Chapter 10: Truth Be Told
Zach walked up to the stuck-up politician and his captain standing outside the airlock. When Udina noticed him, he turned to face him.
"I've got big news, Shepard. Captain Anderson is stepping down as Captain of the Normandy. The ship is yours now."
Zach turned towards Anderson, who crossed his arms and nodded his head. "She's quick and quiet, and you know the crew. Perfect ship for a spectre. Treat her well, Commander."
"I'll take good care of her, sir." He replied.
"I know you will, Shepard."
"I want the truth. Why are you stepping down, sir?"
"You needed your own ship. A spectre can't answer to anyone but the council. And it's time for me to step aside."
"Come clean with me, Captain. You owe me that much."
"I was in your shoes twenty years ago, Shepard. The council was considering me for the spectres."
"Why didn't you tell me about this, sir?"
"What was I supposed to say?! I could've been a spectre? I failed, Commander. It's not something I'm proud of. Ask me later if you want details. All you need to know is that I was sent on a mission with Saren, and he made sure I was rejected. Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes."
"I won't let you down, sir."
"Saren's gone. Don't even try to find him. But you know what he's after: the conduit. He has his geth scattered across the traverse looking for clues."
"We had reports of patrols of geth heading towards a colony in the Attican Beta, and there have been sightings on Noveria. Those are good places to look." Udina spoke.
"Find out what Saren is up to and bring him in for justice."
"I'll stop him." Zach said confidently.
"We have one more lead you can pursue. Matriarch Benezia, the other voice in the recording, has a daughter who specializes in the protheans. Her name is Liara. Dr. Liara T'soni. We believe she is somewhere in the Artemis Tau cluster investigating a prothean ruin."
"I might as well head there first. Admiral Kahouku asked for assistance with another matter somewhere in that cluster, so we can kill two birds with one stone."
"It's your decision, Commander. You're a spectre now. You don't answer to us."
Udina returned to his politician state. "But your actions reflect humanity as a whole. You make a mess and I'm stuck cleaning it up."
Suck it up, princess. "I'll take care of Saren. You take care of the political fallout."
"Not exactly the answer I was hoping for." Udina shook his head. "Just remember: you were a human long before you were a spectre. I have a meeting to attend to. Captain Anderson can answer any questions you may have." And the stuck-up man walked away, unaware of Zach's gestures of his gun firing into Udina's back.
Stark walked up to visit his girlfriend before he went to the Alliance HQ on the Citadel to ask for his assignment. His girlfriend was Nyrina Crae, a four-hundred sixty-three year old asari matron. Currently, she was working for the Serrice Council to design better armor, but she was a mercenary when she was a maiden. Strangely, she had never tried mating with anyone before, which seemed unusual for an asari of her age. What was stranger to Stark was the fact she stayed with him after finding out about his violent past. He expected most girls to not even want to be in the same room with a man like him, but Nyrina has stayed with him for over a year now.
He pressed the doorbell button on the panel next to her door, and a few seconds later, a beautiful asari stood in the doorway. Her blue skin was pale, and her figure was perfect by nature. Her blue eyes matched the color of her dress real well. She was breathtaking, and she was Stark's to hold.
Nyrina smiled. "Stark. It's good to see you again." Stark leaned in gently for a kiss upon her lips; soft as an angel's grace. Her very scent brought Stark peace, and a kiss made him feel light as air. He still didn't understand how he could be with someone so beautiful, but he thanked whatever god or force controlled the galaxy for letting him be with her.
"I wanted to visit." He replied cheerfully.
Nyrina looked down to see his knife strapped to his boot. "You know, you probably could've left the knife behind before you came to visit."
"I have it just in case some bastard tried to come after you."
"As much as I love how protective you are of me, Stark, it worries me when you carry that thing. It's never really been used for good."
"Yesterday it was."
"Let me guess: the dead turian in the alley near the embassies?"
"How'd you-"
"I do have friends in C-Sec, you know. They came here asking if I had seen you; said they wanted to ask a few questions. They suspected you were responsible because of how you always carry that thing around."
"What'd you say?"
"I was honest with them. I told them I hadn't seen you all day and didn't know where you were."
