Revenge - Part 6

Thomson did not sleep. Instead, he planned. He logged on to the extranet and, using coordinates given by the tracking system that belonged to his pistol, he brought up some rough plans of a long-since-abandoned Krogan laboratory. It was where Vengeance was hiding with Emi.
Apparently his planning was also keeping Srateris and Bei awake, so they were helping him too.
"So this is what we're going to do," he told them, "Srateris, the facility is located in a bowl of sand. I want you providing sniper support from the top, since you'll be in an elevated position. Bei, you cover him. I will enter the facility. They haven't had time to make that much of a force so I could probably deal with them by myself. We will stay in radio silence unless if it is absolutely necessary. Any questions?"
"Yeah," Bei said, tilting her head in confusion, "What happens if you meet a Banshee?"
"I'll kill it," he said, "I'll go and get the equipment I need."
As Thomson turned towards the several silver crates that held the equipment the group had, Bei sighed and said to Srateris quietly, "What's wrong with him? He can't enter a Reaper facility alone."
Srateris nodded in agreement, "I read his file. Apparently he has entered several enemy facilities alone and come out alive. There was an incident in London whilst the Reapers were attacking. He tried to rescue Emi by launching a small attack against a large Cerberus safe house, in the middle of Reaper-controlled city. He must kind of go into a blood rage mode when Emi is kidnapped."
"It's understandable, though," Bei said, "They do love each other and they've had children together. Seriously, Emi told me how much she loves him. It's gone beyond a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship into something where they can't be apart from each other. Like they mentally can't stand being apart. I've never seen anything like it. I've seen people who love each other and want to be with each other, but they would do anything for one another. It's..."
"... silly?" Srateris questioned, "A military man shouldn't be allowed to have a wife and child. Especially with the situations Thomson has been in over the past few years. They can only be used against him."
"I wouldn't say silly. I think it's cute," Bei shrugged, "But I agree with the other stuff. They're easy for the enemy to exploit. Going back to the point, though, don't you think it's like... They are so in love. I will bet you two thousand credits they'll still be together by the time they die."
"Deal," said Srateris, "But if one of us dies, just upload the credits to the account anyway."
"What if both of us die?"
"Thomson can upload the credits."
"And what if we all die?"
"Then the deal is off. Because we'll be dead."
They shook hands, though somewhat awkwardly. Both had been in contact with humans, but had not yet mastered the action of a handshake. They accidentally did it in the wrong direction, instead of moving their hands up and down, they ended up moving them horizontally. But still. It had the same effect.
"I can hear you, you know," Thomson said, "You're not exactly being quiet. Yes, Emi and I love each other. And I'm going to rescue her. But you don't have to put a bet on something that is practically certain. As you said, Bei, Quarians are extremely loyal. And so am I."
"I can see that," Srateris said with a nod as Thomson loaded two M-11 pistols and two M-3 Predator pistols and attached them to holsters on his belt.
"How many weapons do you want?" Bei asked, nodding towards him.
"As many as I need. About twelve. Well, that's what I have so far."

As Thomson had said, the empty Krogan facility was in the middle of a large dip in the sand - like a bowl. It wasn't exactly the best place to hide a facility, due to the fact that it was in a completely useless tactical position... But it had been a medical research centre. It had no military importance. So for whatever reason why Vengeance had decided to make a base out of the array of laboratories, Thomson knew that it was in no way connected to a defensive position.
There was something else going on, he was sure of it.
Srateris was laid at the top of the hill with his extremely powerful sniper rifle aimed at the facility below. The facility was made up of what seemed to be several long white corridors, though Thomson knew that each would probably lead to a different laboratory.
He made his way down the hill, which only took him a few moments. The inclination of the slope meant that he had no choice but to run down. He was armed to the teeth with weapons. Two M-8 Avengers, two Katana shotguns, several knives, two M-11 silenced pistols, two M-3 Predator pistols, two Phaeston rifles and two Locust sub-machine guns. He couldn't move very fast because of this, but he had no need to move fast. The back of his armour was full with compacted weapons.
Thomson reached the front door. There were no guards, no nothing. Not even a single Husk was in sight.
He had not yet drawn any weapons, so he summoned a mass effect field in his hand and threw a shockwave at the heavy metal door. It crumpled inwards and was sent flying into the interior of the abandoned medical station.
He stepped inside, grabbing a M-3 Predator from his belt. The bright lights on his helmet activated and lit up the darkness. Even though it was daytime outside, the bowl of sand prevented any light from entering the facility, shrouding it in a mysterious band of darkness.
