Mass Effect: Solace

Chapter 4

The chirp at her door woke Krysta up from her slumber. "What in the hell…" She groaned as she rolled over to glance over at her holo clock to see it read, "0200." The chirp sounded again. Stumbling in the dark, Krysta fetched her robe and slipped it over her shoulders as she moved towards the cabin's door. "This better not be some Cerberus update…" She muttered under breath; thinking about all the colorful words she could use, especially against Miranda. "Who is it?" She asked out tiredly.

"Grunt." The newest member of the Normandy answered.

The guest surprised her. Not who she thought would be at the door. She opened the door to see the tank bred krogan staring at her. "Smart, battle master."

"What?" Krysta squeezed over towards the wall as the krogan entered, not waiting for an invitation. Not like she could stop an alien that most likely weighed three times her own.

"Asked who was at the door before just opening it. Not reckless." He paused. "How did you know for sure it was me?"

"You're the only krogan on my crew and on this ship." Shepard shook her head. She was not in the mood to play a mind game right now. "Why are you up here?" She yawned.

"I can't sleep." Grunt eyed her cabin. "Decided to check out your ship. See how secure we are. Your crew didn't seem too happy."

"Gee, I wonder why."

"I wanted to see how strong you were. I'm bored. I shoot things when I'm bored. When are we going to fight?" He stopped at her fish tank and his jaw dropped. He raised his hand over the glass and moved it to where the fish were scurrying about, alarmed to his presence. "How do I get out the snacks?" He turned to look at her.

"Excuse me?" Krysta walked over to where he was.

"The fish." Grunt eyed the tank once more, licking his lips hungrily. "I need a snack. These will do."

"You're not eating my fish." Krysta rubbed her eyes in frustration and from sleep deprivation. "If you want some food, I can fetch Rupert to fix you something. Though, I thought you already had dinner."

This didn't please the krogan and growled in annoyance as he stepped away from the fish tank. "Krogans don't eat like the squishy humans. We drink and eat every couple of hours. I'll eat just about anything, but your cook didn't have anything appealing…chicken tenders? What is a tender? What is a chicken? Doesn't sound very tasty. I wanted varren legs or pyjack arms."

"We don't have that…I can place a requisition for you in the morning." Krysta crossed her arms, becoming impatient on just how long this conversation was going. Was he ever going to leave? She really didn't want to spend the next five hours with him in her cabin asking off the wall questions.

"I guess…I can try a chicken…" Grunt sounded a bit disappointed by her answer. "What is it?"

"It's a medium size bird creature with origination from Earth. They have feathers and normally the humans would fry up their body parts like the legs and wings." Krysta sighed hard. "Can we really talk about this in the morning, Grunt?"

Grunt eyed her holo clock. "It is morning, Shepard." He pointed out flatly. "These birds sound too soft…if the humans cook the legs and wings…then what is a tender?"

Defeated, Krysta took his arm. "Come on, Grunt. Let's go down to the mess and I'll let you try it. Trust me, you will love them."

Burping loudly in satisfaction, Grunt licked his lips to capture all the remnants of the chicken from his skin. "Tasty. You have anymore?"

Krysta couldn't help but to giggle as she moved over to the freezer compartment to check their hold. "I already fixed you twenty, Grunt. Just how much do you krogan eat in one feeding?" She was beginning to rethink this dossier. They would be searching the galaxy for food rather than their next missions. Luckily, she was not footing the bill for the expenses nor the Alliance. She didn't recall Urdnot Wrex eating this much aboard the SR-1, but then again, she never really hung out with him too much. Pretty much, they kept to themselves and only talked if it pertained to the missions. She was so hell bent on defeating Saren that she remained enclosed in her cabin throughout most of that. A part of her regretted it. Ever since her resurrection, she felt more alone than she did then. Now, though with Grunt, a part of her was lighting up.

"I'll tell you when I'm full." Grunt sat as he watched her tend to his request. "So, battle master, where are we going to?"

"I wish you wouldn't call me that." Shepard plopped the tenders down in the fryer basket. She never thought she would be doing cooking tasks aboard her own ship, but even she didn't have the heart to get Rupert out of bed to feed their hungry guest. She sort of enjoyed the company even though he was not a human.

Grunt tilted his head in confusion. "Why not? Hey, you have any Ryncol here?"

"No."

"You need to get that too. Though you squishy humans can't handle it."

