I'm still upset because of both arguments I had, so instead of joining the others in front of the airlock where Baal gathered the slaves, I decide to go and check what happened to the batarian. He might cast some light onto this when he wakes up… if he wakes up. It wouldn't really come as a surprise to find him dead, with all those turians running around. From the distance I can see that there are some other people standing among my 'friends' next to the shuttle. One of them is wearily looking asari dressed in a body armor, which looks like it's about to fall apart. The moment she sees me, she points in my direction and with a shriek of horror yells:
"BEHIND YOU!"
Naturally it makes everyone turn in my direction. The three other slaves react similarly like she, with a mixture of fear and confusion. Two of them are asaries and one a quarian. The quiarin looks like he's in the best state, but it's hard to tell because of his suit. Unfortunately for me, one of the asaries sitting next to him is so taken aback with my 'alien appearance' that she envelops her fist in a biotic aura. Before the others can stop her she raises her hand up and quickly pulls it back, leaving me puzzled.
That is until a rough force lifts me up few feet above the ground. I stay like that for about two seconds and then gravity kicks in five times stronger than usually. My left leg touches the floor first and then the rest of my body follows. With a frustrated growl I get back on my feet ready to tear that asari apart, but it looks like she passed out. It's probably not the best idea to use your biotics when you are barely standing. Baal along with both turians quickly restrains the remaining slaves and starts explaining them something, occasionally pointing in my direction. Their confused expressions change to one of curiosity and they start staring at me. I manage to stop my hand from flipping the bird in their direction and turn around.
On my way to the batarian I notice two more bodies of the turians which were attacking Baal. They are lying in the puddles of their blood, so I don't consider it necessary to check their pulse. On the other hand, the batarian is exactly where I left him, the only difference being his cuffed hands and legs. But of course, he's not cuffed by normal simple metallic handcuffs. Nope, aliens have to use orange holographic ones. Why don't I have one of those too? Ah never mind, let's see if I can take off his helmet. There should be small seals somewhere… here. Damn, I can't help myself but those batarians are getting uglier each time I see one. Is this what I look like to aliens? Hmm…
My philosophical mood is interrupted when the batarian starts snoring. It reveals his thin yellow teeth and makes me realize just how horrible his breath smells. I can't… it's sort of like a mixture of alcohol, sausages and bubble gum. I suppress the urge to throw up and grab him by the collar. "It's time to wake uuuup," I say cheerfully before I slap him. No need to be gentle after all. The slap makes him immediately wake up and his eyes, all four of them, widen as soon as he sees my smiling face. God, it feels so good to slap someone. "Hi, nice of you to join me. What's your name?"
To his credit he manages to hide his surprise of seeing a human rather well. He opens his mouth to say something, but I silence him by raising a finger and pointing at my ear. "This is Serch. Doctors just arrived and they are taking Tress to a hospital. She's still a little bit shaken and has a few broken ribs, but she's awake and doctors say she'll be alright. Do you need medical assistance over there?"
Batarian tries to say something again: "Who the hell are you?" he mumbles in that rough batarian voice.
"Huh, that's a weird name," I remark and once again focus on my earpiece. "Positive, we have at least three asaries and a quarian here and as far as I can tell they are in a bad condition. Also one of the asaries is unconscious," no reference to me? I thought that everything is always my fault. "And that reminds me we also have one unconscious batarian lying somewhere around here," Baal finishes.
For a second I turn away from the batarian. "The batarian is awake, I am just talking to him right now. By the way Baal, have you asked those sl… people where Talis and company kept them? There might be more of them around here."
"Yeah. They said there's no one else, but Kennex went to check it anyway." A muffled thud from behind me makes me turn back to the batarian. Somehow he managed to get up on his feet, but when he was trying to sneak behind me he lost balance and tripped. Just as I turn he extends his cuffed hands towards my neck in order to either choke me or support himself. I can't really tell, but it's not very hard to sidestep. He falls back on the floor and before I can think about it any further I stamp his head sending him unconscious… again.
"Uh, that batarian fainted."
Next day
3:26 a.m.
C-sec station
It took us almost one hour to secure the entire dock and get all wounded to the hospital. Throughout that hour I had to bear being stared at by just everyone who came in after us. It had been the worst with those slaves, because as it turned out, they have spent last two years in custody, being dragged from one shithole to another. Thus I was the first human they ever saw… or heard of. Baal managed to tell them most of the important facts in five minutes and I think it was pretty shocking for them to find out that we were in war with turians. Unfortunately we didn't manage to get anything else from them, but at least they apologized for their friend's behavior.
