Chapter 6
"Commander, what can I do for you?" The turian behind the desk with the brown carapace and white facepaint asked, looking up at Sophia with his hands clasped in front of him. Sophia had not spent enough time around turians to read their expressions, but had a rough idea of his opinion of her and humans in general.
"Executor." Sophia was able to state calmly as she gritted her teeth for the rest of the 'request'. "I have a certain individual under my command who the Council has deemed requires a C-Sec escort detail."
"I see, and is this individual a criminal?" The Executor asked, clearly trying to push Sophia's buttons.
Sophia closed her eyes and clenched her fist, emanating a slight amount of biotic energy as she took a deep breath. The blue hue quickly dissipated as she opened her eyes, a little smile working its way across her lips. "No, she's not a criminal, but if you say that directly to her you will probably be charging her with assaulting an officer of the peace. Well, that is after your assistants take you to the hospital, she's not as diplomatic as I am."
"Well, I was just processing the paperwork as you entered into my office. It turns out I have an officer whose case just wrapped up, I believe you met him on your way to your meeting with the Council. His name is Garrus Vakarian." The Executor said as he typed in a few things in his computer before pushing a call button on the office communicator and waited a few moments and then entered something else into the device.
"How can I help you, Executor?" The female voice on the other end asked.
"Where's officer Vakarian?" The Executor asked, his tone appearing slightly annoyed.
"Unsure, he said he had to finalize some information and should be back later on in the day. Should I message him on his Omni-tool?" The ever so helpful female voice asked.
"Don't bother, he never answers that thing anyways." The Executor said, ending the call and shaking his head before he looked up at Sophia.
"Commander Shepard, there is a human that I would be certain knows of your escort's whereabouts. His name is Harkin and he's most likely at an establishment called Chora's Den. I'll give you some time to track him down before I make sure your friend has her escort." The Executor said, allowing Sophia to leave where he saw Ashley slouched on the ground and popping something into her mouth while Kaiden was standing beside her with his arm around her shoulders.
"Okay chief, take slow, deep breaths. It should kick in relatively quickly." Kaiden said to her in that deep voice.
"Lieutenant, care to fill me in?" Sophia said, coming up to the pair and to see that it looked like Ashley had been crying.
"Migraine ma'am, I gave her some of my own medication that should reign it in pretty quickly. " Kaiden explained.
Sophia knew this would probably complicate things if this was a shadow of things yet to come; no one knew exactly what that beacon had done to Ashley and if it impaired with her duties, well she pitied the poor medico that would have to tell her that she couldn't be a marine anymore. She didn't have to wait long as the woman who looked a little weak suddenly had that tough demeanor return and looked up at Sophia.
"I'm good, ma'am. So who is my babysitter?" Ashley said, looking at her commander.
"Remember Garrus, the C-Sec officer we ran into?" Sophia asked the marine.
"A turian, ma'am?" Ashley asked with a very much surprised expression. "You've got to be kidding me."
"No joke, we're not sure where he ran off to but we're stopping by Chora's Den as there is a good chance that a guy named Harkin knows where he might be." Sophia explained as she gestured the two of them to follow.
The three of them left C-Sec and made their way down to the lower levels of the wards, Ashley breaking up the silence. "So….we're going to a titty bar?"
The statement clearly flustered the lieutenant as Sophia smiled at this, "what make you think that, chief?"
"Really commander? Any place that refers to itself as a den is not going to have ballroom dancing." Ashley deadpanned as Sophia stopped in her tracks, they had arrived outside the bar only to be standing with a pair of turians and their assault rifles leveled at the trio.
"That's her," the one said to the other. "Grab her and I'll handle these two." He said to his partner who was standing behind Ashley and had grabbed her by her biceps.
"Listen, I don't know who you are but if you let my friend go, we can work something out." Sophia said, staring the leader in the eye.
"You're in no position to make pleas." The turian scoffed.
"This is not a plea, I'm just trying to spare you from writing your own death warrants." Sophia's expression changed to a defiant glare.
