsed their weapons on holstered them.

"Any idea when this elevator is gonna make it?" Ashley asked. The Gunnery Chief was tapping her foot on the metal flooring, silently voicing her restlessness.

Just as Kaiden was about to answer, the doors at the front of the cabin opened with a soft chime. Garrus was the first out the door, followed by Jane and Seven, with Kaiden and Williams closing off the group.

The clinic's right there." Vakarian pointed with a talon, pulling out his pistol as they neared the small medical center. Stacking up on the main door, they all ducked under the windows, readying their weapons.

"Engaging cloak." Seven said calmly. His armor's speakers turned down on his command, letting out sound no louder than a whisper. A moment later, his form flickered, and disappeared, leaving nothing but a shimmer in the air, which faded soon after. Standing up, he looked in through one of the clinic's windows.

"Four hostiles, one Turian, two humans. Turian and one human about three meters from the door, one on each side. The third is near a desk, eight meters from door, standing over the doctor. Motion sensor shows two more in the back room. All visible hostiles are armed, pistols only. Permission to engage?" he lowered himself and shut off the cloak, allowing it a moment to charge to full.

"Go in, we'll stay and follow you if it becomes a shootout." Shepard answered. Seven gave her a short nod and disappeared again, this time silent. Unseen by anybody, he rose and went to the door. For others, it would've opened automatically, but the infrared light it used to detect if someone was trying to enter was absorbed by the cloaking field and the absorbent materials covering Seven's armor. This time, the door was opened by Avei, who had by now learned to mimic an omnitool's signal and connect to the local networks. The soft hiss of the door opening drew the attention of the three thugs that were inside, as well as Doctor Michel. The thugs drew their pistols, pointing them at the empty doorway.

"Eh, it's probably nothin'." the first one said, lowering his weapon. The human that stood near the Doctor's desk did so as well, turning to the woman again.

I'm not going to ask nice again, where is that suit rat and who did you tell about it?"

Instead of an answer, a series of dry cracks sounded from the side, followed by the crackle of electricity, and the thud of a body hitting the floor. The man whipped around, pistol in hand, only to see his other companion join the Turian on the floor, both out cold.

"Who's there?! Stop hiding, coward!" the man yelled, his hands trembling around his weapon's grip. Heeding his call, Seven disengaged his cloak, looking down on the man. Standing barely half a meter form him, he towered over the thug, who lowered his pistol.

"What the fu…" he did not finish the expletive, as Seven fist shot out, hitting him square in the chest. The force alone threw him backwards, pushing all the air out of his lungs, and nearly cracking the man's ribs. Right after the metal knuckles of Seven's gauntlet made contact, the electrodes in them activated, sending a surge of electricity through the man's body, dropping him, convulsing, on the floor.

Knowing that the last two thugs would enter the large room within seconds, Seven vaulted over the desk, grabbing Doctor Michel and pushing her down, under the desk.

"Stay in cover until told otherwise." He said, pulling out the CAR and aiming it at the door.

^Want me to open the door?

He gave Avei an affirmative, and the door opened just in time to reveal the last two of Fist's thugs, both Turians, with their pistols out, standing in the doorway like a deer caught in the headlights. Seven squeezed the trigger of the SMG, sending a burst of Arc rounds into the torso of each. Both fell moments after, spasming on the floor before going still, unconscious. Then, Garrus and Shepard stormed through the main entrance, weapons out, followed by Kaiden and Ashley. The four soon lowered their pistols, realizing the state of all the hostiles.

"All hostiles neutralized, area clear." Seven said, pulling Doctor Michel out from under her desk and reloading the CAR. The extended magazine was still half full, but he did so nonetheless.

"Thank you." The woman answered, straightening her lab coat. "You got the messages, yes?" she turned to Garrus. After a nod from the detective, she continued. "Well, the Quarian you're looking for asked where she could find Fist. From what I caught, she found some information proving Saren's fault. She was bruised in a couple of places, and had tears in he suit. Apparently not enough to puncture, but she looked like she just came out of a brawl. I told her where to find Fist, and that's it. I can show you the security footage, it'll be easier to spot her."

Shepard gave the woman a nod, and followed the Doctor to the terminal on her desk.

Jane stepped through the double doors at the front of Chora's Den, the thumping bass of electronic music shaking even the floor. Only Garrus was accompanying her, the rest on watch on a nearby rooftop. She made her way to the back of the main floor, where a door marked with a sign saying 'Personnel only' was, guarded by two Krogan with shotguns.

