FSE

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"After you pick up the hostages," Valeria said into her comlink as she stormed through the corridors, scanning the area for her prey, "there's also a wounded merc near one of the destroyed towers. I promised her a ride into town for medical treatment."

"Can't the local police and medical staff handle that?" Chula asked.

"They'll want to arrest her after she's treated. I'm letting her go back to her family."

"Got it. We'll take care of her, Valeria."

"Thanks. Akos is trying to escape. I'm in pursuit."

"Do you want assistance?"

"Negative. Just keep the hostages safe. Akos is mine."

"Okay. Good hunting."

"Thanks." Valeria reached an outer door, activated her stealth system, and slapped the hard-light button on the control panel. The door slid aside and she waited for Akos to take a shot at the sudden movement. When nothing happened, she launched through the door, crouched behind a nearby stack of crates, and switched off her cloak to conserve the power cell.

She scanned the area again and picked up a turian life sign a few dozen meters away, in a cube-shaped building she hadn't noticed on the way in. She checked her Omni-Tool again to be sure the cameras were still offline and approached the building slowly, keeping her rifle aimed at the main doors. The whir of an aircar engine started up inside the building and Valeria grumbled under her breath.

A garage. Wonderful. How did I miss that?

The doors parted and a scratched and dented Rapid Transit car shot into the open. Val caught a glimpse of Akos in the driver's seat as she dived to the left. The aircar missed her by less than a meter. She tumbled across the ground and came up in a crouch, wincing at all the aches and pains from the fights she'd been through in the past couple of hours. Akos spun the car around and accelerated straight at her.

Aw, shit! She pushed herself back to her feet and tried to jump out of the way again, but the car struck her before she could get clear. Its hood whacked her right shoulder and she bounced across it, glanced off the windshield, and flipped over the roof. She continued spinning until the car slid out from under her and all she could do was hope her uncontrolled motion brought her rifle into position.

When it was aimed at the rear window, she squeezed off a shot and caught the impact in the corner of her eye just before she hit the dirt and the air rushed from her lungs. The projectile grazed Akos's right mandible on the way to the windshield. He let out a high-pitched shriek and the car swerved before he recovered from the sudden scare.

Valeria grunted and picked herself up again. She crouched and popped off another half-dozen shots as Akos sped off to the left, drilling all of them into side of the engine compartment as he zipped across the compound and then lifted off. Val had to wait until she could breathe again before she pushed herself up and staggered toward the garage, hoping there was another aircar she could steal.

"I hope one of those shots went through his head," Chula commented.

"Nope. He ran over me, but I'm still in pursuit."

"He what?"

"I'll fill you in later." Val burst through the doorway and stopped. Directly in front of her sat a Mako. She winced. I can't drive those fucking things. Not that it could catch up with an aircar, anyway. She dashed around the front of the Mako and found three more aircars.

Yes! She jumped into the nearest one, fired up the engine, and punched it. She glanced at the ladar screen as the Rapid Transit vehicle rose into the air and bared her sharp, pointed teeth at the single blip heading straight toward Polchinski Valley. At least now I can just sit here and catch my breath.

She pushed the engines to maximum and glared out the windshield until she caught sight of Akos. The city was still some distance ahead of him, but his car appeared to be losing altitude. Maybe one of her shots had destroyed something vital to the vehicle's operation.

Crash and burn, you fucking waste of cum! Valeria snarled as her car closed in on his. Just do it before you have any innocent people under you.

---

Chula whistled softly at the sight of the bodies between her and the blast door. She and the others had already found so many corpses she'd lost count of them, but each new batch they discovered around almost every corner just made Valeria's rampage all the more unsettling. Chula stepped through the hole Val had cut through the blast door and took a slow look around the mercs' command center. The hostages stood on one side of the room and the surviving mercs occupied the other, all of them on their knees with their hands on their heads.

Except one, a krogan with a varren sitting beside her. Chula took a step toward her, but Irving raised a hand and shook his head.

"She's with us. Notice she's not armed." He motioned at one of Akos's men, curled into a fetal position nearby. "She also sicced her varren on that guy when he tried to shoot us."

"Nice." Chula laughed softly and moved aside so Dakka, Quint, Lia, Weyland, and Yutani to rush in and cover the captured mercs. "That definitely scores her a few points with me."

