Cold Day in Corporate Hell

Two weeks since Haliat mission

SSV Normandy

Engineering Deck

Garage

En route to Noveria

"And when that station blew... there was nothing left bigger than a turian's right nut," Wrex recalled, finally telling Alex his asari commnado story. Alex grinned at the thought of such destruction. Cole, showed up to hear this tale, just stood there slack-jawed. Wrex grinned. "So, I went back to the diplomat to give him the good news and collect my pay. But before I got halfway there... Aleena sent me a message: 'Better luck next time.'" When they realized he was serious, Alex and Cole simply gawked. "No, I'm not superstitious. But if somebody manages to survive that, they deserve to live. At least for a little while longer."

"Holy. Shit." Cole murmured. "I thought didn't leave jobs half done?"

Wrex looked absurdly smug. "I told the volus the truth. Aleena was alive and she was pissed. If he wanted to stay alive, he'd need me protecting him. He kept me on as his personal guard until the day he died." Seeing their next question, Wrex quickly added, "Natural causes. It was the easiest job I ever had. A little boring, maybe, but credits are credits."

Alex just smirked. They'd obviously done crazier jobs for the Uniques, but for a regular mercenary, albeit a krogan one, that was a hell of a story. Sooner or later, he would have to let Wrex know how good he really was. While the rest of the squad was comprised of Nova-class fighters, Wrex and Garrus were different. Like Saren, they were both Supernova-class.

Supernovas local to a Unique's territory had two fates: they were either an enemy to defeat, or they were destined for great things. It wasn't prophecy; it was simply pattern recognition. They'd seen it happen plenty of times on Retronuke Earth. The Enclave had deployed Frank Horrigan, a Supernova, to somehow stop Alex and the fight was a brutal one. On another job, Legate Lanius opposed Cole in the Battle for Hoover Dam. For the flip side, Craig Boone, Joshua Graham, and Ulysses were three of the toughest mortal men that Cole had fought alongside, and he even doubted the mortality of the latter two.

The question was: what the hell did fate have in store for an old krogan battlemaster and failed C-Sec agent?

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SSV Normandy

Crew Deck 

CO Quarters Entering Pax System

Ryan sighed for the eleventh time in the past half hour as looked over the datapads. From what he could tell, Noveria was successful version of Rapture, but it was no less corrupt. External meddling wasn't tolerated, the research was mostly illegal, the corporate espionage was rampant, and morals took a backseat to money.

According to the Council, the geth had some kindof interest in the icy colony, but not one that warranted burning the planet. Unfortunately, the similarities between Rapture and Noveria were thoroughly overwhelming to the Splicer King. Ryan would be over this discomfort in ta matter of hours, but it was time that they couldn't waste. So he had elected to let Cole take point while sifted through the mess of paperwork that Udina seemed to enjoy sending them. The Chief's imposing figure would cause more problems with local bureaucracy than would solve, and anything Cortana did, even undetected, would likely get them kicked right off the colony. Still, Ryan was optimistic. These past two weeks, they hadn't been idle.

Ever since Alex had "acquired" everything belonging to Haliat, they did more than buy fancy gear for the squad. The mercenaries at Haliat's disposal were sent on some of the odd jobs that had been piling up since his induction into the Spectres, and the informantion he had on the Terminus systems was used to help complete the others.

The first week, their mercenaries had taken down the slave trade of one Dahlia Dantius, which they used as leverage to quietly force her sister, Nassana, off the Citadel. She had tried to play coy, but it took Alex all of five seconds to "convince" her to leave. Unfortunately, word had finally gotten out that Haliat had been dead all this time, so Alex made some calls and strong-armed the remnants of Haliat's private army into Aria's possession. He knew that staying in her good graces would pay off, he just didn't know when.

Three days later, while the mercs were looking the fate of a ship called the Majesty for a human on the Citadel, the Normandy team investigated a missing survey team. Ryan and Alex led Wrex, Tali, and Liara onto the surface of Trebin, where they discovered all of the people on the team had devolved into machine cultists. Their backs were to the wall as they fought off wave after wave of husks. Something about the whole place had unsettled Ryan. Why were there husks but no geth? If the geth weren't even involved, where did the Dragon's Teeth equipment come from?

