A/N
Happy Holidays everyone. I gift you this revealing chapter.
Ask yourself, how much do you love Kerris?
Enjoy.
Chapter 10: Time to recap…
Shepard's POV
John was pacing his cabin in frustration. He had just gotten done talking with Hackett. He had no answers for why Cerberus was still fucking with him. As Hackett said, they are a wild card in this mess. He had tried to get info from the dying Cerberus trooper but the man died before answering any of his questions. He had lost his composure. He had taken the dead man's head and beat it into the metal floor. John sighed. He had straight up scared Liara shitless.
John looked up towards his bed to see Liara. She was taking a nap or trying to. She had mostly been lying still, watching him pace for the past forty five minutes.
"John, you know the Salarian's have dug their own grave if they deny any support for the war" she said cutting to the chase. Liara was right. He couldn't see all of Sur'Kesh trying to go it alone.
"I know. But we didn't exactly make any friends while we were down there…" he trailed off as he sat on the bed. Liara got up to sit cross legged next to him.
"But we did get to see Kirrahe again. It was good to see a friendly face. We also got Wrex! AND Mordin!" she said cheerily. John smiled while looking at the floor. Liara was actually vibrant and chipper.
"Where did this good mood come from?" he asked turning to look at her. Liara was still sitting with her legs crossed with the covers of the bed covering her lower torso. She smiled easily at him. He looked over he exposed naked form before settling upon her eyes once more.
"Oh" he said with a shit grin. Liara laughed as she grabbed his head and turned it to look back at the cabin and his model ships.
"Naughty boy, not right now" she teased him as she began to message the knots in his shoulders. He grunted in pain. The past few weeks had been gaining on him. He was dead on his feet.
"You…need to do what we used to do on the first Normandy" she said after about ten minutes.
"Do what?" he asked distractedly. She had moved to his lower back. It felt awesome.
"Get the crew together and recap things. Get everyone back up to speed. It would give everyone a chance to get acquainted with Mordin and Wrex" she replied. Liara had stopped messaging him and had taken to simply holding him from behind using her warmth to further sooth his muscles. He hummed with content.
"Hmmmm…good idea. I'm sure the crew has a million and a half questions about Eve…" he said with a slight smile. The female Krogan 'Eve' they had picked up from Sur'Kesh was quite possibly the coolest thing since sliced bread. He liked her! She had a level head on her shoulders that managed to do the impossible. Manage Wrex. He laughed a bit at this causing Liara tap his shoulder.
"Care to share?" she asked with amusement in her voice.
"Think of how amazing it is that all it took to keep Wrex in line was a female…" he replied with a wide smile.
"HA! Wrex isn't the only one!" she shouted as she fell back on the bed.
"Something I should know?" he asked looking her with a cocksure grin.
"I'll tell you later. Gotta get dressed" she said hopping up from the bed.
"Yeah, don't want to pull a Kyson" he mumbled in response.
"So if I get hurt or sick, you wouldn't run me to the med bay naked if need be? Oh…I see how it is" Liara said with a smile as she pulled one of his generic white T-shirts over her upper body.
"I dunno, you want everyone to see what you can handle?" said John as he grabbed his crotch with a shit grin. Liara laughed causing her to almost topple over as she put on a pair of Jeans. John found himself laughing too. It was good to bullshit once in a while. The two made their way down to the mess having a bite to eat before calling the crew to gather. John had a simple turkey sub. Still taste like a damn MRE he lamented. Liara had chosen to eat some Mac n' Cheese. John smiled remembering how he introduced her to good ole country comfort food. Liara looked up at him from her data pad still wearing a broad smile.
"You know, if you were to run down here naked, I know what would happen" she said. John glanced behind Liara at the next table to see Vega sitting alone, leaning back slightly.
"Hmm?" he mumbled through his sandwich.
"Wrex would congratulate you. Garrus would go cry in a corner" she said with a toothy grin. John almost choked on his food as he laughed. He began to cough and could hear Vega doing the same.
"HA! Haha *cough cough* HA! You're probably right! HA hahaha…*cough* hahaha…" he laughed trying to recover but Liara had been on a mean streak as of late. She had been around Kyson for way to long. That, and Wrex had brought this out of her as well back in the day.
"I had no idea you had a sense of humor Doc!" said Vega who was still laughing. If there was one thing the crew could get along with, it was either making fun of Garrus or Kyson.
"I do once in a while. Just don't try me with reference humor" she said smiling over her shoulder. John shook his head.
"Awright, time to get the crew together" he said. Vega looked at him quizzically. John held up a finger.
"EDI" he called out.
"Yes commander?" EDI's voice replied.
"Get the entire crew together in the mess. Everyone, help Joker down here. He'll bitch if he doesn't get invited" said Shepard with a smile.
"Damn straight I will" replied Joker over the comm. Shepard smirked as he looked over into the med bay. Eve was watching him. She looked up for he assumed EDI was notifying them. Eve looked at him again before hopping down from the medical bed.
"What's up Loco?" asked Vega.
"You'll see" he replied. John sat back down to collect his thoughts. Many things had happened since he had left Earth. Many more missions were on the way. He needed everyone on the same page. He sat quietly as always as the crew assembled. First was Garrus with Teagann, as always. He saw Teagann barely keeping her eyes open while Garrus looked like he was about to punch a wall down. It was because of this he stayed quite. As everyone assembled, he would use the time to get a gauge on how everyone was doing.
