Chapter Text
Sirens echoed off the walls of the mostly empty warehouse, strobing indicator lights occasionally illuminating scattered stacks of crates. Laoise Shepard covered her ears and scrambled into cover, but the cargo provided little shelter from the sprinklers that let loose overhead, spitting fruitlessly at a non-existent fire.
“Where the fuck is Leo? I’m going to kill him.” She hissed the threat to no one through clenched teeth. This job was supposed to be textbook for the Reds – rescue a group of humans snatched from the Philadelphia alleyways by wannabe slavers, par for the course in the metropolis. Ever since Earth had cemented its status in the intergalactic community two decades ago, cities were rife with human trafficking as the demand for cheap labor now spanned multiple star systems. Families quickly fled to newly established human colonies, leaving those who could not afford the trip off-world behind. Their contact advised an exchange was meant to occur here, about a dozen people intended for a mining operation on another system, but someone tipped their target off. As soon as the Reds crossed the threshold of the depot, all hell broke loose as the slavers opened fire. Now her second-in-command, an older mercenary who called himself Leo, was missing in action when she needed him most.
Suddenly, shots rang out – first one, then the burst of an automatic weapon unloading.
“Leo!”
The echoes made it more difficult to triangulate the location of the gunfire, but Laoise still scrambled to her feet, knuckles turning white around the grip of her pistol as she scanned the room. She shuffled through the pooling water on the warehouse floor, making her way to the main shipping office that was the group’s original rendezvous point. Its door was locked as expected, but the giant observation window overlooking the cargo bay was now shattered to bits, its shards glittering amidst the puddles. As she approached, the sound of voices became noticeable under the blaring of the siren. Laoise ducked beneath the window ledge, squatting with her back pressed against the wall and pistol at the ready as disembodied voices behind her began to argue.
“Your team were supposed to be unarmed. What about ‘pick up civilians’ says, ‘show up fully armed’?”
“Listen, if you knew the shit we usually dealt with on these operations, you’d make sure you can hold your own.”
“Oh, sorry, I forgot your whole ‘vigilante’ thing. You couldn’t convince anyone to leave a gun at home today?”
“Have you seen Shepard? Girl doesn’t go anywhere unarmed.” Laoise knew the second voice in an instant – Leo. The bastard. “Besides, you knew the bitch is biotic. You never would’ve stood a chance one-on-one. Best move is to flush the little rat out, force her to retreat, and take what we got. Five healthy bodies’ll fetch us at least a grand – if we patch up the sixth one, maybe another hundo.”
The first voice laughed, but there was no joy. It was hollow and angry, meant to dismiss Leo, to make him feel small. “Cerberus isn’t paying me to adopt your litter of street urchins, McCabe. They want biotics. I’m here for the biotic.” BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. Each gunshot, slow and deliberate, rang out clearly over the din of the fire alarm. Six shots. Six members of the Reds, other than her and Leo. “Now bring me Shepard.”
The office door slid open and Laoise heard two sets of footsteps retreating through the puddles, one set focused and heavy, the second favoring one foot over the other – Leo’s right ankle tended to flare up under stress. After the door shut, she sat for a moment, the sound of the sprinklers and the siren fading into the background like static as the reality of the situation sunk in and the water soaked her clothes.
This was a trap. Their intel was bad. There was no slaver. Leo McCabe betrayed the Reds. Something named Cerberus wanted her. One two three four fix six shots.
Her team.
Laoise winced as she slowly stood – shards of glass ripped through her too-tight jeans, blood mixing with water on the concrete floor. She stepped through the hole previously occupied by the windowpane with her pistol prepared in case Leo or his unnamed companion returned. A brief scan with her omni-tool didn’t reveal any surprises, just a quickly fading mass of hot spots in the corner of the room: the Reds.
They were laid out along the opposite wall, face down and shoulder-to-shoulder, hands tied behind their backs. Each had been shot execution style, a single bullet through the back of their head. Laoise flipped her teammates over one by one while silent tears mixed with dirty water from the sprinkler on her freckled cheeks.
Mitchell. The oldest on their crew, the one they all called “Dad,” whether he liked it or not. She had never met a more impressive engineer – Mitch could fix anything you handed him and always had a smile on his face while doing it. He looked even older now, the grey in his long dark hair and beard obvious even in the still-flashing lights.
