Chapter 21
The Fray: Little House
A/N: Damn, sorry this took so long. I managed to get even more ill the day after putting up the last chapter, which sucks, so it's taken me a little longer than usual to actually get coherent enough to write something that's decent quality.
Anyway, time for Noveria. Rather fitting considering the amount it's been snowing around here…off we go!
So I'm on the ground-team again, it turns out. After the funeral, though obviously not literally straight after because that would have been insensitive, Shepard asked if I was alright to go out. I'd have been disappointed if she hadn't asked, to be honest, since all I want to do right now is get all the stuff with Rebecca and Saleon behind me and just continue on with life as normal. So obviously I told her there wasn't a problem, and here we are again, grabbing my equipment from my locker.
We're getting the old crew back together again as well; Garrus and Wrex are coming along, which is gonna mean more of the kill competition. Which is great, because if memory serves I'm losing by a fair bit. Better step up my game, especially now Wrex is on the squad and we're fighting Rachni, because he's pretty damn motivated to kill them...
Actually, Shepard never did mention who the last squad member was. A quick glance to my right shows it's not Ash, as she's messing around with an assault rifle dressed in her casual outfit. Tali, Kaidan or Liara, then. I'd be surprised if Shepard's chosen Liara considering how personal the mission is for her…that sounds really harsh to think, actually. Plus Shepard doesn't actually find out Benezia is on Noveria until we touch down… and even when we do, Liara's well within reason to want to be on the squad exactly because of her mother's presence, but considering her mother's going to die whatever happens in the mission it's probably better she isn't. Seeing that kind of thing can't be healthy, though I've got no idea how she reacts to it in-game since I never took her on the mission for that exact reason…
Yeah, Shepard's pretty sensible. I doubt Liara's gonna be there, most likely Kaidan so there's someone else that's Alliance on the mission. Tali would be nice, mind, for the banter with Garrus…just as long as she keeps the shotgun away from his face. Turian blood stains are really hard to get out of armour, apparently, so if she does shoot him hopefully I'm not gonna be around for it.
Both pistols are looking good, sights calibrated…sniper rifle's also looking good. I snap it to the magnetic strip on my back, grab my knife from the back of the locker and attach it over my left shoulder. After Therum and the amount of times it saved my ass back there, there's no way in hell I'm leaving it behind, ever.
Yep, I think that's everything! I take a step back, glancing down at the dragon on my armour as I do. When I move my left arm, it actually looks like it's beating its wings, the head rolling slightly with my shoulder movements…almost like the bloody silhouette is alive on my chest. Huh, that's trippy. How'd I never pick up on that before? I should really go and thank Laet one of these days, though he'd probably prefer a few credits rather than a few kind words…I arranged that contract for him through Shepard, though, so he should be fairly happy to see me next time I'm on the Citadel. I hope.
"You look set," Ash notes from across, lifting her head up from her work slightly and smiling. Probably smiling because of the state she left me in after our second combat session. She didn't mind taking a break for the funeral, but the training was far from over. In the few hours it's taken us to get to Noveria, Ash just kept at it. When I finally reached one hundred and twenty punches, which made my arms feel like they were gonna fall off, she put bloody weighted gloves on me. Weighted. That's just bloody sadistic, to be honest. I'll probably go to lift my pistols on the mission and pull a fucking muscle from all the strain.
"Don't feel set," I reply, raising an eyebrow. "But if I look it, at least we're halfway there, right?"
Ash just chuckles and leans back slightly. "Don't blame me. You asked for the combat lessons, after all. We already got your speed up, plus I taught you that reverse roundhouse. Don't say you didn't get anything out of it."
"Oh, stop being right," I grumble jokingly, closing the locker door. I can't lie, that reverse roundhouse is bloody sweet, something I've wanted to be able to do for a while but didn't think I had the flexibility for. I'm not exactly malleable, but nowhere near as rigid as I used to be thanks to all the action and stuff I've managed to get myself involved in. Though I can't punch particularly far, since I'm not exactly tall. About 5,9", maybe 5,10" at a push. So I have don't have reach or flexibility. Oh, the irony, considering who my best mate is. "The sad thing is I know I'm gonna be back for more as well."
