In Infinitum: First Contact
Chapter Nineteen
February 3, 2581. Military Calendar.
Omega station, Afterlife. Omega Nebula. 0900 Hours.
Aria was furious. Actually, furious would be putting it very, very mildly in Leng's honest opinion. And to be fair he could hardly blame her. They'd both been made a fool of by the Special Tasks Group of the Salarian Union, and even worse? They'd wasted a rare instance where the infamous Shadow Broker offered them information for what may as well have been "free of charge" or rather a "Someday, and that day may never come" sort of deal.
"And those STG bastards-"
Aria cut herself off to biotically throw a chair across her private chambers where it smashed into the wall, denting it and warping the metal chair.
"Ruined it all!" she finished, eyes furiously looking for something else to vent her frustrations upon. However besides Leng and her, plus the bed and small table that held her strong drinks there wasn't much else she could throw without causing a huge mess.
She finally took a breath and Leng was sure if she had hair like a human she'd have run both her hands over it to smooth it back. Instead she raised one hand to massage her temples and the other rested atop her hip. "Are you done?" Leng asked simply, unperturbed by her anger.
The Asari's glare could have melted Titanium-A plating. But to Leng it merely caused his body to ever so slightly tense, the only sign he understood she was angry, he soon relaxed however and added. "I'll take that as a yes." he himself hadn't walked away from the operation unscathed. His stomach had suffered wounds from a point-blank shotgun blast and it was only the CNT muscle fibers and the reinforcement of his body suit that had saved him from a harsher fate then two broken ribs.
Aria huffed softly and walked over to her bed and sat own, crossing one leg over the other and laying back with her hands behind her head to support it in place of her plush pillows. She grunted softly and sighed. "I'm guessing you have orders from TIM, right?"
"TIM?" Leng raised a brow. For once he was without his visor, it hung at his chest in a small "pocket", so she could see those calculating dark eyes staring at her in confusion before realization struck. "Ah, yes… The Illusive Man." he mumbled dryly. "Clever. And yes, I do. It seems we're getting some transfers across the curtain."
"More humans?" Aria guessed.
Kai nodded. "Yes." he replied.
Bringing out a datapad and walking to her side to offer it to her. She peered at it, finding two dossiers. One was a human female, attractive but even in a picture she reeked of arrogance and the other looked far more humble, if a little too idealistic. "Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor. Like me they're one of TIM's more effective operatives."
"So they'll be loaded with tech like yours?" Aria asked, raising her own brow. She'd seen the vids from her men's head cams and heard the report, Kai had cut through doors with a sword, fired laser blasts from his palm and teleported, not just distances but through walls. Most Biotics could only dream of such talents.
When she asked how he accomplished it. His reply could only make her tilt her head. It had something to do with what he called "Slipspace" and some kind of grid of emitters across his entire suit that allows him to "teleport" using slipspace jumps. It was originally designed for use only with some human Specops group known as Spartans but his financial backer, TIM, had funded a separate project with the prototype tech and a combination of obscene wealth, death threats and sheer tenacity they'd given him a suit that allowed him to apparently teleport.
His palm laser also bypassed kinetic barriers as it was a true Directed Energy Weapon and so, those STG never stood a chance. He explained it could be fired for "quick shots" which were usually meant to suppress, but at the revelation of Kinetic Barriers limitations he'd used it far more effectively. A charged shot from the thing could blow open doors, but it left a rather risky business of possibly exploding on him.
The palm laser, just like the suit, was still testing phase tech that Leng was being the guinea pig for. And it showed, when he arrived he'd been sick and she'd grudgingly had to call TIM herself to see if there was something he knew.
"Ah yes, he's likely suffering from the effects of Slipspace radiation exposure, though his jumps are short he is exposed to some bursts of radiation while he traverses In the blink of an eye. Repeated jumps might explain why he's absorbed enough to make him sick."
