I do not own Mass Effect, nor will I profit from this story. Which kinda sucks.

Act III: The Lamentation

Date: 09-10-2180 (Five Months, Fifteen Days since Arrival)

Chapter 1: The Riposte

"You're getting faster at getting that back together." Trena observed from her chair, idly twirling her new cane back and forth.

I grunted, tugging hard on some of the control wiring running through my exoskeleton's chest before stepping back. "It wasn't in that bad of shape really, compared to last time at least. Just some modulators and control wiring to splice back together, few reinforcements to be made... Just wish we had the time to scavenge that thing over there."

That thing was Yi'ren armor, her body extracted and the entire thing hosed down before being left in a corner of the massive garage. Eventually I'd get around to pulling it apart and using it to upgrade my own to something to closer to combat spec, but for now... Chaskin's threats were still looming over the mansion, and no one was really sure how much time we had until he showed up. Given the usual time it took to travel from Omega to Illium, our best guess was that he could arrive as early as tomorrow, but no one was sure he'd rush things like that.

"Let's hope that asshole doesn't have something like that."

"Here's hoping." I muttered. "Maybe he'll be a pistol guy or something. Easier to deal with than another psychopath in powered armor."

"Yeah. Still think he'll make his move with the Eclipse and I-Sec tearing apart their patsies?" She mumbled a bit as she took a few puffs from her pipe, "I mean, sure he might get us, but after that they'll be on him like a pack of razorfish."

"I killed his wife scales. I don't think we can assume he's planning on surviving past getting his revenge." Reaching down, I grabbed one of the last plates of armor and hauled it up, grunting a bit as I fitted it back into place. "Hell, we don't really know much about him. Xerol's admitted he's changed a lot since they were exiled for pissing off their grandfather as teenagers."

"Yeah..." I caught her blowing out a long cloud of smoke out of the corner of my eye, "Tides take him, I hate dealing with this kind of thing. Give me a straight up fight any day to this kind of shit."

I almost opened my mouth to point out that she wouldn't be involved in the fighting in either case, but thought better of it almost immediately. Of course, my tact was ruined when I floundered for a different conversation topic and found another sensitive issue. "How's Ghai doing?"

A wince flickered across her face before she diverted her attention entirely to the pipe she was holding. "Still drifting in and out. The shock did a lot of damage to her system. Doc's are worried her biotics will be too unstable to use, maybe for the rest of her life."

I couldn't help but wince as well. Trena would, eventually, be as good as she had been before her injuries. It wasn't sounding like Ghai would ever fully recover, even if she had several centuries to slowly heal. The Asari equivalent of hypovolemic shock was apparently even more damaging to various organs and nerve bundles than the human version, and heavily fucked with their natural regeneration. That Yi'ren had also used incendiary rounds hadn't helped. Right now the doctors were looking at either cloning or finding donors for their versions of kidneys and liver. Then there was the issue of fitting her for a cybernetic forearm, which was worryingly low on the doctor's priority list given all of the other problems she was still having.

"At least she made it." My voice was quiet.

"Yeah. Thank Athame for her favors I suppose. How's little Shaaryak taking it?"

Grabbing my omni-gel dispenser, I started applying it to the edges of the plating to help secure it. "She's all right for someone whose mother just tried to abduct her and killed two of her cousins in front of her. Trying not to think about it for the most part, focusing on Chacksin, what I-Sec is doing in their campaign... that kind of thing."

"Not exactly healthy, but suppose I can't blame the stuck-up bitch."

I shot her a dirty look.

"Whatever ape. How are you two doing?" Her eyes narrowed behind another cloud of smoke. "With Che'hat and Re'hat both dead, doesn't that put a lot of pressure on your girl to find a stocky Batarian guy to crap out a kid with?"

"Yes." My hand may or may not have twitched slightly. "Xerol hasn't said anything yet, but she's sure it's a matter of time."

"It wouldn't be a love thing you know. Just appearances, making the kid, then you and her can keep going and he can fade off wherever. Could even be surgical."

"Scales..." The dispenser hit my toolbox with more force than had been strictly necessary, and I had to blow out a long breath to calm down. "Seriously not ok with either concept all right?"

She shook her head slightly, "You humans... just like Turians, so fucking possessive."

