I would like to give my thanks to 4Ferelden for helping me once again and to DarkCrusade for proofreading this fic.
Chapter Five: Responsibility
When Tazzik's ship disappeared, Ethan turned off his Stealth Boy to conserve its power, certain no one saw him. As he approached the gray cab he and the others arrived in, he considered tampering with the controls to drive it more easily, but he dismissed it. It would be too dangerous, too impractical. Plus, he had no idea where Tazzik went with Liara and Feron. In an instant, another idea clicked in his head. If he couldn't reach Cerberus on where they went, maybe he could interrogate one of Tazzik's lackeys. Yes, he could do that.
He hid behind the skycar and turned his Stealth Boy back on. Five plain-colored skycars emerged from the opened main entrance, the Blue Suns' insignia mounted on the roof like Old World taxi signs. The cars' headlights shone on the vehicle. He feared they would overwhelm him, but only one of the cars turned to his location while the rest of the convoy sped off to the populated areas of the station. Ethan was ready to fight on his own.
The car landed a short distance away, and a female Blue Suns centurion walked out of it. Behind her was a male batarian with a flamethrower and a male turian with a Katana. A male trooper sat in the car, bored by the proceedings. The batarian was behind the others, obscuring the fuel tank so Ethan couldn't shoot it.
"Why are we here alone again?" the turian asked.
"To find that human who was with the asari and the drell," the batarian answered. "Tazzik ordered us to capture him. If not, we found an excuse to kill someone."
"I don't know," the human trooper trailed off with uncertainty. "Not sure splitting up was a good idea."
"Relax, Peter." The female centurion tapped on her omni-tool and images of him appeared on-screen, collected from their helmets' cameras. "He has scars on his right eye and forehead and a device strapped to his left arm."
"Anything else?" the turian asked again, almost like he was sarcastic.
"Just that he's armed and dangerous, so it's best to be careful." The woman glanced at Ethan's cab and gestured to the turian. "Intel told us the asari and the others arrived here in that car. Let's see if they left anything behind."
The turian nodded and headed over to the car. As he bent down by the trunk, Ethan struck. He grabbed the turian by the collar and slammed his head against the trunk. The Stealth Boy burned out, exposing him. His best chance of getting answers was with the centurion. He got out his knife and stabbed the turian's throat, leaving him to bleed as he fell behind the car.
"Caius is down!" the centurion shouted. "Jath'Kar, get him!"
"I don't want to go out to a fireball just yet! Peter, start the engine!" the batarian barked.
It looked like the batarian was going back to their vehicle. Ethan leaned out and aimed his Mattock at his fuel tank. He got set on fire as a long burst of flame reached the corner. He ducked and rolled to the side to extinguish the fire, but to no avail.
Through the pain, he remembered the clerk's advice. Kinetic barriers were useless against radiation, temperature, slow-moving objects, and poison. That weakness that made his Bowie knife efficient worked against him. Lucky for him, his armor had a greater heat resistance. He wished he had this when he fought Cook-Cook.
"What's the matter? Don't you humans like the smell of napalm? Or is 3 AM too early in the morning for you?" The batarian sneered and continued his advance.
Ethan smiled as the fires were extinguished from his body, with burns forming around his body. He was surrounded, with the centurion getting him in her sights. He didn't want to die. The batarian grinned, ready for a second burst. However, to his luck, the batarian slipped on the turian's blood.
The centurion fired, but her three-round burst couldn't get through his shields. Before she fired again, Ethan leaped at her with his knife. He pushed her rifle out of her hands with difficulty, but she grabbed his knife arm, and a struggle ensued.
The centurion tried to kick him in the crotch, but he moved away and pushed her against the car's frame, his knife at her throat. Ethan anticipated that move, like many raiders he had fought before. Peter started the car, arriving at the scene. The batarian jumped inside as the vehicle went up in the air. Both of them were about to fire, only to stop when they saw their leader being held hostage.
"Tell me where Tazzik's ship is, and you'll get her back alive!" Ethan asserted.
"Like you have done so before," Jath'Kar deadpanned. "How do we know you'll stop once you get what you want?"
Ethan scoffed and rolled his eyes, too used to the retort of guilt. "And what can you do? It's not like you would open fire while your beloved officer is here. And if your 'friends' didn't attack Liara, Feron, and me, I wouldn't be here. Tell me the coordinates, or we can see how well that car fares as a funeral fire engine."
Peter shuddered and looked up from his omni-tool while the batarian struggled with a response.
"That drell worked for the Shadow Broker! He knew they would give that coffin to the Collectors!" the centurion barked.