More people filled in. The support crew they had kept from their hasty flight from Earth followed by Victus. Shepard saw the Turian leader with his shoulders slumped slightly. Not common for the proud general. It was slight but it probably had something to do with Garrus' anger. Mordin along with Eve joined him at the table. He nodded to both. Mordin seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts as always. Nothing new there, but Eve, it was impossible to get a read on her. She wore an almost fully shrouding robe with headdress. All he could see were her eyes behind the deep purple cloth.
He had caught up with her a few hours ago. Eve had told her about how she was a shaman of her people as well as the leader of the females of clan Urdnot. Unlike all the male Krogan he had met, she would take time and calculate her responses as well as what she heard; completely shattering the galaxies stereotype of the quick to rile Krogan.
Everyone was assembled now including EDI who was sitting beside Joker. Wrex was grumbling in the background while he caught a glimpse of Javik next to Adams. The engineer looked very stricken next to the imposing Prothean. John stood up walking in front of the main battery. He looked over his crew doing one last head count before he noticed one missing.
"Where the hell is Kyson?" he asked loudly causing the side conversations to subside. People looked around shrugging their shoulders.
"OY!" rang Kyson's voice as he rounded the mess bulkhead. Shepard nodded as Kyson stayed by himself at the rear.
"Ok. Time to recap on some things I want everyone up to speed" he said as he clasped his hands behind his back. Shit, I feel like Hackett now… Wrex laughed in the background.
"That everyone agrees that the food is still shit?" asked Wrex gaining a few chuckles from the crowd. Wrex leaned over to Adams making the engineer laugh even more. John nodded.
"This is a military vessel, not a five star resort Wrex. Now, we have two main issues right now. First, Tuchanka. I have a feeling that we are going to be in for one hell of a grind down there. So I want each and every one of you ready for a possible boarding attempt. The Normandy has already been through that once" he said locking eyes with Joker who nodded to him once with a firm expression. John knew Joker would raise hell. Joker had taken to strapping a pistol to his chair ever since
"I have this gut feeling that gaining the full support of the Krogan and Turians isn't going to be enough. Does anyone have any information as to where the Quarians are? I've been digging through every avenue to find out" said Shepard moving right along. Silence followed. The only person who might have the slightest hint was busy lighting a cigarette.
"Kyson, what was the stance of the Quarian Admirals before you…" he stopped. It wasn't his place to throw Kyson's problems in the mix. But Kyson didn't care.
"Before I got spaced? Not good." He replied calmly. A few mummers were heard after the spaced bit.
"Shit you got spaced?" asked Vega loudly. John watched as Kyson frowned. He also heard a 'here we go…' from Teagann who was closest to him. John waited for a reaction from Kyson.
"Yep, it's a good reminder to check your gear before going into the black" said Kyson deflecting the question. Kyson looked back at Shepard.
"You remember Tali's trial?" he asked. John nodded.
"Same shit. I tried to wake them up about the Reapers. But as always with those fucks, they just bickered with themselves" spat Kyson.
"Huh! No surprise there" Wrex chuckled. John sighed but Kyson wasn't finished.
"When I brought up finding a path for peace with the Geth, that's when shit hit the fan. The whole ordeal wound up with me threating to kill both Shala and Xen. So I would say they were all up in arms for war. Almost got Han to listen but…you know…" trailed of Kyson with a slight smirk. John was shocked.
"You threatened to kill two Admirals?" John asked astounded.
"Shit no wonder you got booted off the fleet Jumper" said Vega shaking his head.
"Yep" replied Kyson. His smirk was gone.
"So why weren't you executed for such a breach of protocol?" asked Javik from the crowd. Kyson turned to the Prothean with a scowl. John saw in Kyson's body language how much he detested the Prothean.
"They tried, and failed" he said slowly.
"First Shepard, now Kyson. Note to self, don't be from Virginia, then you won't get spaced" said Joker causing a few people to nod their heads.
"Kyson, do you think the Fleet is preparing for war with the Geth? The only lead I have is that all Quarians on their pilgrimage were recalled. Most were given orders and large sums of credits to procure weapons and massive upgrades" said John recalling the info from his SPECTR office.
"Why do you say preparing, it wouldn't surprise me if the two factions hadn't eradicated themselves by now" said Kyson. It was not what he was hoping for. But he knew it was the eventuality. Tali's trial had shown too much infighting and quarreling like the council.
"Great. We'll see as time goes on. Mordin, how goes the research?" he asked. Mordin took a deep breath before responding.
"Very well, still too early to give a full report but it has only been three hours…Shepard" said Mordin with a smile. John nodded before looking at Victus.
"Primarch, how is Palaven doing?" John saw Garrus start to fidget. Victus sighed.
"Bad. We just had a major supply line cut. We were able to rectify it but the Reapers are bleeding us dry" said Victus tiredly.
"Teagann was able to create several false decoy signals to get past the Reapers. She was the one who got communications back up temporarily in order for our ground troops to get a hold of things" said Garrus. John looked at Teagann. She had dark circles under her eyes from stress as well as overall fatigue from the fight on Sur'Kesh.
"Good work Teagann. Catch a nap after this" he said.
"No chance in hell…" Teagann began but he cut her off.
