So I have recently finished my third play through of the Mass Effect series, one for each of the incredibly disappointing endings, despite the extended cuts. All through out, I had this story building itself in my head, so now I publish it for you to read!
I really can't produce a reliable update schedule at this time, as I am also continuing my HTTYD story Warm Days, but I am comfortable saying that this story takes precedence.
Violet Eyes Act I
Vengeful Ghost
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The scope barely swayed in the wind as the salarian emerged from the shuttle. A rat from the STG who had somehow managed to convince a group of extremists that he could re-engineer the genophage. What a fool. When the case came up for assignment, it had initially been speculated that Zaia would have a personal stake, given that she had helped end the genophage, but she assured the Council that it would not be an issue. It wouldn't be. She was unsure why the bastards even cared.
As she slowly compressed the trigger, the Javelin in her grip began to charge. Her timing was perfect; as soon as the fool stopped to give an order, his head disappeared. The superheated slug fired from the rifle caused it to explode, the blood shower covering two of his companions. Zaia grinned into the scope as she watched the morons running about as if the gods were raining justice upon them. Might as well be the truth.
She backed away behind the rocky debris that was the majority of Tuchanka's landscape and proceeded to an LZ, where a tiny ship awaited. The pilot was a tall, young asari. A hundred and ninety years old. Quiet. Dependable. Zaia hadn't bothered to learn her name. Pilots for her didn't last long, mostly due to personal issues. Not everyone agreed with the type of missions Shepard specialized in.
Most pilots were as eager as children outside a candy store when they heard that they got to fly for the Galactic Hero Zaia Shepard. They were all smiles and "yes ma'am!" for the first mission. Only five lasted past that. Only two have lasted to the third mission. Assassination was something not many people were comfortable with these days, and Zaia was the best.
This asari had lasted six missions, one short of the pilot record. She was definitely different than the pilots before her. She asked very few questions and was excellent at her job. Pulled Zaia out of a real clusterfuck on Dukanna with some inspired moves. Previous record holder, some turian, got shot during a pickup, and Zaia had to fly herself home.
She jumped into the ship and took a seat, giving the pilot the signal to take off, which she did. Missions on Tuchanka sucked due to the weather and the nasty fauna, but missions were missions. Zaia dealt with it well.
"Destination?" The pilot chimed in over the comm. Her voice was soft, yet had substance. Bet if she tried, she could be a hell of a military leader or politician. Course, Zaia might end up assassinating her if that happened.
"Citadel." She answered smoothly. The pilot hit the pedal and the small infiltrator zoomed up from the planets surface. Always a bumpy ride through the atmosphere, but thirty minutes out, the comm opened up again.
"Initiating Mass Relay jump in 5...4...3...2...1...and we are a go." The pilot said as they approached the Relay. Shepard felt the slight vertigo that was always associated with mass jumps. Weird feeling. Always had been.
It had been ten years since the final battle with the Reapers, and while the galaxy enjoyed the initial feelings of victory and unity, it had quickly fallen back into the blood soaked web of lies and political maneuvering that it had been before. Humanity was the worst of them all, the people and politicians demanding that humans be given two seats on the council while every other race only has one, that all the other races must pay tribute and all that bullshit.
Claimed that because Shepard was human, Sol should be appropriately compensated for her sacrifice. Zaia had 'died' when she fired the Crucible, or so the news and reports said.
"ETA six hours." The pilot said as she set the ship to auto and emerged from the cockpit. She took a seat across from Shepard and sat there, her eyes quietly plastered on the spectre. Zaia sighed inwardly.
"What is it?" She asked. One of her strong points was knowing when someone had something to say and wasn't saying it.
"The council told me I'd be flying missions for you." She said.
"And?"
"They never told me what the missions were for. Said it was strictly confiden-"
"Assassination. Every one you've flown is assassination." Zaia interrupted. She watched as the pilots eyes widened and her skin paled a bit. A sheen of sweat soon appeared on her forehead and she swallowed hard several times. While she looked like she might want to say something, she just couldn't choke it out.
