Disclaimer & style key: see prologue
AN: Not a whole lot on what Shepard got from the beacon in this chapter, but there are hints. I plan for everything to develop gradually over the course of all three games.
Chapter 1st posted: 2013/5/24
Chapter 1
No Need for Evidence
The first thing Shepard noticed was sound. A low humming she associated with being onboard a ship. Probably back on the Normandy, she thought, as the sensation of touch became known. The firm softness of the mattress on which she lay indicated she was either in her quarters or, more likely, in the med bay. Finally, scent and taste filtered into her awareness followed by sight as she opened her eyes.
"Finally awake, Commander?" asked chief medical officer Dr. Karin Chakwas, as she bustled over to her patient. "How are you feeling?" She looked the Commander over with a critical eye.
I swear, all doctors must learn how to walk that way. It's probably a requirement to graduate med school or something. "I'm fine," Shepard sat up and eventually replied, to which the doctor raised her brow askance. "Really, just some minor throbbing and a headache." Shepard rubbed her temples and a small frown marred her Asian features – an interesting contrast to her dark red hair and blue eyes, which, with along with her last name, suggested recent European ancestry.
"Well then, let that be a lesson to you about activating unknown tech. Fortunately for you, my scans agree with you, for the most part. However, there were some anomalous readings in your brain activity - abnormal beta waves. Probably nothing to worry about in itself, but I'd like to run a quick scan on your nervous system now that you're awake, just to be certain."
"Sure thing, Doc."
Chakwas scrutinized her omni-tool as the med bay systems scanned the Commander. "Well, your cerebral activity is still elevated, especially in the areas associated with memory or dreaming. Also, your entire nervous system is … energized?"Chakwas frowned. "No that's not quite right. But the amount of nervous activity is more like that of an active biotic."
"So, the beacon turned me into a biotic as well as giving me nightmares? Wonderful," Shepard enthused sarcastically. "I'm just glad the BAaT program was shut down. Alenko said it was… harsh."
"Harsh isn't the word I'd use, Commander, and no, you're not biotic. There's no more element zero in your system than there was before – that is to say, just the traces from living in close proximity to starship drive cores for an extended time. Definitely no eezo nodes, like a true biotic has. Only the amount of information being transmitted throughout your nerves seems to have increased." The doctor nodded as she decided. "Well, I see no reason not to clear you for duty, Commander, but let me know if your headache doesn't go away within a few hours. Here," she said handing Shepard a pain killer as the Commander nodded her assent.
"How's our XO holding up, Doctor?" Captain Anderson asked as he entered the med bay.
"Physically she's fine, Captain. There are some concerns with one of her scans, but nothing that seems to be affecting her performance in any way. The details will be in my report, Captain, and I've just cleared her for duty."
"Glad to hear it. Shepard, I need to talk with you. In private."
"I'll be in the mess if you need anything," Chakwas said, retreating through the door to the crew deck.
-NNFE-
If the Destiny Ascension was awe inspiring, the Citadel itself even more so. Especially for those crew members that had never been to the center of galactic government. The forty five kilometer long station was brilliantly back-lit by the Widow nebula, making the station appear to have an incandescent halo. There was a small fleet of ships, both military and mercantile, constantly entering, leaving, and orbiting the station, including the aforementioned asari dreadnought.
The interior was no less impressive, at least the bit of the presidium they were able to see. Somewhat less impressive, though, was Humanity's ambassador-at-large, Donnell Udina. While his conversation with the council's holographic projections was professional, his delivery was very confrontational. Shepard decided that, while that kind of diplomacy may bear fruit just as well as another, it doesn't win many friends. And they needed friends if Humanity was to truly become a part of the galactic society.
Unsurprisingly, the Council decreed that there was insufficient evidence to condemn Saren, who was one of their top Spectre agents. Since Citadel Security's investigation found nothing out of the ordinary, their only real evidence was the word of a Human dock worker, whom Shepard had found also dabbled in smuggling. Not the most compelling argument one could use against an agent of the Council.