And then the real work came. An army of technicians rolled in and started to check everything they got their hands on. Unlike TALONs, we (me and Vala) weren't allowed to leave and had to keep working. The most interesting thing we found, not counting the numerous evidences of slave trade, was a pile of ash in the corner of Talis' office. Omni-tool scan confirmed that it's a burnt sheet of paper…
"HEY! What are you doing here?" asari voice someone startles me.
I open my eyes to see a mad looking asari standing only a few feet away from me. When Vala took the batarian to the interrogation room located somewhere on this floor I tried to follow her, but she literally locked the door in front of my face. That's when I finally realized just how tired I am and a second after that I remembered that we have a lounge here, with lots of comfortable couches. Couches like the one I am lying on right now.
"I asked, WHAT are you doing here?!" the asari raises her voice even more and makes a step closer.
At last I wake up completely and shift my body to sit down. "Ahhh, I am… resting?" I say hesitantly. "This is a lounge after all isn't it?"
My answer seems to catch the asari off guard. "Yes, but it's for high ranked officers only and…," she stops for a second and then looks at me with a look of absolute fury: "MY FAVOURITE COUCH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" It takes me only a split of a second to realize what she meant. One of the doctors in the dock slapped some medi-gel on my wounded shoulder where a bullet scratched me. Nonetheless my hoodie got soaked in blood which is now on the white surface of the couch and thinking about it I also must stink after all that running around.
"Oh shit, I am so sorry. But trust me, a little bit of a detergent and it'll be…," she doesn't let me finish. Her hands become surrounded by a biotic energy and suddenly she becomes ten times more threatening.
Streaks of a blue light reflect from her shiny yellow body armor and she narrows her grey eyes. "OUT NOW!" I don't need anything else and quickly get the hell out of the room. On my way to the door I pass around some other couches, but I don't dare to even look at them. The fact that I and the asari are alone in the lounge makes it slightly better, because I only embarrassed myself in front of one person. One obviously high ranked, biotic, alien person. Point to myself, avoid the asari in yellow armor with green facial marks.
On a way to the elevator I pass next to some turian with blue facial marks who tries to trip me with this foot. I manage to keep my balance and send him a nasty glare. Asshole! Still slightly annoyed I punch the number into the elevator screen and head for 'my' office. Right now I am very glad that I bought that bean bag, though the couch upstairs was much more comfortable. After only a few minutes my eyes start to get heavy and soon I fall asleep.
In my dream I see a figure holding a burning sheet of paper. The figure is standing still in the middle of my apartment and something tells me that it's talking to me. I make a few steps closer, but the figure is still unclear and resembles a shadow more than anything else. One more step closer and my nostrils fill with a smell of rakali eggs. In that instant the figure turns to me making me blink in surprise. When I open my eyes again the figure is replaced by a krogan dress in carmine red armor. A creepy smile spreads on his face and he starts running right at me. I try to run away, but with horror find out I can't move. My legs are frozen with fear. Desperately I stretch my hands towards the charging krogan…
At once the sound of an opening door wakes me up and I am once again in my office. The same dull walls without windows, the same table, but I am no longer alone in here. Vala walks in giving me a brief look making me realize that I am lying next to my bean bag. Surprisingly the floor, despite being made out of metal, is actually pleasantly warm.
"So how it went?" I ask sleepily and sit on the bag. She doesn't answer. "That probably means not very good. What do we know about that guy anyway? He and his friends are wearing some fancy armor, maybe we could… I don't know trace it to some group?"
At my mention of the armor Vala gives me a bewildered look and then shakes her head in disbelief. Obviously I just made myself look like an idiot.
"You can't be serious. You've never heard of Blue suns?" I shake my head. "They are one of the most influential mercenary groups on Omega." Ehm, if you say so. Right now Vala is looking at me like if I was wearing a tight pink latex bikini. "Don't you fucking dare to ask me what's Omega human!" I was just about to.
"Fine I'll look it up later then." After Vala's frown a deadly silence sets in and my eyes again start to get heavy. Wait, what the hell am I doing here anyway? I should go home and take a nap. Clumsily I get on my feet and head for the door. "There's not much else I can do today," I state when I reach for the door. Vala doesn't even take her eyes away from the screen, just hums something. The door opens when I put my hand on it, but after one step I turn back with a sigh. "C'mon Vala don't you think you should get some sleep too? Those documents we secured are not running anywhere."
"If you want to go home then go, but I'm not done yet," she mutters.