Well, guess that's it for this pilot. Zaia thought as she watched the pilot get up and return to the cockpit. Nothing more to do but sit and wait.
"I assume the mission was a success?" Councilor Sparatus asked. Zaia had just arrived at the Presidium tower and contacted the turian councilor. Her asari pilot had not said a word since they'd spoken, and had left as soon as Shepard got off the ship. She figured that she'd have a new pilot by the next mission.
"Do I do any less?" Zaia said smugly from her seat. She already knew the answer to that question, but she couldn't help but take a stab at the councilors every now and then. They treated her like shit when she was after Saren, and she'll never let them live it down.
"No, and it better stay that way. Credits have been forwarded to your account. I have nothing more for you." He said tiredly. Zaia cocked an eyebrow at him. "What's up your ass?" She poked humorlessly. He rubbed his eyes.
"Well, next time you arrive in the middle of the night, don't contact me unless you want our deal to go sour." She stood up and began walking out of the chambers, "Whatever." She said with a wave.
Sparatus watched her go with an arrogant stare. "And the pet's collar tightens a bit more."
The bartender at Scythe's knew Zaia by name, and as such knew exactly what she was going to order before she even sat down. When most people come to the Citadel, they think of Purgatory or even Silver Coast Casino as being the places to go, but during her explorations Zaia had found Scythe. A really nice lounge that was out of the way, meaning that the countless idiots coming to and from the Citadel stayed out or went to Purgatory instead.
"Back from another mission?" Mansa asked. An asari matron, probably a good five hundred years under her belt, and the main bartender at Scythe. Zaia nodded and accepted the glass of Crystal from her. "Yeah." She replied, downing the Crystal in one quick gulp. Crystal was a brand of Thessian liquor, best compared to human tequila.
"Stressful?" She asked sultrily, her eyebrow cocked. Not only was Mansa the head bartender, but she also did work as Zaia's...stress reliever. The matrons many years of experience in the bedroom helped relax the human Spectre after trying missions.
"No," Zaia responded shortly, signaling for a refill. Mansa pouted but still poured another glass of the smooth liquor. "You know, Shepard, you keep up that attitude and I might not let you back in my bed," She complained.
"I think you mean my bed," Shepard grunted after swigging down the sweet liquid and pushing it back for more. The matron refilled the glass before pulling out five more and filling them too.
"No matter whose bed it is, you need m-" She didn't finish as she was suddenly staring down the barrel of one of Shepard's two favorite M-5 Phalanx pistols, the spectres fist gripping her dress.
"Don't you ever fucking imagine that I need anything, Mansa. Especially from you." She hissed in a low, dangerous tone. The bartender, having seen this outburst plenty of times before, simply shrugged, waving off the guard who started for his gun. "I'll be here when you want me." She said before leaving, the bottle of Crystal remaining in front of the angry spectre. She downed the five glasses remaining and grabbed the bottle, staggering over to one of the curtained rooms and collapsing on the couch. She barely registered Mansa coming in before her eyes closed.
XXX
"How goes the repairs?" Dr. Liara T'Soni asked. The many quarian workers turned and greeted her warmly as the foreman approached. "Work goes fast, doctor. With the quick analysis by the geth, we were quickly able to discern the problem with the dome. We should be done by this time tomorrow." He said happily.
The work on the Rannoch Puradomes was, at first, a tall order at best. When Liara dug out plans for such domes among another set of Prothean archives found inside the massive Olympus Mons volcano on Mars, the galaxy was skeptical. These blueprints suggested the construction of colossal domes that, through a system of careful eezo exposure and filtering, would be filled with the cleanest oxygen possible.
When she brought it to the councils attention, the practicality and application of such huge projects was brought into question. Councilors Tevos and Cooper, the current human Councilor, argued that in no way would these domes help anyone. Liara had a different idea. With some modification to the plans, and the addition of cutting edge decontamination systems, these domes could bring about one of the greatest dreams of an entire race: the quarians.