"That so?" Krysta placed her hand on her hip. She was getting tired of being called "squishy" by the burly krogan.

Grunt gave a light-hearted shrug. "I wouldn't recommend it."

"By the way, we are going to Omega next." She returned to his original inquiry and then lifted the basket out of the hot oil after the alarm went off.

Grunt happily watched, anticipating the tenders coming to him. "I have never been there. Sounds fun."

Thinking to the details about what they were going up against on the asteroid station, Krysta shook her head as she placed the tenders on the plate. "You can't go, Grunt."

He paused before digging in. "Why not?" His voice rose in aggravation. "Don't leave me on this ship, Shepard." The statement was almost threatening and she tensed up.

"Two of my dossiers are there. Due to bad blood, I would prefer not to have a krogan on my team." She left it at that, trying to make it politically correct as possible.

Grunt began feasting on the tenders. "A turian and salarian are there." His words garbled by the food and pieces of the chicken were all over his mouth once more. Krysta tried not to gag by the sight. She never really sat down and watched a krogan eat before. "Afraid that I may kill them?"

"I need them for the mission and cannot afford to choose sides right now." She slumped her head on her hands as she leaned over the counter tiredly.

"I won't shoot them. Unless they piss me off." Grunt wiped his mouth off with the back of his arm. "What's the turian's name?"

"Only was given a code name: Archangel." Another alien she would have to adapt to."

"Archangel?" Grunt chortled. "Sounds weak. Not fierce like a krogan name."

Aria was watching one of the dancer's performance from her seat when one of her aids approached her platform. She motioned Bray and Moklan to step aside to allow the newcomer to proceed forward. "Yes, what is it?" She was kind of perturbed that her show was interrupted.

"Commander Shepard has entered the port, Aria. The ship was flagged as Cerberus, but has Alliance markings SR-2 on the side." The green skinned young asari stated.

This rose alarm in Aria, but she didn't allow that to show on the outside. She didn't really trust Cerberus and she never encountered this Commander Shepard before other besides when Krysta was dead and her body was being fought over. Spectres were armed and well trained plus she had Cerberus backing. Krysta no longer spoke for the Alliance so as far as Aria was concerned, she was rogue and could do whatever the hell she wanted. Even if it meant starting a war with Omega. Aria surely had the numbers to overwhelm the Spectre, but at what cost it would be to her and the station? There was no sense in playing games, she wanted to know exactly why Shepard was here and if there was any profit for her. "Moklan?"

"Yeah?" The batarian turned to her attention.

"Hurry up and get down there. I want Shepard to come here first before she sets another step on Omega."

"I'll get on it."

She waited a few minutes before giving out the next order. "Bray?"

Her bodyguard turned around to look at her. He seemed to always know what she was thinking. Amazingly, he was one step ahead of her. "She won't come."

"Exactly. That's not Shepard's style." Aria stared out in deep thought. "Follow her, Bray. See where she goes and who she talks to."

"I'm on it."

Hanging around near the dock, Bray stayed back in the ground and watched the group of transits navigating the lines to leave and enter their designated ships. He cursed under his breath when he saw Moklan storming through the group, heading back to Afterlife in frustration. He hated to be right. It seemed like this Commander Shepard ignored the request, which was more like a demand, when it came from Aria T'Loak. Krysta seemed to not really care. No one else was following Moklan, so where the hell was she? Exhaling from his large nostrils, Bray moved back into the crowd to work his way where the arrivals were. A few civilians recognized him to be one of Aria's and seemed to flatten themselves against the wall to get out of his way. One of the perks he would get from time to time among other things. He just hoped that the separation of the lines wouldn't catch onto Shepard. Once the blonde woman came into view, he noticed she was in conversation with another, but he couldn't tell who. Stepping closer, he finally recognized who the other human was. A well-known scraggily man on Omega. A mercenary known as Zaeed Massani. In tow, the merc had another batarian who was beaten up badly. Some unlucky bastard who had a contract on him. Bray never really had direct interaction with Zaeed, but he saw him on the streets one time talking with a weapons vendor. Sounded like a loon, but the kind of loon that would kill you in cold blood without thinking twice if you crossed him or dared to look at him the wrong way. He seemed to have a grudge against batarians so Bray found himself keeping his distance. Luckily, the bastard didn't have the creds to step foot in Afterlife and if he did, he didn't really care to. With Shepard was a krogan in standard armor, not a merc, Bray noted and another male human with Cerberus markings on his uniform.