Ethan let out an exasperated sigh. "Good to know. Tell me something I don't know, like where Tazzik's going. Would that be so hard to ask?"
He looked at the car. The batarian waited for an answer while the driver went back to his omni-tool. He wondered whether the Blue Suns had any plan. He soon realized why the driver was using his omni-tool.
"You're trying to distract me while you call for reinforcements." he guessed. "You willing to gamble their lives just to take me out?"
Peter froze. "What makes you say that?"
Ethan shrugged. "The tension. I made it through ambushes like this before, and I can fight desperately better than you can at your best. Call them off and tell me the coordinates. You saw what happened to your turian friend here. Don't let it happen to your officer."
The young, inexperienced driver breathed at a rapid pace, panicking at the thought of his comrades dying. "Alingon! Tazzik went to Alingon in the Faryar system!"
The batarian turned to Peter with a furious look on his face. "What are you—?"
"Saving our lives. I'd rather not get us killed over this."
"You better not lie to me." Ethan glared at Peter as his knife pressed toward the centurion's throat.
"I'm not lying! You can check for yourself!" Peter pleaded. "J-just let her go. I won't call in reinforcements."
The batarian frowned and looked at Ethan with chilling defiance. He raised his flamethrower at Ethan, ready to avenge his fallen ally. "Screw it! We're killing him right here and now!"
"Jath'Kar! Do as he say!" the commander ordered, pausing on each word. "You sure you'll follow through?"
Ethan nodded. He smiled, satisfied, as Jath'Kar lowered his weapon in defeat. "Bunch of pushovers," he muttered under his breath as he released her when the skycar landed. They didn't hear his remark. The commando stepped into her car and turned her attention to him, giving him a serious demeanor.
With that, the skycar flew away, leaving him alone. Ethan sighed as he unstrapped the now-useless Stealth Boy off his right forearm and sat next to the cab. The batarian's flamethrower left behind a burnt, black mark on the cab's hood.
He pulled a stimpak out of his backpack and applied it on his wrist, which it and the Monocyte Breeder implant healed the burn marks off his body at a steady pace. This would be the last stimpak he had on him.
Ethan rubbed his brows, feeling the strands of hair. He sighed again, relieved they weren't burnt off. Now he had to see if Cerberus could rescue him.
He pressed his fingers against the headset. "Miranda? This is the Courier speaking. Are you out there? Anyone on this frequency?"
"Miranda Lawson here," a voice spoke from his headset into his ear after a moment. "Status update."
"It was a mess out here," Ethan replied as he stood up. "Tazzik took Shepard's body and captured Liara and Feron. Oh, and the Blue Suns gave me a warm welcome, but I managed to talk them out of killing me."
"Brilliant. Just brilliant." She sighed, irritated. "I saw him heading out to the Omega 2 relay."
"To Alingon?" Ethan hoped the info he got was good.
There was silence on her end until Miranda spoke. "Yes. The relay leads to the Faryar system. I wanted to stop Tazzik, but the Illusive Man belayed that order. He wouldn't even let me track him down."
"Belayed the order?" His brows narrowed as his voice almost became a growl. "Fine time for that. Why the hell would he do that?"
"He wants to know why the Collectors wanted the body in the first place," Miranda explained. "But he's resourceful. You'll get some backup for the mission."
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "My backup? Who?"
"Daniel Lynch. He goes by his codename Lynch," Miranda answered.
Ethan scoffed. "Of course. How soon can he get here?"
"I'm already here," a man said, cutting into the frequency.
The wind howled as a large shadow had cast over Ethan. He looked up, seeing a large ship finding a place to land. Light gray and gold-lined, it was arrowed-shaped, with the tip splitting into three, the middle shorter. At the back, the four engines hummed loudly, showing off a bright, blue glow. The name 'Cassino' was marked in black letters, all capitalized, on the ship's wings.
When it landed close to Ethan, the bottom of the ship opened, showing a man wearing a long black coat stepping down the hatch. He was in his early thirties of medium height and athletic build, having a goatee, short dark hair, and a crooked nose. His eyes were light brown, matching the color of his skin. His armor was the same color as his coat, having enough padding to provide flexibility with some protection.
He looked around, first at the burned cab and then at Ethan. "Not a body in sight." He had a slight accent. German, perhaps.
"I take it you're Lynch," said Ethan before looking at the ship. "So, we're going in that?"
Lynch turned to the ship. "It's a frigate, made by the Alliance. Cerberus captured this ship weeks ago and retrofitted it. It doesn't look like much, but it can perform recon and get into firefights efficiently. It's armed with the Javelin weapon system for close-quarter combat."