"Don't waste your breath, human. You've lost." The turian responded as he leveled his weapon at Sophia only to hear a strange, muffled crack and looked over just in time to see his partner clutching his nose. The human female they were trying to capture reached back with her free hand and grabbed the sidearm from his partner's holster and shot him in the foot causing him to howl in pain and release the human who dove behind cover. At the same time, while he was distracted, he was thrown back himself as the two others followed the lead of the first human who now had her rifle out.
"Williams, I didn't know you were part Krogan!" Kaiden called over to Ashley who was leveling her rifle at the injured turian.
"Bite me, sir." Ashley responded, staring down at the turian and her rifle at the ready. "I wouldn't move if I were you." But the turian did move, as he pulled something from his side and held it to his chest. "Shit! Grenade!" Ashley yelled as she sprinted from cover and rolled around the corner to shield herself from the blast.
"You okay Williams?" Alenko asked, with genuine concern.
"Alenko, none of us will be fine if tweedle dumb sticks a bullet in our collective asses. Sabotage, now!" Sophia barked, as she charged at the remaining turian while blasting him with her shotgun. The turian returned fire for only a moment before his weapon stopped working, followed by his shields failing and a shotgun blast perforating his chest and falling to the ground in a sickening gurgling sound.
"I say it's safe to assume that those were Saren's men." Alenko said, getting out of cover and helping Ashley up.
"I agree, but why where they trying to capture her?" Sophia asked the lieutenant.
"I'd like to know why this bird pulled an Iwo Jima instead of letting us take him alive." Ashley said as she stood up, looking down at the smoking body of the Turian that had killed himself with a grenade.
"I don't think we'll ever know, stay frosty people, no doubt Saren has other greeting parties waiting for us." Sophia motioned for Ashley and Kaiden to follow her into the establishment. The group paused for a second as they got an eyeful of the dancers and the patrons.
"A million light years from where humanity started we walk into a bar with men drooling over half naked women shaking their asses on a stage. I don't know if I find that funny or sad." Ashley piped up, shaking her head at the sight.
"Actually Williams, our galaxy's radius is only about one hundred twenty thousand light years across, and the Citadel is closer to about seventy five thousand light years from Earth." Sophia responded as they walked around the circular bar, Sophia having found who she was looking for.
"Leave it to a spacer to correct me." Ashley said in response to this.
"What's the matter Williams, you don't think they're here for the food?" Kaiden asked, his attention focused more on the stage than the gunnery chief.
"Hey lieutenant, put your tongue back in your mouth before you trip on it." Ashley snapped back as they reached the table they were looking for.
"Are you Harkin, I was told you could help me find someone." Sophia said in a casual tone, her face wrinkling slightly as the man smiled, his eyes wandering all over her figure.
"Hey there sweet stuff, why don't you and pretty and pink over there get out of that uncomfortable armor and meet me in one of the private rooms and I'll tell you all you want to know, only if I get to hear you make a few sounds yourself." Harkin said, only to get a scowl from Sophia.
"Unless you want to be finishing that drink through a straw, I'd watch that mouth of yours." Sophia said, staring the man down. "I was told you know where I might find Garrus Vakarian."
"Ah shit, you must be Anderson's lackey, still trying to bring down Saren. Ever since he screwed up that mission and was kicked out of the Spectres, he's had his sights set on that turian, claims he was set up." Harkin said, returning to his drink. "Garrus is sniffing around Dr. Michelle's clinic on the wards, might catch him if you hurry."
"Well Harkin, I won't say it was a pleasure." Sophia nodded and turned to leave, getting a wolf whistle from the man.
"Damn princess, you look just as good walking away." Harkin said.
Sophia turned around not at the comment but at the sound of something crashing to the ground to see that Harkin was on his back with his hands over his face and Ashley standing over him before turning back to the commander.
"You bitch! You broke my nose!" Harkin gritted as he was lying there.
"Williams, one of these days you are going to run into a problem that you can't settle with your fists." Sophia said, trying not to smile at the marine as they left the bar.
"Not a problem ma'am, I'm also a decent kick-boxer." Ashley said as they made their way down the corridors and up a few flights of stairs towards the medical clinic.