Aria had ordered a full time physician be brought to her and she had him check over Leng, he'd been cleared and his radiation poisoning would fade away on its own. He hadn't developed any cancers and within seven hours the human had been back on his feet and extremely agitated that his suit had been removed without his consent. Since being unconscious and possibly dying meant rules of modesty still had to be enforced.
"No, I'm still testing these devices. They'll probably bring essentials, but from the way TIM explained their transfer here, I am guessing it wasn't entirely planned ahead," Leng explained with a raise of his shoulders. "Things didn't go as smoothly for them and now they're being sent here where the UNSC won't readily hunt them."
"So we're the meat shields?" Aria grunted, rolling her eyes. "How comforting."
"Quite." Leng grunted while almost sounding amused.
But from the usual stony expression on his face Aria couldn't tell if he was just naturally this cold or if it was a constant state of professionalism. "Still, they'll prove useful. Lawson is a competent woman and Taylor is a skilled commando. Along with being a bit of an engineer." he tilted his head. "They will be useful."
The Asari grunted in slight interest before sitting up and staring at Leng. "I hope so, I don't have any need for useless people." she said. "But, for now, bigger plans. With my rule on the station as strong as it ever was, guess this means we can focus on getting a handle on our space forces, then?"
Leng nodded. They would need more than a few cruisers and modified civilian ships, which was more a militia than real military power, they would need more militaristic ships and a larger powerbase to effectively put Aria as not only Omega's ruler, but also officially as the Terminus' as well. "We could hire ship manufacturers who work independently."
"Ships cost a lot of credits, Leng. Building just seven civilian class ships would be a stretch." Aria replied with a frown. "A lot more credits, or more leeway with the company itself." she explained.
"I'll put in a requisition order to TIM," Leng said, surprised how easily the nickname stuck. "And have him send us some special gear to issue to your men here on the station. Along with some equipment for the station itself, you're saying it never got Kinetic barriers?" he asked.
"No, never had a need for it." Aria shook her head. "No one would attack Omega. What sort of equipment were you thinking to bring?"
"Energy shielding. Standard issue for UNSC ships, the station will be able to power them easily enough and it will make the station more defendable as a whole." Leng replied. "If we're to turn this into Omega's capitol seat of power, it must become a fortress."
"A fortress draws a lot of attention." Aria countered half heartedly. Honestly she liked where this was going, she was essentially being handed tech for free and her station was being fitted with better combat tools? She'd be a fool to decline. No, this was just verbal sparring with her personnel shadow.
"So do you." Leng returned smoothly with a face as unwavering as the gaze leveled on her.
"Point taken." Aria shrugged and turned her back on the man. "Walk with me."
"As you wish."
Aria stepped out of her private chambers and her two guards snapped to attention when the doors hissed open. She passed them and made her way along towards the main area of her club, her palace. Her Afterlife.
The Asari pirate queen didn't need to look behind her to know that Leng was there, following her closely while remaining out of sight. A feat, considering that the lights and activity of Afterlife left little shadows to cling to, little room to move without someone catching the flicker of a cloak. But somehow, the human behind her always did it as if it were second nature to him.
And it thrilled her more than she cared to admit.
She proceeded up the stairs up into the private booth reserved solely for her. She sat down and crossed one leg over the other before reclining back into the comfortable lounge chair. Aria leaned her head back a moment and when she looked back over she nodded to her top Lieutenant, a Batarian named "Xeb".
It was time to meet her people. Well, the important ones anyways.
The first in line was a Salarian. Decently cleaned and dressed for someone on Omega and a clear sign he had connections. "Ah yes, Ms. Aria." He greeted excitedly. "I'm glad you took the time to see me." he started.
She raised a hand. "Skip the pleasantries. There's a line and while I have time, I don't want to wait another few decades for you to die out to get this meeting done with." she said, and to his credit he didn't even appear the slightest bit put off. "So, what are you trying to sell?"
"Ah yes! Very advanced design, spent years working on it!" The Salarian started, looking even more excited to try and sells pitch his design to the Queen of Omega. "I have designs right here." he twisted his body, bringing up his arm and his Omni-tool glowed to life. He raised his fingers and typed a key…
Then a shot rang out. So small, it had almost drowned out by the clubs activity below. The Salarian turned his head, and was surprised to see Aria sitting there, unscathed and looking as if she had just been told a bad joke.