Right Daniel, it's not a big deal, you just have to turn and leave. Still… it doesn't feel right to let her here all alone. Even if she's grumpy, she's my partner. Mentally swearing at myself I walk back into the office and join Vala next to her terminal. When I take stand next to her she pulls as far away as possible and gives me a wary look. Xenophobic bitch. "Don't fancy yourself. I just think that you'd screw it up without me." The monitor displays a camera feed of the area in front of the dock. At once all the lights die off and I realize what I am looking at. Vala confirms it a second later.
"They had some technical problems lately. D'Mitto said that it was probably the main reason why he wasn't able to hack the terminal in that hangar." So, it wasn't Ulah's fault after all. Sorry Baal. Camera feed continues and shows some people running around with flashlights and I am pretty sure that I just saw something move behind one of the crates. That something being me, most likely. I speed up the video, but quickly stop it when I see a familiar figure in a red suit. Vala also perks up and points at Ulah:
"The quarian's name is Ulah Kalsah nar Hereditas. According to Talis' records he was working for him last couple of days, but the strange is that he didn't show up tod… yesterday." Shit, I've got to do something, Vala is suspecting Ulah. I quickly minimalize the feed and starts scrolling through the older ones.
Before she can protest I choose one of the older feeds and start looking through it. After only a few seconds I stop the feed and stare at the krogan figure I saw in my dream. He is walking towards the lobby entrance and everyone he meets on his way quickly gets out of his way. Soon he disappears inside. Does it mean that the turian who assaulted me was telling the truth when he said he works for Talis? "Is there any camera inside the lobby?" As I ask I realize that my voice is trembling with excitement and that seems to surprise Vala.
"I think so, why?" Before she finishes I am already searching. While I'm looking I tell Vala about the krogan's odd behavior few days ago and what happened when I tried to follow him. "Wait! So someone attacked you and claimed that Talis send him, but you don't fucking even mention it to me?!" Vala asks angrily furrowing her head plates as she speaks. Damn, she must be really pissed off.
"Hey, calm down. It's not like I was hiding it from you, if you really wanted to know you could have just ask: 'Hey Daniel, what the fuck is wrong with your face?' Simple as that." Instead of answer she just growls baring her teeth and I get back to work. My excitement doubles when I notice that the feed is from the day I met the krogan. When I finally find the feed from the lobby I immediately play it. Unfortunately there's no sound just a video.
When the krogan walks into the lobby even the slightest hints of doubts fade away. I could recognize that armor everywhere. The krogan stops next to the reception desk and talks with the asari for a while. Seeing her alive brings up the memories of her bloodied body lying in the dock. I need to focus. She replies him and then he handles her something, and as far as I can tell it looks like a sheet of paper. That will be the source of the ash in Talis' office. The receptionist carefully takes the paper and handles the krogan something. I have to stop the vid to see that it's a credit chit. They keep talking, but the asari looks very uncomfortable and several times gestures at the door. It doesn't take a genius to know that she doesn't like the krogan very much. As soon as he leaves she takes the paper and enters the elevator, which leads to the Talis' office.
So this means that Talis was obviously paying someone and if I were to guess then I'd say that the said someone was giving him some orders on that paper. Was Talis just someone's toy? "We have to find that krogan," Vala states. "Where exactly did you see him last time?" Still trying to piece things together I open my omni-tool and bring up the map. I show Vala the restaurant where I first met the krogan and then the places he went into. Did he do the same thing there, like he did in the dock?
"This is getting kind of over my head. We know that Talis was a smuggler, but also he was obviously blackmailed… or something like that. Is there a chance that he wasn't the biggest fish around?" It sounds possible, but considering how wealthy he was I can't imagine anyone more powerful. We are just talking about a guy with personal army of krogans for God sake!
Vala slightly nods and it seems she sees it the same way. "Maybe," she says slowly, but then continues thoughtfully: "But we are still forgetting something, the first dead krogan we found. How does he fit into this?" I open my mouth to answer, but quickly close it again. She's right, with all the thinking about Talis I completely forgot how this all started. If he was working for Talis where did he get those credits? Not to mention that we never had any real proof he was actually working for him at all. "I think we were wrong when we assumed that he worked for Talis. Maybe it was the opposite way." Almost immediately I realize what she means.
"You saying that he was the one charging him before this guy," I point at the krogan in red armor on the screen. Vala nods. "So that means that the one who hired him…"
"… also killed him and blackmailed Talis. Yes, that's how I see it," she interrupts. So we find the red krogan and we follow him to his boss. Easier said than done. But at least it has a bright side.
"You see," I smile, "told you that you'd screw it without me."