"Yep," she grins. "Well, if you make it through the mission."
"Jesus, Ash, thanks for the vote of confidence," I reply sardonically. "It can't be any worse than Therum." Actually, is it? Loads of Rachni and the acid that entails…God, I've had enough acid from Feros to last me a lifetime. Oh yeah, and an extremely powerful asari matriarch and her entourage of biotics and geth. Therum has nothing on this shit, does it?
"You'll just have to wait and see," Ash replies simply. "Don't go in there expecting things to be easy. Stay on guard."
"You don't have to worry about that," I chuckle. Not when I know what's coming. Drop my guard and I'll probably get stabbed in the back by that bastard Anoleis, or stabbed in the face by a rachni. Neither are particularly good for me. "I can look after myself." And with that, I swivel around on my hill, take a step forward, whack my forehead off Wrex's chest, who was standing right behind me, and fall to the floor.
"Sure, nothing gets past you," she laughs, Wrex chuckling too. Neither offer me a hand up. Jesus, that was the worst possible time for that to happen, wasn't it? Actually… "Wrex, why the fuck were you standing there?" I ask the still laughing krogan, climbing back up to my feet and still feeling slightly dazed. Krogan armour is rock solid…I may as well have walked into a brick wall.
"We're closing in on Noveria now, Shepard wants everyone at the airlock," he explains calmly, both of them still laughing at me. There's never a good time to walk into something, but this is definitely one of the worse ones…
"So? Were you sneaking up on me or something? No warning you were there, at all."
"I just assumed you weren't stupid enough to walk right into me," Wrex counters. Touché. "Now get in the elevator. My patience is beginning to wear thin, all these weapons and no enemies to kill. Might just have to make do with whatever's nearby." He looks menacingly at me to emphasise the point.
"Elevator. Right you are, Wrex!" I say, mock-merrily, walking quickly towards it with Wrex shaking his head slightly next to me. "Talk later, Ash!"
"Alright!" she calls back. "Try not to walk into anything else. Inanimate objects can be pretty sneaky."
I roll my eyes at the chief, just as the elevator doors slam shut.
#########
"Normandy, your arrival was not scheduled. Our defence grid is armed and tracking you. State your business."
Joker looks over his shoulder at Shepard, raising an eyebrow and grinning slightly. "They really know how to greet someone, Commander. Should we just ignore them and see how good their defence grid is?" Shepard just shakes her head slightly, smiling, stepping up to the comms array.
"Citadel business," she says confidently. "I'm a Council Spectre."
There's a slight pause on the mic, then… "Landing access granted, Normandy. Be advised, we will confirm your identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established your vessel will be impounded." With that, the line goes dead.
"Wow, that guy was a douche with a capital bag," I note, Joker nodding approvingly as we all look at the docking bay out of the window.
"Got that right," the pilot nods. "Friendly, welcome environment. Am I alright to take some leave here Commander? I love happy locals." Shepard sighs slightly at Joker, and signals for us to gather around by the airlock. Let's see, there's Garrus, Wrex, Shepard and myself. Someone's missing…
"Alright?" I ask Garrus fairly quietly as Shepard looks around impatiently. "Got the kill counter set up?"
"Of course," he smiles, tapping the visor to emphasise the point. "You're on fifteen, I have eighteen, Wrex has twenty-one."
"Do we get bonus points for killing the guy who just talked to us?" Wrex asks. "He was annoying."
That's actually a valid point… "If the opportunity comes up, I don't see why not," I shrug. "Three points for him. This is a civilian area first though Wrex, so don't just go out all guns blazing. You'll get done for murder, but more importantly you won't get any points for it."
Wrex glares at me. "Thanks, Ian. I might not have picked up on that until it was too late." I totally deserved that…wait a minute, who's that coming towards us in full armour?
