Arrival Story Arc: 1.7

Naps, while not his favorite thing, were good here. The floor was hard and always clean, not like where he used to be. The best part of here was his new pack. The pack was very important to Urz. Without packmates, you were alone, and being alone meant hunting was hard. But the worst part of being alone was being vulnerable, because without a pack, there was no one to watch over you when you napped.

Not just any pack would do though. A pack had to be strong, and its alpha had to be the strongest. Strong enough to keep the strong in line, to keep them safe with good places to den and good hunting. Without a strong alpha, you had weak packmates. Packmates who were sick, like the one napping above him, that was different, but packmates who were just weak, no. Urz was not an alpha, but he was very strong. This was why Urz did not have a pack until he found his new Alpha. Those who were strong did not want Urz, all the others were weak, his Alpha was not, and she wanted Urz.

Urz understood this, understood his place in the pack. That was why he was here, with the sick packmate who was napping. Alpha told Urz to stay. Urz understood the word 'stay', it meant to be 'here', to guard here, and to eat non-packmates who come here. His old Alpha had Urz stay many times. He always did what his Alpha commanded, because he was good, and Urz understood his place in the pack.

The wall moving brought his head up, but no packmates stood there. He did smell something, it was like his pack, but not. Urz rose to his feet, slowly padding to the open wall. His muzzle rose, sniffing. His pack's scent was everywhere, but he ignored it, savoring the new smells.

Non-packmates were here. Good, that meant he could eat them, which would make Alpha happy and maybe get him more of the new wondrous things called, scratches! While napping was not his favorite thing, eating non-packmates rivaled with scratches as his new favorite thing now that the Alpha showed them to him.

Urz eased forward, silently, taking great care not to let his feet make noise. Stealth, he understood as well. It was part of hunting. The smell grew stronger, but when he heard the noises, he lowered himself, going slower so they would not know he was there. This you had to do when you hunted alone, and the pack was gone trusting Urz to protect here. He was in the big place that led to outside when he finally found the intruders.

"…about this, Morgan."

"Look, they're gone, we saw them leave. There's no one here and I want to find out what they are hiding."

"They have a varren though!"

"Please, not even krogan leave those things loose on their ships. It's probably locked up somewhere."

"I still don't get what we are doing in here. They're just a bunch of kids, there can't be anything of value here. Besides, if they really are mercenaries, they're not going to like finding us going through their stuff."

Urz controlled his snort. Weak, the second one was weak. He did not understand the noises they made, but he understood tones. The second was scared, so he was weak. The first, was scared too, Urz could smell it, but he was still getting closer. Urz decided to eat him first. Eating the strongest made you strong, that was the way of things. Alpha understood this, as did Urz. He slinked behind a thing that would hide him, getting closer to his chosen target.

"Help me open this crate, Jacob."

"Fine, but hurry it up."

"You're going to sing a different tune when we get something worth selling."

Urz looked around the thing he was hiding behind. The opening to outside was closed. The intruders were standing next to things his packmates concerned themselves with. Urz watched as they opened it, looking through the things inside, before opening another one. Seeing their backs turned, Urz slinked forward, getting closer.

"Fuck! Will you look at this."

"I have never seen a rifle like that before. If it's experimental tech, I bet we could get ten thousand credits selling it the Shadow Broker!"

"Told you they had something here. Grab that one and let's go."

"Hey, what the hell are those?"

"Just cleaning droids. Come on, grab the rifle and let's get out of here!"

Step by step Urz stalked forward, keeping his attention on the prey. Two of the small round non flesh things that kept this part of the den clean, moved out of the wall, humming a soft little noise as they moved to the prey from the front. They kept their attention on the non flesh things, which made Urz happy because the prey still had their backs to him.

The two figures stood still, watching the non flesh things wearily when they came to a stop a tails length in front of them. The figures looked at each other, then back to the things. Then the things shot bright lights at them, that was when Urz attacked.

