A/N: Well, some action is gonna happen soon! Be ready!
Mass Effect: Reality Locus
Chapter 3: Aye Aye EYE!
As I got out of the air car at C-sec, I looked around to see if I could spot a familiar face. I had really wanted to meet him, as he was my favorite character in Mass Effect, and he had always accompanied my squad. Always. There is something to be said for having a living tank on your side…
Ah, there's where he would be in the game. It's empty, so I guess that Shepard must have gotten here before me. Ah, well- I'll still get to meet him at Chora's Den, so I just have to wait. I weave through the crowd until I get to a familiar staircase with a familiar face standing there. Oh god, it's that reporter lady. I don't want to deal with this right now; I'll go the other way.
Too late; she already caught sight of me and is heading this way. Thinking fast, I walk back around the corner and cloak, disappearing from view. As I expected, she rounds the corner, pausing as the fact that I'm gone registers. With a particularly nasty curse, she turns around and heads back to where she came from. Sweet, I avoided miss tabloid! Looking around, I see what I have to work with as I wait for Shepard. Unlike in the game, all those doors that don't open or are unmarked lead to more stores or businesses; the Citadel is very much busy 24/7. I browse, attracting odd looks in my full armor. News hasn't travelled too far about me, as nobody rushes over to express condolences for my loss or whatever. After buying some foodstuffs that I had dearly missed in my excursion to the Reptic planet, stowing them in my flatspace pack, I go over to an exotic weapon vendor and ask him some questions.
"Hello, do you sell bolts here? Not the kind for construction, but crossbow bolts and the like." The twitchy Salarian at the desk looks me over in fear and interest, taking his time to answer.
"We do, indeed. In fact, we have some 'trick' bolts available from the Talon Mercenaries- just licensed us to sell them, too! We have standard arrows in multiple lengths, but all of the Talon arrows are actually Omni-tool fabricator kits. Of those, we have tech arrows- they explode like a short range overload. Very useful against shields, and can be toned down to non-lethal. Secondly, we have the armor-piercing module. It modifies the arrows with a hardened composite tip accompanied with a Mass Effect field increasing impact force and penetration. Finally, we have one more module. The Talon Company sent this one to us as a limited production run that they cancelled for another product. These arrows are high-explosive- the shaft is packed with an exotic and near illegal mixture of confidential composition, and the head is designed to fragment for extra shrapnel damage. The first two arrow modules are 25,000 credits each, and the Explosive Arrow module is 45,000 credits. Our standard arrows are a flat rate of 120 for 1,000 credits, with discounts for bulk. Would you care for any of these?"
I think for a moment- I have no credits, but I do have some sweet things that I had picked up inside the Bazaar for trade. Let's see if I can make a deal.
"Well sir, I don't have the liquid assets to buy these outright, but I do have some exotic goods for trade. Would you like to see what I have?"
The shopkeep gives me a weird look- he can't seem to get a read on me. Giving in to curiosity, he nods. Opening up my suit's interface, I project the contents of my 'junk' flatspace container. The poor merchant's eyes almost bug out before he wobbles and sits down on the floor.
Looking up at me, he says in amazement; "Where in the galaxy…? Doesn't matter."
Standing up fast enough to make even my head spin, he holds out his hand. "This looks like the start of a beautiful trade."
After a half an hour of haggling, we come to an agreement; I end up purchasing all three units and a top of the line Omni-tool, and he got three small molecular synthesizers, each locked into a specific material. The look on his face when I responded to his query about Tungsten, Palladium and pure Carbon was utterly priceless.
Deal made, I walked off further into the shops, taking a roundabout way back to the Fast Travel cab. I took a quick detour to my ship, where I ditched my foodstuffs and donned a standard N7 grade hard suit and shield combo- I had a bone to pick with Ashley, and I was gonna make it hard. I attached a small arsenal of various knives and small daggers to the suit, looking like some sort of nutcase in all probability. For a weapon, all I do is grab the rundown energy bow from the armory and transfer my flatspace storage unit onto my armor, interfacing it with my Omni-tool, and storing my main suit in it for safe keeping.
Now ready for a small war, I step out into the docks, hail a cab, and head for Chora's Den. Arriving there, I see the three assassins that greet Shepard. They see my N7 type armor and freak. "Damn, Shepard sent back up! Take him out!"
Wow, touchy sons of bitches. Before they can open fire, I spin and throw a long, double bladed knife end over end, its spiral ending point down in the Turian's left eyeball. The two others, seeing how quickly I took out their leader, begin to panic and proceed to spray my position with rounds, bringing my shield down to half before I get into cover. Drawing my bow, I pop my Disruptor Arrow module into my Omni-tool and soon have three electric arrows ready to do some damage. Drawing the cable back, I take aim and release the arrow as one goon sticks his head out to aim- it takes him full in the face, his weak shields popping instantly and he goes down twitching, his face a mess of electrical burns.
