Crossroads II: Eclipse Factor

A/N:If you have not read "Crossroads", don't bother with this until you do. More note at the end.

Chapter One

Year is 2365

Kaja T'Soni, eldest daughter of Commander Leia Shepard and Dr. Liara T'Soni, now a Lieutenant in the asari military, sits at her desk filling out another observation report. The report is part of Kaja's daily duties as a member of the military police. Being an investigator is not the assignment the asari huntress wanted when she completed her huntress training, but it's the assignment she received. She will always do her duty. Even if that duty is an unpleasant one.

Two of the other investigators in Kaja's unit are preparing to leave for the night. Lt. Allenta stops by Kaja's desk. "You're welcome to join us, T'Soni. You really should come out. You remember the club, The Pink Flying Squirrel."

"No, thanks. I have work to do," answers Lt. T'Soni. "Maybe some other time, Allenta."

"That's what you always say. And yet you never come with us. Relax and enjoy life some," replies Lt. Allenta as she leaves Kaja alone at her desk.

Lt. T'Soni goes back to filling out her report for Matriarch Jilianea. Jilianea is the Matriarch in charge of the military police for the Republic City of Armali and is Kaja's commanding officer. The Matriarch walks out of her office to see T'Soni still typing away at her desk, "Oh, you're still here, Lieutenant. Here is your next assignment. I was going to give it to you in the morning, but since you're still here. I'll give it to you now." Jilianea grabs a data disc with all the intelligence collected so far on the case she is assigning to Lt. T'Soni.

Matriarch Jilianea hands the disc to Kaja. "Here TSoni. Everything you need to get started is on this disc. Take Private Trippolis with you on this assignment, Lt. You don't even need to come to the office in the morning. You can start your investigation tonight if you choose to."

"Yes, ma'am," answers Kaja as she takes the disc from her commanding officer. The huntress watches her commanding officer leave the office then sets the disc on her desk and turns her attention back to her report.

Private Trippolis is sitting at her desk reading over her report before she turns it in. The young huntress waits until their CO leaves before she says, "Lieutenant. What's the case?"

Kaja stops what she is doing and puts the disc into the drive and looks the details about her new case. "Looks like an officer is smuggling weapons and possible illegal weapon mods." Turning the page, the suspect is a Lt. Sederis. "Sederis. I've heard that name before." Lt. T'Soni runs a search on the extranet for the name Sederis. The search has too many hits, so Kaja adds in Terminus mercenaries to the search. That narrows the search, but not enough. She then adds one at a time the name of the mercenary groups in the Terminus Systems and finds something on Eclipse.

Leaning back in her chair, Kaja starts wondering, is Lt. Sederis related to the founder of Eclipse? It says Jona Sederis died while in C-Sec custody during a failed coup in 2186. Kaja rubs on her chin thinking is this an avenue worth looking into or will it waste of her time? The investigator won't know until she starts looking for answers. "Trippolis, meet me at 0515 outside the Huntress Cafe. We'll have breakfast and discuss the case then." Kaja continues to rub her chin. "I should have a plan of action by then."

Private Lorrea Trippolis has only been assigned to the unit for about three weeks. So far, she has worked two cases with two other investigators. This is her third case and third different partner. The young huntress asks, "Permission to speak freely, ma'am?"

"Granted, Private," answers Lt. T'Soni as she removes the disc from her terminal and turns the terminal off. She puts the disc in her side pocket of her pants. Kaja stands and leans against her desk waiting to see what Trippolis has to say.

"Ma'am, it is normal for the new girl to be bounced from one partner to another? Or am I a special case?" asks the young Private.

Kaja thinks about her first few weeks in the unit. She remembers being bounced from one huntress to another until the Matriarch felt comfortable assigning her to someone permanently. "Yes, unfortunately, Private, it is normal. I went through several partners before I was permanently assigned to one. So, don't worry about it, Trippolis. Only worry about your assigned cases and you will fit right in."

"Yes, ma'am., I'll see you in the morning, ma'am." Trippolis turns off her terminal for the night, salutes Lt. T'Soni, then heads home.

"Have a good night, Private." says Kaja as she casually returns the salute. She continues to lean against her desk and thinks about where she knows the name Sederis from. The huntress snaps her fingers when she remembers and heads to the bar her friends like to hang out in, the Pink Flying Squirrel.

Former huntress and Kaja's former partner, Clayre Madysson, owns the Pink Flying Squirrel and is sitting at her usual table in the back of the bar watching the night's activities. Clayre waves her arm when she see Kaja enter the bar. T'Soni nods when she sees her ex-partner waving and joins Clayre at her table. "Long time, Kaja. How have you been?" asks the bar owner. Clayre gets the waitress attention. "Can I get you anything?"

"Ice brandy, please. Working too much, Clayre. How's business?" replies T'Soni. She looks around the bar to see her two co-workers drinking and laughing while looking at the list of songs the music system will play.

Clayre Madysson says to her employee, "Jinger, An ice brandy for my friend. I'll take an Armali ale." The waitress nods to her boss before getting the two friend their drinks. Clayre turns her attention to Kaja, "So, Kaja, what brings you in tonight? Business is always good. Who knew huntress needed a place to blow off some steam?" The retired commando grins when she shrugs her shoulders and laughs.

The waitress returns with Clayre and Kaja's drinks. Kaja taps her glass against her former partner's, "Here to you not having to deal with Matriarch Jilianea." She drinks her ice brandy. "I came to see you, Clayre. I need to ask you something."