A bright light appeared from the first thing, cutting off the leg of the second figure just as Urz wrapped his teeth around the leg of the first, jerking his head. Screams of pain shattered the quiet of the open place, making Urz happy as he tasted prey, felt his claws dig through them, and snapped his head back and forth trying to rip his prize free. Another bright light helped him, staggering him slightly as he suddenly found meat free of the prey. He turned to the figures, bloody leg in his mouth watching the bright lights create hot food smells from the intruders, until they stopped screaming and stopped moving. Finally, two even brighter lights burst forward into the bodies of the prey. They were hot, like the sun of the old place, and made the flesh of the prey like dirt.

Urz snorted at the non flesh things when they moved over the piles of dirt, making them go away. They did not try and take away his food, so Urz tuned, going back to the sick packmate to enjoy his prize. The wall was still open when he got there, which was good because Urz did not know how to open them. He settled down where he was before, the meaty leg dropped in front of him. It wouldn't last long, but the taste was good, fresh was always best. A little image appeared next to the open wall, not real. It looked strange to him, but he understood it was kind of a packmate too, even though it had no smell.

"Thank you, Urz."

He understood 'thank you'. It meant a packmate was happy with him, Urz grunted. The image went away, and the open wall, closed. The Alpha will be pleased with Urz. He was sure, he'd get those scratches he liked. When Alpha was happy, Urz got scratches, that was the new way of things. Old Alpha never gave scratches. Urz liked scratches. He'd make sure new Alpha was always happy, then he'd get scratches all the time.

XxXGatecrashXxX

The diner I found was called 'Joey's'. Joey's, was nothing like the other places to get a bite to eat on Silversun. First, it didn't have tons of neon signs proclaiming it's existence, just a simple door you would probably walk by and never notice unless you knew it was there. Second, it's theme was something you didn't see anymore, but was something we recognized easily as we walked in.

The walls were decorated in Earth twentieth century memorabilia. Licence plates, real pictures of places—funny enough, we'd robbed a couple of them on Bet—cars, a couple of street signs, a few sports shirts, some newspaper clippings. Even posters of movies we saw new maybe a month ago, decorated all three floors. However, more than the feel of the place, it was the smell.

Steve called it first as we all just took in the decor. "Oh shit, I swear we just walked into Fugly Bob's."

"I can feel my arteries hardening as we speak." Greg added. "Man, I love this place."

I smiled. "Told you I found us a place to get something good to eat."

"That you did. Welcome to Joey's. How about I show you to a table?" The host asked. I stared at him for a moment, not because I'd never seen a turian up close like this before, but because there was turian surrounded by things I grew up with. After the initial shock passed, I answered.

"Thank you, second floor please. Near the balcony if you have it." I informed the host. He nodded, smiled, and led us upward to a free table. Once we were seated, he passed out menus to everyone. I was impressed, they weren't datapads, but actual menus. When I opened I was surprised to find there was even a selection of dextro dishes, though I couldn't tell you what comprised any of it, but they looked pretty much like everything else.

I pointed it out to Cessi, who was just sitting there looking around a bit confused. Her eyes widened and she bounced a bit in her seat when she saw the selection, which made several of us smile at her excitement. Next to Cessi was another quarian, Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, the surprise guest of the day. While Steve was busy arguing with the vendor, Greg had apparently chatted up Lia while she was looking through a kiosk of used ships on Zakera Ward, and they got to talking tech.

Somehow, I really wasn't surprised that he invited her along. Not that it bothered me, we could afford another, though if things kept going like this, we'd be able to apply for admission into the Flotilla as an honorary member.

I let the 'Fleet Sisters' go over the list, looking more enthusiastic by the moment as I turned to Greg. He was talking to Paige about something. Whatever it was, had him looking over a datapad, glancing up occasionally to make his points. Paige didn't look like she was following, but nodded along anyway. Sharee was making sure Alex was secured in his chair, for the sixth time. Steve and Miguel were going over something on another data pad, no clue what, but it had the marine nodding along with a smile on his face, which usually was a bad thing for someone.