With these domes, it might be possible that quarians could live inside them-without suits. It was initially believed that such a thing wouldn't be possible for another hundred years or so, but the Puradome project made such a thing possible in less than a few months!
The key was that the domes themselves were in fact not synthetic material, but a type of organic film, rigid but capable of permeability. In her studies, Liara had discovered that the membranes contain billions upon billions of microbes that filter contaminants out of oxygen, leaving only the purest form to pass through inside. A marvelous invention really, rivaling that of the mass relays in its importance.
"Good work. What was the issue?" Liara asked. The quarian engineer scratched his helmet, and Liara surmised that he may have been a little ashamed under his helmet. "We...we uh...we sort of overloaded the crane and the engine blew..."
Liara crossed her arms on her chest. "Would you like to elaborate on how you did that?" She asked sweetly. The quarian squirmed a bit as he looked at the ground. "Well...a lot of us wanted to get up to the top of the dome...so we packed twice the weight of the crane." He said, ashamed in full now.
Liara sighed and kneaded her temples, trying desperately to maintain her carefully constructed patience. "Captain...if you could please refrain from over excitement , we could get this dome completed in a reasonable amount of time." She said, exasperation clear in her voice. The quarian nodded and glumly returned to his work.
This type of thing was happening all over the place as the exuberant quarians could not wait for their new domes. Most of the thirteen million left in the population tried to sign on to help, seeing it as a race-wide initiative. Only problem was that a lot of those people are not trained electricians or engineers, leading to errors and setbacks, much like this one.
Liara continued on through the construction zone to a shuttle and asked to be brought to the main command center. Each dome was huge in scale, designed to accommodate populations of around two to four million each. The trip from where she was to the central hub took fifteen minutes at least. This dome, set to be named Geen Pak, would be the first to be completed since the plans were put into motion four years ago, and would become the new capital of the quarian people. Across this continent there are two others domes, Deel Pak eighty percent, and Hele Pak sixty nine percent complete, respectively.
Liara thanked the shuttle pilot and proceeded into the center. A large building, it served as the command center now, but when the city finally was finished, it would be the seat of government. Inside, hundreds of quarians and geth pored over blueprints, supply reports and accident reports. It was of those reports that Liara had just answered.
"Anything wrong, Liara?" Came the sweet voice of one Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Liara's best friend, confidant and second in command for the Puradome project. Placing some datapads on her desk, Liara shook her head with a smile. "Not really. Some workers getting too excited is all. Any progress reports from the other domes?"
Tali shook her head. "No, but Auntie Raan sent someone interesting our way," She began, her voice notably getting annoyed, "Come in!" She called. Liara turned to the door on the opposite side of the office and practically squealed with glee, running over and throwing Garrus Vakarian in a tight hug.
"Garrus! Oh I haven't seen you for almost a year now!" She rambled with delight, "How are you!?" Garrus laughed as her hug seemed to never end. "Oh, you know. Breaking hearts and saving damsels is my style, Liara." He chuckled.
"Only one heart you're breaking in here, Vakarian." Said a very disgruntled Tali. Liara squeaked with surprise when she was suddenly dropped from her embrace. Garrus had a frightened look on his face. "Oh come on now. I tried to get here sooner..." He started in his defense, but Tali was a lot sharper than him.
"Tried nothing! I saw the traffic between Palaven and Rannoch! You could have been here two months ago!" She snapped. Liara cringed at this exchange. She had discovered something about Tali very soon after the war that had not been common knowledge: she had a temper. And when it was stoked, take cover.
"Alright, so I might have detoured to take a look at some intel. Nothing serious, okay?" He answered helplessly. Tali just looked away from him, her arms still across her chest. "What intel, Garrus?" Liara asked, deciding to take some of the heat off her old friend. She watched him smirk and sneak up behind Tali.
"Intel on some new antibiotics for this beauty!" He exclaimed, picking Tali up and spinning her around to face him. Liara had to laugh at this image. With her arms still across her chest, Tali's feet hung a good foot off the ground, her mask an inch away from Garrus' mandibles. "Your welcome," He said against the mask.
