Buried Beneath ch3: The Great Escape

Omega, 2185, May 11th 9:04 PM

"So let me get this straight," I start, leaning back in my chair. "Some Archangel guy came to Omega, gathered up a group of vigilantes, and then started what? Fighting crime?"

"Vex," Nulan says, the club's music almost drowning him out. "I'm being serious."

I fix my gaze on him, his face illuminated by the shifting hues of the club lights, his fingers tapping anxiously on the table. He's genuinely serious, isn't he? But that's just Nulan, he overreacts. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, not while we're trying to relax in the VIP section of Afterlife anyway.

"Relax." I gesture towards the dancefloor where several attractive women are currently well- dancing. "Look, dance with some girls, have some drinks, just chill-"

Slam.

I glance down at his hand on the table, momentarily startled. His hand tenses and I trail my eyes up to meet his. Okay, okay, he has my full attention.

"He's good, Vex," Nulan warns, recoiling back to collect himself. "He's taken out a few big names already. We have to be careful."

"Why? You think he'll go after one of us?" I reach for my drink, keeping eye contact as I take a sip.

"I'm one of Eclipse's best hackers," he smugly states, like I didn't already know that. "And you're a high-end hitman." He motions to me. "That works for Aria T'Loak, might I add. So yeah, I think he'll go after one of us."

A smirk plays on my lips. "I say bring it on."

"Damn it, Vex." He lowers his voice, leaning across the table. "This is serious."

I mirror his intensity, speaking in a hushed tone. "Look, we're good at what we do, really fucking good. If he were to target one of us, we'd just outsmart him and take him out. It's not a big deal." Besides, I don't see how this is any of my business unless someone hires me to handle it.

He sighs, leaning back. "I don't know. I'm not so sure."

"Well, I am," I assure him, pushing his drink closer to him with my index finger. "Now relax. Maybe hook up with someone, get your mind off this Archangel guy."

He shakes his head and takes the drink. "I'm not in the mood to hook up with someone."

"Suit yourself." I scoff, rising from my seat and stretching. "More for me."

"Vex." He grabs my wrist before I have a chance to walk off. "Be careful."

"My barriers are up." I smile, tapping my holster. "And I never leave home without this."

He rolls his eyes. "Just be careful anyway."

"Yes, sir." I give him a lazy salute as I take a few steps back toward the dancefloor.

I catch him shaking his head before I turn. He really needs to learn to relax about these things. Archangel is a new player around here, he's nothing to worry about. If he were, Aria would have wanted him dealt with or something by now.


Omega, 2185, May 12th 10:47 AM

I slowly open my eyes to the bright artificial sunlight streaming through the window. My room? How did I even get here? With a groan, I force myself to sit up. Fuck, there's the pain, the throbbing ache in my head. I'm never drinking again.

Glancing at my omni-tool, I see it's 10:48 AM. Must have been a good night, I can't remember shit about it. Beside me, I see a bare, blue back. Come on Drunk Vex, why would you pick up an asari? I understand they're nice to look at, but fuck their melding is just creepy.

The chill air against my skin reminds me that I'm cold and naked, which I guess tends to happen after you fuck someone. Most of my sheets are wrapped around her legs. A blanket hog, I sure know how to pick them. Fuck my life.

I slip out of bed and grab my shirt from the floor before rummaging through my drawers for clean underwear. After quickly putting them on, I start gathering every piece of clothing that doesn't belong to me. I just want her out of here, I don't do the happy morning-after bullshit.

"Hey." I drop the pile of clothes on top of her. She stirs, letting out a muffled groan. "Wake up," I demand, kicking the side of the bed.

She mumbles something angry sounding into my pillow, no idea what. I kick the bed again, and she finally lifts her head, shooting me a bleary-eyed glare. "What are you doing?"

"Look." I try to keep my eyes on hers and not where the sheets just fell from. "I'm hungover. I don't have the patience to deal with-" I gesture between us. "This. So just take your shit and leave."

Her expression shifts from groggy to a mix of anger and disbelief. "Are you serious?"