"Right, but from now on I would rather you not start punching everyone in sight that rubs you the wrong way or you might be spending the rest of our time on the station aboard the ship. We clear?" Sophia said, pushing the button for the door control to the clinic.
"Crystal ma'am." Ashley said as the door opened to the sounds and pleas of the doctor. "But I think these assholes need killing first."
Anya wandered the streets of the city, she was in more of an urban center, and this particular quarter had something of a local market. While there were plenty of shops and stores closer to the apartment where she lived, this area had more of a traditional feel. The streets were lined with various stalls and people selling everything from local produce, to fabric and everything in between. She had a basket with the loop in her left forearm and her bag over her right shoulder. She was going from stall to stall, occasionally picking up something or another and paying the vendor before continuing on. As much as she loved her job in the navy, she had always felt a connection to the old Kushan desert culture and its traditional ways. It gave her some sort of connection to the past and served to remind herself where she came from.
"Hello, Anya. Back from your cruise?" An older woman who was selling various fine fabrics various garments said, sitting at her stall.
"Yes, we just arrived yesterday. I'm preparing a malk-haalsha for my return." Anya replied to the woman with a smile.
"I have something for you." The woman said as she stood up, shaking slightly from the strain as she made her way to the back before returning with a blue garment in her arms.
"Oh Utaa, it's beautiful." Anya gasped at the sight of the dress, the fabric was clearly very costly and the care in making it was clear in every part of its design, a design that was of traditional Kushan origin. "How much is it?"
"It's a gift." The woman replied, "The Great Maker wanted this to be given to you."
"I can't accept such an extravagant gift, it's too much." Anya felt her breath taken away.
"Nonsense. I made it specifically for you, you're not going to deny an old woman the right to dote on young daughters of Hiigara." The woman replied with a smile.
"If you insist." Anya said as the woman folded the garment neatly in packing paper. After leaving the stall, she continued her walk in the sector for the rest of the morning before returning to her apartment where she sorted out her purchases and prepared the evening meal. As she was preparing the meal, she heard a chime on her communications console and went over and opened the channel to see the captain on the other end in uniform.
"Sir, this is unexpected." Anya said, standing there in her casual dress from the morning.
"Well I hope you're ready for the unexpected. I have my new orders, I will be commanding a new cruiser out of Tanis." Hiirel said with pride and a smile.
"Congratulations, sir. Any idea who my new CO will be?" Anya asked, tilting her head slightly at his odd demeanor.
"You're coming too, I was calling to tell you about your new posting. You'll need to head to the spacedock tomorrow for transport to the shipyards." Hiirel reached forward as if he was getting ready to end the call. "One more thing, you need to head over to personnel and pick up your silver insignias, I expect my executive officer to be in uniform when I arrive." Hiirel said with a smile as he watched her reaction.
"Sir…I…" Anya was having a hard time processing all of this, she just started her career on the frigates, to suddenly be propelled as executive officer of a cruiser was unimaginable.
"Don't worry, you'll do fine, I have the utmost confidence in your ability." Hiirel said, ending the call.
Anya stood in the room completely dumbfounded, and not able to move as she felt a little weak in the knees. Commander Anya S'jet. She had to admit that she liked the sound of it and it was what she wanted, but she wasn't sure if she would be up to it. Her only hope was that she wouldn't screw this up.
"What were you thinking, you could have hit the hostage!" Ashley heard Sophia bark out at the turian, she couldn't help but notice it was one hell of a good shot.
"There was no time, I just reacted." Garrus responded and looked to Dr. Michelle who had been sprayed by some of the blood from the criminal.
"I'm fine, it's just a little blood. Thankfully, not mine." The doctor said with a thick French accent.
"Look, I know these men threatened you, but we can protect you. What were they after?" Sophia asked the doctor as they stood there.
"They work for Fist, they wanted to shut me up about a patient. She was a quarian, she had been shot but didn't tell me who had done it, she was scared and probably on the run. She wanted to trade information for a safe place to hide, so I put her in contact with Fist, he's an agent for the Shadow Broker." The doctor explained while she was taking antiseptic wipes and cleaning the blood off her face.
"Was an agent for the Shadow Broker, now he works for Saren and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it." Garrus announced getting a surprised expression from the doctor.