Stark stepped inside of her apartment. "That turian was an assassin working for Saren Arterius, who wanted some quarian dead because she had evidence the Alliance could use against him."
"You don't sound too thrilled about doing the right thing."
"After I rescued the quarian, she found her way to Commander Shepard, who is now the first human spectre."
"Oh." Nyrina bowed her head, finally understanding why he was here. "And you came to visit me because you need to distract yourself from your regrets."
"I came to visit because I care about you, Nyrina. I want to be with you." He walked to her and took her hands. "I don't know why you stick around after all of the shit I have done, but I'm glad you stay. It is because of you, I try to be better, even if I fail and have to start again."
"I stay because you're worth staying with, Henry." Nyrina whispered. "And I want to help you be a better person. But you still hold anger towards Shepard, and it worries me. It makes me think no matter how much of a good person you bring yourself to become, there'll still be that dark flame burning inside of your heart. I fear you'll be bitter for the rest of your shorter life span."
"Still bragging about how you'll remain attractive even after I'm nothing but dust?" Stark joked.
Nyrina laughed. "No. But seriously, you need to find a way to douse that dark fire inside."
"Only Shepard's death can do that. But now it's near impossible."
"Is there no other way to stop you from throwing your life away for revenge?"
"Maybe. But I can't see any alternative right now."
"Then I guess I better get to work finding an alternative for you, you big brute." She laughed as he picked her up and spun her around.
"You're one to talk, my ex-mercenary girlfriend."
"Stark, that part of my life is behind me."
"That's why I said 'ex', Nyrina. But if I'm correct, you still have your original mercenary flight suit locked up in your closet." He pointed a thumb towards her room. "I should take you on a mission some time."
"And see you slit the throats of some batarian mercenary? I'll pass."
"Suit yourself, but you'd be missing an opportunity to use your biotics again. I know you've been itching to use them for a while now."
"If I went to use my biotics again for a change, you'd be competing with your own. And you're a powerful biotic for a human."
Stark let his fist glow the purple tint of a biotic. "Sure, but I've heard interesting rumors you tore people in half with yours."
"Hey," Nyrina snapped. "I was a very young maiden, and I liked the contracts I took against people."
"How old were you?" Stark's grin made Nyrina sigh.
"I was 107 when it happened, all right?"
"All right." He leaned in and kissed her again. "God, I could do that all night."
"Why don't we have dinner first. Then you can have these lips to yourself all you want."
"If you insist." Stark brushed his lips against hers, "I'll come back at eight?"
"That sounds like a good time. I'll see you then."
"See you then." Stark let her go, heading for the door to talk to his bosses to see if there was any work he could do out in the galaxy.
Back aboard the Normandy, Zach had led Garrus and Tali down to the cargo bay to get themselves situated. He went over to a locker and started to explain. "The lockers here have a four-number code to keep soldiers' equipment safe. If the light next to the buttons is blue, it's a free locker. The light is red or green when it is locked or unlocked, respectively. Go ahead. Give it a try."
Tali stepped up to the locker closest to Wrex, who was grinning at his new ship mates; a turian genetics stated he should hate, and a quarian who was likely awestruck by her new Commander. But Tali didn't know he was thinking that as she typed in four numbers: 8-2-5-4. Her locker opened, and she put in her shotgun and tech mines.
"Good job, Tali. Try to remember that combination. I'd rather not try to hack a locker because a combination was forgotten."
"Don't worry. I'll remember." She stepped away and let Garrus choose one of the two empty lockers. Choosing the locker next to Wrex's, he typed in his code: 4-8-6-7. The locker opened, and he placed his sniper rifle in gently, granting him a complaint from Wrex.
"You know the gun isn't made of glass, Vakarian."
"No, but after all of the calibrations I did to this gun, I'd prefer to keep it at peak condition."
Wrex grunted. "Whatever." Ignoring the krogan, Garrus placed in his assault rifle in after his sniper was secured. Closing the locker, he noticed the mako behind him. "Shepard, I think I'll spending most of my time calibrating that thing whenever I'm down here."
"As long as the gun works, you can have all the fun you want with that thing." Zach turned to Tali. "If you want, Tali, you can work with the engineering team on the drive core back there. I haven't seen it myself yet, but I think you'll be surprised at what it looks like."