"That's an order. Garrus make sure to be quite" he said firmly causing Kyson to laugh breaking the silence. John collected himself once again. Palaven was getting more desperate and virtually no news had filtered in from Earth. John looked to Wrex. He might as well have been looking at a stone wall. As much as he wanted to try and get support to Palaven this instant, Wrex wouldn't budge until he got his people cured.
"Moving on, the second big issue is more of a gut feeling. EDI, have you found anything that I asked to look for?" asked John. EDI stood up from the table. He heard a crewman whistle in the background. John tried to find the member but was a fraction to slow. But, he couldn't blame whoever it was, EDI had used one hell of a body to use as a mobile platform.
"Yes I have. I finished my scans as I walked down here with Jeff" said EDI.
"And" he pressed.
"With the help of Samantha, I was able to find out some interesting faults in some of the base operating programs here on the Normandy" said EDI matter of factly. John felt his blood run cold. It sounded bad, especially when it came to an AI admitting flaws. He trusted EDI so he would listen.
"Do you remember when Legion explained how the Geth and the Heretics differed on their most basic run times?" asked EDI. John thought back to the Geth station when he helped Legion re write the split faction of the Geth's run times. John looked around the room and saw every face on him.
"I do roughly. Something about their run times with slight binary differences…" he replied. He had a feeling it had something to do with a software hack. But how the hell could EDI be hacked? Even the Collectors had barely managed to make her skip a step. But as he also remembered, it cost the crew dearly. They had been abducted.
"Yes, as Legion said, the Heretics saw the world 'one is less than two' the Geth saw 'two is less than three'. It is so slight and insignificant in most cases that none of my scans ever picked it up. John nodded waiting for more.
"What the hell did you scan for?" asked Kyson from the back of the room. John looked at Kyson realizing he hadn't shared with him his hunch about a certain Quarian.
"Just wait for it" he replied while motioning for EDI to continue.
"I scanned for all possible bugs and trackers in and on the Normandy" replied EDI. Kyson walked his way to stand next to EDI.
"EDI, you are the most advanced AI known in the galaxy. Even Cerberus who designed you couldn't come close to pulling a fast one on ya…"said Kyson firmly. John began to stroke his chin. He agreed with Kyson. Despite the possible Salarian maybe, he couldn't think of a single person who could devise a bug or program that EDI couldn't detect. Samantha Traynor cleared her throat and stood up.
"While this is very true, EDI and I did a little reverse engineering. The only time EDI had ever been bested was when the Collectors had hit her with a virus. I asked if any of her programs had checked green during the attack" said Samantha. John looked at Liara. She seemed impressed.
"Not bad" he said. It was quite intuitive.
"I had first assumed those programs were only running due to their irrelevance to the Collectors. It turns out they were high functioning Trojan programs. They are completely passive. They take in information and use our own transmissions to 'piggy back' to the receiver" said EDI. Liara seemed to go pale.
"So the Normandy is being watched…by who?" she asked.
"Kerris" deadpanned Shepard. Kyson took a step closer to the middle of the room.
"What the hell? Why him?" he asked as many of the crew looked to one another without a clue who Kerris was. A loud bang was heard followed by scraping above them.
"What the shit…" said Joker right before one of the metallic service panels opened up above Kyson. A familiar cyborg Quarian dropped out of the celling landing with a heavy thud. The Quarian looked to be asleep!
"Wake up!" shouted the Commander. The odd Quarian jolted awake propping his head up slightly.
"Huh? Whaa? Wait wait wait…I don't remember being in the mess. Hmmm, Oh! People, lots of people this, this is a dream. Ok good" the Quarian rambled. John shook his head while face palming.
"You're shitting me…"John mumbled to himself. The Quarian stood up and began to look around at all of the faces looking at him.
"At least I don't have to worry about my pants being down…those dreams sucked" said the Quarian.
"So what the hell are you doing on my ship?" demanded John. Kyson felt a looming presence behind him and found Wrex next to him. Kyson caught his glance. When John gave the word, they were ready.
"Excuse me? Uh oh…this isn't a dream is it?" asked the cyborg.
"No shit Sherlock!" Kyson quipped while flexing his hands. Kyson was about to run up and rip Kerris apart.
"Well then, you must mean my ship, I'm here for my own amusement. And trust me, the Normandy is oh so very entertaining!" replied Kerris. Kyson was looking to catch John's gaze but John was busy playing the situation out. People in the crowd just gawked.
Kerris got up. He walked straight up to Samantha Traynor and shook her hand.
"It's so wonderful to meet part of the crew! Especially you! You found out my little three year scheme! Well done young lady!" shouted Kerris with amusement. Samantha looked like she was about to piss herself. John looked to the rest of the crew who were slowly raising activating Omni-blades.
"Kerris!" yelled John causing the Quarian to turn about with a questioning look. John took in his facial features. Unlike Tali who had graceful smooth subtle features, Kerris looked like he had been through a Varren attack. He had numerous scars all over his face along with what looked like a cybernetic implant or two. John had to resist the urge to reach up to his own face, for Kerris wasn't the only one.
"How long have you been here?!" snapped John.
"Since Eden Prime! Oh but I have been so rude! Let me introduce myself properly to the crew!" replied Kerris with a broad grin. John looked to Kyson who looked to be having an aneurism. Kerri's continued. He swept his arms wide slowly turning to look at the entire crew before bowing to Kyson.