Their proudest achievement was a full-team effort however. A known crime lord named Helena Blake had approached them in hopes that they would kill her former accomplices, leaving the organization in her hands. Supposedly, she wanted to direct the gang in a more favorable direction, and her ex-partners had soiled their reputation by including slavery and red sand in their activities. Ryan wasn't going to kill her, but he would certainly prove a point. While he led Chief, Tali, Garrus, and Kaidann to kill one boss, Cole led Alex, Liara, Wrex, and Ashley to take out the other. Finally, in a united effort, they all assaulted Blake's main fortress, taking great care to ensure the survival of the last crime lord. With her syndicate in ruins, Blake was forced to agree to a more honest line of work. Time would tell if she actually kept her word.

That had been the turning point. No longer were they a group of talented individuals. They were a well-coordinated strike team that could safely put their lives in each other's hands. The racial tensions were down and best of all, they finally had a possible lead on Saren.

Ryan just hoped that Cole knew what he was doing. Sending Alex to the greedy corporate world was like having a civil conversation with a splicer: A bad idea that ends in somebody's death.

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SSV Normandy

CIC Helm 

Noveria Approach

Joker became all business as he opened a comm. line to the colony's officials. "Approach Control, this is SSV Normandy, requesting a vector and a berth."

Cole stood behind the pilot, listening in. He hadn't dealt with bureaucracy since the New Vegas job, but it was always a pain in the ass. Spectres were barely tolerated on Noveria, so the electric man needed to know whether or not to expect cold reception. (pun intended).

"Normandy, your arrival is not scheduled," said Approach Control. "Our defense grid is armed and tracking you. State your business."

Joker rolled his eyes at the demand. They asked for it. "Citadel business. We've got a Council Spectre aboard."

There was a pause before they responded. "Landing access granted.... Normandy." The disdain in their voice was clear, but Cole ignored it. He didn't care about any dirty little secrets unless they pointed him towards Saren. As the Normandy pulled into dock, the official continued. "Be advised, we will be confirming identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel will be impounded." These last words were said with an unexpected amount of venom. Frankly, Cole was glad that Noveria was widely known for its illegal research. Better to have it done in one place that people know about than dozens of hidden locations across the galaxy.

"What a fun bunch" Joker chirped, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I think I'll take my next leave here." Cole laughed at his pilot's dry wit as he exited the ship, Wrex and Garrus following close behind. 

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Noveria

Port Hanshan

Security Checkpoint

"That's far enough," a Japanese officer instructed. Cole should have realized that Elanus Risk Control Services would send their people to welcome him. He had known they ran the securtiy show here, and he wasn't expecting the red carpet, but saving Noveria from a possible geth threat would be hard if he had ERCS breathing down his neck.

Forcing a smile, Cole tried diplomacy. "Can I help you with something, miss...?"

"Keeping dreaming," muttered a blond woman on the right. Cole rolled his eyes.

The Japanese officer ignored her subordinate's unprofessional behavior. "I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo of ERCS and this is an unscheduled arrival. I need credentials."

Maintaining a casual posture, Cole grinned. "Cole MacGrath, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."

Again, the blond threw in her unwelcome opinion. "That's horsecrap. No way is some little punk like you a Spectre."

Clearly the voice of reason, Matsuo spoke in a calm voice. "We'll need to confirm that claim." Cole shrugged. He wasn't going anywhere. "Also, I must inform you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria." She turned to the mouthy blond. "Sergeant Stirling, secure their weap-"

Matsuo never finished her order. Cole didn't need conventional weaponry, but he wasn't about to lead an unarmed squad to investigate geth interests. He signaled for Wrex and Garrus to draw their guns and dropped into a defensive posture. The conduit didn't show any electricity, realizing that if they didn't know he was a Spectre, then they had no idea what he could do. A surprise like that could come in handy.

