Spectre B. 02

A/N - Australian / British standard English. There is a good chance of reading the following: lots of profanity, characters drinking, typos, and bad grammar at times.

Proofreading and editing suggestions provided by OhDave1. Any mistakes are still mine.

Comments are appreciated as always.

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*****

Shepard heads towards a prison to recruit his next squad member.

*****

"At least we're not breaking out the prisoner," Garrus mentioned as we sat back in the front batteries, "Though I wouldn't put it past you doing it anyway."

"You know how things go, Garrus. Nothing went to plan during our missions for Saren. Hell, just keeping Benezia alive wasn't something I expected when we'd arrived on Noveria."

"Not only kept her alive but spent plenty of time fucking her."

"Then there's that bomb on Virmire. Hell, I was nearly killed when bits of Sovereign fell through the Citadel Tower."

"And let's not forget the women, Shepard."

"What about you? Anyone special in your life?"

"Well... Um... I find myself drawn to two. Remember Chloe on the Citadel? The doctor?"

"Vaguely. That woman we helped when I met you the first time."

"I was never that oblivious to her obvious interest in me. I'm just surprised a human female is interested in someone like me."

"Garrus, I'm going to put this quite simply. When we were only on Earth, humans only fucked humans. We didn't fuck other animals. Well, most of us didn't. It certainly wasn't legal otherwise. It was only when we escaped Earth and then met others that we were like 'So who of you can we fuck?' Let's just say that meeting a race of human-looking blue alien babes..."

"We kind of felt the same, to be honest. It's a shame the salarians have absolutely no sex drives and only breed with each other anyway."

"Things got so bad so quickly with men only wanting to date asari that they worried about declining birth rates across every population. Men might have still been popping out babies with their asari wives though they were the wrong species. Anyway, there's Chloe. Who else?"

"I met a turian on Omega. Her name was Nyreen. Worked for a mercenary group called the Talons. Unlike the three that I was fighting, her group actually do some good on Omega. Protecting civilians without extorting them. And she told me about her history with Aria. I'm not sure if it was a genuine feud or just a falling out."

"We'll probably be back on both the Citadel and Omega eventually. Did you go and see Chloe this time?"

"Yeah. I hadn't seen her in months. She was pleased to see me. We went out for dinner and... You know..."

"Had some fun?"

He gave me a look and laughed. "I was so exhausted the next morning. And I loved turning off my translator and listening to her. I think it's called French?"

"French is sexy as hell when being whispered into your ear while making love."

"And as for Chloe herself, she's insatiable, Shepard. I was left limping this morning."

"Nothing like the morning after limp due to having sore balls." We shared a look and burst into laughter. "Glad to see you happy again, old friend."

"I have to find it somewhere, Shepard, otherwise I'll just be filled with hate and rage. There's something I must deal with, but it can wait. I don't have the information yet."

"Let me know when you do, and we'll deal with it."

"We'll be at the prison in a few hours. I'm taking the whole team. Not sure we'll need two snipers..."

"I haven't talked to her yet. You know I'm just as good with an assault rifle."

"Good man."

A couple of hours later, my squad was armed and most of them were wearing armour. Miranda suggested that she would start wearing armour when it came to the Collectors, but she preferred relying on her shields, and if completely necessary, could use her biotics to protect herself as well. Georgia wore what would be considered light armour. The armour that Garrus and I wore was thicker. Amelie wore no armour at all. Her clothing was as tight and revealing as Miranda's. I looked her up and down and noticed her smile in return.

"Okay. Cerberus has already got the funds in place to exchange with Purgatory. That's where we are picking up the prisoner. No idea what they've done to be placed there except they have a history of violence. We can also expect someone with exceptional biotic ability. Hopefully this is a simple exchange. Like usual, plan for the best though expect the worst."

"Spirits, I know this is going to tits up straight away," Garrus muttered to himself.

Joker reported in that we were given docking permission as we were expected. Once the ship was clamped in place, I felt everyone stiffen slightly as the airlock cycled. I was relaxed as they would either be cooperative, or we'd be fighting our way out with or without the prisoner. Striding out of the ship, none of us carried weapons as it was a prison though I knew what the first request was going to be.