"Kerris Vateevah' vas Nedas nar Tasi! At your service!" said Kerris with pride. John shook his head. Another show boater…
Kyson's POV
Kyson had no idea what to do. Here was the bane of his existence, calmly standing in front of him like it was some sort of sitcom.
"What? My translator didn't catch any of that" said Vega from behind Kyson. The room went quite once again. Kyson may have been on the Quarian Fleet for a short time, but he had picked up enough lingo to translate.
"Kerris'Vateevah…crew of nowhere child of no one" said Kyson slowly. Kerris spun to face him in a blink of an eye laughing the entire time.
"That's right! I'm proud of my supposed blight! Its soooooo liberating being free of the Quarian lies! I figured you of all people would agree with that Kyson" said Kerris. Kyson balled his fists. He just wanted the bastard dead. It was no longer emotional. Kerris was an obstacle to be destroyed as everything else in his life was for. Kerris stood back a few steps turning back to John.
"You were exiled?" asked John. Kerris nodded happily.
"I was. For reasons I will not discuss as of now" stated Kerris.
"How long have you been keeping tabs on us, and more importantly, why?" asked Shepard who now had his arms crossed. Kyson knew that look. Shepard was pissed as hell. Kerris laughed some more.
"One question at a time. I've been watching since the beginning!" said Kerris puffing up his chest with pride.
"Beginning of what?" asked Liara now standing on the other side of Kyson. Kerris turned to her with a wicked smile. People in the room were shocked even more when they saw the filled teeth.
"Why Liara…you look good outside of your armor! I see you feel closer to Shepard by wearing his clothes. Miss that Kyson?" asked Kerris followed by more laughter. He took a step forward but Liara placed a hand on the young engineers' shoulder.
"Answer the question!" shrieked Liara.
"Fine! Fine fine…no need to get angry over a complement. I've been following the Normandy since Noveria" he replied calmly. He wasn't laughing anymore. Just a look of contentment splayed on the unmasked Quarian's features.
"What? How?" asked Joker.
"Does anyone here remember a name Anoleis? Ring any bells?" asked Kerris with a smirk.
"Yeah, what of it?" asked John. Kyson could see the lines on the Commanders face darken. Apparently how Shepard remembered Noveria was very different from Wrex.
"Well, it's an interesting story really, for me at least. I was on Noveria doing some contract work. You know, a simple hit job. I was about to dispatch my target when who showed up? Tali, the little girl I once called a sister! I hadn't seen her in nearly ten years!" said Kerris with amusement.
"How dare you call her your sister" growled Kyson. Kerris ignored him and pressed on in his story.
"I was cloaked outside of Anoleis' office when Tali showed up…with an alliance marine. But not just any marine, no, the marine Commander Shepard. It piqued my interest. So I put a bug on the Normandy" said Kerris still wearing his broad smile.
"So you just watched us, all of us for years?" asked John who had his fists balled in hands. Kerris laughed.
"Maybe…" the cyborg shrugged to the crew.
"Wait, I ran across a report about Anoleis three months ago. He was found in his prison cell decapitated" Liara chimed in. Kerris spun on her with a hateful glare. Kyson noticed the wild mood swing and made a mental note.
"Yeah, no thanks to you guys, it took me damn near three years to complete out that contract! Don't give me that look! You think that Turian Lorik was the only one who hated the toady? I had to spend two weeks planning to break into his prison. Thanks a lot bitch" spat Kerris with such vehemence even Kyson felt the urge to take a step back.
"Damn, angry much?" asked John.
"You think? Anoleis should have been the easiest and most lucrative kill I would have ever done, but no, you had to drag Parasini into it. Besides, I damn near killed all of you for showing up with Tali. But I chose the bugging instead" replied Kerris who was still agitated.
"So what? You wanted to kill me as well?" asked John who had taken a step forward.
"Oh no nonononono, well, yes. But now I fully support you! I want the Reapers wiped from existence! I just want Kyson to suffer, because he's a dick" laughed Kerris.
The fucker made it all kinds of personal now!
Kyson broke free from Liara's grasp before she could react. As Kerris shifted his focus to Kyson, he felt a fist connect fully between his glowing Quarian eyes. Kyson on the other hand was wondering If Liara had tried to hold him back or not. But after making the first successful hit, all thoughts outside of blood flew from his mind. The crew all jumped up ready to join the fray. Kerris had dropped to one knee. Garrus was coming up behind the Quarian.
"No! He's fucking mine!" bellowed Kyson to the crew. The room fell silent. Kerris was laughing hysterically once again. Kyson dragged him up by his suit. Kyson shoved his face in Kerris'.
"Why!" Kyson howled. Kerris went quiet before shrugging.
"I made a promise years ago, to watch over Tali no matter what. I kept that promise…" Kerris was cut off by Kyson slamming him into the deck and stomping on his chest. Kerris sputtered for a split second before laughing again.
"Bullshit! If you ever made such a promise, why did you kill her?" screamed Kyson. Kyson was currently wearing his black beater while his lower torso still had his armor on. The battle suit had motorized actuators to increase movements. Kyson kick Kerris as hard as he could in the side causing Kerris to scoot a foot.
"HAAAHAHAHAHAhahaha! I never said anything about killing her! You delusional idiot!" laughed Kerris. Kyson paused. He sifted through his memory. Kerris was right. He had imagined him killing her. All Kerris ever said was that she was dead…and he saw it. Kyson couldn't accept it.