A flicker in the air and a dark armored human appeared before the Salarian. Expression even less amused then the Asari who was now wearing a cruel smirk as the black dressed human glanced down.
The Salarian looked down as well. And saw the gleaming edge of an archaic sword with a small, barely noticeable scratch in the side of the otherwise void black metal. The Salarian sword the blade was humming, almost in anger at being struck.
"Guess I owe you a few credits." Aria's voice brought the Salarian out of his flabbergasted stare.
The human didn't reply, instead he flicked the blade upwards and the Salarian's arm was severed clean from his body. The Omni-Tool flared to life… and the arm melted away… but not the rest of the Salarian as the now screaming hitman had been intending. Clutching his bleeding stump while his arm and tool wasted away. He bit his lip and glared up at Aria.
"Xeb? Take him downstairs, patch him up… then make him talk." Aria beckoned to the Batarian, who nodded and gestured for the two Turians in the far back of the booth. They quickly, and casually, carried the bleeding Salarian downstairs into the "private rooms".
Leng flicked his blade, clearing it of blood and sheathed it at his side. He stepped back once and turned to Aria, as if sensing her question he replied. "He turned his body to access his tool, and his arm moved in an angle that allowed for a headshot. He also raised his hand clear of the firing line." a pause. "More to ensure the shot wasn't altered in any way then his own safety."
"A one-hit assassin, huh?" Aria grunted, frowning. Not STG or Spectres then. They didn't believe in tossing one of their own to the wolves like that. And while some Spectres may be willing to take it all for the team they certainly wouldn't do it in the heart of Aria's own club.
Leng added. "I also doubt he'll talk."
A shrug was Aria's reply. "Doesn't hurt to try."
"We'll also never know what sort of weapon he was using." Leng muttered, turning to the "security chief", A Turian named "Dax" which was short for Daxirrillious. Honestly, why aliens chose such long names was beyond him. Then again, anything was better than Hanar names. "You scanned him?"
"He checked out." Dax replied with a nod. They'd all gotten use to Leng's appearance, and they all understood it perfectly clear that he was above their pay grade and only answered to Aria. And after he had stopped more than a few would be assassins at the door, on the club floor and now a second that reached the booth. They'd all learned to fear him.
Aria sighed and raised a hand to her forehead. "It's too early for an attempt on my life." she muttered like it was bad weather ailing her. "Anyways, Leng, you're dismissed. Dax, send the next one in."
Leng disappeared into the cloak… and the flicker as he jumped soundlessly up into the support beams over their heads. Needless to say, the others in the line to see the queen of Omega looked more thoroughly spooked by the entrance and exit of the black clad human with a sword.
Soon, a more collected Asari with dirtied Eclipse armor was ushered in. And she began to explain that she wanted to work for Aria, not as a bodyguard or a dancer, but somewhat of an enforcer. Something to start up with. Aria arched a brow and listened with only half the attention she paid the Salarian.
A moment of consideration. All Eclipse mercs were given a right of passage by committing a kill. Most killed homeless junkies off the street, so long as it was recorded. Aria knew this, for she ran with Eclipse a few years back during a more troubled time on Omega. A sister had been very vocal about their methods.
So, she asked. "Who was your first?"
The Asari blinked. "Uh, an ex-Turian military Captain, he'd been making advances on me and-"
"You're hired." Aria said simply before she could finished. Frankly, the Asari had the makings of an ambitious subordinate, and if she overly ambitious rival if she could play her cards rights. Or if she thought she could. Nonetheless. Aria liked that little spark of daring. "Xeb, set her up with some gear and a post."
"On it." Xeb raised his Omni-Tool.
"Your name?" Aria probed, leaning forward with a tilt of her head.
"Morinth," The Eclipse offered a bit of a smile. It was almost inviting, suggestive.