The same day 18:26
After spending almost six hours by searching for the krogan in red armor, I can't believe how naïve I was when I thought it would be an easy task. You would say that there can't be many krogans fitting the description, but the opposite is truth. We have followed like ten krogans in red armor so far and each time we were wrong. Probably the worst thing about it, is that Vala's mood soon became insufferable. It reached the point where she started to blame me that I didn't take a better look at him first time. Camera feed has a pretty good resolution, but it doesn't provide us with much details. "We were following this guy for half an hour and NOW you tell me that his armor is a different shade of red?!"
To my defense it's not much more different. "I'm trying! And all krogans look the same anyway." I take some time to calm down. "Look, maybe we should split up. You have that feed and a rough idea of what his armor looks like, there's no reason to do this together." Also, my patience is not endless and I don't want to ruin this fragile peace between us.
Judging by her quick agreement she doesn't want me around too. "Fine. But the second you find something you call me. And I MEAN it," she adds sharply.
"Sure." But before I leave I remember one small detail I forgot to mention. "Oh and by the way I just remembered that the krogan has a small scar on his left cheek. Might help you out a little."
Unsurprisingly she lets out a frustrated growl and waves her hand indicating that I should better go. Without any word of goodbye I turn and leave, trying to remember where I saw that good looking restaurant. I swear that Vala would make a slaver look like a very generous person. No we can't have lunch. No we can't sit down. We can't do this we can't do that. At least she can't command me through the earpiece, because I returned it to Baal yesterday. I can still feel where it was glued to my ear. But what would you except, after all, aliens don't have ears and this was the best makeshift solution we came with.
As if on cue my omni-tool starts vibrating and I almost expect to see Vala's number. Luckily it's just Ulah. "Hey Ulah what's up." Then I remember the picture of Vala's informer and I quickly add: "Did anything happen? Are you alright?" He responds in a very calm tone.
"Sure why wouldn't I?" Maybe I should have told him that he is maybe in a slight mortal danger. "I'm just calling to tell you how to fix your shield. You mentioned it's not working properly, in the morning." Oh right. I literally just mentioned it in one sentence when I was telling him what happened in the dock. I didn't think he would even remember it. But hey, it's Ulah.
I look at the shield indicator to make sure that it's still not on. "Uhm in that case thanks. What have you found?" Maybe I should feel like naked without bullet-repelling shield, but the truth is that it doesn't really matter to me. When I was on Earth I managed without it, so why not here? Though it's truth that self-confidence doesn't stop bullets very well.
"Well, a regular personal shield is basically a very unique kind of electromagnetic field which repels metallic object travelling at a certain velocity. What is strange is that bigger objects can be stopped just as easily as small ones. That is because it's not size, but velocity that matters. And I've even heard a rumor that within the next five years personal shields will become so advanced that they might even protect from heat and cold. Just like the shields on spaceships! Can you imagine that…"
"Ulah, I'm sure that it's cool and if you want we can talk about it later, but does knowing this all about 'personal shields' help me fix mine?" Some time ago I learned that when he's talking about tech he quickly gets distracted and then he jumps from one theme to another. Simple question like: 'What does this button do?' can lead to lecture about physics behind the mass relays. Most of the time it's fun, because we have something to talk about, but then there are times when you just want to punch him.
If I were to guess I'd say that he just gave me an ugly look for interrupting him. "I was getting there." Sure you were. "Sometimes when an omni-tool gets wet its operating system automatically disables shield to prevent user from getting shocked. Good news is that you can easily fix it by restarting the omni-tool. Bed news that it'll take a few hours for changes to take effect and until then you'll be without the shield."
Really aliens, really? My old phone wasn't half as cool as omni-tool, but it was at least waterproof. "So just restart the omni-tool, okay I get it. Anything else?"
"Well actually yes. There's an asari news reporter standing in front of the apartment house and she asked me if I haven't seen you. It doesn't look like she'll leave anytime soon." Fuck, so they finally found out my address. But it had to come one day. I'll have to get rid of her somehow when I get home, because I don't feel like being in some stupid talk show anytime soon.
"Just awesome. Thanks for telling me, but I should really get back to work now… WAIT! I almost forgot," this will be awkward. "Ulah, there MIGHT be a slight chance that some people…," no that's too dumb. "Look I'll explain it later, but if you are in our apartment STAY THERE and don't open the door unless it's me or your mom." He nods puzzled and tries to ask something. I quickly say goodbye and hang down. Only to find out that while we were talking I got lost. Why the hell do I always have to walk while I'm on the phone? So once again I have to turn on my omni-tool, but before I can select maps I notice something red in the corner of my eye. Great, it's another krogan in red armor and that means my stomach will have to wait.