"Liar!" he shouted as he kicked Kerris again.
"Wrex!" exclaimed John from across the room. Kyson had activated his Omni-blade only for Wrex to grab him from behind. Kyson may have built some decent muscle since he was on the fleet, but there was no way he could contest a Krogan. Kyson spit on Kerris. He uttered a phrase that caused people to stare at him as if he had just spoken in tongues. Kerris sat upright with a genuine happy smile.
"What the fuck?" asked John and Vega simultaneously.
"He just called me a worthless piece of shit in Khelish! I'm very impress Kyson!" said Kerris with glee.
"Bosh'tet!" spat Kyson. He didn't have time to play games anymore. John seemed to have similar thoughts.
"What are your motives Kerris? Why fuck with Kyson?" asked Shepard.
"Why, because it's fun! Why the hell else? HA! I just told you my motives. It's all about Tali" replied Kerris standing up again. Kyson snorted.
"Tali's dead, or so you say, so why keep watching us?" asked Garrus with his fists clenched he looked to be the next to snap.
"Cause this is the absolute best soap opera the galaxy has to offer! Oh the drama that unfolds upon this very vessel!" said Kerris.
"Just kill him already!" the voice of Eve butt in. Kyson smiled. He looked up at Wrex. He could swear he saw the Krogan trying to decide whether to let him go or not. He could tell this due to the smirk the Krogan was wearing.
"Not before a few parting words! Firstly, Joker…you need to cut down on the amount of porn…"said Kerris. Kyson heard Jeff laugh nervously.
"Ha…hahaha…what?" asked Joker trying to shrink in his seat.
"Secondly, Garrus, Teagann, wash your hands. Not doing so is just nasty…" Kyson could see both Garrus and Teagann blank.
"Lastly, John…I can call you that right?" before Shepard could reply, Liara threw Kerris up before slamming him into the deck with her biotics.
"So Bob? Or Zach, James, Ah! Jim, Jim sounds good" Kerris rambled from his splayed form on the deck.
Before anyone could register what happened, Liara picked Kerris up again with her powers slamming him into the kitchen stove. Kyson heard a loud crack as Kerris went face first into the appliance. Wrex began to laugh.
"You have no right to call him by that!" yelled Liara. Kyson looked up to see the slightest of smirks on John's face.
"That sounded nasty…" rumbled the Krogan with an evil smile. Liara picked Kerris up once more bringing him up to the ceiling before screaming with unbridled rage. Kerris was hurtled right into the metal deck. Kyson saw Liara heaving with the strain from her sudden outburst. Kerris on the other hand, didn't move. He lay in a crumpled heap. Vega was the first to walk over to the unconscious Quarian. Vega kicked him with his foot and got no response.
"Shit I think you killed him…" but as Vega turned to smile Kerris rolled over. The Quarian stood up on his cybernetic legs and what Kyson saw made his stomach churn. Kerris' jaw was forced into an odd angle clearly dislocated. Vega heard the movement and looked back.
"Holy shit!" gasped the shaken Vega. Kerris grasped his jaw with his metallic claws only to roughly reposition his jaw. Several sick cracking noises accompanied this causing Vega to turn white as a sheet.
"Ah…that's like the fifth time this has happened" grumbled Kerris. The battered Quarian looked at Vega with a hateful glare.
"Don't ever touch me again filth" growled Kerris. Vega snorted.
"Fuck you cyborg" retorted Vega. Kerris laughed.
"What's with the freaky limbs?" asked Teagann from across the room. Kyson shook his head. The more time Kerris had to talk, the less time he had to kill the bastard.
"Oh, there a little 'gift' from the collectors" asked the totally unharmed Kerris. Kyson couldn't believe his eyes. The bastard didn't even flinch! What the fuck did Xen do to this guy? Make him Captain super Quarian?
"You let the Collectors do that to you?" asked John in amazement. Even Kyson's jaw was hanging. The first to confront Kerris on this was Javik.
"You let those corrupted by the Reapers perform such an experiment on you? Are you mad?" asked the Prothean. Kerris laughed.
"Well, I went to bargain with them, a trade of sorts. But they wanted my legs or they would kill me outright. So, I helped them! I even helped them learn Quarian anatomy to do it properly! I even helped them take them off! Now that's dedication. These new legs are fucking sweet dontcha' think?" asked Kerris. Javik glared at the clearly insane Quarian.
"You are fucking insane! Go die alone in a gutter! Nobody will mourn!" hissed Kyson through gritted teeth. The bastard was a traitor to organics!
"I know…oh well! By the way Javik, I must say I like the way you ran things back in your day. But we can discuss that later" said Kerris. The Quarian then walked up to the restrained Kyson. Kyson felt his blood pressure start to rise. Kerris cocked his head to the side like a bird studying a worm.
"I also like to congratulate you Urdnot Wrex. What you are doing with the Krogan is absolutely amazing. Brute force is the only way things change" said Kerris. Kyson growled as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Kyson felt Wrex's deep laugh.
"I like this Quarian, he's different. Knows what strength is" said Wrex. Kerris leaned in really close to Kyson but before the Quarian could go on another tangent, Kyson head butted the fucker causing Kerris to stagger backwards two steps, into Shepard. John had been slowly gaining ground to capture the self-absorbed Quarian. Kerris then reached into one of his pouches to produce a flask. Kyson could tell it was Ryncol right off the bat. Wrex noticed as well, no thanks to his far superior senses.