"What are you doing here, human?" one of them barked, the other resting his hand on a SMG serving as the giant lizard's sidearm.

"I need to see Fist. Where is he?" Shepard said, her tone even and posture straight. The two large aliens stayed silent for a moment, before one barked a short laugh.

"Ain't no way that's happening. Fist's not going to see you. Now, get lost, human."

The N7 said nothing, and turned around to leave. But, before she could reach the more open area of the club, two Turians moved to stand in her and Vakarian's way.

"Hello there. You are Commander Shepard, yes?" one of them, with red markings on his face, asked. His tone was sleazy, making Jane almost reach for the pistol on her hip.

"Yes, and you are…?"

The alien waved the question away. "Not important. This is."

With a quick and clearly experienced motion, the two brandished pistols of their own, both pointing at Shepard's forehead. The moment the N7 operative noticed the movement, she raised a biotic barrier, and pulled out her pistol. She saw the curling of the Turian's finger around the trigger, and realized she wouldn't dodge the shot.

Then, with a thunderous crash, one of the front windows shattered, and the head of the lead thug was ripped of his neck and pulverized, leaving bits of his metallic carapace and a fine, blue mist in its place. The entire establishment seemed to freeze in place for a moment, before exploding into chaos. Most patrons ran away, trying desperately to escape onto the street. Some stayed and pulled out weapons, taking positions. behind strategically-placed tables, now overturned to serve as cover. The two barkeepers pulled out assault rifles of their own, began to move to where Shepard, Garrus and the would-be Turian assassin were. As all this was happening, another window shattered, and a bullet ripped through the air with a crack, similarly decapitating the other pistol-equipped attacker.

Crouching behind a half-wall, Jane heard Seven's voice in her earpiece.

"You have two hostiles, both with assault rifles, converging on your position, Commander."

"I see around twenty guards in total, most human or Turian throughout the entire club. One Asari, with only a pistol, so she'll use biotics. That, and there are the two Krogan you met. They're making their way to you. Kaiden and Ashley are close by, they'll be there in a minute." Avei added, the AI's voice just as calm and collected as Seven's.

"Yeah, I don't think we'll survive that long against Krogan with shotguns with only two pistols." Garrus bit back, already taking potshots at the advancing guards. Jane joined him, while also throwing a warp at one of the barkeepers, and then throwing the man back with a shockwave. After he smashed into one of the many half-walls that filled Chora's Den, the opposing mass effect fields collided, causing a violent explosion to shake the dancefloor.

"Acknowledged, ETA twenty seconds."

"Wait, he can get from a sniping spot to here in less than a minute?" questioned Garrus, venting the heat from his pistol.

Jane smirked as she joined the blue-marked Turian in cover. "He sure can. You'll see soon en-"

She was interrupted by a loud roar in front of the two. The two Krogan had just joined the battle. One charged them, crashing into their cover as the two scattered in different direction. Jane was about to retaliate with her biotics, but she was knocked back by a blast form the other Krogan's shotgun, which finally broke her shields and barrier. Cursing, she threw herself behind cover, which was then peppered with shots from the other guards. Garrus was similarly pinned down behind another half-wall, his shields nearly broken as well.

Then, the lights went out.

The club was plunged into darkness, only illuminated by the faint street lights outside. After a moment of confusion, weapon-mounted flashlights came on, sending strobes of light piercing the darkness. The two Krogan had flashlights of their own, and activated them as well. But, when they looked at the spot they had forced Shepard into.

It was empty.

"Search the area! They're here somewhere!" the older, more scarred Krogan bellowed.

Then, his head exploded, in time with a loud CRACK of a powerful suppressed weapon discharging and a bullet whizzing through the air.

"OPEN FIRE!"

As if by the press of a button, the dancefloor was filled with bullets, the tracers lighting up the dark area, only to show no one there, except for the very confused guards, who now stood around the leader of Fist's security, an Asari with an SMG in her blue hands.

"Someone get the lights-" she shouted, only to end up choking in her blood as her windpipe was severed by a blade, her SMG clattering on the floor. The thugs around her scrambled to point their weapons in the direction of the sound, but were unable to as the rifles and pistols were ripped from their hands and their heads twisted or severed. The rest had caught on, and all formed a circle around their fallen comrades, only to see the bodies and multi-colored blood pooling around them.