Korin. Just enlisted with the Alliance for his eighteenth birthday. His parents died in the First Contact War when both were stationed in Shanxi. Laoise remembered how excited he was to finally get off this rock and make something of himself. His glasses lay askew on his face, one lens completely popped out. She adjusted them over his closed eyes.
Emelie. Too young to be as talented a sniper as she was. Only a year her junior, Emelie quickly became the bad cop to Laoise’s good cop – while the latter preferred to working things out with words, the former never hesitated to pop off a round in a kneecap to get some answers. She and Korin recently started dating, and she was eager to ship off with him as soon as possible.
Imrah. A transplant from some country to the south that Laoise could never remember. She was quiet, hard, always had her right hand on her revolver and her left hand on a hidden blade somewhere. Her wedding ring never left her finger, but she never spoke of a partner. She came to Philly hoping for a better future and got wrapped up trying to do some good for others instead.
Vogel. Always hiding his insecurity behind jokes and tricked-out shotguns. His pockets were filled with ammunition and granola bars, which Laoise came to appreciate. Someone had to make sure the group ate, after all. He was clearly the victim of the first round of gunfire she heard: along with the solitary hole in his head, his chest was ripped open, torn apart by an automatic weapon. Probably Leo’s response to some half-hearted joke made in a desperate attempt to save their hides.
Penny. Laoise told Penny not to come, that it was too risky. She was the baby of the Reds, only fifteen and left behind when her parents fled to the new colonies. They didn’t have the funds to bring her along. The team took her in, promised to keep her safe, and now…
Laoise stood up and stepped back, taking one last look at her now-deceased crew. “I’m so sorry,” she quietly choked out, her throat aching with suppressed sobs. “I never meant for any of this to happen.” When she joined the Reds two years ago, they were petty criminals taking turns warming beds in the city jail, gaining infamy for their virulent anti-alien rhetoric as human kidnappings ramped up. The group splintered with multiple factions referring to themselves by the name; Shepard fighting back ferociously against the questionable reputation other Reds cultivated. Their efforts finally made a dent – they were getting hired for jobs, helpful jobs, the kinds that would only improve life for the humans still on Earth.
And now, it was all for nothing.
She muttered a prayer for her friends, unfamiliar words to a being she didn’t quite believe in, begging for them to get the peace they so deserved. Once she felt the deity was satisfied, she turned from the bodies on the floor to finish the Reds’ last job.
“Leo!” Laoise shouted using every ounce of air in her lungs. She aimed her pistol to the ceiling and fired off a few rounds – if he was still in the building, there’s no way he didn’t hear it. “Come on, you motherfucker! Face me!” The sprinklers continued their deluge; the roar of pounding water on concrete was the only sound in the empty warehouse. The buzzer had long since given up its task of alerting non-existent ears to a non-existent emergency. Finally, the rickety metal balcony overhead let out a loud groan behind her. She whipped around, fingering the trigger, and saw Leo watching her from above with a satisfied grin on his heavily scarred face.
He was once Laoise’s go-to guy, an experienced mercenary who chased the woman he loved to Philadelphia and didn’t have the money to follow her off-planet. Leo tried to take down a trafficking ring himself but was instead taken hostage, then rescued by the Reds, which led to him reluctantly joining their cause. Now, he stood over her with the clear advantage and he knew it.
“It’s over, Shepard,” he proclaimed, “your Reds are gone, and I’ve been paid big money to bring you in, especially if you’re still breathing.”
“Not a chance.” She stood stalwart, feet shoulder width apart, pistol pointed right between Leo’s eyes. “I trusted you, Leo. We all did.”
“Trusting anyone on this shitty rock was your first mistake. Why fight so hard for a planet that doesn’t give a fuck about you?”
Rage and biotic energy swirled through Laoise, hot and unfocused. Before she could retort, she was hurtling into him, a glowing mass effect field propelling her to the balcony where the traitor stood. She slammed him against the wall, forearm pressed firmly against his throat, burning it.
“It was never about me.” The two glared at each other, Laoise’s fist raised and crackling with dark energy, Leo’s gloating smirk now a sputtering struggle for breath.