"Are you sure that's wise, Shepard?" Ashley spoke from her spot over at the armory.
"Absolutely. Quarians are said to be excellent technicians and mechanics. And I know Tali has a way with technology. We can use someone like her."
"Thank you, Shepard." Tali spoke, blushing behind her mask at the Commander's offer and comment. "I'll get to work right away."
"Make yourself at home, Tali. I hope you'll be welcomed with open arms." The smile she saw him give her made her heart quiver. She was very happy that she was welcomed into his crew. It made her even happier that she was working with a man that was so intriguing.
Garrus coughed, followed by a harsher cough from Ashley and a comment from Wrex. "Can you two stop coughing? I don't want what she's having."
"Who's she?" Garrus asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Miss what's-her-name Williams. If she gets me sick I'll kill her. And if you get me sick, turian, you'll kill me without that damn sniper rifle of yours."
"Excuses, Wrex. That's all you have." He beat his hands on his chest as if he was challenging Wrex, who cracked his knuckles in response.
"Okay. Let's not go too far." Zach intervened. "I don't want to pay for any damages to the ship before we even leave."
"Don't worry, Shepard. Just some krogan hot-air" Wrex responded.
"Don't mind us," Garrus agreed. "Just messing around with the krogan I'm sharing a deck with for however long we're fighting together."
"Let's hope so." Zach turned to face Tali again, only to find out she had already left for the engine room. Shrugging his shoulders, he headed for the elevator to use his own locker, which was strangely on the same deck as his cabin instead of in the cargo bay. Typing in his code: 9-2-2-4, he secured his weapons before heading to his cabin to remove his armor. As he unhooked every piece, he remembered his past missions: his survival on Akuze, when he fought Stark on Torfan, sparring with Maine during his N7 training, and countless other missions after. He also remembered every soul that he either took or saw get taken. He wasn't used to killing after what had happened during training years ago, and he still hadn't fully overcome the fact that friends and family were dead. It was hard for his good soul, but he knew he could handle the duty so long as he did it.
He looked over at the desk with the terminal and headed for the drawer. Inside was a box he carried with him for six years. Within its contents layed his reason he couldn't let go of the final events that transpired on that fateful day. It was a burden to want to remember the past, yet it was worse to torture himself with his nightmares of the events.
Or worse.
Carefully placing the box back into the drawer, he retreated from his cabin and headed out. When he exited, he saw Kaidan heading towards the medical wing. He was rubbing the back of his head.
"You okay, Kaidan?" He spoke up.
"Just a bit of a headache," he replied. "I'll be fine soon, but a check-up from the doctor couldn't hurt."
"Okay. I just wanted to know if you were okay."
"Sure thing, Commander. Don't worry. I should be fine soon." Kaidan then walked into the med bay, and Zach headed for the bridge to get Joker to head for the Artemis Tau cluster.
Tali looked around the engine room in awe at the sight she was seeing. The drive core was enormous, and there were people working cooperatively to keep it in working order.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" Tali turned to face a man with tan skin and dark hair, wearing an alliance uniform Captain Anderson had also worn. His eyes were full of kindness and curiosity.
"Oh, my name is Tali. The Commander said I could help out down here in the engineering room."
"By all means, Tali. Make yourself at home. I'm sure you can help out around the core."
"Thanks, mister..."
"Adams. Call me Engineer Adams."
Ashley walked towards the elevator to drag herself up to the bridge. She was surprised, however, when the krogan and turian the Commander had picked up walked in behind her, pressing the ascend button. She felt pinned by them standing behind her, but she kept her mouth shut from any nasty comments she had. It was bad enough she had to share a deck with them, but a cramped elevator was worse.
This is going to be a rough mission.
On the bridge, Zach walked to the cockpit. Already Joker was in his chair ready to take them to their next destination. It surprised him how a pilot could be ready so quickly to go fly to another planet.
"I heard about what happened to Captain Anderson. Survived a hundred battles and then gets taken down by backroom politics. Just watch your back, Commander. If something goes wrong, you're next on their chopping block."
It doesn't feel like I should own the ship, though. "Captain Anderson should be the one in charge. It feels like I'm stealing the ship from him."