Garrus was the first to speak. "Citadel authority supersedes yours," The ex-cop just pulled rank on an entire planet, and it felt awesome. This was why he had wanted to come along.

Coel just kept grinning. "I thought you said that firearms weren't permitted on Noveria? Aren't you the hypocrite?"

Sergeant Stirling glared at him. "Says the man without a gun."

Cole cracked his knuckles. "I'm done playing nice, Blondie. Drop the shotgun, or I'll drop you."

Luckily, a voice on the loudspeakers ended the standoff. "Captain Matsuo, stand down!" The Captain followed the order with perfect discipline. Her compatriots were a bit more hesitant, but they relented as well. The voice continued. "We confirmed their identity. There's even another human Spectre still on that ship." This got Matsuo's full attention, and even Stirling raised an eyebrow. "Spectres are authorized to carry weapons here, Captain."

Embarrassed, Matsuo turned to face Cole. "You may proceed, Spectre. I hope that the rest of your visit will be less confrontational." She gestured towards the entrance. "Parasini-san will meet you upstairs." The use of honorifics caught Cole off guard. He had heard that since the last time he had spoken with one of the Heroic Spirits.

While nobody could attack Halla, the idea of a rogue Supernova was enough to warrant an elite guard for the Uniques and Solara itself. They had to be far superior to the Supernovas sent out on jobs. The first - and only - attack from within had generated such a devastating response that it coined the phrase "There's Supernovas, and then there's Gilgamesh." Cole could only guess at their real ethnic background, but they had always addressed him as "Conduit-san" at any briefings that included both parties.

"Behave yourself," Sterling grumbled, disappointed that she didn't get to shoot anyone.

Cole didn't bother responding. He just motioned for the two aliens to follow him into Port Hanshan. They hadn't even made it to the stairs when they were stopped again by a woman in red that Cole guessed was Parasini. "Hold up! If you go any further before we deactivate the weapon sensors, you'll set the place on high alert for no reason." She hit a few keys on a console, and then motioned for them to proceed. "Sorry about that little incident in the docking bay. I'm Gianna Parasini."

Cole eyed her carefully. He had improved enough since Empire City to recognize undercover agents. Parasini wasn't fooling him for a second. Still, anyone undercover in a corrupt society was likely one of the good guys so Cole played along for now. "I'm just glad you managed to spare your security chief an embarrassing beatdown. Can't say the same for her sergeant."

Parasini looked nonplussed. "I'd appreciate it if you refrained from any violence within Port Hanshan, Spectre. It'll cause an investor panic, and while you may not care about that, I certainly do."

Cole held up his hands in an "I yield" gesture. "I don't want to rock the boat any more than necessary. If we can work together, maybe I can find what I'm looking for and you can maintain the status quo."

Parasini thought for a moment before nodding. "If you can try and keep a low profile, I'll see what I can do to help." Cole gave a small smile. One thing that he and Ryan had actually agreed on was maintaining a limited body count when possible. Killing the opposition was a fine solution, but the best results usually came with the fewest unnecessary casualties. Unfortunately, when the Uniques sent Ryan on shadow jobs, that nice sentiment got tossed right out the window. Cole knew why, and that's why he didn't completely blame the Splicer King for all of his actions, but they called Ryan the "Rapture Raptor" for a very good reason.

Blinking away that morbid train of thought, Cole returned to the situation at hand. "Well, since you're in a helping mood, can you tell me if anyone... weird has come by recently?"

"I'm not sure what qualifies as 'weird' in your line of work, MacGrath," Parasini said with mild humor. "But an asari Matriarch did pass through not too long ago. Lady Benezia. She headed out to the Peak 15 research lab a couple of days ago."

This caught the whole squad's attention. "There you have it," Wrex growled.

Reaching for his comm. link, Cole contact the Normandy. "Joker, patch me through to Ryan."