"Best damn drink in the galaxy if I do say so myself. You know, I really admire you Krogan, no matter what, you overcome. Very different from my race but I digress, here is to you Wrex!" Kerris said with delight as he pounded down half the flask. When Kerris was done, he licked his lips while closing his eyes with pure pleasure. Kyson just watched completely dumbfounded
"You are crazy, Quarian" commented Wrex with a wry grin.
"I know" smiled Kerris in delight. Kyson growled again causing Kerris to walk right up to Kyson waving the flask just barely out of reach.
"You know you want some Kyson, you know you can't resist your budding addiction. You humans are so weak minded sometimes…" Kerris began to berate Kyson on being a blooming alcoholic when Kyson noticed John moving up behind the Quarian. The commander had binding cuffs ready to activate. Kerris was still taunting the restrained N7, but when Kerris got in his face to gloat more, he head butted the Quarian right between the eyes. Kerris yelped as he stumbled back only to be caught in John's waiting trap. Kerris tried to break free but stopped only to glare at Kyson. Yeah fuck you two buddy. He smirked back at Kerris with his iconic shit eattin' grin.
"Nice one Kyson. Garrus, Liara. Restrain him" Kyson tried to get out of Wrex's grip but the Krogan held tight.
"What about him?" asked Wrex referring to the struggling Kyson. John stepped down to stand in front of Kyson as Kerris was practically hog tied with the binding stasis cuffs. Kyson could see John peering into him.
"You good?" he asked. Kyson couldn't help it. He growled sounding like a wild animal.
"Nope. Wrex, hold him till I get back" said John. Wrex nodded. Kyson wouldn't stand for this. The psycho bastard Kerris had to die!
"John! Kill him now!" he shouted but it was no use.
Kerris 'POV
He was laughing on the inside. He had truly stirred the pot this time. Despite the fact he had been kicked around, he was in a great mood for once! It wasn't like he could feel pain as it was anymore.
"EDI, follow us" said Shepard as he was lifted by Liara's biotics. He took in the ship as he was 'escorted' to the hanger bay. He was roughly dropped to the deck still tied up. Kerris just snickered to himself. He saw a shadow looming over him causing his musings to stop.
"You think all of this is funny?" asked Shepard in a menacing tone. Kerris stayed silent.
"If you have been watching for as long as you have, then you know how important it is for us to stop the Reapers" continued Shepard. Kerris sighed with a slight smile.
"I do" he replied.
"Then what the fuck?" asked Shepard. Kerris figured it didn't hurt to tell Shepard some details.
"Let me put it this way, if you knew how filthy and disgusting people really were, would you blame the Reapers? Ah but don't believe I support them. I want them dead just as much as the next guy" he replied to Shepard calmly. He heard Garrus snort.
"Then why all the theatrics?" asked the Turian. Kerris laughed again.
"Cause I like it. Now, I'll give you a freebie. I'm after Kyson for many reasons. No, not jealousy, just cause he is like a pet almost. I do something, he reacts without fail" said Kerris giving just a scathing glimpse of his motives. When Kerris was honest with himself, he just liked to watch Kyson suffer.
"You're sick…" said Liara with disgust. Kerris watched as Shepard's already menacing scowl darken even more.
"You may not be responsible for Killing Tali, but you know who is. But you hurt my family. Now I have never killed anyone in cold blood before, I have always had a reason. But I'm close to making an exception. Who killed Tali?" asked Shepard in the darkest tone he had ever heard from a Human.
"Not telling" replied Kerris. Shepard was about to strike him when he began to laugh.
"But, I'll be nice and give you a freebie, just cause I like your work. I know EDI want's an explanation even more that you do… " sneered Kerris. Shepard looked to EDI.
"Explain what?" asked Liara who was still scowling. Kerris found it entertaining how the Normandy crew was handling Tali's death. They all had barely continued contact with each other yet act like she was a direct family member once the news hit them.
"How I am able to spy on you! It's a topic I'm proud of you see" said Kerris.
"I already have figured it out. You snuck onboard the SR1. Placed a small bug between the outer hull plates. Your bug had the ability to fully shield it's self from damage due to heat transfer as well as cloaking abilities. But what amazes me is how you accomplished this a second time" said EDI. Kerris nodded. This part filled him with pride even to this day.
"HA fuck Cerberus in every way possible! Those idiots were so preoccupied with themselves they never noticed me upload the same programs the same damn programs under their noses. But what did I find? An AI…I was intrigued. It took me five hours of continual work to slip it past your basic firewalls and protocols…" he replied. The whole ordeal had been fun sneaking past the oblivious Humans.
"That is impressive" said EDI. Kerris smiled.
"I know, I'm awesome" he quipped back. Shepard snorted.
"Well, we have enough info on you to take you to the council. They will decide what to do with you" said Shepard. Kerris sighed as the group turned and left him under guard. Ah the Citadel. Where I was headed anyways…beats jumping through a relay on my own. Kerris closed his eyes focusing on his plans for when he got back home to Arvuna. There was another shift in the shadows around him though.
"Were you the one responsible for the Falsan Murders?" asked Garrus Vakarian. Kerris chuckled while still staring at the deck.