In many ways, a reminder of Noveria. I wondered what Gianna was up to nowadays...

We were greeted by a trio of guards. Their armour was eerily similar to the Blue Suns armour that I'd seen back on Omega. Garrus didn't seem particularly perturbed by it. No one else really seemed to care. It wasn't a real surprise that the three greeting us were turians. The guard in charge demanded immediately that we relinquish our weapons.

"Fuck off," I replied simply while gesturing for everyone to remain calm.

"Come now, Shepard. Do you really think we're going to let a dead Spectre and his heavily armed companions into this prison while armed?"

"I'm not handing over my weapons. Give me the prisoner, we'll send you the credits, and we can part ways without a problem."

The door behind them opened and another turian marched forward. A turian carrying authority. He gestured for his guards to step back. "Commander Shepard. I'm Warden Kuril. It is standard procedure that all visitors hand over their weapons before entering the prison."

"And I'm telling you that I'm not handing over my weapons when I'm walking into a prison full of, well, prisoners as well as an unknown number of mercenaries. I wasn't born yesterday."

He glared at me. I just crossed my arms and looked at him. No glare. In fact, I was doing my best not to start laughing at him. I could just get back on my ship and leave. Sure, I'd be pissed about not recruiting whoever this prisoner turned out to be, but I wasn't going to be taken for a fool. And I knew that Cerberus wouldn't release the funds so this Blue Suns unit would be out quite a few credits.

"I've got all day, Warden," I eventually said, stifling a yawn, "We can either walk in there together and there won't be a problem, or I get back in my ship and take off, keeping the credits, or we can complete the deal, and you get a lovely little bonus for a few minutes work."

Kuril finally shook his head. "Very well, Commander. Just keep your weapons where they are and we won't have a problem. Follow me. We'll get the prisoner processed while we sort out the financial transaction."

As we followed Kuril, he explained how the prison worked. Each cellblock was a self-contained unit that could be ejected if shit got out of hand. We saw a demonstration of crowd control techniques. We passed by more than a few prisoners who were in their cells, Kuril stopping to explain what some of the crimes they'd committed were, how long each day they spent in the cell, and why many of them ended up in his cells.

"We generally take in the worst of the worst. Given that most species no longer execute people, we will imprison those who the likes of the Alliance or the Asari Republics no longer want to deal with. We're paid handsomely for it."

"And if they don't pay?"

"All it takes is the threat to leave said prisoner somewhere on their home world to make sure that the payment continues."

"What about Jack? What's the deal with them?" Miranda wondered.

"Jack is unlike any prisoner we've dealt with before. A ball of pure hate and rage. You've got your hands full with that one, of that I can promise you."

Speaking to the prisoners was a rather illuminating experience as they told us of their daily life. Some even took pleasure in describing their crimes. It was during those conversations that I'm sure more than one of us thought that putting a bullet in some of them would be quite deserving. Better off dead than governments paying whatever they were in keeping them alive on this prison ship.

We reached a junction; Kuril asked us to head for outprocessing while he would go and check the credits were being received for Jack's release. Jack was currently in cryostasis and needed to be taken out of it. We continued further, watching a couple of guards beating a prisoner. I may have said something had I not heard of some of the crimes before.

"What's he done to deserve that?" I had to ask.

"We were only escorting him to the showers when he tried to attack guards and prisoners alike. Had a shiv that ended up injuring three prisoners and a guard. We're now showing him the error of his ways."

"And his crimes?"

"Trust me. You don't want to know. Let's just say if it was my decision, I'd have brought back something like hanging."

What became obvious was the mental state of many prisoners. Some were probably already suffering mental health problems before they'd even arrived on the prison ship. But I reckon many more had fallen apart due to the constant solitude, heavy guard presence, and I wouldn't be surprised if many of them were beaten for even the slightest of grievances. I had no pity to give them.

We continued walking until arriving at a door, lettering above stating it was the outprocessing centre. It was almost empty except for one technician when we strolled on in, a square of lounges and some supplies nearby to make hot drinks. I wasn't going to relax until we had Jack in our custody, and we were back on our ship. More than one companion mentioned that they felt uneasy. I just told them to stay loose and calm.