The krogan is standing pretty far away and hasn't noticed me so far, unlike those other twenty aliens staring at me. I can't tell yet if he's the guy I'm looking for and considering how many times I have fucked up today he probably isn't. Maybe I should just go and… no Vala would kill me If she ever found out. Let's go!
First of all I'm attracting too much attention, I have to hide. The area I am in is T like shaped with various small stores, boutiques and a few bars. There are some screens with commercials hanging above my head, most of them are promoting a new Blasto movie. I quickly check on the krogan, but he's still staring at his omni-tool. Ohh, why are there so many people here? When I was with Vala we had barely met anyone. Just how am I supposed to hide in here… never mind I know. Fuh, this will be… embarrassing. To say at least, but I can't see any other way.
I approach an asari figure wearing a life-sized costume of hanar. Her shoulders and most of the head are hidden inside a large plushy 'head' of the hanar, with the rest of her body almost perfectly concealed by plushy pink tentacles which run from the hanar's head. Actually I can tell that she's an asari only because of the blue hand in which she's holding a bunch of small leaflets.
"Good morning citizen," that's what I'm supposed to call other people here, right? "By the authority of c-sec detective I would like to ask you for your costume." As I speak I turn on my omni-tool and show her my virtual badge. I was wrong this is not embarrassing, it's actually a huge disgrace.
"My… my costume?" she stutters after checking my badge. "But my boss… ah I mean employer will…"
"Don't worry about that. Just send me his address and I will take care of it." God, c'mon the krogan is leaving. "Miss, I REALLY need that costume."
The asari stands still for a few more seconds and then nods. "Well, alright." She puts the leaflets on the floor and undoes the zipper on her back. When she handles me the costume I realize that she's wearing only a red t-shirt and tight brown shorts. She's one of those asaries without facial marks.
It takes all of my flexibility, strength and willpower to get into the costume, not to mention how hard it is to zip it all the way up. And the expression of the asari when she realizes that I'm putting it on myself is just unforgettable.
"Council and c-sec thanks you for your assistance citizen." She just nods with open mouth. I bet she will never hear that from plushy hanar again. Now just have to catch the krogan. Once I get away from the people who saw me getting dressed I should be okay.
Trying my best to act as an asari dressed like a hanar I start walking towards the direction I where saw krogan the last time. After a couple of hundred feet I stop attracting so much attention and can fully focus on finding the krogan. That proves rather difficult with the costume obscuring most of my view and for fuck sake it is hot inside this thing. But nonetheless after a couple of minutes I manage to find him. The costume despite not being very inconspicuous allows me to get just a few feet away from him. Enough to get a good look at his scarred cheek.
"HEY YOU hanar! Come here!" FUCK maybe I overestimated the safe distance. When I don't move the krogan starts walking towards me and stops just a few inches away. This doesn't look promising.
I couch once and then try to master my best high-pitched voice: "Yes sir? How can I help you?" God this is just so embarrassing. There's no way he will believe that I'm an asari. I ball my fists under the tentacles and prepare for the most embarrassing fight of my life.
"The new Blasto movie, when it'll be released?" the krogan asks roughly. I breath a sign of relief, but almost immediately start to wonder what the hell is wrong with him. How can he not… it's a moron. "Hey I am talking to you!" Strong shrug into shoulder wakes me up and I realize that I have no idea how to answer him. I sneak a peek at the nearest commercial screen, but it only shows the title Blasto 4: Avenge of tentacles.
Those commercials are running in the television like every five minutes, how is it possible that I don't remember them? "Ahhh in… a week sir," he doesn't know either so what?
"Week huh. I thought it was next month. Good." Before he leaves he nods at me and I all I can do is stare at him. He really is a moron and not only because he likes Blasto. But stupid or not, he knows what I look like, so I have to be more careful from now on. On the other hand, I am pretty much sure that he's the guy I've been looking for.
Following the krogan is again not very hard. He hardly even turns and when he does, he always seems to be looking at some poorly dressed asari. For some time he just keeps wondering around, but soon I notice that he's actually heading in a particular direction. Is this supposed to be his way of shaking down unwanted followers? If so than it's not very effective. The situation changes when he leaves main streets and start wandering around in smaller almost empty side streets. The Blasto movie posters are replaced by small trees on the side and stores by apartment houses. As the noise slowly dies off, krogan's loud footsteps make me realize just how heavy he is. Undoubtedly he could snap me in two without breaking a sweat.
Maybe it's just about time to call Vala. Or maybe not. I can't let her see me dressed in this. Oh and I still don't know where is the krogan heading… scratch that, he just walked into one of the smaller buildings on the left. From far away I can't tell much more. I make a couple of steps forward and stop dead in my tracks. Quickly I look around to make sure that I'm the only one around. "Why the hell am I still wearing this?" I mutter to myself and reach for the zipper on my back. I grab the zipper, exhale and pull, but the zipper resists, so I pull harder. For a second nothing happens and then the god damn thing stays in my hand. "FUCK! This can happen only to me!"