Tali did not move. "Which antibiotic?" She asked gruffly. Garrus smirked as much as he possibly could. "Heraproxis." He said smugly. Tali screamed and threw her arms around him. "How did you find it! Where was it! Did it cost much! Who sold it to you! When ca-" She stopped when a single talon pressed against her mask.
"Relax. It's not a lot of product right now, but the intel was solid. I think I know where to find a manufacturer." He said. Liara raised her hand as if she was in class at Serrice again. Garrus cast a questioning look at her. "Uh...yes, Miss T'Soni?"
"As much of an expert I am in ruins and Protheans, and as long as I have known Tali, I find myself wondering what Heraproxis does for quarians." She asked, assuming the innocent school girl voice that drove Tali crazy. "Don't do that, Liara." Tali snipped as Garrus put her down, his transgressions apparently forgiven for the moment. "Heraproxis is basically the queen of antibiotics. With a single dose, it can nearly eliminate any issues with being out of the suit for between two and six hours. Its the god drug for quarians, but extremely rare." Liara nodded in understanding. She may have heard mention of it a few times, but if it is so rare it makes sense that it has not come up more alarmingly.
"Garrus, why were you looking for this specific drug?" Liara asked, and was a little worried when Garrus turned away, as if in embarrassment. Tali took a stance that looked very much like the engineer captain. Ashamed.
"There was a small stash of it aboard the Normandy all those years ago...and it sort of let us get Tali out the suit for...scandalous, activity..." Garrus mumbled. Liara bit her lip as the outrageous laughter threatened to burst forth from her. To think that the honorable turian and the very straight shot quarian took high end antibiotics to have sex.
"When did this start?" Liara posed innocently. Tali shifted nervously again, "Er...right before Ilos?" She ventured, her voice clearly hopeful that Liara would not find this as selfish as she herself probably thought. The young asari held back her misgivings, deciding to make Tali explain later. "Well, love makes people do strange things." She sighed.
Tali nudged Garrus in the torso, causing him to shoot a glare at her. The quarian subtly nodded her head towards the scientist, and Garrus sighed as he stepped forward. "Um...Liara, how are you doing? With...you know..."
"My children?" Liara finished for him, knowing exactly where the conversation was going. "They are fine, Garrus. With my father right now, until I can get some time to go back to Thessia. Thank you for your concern." She said with a forced smile.
Liara sighed again as her mind drifted to her two daughters, living with Matriarch Aethyta at the T'Soni mansion back on the asari homeworld. Her poor girls who were forced to go months at a time without their mother...
"If you want to talk, Liara..." Tali ventured, placing a comforting hand on the scientists' shoulders. Liara shook her head. "No, I'd rather not talk about them," She protested with a small smile, "Thank you for offering though, Tali." The quarian nodded and Liara could have sworn that she was frowning under the mask.
Regaining her composure, the scientist smiled brightly, "Alright then! Back to Heraproxis. Garrus, what did the intel have?" She asked. The turian grinned wildly, "The intel told me that there is a good chance that I could find a manufacturer, or better yet, a recipe in the Shadow Sea. I managed to get my hands on about a half ton of the stuff on Omega, too."
Tali leaned back against the wall, "Omega? Aria just let you swoop in and take a half ton of expensive antibiotics, along with intel on where to make more?" She asked incredulously. Garrus nodded, "Oh yeah. She's the one who provided the intel. The Queen of Omega remembers who her friends are, Tali. Especially you." Tali pointed to herself in disbelief. "Me? Why would she remember me?"
Garrus crossed his arms, "Well Tali, I seem to remember you pulling Aria's ass out of the fire more than a few times during the Battle for Earth." He said with a smirk.
"I seem to remember that she was so pissed off that she threatened to kill me if I did it again." Tali shot back. "Tali, while Aria is insanely and sometimes ridiculously proud," Liara rolled her eyes as those words came from her mouth, "She is most certainly not stupid. She knows that without you, she probably would not be the Queen of Omega anymore." Liara said, pointing a finger at her quarian friend, "Spur of the moment? Aria is pissed beyond belief. After the fact? Grateful, but she'll never tell you that. I'm willing to bet that's why she is helping with the meds."