"The Javelin? They're torpedoes that use dark energy to magnify the space-time effects?"Ethan asked.
The agent nodded. "Huh." Ethan furrowed his eyebrows. "Why didn't you help us earlier?"
"Feron, the drell, refused any further assistance from Cerberus, including mine," Lynch grumbled. "I wish I didn't have to wait this out." He approached Ethan. "But that's not the only reason why I'm here. Care to explain why you haven't retrieved the body?"
Ethan rolled his eyes and puffed his cheeks, recalling what happened in the last hour. "Long story short, we set out an ambush, but it didn't work out. There were too many of Tazzik's men and Blue Suns on us, so I had to retreat."
"And you left T'Soni and the drell behind." With that statement, the agent pinched the bridge of his nose.
Ethan placed his hands on his hip and shook his head. "It was either that or getting captured by Tazzik, and we both know how that one would turn out."
"But you miscalculated him, and that has led your friends to be captured. Next time, do a better job of not underestimating your opponents. Otherwise, it will get you killed."
There was no way he could argue with Lynch on that. He had been reckless. He didn't heed a similar warning before, and that nearly got him killed. "I better not be paying for a skycar that got damaged."
Lynch gazed at the skycar. "What happened?"
"I talked my way out of getting killed by the Blue Suns, and I found out where Tazzik's going: Alingon, Faryar system."
The agent chuckled. "Good. By the way, you won't have to pay for the damage. The sooner we leave, the better."
Ethan nodded and walked up the wide hatch with Lynch, closing when he reached the top. A backlash tried to push him back as the engines roared to life. The ship took over, accelerating at high speeds.
Taking a quick look, Ethan was in a hangar bay, with a small shuttle hanging below the ceiling at his left. To the right were two shelves stacked with dozens of weapons and a workbench lying nearby. He guessed the workbench was used for modifying weapons or perhaps creating things like in the Mojave wasteland. However, the gray, dull metals of the surrounding walls made the lighting low-key and harsh.
"Mind if I take some ammo and medi-gel?" Ethan asked. "I'm running low on both of those already." He snapped his fingers, realizing that something had occurred to him. "Oh right—grenades. Forgot about them. Do you have some?"
"Yes, to both," Lynch answered. "While you do that, I'll be consulting the pilot and see if she can take us to Alingon. I'll tell you more about our intel once you're ready."
The Cerberus agent walked past Ethan to the end of the hanger. A double-set door opened, and Lynch stepped inside the elevator. The door closed, leaving Ethan alone in the elevator of the supply area.
He grabbed several thermal clips, fitted them into his assault rifle, and replenished his medi-gel supply from a first-aid cabinet by the elevator. He grabbed some disk-shaped grenades and noticed a button at the side of each grenade, indicating that it activated the detonation process. Ethan replaced his old sniper rifle and pistol with an M-29 Incisor sniper rifle and a Phalanx. As he finished, a woman's voice spoke through an intercom nearby.
"Initiating transmission sequence."
He stepped into the elevator and pressed the interface at his right, the up-arrow flashing green. The elevator closed its doors and lifted upwards. He waited, impatiently tapping his foot as the elevator progressed slowly. Finally, the elevator opened, and Ethan stepped outside. The immediate surroundings of the deck were large and round, with the seats stacked to the wall. The left door led to the airlock while the right goes to the restrooms and the quarters. Ahead was a short, cramped hallway. People were working on each of the eight terminals, four on each side, the orange screens illuminating the deck.
As Ethan walked to the cockpit, he passed by a man and a woman sitting nearby, inspecting their weapons. The woman wore a suit of white armor. She carried a Shuriken submachine gun with a Phalanx hanging down at the right side of her hip. The man sitting next to her was larger than her, his black armor so bulky that he looked like a walking tank. His choice of weaponry, an M-76 Revenant light machine gun and an M-22 Eviscerator, supported that assumption.
At the other end of the deck was a gold-haired woman with a thin chin and large eyes in the pilot's seat. The pilot punched in commands on the interface as Lynch looked at the image of the galaxy, crossing his arms behind him. He turned to see Ethan approaching him, nodding in acknowledgment.
"Calculating transit mass and destination," the pilot said. The starship flew closer to a massive metallic object in question, which stood out among the stars. Its long arms stretched out in one direction, the giant rings revolving around a bright, blue core. That object was a mass relay, a transit device that transported ships throughout each section of the galaxy.
Ethan's jaw dropped, in awe at the view. He couldn't help but think of Captain Cosmos, a Pre-War show. Never in his life would he imagine going to space and finding the body of a war hero. On the bright side, Cerberus doesn't treat their women like cattle, unlike Caesar's Legion, but that gave him little comfort.
"Relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector. Board is green," the pilot stated. "Hitting the relay in 3… 2… 1…"
As the frigate closed in on the relay, a bolt of electricity wrapped around the ship. Outside the ship, everything became a distortion of colors. The ship accelerated at faster-than-light speeds, leaving behind a blue trail as it warped off to its destination.
Liara's eyes shot open, her head throbbing with a vicious headache as the drug wore off. Groaning, she sat up on her bed and looked around in a small, white cell. The lights reflected off the walls and floor, making it look clean and orderly. There was something wrong, tranquil like all color and emotion was drained here. Ahead of her was the door with a red light on the panel. Locked, no doubt, she assumed.
She looked down to find gold-painted restraints strapped to her wrists. As she raised her arms, she found the restraints had negated her biotic abilities. A wave of panic swept over her, and she struggled against her bonds. She strained her arms, trying to pry them off her in a futile effort. The asari stood up from her bed. Her legs trembled weakly as if she hadn't used them in a long time.
She stood back up, using the bed's smooth metallic frames as support. As she recollected her nerves, she wondered where she was and whether Tazzik had sold her friend's body to the Collectors already. The cell was too large to be on Tazzik's ship, so she was either at a station or at a facility. A window could help her show where she was, which this cell lacked.
"Incoming transmission," a monotone male voice spoke out.
The voice brought her attention to a large video screen to her left. She approached it, taking it at a slow pace. Suddenly, the screen came to life, showing a large, green salarian in dark armor, surrounded by orange screens, each of them monitoring someone's health.
"Huh. You're awake." Tazzik's smirk was cold, all-knowing. "Good."
"Obviously enough, but I doubt this would be good for me," she retorted. "So where am I and where have you taken Feron and Shepard?"
"You're in a facility on Alingon. I doubt you can escape from here as this planet's crust cuts off any outside communications except for our channels," Tazzik answered coldly. "As for Feron, we are…" He gazed at his left, his eyes squinting. "…talking more about why betraying the Shadow Broker is a bad idea. Don't worry; the corpse is still here. Our buyer's almost here, though it's taking its sweet ass time."
The high-pitched whine of a machine whirred to life through the speakers. A few seconds later, someone grunted in pain and then gasped for air. "I must say, Taz: I didn't know you were into the kinky stuff," a man gasped off-screen. "Were you like this with the others?" She immediately realized it was Feron speaking.
"Just like you forgot our discussion on Omega," Tazzik shot back.
"Have you also forgotten that all drell have a perfect memory?" Feron responded. "I think I forgot my lesson as much as you forgot what happened between us one time—"
Tazzik flicked the switch nearby and pressed the button. The whirring intensified and, Liara could swear it, the lights flashed. Liara cringed and, following her instincts, looked away from the screen. It didn't sound pleasant, with Feron screaming and the intensity of the whirring. When she looked back at the screen moments later, Tazzik was still there.
"Try testing my patience again, Feron. See what happens." Tazzik frowned. "I can put you in a world of pain, tear you apart from the inside." He narrowed his eyes and took a step to his left, away from the screen. "If I had a mind to it, I could tell the Collectors to ensure you never see the light of day ever again!"
Feron spat on the floor. It was obvious to her he was barely holding it together. "Is it your nerve or your patience that you're losing? It's hard to tell."
"Feron, don't provoke him!" Liara cried.
Tazzik clenched his mouth, his left hand hovering over the button. After a moment of hesitation, he lowered his hand and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "You should listen to the asari, Feron. But I have to attend to more important dealings." He turned to look at the end of the screen. "In the meantime, try to make yourself at home."
A chill ran down Liara's spine. She would be right to be afraid of the implications of Tazzik's statement being accurate. "So, you'll do the same to me as you did with Feron?" she asked.
"Nothing like that." The hitman's reassurance comforted her. "Two of my men will be here soon. Computer, end communication."
Tazzik's image went blank, leaving the former archaeologist alone in her cell. Taking a step back, she sat back down on her bed. Liara can't be vulnerable. She had to stay calm. If Ethan didn't come, she would have to find a way to escape and get Shepard's body before they could take her to the Collectors. She brought her head to her hands, still held together by the restraints.
When the frigate jumped out of the mass relay and out of the red-blue light shift, Ethan noticed an asteroid field coming into view. "Thrusters are functional, internal emissions sink engaged, and all systems are online." The pilot looked at the analysis at her interface. "Drift is just under 1700K."
"1700? That's good enough," Lynch grinned. "Are we in the Faryar system?"