"Sorry, Shepard, I just had to check my weapon," Liara explains anxiously, jogging up towards us. What? No, this can't be a good idea!
"Better safe than sorry," Shepard says reassuringly, just as Joker brings the ship to a halt. "You're just on time, anyway." The Commander turns to look at us, brunette hair tied back for action, green eyes sparkling as she stares at Garrus, oddly enough. "There's been a lot of geth interest in the planet, and we've got no idea why. This is extremely important, it goes without saying. The geth don't come around for no reason, so there's got to be something they're after." Keelah, I hope Liara doesn't react too bad when she finds out her mother's on the ship…
Keelah? Did I actually just think that? I must be spending too much time around Tali.
Shepard leads us into the airlock, the doors opposite quickly opening out into the spaceport…and letting a rush of cold air in the causes us all to gasp in with shock. Jesus Christ, it's freezing out here! Garrus looks incredibly uncomfortable, Wrex looks pissed off, while Shepard, Liara and I shiver slightly.
"That's gonna keep the nerves sharp," Shepard mutters as we all step out and start forward towards the security checkpoint ahead. Maybe I should broach the subject of Benezia and Liara…though I can't now, because I shouldn't know Benezia is around, and especially not while Liara's around or standing next to me. Hopefully there'll be an opportunity. It's weird, actually, starting a mission and my guns are still firmly in their holsters…
"Anyone hear that?" I ask, cupping a hand to my ear. Shepard raises an eyebrow at me, Garrus starts looking around a little nervously, arms folded presumably for warmth. Aw, turians don't like the cold, do they?
"No," Wrex replies bluntly.
"It's the sound of people not shooting at us as soon as we touch ground," I grin. "We should savour this. Admittedly we haven't been greeted in the nicest way, but it beats a bullet to the face, right?"
"It can still be arranged," the krogan grunts as we press on. Fuck, he's good! Being as old as Wrex is probably lets you absorb a lot of comebacks, and being as badass lets it work.
We all take a right down the walkway…and the sight of the three guards ahead makes me groan slightly. One turian male, and two humans, one male with black hair and one female as far as I can tell. Here we go, the prick brigade. Because apparently the local police has more power than a Spectre. Maybe Shepard'll just shoot them…one of them is gonna get killed whatever happens, I think, but maybe get three birds with one stone?
"That's far enough!" the one with black hair says, scowling at us. Her voice…that's a woman? Noveria is messed up!
"I decide when that is," Shepard glares at the woman. "There some kind of problem here?"
"You'd better hope not," the blonde one scowls. Two seconds and already, both sides of the 'discussion' hate each other. This probably bodes well for the rest of Noveria… "You're an unscheduled arrival. I'm going to need some credentials."
"Shepard," the woman herself says sharply. "Council Spectre. Is that it? Can we go now?"
"Bullsh-" the blonde starts, but the black haired woman, who's name badge identifies her as…Maeko, I think, interrupts her.
"I'm going to have to check that," she frowns disbelievingly. "Also, there's a policy of no firearms on Noveria. Sergeant Stirling, relieve them of their weapons."
Uh-uh, bitch! Stirling takes one step forward, and all out weapons come up. I grab both pistols and point one at each woman, while they all draw their guns as well. Oh, a standoff! Now this is exciting, especially since we outnumber them. Still, got a line I've been wanting to say for a while now…
"I'll relinquish one bullet," I say calmly to the Sergeant, looking her straight in the eye. "Where do you want it?"
Yeeaaahhhhhhh.
"I have my own policy, where I don't give up my weapon," Shepard growls. "So step off."
"We're authorised to use lethal force, you have until the count of three to surrender your weapon!" Is she actually gonna try and do this? She's crazy! There's five of us, heavily armed…Wrex could probably tear them apart by himself and she's trying to arrest us? I'd still feel bad about shooting them, mind, but if they open fire on us…
"One. Two. Three…" I actually see Shepard's finger tense on the trigger as Maeko finishes counting down, before a voice on the intercom finally comes through.