Tali began pacing back and forth in the office, and slowly she started nodding to herself. Garrus' eyes fell with worry as he watched her. Liara seconded his obvious mindset. Rarely did Tali pace and brood like this. It had barely taken five minutes and a conversation about Aria to do this.
"I don't like this." She said finally. Liara eyed her friend with yet more concern. These days were supposed to be none but happy for the quarians, Tali especially. She helped organize the squabbling politicians about the practicality of the Puradomes, and helped resolve the single biggest schism in history since the Morning War.
It was less an argument between quarians, and more an argument between scientists. When Liara came forward with the revised plans for the domes, one Admiral Xen took particular offense to the fact that it was an asari who had come forward. Pooling her supporters, Xen said that they would never support the project because it was an attempt by the asari to contain and control the reborn quarians.
That wasn't the problem, because Xen was way outnumbered in the population by Liara's supporters. The problem came when Xen ended up dead. She was found in her home, seemingly nothing wrong, but she was dead. No foul play involved at all. No bullet holes, stab or slash wounds, poison, nothing. She was just...dead. Someone began a rumor that Liara had found an undetectable way to kill quarians, and had simply removed her opposition.
Tali calmed the rioting people down, convincing them that there was no way that Liara would ever assassinate someone. Assassination was something the entire galaxy frowned upon, and Tali knew that there was no way Liara would ever associate with it. The Admiralty board exonerated Liara of the charges, and life went on without a hitch, the quarian people now more united than ever.
"Why not honey?" Garrus asked. Tali kept pacing. "I don't like this because it places the quarian people in debt to Aria T'Loak. I don't like having to owe that woman a favor. I know that she told us that we would always be allies, but still, owing her a favor is not what I want."
Liara was going to second Tali's concerns, but Garrus started speaking before her. "Aria said you might think that," He began and started tapping buttons of his omni-tool. "I just forwarded you the message Aria left with me." He smiled as he heard the beep of Tali's omni. Liara chuckled to herself; the Queen of Omega was a far more intuitive and intelligent person than most people have her credit for.
Tali sighed in relief, leaning her head against Garrus' chest. "Oh alright. I'll look at it later. Liara and I still have some work to do today Garrus. We'll meet you back at the house. Make yourself comfy."
Liara was surprised when she heard the faint click and release of pressure as Tali plucked her mask off and kissed Garrus on his scar. "I'll see you later." She said softly, replacing the mask as quickly as it had come off.
Garrus whispered something to her before coming over and giving Liara another hug. "Looking forward to it. Have a good day, you two." The turian sniper waved as he left the room. Tali watched him go with a happy sigh.
"Good to see him again after so long." Liara mused, turning her attention to some data-pads. Tali nodded and returned to her own desk. "You can say that again." The asari scientist grinned.
"Good to see him again after so long."
"I didn't mean that literally!"
XXX
The sickening feeling off the morning came to Zaia much sooner than she wanted it to, and it had been doing that for years. Mornings sucked for the spectre, each day bringing more pain and pointlessness to her existence. Morning sucks even more when an annoying councilor keeps ringing the fucking doorbell.
Shepard rolled out of bed and fiddled with her omni-tool, bringing up the comm. "What do you want, Tevos?" She mumbled into the tool, more pissed off than usual.
"How did you know it was me?" The asari councilor asked. Shepard rolled her eyes as she fumbled around in the dark looking for some clothes. "Who the fuck else knows where I live? For that case, who the fuck else knows I'm even alive?" She shot back irritably. Finding a robe, she threw it on haphazardly and descended the stairs of her apartment.
"Relax. You went out to Scythe's again last night. You're hungover." Tevos said. Zaia swore loudly when she banged her toe off a wall. "What of it? You took everything else away from me, you going to take alcohol too?"