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SSV Normandy

Crew Deck

Med Bay back room

Docked in Port Hanshan

Liara shifted uncomfortably under Alex Mercer's amused gaze. Despite how poorly their last conversation went, he had returned to speak more with her. Finally, he spoke up. "So you're saying that our short lifespan makes us determined and fierce?" She nodded, unsure of where this conversation was going now. Alex chuckled. "Liara, for all intents and purposes, I'm immortal, yet I still have all those qualities that make humanity look like a "bully" in the eyes of the galaxy." His tone sounded almost self-loathing. "If I've got all the time in the universe, why am I always on the move?"

Liara thought hard about this for a moment. She needed to choose her words carefully, and not just for her own sake."I think it is because you have the most opportunity to prove the value of humanity." This earned her a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps you are not the Spectre, and maybe you do not consider yourself human,  but every time you cheat death, you show humanity's indomitable will. One thing that I have learned about humans is that when someone tells them 'no,' they push that much harder to succeed. You represent that trait perfectly, and your indefinite lifespan will let you remind the galaxy of your species' worth for longer than anyone else." Alex seemed amused by the idealism, but he smiled and nodded in agreement all the same.  "Besides, I would think that the merits of tenacity can be best seen in the man that stood firm against an angry horde of thresher maws."

Realizing what she had said, Liara's eyes widened, and she clasped a hand over her mouth. The predator in front of her tensed ever-so-slightly. "Where did you hear about that?" he asked.

Looking at the floor in shame, the asari archaeologist sighed. "I confess, after our last discussion, I wanted to learn more about you. I had originally wanted to know more about your past, but the few articles that exist circle around your crowning achievement on Akuze."

Alex cocked his head to the side. This conversation was getting very interesting. "Why were you digging up my past? That was long before I came in contact with the Prothean beacon."

Again, the asari shifted awkwardly. Sighing, Liara began to speak. "I do not know, Alex. There is something very intriguing about you. You are more vicious than the krogan, smarter than the salarians, and you have accumulated more knowledge than the asari Matriarchs in a fraction of the time."

By this point, the doctor's face was flushed a darker blue than normal. This kind of a confession wasn't normal for Liara. "My initial interest stemmed from your interaction with the Prothean beacon, I will admit, but something since then has changed. I am rambling now, but the point is-"

The door opened, revealing a very apologetic Commander Ryan. Alex was about to toss the Splicer King out into the hall with the man's own combat hooks but then he saw something in the Ryan's eyes that he'd never witnessed before: Conflict. Whatever he had to say, it was important, and it was tough.

The virus decided to end the awkward silence that had developed. "Spit it out, Ryan!"

Sighing, the Rapture Raptor looked right at Liara and said, "Your mother is here. What you do with that information is entirely up to you."

The young asari's expression became harder than the ice that coated Noveria. "Then I am coming along. I want answers, and I will not rest until Benezia gives them to me."

Alex deliberated for a moment. "I'm coming too." Liara turned to look at the apex hunter. He held her gaze. "You want answers, but I just want to know why Benezia wasn't pulling her own daughter out of the lava instead of me. I know that look on your face. It's the same one I had when  I 'wanted answers' a long time ago." At that last statement, he nodded at Ryan. In his own way, one thing the Splicer King understood was family... and patricide.

Ryan grunted. "Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. We don't have access to her current location, but Cole is working on it. I'm on my way to go help him now. Wait for us in the hotel lounge, and we'll send you on your way. I won't be much help after that though. Udina's on my ass about the whole Haliat identity theft. It was clearly the most pragmatic choice, but explaining that to a politician is total hell. He's 'punishing' me with every scrap of paperwork he can find that involves Haliat." With a silent plea for Cortana's help, the Commander's body shattered right out of existence as he teleported to Cole's rendezvous point.

Alex looked at Liara. He realized she needed some kind of support at the moment so he played the part. "You know, this technically qualifies as 'meet the parents' in human culture. It's too bad I didn't bring a nicer set of clothes."

Liara looked at the Supernova with utter disbelief. After a moment, it hit her that Alex was joking, and she laughed softly. "Thank you Alex. I'm very glad that you trust me." Standing aside, Alex let Liara make her way for the armory. Almost reluctantly, he altered his course to see if he could convince Cortana to take over that paperwork.

