The desert road wound in and out of the canyon for what felt like hours, not only because of the heat but also slow crawl that the convoy elected to set as pace. Jessa had made comments about the recent attention the Citadel ranger forces had been giving to locate the revolution’s base and assets, But Jason thought it may be worse than she let on. Every 15- 20 minutes, the roar of scout ships reverberated against the cavern walls.

“Every day they get closer to finding us.” One Rev said as one ship howled by over the top of the canyon. Jason reminisced on his time in the rangers, looking for these very men was riding with now. Even after his time in captivity he sympathizes with these men. He understood what it would mean for them if even one scout ship located them.

“why do they care so much? Its not like nexus is part of the requisition.” Julie asked.

“Not officially. These guys are rangers, probably the same battalion I was part of. Their main goal here is to acquire resources to transport back to the hub worlds. Since Nexus is so volcanic there is an abundance of Titanium and other luxury minerals.” Jason air quoted the last part of his sentence bringing attention the stark difference of the word luxury for a citadel citizen and a Nexite; one wanted Gold, Silver, and Diamond the other wanted another day to live. Jason continued, “Besides, the citadel has a hard time with letting things go. They could want to destroy the revolution out of spite.”

The convoy turned down the mouth of a deep black cave. The drivers cut their engines, and exited the vehicles, Jessa walked up to the darkness and held up her hand, when suddenly, a green flash of static burst out from the center where her hand was, and the darkness lifted like a curtain.

“We push from here.” She said casually.

Jason joined some men who were already pushing one of the vehicles along and began to help when two familiar hands were placed next to his.

“Welcome back ‘Del.” Tiago grunted from a mouth somewhat hidden beneath an immaculate beard, almost to immaculate for Jason to believe he had been living in a cave all this time.

“What the Hell do you want, Tiago?” Jason Hissed back at him. He had not heard the derogatory term since he left his imprisonment. The though of his time here made the scars on his body start to itch, most of which had been put there by Tiago himself.

“Woah now, no need for that… Things are different this time, you are my guest. That should count for something right?” Tiago asked politely and only got a stern look from Jason in return. “Look I just Want to talk. When you guys get settled in meet me in the cantina, there is something that we need to discuss. Come alone… OK?” Tiago again asked politely, some thing Jason was no accustomed to.

“Fuck you!” Jason snapped as the vehicle came to a stop in its parking area. Tiago recoiled. Jason could see the anger welling up inside of Tiago, but he remained calm.

“It’s important… it has to do with her.” Tiago nodded in the direction of Julie who was chatting with Eric as they helped push the vehicle pulling the cloud hopper into its parking space. Jason snaped his view from Julie to Tiago. “Meet me in the cantina.”

With that Tiago turned and walked off to what looked to be a control room, leaving Jason with his thoughts.

“FUCK!” Sam’s distress just barely lofted above the sound of steam jettisoning out of one of the engine cooling systems. The noise beckoned Jason back from the depths of his thoughts, and he hurriedly approached the spot where Sam was standing.

“what’s going on?” Jason asked clueless to the mechanics involved with the cloud hoppers engines.

“Where to start…” Sam paused as he rubbed the bridge of his nose out of frustration, “Due to my hasty repair job I must have overlooked argon insulation chambers, which in the previous crash, were ruptured. The engines were running well but were only being cooled by liquid nitrogen running in those tubes and the air blowing in as we fly. Flying it like this caused internal components to melt and now the whole engine is shot.”

“That sounds bad.” Jason replied.

“you’re telling me.” Sam sighed.

The two looked on the ship for a few moments, witnessing the super-heated gas spewing into the air. When suddenly Jessa appeared out of a doorway.

Sam, I talked to my mechanics and they are going to head up here shortly and see what they can do.” Jessa said reassuringly but Sam was not convinced.

“I’m not sure I trust your guys. This is state of the art Citadel tech, and no offence to your mechanics, fixing a CH-1LD oscillating engine is more complex than Frankensteining together an engine in a V8 Quad. Hell, without citadel tools its damn near impossible.” Sam argued but Jessa was unphased.