What a motley crew we were putting together, and things haven't even really kicked off yet. Still, in a world of technology as advanced as the galaxy was, couldn't hurt to add another technician to the roster. Besides, we were going to need every hand we could get soon. Lunch passed quickly, for all we spent over an hour hanging out at the table. Work was quickly set aside when food arrived, Lia and Cessi laughed and enjoyed themselves, the gang did the same. It was nice.

I had a good time as well, though I kept my eyes looking over the balcony. Eventually, I got up and stood by the railing, leaning on it and looking outward. Watching as I ran though the things we needed to get done and the two main missions we had coming up. Which hopefully T'soni got info on soon, though if things panned out today, we might be able to double our chances of finding something.

Steve eventually joined me, propping his elbows on the railing. "So, whats so awesome about that entrance over there?"

"You know, there's an arcade just down the block from here, right?"

"Man, playing to my inner video game nerd, thats just not right," Steve pointed out, trying to look affronted at my evasion, and failing badly.

I chuckled. "Think you can keep our growing band of misfit toys from mischief?"

"Just tell me I won't have to hide any bodies like we did in San Francisco, and yeah, maybe."

"Fair enough," I smiled. "No, no bodies, but I'm waiting for someone to show. He has an apartment not far from here. Not sure how long this will take, but if things go well, an hour at least."

"So, who are you waiting for?"

"Anderson," I replied. "Specifically, former Captain now Humanity's sitting Councillor Anderson. He was sort of… Sebastian's mentor, father figure maybe. Especially after that fiasco on Torfan when they pulled Sebastian from active duty. He was the one who tapped Sebastian for the XO slot for the original Normandy when the plans went from the design stage, to dry dock."

"So, he's a big dog then?" Steve asked. "Why are we hunting big dogs now? I thought we were doing this low key."

"You said we should trust Sebastian's friends, I can't think of one whos in a better position to help, or to listen. Greg has the right idea, about adding to the team, even if I'm starting to think he's got a thing for quarians."

"Yeah, well, the hips, you know? Got to give them that, even if you can't see what they look like."

"They're pretty," I whispered so only Steve could hear me. "Tali was, or is I guess. More humanlike than the asari. Sharp features, especially in the cheekbones. Their eyes don't actually glow, so you know. Not like you would think from their faceplates. The back of their eyes have this special reflective layer we call the tapetum lucidum, like a cat or dog. Something about the lights inside their helmets and the materials used to make the faceplate create that effect. Their eyes are even slitted like a cat's. Tali had hair that looked metallic, but wasn't. Ears are not like ours, more like cartilage shells, and they have elongated canines, but otherwise, pretty close if you discount the cybernetics they use to bolster their weakened immune system and the three digit hands and feet."

Steve's voice lowered, matching mine. "You just get that?"

I offered a weak smile, but it didn't last. "They were close, if you get me. Closer than Sebastian and I were, but she also had a lot more time with him than I did, so it makes sense."

Steve sighed. "You know, that's going to be a thing, later. I'm worried about that. A lot."

"I know, I'm not exactly looking forward to it either. But it's like you said, what happens, happens. We're here to help Sebastian. Anything else is a bonus. I knew before we left, things like this were going to come up, and maybe Sebastian won't want me this time. It's a possibility, yeah, I get that, but I'm not going to know unless I try. Odds are, saving him is all I'm going to get out of this thing, but I can live with that if it means he's alive and happy. More than a fair exchange when you consider what he gave us on Earth Bet."

"But you won't be. Happy, I mean."

"Who knows? I might find someone. Galaxy's a big place after all. Besides, the way I fight, the chances I take, good odds I'll end up dead long before this is an issue. When you think about the Reapers getting here in, one maybe two years now? Well, you get the idea."