"Yeah, the captain got screwed. But it wasn't your fault, nobody could've predicted this." Zach rubbed the back of his neck. "Everyone on this ship is behind you one-hundred percent. Intercom's open. If you have anything to say to the crew, now's the time."
Zach leaned in and pressed the button, deciding to be honest with his crew. "This is Commander Shepard speaking. We have our orders. Find Saren before he finds the conduit. I won't lie to you, crew. This mission's not going to be easy. This began as an attack on a human settlement in the traverse, but we know Saren won't stop there. He'll terrorize the entire galaxy if we don't stop him. Our enemy knows we're coming. Wherever Saren goes, we'll follow him. Wherever his geth will be, we'll defeat them. I won't rest until Saren has been brought to justice and the galaxy is safe. Humanity needs to do this; not just for our own sake, but for the sake of every being in the galaxy. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all we will stop him!" The intercom cut off.
"Well said, Commander. The captain would be proud."
"The captain gave up everything so we can have this chance. We can't fail." Zach walked away, watching as Ashley, Wrex, and Garrus nodded their heads before walking to the door downstairs.
"Yes, sir." Joker replied. And so, the ship slowly exited the docking bay and headed for the mass relay to head for the Artemis Tau cluster.
Chellick walked to Executor Palin's office with the message from Garrus that was sent to his omni-tool. He knew Palin would either have a fit or wouldn't be surprised by Garrus's resignation. He himself could hardly believe it. Opening the door, he walked in to Palin's office, already a look of concern on his face.
"What is it, Chellick?" Palin spoke blandly.
"Vakarian sent me a message. He's filled out his resignation."
"Figures. That boy was always short-fused. What's he doing now?"
"He's joined Commander Shepard's crew aboard the Normandy to take Saren down."
"Damn it, Vakarian. You always were more trouble than you were worth. Thank you, Chellick. You are dismissed."
"Yes, sir." And just like that, Chellick walked out of the office to head back to his office.
Zach walked back down to the elevator himself which took quite a bit to reach his floor because it had dropped off the three earlier. He didn't know how many floors were on the Normandy, but he knew the elevators were slow as hell. Waiting for it to return to his floor was complete torture. When it finally reached him, he stepped on and descended to the cargo bay. Everything had been as he left it earlier. He walked over to the krogan, who decided to chat with him.
"Nice ship, Shepard. What can I do for you?"
"What's your story, Wrex?"
"There's no story." Wrex's response was cold. "Go ask the quarian if you want stories."
"You krogan live for centuries. You must've had some exciting adventures."
"Well, there was that one time the turians nearly destroyed our species. That was fun."
"I bet that was. You know, they almost did the same to us."
"It's not the same."
"It seems pretty much the same to me."
"So your people were hit with a genetic mutation? An infection that makes only one in one-thousand infants survive birth? And I bet it's slowly destroying your own species?"
"I guess it's not all the same."
"I don't expect you to understand, but don't compare humanity's fate to the krogan." The anger in Wrex's voice was apparent.
"I was just trying to make small talk." Zach apologized. "I didn't mean to offend you."
"Your ignorance doesn't offend me, Shepard. As for the krogan, I gave up on them long ago. The genophage infected us, but it's not what's killing us."
"Are your people really dying?"
"We're sure as hell not getting any stronger! We too far-spread; no krogan wants to stay in the home system."
"Most species leave their homeworld."
"But they go to colonize other worlds. We're not settlers. We're warriors. We're born to fight, not raise crops. That's why we were uplifted."
"What can you tell me about the genophage?"
"Ask the salarians if you want details. They made it. All I know is it makes breeding damn-near impossible. Every krogan is infected. Every one."
"Why don't the krogan try to find a cure?"
"When was the last time you saw a krogan scientist? If you were to ask a krogan if he would rather cure the genophage or fight for credits, he'll choose fighting every time."
"So long, Wrex." Zach decided to end the conversation.
"Shepard." The krogan nodded. Zach turned around to see Garrus typing up on a terminal set up next to the mako. Initially, Zach thought he may have been ordering parts for calibrations, but further observation showed he was typing a message; probably to a family member. When Garrus finished, he turned around to face Shepard.
"Sending a message to someone, Garrus?"