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Noveria 

Port Hanshan

Main Plaza 

Cole was beyond livid. Administrator Anoleis had not only been utterly useless, it seemed like the amphibious prick was doing it on purpose. After their meeting, it had become known that so much as speaking with him was grounds for any employee's termination. Complete bullshit. He also couldn't believe that he, a Spectre, was getting the evil eye for his comrades' guns, but simply because Benezia was a shareholder, she could bring a small army of highly trained telekinetic warriors through with no scrutiny at all. At least they caught a break with Lorik Qui'in. The turian was in this to cover his own ass, but it would get them what they needed to leave for Peak 15.

At this moment, the telltale sound of a Houdini plasmid let Cole know that his partner for this job had arrived. "What's the plan?" Ryan inquired.

Cole chuckled. "Good question. Our friend Qui'in has asked us to keep the bloodstains off the carpet." The expression on the Splicer King's face was priceless. "Normally I wouldn't give a damn, but I think it's an excellent opportunity for you to learn the meaning of 'nonlethal takedown.' So, I've loaded Wrex and Garrus with concussive rounds, and we're all going to raid Synthetic Insights without a single death."

Ryan scoffed. "You can't be serious. We don't have that kind of time."

Cole didn't back down. "Have you ever noticed that my enemies only die when I strike with killer intent? The power behind each bolt of lightning and the force behind every shockwave completely depends on whether I want to kill or incapacitate. You may not have it quite as easy, but if don't truly need to take a bloodbath, then change the tactics. These guys are dirty cops, and they're being paid under the table, but dishonoring the uniform means that we turn them over to Captain Matsuo, no kill them. See if you can do that. Don't worry about them getting back up. I've got that covered." Conversation finished, Cole stepped into the elevator with Ryan and motioned for Wrex and Garrus to join them. When the doors closed and the thing began to move, Cole laughed. "Well, wonders never cease! It's a fast moving elevator!" 

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Noveria

Port Hanshan

Synthetic Insights Offices

The moment the doors opened, two ERCS guards had guns trained on them. "Freeze!" the human woman ordered. "Hanshan security. This office is sealed."

On instinct, Ryan brought out his hooks. Behind him, the Commander heard Cole clear his throat, insisting on another method. Ryan sighed. "Can I assume you know who we are?" They were going to be implicated by Qui'ins evidence, but they didn't really have to die protecting it.

The woman spoke again. "You two are the Spectres, yeah? Lorik Qui'in is under investigation."

Their reason for staying was weak at best. "If you know who we are, then you should know that your life is at my whim. My associate believes that you don't deserve to be burnt to a cinder, but I just might want to get a fire going in this cold weather..."

The dirty cop paled. "Y-you're bluffing."

Wrex smirked. "You're right. They're actually planning to let me eat you." He said this as if it were the most normal thing in the galaxy.

Cole stepped to the side. "If you want out, now would be a very good time to find a new job." The woman and the turian guard next to her were tripping over each other trying to get out of the building. Cole cracked his neck. "That's two down, and over a dozen to go. Nice work, Ryan. Now scatter!" With that, the conduit spark-stepped out of sight.

The room became a blaze of action as the remaining ERCS guards opened fire without hesitation. Without any concussive rounds of his own, Ryan had to get creative. He put his hooks away and fired up two different plasmids. Sonic Boom in his right hand, and Cyclone Trap in his left. Using one to knock guards into the air, he would blast them into the wall with the other. The task was tiresome. These techniques required constant focus, which was difficult to maintain while being shot at.

Luckily Garrus seemed to always have his back. Despite relying on a sniper rifle with a low rate of fire, nobody could get close to Ryan without getting a concussive slug from the turian that knocked them on their ass. At one point, they tried flanking Garrus, only for Wrex to biotically suspend them in the air, which made easy targets for former C-Sec agent and Splicer King alike.