Fucking hell. "Leave before I throw your shit out the window." After a few seconds of her not moving, I go to grab something from her pile.

"Fine," she snaps, climbing out of bed and gathering her clothes. "Can I at least shower first?"

"What? No." I point at the door. "Get the fuck out."

She angrily starts getting dressed as she heads toward the bedroom door. I follow her, making sure she actually leaves and doesn't break something in the process. The last thing I need is for her to cause problems.

She finally makes it to the front door and turns to glare at me as it closes between us. I let out a sigh of relief. Thank fuck she's gone. Now I can grab some painkillers and crawl back into bed. With this hangover, I don't have the energy for anything today.

Returning to my bedroom, I glance at the window. What Nulan said last night is enough to make me hesitate. Do I really want to step into a room with a window for a wall?

No, I'm being stupid, but just in case. I touch the controls on the wall, closing the blinds. Nulan's words are getting to me; he seemed so sure. What if he's right? Nulan isn't usually wrong about- like anything. Business is slow right now, so maybe it's worth looking into, at least a little bit.

I sigh and shake my head. Maybe a shower will clear my head a bit. I'll decide what to do after that.


Omega, 2185, May 12th 11:13 AM

All I wanted was a nice, peaceful shower, but no. Someone apparently has a vendetta against me since this is the second time my omni-tool has gone off in the last 30 seconds. They couldn't have waited a few more minutes.

I answer the call, not even bothering to check who it's from. "What?"

"Keep your voice down," Nulan whispers. There's a hint of something in his voice, desperation? Maybe fear?

"What's going on?" I ask, turning the shower off.

"It's Archangel." What does he mean by that? There's no way it's what I think it is.

"What about him?" I grab the nearest towel to begin drying myself off.

"His men infiltrated the hideout." Nulan goes silent for a moment. "I think they're after me."

That's it, I don't even finish drying off before leaving the bathroom. "Are you safe?" I throw on any article of clothing I can find.

"Yeah," Nulan confirms. "I don't think they know where I am."

Okay, okay, I can work with that. "Sit tight, I'm coming to get you."

Nulan lets out an exasperated grunt. "You can't take on his whole squad alone."

"I don't need to, this is about getting you out." I holster my carnifex and grab some extra thermal clips before sighing. "Look, I've got this."

There's a few seconds of silence before Nulan speaks again. "One of them is a sniper and a really good one at that. No one made it more than a couple of feet out the front door."

"If that's the case, I need to come through the roof." I open my weapon case and place a hand on my mantis. "Any idea who the sniper is?"

"From my research, I'm sure it's Archangel himself," Nulan confirms, sounding slightly concerned. Okay, this might complicate things if he's as good as Nulan claims.

I grab my sniper and start getting ready. "Let's hope he's no match for me then."

"I hope so." He sighs. "I'm going dark, be careful and good luck."

"Stay alive," I order, watching as the call ends. Let's see how good Archangel really is.


Omega, 2185, May 12th 12:05 PM

The way I see it, it's completely justified to steal a vehicle to get onto the roof of a building your friend is trapped in. Especially when that friend is in immense danger. So, I don't feel too guilty sitting here in this stolen skycar as I stare at the Eclipse hideout.

I don't know where the sniper is, but that's a problem for later. Right now, I need to get on that roof, fast. Gripping the wheel tightly, I feel my knuckles turn white. There's no turning back now; I brace myself for impact as I speed toward the building.

Crash.

The impact rattles me around before the skycar comes to a halt. With a groan, I feel around for pain, relieved to find none. I'm so fucking lucky.

That display had to get Archangel's attention, so I need to be careful and act quickly. I grab my gear and kick open the door, staying low to the ground. Archangel is most likely in one of the surrounding buildings.

Crawling across the roof, I finally reach the door. Please be unlocked. I slowly lift my arm and place my hand on the pad. Taking a deep breath, I feel relieved when it opens. I'm glad someone was either too lazy or stupid to lock it.