"Yes. I am." My legs carried me around to the other side of the armor, looking it over as best I could to see if there were any glaring issues. "I am possessive and I don't share when it comes to partners, all right?"

The very idea of Nynsi... being with someone else was enough to both make me nauseous and furious. We were together, and as far as I concerned, that meant no one else needed to be involved. Nyn, though worried about Xerol's opinion, didn't seem to mind overly much. In fact she seemed to find my new found possessive streak both attractive and endearing.

Blue hands spread apart as she leaned back, "Calm the shit down ape, I get it all right? Goddess... don't blood rage on me."

"Sorry..." I shook my head, staring at the massive block that was my armor. "Sore topic, all right?"

"Right, right." She nodded, absently extinguishing her pipe. "You done for the day? Almost time for our meeting with Aethyta."

"Yeah. It's as good as it's going to get until we have a good month or two when no one is trying to kill us." I started putting the rest of my tools away, more or less. Honestly less. It was a bad habit I'd picked up from her, just tossing whatever I had wherever it fit instead of where it was 'supposed' to go. It was enough to drive Xerol's mechanics insane, at least until they'd basically given up working in what was quickly becoming 'my' area of the garage.

"Well at least it'll be good to go the next time some asshole tries to murder us all." There was a deep grunt as she lifted herself up, and I tried not to notice how her arm shook slightly as she leaned on the cane. "Come on, we'll still be early but at least she won't be able to bitch about us being late."

Pausing long enough to wipe some of the oil and grease off my hands and face, I caught up to her easily enough before slowing my stride to match her hobbled pace. She didn't say anything, but her head moved barely in thanks.

"She say what this was about?"

Trena gave an Asari shrug, "Said she'd bring us up to speed on what Vasir and Sederis are up to, and what else she's found on Chacksin."

I grunted. "I'm guessing she meant Captain Vasir, given that her illustrious sister hasn't bothered to show up yet?"

"Safe assumption ape."

Aethtya was beyond annoyed with Tela Vasir at this point. She'd been confused but accepting when the Spectre had indicated that she was finished with her current assignment and on her way. But even though her network of waitresses and bartenders had confirmed that Vasir's personal cruiser had docked at one of the orbital stations the same day we'd launched our attack, there hadn't been any word from her. I had no idea if that meant that she was waiting on instructions from the Broker given that we'd retrieved our evidence and given it to I-Sec, or if she was already on world and doing her own thing quietly.

"Think she'll have a job for us?" I glanced at her, "She's still sort of our boss."

"Athame's perfect ass I hope so. I'm sick of being stuck in this damn mansion, even if I just end up driving the pair of you somewhere."

"Well, here's hoping for a stake out or something." I'd be bored out of my mind, but if it got scales out the mansion for a while I'd put up with it. Of course, being in a car with her and Nyn together for six or seven hours... best not to think about that part.

"Here's hoping." She muttered, slowing as we neared the usual conference room.

Lengthening my stride a bit, I hit the door panel for her, and got a whack on my shins from her cane as she walked past for doing so. Muttering uncomplimentary things about her parentage, I followed her in to find Nyn already primly seated at the table, wearing what was for her a shockingly casual shirt and pants. She had a steaming cup of tea beside her as she flicked through notes on a tablet, her upper eyes shifting as we entered.

"T'laria. Harath'krem." Her voice was notably warmer on my title than on Trena's name.

"Little Shaaryak." My friend sounded about as glad to see her, "I thought you'd be fashionably late or some shit."

Nyn's cheek might have twitched, but said nothing after seeing my pleading expression. I clapped Trena on the shoulder, harder than usual to remind her I didn't care for the two of them sniping, and then slipped past to settle into the chair next to my Tarath'shan.

She patted the back of my hand as I sat, glancing over at what she was reading. "Still going over finances?"

"It is rather important Cieran."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, but that's all you've been doing for the last two days. You've barely taken a break at all."

There was a quiet sigh, "Things are rather in disarray right now, and my Uncle needs his assets to be properly aligned for his negotiations with both Illium's Board of Directors and with Sederis."

Trena grunted. "He still handling those assholes?"