"Drop your weapons and you may yet live." a deep, disembodied voice spoke, causing the faltering morale of the thugs to plummet even further. None let go of their armaments, however, while the last Krogan racked his shotgun, growling.

"Not a chance, pyjak."

"Very well. It is your choice." a half-second later, a light green dome emerged in the center of the circle of Turians and humans, with a lone silhouette inside. It was tall, towering over the crowd surrounding it. A long, cylindrical object appeared in its hands with a faint blue flash, before a low whirr could heard.

Then hell broek out.

Jane huffed in annoyance as she loaded one shell after another into the weapon Seven provided her.

She, Garrus and Ashley were now in an alley just outside Chora's Den, getting quickly acquainted with the weapons Seven provided them. Vakarian had, naturally, gotten a sniper rifle, though it was of odd design, with two barrel and a magazine in the stock. The Turian's three-fingered hands fumbled with the human-made grip, but he managed well enough. Shepard had been gifted a shotgun of odd design, with the tube holding the shells on top of the 8-gauge barrel. Ashley now sported an assault rifle with a very tilted magazine well, and a red-tinted, square-ish scope on top. Kaidan, due to his reliance on biotics, was given a handgun, though a more apt name would've probably been handcannon, as the weapon was a blocky revolver, with a side-ejected cylinder. Additionally, they all got belts and chest rigs to hold the spare ammunition Seven provided. As they finally got ready to move out, a thundering roar of a fast-firing cannon came from inside Chora's Den, only slightly muted by the glass and concrete walls.

"I guess he started the party without us." Muttered Ashley, as the team quickly made their way to the club's entrance. They were all crouched, ducking under windows as some stray shots impacted or shattered the glass.

"Williams and me first, then Garrus and Kaiden." said Shepard, before kicking the door and storming in, weapon poised to shoot off someone's head. But, instead of a all-out battle as she expected, she was met with a scene of carnage: bodies, in various states of dismemberment, lay strewn across the dancefloor, dotted with impact marks of high-power rounds. In the center of it all, was Seven, a rotary cannon more fitting for a vehicle than him on his back, and a two-pronged, shining blue blade in his hand.

Said blade currently had a Krogan impaled on it.

The big alien gurgled something for a moment, before Seven turned the blade off, letting the now lifeless body drop to the floor with a thud. Then, surprising Jane, he gave a nod to someone off to the side. Turning in that direction, Shepard saw another Krogan, this one with deep red eyes, armor and crest, nod back and chuckle.

"Good fight. I hope we do that again." Switching his gaze to Shepard, he continued. "I have a contract on Fist. Betrayed the Shadow Broker for this Saren guy, from what I gathered." Scratching his chin, he holstered his shotgun and walked up to the N7.

"Mind of I tag along? Your friend here said you're looking to find Fist too."

After giving the matter a second of thought, the redhead shrugged. "No problem. Just let us interrogate him."

The group made their way to the back of the club, where, thankfully, only a couple bodies were strewn about, and a door to the back areas was. Seven and Wrex stood on both sides of the door, while the others waited behind the two tow follow them inside. Garrus activated his omnitool to begin hacking into the door's locks, but stopped upon hearing Avei's voice emerging from the orange interface on his arm.

"Don't bother, I'm in the system already. Opening the door on your mark, Shepard." the AI spoke, the disembodied voice eliciting raised brows from Garrus and Wrex. Or at least what passed for that for Krogans and Turians.

Jane shook her head. "I'll explain later. Get ready." she pointed to the door. "Three, tow, one… Mark."

The metal door slid open with a hiss, revealing two humans, both scared shitless, holding pistols, pointing the cheap handguns at the now open doorway. Their eyes widened even more as they saw Seven's massive figure storm through, his gun trained on one of the worker's head. Instinctively, they squeezed the triggers of their weapons, the weak rounds absorbed by the shields of the MJOLNIR armor, barely draining them. Seven, meanwhile, let out a burst with the CAR, the now normal AP rounds drilling through the human's head, leaving a large wound on his forehead, while turning the back of his skull into mince-meat, splintering the bone and showering the hallway behind in dark red blood and brain matter.

Seven's left hand quickly drew back, away from the SMG, and with a snap-hiss, an Energy Dagger, once belonging to an Elite Zealot, came to life and impaled the second human in the chest, lifting the off the floor. A second after, the plasma blade dissipated, letting another body drop with a thud.

