23 - Jack: Subject 0 (3)

Right after that small briefing and after RR made the stealth unnamed ship become airborne right above the base, the doors to the hangar opened and everyone that was able to fight jumped out of the ship.

They had a device that slowed down their fall on their armor, so as not to die because of it. Yes, something similar to a jet pack but at the same time, not a jet pack.

Of course, the ship was invisible, but not them. So, when they jumped out and landed on the roof of the base, almost immediately alarms started to sound.

'' You know your mission! Don't die!''

After Samael said that, he went alone towards the west side of the facility. Everyone watched as he launched himself out of the roof, made a maneuver midair, and entered the facility by breaking a window. 

Then, everyone else also went to do their mission, doing the same as him but in different locations.

Well, their locations were different but the reception was the same.

WITH VERONICA AND JOHN

BANG BANG

True to their infamous nature, the guards around the facility were prepared as soon as the alarm sounded, so when the crew entered through the windows, they were met with a barrage of shots.

'' Take cover!''

Veronica screamed and looked around for something to hide. While their armor was enough to handle a few shots, she didn't want to risk it. She took Natasha with her hands and threw the bewildered civilian towards cover.

There were at least 20 guards in their area and they only had around 10 people. 

After also getting into a cover, Veronica then looked at Natasha, who had already recovered from her initial shock and was shooting the Cerberus guards. Nodding towards the woman's attitude, Veronica did the same.

Shooting towards the guards while in cover, Veronica was able to kill one guard in the process. ' It seems our bullets were better than them.'

Of course they are, as Samael gave his crew an advanced and special thermal clip, capable of breaking most armor/shields with just a few shots.

John saw the guard dying somehow easily and shouted to the team, '' Our bullets are very effective! Aim to kill and don't miss!''

Also knowing their armor was better, a few of the crew got quite reckless and got out of their covers and advanced at the guards. What ensued next was a mixture of stabbing with their omni tool, while some others shot.

While Samael's crew was outnumbered, thanks to their superior equipment and reckless behavior, they were already winning this initial fight.

Of course, as the reckless behavior was, well, reckless, it was bound to bring some trouble.

'' ARGHH!'' 

Veronica looked toward the sound that was made and noticed it was one of their own. It seemed his shield gave out and he was shot in the leg.

'' COVER!''

At this point in time, 5 minutes passed since their fight began, and the number was now equal. 11 Cerberus guards were killed while only one of Samael's crew was injured.

John immediately shot the guard who broke that man's shield then jumped toward the fallen ally. He then dragged him to safety behind cover.

After making sure they were somehow okay, the man who was shot immediately used the Advance Med Gel, exclusively made for the crew, and the wound healed almost instantly. He also immediately apologized to John, '' Sorry... I got too arrogant and -''

'' Don't need to say that to me. We all felt the same.''

While the crew had fought before, they were passionate in this particular fight, as Cerberus struck a nerve targeting poor people from the slums scattered on Earth and the Galaxy. So, they went above the protocol and wanted to kill every Cerberus agent.

While it worked until now, the armor finally gave up, and one of them was injured. Of, course, thanks to the Med Gel, he was out of danger, but it served as warning for the rest.

They are stronger than the Cerberus agents, but not invincible. They could die too if they are not careful.

'' Can you continue fighting?'' John asked while getting up from his seated position.

The now healed man nodded, '' Let's give them hell.''

John nodded and returned to the fight. Soon after that, that part of the facility was cleaned and only Samael's crew remained.

'' Now what?'' Asked one of the crew members.

'' We look for the test subject while killing everyone related to Cerberus.''

Right after Veronica said that there was a nearby explosion. Not too big but not too small either.

Natasha asked with corcen in her voice, '' Should we be worried about it?''

Of course, she was very much distraught, as she was very close to reuniting with her long-lost daughter, so with every movement or sound that was made, she reacted with worry.

'' No, don't worry. If there was really trouble, it would be for Cerberus.'' Veronica said in a reassuring tone.

While Natasha, a civilian and newbie to the team, might not know about their fighting power, Veronica and the rest do. 

It wasn't a stretch to say that the people who were attacking the other parts of the base, meaning Samael, Javik, and Miranda, were enough to handle the base alone.

They were after all, above their level. 

'' Now, let's rescue everyone!''

--

WITH JAVIK AND MIRANDA

' Boring.'

Javik thought as he launched a biotic black hole toward and specific location. He watched as the nearby hiding guards were sucked into its small orbit and he shot them dead in instants.

' No one here will give me a challenge?'

He looked toward Miranda and noticed she also was easily killing the guards with the same style as him, just as he trained her. Using her biotics to get them out of cover and then using their special thermal clips to kill them easily.

' Well, I have to admit, Samael is really good.'

Javik had nothing but praise for the human. He asked around and found out he trained a lot of people, to fight the Reapers in the future, and also gave advanced equipment to his crew. This thermal clip and better armor were the highlights.

Even in his cycle, there were very few things on this particular level, meaning Samael was better than the Protheans scientist, as he supposedly created both the special thermal clip with special bullets and the armor. Of course, not by so much, but well, the point remains.

A species that was considered primitive managed to make something better than his species, which was the master of that cycle. It was admirable.

' But, that does make the fight a lot more easier.'

While Veronica and John had 10 x 20, Javik and Miranda had 2x30. And they were almost winning already, as only 5 were remaining.

And those 5 clearly were almost peeing their pants, seeing as they were blindly firing from their cover. They were missing all their shots of course, and bullets that did hit close or them were denied by the shield from the armor. Hell, they didn't even manage to break the biotic cover he put on his shield.

' Boring...'

Javik thought of that once more when suddenly there was an explosion near his location. When he looked around, he noticed Mirada was ok, but nearby, there was a hole in the wall, and from outside, a machine came through it.