Next five minutes I keep trying to take the costume off, but fail miserably. Sweated and disgusted I take a look at the place where the krogan disappeared. Above the building's door is a big orange holographic sign.
"No that can't be…," swiftly I jog closer. With each passed feet my thoughts get more tangled, but when I'm fifty feet away there's no denying it. So that's why some of the buildings around here seemed familiar. Right in front of me the big orange letters clearly spell MARAKAS.
Things just got much more complicated.
Suddenly I remember that there should be one-way commercial screens in the alley next to the restaurant. Cursing the stupid costume I grab the tentacles in front of me and shove them out of my way. Then I carefully walk to the closest orange screen and sneak a peek inside. There I see the krogan with three other people, one of them I instantly recognized as the salarian we spoke to when we were here the last time. He's wearing the exact same steward outfit like the last time, but despite that he seems different to me. His expression is more strict and his posture more leisure. There's also the asari cook and standing next to her is the grumpy turian, whom works behind the counter. None of them seems alarmed by the krogan's presence and after a while of talking he handles the salarian a small object. All the time they keep talking, but unfortunately I can't hear a shit.
Wait, there's another entrance in the back. It leads into kitchen if my memory serves well and from there I might be able to hear something. But I should call Vala first… or I can be an ass and send her a text message. Without thinking twice about it I open my omni-tool. When I type in the message I barely see the letters I'm pushing, so before sending it I read it once more.
'I found the krogan. Get to the Marakas ASAP, because I'm just about to go in!'
Well, it seems good enough to me. I press the send button and switch omni-tool into silent mode. As I walk towards the courtyard in the back I keep asking myself why I want to go in so badly. Sure I want to know what is happening inside, but there are three people I apparently know nothing about and one terribly huge krogan! Is it worth the risk? Each step which brings me closer to the door makes me feel more nervous and I realize that I love every second of it. This is what I love about being a cop, the danger!
The backyard looks exactly like the last time I saw it. The trash containers are still standing in the corner and there's even that metallic smell in the air. Just as I remember the door is on my right and thankfully it's unlocked. I take a deep breath and reach to open it. As always my hand passes through the symbol, which immediately starts to spin. When the door opens with a light hiss I clench my teeth and hope that no one inside heard it. I'm still not even close to the kitchen door, but I can already hear krogan's rough voice and that makes me calm down a little. I creep closer to the two-way kitchen door.
"… I swear! The entire place is filled with fucking c-sec. I barely managed to slip away, before they saw me."
Someone loudly swears and the sound of braking glass follows. They probably weren't expecting this. Scratch that, they definitely weren't expecting it. A long pause later asari asks worriedly: "You… you don't think they'll go after us now, right?"
"NO way!" the turian barks. "There's ABSOLUTELY nothing linking Talis to us. Even if they managed to recover the note, they wouldn't know who sent it. But I don't fucking understand how they managed to get dirt on him. The slippery bastard has always been good in covering up his tracks."
"But what if Talis tells them…"
Asari's protest is interrupted by the salarian: "He won't. We have enough shit on him to make any court sentence him to death. Trust me, Talis will keep his mouth shut. Now Cass, don't you want to tell us something?" he asks darkly.
The krogan, Cass, replies puzzled: "What do you mean?"
"I mean that you joined us barely a week ago and now our golden mine is shut. Crazy coincidence, don't you think? Now tell me why Fara shouldn't paint the walls with your bloo… *beep *beep *beep. What was that?"
FUCKING HELL. I turned you OFF you piece of crap! In one second I manage to press every single button on my omni-tool and finally hang down the call from Vala. But the damage is done.
From behind the door I hear the sound of footsteps closing in on me. The salarian's voice says: "Whoever you are, get out while you still can!" I put my hand on the pocket in which I usually carry the baton, but now it's hidden under the tightfitting hanar costume. The small circular window in the door next to me is suddenly overshadowed by a horned figure. Only then I notice a big carving knife lying on the kitchen unit next to me. When the salarian opens the door, the knife is already in my hand.
Just as I expected it is really the salarian who is after me. His big black eyes are narrowed and there's a shotgun in his hands. Funny is that now he reminds me a member of the Yakuza from movies. His green skin strongly contrasts with the silver door which immediately closes behind him. This would be really badass entrance if he didn't ruin it by widely opening his mouth.