"I'm also thinking she was with us the whole time. Y'know, if the police ask us when they arrive. Grula can just get on the shuttle with us when we give Val's family and the others a lift into town."

"I'd appreciate it very much." Grula flicked a sneer at the other mercs. "I don't mind taking the heat for my actions, but I'd prefer not to be lumped in with the pack of dumbshits Akos put together for this. Honestly, if he'd told us we'd be kidnapping a Spectre's family, I woulda told him to go fuck a pyjak."

"Heh. Well, it's always good to meet a mercenary who's smart enough to surrender when Valeria's on the warpath."

"It'll happen more often if I have anything to say about it. I'm planning to tell everyone I know what happened here. Might even embellish it a little to see how much of a scare I can put into 'em. If they have any brains at all, they'll think twice about trying anything like this again."

"That's pretty much what Valeria was hoping for," Dakka said. "She wants everyone who has an ax to grind like Akos did to be too afraid to go after her again."

"Well, I sure as hell don't want to tangle with her." Grula shook her head slowly and looked over at Irving. "I've been in one fight after another for almost seven hundred years and your wife scared me enough to hang up my guns permanently. Dunno what else I can do for a living, though. Combat is all I've ever known."

Dakka grinned suddenly. "Well, since Valeria had to rejoin the Spectres, I heard Fornax is looking for someone to replace her and Irving."

"Huh. I've heard of Fornax, but never paid any attention to it. Porn, right?"

"Yeah. It's a xenophilia publication run by humans, so it's all about humans humping it out with aliens. Gotta tell ya, though …" She nodded at Quint. "I dunno about other humans, but this one is the best lay I've ever had."

Quint's face turned red and Chula snickered.

"Huh. Doin' it with a human never occurred to me before, but what the hell, if the pay's good enough, I'm willing to have a go at one of 'em. Assuming I can find one who'd be interested."

Lia chuckled. "Well, I know one who might be. He's a hooker, so having sex with aliens is how he makes a living. I'll give you his contact info if you want."

"Sure, why not?" Grula woke her Omni-Tool and set it to receive the info. "Even if I end up not enjoying it much, it'd still be a million times better than ending up like the two hundred sorry fuckers Valeria just slaughtered."

Lia sent the info from her Tool to Grula's. "At least you'll be able to get a better idea of whether or not it's something you want to do for money."

Hah. I bet this is one merc who never would've guessed her career would end like this. Chula motioned at the door. "Valeria said there was a wounded merc somewhere outside waiting for a lift to the hospital?"

Grula nodded, turned to a map of the compound with a bunch of flashing blips, most of them grouped inside the graphic representing the command center, and pointed at one outside.

"That's probably her. If she stayed where Valeria left her, she'll be near the wreckage of the tower Akos used to store weapons and ammo."

"I'll go take a look," Chula said. "Wanna come along? If the police arrive while we're getting her onto the shuttle, they'll probably just assume you're one of us if they see you helping us."

"Works for me." Grula stored the info in her contact list and headed for the door. "This way."

---

"What the hell?" Valeria whispered as Akos threw open his aircar's door and jumped out. Something had just flared inside the car and it had shuddered, tilted forward, and begun a steep descent. The car leveled out after Akos bailed and continued on its downward path in a slower, more controlled fashion, its onboard VI having taken control to land it as safely as possible with the damaged the bullets from Valeria's gun had caused. She kept glancing around and spotted another aircar below him. "Huh. Ballsy."

He crashed into the roof of the car, rolled toward the rear, and tumbled off. Val stared at him, part of her hoping he'd survive so she could finish him off herself.

His left hand clamped onto part of the rear end and he dangled there for a few seconds, over one hundred meters above the ground. He pulled himself up, got his feet under him, plucked his rifle from his back, and pointed it through the rear window. He shouted something and the car banked gently to the right.

Are you kidding me? You can't just shake him off? Hell, just scrape under an overpass and he'll hit it like a bug on a windshield. Val sighed, altered her course slightly, and steered herself into the right position. She set the autopilot to land at the nearest Rapid Transit terminal, flung the door open, and jumped.

Wind whipped past her for a few seconds before she plowed into Akos's back and slammed him into the rear window. He turned over and tried to aim his gun at her, but she grabbed the barrel in her right hand, wrenched it to the left, braced her left hand on his forearm, and shoved. His talons bent backward and he howled and released his grip. She gave the gun one more twist to rip it from his hand and flung it aside. In the corner of her eye, it spiraled out of sight.