Luckily, neither Udina nor Anderson were going to let it stop there. Shepard now had the incredibly exciting assignment of performing her own investigation into Saren's activities. Since her access to Council and Spectre records would be even more restricted than C-Sec's, Shepard determined the best course of action would be to investigate from a personal standpoint, such as known associates and "unofficial" information channels. Anderson had mentioned a volus who works as a financial consultant on the presidium and is a suspected agent of the Shadow Broker.
But the Shadow Broker was both expensive and dangerous to deal with. Not that this Barla Von was likely to try to kill them – the volus were not known for their martial skills – but dealing with any information broker was a fine balance in getting the intelligence one was after while not revealing anything more than necessary. So when Shepard brought up the C-Sec agent who was looking into Saren for the council, a Turian named Garrus Vakarian, Udina agreed he might also be useful. Apparently, Officer Vakarian was convinced that Saren was dirty, but was unable to find hard evidence in time for the Council meeting. In fact, he had mentioned as much to his boss as Shepard and her crew had passed on the way to the audience chamber. And although the inquiry was now officially closed, Vakarian may still be engaged in an "unofficial" investigation. Unfortunately, neither Udina nor Anderson knew where he might be, but the Captain mentioned another C-Sec officer, Harkin, who spent a lot of time in a club called Chora's Den and would probably know his fellow officer's whereabouts.
The three marines made a quick stop at the Normandy to change out of their dress blues, which they had worn for the audience with the Council, and into the plainer but more comfortable "Class B's." They also grabbed their pistols and shield belts before heading into the wards. While they weren't as robust as a hardsuit's shield generators, they were still capable of repelling small arms fire for a few minutes. By Citadel law only Spectres and on-duty C-Sec officers were allowed to carry heavier equipment.
They found Chora's Den in the lower section of Shalta ward. It was nothing special, really, just a large circular bar in the center of the main room, surrounded by small tables and alcoves. Oh, and don't forget the ubiquitous asari dancers, low light, and loud music. It was, however, a good sized establishment, so they had to do more than just look in from the door to find anyone. They casually walked the perimeter of the floor, and after speaking briefly with a Turian general and a passing encounter with a surly Krogan (who appeared to have issues with the club's owner), they spotted Harkin nursing a drink at a corner table.
"Harkin?" Shepard asked, walking up to the man's table.
He raised his head and looked Shepard up and down with an appreciative eye. "Hey there, sweetheart, you lookin' for some fun? Gotta say, that uniform looks really good that bod of yours. Why don't you sit your sweet little ass down here next to ol' Harkin, have a drink, and we'll see where this goes?"
Alenko's face tightened in anger, while Williams just narrowed her eyes at the chauvinistic comments. However, and to her companions' amazement, Shepard just grinned and strutted the rest of the way around the table. She then cupped Harkin's cheek in her palm and twisted herself around, landing sat in his lap. In a husky voice, she said, "That sounds like a wonderful idea, officer…" She caressed his back with one hand, pressing lightly in certain spots, as the other remained on his face as she leaned in. Harkin grinned back.
Then she pressed the thumb that was on Harkin's cheek up under his jaw painfully, as her other hand moved to one shoulder, then the other, digging a rock-hard finger into the socket of his joint. From afar, she still looked as if she were enjoying his company, her hands on his shoulder and mouth by his ear.
"Now, officer," she said sweetly, "that's not a very polite way to address an officer in the Alliance Navy. Luckily for you, I'm off duty and feeling generous, so I'll be polite about this. Now, I just have one question for you: do you know where I can find Officer Vakarian?" She removed her thumb from his jaw, and moved it to the side of his neck.
Harkin's muscles were tense and he couldn't move his arms at all. His eyes were wide as he said through his clenched jaw, "You're in trouble now, lady. Assaulting a C-Sec officer is bad news."