"Yeah. My father just sent me a message about me joining the crew on the Normandy and his opinion on it. Speaking of which, I wanted to thank you for letting me join up. I knew working with a spectre would be better than life at C-Sec."
"You've worked with a spectre before?"
"Well, no. But everybody knows what they're like. They get the job done their way; no rules, no restrictions. But in C-Sec, you're buried by constant rules. There's just so much red tape and protocol, I felt that I was not getting the job done."
"Well, C-Sec most likely has all of those rules and red tape because they're either scared or wary of the consequences."
"What do you mean?"
"Say that I'm a terrorist and you're the only officer in the immediate area. I threaten to detonate a bomb in the embassies and I'm holding onto a detonator in one hand and a gun in the other, pointed at a turian ambassador. What's your first instinct?"
"I'd shoot you in the head."
"But let's add in two unknown factors: I have a secondary detonator built inside my chest that will still activate the bomb if I die, and I have a group of soldier hidden to gun you down if you make any sudden moves. What would C-Sec have you do even if you still didn't know about these factors?"
Garrus stood in thought for a second. "They would have me call for back-up to sweep the immediate area before I took action. If they wanted you alive, they would likely surround you and force you to surrender."
"And if I didn't surrender?"
"We would use concussive rounds to knock you out, hopefully stopping you from activating the detonator."
"Very good. It ensures there are little, if no casualties at all, and you apprehend a terrorist so he can be tried for his crimes."
"But Saren won't be playing by any of our rules. He'll play dirty and we need to match his tactics in order to stop him."
"Fighting fire with fire only makes the situation worse, Garrus. I don't have to stoop to his level in order to defeat him, and neither do you, Garrus."
"Well, what are we supposed to do?"
"We adapt our tactics to counteract his. If he sent a geth ship against a civilian town, we send the mako against it and disable the ship's weapons and drop pods. If Saren came at us with biotics, we would counteract with concussive shots, knocking out his barriers before we disable or kill him. If a geth prime were to fire a rocket from his gun, we counteract by sabotaging the weapon before disabling his shields, giving you the perfect chance to destroy its optic sensors with your sniper rifle far away."
"So we adapt the rules we have to counteract the rules Saren has?"
"It's what I learned living on the streets of Earth. I was successful at surviving every threat that came my way."
"Hmm. Interesting. I think I understand."
"You can think about it some more while we wait for our approach to the Artemis Tau cluster. When we find this prothean dig site, I plan on taking you and Williams on the ground."
"Yes, sir." Garrus turned back to his monitor, allowing Zach to slip into the engineering room. When he entered, the man in charge, Engineer Adams, approached him.
"Hey, Commander, you know that quarian that you picked up? She been down here asking questions about our drive core."
"Is she bothering you?"
"What? No. She's amazing! She knows a lot about engines and ships. She's even offered ideas on how to upgrade some of our systems. I think you made a good choice bringing her along."
"I figured we could use her help."
"Well, you must have an eye for talent. Give her a month on the ship, and I'm sure she'll know more about the ship than I do."
"Well, what do you know about the ship that I haven't had time to read on?"
"Well, the obvious part is the ship was co-designed by both the Alliance and the turian heirarchy. But what is not known to the public is that the ship contains the IES stealth systems. It's technology has been designed to capture the ship's emmisions so scanners can't pick us up. Of course, an enemy looking out a window can see the ship move in space, so we're not completely invisible like a salarian infiltrator. What the best thing about the ship would be is the Tantalus drive core. It's twice the size of a normal drive core, and it gives the ship more speed and power. It's the fastest ship in the galaxy."
"Interesting. What about you, Adams? What's your service record like?"
"Commander, you can name any type of Alliance ship, and I can tell you I've served on them all. My last posting was on a beautiful vessel called the Tokyo, but it couldn't hold a candle to the Normandy."
"Carry on, Adams."
"Aye, aye, sir." After the man walke away, Zach spotted Tali working on a terminal in the left corner. For a brief second, his mind flashed back to his dream before reaching the Citadel; her figure and veil nearly matching the purple woman from his dream. He wasn't very superstitious about anything, but when a dream becomes reality, it did warrant caution. Shaking it off, he approached Tali, who turned as if she knew he was coming.