"Captain, stand down!" it says urgently. Phew, thank Christ that happened! Both the turian and Sergeant Stirling lower their guns, as we all slowly do the same. Well, so much for no hostilities on landing, though at least nobody got shot…
"Their identity's been confirmed. Spectres are allowed to carry weapons here, Captain!" The voice says again. I can't bloody remember who that is…it's Anoelis's secretary, right? Parasini? Should have played it more often…
"In that case, you may proceed, Spectre," the Captain says, sounding incredibly bitter. Come on now, don't be a sore loser. "I hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational."
"Depends if we bump into you again," Wrex grunts as we start to move past, getting a haughty glare from Stirling.
Maeko thankfully ignores him. "Parasini-san will meet you upstairs." But Stirling can't resist one last shot as we head to leave…
"Behave yourself," she mutters. Shepard whirls around to look at her furiously.
"Same to you," the Commander shoots back. No-one else could make those three words sound so threatening. I'm getting chills, and she's not even talking to me! The security team struts off, presumably to have a good old bitch about us, but I think we've got bigger fish to fry. Shepard seems to have the same idea, striding off and shaking her head slightly in annoyance at the interruption.
"We come here on an enormous ship," she says as we head into the main lobby, with its mediocre water fountain, and ascend the steps towards the front desk. "I tell them I'm a Spectre. I mean, of course they have to check, but all things considered does it look like I'm lying? Do they have to be so bloody aggressive?"
"To be fair, Shepard, we were the ones who pulled guns on them," Garrus points out. "Not that they didn't have it coming."
"Joker was right, it is a happy place around here," I chuckle, taking a glance around. A lot of the room's occupants are looking at us…and not in a particularly welcoming way. "Good vibe for tourists. At least no-one's opened fire on us yet, though I'd almost be more comfortable if they did."
"Why?" Wrex asks. I raise an eyebrow at him. He's the last person I'd expect to be questioning that… "Not saying I disagree, just want to know why you think that," the krogan explains. Ah.
"It's easier to deal with. Bang bang, problem solved. This place is a political bloody minefield, and they weren't even too happy about letting a Spectre in. If control on visitors is this tight…"
Liara nods. "They've got some secrets around here they do not want getting out. Business colonies like this can be surprisingly dangerous. People will go for great lengths for money. I've been to Ilium a few times and seen the atmosphere there, it is not good for the unprepared. Visit, but I do not recommend signing anything." Damn, that probably would have been good advice for the colonists back on Feros…too late now!
"I think you might be right there," Shepard mutters. "This place is giving me chills, I'm not gonna lie. It's too bloody corporate and uptight. Reminds me of Udina."
"I'm getting chills too," Garrus nods, still shivering slightly. "But that's probably just because of the temperature. Turians don't like the cold, Shepard."
"I told you when we were on Systems Warfare it was going to be freezing, Garrus," Shepard smiles. "I said bring something warm, but you said…"
The turian frowns and shakes his head, fringe turning slightly blue again. Aw, she's making him embarrassed… "I said the thermal gear looks stupid. Which it does. I look fat in it." Wrex is already laughing as quietly as he can next to me, and I'm feeling pretty inclined to join in myself.
"But now you look stupid by complaining you're cold," I say, smiling. "You can't really win this one, Garrus."
"I'm fine!" he glares at me. "Just saying it's really not nice here."
"Then you should have worn the gear like I said," Shepard points out.
"Shepard, I -"
"Shut up, Garrus. That's an order," she grins as we approach the front desk, where Parasini is waiting. "If you don't complain, I won't take the piss out of you. Even though I was right about the thermals." Garrus's mandibles open wide in indignation…but Shepard quickly turns to Parasini and greets her, leaving Garrus standing slightly slack-jawed next to her. God, they're bickering like an old married couple…I quickly glance over at Wrex, who gives me a knowing look. They're just good friends…
Shepard, meanwhile, is busy accosting Parasini. "Well, you should get Tweedle-Dee, Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dumber back there to check their facts before they start pulling guns on a Spectre and her crew," Shepard frowns. "I know it's not your fault, and thanks for stopping things before we ended up killing them, but who's actually in charge here?"