"Be quiet and let me in. People will start wondering why there's a councilor outside the door of a supposedly abandoned apartment." Tevos warned. Zaia chuckled sourly. "Apartment? I'm sure you mean hovel, councilor." She grumbled viciously before hitting the lock on the door. It slid open to let Councilor Tevos into the small room that served as Shepard's kitchen, living room and dining room.
"Welcome to the lap of luxury." Shepard said rudely, flopping down on the couch and closing her eyes. Tevos looked around the apartment with a sigh. "Shepard, you must understand that you are a key asset to the Galactic Council. We cannot have you drinking yourself to death." She said, her voice infuriatingly calm.
"Key asset? Bullshit. You people are holding me here on the threat of hurting my family, half of whom I have never met. Don't come here trying to tell me that you like me." Zaia scoffed. She noticed with some satisfaction that Tevos' calm expression fell for a moment, maybe something akin to regret replacing it. Shepard decided not to let her say anything.
"What the fuck would alcohol do anyway? How much of me is cybernetics now, Tevos?" She demanded. The councilor blanched and swallowed nervously. "I don't think that is app-"
"How much, Tevos?" Zaia asked again, slowly, her bright violet eyes piercing into Tevos' own. The councilor's shoulders slumped and she swore under her breath. "Forty-two percent." She mumbled. Zaia placed a cupped hand next to her ear. "What was that again? I couldn't hear you."
"Forty-two percent of you is cybernetics now, Shepard!" Tevos yelled angrily, breaking the ever so calm demeanor that was the base of the asari councilors political facade. It was rarely tested, but Shepard found that she had no problems shattering it.
"Forty-two percent. Tell me: does my liver receive any damage from alcohol?" Zaia asked. She knew the answer, but making Tevos say it helped get her point across.
"No. Your liver is almost completely artificial now. Alcohol will do nothing to it." Tevos grunted, her face now contorted into one of anger and disgust. "Exactly. Don't lecture me about alcohol. It's the only thing that doesn't hurt anymore," Shepard muttered. "Now what do you want?" She asked. The councilor straightened out her disheveled robes, made all crinkly from yelling, and stood tall. "We have another assignment for you."
Shepard mouth dropped wide open. "Another one? I just got back!" She protested. Tevos shook her head and pointed at the holo of a calendar on the wall. "That was a week ago, Shepard. Spending all your time at Scythe makes you unaware of the passage of time." She said, her voice returning to its calculated tone.
"Damn...what this time?" Shepard asked, heading back up the stairs to her bedroom, the councilor following. Upon reaching her closet, she ripped the clothes out of the way and tapped a small panel at the back, opening a small compartment which housed her combat suit. Grabbing a string, she tied up her red hair to avoid getting it stuck in the armor clasps.
"I'm sure you remember Feros, correct?"
"Yeah. Shithole in the Attican Beta. Thorian was there, massive pain in the ass, that one. What about it?" Shepard replied from the closed closet. "A new human colony was founded there a few weeks ago, called Tiber, and the official ceremony is in four days. We have reason to believe that the elected leader of this colony is one Oriana Lawson, an-"
"No. I won't kill Oriana." Shepard interrupted, momentarily considering removing the suit she was busily putting on. Zaia might have been bitter about life since what happened with Earth and the Council, but Oriana was a gray area: if Shepard killed her, no doubt Miranda would look into it, and Zaia did not want to have to kill Miranda too.
"Miss Lawson is not the target." Tevos replied calmly. Standing corrected, Shepard resumed tightening the buckles on the suit. "The target is Miss Lawson's personal aide, a batarian wh-"
"Hah. First mistake there, hiring a batarian." Shepard chuckled sourly. Tevos cleared her throat in annoyance. "Yes...this batarian, by the name of Loxx, appears to be funneling information about the colonies inner workings back to the Blue Suns, and we believe that the mercs are going to raid the colony once they hear about the huge financial backing behind it. Oriana herself has yet to hear about it, but as soon as she does, so does the batarian. We would like him removed."