"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's stupid, even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer." The doctor replied, her voice carrying the surprise of her expression.
"Wait, who is this Shadow Broker, more importantly what kind of information did this quarian have?" Sophia spoke up, and Ashley was curios as well who this Shadow Broker was.
"The Shadow Broker is someone you don't want to cross, that quarian must have information linking Saren to the geth." Garrus said and looked over at the doctor.
"She did! She said the information had something to do with the geth." The doctor replied.
"There's no way the Council can ignore this. This is your show Shepard, but I want to assist you. Saren is a traitor to the Council and a disgrace to my people!" Garrus proclaimed just as Sophia held her hands up in front of herself.
"Relax Garrus, we were actually looking for you. Turns out you have to escort the chief here until the Council says otherwise. You're on the mission." Sophia said as she gestured for the group to leave.
"Yes ma'am." Garrus responded and looked to the group. "You know we're not the only ones after Fist, the Shadow Broker hired a krogan bounty hunter named Wrex. He's at the C-Sec academy, we can catch him if we hurry."
"A krogan at C-Sec?" Sophia asked, clearly finding that odd.
"Wasn't really his choice, he was caught making threats so we brought him in for a little chat." Garrus explained.
"Well, you never know when you might need some heavy firepower. Let's do this." Sophia said as the group left the medical bay.
Ashely followed at the rear of the group, she didn't want Shepard to see that her hand was trembling slightly and that the headache was already coming back. The lights from the wards were making things worse and she wanted nothing more than return to the ship and curl up in a little ball somewhere away from the noise and the lights.
"Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar. Stay away from him." An officer said to a scarred krogan in red armor. In spite of the pain she was enduring, Ashley had to watch the exchange. Either the officer was incredibly stupid or had incredibly big brass balls.
"I don't take orders from you." The kogan growled in return.
"This is your only warning, Wrex." The officer did not let up.
"You should warn Fist, I will kill him." The krogan known as Wrex responded.
"You want me to arrest you?" The officer asked, clearly stupidity was the order of the day, but fortune seemed to smile upon him based on how Wrex responded to the challenge.
"I want you to try." Wrex chuckled as he turned to meet Sophia who was watching the exchange with the others close by. "Shepard, Commander Shepard. I've heard a lot about you."
"I'm going after Fist, figured you might want to come along." Sophia said, and stood in front of the krogan.
"My people have a saying, 'seek the enemy of your enemy and you will find a friend.' We're both warriors so out of respect I'll give you fair warning, I'm going to kill Fist." Wrex responded with a smile.
"Welcome aboard Wrex, Fist gets whatever is coming to him." Sophia said and gestured for the group to follow and looked back at Ashley. "Lieutenant, take the chief back to the ship. Wrex and Garrus will come with me on this one."
"But ma'am, I…" Ashley began but was interrupted by Sophia.
"No buts, that's an order." Sophia said as she left with the officer and the merc.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sophia yelled as she stared defiantly back at Wrex, and while she knew he wanted to kill Fist, she was hoping she would have been able to talk him out of it.
"I don't leave jobs unfinished." Wrex sort of shrugged.
"We'll talk about this later, first we need to rescue that quarian." Sophia said as they left the back office where the bar owner laid dead and only had to encounter a few more bodyguards before they made their way to the alleyway where the quarian was meeting the assassin. Still a ways off, she could see some sort of action between a turian and a quarian and a few moments later a pair of salarians approached.
"Shit." Sophia said as she sprinted to cover as a grenade went off and the quarian also made good use of cover. It was a pitched battle, but with her and Wrex's biotics that combined with the quarian and Garrus' tech attacks, the enemy fell without too much difficulty.
"Fist set me up, I knew I couldn't trust him!" The quarian female responded, stating the obvious.
"Don't worry, Karma is a heartless bitch, and he got his." Sophia heard Wrex rumble and while she wasn't too pleased with Wrex, he was right about that.
"Are you all right?" Sophia asked, remembering the class of basic cross species first aid she was taught and the difficulties this species had with wounds.
"I know how to take care of myself, not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?" The quarian asked.