“Gentlemen, come with me there is something you need to see.” She replied with a smirk and lead them through the door she had come from a moment ago. In fact, the door was basically part of the wall itself. It was so well disguised that if you did not know exactly where the door was you would not be able to detect it. Jason had to give it to the revolutionaries, they really knew how to hide. Jessa ushered them through a labyrinth of hallways and atriums until they opened a final door to a sight Jason had not expected. There before him was a bustling city tucked in the back of a random cave in the desert… It was amazing.

“When did the revolution get this lucrative?” Jason asked dumbfounded by the sight of this hidden city.

Jessa chuckled, “Five or six years ago many people in the upper city became fed up with the Citadels crack down on our business and resources, so a group of powerful families came together to support the revolutionaries with secrete investments. From there the cause grew dramatically since word got around that there was a lot of money with the revolution and that bolstered their recruitment and they thrived. A little over three years ago the citadel decided they couldn’t find the revolutionaries hide outs, so they did the next best thing.”

“And what was that?” Jason asked knowing she was already going to answer.

“They went after bank records, transactions and found out who was funding the revolution and quietly paid off or blackmailed each one until I was the only one left resisting… and you saw how that ended.” Jessa had sorrow in her voice but quickly hid it, “Anyway here is where you will stay.”

The building was on the outskirts of the town. It was a large building of geometric design, and in color pristine white. Jason recognized what the building was, or what it uses to be.

“Where did you get this?” Jason asked quizzically.

“What, the building?” Jessa feigned ignorance.

“No Jessa, I’m talking about the Citadel officer cabin that is right in front of me.” Jason stated getting Annoyed by Jessa’s Vagueness. “I have seen these before, and I know they are only found inside of Citadel flagships… Did the revolution take down a flagship? No wonder the Rangers are looking so hard for you.”

“Jason looks around you, this city was not built from rock. It’s built from defiance and citadel metal.” Jessa announced passionately. Jason studied the buildings around him and found them to all have the sheen of citadel alloy, Jessa continued, “We can’t afford to waste resources and a downed ship is a hell of a resource, I’m sure you understand.”

Jason did understand, the Citadel was ruthless and cruel. That went for their enemy and their friends alike. If a ship went down then that ship was replaced, if a solider died then that solider was replaced. That was a fact of life for a citadel citizen, and one that was better learned early, when you lost your usefulness then you were replaced. Jason scratched at his chip implant site and though about how fast they discarded him once he was captured.

“Sam, go on inside with the others and get settled, I’m going to get a drink. Jessa where is the canteen?” Jason asked politely and she pointed down the street to a building that was glowing with a yellow golden light. Jason began the walk into the cave. This group was more self-sufficient than he had given them credit for, if he was completely honest with himself, it was quite impressive.

Jason stood outside the glow of the cantina for a long while contemplating his next move. On one hand Tiago was a master manipulator, some one who could get near anyone o do anything he wanted… Jason knew that firsthand. On the other Julies condition was going to take a turn for the worse again and from what he gathered from her appearance and the subtle darkening of the veins around her neck it would be sooner rather than later. Jason noticed Julie ran out of Elysium Recovery serum in the week leading up to Jessa’s job, and now they needed more but they needed to wait for the shipment. Jason was sure Mr.L gave them a rigged syringe, one that administered to much serum so they would run out faster and be more desperate. If Tiago had an angle that did not involve getting in deeper with a crime boss, then he had to at least entertain the idea. Tiago could be a mean ruthless son of a bitch, but at least Jason knew where he stood.

Jason approached the front doors, and with a sigh he pushed them open and walked inside. The bar was livelier than Jason had expected. There were patrons laughing at a table in the back, sharing stories and living life as if there was not a galactic superpower sparing no expense in hunting them down. Jason missed the feeling of being carefree like that. He scanned the room and quickly located Tiago; he was sitting in a booth in the corner with his feet up on the table, smoking what seemed to be a large cigar. Jason approached the booth and sat down opposite from him, placing his gun on the table with a thud.