"The Blue Suns? Thought they were wiped out on Earth." Zaia said, clipping a few remaining buckles. Zaeed was still alive, but from what she knew of him, he was still freelance. Not that he would ever go back to leading his old merc group.
"Remnants of the group survived and built up their numbers again." Tevos answered.
Shepard stepped out of the closet, throwing her trench coat over the high tech uniform. "Sounds simple enough. Why am I headed out now? It only takes a day to get there, then another few hours for the kill." She said, letting loose her hair and proceeding downstairs to the kitchen.
Tevos crinkled her brow as she followed. "We think that you may need to do some recon of the area first. This is not as simple as aim and shoot." She said, her calm disposition not faltering in the least. . "Why not? It's always that simple."
"Not so, Shepard. This colony has been founded inside a massive skyscraper found to be nigh invincible in its stability. This kill will have to take place in a hallway or stairwell. There is in fact no space large enough for a long distance kill," She explained. "And there is one large other problem."
"What might that be?" Shepard groaned sarcastically. The councilor clicked something and searched through her omni-tool, pulling up an image of a green skinned asari. "Do you remember this asari?"
"Yeah. Shiala. Saren gave her to the fucking Thorian as a slave in exchange for information regarding the Prothean Cipher. After we freed her, she gave it to me too. Why?"
Tevos closed the image and clasped her hands in front of her. "Shiala is a gifted commando, and the personal security officer for Oriana, and indirectly, of Loxx. This is dangerous."
"Explain." Shepard demanded, heading to another small panel in her kitchen. After pressing a few buttons, the kitchen counters flipped, revealing Zaia's personal armory. The weapons of war here would make a turian general wet himself.
"Shiala has melded minds with you, correct?"
"Well yeah, that's obvious." Shepard scoffed, perusing her stock of throwing knives and blades. Scorpion blades were perfect for hallway kills, and throwing knives would be good on the rare chance that she actually got into a protracted combat situation with multiple hostiles. Only happened twice in ten years, and throwing blades saved her ass both those times.
"When some asari meld, that persons...aura is imprinted on her mind," Tevos explained. "This aura is like a memory. So when that asari lays eyes on someone who they have melded with, they will instantly know who that person is. In this case, if Shiala sees you, she will know that it is you."
Shepard laughed. "That isn't exactly an issue for me, Tevos." The councilor shifted her feet, getting a little tired of this bullshit that she had to deal with every time she spoke to the spectre. "It is an issue if this security officers finds a dead spectre in the new colony. Do not let her see you." She warned.
"I've never heard of this aura memory before. Care to shed some light." It was more demand than question. "It is somewhat like Ardat-Yakshi; a recessive gene only displayed by some asari, this one far less dangerous." She answered, short and to the point.
"Tell me: does this little aura of yours pop up on video?"
Tevos' eyes rose in confusion. "What does it matter? That hardly seems relevant." She quipped. Shepard turned and gave her a sharp stare. "Oh, it is relevant. See, if it pops up on video, that means I have a whole lot more work to do. Can't have Shiala recognizing me on security vids." She said. This is where her talent as an assassin came in. These were the small details that made Zaia a professional. Not like the idiots on Omega who think that killing someone for money makes them professional assassins.
"Shiala is Miss Lawson's personal security officer. She won't have access to colony security vids." Tevos said, her eyes wide with curiosity. Shepard swore at the gun she had chosen, remembering that the trigger jammed and she had forgotten to fix it.
"You don't understand. As a security officer, Shiala is compelled by contract to protect her detail, which is Oriana and Loxx. When Loxx turns up dead, Shiala will use all her resources to find the killer. First step: security vids. That's basic, Tevos."
The councilor visibly bristled at the petty insult. "No, the gene does not activate through video. Anyway. Get to Tiber, do the recon, avoid Shiala and kill Loxx. You have six days."
Shepard smirked as she picked out her weapons, putting them into specific holsters in her jacket. "I'll only need three."
How did you like it? Please let me know in a review or PM, and Chapter 2 will be posted in a few days!
