Miranda's Distraction

The shuttle craft didn't even have time to touch down before its two passengers leapt out of it, landing on the heavily corroded rooftop as gracefully as they could given their narrow window of opportunity. Miranda waved a hand at the pilot, giving him the clearance to return to the Normandy's shuttle bay before any trackers picked up its presence, leaving both her and Kasumi on their own, without so much as a glare from Garrus's sniper keeping a watchful eye over their progress. All they had was company was the ambient red glow of the Omega skyline.

Hunting down Blood Pack bases was hardly Miranda's idea of a good use of her vast talents, but she was never one to voice her complaints when it came to Cerberus intel marking targets. Instead of continuing with their investigation into the disappearance of human colonies at the hands of the Collectors, the Normandy had been pulled away from its duties by Cerberus command to seek out and deal with the Blood Pack. The mercenary group had recently turned their attention away from their usual activities, focusing instead on piracy.

Miranda didn't care what the Blood Pack did when they found themselves short on contract work, nor did she take any interest in the seizure of shipments of red sand that were intended for the Illium marketplace, along with a the near destruction of a handful of Salarian science vessels that just happened to get in the way. It wasn't unheard of for the main mercenary organisations to diversify their credit making ventures, boarding ships to swipe their cargo was always a high risk, high reward scheme, keeping them well trained and well paid when work dried up.

But it certainly became an issue when the Blood Pack started to grow bolder in their pursuit for financial gain and a boost in reputation amongst their rivals. Stealing shipments of red sand soon grew into the targeting of vessels transporting heavy weapons, typically those destined for the Terminus systems. When that wasn't enough, they turned their sights towards far more tantalising targets, attacking ships directly affiliated with the Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy. It brought far more attention to their shadowy deeds, but even the threat of intervention from the likes of the Turians wasn't enough to cajole them into stopping.

But it was when they started to set their eyes upon Cerberus freighters that the Illusive man decided to act. The very nature of Cerberus's secrecy meant that their transport lanes were kept slim, just to avoid drawing any unwanted attention from the Alliance. It kept their operations on a need to know basis, but it had the knock on effect of making their freighters vulnerable to those with ill intention. What started with a few small shipments of material goods soon expanded into the theft of highly classified technology, the likes of which wouldn't normally find their way into the open market for some years to come. Once their proprietary technology started to crop up on the black market, Cerberus had little option but to send a personal warning to the Blood Pack.

Miranda opened her omni-tool and used its scanner to assess the first few floors below them, searching for any signs of life within the abandoned warehouse. An orange grid appeared on the surface of the roof, highlighting any hostiles occupying the floors below. She let out a relieved sigh, glad to see that their intel had correctly predicted the lack of a significant defence force within. The odds weren't completely on their side, but Miranda just hoped that Kasumi's tech wizardry would draw some of the heat off them as they navigated their way towards the objective.

"We have a clear line to the storage area," Miranda confirmed, using her finger to draw a line around the three dimensional map, highlighting the areas where they faced the least possible resistance, "if we stick to this path we might just be able to avoid a conflict."

"Aw, I was looking forward to getting to use my pistol for once," Kasumi pouted, following the path Miranda had set out closely, paying special attention to the various access panels that could be found along it. "But being the tech specialist is fun and all, but I always miss out on the action."

"Given that we're looking at this place being guarded mainly by Vorcha, I think avoiding conflict would be ideal for both of us," Miranda replied, deactivating her omni-tool once they were both confident they could stick to the route. Withdrawing her pistol from her thigh holster, Miranda readied herself for whatever was waiting for them. "Are you clear on what you're doing?"

"First, disconnect the security systems to make sure the pyros don't try to cook us alive," Kasumi counted with her fingers, tapping her lip thoughtfully. "Second, assume control over the facility, locking the Blood Pack out of the automated defence systems they have in place. Then we finish with an explosive finale. Is that about it?"

"And us being as far away from this dump once it ignites, I'd keep that one in mind," Miranda reminded her, leading the way towards the entrance to the stairwell, "I don't want to get caught in the blast radius. And I most certainly do not want to piss off Aria, we have enough problems to deal with without having to worry about her sending her goons after us."