"Your ship's amazing, Shepard! I never thought anyone could make such a big drive core fit into a ship this small! I'm starting to understand why you humans have been so successful. I never knew Alliance ships were so advanced!"
"Well, the Normandy's a prototype; cutting edge technology."
"A month ago, I was making a hull patch on a tug freighter in the flotilla. Now I'm on the most advanced ship in Citadel space! I have to thank you again for letting me join up. Travelling on a ship like this is a dream come true for me!"
"I had no idea you found ships so interesting."
"It comes with being a quarian. Ships are our most valuable resources. Our entire flotilla is home to seventeen million quarians, and we all contribute to helping the entire fleet as a whole. That's why our pilgrimages are so important."
"Why don't you tell me more about the pilgrimage. I'm curious as to how that works."
"Well, when a quarian reaches a certain age limit, we leave our birth ships behind to embark on a pilgrimage to find resources to help the flotilla. We set out alone, only to return when we have found an appropriate gift to bring back to the flotilla to present to the captain of the respective ship we wish to join. Doing so keeps genetic diversity among the fleet."
"They just send you out alone?"
"It's not like they just cast us out or anything. Before we leave, we are given implants to fight off disease, as well as training for if we are to run into any sort of trouble from things like bandits."
"At the end of this pilgrimage, can a captain choose to reject a gift?"
"That doesn't happen often. Most captains usually accept it as a sense of tradition, but there is a stigma to handing out a sub-standard gift. Most pilgrims usually wait until they have something worth presenting, like food, medicine, or even parts for a ship. Some pilgrims even find derelict ships that they repair and bring back to the fleet. When a captain accepts a gift like that, the pilgrim is assimulated into the crew and is presented a new enviro-suit that states they have reached adulthood."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-two."
"And you're still considered a child?"
"That's just how it is with quarians. Why? What age are humans usually marked as becoming adults?"
"Most of the time, the age is twenty. But we have rules on Earth that certain things cannot be bought until we are a certain age. For example, we can't drink or buy alcohol until we were twenty-one where we lived. However, I started drinking Voltage when I was sixteen; a direct result of hanging out with a gang on the streets of the city I grew up in. Now I rarely drink real alcohol."
"You broke the laws of your own race?" Tali's eyes widened behind the mask.
"I had to do what it took to survive. But my morals kept me from becoming someone like... Saren, we'll say."
"Or Stark?"
"Stark is a different example. He's careless, bitter, and he hates batarians with a passion. But I knew him before his world spiraled on Torfan. He was once kind, caring, and respected. People now see him as a monster; The Butcher of Torfan. I saw him as a man; a loyal friend. But now we're no longer friends."
"Because of Torfan?"
"No. Our friendship ended before that." Zach stretched and yawned. "But I'll save that story for later. I think I'm going to retire now. Good night, Tali."
"Uh, good night, Shepard." As Tali watched the Commander walk away, she took a moment to think of those final moments of the conversation. How is the Commander could break the laws of Earth and become a lawbringer himself? How is it a man as brutal as Stark was once a good person? And what did the end of their friendship really do to both men?
Who exactly were these men?
As Zach walked out of the elevator and to his cabin, he yawned again, making his eyes water. Rubbing away whatever tears were forming in his eyes, he opened the door, quickly checked for any new extranet messages, and collapsed on his bed; not even bothering to take his clothes off.
And as his eyes shut, he knew yet again he was falling into a cold nightmare.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: To answer why this chapter took too long as well is because I have either A) been busy stuck playing Skyrim, Halo Reach, and Mass Effect 3 still or B) have had a problem with either using full canon or adapting it. In a sense, I might be getting bored of the canon part of the story. The next chapter, however, might be out in a few days, as it is not canon. It will be the first nightmare you'll see of Zach's, along with the first flashback to another character of Zach's past, and a quick moment with Zach and Tali.
Also, I'd like to point out that Nyrina Crae, Stark's asari girlfriend, is actually a multiplayer character I created on ME3. She is my asari adept, and more multiplayer characters will be appearing throughout the story, although they'll be touched upon mostly in the ME3 side story, Freedom. Shoutout to ProjektNemesis7 again (bask in your fame, Companion), and I guess I'll also shoutout to TW6464, as they both seem to be the most active reviewers at this time.
So until next time, guys.