"Yep, sorry to say it Garrus but I'm out of your league when it comes to pissing people off…or sniping" he said. Kerris was kicked so hard in the side of his head he could feel part of his helmet crack. Garrus picked him up enough to be face to face. Kerris saw nothing but pure hate. Hate for everything Kerris was. He loved it.
"I'll do everything in my power for the council to hand you over to me. It's not just Kyson who's after your blood for what happened to him and Tali" growled the Turian before dropping him to the deck.
"Oh was it something I said?" asked Kerris with a sneer.
"Or are you just mad for losing Tali, the one girl you never had the spine to say how you felt?" Kerris continued to chide. He heard Garrus pick something up. Ah, more beatings. Why can't people just answer a question? He was about to ask another question but never did. A bright flash blocked his vision right before he blacked out.
-Two hours later-
Kerris had only been out for a few minutes. His body didn't really register pain anymore but that didn't stop the fact that trauma done to his still organic head still affected him. Kerris sighed again as he felt the docking clamps secure the Normandy.
"Whelp, time to go home" he mused. He activated his monofilament blade slowly. No need to alert that dense fuck Vega who was working out near his position. The stasis cuffs that bound him under normal circumstanced would have him stuck. But there was a problem with three of his four limbs being fully mechanical. He shifted his legs to add tension to the small stasis generator that made the bindings. He then positioned the blade's point on the little generator. He let the blade shoot out of his biotic arm with full force shattering the generator.
"What the fuck?!" shouted Vega as Kerris stood up and cracked his neck. Why do I bother to be quite anymore?
"Sorry, I've gotta get going. See you later fucktard" said Kerris as he walked towards the bay door.
"EDI, could you let me out please?" he asked kindly. Vega followed by several other crew members ran up behind him with riffles at the ready.
"I will not let you leave Kerris. You have harmed my crew therefore you must comply with Shepard" stated EDI. Kerris shook his head. Time to make my little 'passive' programs active finally. He smiled as he brought up his Omni-tool and tapped a single command. They bay door opened. Light flooded in as he watched the five massive arms of the citadel came into view.
Not waiting to say goodbye, he activated the thrusters in his legs blasting straight into space skirting just over a Turian destroyer. He laughed as he let himself continue straight for one of the very tips of the five arms of the space station. He opened a private channel on his comms. He brought up the display HUD on his visor. Kerris had managed to slap it back on his helmet just before he left the docks atmosphere.
"MP! Guess who's coming home!" he said with excitement. His HUD picked out his private ship hidden in a joint between the retractable front flanges of the station.
"Welcome home creator. How were your travel's?" asked the Geth Prime unit piloting his vessel.
"It was fun as always. Have the core warmed up and ready. We're leaving immediately" he said as his vessel came to get him. It gave him a warm feeling every time he saw his ship. I had many oddities to it. It might have to do with the fact that it had the designs of five different species incorporated in it. It had taken him five years to complete it but nothing besides brought him greater joy.
Kerris landed on the top of his vessel without a sound. It was space after all. He opened the hatch which led directly to the cockpit. He looked around smiling. He finally had some time to go back home and work on his main project.
By the time he got back to his adopted planet, Arvuna, he had already sent out a message to Daro. It had been near a week since he last checked in with his beloved Admiral. Kerris switched to manual controls just as they were about to land. He kept his ship just to the side of a massive dam. He hopped out of the hatch ripping of his visor to take a deep breath of fresh air.
"AHHHHH!" he sighed in exaggeration. He was home. He looked over the miles of mountains with admiration. The damn next to him held back an entire river before it entered a bay. At the base of the structure was the operating station left long ago by his ancestors.
Arvuna was first colonized by the Quarians nearly six hundred years ago but long since abandoned after the Geth Rebellion. He had spent almost all ten years of his exile from the fleet building the place to fit his needs. He had a full lab along with a simple room he used for himself. His room was the old flood gate control room at the far point of the facility next to the landing pad. He walked out along the dam admiring the view before he jumped off towards his lab.
His first priority was to fix his cracked helmet. He activated his thrusters again right before he splattered on the grated floor of his lab. A clunk behind him reminded him of MP behind him. He turned on the Geth Prime platform.
MP was a highly modified Geth Prime platform he had built from scratch. There were a few modifications though. The sensory flaps upon the Geth's processing unit had much more range of motion. It also had two smaller optical lenses for upgraded scanning tech Kerris had developed himself. The armor looked fairly normal for what one would expect from a Prime platform. But there was a few extra thick plates along the neck as well as the lower back, the two major weak points all Geth seemed to Share. The only major color changes he did for this platform was adding yellow lenses and giving the typically 'red' Prime color an ebony finish to the armor. It helped with the chameleon camouflage program installed.
"My Prime…" he sighed as he looked fondly upon the body he had fashioned for the Geth to upload to.
"Yes?" questioned the Geth. Kerris smiled as he turned to walk through his lab. Other Geth units were busy all around him working on many items around the 'shop'. Kerris had always seen the Geth as his true family. It came with the Geth saving his life on his pilgrimage years ago.
"How goes the progress on the Dyson Sphere?" he asked as he came to the center of the lab. The main Hub of activity was centered around his adapted design of a giant human pipe dream. A Dyson Sphere was a massive solar array that captured the energy of a star. Instead of the Salarian designed system around one of the stars in the Krogan DMZ, this was a completed sphere. Not a connected chain around the equator of said star.