"If it's a hit and run job you need, then you've brought the right woman," Kasumi grinned, covering Miranda's rear as they made their descent, "the Blood Pack won't know what hit 'em."

The stunning duo swiftly made their way down the stairs, forced to take a few leaps of faith when they encountered sections of the warehouse that had experienced a collapse due to centuries of wear and tear. Miranda moved with a feline grace, landing a series of fatal shots to any of the mercenaries foolish enough to allow her to sneak up behind them. Just seeing the poor state of the structure left Miranda surprised that it hadn't simply collapsed in on itself before their arrival. Miranda reasoned that if the decrepit warehouse was the best thing the Blood Pack could afford to use as a base, then their financial situation was far more dire that she had expected, making it all the more important for them to be scared off before they accelerated their piracy operation.

A few well placed biotic blasts cleared any debris that threatened to encumber their rapid progress. Once they could no longer rely on the warped and buckled stairs, Miranda made the decision to alter her course slightly. Timing a perfect jump to the concrete surface below, Miranda used an unsuspecting Vorcha to break her fall, snapping its neck with her powerful thighs in the process. Kasumi shot Miranda an impressed look when she made her own descent, using the steel rope hanging from an old crane to rappel down.

"I can think of many worse ways to go than having those thighs around my head during my last few living moments," Kasumi smirked, helping Miranda back to her feet, dropping a charging Varren that loped towards them.

"I'm glad I could make his departure a pleasurable one. The vault should be beneath this level," Miranda searched around what had once been a docking bay, which still possessed the various pieces of lifting equipment and loading vehicles from its better days, "the beacon says they're beneath our feet. But the plans for this warehouse made it clear that this was the ground floor, this place wasn't designed to come with a basement."

"Must've dug one themselves," Kasumi suggested, using a few of her own modifications to her omni-tool to scan for cavities in the seemingly solid floor, jumping over the prone form of the Varren, preoccupied with the sensor as it measured the density of the ground beneath her feet. "They've got the equipment, even if its all banged up and in dire need of repair."

"No wonder they're always in desperate need of credits," Miranda folded her arms, keeping her dazzling blue eyes honed in on the shadows of the dimly lit loading bay, hovering her finger barely an inch from the trigger of her pistol, "they waste their ill gotten gains purchasing the deed to crumbling infrastructure and spend God knows how much of it excavating the place. It's a mystery how they haven't been absorbed by the likes of the Blue Suns yet."

"Because nobody in their right mind would ever consider recruiting both the Krogans and the Vorcha, they can barely cooperate as it is. The Blue Suns like to appear legitimate, they're hardly going to willingly plant a ticking time bomb right in the middle of their organisation," Kasumi came to a sudden stop close to the middle of the loading bay, kicking her foot against a wide metal sheet that protruded from the ground. With a screeching sound that forced Miranda to cover her ears, the sheet slid away, moving along on a set of rails connecting to both sides, revealing a near pitch black pit beneath it. "And it looks like we have our vault in sight."

"I'll take the lead," Miranda flicked a switch tucked away beneath the barrel of her pistol, turning on its built-in flashlight. She took a few careful steps down the illuminated staircase, keeping her wits about her in case of any unfortunate traps that might have been laid out for any would-be trespassers.

Fortunately for the pair, the Blood Pack's work didn't extend to the instalment of any immediate defences, giving them a clear line down to the foreboding door that had been erected at the base of the stairs, complete with a red shimmering holographic display that showed off just how many credits went into the project. It only motivated Miranda to bring it all down in flames even further.

"A Serrice Self-Sealing 570, impressive. Right, there's no way we can get through this thing using a brute force entry," Kasumi frowned, unable to locate the necessary bypasses she needed. "They didn't cheap out when they bought it, it'd take a white diamond pulse cutter to slice through this metal."

"Considering how much they've made from selling off Cerberus tech, I'm not surprised," Miranda scowled, thinking of the near treasure trove of stolen hardware hidden within the recently constructed vault, "they have weapons that were barely out of the testing process when they were taken. Anyone would be willing to pay a pretty penny to get their hands on something like that. Can you still get in?"