"At least we didn't turn into salamanders," Ethan joked. "I mean, how dumb could that be?"
The pilot chuckled as she checked the calculations on the terminal and nodded, answering Lynch's question. Ethan turned his head to the pilot. "Making sure we didn't miss by slowing down halfway there?"
"That's the gist of it," Lynch answered. "Not many people know that. Nice to know that you do."
"Anything you can tell me about Alingon?" Ethan asked.
Lynch approached the galaxy map and tapped on the interface as the ship entered the asteroid field. The map showed a 3D image of a coral planet, covered in thick clouds. "Alingon means 'deceptive' in the salarian language. Years ago, their scouts' probes malfunctioned soon as they entered the atmosphere. They later find that this planet has a high concentration of magnesia in its crust and core, interfering with scans and broadcasts. A perfect place to hide for someone like the Shadow Broker since they have the tech to work on that issue."
"Great, just what we need," Ethan snorted.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a navy-blue shape moving around in space. When he leaned in the window more closely, the blue spot was a police box, spinning around with no inertia. He blinked, and it was gone.
Ethan curled his lips, wondering if that was a hallucination. "Are we expecting any trouble?" he asked Lynch.
The Cerberus agent chuckled. "Aren't we all?"
As he said that, alarms blared out as the lights surrounding the three turned red. The ship shook, and Ethan and Lynch lost their balance. Lynch fell, his face planted on the floor. Ethan regained his balance as he grabbed the steel wall to his left.
"Wow. Great timing, Lynch." Ethan stood up. "What's going on?"
The pilot tapped a command, bringing up an image of three t-shaped ships firing at them. They flew in unison, almost in an autonomous manner. Looking at the numbers the ship's virtual intelligence gave her, her eyes widened. "No signs of any lifeforms inside! They must be sentries!"
Ethan frowned as he stared at the sentries. "What is this, the Sierra Madre? Does the Shadow Broker attack anyone who works for him or does he not like unannounced arrivals?"
"More on the latter." Lynch stood up, unfazed. "At this rate, I doubt we can fly to the planet with the sentries on our tail. We need to take the Kodiak shuttle." The ship shook again, less intensely this time.
"Shields are holding up!" The pilot continued to issue a series of commands on the interface. The ship turned upward, hoping to lose them. Ethan held on to a holding nearby, half-expecting to slide down but didn't, thanks to the artificial gravity made by the mass effect fields below.
"Jennifer, can you hold them off?" Lynch asked. The pilot turned to him and nodded with a determined look. With that, Lynch turned and rushed towards the elevator, beckoning Ethan to come along. As Ethan caught up to him, Lynch turned to the two sitting nearby. "Alan, Christina, let's move."
The two armored troopers immediately stood up and grabbed their weapons. They followed behind him and Lynch as they entered the elevator. When the elevator started, Ethan stretched his neck while Lynch tapped his foot. Everything shook as the ship suffered more damage. He hoped the shields had held up this time. As the elevator descended, no one spoke until Ethan became curious.
"So, tell me about yourselves," Ethan stated. "What're your names?"
"Christina. Christina Rosaline," the white-clad woman answered. "Lynch and I were Corsairs before joining Cerberus. You could say we operate outside the Alliance's jurisdiction." She shook her head. "We still have to jump through hoops and the Alliance isn't doing much these days, not after the attack on the Citadel."
The man in black armor turned his head to Ethan. "Alan Cain. Used to be the Gunnery Chief of Bravo Squad. I was the muscle of the team, but I didn't want to see the Alliance going soft on the aliens, so I resigned. No way could I hold up after…" His voice trailed off. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."
Ethan couldn't help but notice a hint of anger in his voice, something other than the excuse for bigotry, but he didn't want to dwell on it.
He turned to Lynch, his helmet encasing his head. He noticed Lynch had the same armament as his. The elevator opened, and the four stepped out and rushed towards the shuttle which descended from the ceiling. On the way, he put on a helmet matching his armor.
The door on the shuttle opened of its own accord, and a hatch landed on the floor. The four quickly stepped into the room, large enough to seat twelve people. In front of them was a window, large enough to cover most of the wall.
They waited for the atmosphere to equalize outside the shuttle. Everything shook as the shuttle's engine hummed to life and the hooks released the shuttle. The hatch of the hangar opened, showing the spiraling planet as the ship avoided the sentries. The shuttle took off to the planet as one sentry crashed into an asteroid, creating a massive explosion that obliterated the asteroid.
Soon after, the shuttle entered the atmosphere, the massive clouds obscuring their vision. Ethan tapped his foot on the floor, ready to give the Shadow Broker some payback.