Akos's eyes widened and he thrust his left fist at her. She swatted it aside, drove her fist into the side of his head, cocked her arm back, and rammed the heel of her hand into the spot right above his nostrils. His head snapped back and he flumped over and scrambled for a handhold.

Val pulled her left leg back, ready to jam it into his chest and launch him clean off the car -- but suddenly he rolled off himself and dropped out of sight. She peeked over the edge just as he plopped onto the roof of another car a few meters below. He bellowed at the driver and pointed at something ahead. She braced herself for another jump, threw herself off, and plunged through the air toward Akos, directly below her. She landed on his head, tumbled backward, and managed to find a handhold before she could slide off. She looked up in time to catch Akos sliding forward and across the windshield.

He glanced around, his eyes locked on to something on the left, and he pushed off. She watched him plunge down the side of a skyscraper and reach out to grab on to its fire escape. The edge of a rail bonked his chest plate and he flipped over backward. Somehow, he managed to catch the next platform by hooking his legs over the rail. He bent at the waist, grabbed the rail with both hands, and pulled himself over it. He glanced around, spotted her, and charged up the stairs.

He's limping. Good. The car had already passed the building, but luckily there was a slightly taller one beside it, and it looked just close enough for what she had in mind.

The aircar passed over the roof and she leaped, dropped two meters, and the servos in her armor absorbed the impact. She stumbled anyway, regained her balance, and then her right foot caught on a thin pipe running across the roof and she pitched forward. Without enough time to roll with it, she faceplanted and scraped forward another three meters before she could stop.

Ow. Fuck. Ow. She picked herself up and ran to the edge of the roof to double-check the distance to the building Akos had started to climb. The gap between them was just wide enough for two aircars to pass side by side. I can work with that.

She ran back across the roof, turned, and blasted into a full sprint. Her right foot pounded into the edge of the roof and launched her into the air. She angled down toward the lower roof, thrust her torso forward, and tried to throw herself into a roll the instant her feet touched down.

Her left foot slid out from under her and she plowed face-first into the ground and scraped forward about half a meter.

Son of a bitch! She pushed herself into a crouch and turned toward the side of the building Akos had landed on. Then she waited, sucking in deep breaths and hoping she wouldn't be gasping too hard to keep her rifle steady by the time Akos appeared.

Finally, his head popped up over the edge of the roof. He climbed over, leaned against it to catch his breath -- and then he noticed her. His eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped, and he screamed like a little kid.

"You're goddamn right," she growled.

He grabbed the M-9 Tempest on his left hip.

Uh-oh. Valeria threw herself to the right, but he began hosing her down before she could move more than two steps. The hail of supersonic projectiles sprayed her shields and reduced them to almost nothing before she found cover behind a stairwell entrance. Fucking Tempest. Not very accurate, but the firing rate makes up for it.

Pounding footsteps came in her direction. She snapped her rifle into position and waited for her shields to recharge. The M-96 Mattock was only a semi-auto, but it was a designated marksman rifle and each shot packed a hell of a punch, especially when using incendiary rounds.

Akos burst into view, sprinting past her toward the far edge of the roof. He sprayed her again, but this time she returned fire. Her gun thumped and its round smashed into the shields in front of his forehead. She fired again, and his barriers flared again, this time at the side of his head.

He continued blind-firing as he dashed away from her, and enough bullets found their mark to collapse her shields with a sound that reminded her of glass cracking. She leaped over the stairwell, couched on the other side, and resumed firing, planting ten more rounds into his back.

His barriers failed on the seventh, and the last three slammed into his back and started burning through his armor. He staggered, screamed again, and fumbled with the latches. He kept running, finally managed to release the latches, and shrugged out of his chest and back plates. He dropped them and continued running until he hit the edge -- then he launched himself into the air.

Valeria waited a few seconds for her shields to recharge and ran to the edge. She peeked over and found Akos skipping off a passing aircar and plunging to the roof of the next building over.

Are you fucking kidding me?

She eyed several approaching aircars, picked one out of the group, and braced herself for another leap, hoping she would get the timing right. She hopped onto the edge, kicked off, and threw herself out over the abyss. The car intersected her path and she pushed off its roof. The next plunge took her toward a much smaller building. She hit the wall, clamped her arms around a pipe running down the side, and slid three more floors down before she managed to stop.