"I'm assuming you mean the board." Nynsi tossed her tablet down, some of her haughty irritation starting to show. "Dantius is still trying to slow things down with procedural details, but he has Tevos and Iandanni supporting him. I believe he is meeting with Ullai today, if he can gain her support they can force the Director to back down or face a vote of no-confidence."

Fucking Illium..

Illium's political status in the galaxy was a bit... complex. On paper, they were a corporate sponsored world, much like Noveria, which is what allowed things like indentured servitude and red sand sellers who just needed an easy to obtain permit. But unlike the ice-ball from the first game, Illium lacked a private army and fleet to defend it, and had to rely on the Asari Republic to keep the predators in the Terminus at arms length. Combine that with I-Sec being little more than an extension of C-Sec, that left the Board of Director's in a perilous balancing act. One one hand, the shareholders who demanded profits, morals be damned, and on the other, the governments who tolerated their lax laws for the economic advantages... but only to a point.

Which is the exact line Xerol was using to leverage his involvement for concessions, particularly towards relaxing the embargo towards the Hegemony. I wasn't quite sure what his end game was, he was playing his cards rather close to the vest, but he'd assured everyone that the primary goal was to make sure that our disruption of their efforts to take over the Blue Suns wouldn't cause them to send SIU teams after us.

Let's just hope he succeeds.. A break after this would be nice.

"The Republic still rumbling about pulling their fleet back?" I glanced between the two women. "Or did they manage to calm that down?"

"Captain Vasir and her superiors spoke with C-Sec's executor yesterday." Nynsi confirmed, taking a small sip of her tea, her upper eyes closing in pleasure at the taste. "She's assured my Uncle that they were able to convince him that they are handling the situation, and that such drastic measures aren't required."

There was a dry chuckle, "By the goddess, that would have been a fun conversation to sit in on."

I snorted, but before I could reply the door clicked and swung open to reveal Aethyta, wearing a dark para-military uniform that probably would fit well under armor.

"Wonders never cease, figured at least one of you would be late." The gruff woman shut the door behind her, striding quickly around us to the head of the table. "Figured it was time we all sat down and had a little chat, since you all are stuck working for me anyway."

Trena snorted. "My shop is still there you old fish."

"I work for you by choice, I hardly need to." Nynsi pointed out.

I just shrugged. "I could go back to working for scales here. Or just lounge around the mansion."

Aethtya rolled her eyes at all of us, "Smart-asses. Local news first. Vasir and her girls have taken out two major gang strongholds in the last few days, they're mounting up to take out another one today. The rest of those lazy tits in I-Sec should be hitting True Son properties over the next few days, and as best as my people can tell, it shouldn't take them long to finish them off."

I found myself nodding slowly, "That 'actual' True Son we met said that the Blue Suns were shuttling their better people off world, and keeping the better weapons for themselves as well. If most of the mercs died at the treatment plant, all that's left are those," there was a brief stutter in my speech as the image of a young Turian screaming as I killed him, flashed, "kids."

The Matriarch nodded, apparently choosing to step over my pause while Nynsi found my hand with hers, "Between that and Sederis handling cleaning out the corporations that were stupid enough to buy anyone, they shouldn't last more than a few weeks."

Trena frowned, thumping her cane in a good imitation of Xerol, "What about the slaves? What's Sederis going to do with them?"

"Word is she's offering provisional membership to any of the usual races if they want some payback. The rest she's just setting loose on the streets, I've got some of my people watching to make sure none of her Eclipse get any ideas." Her fingers drummed slowly on the table, "And I made it clear to her that I wouldn't be happy if any of them did. I might be old, but she knows I'd drag her to the deeps with me if we tangled."

She glanced between the three of us again, "You three have done a good job keeping a low profile since your raid, goddess knows I didn't need to deal with more questions from those bitches on Thessia. But since Vasir's sister hasn't bothered to show her blue ass up yet, I'm going to need you three to make some runs for me."

"What kind of 'runs'?" Nynsi leaned forwards slightly, "Regrettably I have a great many duties right now, re-organizing our finances and ensuring that the families of the lost are compensated properly."

"That's why you get to stay here." Dark brown eyes flicked directly to mine. "And by runs I mean helping move my people around, setting up a few stake outs, and possibly shadowing me on a few things I have to take care of. All of which leads us to a problem."

Here we go..