"What the fuc.." Now this is called the moment of surprise. Before he can finish the sentence I take advantage and show the shotgun away from my face using hilt of the knife I'm holding.
His finger clenches the trigger and a single round tears apart the metal floor next to our feet. Trying to ignore the ringing in my ears I punch the salarian, but one of the tentacles somehow gets between my left fist and his face, effectively cushioning the blow. Despite of that I still have the upper hand and when he starts to stumble back through the door I grab the handle-like bone on his chest. While he struggles the plushy tentacles keep flying all over the place, making our fight look like a total mess. Finally I manage to grab him from the back with my left hand and place the knife under his neck.
"You sure know how to put up a fight," I exclaim panting. Shit, I think he even bite my forearm. Also my already bad vision got even worse when he pushed the hanar's head. It's so bad that I have to keep my eyes almost shut to prevent fibers of cloth from getting into them. But I don't have time to fiddle with a costume, because the door opens once again and this time it's the turian who walks in, closely followed by the asari and the krogan. Needless to say each one of them is holding a pistol except of the krogan who is unarmed.
I can't help myself, but this is like a beginning of some joke. Plushy hanar, asari, salarian, turian and krogan meet in a kitchen… "Sooo, I guess you wouldn't believe me if I said that I'm looking for a toilet?" Judging by their expressions probably not. Slowly I start backing towards the backyard door, relaying on my memory.
"Who… the fuck… are you?" the asari asks just when I get to the door. She and her friends are still aiming at me, or at least I think so, but I can only think about are those tentacles around me. If I tripped now they'd make a short process with me. Fuck, I just realized that my shield is still down.
"Funny, that's exactly what I was about to ask you," after a couple of tries I manage to open the door with my elbow. "Cook throughout a day and a racketeer in night? You should write a book." Keeping a firm grip of the salarian I walk to the backyard. "Meanwhile you can tell me about you guys and Talis."
Unsurprisingly none of them says anything. Once I get roughly to the center of the backyard I hear someone swiftly walking to the alley. They are blocking my escape route. I can't think of anything that would make my situation worse.
"Not very talkative, are we? Let me start then." I need to keep them occupied until Vala arrives. If they manage to get behind me… To prevent it I make a few more steps, so I can feel the wall on my back. Now I got myself cornered. "You guys are using this restaurant like your 'headquarters' to remain inconspicuous. The first krogan used to be your collector, but he got greedy and had to go. C'mon, why did you dump him in your own dumpster? I can quite understand that logic." Someone moves on my left making me press the knife harder.
"Easy there. You don't want your friend getting injured. Now answer!" They probably thought that the body will go unnoticed in the junkyard.
"You are the human right? Where's your turian friend?" the turian asks. His voice is coming from the alley, so I shift my head toward him.
"Yep, that would be me. And I suppose you're the one who attacked me when I was following your friend over there." The salarian again starts to struggle and this time I push the tip of knife hard enough to draw blood. I think that I recognize the turian's voice. I am pretty sure he was the one who attacked me.
"How did you find us?"
"Huge krogan in a bulky red armor isn't exactly hard to miss. Once we found the camera feed from the dock I knew what to look for. You were blackmailing him, weren't you?" Keep talking. Vala obviously isn't rushing here.
"Blackmailing him?" the turian honestly laughs. "He was working for us. What do you think, who gave him money to start 'his' business, contacted him with the right people? Before he knew it he was paying us thousands of credits weekly to keep his dock running. No more screwing around with meaningless idiots running some stupid bars. But now you ruined it all and once we get to Omega... let's just say that you won't like it very much."
For a change that makes me laugh. "Oh really? And you think that c-sec will just let you leave? You can't even leave from this backyard, because if you haven't noticed yet, I have your friend." The smile freezes on my face when I hear a gunshot. I feel something warm on my hand and instantly I realize it's a blood. But after a second I still can't feel any pain and when the salarian goes limp I realize why.
The turian just killed his own friend.
"YOU KILLED HIM! Eran, you fucking KILLED him!" Asari's shout gives me some time and I manage to get the hanar costume off my eyes. As I thought the turian is standing next to the alley, while the krogan with the asari are standing near the entrance door. I quickly peek down to see the salarian's corpse. He was hit only by a single round, but it was enough to split open his skull revealing a disgusting grey matter.
Before details can sink in I look at the asari. The pistol she's holding in her hand isn't pointed at me anymore, but at the turian.
"I had no other choice. We can manage without Swen, but we NEED to get out of here first! The human is our way out of here, with a hostage they will provide us a shuttle, so we can…" he doesn't get to finish, because more gunshots interrupt him. The shooter is not the asari, but someone who could have showed up a little bit sooner.