"What assault?" she replied, blowing softly in his ear. "There's no permanent damage, no physical evidence, and as far as the patrons here are concerned, we're having an enjoyable conversation. My crewmates certainly didn't see anything." Said crew suddenly found the ceiling or walls much more interesting than their commander's actions. Shepard's voice became hard as she increased pressure on his brachial nerve.* "Now, where's Vakarian?"
-NFEZ-
A few minutes later, the group was on their way to a small med clinic in the upper sections of the ward. According to Harkin, the head doctor there, Chloe Michel, supposedly had some information on Saren. It was therefore a likely place to find Vakarian. As well, the information the doctor had might be useful in its own right.
As they left the bar, Alenko asked, "Was that really necessary back there, Commander? I'm not questioning its effectiveness, but it seemed a little over the top, if you know what I mean."
"That was kind of scary, ma'am. Cool as anything, and that slimeo deserved it, but still scary," grinned Williams.
Shepard returned the Chief's grin and turned to Alenko as they continued towards the upper ward access. "That man, whom I refuse to refer to as an officer, had no respect for us from the get go, despite the fact that we're in Alliance uniform. Hell, you and I both have officer's bars, and still the first thing out of his mouth was a half-witted come-on. Since I couldn't very well shoot him, I did the next best thing." She shook her head. "In the end, Lieutenant, we got the information we were after, a sexist C-Sec agent got a lesson in respect, and no one was hurt. He won't even have a bruise."
"I hear you, Commander," said Alenko, although he still looked troubled.
"Don't worry, L.T. I don't go around causing pain in random jerks because I enjoy it. That guy just pushed one of my few buttons."
"We understand, Commander," assured Williams. "I think it's more the way your personality changed so completely and quickly. Is that something you learned at the Villa?" She almost gushed, "It was nothing like when you talked to that reporter a little while back. I mean, you went from an Alliance officer, to a seductive temptress, to a right scary bitch in less than ten seconds." She paused. "Um, begging your pardon, ma'am."
Shepard laughed. "No, Chief, it's not something I learned in the N-program. Let's just say I had an interesting childhood and leave it at that for now. I think that's the clinic we're looking for."
They door they approached was nondescript, with nothing more than a small sign above the portal indicating what was on the other side. As Shepard keyed the door she caught a glimpse of the interior and immediately moved to the side of the doorway, shoving her companions with her.
"There, I've jammed the door," she said quietly as she feverishly worked her omni-tool. She continued, speaking quickly and softly, "Our doctor is in there, but I counted six armed Humans confronting her, and a Turian in C-Sec armor trying to ambush them. I don't think they saw me, so with luck they'll just think the door malfunctioned. Williams, go for disabling shots if you can. Alenko, biotics free as opportunity provides. Cover fire only after I secure the doctor – she's being held."
With that, Shepard pressed a stud on her belt and disappeared into a tactical cloak. Without the extra power from her armor it wouldn't last very long, but it should be long enough for what follows. Alenko and Williams looked at each other for a brief moment before their training took over and they readied themselves.
Inside the clinic, the gang of toughs looked over with two of them moving their raised weapons to cover the entrance as the door opened, but saw nothing. The leader, who had a hold of a slight Human woman in a medical tunic, growled, "Stupid door, that's the second time it's done that. You two," he said, pointing to the two bangers who had moved their weapons to cover the entryway. "Go secure that door and make sure it stays shut."
No one had yet noticed the Turian hiding below a partition, and they certainly didn't see the cloaked Shepard quickly move into the room and next to their leader."
Suddenly, the man holding onto Doctor Michel had his hand holding the pistol yanked away and twisted so hard his wrist broke and the pistol clattered to the floor. Shepard's cloak dropped at the same time, and she yelled "Now!" and Williams started shooting. Shepard then shoved the man into the wall hard enough there was a snapping sound as he hit, then slid to the floor leaving a trail of blood from his nose. She then grabbed the Doctor, who was still standing up looking shocked, and dropped them both to the floor behind some diagnostic equipment.