Inside, I waste no time. Nulan's office is on the top floor, and that's where I need to be. Racing down the hallway, I round the corner and come face to face with his door.

"Nulan?" I whisper, waiting for a response. It's taking too long, I'll just break in. Opening my omni-tool, I connect to the door, only to be greeted with- what the fuck is this? Encryption after encryption, they're endless.

I close the program with a sigh, fuck this. I send a quick message to Nulan and wait. Hopefully, there's no jammer.

Thankfully, the door slides open a moment later. "Open up, asshole?" Nulan reads out in disbelief.

I push him back into the room. His office looks bare besides his desk and some lockers, but it looks secure. The blinds are down, the lights are off, it's safe enough. I place my bag on his desk and start preparing my gear as Nulan closes the door behind us.

"We need a plan," I state, placing a thermal clip into my mantis.

"Wait." Nulan's shocked expression gives away his concern. "You came here without one?"

"I'm improvising." I smirk, hoping to lighten the mood. But when Nulan's expression doesn't change, I get serious. "Did you get anything from the security cameras?"

He shakes his head. "They shot them all out."

Great, just what we needed. "Okay," I mumble as I start pacing. "We're probably screwed here. We know he can see the front of the building, so we can't just leave." And with my flawless entrance earlier, the roof is a no-go.

"There's a lab a few floors down," Nulan suggests. "If we can get to it, we can activate some mechs."

"That's good." I halt my pacing to face him. "But we're blind."

Looking at Nulan, I realize just how worried he is. I've never seen him like this. His lips are chapped like he's been biting them. His hands are a little shaky, though he's trying to hide it. He looks like he's barely slept, how long has he been like this? I know he seemed freaked out last night, but this is different. He's terrified.

"Vex." He sighs. "You shouldn't have come here, backup is on the way."

Is it? I gesture around the room. "Yeah, they're just lining up to save you. If Archangel is as good as you say he is, how are they supposed to make it into the building?"

"Okay." He relents, holding his hands up defensively. "I get your point."

"Look." I put a hand on his shoulder. "We can't rely on backup. I can handle Archangel, I'm like the best sniper you know. I've got this, Nulan."

He looks uncertain. "I don't know."

I let out a sigh. "Just see if you can get those mechs online from here and I'll see if I can spot the sniper."

"I'll try." Nulan nods before rushing over to his terminal. The clicking of his keyboard starts almost immediately as I make my way over to the window behind him.

I open the blinds slightly to look out over the opposite buildings, carefully searching for a glimmer. But, I don't see anything, and I can't shake the feeling that we're running out of time.

"No sign of him," I announce, turning back to the room. "How's it going on your end?"

"I can't do it from here." He turns his chair towards me. "We need to get to the console in the lab."

"Fuck!" I slam an open palm onto the wall. How do we get out of here when we don't know what's going on outside this room? "Fine, we'll just have to get there then."

"Are you okay?" Nulan stands up to take a step towards me.

"I'm fine, just get a gun." I walk past the desk and towards the door, waiting for him to grab the pistol I know he keeps in the drawer.

I hear him open it behind me as I sling my sniper over my shoulder and draw my own. He stands beside me while holding his gun wrong. He's probably never used that thing in his life.

"Ready," he affirms.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, a real soldier."

I open the door and signal him to stay behind while I check the hallway. Lucky for me, he seems to be listening, so I step out and check both directions. Nothing, guess we can head out. I wave for him to follow before sprinting down the hallway.

We stop in front of the elevator and he looks at me with a confused expression. "We can't take that, they'll hear it."

No shit. "I know, just disable it when we get to the right floor," I explain. "They'll have to take the stairs, it'll buy us time." It's the direct route to the lab. We don't know where his men are, taking the stairs ourselves is riskier.

"I hope this works." Nulan sighs, calling the elevator. Once the doors open, I push him inside, watching as he sets the elevator to the correct floor.