"My name is Sophia Shepard, I'm looking for evidence that Saren is a traitor." Shepard said, reassuring the young female.
"Then maybe I can repay you for saving my life, but not here." The quarian explained.
"Commander, your embassy should be safe and I'm sure Udina will want to see this." Garrus offered. So off they were again, back to the embassy to deal with a man she would rather not.
"A firefight in the wards, and all-out assault on Chora's Den, do you know how many…" Udina began but then paused. "A quarian, what are you up to, Shepard?"
"Making your day ambassador. This quarian has evidence linking Saren to the geth." Sophia explained, making Udina change his tone.
"I see, well go ahead miss…" Udina said, clearly trying to bring his diplomatic skills to bear.
"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. I was on my pilgrimage when I began to hear reports of geth outside of the Viel. I was curious so I tracked a group to an uncharted world where I got one alone and disabled it before extracting its memory core. While their defenses cause them to wipe their cores to safeguard their secrets, I was able to preserve a file from the audio banks." Tali said as she activated her Omni-tool and played the recording.
"Eden Prime was a major victory, the beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." The voice of Saren was unmistakable, they had him.
"That's Saren's voice! This proves he is a traitor!" Anderson exclaimed in triumph.
"Wait, there's more. Saren wasn't working alone." Tali said and replayed the message.
"Eden Prim was a major victory, the beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." The voice of Saren was followed by that of a woman. "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." A third voice was heard as well. "And when you are finished, we will strike down the Sajuuk-Khar."
"Reapers? What are they?" Udina asked.
"According to the geth, they were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed fifty thousand years ago that hunted the Protheans to complete extinction and then vanished." Tali explained.
"Sound a little far-fetched." Udina said, somewhat unconvinced.
"Whether they are real or not, this proves Saren was behind the attack on Eden Prime but I want to know who or what the third voice was talking about." Sophia interjected.
"I have no sort of reference to…" Tali began, her posture changed somewhat like she picked something up she hadn't noticed before. "I thought this was a corrupted feed, but the name is consistent with the partial logs, they refer to something called 'the Taiidan.' I have no reference to what that or this 'Sajuuk-Khar' could be."
"Well, I suggest we keep the part about this Sajuuk-Khar to ourselves before we learn some more, we at least have enough to take Saren down." Sophia offered and the ambassador nodded in agreement.
"Miss Zorah, please come with us, we need to present this to the Council right away. Shepard, you and your team can meet us there. Wait, where are your human subordiantes?" Udina asked, something it was clear he had overlooked.
"They had other duties, they are aboard the Normandy." Shepard explained to the ambassador.
"Very well, we'll meet you in the chambers." Udina replied and once again left them there.
"A krogan in the Council Chambers. This should be fun." Wrex said with a laugh.
"Let's go, Udina is not known for his patience." Sophia said and they headed for that meeting, she was certain that Saren would not even show his face on the projector as he probably already knew his men failed but would have liked to the look on his face when they presented the evidence.
"That's not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse, send your fleet in!" Sophia was standing there and once again the ambassador was making demands of the Council, she wondered how the man even got his job as his statecraft was sorely lacking.
"A fleet cannot track down one man." Valern responded, making it clear they would not commit such resources to a 'human problem'.
"A Citadel Fleet could secure the region, keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies." Udina said, still adamant.
"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus, we won't get dragged into a confrontation over a few dozen human colonies." Sparatus stated in a somewhat confrontational tone himself. Sophia knew she should expect no love lost for the humans by a turian but like the ambassador she was at the end of her rope.
"Every time we ask for help, this council ignores us." Sophia finally spoke up.
"Shepard is right, I'm sick of this council and its anti-human bull…" Udina did not get to finish based on the gasps of the crowds.
"There may be a way to resolve this situation that does not require fleets or armies." Tevos interjected as she looked at her two counterparts.
"No. It's too soon, humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with being a Spectre." Sparatus said, as he was adamant about not permitting this.
"You don't have to send in your fleet and the ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everyone is happy." Sophia offered.
While she had made the suggestion, she was not prepared for the response. "Commander Shepard step forward…."