“Wow... that was dramatic, Nice piece by the way” Tiago joked seemingly unphased. The two men stared at each for a moment, until Tiago broke the silence. “Are you just going to sit there and stare or are you going to get something?” Tiago questioned. Jason was taken aback by the offer; he was not expecting Tiago to act so casually.

“I’m fine right here.” Jason snapped back.

“really, put your gun away and get a drink.” Tiago responded.

“I told you I’m fine.”

“Why are you being difficult?”

“What you think that because you let me go, we can be friend?”

Tiago sighed and waived over a waiter, “No, I think this conversation will be easier if we are relaxed and look at you. Slamming down a gun on the table, you are super tense.”

“What will it be T.” The waitress asked very politely. She glanced at Jason and gave him a warm smile. People were nicer than he had expected, this whole place was nicer then he expected; it hurt his brain to think about. He remembered it very differently when he was here over three years ago. Dark cold cell. Hours of interrogation, most times it got physical. Was the revolution just now getting to be a nice place or had it always been nice but was Jason just denied that. He was not sure what was worse.

“what are you having?” she asked Jason. With reluctance he replied.

“what do you have? ” Jason asked and Tiago’s face lit up.

“Give him some of Juanas stuff” Tiago turned back to Jason, “This stuff is great, its like a spicy Tequila that…” Jason wouldn’t give him a chance to finish.

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK THIS IS!? We aren’t Friends, Tiago! What are you doing?!” Jason could not keep civil any longer. The sudden snap drew the eyes of all the patrons in the bar. Tiago took notice and waived off the waitress. Eventually he broke the tension.

“Look I know you don’t like me, I mean nor should you, I’m just trying to start over.” Tiago said solemnly.

“No,You Don’t get to do that… Not after what you put me through.” Jason chest started to get tight, almost as if he were having a panic attack. The memories flooded back to the front of his mind . “Do you not remember all the times you used my face as your personal punching bag or were you too preoccupied picking my brain for every thought I had?” Jasons small cranial port itched for a moment as the thought of the neurojack ripping files worth of information from his brain.

“I remember all of it! I remember you held me here until I was deemed good as dead by the citadel council, and they gave me outbound status.” Jason could feel his pulse heightening. “Tiago, you took everything from me!” Tiago just sat there and listened. He looked genuinely upset about the situation. Its weird to see him like this, Jason thought in between sentences. It was hard to get angry with him. “You Took my life away! When I was no use to you anymore your thugs threw me into a city that I didn’t want me. I did not know what to do or who to work for. What I had to do to survive still gives me nightmares!” The words got stuck in Jason’s throat as a knot began to form. “One night they were worse than usual, and I decide to end it all.” Jason gave his Justice revolver a spin to indicate that this was indeed the very gun. “I can still feel the ice-cold barrel against the roof of my mouth and the feeling of pulling the trigger.” Jason slammed his hand on the table, “Then I woke up on the floor, I must have blacked when I pulled the trigger. I tried over and over again to the same effect. It would seem that something wants me around, so now I drink… AND NOW I NEED A GOD DAMN DRINK!”

With out a word Tiago stood up and walked to the bar. After a short deliberation with the bar tender, he returned with bottle in hand.

“I think there is somethings you need to see. come with me.” Tiago said as he beckoned Jason to the doors. Jason, wiping the tears forming in his eyes, was too emotionally drained to argue. He got up and followed Tiago out.

The two men walked silently through the calm evening streets, the artificial lighting getting dim to simulate the long night of Nexus. The path they took made a sharp turn toward the cave wall and Jason could see a faint foot path leading up, and after a short hike they stopped at a ledge overlooking the settlement. “This is it… what it was all for.” Tiago said as he popped the cork off the bottle and took a swig, then offered it to Jason, who, drank it eagerly.

“You know I use to be a farmer?” Tiago admitted in between drinks. “My dad had a plot of land out here away from the city. Peppers, bean, corn, you name it, my dad could grow it. I remember, my brothers and I would spend hour in the fields with him picking the harvest in the hot sun…” Tiago chuckled. “It was Awful, but when we brought our harvest to the other farming settlements, people’s faces would just light up. Times were just simpler then, you know.”