Before the turian can even turn, he falls on the ground and a pile of dark blue blood starts forming around him. At his place is now Vala and after one bewildered look at me she peeks from around the corner to be welcomed by gunfire. Meanwhile I tactically retreat behind the containers to think through my options. The knife is still in my hand, but I decide that overload in my omni-tool is a better idea. I lean from the cover and aim my hand in the direction of the asari.
When the electric charge his her, her whole body tenses in a spasm and she lets out a pained cry. To her credit Vala instead of killing her only sends a bullet through her leg and both shoulders. That leaves only the krogan. The krogan who decides I am a better target than Vala.
I barely manage to jump away before his head hits the container I was hiding behind. In a second which he needs to recover I realize that he's not armed. He is armed with a shotgun! Vala tries to help, but her shots don't seem to do anything. Actually they only piss him off even more. Most of the bullets harmlessly bounce off his armor and the ones that hit his skin sinks into his body leaving a small bloody circle. The creepy thing is that the wounds seem to seal them right away. Okay I am scared shitless. My instincts take over and suddenly I find myself charging the krogan instead of running away. He doesn't get a chance to aim his shotgun at me because of the knife I ram into his hand. With a cry of pain he lets go of the shotgun and pulls the knife out of his hand. NOW I am scared shitless. The krogan is like a freaking bull!
I start backing as fast as I can with the costume on and put my palms up to shield myself from the knife he's now holding. First blow I narrowly manage to avoid, but the second one cuts off one of the plushy tentacles. The third one cuts into flesh. Blood starts to pour from the wound and the next thing I know is that the krogan's strong arm sends me to the ground. When I look up I see HIM towering above me, eyes filled with anger and the knife in hand. He raises it savoring his victory and his mouth shifts in a mad smile. This is the moment I realize that all the shit about seeing your entire life in a second is just a myth. My only thought right now is OH MY GOD I AM GOING TO DIE!
But just as the krogan is about to stab me one of the shots which have been constantly hitting him finally does some real damage. His left eye literally explodes as a bullet hits it and his expression changes to surprised one. Slowly he starts falling right at me.
"MOVE!"
Vala's shout makes me snap from the shock and I roll out of the krogan's way. With a loud thud he falls down next to me. I keep lying on the ground for a while and then let out a relieved laugh and then fully burst out laughing. Slowly I stand up still grinning under the mask. Vala walks to me and handles me a medi-gel. It takes me quite some time to realize that my palms are bleeding heavily. With a nod of thanks I grab it and clumsily try to apply it through the costume.
I tease Vala: "You know, you took your time. One would think that you were hiding behind the corner waiting for them to kill me." She turns her back on me and starts examining the unconscious bleeding asari. Her wounds look bad, but as far as I see those are just painful flesh wounds.
"I was considering it for a while and then I realized it would look bad in my report." Good one. Wait she's not serious is she? Those emotionless turian faces.
Even after looking around myself and seeing three dead people, I can't help but grin. I am alive, they are not. That means I am better. While treating asari's wounds Vala tears her dress with talon, making me look away.
"Hey human. Take a look at this." What?
"No thanks, I think I'll pass."
"Spirits, she's not naked! Just take a look."
Hesitantly I turn around and look at the asari. The top side of her dress is torn, revealing her bare shoulders. Like I remember her each shoulder was hit by a bullet, but that's not what Vala is interested about. On her right shoulder is a piece of skin which looks like was burned by some kind of acid. I kneel down to take a closer look and notice some traces of a white color underneath the scars.
"I don't suppose you know it, but when are the members of the Blue sons send on a very important mission their tattoos are removed. This looks just like the case."
The last pieces of puzzle fall together. "So they are all Blue sons except both krogans. The one we found on the junkyard doesn't have this." I point at the salarian's corpse: "He implied that it was the asari who killed him. I don't know if you remember, but the last time we were here you mentioned that you smell a fresh color?"
It doesn't take her long to get what I am implying. "They killed the krogan inside and repainted streaks of blood on the walls!" Smart girl.
"We should call the technicians. I am sure there will be a lot more evidences inside. Not to mention that I have to return this thing to its owner." The asari won't be pleased to find out that I damaged it.
"Do I want to know why are you even wearing that costume?"
Author note:
Everyone I am SORRY that this took so long. I hope that the length of this chapter will make it up to you. With the end of the first case I would REALLY really love to get some feedback from you. What you like, what you don't like… things like that. Right now I can tell you that I want to make much more cases, but to make them good I'll need to get as much opinions and ideas as I can.
… I think that's about it and as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and sorry for mistakes.