There was a growling noise. He turned just to look into the eyes of a Husk, who stared back at him with its blue, lifeless, synthetic eyes.
He took it down with a well-placed headshot at point blank range. The now completely lifeless corpse hit the floor.
More growls were audible all around him. The room came alive with glowing eyes and flashing synthetic equipment. All Husks.
He growled back at the organic-synthetic zombies. He saw their twisted muscles clench as they prepared to dive at him. His muscles clenched in anticipation.
The first one moved, but so did he.
As a Husk sailed through the air at him, he stepped to the side and shot it in the head before it had even hit the ground. He double-tapped a Husk that was running at him and it dropped with two rounds in its chest.
He then spun, and began firing at the Husks on the other side of him, shooting almost blindly at the glowing eyes. Several dropped, but the others started closing in even more. When his pistol clicked empty, he threw the useless weapon at the Husks, and drew one of the Locusts instead.
For the pistols, each weapon, he only had one magazine left. So that left his second M-3 Predator with no ammo.
Thomson pulled the trigger on the sub-machine gun and it immediately sent several rounds through the head of a Husk. He didn't stop firing until every blue light in the room went dim.
He returned the Locust to his back and detached his trusty M-8 Avenger as he walked into the next laboratory. There was a high pitched scream that pierced the air around him. Banshee.
The laboratory he was now in actually had bright lights that lit up the room. He could see a lot better than he could in darkness, although it took his eyes several moments to adjust.
There was a blue flash and a Banshee appeared in front of him. It towered over him with its long twisted body. It had its hands - and its sharp claws - at its side.
Thomson dived to the side as a pulse of blue energy flew at him. He put his M-8 away and drew one of his shotguns. His rifle collapsed for ease of transport as the M-23 Katana folded outwards.
The first shot he fired did absolutely nothing but cause miniature ripples across the surface of the Banshee's biotic barriers. If he wanted to take it out easily, he'd have to get in close. Which would be somewhat problematic since Banshees tended to stab you with their claws, and had devastating biotic powers.
Oh well.
The Banshee launched a biotic warp at him. Thomson dodged it by jumping up on to a lab table, which put his head on the level with the Banshee. As he moved in close it slashed its claws at him, meaning that he had to take a step back to avoid his head being severed from his body.
He kicked the Banshee as it attempted to stab him, knocking its hand down. As he did so, however, he pushed the barrel of his shotgun through the biotic barrier that encased the creature, and pulled the trigger right into its face.
Its head was torn apart nearly instantly. It was dead before it hit the ground.
He collected his M-8 again, and put the shotgun back on his back. The rifle unfolded as the shotgun collapsed.
Thomson continued walking into the next laboratory. The second to last.
This was full of the Reaper-Krogans. They growled at him as he walked into the lab and began firing some energy weapons that had been grafted to their arms. He took cover behind a table, but could still hear the sounds as the bullets hit the wood on the other side.
He rested his rifle against the top of the table and began firing. Luckily they had no armour or shields, so he was able to take them out with about five shots to the head. Each. They had the thick skin of the Krogan after all.
The last laboratory. And he'd bet any money that was where Emi was being held. But that also meant that Vengeance was there too.
Once again, he ripped the door open with a biotic shockwave, and stepped in. The door made a clanging noise as it hit the floor.
It was no laboratory. The walls were a dark brown, and there were bars on the windows, making it seem like a dungeon than a medical facility.
Emi was sat on a chair with blue energy surrounding her arms and chest. She was being held in place by mass effect fields.
The dark, cloaked figure - Vengeance - was stood next to her. He had got himself in a defensive position as soon as the door had been knocked in.
"... Thomson!" Emi cried, "He's..."
"Hello Lieutenant," said Vengeance, interrupting her.
"Hello you son of a bitch," Thomson responded, putting his rifle on his back and drawing a large knife. Vengeance drew his own blade, this one with a vicious serrated edge. Thomson noticed a small device was protruding from the sleeve of his cloak.
He summoned a mass effect field in his hand and sent a shockwave at Vengeance. The device unfolded and there was a soft whump and a concussive shot intercepted the rippling field of biotic energy.
There was only a handful of people who Thomson knew who had figured out what a concussive shot could do to a mass effect field. Most of them had been killed when the Reapers struck. The only remaining one he had killed himself.
"But that's impossible..."
Vengeance moved his hands to his hood and swept it back, revealing a face covered with cybernetics. Wires were trailing in from his neck and shoulders and there were pulsating lights beneath his almost translucent skin.
Despite the radical changes from the indoctrination, the face was very recognisable.
Vengeance was Renswick.