The Spartan moved further, weapon still trained on the corner of the hallway, before a shout stopped him.

"Seven, what the fuck?!" Jane shouted, her face contorted in a scowl. "Why did you kill these two?!"

Still as a statue, Seven answered emotionlessly. His voice glitching and spazzing out. "P-p-prot-ol *zzt* P-ot-tocol Three-e-e".

Then, without sparing a glance back, he turned away and started down the corridor again. As he rounded the corner, rounds smashed into his shields, which did nothing to stop his advance. It was unseen by the rest of the group, however, as they stayed with Shepard, who was equal parts fuming and confused. Then, her omnitool buzzed from an incoming call.

"We've got a problem, Shepard." Avei's voice came through, worry clear to all who listened. "It won't be an issue for now, but we have to deal with it the moment we get back to the Normandy."

"Is it about him?" the redhead asked. She did not need to specify who she meant. "Why did he kill these civilians?"

"Yes, it's about him. And I'll tell you when we get back on the ship. For now, keep him close and if he starts acting funny, order him to stop. He'll listen. No go catch up to him, or he'll kill Fist before you can interrogate him." the call ended, causing Jane to look up at the group surrounding her.

"You heard what she said, move!" she shouted, shouldering the grey-black shotgun in her hands.

Blood.

So much.

Seven looked at his hands, the gauntlets of his MJOLNIR dripping with mixture of dark red, green and blue. Heavy drops dribbled down onto the floor, their patter echoing across the empty hallway, soon joined by heavy steps of Shepard and the rest.

The body that lay before him was a human.

Once.

Now, what was a man's face a mere minute before was a blood pulp, with pieces of his broken skull mixed in with the battered muscles and skin. Blood pooled around the body, leaving marks on the titanium armor as Seven dropped to his knees, too tired to keep upright.

The implants burned, his left hand twitching, while his spine was unnaturally straight and stone cold. A small shudder ran through him.

God, how many?

Turning around, Seven saw the carnage he had wrought. Around dozen bodies, both human and alien, cluttered the space, their blood pooling the floor and sprayed on the walls and ceiling. One Turian's carapace was shattered, covering the floor in sharp fragments. Though many wounds were cauterized from the plasma of his blades, the blunt force of his strikes had shattered the skeletons of the victims and ground their organs into paste.

^Avei?

^Yes?

^Is this…

^Yeah, it's that. I told Shepard, sort of. We'll try to deal with it after we get back to the Normandy. For now, I suggest staying back so they don't trigger again.

Sighing tiredly, Seven unsealed his helmet and pulled it off his head, leaving blood stains on the visor and plating. Then, around the last corner of the hallway came Shepard, immediately stopping and nearly gagging at the stench. He had nearly forgotten about it: Hoxxes had smelled far worse at times. But, the smell of burned flesh mixed with the metallic scent of blood made for a foul combination for 'normal' humans.

The rest of the group came to a halt just behind Jane, all looking at the kneeling form of Seven. For most, it was the first time seeing the man's face, their first confirmation that he, at least, resembled a human and was not a mech.

"It's safe for you now. You can approach." Avei's voice rung out from MJOLNIR's speakers.

"Are you alright?" the Commander spoke, an odd mix of concern and wariness in her voice, causing his head to turn to the woman. It unnerved the N7 somewhat; the blank, grey eyes, the stone-faced expression Seven wore. But, he nodded, and put the helmet back on, got up, and readied his weapon.

"Schematics say that the next room is Fist's office. He's got two turrets inside, so be careful." Avei spoke out from the MJOLNIR again, as they stacked up on the door one by one. Once more, Seven and Wrex were the first ones in, followed by Jane and Ashley, with Garrus and Alenko further behind. The room they entered was sparse: a single desk, one window off to the side, and now two turrets hanging from the ceiling. Even before the defenses deployed fully, a glowing blue sphere, which crackled with unbridled energy, was thrown by Seven towards the two gun turrets. A moment later, the Arc grenade detonated, shorting out most devices in the room. Fortunately, the team's weapons, except for Wrex, had been provided by the Spartan, and were unaffected by the EMP.

Fist's pistol was not among those, and so, when the man jumped out from behind his desk, all he got from repeatedly pulling the weapon's trigger were loud, ineffectual clicks. What did have an effect, was Wrex's roar as the Krogan charged forward, crossing the distance in mere seconds, and threw Fist backwards, smashing the human into a wall.