Two down hard, one to go. The last one was raring to go, and had charged me as I shot his buddy. He got close, and I got to show him something interesting about me; I have strength on-par with a Krogan in a blood rage. I duck his swing with the knife, grabbing his wrist and breaking it with a twist. He drops the knife, and I identify it as the blade I used on the first Turian. Irked by his misuse of my equipment, I grab him by the armor and dangle his stupid ass off the ground. He glares and spits in my visor; I move my head and the mucus misses. Thoroughly pissed now, I wind up a throw and using my bodies momentum and strength, I toss him across the platform, his body impacting with the wall next to the doorway to the wards with a harsh *crack* as his spine and skull shatter. At that moment, I look at the doorway and see Shepard, with Garrus and Wrex in tow, looking at the carnage in shock. Giving them a jaunty salute, I walk forwards. Wrex takes offense to this and draws his shotgun, with Garrus following suit with his sniper and Shepard grabbing a SMG. Putting my hands in the air, I drop my smile.
"Damn, do someone a favor and get held at gunpoint- great way to say thanks for taking out an ambush meant for you, Shepard."
I get treated to the classic raised eyebrow from Shepard as the three holster their weapons and approach.
Close enough to make out the unique shape of my helmet, Shepard twigs to who I am. "Atreyu! I thought you would be going to the markets!"
Shrugging, I indicate my armor and Omni-tool. "I did, grabbed some native gear and went with it. More challenge to working with this stuff- my personal armor makes the T-5V suits the N7 heavies use look like toys. Anyway, like the present? If the way they radioed in when I got here was any indication, the people in the club know you're coming, and will have quite the welcome ready."
Cocking my head, I take notice of the other's standing there. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to be rude. The name's Atreyu. I recognize you, Garrus, from the lobby entrance to the council chambers. I don't recognize you, sir. What's your name, Battlemaster?"
The group's eyes all go wide. Apparently it is unusual to recognize a Krogan Battlemaster at first sight.
"The name's Wrex. How the hell did you know about my Biotics?! You been spying on my, human?"
This causes Shepard and Garrus to cough nervously. Laughing quietly, I undo my helmet and enjoy Wrex's wide eyed stare at my appearance.
"Seen the news lately?" From his blinking and nod, he does recognize me now. Huh, never knew you could make a Krogan speechless.
"First of all, I'm not human, as you can see. Second, I have tech that outstrips yours by an order of magnitude. My omni-tool detected your barrier powering up, so I called you on it."
Holding out my hand, I look Wrex in the eye. "Atreyu, nice to meet a warrior of your caliber."
He takes the proffered hand, putting it in a crushing grip. I return it twice over, earning another wide eyed stare at my strength. He nods and speaks.
"Damn good grip you got there- almost stronger than me!"
I chuckle and step back. "Nice to know where I am on the food chain. Anyways, from the sound and looks of it, you three are assaulting the bar here, right? Want some assistance?"
Shepard nods quickly. "it would be nice, yes. I have Ashley coming down to the area now to switch with Garrus. He needs to work some on the C-sec paperwork, so we decided to swap him out."
I shrug. "Makes no difference to me. Had a point to make with this armor, anyway. Any idea when she'll get here?"
Shepard cocks her head to the side- wow, that's adorable. Gah, focus dude! "Any second now, I would guess. I don't see a gun on you- you good to go?"
I smile and draw my bow, deploying it. The few odd looks from the group make me explain. "This bow is from my world's tech- it can fire a concentrated plasma bolt- which I have disabled for the moment- or it can fire arrows or bolts from my omni-tool. Right now, I have armor piercing arrows, overload arrows, and some high-powered explosive arrows. It's silent, deadly, and efficient. I have the speed to shoot it faster than your standard shotgun can cycle, and still have good accuracy too. It works, I like it, and no- you can't have one."
Her budding puppy-dog look is crushed. I almost feel bad, but as I don't have an extra or any idea on how to make one myself, I can't help it. At that moment, Ashley arrives from behind them. Her look of curiosity turns straight to a look of contempt when she sees my face, and morphs once more into confusion when she sees my armor. Then, she goes red in the face and opens up on me, drawing her weapon. She stalks forward, rage visible in her stance. Now she's in my personal space. Wow, she's aiming her shotgun squarely at my face, just inside my arm's reach. Idiot- you don't get that close if you don't have to, not with something like that!
"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!? That armor is only available to N7 operatives! Who did you kill for it!?"
Did she really-? She did.
Enough is enough.
Blurring forward, I take the shotgun from her, the momentum from my grab sending her to the floor. When she scrambles up, she sees me looming over her.
"Well, go ahead! Shoot me! Kill me like you did the man you stole that from!"
Too far. My frustration has reached the boiling point. I take her shotgun in both hands- one on the barrel, one on the stock- and flex.
The hardened metal shatters like plastic, the jolt from the breached power cell flickering on my shields.
Staring her in the face, her shocked look seemingly stuck there, I lean into her face, inches away, and softly speak.
"Watch your tongue, xenophobe. I bought this armor from your embassy, legally- I am neither a thief nor a murderer. Insult me in such a manner again, and it will be your arm broken, not a flimsy shotgun."
I turn back to Shepard, aware that she had drawn her own weapon during the scuffle, and now had it aimed squarely at my face, just outside my reach. Smart.
Staring her down, I speak in a friendly tone.
"Now that that's settled, what do you say we go start a barfight?"