Kasumi turned her cowl upwards, looking directly at a small vent that had been carved into the space above the door, cracking her knuckles in preparation for the amount of typing she knew the job would require. "You can bet your Cerberus pension on it. That vent up there recycles the air within the vault to stop the corrosive air in this station from degrading the stuff inside. If I'm right, there should be a module in there that regulates the air flow, I can use it to pump the air back into the vault, which should trigger an emergency opening procedure. Give me a boost, I won't be long."

Miranda planted herself beneath the vent and interlocked her fingers, giving Kasumi a short nod. When the master thief launched herself at Miranda, the operative lowered herself enough to allow Kasumi to drop a foot into her hands. With a sharp lift, Miranda threw Kasumi into the air, allowing her to pull herself cleanly into the narrow vent.

"I'm in," Kasumi confirmed over the voice channel, grunting as she dragged her slender body through the ventilation system, swearing in her native Japanese when her elbow collided with the wall of the vent, "but it'll take some time to trick the system into working in reverse. Are you going to be alright down there?"

"I'll buy you some time," Miranda tilted her pistol towards the mouth of the stairs, "just try to be quick."

"You can't rush perfection, Ms. Lawson," Kasumi replied helpfully.

Miranda kept her eyes peeled, letting her other arm hang freely in case she needed the aid of her biotic abilities. By the time Kasumi managed to patch herself into the security network, Miranda was certain that the chances of a reprisal from the remaining guards were minimal. But that theory was debunked immensely by the toss of a flash grenade, blinding her when it detonated within feet of her. No matter how skilled she was in direct combat, even Miranda knew that nothing could truly prepare anyone for the impact of a flash bang.

Her sense of balance was thrown, a sharp ringing in her ears made it difficult for her to make out the sounds of footsteps crashing down the stairs. The bright white blur hampering her vision stopped her from preventing her pistol from being knocked out of her hand, with a rough shove to the ground rendering the usually formidable operative in an incredibly rare state of vulnerability.

"Pretty hu-man has been disarmed!" Miranda just about made out the shrill voice unique to the Vorchas.

"She has infiltrated the base, Krogans won't be happy if they find out we let her in!" another replied fearfully, blatantly worried by the potential retribution of the Krogan warlords who controlled the Blood Pack.

"Aah, should we kill the hu-man? It wouldn't be difficult to hide body!" another suggested, jabbing the barrel of his rifle against Miranda's chest.

"Or you could give me a chance to explain myself," Miranda cut through the simple minded plotting of the trio, blinking away the last few white spots that plagued her vision, giving her her first chance to fully assess her assailants.

They weren't much to speak of, boasting the boney, rough edged appearance that made the species such an eye sore. Compared to the Krogans who made up the bulk of the Blood Pack's muscle, the Vorcha were clad in the most meagre armour plating possible, barely worth wearing in a heated battle zone, a testament to their place as lowly cannon fodder. Their gnarled skin and gruesome teeth made them appear far more formidable than they truly were.

Miranda took a stealthy glance at the rifles each of them held in a lazy grip, each aimed in her general direction. It wouldn't have been unusual for her to take down what essentially amounted to a small grouping of lowly grunts, her victories against some of the deadliest Asari mercs made her biotic prowess common knowledge amongst Cerberus's rank and file. Yet, even the dazed Miranda couldn't ignore her poor odds, concluding that she would have to take down all three in a split second to ensure she came out unharmed. As talented as she was, even she knew that achieving such a feat before one of the guards snapped off a successful shot was a near impossibility, with the narrow space surrounding the doorway increasing the likelihood of a ricochet. Dedicated to the success of every mission she was given, Miranda reluctantly adopted an approach that hadn't failed her yet.

"Explain?" the Vorcha stood directly in front repeated. "What there to explain? You broke into base, you snapped Vexas's neck! You die now!"

"She dies now, Kikken?" the most trigger happy of the trio asked, pressing his weapon against Miranda hard enough to push her back slightly.

