A/N: Thank you The Red Celt, Yoruki Hiiragizawa, Guest, divadevi8808, Suilven, Spyke1985, ToraHiksa, WinterzKiss and ImmortalFlower for the support and the wonderful reviews on the previous chapter. You all made my day. :)
Also, thank you for the favorites and alerts.
Thank you to The Red Celt for beta reading the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect; it belongs to BioWare. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
When they docked on Nos Astra an hour later, Shepard burst out the door and charged through the crowds like a maniac, anxious to get their recruiting mission done so that they could leave for Haestrom as soon as possible. Garrus and Mordin could barely keep up with her, and they almost knocked her over when she suddenly stopped in front of a young asari sitting behind one of the desks in the shipping office.
"Seryna?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest and tilting her head to the side in her usual "don't mess with me" posture. She'd recognized the other asari from the night before, sitting a few feet from them at her workstation and, since there were no other people in the office, she hoped that she was finally talking to the right person here.
"Who's asking?" the young woman glanced up at her with an indifferent look in her eyes, apparently unimpressed by the armored human and her little group.
'Somebody who could send you flying through that window right now,' Shepard thought with irritation, but decided to try another, more diplomatic approach first. "My name's Commander Shepard. I'm looking for Thane Krios and was told that you have some information about him."
The expression on Seryna's face didn't change, but she got up and asked her co-worker to cover for her. She signaled the group to follow her to a private corner of the room.
Shepard's shoulders relaxed somewhat; they were going to get the intelligence they needed, meet up with Krios, then find Samara and talk to her, too. If everything went well, all of this shouldn't take more than a couple of hours—she was sure of that.
Of course, she should have known better. Like Garrus had said, things could never be that easy for them. As it turned out, Thane was on a mission (on whose order, they did not know) to kill Nassana Dantius—a ruthless businesswoman Seryna had worked for.
"Nassana Dantius..." Shepard narrowed her eyes as she searched her memory; it seemed like she'd heard that name before, and not just from Liara. "Sounds familiar for some reason."
"She used to be a representative on the Citadel," Seryna offered helpfully, and that immediately cleared the haze from Shepard's mind.
"Of course. I remember now. She had me kill her sister."
"Oh, yeah, that was a load of fun," Garrus groaned behind her.
"Well, you know then what she's capable of, and she has even more power on Nos Astra now. She has also surrounded herself with Eclipse mercs. They are highly trained, well equipped, and they don't care who they kill as long as they get paid for it. I told Thane all about this, but he didn't seem worried. I think he's planning on making his move tonight, after the workers have cleared out of her headquarters."
"All right." Shepard rubbed her forehead with a sigh. So much for talking to him quickly and getting out of here. "So, where do I find him?"
"Nassana is in Dantius Tower 1, on the Penthouse Level. There's another tower under construction that connects to it with a bridge; he'll probably get in from there. I can get you in tonight, but you'd better be ready."
"Oh, we'll be ready, don't worry."
They made arrangements to meet up in the evening, then Shepard and her team headed to the transportation hub to talk to Tracking Officer Dara, like Liara had suggested, and ask about Samara.
When the officer jumped up in panic at the mention of the justicar's name, demanding to know if she'd already killed someone, Shepard wondered if Samara was just another assassin—and why the Illusive Man had thought that she would need two of those on this mission. She herself had doubts about using even one. But, as it turned out, justicars were actually similar to warrior monks back in Earth's history, traveling around and meting out justice in the name of their sacred code. She didn't quite understand this code-thing and why apparently they could kill anybody they thought deserved to die without any repercussions, but it didn't really matter. All she wanted to know was where to find her, so when they were told that Samara had gone on to the commercial space port, they followed suit and took a cab there.
However, when they arrived, they found the place under lockdown. The police were investigating a murder and refused to let Shepard and her team in.
Utterly frustrated, she stormed into the police station to talk to the detective in charge.
The detective glanced up, unfazed, when the Commander took a seat on the other side of her desk. "Can I help you?"
"I'm looking for an asari justicar called Samara. She's supposed to be at the space port, but your people won't let me in."
"We have a crime scene there at the moment. Nobody is allowed to enter or leave," the detective replied in an even voice, taking stock of the group and their obviously high-grade weapons. "What do you want from the justicar? If it's about trying to settle a score with her, take it somewhere else. I have enough trouble in my district right now, especially with her being here."
"I need to recruit Samara for my mission. Then we'll be on our way."
"You can't just hire a justicar for some personal errands," the detective started to say with a dismissive shake of her head, but it seemed like she had suddenly hit on another thought. She went on with a hopeful look in her eyes, "Unless... it's an important, just, and preferably impossible cause."