Something must have shown on my face because she nodded slowly. "That's right Kean, I still don't trust you. I don't care, T'laria," she cut off Trena even as she opened her mouth, "That you do. Or that Xerol named him to that title. If he was actually attacked by an Ardat Yakshi he'd be dead. None of my people can find any records of someone like you showing up on world, and neither can any of my peers in the business."

"Ok..." I had to fight not to lick my lips or otherwise look as nervous as I suddenly felt. "... so what's the plan?"

"It's taken me longer than I'd have liked, but you have an appointment in an hour at Nos Astra Prime." She crossed her thick arms, "With a doctor that I trust personally. She's going to check you out for Floating Mind. If you do have it, she'll be able to give us a time frame until you can at least manage a shallow bond. And if you don't..."

Nynsi's eyes, all four of them, narrowed as Aethtya's voice trailed off. "I don't like what you are insinuating about my Harath'krem, Matriarch."

"Tough shit girl. We're in a riptide here, and I'm not keeping him involved if he's been lying to us."

"Nyn," I had to fight through a dry throat, patting the back of her hand gently. "It's all right. I can't blame her for not trusting me. We'll get this over with and be back in time for dinner."

"I'm going with at least." She protested, a set of eyes each dedicated to me and Aethyta.

"Neither of you are, and that's it. Xerol's backing me on this girl, so don't push it."

My Tarath'shan rocked back at the news that her Patriarch was on Aethyta's side. "He... what?"

"He thinks this is going to vindicate your alien lover here." She looked irritated at Xerol's faith in me. "And he's willing to let me have my way with one of his people to assuage my paranoid suspicions."

Trena snorted slightly, but kept her face straight at the glare that swiftly turned her way.

So... what the hell am I going to do about this?

I sure as hell didn't have Floating Mind. That was nothing more than a clever bit of fiction and falsified paperwork to dissuade young Maidens from trying to sleep with me. Which meant that, in less than an hour now, I was going to have a lot of fucking explaining to do and no idea where to start. Regardless of what I said, she was going to be more than a little pissed off that I hadn't been truthful..

Nynsi and Trena still both looked mutinous, but left after making sure that I, and more importantly Aethyta, know that they both believed me. Which made me writhe a bit inside with guilt.

Nyn unknowingly twisted the dagger in a bit more by quietly assuring me that she would personally help the chef prepare some of my favorites for when I returned. It was hard to kiss her gently as we stood in the hall, before turning to head to the garage.

Aethyta didn't say anything as we moved through the mansion, making sure that she was close enough that I couldn't try and bolt or anything like that. Not that I planned to, that would only make my bad situation worse at this point.

So... should I be honest? Do I have a choice? I didn't think that I did. I could remember... enough, I thought, to convince her that, at the very least, I knew things I shouldn't have any ability to know. Lead off with knowing about Liara and Benezia? Or her parentage? Really the only things known about her... not about to go on about a Prothean beacon inside the Temple of Athame unless we're alone in an sound-proofed box somewhere.

Her car turned out to be of the same make and model as Nyn's, but even to my relatively inexperienced eyes I could tell that it had been massively upgraded. The doors looked like they weighed half a ton each, and it would surprise me at all if there were guns hidden under the hood like a Bond car.

She waited until we were off the ground and headed north before speaking. "You're nervous kid."

"Yeah." I didn't see the point in denying it, my piss-poor acting skills were nowhere near enough to fool her anyway.

"Anything you want to tell me before we get there?"

I rubbed at the back of my neck, and thought about spilling everything right there. To this day I'm not sure why I didn't. "No. Let's see what the test shows. Maybe you can filter through my mind in a couple of months."

There was a dark grunt to that, and nothing more was said. The trip both seemed to flash by and last forever, in that peculiar way that they do when you're dreading the destination. One moment I was wondering how exactly I would explain everything, the next the massive form of Illium's largest hospital was coming into view.

Aethtya found us a parking spot by being more willing than anyone else to simply shoulder her way past and under anyone trying to land there.

Here we go then..

I briefly tried to relax, laughed mentally at the very idea, and followed her as she led me inside. It was a lot like any of the other hospitals I might have been to, though packed with Asari instead of humans. A few glanced our way, but most were too busy with their own reasons for being there. We made our way through the main atrium to an elevator, the few others who might have joined us quickly changing their minds at seeing a Matriarch tapping her foot impatiently.