"Now surely you boys are intelligent enough to figure out that I had nothing to do with any attacks on your friends, aren't you?" Miranda asked, putting on her best act to feign her innocence.

"Explain," the designated leader hissed, using a word with more syllables than Miranda thought possible from a Vorcha.

"Just take a look at me," Miranda offered, dragging her hands across the tight figure she had spent countless hours maintaining, presenting every inch of the white bodysuit that conformed to her perfect body exquisitely. "Does this look like the sort of outfit someone would wear if they were going to take on such a strapping group of Vorcha?"

The trio took their time in their inspection of Miranda's body, with their blood red eyes devouring every defined curve, with their collective gaze intensifying tenfold when Miranda turned on her heel, gifting them with a full view of her pronounced rear and swelling breasts. As much as Miranda tried to make a name for herself using her intellect alone, she had always been aware of just how much men coveted her body, it was her single most effective asset when the chips were down.

"Hu-man has a point," one admitted. "She has no armour whatsoever, no shields. Stupid choice when breaking into Blood Pack territory. But what about the pistol?"

"That old thing?" Miranda raised a primly manicured eyebrow, letting her blue eyes drop in the direction of her discarded weapon. To further reinforce the necessity for a different approach, she found her weapon lying in a state of ruin, with the thermal clip smouldering due to the ferocity of its collision with the ground. Without any alternative, Miranda resorted to a tactic that had never failed her, even if the recipients of it were far from what she considered desirable. "It's just a cheap prop, an obvious replica of the real thing. Because if it had been genuine, and a simple fall was enough to damage it like that, then I would be forced to have a very serious talk with the idiots who manufactured it."

"Then why you here?" the leader pushed on, still sceptical of Miranda's excuse, though his weapon did lower by a few inches. "This is secret base, dangerous for sexy human females."

"Then it's a good thing I was invited, wasn't it?" Miranda purred, strutting her legs as she approached the leader, running the tip of her finger suggestively along the length of the barrel of his weapon. "Now I have you three to protect me from whomever is running amok in this base of yours."

"Invited? By who? Why would you be needed here?" Kikken demanded, grinding his elongated teeth together, watching the human sliding her hand across the weapon and over to his scant chest plate.

"Your employers, of course," Miranda lied swiftly, bending over lightly at the waist, enough to further enhance her majestic rear, smirking when a quick look on either side showed her just where the other two were looking, "things have been hard for the Blood Pack recently. So they've decided to reward all your hard work by sending me, to help keep you motivated for the fights ahead."

"Does she lie?" the Vorcha to her left questioned, letting his rifle drop for the first time, though his finger remained looped around the trigger guard.

Kikken looked down, giving Miranda a final once over before he made his decision. She felt his dark red eyes explore her, travelling from the slight hint of cleavage that the bodysuit provided and down to her athletic legs, which were cradled in a pair of thigh high boots that only further enhanced her desirable curves. His eyes snapped back up and ran across her face, giving her a view of his salivating mouth as he stared at her soft, symmetrical features. As if to test the validity of her words, he reached out and slapped his hands against her ass, squeezing a cheek tightly.

"Hu-man dressed like slut," Kikken let his permanent grin widen by a fraction, dragging his fingers back to the seam of Miranda's bodysuit, threatening to rip it apart. "But is she one?"

"Why don't you pull this little costume apart and find out what I'm willing to do?" Miranda answered with a sultry smile, willing to go as far as she needed to give Kasumi enough time.

"Aah!" Kikken brutally ripped the flaps apart, breaking the zipless seal without a care for the damage he caused to the highly expensive suit. His comrades joined him in a brief moment of shameless staring, gazing at the bra covering her ample breasts. They didn't even bother to disguise their rapidly expanding members as they bulged against their flimsy leather groin coverings, a sign that Miranda had them just where she wanted them.

"Are those for me?" Miranda bit her lip, pointing a gloved finger in the direction of their groins. "My word, who would have thought that such fine soldiers would be so well endowed? How's about you let this slut show you her deep appreciation for everything you do?"