"That would be Administrator Anoleis," she explains calmly. "As for our security chief, well…she takes her job very seriously. She's very useful because of that. Part of my job is greeting guests and answering any questions they may have, so…do you have any questions?"
Shepard nods, loosening up a bit now it turns out Parasini is actually alright. "Yeah. Has anybody unusual came through recently? Visitors you wouldn't expect, or don't see particularly often?"
Parasini frowns. "Unusual? We had an asari matriarch through a few days ago, Lady…Benezia, I think?" Liara's eyes light up when she says that…like I expected. She doesn't look panicked, thankfully, just shocked.
"Benezia's here?" she asks incredulously.
Shepard turns her head slightly to address the asari. "Sounds like it."
"Why?" Parasini asks, sounding confused. "Is something wrong?" 'Something wrong' is probably a bit of an understatement…
Shepard nods solemnly. "I need to talk to Benezia, maybe bring her in. She's currently a threat to galactic security." Liara looks saddened when Shepard says that…but not angry. Because she knows, whether she likes it or not, it's true. I'm just grateful Shepard didn't go for the dialogue option where she pretty much says she's gonna kill Benezia, that would have been awkward.
"The executive board don't like having problems dropped on them, Commander," Parasini points out.
"This is galactic security," I say, surprised at how she's reacting. "Like it or not, this is something they've got to address!"
"I'm just saying what they think. It's not down to me," she replies coolly. "The Lady Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex a few days ago, and to my knowledge she's still there." It's never that easy, is it…we can't just walk into the next room and arrest her.
Shepard frowns, but remains fairly civil. "Alright. We could use some directions, and we'll be going." Ugh, she's not gonna like what Parasini's gonna throw back…
"You need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave the port," she points out. Shepard throws her arms up in the air in exasperation, and the rest of us just shake our heads. It's like a bad comedy…where there's one simple goal and every single character tries to make it as hard as possible for the protagonist to achieve it.
"Great." she says, sounding exasperated. "Do I need clearance to speak to him as well?"
"I don't think so," Parasini smiles. "You can go through now. If you need any more help, you can come and see me at the administrator's office."
"I'll do that," Shepard replies, sounding fairly tired as she leads us all through into the elevator that leads up to the trading room. I imagine cutting through all the political bullshit is quite tiring though…like cutting your way through a jungle, except with a butter knife rather than a machete. Liara walks up to Shepard, head lowered slightly. Maybe I'm not going to have to bring it up with Shepard after all, considering Liara's doing it for me…
"Shepard," she says abruptly as the elevator doors open, stopping us all in our tracks. "I imagine you want to talk to me about my mother, correct?"
Shepard takes a quick glance at all of us. "You all head out into there for a bit while I talk to Liara, okay? I'll meet up with you in five." Very sensitively handled, Shepard…I like it.
"Sure," I say cheerily. "We'll try not to piss anyone off while you're gone. No promises, though."
"Don't worry about it," Shepard says dryly. "I don't think I'd actually mind getting in a firefight with some people around here." With that, she turns back to the asari, so this would be a good time for us to leave…yeah. Garrus, Wrex and I stroll out and take a quick glance down at the floor below us, filled with aliens and the odd human running around, boring stone everywhere. It's so corporate around here it actually hurts.
"Well," Garrus comments as we walk aimlessly towards the first building we see, picking up all manner of filthy looks from the businesspeople around, "everyone seems to hate us around here. I thought serving with a Spectre was going to be glamorous."