"Man, you get any more positive, and I'm gonna have to brain ya. That shit's depressing. Besides, I bet even Greg would bet on us getting through this thing. Shepard didn't talk about them much, but I talked with him about the Reapers once. Well, we were talking about Dragon being an AI and shit, back when we took over the Birdcage, remember?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, we got to talking, and he told me stuff about them, you know? Trying to get me to understand why he was sort worried. I got it, but, well, this was Dragon, right? It's all good, or I hope so, since we cut her loose. Anyways, point is, he was telling me about how they set this whole thing up, the cycles, how people developed tech, all that so that when they got here, they'd always have the upper hand. Well, they don't now, cuz we got Greg, and the shit that guy can come up with, there's no predicting, and we got you. You're so fucking crazy, they won't know what hit them. Like I said, I'd bet on us."

"I would, too," I agreed. "First though, we have to deal with the second stringers abducting human colonies. I don't remember much about them, just vague hints, but I know they're linked with the Reapers, and Sebastian fought against them. With all that we have going on, I'm not really concerned about my love life, or lack of one, with Sebastian. It will get sorted in time, one way or another."

My eyes narrowed as I spotted who I was waiting for. "Keep an eye on them. I'll be back soon."

I slung myself over the railing, dropping the short distance below before Steve replied.

I landed on my feet, quickly pulling the hood of my hoodie over my head, concealing my face as I made my way through the crowd. Blending in, being unnoticable among people like this, was something I knew a bit about. Helps when you're a wanted criminal and people know your face. You either hone skills to let you blend in, or you just learn to stop going out in public altogether.

My flies landed on him first, which helped, I didn't have to watch him to know where he was. Not an advantage most had, and one I've exploited more times than the media ever found out about. I stayed well back, slouching a bit and using the bodies of the people around me to keep me from his sight. Anderson continued on, seemingly unaware he was being followed as he made his way home.

I knew differently.

He knew he was being followed. Anderson wasn't some regular grunt, he was N7 back in the day. How did Pressley put it? If you melted down all the medals he's earn during his years of service, you could make a life sized statue of him, and Anderson wasn't a small guy. He wasn't just good, but damn good. One of the best. Really, the only thing that surprised me about him knowing he was being followed, was how quickly he picked up on it. I only just started him when my flies felt him tense. The question now was, did he know I knew he knew? When he turned into an alley, I figured I'd have my answer soon enough. Something about it felt wrong, so I walked down the one before it, coming around the others side, behind him. I stopped at the corner, putting my back to the wall next to the entrance.

He turned before I got into place, facing my direction, sidearm pointing at the entrance in front of me, waiting.

"I don't suppose you would accept that I'm just a concerned citizen looking to talk to my species' councillor, would you?" I asked loudly into the alley.

"No."

"Didn't think so. You know, one of these days, someone's going to tell me, yeah, sure, I'd buy that, and I won't know how to continue afterward."

Anderson chuckled, though is weapon never lowered or wavered. "Who are you?"

"I have a lot of names right now. Allison Gunn is what's on my passport for the moment."

"Fair enough. What do you want Ms. Gunn?"

"Depends on your tolerance level for crazy." I answered. There wasn't anyone on my side of the alley yet, but that could change at any moment. We needed to take this off the street, soon.

"Not very high at the moment, why don't you show yourself and we can discuss why you were following me."

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Alright, just don't shoot me. I promised my friends I wouldn't hurt anyone today, but I doubt they'd let me live down getting shot either."

Anderson's chuckle welcomed me as I walked around the corner, hands at my sides in plain view. Dark skinned, tall, well built. Older guy, but that didn't mean anything considering the way he was standing. Confident, sure, assessing in his gaze as he took in the woman in front of him.

Anderson kept his sidearm trained on me, hand steady. "I don't know you."

"I'd be shocked if you did. I'm not from around here."

"That's plain by your speech. Colony raised? Not any dialect I'm familiar with though."

"Not really," I answered vaguely. "But I wasn't following you to talk about where I was raised."

"True enough. So, what was so important to you that you were following me?"

"Shepard."

"Shepard's dead, two years now," Anderson returned curtly, fist clenching tighter to the weapon in his grip.

"Not anymore: that is what I want to talk to you about, but out here, it's not safe. Not for what I know."