The corrupt group of ERCS's biggest mistake was thinking that the krogan was the biggest threat in the room. Not only did it mean that they all got smacked down by an angry krogan, but it made them forget that the other people in the room were even there until it was too late. While Wrex simply tanked the fire of six guards, knocking three of them to the ground with a spread of concussive pellets, Ryan materialized behind the other three. In quick display of hidden brute strength, the Rapture Raptor grabbed two of them by the helmets, picked them off the ground effortlessly, and tossed one over each shoulder. Dodging a frantic shot from the last of the guards, Ryan looped his arms around the poor bastard's waist and suplexed him into the ground.

This whole time, Cole had not been inactive. Whenever the other three managed to put somebody on the ground, the conduit spark-stepped directly up to the downed guards, and pinned them to the floor with an arc restraint. If they were already on their feet, he tossed a shock grenade that had the extra effect of arc-restraining weakened targets caught in the explosion. "I've always wanted to arrest a cop on the take!" he yelled as they finished up.

Ryan laughed. He had actually enjoyed the added bonus of keeping his enemies down but not dead. Next time, he would try it without Cole's help. The conduit had promised to teach him, and he was following through.

"So Cole," Ryan began as they made their way towards Qui'in terminal. "What do you plan on doing with these guys now that we've caught them?"

Cole chuckled. "I forgot. You weren't there when I talked to Qui'in. The guy was way too apathetic to actually do real good." He started the download. "But when these guys spill their guts, Anoleis is finished." Ryan was impressed with his partner's foresight on the matter. Clearly Cole had put a lot of thought into this. "There! The download's finished."

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of shotgun blasts echoed across the walls of the building. Garrus put a talon to his visor. "Looks like another squad has arrived. I'm not getting any lifesigns from our prisoners, Cole."

Wrex growled. "Somebody's come to clean house."

Cole shut his eyes and reached out with his radar pulse. Only one of the neural signals was familiar. He swore. "Stirling. I should have guessed. She's on Anoleis's payroll too, and she's keeping the ones we've taken down from talking. Permanently." He turned to Ryan. "I'm calling grudge match rights on this one. Teleport out of here with the data and Garrus, and get me that garage pass. Then wait for us with Alex and Liara in the hotel lounge. Wrex and I will be along soon enough."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "After all of this, you're just going to beat her into the stone?"

Sparks were running up and down Cole's arms, crackling viciously. "I spared them, and I didn't even know them. She's executing them for being caught, and she worked with them! The plan's the same, but I'm adding a little karma into the mix. Now go!" Ryan hesitated, but he finally took the data, grabbed Garrus' shoulder, and sent them both hurtling through space and time. Cole extinguished the current, and beckoned for Wrex to follow.

Waltzing right down the hall, he pretended that Sergeant Stirling didn't even exist for the longest time. Finally, she demanded his attention. "I don't think you're supposed to be in here, MacGrath."

Cole just smirked. "What seems to be the officer, problem?" (If you can tell which episode of South Park, you get a cookie.)

"Cute," she droned. "It seems you've killed the upstanding members of ERCS here after binding them to the floor." She accused him of her handiwork with such disgusting casualness. "Anoleis would have you thrown off-world for that, but I won't. You wanna know what we do to cop-killers where I'm from?"

Wrex sneered. "You're breaking the law for bribe money, kid. You want to know what krogan do to dirty cops back on Tuchanka?"

Stirling just rolled her eyes, put away her shotgun, and flared her biotic. "I don't think so. Hell, I don't even need a gun to rip you to pieces."

Cole cackled at the irony. "What a coincidence." He clenched his fists and let the lightning stream across his entire body. "Neither do I."

Tossing up a polarity wall to block people who were using guns, Cole focused all of his attention on Stirling. She launched a biotic throw at him, but he met it halfway with a rocket. The complete inverse of the incident on Eden Prime, the explosion shook kicked up too much dust for the guards or Stirling to see anything. Cole grabbed her with a lightning tether and yanked her towards him, leaving the rest of the sorry lot to face a pissed off krogan.

Grabbing Stirling by the collar of her armor, he hit her with a one-handed shockwave, sending her flying over the second floor's railing. She crashed to the ground below, breaking a couple of ribs, but didn't have time to get up before Cole hit the floor with a thunder-drop five feet away. The blast knocked her back into the air where he grabbed her by the ankle and slammed her into the ground a second time. Her armor was cracked in several places, and there was no way she could try another biotic attack.