"Morinth," Aria tested the name once and she decided she liked it. "Well, Morinth. I hope to see you're useful." she said before standing and moving over a step to stare into the eyes of her fellow Asari and newest lackey. "Who knows, we might work closer if you're particularly good." she whispered for only her and Morinth to hear.
The other had the place of mind to almost blush. But her lips turned from innocent smile into pure "I want you" territory. To which Aria's eyes danced with mischievous ideas.
And from his perch, Kai Leng frowned in the darkness. Something about this other Asari felt wrong to his instincts. He could see it for all it was. Eyes stayed on her, demanded their attention. The armor she wore, while modest, somehow almost begged him to try and remove to see underneath it.
His inner male was demanding a piece of her.
His more prominent soldier/assassin conditioning told him to observe.
He reached over and fingers tightened on the handle of his HF-Kusanagi.
His senses were also telling him to keep his blade handy at all times around her.
…She did have a nice ass though.
Shit. Leng internally growled.
Widow System, The Citadel.
Council Chambers, Garrus Vakarian.
Garrus Vakarian was a lot of things at the moment. He was excited, worried, even more worried, nervous and thirsty and hungry. However, as he washed some nutrient bar, dextro of course, down with some dextro friendly carbonated water in the flavor of Palavan gripe fruit. He was less of the last two on the list.
He had been running drills with his team back in C-Sec's Special Response Team's HQ when he'd been called by the Executor personnel requesting his presence at the Citadel tower. When Garrus asked why he'd been told "just be there." and that had been that.
After a furious changing of clothes, storing his gear and then a very "law skirting speed flight" to the tower he'd made it in roughly fifteen minutes in what could have been a half cycle trip.
And now he'd been waiting for ten minutes while the Councillors had yet to appear, or the Executor.
Now, Garrus would be the first to admit that he had very, very… some would say "stupid reckless" methods for handling certain situations. He could and would admit that to the whole galaxy if asked. But he would also add on that at the time they had worked and lives had been saved and that, at the core, was his job in the long run.
So what if he'd crashed a few C-Sec aircars? And maybe a few civilians got caught in the middle of some of his more trickier sniper shots during stand offs? And okay, so he broke a detainess legs every so often. He highly doubted that was all able to earn him a reprisal from the council itself.
Right?
Yeah, Garrus thought. I'm screwed. He sighed and his mandibles twitched with the shaky breath. So this was it for the great Garrus "Rules skirting" Vakarian. He's solved more than five dozen cases, brought down twice as many perps! Most of them alive and semi-stable, mind you! And saved three times as many lives against odds that would make a Volus shudder and throw up! He'd beaten them all and now he was going to be discharged by the council and executor.
You know what? Garrus thought, staring down at his hands before clenching them. Screw those bureaucrats!
They had no idea what it was like to make the choices he did. He'd done the math in all those situation and people can call dumb luck all they wanted. He got to where he was because his trigger finger was faster than the bad guy's own. His aim better and reflexes sharper. He got to where he was because he was simply better than the opposition.
He stood from the waiting bench and rolled his neck. He was going to march into that room and tell the Council and Executor exactly how he felt and where they could stuff their "regard for proper procedure" and then! He would resign and give himself the last laugh. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of resigning.
Then he'd tell the Executor he could stuff the red taped shatha dung that was the Dr. Salion case. Spirits! Garrus had never gotten over that. Nor would he until he had that Salarian's brain matter decorating a wall with a well placed shot.
"Mr. Vakarian?" an Asari attendant called to him, drawing his attention she smiled. "The Council is waiting for you."
"Thanks," Garrus rolled his neck. This is it, Vakarian. He thought as he proceeded up the stairs, turned to the side and proceeded to the back door leading into the Council's private chambers. Four pairs of C-Sec guards lined up along the sides.
He reached the door, the guard opened it and said. "They're expecting you."
No shit? Garrus' thoughts were filled with sarcasm as he entered the parted doors and there across the room was the Citadel Council. Minus the Executor. He stepped forward and noted they were all sitting patiently, Sparatus, Tevos and Valarn. The big Three.