"I'm surprised no one has hired me to take this guy out yet," I remark, watching the doors close. I mean, come on. Archangel is clearly skilled enough to infiltrate a major Eclipse location. I don't believe that no one wants him dead. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Nulan just shrugs. "I don't think anyone wants to piss Aria off by getting you killed."

I give him a sideways glance. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We've all heard the rumours, Vex." He smirks. "She seems fond of you."

I actually laugh out loud at that. "No way, Aria is just my biggest client," I defend. "Besides, I don't have relations with clients, especially not with Aria."

Sure, I've heard the rumours. And there's some truth to them. I did sleep with her once, but that was a long time ago. She also gave me the apartment, free of charge, but we're not sleeping together now. She just likes it when I kill people for her.

If he had eyebrows, I'm sure he'd be raising them right now. "I didn't say relations."

I scowl at him. "You didn't have to."

The elevator stops just as I finish talking. As soon as the doors open, I spring into action and check the hallway. Still nothing. I motion toward the elevator controls for Nulan to disable it.

"On it." He exits the elevator and opens his omni-tool.

"You know," I begin, still keeping a lookout. "It's weird that the elevators haven't already been disabled. You'd think they would have done that when they seized the building."

"They've probably been using it," he guesses. Yeah, that would make sense.

"I suppose so." No harm in being cautious, for all we know it could be a trap.

"Okay, done." Nulan straightens up and gestures for me to follow him. I oblige as he takes me down the hallway and to the right. There's a huge door in front of us that Nulan accesses with a keycard.

Inside, the room isn't too big. Across from us stands another door with a long window on the wall beside it, a few desks and consoles take up most of the room between the doors. Along the far wall to the right is a massive fucking line of LOKI mechs. I assume the console closest to them is the one we're after.

"How long will this take?" I ask as Nulan takes his position at the console on my right.

He starts typing away, not even looking up as he replies. "Hopefully not long."

I nod and step over to the desk that's a few feet behind him, leaning on it. "Right."

"So, what's your theory on why no one's hired you then?" Good question. It could be a lot of things.

"Hell if I know." I sigh. "I haven't gotten much work at all lately. Maybe people are afraid Archangel will find out and come after them."

"Yeah, that would make sense," he agrees with a nod.

I unsling my mantis and place it on the desk before walking over and glancing at the screen. No idea what any of this means. Just a bunch of commands and symbols. I'm good with tech, but Nulan is on a whole other level.

"We haven't seen any of the intruders." I quickly glance over my shoulder at the window. "We can't just blindly throw mechs out there."

"We just need enough to get us to the front," he states.

What? I take a step back, he can't be serious. "Hey genius, did you forget about the sniper?" Fucking hell, Nulan. This can't be your plan.

Nulan laughs nervously. "I was hoping you could handle him."

What the fuck? You've got to be kidding me. "Damn it, Nulan." I just have to try and keep calm. "Fine, I can do it. I just have to find him first." But, how am I supposed to do that when everything we're against is completely unknown?

Nulan turns around with a worried look on his face. "What do you-"

Footsteps, I quickly cover his mouth and pull him down behind the desk.

Was that them? It sounded like it was coming from the door across from us. I take a peek around the side of the desk. There are a few men outside the window looking in. Great, now they're pointing inside and speaking with raised voices.

I quickly retreat back behind the desk. "Fuck me," I curse quietly.

Nulan removes my hand from his mouth. "Did they see us?"

"Nulan." I sigh, taking a deep breath. "Get those mechs up, now." Fuck. This. Day.

Springing up, I grab my sniper off the desk as Nulan rushes over to the console. I can hear him furiously typing as I kneel down and aim at the door. I'm ready.

It bursts open, and I waste no time shooting at the first person that comes through, hitting their shoulder. The shot makes them back up behind the door frame. Just like that, I just have to keep them pinned long enough for the mechs to be up.

Wait, that glare. It's behind the men, down the hall. My eyes go wide, it all makes sense. Archangel, he was never outside, he never saw me on the roof. He shot those fleeing men from inside the building.

I get down immediately, just in time for a bullet to hit the wall behind me. I glance over at Nulan. He doesn't know, he's still standing at the console.