Reaching the appropriate floor took a matter of moments, the metal box depositing us in a small reception area.

"Ah, Matriarch Aethyta." A perky maiden, her skin dusky blue, gave us both a broad smile from behind her desk. "You're right on time. Doctor Sayran is already ready for you, second door on the left."

Aethtya grunted something, and I quietly thanked her as we moved down the hall and through the doorway.

Doctor Sayran proved to be what I thought was another Matriarch, her skin a shockingly dark blue as she glanced up from her omni-tool. "Aethyta."

"Sayran."

The doctor glanced at me, "So, you're the one this old fish is all worried about. Come on, sit down in the chair here. Let's get this waste of time over with."

My boss glared irritably at the other Asari. "Sayran..."

"There's documentation from the River District that he has the syndrome." The doctor flicked her omni-tool off with an annoyed flick. "Six months might have seen a slight lessening in the affects but it will probably still be another six at least before he could even contemplate a shallow bond with a professional counselor, and that's a best case scenario. He's probably got years to go."

"Humor me."

"You're here, aren't you?" I felt my lips twitch as I warmed up to the doc, although any mirth quickly died as I stepped past Aethyta, glancing at the chair. There really wasn't anything terribly threatening about it... which didn't really mean anything.

"So... how is this going to work?" I was curious in spite of myself, finding the chair surprisingly comfortable as I slowly sat on it.

The Doctor moved behind me, fiddling with something with one hand while another started to pull my hair off my temples. "To avoid drowning you with technical terms, we use a combination of electrical impulses and eezo fields to simulate a bond, and then utilize equipment read how your brain reacts to the interaction."

"Won't that... you know, cause brain damage and seizures?" If I actually had it.

"If I was a hack and turned the power all the way up, yes. We start at extremely low levels, and given the usual time frame for a human with the condition, you might feel some mild nausea at the worst. If anything does start to spike there's cut-offs to prevent any damage." A hand patted my shoulder reassuringly. "There's a garbage pail to your right in case you need to use it, but you should be all right."

"Oh. Ok then." I blew out a breath as she gently attached pads to each of my temples, then another set below my eyes, before finishing up with a set on the back of my neck.

I did catch Aethtya surreptitiously locking the door when Sayran wasn't looking, but I couldn't really blame her for that.

"Right then. Hands here," she guided them to the arm rests, "And relax. Blow out a long breath." I did so. "As I said, you'll probably feel some mild discomfort and nausea. One more long breath..." I gave a long exhale, and she flicked something on her omni-tool.

Something powered up behind me, a quiet thrum filling my ears as I felt the tell-tale effects of an element zero core start to affect reality around me. Tickling pricks darted across each of the pads attached to me, and everything seemed all right.

Then shards of razor sharp glass slammed into my head, originating from each of the pads, and my entire body practically lifted off of the chair in shock. I tried to say something, but my mouth wouldn't respond to what my brain was trying to tell it.

I had a short glimpse of the Doctor frantically deactivating everything while Aethyta, her eyes wide, moved to help, before my vision rolled back and everything went dark.

Next up is Chapter 2: The Silence

This chapter is a bit shorter than most, mostly because that was the right cut-off point, otherwise this chapter and the next will basically just run into each other. This is another chapter that's gone through a few rewrites, so I'm hoping it works all right.

So, we've got a lot of politics occurring in the background, and a general tone of worry about when Chacksin is going to make his move. More importantly for Cieran, Aethtyta's continuing suspicion has led to him receiving an actual test for the condition that the Matriarch and Cieran have claimed that he has.. with unexpected results.

Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."

Thanks, Kat

Review Responses:

Toothless is Best → Not everyone did.

Ari989 → He's a bit late to that train, as we'll see in the next chapter.

The Blocked Writer → :). Tried to find words.. but just :)

Ranger Station Charlie → They're more than capable of banding together against an outside force, but internally they're very much split. The higher merchant castes are furious with the military for the isolation and embargo, the military is furious with the merchants for not doing a better job in the Terminus, the artisans are exasperated with both.. etc etc.

tylerbamafan34 → The arc was named "The Lamentation" for a reason, and that's all i'm going to say there.