He stopped at the table separating them. And then, Garrus opened his mouth. "Before you fire me, I want to say something." he declared, forcing his voice to turn to steel. "I regret nothing. Nothing. You hear?"
They blinked, surprised. It was Sparatus who opened his mouth to speak. "Mr. Vakarian, we-"
Garrus raised a talon, silencing his fellow Turian. "I am not done." He said, controlling himself even as his instincts, training and common sense was screaming at him for cutting off a Councillor, but also for the words to come. "In every one of those situations. I don't expect any of you to understand what its like. Oh, I know you all rule the galaxy from your ivory tower."
Tevos spoke this time. "Mr. Vakarian-"
"I am getting this off my chest!" Garrus grunted in annoyance. And this time the council looked truly surprised as they quieted down. "I would have made every decision the same. Every choice I've made was in the right, my record speaks for itself. While I may not be Spectre material, or even Officer material. It should be noted that for all the damage I caused, I saved more lives than any of the "by the book" procedure would have done in a lifetime!"
"…" Valern coughed, then raised a hand when Garrus was about to shush him. "Go on." he said. Sparatus and Tevos nodded.
Garrus would have been surprised, but with given permission, his speech went back into full swing. "I bled for the innocents on this station, I put away the bad things in the dark and I took a team of hooligans that no one wanted and put them on a dung list team that the Executor has been looking for a reason to demote and disband. But y'know what's kept us afloat? My decisions and their skills. Not only me, my team deserves all the medals you can pin onto their chests!"
A breath before Garrus continued. "So you can call me a loose cannon, a mistake of the force and even a sorry excuse for a Turian. I don't care about any of that." he gave each Councillor a steely eyed glare that could put a Krogan in their place. He ignored how that didn't phase a single one of them and went on. "But I stand by it all. I did the right thing. I may not follow the rules to the letter, but if it saves more lives. You can bet your asses I'm going to choose that route. Every. Single. Time."
"And one final thing!" If Garrus wore a physical badge. He'd have ripped it off and threw at the table. "I hereby resign from C-Sec! So, what do you have to say to that?" Garrus said, proud and shoulders shaking in what could only be called relief.
A few moments of silence. Once they were sure Garrus was done, it was Tevos who looked to her fellow councillors before back to Garrus. "Well, that's a relief to hear, Mr. Vakarian," she smiled slightly.
I bet, Garrus though sourly. He'd just saved them time.
"Because I've got a job offering for you," Sparatus added now and drew his attention. "And since you're now free from work, I thought we could discuss the details of your first assignment."
To say Garrus' sour mood turned into one of pure confusion in the blink of an eye would been an understatement. It went FTL. "…Wha?" Garrus managed when he fully registered what his fellow Turian was telling him. They had a job?
Sparatus chuckled, Valern and Tevos both just gave slight amused smiled. "A shock, I know." Sparatus said. "But yes, we've a new job for you. I have the details on my Omni-Tool, if you're interested?" An arch of a brow plate.
"…I suppose I can look the details over quickly." Garrus said, unsure how to react to his well thought out and overly prepared speech. Oddly enough, he didn't feel like soiling himself anymore though. His Omni-Tool raised and he received the files. And once he opened them and a few moments of reading in thoughtful silence he looked back up to the Councillors.
"So… you plan to hand me a special assignment that essentially grants me free operational movement, meaning my decisions are go so long as they fit within the objective of capturing, failing that, killing a human in the Terminus systems, on Omega, the heart of Aria T'Loak's empire." He glanced down again, skimmed to another file. "Using a never before seen stealth frigate that the Turian and Salarian unions were working on. With a combat team comprised of…" another skim.
"Ah, were we go." Garrus cleared his throat. "A krogan serving time, a pair of Quarian hackers, an Elcor, Turian and lastly…" he blinked. "Am… I reading this right?" he blinked again and looked at them. "A Valieri Archon?"