' I don't know what that is but ... it seems fun!'

Just as he thought that there were five shots in Miranda's direction. When the Protehan looked over, he noticed the last 5 guards were killed, leaving only the big machine in front of them.

'' A Mech, huh... This could be trouble.'' Miranda said that while changing clips.

'' Do you know what that is? '' Javik asked while prepping his biotic powers.

Miranda nodded, '' That thing is called Mech. It is a machine piloted by others or by a VI. It has a lot of strength and there's a lot of variety of it... Essentially, it's a small mecha.''

'' It's a creative piece of machinery.''

'' You guys didn't have that in your cycle?''

Javik nodded, '' We didn't need that to fight our fight.''

Miranda thought for a while and knew the Prothean was telling the truth. His race was the master of their cycle, owner of the entire galaxy, a race cultivated to fight and grow stronger. So, they really didn't need to create a Mech, as they most likely didn't need it.

'' Makes sense. It's weakness ar-''

Javik interrupted Miranda as he charged toward the unknown Mech.

'' I don't need to know! Everyone and everything dies with enough damage!''

Miranda sighed and smiled at the same time thanks to the Protehan attitude. She then also used her biotic powers and charged toward the Mech.

--

WITH SAMAEL

Samael knew that this base had roughly 100 or so agents. He also knew the place where Jack was located had more personnel around as, well, she was the most powerful subject they had.

So, he took it upon himself to deal with the most dangerous area but at the same, he also wanted to train the others in war, as while they were trained well, they didn't have experience. So he left around 50 for others and around 50 for him.

BANG

' That makes 30 ... I think.'

After killing what he thought was the 30 agent, Samael began to think about Jack's predicament in all cycles.

Although Samael didn't let Jack suffer much longer than necessary, he knew the hell she'd been through so far. It didn't make him happy, but it was the only way she could survive in this galaxy, where there was danger everywhere.

While they were rescuing other subjects and killing the other Cerberus agents, Samael was alone and looking after the sector where he knew Jack was.

He had already fought off three Cerberus agents, and the mask of normality he put in front of others was starting to fall a little.

Samael was smiling widely from behind his helmet. It was as if when he fought seriously, and his life was on the line, he became someone else.

More ferocious, more deadly.

It was something he didn't have much control over because it was something he'd received by living for so long.

After all, for a long time, his only source of happiness was fighting, as it brought him closer to death than anything.

And in this last cycle of his, this was the third time he could 'relax' and let his mask fall and reveal a little of his true nature.

The other 2 were in the fight against Jaret when they attacked the other slums.

BANG

After killing yet another Cerberus agent, Samaael was painting, not because he was tired, no. Because he was excited.

"This is life!"

That's why he doesn't participate much in the fight because he's afraid of losing control. But he also wanted to fight, because I brought him a lot of joy.

It was a contradictory feeling, to do something he wanted while also holding himself back for the sake of others.

This is also why he wanted others to help him manage LD, both the company and the mercenary group. Although he was afraid of losing control, he knew his place. His true calling.

It was at the frontline of battle, dancing with death.

The problem was trying to balance everything. At the same time as he felt joy, he also felt other things, like lust.

It was almost like all his feelings were amplified while he was fighting. He knew about this, and in other cycles, he had help from Liara, Shepard, and Tali, so he managed to keep his urges in control.

But in this cycle, he never did the deed yet.

Normally, it wasn't trouble, but now, it was starting to affect him a little.

'Should I ask someone to deal with this urge?'

Perhaps he could go and see a few Asari consort in the Citadel.

But, that was still in the future, for now, he had to deal with saving Jack.

While thinking about this problem, Samael arrived at Jack's cell.

"Let's see how this goes."

He opened it and inside he saw Jack in all her glory, naked for some reason.

'' Hello there!''

Immediately after Samael said that Jack tried to attack him with a biotic wave, but he knew her personality, so he was prepared.

But even if Samael was prepared, it was difficult to fight a biotic, even more so a super powerful one like Jack, that could kill him quite easily if he dropped his guard.

Taking advantage of the fact he knew she would attack as soon as he entered, instead of retreating, Samael went ahead and pounced at Jack.

She immediately tried to form a biotic barrier but Samael was faster. In the blink of an eye, after dodging the biotic wave, Samael was pointing a gun toward her stomach.

'' Now now, don't need to do that. We are here to rescue the test subject in this facility.''

Jack noticed something was odd with the man in front of him. She could feel him smiling even through his helmet. And she could also see his eyes...

It was filled with mixtures of feeling. Madness, joy, lust, everything was mixed creating a somehow creepy yet mesmerizing spectacle. It took a few seconds for Jack to react to him and what he said.

'' How can I trust you?''

'' Do you even have a choice? Besides, I literally killed at least 40 Cerberus agents just to get close to you. Trust me.''

She stopped gathering her biotic powers, '' So why are you pointing that gun at me?''

That made Samael recover from his strange state of mind, and he lowered his gun, '' It was a precaution. I know you will understand.''

After he did that, silence filled the room. Jack was still naked and Samael still had lust in his system. But, he fought back against it and struggled to say, '' Do you have any clothes on you?''

Jack could hear his struggles and thought it was quite amusing that he was thinking THAT while in the middle of a Cerberus base, right after killing a lot of people, from what she could see behind him. So, she nodded and bent over in her small cell. She did that deliberately to show the unknown man in front of her a show.

She then put the clothes on and prepared to leave.

The man in armor suddenly offered a handshake, '' My name is Samael, by the way.''

Jack looked at the stretched hand and took it on her own, '' Jack.''

'' Nice to meet you. Now, how about we destroy this base once and for all?''

Now that made Jack happy, as she smiled sadistically, '' You should've said that from the beginning!''