A large crash to their right interrupted the confrontation. The warehouse’s metal door began sliding up on its tracks, gradually revealing the painfully bright high beams of law enforcement vehicles. Laoise shielded her eyes from the light, releasing her grip on Leo. His eyes jumped frantically between Shepard and their interloper – was the money worth it after all? Ultimately, he threw his hands up in defeat and turned to leave.
“You got off lucky this time, Shepard – though you should’ve considered taking your chances with Cerberus. Those look like Alliance trucks.” He disappeared, allowing the darkness between each jarring flash of the emergency light to swallow him whole.
Alliance? It didn’t make sense for those military thugs to be on Earth, let alone in a shitty warehouse in Philadelphia. The sprinklers were now shut off and the depot was quickly filled with scattered conversations and heavy, methodical footfalls through puddles as the soldiers scanned the room. Laoise sat as still as possible, finger hovering over the trigger, now ducked behind the balcony’s guardrail.
“Fill me in, Wilmoth. Why are we here again?” A voice asked, coming through clearly over the din. His tone sounded authoritative but exhausted, as though this was the last item on a very long to-do list.
“Our Cerberus contact gave us intel – they’re looking for biotics, preferably kids. There’s one in a local gang that’s been causing problems for them… and us.” The steps came to a stop barely ten feet away from her, close enough she could hear the first man’s exasperated sigh. “Nothing major, Commander Anderson. Just some flat tires and destroyed recruitment materials.”
“Do we know anything about the target?”
“Nothing, sir.”
“A shame. I hope Cerberus didn’t get them.”
They began to retreat, continuing their discussion. Laoise held her breath and weighed her options. They hadn’t noticed her; if she stayed right here, they wouldn’t see her, and she could get away. But what next? She was alone, no Reds, no friends, just the shoddy little apartment in Center City they shared. The apartment that would be filled floor-to-ceiling with their belongings, reminders they’re no longer around. There was nothing left there for her. There were no other options – just one.
“Excuse me?” She stood, placing her gun down in front of her and holding up both her hands. “Hi. I think they were looking for me.” The Alliance officers eyed her curiously, as though they were still waiting for her ambush from above. After a beat, the older man took a step closer to her. His sharply tailored coat, decorated with glimmering badges, stood out in the sea of flak jackets – the commander himself.
“What’s your name, kid?”
“Shepard. Laoise Shepard.”
“And where are your parents, Shepard?”
She scoffed. “Beats me. Not even sure they’re in this star system anymore.” He chuckled at her casual response. Laoise slid off the balcony, landing with a thud by their side. “Who are you?”
“Commander David Anderson, Alliance.” His answer was snappy, practiced. “We’re supposed to be here on a recruiting trip, but we got a little side-tracked when we heard about Cerberus operating in town. You okay?” He gave her a once-over. She squirmed under his stern eye.
“Been better. Mostly just wet, sore.” She couldn’t stop herself from staring at the office beyond him. “He killed my friends.”
Anderson was taken aback but recovered quickly – he silently gestured for his men to examine the office while he guided Laoise in the other direction, a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry to hear that. It’s never easy.” He sounded genuine. He had experience.
She gave an indignant sniff, not yet open to connecting with the stranger. “Nothing I can do about it now, I guess.” Now that Leo escaped. “So, can I come with you?”
“You want to come with us? How old are you?”
“Seventeen. Well, turning seventeen in April.”
Anderson pinched the bridge of his nose as he considered her request. “So, what? You want to enlist with the Alliance? You’re not old enough yet.”
“I’m biotic, remember? And it’s not like I have anywhere else to go. Or I could just wait here for Cerberus…” Laoise trailed off, rolling her eyes at the commander and pursing her lips. He looked to the ceiling – perhaps wondering what his superiors might say? Maybe he thought she was more trouble than she was worth. After what felt like eternity, he let out a long exhale.
“You make a fine point, Shepard,” Anderson conceded. “Welcome aboard.” He extended his right hand, which she gladly grasped with both of hers and gave an enthusiastic shake.
“Pleasure doing business, sir.” A wicked grin crossed her face – one Commander Anderson would come to know all too well.