While this happened, the Turian, whom Shepard assumed was Vakarian, broke his cover and pointed his pistol in the direction of the Doctor. Seeing his target was no longer there, he quickly adjusted his aim and shot two of the thugs who were slow to react to his appearance. He ducked back behind cover and looked over at where Shepard and the doctor lay, assuring himself they were safe for the moment.
Williams' attacks, while not as effective in thinning the enemies' numbers, did force the thugs to keep their heads down. This meant they weren't shooting constantly, and Alenko took advantage of a brief respite to biotically lift one of their attackers into the air. His and Williams' pistols then made short work of him.
"Stay down!" Shepard told the doctor, as she got to her knees, drew a knife from her boot, and reactivated the cloak. A few quick vaults over beds and around equipment and she was in position. As the continuing fire coming from Williams and Vakarian drew their remaining enemies' attention, Shepard snuck up and stabbed one of them from behind, just between the 3rd and 4th ribs on the left side of the spine, then shot the last attacker in the face as he broke cover to fire at Williams.
"Clear!" came the call from the Commander, and was repeated by the Alliance personnel as they all stood.
"All clear," said the Turian in his metallic sounding voice. He moved to help Doctor Michele up from the floor.
"You must be Vakarian. Nice shooting. I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy."
"Good to meet you, Commander, and that was some nice work yourself. Especially that one," he said. The Turian gestured to the man Shepard had tossed into the wall, whose head was hanging at an unnatural angle.
"Well, damn. I didn't think I tossed him that hard. Now I'll not only be unable to question him, but I'll have to fill out more paperwork." She looked at the C-Sec officer. "I hope this won't cause problems. I'd hoped to talk to you or the Doc here about Saren Arterius."
"No problem, Commander," Vakarian replied. "That's why I'm here too. And in light of your assistance to an officer of Citadel Security in the course of his duty, I don't think anyone will mind." He turned to the doctor. "Are you alright, Doctor Michel?"
"Yes, I'm okay. Thanks to all of you." She spoke with a French accent, or perhaps Canadian.
"So why were they all up in your face, Doctor?" Shepard asked. "Typically medical staff are left alone by thugs and gang bangers, since they never know when they might need your services."
"They work for Fist. They wanted to keep me from telling anyone, especially Garrus, about the Quarian."
"It probably has to do with my investigation," asserted Garrus. "Doctor Michel, will you tell us what happened?"
The doctor nodded. "A few days ago, a young Quarian came to my clinic. She'd been shot, but wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared and probably on the run from someone. She asked about the Shadow Broker, wanting to exchange information for a safe refuge. I put her in contact with Fist – he's an agent for the Shadow Broker."
"Not anymore," said Garrus, shaking his head. "He works for Saren now, and the Broker's not happy about it. He's hired a Krogan mercenary named Wrex to teach Fist a lesson."
"That's probably what that Krogan wanted down at Chora's Den, Commander," Alenko opined.
"Just wonderful," exclaimed Shepard. "We need get back there ASAP. We need to get to Fist before any Krogan assassins do and before he does something permanent to the Quarian. Let's move!"
As the marines turned to leave, Garrus said, "Shepard, I'm coming too. You'll need someone with official status if things go badly."
Shepard just nodded, and they all rushed out.
-NNFE-
As they ran back to the stairwell leading to the lower ward, Shepard had some last minute advice. "Alright, if Fist has any kind of intelligence, he's got to know that Wrex will be coming for him again. Be prepared for a hostile reception, but don't endanger any civilians. If the club is locked down and defended, Garrus, you're the only one with a hardsuit, so I'd like you to draw their fire and as much as you can without getting killed. Chief, LT, you're both marksman rated with pistols. Precision shots and watch your cover; especially you Chief. I'll go in under cloak again."
"Aye, ma'am."
"Got it, Commander."
"Works for me, Shepard."
When they arrived, the entrance was indeed locked, and the Krogan, Wrex, was attempting to force the doors.