Kneeling over his beaten foe, Cole gave her an electric smack. "You're going to testify."

Barely able to control her spasming muscles at this point, Stirling spit a wad of blood at him. "Go to hell!"

Cole grabbed her by the hair and streamed a moderate charge of lightning through her system. "You're going to testify!" he screamed.

"Okay! Okay! Just make it stop!" Stirling pleaded. Instantly, the pain was replaced by a soothing current that made the feeling return to her body. Her muscles stopped twitching too, but she could hardly stay awake at this point.

Cole glared down at her, and said softly. "You're not doing this because I made the pain stop. You're doing this because you dishonored the uniform and killed your own brothers in arms. I take no pleasure in torture, but you forced me to beat some sense into you before I could get you to listen." He turned away from her and shouted, "Wrex? We all good?" She didn't her any response but obviously the krogan had said something, because the next thing she knew, Stirling was being dragged by the electric man out of Synthetic Insights.

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Noveria

Port Hanshan

Main Plaza

Administrative Assistant Office

Parasini couldn't believe this. She had been standing at the only way in or out of the Synthetic Insights offices, yet somehow they'd gotten by her and handed over the data to Qui'in in exchange for a garage pass. Her best shot at taking down Anoleis had somehow gone right past her! She was now back at her desk trying to think of a way to salvage the whole mess, when the door opened and the electro-Spectre, Cole MacGrath walked in, dragging a barely conscious Sergeant Stirling behind him. "Holy crap, MacGrath! What did you-" She realized too late that her natural accent had slipped out in her surprise. "Um... What seems to be the... Okay, I've got nothing. Cole, please tell me that you're as good as they say, and you have some kind of plan here?"

Cole dumped Stirling unceremoniously on the floor. "Nothing to worry about, Italy. My plan was to have about twenty people ready to talk, but Stirling decided to silence my detainees. Fortunately for you, she's 'decided' to testify, and six more are out cold in the Synthetic Insights offices. We've taken care of the bodies as a goodwill gesture. Out of curisoity, exactly who are you undercover for?"

Fully relieved that she would be out of the damn dress and heels soon, Parasini brought up her omni-tool and displayed her credentials. "Gianna Parasini. Noveria Internal Affairs. I have an arrest to make, and you have a Matriarch to catch, but I owe you and Commander Ryan a beer sometime."

"you know," Cole said to Wrex as they left Parasini to bring Anoleis to justice. "I'm starting to like this job." 

"Keep liking it," the massive krogan bellowed. "I'm counting on you guys to find me things to shoot." Cole just laughed.

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Noveria 

Port Hanshan

Garage Access

Ryan sighed. "Joker's bringing the Mako around to the garage as we speak. It should be waiting for you all when you get there. This where we part ways though. The paperwork is getting done more quickly (thank you Alex), but some of it needs Spectre authorization in the form of a handprint. Keep in contact as best you can. Peak 15 sound like trouble." Reluctantly, Ryan teleported back to the ship.

The moment they set foot in the garage, Cole's nerves went crazy. There was a lot of neuro-electric movement going on in the massive room, and that meant only one thing.

"We've got company!" he yelled as geth hoppers, juggernauts, shock troopers, and a destroyer swarmed the garage.

Liara quickly threw up a singularity, catching some of the hoppers and shock trooper in the field. They made easy targets for Garrus' long range shots. Wrex had run straight for the juggernauts, biotic barrier up and shotgun thundering away. Alex lashed out at the hoppers with his whipfist, effortlessly carving their lightweight frames in half. The lack of lightning was starting to bother them all. Cole never hung back in a fight. Wrex spared a glance to see what the hell Cole's deal was, but a glance was all he needed.