"They think we're here for their corporate secrets," Wrex grunts. "It's no wonder they're all so nervous, every person here's probably done something that could get them arrested. At least one thing." He's probably right…it would explain why nobody wants to talk to us around here, and why Anoelis is gonna throw a hissy fit when Shepard goes to talk to him.
"We should totally go wind them up," I point out. "See if we can make any give up company secrets or whatever." It's pretty damn boring out here, so a little bit of fun messing with the bastards around here wouldn't go amiss…We stroll past the small, glass fronted establishment…and I catch a quick glimpse of the hanar within. Oh, I remember that guy! Wanted Shepard to smuggle stuff in for him, if I remember correctly. Which is actually illegal…maybe we should go and put a stop to it, now we've got five minutes.
Wrex smiles when he catches sight of the hanar. "How about him, then?" he asks. "Ever tried annoying a hanar before?"
"It can't be that hard, can it?" I reply. "He'll get annoyed if I look at him weird."
"Go and find out," Garrus prompts. "He's already looking at us. I think he wants to talk."
I shake my head in disbelief. "How fucking immature are you two? Sure, the people here are immoral, deceitful, uptight and generally a pain, but does that give us a right to annoy them for our amusement?" Garrus and Wrex both look blankly at me. "Yeah, it does." Both grin. This probably isn't a good idea, it's unprofessional…but I already know this guy is conspiring to smuggle contraband. So, technically, I'm doing the police here a favour. In the most annoying way possible for the hanar.
"It was your idea, you do the talking," Garrus says. "We'll just back you up." Oh, this is so dumb…and probably not the best way to have my first ever conversation with a hanar, especially if it ends up with him trying to wring my neck with one or all of those tentacles. 'Natural toxins and a strong grip' doesn't sound appealing. All I need is 'Don't Stop Me Now' playing as we walk into the shop, and the scene would be set perfectly for some reason…right, let's see if I can shut down a smuggling operation in less than five minutes. It took months at C-Sec, so this should be interesting…
"Hey," I smile, walking towards him with Garrus and Wrex following behind, faces stony and impassive.
"This one offers greetings," it replies. Oh my God, that voice is so bloody weird…as is the alien itself. Hanar are cool, but still… "You are the Spectre that visits Port Hanshan?" Oh, crap, I wasn't expecting him to ask that. But, if we're going to stop him from smuggling…
"Yeah, I am," I reply. Wrex grunts slightly behind me, but thankfully doesn't laugh. "You found out quick. I've only been here for a few minutes."
"Indeed." the hanar says. "A Spectre arriving is big news. Your arrival was not greeted with any joy by the companies here. However, this one has a burden you could ease." Oh, here we go! "If an arrangement could be made, it would compensate you."
"What kind of arrangement?" I ask curiously, folding my arms.
"This one has a special item for a customer," it explains. "The item is not permitted within the status. But you could bring it through customs."
I smile. "So, you want me to use my status to smuggle for you?"
"That is…not inaccurate."
I raise an eyebrow. Time to convince him smuggling isn't a good idea. "Right, that's all I needed to hear. I'm here to investigate allegations of conspiracy to smuggle illegal goods, and you've given me everything I need. You're under arrest." I don't actually move in, but the hanar's tentacles spread slightly and its body starts doing an odd movement, presumably in panic.
"It was just a proposition! This one has no intention of causing a problem or breaking the law!"
"Really?" Garrus asks. It actually feels like C-Sec all over again, except without paperwork waiting for us later! I love it! "Because you've managed to do both."
"This one asks for forgiveness," the hanar says, sounding pretty desperate now. "It will not seek business in this way again!" I turn to look at Wrex and Garrus, amazed with both how quickly and how well this is going. I couldn't arrest the guy even if I wanted to…but there's no way he's gonna try breaking the law again now! Not for a while, anyway.
"Look," I finally say, quietly. "You seem like an alright person. I'll forget about this, for one time only, if you forget about that illegal item for that customer. Got it?"
"This one understands," it replies. "It thanks you for your compassion."