"You Wrex?" queried Shepard as they approached.
The Krogan turned to them, appraising them all in a glance, then turned back to the door. "Do I know you, Human?"
"I hear you're after Fist. We've got some questions we'd like to ask him. If you'll let us do that before giving him your… lesson… I'd be willing to help you out."
Wrex stared at her out of one eye. Shepard stared right back. "Hmm," he rumbled. "It's a deal. You get me in there, you can ask your questions before I educate him. Just don't take too long. Krogans aren't known for their patience."
"Deal," she replied and opened the door with a few quick taps to her omni-tool. Immediately, the entryway came under fire from inside the club, and Wrex charged in, toting an over-sized shotgun and meeting another Krogan's charge with a well-placed blast that staggered the other and drained his shields. "Go! Go! Go!" yelled Shepard, and her companions entered the club firing as she activated her cloak and slipped inside.
Shepard made quick work of two thugs, sneaking behind them under cloak using her combat knife to target the few vital points that weren't covered by their armor. It was as she was creeping up on her third target that it happened. Without the extra power from an armored hardsuit, her cloaking field generator gave out with a snap. The thug she was just behind turned, surprised, and brought his pistol around to fire at her center mass. Shepard deflected his arm, though, and slammed her knife into his throat. Another opponent must have seen the short conflict, however, as just as she was withdrawing the blade, a spray of bullets from an assault rifle impacted all around her. Luckily, whomever was shooting was either a very poor shot or completely off balance, as only one round hit her in the left arm.
She immediately took cover by tipping the table next to her on its side, crouching behind it and immediately dropping to the floor. Then another shot rang out, much louder than any other weapon in the room save only Wrex's shotgun. Just above the Commander a nice hole appeared in her makeshift cover, right where her head was only a fraction of a second earlier. The metal-composite table might have provided some protection against pistols and assault rifles, but apparently someone in the room had a sniper rifle, whose larger projectiles and faster muzzle velocity made short work of the thin barrier.
"Sniper on top of the bar! Take him out! Now!" She bellowed into her comm. There was no other cover close to her, the rest of the furniture having been riddled with fire from, ironically, her own squad mates. She fired a quick blast of plasma from her omni-tool in the general direction of the sniper and ducked back to the floor. Time slowed down. She saw her enemy rise up again, like an apparition of doom, and sight in on her with a long-barreled rifle. She raised her hand as if to deny the shot she knew was coming. Then the end of the rifle bloomed as compressed air was forced out of the barrel as it fired.
Shepard could almost see the small projectile as it sped towards her. In the background, the sniper's own head exploded from Garrus' shot, as if to herald her own demise. Then the shot stopped, shattered on an unseen barrier just in front of her. And Shepard fell to the floor in surprise.
Apparently that was the end of the fight, as the sniper was the last to fall. Wrex stumped over to Shepard and said. "Heh! You fight well for a Human. It's not often I see one get up close and personal with their prey without armor, even a biotic. Looks like you got a little careless, though." He gestured to Shepard's arm.
"Are you alright, Commander?" asked Alenko, a concerned look on both his and Williams' faces.
Shepard was shocked and more than a little confused. She answered in a far away voice, "I'll be fine, it passed through." She shook her head, forcing herself back to the here and now and applying medigel to her wound. "And Wrex, my training was a little more comprehensive than you'll find in most Alliance personnel. Also my options were a little limited by that armor you noticed I'm not wearing." She then turned to include them all in her words. "Fist should be in the back room. Let's keep moving."
They met some minor resistance in the back hallways, but nothing they weren't able to handle easily. At one point, a couple warehouse workers threatened them with pistols they obviously didn't know how to use properly. Shepard just looked at them, looked back at her four well-armed companions who raised their weapons, and turned back to the workers with a condescending look and asked, "Seriously?"
The two men looked at each other, dropped the guns, and walked out with lowered heads. "Um, we'll just go then," said one.
"Yeah," said the other. "We never liked this job anyway."