"We've got all those covered," Garrus interjected. "Especially that last one."
"Perfect match," Mordin nodded approvingly, his large eyes carefully watching the detective—Anaya, according to the name plaque on her desk.
"Well," the asari almost smiled, but caught herself just in time, "if that's the case, then I'll get you to her right away. She's at the crime scene."
"Just like that?" Shepard narrowed her eyes. People usually didn't relent so quickly unless they wanted something in return.
"Yeah. I'll even kiss you goodbye if you get her out of my district."
"Why are you so anxious to see her go?" This was getting more and more suspicious; everybody seemed to be so wary of this Samara that Shepard started to have doubts whether she would really fit in with her team.
"My superiors want me to detain her to avoid some cross-species incident. Not every race approves of their citizens getting killed because they've cheated on their tax forms." Anaya shrugged her shoulders. "But her justicar code will require that she resist—which means she'll have to kill me. I have no interest in that, so if you can lure her away with some noble cause, I'll be more than happy to help. I'll let my people know that you can go in. Just be careful; the back alleys are teeming with Eclipse mercs."
"Thanks for the warning." Shepard's lips curled into a smirk as she got up and headed to the door. She was actually itching for some action right now; somebody had to pay for the direction this day had taken, and what better way to accomplish that than to pump some assholes full of lead?
Anaya was right: they'd encountered the first group of mercs soon after they'd entered the area. The fight was over before they knew it, and they pushed on until they rounded the corner and heard a loud crack as an asari, her body glowing blue, twisted her foot on the neck of a mercenary that was lying defeated and helpless on the floor.
"Ouch," Garrus let out an unconscious groan. Shepard couldn't help but agree with his assessment of the situation. She winced at the sound and stopped in her tracks as she watched the victor turn around and head in their direction.
"Efficient." Mordin nodded his head with respect; breaking the spinal column with nothing more than your bare hands or feet was a skill he could appreciate—it was something they'd trained for in the STG, though he preferred other, slightly more elegant and satisfying methods.
"My name is Samara. I am a servant of the justicar code. My dispute is with the Eclipse Sisters," the asari announced in a measured voice, casting her cold eyes at the armored and well-equipped human and her team standing in front of her. "Are we friends or foes?"
Shepard decided to ignore the fact for now that Samara had just killed an unarmed and defeated enemy in cold blood. "I am Commander Shepard. I'm on a dangerous but very important mission and I need the best people for my team. I was hoping that you would be willing to join us."
"I sense that you are telling the truth," the justicar said after a few seconds of contemplation, "but I'm on an important mission of my own. I seek an incredibly dangerous fugitive, but the Eclipse Sisters have smuggled her off world. I must find out the name of the ship she's left on before the trail goes cold."
"That won't be possible right now," Detective Anaya reluctantly announced as she approached the group. "I've been ordered to take you into custody if you won't leave."
"By the justicar's code, I am obligated to cooperate with you for one day, but after that I must return to my investigation."
"I won't be able to release you that quickly." Anaya sighed; she knew what she'd signed up for when she'd joined the force, but this wasn't exactly how she'd expected her days to end—at the hand of a justicar, caught between that damned code and her superiors' stupidity.
"Which means?" Shepard interrupted her thoughts, but before the detective could answer, Samara started to speak.
"I'll have to kill anyone who would stand in my way to break out. Unless..." Her eyes drifted off for a second before they focused on Shepard again. "Unless you find me the information I seek while I am in custody. If you do that, I will join your crew."
"All right; if that's what it takes, we'll do it. Any leads to help point us in the right direction?"
"Talk to Pitne For—the volus merchant. He may know a way into the Eclipse base."
"Well, I have to get back to my station," Anaya spoke up, her voice low and wary, "and I guess I have to take you with me."
"Thank you, Shepard," Samara said coolly. She turned around to follow the detective, who looked back at the group with nearly pleading eyes before they disappeared around the corner.
The talk with Pitne For turned out to be rather fruitful, as it produced a pass card that allowed them to enter the Eclipse base. After that it was just a matter of fighting through hordes of mercs and mechs, not to mention a gunship, while doing their best to avoid lethal clouds of Minagen X3 emanating from the destroyed crates that were scattered all over the place, courtesy of Pitne and his cohorts. They found some interesting information along the way, which Shepard pocketed for safekeeping, and bumped into Niftu Cal, Pitne's surviving partner in crime, high on the drugs the volus team had supplied to the Sisters, who'd been so kind as to share enough with him to make him feel like the greatest biotic alive. Shepard was tempted to let him take the lead in their final assault, but he was so cute strutting around, basking in his newfound awesomeness, that she just couldn't do it. She convinced him to go take a nap while they burst into the last room in the building and showed Wasea, the Eclipse leader, what a Spectre, an ex-STG operative and the deadliest vigilante in Omega's entire history could do.