"You never stop working do you, T'Soni?" asks the bar owner as she takes a big swig of her ale. She wipes her mouth with the back of her right hand. "What can I help you with?"

"What can you tell me about a Lt. Sederis? Rommea I believe is her first name. For some reason, Clayre, I feel I should know who she is, but can't place the name. I know I have heard of it before," replies Kaja while she drinks her ice brandy.

"Oh, that bitch. I know her. I went through huntress training with her. She was a bitch back then too. I thought she was a member of one of the Serrice units? She's been under investigation before without success. Is she a suspect for something? If so, it wouldn't surprise me any. Her mother founded Eclipse," comments the former huntress. She takes another swig of her ale.

Kaja tips back her drink and finishes it. "Thanks, Clayre. You've confirmed my suspicions already and I only got the details on this case less than an hour ago and I've yet to do any serious background searches." She pats her friend on the shoulder as she stands to leave. "Thanks for the drink. I'll talk to you later, I need to go."

"You're welcome, Kaja. Don't be a stranger," says Clayre as Kaja walks away. T'Soni walks by her fellow investigators and says something to them before leaving the bar.

Lieutenant Kaja T'Soni stops by a public terminal and calls an agent for the Shadow Broker. This agent owes her a favor and Kaja thinks this is the time to cash in her favor. The asari commando sets up a time and place to meet the agent. The meet is in two hours outside a dirty strip club called Azuris' Spear. Kaja terminates the call and mutters to herself, "Goddess, I hate that place. Nothing but low-life trash hang out there. Asari and alien alike." The investigator heads home to change into something to blend in with the Azuris' Spear crowd.

Two hours later, Kaja waits outside the strip club for the Shadow Broker's agent. A hooded salarian walks past by Kaja saying, "Only those who sit quietly in the shadows, can assist those in the open." The salarian stops a step behind Kaja. He turns to the huntress and slyly passes her a data pad containing the information she requested. The agent says quickly and quietly, "This makes us even, Lieutenant. Next time you need my help, you will need credits." The hooded agent for the Shadow Broker continues his walk and walks away from the asari huntress.

Lt. T'Soni palms the data pad and slides it her hands into her pockets and leans against the building waiting for the right time to head home. She stays for another thirty minutes and does nothing but watch the people come and go from the club. Kaja finally heads home to read what the agent has given her. She hopes it can help her with her case. If not, she's only out a favor instead of credits.

When Kaja gets home the first thing she does is take a shower. Even though she took one before she left to meet the agent. Being around that dank dirty club makes Kaja want to take another shower. Even though she never went inside the club. With a towel wrapped around her body, Kaja sits in a chair, turns on some music, and reads the data pad.

She tosses the data pad on table and puts her towel back on the hook in the bathroom then puts some clothes on. Kaja makes herself a sandwich, while she eats it, she makes a few mental notes from the dossier shes read about the suspect, Lieutenant Rommea Sederis. Eclipse is an angle she and Trippolis need to check on. There is one thing in the dossier that is bothering the Lieutenant, why is Matriarch Tatitina handing this case over to Matriarch Jilianea? From the details in the dossier, they tried four times to convict Sederis for smuggling guns and mods and the huntress has beaten every case to date.

Impressive thinks Kaja, but the huntress thinks this is the case Sederis isn't going to beat. Even if this investigation takes months or years, Lieutenant Kaja T'Soni is sure she can close this case with a positive outcome. With help from Private Trippolis, of course. Or hopes the young Private can help. Others in her unit don't seem convinced. But then Kaja doesn't think some of the others in her unit are much help either. Which is the reason she works alone more than when she works with a partner since Clayre retired. She is willing to give Trippolis a chance to prove can work without a lot of direction and without making mistakes.

She leans her head back on the couch, closes her eyes, then starts a mental checklist of the areas in town Eclipse could be using. Eclipse claims they're a security company, but the huntress knows better. They do very little business in Council Space, which tells Kaja they are not what their PR claims. No surprise, many illegal companies use that tactic. Kaja sits up and types the locations she wants to check out tomorrow into her omni-tool. The asari walks over to her desk with the data disc in hand, putting the disc into the terminal's drive.

Kaja reads over the dossier Matriarch Jilianea gave her and compares it with the one she received from Shadow Broker agent. The one from the agent fills in a few of the blanks. Like known associates in Armali and frequent locations. It's a starting point at least. Kaja scrolls down the page and sees a note from Tatitina to Jilianea. The note puts causes the young maiden to smirk.

Matriarch Jilianea-

I'm passing this to you. You always claim to have the best. Prove it. If you really think an investigator with less than two centuries of experience is better than ones with over four centuries, then give this to her. I want to see if T'Soni really can nail, Sederis.

Matriarch Tatitina

The investigator opens her omni-tool to add a few more notes. She turns off the terminal and the music. After cleaning up the small mess, Kaja heads out for a walk. Every time she gets a new case or needs to think about things, Kaja goes for a walk. The walks vary depending on what the maiden is thinking about, tonight her walks lasts only for about forty-five minutes. After returning home, Kaja heads to bed. She needs a few hours of sleep before she gets up at 0400.

–

A/N: I did say short chapters. Now, This story might not flow like my normal stories. I would consider this as more filling in the blanks one short chapter at a time instead of a proper story.

I, as the author, screwed up. Sorry about that.

Chapter 2 tomorrow.