Cole was crawling weakly towards the disabled Grizzly tank that was in the garage. He swore never to give Ryan a hard time about the geth hopper again. He was immune to their cyberwarfare beams, but he had no idea that they were packing the same assassination shots as geth snipers. Now, with a clean puncture in the front and back of his right lung, Cole was desparate. The odds that his next stunt would actually work were incredibly low, but with no other option, he would take his chances. Hobbling up to the Grizzly's massive cannon, he used a kinetic pulse to assume indirect control of its mass acclerator.

It was a good thing that Wrex had started yelling like a madman, or Alex would never have noticed the giant fuel tank right behind him. Rather than get caught in the explosion, time slowed down as Alex hoisted the makeshift explosive over his head and tossed towards the part of the garage where the Grizzly's cannon was pointed. The thing hadn't even left his fingertips, and he was already dashing for Liara. At this moment, Cole launched the shot.

KABOOOM

The detonation rocked the entire garage as everything against the far walll, including part of the far wall, was completely blown to bits. Liara opened her eyes see Alex standing over her, gasping for breath. A moment later, she noticed the giant pieces of burning scrap metal lodged in his back. He had prevented those from slamming into her. She flushed. "By the goddess, Alex. Y-you..."

Alex, now yanking the blackened metal shards out of his back, just sighed. "Injuries like this are a regular Tuesday for me, Blue." The nickname seemed to just come naturally. "The only difference is I'm not used to doing it for someone else." He paused for a moment, then grinned. "Normally, taking a lethal blow like that on another person's behalf is considered significant and touching. I feel like I've cheapened the notion with my inability to die."

Liara didn't know what to say, but again external forces interrupted the two of them. She became aware of frantic shouting coming from Wrex and Garrus, and several ERCS guards led by Captain Matsuo that had arrived to investigate the noise. They were all running for the garage exit, where Cole was slowly trudging towards the door that led outside into the horrific cold.

Alex turned around, saw what was going on, and instantly put two and two together. "Cole you crazy bastard!"

Cole could feel the sharp sting of frostbite piece every nerve in his body, He endured it. It was no different than being on the receiving end of an attack from Vermaak 88's soldiers. "I hope this works," he groaned before throwing himself right off the frozen cliff. As he began to fall, Cole let the air friction turn into static charge, but instead of draining it, he used it to power a massive lightning storm. Which he brought down on himself as hell fell into the canyon. 

The plan was simple, but moderately insane. His mind remembered a life with and without the ice abilities that Lucky Kuo had transferred to him in New Marais. His body never really forgot. Genetic memory was powerful, as Desmond Miles would readily point out, and the old ice powers would return under the right conditions. Those conditions unfortunately dangerous. He basically needed a blizzard of this magnitude to freeze him half to death. Just as frying himself to reconnect the electrical flow in Empire City's substations had given him better electric powers, Cole was confident that something similar with ice would return his missing powers. Either that or it would kill him. But it was worth the risk. Even with his lightning, he felt like a limb was missing. The was the only chance he would get. 

Every single cell in his body seemed to get shocked, burnt, and frozen all at the same time, and then the world went white.

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New Solara

Station of Recovery

Kessler smirked at the prone figure of Cole MacGrath. He would have called it déjà vu, but he'd had quite enough of that both of their lifetimes. Still, he said it for old times' sake. "Reactivation plus two minutes. Pulse is forty-five. Respiration, ten. Lookin' good, Cole."

"Not... funny, old... man..." Cole gasped out.

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Noveria 

Aleutsk Valley 

Level 1 Cold Hazard

Two minutes since Cole's stunt.

"Alex," Garrus began gently. "I know that Cole's impressive, but maybe we should-"

"Not yet." Alex said instantly. "Give him another four minutes. If he doesn't show up by then, you can call Ryan to tell him the SOB is dead."

The words had scarcely left his mouth when a lone figure came flying out of the depths of the valley. The humanoid silhouette hit the ground in the distance. Through his visor, Garrus could clearly see who it was, but he didn't believe it. "How in the Spirits...?"

The turian's question was answered as a stalagmite was generated beneath Cole's feet, propelling him back towards the squad that had taken refuge in the Mako. Generating another stalagmite upon landing, Cole balanced on it and hollered, "I'm back!"

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