After regaining his breath, Fist began to whimper fearfully. "What do you want? Who even are you?"

"That doesn't concern you, whelp." Growled Wrex, grabbing the corpulent man by a collar and holding him up against a wall.

"A Quarian has contacted you recently, yes?" Shepard asked, coming up from behind the red-crested Krogan.

"Y-yes. What do you want from me?"

A predatory grin split the redhead's face. "Information."

Flicking some of the blood off his combat knife, Seven walked after Shepard as the woman nearly ran outside Chora's Den. Though her pace was quite fast for a human in armor, he still caught up in a matter of seconds, and reloaded the CAR.

"The alley will be off to your right in a second." Avei's voice once more came from the speakers in Seven's armor, due to Williams, Shepard and Alenko still lacking helmets.

"Permission to move ahead, Commander?" Seven asked, still keeping pace with Jane in what was a jog to him.

"Yeah, just get there as fast as possible!" Shepard shouted, now in a full-out sprint. Instead of answering, Seven merely began to run himself, accelerating to the speed of a skycar in moments, then jumping onto a wall, and flinging himself around a building's corner with a Grapple, straight into the alley.

His brain worked overtime for a short moment, as he used the jump kit on his back to make minute adjustments to his trajectory. Satisfied, he let the line connecting him to a wall release, throwing him down the small alleyway.

And straight into a thug's torso.

His heavy boots smashed into the Turian's chest, caving it in. The acceleration nearly ripped the alien's head off, and caused his limbs to pop out of their joints. With a flare of his jump pack, Seven landed on his feet, and assumed a fighting stance.

A pistol round pinged off his shields, which he answered by lunging forward and grabbing the offending Salarian by the throat and ripping a small pistol out of his hand. He then threw the alien down the alley and into one of the dumpsters, which he hit with a resounding clang. The other Salarian, meanwhile, began to run, only to be stopped by a backhand from Shepard when he tried to round a corner, and was thrown to the dirty pavement. When the thug tried to get up, he was met with the barrel of an 8-gague shotgun pointed at his face.

"Drop your weapon. Now." the N7 barked.

The scrawny alien obliged, and was rewarded by the stock of Jane's weapon coming down on his temple.

As the group went deeper into the alley, Seven came to meet them, dragging the other live thug by his collar.

"Keelah, who are you?"

A quiet voice sounded from the side, causing most to turn in its direction. From behind one of the dumpsters a purple-tinted faceplate was peeking out, glowing eyes flicking between the group and the now incapacitated thugs. Jane motioned for Kaiden to check on the Quarian, and spoke.

"Are you wounded?"

"Yes." the woman grunted, limping towards the team.

"Crap." Alenko muttered, applying medigel to the wound on the Quarian's leg after motioning her to sit down.

"Shepard, we need to get her to the Normandy, to Chakwas. Or to some hospital. This wound looks nasty."

Before Jane could answer, Seven dropped the unconscious Salarian he was holding by the collar and walked up to Kaiden and the Quarian, taking off a pouch from his left thigh plate.

The large man kneeled beside Alenko and took out an injector and a vial from the pouch, and stuck the device's needle through the puncture in the Quarian's enviro-suit.

"Mind telling us your name?" Shepard spoke, leaving Garrus to look through the thugs' omnitools.

"Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." the frail Quarian said, as Kaiden and Seven finished tending to the wound on her leg and stood up, pulling the woman up to stand. She wobbled a bit, but managed to stay upright.

"You have something on Saren, yes?"

Tali nodded.

Smiling, Shepard motioned to the alley's exit.

"Let's get you to the Embassy, then."

[]

Author's Notes:

Well then, I hope you find this an improvement over how I handled Chora's Den previously. I'll keep working, so you can expect an update in a month and a half or so.

But I've been wondering: doesn't Seven seem a bit overpowered to you? I cut back on some of his abilities, but he still seems, at least to me, to get into every situation and solve everything. If you have a suggestion on how to maybe, somehow, balance him out with everyone else, I'd be happy to hear it.

And quick question, if I include lines in languages other than English, would you like me to add little brackets with a translation?

Also, a golden star sticker to the first person to guess which weapons Shepard&Co got when they went into Chora's Den. And for future reference, all Halo stuff comes from Halo Reach, not the other games. Maybe some stuff from Halo 3: ODST, but that's it. Titanfall tech is from the second game, just so you all know.

ROCK & STONE EVERYONE!

And have a nice day.