Tiago stopped talking for a moment to reminisce on the way things were. Jason knew where this story was going. He knew the only thing that changed the way people lived on nexus was the citadel mining instillation that was set up over twenty years ago.

“What happened?” Jason asked anyway.

“The Citadel landed. At first, we were excited. The hostile animal population went down, we started selling our crops to the soldiers, and for a brief time we had happiness. Soon the crops stopped growing, the soil got harder, and unable to sustain growth. Soon the facility deemed all the land in the valley hazardous; demanded that we leave. My father gathered representatives from all over and marched on the facility to demand answers.” As Tiago spoke Jason remembered this event. They called it the red bean revolution. He had heard about it during his training. The commanders said that the farmers, claiming to be under paid, stormed the facility to take their pay by force. It was plausible, but the Citadel had a policy that any force over twenty members was to be treated as hostile. That policy always leads to bloodshed.

Tiago continued, “we couldn’t even make it to the gate before the shooting started. Bullets ripped through the crowd creating a field of chaos and death. No one brought any weapons, so we were gunned down like cattle. I only survived by hiding in a mass grave until the guards went on patrol. From that day on more people from the surrounding settlements came to these caves looking for refuge and the revolution was born… ever since that day I have hated the citadel. These people have nothing, but this cause and I will stop at nothing to keep them safe.” Tiago took another drink and pointed to the city. “I know this is not what you want to hear but the information I got from you directly saved everyone here many times. I hate that it must be done, but if it keeps these good people safe then I will bare that burden for them. I hope you understand.” Tiago suddenly got tense as if he were expecting Jason to attack him, but, in reality, Jason understood where Tiago was coming from. Jason had tortured and killed people for nothing other than money, at least Tiago was doing it for a noble purpose; besides Tiago could have killed him all those years ago but did not… He would have not let his prisoner go. Reluctantly Jason let his anger subside and he took solace in the idea that he may have helped these people, and he may be able to again.

“did you just want to chat about our past or did you have something to ask me?” Jason sighed as he reached for the bottle.

“Yes, I did have something to ask you, Let’s keep walking.” Tiago motioned to the trail ahead and the two men kept walking on the trail until they arrived at an outpost positioned along the cave wall. Tiago opened the door and building, and he continued talking, “We have recently started recruiting in the red-light district. With that comes a lot of people with Elysium addiction.” Tiago said as he pushed a final door open leading to a large medical holding bay.

Jason looked around the room they had arrived in. The room was dimly lit but he could see many medical beds filled with people suffering from late-stage Elysium withdraw. The thick black veins snaked up the side of their faces in a black spiderwebs. The scene reminded him of what Mr. L was doing but these people all seemed to be under anesthesia.

“Does this work?” Jason asked motioning to one of the beds, and Tiago shook his head.

“Most of the people that have an addiction this bad don’t make it. Id says there are forty people in this medical unit with late stage Withdraw, and maybe ten will make it out and that’s if we are lucky… One of my informants that works in the club scene says there is a shipment of Elysium serum going to the upper city soon and funny enough that one of the club owners has hired you to get it for him… I’m asking you to help us get it instead.” Tiago asked.

“I’m not sure about that. I am kind of in a bind… The woman I am working with, the one I came in with, use to work for that club owner. The deal I made with him was that I would get him the serum and her would give her what she needed to get clean, and her freedom.” Jason said defeated. “I can’t risk her life to bring the serum back to you.”

“By the way, who is she?” Tiago asked bluntly, but Jason could tell by his voice it was just a question.

“She… She is my second chance.” Jason said and could tell Tiago was confused, so he continued. “For a few years I found work with gang leaders and war lords. I hurt a lot of people, guilty and innocent. I Built my bounty hunting career on pain and death, but when I met Julie… I don’t know, I felt like I could finally do something good. You know if I could help just one person.” Jason started to say but cut off his thought before he could give himself to much hope.

Tiago sighed and nodded. “I understand… I just wish we could help these people too.”