"You'll want to go through the far door," the technician stated, "That'll take you where you want to go."

I walked over to the door, glancing behind before I pressed the button. It turned out to be a simple box room, almost like a holding cell.

"My apologies, Shepard. You're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer. Drop your weapons and proceed into the open cell. You will not be harmed."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Kuril. Get fucked and get bent. Weapons hot, people."

We spread out and took what cover we could as numerous guards flooded into the room. And straight into our bullets. Idiots. It was one of those short, sharp fights that barely lasts a minute or two. For a bunch of turians, their tactics were pathetic.

Moving out into the corridor, there were more Blue Suns waiting for us and that's when the squad as a whole got to work. Given the tight confines, Garrus and I worked with shotguns, getting in as close as possible. Our shields constantly took hits, but our armour was thick enough to keep us safe. Miranda and Georgia had biotics. Amelie was keeping back, and we heard the crack of her rifle. Kasumi had a cloaking device that made her practically invisible. She'd appear, put a bullet in the head of a mercenary, then immediately disappear again.

There was no sign of Kuril, left wondering where he got to. As we fought, I noticed a few human bodies among those we left on the floor. I could also hear the shouts of the prisoners as they figured out rather quickly what was up. I knew we were bound to start a riot and figured that would help us get out of there in the end. I didn't care what happened to the mercenaries or the prisoners. All that mattered now was getting off the ship with Jack. I wasn't going through all of this just to leave with them.

We walked into a room overlooking the entire cellblock. Miranda stepped forward and figured out rather quickly how it would all work. She keyed a few commands before looking at me with a smirk.

"That big green button will open every door on this cellblock, Shepard," she explained.

"And Jack's in cryostasis. I guess that'll get them out too?"

"Exactly."

"Right. Get ready for shit to hit the fan then."

"Never easy, is it, Shepard?" Garrus asked.

We watched as the machine got to work below us while a pair of larger mechs woke up and kept an eye on what was going on. The stasis pod was eventually pulled up from the freezer it was in to reveal Jack. She wasn't particularly big. Shaved head. Absolutely covered in body art. Barely wore a stitch of clothing over her top art, just enough to cover her breasts. She took a few seconds to wake up pulling at the restraints holding her in place.

"Wait for it," I muttered.

Her eyes didn't move to where we were standing. Her eyes were on the trio of large mechs in front of her. And she got to work immediately. The biotic power on display would have matched most asari. Mech parts went flying and the entire ship started to shake as it was obvious what her intention was. Kill as many guards as possible and get off the ship while she had the chance.

We followed her trail of destruction. She'd torn a massive hole in the wall. Kuril started to make announcements over the loudspeakers. Prisoners were rioting with the guards fending them off. He authorised the use of lethal force against everyone except Jack.

"Must be worth something to him," I suggested.

"He's only in it for the credits, honey," Georgia replied, "He's basically running an extortion racket."

"Oh well, another pile of dead Blue Suns for my record," Garrus stated with a hint of humour.

The ship computer started to report in the list of problems already affecting the station. Life support was already failing. Other cells were being spaced. The list of the dead was likely going to be enormous. Hell, if Jack or anyone else reached the core, there was a good chance that the ship was going to detonate. I figured that we only had a short space of time.

Fires had broken out and it appeared that the extinguishers had either failed or hadn't worked in the first place. Most of the prisoners ignored us with their focus on the guards. Any guards that did take note of us quickly found themselves dead on the ground. I assumed Jack was heading in the direction of the docks to get off the station.

In addition to guards, there were numerous mechs to deal with, including a couple of the larger sort that had both shields and thick armour. Although they were a bitch to take down, the numbers that I had by my side meant it slowed us down though didn't stop us. The number of guards had suggested that they must have outnumbered the prisoners.

I was confident that we were closing on Jack when the next announcement suggested that the power plant had taken considerable damage and that an entire systems failure was imminent. That would either mean a cataclysmic explosion or the failure of systems such as electricity and life support. Well, that would kill everyone else including Jack as all of us had breathing systems on our suits. Did the guards?

"All guards to Cellblock One! Find Jack! I repeat, find Jack!"