"The designs are nearly complete" replied MP. Kerris nodded as he looked up at the floating sphere in the very center of the lab. He would submit these plans to the Quarians as a way of obtaining dominance over them. His shit list of races and factions were a very firm set.
First, the Reapers. This was his galaxy to destroy. Second, the Quarians, his own people. They had made him who he was and for that they would pay dearly. Third was Cerberus. He hated any elitist group that emerged but Cerberus was the top dog in the galaxy for spouting pure ignorance.
"Wonderful!" he said as he began to take his helmet off. He went through the process of removing all of the hoses before the main seal attaching to the main suit. Once done he chucked the damaged helmet across the lab before running his hands through his long pitch black hair. The hair dropped half way down his back in an unkempt mess. A small beep emanated from the main terminal in front of him. XEN! He smacked the holo. The Dyson model was replaced with a full size hologram of Xen.
"Kerris! Where have you been?" she asked right away. She seemed pissed. But it was no matter. He always found a way to cheer her up.
"Why doing your bidding your highness haha!" he replied sarcastically. Xen was giving him a rare sight. She also had he helmet fully off. Kerris smiled as he took in her features. She had to be the most beautiful creature he had ever laid his eyes upon. She had high cheekbones with black hair kept long such as his. But where his was a tangled mess, Xen's hair was kept long and silky smooth. The only other people he had ever come across that resembled her in complexion were Japanese Humans.
"Good boy" she said with a smirk.
"Well, you look absolutely stunning…as always of course" he said. Xen rolled her eyes and waved a hand in the air with a 'whatever' vibe.
"Well, it is good for a woman to know" she said with just the slightest bit pout. Kerris laughed.
"HA! Well…you know…anyway! Guess who I ran into this past cycle?" he asked. Xen raised an eyebrow in question.
"C'mon guesss! Guess guess guess you know you want to!" he said while bouncing up in down reveling in his good fortune as of late. Xen laughed herself for once.
"Well it must be someone of interest seeing how excited you are" she replied smiling at him.
"Oh yes! Yesyesyesyesyes Hey! Floor! Stop talking! You shut up or I swear I'll…" he shouted. Kerris sighed. The floor always wanted to pitch in its two cents on his conversations. What have I told you floor…do NOT interrupt me.
"Kerris! Reel in that brain of yours" said Xen. This was nothing new for her to witness. Part of genius was madness.
"Uno momento. I'm trying to make a point to my enemy here, the floor. Shut up floor! You keep trying to trip me!" he shouted. The floor just talked more shit to him. He sighed looking back up at Xen.
"Sorry bout' that. Annnyyywaaayyysss. He's still alive!" said Kerris wickedly. Xen waited.
"I was minding my own business taking out a few people for some creds, al according to plan, when lo and behold…Kyson Sorley…" he said slowly when he said Kyson's name. Xen froze with an expression of complete shock!
"You have to be joking!" she screamed. Kerris laughed.
"And…he's back with Shepard…" he trailed off. Xen began pacing the room she was in.
"Kerris, you realize the implications of this don't you?" she asked while still pacing.
"More fun?" he asked hopefully.
"No! I've been fighting off hacking attempts from almost every organization in the galaxy. Most of the Alliance or the Shadow Broker…THE SHADOW BROKER! Not to mention you know this! You have been taking the brunt of this!" she shouted. Kerris smiled as he looked at the Geth platforms around him. They had been the ones multi-tasking the evasion of hacks on Xen's ship. Only the Geth had such capabilities to do a whole net canvas on a system as advanced as Xen's
"You don't have to worry about the Shadow Broker…she's…she's a little blue piece of shit" he replied thinking of Liara. Xen just kept pacing.
"How did Kyson survive?" she asked turning to him with a scowl. Kerris thought back on his observations of the Normandy crew.
"No idea actually. Huh? I need to fix that" he mused. Xen growled.
"Well I meant what I said. Kyson cannot ever be allowed access to the fleet ever again!" she yelled. Kerris nodded.
"Agreed, so, what's new on your end?" he asked. She probably had some more upgrades or invention of some kind. He wasn't prepared for the utter bomb she was about to drop.
"We are at war with the Geth" she said quietly. Kerris felt cold all of the sudden. The Geth were the only true family he had ever known! Explosions were going off in his head as he tried to form some sort of sense of this. He was shaking with rage as he stared at Xen with cold emotionless eyes.
"Damn! The other admirals are here…" said Xen quickly as the feed was cut. The holo of her disappeared to be replaced by the Dyson Sphere. Kerris was at a rare loss. He looked around the lab to find every Geth platform looking at him. How could they…HOW! Those filthy bastard Quarians! I'll kill them all!
"And you were going to tell me when?" he asked MP quietly. He looked at the Geth, his true family feeling wounded.
A/N
Yet another twist! I always wanted to know what inportance the map (Hydra) had. Spyke had wonderful plans as well as ideas for the place. Thank you Spyke for the amazing ideas as always!
Now, BushidoVirtues7 pointed out how he enjoyed the pure rage this story is cranking out. There is MUCH more to come. But I will admit, as tempting as it is to make this story purly about Kyson. I can't. I am 'not so simply' showing the events of ME3 if Kyson was an actuall character and how the multible OC's could influance everything. And It's damn fun.
Now while this is obvious, it's fanfiction, I felt the urge to say it again for my peace of mind. And I miss Shepard...that's probably why.
Happy holidays once again. Review as you will as always!
~RJ