She took a moment to catch her breath and give her surroundings a quick visual sweep. For a few seconds she thought she'd lost Akos, but then a quick motion caught her attention and she found him sliding down a cable running from the wall to a post on the sidewalk. Valeria glanced straight down.

This pipe runs almost to the street. Good enough. She eased up on her grip just enough to slide down to the end of the pipe. She let go and dropped the last floor, hit the pavement, let her armor absorb the shock, and sprinted along the sidewalk.

Across the intersection, Akos paused to glance over his shoulder. He caught sight of her immediately, let out a whimper, and bolted forward without taking his eyes off her. He ran straight into a wall and scrambled to get around it.

Valeria charged across the street even as ground vehicles sped through the intersection. A freight truck crossed in front of her, but she jumped, leapfrogged over its roof, and hit the ground running.

Akos reached the next street corner, spun around, and opened fire even though dozens of pedestrians stood between them. A cacophony of screams exploded all around her and everyone scattered -- except several people who'd been hit. Without shields or armor, their bodies had been chewed up by the hail of sand grain-size projectiles.

No …

She glimpsed a child sprawled on the street and turned away before she could make out any more details. Suddenly, her whole body turned cold inside. She turned back to the street corner and found Akos staring back at her.

A fire ignited within her. She drew in a deep breath and, without taking her eyes off him, released a primal roar. Everyone nearby lurched away from her and stared, their faces turning pale.

Akos stumbled backward, bumped into more pedestrians, and slumped over a parked car. The Tempest slipped from his hand, but he didn't seem to notice. He let out a hissing squeal, turned, and bolted.

Valeria clipped her rifle to her back and launched after him once more, pushing through the crowd and trying to catch sight of him, determined to get her hands on him before he could hurt anyone else but knowing she wouldn't have a clear shot with all these people around.

I can't let any more innocent people get caught up in my personal battles. Can't let him get away. This has to end now.

---

"And … we're set." The shuttle touched down with the slightest rocking and Scott shut down the engines. "You may depart at your convenience, and thank you for flying Bailey Airlines."

Irving chuckled and released his seat harness. Everyone else got up and the former hostages stepped out onto the hospital's landing platform, followed by the wounded merc. She moved off to the side and waited, her broken arm in a sling, while the others made their way to the waiting medics and police.

He noticed Valeria's parents and siblings hanging back and swore he could feel her father's and mother's stares drilling into the back of his neck. He watched a pair of medics walk over to speak with the merc and then lead her into an elevator before he turned to face them.

"If anything happens to our daughter because you told her to go after that maniac," Desentos began, but Irving interrupted him.

"Oh, now you care about her?"

"Of course we do," Lithia said. "Just because we're angry with her doesn't mean we don't care."

"Not that you have a right to be angry with her. You don't get to dictate how she lives her life or who she lives it with. And I didn't make her go after Akos. I just know she'd never be able to live with herself if she let him go and then he tried this again. Especially if he killed one of us next time."

"It's not just that."

"Oh, you've made that crystal clear. You're pissed because she married a human." Irving took a slow breath to calm himself. "But something you said in the command center makes me wonder if it started before we met. You didn't like her joining the Spectres."

"As I said before, no one should be above the law, and the Spectres are." Desentos glared at Irving and his mandibles twitched.

"Valeria happens to agree with you. It's one of the reasons she quit two years ago."

"What?" Lithia stared at him.

"Maybe you'd know that if you talked with her once in a while. Just sayin'."

The sound of a ship's engine distracted him and he glanced up and found a small craft with a familiar shape passing overhead. It looked like the Normandy, but only big enough for one or two people, and had SR3 on the side.

Huh. Looks like the one Val described when we left Chasca. The one that girl who called herself Ghost was flying. The kid had disappeared just before the Cavalry arrived, leaving Irving wondering if her presence among the hostages was a coincidence or something she'd planned for some reason. So that's where she went.

He let out a sigh, glanced at Val's parents, and turned toward the elevator.

"Be as angry as you want, it won't change anything. I'm going to wait inside for Valeria to come back." He walked over to the door, tapped the button, and waited for the lift to arrive.

Come on, honey. Do what you have to do, then come back to me alive.