Wrex tripped one of them on their way out and chuckled as they scrambled for the exit. "Would have been easier to just shoot them."
"Maybe, but not as fun," returned Shepard.
Wrex just grunted as they continued to the back rooms.
-NNFE-
"Wow, your Commander's really fast," exclaimed the panting Garrus as he, Williams, and Alenko steadily lost ground to the sprinting spec-ops soldier. They were all rushing to the back alley behind the markets to save the Quarian Fist had set up.
"Yeah, and the Krogan just powers after her, too. I'll have to start hitting the treadmill harder." Williams shook her head in wonder. "Okay… less talking… more running," and she started pulling ahead of them. The two males looked at each other and increased their own pace. Apparently, the looser of this little race would be buying the next round.
-NNFE-
The meeting in the Alliance embassy was certainly informative, especially as regards Quarian culture and their history with the Geth. As well, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya (as they learned the young Quarian was named) had joined their group deciding that helping them was more important than her pilgrimage. The audience with the Council was definitely better this time around, too. After hearing the evidence that Tali had provided linking Saren to the Geth and the attack on Eden Prime, the Council stripped Saren of his spectre status. They also declared him an outlaw and promised to make all efforts to apprehend him.
However, the salarian Councillor wanted to know about the "reapers" that were mentioned in the recording. A debate ensued, but without corroborating evidence, all they could agree on was that Saren was working with the Geth and must be stopped from finding this "conduit" it appeared he was searching for. Unfortunately, they had different ideas on how to accomplish that feat.
"You know he's hiding somewhere in the Attican Traverse. Send your fleet after him!" Udina urged.
"A fleet cannot find one man, Ambassador," chided the salarian, Valern.
"And we cannot risk a war with the Terminus systems for the sake of a few dozen Human colonies," continued Sparatus, the Turian councilor. "That territory is always eager for an excuse, and such a large force policing that close to their borders would be viewed as very aggressive."
"Send me!" Shepard interjected. "I can take Saren down." Her companions turned to her with expressions varying from grudging acceptance (Alenko) to growing respect (Williams, Vakarian, and Wrex) to astonishment (Tali).
Tevos, the asari, nodded. "The Commander's idea has merit. It would be a way to stop Saren that doesn't require fleets or armies."
"No! It's too soon," said Sparatus. "Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."
"Humanity," stressed the Asari, "does not need to be ready. This council is the final arbiter of who joins the Spectres, as well as who is dismissed from their ranks. And Commander Shepard has proved herself, both in the past and with her recent efforts."
Valern nodded briefly. Tevos then looked at Sparatus, who paused, then nodded and muttered "Provisionally." Then the three Councilors tapped commands into their consoles.
"Commander Shepard, step forward," said Tevos regally.
-NNFE-
AN: So here's chapter one. Sorry for the wait, but I did warn you.
I was debating whether or not to include conversations from the game(s) that are the same or close enough to canon, or to just skip them. I ended up skipping the ones that didn't have a new crew member introduction, as well as those that were just a huge data dump. Hopefully that worked.
I did want to include Shepard's induction into the Spectres, but couldn't figure out how to do it and still evoke the emotional response the game did (which admittedly was at least half due to the inspirational music), so I cut the chapter there.
Also, I've added a "NNFE Status Update" to my profile, to keep everyone appraised of the status of the next chapter. I always liked when an author did that, and given my update speed, I figured I'd return the favor.
So, let me know what you think. Also, if anyone is interested in being a beta, send me a PM. I mostly need help with creative aspects, but all advice would be welcome.
Speaking of which, here's a note on species names for the English majors out there. Yes, I capitalized all the species names, including ours. I know that, when speaking generally, the word "human" is lower case. However, that is because humans are the only (recognized) sentient species on this planet, so the term becomes an ordinary noun when used generally. However, in the ME galaxy, there are many different sentient species. Therefore, all (sentient) species names become proper nouns, and are therefore capitalized.