Kuril ordered over the loudspeaker.

We made our way to Cellblock One. No sign of Jack there but Kuril was waiting with the rest of his guards. He had the high ground and wore tech armour. He fired in our direction. All we did was take cover.

"You're valuable, Shepard. I could have sold you and lived like a king. But you're too much trouble. At least I can recapture Jack," he stated.

"You're a piece of shit, Kurl. A two-bit slave trader and nothing but a criminal. You belong in a cell alongside these prisoners."

He did not like that. He did not like that at all. He tried to justify what he did. All Miranda did for me was collapse his shields as Amelie fired off a shot. Garrus and I fired at the same time. He staggered back though didn't go down, smart enough to finally take cover and stop talking. The firefight lasted longer as the guards were dug in. We had to reply on tactics, particularly biotics to drag them out of cover.

Kuril ended up being a bitch to take down as there were generators that repaired his shields whenever he was in cover. First thing to do? Destroy the generators. We did that rather quickly with a few well-placed shots. Then we just focused on Kuril again once we'd killed all his guards. We could have gone in close and gotten medieval on him, but we just whittled down his shields, and burned away his armour, with Amelie getting in the killing shot. Half his face practically came away before he slumped to the ground

We found Jack in the docking bay. A couple of guards were approaching her. She was too busy looking at my ship to see them. She only turned to face us after I'd shot the two guards. For a brief moment, she looked absolutely terrified. That was something I simply didn't expect to see. Then she shimmered with biotic energy, and I wondered if she was going to attack us.

"What the fuck do you want?" she asked.

"I'm Commander Shepard and we're going to get you out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere with any of you. You're Cerberus."

"And?"

"They've been on my arse for years. Anytime I get free, they put a huge bounty on me."

"Explains why Kuril was so desperate to keep her," Garrus suggested, "I bet he was keeping her to hand over to Cerberus sooner rather than later."

"Bingo. Kuril thought he'd struck gold when he got his hands on me," Jack confirmed.

"I don't work for Cerberus though at this point our interests are the same. I'm here to ask for your help, Jack."

She laughed at me. "Seriously? You show up in a Cerberus vessel and think that I'll help you. You think I'm fucking stupid or something?"

"You don't have any other options, Jack. This place is bound to explode shortly and we're your only way off. Before you go threatening us, there is one of you and more of us. But I'd rather we leave together. I'm asking for your help. Not demanding. Not ordering. Not threatening. I'm asking."

She folded her arms and tried to look tough. I almost chuckled. I'll admit, I liked her already. I liked snark sometimes. "Fine, I go with you, you do something for me. I come with a price."

"Name it."

"You sound confident that you can deliver, Shepard. What would the bimbo cheerleader behind you say?"

"That's Miranda. She's my XO." I'm sure Miranda was probably offended I knew who she meant though it wasn't hard to figure out who. "Make your request and I'll do my best."

She walked towards me, needing to raise her eyes as she was only a couple of inches taller than Kasumi at most. "I bet your ship's got loads of Cerberus databases. I want to see the files, see what Cerberus has on me."

"Miranda?"

"If that's what it takes, Shepard, I'll do what I can. The Illusive Man..."

"Fuck your Illusive Man, cheerleader. You want me on the team, you get me the files. Cerberus has fucked with me long enough."

"Deal?" I asked, offering my hand.

She looked at it and scoffed. "You fuck with me, Shepard..."

"Oh, he'll try and fuck with you a certain way," Garrus stated, laughing to himself.

Jack figured out what he meant, and I think nearly started to blush. I gestured to the docking arm and made sure that she was in front of me. The artwork on her body was something else. She was rather slim though and I don't think physically strong as all her power was through her biotics. I noticed the stares of the crew as we walked along the flight deck, telling Joker to get us away from the ship as quickly as possible.

Kelly didn't offer to show Jack around this time as Miranda suggested we meet in the Briefing Room. I knew what she wanted to do. Georgia followed Miranda and Jack as I told the rest of the team to take a few minutes. Joining the other three in the briefing room, it was obvious that Jack immediately hated the two Cerberus operatives. I knew that was going to make things awkward.