"It shouldn't worry about it," I say, barely able to suppress laughter. One potential criminal nullified…if only it was normally this easy. "We'll know if you try again though. We always do." I give him the 'I'm watching you' gesture, then slowly back out of the door with Garrus and Wrex, and walk calmly around the corner out of its eyesight. Then start laughing.
Man, I love being a jerk. I think that counts as Paragon because I stopped him from smuggling…even if I bullshitted my way through the entire thing.
"I can think of worse ways to kill five minutes," Wrex finally chuckles.
"Like what?" a feminine voice asks from behind us. We all whirl around, and Shepard and Liara are standing there, the Commander's arms folded.
"Erm…talking to the people here," I quickly say the first thing that comes into my head. "Nobody seems to like us."
"Tell me about it," Shepard sighs, and Liara smiles. Looks like they've sorted out Liara's issues…it's probably better Liara isn't back on the ship, actually. This is something she needs to see, to deal with. She gets left behind now, all she's gonna have is regrets. "We should go and see Anoleis as soon as possible. The sooner we get off here, the better."
I nod. "I think we can all agree with that. Though something tells me it's not going to be as easy as just talking to him and heading off on our merry way."
"That wouldn't surprise me either," Shepard frowns. "At least geth are up-front by just shooting at you. With these people they're playing three different games with you at once, and the rest are lining up shots at your back."
Garrus just shrugs. "Nobody really likes bureaucracy and stuff. Except maybe volus, which is useful for us turians."
"Too bad we don't have a volus, then, that could be useful. We could call Hante from that shop we went to during the elcor killings, see if he wants to come along?" Garrus snorts with laughter as we head towards Anoleis's office.
"What's so funny?" Shepard asks curiously.
"I don't think Hante wants to talk to either of us, ever again," Garrus sighs. "He had some information on an elcor serial killer for Ian and I which he withheld for a bit. We kind of had to persuade him around."
Shepard raises an eyebrow at both of us. "I'll bet you did…" The two turian guards both give us idle glances as we walk past, looking extremely bored. Probably for good reason. I can't imagine much happening around here, to be honest…
"Commander," Parasini greets Shepard warmly. At least I know there's one good person on the planet…well, her and Lorik Qui'in. "How can I help you?"
"I think we both know," Shepard replies irritably. "I'd like to speak to Anoleis."
Parasini smiles. "One moment please. Mr. Anoleis?"
"Yes, what? What!" the voice comes back, sounding even more impatient than Shepard does at the moment. These two are going to get on so well…
"Commander Shepard is asking to see you, sir."
"Fine, send her in!" Anoleis says abruptly, and the line goes dead. Parasini gestures for us to head through. Shepard gives her a nod of the head in thanks, and we all stride through into the next room, where Anoleis sits, haughty expression on his face. I hope Shepard hits him. Or Wrex, that would be better.
"You will excuse me if I don't get up," he says rudely, staring at Shepard. "I don't really have time for this."
"I can already tell we're going to get along so well," the Commander sighs.
I love negotiations with Shepard.
A/N: Well, hopefully that set the scene for Noveria (i.e. everyone's a bastard.) Next chapter: Getting pissed off at Anoleis! Data recovery! Turians who have a surprising interest in humanity and get their idioms slightly mixed! More getting pissed off at Anoleis! (It might be a bit deeper than that, depends how creative I'm feeling after getting stuffed on mince pies.)
This might be the last chapter until after Christmas…I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to get one out before-hand. So, in advance…Merry Christmas everybody :-). Hope you all get what you're after. If you don't celebrate Christmas, have a happy holiday/December 25th anyway.
444 reviews, which is a rather cool number to be at (because it's recurring. That's not actually cool, just nerdy, but whatever. It looks nice.) Thanks to you all for that, as usual, it's fantastic.
Oh yeah, CitadelGamesSalesman, you might not be getting alerts if you're on an AOL email address. Also, I can't reply to your reviews because your PM function is off, if you didn't know.
I'm gone.