Upon approaching the hangar, the squad was met with three people.
"That's far enough." the woman said, her gun in hand.
"We're not here to cause problems." Shepard replied.
"This is an unscheduled arrival, I need your credentials."
"You first." Shepard said.
"We're the law here." the other woman told him. "Show some respect."
Juliet raised her eyebrow, smirking slightly at the authority they thought they had over a spectre.
"I'm captain Maeko Matsuo."
"I'm a spectre, my name is Shepard."
"Load of horse crap, m'am." the other woman said to Matsuo.
"We'll need to confirm that." Matsuo told him. "Also, I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria. Sergeant Stirling, secure their weapons."
Shepard and Garrus drew their weapons while Liara lit up with biotics. Juliet stood ready to attack, not daring pull out the guns she didn't know how to fire. There was silence for a moment as the Sergeant pointed her gun back, the turian doing the same as Matsuo's face adopted a stern look.
"It would not be wise to search for the Geth unarmed." Liara told them.
"I'll be keeping my gun." Shepard said.
A voice rang throughout the hangar.
"Captain Matsuo, stand down!" the woman said. "We've confirmed their identitiy. Spectres are authorized to carry weapons here, Captain."
"You may proceed, spectre. I hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational." Matsuo said.
"Behave yourself." the Sergeant said.
Shepard walked forward as they dispersed back to their posts.
"Friendly bunch." Juliet said.
"The Geth have everyone wound up." Liara told her.
They walked up some stairs to find a woman named Gianna, who excused the alarms when they went off.
"Weapon detectors, don't mind them." she said as Shepard approached her. "We apologize for the incident in the docking bay."
"I appreciate your help." Shepard said.
"You're welcome. You understand, the security chief was only doing her job. One of my duties for new arrivals: Do you have any questions?"
"Pretty heavy security for such a small port."
"We do everything to protect our clients."
"I can't have my investigation hampered." Shepard said sternly.
"Tread lightly." Gianna replied. "You'd need an asari lawyer to see your case through if they buried you in litigation."
"Anyone unusual pass through here lately?"
"An asari matriarch, a few days ago. Lady Benezia."
"She's still here?" Liara asked.
Juliet could hear the worry in her voice.
"Can I speak with her?" Shepard asked.
"She left for peak 15 days ago, but to the best of my knowledge, she's still there."
"Can you tell me how to get there?"
"You'll need to ask the administer for clearance to go up there."
"Where is he?"
"His office is on the main level. Left at the top of the elevator."
"Can we go in now?"
"Of course. If you need any help, you can find me at the administrator's office." Gianna said before walking away.
Shepard looked at Liara.
"She is here… I can't believe it… I'm sure you wish to talk to me about this… About my mother."
"No, I don't. You may not be Alliance, but I trust you. You're a part of my crew." Shepard told her.
"Thank you, Shepard. That means a great deal to me."
Juliet envied the trust they had, knowing she had to work to get these people to accept her like that. She followed behind Shepard, all of them walking into the next room.
After taking the elvetaor, they went to see the administrator. The salarian was quite irritable. When Shepard asked about Saren, the salarian was reluctant to say anything. On the subject of Benezia, he also refused to say much. He told them Shepard couldn't go to Peak 15, since it was cut off from the storm.
"I'm sure there's someone else around here that can help us." Juliet murmered to the commander.
Shepard seemed to agree with this, telling the salarian that he had no more questions. They left the office, stopping at Gianna's desk.
"You've never worked in the corporate world, have you Commander Shepard?" she asked.
"I need an alternative to get to Peak 15."
"Talk to Lorik Keem. You should be able to find him in the hotel bar. I can't say more here."
"Why talk to him?"
"The administrator isn't the only one with a pass to Peak 15."
"I've taken up enough of your time." Shepard said, walking away from her.
They walked up to the hotel bar, looking around carefully for the man Gianna had told them to. An asari summoned the group over to her, asking Shepard to speak with a man named Bargis. Shepard had refused, but Juliet accepted the device, walking over to Bargis as Shepard went to speak with Lorik. She spoke with Bargis, getting the information she needed before returning to the asari again. The asari transferred credits to Juliet, then thanked her for the help. Juliet joined Shepard as he spoke to Lorik. Juliet glanced around, noticing Garrus staring her down. She looked away, knowing he had caught on to what she did.
"If you recover the evidence from my office, I will give you my garage pass, and credits." the turian said.
"Annolais didn't cancel your pass clearance?"
"Why would he? There's nothing outside but snow."
"How did you get a pass?"
"I'm a manager, I'm free to come and go as I please."
"You have a plan?"
"I do. However, there is a matter of… What is that charming human phrase… 'fly in the lotion'? Violence against Mr. Annolais' thugs may be necessary, he has members of Hanshan security up there. He's paying them under the table. Ms. Matsuo is unaware of their outside employment."
"I'll work on gathering your evidence."
"Excellent. Do try to keep blood stains off the carpet, would you?"
Shepard took the card from Lorik, tucking it away in his armor. They all left the bar, ready to go up and fight the thugs. Juliet looked at Shepard.
"All you do is pull the trigger?" she asked, running her finger along the gun in her holster.
"Point and shoot."
"Isn't there a kickback?"
"Not with that pistol, no." Garrus told her. "I gave you an easy one."
Juliet nodded, taking a deep breath as the elevator climbed slowly. She could feel her heart beating quickly, wishing she could just go in and tear the guards apart instead of trying to shoot at them. She was vulnerable, and hated it. She took in a deep breath again, the elevator stopping now. It opened to reveal the guards. A woman stepped forward.
"Freeze, Hanshan security! This office is sealed." she told them.
"Lorik Keen gave me a pass in."
"Are you working for him? He's being investigated."
"Does Captain Matsuo know you're here?"
"Hey, I'm not the one who wants Keen… How about this? You pretend you didn't see us, we pretend we didn't see you."
She walked away.
"Commander, there are other people in this room." Juliet told him. "I can hear and smell them."
"That's useful." he said, taking out his gun. "You ready?"
Juliet nodded, taking out her pistol. Liara and Garrus prepared themselves aswell. They all took cover silently, Juliet closing her eyes for a moment before leaning up to take her aim. She was shaking slightly, aiming for the head of one of the thugs. They weren't detected yet, giving her time to make the first shot. Her stomach lurched, her finger pulling the trigger and killing the man. She ducked back down as the thugs all scattered, firing back at the intruders. Shepard nodded at her, then took his own aim, taking the thugs out with the rest of the squad. Juliet peeked up again, bitotics flying around from Liara to the other asari commandos in the room. Juliet aimed again, firing but missing. She could feel the asari getting closer, throwing biotics around the shatter their cover.
Shepard told them to find another way of protecting themselves, but Juliet put her gun down, running at the lit up asari quickly. In an instant, Juliet was behind the enemy, grabbing her head and snapping her neck. There were two other commandos still throwing biotics. One orb hit Juliet, making her recoil at the force of the magic. She ran forward, disarming and killing their opponents quickly.
After they were finished, Shepard put his gun away, walking over to Juliet as he stared down at the dead asari.
"I'll give you points for hand-to-hand combat… You need practice shooting though. Not all enemies are safe to get close to."
"That's wasn't hand-to-hand, that was dirty." Garrus said, putting his own gun away. "Effective… But it was dirty."
"We should go." Liara said.
Shepard continued up the stairs, his team following him. Juliet walked over to her gun, picking it up before catching up to them once again.