Valieri were rare. Very, very rare. The flight capable species tended to stay on their homeworld and even though they had the technology they had never achieved Space Flight, after the Council found them a century and a half ago they'd found sprawling cities walled off from the rest of the heavily forested planet. Plains where crops were grown, animals allowed to roam and breed. Garrus believed the only way for a Valieri to leave the planet was for trading ships to allow one aboard.
And that was a rare occurrence. Most were content to stay on their planet and prey to their gods, the Thradons, and it was these Gods that told them that reaching the stars would be their doom. And so in reverence the species had never left atmosphere. Not that they would need to.
Garrus had seen pictures, their homeworld was beautiful. Pollution was almost nonexistent and if it weren't for the strict policies of the Valieri leadership, it would become a prime real estate planet. He also believed that since it possessed no fleet that it would be a prime target for pirates from the Terminus systems.
But that belief had been blown out the water when thirty years ago a massive raid fleet had attempt to send ships downs. Only for their ships to be shot down from massive Surface-to-Space guns. And when the fleet began to try and clear to ground to shut them down, the Batarian fleet suffered a series of mutinies that fractured it, friendlies fired on friendlies and not a single ship touched the ground whole.
"You are indeed reading that correct," Sparatus confirmed with a nod. "A rare, but powerful asset, so try not to get her killed, will you? Relations with the Valieri are… misty, as is." he warned lightly.
"…Sir, forgive my lack of respect in this," Garrus said as if his earlier speech hadn't been anything but. "But this sounds like a bad movie plot."
Sparatus shrugged. "I said I liked you, Vakarian. And I wasn't lying. Your earlier resignation proves to us that you're the right person for the job." he explained, "You get results and make good decisions when procedure would end in otherwise bad ends. You've charisma and you're most certainly willing to take more than a few bullets for the team. That's why we're trusting you to put this team together, take our newest ship and bring us back that human and help us find out exactly what he's doing in the Terminus systems with Aria T'Loak."
Sparatus' eyes bore into his own. "So, do you accept our offer?"
Garrus stared back and his eyes flashed with a myriad of thoughts before finally they steeled and with a snap of a salute he said. "Sign me up."
Sparatus did the Turian equivalent of a smile. "Good. Your ship will be waiting for you in docking bay C-Nine, a private dock. In the cycle. Here's your credit chit," he produced a chit and handed it to the Turian, who scanned it into his Omni-Tool. "Satisfactory?"
"…It's a blank Chit." Garrus looked at them. "I… don't, I'm not sure. I…" Sparatus raised a talon.
He warned Garrus. "Don't spend too much."
"…Right, sir, thank you Councillors." Garrus saluted, turned and marched out. With just the barest hint of a bounce in his step. Once the doors closed behind him Sparatus sat down.
"That was certainly interesting." Valern commented idly as he began to check some reports over his Omni-Tool.
Sparatus nodded his agreement. "It was, if I had any doubts about him before. They're gone now."
Tevos chuckled, shaking her head. "That speech though… It certainly brightened the day."
"Just a bit." Valern and Sparatus nodded to themselves.
End of chapter nineteen
Who attempted to off Aria if not the Council? Can I be more obvious with what Morinth is doing? Is the Council still smart? Does Garrus "whoopee!" behind closed doors when given a "buy what you need regardless of price" chit? Find out next time on In Infinitum: First Contact!
PS. Yes, I know this chapter took awhile. Honestly, I had such a loss of muse that it physically could have smacked me and I would have been "meh" because I could not find it. So, I decided to just type what came to mind, added some humor in there and yeah… so, hope you enjoyed!
pps. Also, yup! Introducing a new species, which I briefly mentioned back a few chapters (I cannot remember which.) And yeah, the Valieri, gave some insight to their world! And that they can fly! So, gonna see how that goes, been toying with a few ideas, and any who are curious, simply send a PM or leave a review and I shall answers any questions best I can without spoiling my future plot ideas for them. (And I have a few.)
Toodles! Yes... yes I did say toodles.