"Nulan!" I shout. "Get down!" I don't even hear it, but I see it. The bullet that shatters his barrier, hitting him in the side of the chest, and knocking him down. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

"No!" He yells back, voice shaky and weak. Green blood oozes from his wound as he tries to get back up.

I slam a fist into the desk beside me. "Damn it, stay down!" I quickly ready another shot.

He barely makes it into a sitting position before he starts to cough up blood. I can't watch this, I can't watch him struggle like this, I can't watch him d- I close my eyes tightly, this can't be happening. It just can't.

The sound of a thud forces my eyes open. All I can see is Nulan lying down again, chest unmoving. Come on Nulan, just hang on a little bit longer. Just let me take care of this fucking bastard.

Rage is all I feel as I bring my mantis back onto the desk. Without hesitating, I fire a shot where I saw the glare. What? No one? Where did he go? No sound, no men, no guns, no voices. They just got what they wanted and left? Bullshit, they can't- I can't worry about that now.

I drop everything and rush towards Nulan. "Stay with me," I beg, beginning CPR. Come on, don't fucking die, not like this. I won't let you. I'm not losing- there's no pulse.

Footsteps again? I quickly draw my pistol, turning to aim at the door, green blood covering my hand and pistol grip. It's almost distracting.

Eclipse soldiers enter the room, and I sigh in relief, lowering my weapon. They must have scared them off.

One of the soldiers speaks up, "Where is Mr Mizu? He called for backup."

Standing up, I notice the front of my shirt is covered in green. "He- he didn't make it."

I can't even look at Nulan as a medic comes over to check on him. I can hear them confirming what I said, but it sounds muffled. Everything just feels so wrong. I feel numb.


Omega, 2185, August 25th 2:42 PM

As I approach Afterlife, a familiar voice catches my attention. Zaeed Massani? I turn to see him talking with some batarian thug by the port entrance. When did he get back in town? More importantly, why? From what I hear, there aren't many jobs going around right now.

Whatever. Shaking my head, I continue into the club. It's still early, so it shouldn't be that lively right now. I'm almost tempted to see how Aria's been, but I'm here on my own business today.

Passing the stairs that lead to Aria, I veer into a side room. Behind a desk sits a batarian Blue Suns member. He glances up, smiling at me. "Ah, if it isn't Vex. Back from retirement?"

"I never retired," I reply, crossing my arms, unamused.

"Your name hasn't come up in months. Sounds pretty retired to me." He smirks.

"I've been busy hunting someone." I force a smile. "Which coincidentally is the same someone you idiots have pinned in Kima."

He chuckles. "I assume that means you want to join us?"

"No shit." I roll my eyes. "Why else would I be here?" I place my hands on the desk, leaning forward into his personal space. "But, if you think I'm charging in like the rest of the fools you recruited, then you have another thing coming."

"That's too bad." He shrugs, leaning back in his chair. "We need fools. Looks like I can't help you." Fuck this guy.

"Have it your way then." I straighten up and kick the desk into him, causing him to almost fall back. I turn on my heel and walk away to the sound of his angry curses.

Exiting the room, I glance up to see Aria has people in her booth, their silhouettes dancing behind the frosted glass. She's busy, probably for the best. It's not like she could help me anyway.

Shrugging, I head for the exit. The batarian was right, sort of. I didn't retire, but I did go off-grid. I've refused every job that's come my way, not that there were many with the current situation. I just had to find Archangel, and now that I have, I can't even get to him. All because of these stupid fucking gangs thinking they own the place.

I exit the club, leaning against the railing that stops stupid fucks from falling into the lower levels of Omega. I need a new plan. The gangs have blocked off the Kima district, but I need to get there. I have to get to Archangel first.

The club door opens behind me, and a familiar voice pierces the air. My eyes widen. No, that's impossible. It can't be, it has to be someone else. Someone who sounds just like her.

Slowly, I turn. No way, it's really her- Commander Riley Shepard.


Author Notes

Thank you for reading chapter 3.