Anderson's face darkened, a hard look in his eyes as he stared at me. "What kind of game are you playing?"

"No games. The only thing I can risk saying openly, and even this is too much, is that Cerberus has Shepard, I have a team that's going to get him back. Details, need to be in private. We both know how long Cerberus's reach is."

"What in God's name does Cerberus want with Shepard's body?"

"To bring him back to fight the Reapers. They succeeded, or are close to it."

"Impossible. Why should I believe anything you say?"

"The funny thing is, this isn't even the hard to believe part. There are things he's told me, before, but in truth, the possibility that this information is known to others is more believable than what I could say. All I can tell you is, I don't have proof, but I know they have him. The worst possible thing that could happen, right now, is that Shepard feels indebted to Cerberus."

"You said you had a team, where are they?" Anderson demanded.

"Finishing lunch, I guess. That's where I left them when I spotted you. I came alone." I blew out a breath, not very happy with how long this was taking. "Before you decide to leave, I need to ask you to seriously think about what I said. The intel I have, it's good, but incomplete. I'm still looking for two locations, and I won't lie, I need help finding them. Alliance resources could speed up the process."

"And what if you're wrong?"

"The real question you should be asking yourself, Anderson, is what if I'm right?"

XxXGatecrashXxX

Two hours, and one of the most uncomfortable conversations ever later, found me rejoining the gang. I was deep in my thoughts as we approached the Exiled, thinking of my talk with Anderson. I didn't walk away with what I wanted, but I did get him to listen. That was more going for us than we had this morning, and probably about as good as it was going to get.

"Excuse me, are you 'Allison Gunn'?"

I didn't realize it when the guys quieted, but the reason for it was standing right in front of me. A turian in bulky armor, C-Sec credentials stenciled into his chest plate, looking at me as I realized he was there, and apparently talking to me.

"Um, yeah. Something wrong, Officer?"

"Have you seen this man?" he asked instead of answering me.

I looked at the datapad, nodding. "Yeah, don't remember his last name but I think he called himself, Morgan. He helped me go through Docking procedures and equipment procurement this morning. Why?"

"He failed to report for a meeting he was scheduled to attend. His supervisor is concerned as Mr. Heughs is not in the habit of doing so. He was last seen in this area of the Docking Ring. There have been incidents of thefts recently, which leds us to believe there may be something more to his disappearance than it seems. C-sec formally requests permission to examine the inside of your vessel to verify he is not in there."

I nodded. Besides, he was looking for a person, not wanting to look at our tech or our files. not that saying 'no' was an option, judging by the look of some of the guys he brought with him. "Sure, we have nothing to hide."

The turian nodded as if he didn't expect less. I waved the guys off to the side, where other C-sec guards would watch them. I activated my omni tool, signaling the boarding ramp to lower, then escorted the turian inside.

I frowned slightly when I looked around our cargo bay, seeing crates stacked around in no particular order. We were going to need to fix that, or we were never going to find anything. Our tour moved from there, through the ship as the turian check each room with a general disinterest that left me wondering if he was even bothering to pay attention, until we got to the Med bay.

"One of ours is resting inside, and I have a varren watching over her, just so you don't freak out when you see him."

"Understood."

I shrugged at the curt reply, opening the door. Urz lay where I told him to, head popping up, apparently excited to see me, making me smile. The turian, not so much. I held out my hand, motioning Urz to stay put, which he thankfully did as the C-sec agent tapped away on his omni tool.

"Thank you Ms. Gunn for your cooperation. If we have any further questions for you, you will be notified immediately."

I nodded, watching him retrace our steps. The ant on the back of his armor told me he walked straight off the ship, leaving with the others he brought with him.

"Weird," I mumbled as I turned again to Urz, noticing he was sitting next to me, tail wagging back and forth looking imploringly at me. I knelt down, giving him a good scratch along his spines. His eyes immediately started doing that strange sparking thing as his tongue rolled out of the side of his mouth. Grunts of happiness sounding deep in his chest as I paid attention to him.

"So, what did you do today, Urz?"