By the time they were finished with their demonstration, Wasea and her lackeys were dead and the room was in ruins, and all that was left to do was to find the information they were looking for. Fortunately, that didn't take too long (apparently Wasea had never expected someone else to read her personal notes) so, satisfied with the results of their investigation, they headed back to the police station.
They found Detective Anaya sitting at her desk and Samara perched on the half wall behind her.
"I have the name of the ship. Your fugitive has been taken off world on the AML Demeter two days ago," Shepard said as she stopped in front of the justicar.
Samara's pale, cool eyes opened wide for a moment in mild surprise. "Thank you, Shepard. You've kept up your end of the bargain, and so will I." She got off the wall and turned to Anaya. "I will leave immediately if that is all right with your superiors."
"You're free to leave, justicar," Anaya answered. "It's been an honor having you on my station—and you not killing me was a bonus."
The next moment Samara did something that impressed even the unflappable detective: she knelt down in front of the commander and swore an oath to her.
"By the Code, I will serve you, Shepard. Your choices are my choices, your morals are my morals. Your wishes are my code."
Shepard cast a sideways glance at Garrus to see his reaction, but he was too busy staring at the glowing biotic to notice. This oath... this code...it was something that he could understand—it was the exact same way he'd felt about Shepard ever since he'd joined her first crew more than two years ago. In fact, he was tempted to follow the asari's example now and repeat her words—on his knees, if he had to. But, instead of making a spectacle out of himself, he kept his silence and stood with a straight back as he watched the scene in front of him, mesmerized by the solemn ritual, unaware of the sudden pang of jealous uncertainty that stabbed at Shepard's heart at the sight of his unwavering attention so intimately focused on the shapely justicar.
When Garrus finally met her eyes with a grin, Shepard couldn't hold back a relieved smile of her own. She was brought back to the present, however, as Samara stood up and announced, "If you make me do anything extremely dishonorable, I may need to kill you when I am released from my oath."
"Duly noted," the commander replied with a nod, then she turned to the detective. "I have some information for you, too. Here, read this—it proves that Eclipse killed the volus merchant."
Anaya took the datapad from her to study the entry. It confirmed that a new recruit called Elnora had done the deed as an initiation kill for her membership in the Eclipse group. "Interesting. I'll issue a warrant for this Elnora."
"Don't bother. She was stupid enough to pull a gun on Shepard," Garrus interjected with a disapproving growl. "She's been... dealt with."
"Well, I guess she won't be a problem in the future then—I can't say I'm sorry to hear that."
"There's one more thing," Shepard said as she pulled out another datapad. "I have proof that Pitne For smuggled in red sand and illegal weapons tech."
"I knew there was something fishy about him, but I didn't have any evidence. Thank you, Shepard. This is a big help. I'll send some officers to arrest him and his cohorts."
"No problem." The commander nodded her head, then she turned to Samara. "We still have another mission to do here. You could board the Normandy now or stay—" She swallowed her words as she caught sight of Anaya's desperate head-shaking from the corner of her eye. Trying to suppress her laughter, she went on, "You know what? Just go to the Normandy and get settled in. It's docked in the space port by the main trading floor. I'll notify my XO about your arrival and she'll be waiting for you."
"Thank you, Shepard."
Samara started to leave, but Shepard had another thought. "Do either of you want to take a break and go back with her?" she asked, turning to Garrus and Mordin. "I could get somebody else to join me if you've had enough for today."
"Come on, Shepard," Garrus purred, his eyes glinting with mischief. "Haven't you heard about turian stamina? I could go for another round... of fighting, I mean."
Shepard was sure that her face was turning deep red, and she had to bite into her lower lip to suppress the flustered giggle that desperately wanted to erupt from her throat. She knew Garrus was grinning, but she tried to avoid looking at him directly. Instead, she glanced at Mordin and raised an eyebrow as she waited for his answer.
"No need to return to ship yet; tests won't be done till the evening. Would prefer keeping busy with mission," Mordin said matter-of-factly. If he'd noticed anything about the overtones of the little interlude between Shepard and Garrus, he didn't show it.
"All right. We'll see you on board later this evening, then," she said to Samara, and with that, the justicar was gone.
They said goodbye to Anaya, who seemed to be relieved to see them all go, then she radioed EDI and ordered her to let Miranda know about the situation.
They still had a few hours left before their rendezvous with Seryna, so they headed to a multi-species restaurant to grab a bite—the way this day was going, they would probably need the energy for their mission to find Thane Krios.