He pressed his back casually up against the wall and took out a cigarette for a smoke as he watched the group interact. The conversation probably had no real importance to him so he kept his distance. He felt the smoke flowing through his mouth and nostrils as he stood there. The krogan looked around with interest while the male human did the same but in alarm. Due to the bustling of the crowds, no one picked up on him yet. A few minutes later, Shepard and Zaeed shook hands then the Cerberus agent nodded his head to her before returning towards the ship. Zaeed remained. Snubbing his cigarette out under his boot, Bray watched on with interest. Did the loon just join up with her? Why? She didn't appear to be all that great. Any other typical human to him.

Seeing the group move in his direction, he casually turned from his position and moved with the crowd towards Afterlife, looking back every now and then to see them heading in the same direction. Confident that they were coming to see Aria, he quickened his steps, but not too much, and moved around the elcor bouncer and up the stairs where two more batarians manned the doors. He paused to the one on the right and tapped him on the shoulder with his hand. Without looking back at Shepard, he said to him, "Let Shepard and her crew pass. Aria wants to talk to her."

Once he returned, Aria was standing up and skimming over a datapad in her hand. "She's coming." He announced as he retook his position.

"Really? I'm reading over the highlights now that our intel managed to scrounge up in the limited time." She turned to face him. "Ready for the show?"

The purple asari in front of her really didn't pose a threat to Krysta as she spoke with her to gather what information she could about the two dossiers. So far, it sounded like a mess. How come nothing was ever simple? One dossier was pinned by three large merc groups on Omega and the other was working a plague zone that seemed to infect everyone except for humans and vorcha. She didn't have any vorcha on her crew, nor she did really want any and she really didn't trust any of her human companions, not even Zaeed. She couldn't risk losing Grunt to some damn infection. Archangel may be the safer bet right now. If she wasted time, the merc groups would eventually wear him down and get to him. Aria didn't seem too concerned on both matters, but was interested to know that Shepard had desires to find both Dr. Mordin Solus and Archangel. "Thank you for the information." She said to T'Loak. She had a plan in place inside her head and it seemed their next point was still in the club. A room that was set up for recruitment by the Blue Suns.

"You need to relax." Aria cooed with a smirk. "You need to find a nice young man to keep you warm."

The statement pierced Krysta through her biotic shields and armor. She could hear the batarian bodyguard standing nearby chuckling under his breath. She glared at him hard with her brown eyes before addressing back to Aria. "Damn you." She hissed dangerously under her breath. She knew the statement was not random. Aria was smart so she probably had all the dirt she could muster on Shepard before their meeting. Despite how hard she tried to keep her relationship with Kaidan hidden from the start, it was hard to do and even more difficult after his passing on Virmire. What Aria said was a blunt jab to her and only for her amusement, nothing more. She could hear the batarian chuckling a little more. More than she could take. She whirled around her heel and stepped up to him quickly, retrieving her pistol and shoving it hard up against his chin. "Don't make me kill you, batarian." She spat as she glared at him with hate in her eyes. Tensions rose up and she could hear the other bodyguards whipping out their own weapons in response, locking in on her and her team. Zaeed and Grunt brandied their own weapons as well.

Krysta didn't flinch and held her gaze on the one in front of her. His hardened demeanor didn't wince as he held her gaze. Was he calling her bluff or did he really show no fear towards her? Aria laughed and clapped her hands. "Thank you for the amusement, Shepard." She motioned for her guards to put their guns away. "You still have some fight in you."

Shepard held her position teasingly on the batarian, pressing the barrel of the pistol a little harder against his skin. "More than you know, Aria." She replied coldly.

Aria stood up from her couch. "I would ask that you do not shoot Bray. He entertains me."

"Stay the hell away from me, Bray." Krysta removed her gun and placed it back in its holster. "I have killed many batarians before on Torfan and don't think I would hesitate on you. Look that up in my file." With that, she turned to leave the platform, not giving time for any snide comments. Zaeed and Grunt silently followed. She still fumed over the comment that Aria made. The blow about Kaidan was not what she needed right now. It reopened an old wound. Would she ever get over him?

"I would have shot him." Grunt finally broke the silence. "A good fight is always fun in a club."

"Me too. Damn batarian bastards." Zaeed muttered.

Grunt cracked a smile. "I like you Zaeed."